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| Train station to the left, bedrooms to the right, kitchen behind the door... |
We need to take the next day to do laundry and have some down time. The kids are better travelers than I’d hoped, and some of that is due to giving them a chance to absorb their new surroundings each time they change, even if that means that we start our visit by not leaving the room for a day.
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| Almost as common as McDonalds |
Another unexpected thing is how busy we are. I was so prepared for the kids to be bored and whiny that we packed too many toys – card games and such - for bad days. I thought Aidan would while away the evenings with his own blog posts, but there just hasn’t been time. We've had constant good weather. We are basically sleeping in, and then we are busy all day. We eat dinner much later than we used to, and when we come home we unwind and head to bed. So I hope travel is the best schooling, because I thought Aidan would be learning keyboarding, and that just isn’t happening. You might like to point out that I am hogging the laptop, but I am doing my blogging at night after the kids are zonked.
Europe, I know you are all into maximizing space and conserving resources, but what is up with your laundry? Laundromats are practically non-existant. I have only seen one dryer at the hotel back in Sarlat. In Friedrichshafen, the staff said that there was no such thing as a laundromat in their town. Our Paris flat had only a washer and everything was hung to dry. Here in London we have a combo unit that holds between 1/2 to 1/3 a regular load. It takes 4 hours to "wash" and 3 hours to "dry" and when the clothes come out, they are as in the same condition as those fingertip towels at restaurants - hot and steamy. Maybe "clean" in the sense that water has run through them as they tumble for the last 7 hours. But not exactly clean in the sense of stains actually being removed.
I am going to break the timeline here, because I am typing this post in Ireland. Our first week here, we had the same experience with the all-in-one unit as in London. The second week, in a different apartment, we were stunned. The clothes got dry. 2 hours to wash, 2 to dry. Not only did they dry, but they practically were melted to the walls of the machine. One more week remains, and I am resigned to whatever fate the last washer gives us. The trip has been hard on the clothes, and I will be throwing out everything that is white and light. Every dollar we spent on trying to get a mix and match travel wardrobe was worth it, though. The clothes have paid for themselves by being able to be worn twice and drying quickly and relatively wrinkle-free. Oh and for Aidan, I have found that plaid shorts can be worn over and over and only have to be washed about once - which is only slightly less often that Aidan has been washed himself.
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| Cute, cute pub nearby |
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