On the way out (and taking out some garbage)

[roguebanshee]

#2: Europe - not for me, but I'd like to accompany my kids, two of whom have never been there. Which parts of Europe would be up to them. If up to me, I'd just sit at a pub with a garden, and go get fish-n-chips for meals.

A lot of places to just sit in a pub with a garden especially in any decently sized city, where you can drink beer/wine/whatever while eating something good.

If you like beer Austria, Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary are all good places to go (and there's a bit of a rivalry between those nations as to who makes the best beer). As an alternative to a basic pub there's also many of the monestaries and castles which have what can be loosely translated as "beer restaurants" where they serve whatever the local brewery makes, many of them using the original recipes from whenever the monestary was founded. They also (usually) serve a decent meal. And most of them have a great view. Should you decide to go to Germany, I highly recommend trying both currywurst and schnitzel.

If you lean more towards wine you should add (not replace) France and Italy to the list of countries. You can find many local wineries if you tour the countryside and most of the owners of those smaller places tend to be quite open to anyone showing an interest in their wines. But if you want something to eat with the local wine and don't want to cook yourself, your best bet is to find a local restaurant and order both food and wine there.