Paris and Home again.

Well, we are home safe and sound! I was unable to blog in France. For one thing their keyboards are different then here at home and it would have taken me a life time to type anything up. Secondly, the computer at our hotel did not have a USB Port so I was unable to post photos as well.

The plane ride was horrible! I started getting sick our last few days in Paris and by the time we got on the airplane my little virus was in full swing. I hacked and coughed and sneezed my way through both flights (and 10 mini packets of tissues). The flight from New York to Salt Lake was the worst. It was jammed packed and I had the unfortunate position of being a sliver in between Meghan and a massive Greek man. The later kept falling asleep and would slowly drift over until he was practically on top of me. I would shove him off and he would slowly begin to drift back over again. I was also feeling so exhausted and sick. I tried desperately not to scream! But we finally made it back to Utah with out killing the Greek man and causing and international incident.

Ahhh . . . what to say about Paris! It was amazing. I love PARIS! I enjoyed Paris on this trip more then I have during any other. I think it was because I was more comfortable. Yes, my very limited French vocabulary got a work out, but we got around ok. I was overjoyed when I walked up to the ticket window at the metro, asked for tickets in French, and she actually handed them over! Wahoo!

Everyone needs to go to Paris at least once in their life. The food is incredible, and the sights spectacular. The Eiffel tower still has the ability to cover my entire body in goose bumps. I was sad to leave, but I know I will be back again someday!

Day 13, Tuesday 9:24 Inverness

I love Inverness. The countryside around it is breath taking. The further up the train went the thicker the trees became until it looked like we were travelling through a dense forest. Once and a while a clearing would pop up dotted with fluffy white sheep. We spent most of the afternoon on a boat tour of the Loch ness. It was spectacular! Yes, it was the third time for me but I can’t imagine getting board by the grandiose landscape. It did start to get a bit chilly toward the end, but I still loved every minute.

Meg and I made friends with some friendly French boys on the boat. They fly back to Paris tomorrow. They asked for our email addresses. We are hoping they will contact us to meet up with them in Paris. Wouldn’t that be cool? Their English is not so good and my French is pretty sparse to say the least so our conversation was interesting. It always amazes me what can be communicated with out words.

We are taking the sleeper train to London tomorrow night. I am not sure what we are going to do to keep ourselves busy tomorrow. I think Meg is starting to get homesick and worn out. Truthfully I am surprised she made it his long. Travelling is exhausting and it is her first time away from home for this long. I just hope she can keep a little spring in her step for a few more days. I could do this forever. Sure I get tired. Sure I miss the comforts of home, but I just love this. I can’t explain it. Maybe I have a little gypsies in me!

Day 12 (and 11th) Monday 8:45 AM, On the road to Inverness

I did not write yesterday. Meg and I were both down in the dumps. I hate feeling like that when I am travelling. It’s a waist of what could be an amazing day! I think Meg was a bit homesick. She is missing her family and friends (and we both miss our beds). Me, on the other hand, was just plain bored! Can you imagine that!!!

It was my forth time in Edinburgh. If you add up the number of days I have spent in the capital city of Scotland it would equal nearly two weeks! Yesterday we went to the castle and once again I found myself listening to the same commentary, reading the same plaques, looking at the same cannons and chapels and monuments. Ahh! I wanted to run down the coble stone street with my palms pressed to my temples screaming “NO MORE!” I feel so ungrateful for feeling that way. I love Scotland, I love Edinburgh, and today as we sat on the train and I watched the castle descend into the mist I felt sad. I know I will probably never come back.

There is so much to do in Edinburgh but we just saw the castle. Meghann has not been a museum girl; they bore her easily. So we didn’t go to any in Edinburgh. I would have pressed the issue if I had not already been through them all. The Palace was closed to visitors because someone from the royal family was there, so we just went shopping. Even that was tedious for me. The same old rows and rows of shops filled with the same layers and layers of plaid items.

We went back to the hostel (which is lovely) and sat by the sea for a while. It was misty and cold. We didn’t stay long. I soaked in the tub for a couple hours and then called it a night!

So, its time for a better attitude!

We are on a train headed deep into the highlands and Inverness. This will be my third trip there. I hope I can keep the enthusiasm up! Loch ness is so beautiful, its hard to imagine getting bored of it.

Our trip is winding down. Our next destination is Paris and then we are homeward bound.

Day 10, Saturday 8:00 PM Edinburgh

Our hostel in Edinburgh is amazing! Holy Cow! This is my forth time in the Scottish capital and I have not found a place I have ever wanted to stay twice. Well, that is until now! We are staying at the Globetrotters Inn. It is 20 minutes out of town but the hostel runs a shuttle back and forth every half hour. We are right on the sea! The view from our window is spectacular. The bunks are comfy and we have our own bathroom with . . . get this. . . a bath tub! I just took a long soak in the tub and it is so big that when I stretched completely out my toes did not even graze the end! I was doing the back float!

Anyway, enough about the tub. We had a long journey from Haworth. A couple of train transfers but we made it by 2:00. We wondered down Princes street and in and out of shops. I love Edinburgh. Everywhere you go you can hear bag pipes piping. Its all for the tourists (us) but I don’t care. You never feel like you are more in Scotland then when you are in Edinburgh.

We went to “my” cemetery. This creepy, super old grave yard is behind one of the city churches. I have had my picture taken behind the same headstone there three times now, and today was the forth. So, I was kneeling behind the head stone while Meghann aimed the camera at me when suddenly everything went dark and CRASH (lightening) and BOOM (thunder)! Meghann and I screamed and made a run past all the head stones laced with skulls and crossbones. Then the rain started. Pouring rain! We were soaked in seconds.

So tomorrow we are off to see all of Edinburgh’s must sees!

Day 9, Friday 3:30 PM Haworth

I am sitting in the middle of the moors. I am sitting in the middle of Jane Eyre and Weathering Heights. Feet away from where I sit Jane and Mr. Rochester were created. This amazes me and tears keep springing to my eyes. This place inspired two of the greatest writers in history. God is so good to me to bring me to such places.

Meg and I decided that in honour of my idol we would wear our best dress. We put on our skirts and blouses and fix our hair and make-up and felt like girls for the first time in a week. I loved it. I felt like I was getting ready to meet someone really special.

It was quite a hike to get up to the old church and the small parsonage behind it. The family lived there for decades. One by one they all died off. First the mother, then two little girls, then the brother Bramwell, then Emily, Ann and a few years later Charlotte. They all left their father to suffer on with out them for years. The talent that disappeared with that family is the most tragic thing of all.

Walking up through the moors I swear I could hear voices in the wind. Heathcleif lamenting over Catharine; Mr. Rochester despairing over Jane. They were all there hovering over the moors.

Its days like these that make the monotony of everyday life worth it!

Day 8, Thursday 11:15 AM Haworth

When you are on the road, the kindness of strangers means everything. For that reason it was extra hard to leave Brighton this morning. Our host Glen and our friend Paul have been so good to us. Paul looked honestly sad when he realized we were leaving for good today and not just for a day trip. He loaded our bags into the taxi and taking us both by the hand said "It was nice meeting you. We don't get a lot of Americans around here."

It seems that Paul's full time job is to sit on the street outside our Hostel and "help people." At least that's what he told us. In other words, he is a bit of a loafer! Meghann has a big crush on him anyway despite the fact that he is pretty grimy and his teeth poke out every which way. I suppose if you gave a giant pile of steaming dog poo an English accent it would suddenly be come irresistible, so I can't fault Meghann for being a little goo goo eyed over Paul.

We have a day of train travel ahead of us. I have been dozing in the sun from the window of this train periodically waking to munch on a milk chocolate digestive (my favorite English snack! Meghann is also now addicted as well!) There is nothing better in the world then chris-crossing England on a train as it softly rocks you to sleep.

We are headed for Haworth and I am all a twitter about it! Haworth is the home of the Bronte sisters. Charlotte Bronte is the author of my favorite book "Jane Eyre." I have been wanting to make the pilgrimage to her home ever since I started traveling. It has been on my list of places to visit on every single trip to England I have taken but because it is such a pain to get to I have always crossed it off my destination list at the last moment. It just seemed like such a waist of time to spend two whole days of train travel to get to a little village in the middle of the moors. But today I am finally going to make it there! We left Brighton at 10:30 AM. We should get to Hawroth by 5:00 PM if all goes well.

12:45 PM
We just had a slight lay over in London where Meg and I had to high-tail it over to another station to catch a train to Leeds. Thankfully we had just enough time to find the potty and grab a pasty from the Cornish pasty stand. YUM!

So my tattoo is getting darker and darker everyday! When I mentioned that this morning Paul said he had heard that some peoples never completely fade away! He looked at mine sprawled across my hand and said, "Yours will look like you haven't washed up properly after you have wiped your bum." And you know, he is right! What if my temporary tattoo isn't so temporary!

Last night Meg and I spent most of our evening on the beach. I loved every second! Meg was pretty good at indulging me for the first couple of hours, but by the third hour she was getting pretty impatient to get back to our hostel. I put her off as long as I could! The sun had nearly sunk completely beneath the waves before we started back up our street.

6:45

So, yea, we are in the middle of know where and I was totally right. It was a pain in the butt to get here! It is so late and we are so worn out we haven't seen much. We hit the first fish and chips stand we came upon for dinner and have landed in a heap on our hotel beds. Tomorrow we will explore.

I am going to detail our journey for you. From Brighton to London's St. Pancus was one and a half hours. We then had to walk from that station to Kings Cross (with our mondo packs on. By the way, Kings Cross platforms only go to 7, there is no 9 and three quarters!). From London's Kings Cross it was a three hour train ride to Leeds. From Leeds a 45 minute train to Keighley. At Keighely we walked a half mile to the bus station and caught a bus to Haworth. We got a little lost trying to find our guest house, but we are here. Finally!

The Moors are gorgeous!

Day 7, 1:55 PM Wednesday, Brighton and Arundel

Glen and Karen are awesome! They are neat, neat people. But as wonderful as their hospitality has been their beds really suck! Oh my gosh! Talk about, soft, squishy, springs poking in the back all night! It wasn’t the jet lag that encouraged us to get out of bed so early this morning. It was the stinking beds! Meghann also woke me at about 2:00 AM because she couldn’t find her hat. It didn’t take me long to realize she was still asleep. She kept telling me very determinedly, “I know I put my hat in the bag! I need to wear it now!” I finally convinced her that she was still sleeping. She started laughing hysterically (creepy) and then went back to sleep. She doesn’t remember a thing about it today. Add the drunks that had a party under our window last night and you can just imagine how long our night was!

We are currently on a train headed back to Brighton. We have spent the day in Arundel at the castle there. It was magnificent! I believe it is my new favourite castle, and I have seen my fair share. My guide book says it was the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty castle in the Disney cartoon movie. It has also been in a great many fairytale movies. I just don’t think it is fair that some people get to live in castles and I don’t! Who decided this stuff anyway? I bet that in the pre-existence I was on my knees before God saying something like, “Utah! Are you kidding me! I want to live in an English castle! Why does so-and-so get to be the duchess of Norfolk and I get to be plain old everyday Michelle Murray! Why, just tell me why!” Oh well, I have always looked kind of silly in a tiara anyway. I suppose the big guy knows what is best in the long run. (Or he just likes laughing at me from above. I am convinced he has a pretty warped since of humor. Have you met my dad? Just kidding dad.)

Meghann and I have found ourselves adopting a slight English accent. This happens every time I come here! It’s a bit embarrassing actually. I am always afraid that the locals will think I am making fun of them. My little accent always sticks with me for a few days once I get home, which is even more embarrassing! Yesterday I heard myself ask Meghann, “Have you seen a rubbish bin?” At the Pavilion she asked me to look at her so she could take my “photo”. At this moment Meg is sitting across from me “having a listen” to her ipod. She told me last night that she wanted to go back to the pier for some “candy floss” and I think an “iced lolly” sounds very refreshing. With any luck our few days in Paris at the end of the trip will cure us of our little accent before we get home and find ourselves asking someone where the “loo” is.

Day 6 (continued) 9:14 PM, Brighton

I am sitting on the bottom bed of our bunk with my little book light making the ink from my pen shine. Meg is asleep in the bed above me. Directly across, in our tiny room, the window is wide open and I can here the waves from the ocean washing up onto the rocky beach. It has been a good day! I am in love with Brighton.

Our hostel is a mile and a half from the train station. We decided to splurge (and save our feet) and snagged a taxi. Something strange happened as we packed up our packs this morning. Some how they have grown in bulk and weight! What the. . . ! We are contemplating on what we can throw out. We have so little already; it is difficult to decide on what gets the boot. (or maybe it will actually be the boots!)

We are staying at the Sea Dragon Backpackers. It is a small hostel owned by a young couple who use to be backpackers themselves. They have settled down into this little niche and just had their first baby. He is adorable. The owners could not be nicer people. They are taking great care of us, especially the husband Glen. (Who Megahnn calls “Mr. Hottie” when he is (sort of) out of ear shot.)

Glen showed us to our room. Like I said before, it is tiny and a bit shabby. Meghann’s first introduction to Hostel living came complete with a used condom outside our window ledge! Which naturally leads to the next question, whose bed got all the fun? I am guessing it was mine . . . unfortunately. Gross! I had been hoping to ease Meghann into the backpacker’s life style a bit more gently!

We did a lot of walking today! We started with a mile walk along the beach while I tried to keep the tears at bay. (I have a thing for the ocean). We went to the Royal Pavilion that King George built centuries ago and dubbed, “The Pleasure Palace.” (That just made me think of that damn condom again!) We walked down Brighton Pier and feasted on fish and chips. Meg says she can’t wait to get home to show her friends how good salt and malt vinegar tastes on fish and fries. The pier is a bit cheesy but fun none the less. I let Meghann talk us into getting tattoos. . . (Ok, someone please pick Mom off the floor!) They are not real. Well, not really. They are the kind that fade after a month or two. I really do like mine. We are suppose to keep them dry for 24 hours so we have been keeping a nice layer of Vaseline on them.

We made the long walk back to the hostel and grabbed our dirty, sweaty clothes and spent the evening at the laundry mat. We went to the super market for dinner food and cooked it in the hostel kitchen. (After some trial and error on how to use European appliances.)

While at the laundry mat Meghann did a count of how many days we have left on the trip. She came up with nine and then burst into tears. “I don’t want to go home” she wailed.

I promised her there will always be more trips. “I am already planning the next one.” She assured me as her chin quivered.

The weather here has been incredible! Not on drop of rain since we got to England. I told Meghann to pack for cool weather and instead we are sweating and getting sun burnt! The lady at the laundry mat said that this is very strange weather for them. “Just enjoy it while it lasts. It will probably snow tomorrow.” We aren’t really enjoying it though. It’s so dang hot.

Day 6, 9:15 A.M. Tuesday, Brighton

There are two things in my life that bring me complete peace and contentment. The first is when I am writing and the second is when I am travelling and as I am doing both right this very second, I can’t imagine being any happier then I am right now!
Meg and I are currently sitting on a train heading south of London for Brighton. The locals call Brighton a “Holiday Making” city. This is a place to enjoy ones self! My guide book calls it the spot for the “Dirty Weekend.” Once upon a time this is where you would bring your mistress for a little one on one time. The king even built the grand Pavilion to keeps his little tarts.

Meg and I slept straight to 7:00 this morning! We opened our eyes, looked around and saw no sign of Jet Lag. He seems he has taken leave of us. Hallelujah for that!

Meg is currently staring intently out the window trying not to miss a single view of England as it whirls by. She has really impressed me on this trip. She is a smart little thing. Yesterday she was navigating us through the Tube like she had lived here all her life. I was afraid she would complain. The way I travel is exhausting. It is rough on a body but when I ask her how she is doing she says, “There is plenty of time for rest when I get home!” So, we just keep moving.

Day 5, 11:00 PM Monday, London

We leave London tomorrow and I am a bit teary about it. I am always this way when its time to leave this city. Most of you know it’s my dream to live here someday. When I say that to people who actually live here they balk and start listing the reasons why it is a horrible place to call home. The crowds, the crime, the taxes, the rain, the crazy drivers! But I can’t help myself. . . London captivated me from my first trip 10 years ago. It is where all this travelling stuff began.

London has it all right at your finger tips! Art, Music, the theatre, museums, libraries, gardens and so much history. It’s all there for the taking! Sometimes when I am home I feel like I am starving for want of it all. Here I gorge myself with all this culture! I grow fat on it (well, and the fish and chips).

Anyway, enough of my melancholy wishes, on with the show!

Today started as every day has since we got here, bright and early at 4:00 AM. My old friend Jet Lag is having his way with us. He does not want to let us go. I made a little video of us singing on the steps of St. Paul’s and when I played it back I saw the dark circles under our eyes. My friend is not being kind. I told Meghann that today we were going to stomp him out! Lots of moving, lots of exercise, and above all, no naps!

We began with a tube ride to Portobello Market. Because today is part of the three day weekend I expected the market would be booming. Wrong-o Buck-o! There was nothing there! We asked a young Egyptian store owner about it and he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “It’s a holiday, come back on Saturday.” He then promptly hit on Meghann. “You are a beautiful girl. I like you a lot. If I didn’t have to work I would spend all day with you.” Meghann blushed and we left.

“Gee Meghann,” I said, “If I had been you I would have asked when he was getting of work!” He was pretty cute.

Next we headed for St. Paul’s Cathedral. It’s always a awe inspiring place. The gold gilded ceilings, the marble statues, the vaulted ceilings, and the massive dome rising above the nave. Meg and I lit a candle and sent our prayers to Heaven. We then sat on the steps outside just contemplating the fact that we were there, sitting on the steps of St. Paul’s in London! (By the way, it’s often a good thing, wherever you are, to just sit once and a while and contemplate where you are!)

From there we headed over to the imperial War Museum. This place was massive! We only saw about a forth of the exhibits, both of our favourites being the holocaust exhibition. Of course it was very sad but everything was displayed in such a powerful way. We spent over an hour just in those rooms.

So, on to Trafalgar’s Square. Our plan was to explore the National Gallery but we are both tired and since I have seen it a few times I did not make a fuss when Meg said she could do without another museum. We sat on the edge of a fountain for a bit and watched the massive throng of people circle around us. We then did a bit of London souvenir shopping and went back to the hotel to freshen up. By this point we were both pretty hammered and sweaty! We showered and then set off for the theatre.

We saw “We Will Rock You,” which is a show set to the music of Queen. It was pretty amazing! I feel like I am losing my voice now from all the screaming and singing I did. Misty, you will have been in Heaven. As Wayne and Garth would put it, we most defiantly are not worthy!

So, tomorrow we leave my London neighbourhood behind and journey down to the English coast. We will see you next in Brighton!

Day 4, 10:40 PM Sunday, London

Well, this morning started bright and early with a trip to Church. Yes, we are two good Mormon girls going to services on vacation! We found the chapel easy enough. The place was soon packed! At the stand the bishop asked all the visitors to stand up and about half the room stood!

It was fast Sunday and members of the ward got up to bear their testimonies. They were quick and powerful and made me tear up more then once. I tried counting the different accents I heard but soon lost count. English of course, American, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, African, German, Scottish, etc. It was like a giant melting pot of members of the church.

Next we went to the Victoria Albert Museum. It is full of random old stuff and was pretty neat at first but quickly became over whelming!

So, when we started planning this trip I asked Meghann, “So, what do you want to see while we are in England?”

“Well,” she replied, “The only thing I really know about is Abby Road.” Ahh. . . another Beatle fan! A girl after my own heart. So today we went to the sight of one of the most famous album covers in history! The zebra crossing is on a very busy street and it is against the law to cross it just for a photos sake. When we got there and saw just how busy it was Meghann said “I am not going across. Let’s just take some pictures here.”

“Cool,” I said as I started digging in my bag for my camera. "Your mom will probably not appreciate my calling her to tell her you have been squashed on Abby Road.” I looked up just in time to see the blurr of Meghann streaking across the street.

Well all right then, lets do this thing!

I stood with the camera pointed at Meghann on one side of the street and yelled, “When ever you are ready!”

She started across screaming, “Take the picture! Take the picture!” You’ll be happy to know we got the picture and no unfortunate phone calls had to be made.

Day 3 continued, Saturday 8:30 PM, London

Once it was a decent hour to leave the hotel, Meg and I set out looking for adventure! Meg experienced her first “tube” ride (underground) of which she declared to be “cool”. Well, it is pretty cool!

We spent most of the day exploring Windsor Castle. Meghann ran around like we were at Disney Land! It was a pretty nice castle as castles go. Oh to be a princess! Well we may not be princess but Meg and I met our knights in shining armer while we were at Windsor Castle. They are so handsome!

Back in London we went through the Cabinet War Rooms Museum. These were underground tunnels which were the head quarters for London during World War II. I loved this stuff! The highlights for me was Mrs. Churchill's bed room and Winston Churchill's bed room. Come to think of it, they were no where near each other!

By this point my feet were screaming in pain! Why? I don't know! I am baffled! I am wearing shoes I wear everyday at home, and I walk three miles nearly everyday at home in said shoes. I hobbled back to the hotel nearly in tears. Once inside our room I slipped my shoes off (which was pretty painful in its self!) I found one massive blister on the bottom of my right foot. Great. . .

Day 3, Saturday 5:10 AM, London

Yes, you have noted the time correctly. Yesterday we did nap for a couple of hours and then tried to stay up late. We went to bed at 11:00 PM. Just as we were drifting off Meghann asked “Can we sleep in late tomorrow?”

“We can sleep as long as you want,” I assured her, “But you won't want to.” I finished with a grin. She looked at me like I was crazy as she rolled over into the sleep of the truly exhausted.

4:00 this morning we were both staring wide eyed up at the ceiling. “Hello Jet Lag!” I said excitedly, “Its nice to see you old friend. Its been a long time. . . ”

I am now showered and ready for the day!

So, I suppose this is a good a time as any to tell you about our hotel. There are two hotels I always us in London. The “Dover” or the “Alexander.” They are exactly the same and directly across the street from one another. Who ever has the cheapest rooms at the time is my accommodation of choice. This trip the Alexander has the privilege of being the home of two way-word American girls.

We are paying $150 dollars for this place a night. If you were sitting here on my bed with me and I told you that you would gasp in horror! It is pretty cheap by London standards, but the Alexander is not exactly a luxury hotel.

Our room is on the top floor and up four flights of steep stairs. (yeah, that was a fun hike with our backpacks on!) Our room is tiny, and not exactly what I would call clean. The wall paper is peeling, the floors creek, and there is a giant brown water stain directly above my bed.
Our bathroom is mashed inside a closet. The shower. . . what can I say about the shower. . . I had forgotten how bad it was until I pulled the curtain aside this morning and peered inside. Well for starters the shower curtain is about three inches two short. Water flows right off it and straight to the bathroom floor. Nice! The shower head is large and flat and smack dab in the middle of the ceiling. There is no escaping the water! It reminds me of the shower heads I saw at Auschwitz, in the gas chamber room, when I was in Poland. There also seems to be a secret trick to the hot and cold water. I could not figure it out! Eventually I fell into a rhythm of jumping out when it became scalding hot and then back in as it turned warm and then back out again when it turned ice cold.

So, why do I keep coming back you ask? (and rightly so!) For me it is all about location. We are a couple blocks from the Victoria train station and underground station. We are close to a grocery store and Big Ben is a short jaunt away by foot. Well, and I suppose, most importantly I have been here so many times it feels like home. My own little neighbourhood in London. I never realized how important this was to me until I was showing Meghann around, “This is where we get groceries.” “This is the book store I like to wander through after a long day.” “This is where I like to get some girly smelling lotion and body spritz.” “This is the ATM machine where we will get our money.” Its comforting to be in a place so familiar when you are far from home.
The best part of our hotel is the window and the view below. I love to hang out it and watch London saunter by. Yesterday Meghann kept going back to it. She would gaze out like she couldn't believe where she was. At night I leave it open and drift off to sleep to the street noises below and the ping of rain drops on the glass.

Day 2, Friday 9:50 PM, London

Well, the goal was to keep moving until evening to fight off the jet lag. We made it to precisely 12:30 PM before we stumbled to our hotel and collapsed into bed!

Meg has surprised me. She is so excited! She walks around wide eyed taking it all in. She has been dragging me along behind her across these crazy London streets. The crowds have been horrible! I have never seen it this bad. It is a Bank Holiday this weekend for the Brits (similar to a three day weekend for us). I wonder if that is the reason. Meg and I got stuck in a crowd on top of a double decker bus. No one would move to let us out at our stop. Finally Meg declared, “I'm coming through!” and dragged me through the mass while everyone jumped out of our way. This girl is amazing!

Day 1, Thursday, 6:33 New York Time

We are in the air on our last leg of the LONG journey to London. Most of you know I am terrified of flying! I know, I know. . . I figure this is about my 39th flight and yet I can't seem to chip away at this stupid fear. I grasp it with both hands facing it head on and it promptly sticks its pink hairy tongue back out at me! But actually I am doing pretty well today!

This whole climbing into this tin can of death thing has been keeping me up at nights. I have had a few sleepless nights this week about it, last night being one of them. Yet, something happened to me at about 2:00 AM this morning. I sat up to punch at my pillows again and it suddenly dawned on me. I am going to Europe! I love Europe and Europe loves me! Suddenly the inconvenience of this little flight seemed like a small price to pay because I KNOW what comes after and it is totally worth it! So, at 2:00 AM. A serge of excitement slapped me upside the head and I knew there was not point in trying to sleep. I got up, took a lavender bubble bath, packed a few more things and then woke Meghann with a , “Hey, are you going to Europe with me or not!”

The flights actually have not been bad! Our planes have been smaller, newer aircraft's. Our first flight was full, but Meghann and I decided to dress for comfort. We are wearing sweats and I packed a very bulky pair of noise filtering headphones. I spent the flight deep inside my ipod! It was pretty sweet! We also have Direct T.V. Screens (on both flights) all to ourselves where we can choose a movie, TV show, or video game. Its been really relaxing.

The flight we are on now is pretty empty so we have two whole rows to ourselves and are taking advantage of it! We are going to lay down flat and try to sleep.

So, I keep waiting for Meghann to get scared, but it hasn't happened yet. Her enthusiasm is intoxicating. This part of the journey is all pretty annoying for me, but she is oooooing and ahhhhing over every little thing!