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Published: March 4th 2010
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I have said my final goodbyes to Dubai and the Middle East as my plane left from Israel to the United Kingdom. Once I arrived in London and began hearing English spoken all around, a sense of home returned and I remembered the charm of what Europe has to offer. A restful night’s sleep, a proper English breakfast and then my trip was to its next major portion, saying hello to my mother as I picked her up from the London International airport. I suppose if you take the time to mull over the idea, if there is any person in your life who deserves to be taken on a trip through Europe, it should be your mother. For me, I was happy to share the value of travel with a part of my family. For my mother, her long term investment of refusing to allow anything for the best for me (especially when it came from myself) was paying off with her first guided international tour. While I think back about it now, it was a great trip with the only real problem being that one week and a half is not enough time. But I feel better as I
The tour is away!
The Big-Red Bus proved to be a great way to get your bearings in London. can depend upon the next time.
This was going to be a long trip, going from London for a day, to Paris for a few days, then Geneva to catch our breath and for the four day finish line, Rome. This being my Mother’s first cross-country trip out of America, I’m quite impressed how well she did. For potential travelers, don’t be fooled by the idea that going through places you’ve already been may not be worth your time. I can’t say how many times I was glad to be back in such great locations, but most importantly, with a less rushed atmosphere to take it all in. Beyond that, to think that one trip alone could be enough for places like London or Paris would be an arrogant sin in the traveler’s bible. To be very honest, it makes the area much richer and allows you to probe even deeper to find more of what the city and land has to offer. Take for instance the pictures displayed. While I of course took pictures again of the Louvre and Eiffel Tower, I find this second round much more expressive and better representations than my first round. As this blog
shows with the Notre Dame, I feel the pictures are a much better quality. To be fair, it could be that at this time I have updated from a camera phone to an actual professional camera. Also, I have taken a lot of pictures since I was here a year ago, so perhaps my skill has grown. More than likely, it is a combination of all three. What is important to point out though is that when you travel through such a beautiful place like London or Paris on a second trip, it feels as if you can take a little more time and simply let these cities do their magic. I much prefer this rhythm over the ‘got to see it all in 6 hours or else’ style. After all, if you return from your vacation exhausted, then what kind of a vacation was it?
Our first day was in London, and simply taking the Big-Red Bus made for a nice time, as well as a trip to Westminster Abbey. After some time shopping and myself enjoying Western beer again, it was off to a London show of Phantom of the Opera. The show was very impressive, in all
ways possible. The singing, acting, stage effects, the entire production was well done. It had been a few years since I’ve seen theatre to this level, and it was a very pleasant return. This being the first day of jetlag, my mother was ready for a full night’s sleep after the show. With the early afternoon the next day, we sped through the Euro-rail and arrived in Paris.
Once we entered Paris, I’m shamed to admit that I was lost for an hour or so. Paris can be quite pricey, and finding lodging that can save a few dollars does take extra work. After the unintended short tour of the Paris streets, we arrived in our cozy room and had a chance to rest and freshen up before enjoying the city. While we were in Paris for a few days, on this blog I’m only showing the pictures from a couple of days. The next blog will be pretty much dedicated to the other pictures the other day or so. As for this entry, we we’re able to take a boat cruise through Paris and enjoy the Notre Dame. The boat cruise was very relaxing, and also provided a great
chance to see a different side of this city. While of course you are down lower and not able to see as much with the canal walls around the river, the river and structures that direct the river presented a different perspective on Paris’ beauty. As some of the pictures try to show, I think it’s quite a challenge to not take good pictures in this city. Notre Dame was great as always. As the video presents, we were able to catch a service. Thinking about this now, that was the first church service I attended since I was a little kid. The best part about being an adult though, when I was ready to leave, all I had to do was get up.
This time in London and Paris was the start of a great trip. I had returned to the West, I was beginning my summer vacation, and I was taking a very deserving person through some of the most beautiful locations in the world. Not bad for getting the next part of my trip underway.
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