While my intention has been to keep up with this blog weekly, I am woefully behind, and now trying to catch up to document our big trip to Europe. This will be broken into a few parts because of the enormity of our excursion!
We 3 Maynes left on Saturday, July 15 from MEM to ORD with an obscenely long layover. It was supposed to be only 4 hours at first, but our inbound plane to take us to Heathrow was late by a couple of hours, and then they had a malfunction that they had trouble fixing. They finally got us a new plane and we departed 4 hours later than our original flight, which is highly irritating when you think that you could have been half way through your journey if you hadn't been stuck in the airport. However, Seth had the brilliant plan of buying us passes to the United Club Lounge and so at least we waited in comfortable seats, with access to tidy bathrooms and plenty to eat and drink.
Waiting in Chicago
Finally on the plane
After an uneventful flight during which we made attempts at sleeping, we landed at Heathrow and then grabbed seats on the bus to Bristol. There was an interesting exchange between the driver and some college kids who were trying to hop the bus for free, but fortunately they were evicted from the bus without much incident. Ryan came to pick us up at the bus station and drive us to their home in Wells.
Waiting at the bus stop
After we got to Wells and said hellos to Aimee, Addie, Will, and Granna (who had arrived a couple of days earlier), we got a tour of Ryan and Aimee's house and then a tour of Wells. Evie and I had been there before on our 2019 trip, but Seth hadn't been able to come on that one, so this was his first time to see the town. We thought we might meet up with Grannadaddy who had been at church while Ryan got us from the bus station, but he wasn't at the cathedral when we went buy. As we ducked into the local pub, I looked across the street and there was Grannadaddy. So we had a little refreshment together.
Seth with his pub ale
After dinner, we hit the sack to try to sleep off our jetlag. Addie graciously gave up her room for us and Evie bunked with Will (literally, cause he has bunkbeds).
The next morning we got a grander tour of Wells, including a walk about the cathedral and the sites where the kids have school.
Morning group shot on the cathedral lawn
The kids seemed contented to be at home for the day, so while Aimee went off to work, Ryan, Seth, Granna, Grannadaddy, and I went to Bath. We had a little lunch and then had a tour of the Jane Austen house and wandered the town before heading back to Wells for dinner at home and to pack up for our flight to the continent.
On the streets of Bath
The next morning, we grabbed breakfast and headed to the Bristol airport, half of us in a taxi and the other half in Ryan's car. Ryan, Evie, Addie, Will, and I were in his car, and Evie amused herself on the way by playing the "Guess the Historical Figure" game, which is 20 Questions with a historical bent. Will picked some obscure figures which was both amusing and impressive.
Morning tea in the English kitchen at Ryan's
Waiting for our flight to Amsterdam
Our flight to Amsterdam was quite short, and we grabbed a Bolt (EU equivalent of Uber) to get to our hotel.
Granna and Evie in the Bolt car, which had the same cool feature of backwards seats as we found in Italy last year.
Grannadaddy, Addie, Evie, Aimee, and Will, heading to the canal
Addie, Will, Ryan, and Aimee on the boat
Granna, Grannadaddy, and me with crazy hair
After our canal tour, we split company for dinner, with some choosing ramen and some choosing more Dutch-centric fare, and then back to the hotel for some shut eye. It was convenient that we were all staying in the same hotel, and we were able to enjoy breakfasts together the next morning in the darling breakfast room.
Evie at breakfast, with Grannadaddy, Granna, and Ryan in the background
Breakfast with Granna
It's Wednesday, July 19 by now.. We split company in the morning with some going shopping, and some going to the NEMO science museum, and then we met back up for lunch. We had burgers and shakes just down the street from the Resistance Museum, which we toured afterwards. The museum had more than 100 different stories of people who had been impacted by WWII in Amsterdam, from soldiers to civilians, children to elderly, many of whom did not live past the end of the way, and some who did and whose lives were never the same. I was impressed with how much interest the kids took in the museum; I think Evie may have read almost every plaque.
Shakes at lunch
Something about a WWII museum makes one hungry for ice cream, so we walked over to the ice cream parlor and the kids enjoyed another round of frozen dairy dessert, and some of the adults partook as well.
We ended the day by heading to the Royal Palace, making use of the public transit. Evie and Will enjoyed standing up and challenging their balance as the bus made twists and turns.
Evie on the bus
We spent about an hour touring the Royal Palace and then split company again, with Ryan’s family going off to an Indonesian dinner while Seth, Evie, Granna, Grannadaddy and I had more traditional Dutch fare and then went to the Anne Frank House (which Ryan’s family had seen before). It was quite moving to be in the same space the Frank family had been, especially with Evie being so close to Anne’s age. She mostly stuck with Granna during the tour of the house so I didn’t get to overhear much of her impressions, but I think she was inspired since she asked to purchase 2 books and also her own journal for writing in. We caught a Bolt back home and headed to bed.
At the Anne Frank house, Evie was ahead of me for the first few rooms, but near the end, she was very interested in the personal items of Anne. She didn't say much, but she seemed to ponder the small things Anne was able to have with her. She offered to help me up that last flight of stairs that had a big step-up. When we finished the room where Anne slept, I could see that she was done. That room took a lot out of me as well, so I was ready to go down with her to the area where we could view Anne's diary. I asked if she was ok, and she said she was ok, just hot and her feet hurt. So she sat on the steps waiting for me to finish, and we went to the bookstore together. She chose two books for herself that I thought were great choices - Anne's diary as published by her father and a book about people who knew Anne after she was removed from her home. I asked what she thought of the museum, and she said it made you realize that Anne was a real person who really did have to hide. She waited outside with Grannadaddy and me and took our photo and let me take hers.
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