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| "Welcome Home McGehee's," from The Hambrick Family |
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| Exiting Customs at LAX airport--Back in the U.S.A. |
The McGehee’s Abroad are
now back home, safe and sound. It’s surreal to return to the states and jump
back into non-touristy life. It has us all reflecting on the last thirteen
days. We are all thinking: Did we really even do that…or, was it an incredible
shared dream?
As we go over our trip it
is incredible to realize what we were able to achieve together in a relatively
short period of time.
In this post, you will find our mascots, our stats, our favorites, a few photos we forgot about, and where we would go if we saved for another three years.
We hope our readers enjoyed reading about our adventure and that you feel inspired to save up and travel to other countries with your children.
Our mascots ended up being the smallest things that had the biggest impact on their city:
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| Manneken Pis, Brussels, Belgium |
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| Ravens at the Tower of London, England |
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| Mona Lisa, Louvre, Paris, France |
Stats of the Trip:
·
13 days (2 for
travel, 11 for tourism)
·
4 countries
(Germany, France, Belgium, England)
·
3 airplanes
·
3 trains (Belgium
and back; and to England)
·
6 metro/tubes/underground/overgrounds
·
3 hotels (Hotel
Leveque in France; Hotel Novotel in Belgium; The Strand Palace in England)
·
Many taxi rides
(the most in England)
·
140,180 steps (on average
since we woke up on December 26th and went to bed on January 7th—James
had the most because he jogged in France; Madeline walked more stairs/avoided
the lifts and escalators whenever possible; Mom came in third, mostly taking
the stairs as often as possible).
Effectively:
·
Flew 12,000 miles
(6,000 to Frankfurt from LAX; 400 to France from Frankfurt; 5600 from England
to LAX)
·
498.6 miles by train
(Paris to Brussels; Paris to London)
·
Walked 58.19 miles
(averaging about 5 miles per day)
·
Uncountable miles
by vehicle throughout the cities.
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| Broken Bike near Grand Palace, Belgium |
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| Broken Bike outside of a cathedral in Paris |
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| Broken Bike spotted from London Eye, England |
Favorite Country:
1.
Madeline –
Belgium, more of a party city
2.
Nolan – France
because Paris felt small
3.
Fischer – London,
because there was big, old-fashion taxis
4.
Dad – Belgium,
left me feeling like I wanted to go back.
5.
Mom – Rue Cler in
Paris, I loved walking down the street, it didn’t feel touristy.
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| Nolan near Eiffel Tower, Paris |
Best Hotel:
1.
Madeline – Hotel Novotel,
Brussels, Belgium because it as more comfortable
2.
Nolan – Hotel Leveque,
Paris, France, because the elevator was small and funny.
3.
Fischer – The Strand
Palace Hotel, London, England because of the big bathrooms.
4.
Dad – Hotel
Leveque, Paris, France because the location was second-to-none and made me feel
like I was on a European vacation.
5.
Mom – Hotel Leveque,
Paris, France because I felt like I was in a small apartment where everybody
knew me when we came back every day.
Favorite Meal:
1.
Madeline – PerkinReveller,
London, England, fish and chips
2.
Nolan – Café Roussillon,
Paris, France: I liked the pasta
3.
Fischer -Café Roussillon,
Paris, France: I like the escargot
4.
Mom – Battersea PieStation, Covent Garden, England: I like
the pies all had potatoes inside, and the gravy for the mash.
5.
James – Poscalino
Belgian Waffle Truck, Brussels, Belgium: the sugar they caramelized on the
waffles was excellent.
Most memorable taxi driver:
1.
Madeline, London,
England – from Tottenham to the hotel, he said, “Three kids?”
2.
Nolan – London,
England – from Tottenham to the hotel, he talked about how his son became a
police officer.
3.
Fischer – London,
England – from Tower Bridge to the hotel, he gave us a tour.
4.
James – London,
England – from Tottenham to the hotel, he explained how taxi drivers get their
license and explained “The Knowledge.”
5.
Mom – London,
England – from Tottenham to the hotel, he gave us a dark side of London tour, he
pointed out the prison, explained the escaped prisoners, and told us to be
safe.
Best cup of café or chocolate or tea:
1.
Madeline – Le Meridien,
London, England, cherry blossom tea with 4-lumps of sugar.
2.
Nolan – Fourteen Café,
Paris, France, cappuccino with some sugar
3.
Fischer – Café Le Dome,
Paris France, hot chocolate
4.
James – Whittard,
Covent Garden, London, England: hot chocolate samples.
5.
Mom – Le Meridien,
London, England, High Tea, elderflower Darjeeling with two lumps of brown sugar.
Favorite Tourist Attraction:
1.
Madeline: The WB
Harry Potter tour, Leavesden, England
2.
Nolan: Eiffel
Tower, the summit (very top).
3.
Fischer: The Tower
Bridge, London, England, skywalk (glass floor)
4.
James: Musical
Instruments Museum (MIM), Brussels, Belgium, having all the historical
instruments in one place was something I had never experienced before.
5.
Mom: Shakespeare
& Company, Paris, France, the bookstore was unapologetic, it was unique,
writers were living there and made readers want to become writers.
Best monument:
1.
Madeline – The Catacombs
in Paris, France, it was interesting why the bones were there and how big it
was.
2.
Nolan – The Louvre,
Paris, France because of the architecture of the pyramid.
3.
Fischer – Eiffel Tower,
Paris, France because it was really tall.
4.
James –
Stonehenge, Amsbury, England, it had an ethereal feel to it.
5.
Mom – The Tower of
London, England, the prison in one of the towers had funny stories and the
etchings on the walls by the prisoners.
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| Stonehenge shaded by the passing clouds, England |
Best memory:
1.
Madeline – walking
down the stairs of the Eiffel Tower.
2.
Nolan – Stonehenge
because it was cool.
3.
Fischer – eating escargot
in France
4.
James – walking into
the center of The Grand Palace at night with all the lights and music.
5.
Mom – High tea in
Le Meridien and all the interesting cakes and sandwiches.
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| Shadow of the Eiffel Tower over Paris, seen from the summit |
Reason to go back to each country:
1.
Germany –
a.
All of us - to leave
the airport and buy a cuckoo clock.
2.
France
a.
Mom – Buy a
Jean-Pierre hairbrush near Rue Cler
b.
Dad – to go see
cities outside of Paris.
c.
Nolan – to buy a
hat
d.
Fischer – ice
skating on the Eiffel Tower
e.
Madeline – to go
to Moulin Rouge
3.
Belgium –
a.
Dad – experience more
architecture
b.
Nolan – to learn
how to cook waffles
c.
Fischer – to go to
different hotels
d.
Madeline – try different
food
e.
Mom – go to the
Comic Book musuem
4.
England –
a.
Nolan – to explore
the city more
b.
Fischer – to go to
the carnival by the London Eye
c.
Madeline – to go
to The London Dungeon
d.
Dad – to go to
Liverpool and to take a train to Scotland.
e.
Mom – to go in the
Westminster Abbey and Shakespeare’s Globe.
Best purchase:
1.
Nolan – The Fantastic
Beasts wand that was the main character’s (Newt), 30 pounds, England
2.
Fischer – The M&M
shirt for Finley 15 pounds, England
3.
Madeline – The London
jacket 20 pounds, England
4.
Dad – Dune London
shoes 70 pounds, England
5.
Mom – L’Occitane
en provence orchid parfum, France 59 euro
Where to travel to next:
1.
Madeline – Island of the Dolls in the canals of Xochimico, near Mexico City.
2.
Nolan – Ohio to
meet Roman Atwood (Smile More) and it rains there.
3.
Fischer –
Australia people speak in English but with a different accent
4.
Mom –
Norway/Sweden/Amsterdam
5.
Dad – Cook Islands
Postscript - Before we left, my backpack strap needed a repair. The ugly stitching I made with a travel sewing kit in the LAX international airport is still holding up this many days later.
Postscript - Before we left, my backpack strap needed a repair. The ugly stitching I made with a travel sewing kit in the LAX international airport is still holding up this many days later.
Check out our poll on the sidebar. Help us decide where to save up for next!!!!
Thank you! Merci! Dank u! Cheers! to our readers for all of your support!
Goodbye! Au revoir! Tot Zeins! Cheerio!!!
