We are, again, waiting at an airport - Heathrow this time - hopefully we will make it home today! They put us up at an airport hotel last night, which was really nice (two rooms even) and gave us a voucher for dinner and breakfast. The breakfast this morning was a decent buffet but the dinner buffet last night was the worst I've ever seen - just a bizarre mix and very few choices: raw peppers, lettuce drowning in ranch dressing, boiled white rice, a curry and a tikki dish, both of which didn't look very appetizing, a awful tasting lasagna, little grilled pieces of corn on the cob (which I usually love but this also didn't taste good), small fried tortillas and french fries.
Speaking of food - we have found donner kebabs to be the most universal. It's what we think of as gyros - with the vertical compressed lamb meat that they shave off. It was in every place we went and we ate it several times. The best was at this little place in Holyhead. Still, I am looking forward to Dave's delicious cooking!
Once again signing off (and the delay gave me time to go through and post pictures from the rest of the trip)
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Planes, trains and automobiles
Waiting at the airport so I thought I'd make one more observation. If the kids learned nothing else, they learned about taking various modes of transportation. Except for a couple of flights and the school bus, the only thing they've ever really ridden in is an automobile. But over the course of this trip, we've had multiple short and long plane rides; ridden subway, local, long distance and overnight trains; taken cross-country, city and tour buses; and taken a cab and a ferry.
And speaking of transportation, our Dublin to London flight is 30 minutes delayed so I hope we won't have a problem making our big flight! On the other hand, they are already predicting that that flight will come in early to Phoenix. Time to board so signing off.
And speaking of transportation, our Dublin to London flight is 30 minutes delayed so I hope we won't have a problem making our big flight! On the other hand, they are already predicting that that flight will come in early to Phoenix. Time to board so signing off.
So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodnight - OR- We're Coming to America
It's 8am here and we are about to head towards the airport for our journey home. We had a very mellow day in Dublin yesterday - all of us a little tired and ready to be home, I think. We went on the walking tour but other then that pretty much hung out in the hotel room.
Still behind on my pictures - we took so many in London - hope to have those up soon. It's been a wonderful trip and I think the kids have gotten a lot out of it. If I could do one thing different it would be to bring a camera for each of us. Yes, that would me even MORE pictures to go through but it was the one point of contention through out the trip. Who ever had the camera would inevitably not take the picture of what or the way the others wanted. We all see things differently and have a different image we want to remember. And with digital picture taking essentially costing nothing other then the time to weed through thousands of pictures, it would have been worth it to have a couple of extra camera.
As it was we took 6300 pictures (as you see, I've only posted a small percentage), can you imagine what that would have cost in film and processing! For that and other reasons, this trip wouldn't have been possible without modern technology. I had maps of each of the cities we visited on my iPad and with the GPS abilities, we found our way on many occasions. When we road the bus, I could follow our progress on the iPad and see each bus stop so that I knew when the next one was ours in time to push the "stop" button. I also had travel books on the iPad with walking tours and other guides. I was able to go onto Google maps ahead of time and, using the street view, virtually walk from the train station to an accommodation so that when we arrived I knew exactly where to go. Each night I was on the Internet planning the next day - what was open and when, using Google maps to figure out walking directions or what public transport to take.
It truly is a wonderful world in so many ways.
Still behind on my pictures - we took so many in London - hope to have those up soon. It's been a wonderful trip and I think the kids have gotten a lot out of it. If I could do one thing different it would be to bring a camera for each of us. Yes, that would me even MORE pictures to go through but it was the one point of contention through out the trip. Who ever had the camera would inevitably not take the picture of what or the way the others wanted. We all see things differently and have a different image we want to remember. And with digital picture taking essentially costing nothing other then the time to weed through thousands of pictures, it would have been worth it to have a couple of extra camera.
As it was we took 6300 pictures (as you see, I've only posted a small percentage), can you imagine what that would have cost in film and processing! For that and other reasons, this trip wouldn't have been possible without modern technology. I had maps of each of the cities we visited on my iPad and with the GPS abilities, we found our way on many occasions. When we road the bus, I could follow our progress on the iPad and see each bus stop so that I knew when the next one was ours in time to push the "stop" button. I also had travel books on the iPad with walking tours and other guides. I was able to go onto Google maps ahead of time and, using the street view, virtually walk from the train station to an accommodation so that when we arrived I knew exactly where to go. Each night I was on the Internet planning the next day - what was open and when, using Google maps to figure out walking directions or what public transport to take.
It truly is a wonderful world in so many ways.
Monday, June 29, 2015
I'm sailing away
Ok, so there are no sails involved but I am on the sea. We are on a ferry going from Holyhead, Wales to Dublin, Ireland. Last night we stayed at a hotel that supposedly had WiFi in the rooms but none of our devices could even detect it much less connect. We were able to connect in the little dinning area they had, so I did my next-day-planning out there and then went back to the room and didn't post.
Yesterday we basically saw Stonehenge and the Magna Carta at the Salisbury Cathedral and rode the train up to Liverpool. Today we went on the walking tour of Liverpool then walked over to see the Liverpool Cathedral which is one of the largest in Europe. Then more train time going to Holyhead where we ate dinner and boarded the ship at 8:30pm. We arrive in Dublin at 11:45pm.
Yesterday we basically saw Stonehenge and the Magna Carta at the Salisbury Cathedral and rode the train up to Liverpool. Today we went on the walking tour of Liverpool then walked over to see the Liverpool Cathedral which is one of the largest in Europe. Then more train time going to Holyhead where we ate dinner and boarded the ship at 8:30pm. We arrive in Dublin at 11:45pm.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Crowds and crowds and more crowds
This morning we took the train out to Windsor Castle - we were absolutely packed shoulder to shoulder, standing room only on the way there. Then the line to get in was huge but fortunately I had bought a London Pass and not only was the Castle free but we got to skip most of the line (we still had to go through the security part). We toured the castle and watched the changing of the guards (which was crowded) then had a nice non-crowded ride back to London. Then we took the subway (which was packed) to the British Museum (which is free and therefore also crowded).
Then we waited for one of the hop-on/hop-off buses but it never came so we decided to walk to Trafalgar Square (big mistake). I knew it was Gay Pride Day and I had just assumed parades would be in the morning and things would have settled down by mid-afternoon. But instead we ended up walking right into the middle of a huge crowd around Trafalgar Square and were essentially trapped there because we needed to continue going south and it just happened that the parade was coming and the sidewalks were all blocked by barricades. We end up in an absolute crush of people - half of us trying to walk south and the other half trying to go north. On top of that in that area there are no side roads, so we couldn't do anything else but push on through. The parade caught up with us and passed us and eventually we came to the end of the barricades.
At this point we gave up on getting the hop-on/hop-off bus because it was probably stuck somewhere also. So we took the subway out to see the Royal Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial then took the subway back home. The subway was crowded in both directions so I think it's fair to say that I've had my fill of people for today!
Then we waited for one of the hop-on/hop-off buses but it never came so we decided to walk to Trafalgar Square (big mistake). I knew it was Gay Pride Day and I had just assumed parades would be in the morning and things would have settled down by mid-afternoon. But instead we ended up walking right into the middle of a huge crowd around Trafalgar Square and were essentially trapped there because we needed to continue going south and it just happened that the parade was coming and the sidewalks were all blocked by barricades. We end up in an absolute crush of people - half of us trying to walk south and the other half trying to go north. On top of that in that area there are no side roads, so we couldn't do anything else but push on through. The parade caught up with us and passed us and eventually we came to the end of the barricades.
At this point we gave up on getting the hop-on/hop-off bus because it was probably stuck somewhere also. So we took the subway out to see the Royal Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial then took the subway back home. The subway was crowded in both directions so I think it's fair to say that I've had my fill of people for today!
Having a Lovely Time in London
It always happens, the start of a trip I have all these clever titles and post regularly and keep up with posting the pics and putting captions on them...then as the trip goes on, I slowly start to slip on keeping up with all that! I did get all the picts up to leaving Portugal posted but we took a lot of pictures of London yesterday and I havn't even looked at them yet and we have another busy day today.
We decided to do the same thing in London that we did in Paris - take the Hop-on/Hop-off bus tour instead of the walking tour. There is just so much to see and so little time. Along with general riding the bus around and seeing all kinds of sights, we also took the river tour that came with it and visited Tower Bridge (went up the towers and walked across the upper walkway), toured the Tower of London and saw the Crown jewels, went up in Wellington Arch, and down to Churchills War Rooms.
We decided to do the same thing in London that we did in Paris - take the Hop-on/Hop-off bus tour instead of the walking tour. There is just so much to see and so little time. Along with general riding the bus around and seeing all kinds of sights, we also took the river tour that came with it and visited Tower Bridge (went up the towers and walked across the upper walkway), toured the Tower of London and saw the Crown jewels, went up in Wellington Arch, and down to Churchills War Rooms.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Wow! I can understand everything I read and hear again!
So nice to be back in a country that speaks English! We actually had a very lazy day today. I woke at 6:30 but had a migraine (my first on this trip) and I was so sour from walking up and down hills in Lisbon yesterday that I just didn't feel up to going to Sintra as planned. So I went back to sleep and we all got up around 10:30, took our time getting our things together and then headed to the airport for our 3pm flight. We flew into Stansted instead of Heathrow and it took us 2 hours to get from there to where we are staying. We are staying at our last airbnb place and its rooms above a Bar/Brazilian Restaurant. There are half a dozen rooms plus 2 bathrooms, a living room and a kitchen. We ate dinner downstairs and I the national dish of Brazil (black beans & pork in a stew with rice, flour, greens and orange slices) - it was really good.
From the beginning I've said, I wish we had another day in London because there is so much to see and we only have the next two days, then we leave for Liverpool via Stonehenge. Less then a week left - in some ways it flew by but in others ways, I'm really looking forward to going home.
As my knees have been bothering me, I've really become aware of how little access there is for people with disabilities. In Museums, on subways, even at the airports, there are stairs everywhere. Some times there are escalators or elevators or maybe a ramp but many, many times there aren't. And then we are staying in these old buildings and so many of them have the worst stairs - very steep and often very narrow. My feet aren't that large but only about half my foot fits on the step! And the tripping hazards are everywhere. They just don't seem to have the heavy emphasis on safety that we do.
Well, like I said, busy couple of days ahead, best get to sleep now.
From the beginning I've said, I wish we had another day in London because there is so much to see and we only have the next two days, then we leave for Liverpool via Stonehenge. Less then a week left - in some ways it flew by but in others ways, I'm really looking forward to going home.
As my knees have been bothering me, I've really become aware of how little access there is for people with disabilities. In Museums, on subways, even at the airports, there are stairs everywhere. Some times there are escalators or elevators or maybe a ramp but many, many times there aren't. And then we are staying in these old buildings and so many of them have the worst stairs - very steep and often very narrow. My feet aren't that large but only about half my foot fits on the step! And the tripping hazards are everywhere. They just don't seem to have the heavy emphasis on safety that we do.
Well, like I said, busy couple of days ahead, best get to sleep now.
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