8-13-13 Europe Trip (Jul 21 - Aug 3)

Hello Everyone!

Sorry this took so long, I finally have internet in my new apartment!

So as many of you probably already know I spent 2 weeks in Europe with my Dad, Jill, Marc, Madi, and Laney.  It was amazing and we had so much fun! It was really nice to spend so much time with my family that I don't get to see often enough.

So I compiled a 'best-of' set of pictures here to give you the lowdown on the most interesting parts!

The Start of our awesome trip!

Saying Goodbye to San Luis Obispo

 London, England, UK:

So we arrived after an 11 hour flight from LAX to London Heathrow. When we arrived they announced on the plane that Kate Middleton (the Duchess of Cambridge - married to Prince William) had gone into labor! We got to our hotel, settled in and headed over to Buckingham Palace to check out the hubub. In this picture you can see the hoards of people sitting and waiting for the announcement of the baby. There are people in and on the fountain and on the statue etc. The white tents in the background are each an individual News Station reporting every minute. 

Well Iphone panorama, I told everyone to stand still and alas we were all tired and Laney yawned. But anyways here is everyone else standing on the Queen Victoria Statue platform with Buckingham Palace on the left. 

Later that 1st day we went out to sushi with Dad and Jill's friend CJ who brought her 3 kids to spend some time with us. We enjoyed meeting new english friends, despite being deliriously jet lagged and sleep deprived. 

The next day us kids get to head out and explore on our own. After walking around Covent Garden and going to the National Gallery, we stood next to Big Ben to drink some water (it was quite humid and hot) and try to figure out where else we all could agree on going - We were quite the diverse crowd, Marc wanted to go to the National Maritime Museum (which he did get to go to with dad), Madi wanted to go shopping, get gelato, and go back to the hotel (which did get to happen as well haha), Laney wanted to climb on statues, go run around in the Gardens (This also got to happen, many funny pictures of Laney with large elegant statues can be found on Facebook), and I just wanted to show them awesome stuff I had experienced on my own 3 years prior. The only thing we really agreed upon was the Natural History Museum (with large dedications to Darwin and one of the largest biological specimen libraries in the world). 

These 2 pictures probably best describe the 1,3 and 2,4 relationships perfectly. haha 

We got to go on a Harry Potter tour where we saw many of the film locations (many of which are in central London) from the movies. Here our tour guide asked Marc (the only redhead) to act as Ron Weasley for a side by side comparison of where a scene Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was shot. (The supposed entrance of the Ministry of Magic, which is in Scotland Yard, just North of Big Ben/Parliament). 

The next day we decided to go to the Natural History Museum, which is massive and awesome and we all geeked out in our own ways. This is one of the pictures I demanded we get, as Charles Darwin is the father of modern Biology. 

Then we walked up through Hyde Park and got to stop by Kensington Gardens (the gardens just behind Kensington Palace, where William and Kate live) on the day that they were supposed to be bringing Prince George home from the hospital. Once again there were many news crews set up in tents, but not quite as many people.

The next day we went to see Dad at work, here he is giving the closing speech about secrets to success to many of his clients. 

Later we got to go on a River Boat cruise, here you can see the Tower of London (the Medieval Royal Palace and fortress).

Here's all of us on the River Boat Cruise in front of the Tower Bridge.

We got off the riverboat cruise and got to go on the London Eye, Laney was so excited! 

Dad and Jill on the London Eye. We hit it perfectly at twilight so we got to see all the lights come on in the City. 

Feeling like we're on top of the world, London Eye. 

After the London Eye we walked back to Westminster Abbey and the park just adjacent to both Westminster Abbey and Parliament. There are many statues around this park, but it was too dark to take a picture so Laney boldly decided to act out Winston Churchill, and I can tell you she looked about right. 

The next day I decided to stop by Platform 9 3/4 in Kings Cross trian station which was right next to our hotel. (This is a fictional place from Harry Potter for those of you who don't know). I would've taken a picture with it, but the line was about an hour long and I figured I had better things to do in London than wait for a picture.  

While Dad and Marc went to the National Maritime Museum, us girls decided to go to St. Pauls Cathedral. The 2nd largest Domed Cathedral in all of Europe. (2nd only to the Vatican in Rome). We managed to hike all the way to the top about 378 steps or 365 feet or 45 flights of stairs. In any event it was hot, but the view was sure worth it!

Here we are riding in a taxi, it was tough getting all 6 of us in a 5 seater taxi, but those things are clown cars they fit so many people in such a small space!

Standing inside the Tower of London, with one of the soldiers.

Paris, France, EU

Just a short hop and a skip away we rode the Eurotstar bullet train over to Paris. We found ourselves transported to something else entirely. We now could no longer speak the main language, which made everything more difficult, but we happily attempted to speak French and everyone we met seemed delighted that we had tried! Here we are eating Parisian Breakfast - Croissants, Crepes, Hot Chocolate, and Cappuccinos!

Bon Apetit!

This is just a really awesome shot I got in the Musee D'Orsay, which has tons of famous art from Impressionism and beyond. It's inside an old train station so there are several of these amazing clocks throughout one end of the building. 

Another awesome shot I got of Palais du Luxembourg. These beautiful fluffy clouds were all over eastern Europe and they seemed to make everything that much more idyllic.

Here we are about to enter L'Louvre (pronounced Loove), which is arguably the most famous art museum in the entire world. Its enormous and occupies the French Royal Palace that was overthrown when Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded. The museum is 650,000 square feet with 4 stories and is completely stuffed with art and historical artifacts. Its the most visited Museum in the entire world and it immediately becomes clear when you have to wait 45 minutes in line just to get into the lobby. 

About to start waiting in line to go into the Louvre. 

Trying to get the most from our experience we decided to just see a few key famous pieces and check out the things in between. We stopped and did a few poses with statues, Madi's looked like "Why can't we get more gelato??"

Laney posing with her statue.

This is the Mona Lisa, or rather about as close as we could get to it. So many people!!

Then we stopped by a Carnival thats literally right outside of the Louvre. It was kindof surreal being in a Carnival and then looking over and seeing the Louvre, and in this cases seeing our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. 

We took riverboat tour and saw the Eiffel Tower in person. 

Waiting in line, 'looking up the skirt' of the Eiffel Tower. 

Kindof a funny story, Laney asked to look through the telescope, so I put in a Euro and told her to go ahead. She looks through and complains that its too fuzzy. (see below pic)

I focus the Telescope for her, and this is what I randomly happened to be pointing at. There was a split second of 'Wait... we can't see all the way to New York City?!?!" Before I remembered that the sister Statue of Liberty resides on the Seine in Paris. I laughed and then had a little fun telling Madi and Laney we could see all the way to NYC from here. 

All of us (minus dad) on the 1st floor of the Eiffel tower. We were there just in time for the nightly light show. So pretty!

Walking around Paris at night. 

Holland, The Netherlands, EU:

On our way to Zwolle, to visit distant Dutch relatives. Drinking German beers at 200 mph, no big deal. 

Our hotel in Dalfsen. This is the 'Badkamer' which is the dutch word for bathroom, literally "Bath Chamber". A lot of dutch just sounds like odd English word choice pronounced weirdly.  

Wim and Kobi's home in the Dutch countryside. So beautiful!

Wim and Kobi Stollmeijer. 

Their address. 

Then we went for a small boat ride through the canals in a nearby neighborhood. Very adorable!

This is the lake that the canals opened out into. 

Wim, Kobi, Dad, and Marc. 

A Dutch History museum, with some Elementary teaching tools, something we found interesting.

Marc taking in Holland ingenuity. 

Wim explains that the Netherlands exist almost entirely because of some Dykes that prevent water from flowing into the bay. Here is gesturing to the largest and newest Dyke that separated the Atlantic ocean from the Bay. The Bay is now freshwater and does not have any tides. 

Boat traffic in the canals. 

A bridge lifting so larger boats can pass. There are probably 1000's of these over all of the Canals and Rivers criss-crossing the Netherlands. 

An emergency Dam. There is a bridge on the Left and on the right the 3 large circular things contain an inflatable dyke that can be inflated in case of flooding - saving the lives of everyone behind it. 

Madi and Stroopwafels - a Dutch dessert that is like waffle cone containing a sugary syrup similar to Maple syrup. 

Then we called Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Sheila on the phone from Wim and Kobi's house. It was 5pm in the Netherlands and 8am back in Morro Bay. 

Kobi's english wasn't as good as Wim's but she tried to talk with Gma and Gpa as well. 

Wim and Jill. 

An adorable bee on a Daisy in Wim and Kobi's Garden. 

The field behind their house. Everything was so green and crisp!

Wim and Kobi's house and Garden. 

We all went out to dinner and had some delicious Dutch food. 

 Amsterdam, The Netherlands, EU:

Amsterdam! The Canals near our hotel. These giant boats had to make 90 degree turns and it was quite impressive to watch. 

We got to visit the Anne Frank House. It was heartbreaking and interesting. So sad!

Of course another Boat Cruise through Amsterdam Canals. 

The Van Gogh Museum. It took you on a progression through his life - very interesting. 

Bike Riding in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam there are bikes everywhere - there is something like 1,000,000 bikes in the inner part of Amsterdam compared to 200,000 cars. 

Indonesian Dinner. 

Indonesian Dinner.

Plane flight back home - this is Somewhere in Greenland, in the distance you can see glaciers. 

Somewhere in Utah - very quick scenery changes. 

Lake Chachuma! We're almost home!

Overall it was an amazing trip and I'm so glad we got to go. We're so lucky to be able to do that as a family!