阿公阿嫲從歐州回美國 My Parents

My parents returned from Europe after 2 cruises to Northern Europe. I had forgotten which flight my parents were flying in, so I had to wait at home all day yesterday. My dad finally called at 11:30pm and I rushed to the airport to pick them up.

Cruising is my father's favorite pastime and because of this hobby, I had become an expert on cruises because of all the research I had to do for him. On June 12, 2009, my parents boarded Holland America's MS Eurodam for a 10-day roundtrip cruise to Russia via Copenhagen with 4 friends. Then on June 22, 2009, they flew from Copenhagen to London. They had an overnight stay at a London Heathrow airport hotel, booked via Priceline. Then on June 23, 2009, they took a shuttle bus from London to Southampton and boarded Cunard's Queen Victoria for a 14-day cruise through northern Europe with 6 other friends. This would sound like a once-in-a-lifetime vacation for anyone, but my parents have been on these two cruise itineraries before. They just haven't tried the Eurodam (which they raved!) and Queen Victoria (which they said was a waste of money!) before, so they were eager to try out the new ships.

Anyways, as it turned out, my parents flew back to LA from London via Air New Zealand. I would never have guessed, but in April, my dad had found these inexpensive fares on-line and booked them. I think he did tell me about it, but the information completely escaped my mind.

My parents will be visiting us until Thursday, so it'll only be a 2-day visit. They will leave for Vancouver tomorrow afternoon. My sister lives in Vancouver. My parents split their time between Taipei, Vancouver, and traveling, using my house as intermittent stopover between their travels. So I actually see my parents quite often, but just never for a long period of time. Even though my parents' visit is short, my kids are always excited to see their Taiwan Grandpa and Grandma.

昨天阿公和阿嫲從倫敦飛回洛杉磯,可是我卻不知道他們什麼時候到? 找遍所有 email 資料及詢問了所有的相關人士, 都沒有人知道他們會坐哪一班飛機回洛杉磯。我只是覺得他們會晚上到(感覺好像阿公有告訴過我),可是還是不敢大意,整天在家等阿公的電話,哪裏都不敢去。最後阿公是在晚上十一點半來電話說已經出關了。我在二十五分鐘內火速的趕到機場,好在路上都沒車,一下子就到了,沒讓阿公阿嫲等太久! 阿公也好厲害,竟然是買 Air New Zealand 從倫敦飛回洛杉磯。現在回想起來,才記得阿公在四月份有提起他買到 Air New Zealand 的便宜票。是我自己忘記的。

阿公喜歡坐船旅遊。七十三歲的他自己會上網找便宜的票,然後再叫我幫他訂購。我還上網幫他找別人的郵輪旅遊報告。阿公都自己看 (英文的喔!),自己決定到了停靠港站之後,是要用自助方式還是要花點錢透過船公司出遊。他玩出心得來,我也變成郵輪旅遊專家了!

阿公阿嫲明天下午就飛回溫哥華。 我妹她住溫哥華,如果阿公阿嫲他們沒事都會回溫哥華去幫我妹看看小孩。溫哥華的生活機能對退休的台灣人來講非常的好! 阿公阿嫲整年就這樣的飛來飛去,不是回臺北就是去旅遊。有空就去溫哥華小住一番。三不五十就一定會經過洛杉磯來我這兒住上幾天 (轉機嘛!), 所以阿公阿嫲他們是常來洛杉磯的, 只是停留的時間都不會很長。這一次, 阿公阿嫲他們只待了二天二夜就回溫哥華去了!