We have never been "abroad". Various countries in the Caribbean, yes, but across the ocean, no. It is even fun saying we were in Prague, Budapest and Paris! It was an advertising "rewards" trip for spending a bunch of money with our local CBS station doing ads for Mattress Warehouse. It was a blast. We learned a bunch of stuff about travel, we learned that jet lag is a thing, we saw cool stuff, old stuff, weird stuff and got to know some people. I was most concerned about eating Gluten Free, and I had a perfect experience, not one single problem.
The Eifle tower was SOOOOO cold and windy at the top! In Budapest our group had a walking tour followed by a Pedi-cab tour. Our guide narrated the sites and we had earpieces so we could hear, there were 9-10 of these cabs in a row. It was so much fun!
We spent about 3 1/2 hours at the Louvre, which only makes a dent in what you could see, but you get to a saturation point, where you have to stop, because your feet hurt, you've been fighting crowds and you find yourself shuffling along. So it was good to go, you need to spend part of several days there. We rented an audio tour and were so frustrated trying to figure it out, it was a Nintendo DS controller and we are not literate in that language!!
We found ( I googled it before we left) a Gluten Free bakery in Paris and Wow! I had eclairs, and pastries that I have not had in more than a decade. I just wonder why we can't do that great stuff here????
The weather was great, it was Autumn, the temperature hovered in the 50's and 60's, never getting above 65. In Paris it was a little blustery, rained hard one evening, but the leaves were blowing down the street and it was kind of cozy and fun.
In Budapest,there is a chilling and disturbing Holocost Memorial where Jews were lined up along the Danube river, told to step out of their shoes, then shot into the river. These are bronze shoes, tattered, all sizes.. so sad and horrible.
Great Grandma Betty with Rex and Dane at the annual "Grandma Tobler Christmas Dinner". We held it in the activity room at her apartments. It was a great location, and we had the usual white elephant exchange.
A few weeks before Christmas we posed for a casual family photo. This is us.
Rob and Jill made a customized village shop for our collection. They disassembled the original and inserted a bed with pillows and a foot protector, a sale sign and renamed it. Very clever.
I made 5 (simple) quilts for the girls, I started work on them this summer, but despite my good intentions, I still ended up finishing (quilting and hemming) them all the week before Christmas. I think they like them, I was a little worried that they are too young to appreciate it.
...Time for a long winter's nap.
