Traveling Vicariously

I take a lot of 'virtual' vacations. That is, whenever I feel the need to get away (which I did A LOT this past winter), I just go on-line and look up nice (usually warm and sunny) places to visit, and I spend a little time there, either 'touring', or 'shopping', or 'sipping drinks poolside', or 'strolling the beach'. And while it's certainly not the same as actually being there, it's enough to make me feel refreshed.
These past few days I've been traveling vicariously through my sister Diane. She and my brother-in-law Steve left for a Scotland/France/Netherlands trip on Saturday, and she very kindly has been sending me pictures.

My nephew, William, is studying for a term at the University of Glasgow, so their first stop was to visit him.


Then they will travel on to Paris, and from there on to Amsterdam as Steve has a work conference there.
I was thinking of going with them, I especially wanted to visit the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam, but the timing was bad for me. They left only two days after Sophie was born, and I didn't want to be taking off on a European vacation now. And Ray & I are trying to 'pare down' financially, and I think that a European vacation for me would not be paring down financially at all.
And I'm glad I didn't go for another reason, because Jayden is sick at home now, running a high fever on and off. I took him to the doctor yesterday and he said it's a virus that should run it's course in a few days. So I'm happy to be home here with my little man.

And at the same time I'm happy to be "traveling" once again while being stuck inside on this cold and rainy day (I know, I know, "April showers bring May flowers!" so I'll stop complaining about the weather now).
Come on, let's take to the sky now and begin our journey:

This food looks so good!

I think they serve beer warm in Europe, so I wouldn't like that at all. But Steve looks like he's enjoying it!

And I see that Diane found her beloved Pepsi!

Seeing pictures of them walking the streets in Scotland reminds me of walking the streets of Manhattan...







... and these pictures below especially remind me of Greenwich Village with the narrow and winding cobblestone streets, and all the quaint little specialty shops, galleries, and cafes.






But the trains in their subway system look like a far cry from the subway system of New York City:




















I'm hoping Diane will take you and I along to Paris! Look for it in my next post!