London Town

The past several days have been about transferring our center of operation to London. ha! ha!  

We left my beloved Lake Como on Tuesday and moved to a hotel closer to the airport so it would be easier to catch our early-morning flight on Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, we flew from Milan to Heathrow Airport in London.  Hey! Everything is in English again . . . well, sort of! ha! ha! My first stop was a fresh juice place where I enjoyed a fresh squeezed carrot / apple juice! Ahhhh! It totally hit the spot. I have been missing my juice.  Fortified with a few vitamins, we took a train to South Kensington and found our apartment. It was a long travel day!

Our apartment is adorable. It is located in a nice area centrally located to train stations and bus stops, lots of pubs and restaurants, and of course, shopping! We have two bedrooms, two baths, a small living/dining room and a tiny kitchen with a teenie-weenie washer and dryer combination. Perfect!

After getting settled, we met our friends Dave and Lisa and their kids for dinner in a typical English pub. They had flown in that day also (from Texas) so we where all very tired. It felt really good to crawl into bed that night.

On Wednesday, the group went to the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey but I stayed behind and took a day to unpack, do some laundry, pay bills, check email and get my nails done. They had a great day seeing the sights - especially the crown jewels in the Tower of London, but unfortunately no pictures were allowed in either location.  

Stan and I met Dave for dinner at a great restaurant nearby. We happened to meet the owner and he told us that he was flying to the States this week to open another restaurant in Malibu! It's a small world.  I'll have to check it out when I get home.

On Thursday, we toured London on a hop on - hop off bus. The traffic was terrible so it took a very long time to get around the city on ONE route.  We saw a lot of landmarks from the bus, but we didn't have an opportunity to get off and take pictures.  I saw several areas that I would like to return to and have a closer look, especially shopping on Oxford Street and tea at the Savoy, Fairmont.

Just before noon, we hopped off the bus and headed to Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guard.  There was a throng of people and although we managed to get close, it was impossible to see over everyone's head. Boo!  

The rest of the afternoon consisted of lunch, cupcakes, and lots of walking.  Here are a few photos I took along the way.  Behold the City of London:

This cracked me up! They serve proper hamburgers!

Sculpture of a giant blue cockerel by German
Artist Katharina Fritsch symbolizing
the male dominance of Britain.

London Eye

Elizabeth Tower which houses
the Great Bell, "Big Ben".

Parliament Square
(I was riding on the roof of one of these red buses.)

Thames River

Buckingham Palace
Changing of the Guard.

The Pollack Family

Buckingham Palace

Crumpets anyone?

Sam, Stan, and Dave.

These old phone boxes are all around the city.

Buckingham Palace

I hope this guy doesn't roll over!

Sam and Maggie

Kate

The Mall

Queen Victoria

Green Park

Here's an interesting story about Green Park.  

In 1746, Upper St James 's was officially renamed The Green Park. We don't know the exact reason for the new name. It may be because, at the time, the park was an open meadow with few trees. Or it may date back to a tale about King Charles II and his wife. Apparently, she discovered that Charles had picked flowers in the park and given them to another woman. In revenge, the Queen ordered that every single flower in the park should be pulled up and no more planted. True or not, there are still no formal flowerbeds in The Green Park.

Maggie and Floating Man

Maggie trying to figure out how he floats!

Old London Bus

A Day In Bellagio

Oh, I love Bellagio.

There is something about these little towns along Lake Como that has captured my heart. I can't count how many times I have said to Stan, "It's so beautiful." In spite of fighting a cold and a migraine, I feel so peaceful and content here.

Today was a strolling day.

We strolled to breakfast.

We strolled through the gardens.

We strolled through town.

I love strolling days! Why don't I have strolling days at home?

Come walk with me and enjoy Bellagio . . .

Our first stop was the Villa Melzi Garden. At the beginning of the 18th century, Francesco Melzi d'Eril, Count of Lodi and Vice President of the First Italian Republic during the time of Napoleon, built a summer residence in Bellagio.  His taste for neo-classical architecture was influenced by Napoleonic France which is very evident in the Villa.  A park was added to the grounds which includes winding paths, Egyptian sculptures, Roman statues, exotic trees and a beautiful Japanese water lily pond surrounded by Japanese maples. Behold:

Is there room for one more?

Oh, it's nothing . . . just a summer villa!

My sunbrella matches the flowers.

I was twirling my sunbrella.

Stan's shirt matches the maples!

Reflections

After the gardens, we headed to town for some lunch, gelato, pictures and window shopping.

The streets of Bellagio.

Bright paint schemes. It just works here.

Bright pink house with pink flowers in the yard.

Flowers, flowers, flowers.

Sidewalk cafes are the norm in Europe.

Travel Day

Saturday, June 7, 2014

I dislike travel days because that means packing . . . but I like travel days because I always look forward to the next place on the itinerary!  The great thing about cruising is you go to a new destination every day without having to pack.

Today was a looooog day.

A long, long day.

I stayed up late to pack and had to get up very early to catch the bus to the airport. There was no time for breakfast. We took a bus from the hotel in Vienna to the airport; a plane to Switzerland; and another plane to Milan.  

In Milan, we had a hard time figuring out which train we needed to take to Lake Como. We hopped on one train, but before it pulled out of the station, we realized we were on the wrong train. Stan went and asked the person at the ticket counter and we were directed to another train on a different track.  We schlepped all our luggage to the other track and second-guessed ourselves thinking that the original train was probably the right one after-all.  We schlepped our luggage back to the original track, re-boarded the train and then, just to be sure, asked someone who looked like a station manager. He said we needed to be on a different train on  the other track so we schlepped our luggage back to the other track. By then, we had missed the train.

Oh, bananas!

We asked again, checked the internet, checked again just be sure and THIS time we got on the correct train on the correct track.

Whew!  

All of this would have been fine except I was fighting a miserable cold and neither one of us had eaten.

We finally made it to Lake Como two trains later and caught a bus to our hotel.  I just HAD to video the ride on the bus because the roads are really narrow and our bus took up a lane-and-a-half. The driver was really sweet and his two daughters were along for the ride. The youngest one was talking away to her Dad and he patiently responded to all her comments while trying to concentrate on the road.

When we finally arrived at our hotel we were very happy to be there.  First stop was the restaurant where I was warmly greeted by the wait staff. Apparently everyone remembered us from our visit in 2012.

Vienna, Austria

Friday, June 6, 2014

Filling in the gaps . . . 

The cruise ended on Wednesday, June 4th. Everyone had to be off the ship by 8:30 AM so there was a lot of hustle and bustle. I got ready, grabbed a quick bite in the dining room, hugged my cabin-mate goodbye and headed to the port to find Stan.

Considering this was my very first cruise, I think I did pretty well.  Ha! Ha! I had no idea what to expect or how to plan. My friends (Bill and Diane) absolutely love cruising and now I can see why. I was very fortunate to have sweet Kris for a cabin-mate. It would have been a very long 12 days if I had been stuck in close quarters with someone I didn't connect with. LOL. But thankfully, everything went smoothly and I'm sure we will be life-long friends. Bonus!

Stan met me at the ship and we headed off to the airport. We flew from Barcelona to Vienna and arrived at our hotel about 3:00. The first order of business was LAUNDRY ... Lots of it!

On Thursday, I stayed in my room and caught up on email, bills, the blog and uploaded photos. I literally did not leave my room until dinner. The day was over-cast and cool so I didn't feel too bad taking a day to catch up.  Stan and I were in Vienna two years ago so Vienna isn't totally new to us.

Today, I stayed in again but this time it was because I came down with a cold. One of the girls in our group was sick the final days of the cruise so perhaps I got what she had. It stinks! Boo! 

Double Boo! 

I was determined not to miss the concert tonight so I stayed in and tried to relax. I soaked in the tub for awhile and tried to nap. 

This evening we took a train into the city and walked around a little. Stan showed me the building where we would be attending the concert.  I never grow tired of looking at beautiful mouldings, columns, and overall detail in architecture. Vienna is so beautiful! (I posted lots of photos in this blog my last visit in 2012 so you can check that out if you want to see more.) We did some window shopping, had dinner and then headed to the Sacher Hotel to have one of their famous tortes for dessert.

Musikverein
Vienna, Austria

That's a mighty big shoe!

I'll take it!

I found my hat for the next Annual Hat Party!

A must in Vienna.

Stan took one bite, I ate the rest!

The highlight of the evening was the concert at the Vienna Musikverein in the Golden Hall performed by the Vienna Mozart Orchestra. The program included Mozart's most popular pieces and the members of the orchestra dressed in full costume! 

Ceiling panel in the lobby.

Ceiling in the lobby.

Golden Hall

Happy girl!

Stan

At night.

Tomorrow is a travel day. I still have to pack!