London (UK)

Built in the 11th century, the Tower of London is a massive palace and fortress smack in the middle of the city. A lot of the big names in British history have been associated with it. Richard III was rumored to have killed two princes in the White Tower; Anne Boleyn was beheaded on the Tower Green; and various luminaries - William Wallace, St. Thomas More, Sir Walter Raleigh, Guy Fawkes, and Elizabeth I, to name a few - were imprisoned within the walls when their causes fell out of favor. You can learn a lot from the colorful commentary of the Beefeaters, as the yeoman warders are popularly known. Although their costumes may make them look silly, these tour guides are actually all officers with over 20 years of honorable military service. They also guard the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London so prepare to be dazzled by the serious bling on show.

Tower Bridge, otherwise known as the pretty one that everyone thinks is London Bridge, was still gussied up from its prominent place in aerial shots of the Olympic Games. For a spectacular, non-helicopter view of the city, there are some beautiful panoramas from the slowly rotating wheel of the London Eye. Just across the River Thames (pronounced "temz") lies the Houses of Parliament. The iconic Big Ben is technically a bell within the clock tower, not the the tower itself. We took a walk around to Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace... or as my folks know them, "where Will & Kate got married" and "where they kissed on the balcony," respectively. Picadilly Circus, which my sister calls the Times Square of London, was abuzz with lights and crowds. In such a tourist trap, we despaired of finding anything decent to eat, but struck gold in a special at the Criterion Restaurant. Amid opulent neo-Byzantine decor, we indulged in an upscale version of that great British tradition - Sunday roast dinner. The beef was aged and tender, the roast potatoes were golden outside and fluffy inside, and the crisp Yorkshire pudding (a batter thing similar to a popover) was excellent in the rich gravy.

For a taste of that other English tradition - gardening, we visited the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Boasting the world's largest collection of living plants and one of the largest herbariums, the place is enormous. It must take an army to keep the hedges trimmed, the beds consistently in flower, and the lawns so pristine. Even if the weather isn't cooperating, big and elegant greenhouses ("glasshouses" in British English) dedicated to the different regions or zones ensure there are still plenty of things to see. 

Windsor, Upwaltham, Chichester, and Brighton (UK)

Although they have crisscrossed the continent on coach tours and pilgrimages, my folks have never actually been to Paris or the UK. Hoping to not end up like some National Lampoon outtake, we organized a family vacation to remedy this.

A quick vocabulary lesson for the uninformed: U.K. is short for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain is the island on which the countries of England, Scotland, and Wales lie (whereas Northern Ireland is on the same island as the Republic of Ireland). This is why you normally see sports teams from those individual countries compete in international events... and why it was also a kerfuffle when they had to join up and enter as Team GB for football in the Olympics. Make sense?

Arriving into Gatwick Airport, we promptly departed the city so that these Americans could see, at least a little, that there is more to the UK than just London. About 25 miles west, Windsor seems like a charming town out of a storybook England with its Union Jacks flying merrily. The castle is where the Queen spends most weekends, and we were there in time to see the Changing the Guard ceremony in the Lower Ward. The band that accompanies them tried to steal the show with such an ebullient rendition of "Puttin' on the Ritz" that we half-expected them to break out with jazz hands. Inside, the Royal Apartments are sumptuous and with enough weaponry and suits of armor to fulfill any role-playing game fantasy. You can also see Queen Mary's dollhouse - complete with functional plumbing - and visit the stunning Saint George's Chapel, where Henry VIII, among other queens and kings, is buried.

We headed south to Rich's roots in West Sussex. The sun was shining on the South Downs, and we stopped in to see family before popping by the church at Upwaltham. Rich's family has been coming for generations to this tiny 12th century construction... just check out the spooky upright tombstones in the graveyard outside. Chichester is an old place, too, dating back to the Romans and home to a medieval market cross and cathedral. But the high street has all your newfangled favorites - HMV, Marks & Spencer, et al. - and we enjoyed a traditional afternoon tea (scones, jam, clotted cream, cakes, finger sandwiches, and tea) in a decidedly more modern setting next to a contemporary art gallery. 

We met up with more family in Brighton in East Sussex. Having long been a fashionable place by the seaside, I was sorely disappointed the first time I visited to find the famous beach was not sand, but stones... stones about the exact size and shape to encourage ankle-twisting. Strolling by the sea (or rather, the English Channel) in this case is relegated to the long boardwalk, or "prom" as the Brits say. Brighton today is known for its arts and culture and home to arguably one of the best club scenes in Europe. The box we were ticking, though, was fish and chips. The iconic British meal is best served from a greasy chip shop (or "chippie"), wrapped in newspaper, dashed with salt and malt vinegar, and eaten with an ineffectual wooden fork in the sea air. With the wind a tad too chilly, we had it in a restaurant. The "fish" can be cod, plaice, or haddock, and I opted for that curious accompaniment popular in the north of England - mushy peas... pretty mushy and very, very bland.

Girona (Spain)

Girona, northeast about an hour and 15 minutes on the train, makes for a popular day trip outside of Barcelona. An ancient city, it seems like lot of history's heavy hitters - Romans, Visigoths, Moors, Charlemagne, and Napolean - conquered and ruled Girona at one point or another. Today, it means there's some beautiful architecture. There are cobblestoned, narrow streets and grand churches. Brightly-colored facades of houses overhang the Onya river as it lazily winds its way through the center. The Passeig Arqueologic takes you through some beautiful gardens, and you can actually walk along the battlements of the ancient fortress walls, some of which date back to the 9th century. The Banys Arabs look older, but the baths are actually a 12th century Romanesque construction.

We also popped into the local CaixaForum for some impressionist works. One of the things that never ceases to amaze me in Europe is the abundance of masterpieces very casually available to the public. Entry is free, there are only a few rooms, and yet any one of the Gaughins or Monets in this one collection would be the centerpiece of an American gallery.

As visitors to Girona, we happily played into the role of tourists and ate in one of the many restaurants lining the sunlit Plaça de la Independència (even though we studiously avoid doing such things in Barcelona's similarly picturesque Plaça Reial). Luckily, we managed to find the one place with a reasonably priced menu del día (lunch with multiple courses at a set price), and the gazpacho was wonderfully cooling in the heat. 

Catalan National Day in Barcelona (Spain)

September 11th is an important day in Catalunya but for very different reasons. It is the National Day of Catalunya. On this day nearly 300 years ago, Catalans suffered a defeat when backing the losing side in the War of Spanish Succession. Nowadays, the holiday is a lot like Independence Day in the States (day off work, flags flying, parades, etc.)... except imagine if the U.S. hadn't actually gotten independence yet and was still under the thumb of the British Empire. Because that's how a lot of Catalans feel. Although it is an autonomous community in Spain, Catalunya too was once its own empire. It has its own language and culture distinct from Castillian, aka what most people outside of Spain think of as Spanish language and culture. You don't have to drive far to see graffiti with "Catalunya is not Spain" in giant letters. Within Spain and even within Europe, Catalunya has been very strong economically with big industries and tourism, but with what many locals see as paying too many taxes back to the capital in Madrid and without getting much back. The Catalan independence movement has always been at least simmering in the background, but with the Spanish economy and government tanking, calls for secession have grown even louder.

There is always a big parade/protest for the National Day of Catalunya in Barcelona so we decided to take a look. Near Arc de Triomf, dozens of stalls were selling everything you need to show your national pride or support: t-shirts, bandanas, placards... even Catalan cola! The red and yellow stripes of the Catalan flag are a pretty common sight any day in Barcelona, but man, were the independence flags, sporting the extra white star on a blue triangle, really flying off the shelves! A very popular fashion choice is what I am calling The Superhero, tying the full-size flag with strings around your neck like a cape... a sort of Captain Catalunya? The Parliament of Catalunya building was open to the public so we had a wander around inside. Interestingly, the building and the park it is in (Ciutadella) was originally part of a fortress built, not to protect the city, but to maintain control of the rebellious Catalan population after the aforementioned War of Spanish Succession. We passed a troop of soldiers in re-enactment-style costumes with drums and muskets, but the real show was the parade. Whole families - from babies in strollers to grandparents with walking sticks - were chanting protests and singing nationalistic songs. Every road or alley we passed was packed with people streaming to or from the march. Final numbers vary, but an estimated 1.5 million people marched in Barcelona. When you consider the entirety of Catalunya is only 7.5 million, this meant that 20% of the population was there. Absolutely staggering! 

Final Thoughts on Australia

For a country as vast as Australia, it would be impossible to say we did anything more than form some impressions during our visit. But here they are anyway:

- Someone told me that they say that [American] students who choose to do their study abroad in Australia do so because they don't want to actually live in a foreign culture. I can see why. For all its history as a former British colony (and there are plenty of "Poms" i.e. British folk), Australia feels much more American - big cars, big roads, and a lot of strip malls. The Gold Coast itself with its good weather, built up beach towns, theme parks, and retirees could be Florida.

- It is expensive. You'd have thought that living in Europe would have insulated us a bit from it but not so. Food prices were probably the biggest shock where even a bag or two of basics like cereal, sandwich fixings, etc. at the supermarket would easily set us back 60 Australian dollars (39 pounds, or 49 €). This might explain why Australia has one of the highest minimum wages in the world (~ 16 AUD). You almost always have to pay for internet, even Wi-fi, and it's usually capped. Does anyone even know anymore how much 20 MB gets you? Even when it is unlimited, service providers don't hesitate to block high bandwidth sites like Google maps, which, you know, could be useful for the people actually staying in the hotel. Probably the most egregious charge, however, was during our layover in Sydney airport. We had a connecting flight, and it cost 5.50 AUD per person to take the bus from the international terminal to the domestic one!?! The alternative, which we did consider, was an hour long walk along hot, smoggy roads with multiple lanes of traffic.

- As Rich likes to say, Aussies like to put an "ee" sound on the end of words. Common abbreviations we heard in the accent included: Brissie, nervy, pokies, rellies, and rashies. That's Brisbane, nervous, poker machines (and possibly casinos in general), relatives, and rash shirts, respectively, in Aussie-speak. Bonus: For those Americans out there, "thongs" in Australia are not the Sisqo-approved underwear, they are flip flops.

- The wildlife was awesome! We had some high expectations, but we got to see quite a few of the weird and wonderful creatures unique to Australia. We still couldn't tell you the difference between a kangaroo and wallaby, but who knew that wombats (mammals that look like rodents of unusual size) or echnidas (spiny anteaters) could be so funny and cute? Our only disappointments were not seeing a duck-billed platypus or many of the strange insects that inhabit the continent.