Margaret’s Song

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  There was a king in Thule,  True even to the grave;  To whom his dying mistress  A golden beaker gave.  At every feast he drained it,  Naught was to him so dear,  And often as he drained it,  Gush’d from his eyes the tear.  When death came, unrepining  His cities o’er he told;  All to his heir resigning,  Except his cup of gold.  With many a knightly vassal  At a royal feast sat he,  In yon proud hall ancestral,  In his castle o’er the sea.  Up stood the jovial monarch,  And quaff’d his last life’s glow,  Then hurled the hallow’d goblet  Into the flood below.  He saw it splashing, drinking,  And plunging in the sea;  His eyes meanwhile were sinking,  And never again drank he. “Margaret’s Song” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) in “Faust. Part I.”

. . . and we're back.

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What a week. My wife is taking her second Disney class at the University (required in her major) which included a study tour to all the Disney parks in Orlando. I got to tag along. Yes, CIU offers a class that does this. We even got to do a 5-hour walking tour behind the scenes at The Magic Kingdom. Amazing!

The short version: got sick Tuesday and spent all Wednesday and part of Thursday in hotel room so we missed many attractions we were supposed to see. The professor was good to work with us and let us rest when necessary. We left Orlando the day the park closed for COVID precautions.

Regardless, here are a few pics from when we arrived and later ventures out:








The Polynesian Lobby.


Space Mountain, where I almost died!


Haunted Mansion. Best. Ride. Ever.

Get that song stuck in your head!







Mission Mars Orange. I nearly died. No, really. The ride was designed with NASA scientists. Barf bags at every station. Look it up. As close to getting into space as I'm going to get, and don't regret it. But I nearly died.




Found a quiet spot to relax. No people!






No Bebers, ok Justin?

Disney Hollywood for a couple of hours


Update: The University has extended Spring Break for another week, so am working from home for a few days.

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