Trip in review: Rome

The Colosseum really is impressive. It can hold thousands of people. They could empty the building in minutes — and they didn't have to worry about traffic jams!
 

Trip in review: The Acropolis

I got in trouble when we went to the Acropolis. No, I didn't break anything. But they have a policy that you can't take pictures of objects.

First we had a school flag that we use for all of our group photos. We were told that was a no-no. I can understand the flag and banners thing. They don't want political messages or anything.

But then I had a little BYU Cosmo — no more than two inches high, if that — and I tried to take a ""where's Cosmo?" photo. 

They came down on me so hard that I didn't take another Cosmo picture the entire trip. I honestly wasn't trying to cause any trouble! So be forewarned next time you visit the Acropolis: no photos of things!

The offending Cosmo.

 

A travel journal, part 10

The good news is, the U.S. Consulate in Barcelona was able to give me same-day service on my emergency passport!

I was the second one in line when they opened Monday morning. After all the paperwork, forms and fees, they said I could come back in the afternoon and pick up my passport!

I could have floated back to my hotel. It's a good thing I took a taxi instead because they were going to kick me out of my room. Luckily I was able to extend for one more night. Otherwise I would have had to sleep at the airport!

One thing about the emergency passport — it's purple rather than the standard blue for U.S. passports. That means I got a little extra scrutiny each time I went through a security checkpoint. Curiously none of the agents were surprised to hear that the theft happened in Barcelona!

I made it home without further incident. As Dorothy said, "There’s no place like home!"

Finally, a happy face!

Saying goodbye to Barcelona.

It's required by Portland law to take a photo of your feet on the carpet at PDX at the beginning or ending of your trip.

A travel journal, part 8

One of the fun things we had an opportunity to do while in Barcelona was to attend a night of flamenco dancing. Unfortunately, some of the kids didn't understand what flamenco is, so they opted out of a wonderful, educational and entertaining evening and decided to go shopping instead.

Just a short walk from our hotel was a beautiful beach. The water was warm and the weather was beautiful.

One of our boys was so excited to go wade into the water that he forgot that he had his phone in his pocket. Oops. Bad news is, the phone died. Good news is that most of his photos were stored in the cloud.

TOP: The beach was a short walk from our hotel. We were ahead of the tourist season, so it was pleasant and not crowded at all. 

BOTTOM: Our three-star hotel was a little quirky and about an hour's drive from Barcelona, yet it was a nice place to stay.

Editor's note: We're almost done with the travel journal and we'll soon be back to our regular programming. Stay tuned!

 

A travel journal, part 7

Barcelona is a big, beautiful city with so many things to see and experience! 

One of the unique sights is Park Güell, a park designed by Antonio Gaudi (and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site). If you're not familiar with Gaudi, imagine if you will a park designed by Dr. Seuss brought into the real world. 

It could have been an amazing visit...but, for reasons never fully explained to us, we had one guide when we should have had two (group sizes are limited). So we got half a tour of half the park. And they made our teacher stay behind. 

I'd highly recommended visiting the park if you're ever in Barcelona. However the same cannot be said for the tour company, bless their hearts. 

Another mind-blowing site is the Sagrada Familia, a cathedral also designed by Gaudi and another World Heritage Site.

It's been under constant construction since 1852, and they keep saying that it will be finished in the next year or two.

The outside is covered with stories from The Bible, and every nook and cranny is filled with detailed designs. Definitely worth a visit. Maybe it'll be done by the time you get there!

TOP: View of the city from Park Güell. It's wild!

MIDDLE: Detail of Sagrada Familia depicting the Nativity.

BOTTOM: They were filming a commercial while we were there. A couple of our kids were captured on film!

 

A travel journal, part 5

It may seem that a lot of the travel cartoons focus on food. Napoleon is often credited with saying that an army "travels on its stomach." The same it true with a tour group. If you can get some good sleep and eat some good food, then you'll have a good trip.

In this particular hotel, there were two tables set up for breakfast. One had fruits, pastries, juices, cereals, breads, cheeses and more. That was for the regular guests. Our table is as described, with the addition of a couple of carafes of water.

I saw more than one member of our group "accidentally" grab breakfast from the other table. Can't say that I blame them!

We have certain travel rules set up for safety. One of those is to not wander off alone in an unfamiliar area at night without letting a chaperone know. It's easy to get lost. And if you've ever been lost at night in a foreign country where your understanding of the language is rudimentary at best, you'll understand why this rule is in place.

It only happened one time. Never again.

Lunch that day was in San Sebastián, Spain, where they have a variety of excellent food, including these wonderful empanadas that helped us survive the meager breakfast!

 

A travel journal, part 4

One of the boys on the trip Really wanted a croque monsieur sandwich while he was in France. With the food challenges we had, it was difficult for him to find one. One of our last opportunities to get one was in the beautiful seaside city of Biarritz.

He finally found a restaurant that had croque monsieur on the menu — but it wasn't available that day!

The good new was that there was a McDonald's right next door to our hotel. It was a popular spot that evening. We kept them busy!

They may not have had a croque monsieur, but the had some amazing chocolate and a fantastic cheeseburger with pommes frites!

 

A travel journal, part 3

We next traveled to Bordeaux, but it was just an overnight stay. We got in late and left early. The highlight was the hotel, the Meininger Hotel Bordeaux Gare Saint-Jean, a funky hotel in a happening spot. My favorite feature was the square toilet. 

Our next stop was Dune de Pilat, the tallest sand dune in Europe. We had good weather that day, and the kids had great fun climbing and playing in the sand dunes.

The bus driver was a little less excited about the kids tracking sand into his workplace! He was very thorough in making sure we all had clean feet before getting back onto the bus.

Seriously, the toilets had square seats!
 

A travel journal, part 2

If you've traveled in Europe, you may have noticed that restaurants and stores either close down or have significantly reduced hours on Sunday. That's great — unless you want to eat while you're on the road.

Our itinerary had us eating at the restaurants or kiosks at Chenonceau, a famous castle/château in central France. There was one restaurant open, but it could only serve about eight people at a time. Our group was 40+ people.

Despite the variety of selections in the vending machine, we left hungry.

We were able to talk our tour guide into stopping for food at a gas station along our way. The Eni station isn't like your corner Chevron or Texaco with overwarmed hotdogs and nasty nachos. It's more like a refined Buc-ee's with a grill and restaurant.

It wasn't the fine dining we might have had at the château, but it was good enough for our group!

A variety of wonderful food in one of the cases at the gas station.

A travel journal, part 1

We're doing something a little bit different this week! As we do every couple of years, we took a group of students to Europe over spring break. When we get home from our trips, I usually do a series of cartoons to recap the trip and smile at some of the things we experienced. Because of some unfortunate events, I wasn't able to get to those cartoons until just recently. So here are some highlights. I hope you enjoy!

PARIS

It rained in Paris. Not that unusual for spring, but it rained hard. One day, after visiting the Louvre we were supposed to go to dinner at a restaurant about a mile away. Our guide went back and forth on whether we should take the Metro and get out of the rain or walk. She chose to have us walk. Not only was it a downpour, there was thunder and lightning! We were soaked by the time we got there. The quote in the cartoon is almost verbatim.

The next day we were scheduled for a bus tour of the city, stopping at some of the sights for a photo opportunity. But because of the rain, many of our stops were just drive-bys. We circled the Arch de Triomphe several times, but only one side of the bus had any sort of view. 

Luckily it cleared up in time for the Seine River cruise and the Eiffel Tower, but the morning was disappointing.

Now I can't complain too much because, yes, we were in Paris! A little more sunshine would have been nice, though.

Join us tomorrow for part 2!

This is the best photo I got of the Arch de Triomphe this trip. 
 

 

Check the fine print

We went on a trip once where all seven of us stayed in the same room for a week — while the hotel was undergoing a major remodel. We had two king size beds, a couch and a crib for the baby (the kids were little once upon a time), so we fit just fine. But every day it felt like we came back to a new place because of the remodel. I think they even changed room numbers on us on the last day.

Travel is an adventure — comfort not guaranteed!
 

What's going on?

Hey! General Conference is coming up this weekend, and I've barely said anything about it! I haven't even posted a link to the Ward Cartoonist's Activity Packet!

As faithful readers of this site may know, every couple of years we take a bunch of kids to Europe over spring break. Since Sis. B is a French teacher, we always have to go to Paris. From there we try to explore different parts of the world.

This year, half the trip was in France, half was in Spain. We saw some fun things and had some good experiences — up until the day before we were supposed to go home.

My passport was stolen.

We were in Barcelona, having lunch at El Corte Inglés in the cafeteria on the ninth floor. It has beautiful views of the city. I had my satchel, which held my passport and a couple of other things (like some churros I was saving for later!), on the table next to me. I must have been distracted for just a moment, because it was there — and then it was gone!

Our last free afternoon was spent trying to make a police report. We were sent to three different police stations before we found the right one to file the report. The police were kind and helpful.

My next step was to visit the consulate to try to get an emergency passport so I could go home. But, this was a Friday afternoon and the consulate wasn't going to be open until Monday.

Long story short, the rest of the group got to go home on Saturday morning. I had to stay behind. Alone. And, no, I don't speak Spanish!

Luckily I was able to get lodging near the airport, and the airline graciously rescheduled my flight. The consulate was great and gave me same-day service, and I eventually made it back home. But, boy! Was it a stressful series of days in Spain!

While I was stranded, I didn't have the means to keep current on my cartoons, however. My notebook and pen were in my satchel as well. I also lost a pocket kite that I've flown at several historical landmarks around the world. Dang.

I'm hoping that General Conference will give me the extra boost I need to get back into the swing of things. 

And that's why I haven't turned in my homework.

 

Polar opposites

This guy's lucky. I went from a cold blizzard in Provo to Siberian winds in Korea. I didn't warm up until April.

Editor's note: This is a remake and an update of a cartoon that ran decades ago in the New Era. Yeah, it's old.
 

An eye-opening experience for the mouth

It’s always the food that surprises them. Crêpes are amazing in France (as are the French fries) and pasta and pizza are awesome in Italy. 

The language often surprises them, too. Especially when they realize the people in country are saying the exact thing they studied in class! It’s like they discover that they’re in on a secret code!

Enhanced flavors

Ice cream is great. Gelato can be amazing. 

What I find amazing is this isn't the first time we've had kids eat gelato after they dropped it on the ground. I'm not sure the five second rule applies to the streets of Paris when they're three weeks into a garbage strike!
 

Packed full of jam

Maybe it was timing — the week before Holy Week may not be the best time to visit the Vatican. But whatever the reason, it was crowded! And with one of the must-see sights being the Sistine Chapel, that's where everybody was! 

Because there were so many people — and I swear, it was a fire marshal's nightmare! — the docents were funneling people through there as fast as they could! We were shoulder to shoulder with a couple of thousand other people, shuffling like lemmings from the entrance to the exit. I was able to get a quick glimpse of the ceiling, but not nearly the feast on the masterpieces that I had hoped.

I'm sure it was amazing!
 

Flying the friendly skies

We just got back from taking a group of students to Europe for a spring break trip. It was mostly fun — except for the trip home. 

For some unexplained reason, the airlines couldn't access the tickets for half of our group. They were paid for, they were visible in the system. But none of the airlines could print boarding passes because someone else had them locked in the system. At one time we had six people from three different major airlines — Lufthansa, United and Air Canada — on a conference call trying get our boarding passes to print. And it was the same with each connection!

Each time they were able to print out boarding passes and we made it just in time to catch the flight, but then we had to do it all again at the next airport.

We all made it home, all on time, and all on the same flight. We even had all of our luggage! But what a crazy ride!

 

Leaving on a jet plane

Leaving the mission field is one of the most bittersweet days a missionary will ever experience. There's the excitement of going back home to friends and family, but there's the sadness of leaving behind the people you've loved, worked with, lived with and prayed for — and you don't know when you might ever see them again.

But like many things we experience in life, it's a just another step.

One of the elders from my mission wrote a parody of Leaving on a Jet Plane* that summed up his feelings about the experience:

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go. 
I'm standing here beside the door.
I have to wake you up to say goodbye.
But the dawn is breaking, it's early morn.
The taxi's not waiting, it's blowing its horn —
Already I'm so trunky I could die! 

So write to me and I'll pray for you,
But the girls are waiting at BYU;
When you come home I'll wear a wedding ring!
'Cause I'm trunky, that's my name son —
Going home to have a little fun.Oh, boy, I can't wait to go...

There's more, but that's as much as I remember.

We're saying goodbye to a great group of elders who are leaving our mission this week. They're fantastic! They will be missed...but a mission is only the beginning!

*This is a John Denver version, he wrote the song. It was popularized by Peter, Paul and Mary.

No services

Revamping an old 'toon.

Come to Zion, come to Zion

There weren't a lot of travel options in those days — wagon train or handcart company. We're kind of lucky today with multiple modes available to travel. Pioneer Day celebrations just wouldn't be the same if they took a high-speed rail!