The Time of My Life

I have to admit that the week before I was to leave for Europe I felt like saying that I was sick or something so I could get out of going. I had such a fear of the unknown. Sometimes we just have to suck it in and just do it. I’m so glad that I did. The plane ride from Atlanta to Amsterdam wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. After we were in the air, it was just like any other plane trip I had taken. The only drawback was that we were on that plane for so long. Amsterdam was the most fascinating city. It was very clean but I thought I would be brought back in a body bag from being run over by a bicycle. I have never seen so many bicycles in my life. Instead of cars, everyone rides a bike. The gas over there is very high. I saw people who looked like they should be in a nursing home who were riding bikes. From Amsterdam we rode our bus to Brussels. Oh, I need to back up and tell how many there were in our group. We had four groups—Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, and California. I have to admit the southern states seemed to stay together and the group from Burbank seemed to look down their noses at us. It’s ok, they warmed up to us after a while—at least most of them. There were 37 of us in all plus our tour leader James, who was from London. The next city was Brussels and frankly I just wasn’t impressed. It was ok. We only spent one night there and then we were off to Paris. I loved seeing the Eiffel Tower for real. It was like a dream come true. In fact, just seeing everything so far was truly wonderful and much better than any television program or pictures in a book. Everything was so much bigger than I ever imagined. I never thought that going into the Notre Dame Cathedral would be so emotional for me, but it was. I think because they were having mass, playing music that I was so familiar with, and then I wanted to light a candle for Charles. The emotion was so real. I cried all the way through. It was truly beautiful. The school teacher from Atlanta said her students wanted to sit down and pray and she was really moved by that. We had one bad experience in Paris. We left our hotel to get to the Euro train station around 6 a.m. It was pouring down rain and James told us to just get our luggage and get into the station as quickly as possible. We would all end up in the same coach. I did not notice the five young men who circled our bus, and I’m thankful. But one of our own was surrounded by three of them and she did not know until she got into the station that her wallet with all of her credit cards, driver’s license, money, and passport were stolen. They also took her cell phone. It was so hard for all of us to continue on to London without her and also our group leader. They spent the entire day at the police station and then Monday at the U.S. Embassy. They finally got to London Monday night. The police said that the train station was one of the worst crime areas. We thought that who would ever think that would happen on Sunday morning in the pouring down rain at 6 a.m.???? All I could do was say a prayer of thanks that I was ok. She was an experienced traveler—me, no way. I feel that I am now though. Anyway, the Euro train was great. We had to go through customs and all of that so it was a little more involved than the first two places we went to. I do believe London was my favorite place of the four cities. Maybe it’s because I love British comedies and Masterpiece Theater. All of that came alive for me. To see the changing of the guard was just fantastic. I never dreamed the buildings were so large there. James was really in his element there. I know there is so much to write about and maybe I will get to more things later. We all became a little wiser about watching about us. Our Tennessee group left two days early. I really hated that I would not see Stonehenge, but I have made it a priority that I’m going back. I want to see Stonehenge and also where they film Downton Abbey. Oh, James and I talked about Hercule Perot and he told me some things about him and also he knew about House of Cards which was on Masterpiece Theater several years ago. It was nice to talk to someone who knew all about some of my favorite things. On the last night in London we had fish and chips and then James took us on a tour of where Jack the Ripper killed his victims. Not only that but he described in detail each murder and that they think they actually caught the man who did them. After this man was sentenced to the insane asylum there were no more murders. Of course, James said the case is still open. The next morning our taxi took up to the London airport and then our long journey back home. It was great to be on American soil again and back to everything familiar. But why spend the rest of your life with only familiar things? It’s great to step out of your comfort zone and do something you’ve never done before. I’m so thankful that I had the courage to do that. I’m not afraid of my next adventure. Yes, I had the time of my life! DR 6/12/13