Jay & Ellen's 2nd Marymoon!

Dear Family,

I want to thank Mom and Dad and the rest of you for the wonderful Christmas vacation. It was just a blast to break from the grind of two classes a week and pre-holiday dieting, and be home among my favorite people in the world! I had a great time...such a great time, in fact that I decided to keep the great times goin'. So, that's what Jay and Ellen and I did. We sidestepped the predictable tourist trappings of warm weathered winter getaways, and instead, headed straight for the freezing rain and overcast skies of January's Eastern Europe...cause when you eat your way through Eastern Europe, it's nice to be able to wear layers!

The following is a travel log of our awesome time together.


First stop, LONDON!

Landed at Heathrow and schooled Mom and Dad on the workings of London's underground.
Mom giggled whenever the speaker told her to "mind the gap."
Mom imitated the speaker saying "mind the gap" in her classic non-English accent.
Rode the tube to our non-Marriott hotel.
Dad fell out of the tub/shower...twice.
The next day we moved to the Hyde Park Marriott.
Mom and Dad, having rejected every tourist point I suggested, proceeded to dominate the London theater scene by seeing four musicals in four days.
Saw Wicked and ate pizza.
Saw Jersey Boys and got told off by a "charming" cab driver.
Saw Billy Elliott and ate fish and chips....tried the mushy peas.They were nasty. Thanks for the 'tip', Mike.
Hopped an open bus evening tour of London.
Mom told us to "mind the gap" again.
Mom FINALLLY found ice for her Coke Lite.
Saw Legally Blonde at the suggestion of some girls in my ward and the rave reviews of the London papers...it sucked...don't know why we didn't see that one coming.
Before we London, Dad articulately ordered and tried a traditional English desert...




BERLIN:

Saw the first sun in a week...then never saw it again.
Took a bus tour, fell asleep on the bus tour, made fun of silly German signs seen from the open roof of the bus tour.
Visited Checkpoint Charlie, which was cool.
Ate at an organic cafe...twice. Dad had the tomAHto soup...and proceeded to order the same thing at EVERY other restaurant we ate at for the remainder of the trip.
Watched a lot of CNN...not because we wanted to, but because it was the only non-German channel we'd find on the trip.
Visited the Berlin Wall for about 3 minutes.
Visited the Jewish Museum for about 2 minutes.
Bailed on Berlin a bit earlier than scheduled.


HEIDELBERG:

Trained into Heidelberg and Mom warned us all to "mind the gap"...again.
Took a tour of Heidelberg castle.
Danced on the largest keg of beer in the entire world!
Totally unrelated, Dad re-discovered sparkling APPLE juice.
Took a 100-year old trolley up the face of a mountain to a lookout point...then rode down 4 minutes later.
Walked around the cobblestone streets of old town.
Took full advantage of the drink situation in the executive lounge.

Ate the best ice-cream of the whole trip.
Found out what apple strudel was...and fell in love.


DACHAU:

Took an afternoon trip to Dachau concentration camp, the model for all other camps during WWII.
Took a very moving tour of the excellent museum built inside the old main house.
Ate apple strudel with vanilla cream at the visitor center cafeteria to cut the depression.

SALZBURG:

Trained into Salzburg where the "Lonely Goatherd" began running through our heads, and remained on a steady loop for the next three days.
Walked to dinner and quickly found we were in the middle of a "battle of marching bands" type event where bands from all over Europe walk the streets in caRAYzy outfits playing music and causing their own sort of ruckus. Apparently they descend upon Salzburg once every 7 years....like locus. However, not one band was actually from Salzburg.
Ate goulash and dumplings. Died, went to heaven, came back, and ate more dumplings.
Shopped Old Town searching for souvenir dolls.
Discovered after a little while that "doll" means something else in German, because Mom and I kept following the locals' directions, but kept finding ourselves in lingerie shops.
Took a Sound of Music tour and stopped at all the movie sights.
Mom and Dad had a "Liesl & Rolfe" moment outside of the gazebo...while Mary had a depressing moment realizing she was now 31 going on 32...
Saw the mansion, the gardens, the abbey, and the "I Have Confidence!" rode.
Attempted to do a Maria-like heel click...but didn't get too high...
Saw the Red Bull headquarters, even tough it wasn't in the movie.
Stopped in Mozart's birthplace...or childhood home...or somewhere Mozart was at some point...
Found the McCall of Austria....beautiful!
Went to church at a friendly ward where we listened to a German sacrament meeting while a missionary translated into a headset. We heard about 10 percent of the meeting, but it was very nice and they were all very welcoming.

VIENNA:

Trained into Vienna...Dad learned how to download "Mockingbird" onto his iphone...and then learned to sing it.
Took another bus tour.
Fell asleep on another bus tour when they began pointing out Cold War era architecture...
Followed Mom off the bus tour to an area known for it's shopping and restaurants. Apparently the recording on the bus tour termed it the "Bermuda Triangle" of Vienna, because shoppers could get "lost in the myriad of shops and cafes"... a tour recording's idea of a joke.
Watched mom get a confused/disgusted look from a pastry man when she loudly asked him "Do you know where the Bermuda Triangle is? Can you tell me how to get there?"...
Found out that eating chocolate croissants while you travel makes you less prone to irritation and arguments.
Ate A LOT of pastries...
Went to a beautiful classical Mozart concert at the palace....I forget which palace.

PRAGUE:

Trained in to the Czech Republic, and began an epic game of 3-handed pinochle.
Walked the cobblestones...all day...everywhere.
Observed the city from the super cool astronomical clock tower in the middle of the square.
Took a super spooky die-hard 'Ghosts of Prague' tour in the freezing rain, and hunted for "orbs" (visual photographic balls of paranormal energy...to the layman...)
Dad started off a skeptic, but as you can see, he was pretty scared by the end. Ellen, on the other hand got into the science of ghost hunting..see if you can spot her "ghost orb"...yeah...
Listened to lots of spooky tales in the dungeon below the square.
Shopped for souvenirs and sent them home via Czech Republic post...fingers crossed they make it to Missouri!..no luck yet...
Took another bus tour.
Saw the "dancing building" built to look like Fred & Ginger.
Visited the castle, cathedral and had the BEST hot chocolate of the trip.
Visited a monument dedicated to the victims of communism.
Ate the BEST dumplings of the trip!
Re-created Tom Cruise's scene from Mission Impossible on Charles Bridge.





PARIS:

Flew into Paris late at night, then took a very long cab ride to our hotel...situated in one of Paris' most criminal neighborhoods.
Mislead by the promise of warmer weather, we took another bus tour. Paris was freaking cold.
Listed to some very depressing 60's era French music over our bus tour headphones and decided to get off the bus before we threw ourselves under it.
Cabbed around the city, beginning a string of smelly, rude, and slightly criminal cab driver experiences.
Looked at Notre Dam, then kept walking.
Looked at the Eiffel Tower, and ate another pastry.
Oddly enough, the Paris experience only turned around when we dove 65 feet underground and took a tour through the Catacombs.
Walked a mile and a half through tunnels lined with 3-foot wide stacks of human bones. No one knows how many bodies were actually thrown into the catacombs, but it's estimated in the tens of thousands...so that was pretty amazing/weird/creepy/awesome.
Mom hunted, but found no orbs.
Visited the Sacre-Coeur and ate crepes.
Mulled around the back side and bought a painting from a very French old man.
Walked down the front steps of the Sacre-Coeur and was harassed by about four different panhandlers...which kind of took away from the fun of the day.
Ate a lot of bread and butter, which cheered the day up right.

And back to LONDON:

Eurorailed our way by way of the Chunnel in 2 short hours!
Mom made sure we all "minded the gap."
Saw another show, playing it safe with Les Miserables this time.
Discovered a super cool pub with an Irish Catholic theme...which Mom took full advantage of.
Ate more fish and chips.
Visited the British Museum to see the mummies and other Egyptian stuff.
Watched a field trip of 1st grade school kids giggle and point at the naked Grecian statues.
Spent an exciting morning Heathrow, as Mom and Dad's flight was canceled due to Chicago weather, and they were forced to negotiate a re-route.
Had a goodbye lunch at the food court with pizza, spaghetti and tomato soup, (of course), while playing our game of 3-handed pinochle...which still continues.
Lots of hugs, kisses, and another reminder from Mom to "mind the gap" on my train home...which I'm sure will not be her last.

Thanks for an amazing trip Mom and Dad! Love you!