Day #3 & 4: Planes, Trains, Automobiles.... and Busses! Oh and guess what? We are coming home.

*Disclaimer: no humor in this post. (Read on)

Lima to Cusco to Urubamba to Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu.... in 24 hours!

 We were picked up at 5:30 in the morning to go to the Lima airport where we were taking a short, one hour plane ride  to Cusco where we then had a driver waiting for us who would take us to  Ollantaytambo  where we would tour the Incan  ruins that day, stay the night at a hotel and head to Machu Picchu on the train early the next morning.

 Even though it is summer in Lima, the mountains and town of Ollantaytambo  did not get that memo and it rained almost the entire time we were here. I have to pause and give a shout out to my mom who forced me to purchase one of those ridiculous ponchos  that I swore I would never wear, but guess what?   I have now worn it for two days  and consider it an essential piece my wardrobe from here on out. If you see me wearing it, I look like a giant beige turtle. That is just not a good look on me,  also considering that I wear my backpack underneath the poncho to keep it dry as well. I had Jane take a picture and I was just  ridiculous looking.

Fast forward to today and I spent 8 of the most amazing hours of my life hiking around Machu Picchu.  I could spend paragraphs upon paragraphs describing  what I saw and learned from our amazing tour guide Pamela but it would not do it justice so I will leave you with the suggestion that you absolutely must see this in your life.... and while you can still climb a bazillion stairs! The private tour guide was worth every cent.

Now to the really "unfunny" part of the post...and our day... Jane and I were at 8,000 feet and had just left the Incan sundial. You can imagine the cell phone reception would be nonexistent up on a mountain that had no electricity let alone cell towers.   Imagine my surprise when my phone buzzed in my pocket telling me that I had a text message. I pulled my phone out and saw that there was a text from Jane's daughter, Deanna telling us that Jane's dad had a major stroke and Jane  needed to get home as soon as possible. And by "get home" I mean California.  It would be almost funny if it wasn't so tragic that we were so far from where she needed to be at that very moment. Our tour guide was wonderful and called ahead to get us on a bus back as soon as possible.   We will need to take a bus, a train, a taxi, a plane, and a few other flights to get Jane back to Los Angeles to see her dad

 The rest of the evening was spent rescheduling our flight back to Lima.  We are trying to get Jane down to Los Angeles as soon as possible and because she was the one who is going to set everything up for Bailey and be his homeschool teacher, we are also bringing Bailey back with us. Jane will most likely stay in the United States for several weeks if not longer.   I am super sad about Jane's dad who my kids call Grandpa Richard and I am telling myself that Bailey and I both returning to Los Altos days after we left is the way it was meant to be for some reason that we have not discovered yet.

 My heart is with my dear friend and her family as I  literally experienced the very same thing with my dad 15 years ago.

 I am sure there will be more adventures in our future.

 I wish all of you happy and peaceful and healthy 2017.

Gina and Bailey Go Peruvian! (Day #2: December 27, 2016)

It is a bit mind bending to leave one place where it is winter and arrive hours later to summer. It was already really warm when I woke up (at 10:00am!:) Jane and John live in a part of Lima called La Molina and their yard looks like a little oasis, complete with a patio and pool. (This is juse ONE of the hardships Bailey will have to endure while he is here.) Because they are "semi-diplomats", they have some pretty sweet things I would like to have, like a housekeeper and a cook... who is named Justina. I am seriously considering sending Bailey back home and staying in his place! I went downstairs to get some water after I woke up and when I returned to my room minutes later, my bed was already made! It was like I had a visit from the hotel fairy... and I LOVE her!

I got to tour the embassy and the Peace Corps building with Jane and John repectively. Both were super interesting but in different ways. If I had to sum up my trip to the embassy in a single comment, it would be, "Security is a very serious business there." To even get past the driveway there were three levels of guards with varying degrees of weaponry... all of which was purposely visible I am sure! The one thing that struck me as humorous was that while you are parked in the embassy parking lot, there are a bunch of guys that go around and will wash your car while you are doing your business inside! Now that is convenience! The Peace Corps offices are housed in a beautiful old house. The whole vibe there was relaxed and happy. Every single person we were introduced to was super friendly and positive!

One other interesting feautre that I noticed was the "stoplight entertainment"options. Jane seems to know the people who work the intersections by name and gave many soles (Peruvian currency) out as we waited. So far we have been treated to juggling and a purchase of "2017" New Years glasses. I have been told that they will also be selling YELLOW UNDERWEAR (Yes, you read that correctly!)
because that is ä thing here for the new year. Bailey wondered aloud why it matters if you are wearing yellow underwear on New Years Eve is noone sees it? He either has a really good point or I am now terrified to attend the big party we have been invited to!

Upon our arrival home from our errands I saw that the hotel fairy has a sister and her name is RESTAURANT fairy! I almost sobbed with envy when I saw that the kitchen was spotless and there was a beautiful dinner all ready to be set on the table! Decision made. I am NEVER leaving... or I am going to BEG Justina to come live with me. Dinner was delicious, as if there was ANY doubt!

Our luggage arrived and I unpacked and then re-packed again because Jane and I are heading out at 5:00am (2:00am in my body) for our girls trip to Machu Picchu! Stay tuned!

Gina and Bailey go Peruvian! (Day #1: December 26-27, 2016)

Welcome to my latest scrapbook of  verbal tirades and photos to support them! To catch up those of you who do not listen to my rants of parenthood on the regular, Bailey decided to finish out highschool in Peru, learn Spanish without a workbook, and enjoy the REALLY NICE lifestyle (more on that later) with his Godparents, Jane Divinski and John Alexander, in Lima Peru.

I was SUPER excited to be going there with him and thought that this was LITERAlLY a fraction of the McDonells we usually travel with so this should be a piece of cake right? Well, as it turned out, it was NOT a piece of cake but a cluster of .... not cake. We arrived at SFO about 7:00am which meant that Bailey was essentially comatose and not mentally present so Toby and I did the check-in and headed immediately to the Starbucks for some "morning medication"while Bailey found a nice comfy table to curl up and nap atop of. The first indication of potential trouble came when the flight was delayed an hour. "No worries", I said. We had a four hour layover in Los Angeles anyway. Hmmm... as it turned out, no so much....

The next occurence of concern was when Bailey and I went through security and they flagged what we call the "$10,000 suitcase". It contained LOTS of cameras, computer stuff, plugs and apparently caused some concern for the TSA people because they unpacked it... all. Fortunately our flight was delayed further and Bailey could have had time to give a detailed tour of each item if they so desired.

After making our way to our seats on the plane we enjoyed another hour of quiet (and stuffy) contemplation on the runway because SHOCKINGLY there were many flights into L.A. the day after Christmas and things were being delayed. (Someone should have put a teacher OR a mother in charge of the flight schedules and this would NEVER have happened!) I was still feeling "totally okay"with the delay because we would still have two hours to get from one terminal to the other, grab some food for the boy and leisurely board our plane. NOT MEANT TO BE! Our flight into LAX landed FIVE minutes after our flight to Lima was boarding and we had to take a bus and walk across three continents (only a slight exaggeration I asure you!) to get to our gate. Bailey has a broken arm so I am pulling two bags and wearing a big backpack... it is VERY IMPORTANT to set up the visual here so pause before reading on.... anyway, there was a group of about ten of us that were LITERALLY running through the terminals yelling, "Wait! We are coming!" Again, I need you to picture ME RUNNING... with luggage. The first two words sound like some sort of oxymoron but add the luggage to the image and it was just NOT a good look for me.

We were literally the last people on the bus that took us across the other four continents of airstrips so we could board our plane to Peru. I was SUPER happy I had worn a seater and a scarf as that was making me feel like a wrestler before a weigh in. The flight to Lima itself was uneventful as my companion was unresponsive and asleep for 95% of the trip.

We arrived in Lima about 1:00am and waited for our luggage with everyone else.... and waited... and waited until we were the only ones there except for the exact same ten people who raced through the airport with us. Until that moment it never occured to me that if we had made it with seconds to spare that our luggage would not be nearly so urgent to roll toward the plane.Fast forward (that is a joke BTW) to 3:00 am and I headed to bed with my borrowed pajamas and prayers to the LATAM airline gods that I would be gifted with fresh undies the next day.

Day 24: Kotor and Budva, Montenegro or “UNDERparenting at its finest”

July 10: Kotor and Budva, Montenegro

Last day. We have been gone almost a month and seen more sights, cities and countries than the kids ever have in their lives. We have used almost ever conceivable means of transportation from bicycles to ferry boats, but why stop there? Let’s add just one more… on the last day, just to round out the trip in a terrifying fashion. What else is there left you ask? Well, how about parasailing… over the Adriatic Sea… in a big GoPRO boat… with the mother (FREAKING OUT) miles back on the shore while 2/3 of her children soar into the skies and are but a tiny speck on the horizon.

Let’s give a bit of backstory here… We arrived in Montenegro about noon and because I clearly have some preconceived notions about what the former Yugoslavia would look like, and the Balkans in general, I was expecting a sort of sad, war-torn landscape that was trying to rebuild itself. TOTALLY WRONG! It was easily the most beautiful and picturesque landscape I have seen yet! I was visualizing Sarajevo from CNN but it was more like a movie set. Water, so crystalline blue, it was astounding, houses, mansions, and tiny fishing huts lining the stunning coastline with an incredibly pristine and undeveloped backdrop of cliffs and soaring mountains.I literally sat on our deck for an hour as we moved up the fjord trying to absorb the beauty and commit it to memory. I must have taken twenty photos but this is truly a situation where the pictures simply can not convey the magnificence of this place.

Because we are benevolent parents and have a even more benevolent Nana, (and we sort of got the hint that the kid’s desire for sightseeing might be waning a bit…ha!) we had chosen the “Beach Break” trip which was essentially a SHORT drive to the Queen of Montenegro Resort where we would set the children loose to play in the Adriatic Sea while we “supervised” from lounges and sampled the “beach boy” services. (That sounds so inappropriate but that is seriously what they called the beach waiters. I was fine with that:)

What a day it was. So fun and relaxing. I was assured by the tour leader that not only were there no jellyfish here but no sharks either! That can NOT be said for California or Hawaii which are my other ocean experiences and has made me borderline paranoid about swimming more than five feet out. This was like a green light of opportunity for me! Into the sea I went! As I lay floating about 50 feet from shore I had to take a moment to reflect on the fact that 1) I was not hyperventilating as I imagined I looked like a tasty seal to a hungry shark 2) I was swimming in the ADRIATIC SEA! and 3) This had been an incredible month of adventure for our family. 

Not to be left to my own thoughts for too long, Bailey shouted, “Hey Mom! Can we do that?” As I turned and looked I saw a boat driving by, pulling a parasailing couple near us. Huh. That could be fun. Riley jumped at the chance to do it as well so we made our way over to the “office” on the beach, and by office I mean a table with about ten young men smoking and chattering under an umbrella. You could just feel the professionalism rolling off them…. NOT. We told them the boys wanted to try it. As I stayed under the umbrella waiting to fill out forms, consents, insurance waivers, selecting life jackets, listening to the safety precautions, one of the guys whistled, made a gesture to Bailey and Riley and pointed to the boat. Instead of ONE WORD OR PIECE OF PAPER I was told, “Boat too full for you. You wait here. We take pictures and video for you.” 

WHAT????!!!!! By this time the boys are already in the boat and it is heading out of the bay…. WAY out of the bay! SO far out of the bay that I can barely see the fluorescent green parasail in the distance. All I could think was HOLY CRAP! I have just sent 2/3 of my children out on a boat in a foreign country to be tied to the back of said boat and flung into the air over the Adriatic Sea. I won’t embarrass myself further by revealing all the terrifying scenarios I imagined while they were gone but let’s just say that when they came back quite happy and excited I wanted to cry… but that would have been really embarrassing so I just asked, “Did you have fun?”. Of course they did and as they talked about it, Jensen asked, “Mom? Can I please try that now?” Oh. Hell. No. No. No.

So “The McDonells Take Europe” comes to an end with two days at sea as we make our way back to Barcelona for our flight home. It has been a shockingly easy trip with regards to being in each other’s pockets for a month. I am all ready to plan the next adventure… I am thinking England, Scotland, and Ireland but Riley has asked that we take a break and “just go to Hawaii” next time. Sigh. I thought we would have given all of them the travel bug but it may take a few more trips I guess. Toby and I are making a list of specific SMALL locations we want to visit next time and Bailey has said that he could see himself living in several of these places in the future. In reflection, this trip totally accomplished what we wanted it to: the boy’s view of the world and it’s staggering variety has been expanded, they know they can easily survive with a small amount of material items (as long as there is occasional wifi!) and our family has an incredible shared experience that they will take with them as they grow and create their own in the future. Bon Voyage Europa! Hello Los Altos! We do love home!

Day 23: Ravenna, Italy or “Is it considered child abuse to take kids shopping?”

July 9: Ravenna, Italy

Our last stop in Italy was Ravenna, a cozy little town that was ONLY a twenty minute bus ride from the port. The ENTIRE tour was ONLY THREE hours! It is called “A Taste of Ravenna”, there will be food! Lots of food!

This was my very unconvincing sales pitch to the children. Toby and my brother had left earlier in the morning for the Ferrari museum and I was going solo with the kid wrangling. Fun. We arrived in Ravenna and were herded down the street with our “lollipop leader”. Once again, we were auditorily attached to our guide with those little radios and I was the only one listening. The kids don’t even bother to “plug in” anymore. I am simply to alert them when the feeding will begin. As we moved down a very quaint cobblestone street to our first destination, one of the boys gasps, “Mom! What is that?!” (and NOT in an excited way, more of a disbelieving and angry way)

“Oh. That is the church of San Vitale. It is super famous and has incredible mosaics and….” I never got to finish because Jensen buried his face in my stomach and said, “Mooommmm…. nooooooo! Can we go back?” Well. No. I tried to make it sound better by saying, “Look at the crypts! There are probably dead people in those!” That did get them at least into the gates but it was an excruciating 45 minutes… for them. I chose to ignore their miserable faces and listen to the (very interesting to me!) information about the church and the truly masterful mosaics that lined the walls and ceilings. 

By the time we were on the little cobblestone street again heading to our “refreshment”, they had reached a new low in morale. Riley could be heard mumbling, “our refreshment is probably a cup of water and a crouton”, followed by “OR it will be a piece of poop, an orange peel and a dollop of mayonnaise.” To their surprise it was NOT any of those things and it was quite good! After our lunch, we still had 45 minutes before we headed back on the bus and the adorable streets SERIOUSLY had some amazing stores with SUPER cheap prices so I set out to do a little browsing in the shops. I NEVER told them they had to go with me but as I entered the first store I turned to see that they were trudging behind me like I was forcing them on some sort of Outlet Sale death march. It sort of sucked the fun out of any potential purchases for me as you can imagine. Fortunately the bus arrived to take them back to the pool, golf course and endless ice cream buffet and I snuck away to read and console myself with some “adult soda”. 

Tomorrow is our LAST stop before two days at sea and heading home. We are off to Kotor, Montenegro (formerly part of Yugoslavia) and I have really high hopes for this day as I have heard that the scenery is literally breathtaking. 

Day 20-22: Venice, Italy or “The Rialto bridge is amaz….oh. It seems to be under renovation.”

July 6-8: Venice, Italy

Brotherly love or
they are trying to snap each
other's necks off. :)

After a full 24 hours at sea on our way up to Venice we managed to catch up on our sleep and see what 24-hour a day buffets look like. It is NOT pretty. At one point I was dangerously close to a food coma and began hallucinating that I was on the spaceship from Wall-E and we would just gently move along from food to food on a giant human conveyor belt. Buffets are nobody’s friend, especially when there are swimsuits and beach days ahead. I in NO WAY needed that exposure so I escaped to… the bar at the back of the ship again. I seriously have no clue why I am always one of less than five people there. It has comfy chairs, a 180 degree view of the ocean AND people bring you tasty beverages! I think I may have found the best kept cruise ship secret! 

Toby, meanwhile, has not only made friends with most of the people on the ship but the bartenders know his name, his drink preference and even have started giving him FREE tasty beverages! When we walked by the pool bar I heard, “To-by!” At first I thought that it just sounded like his name being called but when it happened again and Toby stopped to greet the bartender by name I asked, “Do all the bartenders know you by name?!” His response, “Yes. that is (whatever his name was) and he has five kids and has been here for seven months…..” and continues to tell me more about this one bartender than I know about some of the people I work with! I feel like I am vacationing with the mayor of the ship. The most entertaining moment was when we were on some shore excursion and Toby was chatting with a tour guide….  that was NOT even from our cruise line! He had somehow met her at another tour or location. I have NO idea how he does this but I do find it totally endearing.

Cheers!

After we arrived in Venice we took a boat tour around the city. We were dropped off at St. Mark’s Square and TOTALLY intentionally tried to get ourselves lost in the tiny street-lined canals of Venice. From past experience this was how we have always found the best (and less pricey) restaurants and this was no exception. SOOOOOOO good! The wine, the bread, the pasta, the pizza! Even if the food had not been delicious, the actual restaurant was incredibly old and quintessentially Venice. By the time dinner was over the children (led by Toby) were going through gelato withdrawls so we had to “cone up” stat! 

I was super excited to take my brother and his family to see the Rialto Bridge which is one of my favorite sights. As we followed the signs and got closer it didn’t look right. As we made the last turn I saw it…. scaffolding! All over the bridge! It looked like a construction site! Oh dear. Hello Trevi Fountain part two… Um… how about we get some more gelato! Yes! That will be fun! (Someone needs to talk to the Italian tourism department about perhaps doing renovations NOT during the height of tourist season?) We would not let this ruin our day! We wandered the alleys and crossed bridges until it was getting dark and we had to head back to the floating hotel. 

Good Morning kiddies! GET UP! We have a tour to see the Murano glass factory AND a gondola tour today! We need to be ready to go at 8:00. Not sure if you happened to see my post on Facebook but our poor abused children were face planted on the balcony table as they waited for Daddy to deliver them each a large mocha. (They are truly embracing the Italian lifestyle!) The threat that got Bailey out of his SUITE (still bitter) was the threat that he would not have an opportunity to eat again for a few hours. The caloric requirements of all my children is truly astounding. They are going to be so disappointed when we get home and I tell them their dinner options…. oh! Wait! There are NO dinner options at home except to eat it or not. :)

The glass works was amazing and watching the master glass blowers create magnificent objects from red hot blobs was surreal. Of course I almost had a nervous breakdown when we were led their showroom. I seriously told the kids (and myself) to stay in the middle of the rooms and to not to make any sudden moves… or breathe too hard. A mother’s nightmare is three boys who have been together non-stop for almost a month in a confined space lined with LITERALLY tens of thousands of dollars worth of glass. I could not get back on the boat fast enough!

Super excited when Mom
takes photos...NOT

Of course we could not visit Venice without a gondola ride. Our gondolier was grumpy so I was not feeling the “romance” vibe that is synonymous with this activity. It also could have been the other four people smushed in the boat with Toby and me.  It was still really interesting to be able to cruise down some super narrow canals that we could never have seen from a vaporetto or water taxi. Signor Grumpy did not serenade us but he did shout back and forth in Italian to the other 50 gondolas and their drivers we saw during our 30 minute tour. 

We are now down to our last five days with Ravenna, Italy tomorrow. Toby and my brother, Matthew are heading off on their own to tour the Ferrari factory. I am praying that they do NOT come home with a “souvenir”. :)

Day 19: Salerno, Pompeii, and Sorrento, Italy or “Mutiny on the Brilliance of the Seas”

July 5: Salerno, Pompeii, and Sorrento, Italy

When faced with another ten hour tour to Pompeii and Sorrento, the four McDonell boys staged a “vacation intervention” for the mom and explained that their very mental health was dependent on NOT getting within 50 yards of a bus for at least the next 48 hours. You may think I was upset but in actuality I totally understood. There was a LOT of learning happening on these tours and their shriveled “summer brains” were being damaged with too much education.

I set off at 7:20am with my mom, Caroll, Matt, and Jordan for the tour while Toby and the young male contingent slept until late in the morning and then wandered as far as the beach before coming back to the ship and relaxing a bit more. 

Wow! Pompeii was astonishing! As a total anthropology and ancient history geek, it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! Even though we felt like we were in the seventh circle of hell with the temperature and very little shade, the amount of history that I tried to visually and intellectually digest in 90 minutes would have fried my children’s circuits. I have no words… except to say that if my teaching partner, Janet Taylor was there with me, we would have been squealing like fan girls at every single thing. I did manage to restrain myself but it was close. :)

Next up was a trip to the charming little village of Sorrento. Toby would have loved this part… if he could have taken a helicopter to get there. The tiny narrow streets and citrus fruit everywhere made me want to kick up my feet and consume a vat of Limoncello…. so I did! Did you know there are several types of this tasty (and viciously potent!) beverage? Well, yes, yes there are, and I have tried MANY if you would like my opinion on which is best. Let me just find my way off the floor.

Our final destination was a working farm where we saw how olive oil is produced by hand, as well as how both mozzarella and ricotta cheese is made… also by hand. The family that owns and runs the farm has done this for three generations. My sister-in-law, Caroll now wants her own cow so she can make cheese. I think I would just like to visit and eat the cheese. AND, guess what else they grow on the most beautiful farm in the world overlooking the coast of Italy? Lemons! AND do you know what they make with their lemons? YES! Limoncello! Not wanting to be rude, I felt it was my duty to taste their items and sample their tasty beverages. Selfish, I am not. (A bit sick at this point but still being my generous altruistic self!) 

In our Limoncello haze, Caroll and I forgot our wallets on the bus but our tour director “Cindy”, seeing our despair over the inability to purchase vital libations, came to our rescue and spotted us some Euros to make our purchase. Now THIS is my kind of tour guide! Needless to say, Cindy got a great review (and her money back of course!) No throwing the Italian from the bus! They know what’s important!

Back at the ship, I could barely stay awake for dinner. (I am certain it was all the walking I did!) Fortunately we have a “Sea Day” tomorrow as we cruise up the Adriatic towards Venice so we can all regroup and rest in preparation for the next half of our journey.

Of course, although I posted this already, I must include the “Nana Bonanza” that occurred last night and was completed today. We had heard about a raffle that if you went to the casino and played, you would be given a raffle ticket. The winner of the raffle would be upgraded to a fancy suite. Toby and I are not gamblers so we sort of ignored it BUT JENSEN was on the idea from the get go, to the point that, when dinner was over, he forced any adult who would listen to him to go to the casino. Nana to the rescue. She only plays the slots but figured she would humor the grandchild. Jensen and I head back to the room where I fall into bed and he falls into his iPad. An hour later Nana shows up at our state room laughing and says, “guess who won the suite?” ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????? Yes, Nana won…. which means that BAILEY also won. Jensen was so excited, he got dressed and ran around the ship to find everyone and tell them… even Toby and Riley who were in the movie theater watching a film were not spared from his glee. The room became hers after our shore excursion and the room attendants even helped them pack and move their luggage! Bailey is now gloating over his GOLD keycard and the fact that they not only have a doorbell but a HUGE sitting room and a bathroom that was as big as our entire flat in Paris! 

Tomorrow will be nice and relaxing and I plan to wake up at noon…. and then spend the day at Nana’s suite. :)