Issue #20…
Irish Dreaming
Just for the fun of it, as you think about the trip, click on this link, close your eyes and dream a bit….
http://www.ziplo.com/irish.htm
Congrats to “Y”
One of our group, Y Nhu Pham, has her first big time job!...as an accountant for (I think I have the name correct) Midwest Cellular. AND.. her new employer is going to give her the traveling days off. Not bad for a new hire! Methinks Y laid on the charm…at least that’s how she handles me.
Your Euro’s Enroute
Keith’s ordered our Euros and pounds and I’m sure that as soon as they come in he’ll be contacting you.
From Keith: I will let each person know by email or telephone the amount they owe
and they can send me the money. After I have
received our payment from our travelers, those near by can pick up the currency at the bank, at my home or what ever arrangements we can make. I will hold the others and give it to them at our next get together.
Bob and Jan Chipman whale watching ..(a good ways north and west of London)
The “Longest Day”….
Just to prepare you a bit, July 3rd will be one of the longest and strangest days of your life. You’ll rise early, get to the airport…wait… fly to New Jersey..debark…wait…get on a bigger plane to Shannon….sit…fidget…
All the while you’ll be asking yourself…where am I? What time is it? Is that really the Atlantic Ocean down there? Are they going to serve us any food? Is there still a line for the restroom?
In short, you’ll be delightfully discombobulated. The first day of a trip to Europe is sort of a fog of airport gates, seat assignments, and wondering if you left the iron on back home. By the time July 4th arrives you may regret that General Washington ever won that war. It’d be so much easier if Great Britain were still right next door.
But…that’s the joy of getting there. If it was close and easy then everybody would be there. And, at the risk of repeating myself, here are some tips to get you through the day…
…Bring something to read but make sure it’s not very important that you remember it.
…Drink plenty of fluids. Despite recent efforts by the airlines to pump more moisture into the cabins, the air is still dry and dry air tires you. Don’t worry: not everything you take in at the altitude will need to be let out.
…Get a good night’s sleep on the two days before we depart then do your best to rest wherever you are..on the plane, in the airport, on the bus… Our goal is to be in good shape for Limerick’s tour.
…Think upon the long waits and sits as a good chance to know your fellow travelers. We really are a pretty cool bunch.
…Relax! We’re on vacation!
Two of our Chicago-area travelers as they explored Alaska last year. And no, Dublin won't be that chilly.
Check out the Outhouse
If you know me, you know I’m always promoting a play. This time it’ll be three of our travelers: Erich Nobis, Hannah Stephens, and Wendy Love appearing in Privies & Party Lines, Romance & Rumble Seats, a project of our Lincoln Land Community College Class. Erich, Hannah & Wendy along with five other classmates have logged over 200 hours interviewing “seniors” residents of Central Illinois about their lives and times growing up, falling in love, going to one-room school houses, dating, living through the wars and the Depression, etc. And another of our fellow travelers, Maxine Crawford, was among those interviewed.
It’s a great show and it’s free of charge. In case you’re interested in attending, here’s the schedule:
May 17th, 7 p.m. Chapin Christian Church
May 18th, 2 p.m. St. Peter’s Church of Arenzville.
News Bits from the Group….
---I’ve been hearing some interesting packing stories already…and a few choice ones from the spouses and relatives of our travelers .. I won’t share those right now.
---The ailing among us seem to be healing.
---I was politely read the riot act by a lady who called to sign up her grandson for the trip. When I told her that we’d passed the deadline she said, “Yes, but you can fix things like that, can’t you?”
---Maxine Crawford recently returned from her Texas tour.
It was a big day for the Stephens family as well as the rest of us as Hannah and Nick's mother Sheila (in the yellow) was awarded a top teaching award recently. (That's Jeff Stephens crowding into the picture in the foreground.)
A Word About Couriers…
That’s their official name… “courier.” They’re the person who’ll meet us at the airport in Shannon and will accompany us on the entire trip, securing our lodging arrangements, answering our many questions, giving directions, and generally being our guide to the trip. My guess is that he or she will be British. These couriers are an interesting lot…it’s a seasonal job for most of them so they’re often students or teachers.
I look back with much nostalgia at the various couriers we’ve had over the years… a very large German lady who was a pre-med student doing summer work. Built along the lines of a German tank, Elga followed the old European tradition of not shaving her legs. When she put on hose her legs looked like a map of the Ozarks. ..and when she raised her arm to point out a landmark..well… the Ozark was well-foliaged. Elga spent our entire trip through Italy shouting at our Italian bus driver, a hapless old fellow who understood neither English nor Elga’s German. I think he was being paid by the hour and saw no need to rush anything.
Then Champaign Dave, our guide to the Soviet Union. They seemed to know him everywhere we went and we found that his nickname was well-earned.
One of my favorite couriers was a theatre director from London….cool guy. He often diverted us from our scheduled itinerary because he had a better idea. We got a tour of the Royal Shakespeare Company on the Thames that was much better than any guide we could have hired for the day.
Then there was our little Spanish guide to London, Paris, and Madrid. About four feet tall, Gracia could bully her way through any hotel system and wrestle any bus driver.
Linda, an Irish girl who was our tour guide to London…clueless but sweet.
And of course there’s a string of couriers whose names I’ve long forgotten..but our favorite was Richard Taylor, a Brit from Brighton, England. He’s been our courier on two different tours and I’m now the godfather of his middle child, Freja. Needless to say, our relationship has been quite wonderful over the years and he’s been over here to visit us a few times on Thanksgiving. I’d try to get him again but he’s a flight attendant for Virgin Airlines and his wife works for Swiss Air. Richard’s been twice-voted the top blues harmonica player in Great Britain and when he interviewed at Virgin, he played his harmonica. (Virgin Airlines is always looking for something off-the-wall, and that’s Richard.)
On one hand, some of our trip’s success depends upon the skill and personality of our courier…and on the other hand, we’ve never had a bad one. …hairy armpits and all.
They usually “jump companies” during the tour season, switching their “Passports Tours” coat for an “EF” or a “Globus” outfit between tours. Not terribly well-paid and depending a great deal on tops, but they do have what must be an enjoyable job.
Not to worry you..but this is fellow journeyer Erich Nobis being hauled off on a stretcher, a part of his LLCC theatre class's accident reenactment. And you think you have rough days? He had to spend the morning strapped to this thing.
Hey! You getting excited? I am!
E and I......This is from a gig that "E" and I did for Habitat for Humanity. (Sorry, but this shot was taken just before she whipped off that conservative coat revealing the Las Vegas showgirl outfit, climbed on top of the piano and belted out the greatest hits from "Wicked." (Not bad for a Methodist on a Sunday.) 
Wendy starring in Privies & Party Lines, Romance & Rumble Seats
