Lets not forget that vacations are also much more liberal there too. My husband is from Europe and when he came here to live, he was shocked to see that we only get an average of 2 weeks vacation. In Russia, the minimum was 4 weeks and in Sweden they get 5! I would say do what's right for you and your family first. If DH can (and wants) to go on his own during his business trip, great but if not, then that is a huge amount of money to spend for one night and a lot for your in-laws to expect from you and your husband. After all, MIL wasn't willing to pay for it once she saw how much it cost, why should she expect you to? It's not reasonable. I have to add that last January, my mother also turned 80 and also wanted all the family together for her special day. She's in California so a lot closer but we're in Michigan and I have a sister in Texas. Rather than put any of us on the spot, she paid for all of us (7 total) to fly to California to celebrate her day. On her 75th birthday, we missed a surprise party the sisters in California gave her. Once I said we couldn't afford it, she was very understanding, more so than my sisters were. :c) So I've sort of been in those shoes and can totally understand the duress you're feeling; I hope it ends well and they finally understand your side of things. If not, ask them if they'd be willing to split the bill with you so you can afford to go. When I said that to one of my sisters, she backed off fairly quick. :c)

Thanks! It's hard to think about cabinets and the kitchen demo after such a long break. Plus we still feel like we're on European time.

Apparently there are multiple kinds of "seedless" pomegranates. They appear to have the things we think of as seeds but the seeds don't have the hard part inside them that is probably the actual seed. I felt the way others here have mentioned about seedless watermelon previously, but we got a very flavorful one from our CSA a few weeks ago. Then my husband bought a couple at the supermarket and they were quite good. We get some great apples here. Arkansas black are a new one to us that taste really lovely. We live near an apple growing area in the Sierra foothills so that helps. It seems to me that the apples that aren't a bright even red often taste better. Perhaps some are breed more for the perfect red apple look than for taste. I wonder if like on camping trips, the activity level of some people's Europe trips enhanced the flavor of the food. I travel on business a lot and usually get to Europe at least once a year. I don't find the average quality of restaurant food better there than here or Canada. Some cities may average better than others (or perhaps we just lucked out on our choices), but not countries. France used to always have great food (like 20 years ago) but lately my experience there has been more mixed and more like other places. On the other hand, England's preparation of vegetables has improved quite noticeably over the years moving away from the over-cooked stereotype. I had the best Brussels sprouts ever on one visit to Bristol.

Well, Gooster, a lot of people think it will keep dropping. so maybe you will have plenty of opportunity; who knows. I did want to chime in re Chile. We were in Chile this past December. It is a very lovely country, and it sure does have a ton of coastline! We did a day trip to Valparaiso (very disappointing and a dump, frankly) and to Vina del Mar (I think it's most famous beach town). To me, Vina del Mar looked like Miami before its revival. Lots of 70s and 80s high rises, things in poor repair, stray dogs on the street, traffic, vendors selling lots of total junk. Thumbs down. We did have the great fortune of going to Zapallar to visit a Chilean family we had met earlier in our travels and Zapallar is gorgeous; looks a bit like the French riviera. That said, pretty small, very few amenities and overwhelmingly local. I am not sure if I would want to be in a place that did not have more of an international community? Oh and Chile's on-again-of-again dalliances with socialism might concern me as an investor. And overall, South America is a frustrating place --- just not well run at all.