16: Big August Trip

16 years ago I went on my Big August Trip.

My Dad was working in Iraq at the time and my Mom and I wanted to see him. So, after months of planning and checking schedules, my Mom and I flew from Boston to London.

(Buckingham Palace)

We spent the day in London. It was the 60^th Wedding Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip – my Mom was a Royal Fan – being Canadian - and we had ordered tickets several months in advance to take a Private Tour of Buckingham Palace.

I had been to the Palace on Tours before, but not a Private Tour. We saw rooms that usually were closed off to the public, the Royal Stables, a 60^th Wedding Anniversary Exhibit as well as had High Tea in the backyard garden.

That night we flew from London to Kuwait and arrived early the next day where we met up with my Dad who had arrived from Iraq.

(Kuwaiti Towers)

We had a pre-scheduled Private Tour across Kuwait (including seeing several sights my Dad had seen when he was a Soldier during 1990-1991 Desert Shield/Storm. We went to the Al-Qurain Resistance Museum (where Kuwaiti Resistance fought the Iraqis during the War.) We also went inside the Kuwait Towers.

The next day I left Kuwait (my Parents stayed another day and then they flew to England and took the train up to Scotland where they went to the Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands.)

While they went to England and Scotland I went from Kuwait to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

(Ancient Marketplace – Cyprus)

I then went to Limassol, Cyprus and spent several days going around the Greek-Park of the Island with a Russian Friend of Mine. I tried to go to the Turkish-Occupied Part of the Island, but the tour was cancelled minutes before it was to start.

From Cyprus I went to Athens, Greece and then to Munich, Germany.

(Zugspitze Mountains – Germany)

I spent several days in Starnberg with a German Friend of mine. We went to the Zugspitze Mountains, swam in Lake Starnberg and a bunch of other fun things.

From Munich I flew to London where I met-up with my Parents at Heathrow. My Dad flew back to Iraq and my Mom and I flew back to Boston.

It was a lot of fun – especially since most of my planning and booking worked out well.

As I do with most of my trips (except when going to places like Russia where it’s Illegal for Foreigners to bring in Local Currency) I had pre-ordered a bunch of different Currencies that we would need for the whole trip that arrived at the house before we left.

I had British Pounds (for England and Scotland), Euros (for Germany and Greece), Kuwaitis Dinars (for Kuwait), UAE Dirhams (for the United Arab Emirates), Turkish Lira (for Turkish-Occupied Cyprus) and Cypriot Pounds (for Greek Cyprus.) I only had to exchange the Turkish Lira since I wasn’t able to go there.