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Reflections on Galaxy's Edge

8/14/2022

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As summer comes to a close, I could not wrap it up without sharing some of the highlights from one of my bucket list destinations, Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, also known as Galaxy's Edge at the Disney Parks. The first week of June my whole family took a much delayed and much anticipated trip to California, including two days at the Disney Parks. Now that I have had some time to process the trip and reminisce fondly, I want to share some of the highlights, thoughts, and experiences from that trip.
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Batuu at night is definitely worth a visit. The lighting is incredible!
Overall Impressions
  • Walking into Batuu was incredible. I thought I might get a little emotional, and I believe there is video confirmation somewhere of my face contorting in odd ways while my emotions made their way to the surface.
  • No amount of pictures could convey the level of detail and theming all around this area of the park. I also intentionally tried not to have my phone out to take photos and video all the time to better focus on immersing myself in the moment and the environment. Most of what I saw will live happily in my memory.
  • Coming back to Batuu at night was a great way to experience it in a different way. I highly recommend it.
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The Disney PhotoPass gave us super fun photos like this!
The Rides
  • We missed Rise of the Resistance at rope drop, so instead headed to Smuggler's Run. One of the benefits of doing Smuggler's Run first was the shorter line, but mainly crowd free viewing and pictures in front of the Millennium Falcon!
  • The queue for Smuggler's Run was a pure joy, especially getting a close up of both the outside and inside of the Falcon.
  • We rode Smuggler's Run twice: The first time was with my kids, who were the pilots and crashed us a lot. The second time was at night after the kids were in bed, and I got to be the pilot who makes the jump to lightspeed. If you are a Star Wars fan, the right side pilot seat is a must. I may have vocalized my emotions a little when pulling the hyperspace lever.
  • Rise of the Resistance was the best theme park ride I have ever experienced. The way the queue and the ride work seamlessly together provides an immersive fantasy experience like no other. I don't really have any good pictures from Rise of the Resistance because the storyline was so engrossing.
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Exploring the inside of the Falcon was a highlight of the ride.
Experiences
  • ​Shopping in the marketplace was another immersive experience, as well as a magnet for my wallet. I avoided the temptations this time, since I had already spent money on building a lightsaber, but my son walked away with a new pet Lothcat. Once again, the level of detail and in-universe feeling was pervasive, down to the shop owners and the type of merchandise in the stores you cannot find anywhere else. On my next visit, I have my eye on you Kowakian Lizard monkey and Dejarik game table...
  • Between my son and I, we experienced both the droid building and lightsaber building experiences. My son had a great time building his droid and was very excited to carry it around the park and hear it talk to other droids. I had a great time building the lightsaber and once again got a little emotional at a certain point toward the end of the experience. There was really a lot of dust getting in my eyes during this whole visit...
  • The character interaction was also a highlight, especially for my son. He got to talk to Boba Fett for a bit, who is a unique character to Disneyland for now, and we both followed Kylo Ren and some stormtroopers around for a bit.
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Go ahead and take all of my money, glorious Star Wars marketplace.
Food
  • We ate lunch at the Ronto Roasters quick service restaurant, and the wrap was delicious. The only complaint I had for the whole experience here was that our large group was not able to find anywhere good to sit.
  • I also, of course, had to try the milk stand and took a little taste of both the blue and green milk. The blue milk is definitely better. I also couldn't resist the souvenir bantha cup, because I'm a nerd like that.
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Blue bantha milk is super refreshing on a hot summer day.
Final Thoughts
  • Mostly, I can't wait to go back. There were several places and experiences I missed or did not get to stay and soak up because of our limited time. I would love to explore Dok Ondar's shop more, and we didn't get a reservation for Oga's Cantina unfortunately.
  • I could easily spend the better part of a day in this part of the park alone just wandering around and exploring the little details.
  • This experience was a dream come true as a lifelong Star Wars fan. A friend of mine described his experience as his childhood come to life, and I could not agree more. I loved everything about being on Batuu and do not feel ashamed or embarrassed that I cried grown man tears at a theme park.
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Top 5 Future Travel Destinations

10/10/2021

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Earlier this year when I started a series of travel posts, I had one last post in mind. Then, our new baby was born in June and time has slipped away, just like travel over the past year-and-a-half...

This one last travel post (for now, at least) just kept creeping back up into my mind, however, so I could not let it die. In fact, this post is probably the one I have been most looking forward to writing about since I started a series of travel posts.

So, to finish off my series of travel blogs, here are the top five locations I would like to visit, in ascending order.
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Tomás Del Coro from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
5. Galaxy's Edge
As a massive Star Wars nerd (see any number of past posts), Galaxy's Edge/Batuu is a must visit. I have watched just about every video tour of the themed land and researched everything I can about what to do, where to go, and what to eat. The only thing I refuse to watch are videos of the rides, so that I do not have the surprise ruined. As of now, this is the only place on my Top 5 list that is a planned trip (June 2022, Disneyland, California). I will probably shed some tears and have no shame about it.
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Michael Schweppe, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
4. Western USA National Parks
I admit that this "location" is a bit of a cheat because there are several locations grouped into one generic label here, but it is my website, and I will make my own rules. I would love to visit any of the national parks in the western United States, but a few that are particularly high on the list are Redwood National Forest, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon, and Yosemite. If I am honest, there are a couple of Star Wars (Redwoods) and Indiana Jones (Arches) connections that make some of these sites extra appealing, but mostly they are such iconic parts of the US I have yet to visit, and I want to experience their grandeur.
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Muhamed Ayman, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
3. Egypt
For the top three locations on my list, I have to leave the United States and start to tap into my love for Ancient History as well as my love for movie-related destinations. Egypt is a no-brainer when it comes to bucket list sites to visit. For someone who considered a career in Egyptology for a brief minute, I would be sad to never have a chance to visit. Not only would I love to see the Pyramids and the Sphinx, but I would love to explore Thebes and Roman Alexandria, as well. I am still undecided on the appeal of riding a camel, however...
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Corrado Lamberti, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
2. Petra
Petra is the perfect melding of historical and movie-related sites. Long before I even knew Petra was a real place, I watched Indiana Jones discover the Holy Grail here, and I was immediately hooked. Now, after studying more about ancient history and the site of Petra, my desire to visit has only increased. I look forward to seeing the amazing stonework and architecture, and also probably bringing my own personal Raiders March soundtrack as I head out the narrow canyon away from the Treasury building.
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David Broad, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
1. New Zealand
I do not honestly know whether New Zealand would have made this list before the Lord of the Rings movies happened, but once those masterpieces of modern cinema graced our collective consciousness, New Zealand immediately skyrocketed onto my bucket list. Then, once I found out that the Hobbiton film set has been preserved and turned into a tourist destination, no other place in the world can top this location on my list. I absolutely must get here sometime in my life. To walk past Bag End, have a pint and a meal at the Green Dragon; these are the moments of legend, and to know that I too can experience that legend leaves me chomping at the bit. Oh yeah, the rest of New Zealand is supposedly pretty beautiful as well. 

I would love to hear about other travel bucket lists! Where do you desperately want to go but have not yet been?
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A Big, Wide World: My Favorite Countries

4/21/2021

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As I was thinking about other travel topics to write about, I naturally went to my favorite places to visit, especially because it can easily follow the list format of the last post. I have had the privilege to travel to many different countries in the world thanks to parents who encouraged and instilled a love of travel from an early age, so I decided to start my series of "favorite places" posts with one about my favorite countries. I narrowed my list down to the top 4, so here they are starting with number four...
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PictureWow, I am so young in this picture...
4. Norway
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I had the opportunity to visit Norway all the way back in 2006 on a cruise in the Baltic Sea. I was immediately impressed by the amazing scenery, and of course the Viking stuff. Everything was so green, and the fjords heading into Oslo were some of the most beautiful waterways I have ever witnessed. Let's be honest though, the real appeal for me in Norway was the history. Vikings are pretty cool, and a visit to the Viking museum in Oslo resulted in some amazing views of actual Longships.

3. Greece
I struggled a bit with where to put Greece on this list because I have visited multiple times (college study trip, honeymoon, family cruise), and every time it is amazing. The people are friendly, the food is fantastic, and the ruins, oh, the ruins, make my heart leap for joy and my legs outpace all of my traveling companions. Greece has a vibrant culture, so many romantic spots, and my all time favorite international cuisine (Fun fact: gyros in Greece are made with pork instead of lamb meat, and they are extra delicious. Also, they stuff the gyros with fries. Enough said).
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I could sit and admire this view all day.
2. Peru
When my family first discussed taking a trip to Peru together, I was excited for Machu Picchu, but I did not know much more. Thankfully, Peru did not disappoint, and in fact blew past all of my expectations and even surpassed expectations I didn't even know were possible. There was something magical about the whole country that I cannot quite express, but we were able to experience coastal country, mountainous jungle, and dry desert all in one trip, and each location had its own distinct history and flair, while still remaining Peruvian. I was able to try so many new foods in Peru (guinea pig, alpaca, ceviche, to name a few), and everything was unique and flavorful. And of course, Peru has some ancient history, which is enough to endear me to any location (just in case you missed that trend in the last two locations). I cannot recommend a trip to Peru enough.
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Cusco might be one of my favorite cities in the world. It is a magical blend of ancient and modern.
1. Italy
In what should come as a surprise to no one, Italy is my most favorite country to visit in the world (for now, at least). Besides the fact that I have spend the majority of my adult life studying the history of this country, the clearest evidence for me is that I continue to visit Italy almost every other year, and even visit the same spots, and it never gets old. There is always something new to see or experience, especially when it comes to recent excavations and Roman ruins (yes, every single location on this list has some sort of ancient history connection; it's basically a prerequisite to even make this list). Italian food is wonderful and Italian gelato even better, and you cannot find better Margherita pizza than in Naples. Everything in Italy is a winning combination.
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The Pantheon: This place never disappoints, nor does the gelateria about two blocks away.
Any other favorite countries out there? Where have you visited and loved?
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Top Travel "Moments"

3/19/2021

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Today would have marked the first day of the 2021 Parkway Italy Trip and another round of great times and great experiences for both teachers and students. As a result, I have been feeling the loss of travel over the past year extra hard.

Thankfully, travel memories are some of the most vivid and memorable experiences in life, and I have been reminiscing about some of my favorite travel memories to help ease the loss. I even felt inspired to fill the void with a series of travel-related posts on this site, mainly to remind myself of all the reasons I love to travel, but also perhaps to inspire memories in others.

First up, I want to share a list of some of my top travel "moments." I wish I could give a scientific reason for why I chose these moments, but the best criteria I can give you are that they impacted me on a deep emotional, intellectual, or spiritual level. For some of these moments I have pictures, but many of them happened before the advent of digital photography. Hopefully I can paint the picture well enough to help recreate the experience. This is not a ranking; rather, I am presenting this list in chronological order throughout my life.

1. Riding the TGV high speed train between Paris and London
I could not tell you what age or grade I was when this happened, other than it was during elementary school, but I can describe for you exactly what I remember while staring out the window as the French countryside went speeding by at a velocity I only imagined in my toy train sets. I tried following the trees as we sped by, but it quickly became impossible. I could also tell you how much smoother the ride was in France compared to the terrible rails once we arrived in England (that one is for my French friends). For a young boy, who was as much into trains as most young boys are, the experience of riding the fastest train in the world at the time was as close to dreams coming true as I could imagine at the time.

2. Spider shower in rural Mexico
The summer before entering 7th grade I attended a mission trip to a small church camp in the desert outside Juarez, Mexico. The goal of the trip was to do some construction work on some new buildings at the camp. I think we worked for a total of 3 days at the camp and slept in sleeping bags on the floor of a small church nearby. The moment that is seared into my memory, however, is the first night we had to use the showers at the church. I was filthy from a day's worth of dust and sweat, but I refused to enter that shower. There was no curtain, a bucket of water, dribbles instead of a stream, and spiders crawling out of the shower head. My mom was one of the chaperones on the trip, and if not for her forcing me while holding a towel up as a shower curtain, I would never have stepped foot in there. In short, this was the first time I experienced culture shock, and at my age it profoundly impacted me, so much so that I almost refused to ever take a trip like that again. While not a flowers and sunshine kind of moment, I do not know whether I would be the same person I am today without the cultural experiences from this trip.

3. Mycenae and the Iliad
In college I had the privileged experience of spending two weeks in Italy and Greece for class credit. At the time, I was also starting to get into Greek and Roman history even more and decided it was time to read the Iliad in full. I took my copy on the trip for the long bus rides and spent my free moments eating up the Iliad for the first time. On one of these bus rides to the site of ancient Mycenae I was engaged in reading the Iliad when I looked up and there in front of me was the Lion's Gate at the entrance to Mycenae. It was one of those moments where people say that the pages come to life. The characters I was reading about were suddenly real to me in a tangible way. I often credit that moment to my life taking a turn to pursuing Greek and Roman culture as a career.
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Man, we were young...
4. Sunset dinner on Mykonos
In one of those classic romantic honeymoon kind of stories, one of the highlights of our honeymoon in Greece was a sunset dinner right on the water on the island of Mykonos. Fresh seafood, live musicians, a sunset over the Aegean Sea, and the romance of a honeymoon all came together for a fantastic travel moment. There were definitely a lot of moments on this trip, but this dinner lives in my memory as a moment of beauty, love, and joy. Also, when else can you get away with wearing linen pants....
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Yes, that is full Indiana Jones gear.
5. Hiking Machu Picchu
Our family trip to Peru in 2012 is one of the highlights of my life, but we can save more on that for a future post. For this post, there are very few travel moments that beat sitting at the top of Machu Picchu and taking in the amazing view with my favorite person. Also, what a perfect excuse to bust out my Indiana Jones garb! I felt every bit the part as I traipsed around the ruins. The beauty, historical significance, and amazing location of Machu Picchu all came together for an unforgettable moment. Highlight of my life for sure!

Coming soon: Top Places I have visited!
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NYC 2019

7/28/2019

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The highlight of this summer was a trip to New York City without the kids! The last time I was in NYC was in 2002 for one day on a road trip stop with some college friends. It was definitely time to visit again.

The idea for this trip began last year around this time when I discovered that the American Classical League, a professional organization of Latin and Greek teachers, was holding their 100th anniversary summer institute in New York City. I also knew that they offered a lot of scholarships to first time attendees, so I started the ball rolling on applying and hoping I might receive one of them. We had also been saving credit card points to pay for some sort of trip and began planning how we might use them for this trip. Thanks to the help of some generous recommendations from colleagues, I won a scholarship and the dream became a reality.
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​The conference was a fantastic experience, and I hope to attend one again in the future. I was able to reconnect with some colleagues from graduate school, attend several excellent sessions that will benefit my students, and listen to a panel of fairly famous authors who write in the worlds of Ancient Greece and Rome. Most importantly, I got several fresh ideas that make me excited to head back to school in a couple weeks.
In addition to my scholarship we were able to use my airline miles from several past Italy trips to get Melissa a free flight and credit card points to extend our stay past the conference. Of course, Melissa jumped at the opportunity to go to New York City, and obsessively began planning her Broadway theater experience while I was doing conference stuff. She managed to attend 4 musicals and 1 play in three days while I was conferencing, and I was very impressed with her accomplishments. Fortunately, I was able to sneak in a couple shows as well, including Mean Girls and Hadestown, this year's Tony winner for best musical. We had been unsure about Hadestown because ticket prices kept rising, but we bought some right before the Tony's and the subsequent skyrocketing of tickets. The tickets were not cheap, and we sat in the very last row, but the show was worth it. It was a thrill to see the story of Orpheus and Eurydice portrayed with such art and originality. If/when it comes to St. Louis, I foresee a class field trip.
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I love museums, so naturally I could not miss the world class museums in New York City. The two big ones on my list were the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural History. I went to the Met on the first day of the trip with a group of other teachers and spent several hours exploring as much of the museum as I could. I focused on a lot of the ancient art, obviously, but there were a lot of other great galleries also. I could definitely spend a week exploring everything there and still not see everything.

The Museum of Natural History was a great stop as well, with the most impressive galleries being the various types of animal life. I also had to visit the Easter Island head to have a little Night at the Museum moment.
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Finally, I cannot talk about a trip to New York City without discussing the amazing architecture. Everywhere you turn there is a unique building to explore, both old and new. Much of our time in NYC was just spent walking around and exploring the various neighborhoods. It is overwhelming how big the city is and how diverse the experiences are around the city. From wandering the streets and open markets of Chinatown to the hipster scene in Brooklyn to the modern architecture and living space along the High Line walking path between Chelsea and Hudson Yards to the lights, tourists, and excess of Times Square, there were so many different and amazing places to explore. The best way to show everything is through some pictures.
Our trip was a lot of fun with many great experiences and memories, but mostly it was worthwhile for some time spent with my favorite person and no kids! This was the first time we had done any extended travel together in the five years since we have had kids, and it was incredible. I will be talking about this trip for a long time!
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Spring '19 Part I

4/21/2019

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I have been quiet for a while, but it has been a spring for the ages and writing has been low on the priority list until now. This spring has been so eventful, in fact, that I cannot even fit the excitement into one post. I will just have to leave this one with a tease for more to come.

The first excitement of the spring was something I am very privileged to do every two years for my job: travel to Italy with students! This year was my fourth trip to Italy since I have been teaching, and my colleagues and I have worked hard to create a trip that is memorable and meaningful for our students. The result is a great trip, and our students consistently come back raving about the experience. For us teachers, the trip is essentially the same every time, which I just take as a challenge to search for new experiences. This trip was no exception.
One of our first and most important stops is the ancient city of Pompeii. Two-thirds of our first year Latin curriculum is set in Pompeii, so it is a must visit. This year I made a short trek outside the city walls to a brand new place, the Villa of the Mysteries. This site is famous because of the fresco painting on the right. The painting likely depicts some of the rites associated with the Eleusinian Mystery cult, but it is also stunning to view. The figures are life size and incredibly detailed, and the colors are very vibrant. It was a worthwhile walk and a great way to start the trip.
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The past couple of trips we have done a boat ride around the island of Capri. The first time the weather was terrible, and I thought the boat was going to capsize, the second time I battled a bit of seasickness because of choppy water, but this time I decided to make a bold move and go to the top of the boat. The weather was fantastic, the view was glorious, and the experience was totally worth taking a little risk.
One way to make something familiar new is to experience it in different light conditions. I have seen Trajan's Column several times, but because of our hotel's central location we took a walk past the column at night with full lighting effects. I was excited to catch something familiar in a fresh way.
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Speaking of our hotel's location, all of us teachers were thrilled to have a hotel located right in the heart of Rome for the first time. We were only a few blocks from the Piazza Venezia and the Roman Forum, and to top it off, our hotel had a beautiful balcony with a panoramic view of the city. The picture below does not do the full experience justice, but it was a highlight and a wonderful new experience.

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What better way to try new experiences than with food! I have spent my whole life with a distaste for mushrooms, despite many attempts to try them. One of the dinners during our trip was a series of classic Italian pizzas, including a mushroom pizza. I was peer pressured by my colleagues to try the pizza, and I actually liked it. I, of course, had to send this picture to my wife to prove that I actually tried mushrooms and enjoyed them. I am now venturing into trying mushrooms in other contexts as well. Once again, a little risk paid off!
It can sometimes feel easy to take this trip and great opportunity for granted or complain about having to visit the same places every time, but I have learned to be very intentional about looking for two things: 1) all the new experiences I listed above and many more 2) the joy and wonder of the students experiencing all of these sites for the first time. I have so many pictures with students that tell the story of their own wonderful journeys, full of smiles, awe, and wonder. The students make the experience new every time! 
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Travel Time

3/13/2019

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The time has rolled around again to embark upon great adventure for Spring Break in Italy with high school students. This trip happens every other year and always brings its share of excitement, nerves, and challenges. As one of the leaders of the trip, I always describe the experience to people who ask as "Fun Work." It is a huge privilege to be able to do this trip, but it also takes a mental and physical toll.
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My least favorite part about these trips is leaving my family for 10 days. Fortunately, (and also unfortunately, I suppose), my kids have been sick the last two days so I have been able to stay home and hang out with them for some extra hours before I leave. Today I read them a book I bought on the last trip to Rome all about the city of Rome and told them all about the places I will be visiting. They especially enjoyed the pictures of a bus like I will be riding on. 
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This is my fourth time taking this tour of Italy, but it never gets old. I always see each trip with the fresh eyes of all the students, which makes the experience new every time. So, excuse me while I go finish packing. Look for some posts about the trip when I return!
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