Another trip to the ER

Bryce was prepared to take his GCSE test in biology on Wednesday. It was scheduled to start in the afternoon. But during break time Bryce and his friends were tossing around a rugby ball when they collided going after a ball and Bryce came up the loser.

It looked like Bryce had dislocated his ring finger so the school promptly took Bryce to the Emergency room in Stamford.


When Jeanne met up with Bryce he was just waiting for an x-ray. It came back with a fracture at the base of the finger.



When Bryce curled his finger his ring finger would twist over. That meant it needed to be straightened. They gave laughing gas during the procedure. He's smiling in this picture but Jeanne stopped taking pictures when they started to work. It was very painful. But Bryce was an incredibly brave kid.


Sometimes there are moments as a parent where you wish for anything to make it better but you can't, and then you look again at the situation and realize how much your "child" has matured and are proud.

After another x-ray we were told that we would need to go to a fracture clinic next week. That's the UK heath system over here! It was further complicated because we were to leave for Ireland for mid-term break.

But a miracle occurred when there happened to be an orthopedic doctor was AT the hospital (it was his clinic day), AND they had purposely half-booked his schedule with easy patients because his fellow doctor was out at a conference. SO... the doctor had lots of free time to see Bryce. The funny thing was that the nurses wouldn't have even asked if the doctor could see Bryce if Jeanne hadn't said that we were going to have to cancel our trip to Ireland. Then the nurses tried extra hard to work something out. YEA!!!!

We went into the office and after looking at the second x-rays the doctor then asked Bryce "how brave are you?" Which meant he needed to pull, tug and bend his finger some more. After much pain Bryce had a much straighter finger that didn't twist when bent.

The teacher who had chaperoned Bryce was required to do so because she had to vouch that Bryce hadn't received any text messages or met anyone who passed information about the test that was to be given. Weird but we won't complain because she was extremely helpful and nice. As they say over here..."no worries".

To top it all off Bryce left the hospital in a blaze of glory...the teacher who brought him had a convertible and put the top down. Bryce obviously felt very cool. We (Jeanne, Grandma and Sarah Rodman) watched Bryce drive off with his good fist punching up in the air shouting "YEAH!"

On the way back to school he told the teacher "I don't want to come here again, but if I do, I want you to bring me!"

:-)

Trip of a lifetime! 3 country middle-east tour

We arrived late to the three-corners resort in Taba Heights. We had booked last minute (for us) an all-inclusive trip with Thomson tours. We chose this tour for several reasons:
1- because of it's proximity to Cairo and Jordan it allowed us to visit both the pyramids and Petra which were must-sees for us.
2- because the older kids would only miss a small amount of school as their work experience week overlapped (which they had already completed).
3- the cost was pretty reasonable.

In the morning Christina awoke to Jeanne telling her that the red sea was just out our window. She was hysterical because she thought it was going to be red. Here is the video of her.

The first day at the resort we just relaxed and got our bearings. Scott and Jeanne had planning issues and money issues to solve.

(Note to any others contemplating a trip to Egypt/Jordan: bring lots of USD. Cash machines don't work well and everywhere easily exchanges for USD. Also bring lots of singles as tips are expected everywhere you go).

The resort was great. We arrived finally at the beach a bit late for snorkeling but we got a few minutes in while the sea was glass smooth. It was great!

Mount Sinai and St. Catherine's Monastery

The next morning we got up early to meet our taxi-van. This was prearranged with a tour guy from Cairo for $330 a day. We drove to St. Catherine's monastery and Mt. Sinai. We saw the burning bush. It was supposedly taken from a cutting from the original burning bush which is now located inside the chapel. There also is a well there where Moses met his wife. But the monastery was very crowded and we didn't see much because of the crowds. The kids and Scott then climbed up the opposite mountain for a birds-eye view of the valley. The kids are so funny in that they just love to climb rocks and explore! They saw that mountain and couldn't resist! Although we had originally planned to walk up to the top of the mountain we realistically didn't have time. I guess we always have to leave something to do next time!

Cairo

From there we drove in our van to Cairo. We were accompanied by one driver, one guide and one "tourist police". The tourist police officer is required for foreigners. There were numerous checkpoints along the road. The road would have bumps and barriers and require stopping in front of police shacks. When I looked I could always see a police officer located somewhere in a turret with an automatic rifle facing the road. It was a bit unnerving, but we were told it is to control the unauthorized movement of Egyptians in the Sinai peninsula not for control of us foreigners. They faithfully checked the license of the driver every time we stopped.

Anyway, back to our trip... The Sinai peninsula is completely barren. The mountains are all dry rock and rubble. There didn't seem to be anything green for miles and miles. However, on our way to Cairo from St. Catherine's we did find an oasis of sorts with palm trees growing everywhere. It was interesting!

The roads were very windy and desolate. The sand blew over the roads and made for interesting driving. But the long 6 hour drive was made even more interesting because of the manner in which Egyptians drive! They really like the middle of the road and will pass at any time! Two official lanes are easily made into 3 or 4 by crowding and jocky-ing. We just were amazed that there weren't any wrecks especially in Cairo!

We arrived late for dinner and met by our official Cairo guide. The hotel that Jeanne chose was not ideal. But we endured the single pane windows facing a busy street... When we woke we saw a beautiful sight of the pyramids. We were excited for our day to start!





First stop was the Egyptian museum however. Jeanne was quite enthusiastic about seeing king Tut as we had missed the tour when it came to London.


The thing that was amazing was that the mask isn't painted as it had appeared in pictures. The blue and colors are actually inlaid stones! It was really beautiful!

The thing about Egypt (and especially Cairo) is that it really is dirty. We had been warned that the money was filthy and that we had to have plenty of hand sanatizers. Jeanne thought she was going way overboard with the constant handwashing and anti-bacterial wipes that we used...but it wasn't enough. Madison still got a bit of the tummy bug. Fortunately Scott had prepared with purchasing the medicine ahead of time. The other fortunate thing was that it hit when we had access to toilets in the museum. Egypt doesn't have many toilets. Thank God the medicine works fast!

We went on to a buffet lunch and then to the SPHYNX and the PYRAMIDS!

We walked around the Sphynx first alone...well not quite alone...our tourist police officer accompanied us. It did make me wonder if he was there to watch us or to protect us... Our tour guide was muslim and had to pray at that certain time. It worked out fine as we were able to explore around the sphynx and get some good pictures.




Okay, maybe this isn't a great picture...but it is funny!






Finally, we drove to the other side the hill where we entered the pyramid area. We walked around the great pyramid. It took a lot of restraint on our kids part to not try to climb the pyramid. Those stones were calling out their names, but they refrained. It's a good thing too because it doesn't appear that you would want to cross those police! There were also plenty of sales vendors and boys pestering you to ride their camels.

The blocks were absolutely enormous! They varied in size but were all transported from other areas. The pyramids are built on a bedrock foundation. The interesting thing is that for 3,800 years the great pyramid remained the tallest man-made structure in the world. It was unsurpassed until the 160 meter tall spire of the Lincoln Cathedral (only one hour away from us in Manthorpe) was completed in 1300. COOL!

We drove up to the tour bus vantage point where you can see all three large pyramids. There we got our family photo that we've been wanting! Surprisingly, we were there on a day where Cairo actually got a smattering of rain. But our photo still turned out great!

This may end up our 2009 Christmas photo!


The kids were so excited to be able to ride a camel down to the second pyramid. Madison made a funny face when the camel looked at her strangely. It was hysterical!

We were then able to climb into the center through a tunnel. The tunnel height was quite short. Only Christina was able to stand upright- the rest of us had to walk or crawl bent over. The oxygen was low and the humidity was high. But we made it! I would never try it on a hot summer day though! Unfortunately, they took my camera before we went in and we weren't allowed to take photographs. I did find someone who had videotaped it and posted it to you tube. So if you're curious you can watch it.
Entrance to the tunnel of the second pyramid (Khafre). Our guide told us that the tunnels were the same as the great pyramid and the cost was significantly more so we opted for the cheaper experience.



Crossing the borders Taba-Eilat-Aqaba

We woke up early again for an uncertain day. Obtaining information on the crossing was difficult and we had a number of uncertainties. We also had been strongly discouraged by various Egyptians who wanted us to stay in Egypt. They obviously didn't trust the Israeli's. There was a ferry that crosses from Taba to Aqaba that would have been ideal but they charged full price and really only allowed for one day tours. We were wanting two days and the logistics just weren't working. So we had to resort to the uncertain land route.

It actually turned out perfect. Our taxi from the hotel dropped us off at the border. We bought our egyptian duty stamps (licked with our anti-bacterial wipes) and easily crossed over the no-man's land into Israel. We went through Israeli security very easily. In fact, as American's we were greeted warmly and with smiles everywhere we went!

We met a taxi on the other side who radio-ed for another car to take us all over to the Jordan crossing. Again no problems...US dollars worked fine.

Petra

Jordan was especially welcomed with his name matching the country. The security all thought it was wonderful! We got tons of "Jordan in Jordan" pictures.

We were met by our prearranged minivan taxi (through our hotel in Petra) and continued on to Petra. Scott struggled again with a cash machine but we finally were able to check in and get to exploring Petra.

Petra actually was #1 on Jeanne's must-see list...which is why we were so persistent in trying to cross the borders. And it truly was worth every bit of trouble. We walked down a wide road that sloped down to the valley. We saw an occasional carved building but we were all surprised by the beauty of the rock when we made it to the Siq. It's a strange word, but it is the narrow crevasse of rock that was used by the Nabataeans as the entrance to their elaborate city. It winds and meanders down and down. Water was difficult even back then, so they used the water that flowed down from the Moses spring to feed an aquaduct. They carved it into the rock also.


The brilliant reds in the rocks have earned the Petra the name of the "rose-red city". We exited the siq to be faced with the most enormous, mind-blowing building that was carved INTO the rock face... the treasury. It is where the Nabataeans collected their road taxes. Since Petra was the crossroads of travel taxes are where they obtained their wealth that they flaunted in their amazing rock buildings. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Nabataeans they are thought to have originated from the wandering beoduin tribes of the desert. They formed a connection of oasis in the desert trade routes and charged taxes of those who used their roads. They were conquered in about 300 BC and then had their gradual decline under the Roman empire's control. Then they mysteriously vanished. The city of Petra became a legend and wasn't discovered again until 1812 when it was found by a Swiss explorer.


Can you imagine discovering this place and walking through the beautiful Siq and walk straight into this carved building! What an incredible sight!
From the treasury we continued down into the wider valley where they mixed carved buildings with constructed buildings. We then walked up to the upper market area and behind to catch a trail that wound up to the high altar.


The trail led through a roman soldier hall and then continued up. We were a bit perplexed as we knew the trail continued on but we couldn't see anywhere to walk. We were surrounded by steel walls and carved buildings but no pathway! Finally, we discovered the hidden stairway up. It was getting late an there was no one else on the paths to help with directions or information. But we continued on...

Here's a fun video in Petra.


The stairs were steep and seemed to go on forever. The views were fantastic but Jeanne was starting to get worried about making it OUT of Petra before Dark. We weren't to the top yet so we kept climbing. We had seen a video about Petra and we knew what the high altar was supposed to look like but we actually never found it. We were running out of time as the sun was setting. Petra is not a place we would want to be after dark without flashlights! So we took pictures from the top of an amazing lookout over the Petra valley. I wish we had more time. But we needed to climb down.










A view from the top!


Again the stairs were steep and provided a great cardiovascular workout...even going downhill!

When we finally made it down we discovered Petra was nearly deserted. We walked back to the treasury and were able to get some great photographs with no one else in them! The walk back up the Siq was absolutely amazing.

Words can't really describe and pictures (even the great ones we got) don't seem to do it justice. But it was very likely the best day of our entire traveling adventure over here in Europe.

Wadi Rum

We were absolutely exhausted with sore feet and tired muscles from our walk into Petra the previous day. We considered going again and trying to visit some of the sights that we didn't get to see...but opted to take the taxi home via Wadi Rum instead. Wadi Rum is one of the sights where the movie Lawrence of Arabia was filmed. And it really is beautiful. We were able to take a 2 hour ride on the back of a jeep. That in itself was an adventure! (see below video)

We stopped at a spring where the kids climbed up the mountain to see the spring (can you hear the music...climb every mountain...). Then Madison was able to finally roll down a sand dune. She had been asking the entire trip to find some sand dunes and then we were at one...a RED one!





The kids had a great time playing in the sand.

We completed the tour with a climb into a canyon (not near as impressive as Petra) and a stop at a Nabataean building outside of the current tribal village. It was yet again a wonderful day.

We crossed the borders with a significant delay in the Israeli security section (a tour bus with luggage was ahead of us). But we still made it across, called our Israeli taxi man and made it back to Egypt.

Here is a picture of Madison in the Jordan-Israel border of the no mans land. There was a sign behind that there were mines in the ground between the fences. But truly everyone was exceedingly friendly to us.

We were surprised by the ENTRANCE tax imposed at the Taba border. And although we didn't have enough cash our taxi driver from the hotel thankfully loaned us the money. Another example how important it is to have extra USD with you when you go to Egypt!




Taba Heights

We had one more DAY of relaxing at our hotel and snorkeling as our plane didn't depart until the evening. We all really enjoyed the last day in the sun.

Even Christina (who had been working up to it and practicing in the pool) decided to try to snorkel in the ocean. There was great coral and lots of fish to see. It was a great place to learn how to snorkel!

When we arrived at the airport we were shocked to see how lax their security was. Jordan had a 2 liter bottle of water that he sent through their unmanned x-ray machine. We walked through with it fully visible! Then the man who was standing by the human metal detector left! People were walking in and out! Taba functions only for charter planes but we still were a bit unnerved by the lack of security!

Here's a funny video that we shot at the time. Watch for Bryce's facial expression. What a hoot!

The kids all decided that they wanted to come back to the hotel again. It was the trip of a lifetime!

Tour of the middle east

Well... we made it!

This trip has been the trip of a lifetime. We have so many wonderful photographs. In fact we have so many that I had to rethink how to display them. For now you can view a slideshow video that we combined with still photographs and video. Please allow time for the video to load...it will be worth it!


Here are our other videos (much shorter) that are worth viewing.








We also had the opportunity to climb into the pyramid. They didn't allow photographs or video, but someone else broke the rules and posted it to Youtube. If you're curious you can view a portion of the crawl with this link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vwl9UU0THg






More to come soon...

Scott's brother and family come to visit and we take them to the end of the earth!

Okay, maybe it's not the end of the earth but Lands End seems like it for us here in the UK.

Due to our large numbers (our family of 5+1 and Davids family of 3) we had to drive two vehicles. Jeanne drove the van with the girls to pick them up from the airport while Scott was to meet us in Glastonbury with the boys. Traffic of course around London was awful but they were delayed too at the airport without a gate so it worked out perfectly. We headed straight for Stonehenge and they were able to see it and not get rained on! Actually they had fantastic weather for most of the trip!

Jordan braved sleeping in Scott's car overnight...actually he preferred it to sleeping in the room! Teenagers! We unfortunately weren't able to visit the Tor but it looked very interesting! Glastonbury is heavily rooted in the Arthurian legends which state that Joseph of Aramethia brought the chalice Jesus used in the last supper (or holy grail) and it is buried in the Tor. Now it seems to be a mystical hang out. But the tor looked really neat...another trip we need to make as we didn't have time to stop there this trip!


Mount of St. Michael


Friday morning we drove straight to the Mount of St. Michael. If any of you have read our blog on our first big trip during Christmas of 2007 we visited a very similar island in France that bears the same name (even though it's in France it still is one of Jeanne's favorite places!). This Mount however, is located in the Cornwall region of southwest UK and was really interesting also! The most intriguing part was the stone walkway to the island. When we arrived we played on the sand and rocks and then walked across this beautiful cobbled stone path to the "island". We signed up for the national trust and then began to climb up to the castle.



To our surprise, when we looked back we saw that the ocean had risen over the path and several people still were braving the waves. (It was an island now!)






The Castle on top was not enormous but it was interesting with the winding passageways even with some secret doors!








The views from the top were amazing.











As we got ready to leave Scott teased Madison about having to walk back on the path.







Since the tide had come in while we were on the island we had to take the shuttle boat back. Quite exciting!




Then as we walked back to the car we saw the most hysterical sight... there was a very patient dog allowing a boy to bury his tail in the sand. TOO FUNNY!


Next we drove through the town of mousehole. It actually is pronouced MOW (rhyming with cow) and then ZEL. We decided after driving through that it actually should be mouse-hole as the roads were exceedingly narrow and congested. It was a cute town but with no parking available we just drove through with many holding-your-breath moments (especially for my big van!).


Lands End




Lands end was only a few minutes away so we drove there and parked. It didn't look like much from the parking lot and Jeanne almost didn't stop. But we paid the parking fee and got out and stretched. There was a walking path down which we took to some breathtaking scenery.










This picture shows the amazing coastline best. What a beautiful day!


It was the end of the road for the UK. To symbolize this they have a cute sign. Unfortunately, we actually didn't get to see the sign or take pictures of it as it tends to be stolen and we arrived just after closing time when they put it away. John-O'Groats is actually the most north-easterly village on the mainland of the UK. We didn't figure that out until we came home and looked at our map. (Now Jeanne wants to go to John O'Groats!)






Jordan next to the cliffs (and he's not pretending to fall off!)













Tintagel Castle Ruins

Beautiful weather greeted us again Saturday so we decided to head for Tintagel Castle. Our hotel was in Bodmin so we headed north. It's amazing how short distances can feel so long because of the narrow windy roads here in the UK. Tintagel is the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. Although there is little fact associated with the legend it still persists. There also is little left of the castle that once stood on the rocky island. But that does not detract from the beautiful scenery.


Here is a picture with Christina holding baby Andrew's hand as we walked down the steep walkway towards the castle. He was such a good baby throughout the trip! Hardly a peep as long as he got a good nap or two!




The girls really enjoyed playing with him too and distracting him the few times he did get fussy. They also played a major role in helping him pose for pictures. As long as the girls stood near the photographer he would look right at it! It really was fun having a baby around again!


Our kids of course were drawn to the sea. So our first stop was to spend some time running from the waves, splashing and climbing.







There also was an interesting sea cave called Merlin's cave that the kids climbed through to the other side. So fun!









Next was the steep climb up to the original castle.

















Not much was left of the castle but it still was the highlight of our day with its breathtaking views of the dramatic coastline. It definitely helped having gorgeous weather too!




The cliff drop-offs were very frightening...especially to one who is fearful of heights! On our trips the kids seem to like to make jokes and tease Jeanne.



Here is one example of a Jordan joke. This actually has land below not too far down. But as Jeanne walked up it didn't appear that way. So Jordan posed as Jeanne walked up.

HEART FAILURE!




This is the view from the opposite side of the bay. To the left is where you enter and exit. To the right is the island where the castle once stood. the smaller dark space below on the right is the entrance to Merlins cave.

What a beautiful day!


To make it back to where we parked the car we had to walk down from the castle ruins and then up the back (incredibly steep) stairs. Christina was amazing in her dedication to climb them by herself and not complain. She is such a good traveler.



Lanhydrock

We ended the day with a visit to the Lanhydrock House. It was rated highly in our guidebook so we decided to visit the house and gardens. In the past we tended to visit only castles, but this trip we expanded to manor homes that are part of the national trust. This home was amazing with it's vast hallways and size. The gardens were incredible too with most of their flowers in springtime bloom.




Eden Project

The next day we went to our last big stop in Cornwall... the Eden Project.

Although we don't tend to be the hug-a-tree / conservation-at-any-cost type of family, we did enjoy the massive greenhouse bubbles. The large one was the Amazon climate with lush palm trees, banana trees, and even cocoa trees!


We had never seen a cocoa tree and were amazed to learn that their pods form on the trunk! So cool!

The other greenhouse bubble was for the mediterranean climate plants which temperature-wise was really much more pleasant.





Restormel and Okehampton Castle Ruins




Along our way to our last hotel in Cheltenham we stopped at two castle ruins. The first one was Restormel which was a really cool circular castle ruins.







The next was Okehampton castle. This castle ruins was made all the more interesting by the large mound where the keep once stood with a precariously tilting section of wall. Both were great stops to break up our journey.



Shakespeare's home in Stratford-Upon-Avon

Our drive home brought us by Shakespeares birth home so we decided to stop. We visited here when we lived in Germany 1997-8 so we finally made it back with Madison and Christina (I'm sure Bryce got much more out of it this time too). Surprisingly, it had changed a lot! Okay, you don't think of something almost 500 years old changing much in 12 years...but it had! The museum of the birth home of Shakespeare used to be an empty house with little inside. There were no displays that we can remember either. Anyway, once we went through the high-tech video theatre(s) and were funneled into the back door of the home it was very interesting. Just knowing you're in such an old house is amazing.



Baddesley Clinton

Our final day on the road took us close to Warwick and our next stop... Baddesley Clinton. Okay, it is an odd name but a fantastic house. I knew it would be good when the parking lot was full. The manor house has a moat around it! It also was really neat in that it had priest-holes. Apparently during the reign of Elizabeth (Henry the 8th's daughter) she approved the hunting and removal of Catholic priests. So many Catholic families including weathy ones hid the traveling priests. But they had to be clever about it because the priest hunters would tap walls, feel the warmth of beds, look for catholic items etc. In Baddesley Clinton they climbed down two floors inside a sewage space. They used a rope to get to a chamber between the stone walls and that was located partially below the moat! Amazing!

David and Sarah had been travelling for a long time and were visably happy to finally make it to our home in Manthorpe... we were too.

Ancient Tree near Manthorpe

April 5, 2009

Today at church we learned of an ancient tree near our town of Manthorpe. We were told that we had to visit it sometime...so we decided that today was the day! We left Manthorpe and turned left onto the Stamford road and didn't travel far at all before we saw a weathered sign for the Ancient tree. A long farm lane led us to a house where we awkwardly parked. But someone came out to greet us and told us that we could pay about 10 pounds for our family to visit the ancient tree in their backyard. The homeowner told us that all of the funds go to charity and then showed us books where their tree was listed.














Some really old photographs showed how the hollowed out inner part of the trunk actually sat 12 people for a "tea". Unfortunately it hasn't done too well in the later years and is now held together with massive chains. She claimed that the oak tree was 800 years old (or more). By the looks of it she might be right! But it was a very interesting tree!

We then WALKED home! We find it very strange how the British have walkways through farmers fields. This farmer talked about how they were required to keep a certain pathway MOWED for people to walk through THEIR field (animal pasture and crop field)...strange...