It feels good to be home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s what we have taken to calling Oxford. Yes, Abilene is still technically home for us, but after a week travelling in mainland Europe, arriving back at the ACU house on Woodstock felt like returning to my comfort place. Others may feel differently, but I find traveling abroad to be stressful. There are great and memorable moments to be sure, but even during my third semester abroad I find myself dealing with frequent stress over travel arrangements…
finding the right bus\/train\/taxi that will get us to the correct address for our hotel\/apartment…
making it to train stations and airports on time so as to make your scheduled train…
hopping off one leg of a 9 hour train trip with only 3 minutes before the next leg of your train leaves the station on a different platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tara gets frustrated at the amount of worry I bring on these trips. She’s right that I worry too much, and my own stress creates a pall that impacts her enjoyment of our travels. It’s something I’m working on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This might all make it sound as if Fall Break was simply a bunch of stress and disappointment, which is not true. We had fun. Paris was great, though we didn’t make it to Versailles as Tara had hoped. For me, Lucerne was the high point of the trip. We had two full days of great sightseeing, including a trip to the top of Mount Pilatus, a literal “high point” near Lucerne. In Vienna, we got standing room tickets to the Vienna Philharmonic. I stayed through the first half, but left at intermission with Tara to head back to our apartment. Theo stayed for the entirety, and in the evening we went back to the grand concert hall to hear the Vienna Mozart Orchestra. All in all, sightseeing in Vienna was a disappointment. We didn’t have enough time to do all of the things that we intended to do, and it’s hard to fit in city sightseeing when you schedule two concerts to attend and have only one full day in the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve posted pictures on Facebook of our visit to Paris<\/a>, Lucerne<\/a>, and Vienna<\/a> for family and friends who want to see pictures of sights we visited. Our Study Abroad students have less than two weeks before we are traveling as group to the Lake District for a week-long excursion. Prior to this, our group has two days devoted to a C.S. Lewis lecture and excursion to his home near Oxford, a Saturday football match in Reading, and our regular slate of academic classes. In addition to doing all of these things, I’m picking up my next leg of my Thames River Ramble tomorrow, a 15 mile journey from Maidenhead to Staines-on-Thames. The journey will include a trip through Windsor, a part of the ramble I am extremely excited about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will close with one word about something that has made the last two weeks special. Ten years ago, my son, Theo, was in his last year of middle school. He arrived a few days before our Fall Break so that we could enjoy traveling together around Europe. It’s a special thing to have a son who clearly enjoys spending time with his parents as a 24 year old. Tonight while eating dinner, Tara asked Theo what his favorite memory will be of our Fall Break trip. An aspiring French horn player, his answer is what I expected: “Getting to hear the Vienna Philharmonic will be my most memorable experience of this trip.” I’m happy he was able to have this experience, and that Tara and I have been able to travel with him. While we are excited for him to return to his life back in Abilene, we will miss having him around. He makes me proud. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Return home<\/a>…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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