Day 4 - Dubrovnik Croatia

We “climbed the walls” for spectacular views around the city on the Dalmatian coast. Lots of stairs but it was worth it. Dubrovnik suffered during the Croatian War of Independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 – bullet holes and new roofs as evidence. We roamed about, visiting a variety of sights from our guidebook. We bought wine and water from a local supermarket, ate a nice lunch on a street café, admired the local cats and later enjoyed a beer plus 30 minutes Internet café for 4€. Katie tested the waters from the onofria (well).

Day 3 - Venice Secret Doge Itineraries

Breakfast was a nice buffet and early. We caught the first tender to Venice so that we could go on the Doge’s Palace Secret Itineraries tour. The tour included the offices of the Doge’s Secretary, rooms in the “Deputy of the secret works of the Council of Ten who kept the secret archives, office of the Grand Chancellor, the Secret Chancellery, the torture room, the Plombi prison rooms, the Pozzi prison cells, and Doge’s office (above which was the torture room) with the secret entrances. There were many secret passageways, entrances, and rooms. We learned about the intrigue of the Venice Courts, their system of secret archives and handling of “accusations” and quite a bit about Casanova. It was a great tour – we really got to see a completely different perspective. We quickly toured some of the other palace rooms but then headed back to the ship.

Aunt Gloria and I went to the internet café and shops until it was time for the Cruise Critic (fount of knowledge) happy hour. We all regrouped in Jan and Tom’s cabin (mini-suite with great balcony) for a spectacular “Sail Away” from Venice.

Day 2 - Venice Walking Tour

Best Western had a wonderful buffet continental breakfast included. When we went for 9:55 Doge Palace Secret Passages tour, we found our reservation had been cancelled by ticketitaly and we were rescheduled for the next morning.

Kris and I started walking toward the Galleria Accedemia. We visited the Vivaldi Violin museum, stopped for our best cappuccino on a plaza, and crossed the Pont Accedemia. The Accedemia was right in front of us but we couldn’t seem to find the entrance. We saw a sign toward the Peggy Guggenheim museum and decided to go there instead. Big Mistake! Although there was more modern art that we liked than we typically see in the Tate Modern, we still don’t appreciate modern art very much. Because we were running late to get back to the Best Western to check out by noon, we took the vaparetto to San Marco. We paid €5 for a 5-minute ride, but it would have taken us an hour to walk.

We dragged our suitcases back over to the Europa and Regina. We took a water taxi to Murano and saw a glassblowing demonstration and visited the showroom. We went to the ship via the scenic way (including the Grand Canal), but we were in the back of the boat and could not hear much of the commentary.

Approaching the Grand Princess by water made us appreciate how enormous this boat is to accommodate 2500 passengers. Check-in was quick (not so for many who checked in earlier) but our luggage did not get to our rooms until during dinner. Dinner was wonderful. We appreciated the relatively small portions, knowing we could always ask for seconds (or thirds). There were waterless cleansers everywhere in an effort to protect us from a germ epidemic.

Day 1 - London to Venice

We decided to spend an extra night in Venice before our cruise. We met my cousin Jan, her husband Tom, and their children Jeff and Katie at the water taxi pier. My Aunt Gloria (Jan’s mother and my mother’s twin sister) planned to meet us the next day on the ship.

The water taxi took us to the Regina and Europa hotel where Jan and her family were staying. We lugged our suitcases over several bridges to the Best Western hotel, with Kris twisting his back somewhere along the way. Our hotel was lovely and located right behind Piazza San Marco. We had a view of canals from both windows.

That afternoon we went on a walking tour of Venice (veniceguideandboat) which included Basilica San Marco with an amazing Byzantine screen, Snail House, Marco Polo’s house, Rialto Bridge, 15th century Clock Tower, Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs.

Hampton Court to Claremont Landscape Garden and Belvedere Tower

Margaret Sharp led this Richmond ramble based on Walk 19 in the booklet "Rural Walks around Richmond". I lost my bearings shortly after losing sight of the Hampton Court train station. At one point we went under a railroad bridge and Margaret explained that Horsham was the closest station. I took a picture of this idyllic home on the river just before we came upon a cricket game. In a few minutes we were at Garsons "Pick Your Own" farm. The shop, garden supplies and farm were lovely. I was much less impressed with the cafe as I spent £3.85 on a tepid cup of diet coke, a small ice cream cone, and 3 digestive bisquits. I then paid £1.45 for a small bottle of water.

After lunch, it was on to Claremont Landscape Garden (National Trust property, earliest surviving English landscape garden, started before 1720). I climbed up Belvedere Tower, a treat since it is only opened about 10 days per year. I then walked around the lake and caught the hourly Surrey Gardens Explorer Bus 415 to Kingston via Esher and Surbiton.

Market Harborough and the Grand Union Canal

This weekend, Kris and I visited our friend Ardis in Market Harborough in the Midlands. Her flat is overlooking the Grand Union Canal, with an awesome view of canal boats. She took us to admire the roses in Welland Park, enjoy ice cream and later a drink while overlooking the Foxton Locks, hike to Gumley (Saxon Village), admire an old church in Great Bowden (alas, the Frank Hayes gallery was closed), and hike a few miles on the Brampton Valley "Rail to Trail" (Market Harborough to Northampton). We had a wonderful and relaxing weekend.

Warwick Castle, Shakespeare's Museum, Oxford

My friend Sheila and her daughter Pooja (visiting from Atlanta) decided to try Premium Tours. In one long day we visited Warwick Castle (witnessing 4 parachuters on the ride up), toured the Shakespeare Birthplace Museum & Gardens in Stratford Upon Avon, ate lunch in a 15th century inn and enjoyed a champagne reception and tour of Christchurch College in Oxford which inspired Alice Through the Looking Glass and the Harry Potter Warthogs dining hall. We really enjoyed this tour and opportunity to see so much in one day. Our only change would have been to grab a bite to eat in Stratford Upon Avon instead of the pub lunch - which would have given us a little more time at the other sights.

Regents Canal Ramble

The Regents Canal Ramble got off to a late start because of tube troubles. The walk from Warwick Avenue station to Camden Market via the Regents Canal was very scenic. We especially enjoyed the colorful long boats, the enormous mansions and the zoo. We were hungry by the time we reached Camden Market and decided to opt out of continuing the walk in favor of a leisurely lunch and shopping.

Devon - Dartmoor

We spent the weekend in Devon with our friends Cathy and Leighton, their two young terriers (Pippin and Barney), and 2 cats. They live within a short walk of their village shops and beautiful trails. They drove us around the Dartmoor moors showing us settlements from the Bronze Age, historic pubs, an Artist Guild, and the Postbridge clapper bridge. The existence of this bridge was first recorded in 1380 and is the largest complete clapper bridge (larger ones are partially or completely destroyed).

The highlight was our hike in Dartmoor National Park. I heard my first cuckoo bird (sounds just like the clock) from Wistman's Wood. We then made a perilous crossing across the river. We continued along Drake's Leat (small aqueduct) which was constructed in 1591 to bring water from Dartmoor to Plymouth. At one of the crossings, an adder sat blissfully sunning herself (Cathy did some research and reported that it must be a female by its coloring) . The adder was actually quite small but I tried to make her look like a python in my photo!

Bath Tours - Mad Max and Bizarre Bath

From Bath, we (Carrie, Kris, Mitch, Gerri) took the Mad Max Tour of Stonehenge, Lacock National Trust Village, Avebury Stone Circles and Castle Combe. It was a full and enjoyable day, despite it being a bit overcast.

Later that evening, we took the Bizarre Bath tour - a very amusing walking tour - with NO historical facts, they stress. Highly recommended! (sorry, no photos)

Greenwich

We (Gerri and Mitch from Houston, Carrie and Kris) took the Original London Walks Tour of Greenwich. We set out by boat from the Tower of London. After arriving in Greenwich, we got an overview of the key sights. Then our guide made sure we were viewing the Observatory so we could see the ball on the tower move from the bottom to reach the top at exactly 13:00 (would have been noon without daylight savings time). My trusty Timex was perfect. After lunch, Mitch and Gerri toured the Cutty Sark and all the other "must-sees" in Greenwich.

Windsor Castle

Amy and Trudy wanted to visit a castle, and Windsor was very accessible from Richmond. We stopped in at the Richmond Travel Centre (Southwest Trains) and got a discount on our combination train and entrance ticket. Windsor and Eton Riverside was an American's paradise with so many familiar fast food restaurants. We could not resist a scoop or two from Ben and Jerry's. Then it was on to the castle. We were so relieved to be visiting during "off-season" when we saw the "30 minute" and "45 minute" signs in the lines to the dollhouse. We got in to all of the sights quickly which made them so much more enjoyable.

Bluebells (Watford Station)

Texans love their Bluebonnets and the British love their Bluebells.

This 9 mile hike was led by the Richmond Ramblers. After learning that Watford Station and Watford Junction are possibly at the opposite ends of the universe, we made it safely to the starting point. We loved all the green space and were amazed when we were given right of way when crossing golf courses because the footpaths were there first! The hike was fabulous!

Banjo was a very lucky dog because Trudy and Amy insisted that he join the hike. Except for being threatened by vicious swans (they growl!) and being saved by a local biker who ran them off so we could pass, the only challenge for Banjo was the public transportation (tube and train) - and he did just fine!

Big Red Bus - London

One of the best ways to get an overview of London is to take the Big Red Bus. They offer a number of walking tours and we chose the "Changing of the Guard" (we could have gone on all of them). We rode the bus and listened to live commentary until we reached the Tower of London. We then took the boat tour back to Westminster. Trudy and Amy took advantage of the "hop-on hop-off" feature for the rest of the afternoon to see more of London.

Chiswick House Walk

This is another Country Walk led by June and Aubrey. This one originated at Chiswick House, and we were amazed that we did not know about this house and beautiful gardens, so close to home. We were led past old cemetaries, fabulous homes with private gardens on the Thames, blue plaques and finally to the pub for lunch. Trudy and Amy, who were visiting from Houston, completed the 2nd half of the hike in the afternoon while Kris and Carrie skipped home for a much deserved nap.

Views from Kew - Gardens, River, Pond, Path

Keukenhof (the Netherlands)

Keukenhof (outside Leiden, the Netherlands) is only open a few months of the year and is a "must-see". Every significant bulb grower is given the opportunity to landscape a portion of the gardens, so each section is more beautiful than the next. Although it was cold and drizzling, our (Raji, Kris, Carrie) spirits were lifted by the beauty in these gardens.

After watching people "walk on water", I had to come try it for myself. There are a series of concrete blocks just below the surface of the water. Thus, I could create the illusion that I was walking across the lake.