Farewell

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This will be Allie and Tyler's last blog from Europe.

Yesterday we got up early in Lucerne and got the first train to Basel. From Basel we took the fast train to Paris, where we switched trains for Brussels, Belgium. We have really enjoyed the trains.

In Brussels we checked into the world famous "Holiday Inn, Brussels Airport" It is amazing how all international airports and the areas around them look the same. Honest to God, when we walked to the Metro Station to take a train into central Brussels, it looked a lot like Fitchburg.

Brussels looks and feels a lot like Paris, and like Paris it has a thriving city center filled with museums, cafes, plazas and great "street life." We had a nice dinner at a sidwalk cafe and then continued to explore the city until after dark (we will sleep on the plane). We bought some amazing looking chocolate and Tyler had a ... wait for it ... Belgium Waffle!!!!

Back at the hotel we packed and got a good night sleep before our trip home (actually Allie's sleep was not so good, as here IPhone fell on her head in the middle of the night, leaving a bleeding cut ... she nearly died!). To make matters worse, she now had blood on her pillow case. But no worries, there is an easy solution. Allie snaked Tyler's pillow and left him with the blood contamination.

We were up at 7, had a leisurely breakfast and then made our way to the airport for our 11:00 flight to Chicago. The trip back to Madison was unremarkable, other than it marked the end of our remarkable journey.

Before we say good bye, we wanted to share some thoughts/memories we had:

1. Hotel breakfasts are great. A wonderful European tradition.

2. Tube stations do not have "Exits." If you want to leave you have to follow the signs that say "Way Out." In France, you exit through the "Sortie." What is funny is that we were saying "Sortie" means "Way Out."

3. Two Tube stops from our home base at Canary Wharf is a seldom-used Tube Station called "Bermondsey." The woman who electronically announces arrivals at Tube Stations over the Tube's PA (and who has a surprisingly sexy voice) made "Bermondsey" sound very exotic. Our pop, in particular, enjoyed the exotic name and often wondered why nobody ever seemed to get on or off at Bermondsey.

4. "Moams" are the best candy ever. They are sorta a cross between "Laffy Taffy" and "Starbursts." We all loved them, and they got us through our days in London. We brought a bunch home. But we are selfishly saving these wonderful treats for ourselves.

5. We rented an apartment in London, which unsurprisingly had British appliances. As such, they worked just a bit differently. Lisa's strategy (which she clearly learned from her father Malcolm) was to just start pushing buttons, and then complain that the machines did not "work right." Ed "Mr. Gadget" Stone, got a hold of the directions and corrected the situation.

6. Nobody in France gets up early. Allie went for a run at 6:00 am and the streets of Paris were empty. But at midnight, the place is hoping. No wonder the Nazi's invaded Paris with such ease. They just marched into town, unopposed, early in the morning, before anybody was up. .

7. Our cousin Blake (who has made several trips to Europe) told us that it is not an official trip to Europe unless at some point you are running after a moving train. July 5, 2013, Paris Chalet Station ... train to Versailles ... we were running down the platform chasing ... wait for it ... A MOVING TRAIN. So we guess our trip is official.

8. The reason you get into situations where you are chasing moving trains, is because you do not need to be at the station until about 2 minutes before the train leaves. But, the trains leave ON TIME (except in Italy, of course).

9. London Tube > Paris Metro

10. Pubs > Cafes ... But ... French Food (especially bread) > British Food

11. As we stated in an earlier blog we love the word "sorted." We will be using it a lot. In addition, we will not be lining up for things any more. From now on we are going to "que," or is it "cue?"

Thank you all for reading our blog.

Thanks to Madre and Padre for taking us to London and letting us go to France/Switzerland/Belgium

We leave you with some final pics.

Thanks again, Goodbye!

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Photos

Ed Stone at Bermondsey
Ed is only person to ever get on or off a Tube at Bermondsey

Old and New
Medieval housing in Towner of London, with Shard (Europe's tallest building) in background

Bad Photo
Who thought this photo was a good idea?

Happy 850th Notre Dame
The cathedral in Paris, not the university in South Bend