It's with no little sadness that we have reached the end of our European tour; it's really been beyond our expectations in terms of the delight we have gotten out of everywhere. There is really no place we look back on and think "well that was a waste of time" -- we loved everywhere we went. The few bad nights we had were due to our own errors; most notably: losing the fly on the tent in the pouring rain in Wales, having no tent for a night in Pisa after the poles were temporarily damaged, and one grotty night in a campground 'bungalow' in Greece. We were almost ready to dislike St. Tropez after spending a few days there on our own, caught up in heavy traffic and exorbitant accommodation prices, but then we escaped up into the hills near Grasse (above St. Tropez and area) with the Adolph's, and as they showed us how to day-trip in and out of the expensive but incomparable coast and it's attractions, it became one of our favourite places.
Switzerland, long looked-forward-to by the children, especially Cachell (we read Heidi together before we left), was our least favourite destination. Although there were some notable exceptions, we found the Swiss we encountered to be really arrogant and rude, which spoiled things a bit. But the scenery was lovely, Lac Lugano beautiful, and our picnic day in the area where "Heidi" was set is one of my favourite memories! We are much more clued-in as to how to travel in Switzerland the next time!
We all have found it difficult to narrow things down to one "favourite place", but in our top ten are:
1. Paris Disneyland (Small enough to enjoy thoroughly in a single giddy and action-packed day!
2. Carcasonne (French mediaeval city)
3. Punting on the Cam in Cambridge (with good friends and beautiful weather)
4. Greece: it was a package deal, we really can't isolate one place!
5. The Mediaeval Festival nears Pals, Spain
6. Cycling through Potsdam (Berlin) with our 'German family'
7. Venice -- who needs to say more?!
8. Exploring Scottish Castles (we had a pass to see as many Historic Scotland castles -- including Edinburgh -- as we could in three days. Fantastic!)
9. Boating on the Mediterranean for a magical three days
10. Our first day in London, when the kids saw Big Ben, Westminster, the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square, rode the underground, had tea and scones, and found Platform 9 3/4's in King's Cross (which was right beside the platforms we used to get back and forth to Hitchin in our pre-Harry Potter time in England!)
And now we're leaving the old world behind, and following (almost exactly) in the watery footsteps of Christopher Columbus and setting off for the New World!!
Realities
Dec. 5th
Leaving Europe has also meant saying 'farewell' to our trusty Puegot Partner Totem, and facing the reality of packing our luggage around ourselves! Two big boxes were dispatched from Rome, but it was still no mean feat to get all our bit and pieces across Rome and onto the ship! (And the weather brewed up some lovely rainy weather to help make it easier for us to leave, but more difficult to travel!)
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