Right or Left?

December 8

Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

Can you believe they drive on the left side of the road like the Brits, but all the vehicles have left side drive!

Dutch or French

December 7

St Martin

Tiny island, half Dutch, half French. We docked at Philipsburg, St Maarten (Dutch). Our adventure for the day--an Americas Cup sailing regatta. We actually crewed on Dennis Connor's Stars and Stripes that won the 1987 Americas Cup series.  We were pitted against the Canadian True North boat, and we won!!  It was a thrilling experience.  

Took a taxi to Marigot, the capitol of the French portion. Lots of traffic and not much charm--not sure we'd pick this for a destination holiday. 

The Vast Atlantic

November 29-December 6

Atlantic Ocean

Eight days upon the ocean blue--it goes by faster than you think. And we were blessed with calm seas and clear skies. We love dining out on the open rear deck, especially in the evening. We have met and talked with many interesting people. As usual, there is a nice group of about a dozen women for a daily "stitch and bitch" gathering. 

A series of 10 lectures on DNA has been fascinating, tying it to crime investigation and history, think King Tut, Jack the Ripper, the Romanovs, etc.  

And the best part of sailing east to west, we get back an hour of time (sleep) every other day. 

The Man Who Never Was

November 28
Huelva, Spain

Took a taxi to the Roman Catholic Cemetery to see the grave of Glyndwr Michael, alias William Martin, RM, a key character in WWII's Operation Mincemeat.  A fascinating true story that provided advantage to the Allies in their fight against the Nazis.

Next up, 8 days at sea before arriving at St Martin.

The Rock

November 27
Gibralter

Gibralter--so small and yet so strategic. No wonder it was conquered and re-conquered over the centuries. It is definitely British in nature, though nearly everyone also speaks Spanish.
The road from Gib into Spain goes across the airport runway so they halt traffic whenever a plane takes off or lands.
We took the cable car to the top of the Rock and could see Spain spreading out on either side and Africa across the Med.
We met some of the famous Barbary apes on top, but they were not aggressive. There are feeding stations provided. It is a crime with a hefty fine to personally feed them.
We walked through the Great Siege Tunnels--dug by the British primarily for housing of cannon during the 18rh and 19th century, then used again during WWII.
The old hilly part of Gib has been preserved and new land areas are being created to accommodate new high rise housing.
There were shoppers galore on the Main St. pedestrian mall--Black Friday discounts have spread to the rest of the world.

Bye Bye Barcelona

November 25
Barcelona

We are underway--aboard the Azamara Journey, which is essentially the same design as the Ocean Princess that we sailed on a numbers of times. Feels like home. In 16 days we will arrive in Miami.
But before leaving Barcelona we walked through the Boqueria fresh market (one of the best in the world) and flew over the Barcelona harbor on the Teleferic (cable car).  Great views if the sea and city.
The ship holds 680 people but there are only 540 passengers. Stats:  over half are Americans, followed by Brits; over half are age 65 or more; six passengers are over 100!!
We had a lively table of 8 for dinner--six Americans from around the country, all very interesting.
A nice perk of Azamara--wine and drinks are included!

Barcelona Revisited

Strolled the streets of Barcelona, stopping at various favorite spots and shops including Gispert's which is loaded with spices and delectable gourmet foods.
We found a great yarn shop (to get a project for the cruise)--All You Knit is Love--that is run by a woman from Tucson!!
The Barcelona Christmas market is being assembled but won't open til Friday. Darn!
Finished off our day with beer, sitting in the sunshine beneath the Columbus monument. Barcelona is always enjoyable.

Ramble Up La Rambla

November 23
Barcelona

Before leaving London for Barcelona, we strolled the Earl's Court area and through Brompton Cemetery--huge and overgrown. It was established in 1840, known as one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries.  35,000 monuments and 205,000 burials. It is said that Beatrix Potter, who lived in the area, may have taken names of some of her characters from the tombstones in the cemetery. They are trying to raise £500,000 to recover the grounds. It may take more than that.
Then on to Barcelona where we are staying on La Rambla, the main strolling street in Barcelona.
Spain is a favorite because of the tapas bars where you can get small delicious bites with beer or wine. We indulged at Canete--nearby, authentic, and not touristy. Excellent!!

Zoom Zoom

November 22
London
The name is Bond. James Bond.  And, oh boy, he has had some nice wheels. We visited the Bond in Motion exhibit at the London Film Museum. It's the largest official collection of original James Bond  vehicles used in the films. The highlight is the classic 1964 Astin Martin used in Goldfinger. But the vehicles from Spectre are also there.
Almost next door is the London Transport Museum at Covent Garden. It explains the transport heritage of London--river boats, horse drawn carriages and trams, trains, omnibuses, Underground, etc.  Fascinating.
Learned that a man named Harry Beck created the iconic London Tube map in 1931. Prior to the Beck map, the Underground map was about as legible as a bowl of spaghetti. He realized that the exact geographic locations were not as important as 3 key elements:  the relative positions of the stations, the lines, and the stations' connective relations. Brilliant!!  The concept has been adopted all over the world.

Six Days, Sixty Miles

November 21
Swinbrook

Whew, we are done!  Six days and just over 60 miles.  The mud has been cleaned off our boots, and they won't reappear for the rest of our trip.
Our last day of walking was under sunny, blue skies and a "fresh" day (that's British for crisp and cool). It was Saturday, so more people were out walking, many with their dogs.  Speaking of dogs, they are welcomed in all the pubs--and they are all so well behaved!!
Back to London tomorrow for one night before heading to Barcelona.

Golden Orb

November 20 Swindon
There was a golden orb in the sky today--something we hadn't seen for a while, something called the sun!! Yay!
We, and our luggage, shifted to our third inn--the Swan in Swinbrook. Six days of walking, 3 inns, 2 nights each. We opted to do the 9 mile walk rather than 12 today, figuring the tracks and footpaths  would still be soft. Somehow we wound up doing 12 anyway with a couple of our own side excursions.
The Foot Trails company has certainly done a quality job in planning our trek. One HUGE benefit has been waterproof paper for the route directions. The instructions are very precise so you have them in hand all the time. Regular paper would have just disintegrated with the rain.
Another interesting fact about England--every individual field has a name known to he farmer.  One farmer we talked with said his field names date from the 1700s!

Poncho Paradise

Daylesford to Adlestrop, Oddington, and Bledington
Thank goodness for foul weather gear because the weather certainly has been foul--third day in a row of rain. We even pulled out our ponchos today.
But we did 10.3 miles. Started at Daylesford Farm founded by the first Governor General of British India. Today it is a wonderful organic farm with a lovely upscale shop selling produce and gourmet foods--and it is already decked out for Christmas.
The interesting site in Lower Oddlington was the Church of St Nicholas which has a huge Doom painting (or Last Judgment) dating from 1340.

The Longest Day

Bourton-on-the-Hill to Bledington, 13.5 miles, 6 1/2 hours, not bad. We went astray once but we we're able to get back on track. 

The weather here has been a lot like Wisconsin. Wait 5 minutes, and it will change. We started in sunshine (and wind), but by midday when we arrived in Stow-on-the-Wold (highest point in the Cotswolds) the rain had moved in. And it was heavier than yesterday. By the time we finished, the sun was shining again. 

We are now staying in the Kings Head Inn dating from the 16th century. EVERYTHING is on a slant.  Things slide off shelves, and I'll be tipping into Rick all night. 

English lesson for today:

No fly tipping--no illegal dumping of trash along the roadside. 

A bap--a bread roll best used for a simple meat sandwich. 

Mystery solved--the veggie we saw in the fields is fodder beet, a relative of the sugar beet and used for livestock feed. 

Squish, Squish

Yuk, muck!!  Our 9+ mile hike today had a generous amount of squishy mud, thanks to last night's rain. But we were not deterred and slogged on through a light mist that kept reappearing. Thank goodness for waterproof boots and gaitors.
We walked through several lovely villages, thatched roofs and all--Chipping Campden where we bought a yummy local cheddar for snacking. Then through Blockley where they film the PBS Father Brown series. We walked right past his church and vicarage.
We also walked though a field of an unidentified root vegetable. No one knows what it is!!
Hoping for better weather tomorrow.

On the Track

After a short train ride from Oxford to Moreton-on-Marsh, we arrived at the Horse and Groom Inn in Bourton-on-the-Hill. Don't you love the names!!
First walk of almost 5 miles completed successfully in about 2 hours. The instructions and maps provided by the Foot Trails company are excellent. We saw cows, sheep, deer, dogs, horses, and pheasants along the way. And we nabbed one cache. We feel ready for an 8 mile hike tomorrow.

Inspector Morse and Lewis

Any fan of the PBS shows by these names knows we were in Oxford. No murder mysteries for us to solve though. We stayed in the Hotel Malmaison that has been converted from the Oxford Prison. It was in use til 1994, but up til then the sanitary facility in the cells was a pail!!  It was too costly to install toilets!
The Oxford Castle next door dates from the 1000s and includes St George's Chapel where it is said that the education for which Oxford is famed began and where Geoffrey of Monmouth penned the Legends of King Arthur.

800 Years

800 years, that's how long they've been holding the Lord Mayor's Procession in London--since the year the Magna Carta was signed, 1215!  It was the year the London Charter was sealed allowing London freedom to elect a mayor. We watched the 800th anniversary edition from near St Paul's.
Free entrance to St Paul's today, so we saved £18 each!  After climbing 528 steps we reached the Golden Gallery and had a view of the parade route and the Thames.
Ok, did not know there are Whole Foods stores in England, 7 in London! We walked through the one on High Street--absolutely gigantic.  Three floors!  It even has a separate refrigerated room just for cheese. The whole world is truly being melded.
The terrible killings in Paris did not impact the festivities in London, but the weather caused cancellation of fireworks over the Thames.

Horrific

It's hard to fathom the terror in Paris. The world has become a pretty scary place. It saddens us beyond words.

This little piggy went to market.......

To the Borough Market to be exact--in the shadow of the Shard skyscraper and under the railway lines. So many European cities have excellent markets, and this one is no different--produce, cheese, wine, meat, fish, and lots of good eats. 

We love the Primrose Hill area of London (near Regents Park) and return there on every visit.  And we always eat at our favorite gastro pub, The Queens.  It was as good, no, excellent as ever.

The Underground (Tube) is a wonder. What a perfect way to travel about the city.  We have criss crossed it numerous times using our Oyster passes. Buying a pass for the week is so convenient. Speaking of the Tube, it is interesting to look down the car and see how many people are on their smart phones at any given time. Hint--it's a lot!  Also interesting to observe the man-spread phenomenon.  Yup, the guys tend to expand the space to which they are entitled when seated. 

Last thought--London truly is the melting pot of the world. So-o-o many different languages assaulting our ears. 

Grass and Gore

The green, green grass of Wimbledon.  For anyone who has ever been a tennis player, it's a place to see--although they won't let you touch the grass!!
And then an evening of gore with Simon--by day a Beefeater at the Tower of London and by night a teller of gory Jack the Ripper tales while walking the streets of Whitechapel where the murders were committed in 1888-and more gory than we ever knew--and they still don't know definitively who he was--and probably never will.

A Day of Remembrance

The Brit's day of remembrance for the Great War (WWI) is November 11th. At 11am, they have 2 minutes of silence, and literally everything stops. November 11th is significant because it is the day that the armistice was signed in 1918.  We watched the laying of the poppy wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Everywhere people wear poppies on their lapels. Those that gave their lives in the wars are much more revered than in the U.S.  Along this theme, we next. I sited the Imperial War Museum which has an excellent exhibition on WWI.
Next, to the top of the Shard--London's newest and tallest building with superb city views and aptly named since the top looks like broken shards of glass.
The we had remembrance of all those great Carole King songs we enjoyed over the decades. The show, Beautiful, is a tribute to her life and works-so, so many that we could sing along to.

Enjoying London

Easy flight from Minneapolis to Heathrow, arriving about 9:30am. Staying in Earls Court. We love the area, and it's direct from Heathrow on the Picadilly line. Had lunch at Fullers down the street (including sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel ice cream!) before heading to the cinema for the James Bond film, Spectre. Rather appropriate to be watching it in London, after all. After fighting all the bad guys, we rewarded ourselves with wine and cheese at Ashbee's Wine Bar--a quaint little place in the neighborhood run by Elizabeth. She's a charming Polish woman who rewarded us with honey mead!!

The Blog is Launched!

Stay tuned for adventures of the Schnells.