Back Home!

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We made it back, yeah! The flight from London to Los Angeles was long but uneventful. The individual TVs in economy in Air New Zealand helped a lot to pass the time. After going through customs, we gave Mike a hug and said goodbye as he took a Super Shuttle back to UCLA. The rest of us got ready for our Southwest flight back to Sacramento. The flight ended up leaving an hour late and we didn't get back to the house until midnight (9am Spain time). What a long day!

Here's our Top Ten experiences from our trip:

1. Sintra - hiking the Moorish castle, enjoying the great views and fairy tale Pena Palace.
2. The Alhambra - learning a lot from our interesting guide and seeing the snow capped Sierra Nevada.
3. Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London - HALT, WHO GOES THERE!
4. Gibraltar and the monkeys - Will and Diana had to be dragged away from the monkeys and Will wants to adopt one!
5. Marriott Playa Andaluza - Tropical Mediterranean view from the balcony, basketball for the kids, playing mini-golf with kids who didn't speak English.
6. Castelo St Jorge in Lisbon - Great views overlooking Lisbon on a beautiful day.
7. Sitting in the lounge at our hotel in London listening to Mike on the piano with a view of Big Ben out the window.
8. Tangier - We hated the peddlers, but we loved the experience of being somewhere completely different and we really enjoyed the lunch.
9. Watching espisodes of Lost together - This turned into a family time together late at night before bed with all of us huddled near Mike's computer.
10. Movie fest on the 10 hour plane ride - Simply because the plane rides were not dreaded by the kids, in fact it was entertainment. We're glad we went with Air New Zealand.

Overall, it was a great trip with no problems at all. We all loved it!

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