Provost European Adventure

 Our trip home from London was blissfully uneventful. Andy left the flat first and flew to NYC, the on to Phoenix. We flew to LA and then to Phoenix. It was a very long day, and none of us really got much sleep on the plane. But when we reached home 11 hours later, we were all so grateful. I cried in my luxurious full-size shower and then again in my king size bed. The next day, we picked up our dog Leo, and that was a very happy reunion indeed.                    Andy’s departure—we sent to my mom.                                  Last Uber in Europe!  Final shots of our beautiful neighborhood. London is huge and there was no way we could have seen it all, but I am so grateful for what we did get to explore. Boarding our flight to LA! We were all so very excited to be heading home. Napping in LA waiting for our late Phoenix flight. Ahh, to be ...

 Our final full day in London was cold and rainy. I was officially sick and opted to stay home. Donnie, Andy and the girls went on a double decker bus ride through historical London. They saw the major sites and had a delicious lunch before heading home. Donnie and I took a long stroll through the neighborhood, which was absolutely lovely after the rain. So many residential buildings were built in the 1800s! We all spent a few hours that evening packing up the Airbnb one last time for our long journey home. Donnie, Andy and the girls brave the double decker’s rainy rooftop. But they got to see some cool things! For example, this crazy window display at the Coach store!                              Beautiful King’s College                                 The Tower Bridge I love Lewis Carroll, so Donnie made sure I got to see this ...

 This day was very hot in London. We all stayed close to home and took it easy. Donnie found a grocery store nearby and did some minimal shopping; then, he cooked delicious meals for us throughout the day.  In the late afternoon, we got into an Uber and took an hour ride to see “The Lion King” at the Lyceum theater. Donnie and Gracelyn and I have seen it in Arizona, but Elise and Andy had never seen it. Donnie purchased second row seats for us, and they did not disappoint. The theater was gorgeous and small. This production was absolutely breathtaking. Every song was perfect. The puppetry was magical. Honestly we couldn’t get over it. Such a perfect ending to our trip. 

 We had a morning at Efteling before starting our return trip to London. I woke up feeling pretty sick with a bad cold, so I slept in and had breakfast late. Donnie, Andy and the girls had some fun final moments at the park before we headed back to the train station and began our very long trip into London. Donnie and Gracelyn on a family-friendly coaster Donnie and Elise on the beautiful dark ride once more Elise points out a magical carousel for smaller kiddos The little kid area is for kids of all ages! Good thing they had fun, because the travel ahead was pretty awful. Loads of stops between Amsterdam and Brussels. We had planned to put our bags into a locker and explore during our three hour layover, but it was not to be. The lockers were all full. So we hung out (with all our luggage)  in one of the only train station restaurants with AC and got the girls a Belgian waffle. We finally boarded the Eurostar and were on our way back to London. As usual, boarding Eurostar was...

We had one full day at Efteling and definitely made the most of it. Our day started with a delicious breakfast buffet at the hotel. The Dutch really know how to breakfast—I discovered the wonder of muesli with “farmers” yogurt. Other delights included super fresh eggs (one of my hard boiled eggs still had feathers on it!), all the bacon you could eat, delicious sausages,  and huge hunks of fresh baked bread with butter. The buffet also included super fancy coffee machines that people could use to make their own espresso. Loads of little children were all around, but they were happy and well behaved. It was chaotic and noisy, but not crazy stressful. We were in the park for the rest of the day. It was hot and humid but not unmanageable. By nighttime, my slight sore throat had turned into a full blown cold. After another three course meal, we called it a night. Off to the park! Our first ride was “Dreamflight.” So beautiful we did it a couple of times.         ...