Northern European Capitals 2023

  Today is suppose to be even hotter! Ian decides on a quiet day doing some shopping and walking around in the area close to the hotel. Karen, Aaron and I head off through Trafalgar square, down the Mall and through St James Park. It's a lovely green space with ponds, flowers, birds and lots of shade! We walk down to Buckingham Palace, then through Green Park up to Piccadilly.  This street has many high end hotels, restaurants and shops. We make a stop at Fortnum and Masons, so many lovely food items at not so lovely prices! We continued on to Piccadilly Circus, and found the sport that Karen and I stayed on our first trip to London in 1980. By this time it was noon, so we had a picnic lunch in St James Square. Then Karen and I did a shopping trip to Uniqlo in Covent Garden. It's a Japanese chain of casual wear stores, and they have lovely affordable merino wool sweaters amongst other things. An hour back at the hotel to put my feet up and have a cup of tea. Then Karen, Ian an...

 It's another sunny hot day, so we decide to take to the river. After a slightly later breakfast, we walk down to Westminster Pier to catch the river cruise. We caught the 2nd one at 10:30am to beat the crowds. There are quite a few companies, we went with Thames River cruise to Greenwich. A perfect day for it, sunny with a nice breeze so not too hot yet. It's a great relaxing way to see the city. It's been over 25 years since I was last in London and it's incredible how the skyline has changed. And such a mix of old and new! You can see so many of London's famous buildings like Big Ben and the Parliament, St Paul's, The Tower, The Shard, not to mention all the bridges! It takes about an hour to get to Greenwich. It's already pretty hot so we try and pick paths in the shade. Karen, Aaron and I walked up the hill to the Royal Observatory. It was a bit too steep for Ian's knee. There is a fantastic view of London from there, and we were able to stand with ...

  A good sleep last night once we got our room set up. You have to be very organized in a room this size. There was a good Continental breakfast with yogurt, fruit, cereal, toast and croissants. And excellent coffee! Ian and I were going to the Churchill War Rooms this morning, so we got an early start and enjoyed our walk before the crowds were out. Even with a reserved ticket there was still about a 15 minute wait to get in. We spent about 2 hours in the war rooms and museums, and could have spent more if our feet weren't sore!  Really enjoyed it. I'm glad we went early as it was getting quite crowded by the end.  Ian had a rest back at the hotel while I went to pick up our theatre tickets for this evening, then we went to a nearby pub for a ploughman's lunch and beer. Really hit the spot, it's getting pretty hot. Afterwards I took the tube to Hyde Park. Since it was a hot day there were lots of people in the park. Walking, biking, having picnics, listening to concert...

  We had planned to take the train from Portsmouth to London as well, but the rail strike affected todays trains as well. Luckily Azamara had given us a heads up several days before, so I booked the bus for us instead. We had the morning in Portsmouth, and after a great traditional English breakfast at the hotel, Karen, Aaron and I walked into Old Portsmouth. A lovely morning, sunny and fairly windy. The tide currents were very strong at the harbour mouth, the sailboats were really struggling to get out. Our bus was scheduled to leave at 1:30, but was over 30 minutes late. All the buses seem to be full today with the strike on. About a 2 hour bus ride into London Victoria Coach station. Traffic good until we got right into London. A bit of a wait for a taxi because of traffic. About 20 pounds to our hotel near Covent Garden. We're staying in the Hub by Premier Inn. The rooms are tiny, but cleverly designed. And it has A/C, important because we're due for a heat-wave. And the lo...

  We've had such a great time. The itinerary was so interesting, the tours we did stimulating, the service fantastic and the ship so comfortable. And it's been fun traveling with our little group of 6. We didn't spend all our time together, everyone had their own space. But we sure enjoyed our time together, and all the lively discussions.

  An extra hour of sleep last night courtesy of the time change. We pulled into Southampton very early. It looked like it had rained heavily overnight and was a bit misty in the morning. We gathered up our belongings and headed up for breakfast, then waited to be called for customs clearance. We were in no hurry so waited till just before 9am. Custom clearance took place on board and was very quick. There is a bit of a walk down to pick up luggage at the pier, and then another walk out to the taxi stand. No wait at all for taxis.  Our original plan was to take the train to Portsmouth, but because the rail workers are on strike we decided to just take a taxi. 75 pounds or about 128 CAD. So much more convenient, and not too bad a price for 4 people. A little over 30 minutes in a light misty rain. Portsmouth is brighter and we drop our bags at the hotel and head off to the Naval Dockyards. Our main reason for coming to Portsmouth is to visit the Mary Rose museum. The Mary Rose is...

  A beautiful morning for our last port of call. A bit cool to start, about 14C, but sunny. We have an earlier tour, 8:30am start. A quick breakfast and down to the lounge to the meeting spot. It’s about a 30-minute drive from the port of Zeebrug into Brugge. The bus drops us at the south end of town, and we start our walking tour. Our group is 30 people, but they have the whisper sets so easy to hear the guide at all times. Brugge is such a beautiful medieval town with its churches, lovely buildings, gardens, narrow streets and canals. After walking for about an hour, we had a canal boat tour for about 45 minutes. It’s nice to have the views both from the water and from the streets. After our boat ride we continued our walking tour for about another hour, going to the Markt at the centre of town. This is a large square surrounded with impressive buildings. There are lots of stores selling lace, waffles and chocolate amongst other souvenirs. We then walked back through the stre...