Jan. 8, 2019

Up early and dragging the luggage to Kingston.  Caught the X26 bus to Heathrow.  It was sad to leave, made worse as I was still not feeling well.  I was congested from my sinus issue.  Rick said he had a sore throat a few days earlier, but then he felt better within a day.  I just wanted to stay in bed, but we had to get on that plane.

Neither of us could sleep during either flight.  Our first leg was to Iceland and then had time for lunch and then the long flight to Denver.  I took some beautiful pictures from the window as we were chasing the sun.  It was setting and it was so brilliant in the colors and the pictures do not even do it justice.

Our friends, Deb and Sam picked us up at Denver International Airport.  Took us for a quick dinner and then home to see Murphy.   Peggy stayed with him until we got home.  The reunion was anticlimactic.  Murphy kept coming to me and then to Peggy.  I think he was so confused.  He was really depressed for several days, but has started to cheer up.

The following are the places we visited:

London, UK

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Inverness, Scotland

Edinburgh, Scotland

Paris, France

7 Sisters/ Seaford, UK

Munich, Germany

Rome, Italy

Florence, Italy

Cinque Terre, Italy

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Split, Croatia

Drove through 8 miles of Bosnia – does that count??  We had to show passport.  🙂

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Athens, Greece

Mametz Calais, France – not to be confused with Mametz Somme, France

Metz, France

Frankfurt, Germany

Prague, Czech Republic

Dachau, Germany

We are back to the real world, for the most part.  I have a job lined up and should start full time, at the beginning of February 2019.  Meanwhile, I have signed up for a few days of work.  We will begin our search for a home soon.  It will be nice to have more room and belongings out of storage.

 

 

 

Jan. 3, 2019

Took the train to Tiverton Parkway.  It was so nice to see Uncle Rod and Aunt Val walking toward us, on the platform.  We went back to their beautiful home, in Chittlehamholt.  We sat around getting all caught up with life.  Poppy, their dog, soaked up all the attention Rick and I would give.  She is such a good dog.

I took one picture of Aunt Val’s Christmas Card tree.  It was so adorable.  She is very good at making crafts and decorating.  I told her she had to come over and decorate for us when we find a home.

The following day we all went for lunch at The Castle Inn.  Rick may still have a scalded tongue, after eating his first bite of lasagna.  Aunt Val and I enjoyed and didn’t even share our delicious lemon desert.

We said our good byes and back we headed.

Dec. 30, 2018

Finally decided to go seek medical attention.  First I was way too embarrassed to even tell anyone I was standing on a chair, to clean the oven vent, let alone to find out after I had fallen that there was a foot stool not 2 steps away from me.  In hindsight, if only I had spoken out loud….. I had searched the flat for a foot stool and kept telling myself, how silly there isn’t one.  Then I thought well maybe no need, since the landlords are not short like myself.  So, I grabbed a chair and began cleaning.  When almost done I heard a creak and then bam I came crashing down.  Rick was just in dining room and came rushing in to check on me.  The pain was horrible to say the least.  Rick got me to the couch and got foot elevated and ice pack.  Then he says, “I am not trying to be mean, but why didn’t you use the foot stool?”  I said, “what foot stool?”  “I had been searching the flat for one.”  He points to it and says, “right there”.  I said, “oh my gosh, I thought that was a table!”  So not only did I break the landlords chair, I have injured my left foot.  I was so mad at myself.  I kept thinking if only I had asked Rick about a foot stool, all would be well.

So after two days of not being able to put any weight on my foot, I decided time for a look by a professional.  The bruising and swelling had gone down, so I was still reluctant to go to clinic.  But not being able to walk was worrying me somewhat.  The news came back as not anything broken by the nurse.  The radiologist will take a look at it and if different opinion, give me a call.  I am to stay off of it for 2 more days and then beginning walking on it a little more.  The nurse said it could take 10-12 weeks before it feels completely well.

At least this happened now and now at the beginning of our journey.  I can say this much, I do not like lying around and not doing anything.  Not a fan!

Dec. 27, 2018

June and Tony picked us up on December 23 to spend the Christmas holiday with them, in Bramley.  Thursday started off with Tony, Rick and I walking 6 miles, round trip,  to get a Starbucks coffee.  I got a 2nd coffee and made it worth my while.  Now, walking that far for a Starbucks should be listed, in the Guinness World Records.  Also, I believe we should all get free Starbucks for a year!

Before we reached Guilford, for our coffee, we were walking along a footpath and came upon about 6 young ladies, on horseback.  They were all decked out as well as their horses in Christmas apparel.  As we pulled aside to give way, they were wishing us Merry Christmas.  Then all of a sudden the last horse began to bronc.   On the third bronc the rider went high into the air and came down on her backside and hit the back of her head.  I thought the horse was going to come down on top of her and we all kind of went forward as if to try and get the horse to go a different direction and protect the girl.  Then I think we all realized the horse missed her but now was facing us.  We all stepped back for safety.  Then the horse took off into a shallow gully.  Rick took off trying to grab the running horse.  A rider dismounted and went to help Rick.  Tony was left to tend to the horse that the rider left.  I was taking care of the girl who was injured.  We were lucky that some citizens of Bramley were also walking along the path and one used to show and groom horses.  She took over for Tony.

Another rider took off to help with recovery of the scared horse as it has crossed the busy road.  Rick returned and we assisted the girl to the parking lot where her family was coming to retrieve her.  The rest of our journey was fortunately uneventful.

 

Christmas Day

We started the day off with a much shorter,  but more stunning walk.  This trail was behind June and Tony’s home.  Our only excitement for this adventure was a lost, large black dog.  We never saw it but passed several people out searching for it.

 

For our First and I would assume last English Christmas celebration June made a delicious ham and turkey dinner, with roasted potatoes, gravy, carrots, brussel sprouts, sausage rolls and English stuffing.  For desert, we enjoyed lovely mince pie and Christmas Pudding with Brandy sauce and cream.  Now I would classify the English stuffing as a desert.  It was unbelievably yummy.

What I have observed here in England is that the British pride themselves on the presentation.  Everything thing they do is done in such a sophisticated manner.  June and Tony are the epitome of British elegance.  Every meal is done with such precision.

We will never forget how they have opened up their hearts and home to us.  We would be hard pressed to ever meet another couple as kind and thoughtful as them.  I know we have enjoyed their company and life stories.  I could never get tired of hearing about their lives.  I know we will stay in touch, but we will definitely miss them visiting us and having us over to their gorgeous home.

Dec. 15, 2018

We took the train to Gloucester to meet up with Dave Farr and his wife Maria.  We all met at Aunt Kath’s bungalow.  We had previously met cousin, Catherine from this Farr bunch at the Three Stags Sunday Roast.  This time we met with Trevor and his daughter, Callie.  Then John, his wife Paula and their three childres, William, George and Rosie.  Rosie is holding baby Albert (Bertie).  We all took turns visiting Aunt Kath in the hospital.  She had a fall and fractured some ribs and they are looking into some trouble she has been having with leg weakness.

Dec. 12, 2018

This made me wish I had Elora, Isaac and Faith here to enjoy all the rides and games.  We walked around and looked at the Christmas Markets, which by now are all looking the same.

Dec. 10, 2018

You can’t go to London without seeing Harrods!  Well, actually you can and we did just that 4 years ago.  So we decided to face the Christmas crowds.  Is there any other way to see Harrods than at their busiest season?

Dec. 6, 2018

Dachau was the first concentration camp opened by the Nazi’s.  It originally opened in 1933.  The number of inmates was over 188,000.  The murders that were documented was 31,951.  There were thousands unreported.

They have kept the front row of barracks.  The empty rows behind are still outlined and easy to visualize the mass number of barracks.  They were overcrowded and often there were 4-6 prisoners stacked upon each other in each bunk bed.

Dachau was liberated April 29, 1945.  In one of the pictures you can see pebbles/rock placed on the sign.  I had read a book (The Choice by Edith Eger) that stated “in Jewish tradition , we place small stones on graves as a sign of respect for the dead, to offer mitzvah, or blessing.  The stone is to signify the dead live on in our hearts and memories.”

Dec. 3, 2018

We had a fantastic apartment in Prague.  We were located in an area called Old Town, about one block away from their Christmas market.

In Old Town they have Astronomical clock that has been there since 1410.  It is built into the side of Old Town Hall Tower.

We walked up the steps to see Prague Castle.  We were pleased to find out we had arrived just in time to witness a change of guards.  Then we walked along the square in front of the Castle.

 

Some of our sites included:

The Hanging Man, Sigmund Freud

The Church of our Lady before Tyn

 

St. Nicholas Church

 

 

Archbishop’s Palace

 

Charles Bridge:

This bridge crosses over the Vltava river.  There are 30 statues on this bridge.  They were in process of cleaning the statues hence the reason some are bright white and others are dark.  This bridge connects the Old Town to the Lesser Quarter.

 

The House at the Minute

 

Assorted Christmas Market pictures and buildings.

Dec. 2, 2018

When we left Metz, France we took a train to Frankfurt.  We had one full day to spend in this beautiful city.  The Christmas markets in Frankfurt were spectacular.

 

 

If I had to ever recommend a Christmas Market, it would be Frankfurt.  I hear Cologne, Germany has a lovely one as well, but we didn’t visit that one.