Hicken-Phillips do Europe

Earlier this summer my parents came over to visit. They each had a place that they wanted to see....no where near each other....or Belgium. But we made it work.

My daughter and I drove up to London to meet my parents at the ginormous Heathrow Airport! We parted at extended stay parking and took the train into London to the hostel that I had booked for us. Prices in London are high and the exchange rate is NOT in our favor, so we opted for StaySafe Hostel http://www.safestay.co.uk/en/ and were able to get a 4 person room for a great price. Less than half of the "cheap hotels." The room had 2 sets of bunk beds and a bathroom/shower in the room. There were boxes under the beds that we could lock our stuff up in when we left. It worked great. The train was about 2 blocks from the hostel and was less than 10 minutes from the heart of the London attractions.

We took in all the big sights, Big Ben, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace. Some we just stayed on the hop-on-hop-off bus for and some we took tours of. My step-dad requested a Jack The Ripper tour , so we hit one of those as well. Our guide was wonderful and the tour was good. It was in the evening, but we were back at the hostel before dark, so all was well. On the way home from London, we took in Hever Castle, childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Our first choice was Stonehenge, but it was the summer solstice and the place would have been crazy the traffic heading away from the Eurotunnel would have been a nightmare. Both the parents were ok wit the decision, and we really enjoyed the trip out to Hever Castle. It is well maintained and was a nice way to spend the afternoon before w hopped the tunnel to come back.

Less than 48 hours after we got to Belgium with the parents, we were on a plane to Italy. My step-dad wanted to see Rome, see some family roots and all. We stayed in an apartment, that was not so convenient, but reasonably priced for the height of tourist season. We each had our own beds with a few bunks to spare and 2 yes 2 showers/toilets, plus a full kitchen. With my husband's great nav. skills we were able to maneuver around Rome and back to the apartment with little problems.

My husband, son and I have spent a small amount of time in Rome in 2011, but didn't get to see all the sights that we wanted too. With the whole family, we took our time and saw almost everything via the hop-on-hop-off bus. The highlight for my step-dad and husband was the in-depth tour of the ancient city/Forum/Palatine Hill sponsored by the USO. http://rome.uso.it/ It was suppose to be a 5 hour tour, but it was much longer than that. The guide was fantastic, very knowledgeable and funny in his own way. Mom and I were brain-fried, but my son was so good the whole day. He was able to run and climb and find rocks for Uncle Tom, so he had a great time.

Let's see, after we got home from Rome, we drove down to Paris. Well, we drove to Chantilly and hopped the train into Paris. I'm fine with driving in the big cities, but why bother when the train ticket will cost the same as parking?

We were too late for tickets to go up in the Eiffel Tower, but the parents were fine with that decision. Again, we did the hop-on-hop-off tour bus. Seriously, it is the best thing, worth the money. They take you to all the big tourist spots, and some of the small ones and you don't have to drive or worry about a language barrier. My mom was able to see Notre Dame Cathedral, and I, finally, got to see inside. We also saw Moulin Rouge, which has escaped me the other times we've been there. Mom also saw the big glass pyramid outside the Louvre, she was impressed with not only the pyramid, but the immense size of the Louvre. We didn't have time in the day trip to see the museum, I guess they'll have to come back.

I'm so happy that I was able to see London, Paris and Rome with my parents and daughter. We had a great time showing them some of the places we love and have been lucky enough to experience.

(if anyone has specific questions about places on our trip, let me know and I'll find the info for you)

Spring has not Sprung

As I sit at the kitchen counter to finally put an entry into the blog, on April 9th, the weather is a total wreck. The temp is hovering at around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, which is not a spring temp and it's been raining all day. Hold on, I exaggerate, we did have 8 minutes of sunshine about an hour ago.

About 3 weeks ago, I read an article from a Belgian newspaper (thank you google chrome) that said this has been the worst winter since 1873. I am hoping to be here for the record warmth or record number of days with sunshine before we have to leave.

This weather is also hurting the tourism economy in the area. The Keukenhof  Gardens are world famous for their beautiful tulip fields, they haven't bloomed yet. We were there last year at this time and it was row after row of color. Pairi Daiza, our wonderful zoo, is not having a good start to the season because of the cold, the parking lots aren't even half full. Other events have had little turnout because of it.

Our part of Belgium is also being hit agriculturally, the ONE day we had that was dry and sunny had all the farmers running out to the fields to begin discing so they can plant soon. Way past when they usually are in the field. Most of the farmers haven't released the cows yet. Our neighbors up the road still have their cows in the barn.  I miss the cows.

I know that this entry sounds grumpy, and it is. I haven't been taking my Vitamin D because we were on vacation, where I knew there would be sun. I also have another illness, another sinus, respiratory, cough all night until your sides hurt illness. Honestly, I have been sick more often these past two years than I have in the previous 36. My husband tells me he was the same way when he had his deployments to Iraq. Belgium and Iraq? Those two things shouldn't be compared.

Come on, Mother Nature, we need you to take some happy pills and get on with Spring, please.

Ski Filled Holiday in Avoriaz

This year for Christmas, we decided to go skiing in Avoriaz, France. My husband is a skier, and I've been skiing, but would not call myself a skier. Our son has had skis strapped to his feet for about 2 hours at an inside ski place in Holland. We were needing some mountains to try out, but with a good place for our son and I to get some lessons.
I started the search for a place in Germany, I looked all over the internet, but couldn't find a site that was giving me what a wanted, a good Family Friendly resort. Same thing with Switzerland, plus, Switzerland doesn't use the Euro and the dollar to their currency is really poor. It would cost us the price of a car to ski there. (ok, maybe not quite) Next, was France. France is closer to us than Austria, and we've had good experiences in France.
My first search was something like this: "Family friendly ski resorts in France," and the first thing that popped up was Top Ten Ski Family Ski Resorts in France, written by a British news site. Little did I know that the Brits love skiing. It was a great site, and with a minimal amount of searching on my part, I sent the website to my husband. After all, this was his idea, he might as well plan the vacation.
In no time, he had the resorts whittled down to two and we chose from there. Avoriaz for Christmas was our destination. Next, I had to find the ski schools for our son and myself. Village Des Enfants has lessons for children in half and whole day increments. We went with whole day lessons, they provide lunch and snacks, and after lessons are over at 4:00, they have a nursery (= playtime in my child's mind) and will keep the kids supervised and entertained until 5:30. When it is not a holiday break, they also have parent lessons that begin and end 15 minutes after or before the children so you can drop them off and pick them up without being late. Perfect. However, since we were there over a holiday, I had to find another place for lessons. I went for Evolution 2, which was conveniently located across the road from Village Des Enfants.
Our son loved his lessons and his instructor, Paul, for the first 4 days. For whatever reason, he decided to have a little fit on the last day, and didn't go until after lunch. He went without complaints at lunchtime and completed what he could of the final day's "tests." Paul was great with him and said that he was great at skiing, but "active" during the down times. Yep, that sounds about right. The school sold medals for the kids for 15 Euros, but our friend found a little shop that sold little items that you could personalize for 6. Much more affordable, especially considering that our active child would probably lose it before we left the resort.
I went with half day lessons, and mine started 30 minutes before the Wildman's. My instructor, Sylvain, at Evolution 2 was quite patient, and did a pretty good job with his English. Much better than my French. Good thing, too, because on Monday he had 2 Americans, 1 Brit and 3 Japanese ski students. Our lessons for the week were a lot of fun, but challenging, for him and us. (our group varied from day to day) There were some skills that I picked up on right away, and others that I still couldn't get right on Friday. Why do I need to turn and pick up my skis and walk in a semi-circle? I don't know. I didn't witness anyone else use this particular skill on the mountain, but hey, he's the teacher. Lessons were great and I'm so glad that I paid the money for them. They have me the confidence that I was looking for.
Most afternoons, the hubs and I went out skiing together or with a friend. We went on some crazy blue routes and some blue routes that were almost as gentle as the training hill. I still don't know how they are marked, but some were absolutely frightening for me. I made it down all of them, unhurt and proud of myself.
One morning the men went out and found their way down to the bottom of a Swiss ski lift. Both were very excited to ski in the Swiss Alps, a bucket list item for each of them. Compared to the routes that they were use to taking, they found the Swiss routes (in this area, anyway) to be crowded and very narrow. One thing that they both mentioned is how they compared to Colorado's ski slopes. Very minimal grooming goes on in France compared to the US, and that's all I'm going to say about that. I was so horrible in Colorado, it can't compare for me.
Skiing over Christmas, or anytime really, has been a major agenda item for my husband for years. He loves the sport, the snow, the mountains, the cold and wanted to share that love with me and now, our son. I am not particularly sporty, don't care for snow or cold but love the mountains. I have to say, the lessons have changed my mind about skiing. I loved it! Really, truly, loved it. My knees hurt, I was scared most of the time, fell every day and loved it.
Now, we're trying to figure out when and where we can go again. With both of us working, and my husband volunteering as a wrestling coach, I'm not sure when it will happen. At least not on the scale of this trip, but I can't wait. We NEED to find a way to get back on the slopes. (yeah, Mom, I loved it that much)