Deborah Sterett, Class Secretary
dasbeggs@irtc.net
Jacksonville, IL
December 4, 2006
Dear Classmates!
Since I haven’t
heard from any of you lately, let me share with you my summer adventure.
As you all know, I love to travel and through the years, my sister’s
kids have always heard me talk of my travels. A few years ago I made a
promise to Dustin and Emilee that I’d take them to Europe when each
graduated from their respective schools. As it turned out, Dustin (18)
graduated from high school this past spring and his sister, Emilee (14)
from the eighth grade.
We finally went on
our European holiday from 21 June 06 to 10 July 06—it’s also their
combined Christmas, birthday, communion, etc. gift as well! I had wanted
them to really experience the native culture by staying in youth hostels
(I’m a life member) and getting Eurail passes to hop on and off the
trains as we wished, but couldn’t get their folks to go for that.
I gave the kids a
lot of information about different tour companies so they chose one that
they wanted. It was quite good and it had all the various sites they
desired to see and only a couple that I had not been to yet. Anyway, we
landed at Gatwick Airport in London, England –rather like Midway is to
O’Hare Airport in Chicago—to spend a few days seeing the sights like
changing of the guard, HARRODS Windsor Castle, city tour of London, and
the musical “The Lion King” which was fabulous. Even had the same guide
I had several years ago when I was in London and stayed at the same
hotel, too. The Hotel was just a couple of blocks away from the nearby
rail/bus station so we could go about the city.
From London, we
crossed the English Channel at Dover where we saw the ‘white cliffs’, as
in the song. We cruised to the port of Calaise, France where we joined
our tour group. The group was composed of 19 Aussies, one South African,
and 22 Yanks with five other kids (ages 12-18) which made for a
wonderful mix and we all got along well together.
We went to
Brussels, Belgium, and walked about the city since I’ve been there on
different occasions. We even saw ‘Le Manniquin Pis’ (statue of a little
boy whizzing). Then the group went on to Germany where we did a cruise
on the Rhine River. We visited Wurzburg and Nuremberg before going on
the Czech Republic in Prague. Despite being out from under the ‘Iron
Curtain’, it still looked much the same to me as when I was there 14
years ago when it was still Czechoslovakia. To the kids, it was an
exciting foreign city to absorb.
Austria was next
and in Vienna (one place I had not been to before), we climbed 362
winding steps to the top of the bell tower of St. Stephens Cathedral. I
felt good on that climb! The kids were proud of their aunt for keeping
up with them on the climb! We also took in an evening of listing to
Strauss waltzes and had a rousing good time with some locals for dinner
and drinks at a nearby winery.
In Europe, teens
are allowed to legally at 16 so I allowed Dustin to do so and he was
wise with his choices, not just because I was near. His sister was a bit
miffed at not being able to drink but she was happy with all the sweets
since she has a HUGE ‘sweet tooth’. We then went on to Venice, Italy.
Despite the humidity and heat, it was interesting to see. (I’d never
been there before either). The kids and I agreed that it was not a
place we’d like to visit again, for it was “stinky” as they put it and
actually quite dirty despite all the beautiful churches and friendly
folks. Of course, we took a gondola ride and saw how the famous Venetian
glass pieces are made.
Rome was as far
south as we went and I love that city for it is so walkable and the
history there is wonderful in which the kids really got into, especially
around the Colosseum, The Roman Forum, the Spanish Steps, and of course,
they threw the traditional coins into the Trevi Fountain. To top off
our visit in that city, the group was blessed by the Pope that Sunday we
were there, for he’d not gone to his summer home yet—that was exciting
for us all even though many of us there were not Catholic!
From there we
headed north to Florence to see many of the Renaissance sculptures and
paintings by famous artists such as Michelangelo, Botticelli, da Vinci,
and so on. We saw the Duomo and stayed in a little ‘burb’ neighborhood
of the city where we again, joined some of the locals for dinner in
their pub to enjoy some refreshments and talk. While still there the
next day, we celebrated the Fourth of July by pulling out flags that
we’d brought with us. All the Yanks wore some red/white/blue but not
blatant clothes that would define us as Americans. At dinner that
evening, the Aussies and South African toasted us with “to the
colonials!” and sang we all sang “God Bless America” since we had a
private dining room.
We headed onward
from Rome to Switzerland and stayed in the quaint village of Flulen.
It’s about 45 minutes outside of Lucerne but on Lake Lucerne. We were
nestled in the Alps with a church nearby that chimed throughout day and
night. In Lucerne, we walked about a local flea market and saw the
famous wooden bridge that has paintings on it telling about ‘black
death’ (bubonic plague) of the Middle Ages. The bridge was partially
burnt down in November 1993 but has since been rebuilt.
We also saw the
‘Lion of Lucerne’ carved into the stone in the city. That night we took
part in an “evening of local Swiss culture” with Alpine horn blowing,
dancing, and drinking. Everyone loved mingling with the natives. The
next day, we rode a cable car up 10,000 feet to the top of Mt. Titlis,
which was nearby. We had a snowball fight with many of the others in the
group who rarely see snow—it was SO refreshing up on the mountain since
it’d been a bit warm while in Italy. We even celebrated my birthday
while there in the Swiss Alps.
Our last
destination was Paris, France. The hotel was not air-conditioned just as
many of the other weren’t since Europeans do not have such a luxury, but
it was cool in the city so we were fine. We went to the Eiffel Tower
with a few others from the group the evening we arrived there and it was
actually a clear night so we could see quite far—very interesting being
up there at midnight, also for my niece who saw many couples and kept
muttering under her breath “get a room!”
Since we were
staying a couple of extra days in the city after the tour ended, I had
arranged a day trip to the WWII D-day beaches in Normandy. While the
rest of the group did the city tour in Paris, we were off to Gold, Jumo,
and the Omaha Beaches. We also saw the Pegasus Bridge (the British
contribution to D-day) and Café Gondree, the first house to be liberated
in France and is now a delicious little café with all the historic
artifacts in it; Arromanches and the remains of the artificial port
built by the Allies; Omaha Beach museum and walked along the beach
itself and the surf; the American Cemetery where we placed the small
flags from the Fourth of July at the base of random tombstones and on a
few of the Jewish ones, we placed stones.
We ended the day
where the US rangers scaled the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc and could view
the still pock-marked landscape from the bombardment of D-Day, which was
62 years ago, as well as old German bunkers. Dustin and Emilee really
soaked up the history in these places and got a sense of what it may
have been like for the Allies after seeing all these sights and driving
through the various villages to get them.
We got back to the
city in time to spend the last evening with the rest of the group after
they returned from farewell dinner. We all said our good-byes, but
surprised them all the next morning by getting up to have an early
breakfast with them before they headed back to England. After last
minute hugs and more good-byes, we stood in front of the hotel waving
farewell to them before we went back to bed for a few more hours.
We spent the first
day on our own visiting the Louvre and walking about that area of Paris,
having quiche with a scrumptious pastry for lunch as we people watched
near the Louvre. Then we went on to Notre Dame and just strolling along
the Seine River. We spent the evening getting all our gear packed as
well as tucking away our souvenirs from shopping throughout the holiday
and got caught up on some sleep, which we lacked from all the traveling
we’d been doing so the last day in Paris we could leisurely enjoy.
The last day we
wandered about the neighborhood where we were staying which also
happened to be just around the corner from the street where my friend,
Evangeline, lives in Paris. We were unable to connect with her for she
had to go to Greece to check on some relatives, but I was able to show
the kids where she lived. From there we caught the Metro and went to the
Sacre-Coeur cathedral and did some last minute shopping.
We rested up a bit
then headed down the Champs Elysees by afternoon and in all the times
I’ve been in Paris; I’ve never seen that avenue empty. I mean totally
empty! We were able to stand in the middle of it getting photos, as were
many others for all the citizens of Paris. France in general, was glued
to their televisions for the finals of the World Cup since France and
Italy were playing. We even got a snapshot of Dustin lying down in the
middle of a major street, just off the Champs Elysees, since there was
NO traffic.
We headed back to
the hotel since we saw all kinds of local, regional, and national law
enforcement folks with their riot gear on for when France won or lost
(which they did the latter). Many people told me that I was nuts to
travel with those two at their ages, but as Emee and Dustin told me one
evening in Vienna, they think of me “as a co-parent, just like Grandma
and Grandpa.”, since I’ve been a part of their lives since they were wee
babies.
It was a fabulous
holiday overall and we were there just at the right time, for Ascot was
going on when we arrived in London. We were able to see the ladies in
their unique hats on their way to the derby. Also, Wimbledon was in its
early stages. The World Soccer Cup fever was everywhere on the Continent
so, we all got something with the logo on it. Le Tour de France was
beginning as we left! Plus, we got back to the states before the latest
terrorist activity. We flew Continental which was one of the airlines
targeted-eeeeeek! -- But at least we flew out of France back to St.
Louis, MO, where their folks picked us up.
Thus, as you can
see, I was very busy, but enjoying myself with the company of my niece
and nephew and sharing some wonderful experiences with them as well as
broadening their outlook on the world at large!
Whew, I’ve
chattered a bit, eh?! Send me your news so it can be shared with the
rest of the class. Until the next time…..AufWeidersehen, Ciao, and Bon
Jour, Dobry Den, and Good day to you all!
Important Dates:
Alumni
Weekend -- May 29 - June 1, 2008
