Day 20...21: Homeward Bound

LIS --> EWR --> ORD --> MLI

Sadly, all good things must come to an end...and our 20 day journey is about to conclude! We have had such an amazing time...and seen some amazing things...and done some amazing stuff... it's hard to believe this journey started almost 3 weeks ago and now we're done...

The above picture is with our friends from Colorado.  It's our human version of the Spanish flag.  :)

After a bit of a delay by a jerk in Lisbon, we made it to our gate in time to say good-bye to our CO & MO friends before our flight to Newark. 

The kids were all seated together across the row from each other. Ready for our long flight.  It was a pretty decent flight with fairly decent food too.   I was up in Economy Plus...score!... and ended up with an entire row to myself...heaven!  All our seats had personal tv's in the back of the seats with movies on demand, but most of us slept thru them .

We had a 4.5 hr layover in Newark during which a huge storm rolled thru, thus when we went to leave, planes were backed up.  While we were waiting, we were allowed to use cell phones and I found out our flight from Chicago to Moline was delayed 2 hours!  Ugh!!

So, once we got to O'hare, we headed to our gate to find our 9:10 flight delayed until 11:10 due to a late aircraft from Omaha, so off we headed to the food court, only to run into a HS classmate of mine that I haven't seen in years, who was also on our Moline flight.  Small world!!

So, our 20 day journey turned into 21 as we arrived right around midnight to an awesome welcome home committee complete with cookies!!  :)  All our luggage arrived adding to the excitement of it all.  :)  A good time was had by all!

Over all, I feel quite blessed to have had the priveledge of taking some amazing kids across my favorite country.  They never once complained. They were up for everything and anything...including many evening adventures for ice cream.  They were the best group of kids for this trip and I couldn't ask for any better attitudes and better kids!!  I enjoyed watching them all become life-long friends as the boys didn't really know the girls, and vice versa, prior to the trip.  It was cool to watch them get along & bond & really enjoy each other's company.  They will always have these memories with each other for the rest of their lives...and I feel sooo lucky to have been a part of the adventure... They will be a hard act to follow for the next group.

~steph :)

Day 19: Sintra + Cascais = Paradise

What a lovely few days in Portugal it has been.  When asked, the kids immediately agreed they were happy that we did this extension to Portugal...minus the cow incident...poor things...

Today's half-day excursion took us to two lovely towns along the coastline.

Our first stop was in the lovely village of Sintra, nestled in the hills, where we visited the National Palace (above).  We have seen many Royal palaces along our 20 day journey, but this one was still different than the others...with it's ceiling of geese, another with magpies, huge kitchen & the two big chimneys, and gorgeous chapel...all amazing!  We got some time to wander the town, try some quejaida pastries (delish), and then see a fire brigade parade...nice little Sunday surprise!

We then headed through a gorgeous national park to the beautiful beach town of Cascais.  It was a bit windy today, hence the picture above with everyone trying to keep their skirts from blowing over their heads...luck would have it that pretty much on every day the girls wore skirts, it was windy...crazy timing of it all!

We did a stop in the town of Cascais and just enjoyed the ocean breeze, the sailboats, and the view.

We had our bus driver, Evo, drop us off in center city Lisbon, so as to have some time to wander.  After lunch, I headed up to Hard Rock...yep, got the t-shirt!!
After a train ride back to Estoril (that's where our hotel is), the kids hit the beach for some last minute portuguese sun and rock jumping.

We had our last meal as one big happy family.  Here the kids are with the other 2 groups on our extension from Colorado & from Missouri.  These guys all got along splendidly throughout the whole trip and had some good laughs at their last dinner...which was beef, by the way....poor cows... lol

We said some good-bye's tonight, but as all our flights are within 10 minutes of each other, we'll be seeing them until we get on separate planes to the US.  We thanked our AMAZING tour director, Fran, for all the knowledge & wisdom he imparted on to us over the 19 days with him.  What a fascinating character he is!  I hope this trip has helped inspire the kids to continue traveling and learning, because that's what it's all about.

Our travel day starts in about 9 hours, so I need to get some sleep.  Parents - we'll call when we hit US soil, as well as when we're leaving Chicago to confirm our arrival Monday night.

Thanks for following along on this amazing journey!  We have appreciated the comments people have left - it's fun to see who's following us and joining our travels!

See you all soon!!
~steph :)

Day 18: Lisbon!!

Well, after our night train adventure, we were hungry, so we headed to TelePizza for a quick, semi-cheap lunch.

We stopped here, at the Tower of Belem, where many navigators set sail from.  As you can see, it was a gorgeous day in Lisbon.

This statue is for all those explorers. It's situated along the riverfront of the Tagus river.

We also went up to the top of the city for some great views of the entire place....awesom!!
After an afternoon of touring, we were all pretty pooped and headed back to our hotel, checked in, grabbed dinner, watched the Spain v. France....good day....

 Our nightly adventure started us down on the beach - cold sand, cold water...

...and it ended at a BP station that was closed, but had a window over there on the left for you to order.  Ordering ice cream thru a drive-thru menu...good stuff!!

Our hotel is a few yards from the beach - it's a nice place - good food - expensive wi-fi...so I must jet!
Tomorrow is our last full day in Europe....sadness reigns in the kingdom...
Tak more soon!!
~steph :)

Day 17-18: Night Train

 Tonight we boarded our night train bound for Portugal.  It left from the northern train station of Madrid, Charmatin, and was to be about 9 hours, overnight, and arriving in Lisboa about 7:30 am.  The compartments hold 4, and have a sink  & a mirror.

 Here are the girls, and new friend Elizabeth, all in the compartment with all their luggage from the past 17 days as well.  Good job girls!!

 The boys were obviously in a separate compartment down the way - loving the night train!

Well, off we went. All snuggled in for a night of clickety-clack...good to go....but nope.  About 2 hrs into our journey, just as I'm about to fall asleep, we hear a noise and the sound of the train running over something, like a bunch of rocks.  No, we didn't derail, thankfully.  We came to a dead stop, so then we start to smell oil from the brakes.  We sit in the middle of nowhere for a good couple of hours.  Then, we start to head backwards and stop at the next station we can find, and sit there for a couple of hours.  By this time, I'm wondering what's up...and that we're going to be late in the morning. 

Come to find out the noise we heard was the train running over THREE COWS!!  So, wasn't rocks, but cow parts....soooooo gross!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Apparently they had to assess it all, fix it all before we could get back on the road.  So instead of arriving at 7:30 am for our city tour, we didn't get in until 11:45.

Telling the kids was entertaining... and has made for much laughter ever since.

"Train=3; Cows=0"
"And I thought the leather seating was on the inside of the plane."  ~sara w.
"Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Bovine version."
"Cow tipping, Spanish style"

Needless to say, it's been an entertaining few hours - will make the sound for you if want.
Thankfully we didn't have beef for dinner tonight.....

Sorry we killed your relatives....

Day 17: Holy Toledo

After saying good-bye to the two Texas groups not joining us on our extension, we headed south of Madrid to the amazing town of Toledo - a walled city that is so well preserved.  We toured the cathedral, saw the treasury, saw the famous El Greco painting, and made our way thru the winding, narrow roads to this bridge, the San Martin bridge.

Our next stop was the Damascene factory where, yes, some of the kids got swords.  :)

Once back in Madrid, we had about 7 hours before heading for our night train, so we did a nice, leisurely lunch at Hard Rock.  Sorry Bob - had to do it!!

To 'redeem' ourselves after HRC, we headed across the street to the National library to see the Leonardo DaVinci papers that are going to be restored, bound, and stored away.  Was pretty cool!

Before heading back to the hotel, we made a stop at a grocery store to stock up for the night train.

All in all, great day in Toledo - so beautiful!!
The night train gets it's own blog, so stay tuned!
~steph :)

Day 16: Segovia y El Escorial

Today is, by far, one of my most favorite optionals ever!  I just love these two places!!
We headed north out of Madrid today to the town of Segovia.  Segovia is basically for 3 things:  the gothic Cathedral, the Aqueduct, and the Alcazar. It was also in the city where Isabela was declared Queen in 1474.  The Alcazar/Castle (above) had some rooms ruined by fire, but it is still in amazing shape and is fun to explore!

Below is the largest standing Roman aqueduct that is standing with nothing holding it together.  This picture shows the largest 700 meters of the aqueduct...so impressive!!

Our next stop after lunch was El Escorial, a royal monestary created by Phillip II.  All the kings & queens of Spain are buried down in the mausoleum.  They recently just added a Queen, who can only be there if her son is King.  She was still in the 'rotting room' the last time I visited.  Unfortunately, they have run out of space. The next 2 to join are the current King's parents, who are just laying around in the rotting room.  Once they join the others, the Royal family will have to decide where to put the next group.Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pics in the monestary...

 Kate sporting her latest pair of pants...sooooo cute!!

After a full day, we came back into Madrid & had dinner at this cute place where we could write on the walls.  Brian grabbed the top spots and left his mark!

Tomorrow we arranged to take a mini-bus down to Toledo for the morning, thus still allowing for some free time tomorrow afternoon before boarding our night train to Portugal.  So, I probably won't be blogging tomorrow night as I'm assuming the train doesn't have Wi-Fi...although the busses here do!  :)

So, sadly we'll be saying good-bye to Spain and hello to Portugal!

Chat more soon!!
~steph :)

Day 15: Back to Madrid we go...

We sadly had to leave sunsational Sevilla and head to Madrid.  It was a long day on the bus, crossing Andalucia as well as Castilla-La Mancha.

Our first stop (above) was Cordoba where we visited the infamous Mezquita (mosque) which is 1200+ yrs old.  It's famous for it's red & white arches, as well as the fact that there's a christian chapel & choir right in the middle of it.

Yes, it was before noon, but we snagged our TD Fran, and went for ice cream.  As you can see, he fits in perfectly with the boys...

Gotta love doing a jumping pic on a roman bridge in Cordoba...and getting this awesome photo on the first shot!!

Castilla-La Mancha is Don Quixote land.  This is the area that Cervantes traversed and wrote about in his infamous book.  We stopped at one of the Ventas (or Inns) that is mentioned in his book.

We're staying at a different hotel this time in Madrid.  While it's not as central as our last one, it's a Four-star...with FREE wi-fi...and chocolates on our pillows...we are loving it!  We headed in on the metro to center city for dinner at a place called Ernie's.  We had very authentic (NOT!) Spanish food:  Nachos, Bacon Cheeseburger & fries, and ice cream.  Boy, was it Cheeseburger in Paradise tonight!!

 After dinner, we went to meet a former student of mine, Kyle, who will be studying in France this summer as he works towards his Spanish/French teaching degree.  We took him for churros y chocolate at the infamous San Gines...delish!!1

Instead of taking the metro back & walking forever & a day, we took the bus...kids were elated as (1) it was a new mode of transport we had not taken, and (2) FREE Wi-Fi!!!  (we may have a problem...

It's soooo hard to believe we're back in Madrid already...it doesn't feel like we were here 2 weeks ago...but it does feel like home.  :)

Tomorrow we're off on one of my most favorite optionals:  Segovia & El Escorial, so stay tuned for what I'm hoping will be another superb day!!!

~steph :)

Day 14: SUPER Sevilla...and crappy wi-fi

I LOVE SEVILLA!!  Just the feel of this city, the architecture, the ambiance, the beauty of it all...sigh... It was a bit overcast this morning, which was a good thing as we were expecting quite a powerful Andalucian sun to overwhelm us.  Picked up our local guide, Susana, and off we went.  First stop was Plaza de Espana - one of my most favorite places that we didn't get to last trip.

This place has been under construction for years, restoring all those blue tile spindles on the bridge.  It's such a gorgeous place.  While we were there, the fountain popped on as well...if you ignore the gypsies trying to give you rosemary twigs or sell you cheap chinese crap as well as the Pocahantas & Running Bull band serenading you with the Titanic theme song, it's a delightful place!  LOL  :)  Also, saw a dear friend, Carmen, who was there on tour with her group.  :)

Our next stop was the Royal palace, or the Alcazar.  It was quite similar to the Alhambra in Granada, so the kids noticed many similarities. Finally, we toured the Santa Maria cathedral (behind in the above pic).  Christopher Columbs is buried here.  The kid got to climb the 39 ramps to the top of La Giralda tower.  The ramps are there as they used to ride their horses up to the top to ring the bells to mark the time.

After lunch, we went exploring some more.  Saw the beautiful bullring in Sevilla - the second oldest in all of Spain. Wandered down by the River Guadalquivir.  As you can see from the above pic, the boys were super excited.

It was pretty warm - had to get ice cream.  Poor James opted to not get any...sadness... at least he's got a great shirt on!!  :)

This is La Giralda tower they climbed all the way to the top...way to go Team Iowa!!

Headed back to the hotel for dinner and some down time...only to find the internet  was ridiculous!  Couldn't get on all night, so luckily we got our money back.  The kids played cards and listened to music...a great, relaxing way to end the day.

~steph :)

Day 13: Traversing lovely Andalucia

We had a nice slow morning today...which was nice after a looooong day in the African sun.  The kids & I headed back down to the fish foot spa and spent another $12 for 10 minutes of fish foot fun!  It was actually relaxing this time...surprising, I know!  Wandered around the town a bit, grabbed a quick lunch & off on the bus we went.

Our next destination is Sevilla - a bit northwest of Torremolinos - about 4 hrs on the bus...which equals nap time for the kids.

We made a pit stop at a truck stop and Brian tried his luck at video poker...no such luck...

This picture does no justice to the landscape of Andalucia...there are groves & groves & groves of olive trees everywhere, as well as these gorgeous sunflower fields.

We arrived in Sevilla and got all settled into our hotel - it's a bit outside of town, so not much to do but hang out and play on our Wi-Fi. We actually had to pay for our internet at this place  :(

After dinner, we headed up & down the street trying to find a place to watch the big match.

We found this bar a few doors down, the Truck Drivers Bar.  There were about 8 locals when we overtook the place to watch the big Spain v. Croatia in the EuroCup.  Finally, at about the 83 minute mark, the Real Madrid gave us something to cheer about!  The place went crazy!  Was fun to be amongst the locals during a big game.  This gave Spain 1st place in their pool and will move onto the next round.

Tomorrow we're off for a tour of lovely Sevilla - hoping the weather is not a scorcher - it was pretty warm when we arrived today.  Sevilla is one of my most favorite cities so am excited to have some time to wander.

~steph :)

Day 12: MOROCCO!!!

Off to Morocco we went!  Up bright & early to catch a ferry from Algecieras to Ceuta, a Spanish town in northern Africa.  The above pic is the kids on the ferry headed across the straight of Gibraltar.

Then, after meeting our guide, we crossed the Morocco border and headed to Tetouan.  Our first stop was to ride Camels!!  All the kids did it - got some great individual pics for them to share with you!  Quite entertaining!!!

We toured the Medina and luckily had guards & guides to show the way because we'd never find our way out.  The kids weren't real thrilled about the 'lovely' smells coming from the markets & medina.  We stopped in a Pharmacy were we could buy spices, oils, lotions and get amazing neck massages....sigh... We also went to a rug store and saw all the amazing tapestries...such skill.  The kids tried their luck at haggling... I'll let  them tell you their stories!  Lunch was very authentic - a lovely beef soup, couscous with chicken & vegetables & the best mint tea!

Here's Kate fitting in with the locals!! 

After a loooooong day in Morocco, we caught a ferry back, napped on the bus home, grabbed a quick dinner, called the fathers...HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, PAPA!!... and of course had to get some ice cream!  Sadly James & I learned a hard lesson - don't get the Malaga creme...has raisins in it...UCK UCK UCK!!

Tomorrow we have a lazy morning, then going to the Fish Foot place again (as per the kids' request) and then heading northwest to Sevilla...sigh...love that town!!

Thanks for all the comments - the kids love hearing that family & friends are reading this & following our adventures!!

~steph :)