Friday, July 8, 2011

A LITTLE OF THIS AND A LITTLE OF THAT

Well I sat down and thought I would get going on my first post from our trip. Well that isn't happening today but I have gone over most of the notes I wrote in Word Pad each day and I am pretty sure I will just post those with pictures. They pretty much say it all. Today I am going to share a picture with you that was one of the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. It was taken on Tuesday 6-14-11, one of the longest days for me. That will be a very long post for sure and you will get some laughs out of it. That was my win some, lose some day! This patch of wild flowers was in Hyde Park. I should probably play with it in photo bucket.

Each day was a new adventure and I enjoyed every minute. There were good times and mad times. Things I can now look back and laugh about. We had a whole bunch of crappy weather but you will see some blue sky in the pictures even on those bad days. The worst day was a day in Paris when we went to Notre Dame, it was our first day out in the city. Looking back now even though I was cold and freezing I am thankful that we did not have the hot sticky weather we had in Italy when each day I had nothing but a head full of wet hair!

Mark works with a man called Phil. Mark hired him to come work here in California. He was an employee at the office in Worcester, UK. Well Phil has a dear friend named Ali who spent some time with us. Without Phil and Ali's help I would not have known how to get around London or Paris. I am so thankful for them and what they taught me. I rode the train, I rode the underground and did things I have never done before in my almost 60 years of life.

London of course was fun because I knew the language. Paris was a little harder but I managed better then I thought I would. The ride from Paris to Turin, Italy was more difficult when it came to communication because we were out of the tourist locations. Learned some things I didn't know like elevator is lift, exit is way out, restroom is toilet, hotel registration is reception, cab is a taxi and lemonade is a Sprite!

Things I would have done differently. I could have taken less stuff. I didn't feel like I packed that much but we took several flights and the size of our bags (large duffel's) just got to us. We were very lucky that the smaller flights didn't charge us. When you take a trip and have other flights to take make sure you know the weight requirements on the smaller flights! We had packed for the 50 pounds allowed but the smaller flights ask for less. I could have taken less shoes but otherwise I thought I did pretty good.

I maybe would only take my smaller camera but I am happy that I took both with me. Didn't use the bigger one as often but it helped when Mark could carry it for me. I would have left my hairdryer at home, never needed it but definitely should have taken the iron. We were in two hotels which equaled about 10 days and they would not bring them to the rooms. Not allowed so my little one would have been awesome. I did wash some laundry but without the iron I ended up getting some done. We must have spent about 300 pounds/euros on laundry which is just a big rip off when it was maybe a few loads of laundry. (that would be about $450.)

Today I have been sending my 1,500 photos to Kodak where I like to store them just in case my computer goes out. (You should always have backup somewhere) I will not bore you with all of them but I did do that with our children this weekend. We hooked the computer up to the TV and viewed all of them! I will probably do some mosaic ones so I can share more of them with you.


Can't wait to share our trip with you and I'm glad to have my skinny ankles back!



There is a new post today at Debby's Tree.

30 comments:

gigi said...

Glad you are home and can't wait to view your pics.
Have a great weekend!

LynnMarie said...

I think most hotel now have hair dryers in them so one less thing to pack pluss the electricity is different. Glad you are home and you now have all those stamps in your passport.

Amy said...

Can't wait to see more pictures.. Have a great weekend.

Joyce said...

I will brace myself for the photos. : ). I know they will make me a little homesick. I travel a lot and still I almost always overpack. Have a nice weekend!

Empty Nester said...

I'm too excited to hear and see all!

Randi Troxell said...

lemonade is sprite huh?
very interesting!!!
cannot wait for the pics!!

Kerri said...

very pretty pic..cant wait to see more! glad u had fun!

Libbie said...

Hi Debby! I am so glad you went on the trip of a lifetime! England, France, Italy!!! Oooooo! Someday!!!! But for now I will live through you! & I will have to reread this if I ever do so I remember to pack lightly! :) So glad you traveled safe!!!

CB said...

I'm looking forward to your pictures!!

I guess on vacations there is always good and bad - sounds like you learned alot for your NEXT trip (wink!).

OH my gosh - My ankles and feet always swell too - Glad you can see yours again! I can totally relate.

Anonymous said...

im dieing to see these pictures

Love Of Quilts said...

Very nice pictures of the wildflowers...I won't ever make it to England... France or Italy so I'll see it through your photos...can't wait. Trish

Teresa @ Grammy Girlfriend said...

Glad you are home and I am ALWAYS wishing I had taken less STUFF....My motto but I never change

Michelle said...

WOW! $450 for laundry.

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

Have a wonderful weekend!

nancygrayce said...

Oh, I want to see the pictures!!! I will go on my own trip through your pictures!

Cyndy Bush said...

Beautiful! Can't wait to see/hear the rest.

Mara said...

I have started making photobooks out of them now. That way you have a great way of seeing the best photos and you can add some comment or say where you were. If you have over a 1000 photos, you might want to do the same.

I've learned how to pack for the job, however packing for a holiday always leaves me with more stuff than I need and of course I always forget something!

Katherines Corner said...

Oh I just can't wait to see all of the photos. This one is beautiful. Big Hugs!

secret agent woman said...

Welcome back. I love going through photos after a trip.

Kathy said...

Welcome home! It's interesting hearing about your travels since I've never been anywhere.

Wow, that was some expensive laundry! Also found it interesting that it was cold some places while hot others.

The language that you picked us was amusing, too...

At least you won't be at a loss for blogging material for a long time!

Until next time...Kathy

betty said...

it sounds all in all it was a great trip with lessons learned on how to travel perhaps lighter the next time. I would have been like you, what to take, what not to take, etc but definitely if you have the opportunity again to go on such a trip, you'll be much better with knowing what works and what doesn't! I bet you do have lots of adventures from your travels; looking forward to hearing about them and seeing the pictures! Mosiacs are a great way I think to display some of them!

welcome back to the states!

betty

xinex said...

So nice to hear about your trip, Debby. Welcome back! Reading your experiences, it made me reminisce my trip to Europe. You are so right about not bringing too much but I never learn my lesson. I always bring too much. I am glad you had a great time. Can't wait to hear more....Christine

Karen's Korner said...

Glad you are home and had a great time. I have loved my trips to Europe....and learn more each time as to what to take and not to take.

Kathy said...

Welcome home! I enjoyed your post, and learned quite a few things. I can't wait to hear more, and see more photos :)

Tina said...

I can't wait to see your photos! I bet it was beautiful over there!
Thank you for stopping by (7 times!!)...you were really getting caught up huh?
Looking forward to hearing about your 'win some, lose some' day! I've had a lot of days like that lately...I can compare notes!

Donna @ The House on the Corner said...

How Awesome!!!

I'm impressed that you made it through foreign countries and back home again. I always felt challenged just going by myself to another state. Making it through unfamiliar airports was stressful for me...and I could speak the language!!!

Welcome back!!

countrynmore said...

It is good that you are home safe and sound. Look forward to seeing some pictures. I haven't been on blog land for some time. I must do better with that.

Anonymous said...

I cannot wait to see the posts. I've been to London and loved it. Hyde Park is beautiful, but the weather sure does need to be better in Europe, it stinks. Glad you made it home safe, I missed you!

Stephanie said...

All in all sounds successful! Can't wait to see more photos and here more stories. So wish I had thought to journal on wordpad! Smart girl:) Welcome Home!

heavenisabookstore said...

That is a really beautiful picture I can just imagine them all blowing in the wind. The colors are great. Fun things to know when traveling overseas!

Claudya Martinez said...

Welcome back! I'm so glad you went and had such a great adventure.

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