Europe 2026

Here are 15 random observations from our 15 days abroad.

1. We never had to pay to use the bathroom, which was a pleasant surprise as we’ve had to pay in Europe in the past.

2. We also never had to pay for a glass of water, which was another unexpected blessing.

3. Growing up I remember eating a lot of complimentary meals on airline flights. Our kids have not had that experience, but Aer Lingus does still serve free meals on transatlantic flights. One the way home we were served a beverage with Penn State pretzels followed by a main meal. We had two choices for the main dish (chicken or pasta) and everyone received a chickpea salad, piece of wheaten bread, water, and a small serving of passion fruit mousse. Coffee and tea were offered with the meal. Several hours later we were served a very small cheese sandwich and a small brownie with coffee or tea.

4. Back in 2001 I remember hearing the phrase "mind the gap" many times. We heard it again on this trip. On this trip I noticed in Scotland and Ireland that they often used the phrase "wee bit." 

5. Wales is a VERY dog friendly place to visit. We saw dogs in most shops, restaurants, etc. In one restaurant I noticed they had free dog treats and also toys available for the dogs. As long as they were "on a lead" they were permitted in most places. 

6. Stop signs are almost nonexistent. There are some stop lights, but much less than we have here in the US. Instead, they have what felt like about five million roundabouts. I'm very grateful Paul was the one driving as I'm not a fan of roundabouts. 

7. Except for the night we stayed at the Cowshed Bunkhouse (boutique hostel), we had complimentary coffee and tea available at every place we stayed. Many times, there was an electric kettle in the bedroom. That kettle came in handy the morning I wanted to make instant oatmeal that I had brought from home. On the other hand, we never saw an ice machine or had a microwave or refrigerator in our room unless we were staying in an apartment that had a kitchen.

8. Gas is ridiculously expensive. I'm sure the war in Iran made that worse, but wow it costs an arm and a leg to fill up the tank of a SUV. They also don't have pay at the pump at gas stations. Everyone has to go in to pay, and most people do some shopping while they're in there so if you're waiting for a gas pump to become available, you might be waiting awhile as people buy groceries or just an ice cream or whatever in conjunction with paying for their gas.

9. Parking spaces and parking garages were not made with SUVs in mind. We were SO grateful for the amazing cameras that the vehicles we rented had but still parking and navigating a parking garage were not for the faint of heart. My hat is off to Paul. I would have had to have a smaller vehicle if I was driving. 

10. I enjoyed seeing the statues inside the Wallace Memorial as they honored a variety of Scottish people including Robert Burns, Mary Slessor, Adam Smith, David Livingstone, and John Knox.

11. During the majority of our trip the temperatures were lower than normal for May. The good news is that it hardly rained when we were walking around, and that was a blessing as usually it rains more than that. May 23-26 the weather was unseasonably warm. In fact, they had record breaking high temperatures in the UK on May 24. We actually got some sunburn that day! We definitely didn't need any umbrellas any of those days it was very hot and sunny. 

12. Slices of bacon are SO big in the UK and Ireland. The first time I saw a piece I thought it was a slice of ham due to the size. 

13. We had many delicious breads in Paris, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. For example, I really liked the soda bread we had with our breakfast at the Guest House on May 25 in Northern Ireland.

14. Some foods that they serve with breakfast are not ones we typically have at breakfast in the US. We ordered breakfast sandwiches in Dublin our last morning (by that time we knew what baps were), and on each plate there was a small salad. You also never get to pick a salad dressing in the UK. Breakfasts also usually included baked beans (which I didn't mind although I don't plan on eating them for breakfast at home), stewed tomatoes, mushrooms, sausage, and bacon. 

15. We were able to use a credit card to pay for almost everything. I had gotten some pounds and Euros through AAA before we left because I knew that we had to pay cash for our dinner at the guest house, and I figured we'd need some cash for bathrooms and such. We did need cash a few times such as at the Cardiff Market and the machines in some parking lots only accepted cash, but the vast majority of the time credit cards were accepted. If I had to do it over again, I would have just used our debit card to get some cash at an ATM over there, and I wouldn't have exchanged as much as we did. We made sure at the end to use cash instead of cards so that we would come home with as little of those currencies as possible. 

Northern Ireland

Renting a car in Belfast was a very quick, yet rather expensive affair. You either have to pay a lot for insurance or allow them to put a hold for thousands of dollars on your credit card. Ugh. Our first stop was the Blackhead Coastal Path which was beautiful but not as stunning as the Gobbins Cliff Path. We stopped for ice cream and snacks at The Rhinka which is a family owned ice cream shop that has been selling homemade ice cream since 1921. We have enjoyed trying unique flavors such as Biscoff, rhubarb, and sticky toffee pudding. Because our 2.5 hour hike on the Gobbins Cliff Path was a guided tour, we had to wait awhile as we got there early. We then drove to our guest house which was located very close to the Giant’s Causeway. We had preordered a dinner (at an extra charge) from the guest house. After eating we hiked around the causeway. The views from the guest house were absolutely stunning, the beds were very comfortable, the water was very hot for the shower, and there were three twin beds plus one queen size bed in our room. Perfect! The free continental breakfast was quite comprehensive, but we also bought three hot breakfasts.

After breakfast we drove to the Carrick a Rede rope bridge which again afforded us amazing views of the beautiful coast. We ended our time in Northern Ireland in Belfast. We had a one hour private guided tour outside the museum that included a free small drink and a small bit of food at a restaurant, and then we went inside the museum. It was very different from the Titanic Museum in Tennessee as this one is focused on the building of the ship. It was very high tech and even included a ride. Our last stop was to C.S. Lewis Square where we saw statues of the beavers, White Witch, Mr. Tumnus, Aslan, etc. We were surprised they didn’t have statues of Peter, Edmund, or Lucy. C.S. Lewis was born and lived in Belfast for the first several years of his life. We drove to the airport to return the rental car, took two taxis to the train station (don’t ask how much that cost us!!), grabbed a bite to eat on the train, and rode a train for 2 hour plus 15 minutes to Dublin. Thankfully we only paid for one taxi to take us to our hotel. I was game for walking the one mile from the train station to the hotel, but I was outvoted. The kids shared a room with three beds. Paul and I had our own room. The most any one room could accommodate was four people. This morning we walked to a cafe for breakfast as the hotel we stayed at charged extra for breakfast. Then we took one taxi to the airport. We arrived very early, but I knew there wasn’t enough time to do something in Dublin before going to the airport so we decided to play it safe and get there earlier than necessary. We are supposed to be served two meals on our flight to Newark. Thankfully this is not a red eye flight like we had coming over here. I’m not looking forward to the jet lag, but I’m very much looking forward to holding Milo!

Scotland

We spent five days in Scotland, longer than we spent in the other countries. We spent the first day and a half in Edinburgh. They pronounce it “Edinboro.” We had a guided tour of Edinburgh Castle. That was the first site we visited on the trip that was very particular about our entrance time. I do not enjoy the added stress that comes with the fact that timed entrances are required for SO many activities. Most places were very accommodating even when we showed up rather early. Thankfully they bent their rules a little and let us come in prior to the time of our guided tour. Most of the places I had made dinner reservations, reservations weren’t actually necessary, but it did come in handy at the Makars Mash Bar. We tried different types of mash(ed potatoes). When planning vacations I try to choose the top rated activities, but when it comes to food, affordability factors in far more heavily. This restaurant is rated the second best casual dining in the UK, but due to three of us ordering bowls of tomato soup instead of a main dish, it wasn’t a splurge financially. The kids’ favorite activity that day was the Camera Obscura. Because of the late nights, we decided to skip the hike up Calton Hill. We stayed at an apartment on the outskirts of the city. The washer and dryer were two separate machines, but the dryer was utterly pathetic. I was babysitting the dryer from 4:30 am onward. Some of the clothes were still wet when we left. When Paul and I were in London in 2002, our hotel room was so small we barely had room for a suitcase. The room was almost the same size as the bed. Thankfully that hasn’t been the case this time around. 

Wednesday morning we had pastries from a bakery for breakfast and then hiked up Arthur’s Seat trail. One of the types of pastries was called a yum yum. The pastries were delicious and the views on the hike were beautiful! I had my first two sightings of the Eurasian magpie, which I saw elsewhere on the trip. We had lunch at the Haggis Box which was in the same building as John Knox’s house, which we visited after we ate. Oliver had haggis with neeps and tatties (mashed turnips and potatoes). Ian and Paul tried a bite of Oliver’s haggis the next time he ordered it. After touring John Knox’s home, we had gelato (second time on the trip for Oliver and I and third time for Ian and Nadia). Next we visited St. Giles Cathedral where John Knox was the first Protestant pastor there (it had been a Catholic Church prior to that). We didn’t have any timed reservations that day which was so freeing!! No tickets are needed for St Giles, a hike, or the National Museum of Scotland, and no advance tickets are needed for the John Knox site. We also visited some places that JK Rowling had used as inspiration for the Harry Potter books. We have never spent so much time trying to find specific gravestones in a cemetery before, ha ha! We had a delicious and inexpensive dinner at the Piemaker. Nadia and I really enjoyed our feta vergas. Oliver loved his macaroni cheese pie. Our day ended with the Kelpies in Falkirk. Had I known that our ride on the Falkirk Wheel was going to be cancelled, I would have booked an apartment in Sterling, but the upside of where we stayed was the fact the dryer actually worked! By the time we left we had washed and dried all our dirty laundry, and we didn’t lose any sleep to accomplish that feat.

Thursday morning Paul asked for us to visit the Battle of Bannockburn since we couldn’t ride a boat on the Falkirk Wheel as planned. The kids stayed in the SUV. We all went on a guided tour of Stirling Castle after we had explored part of it ourselves. Nadia dubbed this vacation- castles and cathedrals. We’ve climbed a LOT of stairs on this trip. Most of them have been very narrow circular steps. There were 246 of those steps at the National Wallace Memorial. When planning vacations I always factor in how much driving will be required. Sometimes we skip something that sounds really good because of how much extra driving would be required (ex. Big Bend National Park in May last year). If we had skipped the Isle of Skye on this trip, we would have saved a lot of driving, but our hike ended up being Nadia’s favorite thing we did in Scotland so I think I made the right call. 

We spent one night on the island in a boutique hostel. We had a room with four bunk beds. My preference would have been to get a room with six beds, but that one didn’t come with its own bathroom. Paul preferred having our own bathroom so he and I squeezed into one twin size bottom bunk. Obviously neither of us slept well. We had stopped at a grocery store on the way there the night before to buy an ice cream treat to eat right away and some food for breakfast and supper the next day. The view from the Cowshed bunkhouse was amazing! Unfortunately, it was very foggy and was misting during our first 2.5 hour hike at Quiraing. Oliver really wanted to do the loop that included hiking over the top, but we weren’t all capable of that so we went out and back. The views were utterly stunning, but it was rather nerve wracking as if you slipped, you’d probably die, and we had to scramble over walks and through a waterfall. I wasn’t always sure I was capable, but I succeeded and never fell down. The fog had lessened on our walk back, but the wind had blown the mist onto us so the backside of our clothes were soaked. Our next stop was just a viewpoint for a waterfall. We planned to hike the Old Man of Storr hike, but due to the fact we were wearing wet clothes, we opted to skip it. Given how full the parking lot was there, I’m not certain we would have been able to park there anyhow. We got found a bathroom in Portree where we could change into dry clothes and bought some individual wood fired pizzas that we ate in the SUV. On our drive to our bed and breakfast we stopped to look at the Eilean Donan Castle, our last for the trip. Thankfully our drive toward Glasgow was much less stressful than our drive from Stirling. There were so many sections of that windy, curvy road that were two way but only one narrow lane! Yikes! We’ve seen a lot of sheep this entire trip (except in the big cities), but Paul was disappointed that he didn’t get a glimpse of any Highland cows in Scotland. That is a disadvantage of being the driver. 

We spent our last night in Scotland at a bed and breakfast. The couple served us s lovely breakfast. We ordered what we wanted the night before. Breakfast was included. We paid extra for five bag lunches plus one small load of laundry that the wife did since our clothes were wet from the hike. We had a very short drive to a birds of prey center. We had booked a 90 minute owl experience. Paul and the kids each interacted with three different owls. I took pictures. Then we watched a 45 minute flying show before walking to the pier where our 60 minute boat cruise on Loch Lommond departed. Next we drove to Glasgow and visited the Riverside Museum. They were having a music festival there that weekend so the Glenlee tall ship was closed. We had dinner and filled the gas tank before checking into the Holiday Inn at the Glasgow Airport. Paul returned the SUV while I checked in to the hotel. We had two rooms again. Unfortunately, Nadia left her Kindle in the room she and Ian shared. She also left her Alaska hoodie somewhere else in Scotland. Not having the adapter has been far more annoying, but that didn’t cost anywhere near as much as the items she left behind.

The cooked breakfast didn’t start until 6:30, which was when we felt we should walk to the terminal. We were able to eat a continental breakfast. It turned out we could have eaten the hot breakfast as we waited awhile at the airport before they even told us what gate to go to. It was a domestic flight so we didn’t go through immigration. Their security was very sensitive. They even tested my stick of deodorant?!? I’ve never had that happen before. The weird thing is that Nadia had the exact same kind of deodorant in her bag, and they didn’t test hers. It was a very short flight to Belfast. Thankfully, I’ve gotten on a very good streak with making it through the body scanners without any issues. We’ve learned to take off hiking boots even if it’s not required because they set off the scanners.

England and Paris

 

On May 15 we began our day with a visit to Jane Austen's home in Chawton, England. Nadia had specifically asked for us to go there. She has read three of Austen's books, and years ago one of Nadia's favorite book series was the Mother Daughter Book Club, and in one of those books the girls visited Austen's home in England. We then drove to London and parked the car in the parking lot of the apartment building where we were going to be spending three nights. We planned to take the bus, but then we thought it would be faster to take a taxi to Buckingham Palace, and we didn't want to be late for our "private" tour (we were 5 of 20 people in the tour). A comedy of errors ensued. We had trouble getting the app to accept our credit card. Then we waited for the first taxi driver who accepted our request, but then he changed his mind. We had to wait for another taxi driver to come our way. We *thought* we were helping out by walking in the direction of where he was coming from, but in reality he came to where we had been when we requested the taxi so we then had to RUN back to where we had been in the hopes he would still be waiting for us. We were supposed to arrive 15 minutes before our tour began to go through security, but in reality we arrived one minute after our tour began. Paul knew that they would be collecting our phones so he turned off his phone as we were walking into the palace. Paul and Nadia got new phones this year, and when we upgraded their phones they were switched to a plan that includes international traveling. Ian didn't bring his phone, Oliver doesn't own a phone, and I've only been using my phone in airplane mode. Unfortunately, Paul forgot that the tickets were on his phone, and ironically when he turned off his phone, it went through an update and had to be restarted on Wi-Fi, and there wasn't any Wi-Fi in that area of Buckingham Palace. So we had no way to show our tickets. I took my phone off of airplane mode (which incurred a $12 charge from Verizon) to try to access the tickets on my phone, but that also was unsuccessful. Thankfully, they had my name on a list and finally let us in without actually showing tickets. From that point forward I made sure to save screenshots of all tickets on my own phone. The tour was interesting, but the tour guide spoke very quietly (trying not to disturb those who were working there). 

As we walked from Buckingham Palace to the British Museum, we stopped at a Pret A Manger for dinner. It's a British fast food restaurant which serves much healthier options that most fast food places in the US. Paul and I tried to go to the British Museum in 2002, but they were on strike the day we tried to go. The Bayeux Tapestry which we saw in France in 2002 will be on display in the British Museum from September 2026- July 2027. I wish the kids could have seen that, but I'm very glad that Paul's 24 year wait to visit the British Museum is over. We ended the night with Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty's Theatre. It was my third time seeing that Broadway show and Paul's second time, but it was the first for the kids. They liked it. Ian jumped a couple of times (such as when the large chandelier fell down). It was the kids' sixth Broadway show. When we saw Aladdin in Buffalo while on vacation I was mortified at how underdressed we were compared to most people, but in general people weren't dressed up for the show in London so we were fine. The bus ride was only supposed to take about 20 minutes, but there was an incredible amount of traffic that night even though it was late so by the time we got to our apartment it was about 11:45 pm. In hindsight, we could have gotten back much sooner if we had walked back despite the fact it was about 2 miles away. The first two nights in Wales our apartments had a machine that was both a washer and dryer, but I didn't do laundry because our trip had just begun, and then we stayed at hotels which didn't include free laundry. I started a load that first night in London and it took me days to get that small load of laundry dry! I had hoped to do multiple loads over the course of three days. That didn't happen. The first night of our trip we got almost no sleep as we were on the plane. The second night we went to bed later than planned because of a variety of factors. The third, fourth, and fifth nights of the trip we were able to go to bed at a very reasonable hour and didn't have to get up early. Two of those nights Nadia and Ian had their own room, and I think they (or at least Ian) stayed up later than recommended. He also didn't think to take a shower either of those days or nights, and he left our adaptor at the hotel, and that has been sorely missed since then. The sixth, seventh, and eighth nights of the trip we didn't get enough sleep.

On May 16 we walked to the Tower of London and had breakfast at a place called Cheese & Peppers on the way there. Paul and I prefer guided tours. The kids generally do not, but they did all like the Beefeater tour at the Tower. Thankfully we saw the crown jewels before the line got really long. Our next stop was the Tower Bridge. These two stops were the only ones that were repeats in England for Paul and I. The Tower Bridge tour hadn't changed that much, but the Tower of London site was much different. Next we took the underground toward Westminster Abbey. A protest was being held that day very close to the Abbey so we had to alter the route we took to get there. Our fourth stop was the Churchill War Rooms. We planned to visit the bronze statues at Leicester Square, but many roads were closed due to the protest. We finally gave up on having dinner where I had planned and also skipped seeing the statues. We had time for shopping before we went to see Paddington the Musical at the Savoy Theatre. The kids liked Phantom of the Opera, but they absolutely loved Paddington. They have been listening to it every day since then. Thankfully we didn't encounter extra traffic on our bus trip back to the apartment that night, but it was still a VERY short night of sleep because we had to get up at 2:45 am to drive to the airport for our flight to Paris. 

I thought leaving at 3:15 am would allow us plenty of time. I was wrong. The line for the security screening was very long. By the time we got to our gate, they had already started boarding. In Paris we bought 5 passes that allowed us unlimited use of the trains/subway for the day. We took the train from the airport to Notre Dame. They didn’t give out any reserved tickets that day, but thankfully the line wasn’t long. Since it was Sunday morning, they were having a service while we were there. After visiting the Cathedral (which Paul and I had been in before the fire), we bought some baguettes and pain au chocolat, which was a treat I really enjoyed when we spent a week in France in 2002. They were having a bread festival outside of the cathedral. Our next stop was Sainte Chapelle, which is my most favorite cathedral I’ve ever been in. In 2002 we had a private guided tour of it, which we loved. We just walked around it ourselves this time. There were far more security screenings now compared to 24 years ago. We went through scanners 8 times in one day (two times just for the Eiffel Tower). We had crepes for lunch at Chez Suzette before visiting the Musee de Orsay, which was the only site on our itinerary that wasn’t a repeat for Paul and I. Monet, Manet, and Renoir are three of my favorite artists so it was a delight to see so many of their original works of art there along with ones by Van Gogh. We ended our day in Paris with a visit to the Arc de Triomphe, eating pizza at Chez Pippo, and going to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. I didn’t bring my camera to Paris because of the rain forecast. We did experience a total downpour for about 75 minutes in the afternoon around the time of the Arc. We had brought two umbrellas with us and bought two more in Paris. Considering how frequently it rains in the UK, we considered ourselves fortunate that this was the first time we had much rain. We took the train back to the airport, and then we had a long wait at the gate because our flight was delayed. By the time we drove back to our apartment, I had been awake for almost 23 hours straight. The kids had slept in the car and on the airplane. Nadia really wanted to visit Paris, so this was a gift to her.

 On Monday morning we started our day at Kensington Palace, took the underground to Westminster, and toured Big Ben. They collected our phones so we didn’t get credit for going up all those stairs, ha ha. It was a very interesting tour. After the tour we took the underground back to where our SUV was parked and drove to Cambridge. Driving in London is not exactly pleasant. We had a punting trip on the River Cam (similar to gondolas in Venice) and walked around the town some to get dessert at Jack’s Gelato. We got another parking ticket, but we have challenged this one because they said we hadn’t paid for parking at 6:13 when we had paid for two hours at 6:03. We have proof that we paid so I hope our appeal is successful. I never, ever want to rent a car in another country again! We didn’t have this trouble when we rented vehicles in Europe from 2002-2004. Paul has been a champ driving on the left side of the road, but it can be stressful especially on very narrow one lane (yet two way) roads (especially true in Scotland). We got behind schedule in Cambridge so we didn’t check in until around midnight at our hotel. It was the only Holiday Inn in this trip that had a room that could accommodate 5 people, and they had an amazing breakfast selection. 

We ended out time in England at Alnwick Castle on Tuesday morning. The kids were excited because some of the scenes from Harry Potter movies were filmed there. We took a guided tour that focused on the movies filmed at the site. Due to the grass being wet, they weren’t having broomstick training that day, but they did provide broomsticks for photos. Due to the fact it was raining  when we parked, I didn’t bring my camera to the castle. It never rained while we were there so I wish that I had brought it because it’s much harder to freeze action with a cellphone. Paul was more interested in the history of the castle. After eating lunch at the castle, we drove to Scotland. 

Dublin and Wales

Our flight from Newark to Dublin left on Sunday night around 5:30 PM EST, and we arrived in Dublin around 5:15 AM GMT. The flight was about 7 hours plus a 5 hour time change. They served us drinks with some Penn State pretzels that were delicious. Ironically, these are produced in the UK. They didn't name them after PSU but after the state of Pennsylvania because 80% of the pretzels produced in the US are produced in PA, and people in Pennsylvania consume on average 8 times more pretzels per year than those in the other 49 states. This was news to us! Shortly after the drinks were served we were served dinner which consisted of either tortellini or chicken and rice with a roll, salad, and a delicious red velvet dessert. We were each given a complimentary headphones, blanket, and pillow. Unfortunately, we each got very little sleep. Shortly before we landed they gave each of us a frozen orange juice and a apple Nutri-grain bar. We weren't fans of the OJ. 

We quickly went through customs, and the car rental place was on site, which was very nice, but we had some unexpected surprises with the rental car. We have rental car insurance through our credit card, but if we didn't pay for insurance, they were going to put a $5,000 Euro charge on our credit card, which was an unacceptable option. When I first was deciding whether or not to rent a car for 12 hours in Dublin, I had come to the conclusion it was cheaper to rent the car because of needing to pay for taxi rides to and from the airport plus pay to store all our luggage at the airport for the day. Once I realized we couldn't go to the Gaol, I began to question my decision as I knew we could just drive to the center of town, park the car, and walk to and from all our sites. If I could go back in time, I would definitely have opted not to rent a car in Dublin. Paying for taxis and storing the suitcases would have been cheaper and less stressful, especially for Paul since he's not accustomed to driving on the left side of the road. We didn't have to pay for any gasoline because we used so little. It helped that the SUV was a hybrid. It didn't help that we had trouble using the QR code that was proof I had prepaid for our stay at the parking garage. We thought we were at the wrong lot so we went across the street, and at the end of the day found out we had paid for the other parking garage. So we paid two different parking garages to park in Dublin. So much for trying to save money by prepaying. I'm writing this on Thursday, and I can say this wasn't the end of our parking woes although today I think we managed to make it through unscathed. I really wish we had just stayed in the first parking garage because the second one was connected to a shopping mall, and we didn't know that green exit signs are fire exit signs, and we ended up very lost in a place they don't expect customers to go, and it took us a very long time to figure out how to get out of the maze back into the mall. I came close to having a panic attack.

Thankfully, we still had enough time to enjoy a delicious breakfast at Lemon Jelly Cafe and walked over Ha'penny bridge before doing the Book of Kells experience at Trinity College. Our next stop was the Little Museum of Dublin, which was my favorite stop of the day. Our tour guide, Sean, was hysterical as he explained the history of Dublin. The exhaustion really kicked in at the GPO museum. It ended up being a waste of money because I was the only one who wasn't struggling to stay awake. Had Paul gotten more sleep, I know he would have loved the museum. So I bought coffees and sodas for the kids and Paul to wake them up. I wish I had done that sooner! Our last stops were the EPIC Irish Emigration Museum, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Christ Church Cathedral. At one point along the way we got food from Leo Burdock's Fish and Chips which had very high reviews online, but we weren't impressed. The fries were large and very soft. We prefer them crispier. We threw away the vast majority of the chips (partially because the servings were so large), but we would have liked to have had more fish and chicken. Over the past four days I've been impressed that #1 we haven't had to pay to go to the bathroom yet (I remember frequently having to pay during other trips to Europe) and #2 that we've been given free glasses of water at our meals which again wasn't possible in other countries in Europe. The kids have been blown away by all the traffic circles. I don't like traffic circles at all so I am amazed at Paul's finesse in handling them, especially while driving on the left side of the road.

The traffic back to the airport was much worse, and we made some wrong turns, so our stress level was high as we began to be worried about missing our flight. Thankfully the return of the rental car went very quickly, and we didn't have to wait long for a shuttle back to the airport, and there was no wait to go through airport security (albeit that body scanner nabbed me again - I have to say I hate those machines!). So we actually were waiting at our gate for more than 30 minutes before they began boarding. We were all together in a row on our long flight to Dublin, but on our flight to Manchester Paul and I were both sitting by a stranger. Ian was also by himself, but Nadia and Oliver were directly behind him. The flight was less than one hour long. I enjoyed seeing the topography of Wales from the sky. Paul was sleeping. 

We were *supposed* to be flying to Liverpool, but we ended up flying to Manchester because Aer Lingus cancelled that flight. At Manchester we had to wait a longer time to get a shuttle to the rental car center, and we were there a long time and again had to pay (a lot) for insurance because our credit card would only pay up to $50,000, and they said the SUV we were renting sells for almost $100K. If we ever travel to a foreign country again (which at the moment I'm not sure I ever want to aside from Canada), I do not want to rent any more vehicles. They also put a large hold on our card, so then when we tried to buy dinner a few days later our charge was declined. I had to make a payment so we could resume using the card. I always pay the full balance every month. We went over one bridge that involved a toll for which there wasn't a toll booth so we need to figure out how to pay that $2.40 toll. We have only encountered one other toll, but we were able to pay that one with a credit card. On our drive from Manchester to Liverpool, we encountered a road closure which lengthened our journey to our first lodging. We were beyond exhausted by the time we got there. I had been without sleep for 36 hours straight. We parked in a ParkBee facility and walked through town with our luggage to our apartment after 11:00 at night. The apartment was lovely, but Nadia didn't end up sleeping on the twin bed in our bedroom because Paul's snoring was keeping her awake. She opted to sleep on the floor in the living room, and because the boys were already asleep on the couches, she didn't offer them the choice of sleeping on the twin bed. 

Because we had gotten to bed much later than I had anticipated, we skipped the first thing on the agenda for the day (a hike at Great Orme) so we could sleep in a bit longer. Unfortunately, this meant my departure time wasn't correct for ParkBee. If I had entered the later time from the start, we wouldn't have had to pay extra because I paid for 12 hours. But because we left an hour later than planned, we had to pay for one more hour (which was about 50% of what 12 hours cost). Oi vey. At least I didn't pay twice as much as necessary. Our first stop was lunch at Indulgence Cafe in Llandudno, Wales, which we highly recommend. The food was very delicious and reasonably priced. Our next stop was Conwy Castle. which was very impressive to the kids as it was their very first castle. We bought a family 3 day explorer pass which meant we got in free to two other castles we visited in Wales in addition to Conwy. Our next stop was Snowdon Mountain. We rode a train for one hour up to the summit (3,560 feet elevation). We spent an hour up at the top, and then rode back down for another hour. It was VERY cold and extremely windy at the top, but the views were amazing which was an answer to prayer as it was very foggy and cloudy in the morning, and the visibility is sometimes nonexistent at the top of the mountain. I had planned for us to have dinner at the Crown Y Goron, but it turns out they only serve breakfast and lunch. A customer at their bar recommended we eat at the Black Boy Inn (evidently the rules of political correctness in the USA are different than in Wales). The prices were higher that I would have chosen, but we were very hungry as it was only our second meal of the day and it was almost 7 pm, which is much later than we usually eat dinner. Our lodging in Caernarfon was amazing! We had a three floor townhouse that was right next to the castle wall. Nadia had her own bedroom, the boys each had their own beds in one bedroom, and Paul and I had our own bedroom on the third floor. We also had two full bathrooms. Woohoo! Staying next to a castle was very cool, and the woman left our kitchen well stocked for breakfast. I scrambled six eggs and we had crumpets, bagels, toast, bananas, yogurt, juice, milk, etc. I used some of the bread to make PB&J sandwiches for our lunch later that day. 

The next morning we toured the Caernarfon Castle and then drove over 4 hours to Cardiff. I was NOT a fan of the drive because it involved many turns which made me nauseous even though I was in the front seat of the vehicle. After a couple of hours I suggested we stop at a gas station. We still had 1/2 a tank as our SUV is also a hybrid. The kids have a lot more room in this one than the one we had in Dublin, but this one is wider which can present challenges for Paul with driving and parking. It's very fancy though in terms of cameras to help with some of those difficulties. We went to the bathroom and bought some snacks (which helped my stomach). Our third castle of the trip was Caerphilly Castle, which so far is the one Paul liked the most. We then had dinner at a restaurant that overlooked the castle. We've learned that in Wales you either place your order (at a sit down restaurant) using an app on your phone or you go tell the bartender what food you want to order. You also go get your own silverware, napkins, and such. We had trouble using the app at some of the restaurants, but today (at the Three Elms) we finally had success. On Wednesday night we were given a choice of "chips or fries" with our meals so we mistakenly thought the chips would be the things we call chips in the USA. Wrong. Fries are thinner. SO we again ended up with a lot of uneaten chips. Unfortunately, I paid 50 pence too little for our parking (I forgot we were having dinner near the castle), and so our vehicle was in an expired spot for about 25 minutes. Sadly, we got a big parking ticket. I was literally in tears over that mistake. One more reason never to rent a car again in a foreign country. We spent the night at Holiday Inn right on the Cardiff Bay. Usually we get one room for 5 people, but it's much harder in the UK to find a room with 2 queen size beds plus a sofa. SO we had two rooms. The kids had one queen plus one couch, and we had just a queen. Their room faced the water, and ours faced the lovely parking lot.

This morning (Thursday) we had a hotel breakfast. They didn't serve exactly the same menu that they do at Holiday Inns in the USA. They served hot tomatoes, baked beans, croissants, etc. They didn't serve the cinnamon rolls that are standard in the USA. They had a very nice assortment of foods though. I've never seen slices of bacon that big in my life. Nadia loved the fact she could have an espresso, latte, or cappuccino for free at breakfast. Our first stop this morning was the Cardiff Market. Nadia bought a t-shirt, Paul got some nuts, and the rest of us got some Welsh cakes and Turkish delights. We had the Welsh cakes as our lunch at the Cardiff Castle, and we at the candy for dessert after our dinner. Our second stop was the Cardiff Castle. This one isn't included in the Explorer Pass. We also paid for a guided tour of the apartments. We have been walking up many, many flights of small turning staircases as we've toured 4 castles so far. Thankfully we've hardly needed our umbrellas at all which has been a blessing. It's been a bit chillier than anticipated, but I'll take that over pouring rain. Almost every time it has rained we've been inside. Our last stop today was St Fagans National Museum of History, which is primarily an outdoor site (kind of like a Williamsburg type experience). We've seen SO many sheep in Wales the last three days, but we got closer to them today. There are 10 million sheep in Wales compared to 3 million people. We had dinner at Three Elms in Cardiff which was the most reasonable dinner we've had so far, and the food was delicious. We then drove to a Holiday Inn in Swindon, which means we have returned to England. Oliver is sharing a room with Paul and I, and Nadia and Ian have their own room tonight. The kids like that they each get their own twin size bed tonight. Tomorrow, Saturday, and Monday we'll be in England. 

Off to Dublin

When choosing the dates for our trip to Europe, I wanted it to be after Ian's college classes ended and before Nadia left to work at Camp Susque in early June. Typically the kids have a quiz in Indiana the day before Mother's Day, so I scheduled our first flight for the evening of May 10. A couple of months ago they announced that the quiz in Indiana wouldn't be taking place this year. Nadia had then been planning to go to a graduation party more than two hours from our house on May 9 so I invited Xandir over to our house to spend time with Ian and Oliver. Ian was still finishing his physics exam on Saturday morning, but he was able to play with Xandir most of the six hours he was at our house. I also allowed Ian to finish unit C of Precalculus on Saturday evening after Xandir left even though originally I had said he had to finish that first. Nadia and Oliver are done with their schoolwork for the year. Ian just has one more unit of Precalculus to finish by the end of June. 

My kids aren't typically very good at remembering their parents' birthdays, Mother's Day, or Father's Day. On my birthday Oliver was the only one of my kids to even say the words "happy birthday" to me last month. He gave me a card he made, a hug, and the gift of not playing monopoly for one month. This year Nadia and Ian together made me a Mother's Day card and bookmark, and Oliver also made me a card. I'm very grateful for Paul's mom and my mom. Their presence is missed, and I'm very grateful after years of singleness followed by infertility that I became a mom about eighteen years ago (technically I've been a mom for 21 years as we lost our first baby in 2005). 

Sunday morning we dropped Milo off around 8:45 before attending the first service at church. He was very nervous at home when he saw the suitcases and very nervous in the van, but he was thrilled once he realized he was at the Seibert's house. We are very thankful that they can watch him while we're gone. On our way to the Newark airport, we stopped to get some sandwiches at Subway. I had brought some bananas, carrots, chips, and brownies to supplement our lunch. It is much cheaper to park at a hotel than at the airport, so we parked at a hotel and took their free shuttle to the airport. There was zero wait for the TSA screening so the TSA Precheck wasn't necessary, but I'm always grateful to go through a metal detector instead of a body scanner. We got to the airport a little over three hours in advance, which is what they typically recommend for international flights, but it meant we sat at the gate for over two hours before the boarding began. However, it was a case of better safe than sorry. I originally thought we'd only have two flights on this trip (to and from Dublin), but due to the fact you can't take rental cars on ferries, we also need to fly to England and then from Scotland back to Northern Ireland. I thought we'd take the train to Paris, but it was actually cheaper to fly on the particular date we are headed to Paris (normally the train is cheaper). The only train tickets we have are for the end of our trip to get us from Belfast back to Dublin. Paul and I made three tips to Europe together from 2002-2004, but this is the kids' first time on this continent. The kids were pleasantly surprised to find out that they would be feeding us (free) meals on this flight, and I was surprised that we will be offered blankets and pillows as those haven't been offered on our flights lately, even our lengthy flight to Hawaii. Praying for a safe trip, for all of us to stay healthy, for things to go as smoothly as possible, and for Paul not to have too much trouble driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Usually the first day is the hardest due to the fact we probably won't get much sleep on the plane tonight and we won't be near a bed until late on Monday night in Liverpool, England. I told the kids if they don't sleep on the plane they will be awake for about 34 hours straight.

100 years old

The amusement park that I have lived the closest to for the past 30 years is Knoebels. It's a unique amusement park in that they don't charge for parking (it costs $35 to park at HersheyPark), and they also don't charge for admission. The only other amusement park I've been to like that is Delgrosso's, and I've been to a lot of amusement parks. Knoebels opened on July 4, 1926, so the park is celebrating 100 years this summer. The carousel (still in operation today) was built in 1923. Some of the rides were purchased from West View Park, which had been owned by my dad's grandmother. The park has been owned and operated by the same family since the day it opened. I think that's impressive, especially considering the park had to weather things like the Great Depression. When the kids were younger, we used to go to Knoebels multiple times a year; we've been taking them there since 2010. 

Lately we've only been going on WVIA Day, which is usually the first weekend of May. We used to use all six free handstamps for family members (Paul's parents, niece, or nephew would be the ones to use any extras that we had). The last several years we've been letting the kids invite some friends to join them. Typically, they'd invite two friends, but last year I brought six kids to Knoebels. If the weather forecast looks good, then we also bring Milo. Many people bring their dogs with them to Knoebels. That's another way this park is different from most amusement parks. Once we realized that we'd have three nephews and one niece with us, we paid for another WVIA membership so that we'd have 10 wristbands for Knoebels and 6 lift tickets/ski rentals for Elk Mountain next January (compared to 6 wristbands and 4 ski packages that we've had for many years). Since the cousins that Nadia usually hangs out with were going to be in Ohio for Andrew's graduation, I encouraged her to invite 1-3 friends. She only invited Faith. If I had to do it over again, I'd have offered two wristbands to any of our friends if they had just met us there at the park. Usually, Paul and I would ride some rides, but because I was busy taking pictures and we had Milo and the kids no longer ride many of the rides we used to ride with them, Paul and I didn't end up riding a single ride. It was chillier than normal, which meant no one wanted to ride either of the two rides that involve water. However, there wasn't any rain in the forecast, which meant there were more people at the park on WVIA Day than there had been the last few years. The lines weren't ridiculous, but they were definitely longer. About ten rides weren't running, which also didn't help with the lines. Thankfully, all of the rollercoasters were running. The kids rode three of them multiple times - Twister, Impulse, and Phoenix. That morning we went to the first service at church, came home to change clothes, get Milo, and make sandwiches for lunch, and then we drove to Knoebels. We arrived a little after the park opened at noon. In the afternoon we bought a snack or a drink for anyone who wanted one, and shortly before the park closed at 6:00 we bought three large pizzas for the ten us of us to share. While we were at the park Yvonne and her family were driving back from Ohio. They arrived after 10pm. Jenna and Toby drove back home that night as they only live 90 minutes from us. Nine of the Towfighis left our home the next morning. 

The last time I wrote a gratitude list was April 15. Here are some things I've been thankful for over the last few weeks:

1. I love being outside in the spring. I enjoy seeing more birds, flowers, blossoms, green grass, etc. 

2. We got the piano tuned on April 20. Last year he replaced some strings, and those strings didn't stay in tune for long. I enjoy listening to Ian play the piano more now that it's all back in tune. Ian is currently practicing Flight of the Bumblebee, Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin), and Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Bach).

3. To celebrate my 54th birthday I had lunch with Cheri at Panera, breakfast with Tab at Dolly's Diner, and got some ice cream for the family from Old Mill Creamery. 

4. Ian was offered two jobs for the summer. He accepted the offer from Joyful Petcare and will start his training on May 28. 

5. Despite Ian being whacked in the face at the first performance and Nadia's face being burned by a curling iron the night of the second performance, all went well with the three performances of The Little Mermaid. Ian was hysterical as Chef Louis, and Nadia did a great job getting into her part as the sarcastic Mersister, Aquata. Eight Towfighis joined me in attending the first performance. Cheri joined Paul and I on Friday night. Paul's dad, Jenna, and Toby joined us on Saturday afternoon. The kids received various treats in their bags at each performance (candy, flowers, etc.). 

6. There was a brief break in the rain on April 25 which enabled me to take pictures of seven kids who went to the prom together. I was very thankful that Ian decided to go this year since it was Nadia's last prom. Ian borrowed Paul's shoes and dress shirt. I need to buy Ian a long sleeve white dress shirt as Paul's was too big for him around the neck. He wore his own black pants along with the green vest, tie, and suit jacket that he wore in the Wizard of Oz last year. They just barely fit him, but it was nice to be able to use them one more time. 

7. The boys and Paul enjoyed seeing the Super Mario Galaxy movie on April 26 while Nadia was at work. They ate my free birthday popcorn during the movie.

8. Seven of us enjoyed seeing Joshua at Sight and Sound on April 28, which was my 50th spiritual birthday. We also enjoyed lunch at Olive Garden including a free birthday dessert for me (black tie mousse cake).

9. Andrew has graduated from Cedarville, moved into his first apartment (in Ohio), and has started his first FT job. He's planning to stay in Ohio for about 18 months until his girlfriend graduates from college. My kids have never attended a graduation before. They were quite shocked at how boring these ceremonies are (I showed them part of the livestream so they could watch Andrew when he was on stage), and Ian was surprised to find out that Andrew is his middle name, ha ha! We enjoyed having four of his younger siblings with us for a few days. We spent time at the playground on Friday and Saturday and at Knoebels on Sunday. 

10. Yesterday I went for a walk with Ian's piano teacher for about 75 minutes. I always appreciate getting some exercise, but I also enjoy being able to talk with a friend, especially one I don't get to talk to at length very often. Similarly, I'm meeting another friend at Panera today. I see her even more infrequently. There are many weeks that the only people I talk to are those who live in my house (aside from pleasant greetings at the grocery store or church), so I always appreciate opportunities for lengthier conversations with my sisters and female friends. 

11. Ian's college classes came to an end on April 30. Despite a few missteps on his part (ex. not realizing an assignment was due by 11:59 pm and trying to submit it after midnight, forgetting to take a picture when we entered Sight and Sound for his humanities assignment, etc.), he earned an A in Humanities and a B+ in Old Testament this semester, which puts his cumulative GPA at Cedarville University at 3.675 (he's earned 12 credits total so far). Today I registered Ian for his fall classes at Cedarville - Introduction to Programming with C++ and a Physical Activity course (5 credits total). Next year I want him to begin taking some CLEP tests in addition to the dual enrollment classes.  

12. Nadia and Oliver are done for the school year. Nadia's Introduction to Research class doesn't technically end until May 15, but she submitted the final assignments and took her last test early due to our trip to Europe. Ian will hopefully finish English (King Lear) and Physics by May 8. He has the incentive of spending time with a friend on Saturday if he accomplishes those goals. He'll have until the end of June to finish Precalculus (he's currently finished 3/4 of the class through ASU). Normally I'm excited about the end of a school year although I know by August, I'll be itching to start the new year, but this year it's bittersweet since it means Nadia has graduated from high school. I look forward to seeing her soar at Liberty next year. 

13. I'm thankful that Aer Lingus was willing to change our flight to Manchester since they cancelled our flight to Liverpool and that it wasn't hard to change our rental car reservation. I'm also hoping the War in Iran is truly over because there was a significant risk of the airlines in Europe not having fuel by the time we'd be trying to fly home from Dublin on May 26. I wasn't in favor of the war from the start so naturally I've been praying for it to end ASAP. I think our country's track record after WWII has been pretty much a total disaster when it comes to our involvement in wars (Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, etc.), which is why I wasn't at all keen on the idea of starting a war with Iran. Sadly, I'm not sure anything good came out of it, but I'm grateful it's hopefully over. I had hoped that Trump wouldn't start any wars just like he didn't during his first term, but unfortunately, that hasn't been the case this time around. Thankfully, I know the Lord is ultimately in control, which is very reassuring when I'm not liking the actions/words of our current President. 

14. I recently read a book that I really, really, really enjoyed called Theo of Golden. I hope Allen Levi writes more books in the future!

15. I've been elected to the school board at Meadowbrook Christian School. Praying that I can be a blessing to them over the next few years. I'm also hoping to begin leading a small group on Isaiah on Wednesday nights starting in September. So far three other couples (in addition to Paul and I) have said they'll join the group. Praying we get a few more people to join us between now and then. Another woman requested we do an OT prophecy book (because we're in the NT in Sunday School), and Paul asked for Isaiah in particular. I'm grateful for opportunities to serve.