They really do speak about rivers that way, heard it on BBC the other day. I guess the girls are feeling more at home. They are outside again tonight looking for creatures. They've started a collection of almost microscopic snails which they are storing in the ant habitat Grandma purchased at Borders. They are still looking for ants. The first batch somehow escaped the habitat. (Funny there is no shortage of ants at the park.) We've ordered the pre-butterflies (caterpillars?) for the little butterfly home, also purchased at Borders, but today Miranda managed to catch a butterfly in the meantime. Looks alot like your typical monarch.We actually set out to go punting yesterday. I had mentioned the possibility, and it happened to be one of those things the kids were dying to do since the mention of it. The forecast was for just two days of sun for a while, but it became a full week. It's a lucky thing as we forgot the camera yesterday, and we weren't about to shell out the fortune that it costs to hire a punter without pictures. I felt silly asking Bruce if we should punt on the punting idea, and really dreaded breaking it to the kids when Bruce realized the memory card was still in the card reader back at the house, but Bruce was very clear on the matter. He had already envisioned the pictures on the blog.
Once again, we managed to survive. We were back at Jesus Green near the pool where music in the park was scheduled. We let the kids choose their own ice cream treat (which literally took 30 minutes -- I thought it was the long line, but when I looked up they were still deciding, they hadn't even gotten in line) and they practiced a choreographed gymnastics routine (Miranda directing) for the rest of the afternoon while Bruce and I watched the locals play volleyball and cricket to swing music. Zero pictures of these events, of course.
Today we managed to get half way through the 45 minute punting trip before the camera batteries died. It was an experience. Bruce was very glad he decided not to try "driving" and won't be doing it again because of the congestion even more than the price. There were a few points it felt more like a game of chicken than a relaxing float down a river. We did see one man fall completely into the river after reaching up to touch the ceiling while going under one of the few bridges one would actually have to stand up to touch (most of them had to be ducked). Olivia has already written her first postcard to her friend Paula telling her it was
"rilli fun!"Tomorrow we expect to hear where we're going to school. We're starting to research how to get around Europe. It's a little overwhelming. I spent a good hour looking at train info on the web and then Bruce came in and said he thought flying was supposed to be convenient around Europe so I bailed. If anyone has any advise, I'm open to it. We'd like to make short trips to Edinburgh, Paris, Rome, and one or two other places...
7 comments:
If it's anything complicated or distant, I definitely would fly rather than train. It's gets both confusing and expensive. In 2005 I started by checking train schedules on the web for a Prague to Nice train, got really confused, and when I finally figured it out the price was very high. So I checked Easyjet, and it was less expensive, and downright cheap if we flew through Dortmund to visit Wolfram.
Also the protocols can be confusing, like how and when to get a seat reservation or reading the track locations (I lost some luggage in Frankfurt because the train transfer was so confusing and the time between trains so short). Each train station (or country) can be different - at least flying is pretty standardized (usually with English spoken). I think if I were going on a single run (no transfers) to major cities I might consider an express, point-to-point train if it were cheaper - you usually end up in thecity center and that can be useful. However most European airports have some sort of public transportation to the center.
Easyjet flights are much cheaper way in advance and at odd hours - again I would avoid short turn-around transfers if possible.
Thanks Dad, I was assuming Eurail passes would save us money and offer convenience, but it's clear I need to look more carefully. It's hard to believe kids travelling at half price wouldn't make enough of a difference.
I've never bought tickets for kids . . . and the Eurailpass is more expensive than you would guess. Also you may or may not be able to buy a Eurailpass while you're in "Europe."
My "advice" :)
Fly to Edinburgh and Rome, train to Paris.
SPJ recommends flybe.com (never a line), but there are also easyjet (typically long lines) and ryanair. Though ryanair doesn't go to Edinburgh, they do fly to Glasgow which is only 1 hour to Edinburgh by train. I'm having a hard time finding out how much flying actually costs because some of the flights list as 1 penny, but don't show the fees and luggage limits--where according to SPJ they make up their costs.
I hear the northern parts of France are beautiful from the train and I think with Airport waits and transport, you make up for the difference in time btw flying and train. BUT you're considerably closer to Stansted than to whatever station in London has the chunnel train. It's been a few years, but when Julia and I flew the nominal cost for the train and flight from London to Paris were about the same.
Train was fun and relaxing for me but you must invest plenty of time and patience. I had a good time railing -- day long ride from Stuttgard to to Milan, shorter rail Milan to Florence and Pisa, overnight (sleeper) train Milan to Paris, bullet from London to Paris (3hrs). Met new people on each leg, made friends with the porter (result: free wine).
This is all very helpful, some things I hadn't thought of. What is SPJ? Sounds like we might have to do it on a trip by trip basis. The Eurail deals are more for a few travel days over a shorter period of time so may think about using that only strategically. I had definitely forgotten how confusing the trains can be.
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