Can you believe we're back?
We had the most brilliant, fabulous, life-time memories, fun-filled holiday that seemed to go soooo slow, which made it even better. We saw and experienced some wonderful things and places so there are many posts to come!!
I figure I have some people to thank, during our holiday so here I go...(sorry if I miss anyone!)
The friendly staff on the Cathay Pacific flights (five flights all up) for making our daughter's day with the bags with things-to-do goodies. This was made even more special for Monet for the fact that Cathay Pacific must have associations with Disney because she ended up with Dumbo the Elephant bags, a Winnie-The-Pooh backpack and a Mickey Mouse over the shoulder number. Lucky her.
For the friendly (I'm not lying here!) people on London's Tube trains, who smiled at Monet and I (apparently a rarity on London transport for people to crack a smile) and the ones who offered to give up their seats for us when it was busy, I thank you.
For the woman who sat and stared at a standing,crying Monet on London's Tube train on Wednesday evening, at peak hour, who did not offer us your seat. Thanks for that. Not.
For the staff at Kensington's Premier Inn where we stayed, I thank you. The hotel was brilliant, clean, in a great position and (we thought) reasonably priced for inner London. We'll happily stay there again down the track.
To Bob-Kat, my blogger friend, now an even closer blogger friend, for meeting me, I thank you.
To Minnie Mouse at Disneyland, I thank you. Minnie certainly 'made' some little girl's holiday.
To the lady in line at Cityrama in Paris, who came from the Hunter Valley (in NSW), I thank you. You were a lovely lady who seemed rather thrilled to meet a Monet on a visit to Claude Monet's garden.
To the funny waiter at the pub in Stuttgart who greeted and served us, I thank you. Even though we spoke no German, (bar a "Danke" here and there), you understood our Aussie drawl.
To David, even though we didn't end up meeting, I thank you. (I still feel a little bad!)
To the very kind German Train Manager on the ICE train from Stuttgart to Munich, I (really, really, really) do thank you. (I'm leaving this for an upcoming post, so more will be revealed on that!)
To the lovely lady who was the hotel Manager of the Merrabel Hotel in Munich, I sincerely thank you. She got us out of a (very) sticky situation but she reflected the way all the German people treated us on this leg of our tour. (Again, this will be part of a post related to the one above!)
To the friendly woman at the information booth at the Munich Train Station, I thank you. Even though she spoke no english, she managed to understand what I was asking and really put our minds at ease at changing trains at Verona to get to Venice.
To the guy in the pizza booth near our hotel (via a million lanes) who sold delicious pizza and el-cheapo priced beer, we thank you.
To our friend Jason, thank you. We were lucky enough for him to take Lyndon and I to a fancy nancy French Restaurant in London. So fancy it has a Michelin Star. And when the bill arrived, Jason had to pick Lyndon and I off the floor. But it was soooo worth it, it deserves a post of its own too!
To my sister Kimbofo and her partner T, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We thank you for everything, I don't need to list the reasons why - you know. Monet is still talking about your shoebox in the sky. And playing with the snow globe from Uncle T.
To my friend Leesa who turned the hot water back on for us, thank you. The hot shower yesterday morning was brilliant.
To our family and friends for the text messages and those of you who left me messages here and on my Facebook page, thank you.
And finally I really do have to thank Lyndon. Thank you. Thank you for every morning in London going and buying and making breakfast for us. And for being the one who would order the food and beers at every place we went to. You did brilliantly.
We can't believe we're back. (And spare a thought to Lyndon, who today has flown down to Brissy on business for three days!)