A (half) perfect trip!

We took a quick trip to Northern Ireland for the weekend. We left early Saturday morning from Stansted to Derry airport. The official city is called Londonderry. But since there still are simmering bad feelings about the split country of Ireland with the U.K. controlling the portion called Northern Ireland the word "London" was oftentimes spray painted out on roadsigns. One would assume that would be why the airport is called Derry airport.

Alright... on to the good stuff.

We had BEAUTIFUL weather. We picked up our two rentacars and began at the giants causeway. This was the primary reason for coming up to this portion of Ireland! And we weren't disappointed. We parked, saw a quick movie and then began with a walk along the headlands. The sky was a beautiful blue along the coast. Clouds seem to pick up over the land mass area, but along the coast they were a gorgeous blue that shone through the coastal waters. The wind was strong but not blustery. The cliff edges made Jeanne a little nervous (typical mom who is scared of heights) but the kids were respectful of her cautiousness. Well sort of (view video below).







The walk then came to a steep staircase down. The walkway was still in the shade due to the season, so though slightly mossy and slippery, we all made it down the cliffside to the lower trail.






Next came the organ pipes. These are the hexagon shaped rock formations up the edge of the cliff. Since they are all lined up they appear to be pipes of a church organ. The kids...well all of us found them fascinating. We continued on the trail loop overlooking the chimneys. Again, the views were just breathtaking. All along the way we kept looking down to the seaside area of these special rocks. But we were saving the best for last!



The Giants Causeway

It was absolutely the BEST vacation destination for our family so far. Climbing rocks, beautiful coastline, intriguing shapes...what more could my family ask for? We spent hours there. Bryce loved the lure of the sea and leaping/climbing over the rocks.







The orange dot is Bryce!


Scientists still debate how the rocks were formed. They theorize that it might be a slow gradual cooling of molten lava. But however they occurred, they are fascinating. Most of the rock shapes are hexagonal columns, though some are like squares or even circles when worn down. But the fascinating thing is that the columns break off at various heights that mimic stairs! It was so fun climbing all over, up and down.






The shadows across the rocks make for impressive photos! It's almost like sitting inside an Escher drawing. So cool! Jeanne just wishes that she had swapped with Jordan for a good family photo... sigh.










One area appears to climb up to the mountains!
















According to one of the most well-known legends, Giant’s Causeway was formed by Finn Mac Cool, an Irish giant. One day Finn Mac Cool was enraged by the ranting of the Scottish giant named Finn Gall from across the Channel. So, Finn Mac Cool tore large pieces of rock from the cliff and pushed them into the ocean floor making a land bridge across the Channel. However, when he was finished, he was too exhausted to fight Finn Gall. He built a large crib, disguised himself like a child, crawled in and fell asleep. Seeing the completed causeway, Finn Gall crossed the Channel to fight. When he found Mac Cool’s house, he walked in and saw the crib. Looking into the crib, Finn Gall saw a massive “child.” Thinking that this was Finn Mac Cool’s child, he quickly reasoned that Mac Cool must be massive and fully capable of handily whipping him. So, Finn Gall turned and retreated to Scotland, breaking up the causeway behind him as he went.






This is supposedly the Giant's shoe that he lost as he ran quickly away.










Jordan decided he wanted to challenge the waves (not very smart). After he got a little wet he decided to retreat... just in time! Along came a series of waves that could have swept him off the rock in which he had been seated.








Madison loved her tide pools. This one is called the pink pool, her favorite.








Reluctantly, we left to ride the bus back up the hill (thankful we didn't have to walk back up!)

We had heard that the hotel at the top had a good pub that served good food so we went and ordered. We haven't recommended restaurants in the past, but this place was incredible! The food was really good and the portions were enormous. Our family was quite hungry after all that rock climbing but we all left food at the table. We actually fed our whole family of 6 for 45 GBP!



Bryce actually was able to get a bite of this giant sized burger. He was quite happy with the portions!



We then were in a bit of a time crunch and hurried back to Dunluce Castle.


Dunluce Castle

This castle was once enormous. Its history is long with its prominent outlook of the coastline, its easily defended positioning, and its easy emergency escape with a cave tunnel below the castle!


But one very memorable event took place here...part of the castle fell into the ocean! It was part of the kitchen and during a storm it just fell off the cliff! A few servants were killed and after that the lady of the castle refused to live there any more.




The views of the coastline are what was the most absolutely breathtaking! There can't be any coastline as beautiful...now we understand why the U.K. doesn't want to relinquish this area of land!









They also had a ventilation system with the air flowing up off the rock face. The girls enjoyed having their hair blown!










After we explored the castle ruins we then decided to go down to the mysterious escape cave. Bryce tossed some rocks of good size into the waves for some really good sound effects.






Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge



Here you can see the island and (small) bridge from about 1 km away. You park and have to walk there and back




Bryce seemed to absolutely delight in the thought of his mother walking across a high narrow bridge over to an island cliff. But he was surprised when Jeanne made it (whispering like the donkey in Shrek..."don't look down, don't look down").



Christina didn't have any trouble at all crossing over the rope bridge. She is amazing! For a five year old she is such a willing participant. She can hike, climb and walk long distances over a full day without much complaint. Most wonderful is her excitement over what she is seeing!


Our timing was perfect in getting there because just after we got across, a HUGE mass of people arrived. We made it across and back with little wait!


We then drove along the coast toward Belfast. The coastal road was beautiful and wound in and out along the sea coast. We arrived at our hotel hungry and tired. This time we tried the Premier Inn hotel chain and we give them a hearty two thumbs up! Reasonably priced and it includes a good hot breakfast!

This however gets us to the other half of our trip that wasn't so perfect. Sunday morning was mothers day and it looked to be great with this wonderful restaurant breakfast...but Christina got sick. Yes, the U.K. definition of sick. Jeanne thought she was hungry because she fell asleep before the pizza arrived and should have been very hungry. BIG Mistake. So Jeanne stayed in the hotel while Christina slept and the rest of the family drove to a museum in Belfast. Fortunately, Christina popped up after 3 hours of intermittent sleep and was bright, happy and energetic...and hungry. We were able to make our flight back home without incident. Whew.

Still it was one FANTASTIC trip...one that all three kids said they would like to repeat.

It felt like mother's day

Jordan decided that he was tired of pot pie. Okay, maybe serving it three days in a row because we had leftovers was a bit much. But he came up with the idea to cook us all a special meal. I certainly wanted to encourage him since it was such a nice offer. So after church we stopped at the store and we bought his ingredients.

When dinner time rolled around it felt so good to be able to stay upstairs (working on my scrapbooking). Jordan sounded very industrious but I became a bit worried when he called Bryce in to help. Bryce actually left his favorite TV show, Top Gear, to help out in the kitchen. Then I hear LOUD laughter, more clanging, more laughter. Bryce then wants to know where the grater is located. More laughter.

"It's dinner time!" and we all spill into the kitchen. It looks delicious! Jordan (and Bryce) fixed chicken alfredo...how wonderful! But they did look guilty and I was a bit concerned. After the first bite I knew something had gone dreadfully wrong. It was STRONG. Very cheesy, but that wasn't the problem. Scott was the first to diagnose the problem..."does it have lemon juice in it?"

"Yes" was their reply.

Then Bryce volunteers "he read the recipie..."

Then I ask "but did he follow the recipie?"

Jordan answered "Well, the recipie called for 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice and I told Bryce 1 cup".

We laughed a lot during the meal and consumed most of the grilled chicken (unanimous approval). It wasn't a big surprise that we did have a lot of the the alfredo left over. When contemplating whether we should save any for another meal Scott piped in "well, it might encourage people to eat the pot pie".

Even with bad food, we still had a really fun family meal...though most of us are still a bit hungry.

Sightseeing, Sleeping and Singing in Paris

Madison's school group were invited to come and sing in Paris at two events. The first was at a small school close to the Eiffel tower, the second was at DISNEYLAND Paris!

So, because we couldn't miss seeing them we drove down too! Madison left with her group at 7 am on Monday of half-term and we followed shortly thereafter. (Unfortunately, we left Scott behind as he doesn't have the vacation days to spare for this year.)

We rode the ferry from the port of Dover to Dunkerque, France. As we left the port we saw the beautiful white cliffs from the oceanside perspective. They really are beautiful.

We met up with Madison's tour bus on Tuesday morning. They had graciously agreed to let us tag along and occupy a few of their empty seats as they toured Paris. The first stop was the Seine River cruise. We hadn't done that before so it was a nice change for our family.

Next was the Eiffel tower. And although we had visited there earlier last summer, it was nice because Jeanne had missed the first level and only heard how neat it was.











It was cold and breezy, but the kids still had fun.

After a performance for a small group of schoolchildren in a school in Paris, we continued our bus tour. We had some unexpected excitement when the bus turned left into an aggressive Frenchman who thought he should be able to squeeze in going straight on the left side of a left turning bus...crunch! ...another sterotype of driving in Paris that was proven true. But we lived through that AND through the flying bus across 5 lanes of traffic into the Arc d' Triomphe AND the motor scooter gang that broke the window of a car in front of us to steal a purse. YIKES! Jeanne then determined that she never wanted to drive in Paris! We did learn that many UK insurers have clauses that exclude coverage on any accidents that would happen on the Arc d' Triomphe because the roundabout rules are opposite to the norm...the right of way goes to the person entering the roundabout! So strange!

Christina was EXHAUSTED and fell asleep on Jeanne's shoulder.

We were exausted but got up early the next day to go to Euro Disney! Bryce and Jordan wanted to do the exciting rides while Christina only wanted to meet the Disney characters...especially Minnie and Mickey. Jeanne thought..."no problem!" famous last words...

So we tried to fast pass, but everything was closed or the lines were too long. 12 years ago we went there with Bryce in late January and had a great time because no one was there! We had the park to ourselves. But apparently, their marketing and reputation has improved significantly because it was quite full.


Bryce in 1997.

Kirkstone house was scheduled to sing at 12 noon in the fantasyland stage. Jeanne videotaped while Bryce got some camera pictures and video clips.




We wanted to make sure to get video of the whole performance for Scott to watch later.

They did SUCH a wonderful job. The stage, the lighting, just the fact they were in Disney PERFORMING on STAGE...it was all just incredible! Well done to all you Kirkstone House Choir singers and Mrs O'Rourke and Mrs. Lamb! It truly was the highlight of our trip to Paris!

Around 4 pm we decided to head over to MGM so Christina could meet the characters (we had heard you could meet them easier over there). But we found out that there were no more character meetings and we needed to go back to the Disneyland side. We split up because Christina really wanted to meet someone and she had been waiting so patiently. So, after waiting where the schedule said they would be we were directed to city hall who then told us to go and wait at 7:20 over by the small world. We waited and waited. But with 35 minutes more to wait we decided to ride the Small World ride (with no wait). We came out and the lights were on. Christina says "hurry mom RUN! We don't want to miss them" But we had no such luck. They were 25 minutes early and the last character was running in the door as we ran up. Daisy turned around for Christina though. She was disappointed and so we waited some more thinking more would come out. THEN Mickey and Minnie came! ...only to push Christina to the side as they walked past. Christina was a trooper and was only moderately sad. She tried to look at the positive side. I was so proud of her!

As we were leaving I thought I would let the City hall worker know that the schedule wasn't what she had said and to make up for it she actually arranged for a personal meeting with MICKEY!!!! Christina was grinning from ear to ear and actually didn't say anything...she just smiled. She felt so special it made all the running around worthwhile to see her so happy.

The next morning, Jeanne picked up Madison from the group hotel and we rejoined the boys at the apartment hotel. We packed up and then Jeanne made a spur-of-the-moment decision. She decided to Drive in Paris (even though she has said she wouldn't just 2 days earlier). The reason was that Jordan had never seen the Louvre (it's closed on Tuesdays). That was the ONE sight that Jeanne's sister had requested him to see. Thanks to the Tom-Tom we made it with no crashes or angry Frenchmen!

The boys ran in and saw Mona Lisa and were out in record time. Best of all kids are free! Hoorah!

Then came the next part of our journey... Geneva, Switzerland!

A long days drive brought us to the Alps and lots of tunnels. We arrived at the home of Merv and Barb Stalter. They are friends of ours from church back in Monticello. They were transferred over here about the same time we were in 2007. They have a wonderful home outside of Geneva and were gracious enough to share it with all of us.

Scott took friday off and joined us in the morning. We went to castle Chillion along Lake Geneva. We parked at Monteaux and walked along the lakeside to the castle. It was a beautiful day.


Castle Chillion is a wonderful example of a castle. It was built around 1150. We had a great time investigating the rooms from the foundations to the upper floor of the keep. It was incredible.






Our second day in Switzerland had us drive back into France and up to the Les Gets area (pronounced Lay-zhay). Barb has a sister with a chalet on the base of the ski slope and sledding area. Madison and Christina call it "sludging" as they do in the UK.













It was a wonderful afternoon of pizza lunch, relaxing in the sun and watching the kids sled down the hill. It was wonderful. Jordan and Merv got a half-day lift ticket and enjoyed skiing and snowboarding. Jordan actually ran into some friends from school on the slopes! It was a wonderful wonderful day!


Dinner was a traditional meal of raquette- melted cheese over vegetables and grilled meat. Merv is a great cook!

Unfortunately, we had to drive home...14 hours. But we had good memories of a great trip.

Prague-Blog

We left early Saturday to fly to a city we've heard a lot about...PRAGUE!





Bus 119 from the airport to the Metro




Our stop on the Metro






The transportation system in Prague is fantastic. We bought 3 day passes and one kid got to travel for free with us per adult- good deal! Bus 119 to the Metro and then straight to our hotel stop Namesti Miru. Okay, reading Czech words is difficult but the Metro system is so clearly marked that it made it quite easy.

While we waited for the room to be ready we had pizza lunch. Scott laughed so hard when my pizza came. I thought I'd try something new that sounded interesting. And when my pizza came he said "it looks like a pasture!" It actually did taste good when some of the "grass" was removed. Scott then said that we should box up the leftovers and bag the grass... He was on a roll.

The hotel room Aparthotel Susa was wonderful. It had 6 beds, a small kitchen AND was located very close to both the tram (#22 that goes to all of the tourist stops) and the Metro. YEA!








After a bit of confusion with our tour guide (Jeanne accidentally booked two tour guides- OOPS!) we were off to see the Castle area of Prague. Along the way our tram #22 was stopped by a protest march. Apparently some people were upset about the agreement with the US to build a missile defense station nearby. Our guide said that the unrest stems from uneducated viewpoints. Something about the people believing that it will house deadly radioactive production facilities. It was sad to see.



We went on to see the rest of the castle area of Prague. The ground was high and provided a great vantage point to see the city.


Architecture in Prague is different from what we've seen in our travels so far. Here is a building that was interesting in that different colors of plaster were layered and then scratched off making amazing detailed scratchings. This building was a national museum of art that was just recently refurbished.

Everyone was tired so we ate pizza again in our hotel room and went to bed early. The next morning we slept in. We got ready and Madison was thrilled to see snow outside. So she went down and enjoyed a raging snowball fight with the hotel clerk. It was quite funny!



This day of touring began with the Charles bridge. Although under construction, it was my favorite sight of the town. The bridge is long and has statues on either side. Another interesting tidbit was that the bridge was built on an unusual date. Legend says that the foundation stone was laid in 1357 on the 9th day of the 7th month at 5:31 AM and that Charles IV chose this time so that when the numbers are written it is a sequence of odd numbers, 1-3-5-7-9-7-5-3-1.

The Charles Bridge is also where St. John of Nepomuk was murdered for not telling the king's wife's confessions to the king. The kids called him "five-star guy" because they couldn't remember his name and every picture of him around town showed five stars around his head.


Supposedly, if you touch his picture of him being thrown off the bridge it means that you will come back to Prauge.





We toured Old town with its astronomical clock and the old town square. The astronomical clock was big and pretty but when it actually went off there wasn't much to it. Well, perhaps that is judging too harshly...I'm sure it was pretty fantastic back in 1410. When it rings pictures of the disciples go by the little windows that open while a skeleton rings a bell.


Poor little Christina was so c-c-c-c-old that Bryce gallantly gave up one of his layers to help keep her warm. What a wonderful brother you have Christina!

Just around the corner from the astronomical clock is the Huss church and a statue of John Huss that commemorates his influential life. In case you don't know, John Huss was a strong protestant voice against Catholicism. He was influenced by John Wycliffe and rejected Catholic teachings that were not based on scripture. The Moravian church was greatly influenced by Huss and so continued his influence around the world. However, Huss was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church and burned at the stake in 1415. History can be quite gruesome.


We left the square to go visit a church a few blocks away. You would think that would be safe from the gruesomeness of history...not here! Apparently a child tried to steal a treasure from the church and his arm was chopped off. Then to teach a lesson to all of the dangers of theiving they hung the arm up on the wall for 300 years! YIKES!

By then we were so frozen we needed a break. We stopped for some much needed hot chocolate in a CUBIST building whose interior was designed after that style. We really didn't care about the building though at that time...we just wanted to get WARM!



When Christina finally thawed she had a nice hot-chocolate smile.





We finished the tour off with walking through New town (not much to see unless you want to enjoy night life). BUT it was the sight of the student begun revolution against the communists. It began as a protest against the police but grew into a revolt against the government. Our guide told us that Poland and the Czech Republic were first in breaking free from Russia and then Berlin followed.

The Jewish Quarter was next. It housed Franz Kafka for awhile...strange man. But the history of the Jewish Quarter was very interesting. The Jews were forced to pay taxes to go in and out of their mandatory living quarter. It was against the law for them to live anywhere else. Then they were not allowed to do many jobs only money-lending! What I found interesting was how persecuted they were. There are only 200 remaining Jews in Prague now where there used to be 200,000 before the war. Largely due to mass murder during WW2, but also because the remaining survivors left for Israel. Prague had so many beautiful synogogues that weren't destroyed during the war they didn't know what to do with them. So they turned them into museums and concert halls! Another interesting aspect of the Jewish community here was how they had to bury their dead. They couldn't make more land so they were forced to bury bodies up to 12 deep! That is why their tombstones are like blades of grass throughout the cemetery (You can see them above the shop stalls behind the fence).


Scott and the older kids were tempted to go back in the evening for a ghost tour. The boys came back to the hotel and said that it was a complete waste of money...they wished that we had used the money for food! Apparently it was SOOO bad that it was actually a little bit funny. Bryce and Jordan were laughing throughout the tour. Good thing that they were the only ones on the tour! I guess we should have known...

Our third and final day brought more snow in the afternoon. We rode the funicular up to the castle hill to see the mini-eiffel tower...but it was closed. We then walked over to the mirror garden...but it was closed.








There are some downsides to travelling in the winter. On the upside though, the kids enjoyed a long snowball fight. Even Scott got in the mix. The kids didn't miss the other sights being closed!




We went back to the old town section and souvenir shopped. The kids all found some wooden toys. Jordan wanted the stacking blocks game while Bryce opted for a twisting rubics cube-like puzzle. I easily guessed that Madison was going to choose a magnetic puppet stage toy. Christina chose a really neat wooden three-headed dragon which will fit in well with their castle/petshop playing they do nightly in their room.

Tuesday morning we caught the fast Metro/bus back to the airport and landed in a snow filled England! That was a surprise! The kids were so excited to get into yet another snowball battle!

All in all it was a very relaxful fun trip. We saved a lot of money eating spaghetti and grilled sandwiches in the apartment, which with the way things are right now is a good thing! Maybe we CAN still travel on a very limited budget!

I wish the sun had shone some and that it had been a bit warmer, but it was a good trip.