The McGehee's Abroad in Review

"Welcome Home McGehee's," from The Hambrick Family

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:

Manneken Pis, Brussels, Belgium

Ravens at the Tower of London, England

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 26^th and went to bed on January 7^th—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. 

Broken Bike near Grand Palace, Belgium

       We never once felt broken (like the bikes we kept discovering), and only one blister on the last day needed a Band-aid, not too bad.

Broken Bike outside of a cathedral in Paris

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.

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.

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.

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.

       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!!!