• Our Northern Europe Cruise

    8/1/20086:56:32 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

    We had just returned form our cruise to the Baltic Sea and I thought I would share our experiences with you.

     We arrived into London for a two night’s stay at the “Park Plaza County Hall” hotel. Good proximity to everything we had thought about doing while in London. A block from the Thames River and walking distance to Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Harrods Department Store, London Bridge and an assortment of other places along the river walk.
     
    Arriving into Gatwick and getting to London is a whole nether story. Two and a half hours by car . . . . . 2½. WOW. It’s not that it is a great distance, but roads and traffic are not what we are used to in the United States. The people of England are very nice and accommodating to us. A pleasant surprise as compared to our day to day lives here.
     
    After checking into the hotel, we walked around Big Ben, the Parliament and other attractions I may not remember too well as we had flown all night and not yet slept. If we can stay awake until about 9:00 or so, we will wake in the morning back to a normal cycle. So we did just that. Had a nice dinner and a few drinks at the hotel and went to the room about 9:30.
     
    We awoke refreshed and took a walk to Harrods . . . . . supposedly the world’s most famous department store . . . . . and what a sight it was. Every department is designed in it’s own theme our country. They have an Egyptian room, an incredible toy department and a Princess Diana room. I’m told you can buy anything in this store.
     
    Next it was to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. Did you know it takes over an hour and a half? I didn’t, but it was a nice day and a very interesting procession. Bands – horses – soldiers – big black hats all parading into and out of the palace. Then we walked back to the river for the river walk. Thought about the double decker bus tour, but after converting to dollars, it came to about $60.00 per person. We need the exercise anyways.
     
    Fist stop on the river was the London Eye . . . . . . . a massive 290 foot ferris wheel offering a great view of the city. Of course, we found it necessary to sample a different beer from any pub we passed. The river walk is a wide walk and filled with tourists, families and lovers. Street performers at every turn and some form of music filled the air as we took our leisure walk past the London Tower . . . . a World war I battleship . . . . and down to the London Bridge. London Bridge . . . . . . . . I thought that was somewhere in Arizona! I guess due to heavy protest, they needed to build a replica. . . . . or did we buy the replica . . . . they look identical.
     
    So we walked about 10 miles that day and had a great time in London. Next I will report the first few days of our Cruise. 
     
    Check back every few days
    Glen and Linda
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