Monday, July 21, 2014

The one situation we all try to avoid - getting sick on vacation. Ron, woke up in the middle of the night sicker than a dog. Not sure if it was something he ate or touched, but nevertheless, it wasn't good. He spent most of the day in bed, but did manage to gather enough strength to the head into Kotor to check out the old town.

Kotor looks beautiful from the boat as you can see below. But it is a bit run down close up. The old walled town is charming though.




Old town Kotor



A loop around the old town then we head back to boat to shade and coolness. Yup, we are wimps. A nice dinner for me and unfortunately just soup and bread tonight for Ron. Hopefully tomorrow he will be back to normal for our visit to Corfu, Greece.

Location:Kotor, Montenegro

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Wow... What a stunning place. The crystal blue water, the lush green hillside and not a cloud in the sky - Dubrovnik is beautiful.


We have our first tour this afternoon. It is 32 degrees outside so what do we do - nope not walking, but... Biking! We take a bus from the pier up into the hillside. Stunning views, but I must admit, the bus ride was a little bit of a white knuckler for me at some points. There really isn't much of a shoulder here.

We get to our starting point and get outfitted. Sweet huh.


So, the first leg is mostly downhill, we are easing into it. We stop for a "snack".


All the stuff on the plates and in the baskets is homemade - including the olive oil. It is delicious! The second part of our bike tour continues. This time there are 3 more strenuous hills. They start gradually but by the end, it was a bit of a haul. Drench with sweat we end the bike tour and head into a cool winery for a wine tasting. Not a bad way to end the day.





We get back to the boat late. We are disappointed that we didn't have time to visit the old town of Dubrovnik but hope to come back one day and explore more.

Tomorrow... Kotor, Montenegro. Jodi, we promise to listen carefully and take lots of pictures!

Location:Dubrovnik, Croatia

Saturday, July 19, 2014

So, it wasn't Trains, Planes and Automobiles - but it was Planes, Automobiles and Boats!

An early morning, long taxi ride and short flight - and voila! we are in Venice and boarding our cruise. There is a holiday in Venice today so we can't board at the usual pier for cruise lines. Instead we head to the commercial pier. No big deal, just not really anything pretty to look at and it takes us a little long to get out to sea. It is a beautiful day and not - hot, but the breeze off the water keeps us cool.

There are a ton of pleasure boats in the water. I guess for this holiday they have a bunch of fireworks on the water so they all stay on their boats for the show. Would be cool to see but unfortunately we had to depart at 5 PM.



We meet up with our friends Chris and Lisa. It is their wedding anniversary so we have a nice dinner on the patio. The food on the boat is fantastic. I am sure my clothes will be feeling very tight by the time we get off.



After dinner, we head to the casino for a little 3 card poker. Ron got a straight flush! Cha Ching! First time ever for him and it was very exciting.

A great start to the cruise!

Location:Venice

Friday, July 18, 2014

Who the heck said that London doesn't get hot! Maybe we just hit a heat wave?!?! 31 degrees today and after thunderstorms and rain during the night, a humidity factor that felt like at least 80% (our guess, but we are probably exaggerating). In any effect, it was sweatsville today! We aren't complaining, just surprised.

So, what to do you when it is 31 degrees and feels like 35? You go for a walk! To an old English Pub we heard about - the Jugged Hare. We stepped into the shops along the way but didn't really buy anything. London is very expensive especially when you factor in the exchange rate of 1.85.



The pub was cool, although not very busy at that time of the day (early afternoon), the British Open was on the Telly and Ron found a friendly chap to discuss each play with. That, along with a couple pints and a nice steak pie, made Ron a happy boy.


I decided to try the house special hare pie. Yup, you guessed it - rabbit. Although that may make some (including Ron) a little squeamish, it was very tasty.

It will be an early night for us tonight as we need to leave at 5 am tomorrow morning to catch our flight to Venice. Tomorrow we will board the cruise and catch up with our friends Chris and Lisa. We are looking forward to it!

Farewell London... Until we meet again.

Location:London, England

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Another great day in London. The weather - 26 degrees and no rain in site - beautiful

More walking and a little culture for us today. We head to the National Gallery - London's largest art gallery (paintings). I know kids, you are really wishing you could have seen it with us. :-)

From the National Gallery we walk to Harrod's - Europe's largest department store (over 7 stories and 1 million sq. feet). It is my birthday so I was able
to convince Ron to visit it with me. Can you believe with this size of shop and all the stuff I still couldn't find anything and went away empty handed! Oh well, it was still great to see.




Ron did manage to find his next car along the way... and only about 2 million British pounds - what a deal!



We finished my birthday with a fantastic Indian dinner. A great day!

Location:London, England

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

'Twas a busy day today!

We are up fairly early but had a good sleep and are over our jet lag. After breakfast we hop on the "Hop on/Hop off" bus and start our exploring for the day.
From the Marble Arch we head down to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben (see it in the background in the picture below. We get off at the London Eye (picture below) and head back to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. Sorry Mom, aunt Lizzy was home but didn't come out to say hi.

Big Ben:



London Eye:



Changing of the guard:


We stop for lunch - another english pub for some fish 'n chips and a couple pints (Fuller's Pride, Truman's Eyrie, and Peroni). Take a stroll to a cool market area called Covent Garden, then get back on on the bus to finish the tour.

Tonight is our theatre night so we head to the Piccadilly Circus area to see "The Book of Mormon"- definitely out there and just a bit offside, but hilarious. We really enjoyed it.

A lot of walking today, but the weather has been great and we are enjoying seeing London. Oh... and it was a happy day for Ron as he had pizza for dinner!

Location:London, England

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

We made it! Our vacation has begun!
We arrived at our hotel in London around 3:00 PM. It is a quick semi-unpack and out to hit the pavement and find us a burger and beer for lunch/dinner.

The weather is great in London - about 25 degrees so we go for a walk to find our bearings and do a little exploring. We are really close to Hyde Park and the Marble Arch (see picture below). As so many places in Europe, London is rich with history.




But I wasn't expecting to find such a large and rustic park in the middle of London. It was really beautiful. We walked most of the way around it and stop to look at the swans and a fountain memorial for Lady Diana. It wasn't a big fountain like I was expecting but instead more of a kiddy park. It was really nice, but we didn't get any pictures.

We checked out Oxford street (it is a Main Street with lots of shops) before stopping off for a last beer (when in London...). The jet lag is gotten the best of us so off to bed we go.



Tomorrow we are planning to do the hop on, hop off bus, catch the changing of the guard hopefully and head to the theatre tomorrow evening for the "Book of Mormons" show. Stay tuned....

Location:London, England