The Griswold European Vacation: Part One

Clark and Ellen don't have nothin on Elton and Nancy. These two know how to travel!

First, props to pops for surviving his first transatlantic flight. The first stop of course was London, where they stepped off the plane and right onto the hodel walking tour.

It took some time, but with some enlisted help...

I was able to make the London streets safe for my mom:

Just some highlights on the tour:

Quote of the trip No.1:

"Look, that gnarly tree is growing straight up out of the ground!"
The Number 1-4. That's how we roll.
Next up, a little fun with the fam.

And, as they say in Boston, hasta la vista.

After the Easter celebrations it was back to Putney for... The Race. Cambridge vs Oxford. The smart vs. the smarter. The blue vs the bluer. The man vs the river.... and man vs a giant vat of sausages. A man vs a man on stilts. A corona bottle vs a strong gust of wind.

From there it was on to Fulham. They may have lost on the day to Man City, but cheers to the craven cottage boys for avoiding relegation.

And cheers to mom and pops for navigating The Tower, St Pauls and Windsor all on their own!

But man were they tired...

Hey, no rest for the weary... up next, Caen, France.

Cheap weekend deals!

Credit to Becka for finding an inexpensive, albeit lengthy, trip from NYC to London.

Check out google maps’ directions for getting from here to London. Note, in particular, step 12 http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&saddr=Norwalk,+CT&daddr=London,+England&layer=&sll=42.77584,-58.214216&sspn=139.292531,229.921875&ie=UTF8&z=3&ll=46.800059,-31.289062&spn=78.093873,114.960938&om=1

And, once you pull yourself out of the water... just look what you have waiting for you!

History...

Theater...

Football...

(these Man City hooligans were arrested during the game)

An obnoxious wheel...

Men in uniform...

Tall men in uniform...

The famous telephone booth drinking game...

And, of course, late night shenanigans on the tube.

Would you recognize a miracle if you saw one?

I did. Richard Schiff in the flesh :)

As most of you know, I'm a huge fan of -- ok, obsessed with -- the West Wing. So, last month I went to see one of the old cast members in a play he was doing in the West End.

It was a one-man show, and, as expected, he was great. Turned out the play was good as well.

I of course then waited outside like a groupie -- ok, stalker -- to shake his hand. I have to say, no offense to all my visitors of March, but it may have been the highlight :) j/j -- ok, maybe not.

At any rate, if this is ever showing again in nyc, I'd recommend it; and, I'd ask you this -- are you really here?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/arts/2007/02/14/btchas14.xml

croesawiad hyd Cymru

(aka... something like, welcome to Wales)

Cardiff Castle

The keep

View from inside the dungeon

The daring escape

Cardiff Castle and Millenium Stadium

"Stonehenge"

Llandlaff Cathedral

Caerphilly Castle (and it's own leaning tower)

And, you know it's going to be a great St Patty's Day when...

the Guinness 'mobile bar' is parked next to...

...Dempsey's. I heart the UK.