Central High Europe Trip

Lessons for next time?

2009-07-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

The group leaders will be getting together once Miss Laister gets home (she hung around Europe to see family) and we'll be assessing the lessons we've learned from this trip. We'd love some input from folks who went on the trip, parents, colleagues, etc., about what we should do differently next time. Some questions:

When should we go next? Three years? Four? Five?

Where should we go next? Italy and Greece? A longer trip to only England or Spain?

Should the next group be smaller? Larger?

More time seeing certain kinds of sites? Historical sites? Museums? More free time? More shopping? Good balance?

What did folks think of EF, our tour company? Did they do a good job organizing the trip? Was bill paying easy? How would you rate your satisfaction?

What was the best part of the trip? What should we make sure not to miss in the future?

Post your responses in the comments section below. Thanks!

Pictures Finished

2009-07-04T17:23:00.001-07:00

I finished adding pictures of my own, along with those generously donated by Mr. Witt and Mrs. Mortensen. I still have a bunch from Mrs. Houser to add (she has the fancy camera) but I thought folks might enjoy these from Paris (here and here), Barcelona (here, here and here) and the return trip and arrival (here and here). Enjoy!

Collected Quotes, Part II

2009-07-03T00:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm having some trouble posting pictures tonight, but I thought I'd add some quotes I wrote down during the trip. There's some innuendo here, but I assure you most of these were said very innocently and made some sense in context.

"Stop making fun of my pouch!" -Sean

Amanda- "Put enough Mountain Dews in Gorman and he'll do a lot of things."

Roseanna, turning down a glass of wine: "Wine tastes like rotten juice."

Roseanna on Flamenco: "Lori would be really good at this, because she did ballet and that takes lots of hands."

Ben on Flamenco: "The seduction looks just like picking a fight, and the singing really does sound like wailing."

Ben on Flamenco: "You know how Hawaiian dancing tells a story? This guy's dancing says, 'I'm going to eat you for breakfast, and then I'm going to sleep with your girlfriend.'"

"Our grope has been harassed the most."
-Alyssa

Taylor, on Sean and Stephanie getting the only boarding passes from Barcelona to Portland: "Sean and Stephanie get to go all the way."

Andrew, upon hearing of Farrah Fawcett's death: "Who's Ferret Faucet?"

Fellow voyagers, got any to add?

Worst typo?

2009-07-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

As mentioned previously, I was typing these blog entries on my ipod touch, which was much easier to carry through Europe, but not as easy to type on accurately. Well, here was everybody's favorite typo, pointed out to me first by Mr. Wendring, then my mom.

"We had a nice talk about the best thongs to see in Barcelona..."

I meant "THINGS to see in Barcelona". As in historical sites, art, architecture, etc.

Even on the topless beach, I was not checking out the swimwear, I promise.

Posting Pictures

2009-06-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well, we're back, and I've begun posting the pictures to their respective days. So far I have my own pictures, as well as those of Mr. Witt and Mrs. Mortenson (thanks to both of you), and Mrs. Houser came by to give me hers today, though I still have to upload those. It took me all day to upload the first sets to the hosting site, and will take a few days to post them all here, but I wanted you all to see them as they come up. So far I've finished the pictures of the first travel day (here), the first day in London (here), and our second day in London (here), and our day in Warwick/Stratford/Coventry (here).

Also, I realized that I had the comments section set so that it prevented some of you from leaving comments. I've fixed that, so feel free to comment on the pics, share your recollections of the trip, etc.

I hope those of you who were on the trip are recovering from your jet lag. I thought I was fine after the extra night in out decompression chamber of Dallas, but yesterday the exhaustion took me by surprise in the middle of the afternoon. Looking at all these pictures has been helpful in remembering how much I enjoyed the trip before entering this persistent gray fog of jet lag.

Bonus day!

2009-06-27T22:03:00.000-07:00

Yea. We landed in Dallas, made it through customs, got our checked bags, and Mr. Witt went to work trying to get us on a later flight to Portland while the rest of us sat just inside the baggage check, waiting for a shuttle to arrive to take us to a hotel. For the students, it was an exercise in patience. For me, it was an exercise in humility, because every time a student asked an entirely reasonable and timely question, fully deserving an unambiguous answer, I got to say, "I'm not sure. I don't know. We'll see. It could be. I just can't answer that yet." As we waited, questions evolved from "Will we get on a flight tonight?" and "Shouldn't we be waiting here to see if they can get us on a flight?" to "Who is going to get to get on a flight tonight?" to "Will there be a pool at the hotel?" and "Where is the bus?" and "Why is it taking so long? Why can't we just go to the hotel?" earlier in the trip I'd promised to get Amanda Laister a button that says, "I never know what is going on." I wanted one that quoted Socrates: "The only thing I know is that I know nothing."

Mr. Witt dd manage to get a handful of people off on the last flight to Portland, then got us all arranged onto flight for the next day. Unfortunately, those flight were not all together, so even when he arrived and we loaded the shuttle to the hotel, he couldn't tell the group when we would be leaving or arriving in Portland. We got to the comfort in, dropped our bags in our spacious suites, came back down to gwt our individual flight info, and then ordered pizza for dinner using the food vouchers provided by the airlines. After some hemming and hawing on my part about the necessity to do so, we decided we would need to call the parents of ten of the students who would be making one leg of their journey wiithout an adult unless I could get myself switched onto their flight. The parents were very understanding, offering to help in any way they could. After a couple pieces of pizza in a student's room I threw in the towel and settled in for a night of strange and harrowing dreams about losing students at airports in various cities around the world.

I woke up early (thanks to another nightmare), took my time packing, and went down to the lobby, expecting to have to call rooms to wake up kids who'd slept through alarms. For the first time, everybody was ready to go exactly when we told them to be ready.

We got our boarding passes easily and I even got switched to the flight that previously had no adult, though my checked bags will arrive on the other flight and the Hasbrooks will have to bring them to me later. That's okay, because I packed all the gifts for Paige and Noah in a carry-on. I can wait on washing my dirty laundry, but I'm excited about the gift giving.

We landed in Portland, everyone met with their parents, and we went our separate ways. Ikaika's mom generously offered rides to both Eric Brown and I, and we took her up on the offer. She drove us home, and I got to see Paige and Noah and give them their gift. The Hasbrooks brought my checked bag over later on. Now all that's left is adding the pictures, doing my laundry, and mowing the over-grown lawn. But first, some much needed sleep. Welcome home everyone, and thanks to all our travelers and chaperons for an entertaining, memorable, educational, successful trip!

And now, the gift giving!

Return Trip

2009-06-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

After our wake-up calls at five in the morning, I went to each door to make sure students didn't sleep through the calls or go right back to sleep. Almost half the students did not respond to my pounding in their doors, so we called a few rooms, and when that didn't work Mr.Witt went down to the front desk, got copies of the keys of the last hold-outs, and broke into their rooms to shout at them. I'm not sure I've ever seen him enjoy anything more.

We got everyone on the bus, did a passport check, and guess who didn't have his in hand? Yep. Poor Chris. After he got out his checked bag under the bus and proved he hadn't lost it between the lobby and the bus, we went to the airport. By the time we arrived I was feeling the last surges of manic energy that made me slap happy. Then we got in the Iberian ticket line, they announced that a computer problem would make the ticketing process very slow, and I hit a wall. Stumbling around to try to stay awake, I honestly worried I'd start drooling or wet my pants. I knew if I sat still I'd fall asleep, but I couldn't help it, and ended up sleeping on the marble floor by the ticket counter while students checked in. At some point someone woke me (I can't remember who or why) and I went and bought a Snickers bar and a Coke. We made it to our gate in Barcelona, and I must have walked into the plane, but the next thing I remember was being awakened on the plane because two of our boys didn't get on with the rest of us. The wouldn't let me off the plane, of course, so all I could do was panic until they sauntered on board. After smacking each in the back of the head I set about counting everyone, but I didn't trust my own ability to count so I had to do it three times. Then I sat down and fell into oblivion.

I woke up and assumed we were in mid-flight, stood to go use the bathroom, and was scolded and shooed back into my seat by two frantic stewardesses. We were coming in for a landing.

In Madrid we had to go all the way back out to tge ticket office, because iberian Airlines' computers hadn't communicated with American Airlines'. We were impressed by American Airlines' efficiency at the ticket booth, but we still never would have made our flight if it hadn't been running late. We made our way to the gate ans gave kids a chance to buy some food, but most slept most of the extended wait. Then we boarded and fell right back to sleep.

So here's where we sit now: I could have been stuck in Madrid, a city I've never seen and have always wanted to visit, but because the flight was late we made our connection but will miss the next one, so we'll probably get stuck in Dallas, a city which interests me not at all. Could this get any worse? Of course it can. In-flight movie: some Matthew McConaughey vehicle. Nuff said.

Second half of Barcelona, Day 2

2009-06-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

After a quick dinner at the hotel about half the group went back into the heart of the city to the Hard Rock Cafe. While we sat between all the rock and roll paraphernalia and vibed to the videos on screens on every wall, the maitre'd came over and told me Michael Jackson had just died. "Mentiroso!" I cried, so he went back in his office and printed the article off the news wire. I went around to each table and translated it. As much as we were surprised by his death, I was shocked to learn he was fifty!

After the hard rock some folks decided to go back to the hotel in the night bus. Anne Scheck was concerned that they didn't have an adult male traveling home with them, but I assured her they would be fine because they had Lori Houser, and, frankly, she's a lot tougher than I am.

Now before you hear too many stories (too late), I want to make something clear. It is true that part of the learning experience on this trip involved seeing not onky the height of what western culture has to offer, but also a little bit of the seedier side of humanity. All the students were offered beer on the streets, a few were solicited by prostitutes, and at least one was offered cocaine. No one partook. A few of the ladies did have to suffer some sleazy comments and rude gestures from some men on the streets (they dubbed them "creepers"). Still, everyone was safe, and by and large the people in every city were kind and helpful. In fact, Barcelona, which certainly had the most obvious and overt black market economy also had the warmest, friendliest people. Some were just too friendly, and very misdirected in their attempt to assist us. One funny note about that; before I was solicited by prostitutes last night, Mr. Witt had been solicited while I'd been offered hashish on the beach. I told the students this hurt my feelings a bit. It seems Jeff looks like an attractive john, while I just look like a drug user.

The first group left the Hard Rock Cafe, and I learned this morning that they did have quite an adventure coming home. First the group took the wrong bus heading in the wrong direction. Once they got off they had to wait a half an hour for the next one coming the other way. They had to pay the driver, despite having day passes (I'm still not clear on why and I think they may have been gouged a bit). Then, when they got ready to get off the bus, every student woke up and seemed ready to hop off, but they were so tired that one student immediately fell back to sleep. The bus pulled away and Miss Laister heroically sprinted after it, saving the day. Ultimately, the group that decided to head home early made it back later than the group that chose to stay up late.

Mr. Witt and I took the craziest group (who turned out to be the wiser group, quite by accident) on one last leisurely stroll through the city. We walked down Las Ramblas, through the Gothic Quarter, saw that hidden cathedral tucked between the buildings, then went down to the docks and had some ice cream sandwiches. When we learned how far we would have to walk to the bus station, Mr. Witt, sunburned and exhausted, hit a wall, so we decided to take cabs home. We split into two groups. The cabbie in Mr. Witt's cab didn't talk to them, but my group had this great driver who talked with me the whole way back. He played American classic rock, and though I suspect Ikaika would have preferred Spanish techno, it was a nice gesture. Meanwhile, I learned the guy had previously lived in Queens,NY, his sister still lives in Atlanta, and that he moved to Barcelona 15 years ago because he married a Spanish woman. We had a nice talk about the best things to see in Barcelona, the political situation in the Dominican Republic, and the fact that he and I would both choose to live in New York of we were single, but our wives are worthy reasons to live where we each do.

When we got our kids home (thinking they were the last ones) Mr. Witt and I decided there was no point in sleeping for a little over an hour, so we packed (I stuff, Jeff ORGANIZES) and I blogged, lost half the info, retyped it, lost it, retyped it again, lost it, wrote a hasty note, and signed off. You'll just have to trust me when I tell you that the original draft of yesterday's post was a thing of brilliance; exciting, laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes heart-wrenching, and all in all achingly beautiful. Each re-write got worse, and this is what you get. Sorry.

Barcelona, Day 2

2009-06-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I wrote that I wouldn't be blogging today, but I lied. More on that later.

We woke up a bit later than normal, had a leisurely breakfast, and got together in the hotel lobby complete with swimsuits, ready for the day. We took a bus up onto Montjuic, planning to take the city's very cool cable car across town to the beach. We waited around for it to open, checking out the amazing view of the city and girding ourselves for the already oppressive heat. Unfortunately, after they officially opened they informed us that they'd had some technical problem the afternoon before and the cable car hadn't been running since. Poor Simon, our guide, who'd already been betrayed by so many thing outside of his control, was pretty incensed, but we didn't hold the incident against him.

We walked back down the hill a ways and took a city bus into the center of town, then a subway, then a hike to the beach. There, students piled their things around a couple generous adults and took off into the water. I found a bathroom with very small, dirty stalls and practiced my contortionist skills to change into my suit and put my shoes back on to walk across the hot sand. Then I walked out into the surf to look for agates for my wife, Paige, who collects them. After putting together a few good handfuls I swam out to hang out with the kids. The water was cool and wonderful on such a hot day.

Groups of kids got tired of swimming and went off with their chaperones. Finally the last group prepared to leave and we found that a few students had left their stuff on the beach. I volunteered to stay with the stuff in case some of the groups returned for it. Instead, I sat there for about forty five minutes by myself before I got fed up, took the stuff with me, and left.

Back up on the boardwalk I asked the guy running a newsstand if I could have a larger bag to carry the students' stuff. He said he didn't have any, which I knew to be untrue because his stand was just like all the others, complete with some larger items for sale like soccer balls, and I'd seen the other newsstand guys bagging those. Well, this little, very old man started laying into the guy about not being nice enough to the tourists who support him. It was great. I still didn't get a bag from him, but it was nice to get some support from a local.

The heat was really oppressive, so I got a soda (Mountain Dew!) and took a break in the shade before heading back toward Las Ramblas, the main outdoor touristy market we'd already shopped the night before. I still had some items I wanted to find for people, but I decided to turn into the tiny alleys between the buildings to check out the Gothic quarter. The little shops tucked away inside were filled with much cooler merchandise and wonderful food, and I ended up wandering around in between the buildings for hours. I found some great gifts for Paige and Noah, bought the best Gyro I've ever had (here they call it a Pita Kabob), and sat in a plaza to eat. I realized I hadn't spoken any English to anyone in some four hours. I'd spoke quite a bit to everyone, and was feeling very comfortable with my Spanish, but in some ways I still felt like I'd taken a variation on a vow of silence: no native language. They say people who take vows of silence learn a lot about their own inner life. I learned that my inner life is quite concerned with just how beautiful the women of Barcelona are (married, not dead).

While eating my lunch I finally got a phone call from Miss Laister. she hadn't been feeling well, so she stayed back at the hotel and was finally ready to meet up with us. I found her at the end of Las Ramblas, by the statue of Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus, as we've anglicized his name), and she and I waited around for Mrs. Larson and her group there for a while. While we waited we ran into some of our students, including Anne Snell and Alyn Monscko, who had successfully used the subway to return to the hotel to clean up after their beach time and then come back. They were so proud of their accomplishment, and had obviously gained a great deal of confidence from it. Miss Laister and I explained that this was precisely the kind of learning we hoped students would experience during the trip.

Eventually Miss Laister and I got tired of waiting and headed into the Gothic Quarter, where we first found Mrs. Houser and Abby Watson, then Mrs. Larson and Tia Jones. We walked around with them for a while, and I got to help Mrs. Larson pick out a cool gift for her son, Brian. We found that haggling is particularly effective with a translator. I could say to the guy in Spanish, "Yeah, I understand that it's a good deal, but she's really only interested if it's x price." Then, when he said no, we started to leave and he called us back. Ultimately he shaved more than a third off the sticker price. Not too shabby.

We found Mr. Witt in the middle of Las Ramblas. Somehow, despite applying SPF 30sunscreen at least seven times, he'd backed in the sun down on the beach and had a nasty burn. Also, he'd lost his favorite pair of flip flops. We walked around Las Ramblas, getting more gifts for family and friends, and eventually went our seperate ways, planning to meet back at the hotel for dinner. Abby Watson, Mrs. Houser and I took some advice from Miss Laister and visited another markey where locals and tourists alike buy all kinds of fresh produce, fish, meats the likes of which I've never seen, and overwhelming assortments of candy. Then we decided to head back to the hotel, but, on the way, Mrs. Houser saw a dress she liked in another tiny shop in a thin alley. I was not helpful, encouraging her to buy it because she would kick herself if she didn't (sorry Glen). Abby Watson was remarkably patient with our last ditch shopping, and we got to talk quite a bit on the way back in the Subway. She's a really cool person.

Back at the hotel, after a quick shower and quicker dinner, we got ready to take kids back into the city for their big last night. As I mentioned yesterday, we'd already decided to keep our most adventurous kids up as late as possible to keep them out of trouble. Some wanted to go dancing, which sounded really fun to me (Paige doesn't like to go out dancing, so I never get to), but we found that the dance clubs in Barcelona are all in bars and generally aren't safe for kids. We knew it would disappoint them, but we decided to play it safe, so we took a large group down the Hard Rock Cafe.

Well, I just wrote the second half of this twice and had it lost both times, so I will have to finish when we get home after all. Grrr.

Barcelona, Day 1

2009-06-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

At around 10:00 the train employees brought by box breakfasts to our berths. I had to assure Richard and Ikaika that they hadn't been given small jars of sour cream to eat. It turns out they've never had plain yogurt before. I spent some time looking out the window at the Spanish countryside. Different kinds of terrain from Mediterranean beaches to thick forests to rolling hillsides, to neatly tilled fields blended into the next almost as seamlessly as the ages of architecture. Moorish villas and medieval castles were tucked in between factories and hyper-modern apartment buildings. As a guy who loves variety of all kinds, I felt an instant affection for this country.

When we arrived in Barcelona we got on a bus, went to get a quick lunch, and then met up with a tour guide who gave us an shortened version of her normal tour, due to our tardiness. She took us out to the Guay Park, a park designed by Gaudi, which was filled with amazing version of modern architecture. Everything was curved lines and natural images covered in mosaics made of shattered pottery and broken glass. I told the guide, "No tengo palabras para describir que tan bonita es, ni en Espanol, ni Ingles."

Then she took us to see another example of Gaudi's work, the as-of-yet unfinished Sagrada Familia cathedral. It's like no other cathedral I've ever seen, even in pictures. Again, Gaudi used his modernist style, with curved lines and natural images in the facade, only this time these cover a massive cathedral. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

After the cathedral we came back to our hotel, the nicest we've stayed in yet, to clean up. Since we'd been on the train the night before, we were all feeling pretty gross, so the shower felt like one of those post-camping showers. Then we came down to the lobby, grouped-up, walked down to the subway station, and traveled back into the city. We walked down the Plaza de Las Ramblas, a wide street filled with vendors selling touristy items and original artwork, and lined on each side with little shops selling clothes, food, gellato, and more. After a couple hours (and way too much spending) there, we came back to the hotel, changed into more formal clothes, ate a very good buffet dinner, and got ready to go out again.

This time we took a charter bus into town and went to see a demonstration of Flamenco dancing. The dancers were very talented (and quite attractive), and even though some of the kids seemed bored at the beginning, by the end Andrew confessed, reluctantly, that it really was very cool.

After the Flamenco we had a little time to get some gelatto in Las Ramblas and shop a bit more before returning to the hotel.

Tomorrow we'll have a very busy day, visiting a castle after breakfast, then taking a cable car from the mountaintop to the beach for some beach-time, before dividing into groups to go see more sights. Then, after a late dinner, we're going to take the kids back into the city and hang out as late as humanly possible so the kids won't be hanging out in the hotel on the last night any more than is absolutely necessary (because that's when you get trouble). The next morning we'll leave, and I'll sleep my way back to the States. So, I won't be able to update this until after we get home. Come back for the last day, and for pictures added to the previous posts as well.

Now it's 3:20 in the morning, but we're all up to date, so I can sleep soundly. Blog at ya' from home soon!

We saw this guy in the market on Las Ramblas. Those shorts are tattooed on. Unfortunately, he was even less covered on the other side. To quote Sean, it was gross.

Paris, Day 2

2009-06-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

Today started with our best breakfast yet: croissants, different rolls and pastries, three kinds of cheese to try, cereal, and, according to Mrs. Houser, the first good, strong coffee of the trip. After that we hopped on the bus a little late and received a group scolding from our guide, Simon. Then we drove into the city for a guided bus tour. We saw Les Invalides, the opera house, and took more pics of the Eiffel Tower and Louvre. we got out at Notre Dame. It is amazing, inside and out. Everything about it is constructed on a vast scale. Jenni Brewster and I were planning to climb the stairs to the top to view the city from between the two bell towers, but the line was well over an hour long and we didn't have the time.

We divided into groups and Mrs. Houser and I took five the students who were interested to the church of Saint Chappell. We all agreed the sanctuary was the high point of our visit to Paris. The outside of the church is a good example of gothic architecture, complete with some cool gargoyles. After the long line we made it in the front doors and found a disappointing, low ceilinged room. Then we noticed the sign and found the spiral staircase. When we stepped into actual sanctuary above I sucked in a gasp and breathed, "Whoa..." Giant stained glass windows climbed all the way to a distant vaulted ceiling above. Until I can post the pictures, I shouldn't bother trying to describe how beautiful it was. I have no words for it.

Next we took our small group on 2 trains to the entrance to the catacombs under the city. Unfortunately, just after we arrived an employee came to tell us the place closed at 4:00 and we wouldn't get it. That was a big disappointment for me, but we moved on.

At some point I realized that a member of our small group, Chris Hinds, was carrying three carry-on sized bags with him through the city. One of them, it turns out, was filled with dirty laundry. Apparently there was some miscommunication or something.

Next out group took a couple more Metro trains (always an adventure in itself) to a famous graveyard where people like Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, and Moliere are buried. We only made it to Jim Morrison's grave, but we also took some great pictures of a variety of graves. They ranged from brand new ones made of black marble cut in very contemporary curves, to monuments so ancient the stones were crumbling and splitting on tree roots.

Then we took two more trains and met up with the others. Some had visited Sacre Cour. Others went shopping. Alex went in four stores to try to find white dress shoes, only to learn that no one carries anything larger than size 45. He wears size 45 1/2.

We joined up for dinner near the train station, had passable chicken cordon-bleu, then boarded the night train. Then we learned that the normal 12 hour route would be diverted to a 15 hour route due to some construction on the tracks. Because students would be able to sleep in a bit later, we let them stay up until 11:00 before shooing them off to their respective berths where, hopefully, the groups of four went to sleep instead of gabbing. After lights-out we thought it was important that some adults guard the bar car to make sure none of the students got up to any shenanigans. I won't reveal who volunteered to take on this responsibility, but I... um... later heard that... um... "they" had a pleasant shift on duty.

Paris, Day 1

2009-06-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

We drummed all the students out of their rooms early this morning, had breakfast at the hotel, and loaded the bus. During breakfast we heard the lamest complaint of the trip so far: A student (I honestly can't remember whom) was upset because the sink in her room only had hot water so she had to use that for brushing her teeth. She said, "It was the grossest thing ever!" If that's as bad as it gets, it's a pretty charmed life she's led.

Outside the hotel on the bus we did a passport check, as we always do, and everyone had theirs. Then we took a half-an-hour ride to King's Cross station where we had six minutes (and not one more) to buy lunches to eat on the train. We regrouped to go through security and Chris Hinds announced that he'd lost his passport. Mr. Witt, Alex King and I all pawed through all his bags, to no avail. Simon, our tour guide, called the bus driver and found he hadn't left yet, so Simon ran off to check the bus. Mrs. Scheck generously offered to stay behind with Chris, if necessary, on the grounds that she'd been to Paris before, but I wouldn't have sat for that. Luckily Simon ran back with Chris' passport before I had to argue with Mr. Witt and let him "win" so I could go to Paris (What? He's been before!).

We all got on the train, loaded the bags into the overhead compartments, and sat down. Then Mrs. Mortensen delivered Chris' train ticket, which he'd dropped while loading bags. Seriously.

Riding the train provided the students with a start example of a valuable lesson, but I don't think many of them were listening carefully enough to hear it. If one listens carefully in a train traveling between England and France, one can hear why Americans have a reputation for being loud and obnoxious. Shhh... Listen for it... BECAUSE WE ARE! Even the adults shushing the students made more noise than the assorted French, Enlgish, and other travelers. We are a raucous, boorish, impolite people. On the up-side, the Americans on the train were certainly having the most fun.

We pulled into the station in Paris, dropped our bags at the hotel, and went immediately back into the heart of the city to visit the Louvre. I'm not really sure how to explain what a cool museum it is; the building itself it a piece of art. The works inside took my breath away repeatedly. I learned that my camera overheats. Of course, I didn't get to see half of everything I wanted to before the museum closed, but that's just the way it goes.

After the Louvre, we went out to have Flemish pizza. Mrs. Larson, Miss Laister, and I bought cokes. When the waitress brought two, there was some confusion. I was chided for accepting one before Miss Laister, so I handed it to her. While we haggled, Mrs. Larson took a sip of hers. Before she could set it down, the waitress reappeared, informed us with sign language that the cokes belonged to the next table, took the coke out of Mrs. Larson's hand, grabbed Miss Laister's, and took them to Mr. Witt and Simon at the next table. Mrs. Larson just sat in shock, speechless.

It was important to me to ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower. After dinner, different chaperons announced different destinations and kids got to choose. I went with Mr. Witt and Mrs. Houser and a small group to the tower, which is quite impressive from below. We stood in a long line and, just before we reached the front, they announced the top floor closed for the night. Disappointed, we went to the second highest observation deck and took pictures of the city at night. I realized I'm glad we didn't go all the way to the top, because I want to bring my wife, Paige, back to the city one day, and I'd like to take her up there the first time I get to go.

After the tower we met up with Mrs. Larson's group. It was late enough by then that we knew the trains would stop soon, but we decided to risk it. After all, how often are we in Paris? It already seemed the theme of the trip would be "almost" for Mr. Witt. First, he missed out on theater, then the top of the Eiffel Tower, then his desire to see the church of Sacre Cour at night. That just couldn't stand, so we took three trains to Montmarte. Then we walked up to see Sacre Cour all lit up. Then we walked down to the Moulin Rouge. Very cool. Then we split up into groups of four with one adult in each and took cabs back. Seeing Paris by cab was a nice addition to navigating it by bus and Metro. We all arrived back at the hotel just in time to see one of our chaperons, Tia Jones, pull up on the back of a scooter driven by a French stranger who'd generously offered to give a very lost American woman a ride home. Tia is not the kind of lady to take rides from strange men, so seeing her ride up in that way was so incongruous as to be hilarious. We felt a little guilty about laughing when we heard what a harrowing night she'd had, lost and wandering all over the city alone. Still, pretty funny.

Hallelujah for Internet!

2009-06-24T06:58:00.000-07:00

We had no internet access in Paris (well, I could have paid $10 an hour, but...). Now we're in Barcelona and have free access in the hotel. We're about to take off our our next little adventure, but tonight or tomorrow I'll be able to type up all the notes I've taken. Also, once we return I'll go back through these posts and put in lots and lots of pictures, so do come back once it's all updated. Blog at ya' soon!

Bath and back to London

2009-06-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

Today we woke up, had breakfast at the hotel in Coventry, and hopped on the bus only to find that four girls had either not received a wake-up call or had slept through it. Either way, with some help Karsyn, Adrianna, Justine, and Stephanie got ready miraculously quickly and we set off for Bath. Once we arrived (and made a point stop at Starbucks) we went to the Roman baths. An audio tour led us through, and I was very impressed by how well designed the whole place was. The baths are built over a natural hot spring, and the ruins are remarkable.

After the baths some folks took a guided tour of the city of bath by bus, while some of us opted to check out the city on foot. I went and bought the phone many of you dads received Happy Fathers Day calls on, then found a place with free Wifi to try and catch up here. It's a bit difficult to type on this itouch, so that took a while, but while I worked I had a wonderful lunch of roast chicken and miniature bread puddings, like the cupcake versions of the kind my mom makes every Christmas. I was struck by the fact that I was eating the kind of meal a Roman or Saxon might have eaten in the same place some two thousand years earlier, while typing on an itouch and sending messages around the world; a cool meeting of the ancient and modern.

We joined up and hoarded the bus to head back to London. There we got caught in a nasty snarl of traffic and lost some precious time. Mr. Witt planned on taking Ikaika, Jenn, and Jenni to see a show for Ikaika's birthday (he's 18 today) amd were very worried they'd miss all the shows. They jumped off the bus downtown, only to find all the theaters are closed on Sunday nights. When they caught back up with us at the hotel, after taking the tube back, Mr. Witt was not very happy at all.

After a very quick dinner of bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) we went back into London's East End for a walking tour about Jack the Ripper. The kids were really into it, urging the guide to give them every gory detail. I'm not sure if they've fully adjusted or if they're so tired they're slap-happy, but it seemed that everyone was in high spirits as we rode the train back to the hotel. I caught quite a few more memorable quotes which I'll post later on, but it's 1:30am, and though I feel very energized, I'd best get some good sleep for a long day of travel and touring Paris tomorrow.

Collected trip quotes, part 1

2009-06-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

Sean: "How do you say 'Thank you' in this language?"
Aidan: "'Thank you'! They speak the same language we do!"

Sean, on seeing an add for a coffee shop called "Total Crepe": "Total creep?"

Alyssa, on seeing a human statue: "Whoa! That guy looks real!"
Jeff: "He is."

Alyn, overheard in Warwick Castle: "Oh, I love how people get beheaded in that movie!"

Quote from a boy climbing a large spiral staircase, to his brother up ahead of him, "Just think, James, one of these could break and we'd fall down and we'd die!"
His mother: "Just shout so your father and I could get out of the way."

Aidan and Andrew, walking through Stratford with bows and arrows: "We're midget hunting."

Coventry, Warwick, and Stratford

2009-06-21T05:40:00.000-07:00

I'm realizing that most of the notes about the second day in London are mostly hastily jotted down historical facts you could probably find on Wikipedia, and lists of places we visited that would be about as interesting to you parents, colleagues, and friends as they were to the bored students who didn't care about Herman Melville or Rudyard Kipling. Let's just move on, shall we?

Yesterday I had no internet access all day, so I'm cathing up a bit jow. After breakfast we took a bus to our next hotel in Coventry. I'd tell you tge countryside was lovely, but I don't really know because I slept almost the whole way. We had lunch in Coventry, then hopped right back on the bus and traveled to Warwick Castle.

The castle was very cool. Not only is the building itself an amazing structure to see, climb, and photograph, but they've essentially turned it into an amusement park. I watched a falconry show, complete with a specimen of the world's largest species of eagle, a giant 15lbs bird with an 8 foot wingspan. The thing probably stood around three and a half feet tall when perched. It was huge, with a giant almost Tucan-like beak. I got some pretty good shots of it swooping over my head, despite my crappy camera.

Inside the castle, I took lots of pictures of swords, suits of armor, axes, and very old rifles, knowing these would probably be the only pictures of the trip my son, Noah, would have any interest in. I'm sometimes surprised at his interest in all things violent, considering he has two Quaker pacifist parents. Then I remember all my interests as a kid and admit the apple does not fall too far from the tree.

After the halls, I climbed up the tallest tower and got some great pictures of our students and the surrounding city of Warwick (pronounced War-ick). Then I caught up with some other GLs to watch a reenactment of a medieval joust. The acting, the jokes, and the cheezy storyline were atrocious, but the actual jousting, sword fighting, etc. were cool. I really want to bring Noah here someday soon.

We had to run out of the castle before any of us got to do everything inside, which is starting to feel like the norm on this tour over-packed with so many sights. We hopped back on the bus and traveled to Statford upon Avon (Strat =Street, Ford= a river crossing, and Avon is the river running through town, so the name means the town was built where a Roman road met up with a place to cross the Avon river). Here we went into Trinity Church and saw the grave of William Shakespeare. It might not have peaked the interest of all the students, but we English teachers loved it. We then had some brief free time, mostly filled with dinner. Some of ys went to an Italian restaurant. I had the wild boar tagliatelle and learned I really like wild boar sausage.

After dinner we went to see the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Julius Ceaser. The dumb show (not as in stupid, but as in the mute part before the actual play starts) was really cool, and the kids were really into it, but the beginning of the actual play was quite slow, even for those of us who weren't struggling with the language. I kept myself awake by nudging Sean, Aidan, and Andrew when they fell asleep, and then giving them updates on the story. By intermission Justine had lay down on the floor, and the guys were clearly lost. Once the house lights came up the students told me they couldn't understand anything that was being said, and I felt guilty for making them stay awake. One of our chaperons, Tia Jones, was enjoying the show even less than the kids. She said, "It was the most torturous thing I had to sit through since a time share presentation I sat through for tickets to Disneyland." upon finding I had no such gifts to offer, she took a group of malcontents and they escaped into the city before the second half. Of those who remained, most liked the second half better, but even the teachers admitted it wasn't as good a production as we'd been hoping for.

After the show we came back to Coventry and most folks crashed. We learned this morning that three of the guys spent some of the night sneaking around the hotel with the little wooden bows and arrows they'd purchased at Warwick Castle, "hunting" for lord-knows-what. Other than one stubbed toe, no was was injured in the hunting expedition, and that goofball received no sympathy this morning.

Second day in London

2009-06-19T16:56:00.001-07:00

We had a very full day today, beginning with a bus tour of London (with a very entertaining guide) followed by a literary walking tour (with a boring guide), some free time, dinner, the National Gallery, and the London Eye at sundown. Then most folks went back to the hotel, bit a small group of us decided we wanted to get every possible moment out of the city, so we stayed and walled to a horror attraction, then took one of the last tubes of the night back home. I took copious notes through out the day, but we're just arriving at our hotel now, at 1:00 am, so, if you'll all forgive me, I'm going to bed. I'll have to catch up later.

First day in London

2009-06-18T23:32:00.000-07:00

We landed in London and met with our guide, Simon Cole. Cool guy.

We had no problems with customs, though people did worry over-much that their bad handwriting on the form we had to fill out would get them deported. I couldn't convince them that if they'd let someone with handwriting as bad as mine get in, no one else needed to worry.

We took a bus across London, past Parliament, Big Ben, The Tower of London, London Bridge, The Old and New Tate Museums, etc. We dropped our bags at the hotel and headed out quickly before everyone fell asleep. We took a train (the new, automated DST variety) back into the City of London (a distinct political entity within London, essentially the old city, now the financial district). We walked for about a half an hour, familiarizing ourselves with the nature of crosswalks in a country where pedestrians do NOT have the right-of-way. We made our way to a restaurant called The Center Page where most of us had traditional fish and chips. I hate to say it, but,though they were good, they weren't the best I've ever had (beat Burgerville on ambiance, but not on taste).

The evening's high drama: Chris' sinuses, irritated by all the dry air in the planes, gave him a really bad bloody nose and he spent all of dinner a bloody mess in the bathroom. At least Jeff and I could take turns so we could eat while one of us kept him company. Just as we began making calls to clinics he finally stopped bleeding, but he and I didn't go to the London Eye as planned, just to be safe.

Most of us came home to go to bed. Jeff took a contingent of kids to the Lindon Eye, though he didn't ride it himself. It's tough to get a claustrophobe to voluntarily climb into anything called a capsule, no matter how large.

A bunch of us GLs (Group Leaders) sat down with Simon to hammer out the plans for the next few days. Then I took these last few notes and did a room check. I found a bunch of the guys playing cards and told them to finish the last hand before heading back to their respective rooms. I waited and looked over te shoulder if a student who shall remain nameless. He held seven or eight wild cards and one Draw Two. sean challenged him and found a stack of cards hidden under his leg. Yep: cheating at Uno!

No free internet in the hotel, but there's a pub here across the street.

Oh, and it turns out there's no Mountain Dew in the entire Kingdom! Probably by royal edict.

It's been fun to overhear the rich conversations here in the pub, including one older man trying to convince a younger one to never get married or have a family. Paige and Noah, I want it noted I seriously considered interrupting to come to the defense of the institution. I do like how folks here refer to each other as "mate" and "luv", even when bashing their own families.

Speaking of irony, there's a production of "Waiting For Gadot" starring Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, but I won't get to see it. So I guess I'm still waiting for that.

Flight to Frakfurt (cont.)

2009-06-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

Breakfast: Some fruit, reasonably fresh.
A roll: safe and boring.
Main course: a big loaf of scrambled eggs (essentially an empty omlette), with some tater-tots on it. Tastes just a bit wprse than you'd expect.

I couldn't tell if the stewardess hated me or if that's just what Herman indifference looks like.

I watched an episode of "How I Met Your Mother". It has too good a cast to need a laugh track. And really, I can't imagine the target demographic for that show is dumb enough that they need to be told to laugh. So why try to poach viewers from "Two and a Half Men" with a laugh track? The world has moved on, people!

One of the men sittinga few seats ahead of me watched "Confessions of a Shopaholic" at least three times with Chinese subtitles. I didn't watch it. Maybe it's great. Maybe it's even better in Chinese. Or maybe it's just the only movie available with Chinese subtitles. Still, three times in a row?

There was lots of beautiful forrest around Frankfurt. A video informed me that it's one of the top ten largest airports in the world. It was giant.

Flight to Frankfurt

2009-06-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

We flew Lufthansa. German safety instructions sound funny.

I watched the movie "He's Just Not That Into You". It was okay. My expectation was that it might have a couple good laughs and it would make me very glad I never have to date again. It did have some good moments and a couple well written scenes. At tiems, it made me jealous of the fun parts of dating. But, more than anything, it made me glad I'll never have to break up with anyone ever again. I'd forgotten how miserable that is for both parties. Yuck.

One critique: a character cheats on his wife, played by Jennifer Connelly. Even though he cheats with Scarlet Johansen, who's easy on the eyes, I can't accept that any man with any taste would cheat on Jennifer Connelly. Not buyin' it.

Backpack tore. After a year or two of use, it tore now. I was glad Mrs. Houser had a travel sowing kit. Of course, as soon as I started they brought dinner.

Salad with Italian dressing: fine.
Little block of Tillamook cheese: medium (unfortunately) but a nice little slice of home (pardon the pun).
Pasta: a violent crime against all things edible. A Class 1A food felony. Seek maximum penalty against the chef.
Dessert: A half a chocolate brownie anf a half a strawberry with whipped cream. Quite good. "Leave 'em wanting more," I suppose.

I sat next to Sara Guralnick and tried to figure out how to steal her dessert. She was watching "Pink Panther 2" on her personal movie player, so I figured she deserved to lose her dessert as punishment for her bad taste in movies. But then, I was about to watch "Transporter 3", so...

Most interesting part of dinner: metal spoon, metal knife, and... Metal spork! The tines were a bit longer than the plastic cafeteria variety, but a spork none-the-less. I'm not sure how I feel about it: Cool evolution of silverware or sign of the infantilizing of Western Civilization? Votes?

I expected it to be cold on the plane and warned the kids to wear layers. So far, both were sweltering.

"Transporter 3" is to cinema what airplane pasta is to food. I'm honestly not sure if the actress playing the damsel in distress is a very talented actress playing amd obnoxious character, or if they found some hot but repellent model and told her to just be herself. And yet, outside some fun fight scenes, she may be the film'a high point. It's that bad. Actual dialogue:
"Am I in heaven?"
"Looks more like hell."
"I don't care, as long as we're there together."
(Followed by the sound of a certain English teacher pretending to vomit.)

I really should have slept more on the way to Germany, but I could only snag an hour or two.

(We're in London as I type this, but I'll have to catch up with my notes tomorrow. It's after closing time at the pub with free Wifi. More to come.

First leg to Denver

2009-06-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

The ride to Portland was uneventful.

We had an orderly trip through ticketing/security. The guy sitting next to me on the plane offered me part of his newspaper. I told him I'd fall asleep as soon as they turned on the engines. He laughed.

I slept through takeoff and woke up over the Rockies. I wasn't joking.

I always thought of Denver as some tightly packed metropolis squeezed into a niche between the peaks of the Rockies. Not so. It might be a mile high, but it's a sprawling city on a flat plain. It looks like you'd have to get on the freeway to get to anything in town; subdivisions of identical homes are strangely separated from one another by great stretches of what might be fallow agricultural land, or maybe just empty plain. It makes me wonder how much of the Midwest is full of the endless fields of corn and soy and wheat, as I remember from my childhood in Illinois, and how much is simply empty; fields sectioned off and fenced perhaps, the bison eradicated, but still empty.

Somebody told me the Denver airport is weird. The exterior has this cool model of the Rockies made of what looks like giant white tents over what I assume to be the parking structure.

Safe landing. One flight down.

Another bunch of reminders

2009-06-16T09:41:00.000-07:00

I gave you the wrong infor for the hotel in Paris. It's even nicer than that. It's the Comfort Hotel Median. Here's the website: http://www.choicehotels.fr/hotels/hotel?hotel=FR112

Also, Simon Cole, our tour guide, reminded me to tell you that there are some discounts available to students and teachers, so if you get this in time, please bring your student ID (teachers, your teacher ID badge should work).

So far I know of five vegetarians. If there are any more, I need to know ASAP.

Someone asked for dimensions of bags again.
Carry-on: should not be more than 9 x 14 x 22 in. (23 x 35 x 56 cm) (length x width x height) or 45 linear inches* (114 linear cm)
Checked: not more than 62 linear inches (158 linear cm)* and 50 lbs.
(23 kg)
(But again, you will have to lug your stuff, so don't aim for the maximum.)

Hope all the packing is going well. See you tomorrow morning, bright and early!

-Ben

Last minute questions/reminders

2009-06-14T20:42:00.001-07:00

Everybody,

Some more questions:

Do we have any vegetarians? If you want to go vegetarian, apparently that's possible, but it's an all or nothing deal; once veggie, all veggie.

Second, on our second night we'll be having traditional British fish and chips for dinner. I reccommend that everybody partake, but if anyone is opposed for some reason, and isn't a vegetarian, I need to know if you want me to put you down for a burger. You have until tomorrow night. Then you're a fish and chips.

So far I've received only one "no" vote for the Jack the Ripper tour, but luckily it's one of our adults, so if you still don;t want to go we can make that happen, but you need to get back to me as soon as possible.

As far as a tour of the catacombs of Paris, I haven't asked out tour guide, Simon, yet, but everyone has seemed to be interested in that, too (save our one adult). Any kids want to opt out of that one, if it happens? If so, again, let me know as soon as possible.

One last packing note: I was reminded of something today while listening to a travel show on the radio: it's possible that the coldest you will be on our entire trip is on the airplane or in one of the airports. Therefore, wear layers. If you're comfortable, they can be bunched up and made into pillows. You do not want to spend the whole flight to London shivering.

Also, make sure your passport is easily accessible Wednesday morning. You don't want to be scrounging around for it when we ask to double-check before the bus leaves, and we don't want to wait until we get you to Portland to find out you forgot it on the kitchen counter and won't be going with us.

I hope the packing is going well for you all. Keep an eye on the email, as we'll be finalizing things over the next two days. I'll also post these last-minute messages on the blog, so that's a fine place to check:

http://centralhigheuropetrip.blogspot.com/

See you all Wednesday morning!

-Mr. G

Wave Around the World

2009-06-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

While we're in London, Paris, and Barcelona, we'll have to remember to get some footage of our group members doing the wave and enter it here:

http://www.wavearoundtheworld.com/

Should be fun. Has everyone started packing?

Test from Independence

2009-06-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a test to see if I can post notes to the blog from my ipod. If so I might just forego taking my clunky, heavy computer altogether. Ofcourse, that would mean I wouldn't be able to post pictures here until we got back, but it seems far more practical. Well, let's try posting this and see if it works.