Windsor Castle, Train Journeys and the Ruby Princess

We had a few adventures getting around our cute little Watersedge Hotel, but used our London Transport Oyster Card with the greatest of ease. Windsor Castle was most amazing and very busy. We ate the Queens own ice cream made from the cream of contented cows, at an exorbitant £3.50 per teeny tiny cup. That is about $6.75 per. Good thing it was pretty delicious, otherwise I certainly would have felt RIPPED OFF! After our visit to the Castle we got on a bus that took us to all the slums of Heathrow and vicinity. Caught the train the next day and boarded the ship to find our lovely upgraded balcony cabin. We had dinner with some very nice folks from the USA and went early to bed since we were getting up the the ungodly hour of 5:45 in order to go ashore to catch the ferry to Sark, where we were touring on bicycles. The ferry was about 45 minutes and sailed through some very rocky shoals, where historically there have been many shipwrecks. The island is very small but beautiful. We visited a beautiful garden that was full of roses and many bees and butterflies! Our return trip was late so we arrived back to the ship just as the anchor was pulled up! Dinner and a show took up the whole evening. We continue to meet the nicest people and have great conversations over dinner. Our CruisCritic Meet and Greet was well attended and Mike and I got our Pictures taken with the Commordore of the fleet Guiseppe Romano, a very nice man! Today we are in the nicest little town, Cobh (pronounced cove). The annual regatta was on with crafts and entertainment so we had a fine day. Sat in Connie Malones pub and watched the Hurling, a very violent sport played with great ferocity by very fit men. And listened to the Irish men talk, sing and swear around us. So FUN! We are pretty much over the jet lag and will start to have a sleep and wake cycle we can live with.

Ready to GO!

All the prep is done, bags packed, air check in done so now all we have to do is anticipate! London is feeling the effects of Hurricane Bertha so hopefully it will be nicer weather by Wed. Our holiday is shaping up to be a very active adventure. The cruise takes us to many great ports, such as Guernsey and the Orkneys. We get to see the Tattoo in Edinburgh and visit several castles as well as Versailles in France. Our Narrowboat journey will be a bucket list treat. Hopefully I will be able to post pictures.

Maricopa

Michael, Abby, and I visited my cousin Carol at her lovely home in Maricopa, Az. For two days this week. She has a beautiful three bedroom home in a suburb of Maricopa. Her pool is a true oasis and we enjoyed sitting outside visiting and getting reconnected. It seems that time and distance will not affect a special relationship and it seemed like we had been together yesterday!

Tucson, January to March 2014

After a rush trip to avoid weather, we arrived in Tucson on Jan 1, at the Voyager RV Park and got settled into our site. Sadly we have no palm tree on site but we are close to the dog park and not too far from the pool and other amenities. This winter we both decided to do more physical activity and get involved in park stuff. So far it has worked out well and we both are getting involved. Mike is exercising at the gym and I am doing deep water exercise three days a week. I have been learning about quilting and made a small lap quilt that turned out OK. I am going to make a crazy quilt for a grand kid that I learned about in a class. It is enjoyable and great to se a finished product. Our trailer is still comfortable and we have even entertained Dominick and Brittany for a few days. And had lots of fun! We have seen many interesting things in Tucson this year, including the Reid Park Zoo, Old Tucson, the Sonran Desert Museum, the Pima Air and Space Museum, night viewing at the Kitty Peak observatory, the Gem Show, the Tubac Artisan show, Gordon Lightfoot and Danu in concert at the Fox theatre, and an amazing quilt show at the Convention Centre.

St Petersburg

St Petersburg is beyond description....but I'll try! We met our guide, Alexander,at the pier at 7am and rushed around like mad to see everything. All of this was complicated by the G20 world leaders meeting that ensured delays and closures. We were scheduled to take a hydrofoil on the river but Putin cancelled it. Oh well, we did see some nice countryside on our way to the summer palace of Catherine and Elizabeth the first. It was pretty stunning and very over the top....gold leaf everywhere and a whole room made out of 11 tonnes of amber. Just nuts! When the peasants were starving....no wonder they revolted. We had a fun trip on the subway, full of mosaics depicting sports and scenes of ancient times. Very ornate and very clean...no graffiti. In no particular we saw the Winter palace, visited the Hermitage museum, (which was amazing) took and boat cruise on the Neva River, visited the awesome Peterhof Gardens, and the Yusupov Palace,where they killed the mad monk Rasputin. It was an incredible experience and we learned a lot of history but very little about the present day. I guess our guide was making sure we got our money's worth. One of the highlights for me was a night at the ballet...Swan Lake. It was so beautiful and the dancers were very talented. The theatre could have used a little cosmetic help but it was still very nice. I was pretty tired for days after. Mike stayed on the ship to rest up as he used crutches for the trip through the Hermitage and it was a big day. We also visited the iconic Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood. It is almost a symbol of Russia...all colourful domes and ornate spires. It has another name but Tsar Nicholas the First was murdered on the very spot! We had a very good guide who disliked cruise ship passengers so I had a little chat with him about his role in teaching...it is not so much about facts and figures but about the relevance to people today. He need to understand where the mostly old people are coming from, that they are just trying to see the world as best they can, in the face of not having a hot clue about any place other than the USA, just as Russians view the Americas with movie glasses!

Tallinn

Tallinn, Estonia A very pretty medieval walled city that is very well preserved. We went to shore and wandered to see the architecture and the unique shops and galleries. The sun shone and we had a great day people watching and trying the local beer, Saku. Apparently there are a lot of sheep so a major craft item for sale is anything made of wool....we passed!

Stockholm and Helsinki

We are racing from port to port so I wanted to get it all recorded for posterity. Our tour of Stockholm with SPB Tours included visits to the Vasa Museum and the City Hall. I thought it would be a big snooze feast but both were amazing. The Vasa was a wooden warship built in 1628 that sank 7 minutes after launch. It is huge and very well done. They built the museum around the ship, very impressive. We spent a very interesting hour there. Since President Obama was visiting Stockholm, we had some issues getting around but did get to see the city. It is so clean and very beautiful. The City Hall is an amazing building where the banquet for the Nobel awards is held. The room is very impressive, huge with massive brass chandeliers and a marble staircase. Another massive room is covered in mosaic tiles, floor to ceiling (about 40ft high by 100ft long). The old town of the City was very interesting, we didn't see much because it was hard to push the wheelchair around on the cobbles! Helsinki is another very clean and neat Scandinavian city. Our guide was very informative. We visited the big White Church, shopped in the market, and visited the church in the rock....I know, another church, but this one was wonderful. Very simple, built in the granite with a copper dome roof. The acoustics are so clear with a pipe organ. We drove through the Olympic plaza and stopped at the stadium built for the 1952 summer games. They are very proud of hosting a summer games north of 60 degrees latitude. Back to the ship for lunch and maybe a swim since it is back to summer temps!