Crossing the Pond

August 1, 2019

Well, tomorrow Carol and I take off for London with two granddaughters, Zoe,16, and Phoebe, 14. We’ve been taking them, alone, on trips each summer since they were 7 and 5. The first trip was a 3-night Disney cruise, something of a surrealistic experience for Carol and me. 4000 passengers, 2000 crew, people dressed as Mickey, Goofy and princesses signing autographs for the girls and shows each night. Youngsters from around the world served on the boat, each wishing you a “magical day” whenever they saw you. At one point, I told Carol that if one more young crew member wished me a magical day, I was going to throw the fucker overboard.

If adult passengers had been asked as they disembarked whether they’d like to do another Disney cruise, I think that 83% would rather have lost a kidney. In retrospect, though, it was a marvelous trip, certainly one none of us will ever forget. Both Zoe and Phoebe are into theater, so in subsequent summers, we’ve taken them, in alternate years to the Ohio Lighy Opera Festival or to the Stratford (Ontario) Shakespeare Festival, OD-ing on theater each summer.

Now, though, they are older, and world travelers, each of them having elected to go places in Africa with us for their anyplace in the world trip you want to go birthday gift. Here’s a photo of each on their African sojourns.

So, we figured we should up the ante in order to keep their interest. We told them we were going to go to Stratford, and they said that would be good. But when we added, “England,” they became really excited.

There are two aspects to this trip. The first is to see something of London and Stratford, as any tourist would. The second equally important aspect stems from the fact that this is a homecoming for Carol and me, as we lived in London 1967-68 and we still have many friends there. We were somewhat younger then.

So this is a show off the granddaughters to friends trip, as well.

This is not the sort of exotic trip that followers of my blog are used to, so I debated as to whether to post a blog at all. I guess you know what I decided eh? Whether or not this trip interests you, I wanted a record of it. So, come along or not, as you choose.