Abu Dhabi, 4x4 and Camels

Another amazing day here in the United Arab Emirates!
We started off with a very productive morning of convention time - and then went crazy afterwards.
Another teacher took the initiative and for $20, we went (quickly) to Abu Dhabi to see the world's 3rd largest mosque, pictured below.

Was such an amazing place - I had NO idea what we were going to see -just had heard about it & about Abu Dhabi, that's it...blind faith I paid my $20 and got in the back of a small van with 13 others and south we went. Was about an 80 min van ride to get to this place... as you can see from the pics, it's HUGE... and it's not done! All the women had to dress in garb, no matter if you already had elbows, shoulders & knees covered (see pic above). Was weird 'posing' as a muslim, but went with it... what an amazing place, so new, so clean, so white, so massive!! Did a quick tour around the outside and back north we went...soooo glad I went - it was amazing!

Had enough time to come back before heading out in our 4x4 jeeps to the camel farm. So, our vehicle was a Toyota Land Cruiser - was in the back again. Our driver, Nourmand, took us for a ride - it was AMAZING! Thru the sand dunes we went, slip sliding along the way. Someone must have told him to go crazy on ours cuz he sure did. Was not something for the faint of hear... or stomach... a handful felt quite ill afterwards.

We got to stop again to see this sunset... gorgeous! Love seeing the rays coming directly out of the sun, just over hte desert horizon.

We ended at a Beoduim camp, ride camels, drank coffee/tea, had a great dinner, saw belly dancers, some people got Hennas, some smoked hookas... was a gorgeous night in the desert. A bit chilly, but toelrable... and by chilly I mean low 60s/upper 50s... perfect!

Such an adventurous day full of surprises and lots of laughter & fun... This place never ceases to amaze me!!

Tomorrow we're off to the East Coast, then back for New Years celebration - can hardly wait!!

Hoping to get some great fireworks shots, so stay tuned!!

Happy New Years to all!!

Hugs

City of Contrasts

What a day in Dubai! I think we saw it all in a span of the day!

We started our day at the Souks: Spice & Gold. Took a water taxi to the spice souk - similar to Venice, just motorized. Was a bit more civilized than the markets in Tunisia & Morocco, but they were pushy and peristent, but it was all clean and didn't smell bad. Did have a SATC2 situation going into a shop - felt like the forbidden experience, but we got ourselves out of there and tried to wind our way out of that market. Saw the oldest mosque... built in 1976, so not all that old.

We then headed into 'old' Dubai with the world's largest tower, pictured below. We first did a drive by and headed to 'new' Dubai. Saw the palm fronds, where the Atlantis hotel is located, saw the 'world' sand dunes. Headed back to 'old' Dubai to go to the Dubai mall. The tower is located there. You have to go into the mall, cut across to get to the base of the tower. Takes you up the 100+ floors in 60 seconds. No, your stomach doesn't go up into your throat, but your ears sure do pop.

From the tower you could see for miles and miles... seeing all the sand was fascinating because we're in this big city and don't even think about it being in a desert. You can see the palm fronds much better and Atlantis, the horsetrack, etc.... Absolutely amazing to see Dubai from up there. At night it's all lit up and someone said it sparkles on the hour... will have to see that to believe it myself.

Coolest part we found out is that this is where we're doing our New Year's Eve celebration, near the tower!!! They've already started putting up the mechanisms for all the fireworks... holy cow!!

After a super quick lunch of hamburger nuggets (long story), we headed out to see the 7 star hotel. (pictured below). You apparently cannot even go into the lobby to see it - it's gated off. I heard it's $110 for a 7-course lunch and you cannot take any pictures at lunch to 'protect the privacy of the patrons.' Guess Tiger would stay there...I'm sure not with his wife...

Our last stop today was the Emirates mall... unreal! We literally had 30 minutes here so off to check out Ski Dubai we went. Literally it's mini-Switzerland indoors. Everyone is bundled up and you can ski, snowboard, tube and even Zorb, in the snow. Unreal... Someone said it was 10 degrees (maybe less).

Our last activity of the day was a dinner cruise on the 'creek'. so peaceful and relaxing - wish we could have sat outside. Duabi is cracking down on the booze - no alcohol unless it's from a hotel. Only hotels are allowed liquor licenses, so nada on the boat :( But we'll def have it for New Years. Not that we're all into getting sloshed, but a glass at wine is usually nice.

If I had to describe Dubai, it's a city of contrasts. You can see the Muslim culture/language, etc... but then you see A LOT of english, even Christmas trees, Christmas music, Christmas displays... The other thing you notice is the extravagance & wealth - almost sickening - the construction out on the Palm - a Trump tower coming soon - a night at the Atlantis is $35k. Saw Ferraris, even a Bentley, Rolls Royce, Jaquars... craziness. So, it's been hard to get a feel for this city that seems to be fighting their muslim roots to maybe please the 80% ex-pats that live here. The money/wealth is a bit hard to swallow too... that if they want something, like skiing in snow, in a desert, they just build it... needless to say it's just been a fascinating day, that's for sure!

Tomorrow will be another amazing day - we have convention in the a.m. and someone got a wild hair to go to Abu Dhabi, so we found a company to takes us there & back for $20/each. Then, we're off in 4x4 jeeps to the camel farm and the dunes before a BBQ dinner in the desert... I know, craziness, right?!?! That's how I feel too - a bit overwhelmed and not sure what to feel, but excited for what the next day will bring, and the next... and the next...

Oh, and btw... weather today was sunny, one piddly little cloud in the sky - upper 70s... heavenly.

Stay warm my friends!

Hugs

Bark-a-loungers, Tablecloths & Nutcups - Oh my!

Well, it took me 24 hrs to get here, but it was a nice ride here. I flew out of Moline to Chicago - got my nice Economy Plus seats. Had a whole dance team on our overbooked flight - boy, did they teacher need to go thru some airport training - they were a mess in security.


Had a 4 hr layover in O'Hare, but thanks to my kind brother, I spent most of that time in the Red Carpet Lounge - thanks for the pass, hermano! I felt like such a poser - had no idea what it would be like nor what really to expect. It's basically a lounge area, club chairs everywhere, many people on their laptops, a bar in the back with free drinks (beer, wine, soda...) and a snack bar with cookies, crackers & cheese, veggies & dip... very nice ladies running the place... and super quiet! Weird part was that there were a bunch of kids in there... not what I expected!



Headed to my gate just before boarding to hear them calling out a bunch of names. Well, my last name, as you know is not easy to pronounce, so when i heard something similar, I decided to check it out. Sure enough, they did call me and said they needed my Econ Plus seat (WHAT?!) but they were bumping me to BUSINESS CLASS!!!!!!!!!! I about jumped for joy right there. Again, feeling like a poser!

As you can see from the above photo, I was in a bark-a-lounger for the 8+ hr flight. SOOOO wanted to take many pics, but had to act semi-cool, like I was supposed to be there and not act like a kid in the candy store. Took me a bit to figure out the chair, the lounger part... Needless to say I slept super well!! A little champagne, couple glasses of vino helped as well :) Oh, and the food... wow... airlines can serve crunchy vegetables!! When they came around for our dinner selections, they greeted us by our names and asked what our 2 choices were... we then got linen tablecloths put on top of our trays and had real silverware, glasses and dishes... Unreal!

Although the best comment of the entire flight happened early on... we got little cups filled with hot nuts...oh yum!! They came around and refilled them "Would you like more hot nuts, ma'am?" and at the end... "Are you done with your nut cup, ma'am?" Couldn't help but smirk! :) Mature, I know!

Going from such a luxurious flight to Lufthansa's pack 'em in flight to Dubai was a bit of a let down - was crammed in next to the window, but they had free drinks there as well. Was fascinating flying over the gulf and seeing all the boats all lit up. Duabi airport is huge - before you get to the passport control, many people (not us) had to stand in the Eye Scan line... Passport control was ridiculous - literally over an hour in line... we landed at 11:30, our hotel is 15-20 min away - we didn't get here til 1:30+

Our hotel is lovely - I have a room with a view of the skyline. Weather is perfect...

Welcome to Dubai!!

All packed!

Cedric's all packed... he's got his passport all ready to go... life is good!! This will be a new thing for Cedric & I - we are doing a trip over New Year's and are very excited! We're off to Dubai today! Yes, you read that right, Dubai.. as in the United Arab Emirates. In case you don't know where that is... and don't feel bad, not many people do... it's east of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. If you watched Sex & the City 2, they were in Abu Dhabi - Dubai is just north.
I am going with a tour - not by myself, no worries. It's an EF convention for a week, with 4 hrs of designated 'convention time'... which is then followed by a trip to the camel farm along with dune buggying!!
I am a tad nervous since it's a new country and definitely a new culture that I have never experienced... and since the last time I was in Morocco, I was offered all the camels in the desert, it just adds to my nervousness. It's a progressive, yet conservative area, so women were cautioned on clothing - no shoulders/knees and no elbows in mosques... hope my toes will be okay because I've got my sandals packed. But never fear, it'll be great and you know I'll have some great stories and good pics to share.
Weather is predicted to be perfect!! Mid/Upper 70s with NO precipitation in sight...sigh...
Luckily I am NOT flying thru the eastern seaboard (snow!). I connect thru Chicago & Frankfurt, so am quite happy they cleared up their snowy mess. There's a 10 hour time difference between Iowa & Dubai... and will take me about 24 hours to get there. I arrive around 11:30 pm on Tuesday and we hit the ground running on Wednesday with a city tour, Gold Souks & welcome dinner. Thursday is convention, camels, dune buggies, and a BBQ dinner. Friday, New Year's Eve, takes us on a tour of the east coast, of Dhaid, Dibba, Gulf of Oman and Masafi, before we ring in the New Years downtown Dubai. Saturday takes us out to the emirates of Sharjah and Ajman and a good-bye dinner. Luckily, I got the 'late' flight out on Sunday - 8:30 am - others depart at 2:30 am.

Santa was thinking and got me an international cell - yippee!! We'll see how it works.. and how much it costs me. So, unless something is on fire, just email me. I'm taking my Netbook and am hoping to blog while I'm over there.

Please keep me in your thoughts & prayers for safe travels, new friends, amazing adventures, and wonderful stories to share!
Stay warm & talk soon!
Hugs ~ steph and cedric :)

Arrevederchi Roma!!

What an amazing day in Rome... and what a long one!! We started off the day by heading to the Vatican. Went thru the museum, Sistene Chapel and then St. Peter's Basilica. It was my first time in the Sistene Chapel - a-mazing!! All the marble in the Basilica was so impressive! After a quick lunch, we hopped on the bus & headed to the colusseum. Awesome again!

Yes, I took this picture - Impressive, huh!? It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Rome today! Couldn't have asked for anything better! Got to climb up a few levels and check the place out. Wow... then went across the street and saw the Roman Forum... more amazing sites!

This is sunset over the Roman Forum... sunsets in Italy are quite colorful!

After some free wandering time... and some GELATTO :)... we had our farewell dinner. What a great group of Group Leaders on the awesome RED bus! Our evening activity was a Rome by Night tour... a sort of hop-on, hop-off experience. Hit Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps, all the big places all lit up... wow... Well, on our walking tour, we saw my Ferrari - just out of the shop - all polished, ready to go!! We had seen 2 Lambourghinis earlier, so this just topped it all off!!

The awesome staff on the Red Bus:

Lino, Stefania, me, Sarah, Jen, Shea, Kathy, Stephanie, Bob

Sadly, it's time to leave this amazing place! Can't believe it's been 16 yrs since I've been here.. had to admit that... It was incredible.. the sights, the sounds, the smells, the food, the culture... all breathtaking. Cannot wait to bring the kids back here in June... it'll be a tad :) bit warmer, but that's to be expected. Am pulling an all nighter... we didn't get back to the hotel until after midnight and I'm on the early bus transfer at 4 am, so repacked, showered, blogging and off we go... FCO --> FRA --> ORD --> MLI.

Back I go... for a while... :) No more travel, that I know of, until Dec. 27.

Hope all is well and that the snow is melted by the time I get there!

Hugs ~ steph :)

Another gorgeous day in Roma...

It was another gorgeous day in Roma today... sigh... and after hearing what the weather's like at home, I'd prefer to stay here... not ready for winter!

We had our Orientation presentation today which went quite well. We then quickly changed clothes & headed into town for a free afternoon.



As you see in the above photo, barely a cloud in the sky... 65 degrees maybe... perfect! We walked all the over the place... strolled is maybe a better descriptor.

Had to have gelatto... I've been here 3 days and this is my first gelatto - that's not right!! It was quite yummy! I had a scoop of Kinder (a kind of candy) and mint - delicious! Jen had Nutella (I think). We continued on our walk and headed to the 'Bone Church."

Yes, those are all bones/skulls used as decoration of the chapel. btw... this is an illegal picture since there is not to be any photos, but I couldn't resist and words could not do this justice. I couldn't get a pic of the bone chandeleire... craziness!!

We then hiked around the corner on a lovely tree-lined street that reminded me of Paris and found the Hard Rock! Yes, I'm a HRC tshirt junkee!! But apparently since I was soooo focused on the HRC, we missed the American Embassy across the street! lol

Lastly we ended on the Spanish steps. Here's a photo of part of the staff on our RED bus: Stephanie, Bob, Kathy, me & Jen. It was gorgeous there at night. We wandered back, met up with the rest of the staff. Had a fabulous meal at this waaaaay of the beaten path restaurant that only has seating at 8 & 9:30. Had fried artichoke, wonderful homemade pesto pasta & lamb... sigh... course had some lovely red wine. We then met up with the other Group Leaders at the Irish Bar appropriately named Trinity College and topped it all off with a Guinness... yeah!

Tomorrow is a HUGE day for us. Vatican, Sistene Chapel, Colusseum, Forum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps... a bunch more places I won't remember their names... then a night tour of this amazing city. Can't wait to bring the kids here in June!

Stay warm, my Iowa friends! I'll try to smuggle some amazing weather back with me!

Hugs ~ steph :)

ROMA!!!

Yes, I'm off again... this time to ROMA!! I'm here doing a presentation to new Group Leaders on their EF Training Tour. And, since I haven't been to Italy since college...yikes... and it's on the tour I'm doing with kids this summer, I was over the moon when they asked me to come present.



Arrived on Wednesday in the rain and was given quite a ride by our taxi driver. But, the weather cleared up and we had a staff dinner with the other 2 buses that are also here. Some old, dear friends are on the other buses and have made some wonderful, new friends.



Here are two of my favorite people, Bob & Bruce. Bob is on my current bus - I was paired up with him last year on my 1st Training Tour and am quite delighted to be paired back up with him. Bruce, on the right, has been a former partner-in-crime as well for 2 Training Tours, including this past summer in Beijing. He's on the blue bus this time... GO RED!!





Another old/new face on the blue bus is my Tour Consultant, Brian, out of the Denver office. Was nice chatting and catching up with him at dinner. He works so hard to make sure all our tour components are ready before we depart. Great guy - I truly appreciate all the work he does!

Today all the new Group Leaders arrived... and boy are they looking tired tonight.. typically on your 1st day in Europe. We went with the 1st group of early arrivals and headed into center city for a walking tour. Sadly it poured the entire way into town and I was pretty sure our walking tour was going to be miserable. The minute we stopped the bus was the minute it stopped raining - yippee!! We did a lovely walking tour, ending at the Parthenon where we had free time/lunch time... course we had to get some Pizza for lunch....yum! The weather was absolutely gorgeous today - such beautiful blue skies! Our hotel is outside center city, which is common in Rome, but nothing tragic. Headed back into Center City for dinner after we got everyone checked in. Had a lovely meal of red wine, pasta, pork, and tiramisu... 2 nights in a row of Tiramisu... if you insist!! :)

Friday is our presentation day and then we have a free afternoon/evening. Saturday is our tour the entire city day... it may have not been built in a day, but we're gonna see it in a day. Have an appt with the Pope at 10 :) I can hardly wait to bring the kids here this summer! It'll be a tad bit warmer than now, but what I've seen so far has been quite overwhelming, I cannot wait until free time Friday and Saturday's amazing day... YIPPEE!!!

Will post pics tomorrow/Saturday hopefully before I leave a 4 am on Sunday.

Arrevederchi to all!!
~steph :)

China 2010

Click on this picture to link to all my China pics.

Well, it's a week late, but better late than never, right?!!? Hard to believe that I've actually been back an entire week... man, how time flies!
I recently got back from a week long trip to China. I flew out of Moline - Chicago - Beijing. It was 13+ hrs from Chicago to Beijing, but was luckily up in Economy Plus - loved the leg room. The flight was actually tolerable - similar to my flights to Australia. I guess I probably expected the worse and was pleasantly suprised. :)
The cab ride to the airport was a quick introduction to China - it was insane! Traffic is crazy - lots of swerving, honking, braking... you really don't want to sit up front. Our 1 1/2 cab ride only cost $15. Everything was super cheap in China. They use the Yuan, so 6-7 CYN = $1, or 1 CYN = 15 cents. So, when we bought super cold/frozen water in Tianamen Square for 3 CYN, it was 45 cents. Yeah!!
China is a fascinating country and Beijing is so full of rich history & culture. Did I love it?? Don't think I know enough about it to 'love' it, but I was quite fascinated with it and would love to go back... does that answer the question?!?
Our first tour day was Thursday - we headed over to the Summer Palace, took a boat ride back across the pond, then went to lunch. Sadly, ate at KFC - it's everywhere! And the largest one in the world is across the street from Tianamen Square. I'm not sure the 'C' stand for chicken in China... I'm wondering 'cat'... haha! Really, the only reason I went there was (1) air conditioning and (2) thebathrooms. So, I was 1 for 2 on that prediction - the a/c was great, the toliets, not so much. China doesn't have normal 'western' toliets in many public locales... they have squatters. I have a pic in my link... ladies - work on your squats before you come over... and bring your own TP and hand sanitizer.
I would compare the weather similar to the midwest - hot & HUMID!! Wow... we knew we were sweating TONS when we were chugging down water but no one really had to pee much. There was quite a layer of smog over the city, so that was pretty much the only thing between us & the sun... many people carried umbrellas/parasols to protect themselves.
After KFC, we headed over to Tianamen Square & then into the Forbidden City. It was HUGE!! It felt like it kept going and going and going... and just when you thought you were done, there were beautiful gardens, meticulously trimmed and preserved.
We headed to an indoor market next where you could find any knock-off anything your little heart (and pocket book) desired... shoes, purses, North Face, jewelry, pearls.... 6 floors of shopping heaven. Even down on the bottom floor you could buy yourself a new suitcase and then fill it up on the next 5 floors. Lots of wheelin' and dealin' went on there.
The food was quite interesting in China... we had lots of it... all family style on lazy susans. Some of it was what we would consider 'normal' chinese food... other stuff, not so much. All with chopsticks... so you either figured those out, or went on the chopstick diet. :) It was nice to be able to try all sorts of things... and it always created interesting discussions around the table as everyone shared... you all felt part of the meal... it was nice.
The icky food you see is from the night market we went to. Just about any creepy-crawly-slimy thing you could think of they put on a stick, fried it up in oil, put some seasoning on it and called it a snack... NO GRACIAS! A couple of people I was with ate the scorpions, which by the way were alive if you looked at the sticks close enough, you'd see their legs move...uck! One guy even ate a tarantula... guess they all tasted like crunchy potato chips... yeah, again, NO THANKS!!
Saturday was a big day as well. First stop in the morning was the Temple of Heaven Park where many people were doing Tai Chi, singing and dancing, playing hackey-sack... it was just a lovely garden where many, many locals would come and relax, hang out, stay cool. After that, we headed to the Wall, the Great Wall of China that is. Sadly we ate at McDonalds before hiking up there.
The road up there was amazing. Winding up through the mountains - reminded me a bit of Colorado...so green and gorgeous. We had a couple options once we hit the car park and hiked up thru all the shops/vendors. We could hike 20+ minutes straight up hill on stairs to reach the Wall. Or, you could take the Gondola up... Gondola it is. What a beautiful site it was to see the Wall amongst the haze for the 1st time... breath-taking. From there, we headed quite a ways along the wall thru many guard posts. The steps varied from normal to mini. There were vendors on the wall selling super-cold water, beer, Snickers... and all reasonably priced. Originally she wanted 20 CYN for 1 bottle of water, but when I told her I needed 2 and only had a 12, I got them anyways. :) A tad higher than the bottom, but as they say, "Location, location, location."
We had originally planned to hike down from the wall, but kept going and ended at the next Gondola locale only to find the Luge. Yes, I took the luge down from the Great Wall. It's similar to Alpine sliding in Colorado. You're on a plastic sled with a gear shift between your feet/legs that you pull back to slow down & push fwd to go fast on a metal track. Around every corner was a Chinese man yelling "Brake, Brake." Whatever dude, I'm outta here! It was amazing - wish I had taken a video. It was such a nice surprise!
After a quick drive by of the Olympic stadium (Bird's Nest) and the Cube, a quick shower felt great before our Peking Duck dinner. Again, tons of food, great dinner conversation with amazing people.
Sadly, Sunday was departure day. Had to say good-bye to all my new friends and to a country that grows on you. The people were so friendly. Never once, in all the gaggle of people, did I feel unsafe, or that someone would pick-pocket me. I really wish I knew some Chinese because I felt quite restricted by the language barrier. I know Ni hao (hello) and XieXie (thank you)... that's it. I would love to go back, and luckily am. I'll be going over in March to visit Eric, Lori & the boys for Spring Break. Weather should be much improved and now I have a much better idea of what to expect. I would even be tempted to take students because I think it's such an unknown culture that everyone has an opinion about... and it's typically the wrong opinion. Nothing like trying to breakdown stereotypes when you travel. :) I would recommend China to people - it was eye opening, as all travel should be. I met some amazing people with whom I experienced and saw many amazing things. China, and all my new friends will always hold a special place in my heart.
Needless to say, it's been an outstanding summer for me. Not only did I get the opportunity to share my beloved Spain with some great students, I was also afforded the chance of a lifetime to travel to China with other teachers and travel gurus. I am so grateful for both opportunities!! Both different experiences - one definitely within my comfort level and one definitely outside my normal comfort zone. Neither one better than the other, but both eye-opening and life changing. Wouldn't have traded either experience for just about anything.
Thanks again for reading and following along with my blog this summer! I appreciate all your comments, support & prayers.
Stay tuned - never know where in the world Cedric & I will explore next!! :)
Hugs ~ steph :)

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."
"Too often travel, insted of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversation."
"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on deep and permanent in the ideas of living."
"Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey."

Summer 2010 - Round 2 - Ni hao!

Yes, I'm off again! This time I'm heading west instead of east and will be spending a week in Beijing, China! I'm excited, yet nervous, as I've never been to China before and not quite sure what to expect. For my European trips, I know what the weather will be like, the food, the hotels, some of the languages... but China?!? No idea... Don't speak Chinese... Heard it's supposed to be hot & humid, but that reminds me of a typical Iowa summer. I am quite fortunate to be going with many old friends and expecting to meet many new friends. No students - just adults. Am flying from Moline to Chicago, hang out in Chicago for 5 hrs, and then catch the jumbo jet to Beijing. It's a 13 1/2 hr flight and it's an 11 hr difference. So, when I land at 2:40 pm on Tuesday, it will be 1:40 am Tuesday back in Iowa. Thankful for my noise-canceling headphones... and Dramamine - good night to me! :) So, as long as I can access the blog, I should be able to update my blog & include pics during the week... but you never know, it's China.


General plans are: Thursday = City tour; Friday = presentation day, Kung Fu show; Saturday = Great Wall of China & Peking Duck dinner; Sunday = home.


I know the time will fly, so I plan to soak it all up and enjoy this fascinating culture and scenery.

Thank you for all your thoughts & prayers during my trip!


The bags are packed, the Visa is in the passport, Cedric is ready to go!

Hope to be blogging with you soon!


Hugs ~ steph :)

Home Sweet Home...39 hrs later...

Happy kids in Chicago... with luggage!!


Well, we finally made it - YIPPEE!!
Got the kids up early today so we could head over the airport to check on our connecting flights. Of course, Lufthansa had not rebooked us at all overnight, so I stood at the Service Counter for over an hour trying to figure out how to get us all home, without having to separate. The best I could do was get us all to Chicago and hope for rides after that. Luckily, I got Hannah on a flight to Des Moines, but there were only 2 seats to Moline.... need 5, so no. Fortunately, 2 kids volunteered their dads to come get us in Chicago, but couldn't confirm that since it was the middle of the night back home. Texted my mom - she contacted the dads once she got up so that by the time we hit Boston, it was good to go.

No problems with this take-off to Boston this a.m... yippee!! Was a fairly smooth flight - everyone in their same positions.... same crew, just different plane. Luggage showed in Boston - had to haul it to a different terminal and recheck & retag it to Chicago.

Sadly, said our good-byes to Hannah in Chicago and headed to baggage claim... saw the 2 girls take off ahead of me all of a sudden... then saw why: their dads were there! :) Luggage showed - woo hoo!! Hopped in the cars and off we went!

We're all happy to be back... sad to have left some dear new and old friends behind. I know we're all going to sleep well tonight... in new jammies! :)

What an amazing 2 weeks it has been! Looking back on all the great things we got to do and see is just overwhelming! I was very fortunate to have traveled with some spectacular people (new and old) and my kids were awesome! They were willing to try just about anything and were excited about all the awesome things they got to see as well!! Paris seems like forever ago... amazing how time flies. Tomorrow will be an odd day... no waking anyone up, no lame-o bfast, no loading/riding on a bus... but sadly no kids that I've seen every day for the past 2 weeks. Miss you - thanks for some amazing memories!!
~steph :)


What an amazing group of Group Leaderss... and our spectacular Tour Director!
(Donna, me, Carla, Jesus, Dan, Garrett)

Frankfurt fun...NOT

Departing Malaga :)



Just before take off from Frankfurt to Boston

The bumb plane in the background... overnight in Frankfurt.

We're hoping this is our last supper together...

We are currently stuck in Frankfurt... got here fine from Malaga... but as we were taking off, the pilot slammed the brakes on... some lights popped on that he didn't like. Sat on the plane for 2 1/2 hrs when they decided to cancel our flight. We're staying at the Sheraton - got dinner... and breakfast tomorrow ... but sadly no luggage. Sounds like they're running our flight at 10:45 am tomorrow, so hopefully we can still get home tomorrow.

Crazy irony of this all is the parallel to my 1st trip with kids.... we flew from Omaha to St. Louis... had engine problems... stayed over in SL, with no luggage.... now, 10 yrs later, just about the same thing...

Crazy how history repeats itself...

~steph

Marvelous Morocco

Morocco was AMAZING!!!

The kids LOVED it - I know see why everyone does that optional... wow!!

We got on the bus super early... drove to the Ferry... took a 45 min Ferry across the straight to Ceuta (Spanish city). We met our local guide, Larabie, who took us across the border into Morocco. It was amazing to see all the people crossing the border, buying cheaper goods in Spain and then returning to Morocco to sell them... We drove along the coast - gorgeous!

First stop were the camels!! Gotta ride camels in Africa :)

We next got out at the Medina and were met by more 'local guides'... aka bodyguards. They constantly counting us and flanking us on the sides and behind us... was a tad unnerving, but also nice that I didn't have to keep such a close eye on the kids for a while. We wandered thru all the winding, narrow alley ways of the Medina... thru the meat market, the food market, the flea market places... had couscous for lunch... YUM!! Went to the rug store next and then the pharmacy to buy spices... some of us got an awesome neck/upper back massage... WELL worth the 3 euros!!

Next stop was a flea market type place with shoes, hookas (!), jewelry boxes... was asked how many camels I was worth... answer: there aren't enough here in all of Africa... he laughed... and moved on.

It was an amazing experience for the kids... to see that others don't live like them. I think they truly appreciated it more than they can express.

Caught our Ferry back... and then sadly said our goodbyes to all our new friends. We will miss them dearly and will laugh at the many fond memories we have made along the way. Enjoy our pics... listen to our stories... laugh at the crazy experiences we've had. :)

~steph :)

Adventures in Andalucia

Peek-a-boo!!



Jumping fun on the Mediterranean - have a couple extra kids with us!

Look ma - new hair style!!! :)

Today was another amazing day here in Paradise. They definitely didn't pave it to put up a parking lot...hahaha :)

We took a gorgeous tour of the lovely town of Sevilla this morning. We walked around the quaint streets, went inside the Santa Maria Cathedral where Christopher Columbus is buried, took a break in the Santa Cruz area, toured the bullring and the museum, explored the amazing Alcazar palace - the Royal palace of Sevilla - and it's lovely gardens, and ended with some free time/shopping/lunch near the cathedral. Many kids went for tapas for lunch and enjoyed ordering in Spanish :)

We all hopped back on the bus - said good-bye to Jesus' hometown and headed south. Along the route, Jesus bought the kids some of his favorite snacks to share. We enjoyed those while watching the amazing countryside go by with all it's olive trees and sunflower fields.... amazing!

Our next stop was in Ronda - a white-washed village nestled in the mountains with amazing cliffs and a cool bridge. A few kids hiked to the bottom... and even got in the waterfall. the kids loved the village, of course! :)

We finally arrived in Benalmadena, our last home of the trip. It's a coastal town and I can see the Mediterranean from my hotel window :) After a quick dinner, took the kids down to the beach...they walked, they walked the boardwalk, they played soccer... I sat in the beach chair & watched the sunset...sigh...

Tomorrow is a BIG day for us!! We're off to Morocco - continent numero tres!!! :)

Keep us in your thoughts & prayers as we tour this new continent...and ride camels!! :)

~steph :)

Sensacional Sevilla

Sevilla is such a lovely city... sigh...





We left Madrid bright and early this morning and headed south to Cordoba. We toured the Mezquita and it's red & white arches... the marble in there was amazing! It kept the place extremely cool... which was a nice relief from the heat outside. The kids grabbed a quick lunch and back on the bus we went towards Sevilla.

Sadly, many of them were sleeping and missed all the gorgeous landscape that the south of Spain (Andalucia) has to offer. It's covered in fields and fields and fields of olive trees as well as sunflowers... breathtaking, actually!!

We arrived in Sevilla and headed straight to our hotel - it's lovely - but it's out in the middle of nowhere. We just chilled around the hotel, some went out to the pool, some of us hiked to the mall for some shopping. After dinner, our driver, Antonio, took us all downtown where we were able to watch the 2nd half of the World Cup game. Luckily, we were able to see USA's only goal... and then sadly watch the rest of the game... boo Ghana... We actually were in a Tex-Mex bar, Texas Lone Star Saloon, with all the other Americans, Aussies, and Brits... was weird hearing soooo much English.

After the game, we wandered around the narrow streets of Sevilla with our Tour Director, Jesus, who is from Sevilla. Such a gorgeous city... and then to see it all lit up... amazing!! 'Course we had to grab some ice cream...and back out to our hotel we went.

Tomorrow is another busy day... which most of them have been... we're off to tour the city, visit the Cathedral, Alcazar, bull ring, hopefully Plaza de Espana... then, we're heading south to the lovely town of Ronda before hitting Costa del Sol so they can have some beach time.

It's so hard to belive that we only have 2 days left... the kids would say it feels like we've just got here... and that it feels like we've been here forever... mainly, they're tired of living out of a suitcase :) But, it's all good... they've seen some amazing things and learned soooo much... and had soooo much fun along the way.

Love the comments - keep 'em coming!! The kids love reading them as well... I'd have them blog, but they're all in bed and I'm hanging out in the lobby.

Talk soon ~ steph :)

Madrid mania

Flamenco Night in Madrid

Kids at the Royal Palace

Ice cream break on our looooooong bus ride

Obviously, we're at Zaragoza :)

Sweet Home Madrid!!
We left Barcelona early and headed west to Madrid... looooong bus ride. Stopped for a quick tour & lunch stop in Zaragoza - beautiful city - gorgeous cathedral. There were actually holes in the ceiling where a couple bombs came thru but luckily never exploded. They now are hanging on the wall. Grabbed quick tapas for lunch and got back on the bus... were prob on the bus a good 7+ hrs... ay :(

Arrived in Madrid and checked into our hotel - awesome location - right off of Gran Via - and headed to the Prado. Got to see all the amazing works of Velazquez and Goya and a whole bunch of other artists that aren't coming to me right now! :) Had a nice dinner of pasta, croquetas and ice cream :) Went out later for a walking tour... and it started pouring on us. So, we ducked into the mercado, then made a break for it and ran towards the Plaza Mayor for a Coke to try & wait it out. Ended up walking home in the ran... just not as heavy a rain.

Friday we did a city tour on the bus as well as a tour of the Royal Palace... still gorgeous as ever. :) Had a nice lunch and during our free time we headed out to the Reina Sofia museum to see some Picasso - Guernica (mainly). We then took a cab back, did some shopping, and quickly changed for an amazing evening of Spanish culture: tapas, churros y chocolate, and World Cup Soccer.

Went to this great, old place for tapas. The kids got to try ham & cheese, chorizo, tortilla espanola, calimari, as well as a bit of Sangria. The Tuna guys showed up and did some singing & playing music for them - good stuff!! We then headed for Churros y Chocolate - soooooo yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The best ever!! Afterwards, we HAD to go find a place to watch the big game: Spain v. Chile. Ended up in an Irish Pub (drinking Coke) and watching the game with all the Spaniards. Kids loved it!! Some bought flags and joined in the fun!!

Sad to leave Madrid, but now heading south - Sevilla here we come!!

I'll post pics later!!
~steph :)