This past holiday season we had decided to fly home, but to split the holidays for individual family events. We flew Etihad which meant flying from Jeddah to Abu Dhabi (over 2 hours going East) then a 14+ hour nonstop direct flight to Toronto. After a day there we split our itineraries until New Year before flying back to the Magic Kingdom.
It was a long flight (over 14 hours in the air) even travelling via Etihad's business class, although the "glasses" of fermented liquid did help.
Our initial time in Toronto was only a day before we went our separate ways. However seeing the Xmas decorations finally gave us a seasonal feel as in the Magic Kingdom there is no notion of the holiday season.
From the Sheraton downtown Toronto it was an easy walk to the Eaton Centre and enter into the holiday spirit despite the crowds doing their last minute shopping.
From Toronto Joy flew to Philadelphia to visit her family while I picked up Michael to fly to Aspen, Colorado to spend Xmas skiing.
We will start with some images of Joy's family visit.
Before Joy was to meet up with the skipper again, a father/son holiday trip to Aspen, Colorado took place.
At the end of a day of good skiing clearly its time for apres ski and to explore the town of Aspen, a great ski town. Interesting being a town of ski bums and celebrities all mixed up and co existing. The Sky Hotel where we stayed was a short walk to the base of the gondola, had a great bar & eats, a nice hot tub & warm pool, and was at the edge of the main town, easy walking. Unfortunately the skipper "did a number on his left knee", more on that in the next Blog, so was only able to ski one day (a great day while it lasted) while Mike fortunately was able to enjoy the skiing for three days without a mishap. Aspen mountain was a great "ski hill" - however no green or easy runs, only steep blue runs and black diamond (most difficult) - I suspect the steep inclines, requiring frequent turns & edging to control speed, was not intended for "old knees"!
Time to leave Aspen, a great trip aside from the "mishap", to return to Toronto. As this was a short trip, a seasonal family trip, there was little time for much else. Although the skipper was able to sqeeze in a one day trip to London, and have dinner and catch up with some dear friends (Richie & Joan, Matt, Bob & Connie, and Anita for dinner), I apologize to those I was not able to see. I plan to return in April for a more extended trip and hope to catch up with other friends & colleagues that were missed on this trip due to time constraints. Joy was to return for New Year's Eve, so that Mike could join us in bringing in the New Year. Although Toronto City Hall did not have the extravagant fire works we saw in Dubai last year it was very special.
New Year's day came and time to catch our flight back to the Magic Kingdom. Due to the time zone differences, and a four hour stopover in Abu Dhabi, we would not return until January 3rd, 2013.
Fortunately flying into the night, and having seats that folded into beds, after dinner, and some fermented refreshments, we were able to sleep for at least half of our 14 hour flight back.
A memorable trip and a celebration of life.
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