36 hours later...

...we're still in process of heading home...yes, volcanic ash DOES make a difference.  We had our shuttle scheduled to pick us up at 3:45am yesterday morning (Tuesday May 11) in Cambridge to come back home....all was well until midnight the night before, when they changed our flight FOR THE NEXT MORNING due to the ash.  That 's when the fun began.  Our flight had been cancelled and completely rerouted through a DIFFERENT airport in London, and for several hours later.  The shuttle service was closed by that time, and they were supposed to be at our doorstep within 4 hours.  To make an unbelievable saga bearable, let me just hit the highlights at this point:

1.  Six and 1/2 hour flight delay
2.  Two hours sitting on plane on tarmac before taking off
3. Two extra hours in flight.  Because of the volcanic ash, we had to fly over GREENLAND (!!) --an extra 1000 miles--over a safe zone...well, our plane and every other plane from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, etc. who wanted to head this way had to travel the same narrow "safe pass" (hence the two hour wait on the tarmac, waiting for our turn in line.)
4.  Three hours in the airport after landing because we were targeted as an "Agricultural Alert", and we thus were sent where they send the likes of live farm animals entering the country and contaminated soil samples.  Oh dear.
5.  Redirected (WITH OUR 23 PIECES OF LUGGAGE!!) incorrectly to the line of folks who wanted to keep their luggage with them overnight.  Tried to check it in and were told they were closed for the night (it was then close to midnight).
6.  4 hours sleeping at hotel.
7.  Item left inadvertantly on shuttle.  Di and boys on retrieval committee.  All Di's ID with Brad and Tori --(OOPS)....CHAOS ensues with plane leaving at 7:30am.  Now 7:12am.
8.  3 fervent prayers and buckets of swet later, Di and boys run like crazy people thru airport and jump onto plane as it is leaving the ground...
9.  Person to pick us up in Nashville cannot pick us up at new time.  Brad calling everyone we know--and some people we don't--to find lucky winner.
10.  Wait...I think Joey Jenkins may have just won...

We are now in Nashville (almost home!), and over 36 hours--and counting-- from when our journey home began...WHEW!! We should be home soon!

London Memories...

Daniel, quite the budding photographer, snagged this shot of Big Ben...

Here it is again with the Parliament Building to the right, along with two dashing young men...

The London Eye...takes just under an hour to go around one time.  Do you see the way the pods are perched on the OUTSIDE/TOP of the wheel?!?!?!  GUARANTEE only 4 Greens will be headin' up...

River Thames...

So, for the record, just how long ARE the buses over here?

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre...hard to tell, but it does have a thatched roof.  This one, still used today, is an exact replica and in the original location as the one in Shakespeare's day.  Cool.

This one gives a little better view of the stage.  There was a trap door both above and below the stage, which the kids found immensely intriguing, and then where the people are standing was actually (in Shakespeare's day) where hundreds of people would stand throughout the entire performance.  If the people didn't like the play or the performing of it, they would throw fish and rotten vegetables at the actors.  The one benefit the boys said for standing thruout an entire play would have been for better aim with the veggies!  :)

Mmmmmmmm....

So, we went to the Museum of Natural Sciences, where we had heard that they had the last remaining dodo (bird), in stuffed form, of course.  So, ladies and gentlemen, may Victoria present...the dodo!

Also in this museum is an extensive dinosaur museum (note tail over our heads).  Note of interest here.  We went to this museum on a school holiday (BIG mistake)...any guesses how many people had been thru that day?  500?  1000?  Are you ready?  We were told (by the lady up front with the people-counter) that by 1pm, more that 20,000 people had been thru, and we decided that they were ALL still in there when we were there! 

The kids loved this silhouette of Sherlock Holmes.  The mystery of this photo is getting it to face the right direction on the blog.  Oh dear. :)

This ranks as one of the best things of our ENTIRE trip...

Winston Churchill's wartime bunker underground.

Group hug before the Vintzels headed home...

HELLO-O-O-O London!!

LONDON IN A DAY...

Buckingham Palace.  Liz says hello.

Buckingham Palace Gardens

Something we'll always remember is taking the Tube (subway) around London.  The kids have become real pros at this.  It's been gratifying to see them feel confident on something so different for us...

Victoria's FAVORITE tube stop!

Westminster Chapel, where D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached for nearly 30 years, from 1939-1968.

Westminster Abbey. 

 FUTURE TRAVELER'S TIP:  Ask for CHILDRENS tour headsets.  There's CHOCOLATE at the end. :)

Popular Punting Pleases Passing-thru People

These memories will always bring smiles...

Peter and Ilona Greyling joined us for dinner one night.  They are special friends here who lived in Atlanta 28 years and now live in Cambridge.  They befriended us the first week we were here, when we went on a walking tour of Cambridge which Peter was leading from the Round Church.  They've been loving on us ever since....

Paris, Part Trois

We loved the narrow alleyways of Paris...walked along this one in the Latin Quarter to find lunch, and were successful at the very end...

...where we found a Greek gyro stand...DELICIOUS!!

Note the hanging hunk of meat from which they cut the meat for our gyros...

 

For dessert we had French pancakes (by special request of Tori Vintzel), complete with Nutella (Is there a more perfect food on the planet?) and bananas.  Scrumptious!!

So, these are some of the fountains in the courtyard of the Louvre.  There is a distinction to be made here.  We went TO the Louvre, not IN the Louvre.  Here's the story:  After arriving at 2:20pm (it opened at 2pm), we learned that the four hour (!) line had been cut off at 11am FOR THE ENTIRE DAY.   So, anyone arriving after 11am was not allowed to enter the Louvre that day.  SERIOUSLY?!?!?!  Who knew...  But...

...we still had great fun playing around the courtyards, like when Caleb took his turn to touch the top of the famous glass pyramid, which serves as the main entrance to the museum.  Or when, out of nowhere, a torrential hail storm struck, sending folks scrambling for cover.  It came about so suddenly that it reminded me of one of those cartoons where thousands of people dash for cover in mere seconds.  Hilarious.  THAT (the hailstorm) is my kids favorite memory of Paris. :)

So, we headed to the vast and impressive Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart of Christ) basilica, one of France's most important Roman Catholic Churches.  It is set high on a hill (the kids counted 228 steps up to it), from which one could see the whole of Paris:

It's a very common sight in Paris to see street performers of all varieties.  This guy was truly amazing with a soccer ball.  He was just outside the church on a raised column about four feet by four feet.  The things he could do in such a small space were remarkable...almost mesmerizing...  In fact, this guys won a VERY close second (after the hailstorm) for the kids as favorite thing they saw in Paris! 

WHEW!!  We're in the train station (the boys gave up their seats for adults) tired but happy before catching the Chunnel (Channel tunnel) back to London, to arrive home safely sometime after 1am (!).  What an unforgettable weekend in Paris! :)

Paris, Part Deux

The Eiffel Tower was the rage of the day.  If there was any thought that perhaps I should have gone up, one look at the pictures from the top and I knew I had made the right decision.  Well, that, plus when I asked if it swayed at the top, and was told, "Oh, not too much!", I KNEW this girl had made the right decision.  I don't mind high.  I just don't like exposed-to-the-elements-at-death-defying-heights-while-in-motion kind of high.  So yes, in fact, I (Dianne) was the one who didn't make it to the top, and I couldn't be more grateful. :)

Good night!!!  I would have passed out COLD had I been up there with them to take this shot.  This just in:  Caleb just informed me as I am blogging that at this level he STUCK HIS HEAD BETWEEN THE BARS to get a better view!!  God knew by giving me my boys that my prayer life would be strengthened. :)

Good buddies...

Back on the ground, these types of pictures are much more to my liking than the we-could-plummet-over-the-rail-at-any-moment sort.

For dinner we ate at this typical French bistro, which came highly recommended to us by Cremo, a new French friend we met en route .  It was kind of a mix between a diner, a pub, and a nice restaurant.  Well, we discovered early on that the French have a different kind of WC set-up than most Americans are accustomed to...there is a single door thru which EVERYONE enters into a type of foyer with sink(s), with several adjacent doors leading into individual compartments.  It was sort of like being a contestant on the Price is Right, only you had to pay to choose your door.  And, take this tip with you, Don't choose Door #1!  (They should tell us this in travel books.)  It is the broom closet!

So, I must digress just a moment and tell this story about the Vintzels...I have been asked if the Vintzels are European, as they certainly have that cool look, don't they?! ;)... right down to the dress code...blacks/grays/dark...So, I must answer and tell a quick story before continuing.  The Vintzels, in fact, live in Jackson...BUT James has a Greek heritage, so I think European style runs deep in his blood.  The fact is, they always look sharp--I mean, we spent a week with them 24/7, and they ALWAYS looked this good.  Amazing.  So, upon first meeting them, we couldn't remember their names, and so we referred to them as, "the 'hip' couple", and we both knew exactly about whom we were speaking.  So, we're thankful to now call the hip couple good friends, and can only wonder how they referred to US before they knew OUR names.

 

So, Easter Sunday 2010 will always be remembered as the year we went to the Easter Service at Notre Dame.  Somewhere in all our excitement, we had forgotten that the entire service would be in French.  All five kids fell asleep.  And, for the record, James did NOT read Scripture, but had they asked him,  we know he would have done a fine job. :)

Still Notre Dame, from the side...

...and from the back.  OK, so here's a great tid-bit.  Yvonne told me as I was snapping this picture, that the last time she and James were here, they walked along a narrow path on the ridge of the rooftop up on the right between the delicate cross (far right) and the massive steeple coming from the middle.  Aaaaaagh!!!  The things they let people do in Paris!!

After our morning at Notre Dame, we had one worn out little girl...