Day 5: A picture is worth a thousand words...

Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words and I could easily use those thousand to tell the story of Day 5, but as you can see we have made it to France!! We caught an early Eurostar train to Paris from London - was about 2.5 hrs over - most napped, myself included! We got a quick scenic tour of the city on our way to our hotel, dropped bags and went to lunch at Flam's.

We then had free time, and as you can see, we spent it up by the Eiffel Tower. The kids had a JUMP OFF - boys vs. girls. You be the judge - personally, i think the girls' is better!

We of course had to get some ice cream, wandered around a bit, and then went up to the top of the Eiffel -what a site! What was also crazy were the people - it took us 1.5 hrs just to get to the top by standing in lines.

After a bit of sunset on the Tower, we headed for our boat cruise along the Seine...what a perfect night - a very peaceful ending to a beautiful day in Paris.

Tomorrow is our city tour & Versailes tour ....and Cristina's bday!

~steph :)

Day 4: Stonehenge & Bath

What a glorious day today was! As you can see, Sara & Theja enjoyed the day as well. We left the hustle & bustle of London and journeyed thru the countryside to Stonehenge & Bath. Had some nice naps along the way - so the pace was a nice change from the last 2 days - and the weather was perfect!!

Our 2nd stop took us to the quaint town of Bath - here the kids are at the Roman baths with the Abbey in the background - the architecture is amazing. Kids love the town and even wanted to stay. :)

We arrived back in London to grab a quick bite to eat and then off to the Theatre to see Wicked!! For some of the kids it was their first time and for others, they had seen it before and still wanted to go back! It was phenomenal! We had great seats - yeah, last row, but center section - perfect!!

Sadly, we then took our last Tube ride to catch our last train ride out to our hotel. The day/night wasn't complete without Magnum bars - here are 3 newbies that have now joined our "We Love Magnum Bars" club!! :) The kids grabbed other snacks and then off to the hotel to pack. We have a SUPER early morning tomorrow to grab the Eurostar train for our Chunnel crossing to PARIS!!!

The kids have marveled at the gloriousness of London, it's pomp & circumstance, it's ecclectic mix of cultures and food, and the peacefulness of the countryside. I, personally, could stay here another week, but we've got a few more stops to go. :)

Cheers from London!
~steph :)

Day 3: Rainy Day in London

So, as you can see by the pics, it was a rainy day in London today. We did a city tour with our guide, Jan, who was awesome! We toured around the city a bit, and made a pit stop at St. Paul's Cathedral.

Since it's Sunday, the Cathedral is closed, but the gift shop was open, as well as the coffee bar - nothing like a good hot cup-o-joe to warm the body!

We then made our way around Parliament Square to see Big Ben, Parliament & Westminster - hopped off the coach and made our way towards Buckingham. Since it was rainy, there was no pomp & circumstance for the changing of the guard, so we made our way to Hard Rock for lunch (sorry Bob!). Sadly the wait was long, so we went next door to an authentic English Pub for Fish & Chips.

Afterwards, we toured Tower of London and got to see the Crown Jewels - gorgeous!!! Saw where Anne Boelyn was beheaded - some kids went into the Torture Chamber to check it out. Saw Traitors Gate as well as the Tower Bridge. Dinner was Japanese - since London is such a ecclectic mix of cultures, that's been reflected in our food. Good stuff!

After dinner, we did a Jack the Ripper night walk - fascinating! Saw where 5 'ladies' were murdered and heard the gruesome stories...wow! We then headed back out to our hotel via the Underground & train system. The kids are quite adept at using the Tube!!



Upon our arrival at our hotel, we were greeted with a lovely purple suitcase!!! YEAH!!! Kathryn's luggage didn't want to go from Atlanta to Paris to London with the rest of us and took a detour thru LAX and Detroit - craziness!!

Even after a long day of walking in the rain & the cold, the kids mustered enough energy to run (seriously, they did!) to the BP store for goodies! In our hotel is a Ben & Jerry's ice cream machine, but we went for the good stuff today - Magnum bars...sigh...yummy!!! Kylie is modeling all her European goodies from the yummy Magnum bar to the Bueno bar - good stuff!!


As you can see from their shining faces below, they loved the Magnum bars!!

So there ends Day 3 - wet & cold & eating ice cream - loving every minute!

Tomorrow takes us out of London to Stonehenge & Bath...and hopefully better weather!

Ciao ~ steph :)

Day 2 - we have landed!!

As you can see, we made it safe & sound to London - couple airport glitches with no boarding pass for one student - we had to sprint thru the airport to get her & I on the plane to then have no luggage once here - no worries - it'll be here tomorrow morning. We were greeted by our Tour Director, Mario, who took us to the hotel and then off to lunch.

We then had some free time, which started in Picadilly Circus with some interesting bicyclists... We then walked to Green Park, over to Buckingham Palace, Queen Victoria statue, down the Mall, Trafalgar Square, Horse Guard Palace, #10 Downing Street, Big Ben, Westminster, Parliament, saw the Thames & the London Eye, and then off to dinner.

Needless to say, we all crashed on the train ride to our hotel :)
The weather has been absolutely gorgeous - even a bit chilly tonight.

Stay tuned - tomorrow looks to be a quite adveturous day!!
~steph :)

Oh, the Places We'll Go!

Today is our Day - We're off to Great Places! We're off and Away! We'll be on our way Up! We'll be seeing Great Sights! We'll join the High Fliers who soar to High Heights! We're off to Great Places! Today is our Day! Europe is waiting So... Let's get on our Way!!

MLI - ATL - CDG - LHR on Delta & Air France is the path we'll be taking today as we embark on our latest adventure. 17 days - 20 students - 6 brave adults - all for the quest of adventure, education, appreciation, understanding, and a love of travel! This year's trip will take us to London, Paris, Switzerland, Florence, Pisa, Rome & Pompeii. We're the largest group I've ever had the privilege of leading, the longest European tour, and a smaller suitcase than I usually take (Bob would be so proud!)

Personally, for me, this will be my 13th trip in as many months - what a streak it's been. I think this is also #13 with students, so it's a pretty great deal all around! I have some amazing students on the trip and some awesome adults - a win-win! We're paired up with 19 from Texas, so a total of 45 and our Sicilian tour director, Mario, so we'll be in good hands!

Am hoping to blog & post pics every night, but we've got some amazing adventures ahead of us. Send positive thoughts & prayers our way for safe travels to & fro and whilst we're there.

Blog atcha later!
~steph :)

p.s. My new niece made her grand appearance before I left - Miss Amelia Ann made her grand debut Tuesday afternoon - too precious for words - AND... my nephews will be coming home from China (permanently) on Sunday - I've got some amazing peeps to see when I get home! :)

Less than a week!!

17 days.... 20 kids...6 adults...one amazing adventure awaits!

Cali :)

So May took me on a whirlwind Memorial Day weekend in Southern California.

The day started out cloudy, but eventually the clouds blew away and it turned into a gorgeous SoCal day. We hit Pacific Beach & Ocean Beach. Had to put my toes in the Pacific - a bit chilly, but had to do it. It was amazing how much seaweed was washed up on shore...uck.

We headed over to Coronado Island - what a view of the harbor!

What a nice, chill island - I could easily see myself staying here for a week and just relaxing. Had to stop at Hotel del Coronado, made famous in 'Some Like it Hot' - lucky didn't see any ghosts while we were there. I can see why it's one of the Top Ten Resorts in the World - a-ma-zing!

Next stop was Balboa Park - loved the Spanish feel to this place! There were even flamenco dancers in the bandshell. As you can see, the weather was gorgeous!

Topped off the day with dinner at Coyote Cantina - nothing like a Trio of Tacos (carne asada, fish, & a potato) and a Corona to end a great day in SD!

Day 2 took me north to LA & Hollywood!!!

You knew I'd have to have lunch here...and get a shirt!! :)

Had to check out the stars as well as the footprints/handprints near Grauman's Chinese Theater.

After a drive thru Beverly Hills & Rodeo Drive, next stop was Santa Monica Pier & Beach. It was packed! Lots of people on the Pier.


Last beach stop of the day was Laguna Beach - a very peaceful, calm beach front town. Sadly, you could still see some of the damage from the December floods that flooded the downtown area.
On my last day in Southern Cali, I got to see La Jolla & the beach front. Typically, this cove is covered in seals...covered...but sadly they let people down on the beach and the seals were sparse.
Just a gorgeous day in La Jolla. What a beautiful boardwalk...sigh...

Was delayed landing in Denver due to high winds. Then, boarded 45 min late since we didn't have a crew and then had to get extra fuel to fly around a storm on our way to Moline. Below is my front row seat of the Lightening Show I had on the way home...

What a great, whirlwind of a weekend in Southern Cali! Was good to explore some places in my own country (since I get harassed about that quite often). I can check it off my list. :) Next up is my big European trip with kids - sooooo excited!