TRIP TO EUROPE

We boarded the Crown Princess with 3000 other travellers in Ft. Lauderdale. The departure time was 5:30 PM. It took 5 days to cross the Atlantic. I felt totally isolated when I looked out over the ocean. We saw one ship, no birds, and no airplanes. One of our fellow travellers said a bird had stowed on his balcony and he was feeding it but we never saw it.

The Crown Princess is beautiful but really big. I think it had 18 stories total, 15 or 16 decks - we were on deck 14. I didn't think of taking a picture of our cabin but it was a nice size and had a balcony.

We sat at the same table every night and different shared tables for breakfast and lunch.

Our first port was Ponta Delgada, Portugal in the Azores. We saw various points on the island but what was most interesting to me was how fast the fog set in on the mountain.

One minute it was clear and sunny and the next visibility was reduced to nearly zero. The two lakes pictured here are different colors when the sun is shining - one is green and the other, blue.












Our next stop was Lisbon, Portugal. Lisbon is a beautiful city with a lot of history. There were numerous monuments along the inlet to the dock.The statue of Christ is an exact replica of the one in Buenos Aires.

The architecture in lisbon was beautiful. Very ornate.

Some of the streets of Lisbon were tiled mosaics. I thought they were painted. Each street or area had a different design.











Close to the pier was a "Smart Car" show. These cars are very small and very expensive. The engine is made by Mercedes and the body is made by Swatch (the watch people). Some of the decorations on them were very creative. Looking at them made me smile and occasionally laugh.






From Lisbon we went to Vigo, Spain. I didn't schedule a guided excursion and decided to walk around the town on my own. There were vendors on every street selling things like hand embroidered textiles, woven straw items and carved wood objects. The buildings had wrought iron balconies and most had flower boxes. There were outdoor eateries and in the middle of the main plaza was a lamp post decorated with what looked like a Hawiian skirt.

Our next port was Southhampton, England. Three of us took an excursion bus into London. To me London seemed to be withering. There were many empty office buildings, construction was on almost every street and the tour guide poked fun at his city and the royalty, expecially Charles and "that woman" (Camilla). The comments about Camilla were scathing. The city was preparing for the Queen's birthday celebration occuring that week.

Here we are with the London Bridge in the background. Far as I could tell it isn't falling down but I had the song in my head for the rest of the day.

Buckingham Palace, with all its glorious history, was impressive. Interestingly, we drove by the building which houses the American Embassy and the tour guide said it was easier to get into Buckingham Palace than it was to get into the American Embasy.

We ate lunch at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Pub which was rebuilt in 1667. We had fish and chips and peas. I had heard about fish and chips but I didn't know they were usually served with a sort of green pea mush. The peas were the best part of the meal. People who were "regulars" at this Pub include Alfred Tennyson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and Mark Twain.

The day after we visited London we docked at Le Havre, France. By this time I was exhausted and thought about just staying on the ship. I'm so glad I didn't do that. Four of our group traveled to Paris and the other two went to Versailles. I always thought Paris must be over rated. I fell in love with it. It was the highlight of the whole trip. Where London seemed old and drab Paris was alive. It seemed to sparkle.

There were more monuments with gold leaf on them than I could photograph. There were beautiful fountains and gardens. There is a three mile shopping street with nothing but haute couture shops. There was beauty everywhere. The one thing I was glad of was I didn't have to drive. I wouldn't have liked it near as much because of the crowds and dare devil bicyclers.

We took a river boat tour on the Seine around Paris. On this tour we were served a gourmet meal, white and red wine and mineral water. A violinist accompanied by a person playing the keyboard played appropriate music as we passed each landmark. On the walls along the north bank of the Seine we could see students studying in the sun, musicians practicing, tourists, couples sitting and talking and there was one couple intensely involved in love making. By the end of the tour all the people onboard were having a gay old time - I think most of them were tipsy. They danced to the music, toasted just about everything and took photographs.

Notre Dame is a beautiful, beautiful structure and we could clearly see it from the river. Other landmarks we could see were the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and the people relaxing on the walls along the river.

The most eventful site we visited was the Eiffel Tower. Here we saw the tower, of course. Also we saw a peaceful demonstration for Aung San Suu Kyi, a Burmese political leader and activist, a wedding, people draped in gold fabric and hustlers selling replicas of the Eiffel Tower.

The trip into Paris from Le Havre took three hours both ways so I was glad to have a day at sea (the North Sea) to relax before we got to Oslo. We were rushed in Oslo for some unknown reason and only saw most of it through the windows of the tour bus.

The beauty of Oslo comes from the pride the people have in their country and city. They were having an "early spring" and flowers were everywhere.

We stopped at an overlook which gave us a wonderful view of the city. The tourguide told us this was where Edvard Munch painted "The Scream". I can't imagine how he could have conceived something so ugly from such a beautiful setting.

We saw where the Nobel committee decides on who gets the prizes, a house or something sitting on a rock in the water, the Royal Palace, and the Holmenkollen Olympic ski jump from the 1952 Olympics.

From Olso we sailed to Copenhagen to catch our flight home. We saw nothing but the port and whatever was on the way to the airport in Copenhagen. This was due to the time constraints.

One thing interesting about Copenhagen, there were people riding bicycles everwhere; huge bicycle parking areas, mothers taking their kids to school on bicycles, business people carrying brief cases and students with books on bicycles. There were probably thousands of them. Gotta admit - it saves on gas.

Customs was interesting. If I hadn't been with seasoned travellers I would have probably still been there. We had to pick up our luggage from the ship and check it in at Scandinavian Airlines. Then when we arrived at Dulles in Washington DC we had to pick up our luggage and check it in at United Airlines. All this is due to the customs restrictions. It takes forever, it felt like we were being herded like cattle, and a person who has very little stamina wouldn't be able to accomplish it without help. Thank goodness I had been exercising regularly.