European Trip 2009

Home again, Home again....

Well not quite home, but at least back in the US.  We arrived last night at 11:13 pm.  Sam, Dan and Elaine were there to meet us!!  What welcome faces!

We left our hotel at about 8:00 and headed over to Victoria Station.   We had previously purchased tickets on the express train from Victoria Station to Gatwick Airport, so when we got there we found out where the train was leaving from and headed to the train.  Most trains have 1st and 2nd class seats and if you have 2nd class tickets and sit in 1st class that definitely not acceptable.  Of course, the other way around is fine.....LOL

One time of being "caught" sitting in 1st class instead of 2nd made us very aware - but you never know whether 1st class is at the head of the train or the rear, and climbing on and off the trains is not always easy. 

I was carrying the tickets in my hand when we finally found the 2nd class car and when I lifted my suitcase up into the suitcase bin, I dropped one of the tickets.  I sat down and only had one ticket - since they were almost 17 pounds, I sure didn't want to have to purchase another one.  I looked, but didn't see it so went back down the cars checking to see if I dropped it - no....went outside onto the platform - no ticket in sight.

Sam said he would check - and by this time the departure is getting closer and closer.  He walked out onto the platform and down (I believe it was 4 cars) to talk to the conductor.  In the meantime I looked again on the floor and found the ticket - had to crawl on my hands and knees to get it.

I stuck my head out the car and yelled at Sam, but he didn't hear me!  I went back to our stuff as I had left my bags unattended - and the train starts up.  Needless to say, I'm really sweating it - my thoughts, were "What if Sam didn't get on the train and he's left stranded" - I have what pounds we have left and the credit card - no phone......needless to say my heart was pounding when he plopped down beside me. 

He had asked the conductor when the train was leaving and he said "NOW"  So Sam ran to the first car and hopped on as it started to move - and then walked to our car.  We had another good laugh of relief as I showed him the two tickets!!  Whew.  Another "adventure" in the life of.....

We  arrived in plenty of time at Gatwick and checked in.  They decided we needed to check our luggage as our bags were too heavy for carry-on's.  Hmmm, wonder why? Interestingly enough it was going to be an extra 15 pounds each, but the charge didn't come up when the man put it in because our tickets had included one checked baggage.  Nice!  so we didn't have to worry about luggage until we arrived in Chicago.

The first leg of the journey was to Dublin - an hour and 15 minutes flight.  We flew with Aer Lingus which has really pretty teal colors!

 

Short flight - no problems - an hour until our next flight.  Only problem is we had 30 minute wait to go through Irish customs.  Our palms were starting to sweat - AGAIN!  Finally through customs and then a 10 minutes or so walk to the gate.....and US Customs and Immigration!!  And then we hear - final boarding call for flight to Chicago - would Farring, party of 2 please report......yikes.  Fortunatly, US customs was easy and they were pointing the way for us.....hurry, hurry, hurry!!

Here's a scene from the plane - leaving beautiful Ireland

Found our seats and really the 7 1/2 hour trip to Chicago went fast - I worked on pictures - didn't sleep much; but we made it safely to US soil!

A five hour layover in Chicago - trying to keep the time schedule was interesting.  Sam kept his watch on London time and I changed as we flew.  That's rather mind boggling!!

We arrived in Portland right on the dot at 11:13 p.m. and Sam, Dan and Elaine met us.  SO happy to see their grins!!  The boys even brought us flowers to welcome us home!  Nice, eh?

 

 

 

 

Today we are headed home on the bus and will arrive at about 5:30

We do hope you have enjoyed our trip along with us.  We have SO many memories,.  I will go through my  pictures and upload more and send a link when that's done!

Thanks for sticking by us, encouraging us along the way and for the support from everyone!!

WE DID IT!!

3rd Time is a Charm

Monday here and we awoke with no special agenda, but to think about packing up for tomorrow's return home.  The first thing Sam said was, since we have all day, maybe we should try Kensington Palace again!!  YIPPEE!!

So we headed out to Victoria Station and bought tickets for an all day bus pass.  We got on the correct bus to Kensington High Street. 

Here's the palace again with me in front of it

 

This is where there is a display of 20 of Princess Diana's dresses.  Here are a couple of pictures - I could only take nonflash pictures, so they aren't the best, but you get the idea! 

 

A really good portrait of Queen Elizabeth II

 

This palace has housed many Royal families  - Queen Victoria was born here and, of course, this was Princess Diana's home.  It's a beautiful old palace and I enjoyed the tour - Sam enjoyed waiting outside and reading the paper :)

 

We left the Palace and headed out of Kensington Gardens to find the bus to continue on our way.  On the way out of the Gardens I saw this gate which is to be used when the big gates are closed.  I thought it would make a cool picture with Sam inside.  So he went through and....

 

when he went to turn the stile around, he couldn't get out.  We looked at each other and I started laughing - I got him into this predicament and he couldn't get out.  So....he gave me the bag and he was going to climb out (I was watching to see if the police were around for fear he would get into trouble!!).  Along came a lovely English gentleman, who figured out how to swing the big gate so he could get out.  He was smiling really big as he walked off and we were like a couple of guilty teenagers - in fact I was laughing so hard I forgot to take pictures of him getting out!! 

I had been wanting to see the first greeting card - I read about it on the internet and it was supposed to be in the British Museum, but they told me it was sent to the Library.  So I inquired, received a pass, but they couldn't find it.  Oh, well, they said I could search online and maybe find it.   Another time.

But we had fun riding the double decker buses.  You get three of them in one of the small streets and it's pretty hairy!!  Pedestrians cross in front of the buses without a thought and when you are sitting on top and looking down....well, it's interesting to say the least.

 

WATCH OUT!!

 

 

While we were eating lunch at the Library, I happened to check my pedometer - we made 100 miles walking since Berlin!

 

From here we caught a bus south as we wanted to see 10 Downing Street.  There's quite a rowe right now with the Prime Minister at the center of the storm, so we wanted to say we saw 10 Downing Street. 

 

It's really rather obscure and quite difficult to find, but we did - and took pictures of news reporters waiting for anything to happen :)

 

Of course it's well guarded!

 

Here is the Horse Guards - it's right next to 10 Downing Street

 

This is where they do the Trooping of the Guards which is done in honor of the Queen's Birthday and will take place on Saturday, June 13th. Her actual birthday is in April, but weather.....well, better to count on June!!  Always nice to celebrate your birthday more than once!!

We got off the bus in Trafalagar Square and walked through the Admirality Arch

From here you  can walk down The Mall and Buckingham Palace is at the other end.  The Union Jacks are flying all along the route.  Very pretty!

 

Here were some pelicans resting on a rock in the middle of St. James Park with Buckingham Palace in the background

At first I thought they were statues - we've seen a few of those, but they soon moved - except the one

Lots of security in London and we noticed the "bobbies" go out in pairs - can't resist pictures of them with their cute little hats!!

 

Oops one more picture of Big Ben

 

We stayed very close to Victoria Station - here's a  view of what we think is the main entrance.

 

Now I'm off to pack up!!

A Wet Saturday in London

We woke up to rain this morning, but a little rain never hurt anyone, right, so we decided to ride the bus today!  The tube and bus systems are great with trains and buses running every 10 to 15 minutes.  We are very close to Victoria Station and have access to literally anywhere in the city!  Nice

We rode the bus to Picadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square.  Picadilly Circus  is a square with lots of shops in and around it.  Just one picture to give you an idea

 

From here we rode to the British Museum and met Steve and Esther.  We toured the museum - a great historical museum.  One fascinating room holds some scrulptures that were taken from the Parthenon in Athens (which we saw at the first of our trip) around 1800 by the then British Ambassador to Greece. He transported them back to London where the British Museum acquired them in about 1816 and where they have been ever since.  Athens wants them back, but it doesn't look like the British will give them up :) 

 

A lovely horse head

Maybe you have heard of the Rosetta Stone?  This was carved in 196 BC and was discovered by Napoleon's soldiers in 1799 in  Egypt and was obtained by the British from Napoleon after he was defeated where it's been on display since the 1800's.   It was used to decipher the early Egyptian heiroglyphics!  Another history lesson!

And here's some early Egyptian stuff.

A bust that was HUGE

 

and some mummies - thought the kids would enjoy these - no Daddys - just mummies

 

Steve and Esther took us to Soho and Covent Gardens.   Lots of shops and entertainment!

 

Oh no - this was the street entertainment!

We tried to see Kensington Palace this afternoon (Sunday) and headed out on the bus -  but ended up taking the bus the wrong way and it was too late to see the Palace - guess it's just not to be on our schedule!  Tomorrow we plan to just stay local and walk around a bit and then pack up for flying home on Tuesday.  I'll update again when I have something to report!!  Oh, no phone - but if it's ever turned in the police said they would send it to us!!

Touring London Day 2

Yesterday was a BIG day as far as walking - we always think "it's not too far, we can walk it...."  Well, sometimes the map looks pretty small and it ends up being farther than we had planned.  For instance yesterday we added 10 miles to our pedometer.....Whew!!

We started with going to Buckingham Palace EARLY to see the changing of the guard.  We got a good spot and enjoyed the show.

The Queen was in residence because the flag was flying

When we arrived the guards in black uniforms were guarding

 

While we were waiting, it started to rain a few drops - OH NO - they cancel when it rains.  But it didn't rain hard, so they continued on thank goodness!

They DO go into their little shelters when it rains

 

First the "Old Guards" came in

 

Then the "new" regiment came in - the fresh guards

 

These guys walked back and forth with their swords - not sure what that was all about, but it was interesting!

 

The two captains meet in the middle

 

I think these guys were having a chat!!

 

The band played.....about three different songs and then one to march out by

 

The fresh guards are in place and everyone marches out!

 

And here we are - no Dan - no Photoshop - just good photography!!  Hee Hee

 

From here we walked back to our hotel and left some packages and then decided to walk to Hyde Park - it wasn't far.....but......Hyde Park is HUGE!

 

We walked from the southwest corner entrance to the northwest corner to see "Speaker's Corner"  The place where you can get on your "soap box" and tell it the way YOU see it!  Definitely not anything to take a picture of!

Then we walked down through the park toward's Princess Diana's memorial.  Along the way we stopped for a rest.  Sam caught me texting Sam, Jr.

 

I sat down to rest and take some pictures of some ducks and geese - put my phone on the bench beside me thinking Sam might text back and then got up and walked away - leaving my phone behind.  GRRRR - I didn't realize it until about an hour and a half later - we quickly (well, as quick as possible) walked back to the bench, but it was gone.  We reported it to the park police and they were very kind - they said they would contact us if it was turned in.  Hey Elaine, would this be covered by our homeowner's? :)

From here we walked to Diana's memorial fountain

 

Sam took a picture of me sitting on the side. 

 

The water runs around the pond continuously and you are encouraged to put your feet in it - well, since you see I have my coat on and it was raining a bit, that wasn't feasible!!

Next stop Kensington Palace.  I was really looking forward to going inside - we got there and it was closed early for a function!  Boo Hoo

Here's the front gate where the citizens piled flowers when Princess Diana died.  This is where she lived from the time she married Prince Charles until her death

 

Here's a statue inside the gate of William the Conqueror

 

It was just after this that I realized my phone was gone.  Bummer - so we walked BACK to Hyde Park - now you can see why we put 10 miles on our feet yesterday!

So.....we took a taxi to Harrod's!!

We saw the memorial to Dodi and Diana - the little triangle in front holds the ring he gave her!

 

Harrod's is a huge store - we felt lost in it.  Of course, we walked right into the jewelry section.  Lots of sparkle - and expensive - whew!!

Here's Harrod's from the outside - and check out all the taxis - I KNOW at least every fifth car WASN'T a taxi!!

 

Steve and Esther had texted us just before I lost the phone and asked us to meet them for dinner.  So we waited on the north corner of Harrod's for them.  They came by bus!  There is a huge intericty fee, so they drove to London and left their car at their cousins outside the city and took the bus into the city to their hotel.  We went out for a fantastic Italian dinner for their fifth wedding anniversary.  Lovely of them to ask us along!!

Here's Harrod's at night

After we took the bus back to our hotel.

All for now.....more hopefully this evening!

Touring London

 What a day!  We are exhausted, but had a great time.  We started with tickets for the City Sighting Seeing Tour Bus.  Pretty handy to get to all the main sights and you can hop off, visit it and hope back on to the next one.   We had planned to get the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, but missed it, so we'll do that tomorrow!!

So we went to the Thames and took a cruise....but on the way we saw.....

Big Ben!!

 

Yes, Dan, that's the London Eye peeking up in the background.  Read on....

Just a close up of the Big Ben Clock.  The clock is actually the Westminster Clock and  "Big Ben" is the 10 ton bell that rings on the hour.  On the quarter, half and 3/4 hours the Westminister Bells ring - there are 4 of them and the largest weights 4 1/2 tons!!

Now that you have your history lesson...

 

We did get someone to take our picture!!

 

Just down the street is the Houses of Parliament

 

and a block away is Westminster Abbey.  The royals are crowned, married and buried here.  I believe they said there are over 3000 buried here.  Queen Elizabeth II was crowned here and Princess Diana's funeral was here.

 

 

From here we started our cruise down The Thames.  It was a beautiful day, and actually quite warm, so the breeze was nice on the river.  We saw many sights and ended up getting off at the Tower of London and touring it.

Here's the Tower of London Bridge and the boat you see is like the one we were in

 

Here's the famous (or infamous) Tower of London - the little princes' bodies were found here and when a King wanted to get rid of someone - off to the Tower!  The Crown Jewels are kept here - and we saw them.  Whew!!  No pictures as we weren't allowed.

 

Here's the Bloody Tower

 

and the Memorial to those who were more "famous" who were slain here.  Including Henry the VIII's wives Catherine of Aragon and Anne Bolyn.

We walked along the "cat walk" and through all the towers (there were lots of them - we lost track!)

 

 We came upon this old chap who wanted to borrow Sam's hat because it was so sunny.  Sam decided it was a good idea to give it to him because of what he had in his hand!!

After the Tower tour, we got back on the cruise boat and back to ...... the London Eye.  Yes Sam and Dan, we rode it!!  Not the best of pictures through the glass, but it was fun.  32 round gondolas - one for each area of London.  Takes about 25 minutes to go around.  Great views!!

 

 

St. Paul's Cathedral from the London Eye

 

City View

 

House of Parliament and  Big Ben from on high

 

and two pretty tired tourists!!

Tomorrow we will see the Changing of the Guard, Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, and Harrods

 

 

London

We are in London - hard to believe but I have pictures to prove it.  We arrived about 2:00 - took a taxi to our hotel (not quite ready for the tube yet).  Then decided to go out exploring.  We found Victoria Station just a couple minutes walk and from there headed up Buckingham Palace Road to - where else - Buckingham Palace!!  Too late for the changing of the guard, so we'll catch that another time

 

Buckingham Palace in real life

 

The Guards

 

Actually the Queen was home today because there were 4 guards - these two and two others on the far side.   When she isn't in residence there are just two of them!

 

And here is proof that we are in London

 

 

The following three pictures are for Trevor.   Just so you know the Queen appreciates Canada's loyalty!

These gates have the Royal Canadian Coat of Arms inscribed in them

 

 

 

And here's a  Bobby

 

Dan asked if we were to go up in the Eye of the Needle - I really didn't know what that was, but soon found out!!

And we mustn't forget the double decker buses!!

That's all for today - we will be seriously sightseeing tomorrow, so hope to share more tomorrow evening!

Stratford-Upon-Avon

Steve and Esther kindly dropped us off at the train station yesterday morning on their way to work.  We caught the train south to Birmingham.  We changed trains (and stations) there and then took another train to Stratford-upon-Avon - which, of course, means Stratford on the Avon River.  A lovely little town and the birthplace of William Shakespeare. 

Here's Shakespeare Birthplace - right on a main street in town

 

A thatched roof pub - very few left because of fire danger

 

Some really old buildings

 

 

 

 

The Avon River which meanders through the town

 

A chain ferry - run by hand - really interesting - 50 quid to go across the Avon River

 

 

And to top off the evening, we attended a Shakespeare play "The Winter's Tale" at the Courtyard Theatre.  Special!!  Although we couldn't understand a lot of what they said (language and, of course Shakespeare lingo LOL), we had studied the plot beforehand, so we pretty much knew what the theme was.  Really fun, as I really like Shakespeare!

 

It's Wednesday morning now and just before noon we catch the train for London!! 

 

England

From Glasgow we go by train to Carlisle and then Wigton, England.  We visit one of our conventions just outside of Wigton in Cumbria (Dockery Hall).  This is working diary farm where they milk 100 cows a day.  The house was built in 1699 (that's just 79 years after the pilgrims landed in America!!)

 

Here's the plate on the door

 

And one of the barns was built 18 years later

A friend of ours from Vancouver, Washington, Duncan Hunter, is from Scotland.  We met his brother, David - Aye!!!

 

On Sunday our good friends, Steve and Esther Butterworth came up from Blackburn to pick us up at Cumbria.  Esther (originally from Australia) and Holly (our daughter) have been penpals for about 20 years!  Steve moved to Texas to work for two years at the time Sam and Dan were in Texas, so they became acquainted.  So our plans from the beginning were to see Steve and Esther.  Here they are with their Mini Cooper

 

On our way to Blackburn we drove on the Motorway - their speed limit is 90 MPH (NOT kilometers).  Yikes - that was quite alarming to drive 90 MPH on the wrong side of the road!!

 

Esther is an excellent driver and we actually were very comfortable!  Just took a bit getting used to!

We did get a look at the countryside when we got off the Motorway - lots of sheep and beautiful scenes.  The weather has been fantastic - we hope it continues for the rest of our stay!!  They have had lots of rain, so the hills and land is very green!

 

 

Here is Steve and Esther beautiful home.  They live in Steve's childhood home and they have renovated it.  Theirs is on the left

 

Here is Steve's Mustang which he purchased in Texas and brought home in a  cargo container.  It's, of course, a left-hand drive.  Both Steve and Esther hop back and forth from left to right-hand drive without a problem!!  And we have a time sitting in the back - dodging the cars driving on the "wrong" side of the road :)

 

Sam and Dan sent Steve a license plate for his collection.  It traveled in Sam's suitcase all over Europe!

 

On Monday Steve's mother, Pauline Butterworth, took us to lunch at a little Farmer's Market.  We had a lovely visit.

 

We went out to dinner with Steve and Esther Monday evening and then visited his Grandmother - she's 90 and still lives in her own home.  She's as sharp as a tack!!

 Steve and I are emailing each other on our little computers!!  LOL

 

Sunset from Steve and Esther's backyard

 

More updates tomorrow!!

More Scotland

My computer finally caught up with me (a week before we get home), but I'm delighted to have it.  It  WILL read my memory cards!

Wanted to share a bit more of Scotland for all you lads and lassies.  We are so happy to be in a place where we can read the signs and menus, but sometimes we still feel in a foreign land because of the strong Scottish accents.  We have to listen carefully to get it all.  But what a beautiful ring!!

We spent two nights in Glasgow.  It was a bit overcast, but no rain which was great.  We took a tour bus of the city which was interesting and educational!

Here are a few scenes

First of all in the hotel we stayed in, we were up three flights of stairs again!!  They were steep and no elevator.  64 stairs in all plus another 16 down to the ground floor for breakfast.

 

 

Here are three sides of a street corner in Glasgow - these sights look familiar?

 

 

 

Here's an interesting bridge

 

The Armadilla - this building was started and the city put up a contest to name it, but it looked so much like an armadilla, that became it's name!!

 

 

The first city park in Europe

 

Yep - notice anything strange?  They ARE driving on the opposite side of the road!!  Glad we don't have to try it out - scary!!

 

This is the tourbus we road

 

Afte tour we went looking for a store - a kind lady took pity on us and walked us to a "mall".  It really WAS a mall - we were impressed!  There was Gap, T-Mobile and other ones we recognized from the US (who knows - maybe they started in Scotland!!)

 

 

Even a Food Court!!

We found this square called George's Square (after one of the King's),  It was filled with statues including Robert Burns, Robert Peel, Sir Walter Raleigh, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.  We couldn't understand why they ALL had gray hair until we saw this

 

Good thing Sam didn't set much longer, or he might have had grayer hair too!!