October 1999, October 2009, October 2011

These were important dates for me and my family. In October 1999 I spent 3 weeks in England, Scotland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

In October 2009 we spent about 2 weeks in Paris and Nice and rented a Mercedes and drove to Monaco and visited there as well.

In 2011, we visited London and toured around there and then rented another Mercedes and drove to Bristol where we took the train to Edinburgh, Scotland and rented another Mercedes and toured Scotland from Edinburgh to Loch Loman through Glasgow then up to the Cairngorm mountains and to Loch Ness and Findhorn and visited with friends who lived in Aberdeen, Scotland.

These three trips were very amazing in my life and the lives of all the family members who joined me on these trips.

In 1999 it was my the 10 year old older daughter and my mother while my wife and younger daughter (then 2 1/2) stayed at home on the northern California coast. I didn't think my mother then 80 would be a problem but during this trip she exhibited "Transfer Trauma" which many older people will exhibit while leaving their homes for another locality. This is one of the many symptoms of senile dementia and possibly Alzheimer's.

We visited in 1999 Edinburgh after having rented a car to travel around. However, I was having extreme jet lag after traveling 11 hours from San Francisco to London and then waiting for our next flight which was 1 hour and 20 minutes more. So, by the time my mother and 10 year old daughter and I reached Edinburgh I was kind of a mess and was having a hard time making decisions. So, we slept as long as we all could and got up and started driving around. But, I found that wasn't the best idea because I still wasn't rested enough to be safe driving on the left side of roads with roundabouts that are the opposite direction as here in the U.S.  After a few near misses I went back and slept some more. Finally, I decided to head north so we wouldn't endanger ourselves while I got more used to driving on the left side of the road while sitting to the right, looking to the left at my rear view mirror and shifting the manual shift to the left of me. The floor pedals were the same but not the street signs which all in kilometers per hour and various other signs were different too. So, I felt much safer to be heading north until I felt I had mastered driving on the left side of the road with roundabouts and new street signs. we found by accident Aviemore and a good hotel to stay at while we explored the Cairngorm mountains. Since I'm half Scottish, I experienced my ancestors greeting me in these mountains and welcoming me home to one of my ancestral areas here on earth. It was a very moving and mystical experience that was different than anything I had ever experienced before that time.

Eventually we drove back to Edinburgh Airport and returned our rental car after visiting also Loch Ness and Inverness and Findhorn. From Edinburgh we flew to London and then to Munich, Germany because we planned to spend out last week in London, and in the vicinity for a day of Stonehenge and Glastonbury of Merlin and King Arthur's time. (Glastonbury is Avalon Island because it used to be an island in the middle of a lake but the lake is dried up and now farmland now because of changing climates since the 800s or 900s AD.

So, we landed in Munich and my son and his friend were both there. His friend had injured himself he said falling out of a top bunk at a youth hostel onto his knee in the middle of the night. So, he had to be careful climbing stairs and stuff like that for awhile. My son was 25 and his friend then was 24 who had just graduated in the last year with a physics degree from UCSC.

The five of us then went to rent a Motorhome there in Munich that sleeps 6. However, most of the time we didn't make food in the motorhome because that was too time consuming while we were traveling. So, we mostly bought food along the way at restaurants to save time while traveling long distances. At night we would always find a nice restaurant to eat at. But, my mother wouldn't leave the motorhome ever except to board the plane home to London and then a week later we flew home to San Francisco. So, we had to buy and bring food to her always which was getting very strange. But, she wouldn't listen to reason the whole time in mainland Europe. I realize now she had transfer Trauma and was terrified of leaving somewhere familiar which had become the motorhome at that time.

Our biggest problem became communication back to the U.S. and my wife and daughter. You had to have phone cards to make any call. But, trying to find where those phone card could be purchased was even more difficult. So, even though we could find pay phones then in 1999 we mostly couldn't find where to buy the calling cards for calls back to the U.S. In Austria for example, our ATM card wouldn't work and since I didn't want to charge everything onto my American Express card or to use up my emergency American Express Traveler's checks I decided to go to Switzerland where everything was going to work fine.

Note: Though most people don't use traveler's checks now to travel it is good to have some cash, an ATM card with a VISA logo and a Credit card that will work in Europe. This way you can get money three different ways. So, if one source of money doesn't work there you can move to another source of money. We had a friend who came to the U.S. from Germany with only a single credit card. BUT, something happened to her credit card so my father in law loaned her several thousand dollars which she paid back as soon as she returned to Germany so her trip wouldn't become a complete disaster for her here in the U.S. So, knowing about these kinds of things will make your trip abroad a more manageable and happy experience instead of a complete terrifying disaster when you are just trying to have fun. Remember, Adventure is a difficult experience well managed. So, if you are going to have an adventure find ways to maximize your chances of actually surviving the experience while still having a great adventure!

So, we drove through Germany to Oberamagau where we camped at a camping facility, and then everyone but my mother rode a tram up to the top of the nearest large mountain where we observed someone unfolding their paraglider and jumping off the steep sides of the mountain there and flying down. Later that day we drove to Austria but when we couldn't get our ATM cards to work (which was the primary way we wanted to travel, (even though we also took a credit card and traveler's checks more for emergencies), we decided to go to Switzerland where that wasn't a problem. So, the only place ATM cards were a problem to use was Austria at that time.

I think Switzerland and France from what I've seen so far made me want to return to both those places. Though people in Paris can be a little Haughty if you don't speak perfect Parisien French still Switzerland and France were my favorite places to visit. I could see myself living either place and being quite happy there. The other place I could see myself living (but not during the winter) would be Scotland in the Highlands. However, I'm half Scottish and half Swiss (when my ancestors came over from there in the 1720s to Philadelphia. My Grandmother was also born in Philadelphia in 1888 but when their house burned down she and her 11 brothers and sisters had to return to Scotland until they were grown up. Then they moved to Omaha, Nebraska and a lot of them worked on the newspaper there from the early 1900s on. My Grandmother and her husband, a minister moved eventually to Seattle where both my parents met, got married and had me.

In October 2009 about 6 years ago now this coming October, my wife and daughters wanted to go to Paris. I didn't want to go because I had been wanting to return with my wife and daughters to England and Scotland once again. I wanted to show my wife and kids what I had discovered there during my travels with my older daughter who was 10 in 1999.

So, I was pretty upset to be going to Paris other than it would be fun to travel with my wife and two daughters. However, what I found in Paris is sort of a historical Disneyland in that everyone is Paris seems so happy that are there as tourists. Wherever they are from they seem so happy to finally get there. So, it is a happy place sort of like the way people get in Disneyland. It wasn't at all what I had expected. the Moulin Rouge was amazing, the Eiffel Tower was amazing, the Louvre I couldn't breathe inside there and had to leave it was so stifling. (they turn the air conditioners off because it was harming the paintings so the air was so stale I had to leave so I wouldn't pass out from lack of oxygen and from the heat. I was pretty grateful to find my way out of there before I passed out.

Versailles is an adult playground that was built for rich people like the King and Queen and all their friends to play and play and play in all sorts of ways. Now, it is a remarkable historical place that luckily has been preserved for all to see who make the effort to go there. It is quite large so bring your walking shoes. Near the Joan of Arc statue Somewhat near the Louvre you can book bus tours of Versailles which likely is the easiest way to go if you are not renting a car. In Paris it is basically almost impossible to park a car so it is better not to have one most of the time in the Historical part of Paris. We stayed within walking distance of the Louvre and bus tour places at the "Hotel de Suede" which might be a little like staying at a French version of a Best Western with Breakfast also included. It's not a 5 Star hotel but most people would be fairly happy there. You are near the Defense Ministry of France. Also you are within walking distance of 160 Rue Du Bac where ST. CAtherine first struck her Mary medal in the mid 1800s of which there are millions now around the world. I have worn one made of Gold since about 1995 in lieu of a wedding ring and so has my wife (but she actually wears a wedding ring too).

I can't wear rings anymore because my fingers sometimes swell up at night and I would have to cut whatever ring I wear in the morning off if I wore one 24 hours a day. However, my wife had a ring made of a set amethyst stone and Gold with two diamonds that looks like a Violet eye and I wear that sometimes only during waking moments thinking of my lifelong relationship since birth with Saint Germain.

When we walked into 160 Rue Du Bac where Saint Catherine lived I believe I experienced the angels there walking up and greeting us. It isn't everywhere one has angels come up and greet them that are associated with a place. So, I understood I was in one of the most sacred Christian places on earth there.

Later we got on what is called the TGV which is France's fast train which travels up to 200 miles per hour. What this was like sort of was like getting in a passenger jet going 100 to 200 mph down a runway except you never take off. You have to get used to looking far away out the window. Otherwise you will get sort of seasick from things going by so fast. It sounds like a load whining electric motor with a high pitch but since it is mag lev you aren't touching the ground actually in the train.

We found that it took less time to take a high speed train to Nice rather than to fly there. If you fly you have to go 2 hours ahead of time for security and if you take the train it is less time because there is almost no security sort of like trains in the U.S. where people often take guns and knives since they are not searched in the U.S. for weapons. However, people don't usually have weapons in France because it is a different culture there.

Nice was beautiful and the ocean was an Azure color that I hadn't seen before in an ocean. The French Riviera is called "Cote D'zure" or the Azure Sea by the French. We also rented a Mercedes and drove to Monaco which was interesting. I had never been a place with Lamborghini dealerships combined with Rolls Royce Dealerships and Ferrari Dealerships all next door to each other. Also, there were an incredible amount of private jets at the Nice Airport which made me realize just how many rich people from the middle east and Europe all hang out in the Monaco and Nice area. It was the greatest congregation of richness I had ever seen. Americans are more low key about being rich. However, that area was very blatant about richness.

IN October 2011 we went to London with my older daughter, her boyfriend, my younger daughter and my wife and I. Again we rented a Mercedes but when I drove it to a stop light the engine stopped. AT first I thought something was wrong with the car until I stepped on the gas pedal and it started up again. I realized they are designed to save fuel this way by shutting themselves off at stoplights. Also Diesel Mercedes have a different technology there. There is no diesel smell at all there in cars. They scrub it all away somehow there so there is no diesel stink so you don't get sick breathing it like you can in the U.S.

Later we went to a Broadway type play "The Lion King" there which was fun and eventually we drove to Glastonbury, England which is an amazing place if you are an intuitive. King Arthur is reported to have been buried there along with Guinevere. Glastonbury is the fabled isle of Avalon which actually then in 800 or 900 was an island in the middle of a lake. However, nowt he lake has dried up in a different climate now so it's all farmland and green most of the time now. There is also the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey where King Arthur and Guinevere are supposed to be buried together there.

After that, we went to Bristol to drop off our Mercedes and get the train north to Edinburgh, Scotland. I really like Edinburgh Castle it is quite a site. Later, we drove north to Aviemore and visited a Reindeer farm where reindeer pulled a Santa's sleigh and also rode the Tram up on top of the Cairngorms where people ski in the winter time there. Then we drove north to Loch Ness and Inverness and Findhorn on the way to Aberdeen to visit friends who lived there. The have three children growing up there.

When my wife and I and youngest daughter returned home my older daughter and boyfriend stayed several extra weeks to travel around Scotland and England before they flew back to Oregon where they live now.