The Happiest Place on Earth (Part III)- the Epcot Center

On the last day of the conference, we were done by early afternoon and were able to take advantage of the discounted "after 2:00" park tickets that are available to conference attendees and went to the Epcot Center.  Now this was the park that I was most excited to visit-- particularly the World Showcase so that I could take pictures.  Not quite like traveling to the countries themselves, but a fun way to practice taking pictures in some pretty exotic settings.   Lots of pictures in this post because I took over 150 pictures at the Epcot Center alone.  When I was younger, my dad used to say that I didn't know what I had seen on a trip until I got my film developed.  Still true now, and my friends know that traveling for me is primarily a photo safari...  Its always about the quest to take the picture that captures the spirit of the trip.

The International Flower and Garden Festival was going on while we were there and so there were some beautiful flowers and plants to see.

Great seeing flowers in bloom when it was still pretty winter-y in Utah when I left.

Love the reflection of the flowers in the water seen in the duck picture!

I took a look around the Pavilions in the first part of the park while on my way to see the World Showcase.  Really liked the special effects in the 3-D show, "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience"-- some of them kind of creepy, others gross, but very entertaining!


Below are some of my favorite pictures from the different countries in the World Showcase.  The first is the picture that I like best of all the pictures on the trip--because of the story it tells.  

Here are some others:

I tried to practice taking pictures of children playing in this fountain... but then decided that it would be better not to be arrested as a "creepy" lady taking pictures of other people's kids without their permission.  

I liked the architecture and details seen in Morocco and the next few pictures are from that country.

Since my boss is German, we were hoping to eat at the Biergarten buffet but weren't able to get reservations there until really late.  Since it was our last night and at least I needed to get back and pack for an early morning flight, I didn't necessarily want to eat that late and so didn't make the reservations.  We decided to meet in Germany at 7:00 anyway and go to the cafe next door to the restaurant that served bratwurst and more casual fare.  Doesn't it sound pretty cosmopolitan to be able to say:  "Let's meet at 7 in Germany" or send picture mails saying "I'm in France"?  So, we met at 7:00 in Germany but there weren't many tables by the fast food place, at least none big enough for all 6 of us.  So we did what any logical group would do and decided to head to China for dinner.

Of course, the sit-down restaurant in China was also full and wouldn't accept stand-by's either without reservations.   See, I told you that I would write more about the importance of making reservations early-- DO IT, even if you think you don't need to.  Since we were hungry and there were tables, we went to the Lotus Blossom-- a fast food Chinese restaurant.  Now this restaurant is the first EVER to get my 1-Star rating.  I would not go back there... not even if Colin Firth asked me there on a date!  I mean it... it was pretty bad.  Course, I would really wonder about Colin Firth if he ever took anybody there on a date.... Not the best restaurant to end our last night with-- good thing we were able to get gelatos when we got back to the hotel.  I think we need to go as a group to another Chinese restaurant just to have a "corrective dining experience" and forget about this one...

A few more pictures taken at Epcot.  We left the next day and our flights back were smooth and uneventful.  No long waits anywhere and we actually landed in Salt Lake City about 30 minutes early.  Nice to be home, but it was a fun, inspiring, and educational trip.