Ahhhh, warm at last in Germany

Merry Christmas to all. I'm writing this post on Christmas Day here in Germany. We have been welcomed into a warm home, by the warm hearts of Amanda's host family (Thomas & Saba Kascha, and their children Linus & Emily.)

For those of you who may have some vision of Amanda living among the cobwebs of a dark, cold attic, worry no more. Yes, she's living in the attic. But, it's basically the Master Bedroom of their home. The parents currently choose to live on the second floor (adjacent to the children's rooms.) So, Amanda inherits the Master Suite (complete with her own bathroom, shower, skylights, etc.

Also, her host family are WONDERFUL cooks, and have warm hearts and souls. Thomas and I share very similar interests (cars and such,) while Kelly and Saba have been sharing the joys of cooking, comparing recipes, and playing with the kids. They have opened their home to us, and truly treated us like lifelong friends and graciously shared their holidays with us – treating us like one of the family.

On Christmas Eve, we sat around the table and talked as we ate beef & cheese fondue. Afterwards, we exchanged gifts and ornaments, and then had tiramisu with a few after-dinner drinks. It was a delightful evening that we will cherish.

This morning, the children opened a few more presents and received their stockings. We have made plans to make a traditional American (turkey) Christmas dinner for our hosts. Apparently, whole turkeys are pretty uncommon here in Germany. Saba spent an entire day playing phone tag, trying to figure out where she could purchase one. Similarly, their grocery stores don't carry anything that resembles brown sugar. We also had near-misses on a few other ingredients. But, we found substitutes for the most part, and we will begin cooking soon. (Orange-glazed, roasted turkey, Kelly's sweet potato soufflé, mashed potatoes and gravy, and our new bread pudding for desert.)

Tomorrow, we are going to take the kids ice skating. On Thursday, we depart and head to Munich, Germany (to visit with one of Amanda's friends.) Friday morning, we visit Germany's most famous castle: Schloss Neuschwanstein (the castle that the Disney castle is modeled after.) After the castle, we drive through the Alps to Innsbruck, Austria (for our snow skiing adventure in the Alps.) We have made reservations at the Gastof Dollinger through New Years Day.

But, that's not the end of our adventure... On New Years Day, we will drive down to Venice, Italy (for two days) at the Villa Beatrice, in the Lido of Venice.

Afterwards, the shortest trip back to Düsseldorf is the way that we arrived. But, we don't want to cover the same route twice. So, we will detour a bit to come back through Switzerland, and maybe even Luxembourg, too.

Today kinda marks the halfway point in our trip. But, time seems to be disappearing from us more rapidly now. It now feels like the departure clock is beginning to tick. Bah Humbug!

Schöne Weihnachten (Merry Christmas,)

Nick, Kelly (and Amanda.)

Amsterdam is an "interesting" and VERY nautical town! :-)

Amsterdam is an amazing nautical city!

While we haven't seen Venice (yet,) we HAVE finally seen Amsterdam. This city is basically a nautical port city, hiding behind a barrier of protective man-made levies. Ships transition from the city to the sea via some of the largest locks in the world.

Behind these locks, the water level is maintained – there are no high nor low tides in their canals -- the water levels remain constant.

And, with so many old houseboats and such lining the canals, I'm assuming that they are actually freshwater canals (and the locks/dams actually maintain a bit of separation between freshwater estuaries, and the saltwater sea.)

The city is extremely difficult to navigate by car. We were successful in our efforts, but I attribute it more to luck than skill. My lil' ol' GPS doesn't seem to have the ability to lock-on to any satellites here. So, I have resorted to the assistance of a dime store compass (which periodically “sticks” and needs a few taps to bring it back to life.)

But, with our rude compass, and a even more rude map (from a travel book that we bought at the last minute,) we found our way through the city to our destinations.

Our first goal was a canal tour via a tour boat. (If you have been following this blog, you know that we have water/boating on the brain...) The canal tour boat was well-heated, and took us on a one-hour waterborne tour of the city. The audio track system was tri-lingual (Dutch, English, and German) – but, was poorly structured and contained minimal content. We prefer the LIVE tours offered on the double-decker buses in London. If not a live tour, then we would prefer a headphone-based specific language system. (e.g. Where you put on your headphones, and then select the “channel” that contains the tour in your native language.)

After our canal tour, we walked the streets and shops for awhile (as long as we could hold out against the cold.) We finally found a nice place for dinner (and to take shelter from the cold.) It was the first restaurant that we have eaten at that had FREE wireless Internet service! Throughout this trip, I have had to pilfer WiFi connections from a neighboring property/hotel, or PAY FOR IT! (I hate paying for WiFi these days.) It was so nice to have FREE Internet. We placed calls to a few family and friends.

The locals here in Amsterdam keep laughing at us and giving us funny looks. The are riding around on their bikes and mopeds WITHOUT even wearing hats or ear protection! Heck, I saw one gal riding side-saddle on the back of a bike in a skirt with high heals – and only a light sweater!!! (It's something like 19 degrees Fahrenheit here (during the WARMEST part of the day!) Our Florida blood is now too thin for this kinda cold! Brrrrrrr.

Oh, bikes... This city is nothing but bikes!!! This city has MILLIONS of bikes. I'm talking MILLIONS PER BLOCK!!!! Bikes, bikes, bikes. I can't even begin to explain how many bikes this city has. We (as Americans) can't even fathom this quantity of bikes. But, I'll attempt to illustrate it in words:

Imagine a double-decker bike rack, that ran along EVERY SINGLE street of your downtown home town – with EVERY SINGLE slot within that rack populated with a bicycle. Block-to-block, street after street bikes racks and bikes! Bikes and MORE bikes! Seriously folks, there must be about 30 bikes per every linear yard of paved street in Amsterdam. The streets have more bikes than usual – but the parked bikes are simply outrageous. I even saw a three-story parking garage (like we would see at a mega mall in the States – FILLED with nothing but handlebar-to-handlebar bikes!!!

After dinner, we drove around a bit, saw the red light district, etc. But, it was just too darned cold to venture away from the heated comfort of our little Citroen Pepe'. We had originally planned to spend the night in downtown Amsterdam. But, the cost of parking Pepe' was too prohibitive, so we went ahead and boogied on down the road towards our daughter near Düsseldorf, Germany.

Enroute, we found an odd little motel on the Netherlands/German border. It's kinda like a cross between a Motel 6, a Best Western, an ATM machine, and a self-service gas station. It has an automated check-in machine (no front desk.) You simply select the accommodations that you want, then insert your credit card – and then down drops your room key. (I'm assuming we will be seeing a LOT more of these in the States, soon.) Fortunately, the room was VERY clean, modern and comfortable.

Oh, during our trip in-bound to Amsterdam, we saw three windmills. The fog and snow severely limited our visibility, so we could only see the ones that were right next to the highway. I assume that when it's sunny and clear, the place is littered with them. I have seen a couple of postcards of the tulip fields, and they appear to be quite dramatic. I'm sure it would be a site to behold in the Spring time.

Our early departure from Amsterdam means that we will catch-up with Amanda a few hours earlier than planned. :-) (See ya' soon kid!)

P.S. I have added a few pictures to the earlier posts. (I sometimes have difficulty getting the pictures to upload properly, so there may be a day or so lag until all of them appear.) Sorry...

Castle in the Countryside

Typically, I'm not too good at keeping surprises or secrets from my bride. First, I just get so overwhelmed with anxiety, that I just can't help but share the secret with her. Second, she likes to fully enjoy our adventures, and thus wants to know where we are going to stay so she can appropriately “plan” for the event. But, I did a pretty good job at keeping the castle thing mum.

Castles here (in the Netherlands) are called Kasteels. Ours is Kasteel Geulzicht.

It's located in a cute little countryside village – the kind that all the ski resorts in the US attempt to imitate. But, this little village is REAL. The streets are lined with old shops and boutiques – candle makers, shoe stores, brassiers, etc. It's difficult to describe in words how the old buildings and cobblestoned streets/sidewalks twist their way along the hillside to create a medieval scene from a story book.

Our room was HUGE (especially compared to the London B&B and the Paris hotel.) The ceilings must have been about 15 feet tall. The bathroom was also large, with a sunken, all-marble, Roman tub in the floor.

Our room was accented by real wood paneling, floor-to-ceiling bookcase, oil paintings on the walls, a huge chandelier – even our very own REAL Christmas tree adjacent to the fireplace.

The Castle also had a VERY unique elevator (post-installed) to assist you in getting your luggage up such HUGE flights of stairs. It was small and round. Then, as it went up, it spun a bit! Apparently, the first-floor opening is offset from the second & third floors. So, the elevator needed the ability to "twist" as it reached the ground floor. It's somewhat surprising! (There are no handles and no signs to warn you of the impending "twist." It's like some sort of time capsule -- crossed with the elevator from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!

We didn't receive any snow to speak of yet (just an occasional flurry.) But, here in the countryside, the dew each night freezes to the trees and the grass every morning. It creates a quite beautiful and interesting ice-covered appearance. I have been teasingly referring to our place as the “Ice Castle.”

After our romantic evening in the castle, we head to Amsterdam for a day, and then to Düsseldorf, Germany to meet-up with Amanda and her host family. (I have been hauling a Mighty Tonka truck and other various Christmas gifts all over Europe, and I look forward to lightening our load. ;-)

The sun has set on Paris, her day is done...

I don't believe Paris is the city that it used to be anymore. Sure, back in the day, it was probably a highlight city. But, today's Paris, feels used and abused. It has lost all of its romantic allure, and the ol' gal is just old.

London, by contrast, seems to have received some sort of architectural plastic surgery. London is still quite beautiful, clean, and kept. The people are welcoming, and seem to take great pride in their country/city. Even the expats from the US who have settled there, seem to have embraced the city and its culture, and speak to highly of it.

Before departing the States, I had read an article that stated that London has surpassed Paris as the new culinary capital of Europe. Apparently, the strong Pound, a stronger tourist market, and a more tightly (densely) populated metro have all drawn the best chefs from Paris to London (as well as the rest of the world's top chefs.) Also, London is a much more cosmopolitan city than it used to be. It seems the English language is almost a minority voice in the pubs and restaurants throughout the town. Chinese visitors quality Chinese food; Germans expect top-notch German restaurants; etc. Thus, the CITY benefits from this culinary supply and demand phenomenon.

I thought all of the above was probably just some British-born travel writer expressing his patriotism for him homeland.

But, after visiting both cities, I can honestly say that Paris is at least a distant 20^th place (or higher) behind London. Not just in food, but in sites, friendliness to tourists, cleanliness, and all-round feel (and SMELL!) Bottom line: Paris STINKS!

The people stink, the rooms smell, the rental cars wreak, the subways bring tears to your eyes (literally,) and don't even THINK of waiting in line at the Eiffel Tower without a safety stick of spearmint gum! The food stunk, the service stunk, the queues (lines) stunk, blah, blah, blah...

We did the typical tourist things: Went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, toured The Louvre, rode the Metro, visited the Moulin Rouge, etc. But, I have to tell you folks, the place was a big smelly hassle. Originally, I had planned an equal number of days for Paris as we had scheduled for London. Then, due to some schedule changes, I had to steal a day from Paris and add it to the London itinerary (and I'm glad we did!)

We only had one FULL day for all of Paris. We had planned another half-day for the morning before we left. But, after the way we were treated for the prior 36 hours, we were ready to GET OUT – and FAST!

I'm glad that we went (so I can mark a few things off my lifelist.) But, to me, Paris was kinda like seeing the Mona Lisa at The Louvre. You go to see her because she's famous and all (and because you're in the neighborhood.) But, there are many, MANY better paintings in that museum than the Mona Lisa!!!

So, if you are in Europe and Paris is within reach, by all means schedule a day-trip. But, be organized, get in, and get out – and spend the days you save at pretty much ANY other city in Europe.

Our Eiffel Tower tips: 1.) The ice skating rink that used to be up there – AIN'T THERE ANYMORE!!! (I lugged Kelly's skates around all day, but came up empty-handed.) They USED to have one, but, all they have now is some sort of snow shoe track during the Winter. (Oh, did I forget to mention in this post that Paris is COLD!!! (too.)) ;-)

Weather statement for a second: As smelly as Paris is (literally,) I can't imagine how much WORSE it must smell when things heat-up. Ewwwwww!

Eiffel Tower Tip 2.) Skip the long line, take a wallet-full of Euros with you, and get in the “Restaurant” line. You'll go straight to the front of the line, express to the first level – where you can then buy tickets to upper levels (but, they only accept cash up there.) Note: You MAY need to secure reservations for the restaurant if you actually want to EAT there. But, it works as a short-cut, too. ;-)

Eiffel Tower Tip 3.) Go right before sunset. Because when you exit the Metro at the top of the stairs and look upon the tower – in the morning, the sun is directly behind it – and it makes for POOR (backlit) photos. Whereas, in the afternoon, the sun will be to your back, and provide perfect lighting. Plus, after sunset, they light-up the WHOLE THING!!!! (for some kewl nite shots.)

The Louvre was interesting (if you're an art buff.) It stay open late on Wednesdays and Fridays. It's basically built right above a Metro stop – you don't even go outside. On Fridays' after 6pm, “kids” under 24 or 26 (can't remember exactly) get free admission (check their website for details.) But, beware on Wednesday and Friday evenings – because their food shops still close their doors around 3:00 pm. So, if you want to combine The Louvre with a meal-break – make it lunchtime.

The Metro: It was efficient if nothing else. But, you seem to live life like a Persian Gopher. You don't see the sunlight, you are scurried here and there underground (the SMELLY, twisting caverns below,) and you seldom see the light of day. It's rather depressing, actually. But, the subways get you to your destinations so rapidly, that I can't imagine a tourist “doing” Paris any other way. (Unfortunate, really...)

So, we whine about being trapped underground, and we whine about being too cold when we are above ground. Whine, whine, whine...

Not quite.

I'm pleased to say that Brussels, Belgium was a wonderful experience. Yes, it was cold, too! But, it was COZY! We rolled into town with no plans or directions. We simply followed the signs to the “City Center.” Once there, we stumbled upon a little Winter Pret (street fair.) The streets were narrow, quaint, brick/cobblestone, the buildings were historical, and they all seemed to center around marvelous old churches.

We parked Pepe' Le' Pew (our cute little stinky French rental car,) and strolled the shops to the Winter Pret. There, this little city center was lined with little wooden vendor huts with typical (European-typical) fair foods and trinkets. The fair also had the MOST INTERESTING carousels (See our pictures.) Plus, a skating rink and ferris wheel (since we didn't know that there was a rink, we had naturally left Kelly's skates with Pepe'.)

For our first course (of our complete four-course fair-food feast,) we had pomme freits (Belgian French fries.) We followed our tasty fries with a large, delicious Belgian bratwurst (I can't remember what they called them.) There were served on what tasted like a French role, and smothered in grilled onions and mustard – Mmmm, warm and toasty.) We barely began to digest our brats as we then headed to the Belgian Waffle hut. Not just any ol' waffle – WHITE CHOCOLATE-covered waffles. (If you're still counting, we are now up to THREE warm courses of food in our feast – did we tell you Europe is COLD???!!!!! Yet, THESE Belgium folks know how to warm your heart! :-)

Kelly, then pulled me into a nearby Chocolatier to buy a box of Belgian chocolates. (I guess this is partly MY fault. When I was in Europe YEARS ago, I went to Brussels and bought a box of chocolates for Kelly as a gift. Typically, any box of chocolates has a few “casualties” - the yucky ones with the wrong kinda center fillings, or the wrong kinda bitter chocolate. But, she LOVED the Belgian chocolates, and not a one was missed. :-) So, it was pretty much predetermined that she wouldn't leave Brussels without another box of chocolates in-hand.)

After Brussels, I had a bit of a surprise in store for her. While reviewing other people's lifelists on the Internet, I noticed that several of them had, “spend the night in a castle” on their lists. At first, I thought that this was some sort of nearly impossible fantasy (like “spend the night in the guest room of the White House” -- or something like that.) But, after a few clicks on the Internet, I learned that quite a few castles and chateaus have been converted into hotels or bed & breakfast inns. So, I rented us a room in a CASTLE!!!

We have Crossed the English Channel !!!

We have arrived in Paris!

The ferry from Dover to Calais was one of the highlights of our trip thus far.

It was nothing great (by cruise line standards.) But, for boaters like us, it was time on-the-water that we enjoyed.

There were beautiful cliffs in Dover, England overlooking the ferry port. They were topped with an historic castle -- with quite a view from its perch.

We set sail just before sunset, and we saw the best (ONLY) sunset over the water while underway. The ferry was nicer than any of our typical American ferries. It has nice lounges, with bartenders, comfy sofas, and such.

The sun had just set as we approached the French coastline (it's only a 90 minute ferry ride, but you cross a date line enroute and lose and hour coming this way.) The lights of the French coastline were welcoming and tranquil. I think this was a much better approach to France than the Chunnel or a plane.

By the time we secured our rental car, it was completely dark outside. With our MapQuest directions in-hand, we set off (without knowing more than about a half-dozen words of French) for Paris.

While it was indeed dark, we could still see that some of the terrain was snow-covered. But, we seemed to pass through the snow line about halfway to Paris. Although, I think it would be a wonderful gift to see Paris under a blanket of fresh snow...

Also about halfway here, to made a pit stop for dinner and toilets. Between our 12 words of French, a lot of finger pointing and charade-like hand gestures, and their 12 words of English, we successfully ordered dinner and drinks. (I guess we won't starve.)

While we are talking about our intermission during our drive, let me take an intermission moment to discuss ROCKS & SHELLS!

Somewhere along her life, my loving wife has developed some sort of amateur-collector passion for all things ROCK and all things SHELL. Initially, it was just an occasional keepsake rock or shell (e.g. here's ONE rock from the Plymouth rock shoreline for my collection. Or, here's ONE shell from our Florida family vacation to Coral Gables.)

But, somewhere along the line, her brain SNAPPED!

Now, she has "callings" to collect EVERY SHELL IN SIGHT!!!

Case in point: During our final day/s in Florida, as we were preparing to depart, Kelly said she needed a beach day -- to watch the sun set and say goodbye to the beach for awhile.
She also told me that she might pick up two sea shells to bring to each of the kids that Amanda is caring for in Germany. It's nearly the Christmas season, I figure this is "sensible" -- right?
WRONG!!!! The girl comes back from the beach with a BUCKET-FULL of shells. She says that they "called to her" and told her, "take us to Germany."

Yes folks, she cleaned and prepped the entire shoe box FULL of sea shells for our travels -- and I have carried them through the customs offices of three different countries now.

You would think that I would learn... She had BOXES and BOXES full of rocks and shells that she had me move from FL to CA -- and back again!

I'm here to tell you that rocks & shells are HEAVY!!!

Then, as we toured the Natural History Museum in London, and walked through an ancient Egypt exhibit, she nearly broke down into a puddle of joyful tears.

Why? Did she see some sort of mummy coffin or ancient hieroglyphics that moved her???

Nope. Among the necklaces of precious metals and jewels, she say a necklace made of shells -- then another. She was overwhelmed with joy. After all, if they were good enough for the empowered Egyptians, they must certainly be of value to us/her!

Then, we walked through the ancient Rome and Greek exhibits. Here again, more shell necklaces!!! Then, the Scotland historical area -- and STONES!!!! Then, the more modern British hallway/library has HUGE/TALL, beautiful floor-to-ceiling bookcases. And, nearly 1/4 of an entire wall's shelves were populated with HUGE shells behind glass-cased fronts.

Naturally, she turned to me and said, "Know I know what you can do with that blank dining room wall." -- implying that she wants some sort of floor-to-ceiling shell showcase of her own...

What can I say folks? I have loved her for 25 years, and I still love her (even as she loses her ever-lovin' mind!) ;-)


Back to Paris road trip:

We arrived in Paris around 10:30 tonight. After staying nearly a week in a bed & breakfast in downtown London (with only a tight shower stall, no bathtub, and two VERY TRADITIONAL single-beds pushed together); I "Americaned-out" and secured a Holiday Inn Garden Court room for us during our stay in Paris. It has a king-sized bed, and as Kelly says, "the best tub she has ever had." It's DEEP, and the water doesn't drain out, and the back has a good slope -- not too steep.

So, night all for now. Tomorrow, we head to the Louvre, the Sein waterfront, Notre Dame, Isle St Louis, and the Eiffel Tower for sunset.

Au revoir,



Nick.

Land of literature, poetry and theater

Besides being rich in history, this place is also rich in all things literary. It's pretty kewl to see all the haunts of Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, and the like.

In addition to the traditional classics, there's also a plethora of new classics as well. Every street seems to have a history with the Beatles, Ian Flemming, the Rolling Stones and the like.

Just last night on the BBC, we watched an interview with John Cleese and Michale Caine. (There was also a national billiards competition -- which seems to have a similar following to the US's World Series of poker.)

Even the parks are filled with romantic and royal history (past & present.) Tonight, we strolled through Hyde Park along the lake to the Winter carnival. Enroute, we encountered the Peter Pan statue of the past, as well as the Princess Dianna memorial water fountain and playground.

London is a HUGE city. Yet, it still finds a way to maintain a sense of community charm. There are very few (if any) "slums" within the city (at least we didn't see any.) It seems every inch of land is valued, and someone would buy-out a property before it had a chance to fall into a state of disrepair. And the homes (flats) here are EXPENSIVE! Thus, most of the people who own property downtown London are pretty well off. Thus, they own newer cars (plus, there's an extra permit/fee for driving downtown.) So, it kinda keeps the clunkers and "riff raff" out of the city -- which helps to reduce congestion and pollution (especially noise pollution.) I have been pleasantly surprised by how quiet the city streets are (e.g. compared to Los Angeles.) Things here are purposeful, organized and orchestrated. We have never had an issue crossing a street, the cars have always stopped. There has been VERY LITTLE honking of horns by anyone. And, when they do, it's just a polite little hoot-hoot -- as opposed to a long, heavy-handed blaring of the horn in concert with a hand gesture that you commonly encounter in L.A.

It's still bitter cold here. It's basically just zero/freezing (or one degree above.) But, the wind (especially in the daytime) is heavy, biting, and constant. It's augmented by a grey sky, with a low-hung sun that only periodically peeks out from behind the clouds -- low on the horizon. Just when you think it's about to rise, it begins it's decline towards setting for the night.

I'm confident that we will make it back to London and the UK in the future. But, it will be in the Summer! And, we will rent a car the next time. Gas prices here are 1.20 (pounds per litre.) That converts to $5.30 Brtish pounds per gallon. (Which, at our current exchange rate, translates to $10.69 per USD per gallon!!!)

So, considering the challenge of driving on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road, plus the extra fees to drive downtown London, plus the limited parking availability, and the exorbitant price of gasoline here, we confined ourselves to public transportation.

But, it also restricted our freedom to wander (which we don't enjoy.) The next time we visit, we will probably rent a car, and drive the coastlines, explore Scotland and take a ferry to Ireland. We will probably still reserve a day or two for London -- to catch some of the sites that we were just too chilled to wait for during this visit (who wants to wait in the freeing cold for two hours to ride the London Eye?) -- not us...

Tomorrow, we catch a train to the Dover coast, then a ferry across the English Channel to Calais, France. We then pickup a rental car, and drive three hours to Paris. Sure, the Chunnel Eurostar train could have whisked us from London to Paris in just over two hours. But, we are boaters and feel the draw to the water. We also want to warm-up to Paris -- as opposed to being plunked cold-turkey into it.

Tomorrow, we test Kelly's French navigation skills! (I get to drive, while she navigates.) At least that's how the trips start out. Within 30-60 minutes, of driving through the darkness, she will grab her pillow (yes, folks, she brought her favorite pillow with her,) and go to sleep -- entrusting me to find my way to Paris. (At least when I make a wrong turn while she's sleeping, she's none the wiser.) ;-)

Footnote about Kelly's Pillow: I love my wife dearly, but she IS a qwerky bird. She had a favorite pillow since childhood, that she continued to sleep with when we were married (for years.) It experienced periodic blow-outs, that she would then mend by hand. It was pretty much a tattered ol' rag of a pillow -- about a half or quarter the size of a normal pillow. After four years in the Army, we moved to South Carolina. When departing South Carolina once, she had accidentally left her pillow in the hotel. First, you should know that I was truly embarrassed to even bring the pillow with us into the hotel(s.) But, the things we do for love... Anyways, we are driving down the highway -- hours away from the hotel, when -- to my surprise -- she bursts out BALLING!!!! "I left my pillow at the hotel!!!!!!"

This was during the days before cell phones. For about an hour or so, I had to calm her as she repeatedly asked me if the hotel staff would keep/hold it for her. If memory serves me correctly, I think we pulled over somewhere so she could call the hotel and ask them to secure her pillow.

Well, that pillow had since been handed down to Amanda, then Chippy the dog. Somewhere along the line, it was FINALLY retired and laid to rest -- and was replaced with a new down pillow. Her clutch and bond on her new pillow is nearly as tight as her old one. It's traveled coast-to-coast with us, it's lived aboard the boat with us, and it's now traveling Europe with us.

We were recently given a gift/love box of about 100 3x5 cards with questions on them. Each night, we were to read a card to each other from the love box, and answer it. One of the questions read something like this: "If you were going overseas indefinitely and only had moments to pack, what four things would your bring with you?"

I, being the ever-prepared guys that I am, said something like: you, our passports, a Swiss Army knife, and our debit card.

Guess what SHE said? "My pillow, my chap stick, my visor, and my sunglasses."

Men are from Mars, women are from Venus -- and Kelly is from Pluto or something... ;-)

Cheers friends our next post will be from Paris in a day or two!

Nick (and Kelly.)

London is COLD!!!!

London is rich in history, but this place is FRIGID in the Winter!!!

I paid to upgrade our flight tickets here (to "Premier Coach" -- that's what Virgin calls their business-class service) to ensure that we had a nice, comfortable seat -- so we could SLEEP on the plan and get in-sync with the European time zones. Unfortunately, someone in Upper Class (first class) had a medical emergency during our flight, so just as we were trying to fall asleep, flight attendants began RUNNING up and down the isles (repeatedly) with arm-loads of medical gear. (You know it's bad when they get on the overhead intercom and ask if there are any doctors aboard...)

Naturally, our in-flight service went downhill from that moment onward as well (our flight attendants were now more preoccupied with the "issue" in first-class -- than seeing after the needs of the rest of us.)

Two comments: 1.) I was actually VERY IMPRESSED with the professionalism by which the flight attendants handled the situation. They are obviously trained for these situations, and they were fast and attentive. 2.) The ONE PLACE you do NOT want to have a medical issue is 35,000 feet in the air halfway across the Atlantic Ocean!

We think that the person just had some sort of panic attack. She was unconscious for a bit, but they revived her and didn't need to take her off on a stretcher or anything like that.

Enough with the boring flight stuff...

London:

We arrived at Gatwick Airport (which is some 30 or 45 miles south of London.) So, we had to catch a train from the airport to downtown London. MOST people take a train called the Gatwick Express. But, with the US dollar taking a BEATING over here, I opted for the cheaper (more local/slower) train.

It was fairly PACKED -- and didn't have room for luggage. We "accidentally" squeezed ourselves into a first-class cabin -- and rode in a first-class coach the whole way to London. (But, the other first-class passengers were NONE TOO PLEASED with our illegal presence.) ;-) Damned Yanks!

Once in London, we caught one of the legendary black cabs to shuttle us to our hotel. The cabs are NICE!!! (And the drivers even nicer!!!!) He was SO polite and helpful. :-) Plus, the guy drove like a champ! First, everyone's on the wrong side of the road. Second, they are all driving like mad men (and women.) Our cab driver was equally as wild, but in a somewhat orchestrated manner. He was an artist at driving the traffic, and took great pride in his work. I tried to tip him upon our arrival, and he actually REFUSED a tip!

Our bed & breakfast is clean and quaint, and located in the heart of London. I had considered getting an American Hotel (e.g. a Holiday Inn Express on the outskirts of town.) But, the daily train ride into town was going to cost as much as the nightly accommodations. So, I selected a little bed & breakfast from the Internet.

I'm assuming the higher-priced hotels have all the "typical" US-based accommodations. But, our lil B&B's accommodations are nearly as cramped as living aboard our boat or driving cross-country in our camper trailer. We have all the basic amenities, but, the shower is nothing more than a TIGHT shower stall. The whole bathroom feel like the head/bathroom of a boat (slanted floors with a drain hole in the middle and such.) Again, I'm assuming our accommodations are tight and weird because this is some sort of British flat (condo) that was converted into a B&B -- so things had to kinda be retrofitted into place.

Breakfast has been pleasant. Great breads, croissants, etc. They even make us fresh eggs, bacon -- and baked beans! Yes, the British serve baked beans during breakfast! And, yes, we ate them!

London itself is simply RICH with tradition and history. When you think of it, they have basically crammed all of the elements of Washington, DC, New York, and Los Angeles into ONE city. London holds the nation's financial district, government seats & houses, media stations, times square, etc., etc. Pretty much, anything that is "UK" or "British" -- is headquartered somewhere within London.

We have spent the past three days seeing and EXPERIENCING as much of this city as possible. We have ridden in the black cabs, on the double-decker buses, trains, and the underground. We have even taken a cruise down the River Thames. We have seen Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, The London Eye. We have heard Big Ben chime (multiple times,) and sat in the balcony gallery pews of the Shakespeare Globe Theater. We have eaten fish & chips, drank pints of various British brews, and eaten desserts "puddings." Three times now, we have walked across River Thames bridges (including the wibildy wobbely Millennium Bridge.) We have seen London Bridge, Tower Bridge and numerous other bridges.

I believe London would be a WONDERFUL place to visit for a longer spell -- in the SUMMER TIME!!!! It's COLD here folks!!! We can feel the evening breeze blow through our hotel windows. As we walk out in the morning, we are greeted with a winter bite. (The British call it "fresh" -- as in to say, "it's a bit fresh out this morning.") Then, there's the wind chill of the roof-top (open) rides daily on the double-decker buses. You get a chill that you just can't shake -- and you carry it with you all day. Then, we return to the hotel after sunset, to find our window WIDE OPEN! (The front desk says that the chambermaids leave the windows open to "freshen" the rooms.) Brrrrr!!!

Thanks to the Christmas season, many of the streets and buildings are aglow with lights and decorations. There are also several holiday festivals underway. We attended Frost Fest one night. It was appropriately titled, because it was COLD!!!

Tonight, we were supposed to attend the Winterfest in the park. But, we were so chilled, that we had to return to our hotel room to warm up again. (We'll try the park again tomorrow night.)

Bottom line: London IS a great place to visit (in the Summer.) It would also be nicer to visit when the USD is a bit stronger against the pound. Right now, the exchange rate is a little more than $2 USD to the Pound. So, it's a bit of culture shock to spend TWICE as much as you are used to paying for things.

Honestly, there wasn't anything too shocking or surprising about London (other than the sticker shock due to the weakness of the dollar.) London seems to have more tourists than locals. It's a VERY cosmopolitan city. On the streets and in the restaurants, I seem to hear more German, French and Dutch than English. The town has EVERY ethnic food that you could imagine. I found it "interesting" on the tube the other day to hear a young Asian man (maybe 24 years old) speaking with a THICK British accent. This city seems to be a larger melting pot than any US city that we have ever visited.

The only other thing that I will add is that the British seem to be VERY patriotic -- and seem to take a bit of pleasure in periodically poking fun at their American "cousins." Whether it's on television, or on a tour bus -- they seldom miss the opportunity to toss out a little zinger every now and then. They don't seem to do it in a harmful or "negative" manner -- rather, they seem to enjoy "sparring" with words. Again, not FIGHTING with words -- just jousting a bit. They like to point out things like, "the first Hard Rock Cafe was here in London." They kinda fail to mention that it was launched here because a pair of Americans were sick and tired of not being able to find a decent hamburger in this town, so they created the Hard Rock. I have also heard them toss out a few (well deserved) zingers about the proliferation of Starbucks here. Folks, there are more Starbucks here in London than there are in Pinnellas County, Florida. Then again, it's COLD HERE -- they NEED a Starbucks on EVERY CORNER here!!!! Whereas, in Florida, I guess we should have a Ben & Jerry's on every corner...

(Hint: You can click on any image to see a full-sized version of it.)

Cheers,

Nick & Kelly

25 Years and STILL in Love!

To celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, we are treating ourselves to a whirlwind trip through Europe.

For the past three days, we have been waking up earlier and earlier, to pre-JetLag ourselves onto UK time. We are pretty tired now, and ready to sleep (which is a good thing, because while it's now 4:30 pm Eastern time, it's already 9:30 in the UK.) So, hopefully our pre-planning will pay off upon arrival with minimal transition.

I exchanged $100 bucks USD at the Orlando International Airport moments ago. The conversion rate SUCKS!!!

We have about another hour until we board the plane. We are flying Virgin Airlines round trip. We are both looking forward to this flight. (I have upgraded our tickets to a Premium-class seating assignment for the flight there, and I hear that it's equal to our US first-class accommodations.) I'm hoping that we earn enough frequent flyer miles on our outbound flight, to gain a free upgrade for the return flight...

We will be gone for about 25 days. Thus far, I have only secured accommodations for about nine or 10 of those days. We are kinda flying by the seat of our pants for the rest of the dates! ;-) I duno where we will stay in Paris, Amsterdam, Innsbruck, Venice, nor Switzerland. (Which also means I duno where we will be staying during New Years Eve yet... I'm sure it will come together soon enough. That's part of the fun and the adventure! -- LIVE LIFE!!!


Our current itinerary:

London, England: December 14-17
Ferry across the English Channel Dover-to-Calais
(the ol' fashion way -- we ARE boaters after all)
Paris, France: December 18 - 19
Brussels, Belgium: December 20
Amsterdam, Netherlands: December 21
Düsseldorf, Germany: December 22
Innsbruck, Austria: December 26
Venice, Italy: TBD
Switzerland: TBD


I'll try to post updates regularly -- but, no promises. (We may be having too much fun to boot-up the computer.)

Cheers,


Nick.