Small Towns Everywhere

A comforting thing about travel is finding the similarities among the obvious differences. The other day we were eating breakfast at a small town coffee shop in England called Friar Tucks. It reminded me of the White Lantern, the diner/hangout in the small Illinois town where I grew up -- not in looks so much as in feel. I noticed that several times the folks sitting in the booths would wave hello to the folks walking past outside. At one point an older woman waved to a man about my age, he waved back, and then she waved him inside to sit with her and her husband. I imagined he was their son.

Another, even older woman from the booth next over says to the guy coming in, "Do you always wear a helmet when you cycle, Casey?"

"Yeah," he said, to which she responded

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Robert, The Guard At Windsor

Traveling with kids is the best! Especially our kids. They're constantly forgetting things, loosing things, wandering into places they shouldn't, and most of the time that leads to some of the most memorable times of the trip.

We met Robert the Guard when Ella realized that she'd left her hat

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Unintended Consequences

That's the thing - they're unintended. This is the story of two decisions, which both had unintended consequences, and which led - one to the other.

William IV was the 3rd son of King George III, and no one ever expected him to be king. But between one thing and another, king he became, when he was 69, and he reigned for 7 years. His biggest historical claim is probably that he managed to stay alive until his niece, Victoria, reached the age of 18, and so could become queen without her mother being queen's regent. Queen Victoria did pretty well for the Monarchy.

Money seems not to have been William's friend. In face, when Parliament - faced with the prospect of no heir to the throne, offered to pay off all of William's debts if he would leave his mistress of 20 years (and their 10 children) to marry

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Happy Chinese New Year

Owen, being 11 and male, is not a fan of Valentine's Day. He hung in there with the family on Sunday morning while small surprises were given and received, but the big love-fest just isn't his bag. This year, however, Valentines Day is also Chinese New Year, and since Owen loves all things Chinese, he spear-headed a trip to London's Chinatown. It was a huge party! The dragons were dancing, the drums were drumming, and the crowds were out en mass. We ate incredible dim sum at a restaurant Owen found on-line, and awful desert from a Chinese bakery (I hate sweet red bean paste.) We exploded Chinese snap-n-pops in the rain that night with thousands of other wet people, all of us dodging umbrellas and prowling souvenir shops. It was loud and crazy, and Chinatown rocked. As did Owen.

We Love Paris in the Winter

We visited the Palace of Versailles while we were in Paris this past week. There's no doubt that the hall of mirrors is magnificent, and Marie Antoinette's estate is beautiful, but the real action was outside the palace. Sure, in the spring the grounds would be stunning -- immaculate gardens with flowers in bloom, fountains flowing and and statues not covered in tarps. But then, we wouldn't have been able to do this. The real action at Versailles was outside on the icy slope.