Happy Christmas!

As you can see, I have been in the United Kingdom for awhile and am happy to wish you all a very happy, happy Christmas. Our lives are seldom what we would have predicted, but if we take the time to look around us, we will realize how blessed we are. No matter where we find ourselves, we have great opportunities, if we will only take advantage of them.

Well, Ian has finally asked about Santa Clause. It seems that he saw his mom buying one of the gifts Santa brought this morning. We spent a long time trying to separate things he had seen from the others but we got caught. His older cousin told him last year that there wasn't a Santa Clause but he didn't want to believe something like that. He crawled into bed with me this morning after his mom had gone to work because he had something he wanted to talk about. I knew he was too smart not to realize the reality, but we wanted the magic to continue as long as possible. After we talked for awhile, he said that he didn't care if parents supplied the presents or not. He would continue to believe in Santa just like his Mom and Dad and then fell asleep.

Last night we had a wonderful celebration at Keri's mom's home in Little Rock. Everyone was well enough to enjoy the evening. My mom went with us and had a good time with Keri's family. The theme (yes Virginia, there is always a theme) was a German Christmas and the food was wonderful. Keri had to work yesterday and today so we planned everything around her time. Mom, Ian and I are going to the Weaver's for awhile this afternoon and then we will have our Christmas when Keri gets home tonight.

I hope that Santa was good to you all (yes, there is a Santa and he will continue to come to the Tullos house no matter what anyone else believes). I wish for you all a little calm in your busy lives. As Tiny Tim said, "God bless us everyone."

Playing Catch-up

Now that we are back in Searcy with an internet connection, I need to document the last two weeks. Since I am using this as a journal (minus candid statements), I need to put our chaotic two week free travel in the record. I have also promised to attach photos but that will need to come later.

My last travel entry came from Florence. As I said before, I so desperately needed several days of calm and quiet after our semester in London.

Wednesday, December 5 - Our last day in Florence was running errands. There were places we needed to take Ian, items to purchase at the markets, and visits to make. One of the most important involved seeing Anna and Renata. We discovered the night before that Renata had come to the Villa each of the days before to see us but was unable to come on Wednesday, so we got directions from Silvia (her niece) and headed to Scandicci on the bus. She was so surprised when we rang her bell. She had gifts for each of us and just hugged on Ian. We realize that she had kept up with us since our summer there in 1994. Ian now has an Italian "Nonna". We headed back to the Villa for last minute packing to get ready to head out. Personally, I would have stayed there.


Thursday & Friday, December 6 & 7 - I drove one of the cars with all our luggage down to the bus stop at 06:00 and returned the car to the Villa. It was so nice walking back down the hill in the sunrise. The train to Brig, Switzerland was exciting for Ian and pleasant for us. I had forgotten how efficient European rail service can be, especially after the chaos of flying and security checks. We arrived in Brig with plenty of time to search for a room. We ended up at the Hotel Du Pont right on the main street and an easy walk from the station. Some of the old buildings are gone from the street but it is still a wonderful little town. We ate and explored the town and headed to bed. Friday, we headed to Zurmatt and the Matterhorn. We wanted Ian to see everything but it snowed (and rained) all day so we thought he would have to remember the "postcard view". Fortunately, just as we were about to head back down the mountain, the mountain appeared through the clouds for about a minute. We were in a perfect place and I captured Ian in front of the Matterhorn in one photo.

Saturday & Sunday, December 8 & 9 - Saturday morning we headed back to the station to begin our trip to Trier, Germany. It is the oldest city in Germany and one of our favorite spots with the most preserved Roman ruins in Europe and its wonderful Christmas Market. We stumbled on it in 2003 and always try to go back whenever we are in Germany. Ian was in heaven because we had to ride four or five different trains (including one double-decker). Unfortunately, it was raining and we had a difficult time finding a hotel once we arrived. We finally located one but were soaked by the time we got to the Hotel Römerbrücke on the River Mosel. It was an easy walk to town center and the wonderful market (actually our favorite). Sunday we explored the ruins including the Porta Nigra, the largest remaining intact Roman gate in Europe.

Monday & Tuesday, December 10 & 11 - Monday we took a taxi to the station. The waitress at breakfast slipped Ian some chocolates and the lady at checkout gave us some wonderful Christmas chocolates. The trip to Munich was great and we had a reservation at the Meininger City Hostel . Unfortunately, it was some distance from the station and our luggage was heavy, but it was very nice and the price was perfect. They gave us a voucher for free meals across the street at the Augustiner Keller. It was exactly what I thought a traditional German beer garden would be like. We were seated with a couple of obnoxious drunken Germans but
the food was excellent. Tuesday, we explored the several Christmas Markets and had a wonderful day. Of course, our favorite site was the glockenspiel in action and the wonderful Christmas windows. The animated displays were as grand as ever and Ian was enchanted. I managed to ship off our German and Italian treasures (at a cost that rivals the national debt).

Wednesday & Thursday, December 12 & 13 - Wednesday morning we rode the trolley back to the station for our trip to Salzburg, Austria. It has snowed some while we were in Munich (always mixed with rain), but the countryside was covered in snow as we headed to Austria. Unfortunately, most of it disappeared before we detrained in Salzburg. We found the Hotel Alderhof without too much trouble and walked into a wonderful Austrian room with a stag horn chandelier and four-poster bed. It seemed we were in the Trapp family mansion. Salzburg was as grand as ever. Unfortunately, the rain had followed us and by the time we made it back to the hotel, we were soaked. We explored everything there was to explore on Thursday. We purchased eggs (of course) to be shipped back and went to the castle. Our hotel was an easy walk to all the markets and we enjoyed the walk (when we were not lost).

Friday-Monday, December 14, 15, 16 & 17 - We wanted to spend some time back in London before we headed back, so Friday morning we caught the bus to the airport for an early flight back. It had snowed during the night and Salzburg was covered in a layer of snow. The flight on Ryanair only cost .01 Euro each with additional taxes and airport charges (for a total of 56 Euro for all of us). Unfortunately, we had a tight connection and got off the bus one stop too early. With some rushing, we made the flight and arrived back in England. The Acorn flat this time (1b Bloomsbury Place) was as large and nice as our previous flat (103-11a Great Russell Street) was small and dreary. It was the perfect place to wind down, repack and get ready to head home. We crammed in many last minute details. We were able to see the First Emperior exhibit at the British Museum, attend Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (a traditional British Christmas pantomime), jump on, ride, and jump off an old double-decker bus, buy books at Hatchard's, and many other favorite things. There was a big party at the British Museum for us on our last night (but they forgot to give us our invitations).

London to Little Rock

We arrived back in the States last night but have yet to arrive back in Searcy. Internet connections have been very difficult to find for the last two weeks and I have been unable to update our adventure reports or add photos. I will be doing that over the next several days.

We had a smooth departure from London. We had arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 1 Bloomsbury Place at 8:00. When we headed out at 7:55, it was there. The wonder of that statement had to do with the fact that he had the wrong address and had begun looking much earlier to make sure he was there at 8:00. (Can you imagine that happening here.) The traffic was so bad that it took us two hours to get to the airport (fortunately we had a booked price) but we had started out with plenty of time to spare so it worked OK. We were again amazed at the efficiency of the European airport security and check-in. The flight was uneventful and the encounter with customs was smooth. Unfortunately, chaos began shortly thereafter. As we exited from customs in Atlanta and showed our boarding pass for the Atlanta to Little Rock flight, we were informed that our flight did not exist. We were sent from counter to counter only to be told the same thing. That flight does not exist (and never had). Finally we ended up at the Delta assistance desk and waited in line for over an hour but had moved only a few feet further forward. Finally I spotted a Delta phone and called the national reservations office. They informed me that it was indeed a legitimate flight (that was not not listed on any of the airport computers of monitors) and given a gate number. It was correct but no information was ever posted, they just finally called for boarding. We arrived in Little Rock without some of our luggage but hopefully that will arrive today.

San Gimignano and Siena

Following my last post, we headed into Florence. Klay gave us a ride down the hill to the 27 bus stop and we were off. The bus routes have changes some in the last 14 years but once on the ground, we were able to find our way easily. There were a number of things on our list of "must sees" for Ian. The Ponte Vecchio was at the top but Ian was disappointed that all the shops only sold junk. The bridge is the home of very exclusive jewelry shops and just one or two of those pieces of "junk" would finance our future.

There is a wonderful Christmas market in the Piazza Santa Croce. It was strange to see a huge booth of English bone china for prices better than you can get them in London. It was strange to see Florence with so few people. My experience has been in the Summer.

Yesterday, Kyle took us to San Gimignano and Siena. There were few people there as well, but many of the shops were closed. Some for the month of December but many until April. It was wonderful wandering the silent street. Of course I took a million photos but have no way to post any now. That will come later. Ian loved it, especially when we climbed the tower. Yes, you heard me correctly. Keri also climbed the tower. I told Kyle that it was not much higher than our flat in London. The view was breathtaking. Keri was so enthralled that the height did not seem to bother her. The Cathedral was also beautiful and easy to see without the crowds. They are charging for entry now and allow no photographs, a change from our last visit. I am glad they are trying to protect it. Keri bought some pottery and had it shipped. I am glad because there is not room for another matchbook in our luggage.

Siena was the same as far as crowds are concerned, but more was open. Kyle took us to areas we had never seen before and of course we had to purchase some panforte. I never knew there very different kinds. We tried the traditional and the cinnamon. As it was getting dark, we headed back to Florence. It had been a wonderful day out. It was nice of Kyle to take us. He said he needed to get a few things there before he returned to the States and we were asking him about the bus routes. We probable would not have been able to see both without him. Thanks, Kyle!

We returned to the Villa and put together a wonderful supper of odds and ends from everyones day. Clay and Lisa Bartee, Kyle Thompson and Ashley (a friend from a international study program in Florence who attends the Florence congregation) and Keri, Ian and I. We ate and talked and laughed. We then went and sat before a fire in the fireplace and listened to Christmas music and continued to talk and laugh. It really was a magical evening.

Rest at Scandicci

There will be no photos for awhile, but I will attempt to update all regarding our continued adventures. My last entry occurred on Wednesday. Thursday was the last day of finals and everyone was trying to fit in any last minute shopping, site seeing, etc. Keri, Ian and I continued with the remainder of the bus tour. As I said before, we should have done that the first week, but at least we got it in. I had to rush back to give some independent study exams (received from the professors in Searcy late Wednesday night). Thursday night, we went to Ye Ole Cheshire Cheese for our final group meal. I chose this place because it is so old and has hosted Dickens, Mark Twain, Samuel Johnson (of dictionary fame) and almost every other English writer and personality. It too is a must if you are visiting London.

Friday was a day for packing, last minute errands, storing luggage and saying goodbye. There was a strike in Italy which interfered with some students flights but they were assured that they would get out on Saturday. The Harding Office (where we were to store luggage) starting leaking. Actually, pouring would be a better description. We had to store about 20 suitcases in there so we arranged them so they would not get wet. Florida State cut off our swipe cards at 11:30 Friday night making it impossible to get in (or out) of the buildings so I had to wait until someone was coming in to get out to go to the office. We worked it out, but it was inconvenient.

Saturday, we headed to the airport to catch the Gatwick Express. An EasyJet flight to Pisa with Ian at a window seat was our undramatic exit to England. We caught a bus to see the leaning tower in Pisa because that was high on the list of Ian (I cannot find the apostrophe on this Italian keyboard). Then back to the airport for supper and a bus to Florence. A taxi from Florence to the Villa where Mona and Kyle were waiting and then to Scandicci for pizza.

Yesterday began with a trip to the bar (for coffee and pastry and coffee). Robbie conducted the service at the Florence church followed by a potluck. A walking tour for last minute shopping for the Bartees and Lamberts and then out to Robbie and Mona's wonderful new place out in Tuscany for a dinner with many old friends. It was a wonderful day. I am especially enjoying the peace and quiet at the Villa. I really needed to be someplace calm after the frantic pace of London.

One comment and then I will end this never-ending story. The crowds near the Duomo were as great as those on Oxford street, but everyone continued moving. The difference is that each direction had a side and everyone moved forward. London sidewalks are simply chaos.