Windsor and Trip Home

We started our last day leaving the ship and getting on the bus for Windsor Castle. Our last shore excursion was just as good as we expected. The castle is full of history and beauty. We could have spent the whole day there.

But we had a plane to catch. After our long plane ride including "the crying baby" and a crummy sinus headache. We arrived in LAX for the drive home. Last night was hard. And after the trip, we expect it to take all weekend to recover. And it should take about 1 year to remove those smiles. :-)

Thanks to all that read our blog - it made it more fun for us to share this trip.

Love,

J & M

Brugge

We arrive in Belgium with another beautiful weather day. So far on this trip every day has been pretty close to perfect for the weather. We have yet to have any rain even though we travel to places that “claim” they get tons of it.

OK, guess what, more old churches!! Yes Brugge is a city that went broke around the 16th century. They couldn’t afford to modernize so they kept things just as they were. Now a city of 20,000 gets about 4 million visitors a year.

We did a walking tour of the medieval section of the town. We saw Michelangelo’s Madonna in the Church of Our Lady.

Then we took a boat cruise of the canals. Our boat guide was a funny and strange man.

Finally we finished with a little shopping and some Belgian chocolate. Melodee is happy J

This is our last blog entry until we return as we will have no internet access.

Paris

The day started early with a 3 hour bus ride to Paris. The French landscape is beautiful. It is a little hilly with lots of trees and shrubs. The traffic in Paris was very thick. We drove around a bit to get to see some sites before we met our boat for the Seine river ride. The river ride was excellent. We had lunch onboard and we were serenaded by a violinist.

Do you believe in “love at first site”? Well, Mel and Jeff fell in love with Paris. We MUST go back. It was only about 4 hours in Paris. I think we need at least 1 week.

Sites that we saw – the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, and the Palais de Chaillot.

Sites we only saw from the outside and will see more of next time – the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay and Notre Dame.

Sea Day

We spent the day at sea. And we took no pictures. We started the day with a lazy morning; staying in bed to watch a movie. Then after lunch, Melodee laid by the pool, while Jeff played poker. In the evening we went to a specialty restaurant, Sabatini’s where we had an excellent Italian meal. Our energy all built up for the long day tomorrow.

Cobh, Ireland

We took a bus, or a coach as they say here, to Blarney. The guide told us that it rains only twice a week here – once for three days and again for four more. But, for us, today the weather was very pleasant with no rain. The landscape in Ireland is as beautiful as we have been told. And it is very green. We waited in a long line to climb to the top of an old castle where the famous Blarney stone waits millions of lips. Melodee wouldn’t kiss it, and only allowed me to get into kissing position – on my back hanging with my head upside down. That is a very strange Irish tradition and some of it feels like a big joke on all the rest of us.

When we returned to port the city of Cobh had come out in full force to send our ship on its way. They had a band and hundreds of people where lined up on the docks and by the sea waving good-bye to us. There were many sailboats and pleasure craft that escorted our ship out of the harbor. The Irish were so friendly and genuine. Our captain sounded the ships horn with a “fond cheerio”.

Anniversary

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Vigo

We start the day both feeling much better, with nagging traces of our colds hanging on. We took a bus to the church of St. James in Santiago. This is a famous church for the pilgrimage trek that millions have done over the centuries and still do today. – Yep another old church. The interior was beautiful but too dark for our camera with flash photos prohibited.

We shopped in the local streets finding many interesting items and musicians. The weather was perfect – especially for a place that rains more than Seattle.

We had a great lunch at a local hotel with very interesting conversations from the other passengers. All in all, we found this to be one of our best excursions.

As we set sail for Ireland the seas have become a little rough. The picture doesn’t do it justice. Many passengers are feeling sea sick. So far Mody and I are just enjoying the roller coaster ride.

Talk to you all tomorrow
J and M