Judging the Night Parade in Pioche, NV

Another Labor Day Weekend enjoying "Mining Days" Festival in Pioche, Nevada. For the second time in the past three years, Darlene and Ron were selected as the judges of the night parade. We can not tell if we were so good the first time or that they were really desparate. However, it is plain that they wanted someone who did not live here. The theme is "My Favorite Decade"! Watch the video to see the winners.

London United Kingdom - Day Two

Even though we traveled to Buckingham Palace early to get a good location for the changing of the guard, our spot for viewing the ceremony was marginal at best. It appeared that guards dressed in a . blue (possible air force) uniforms were replaced by the famous guards in the red and bear skin hats.



Afterwards, we walked through St. James park to Westminster Abbey. We tour the abbey and found it breath taking. We would post pictures if we could, but they did not allow photographs inside. We then tried to take a public tour of Parliament, but the tickets were sold out for today. We happen to walk by the Churchill war cabinet museum and decided to go it. Many of these underground rooms had been left the way they were when world war II ended. We finished the day by walking to Piccadilly Circus and then to Leicester Square . Dinner was at a Pizza Hut. Exhausted, we took the "Tube" back to our hotel. This was a final day to see Europe. We loved the trip.

London, England -- Day One

We left the ship early in the morning at 7:00am with Ken, Patty, and Serge. Took a taxi to the Dover train station. Took the train into Victoria Station. Here is when the fun begun. There are no "lifts" (elevators) here to get to the "Underground" or the familiar name "the Tube" (London's subway system). So we had to hand carry our large and heavy bags up and down stairs. With Patty and Serge's help, we got on one subway for one stop and then we got off to change to another train while Patty and Serge continued on the train to their hotel. Now we were on our own. We managed to find our next train which took us out to the end of the line at Heathrow airport. There we discovered that we had to pay additional fare just to get out of the subway. We wheeled our bags out to the airport curb to take a shuttle bus to our hotel (NOT complimentary). That bus ride was like Mr. Toad's wild ride!

After checking in and leaving those very, very heavy bags at the hotel, we started our journey back into town. First, walk about a quarter mile to a bus stop. Get on the right bus for a short ride to the subway station. Then reverse the subway ride all the way back into London about where we got off the first train. By the time we arrived at our first sightseeing stop, it was 3:30pm. We had just about spent the entire day just riding trains, buses, and a taxi!



Our first stop was the Tower of London. We attached ourselves to a guided tour by one of the Yeoman of the Guards (he was very informative and funny). He is Darlene's new friend (see above). After his part of the tour ended, we got into a very long, yet well moving line to view the crown jewels. Those gems were unbelievable! We toured a few other buildings inside the castle, but we ran out of time when the Tower of London closed at 5:30pm. We viewed Tower bridge which was just outside of the Tower of London. We then traveled over to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey before heading back into the very crowded subway system for the hour plus ride back to our hotel. It is fun and the architecture of the buildings are fascinating.

Portland, United Kingdom

Last excursion today is a tour of the house and gardens of the Athelhampton House. All eight of us got into a bus and first toured the English countryside into Dorchester. We had an hour of free time. Darlene and I found the post office where we exchanged currency into British pounds. Then a short drive further to this estate. The house was first built in 1485 and added to regularly. The extensive gardens were laid down in 1891.



After the visit, the bus took a different route back to the ship through the countryside. We returned to the ship and started packing to disembark the ship tomorrow. As the ship was leaving port, a band played music from the dock and a canon gave a 3 gun salute as we left.

St Marlo, France

We boarded a bus and traveled an hour to Mont St. Michael, an abbey first built in the 8th century on a rock which is an island at high tide, but accessible at low tide. The tide in this area can change as much as 46 feet. It feels like you are in the land of Harry Potter (which someone claimed some of the movies were filmed here) with the Romanesque and Gothic monastery buildings raising over 500 feet above sea level -- really awe inspiring.



After lunch on the ship, we returned to shore to visit the rampart protected old town of St. Marlo. The narrow streets were filled with shops, restaurants, and people.

Paris, France

The ships' late arrival into port delayed the start of our excursion into Paris. We traveled by bus two and a half hours through the French countryside. Our first stop in Paris gave us a great view of the Eiffel Tower. After fifteen minutes, we drove through the streets of Paris driving by the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysees, Orsay Museum, Place De La Concorde, the Louvre and Notre-Dame.



We stopped at the Luxembourg palace (the only place the bus could find parking--Paris was very, very crowded today). We found an exotic French restaurant for lunch--McDonalds. After buying a few souvenirs, we re-boarded the bus for the return journey to Le Harve to embark the ship. We enjoyed the visit to Paris.

Antwerp, Belgium

Our port call was Antwerp; but we did not get into the city. Theora, Darlene, and Ron booked an excursion into Brussels, the capitol of Belgium. We rode about an hour in the bus to get into Brussels. Our first sight to see was the location of the past world's fairs that have be held here. The most spectacular was the Atomine, a building in the form of an Iron atom.





We drove past the palace of the reigning king. The above gothic monument was across from the king's palace. We continued our journey into the historic part of town, right past this interesting monument (see below). Before this section of the town was re-developed, it was the red-light district. To honor the prostitutes who worked here, Brussels placed this statue of a high-heel, the favorite shoe ware of the ladies.





When we got downtown, we left the bus and started the walking tour.  The buildings around the market square were built in the early 1600's and are spectacular.   The guide gave us a hour to shop -- yes, we found a chocolate shop to buy the famous Belgian Chocolates.  Back on the bus, we drove by the Belgian version of the Arc de Triumph.  On the way back to Antwerp and the ship, we drove by the parliament of the European Union and NATO headquarters.