A Different Kind of Hangover

It is the Monday after "Games Weekend" at the shore.  The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the stifling humidity of the past week has finally subsided and there is nowhere I "have" to be right now.  All along the shore you can almost hear a collective sigh of relief, secret snickers about memorable moments, and groans from over exertion or over indulgence of one kind or another this past weekend.  The "Games Weekend" is a one of a kind extravaganza!

Heading over to the bocce games on Saturday morning.
Dad flying the American flag to "represent".

The "Games Weekend" is a three day test of mental, athletic and social stamina.  This year was the 44th annual games.  I was a teenager when they began!  They begin on Friday morning bright and early with a golf game.  We had around 60 participants from the two extended families and it came down to 10 strokes.  We (the Browns) lost the event. From the golf game we head back to the shore, suit up for the beach and cool off in the water before we go home, eat dinner and head out for a night of cribbage, Hearts and Trivial Pursuit.  This night has been known to go on into the wee hours of the morning for some...  It is always a great time and involves many people!

It was an intense game of Trivial Pursuit!

After our late-ish night, the weekend is off and running.  The rest of the two days include bocce ball, Frisbee golf, volleyball, a water relay, softball, a sack race and finally Ultimate Frisbee.  Every one of these activities requires major coordination of teams and venues.  There are over 100 and maybe 150 (I've never really counted) participants and spectators in these "games".  Three days, 11 events, one winning family.  We take our weekend sports seriously!

Bocce is serious business!

I can't throw a Frisbee but I can use a camera so...
I set up a photo booth in front of our outdoor shower for the Frisbee golf game.
I counted at least 96 participants...most were wearing clothes!

I can remember participating in almost every one of the games...in my younger days.  This year I participated in three of them and coordinated one event.  Everyone is included in these games from the children to the over 60 crowd.  It really is one of the most loved and sometimes dreaded weekends of the summer.  Dreaded only because life gets put on hold for three days.  There are no regular meals, laundry goes neglected, privacy is impossible during the games and sleep is fleeting which may lead to an element of dread for some.  I am not one of them.  I love this weekend!

At the end of the games we come together, both the Browns and the Christies and use up all the rest of our energy at the barn party.  What better way to make sure you leave it all on the field than dancing and partying all night long?

This year as I watched the crowd on the dance floor looking younger than ever...or was I just older than ever...I was reminded of previous barn parties.  There were years I danced every dance and drank way more than I should have only to continue the festivities into the wee hours of the morning.  The next day was usually met with a huge headache and many body aches brought on by playing sports I play once a year and dancing for four or five straight hours.  The hangover may have been epic.  Then came the years my children were those teenagers making questionable decisions and TJ and I stayed at the barn party "dancing and partying" just to keep a watchful eye.  Then there were the last few years with our adult children when dancing all night together made my heart swell.  I guess I really do love to dance and I love my family.

My cup runneth over at the 40th Games in 2014 !
I sure did miss them last night!

Today I woke up with a different kind of hangover.  I drank very responsibly last night so that was not the problem.  But....why do my knees, hips and feet hurt so much?  I have come to the harsh reality that I just can't dance for hours on a concrete floor.  Well...I can, but I feel it more than I used to.  Nothing a lot of water and a couple ibuprofen can't fix....so worth it!  Bring on the Mull River Shuffle!

Look for the Red Doors

We celebrated Canada Day this week three weeks ago with another fun day in Pugwash at the annual Gathering of the Clans.  There was the usual parade with plenty of  area emergency vehicles blaring their sirens, decorated floats, horses....one cow, and four marching bagpipe bands.  After the parade we perused the main street, ate some awesome food truck tacos, watched the highland dancing competition and listened to the piping competition.  All in all it was a lovely way to celebrate Canada!

He just wasn't sure he wanted to wave back!

Getting ready for their performances.

On our walk back to the car we stopped in a local photography gallery.  I enjoy his photos and admit to copying a few of his ideas.  What is it they say, "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery"?  He can consider himself flattered.  One of my favorite photos in his gallery is of an old weather beaten red door.  It is simple and to the point.  I had gone to the same house years ago and taken my own red door photos to have for all of posterity.  Unfortunately....I can't find them!  So much for posterity.  I mentioned to the photographer that they had torn down the red door house.  He said he knew and the owners had actually given him the red door.  He said it was in his gallery.  The framed photo of the red door was hanging on the red door.  My daughter and I both looked at the photo when we walked into the gallery but never noticed the door!  He said it had been there for four days before his wife, who lives there, even noticed.

That night I was reading my book and skipped to the back and read the teaser for the author's next book when the first paragraph leaped off the page.  "There are so many things we don't see...things that are right in front of us." I actually got out of bed, got paper and pen and wrote down the ideas that started flooding into my head at that prompt.  The characters were talking about not seeing things that are right in front of them.  The problem is that one of them was talking about the physical surroundings while the other was talking about feelings.  A classic miscommunication. When a theme slaps you in the face like that you just have to go with it!

I recently witnessed one of those situations where what wasn't seen to some was obvious to others.  This happens all of the time in much communication.  We only see what we want to see or what we can consciously absorb.

What do you see here?
Pretty purple flowers or red potatoes?

It never fails to amaze me when my siblings all have different recollections of the same events.  We all had the same experiences but saw them so differently!  We are limited by our own perspectives and none of us is omnipotent.

So...that's the ten minute blog for the....month?  I have been busy since the red door experience trying to fully see things around me.  It is harder than I thought! 

Give a Little...Get a Lot

Rome, Italy

So much water has gone under the bridge of life that I can't decide what to write about!  The good news is I am writing this from my computer!  I cannot tell you how much I missed it over the last month.  Our reunion was eye opening for me.  I had not realized what an intimate relationship I have with my computer, sad but true.  The large screen, the familiar keyboard, the easy access to my favorite sites, she knows me and I know her.  One interesting observation I have made is that I may have broken a habit because I have not spent nearly as much time on the computer since our reunion.  Using my stone tablet was a chore and may have cured me of my screen obsession....or not...don't touch my phone!

I spent much of one rainy day, while I was back in Houston, organizing the photos from our anniversary trip.  It may be the most documented trip I've ever taken.  Culling through over a thousand photos and trying to choose "favorites" is like choosing your favorite child...it can't be done! Looking through them is like taking the trip over and over again and it gets better every time.  Every once in a while I have an ache to just go back to Croatia.  But I guess you can't go back...or can you?

Puntalina bar and restaurant, Rovinj, Croatia,
 cold and closed for the season
March 2015

Puntalina bar and restaurant
sunny, hot...and fully booked for the night.
May 2018
I vowed to come back and I did!

Since this was an anniversary trip maybe I'll give you a couple of glimpses into what makes this thing called "our 40 year marriage" work.  TJ shared some very sweet sentiments with me on our way home and I was touched.  He referred to them as, "reasons I am still in love with you".  Always nice to hear and they give me reasons to still be in love with him!  They were two situations where we accompanied the other doing something they love.

On our second night in Rome the four of us were riding back to our apartment after a full day of sightseeing and walking many miles (over 20,000 steps to be exact).  We enjoyed a delicious dinner and decided to give our aching feet a break so we took a cab back to our apartment.  While crossing one of the many bridges in Rome I suddenly said to the driver, "Can you stop the cab?  I want to get out."  I was not ill, I had just looked out and knew I wanted to walk the rest of the way.  The night lights were reflecting on the river and the buildings were all lit up against a deep blue sky.  It was a picture, or 100, in the making.  TJ asked the driver to "pull over now" and we got out.  I don't even think he had to ask why I wanted to get out... he just knew!  It was a memorable evening stroll.

St. Peter's Basilica in the distance.
So worth walking the rest of the way home.

"O" baby!

We walked in the twilight and marveled at the lights on the river.  When we crossed one of the bridges we noticed a bridal photo shoot.  What an awesome location for bridal portraits! 

We also met this guy....

Come on...we had to say hello! 
He has on a UT hat and is doing his best to keep Austin weird
with his skateboard and bottle of wine.
Note the color coordinated hat and shoes.

Turns out he studied for a semester in Austin and was just visiting (don't remember where he was from) Rome, just like us.  Small world indeed.  Plenty happening on the bridges of Rome!  We went on our way over the bridges and through St. Peter's square oohing and aahing at the lovely evening.  It was one of those times I wished time would just stop.  Perfect place, perfect person, perfect weather ...what more can a girl ask for?

The next situation came on the island of Korcula in Croatia.  I had done my homework and suggested we rent bikes on the island and explore the towns and vineyards via bike.  As many of you know, TJ is a very serious bike rider.  I....know how to ride a bike.  He was very excited at the suggestion of biking!  The one day we had to bike was overcast and rainy in the morning.  We delayed the ride hoping for nicer weather.  The forecast gave us hope that the rain would end by lunch.  With the promise of sunnier skies, we went and rented our bikes from the local shop.  I did protect my camera in plastic and we both brought rain gear.  The blue skies were in the distance....

In spite of the lovely blue sky ahead of us....we were getting drenched!

I will preface this by sharing that we had already done one bike tour in Rome.  The bikes were e-bikes which meant any time we got to a steep hill all we had to do was activate the "e" feature, pedal and it was easy to get up the hill.  The bikes we rented this day were NOT e-bikes, they were good old fashioned road bikes.  I was not ready for this!  TJ however was in his element.  I did my best to put on a smile and pedaled my legs off.  The farther we got, the heavier it rained.  I needed windshield wipers on my sunglasses!  All I could see were raindrops and TJ in front of me.  We were riding to the town of Korcula, a mere 5 miles away.  It only seemed like 10!  There were moments I wanted to cry because the perfect leisurely day spent biking through the scenic countryside along azure waters on one side and majestic mountains on the other was looking a lot like pea soup.  As they say...the best laid plans of mice and men...

Blue skies are coming...I just know it!

We persevered up the hills and through the rain to Old town Korcula.  We just kept chasing the blue skies!  We were soaked when we arrived!  We quickly locked up our bikes and found a dry place to have lunch and wait for the sun to come out.  I just knew it was going to come out...hope springs eternal!

Why are we still smiling?  We made it!

We coincidentally went in to a restaurant that was full of spandex clad bikers!  They had all dried off, had lunch and were heading back out.  Good for them.  We had lunch, dried off and were thrilled when the clouds parted and the sun came out!  We explored the old town and then just because I had to get the iconic view of the town, rode up many switchbacks out of town for "the photo".  At least it wasn't raining this time!

We were rewarded for our efforts!

The day turned out just as nice as we had hoped it would....before the rain.  We were so glad we decided, in spite of the rain, to go on with our plan and make the best of it.  I would have hated to miss this lovely town and the perfectly clear blue waters and the views...!  Sometimes you just have to get soaked.

I could share those thousands of photos to show you just how beautiful Croatia is but then why would you need to visit?  I've said it before and I'll say it again...visit Croatia!  It is a charming and lovely country.

As for us two married folks...I love that he is more than happy to get out of the cab and walk along enthusiastically with while I take hundreds of photos of city lights and bridges.  He says he loves that I am willing to get soaked on a bike for the sake of a good ride and some spectacular views.  We both give a little and we both get a lot...that's how you make it 40 years in this thing called marriage.

Unexpected Blessings

The fact that you are reading this is a miracle!  I am writing this with my old Samsung tablet which is like using a chisel on a stone tablet.  I miss my computer!  It will truly be a test of my infinite patience.  I could just cheat and post lots of pictures but I'm not a cheater so here goes my tedious first (because there will likely be more than one) post about the 40th anniversary trip.  Rather than just give a play by play I thought I would write my first post about some of the special God Winks (coincidences, moments of Divine Intervention, random luck....call it what you like) that made this trip full of memorable moments.

Like finding the Roman numeral for 40 on the Coliseum.

Our trip began in Rome.  So much to see and so little time!  There was a church Roberto wanted to visit in Rome, St. Cecelia's in the Trastevere area.  We managed to find the church only to find it was closed.  We were "parched" so we searched the area to find a restaurant where we could sit down, have a drink and maybe a snack.  It turned out to be a full service restaurant and they were not happy with our order of drinks and a light snack.  Our waiter was a very surly chap dressed in a cross between lederhosen and old country Italian farm wear.  I think that is why he was so grumpy!  Anyway, as we left the grumpy restaurant we passed St. Cecelia's again and it was open.  We went in and were treated to a group of nuns on the altar chanting a mesmerizing song.  Turns out St. Cecelia is the patron saint of musicians. Wink!

Our first stop in Croatia was Dubrovnik and after we walked the wall around the city we agreed that the other sight in the town we wanted to visit was St. Blaise Church.  After all...we had just climbed a million stairs and saw the entire city from above and it was close to lunch time.  We found the lovely church and it just so happened they were saying Mass when we stuck our heads inside.  We, of course, went in and stayed for the rest of the Mass.  Roberto had been fighting a sore throat that day, which is important to know since St. Blaise was a physician and the patron saint of throats.   After Mass, to our surprise, they did the blessing of throats and Roberto and Belladonna were extra blessed that day.  Right place, right time!  Lunch at the restaurant right around the corner was delicious too.  Wink!

If it is this lovely at night, the inside must be beautiful too!

Our next stop was the Island of Korcula.  Our Airbnb host volunteered to pick us up at the ferry port and drive all four of us and our luggage to his home, about 15 minutes away.  Very accommodating and he was rewarded with an excellent review.  The next morning turned out to be dreary and a bit wet, with the promise of clearer skies later in the day.  I was a bit disappointed in the weather since TJ and I had mentally planned to take this day, rent a couple of bikes and ride around the island exploring, more on that in a later post.  Roberto and Belladonna wanted to enjoy the day regrouping since they had been traveling longer than we had.  While we were away, once it finally cleared up, our friends went out on their own exploration.  They stopped at the nicest restaurant in our small town and made reservations for dinner.  They may have mentioned both couples were celebrating our 40th anniversaries.  This became known on the trip as "playing the anniversary card".  We never expected it to work so well!  Boy were we surprised when we were shown to our table!  The waitress and her little 4 year old helper/daughter went out of their way to make our dinner special.

Our table awaits complete with roses, candle light and a killer view!

The entrance to the restaurant....no wonder they chose it!

Zadar was a town we had visited before and liked so much we had to share it with our friends.  We were treated to a nice sunset and a lively little town, unlike the empty town TJ and I visited three years ago.  May is a much better month to visit than March.  On Saturday morning we walked the town and happened upon a Slovak festival in the main square near our apartment.  My grandmother was Slovak and I remember my aunt and cousin dressing in similar traditional dresses and dancing these dances.  I searched the festival for some of my favorite pastries and found one!  A Slovak festival only steps away from our room....in Croatia.  Wink!

Slovak Festival!

Warming up for his performance

If you are like me, you like to have personal encounters when you travel.  It is nice to go and see monuments, museums and scenery but when you meet local people and get a glimpse into their lives the trip becomes more alive and dynamic.  Sometimes staying in a family run accommodation provides those opportunities.  Our rooms in Plitvice Lakes Park were that experience.  Firstly, the house was in a very rural area near the national park.  It reminded me of driving to our place in Nova Scotia....way off the beaten path.  We drove up to our accommodations and were greeted by the owner who promptly offered us each a shot of his homemade schnapps!  He insisted!  We toasted each other and it was down the hatch!  Since it was a Saturday, we asked if there was a church nearby and what time Mass was on Sunday.  His face lit up and he told us the church was only 2km away and Mass was at 10:30.  He also told us, in his broken English, that his grandson was going to be Baptized at that Mass and they were hosting a big party afterwards.  They were going to cook a pig and a lamb for the party, right there on the grounds outside our rooms!  We were treated to bread drenched in drippings from that roasting pig while we sat out on picnic tables with our happy hour wine and cheese.  We felt so welcomed!

Our host and his buddies roasting the pig

The view from our room...we loved it!

The next morning we packed up, went to church and witnessed the real community.  A church full of family and friends of the baby's family, the regular parishioners and four strangers who without understanding a single word knew exactly what was going on throughout the ceremony.  We left church feeling truly blessed and touched by God.  With so many choices of places to stay, for some reason I chose this one, something about it drew me in all those months ago.  I am so glad I listened.  Wink!

Apartments and Rooms Ruhige Lage in
Rakovica, Croatia

The best shot of Great Grandma I could get....
she worked from sun up to sundown!

The sweet church in Rakovica
translation "God is Love"

From our family baptism we went in search of Roberto's roots.  He had the name of the town his grandmother lived and it was on the way to our next destination.  None of us knew what to expect!  We found the town and found the church.  Every town has a church or three.  Croatia is 90% Catholic.  The name of his town is Hreljin and if you ask five people how to pronounce it you will get five different pronunciations.  The town is on a steep hill/mountain near the coast and according to our GPS every street is named Hreljin!  "Turn right on Hreljin", "turn left on Hreljin", "turn left on Hreljin" were the only directions we got from the GPS!  TJ refused to turn on most of the streets because they were blind drops!  Steep!  I am guessing Roberto's grandmother was in great shape if she navigated these streets!

Maybe these things don't seem unique to you and maybe they do but we noticed time after time the little things that happened that you just can't plan and never expected.  Part of enjoying travel is being open to the unexpected and unplanned treats.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie....

One of my life's dreams is to live in a place where the weather is nice enough to enjoy outdoor spaces a good portion of the year.  This spring, Houston may actually be that place!  I have enjoyed more patio days this spring than any other in recent memory.  We were blessed with moderate temperatures, low humidity and plenty of sunshine in the month of April.  I hesitate to even acknowledge this for fear I will curse our good luck and summer's heat and humidity will suddenly be here.  (I wrote too soon, it's May and the humidity has found us...).

I spent much of April chasing a little white ball around in the great outdoors!  

It all started on Easter Sunday, the first day of April.  It was a glorious day, in more ways than one.  We sat outside all afternoon, enjoyed the patio and played with Logan.  The month just continued to provide us with day after day of perfect weather.  Except on the weekends, if you ask TJ.  Many of his Saturday morning training bike rides were cancelled due to rain. Those Saturday showers ushered in nice cool, dry air for the rest of the week though! There was one slight problem with all of that outside time.  April is also allergy season in Houston.  The more time I spent outside the more allergic I became.  It was a small but real price to pay. In spite of my sneezing and stuffed up ears I spent as much time outdoors as I possibly could and so did everyone else around here.

Always with a bat and a ball!

We took advantage of the good weather by tearing up our house and then putting it all back together.  We finally got a new roof.... which was like opening Pandora's box!  A new roof led to new gutters.  Our old roof leaked during Harvey and we had water spots on the ceiling inside which are finally repaired and painted...because we got a new roof.

April was also a perfect month to clutter up our yard!

When an entire roof is thrown onto the ground, flower beds take a beating.  Flower beds also suffer when you are away for the summer and the plants that did survive the summer neglect were frozen during our unusually cold winter.  It was so lovely outside ... we replanted the flower beds.  With the flower beds looking so spiffy our wood patio furniture looked a little tired and neglected so TJ decided to refinish it.  The entire experience started to feel like that child's book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.   There was one point in the process of house improvements I had the sinking feeling that out of the blue my husband was going to sit me down and say, "by the way honey, I've decided to sell the house."  I am happy to report we are not selling the house and it now looks like the people who live here actually care... just in time for us to vacate for the summer.

If you put a new roof on you house
 you are going to need to replant your flower beds.

One of the few days in April that did not have a brilliant blue sky and moderate temperatures was the day our ski friends went on a sunset sail.  As you all probably know....I am not a boat person.  The lure of a sunset and spending time with good friends caught me in a weak moment and off we went into the open waters for a three hour tour.   None of us fell out of the boat or got seasick.  We had some good laughs, a few glasses of wine, felt the wind in our faces and returned just in time for a somewhat lame sunset and we all want to do it again...on a sunny day!

Trying to look comfortable on a boat....
while holding on for dear life!

We can do better than this...next time!

I really did have to pinch myself some days just to make sure it wasn't all a dream.  I adopted the "why not" approach to life and became somewhat carefree and impulsive.  "Want to play golf?"  "Yes!"  "Want to eat diner outside?"  "Yes!"  "Want to take a walk?"  "Yes!"  "Want to go somewhere and have a drink?"  "Yes!"  The house was a bit dusty...partly due to construction dust, partly due to mass quantities of pollen flying around, partly due to the open doors and windows, and partly due to my neglect.  It was a small price to pay for a month of outdoor living.

Why clean the house when I could be here?!

The final weekend in April was spent enjoying someone else's spring.  It was my grandson's 1st Communion in Madison and we went up to celebrate with him and his family.   I hung out with three of my grandsons and three of my own kids.  We played basket ball and baseball outside, we took after dinner walks/runs/bike rides around the block, and we partied on a beautiful lake front patio after the 1st Communion. 

The handsome 1st Communicant

3/4 of the Mahoney kids!

This kid has the right idea! 
Soaking up the spring sunshine!

Can we have another April?  It might just be my favorite month!

Rogue Walks...with Intention

Recently, I was presented with the opportunity to take a trip unlike any I've ever taken before. This trip took absolutely no planning on my part other than to be available.  Everything was taken care of... the flight, the rooms, the transportation, the schedule, most of the meals,  and last but not least....the cost.  A free (sorta) trip to London and Paris.

Hello, London Tower Bridge

Bon nuit Eiffel Tower

We all know there is no such thing as a free lunch/trip, so there was a catch.  I would be going on this trip with my daughter and nine high school students from her school... as a chaperone.  Going on any trip with my daughter is a treat and adding the students made it nine times more fun.  It was only one week from the time I found out I was cleared as a chaperone (yes, I passed the security check) until the departure date.  Not my usual months of planning and anticipation.  I took that one week to get into the proper frame of mind.  The frame of mind that says there will be no lingering in sidewalk cafes sipping tea in the morning or wine in the evening, watching the world go by on this trip.  There would be no spontaneous diversions when something interesting caught my eye.  There would be no trying to blend in anonymously.  I was going to have "tourist" emblazoned on me as we moved through all of the sights "en mass".  This was a trip for the students.  It was their first trip to Europe and I was so excited that I spent a whole week romanticizing all of the possible scenarios for my week of chaperoning.  It was all going to be great, I just knew it!

Our informative and humorous (British humor...the best!)guide in London 
who instead of saying to walk quickly
told us to"walk with intention" as he led our group.

Sometimes I get lucky and life actually mimics my imagination.  I need to imagine bigger!  I imagined the students would be fun. I imagined they would be interesting and curious.  I imagined they would experience moments of awe.  I imagined we would share inside jokes ("walk with intention" with a British accent) and stories.  I imagined everyone would get along famously.  I imagined seeing my daughter shine in her teacher role.  I never imagined it would all turn out as I imagined... but it did.

Seeing my daughter as Ms. Mahoney ...priceless!

I arrived many (at least 7) hours before the rest of the group and sat in Heathrow airport conjuring up even more perfect situations.  I never would have conjured up the situation where the group is diverted to Iceland on their way to England.  The group could now add one more country to their list of countries visited on this trip.  How many of you can say you have been to Iceland?  After their unscheduled trip to Iceland, they arrived and I finally met the nine new people in my reality.

Since they arrived many hours later than scheduled, we had to catch up to the rest of our tour group.  We managed, with the help of one very tired woman whose job it was to meet us and hook us up with the rest of the group.  So far, I was not buying into the "group tour" bit, but the students seem pretty great.  The day progressed as expected.  Put a group of tired travelers, two frustrated tour guides, crappy weather and 40 strangers together and what do you get?  A recipe for disaster?  It could have been, but it wasn't.  Adrenaline and Harry Potter to the rescue!  Give kids who love Harry Potter anything Harry Potter and you are a hero!  After planes, trains, buses and buying all the Harry Potter garb they could afford, the first day finally turned into night and we all wearily found our rooms and slept!

Our fearless leader....finding out where to meet our bus!

After almost two days of being herded around London, my daughter and I took our group after dinner and went rogue.  Most of the rest of the larger group consisted of middle school students and many parents/teachers/grandparents.  We were with nine students who were all juniors and seniors in high school.  We needed to get out and see the world.  It is much easier to move through a city as 11 people instead of 40 people...trust me on this.  Our tour guide realized that we were quite capable of navigating through the city and gave us permission to wander and directions back to our remote hotel.  We were giddy with freedom!

One view from our rogue walk.

Sadly, it was closed for repair.  Still
worth the walk along the river!

Our students really liked our post dinner walks.  I think the very best one came on our first night in Paris.  When our guide found out my daughter had lived in Paris, she was more than comfortable setting us free after the daily schedule was completed.  Paris is stunning in the evening!   The Seine and the views of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Hotel de Ville were well worth the extra steps we put in that day.  We closed the evening by letting the students shop until they dropped in the souvenir shops and topped it all of with an ice cream chaser.  They LOVED buying souvenirs!

Their feet may be tired but they can still shop!

Views like this kept us going!

Every night after dinner our students would ask if we were going on another adventure and our guide would get us up to speed on the plans for the next morning and release us.  We had spoiled them...in a good way.  Their curiosity had been peaked.  There were a couple of night "the chaperones" were whooped but if the students asked, we indulged.  One night led to crepes for dessert.  One night led to dancing on the sidewalk to an awesome street musician who greatly appreciated their enthusiasm.  One afternoon walk led to Luxembourg Gardens and the Sorbonne where I am sure several of them now want to study for at least a semester.  Our job was done!

Dreaming of their semester abroad?

Everything the tour planned was great and well worth seeing and doing.  It was especially nice to have tickets purchased ahead of time and go to the front of many lines with our large group.  "Sorry" to people we passed up in line!   Our free time and walks together made the trip special in my eyes.  This was the time the students would ask questions and talk to us and to each other.  They were able to express their interests and maybe see or do something they wanted that was not included in the broader tour.  This was the reason I was there!

On the last night, which was the Eiffel tower extravaganza and river tour, my daughter and I bought some postcards and made little awards for our students.  We did not see much of the sights on the night cruise while we filled out our awards but the students were enchanted by the city of lights.  So to close this long post I give you the awards...no names...they know who they are!

-Most likely to have an awesome play list for whatever country he visits.
-Most likely to conquer her fears and hesitations in the name of adventure.
-Most likely to navigate through any city she visits.
-Most likely to actually get a good night sleep and dream about K-Pop.
-Most likely to attempt to learn the language wherever she travels.
-Most likely to be where he needs to be, when he needs to be there!
-Most likely to speak to Chinese tourists... in Mandarin.
-Most likely to come home with new clothing from every place he visits.
-Most likely to be the only one to board the train through Platform 9 3/4.

We will always have Paris!
Ms. Mahoney and Momma M.