Orlando

The drive to Orlando wasn't exhausting, but we were dead tired because of the 24-hour long day. The Imperial Swan Hotel on S. Kirkman Rd was nothing fancy, but it was clean and quiet. We had a good sleep and didn't suffer from jet lag this time.

Since we'd already spent days and days in theme parks in Paris, L.A. and San Diego, we decided to visit none of the many in the Orlando area. Instead, we went to Downtown Orlando, which was still sleepy on Saturday morning. We took a stroll in Lake Eola Park, where there were only a couple of joggers and a squirrel.

Celebration was our next stop. It's a city with a population of 20,000, created by Disney in an attempt to re-create a small-town atmosphere. It's spotlessly clean, with a little lake in the center. It was amazing to see a sign post that said that alligators were neither to be fed nor harassed. We understood it as a chance to see a gator, so we grabbed a chair and waited for one to appear just in front of us. We weren't the only ones. There were other toursits waiting for a sighting, but gators were obviously completely disinterested and we didn't see any.

Kissimmee means 'Heaven's Place' in the language of the Calusa Indians. On the main street there are plenty of quirky little shops, and that's about it.

On the way back to the hotel we drove along US 192, a road full of cheap hotel chains, souvenir shops, restaurants and billboards. International Drive has all of that too, but the hotels looked like they were on the more expensive side. We had a pizza in a place where you eat all you can. And were we hungry!

We ended up outlet shopping. The Lake Buena Vista and The Prime Outlets were terrific. Although it wasn't exactly the beginning of the sale, I found real bargains. Back at the hotel, the boys went for a swim in the pool.