Thanks for the update Carolyn, Glad to get your update - just sorry to hear there were a few glitches. Hope the remainder of your trip goes well. My high school students and their chaperones left this morning and I'm beat! However we had a fantastic time together, I leave Monday to go to MN for a week with my daughter and her family. Thanks for the Easter card that you sent - loved the picture of the woman in the market. In friendship, ~Karolyn
Glad you're enjoying your visit. Hi ,
I'm glad you're enjoying your stay and had a chance to see the painting that you love so much. I'm sure you'll encourage people to visit the Tate while they're in London.
It all balances out Your friend Val is a wise woman. I'm glad you found the money bag and all was well. Those are painful and stressful moments. I rarely lose anything but when I do I'm really ticked off with myself and very hard on myself. Ah, life goes on. Now the hair brush thing is tough because you can never underestimate a good hair brush and they are hard to come by. It is a good thing that you've been too busy to write. Sorry you lost the blog. Keep your chin up. We are willing to wait for your wonderful writing ..... and maybe a photo or two. Tomorrow is another day.
I feel your pain... We've been wrestling our share of tiny cuts here in New York City--2 weeks in on our 4-week stay. It's all part of the travel experience, though, I suppose, and Val is right...there's a balance. Love to hear about you off on yet another adventure. i just shared the crazy coincidence of us meeting in Oaxaca a few months before I met my husband while he was stationed in my home town of Sacramento. So let's talk about odds. Plus, I brought it up to my friend because I was listening to a This American Life episode called "No Coincidence, No Story," which was produced at Penn State--the place I was going to visit my friend when I was driving and listening to the show! So, not sure the world is so big or the odds are so large any more.
Love reading about these little things and remembering my trip with Veronica to London last year, where we were fortunate to spend almost 5 weeks with a month-long trip to Germany and Paris in the middle, because I have a close friend who lives and works in London now. Life is good and the travel opportunities keep falling in my lap much to my disbelief. I hope you enjoy the UK as much as we did last year. Veronica has declared London her favorite place. I was a little hurt that San Francisco didn't occupy that space for her, too, but I'm proud of her for having a mind of her own.
Safe and happy travels; can't wait to hear more!!
Cheers, Sara
All's well... ...that ends well I guess Carolyn! I'm very glad you found your money. I have done exactly the same thing with a purse that's new and/or has a lot of zippered or hidden compartments. I'm glad you're enjoying your traveling companions...will be interested to hear how being with a tour group compares to traveling on your own...I'm sure there are pros and cons to either situation. Take care, enjoy yourself and thanks for taking time to blog! Pat
Thanks Welcome! Sorry to say but I've had a devil of a time trying to get wifi connected and trying to find time to blog. Photos are still a dream but may not be a reality for this rushed trip. Stay tuned - I promised Merry Jo I'd try to figure it out but it may not happen until after I get home. After this trip I am spend in time in MA with friends and family so it may not happen till late May
Carolyn (Gunga)
Great adventures! Merry Jo sent me a link to your blog, and I really enjoyed reading it! Great stories! I'm also horrible with technology, but love showing off my photos. Somehow, I imagine you've got a good eye for photos, and your blog will be dynamite with images of these amazing places you've visited. Once you get the hang of uploading, it's pretty easy, and there might be a place in the TB forums that tells how to upload. Good luck with that, and happy travels!
Travels Always a grand idea to have one or two trips planned so you have something to look forward to. Have you tried to load any photos yet? Did you try and it didn't work? I'm happy to answer any questions. Loved meeting you. Loved the BBQ. Eagerly awaiting your blogs....with photos. Travel addictions.... travel is indeed our addiction. Non-travelers will always be puzzled by it and that is ok. We love new places, people and experiences. We thrive on change. We embrace being in a country where we don't know the language and rely on expressions, hand gestures and a universal language to communicate. We've never met a stranger. We love moving around the U.S. also. So enjoy England, Wales and Scotland. Happy travels.
Carolyn i just loved your post. it was so amusing and worth reading, and the way you described your journey and your trips to your friends and the adventures you did (all those mountain climbing and bbq things). it was lovvvvely.. and that's all i can say. thanks for sharing :)
www.malaysiastory.com
You Go Girl!!! Carolyn--I can't believe I have been somewhere before you!! Loved, loved England and hope you have as much fun there as I did. Changing of the Guards--a MUST SEE, Kensington Palace, and if you can work it in go see Warwick Castle. Side trip to Oxford and Saulsberry were also favorites. So much history and lots to see and do. Make sure you have a true English tea while you are there. Have not made it to Wales or Scotland. Still on my "to do list". We are in the process of planning our next cruise. Stops in Italy, Greece and Spain. Fall 2015 can't come soon enough. We are finally going to celebrate Martha's retirement with this cruise. She always said her retirement party would be on a cruise ship going somewhere. We spent Easter Sunday with some of our travel buddies talking about some of our trips and the funny happenings and wonderful sights we have seen. Brought back lots of memories. Will have to share some of them for your book. Expect an autographed copy of the book when it is published. Have a wonderful trip and I will look forward to hearing about all your adventures!!!
Oh goody! Looking forward to reading about your next adventure(s). Always entertaining and I always learn something that I didn't know. Happy traveling!
Thailand & VietNam Carolyn, Carole and I just got back from the OAT Siam to Saigon trip. We spent two weeks in Thailand and two weeks in VietNam. It was a wonderful trip and we had a great time. Happy to hear you are still traveling.
Dogs and babies with beggars in Rome I cannot believe that there is not some law that prohibits beggars using dogs and babies to get money in Rome. I found it to be so sad passing beggars with one, two, three dogs and even an elderly woman holding a baby in the evening begging in the Via Nationale. I think that this must be stopped. It is exploitation in the extreme. Dogs and babies should not be used to get money from tourists. This is Rome's shame!
photos to blog I am really pretty technologically challenged so am reluctant to fool around with photos when in sometimes sleazy internet cafes' but the real reason is that it makes me work harder as a writer. I love to read other blogs and see their pics but sometimes that makes me lazy as a reader.
I know a lot of people are attracted to reading some blogs because of the quality of the photos- maybe some day.....
Carolyn ( gunga)
New Pope....New Life I agree with you about Pope Francis. In fact, I'm hoping that he will modernize the the church operations but continue the liturgy as I'm still a traditionalist and I like pomp and ceremony. In fact, I attended mass last Sunday for the first time in years and I still get amazed with the changes. I still prefer the Latin mass as that is the way I learned it and still have my prayer books. I was surprised to see so many people at the 7:00am mass. It was very nice and I will try to go again next Sunday.
Great blog! Once again you make me smile and laugh. I'm not Catholic but I certainly loved watching all of this unfold. My husband was raised Catholic and no longer claims to be. He really didn't have any interest but watched a bit to humor me. The thing I've never understood about formal religions of many kinds is why they waste so much money when the people in their congregation are starving or not on firm financial feet. Maybe Francis can make some changes and cut down on the waste. It seems like the Cardinals have a pretty cushy life. Hope they don't regret voting in a Jesuit.
I need to teach you to add photos. I photo from Rome would have been perfect for this one.
With any luck, all the priest and cardinals will be riding the bus.
Positive Thinking about Pope Frannie I wish you had been part of the emails that went flying among my more liberal Catholic cousins! We don't see much hope for women's rights under him, but we are confident he won't be under the Curia's thumb, and thus progress might be made to a more open church. I like his style so far.
Farewell to Rome Hi Carolyn...sharing your adventures has been entertaining and educational. Thank you for all the blogs! I hope you have smooth sailing all the way home. Love, Pat
Welcome Back! It was so fun reading that a veteran traveler like you approaches famous big cities just like we do -- we call it "rambling". You never know what you will discover, and you just trust local transportation to eventually return you. Many miles on our shoes, but there's always a bar nearby when needed! Thanks, once again, for bringing us along with you. Hated thinking of you all alone, though.
Karolyn
non-member comment
Thanks for the update
Carolyn, Glad to get your update - just sorry to hear there were a few glitches. Hope the remainder of your trip goes well. My high school students and their chaperones left this morning and I'm beat! However we had a fantastic time together, I leave Monday to go to MN for a week with my daughter and her family. Thanks for the Easter card that you sent - loved the picture of the woman in the market. In friendship, ~Karolyn