Summer

This summer has been crazy. When school got out I headed to Utah for a week for family time and for my dear cousin Spencer's high school graduation. Then I got back to Mesa in time to work like mad on my online class, pack, and get myself to the airport to begin my European Adventure. I went with 2 other teachers from Red Mountain High School. We chaperoned 17 students. In London we met with a group of 20 from Florida. It was a whirlwind trip. Two days in each city: London, Paris, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Viena. We also had small stops inbetween. London was wonderful- we saw the musical "Wicked" there and marched with the guards rotating off duty from Buckingham Palace. On the trip from London to Paris, we stopped in Canterbury to visit the cathedral and see the spot of Thomas A. Beckett's marterdom. While in the city I had a Cornish Pasty and a delicious cream tart. Street vendor food is sooooooooo good.
I got a new view of Paris this trip. We took the students to Sacre Couer and then to the artist village behind the church. My original bad impression of the area from my first trip as I discovered the beautiful gardens and cute shops. However, we still had to beware of gypsies. I also went to a new museum, the Pompedu- the modern art building. It was strange, but i am definetly more cultured after this trip.
Berlin was neat. We went through Checkpoint Charlie museum where people crossed the border from East and West Berlin. Then we went to the Brandenburg Gate. Germany is green and beautiful. Throughout Berlin, in the different districts, there are bear statues representing different countries. They were so fun.
Prague! The city I have wanted to see for years. It is so architecturally unique. Everything was gorgeous. The Palace had so many different areas with so many different styles. I rubbed the brass dog at the "prayer statue on the main bridge, took a river cruise, and watched the cucko-clock in the central square.
We drove through Slavakia on the way to Hungary. Take about a green and lovely place. We stopped at the capital, Bratislava, for lunch. Someone asked what type of salad dressing was available- the waitress said, "This is Slavakia, we have one kind!" It was really funny. You had to be there. It was the look on her face that made it classic.
Hungary was interesting. Their parliament building is absolutely amazing.
But my favorite part of the trip was Viena. We toured the Opera House, went to a beautiful concert with Opera, ballet, and orchestra. It was so neat. The room was on the top floor of a beautiful performance hall and was fairly small- the size of an LDS church cultural hall.Very personal and inviting. It did rain the last day in Vienna and my umbrella broke, but it was almost comical. It kept flipping out like you see in cartoons and each time it flipped a spoke broke. By dinner time the umbrella that had been new that morning was destroyed. I threw it in the trashcan at the restaurant.
After getting home to Arizona I slept for 36 hours before i felt like a human again. Only to scramble to finish my on line class (which I got a B in! Yea!).
That was my June. Piictures and a July recap are soon to come.