I am done traveling....

...but Amy left Thursday for New York City. We celebrated her 19th birthday on Wednesday, she stayed up all night packing, and at 6:00 AM Thursday we took Amy and Patricia to LAX for their flight to the Big Apple. She has a travel blog and there is a link to it here. The girls are already having a great adventure.

Since my big trip is over I no longer have a need for a travel blog, so I guess it is time to shut it down. I will leave it on Blogger for awhile but probably won't be posting on it any longer. Once again I am back to my normal, boring life and can't imagine that anyone would be interested in anything I have to say.

Mandy returns from London on June 17, Amy returns from NYC on June 28 - and I look forward to having all 3 of my babies home for a few weeks this summer.

That's all folks!

Full success!!

I did it! All of my pictures are now up on the Picasa site. Just click on the link to your right and it should take you there.

Nighty-night...

Partial success!

I have posted my Paris pictures on Picasa. There is a link to the right - just click and enjoy!

Back to work again - on London.

Every picture tells a story

OK - I put photos on all of my postings today. Just scroll down and take a look. I am now trying to get all the other photos on the web. I will let you know when they are ready.

Back to work!

Suddenly I am a morning person?

This jet lag thing really sucks. Today I was wide awake at 5:30 AM, and you all know that is just not me. Well, at least I have been going through mail, catching up on my recorded TV shows, and in general getting back to life as normal. It is good to be home, sleeping in my own bed, with my feather pillows that I love. And seeing Steve and Matt, of course. That goes without saying.

Amy comes home from USC today. She has completed her first year of college! But she will only be home for 2 weeks until she leaves for New York City. She flies out on May 29, the day after her birthday, and won't return until June 28. She has been working hard all semester in 2 of the campus libraries to earn the money for this trip. She and her friend Patricia will be staying with Patricia's cousin in Queens and spending a month exploring New York.

Mandy flies home from London on June 17. It will be nice to have all my kids home for a little while this summer.

I downloaded all of my photos, all 674 of them. I will work on getting some of them posted to my blog later today. First I have an emergency hair and nail appointment. Important things first!

P.S. This is our breakfast in Paris!

California here I come!

Well, this is it folks. In a few minutes Mandy and I are getting on the tube and heading to the airport with 2 heavy bags and one carry-on. I am bringing back some of Mandy's winter clothes since it doesn't appear she will need them again.

Yesterday she took her last final exam and is feeling very relieved. Tonight she and her friends have a pub night planned to celebrate. I spent yesterday in the old City of London. I went to St. Paul's Cathedral and paid the exorbitant 10 pounds to get in and see all of it. Funny that all of the museums in London are free but you have to pay to get into the churches. I had to see the church where Prince Charles and Lady Diana were married. I actually got up in the middle of night to watch their wedding, many years ago.

After that I walked across the Millennium Bridge and went to the Tate Modern Art Gallery. Saw Picasso's, Rothko's, Pollack's, another of Monet's Waterlillies and more beautiful art. But the strangest piece was a stainless steel chain hanging from the 20 foot ceiling to the floor, stacked the whole way with pieces of soap, used soap, in all shapes and sizes and colors. Now this was a cool idea, but does it really deserve to hang in the Tate Modern in London? I am not so sure about that. To me it was just a glorified soap on a rope.

Then Mandy met me in the evening and we went to Shakespeare's Globe to see A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was so great. We had perfect seats and the play was so funny! Loved everything about it. We sat on wooden benches with no backs, didn't especially like that, but everything else was great. You can still stand in front of the stage for only 5 pounds - be a Groundling - but sitting was much better for the 3 hours.

Since it was so late we took a taxi back to the hotel, and were lucky enough to get a cabbie who got lost (or pretended to do so). Mandy was so mad. We ended up telling him to let us out a few blocks away so we could walk and not pay him even more money.

I leave London at 5:00 PM their time and land in L.A. at 8:00 PM California time. Weird. I feel a few days nap coming on.

I will get all my pictures up soon and will let you know when they are ready. See you soon. Cheers!

Where time begins

Sunday was Mother's Day (U.S., not U.K.) and we started the day by going out for the full English breakfast, since out hotel serves a mini version. Mandy treated, said it was my Mother's Day Brunch (my apologies to all of my usual Mother's Day Brunch guests).

After breakfast we went to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. Luckily we got there 90 minutes early and got a good spot on the stairs. There were so many people there! And it was the hottest day so far with strong sun, no clouds and no breeze. I was outside all day and actually got a sunburn.

After the ceremony Mandy went to study and I was planning to take the train to Greenwich, where time begins. However the train was not running that day, so I changed plans and decided to go to Madame Tussaud's. I got on the tube, and changed plans again by getting off at Picadilly Circus since I hadn't seen it yet. It was supposed to be a quick stop but I decided to get on one of the London tour buses, and lo and behold the bus tour also included a river cruise and the river boat just happened to go to Greenwich! My lucky day! So I got a great tour of London on the top of a double decker bus, out in the sun, hence more sunburn - and a trip to Greenwich. It was a long walk from the boat dock to the top of the hill where the Greenwich Observatory is, and I only had one hour until the last boat was leaving. So I walked through town, then through a beautiful hilly park and up to the Observatory. The view was spectacular and the Prime Meridian line and clock were there. Quick look, took photos then walked back and made it just in time to get on the last boat. Success!

Oh yeah, about the dress I bought in Notting Hill. I wore it on Sunday because it was so cool and summery and cute. Well, it started falling apart after Mandy and I went our separate ways, and continued to fall apart all throughout the day. So here I was, all over the city in a dress that was coming apart. Luckily I had on leggings and a tank top under it, but I wonder what all the comments were behind my back that day.