Day 17 - A Final Day in Wales

I actually thought I had posted this last vacation post a couple of weeks ago.  I guess that's what happens when you get older.  :)

Leaving Bath we drove 3 hours over to southern Wales and the town of Swansea.  By the time we got there it was too late to do much but we enjoyed the night at a beautiful hotel near the sea shore.  The next morning we got up early and after breakfast started the long drive around the coast line of southern Wales for the day.  Being our first time to that part of Britain we were simply blown away with the beauty of this coast line.  Our first stop was a nice hiking trail of perhaps 3 miles which took us over the cliffs overlooking the coastline.

The Coastline of Southern Wales

It was a bit cool on that day, but considered downright cold by Tina's standards.  The cows however thought it was a perfect day for laying out and relaxing.

Here Tina was all bundled up, I was wearing a light jacket, and the locals were in shorts and t-shirts.  :)

The hike ended up taking us up to an overlook of a place called Threecliff Bay which was another example of the beauty of this unique place.

Even the sheep thought it was a great day for sun bathing.

Driving on west around the coastline we stopped for lunch just in time to miss a light rainstorm.  Even then the cliff lines and water front was beautiful

The challenge driving around southern Wales is that most of the roads leading to the coast line are very narrow and windy.  Given I already had Tina speaking in a firm voice to me (i.e. yelling) about my driving abilities when you're on the left side of the road, having narrow wet roads to boot didn't help things.

 

The last stop of the drive was on the west coast of Wales at a beach known to be prime surfing area.  Mind you by now the temperature was down into the low 40's, there was a pretty steady rain, and it didn't feel anything like a Florida surfing day.  HOWEVER, there was a 20 mph wind coming out of the west, and Wales surfers never miss a day when there's a good wind making waves.

 
 

And then there was the long drive back all the ways across Wales and through England over to Heathrow Airport.  Our flight was at 7 AM the next morning so we spent our last night out at a hotel next to the airport before finally bringing our Scandinavian vacation to an end.

Until next time ...

 

So long and bye bye!

Day 15 and 16 - Off the Ship and Into the Bath

We arrived in Southampton England early on the 15th morning of our vacation.  The energetic ones, my parents, elected to wake up way before dawn and escape the ship for an early ride into London for a return flight home.  Tina and I decided to sleep in and spend a few days exploring the southern English country side.  Good sons might have gotten up early to bid their parents goodbye.  I preferred to have sweet dreams and best wishes for them on their flight home! :)

We still had to get off the ship by 8 in the morning and figured we'd take a cab the 3 miles to the car rental facility from which we'd rented a car.  Feeling confident about the universal acceptance of credit cards, we didn't bother getting British Pounds.  As it ended up none of the cabs would accept credit card and we couldn't get back onto the ship to exchange US Dollars for Pounds.  Throw in the fact that the bank at the port didn't open until 10 and we were in a bit of a pickle.  Guess who walked 3 miles to the rental car facility leaving Tina at the port with all of our luggage.

That was OK too ... except I hadn't been precise in my car reservation as to when we'd be getting there.  They didn't expect us until mid-afternoon.  So I ended up sitting around for an hour after walking for an hour and when I finally got back to Tina she was more than worried about what was taking so long.  As it would end up her worries were only beginning.  Driving on the right hand side of the road with a ton of round abouts scared the living day lights out of her ... even though she had an excellent driver who adapted quickly to driving on the wrong side of the road and going round and round and round on circular roads that seem to lead nowhere.  :)

Regardless of all of the above, we finally made it to Stone Henge by somewhere around noon.  This is one of those places that seems to be on everybodies "to visit" list, and justifiably so.  As with a lot of monuments around the world they've had to restrict access to getting right next to the monument, but it's still an amazing place to visit.

The Mysterious Stone Henge

The Happy Tourists

A View From the Other Side

The Nearby Indian Burial Mounds

After a couple of hours we drove the rest of the way to Bath England to spend the night.  Bath is a beautiful city originally established by the Romans and renowned for it's warm spring baths.  We stayed in a beautiful bed and breakfast on the outskirts of town which allowed us to walk into the city and avoid driving, even though someone was excellent at driving on the wrong side of the road by that time but somebody was scared to death of riding with said excellent driver!

The City Of Bath

The B&B Tasburgh House

Downtown Bath England

We spent the next morning exploring more of downtown bath and the Bath Abbey. 

Stain Glass in the Bath Abbey

Graves Inside the Abbey

But before leaving town I had to take a couple of pictures of my favorite sort.  On that particular day I got a beautiful picture of the best looking American and a gorgeous little local girl in Bath England.

The Gorgeous American

The Beautiful Local Girl

Day 14 - A Sobering Day in Belgium

The ship docked in Bruges Belgium on our last day out at sea.  All 4 of us had signed up for a tour to the field made famous by the WW I poem entitled "In Flanders Field".  Belgium is a country with so much history relating to WW I, which is by and large a forgotten war compared to WW II.  But the visit and tour served as a sobering reminder of just how tragic WW I was to the people who lived through it.

The tour started with a visit to Tyne Cot Cemetery.  An organization known as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, funded by all the Commonwealth countries that participated in WW I, maintains all of these cemeteries and does an excellent job of it.  It is hard to comprehend all of the people who died in this cause and how many of them were placed in unnamed graves.

Tyne Cot Cemetery

Graves of Those Still Remembered

Tina and Dad

The next stop was at the Menin Gate Memorial which is dedicated to those soldiers who were known to have died in the area but who's bodies were never found or identified.  

Menin Gate Memorial

America didn't get involved in WW I until 1917 and never ventured into Belgium.  That's why all the memorials are to the British Empire, including England, Australia, and New Zealand.  

The real sobering part of the visit was to the "In Flanders Field Museum".  

WW I was so devastating in that it was the worlds introduction to the beginning of weapons of mass destruction.  Most of the participants went into the war expecting the same type of single shot rifle wars that had dominated the world before. But WW I introduced grenades, poison gas, and artillery, along with submarines, tanks, and warplanes.  These weapons led to a 4 year bog down in Belgium that saw neither side making major advancements.  As with most museums we weren't allowed to take pictures inside.

The final visit was to the cemetery next to the medical bunker where "In Flanders Field" was written by the Canadian physician Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. He wrote it shortly after presiding over a funeral for his friend, fellow countryman, and fallen soldier Alexis Helmer.

In Flanders Field

For those who might not be able to read that, here's the original poem.  You could also ask my Mom to recite it to you since she remembers having to memorize it back in high-school.  (I think it was only a couple of years old at that time.)  :)

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

And just as one last reminder of the prices paid by those who went before us, this cemetery also has the grave site of the youngest identified soldier to die in WW I,  a soldier who lied to get into the army and died at the young age of 15.

Day 13 - Bammin' in Amsterdamin

The next stop was Amsterdam where Tina and I did a tour which ended up going through the Ann Frank Museum which is housed in the building she and her family hid out in during WW II.  It was a bit too strenuous of a tour for the parents to take so we went it alone.  We started out by visiting a windmill which are historically preserved structures in Amsterdam.  The bull sitting out in a field by the windmill served as a good security force.

 

Downtown Amsterdam is full of a whole series of canals with "house boats" lining most of them.  These are not typical "house boats".

And then we were at the Ann Frank house.  Unfortunately they don't allow any pictures inside the house, so we were limited to a picture at the front entrance to the house from the main street.  It was a sobering visit to remember what the Frank family went through and that Ann died in a prison camp just a month before liberation believing all of her family had died when her father in fact had survived and spent months looking for her after the war.

Day 12 - The Kiel Canal

We'd never heard of the Kiel Canal, but it's an engineering marvel given that it was started in 1887 and took 9000 workers to finish it by 1895.  It cuts off a significant amount of dangerous waterway from having to go around the treacherous entry to the Baltic Sea and makes for a much safer and shorter passage.  You can see in the map Stockholm, where we first started out trip, and Rostock, which was our last stop prior to the canal.

Looking back on the canal.

Looking Back at the Canal

The Germans, along with most countries along the Baltic sea are big believers in wind power.

Wind Power

And then we were into the locks, watching the back gate close behing us.

The Marina at the End of the Cana

The Closing Lock

And then we were out ... saying goodbye to the Baltic Sea and into the North Sea. 

Goodbye to the Baltic Sea

We Interrupt This Vacation Posting ...

So I'm still trying to make time to finish the vacation posts, but too many people have been asking me for an update on the house.  Soooooooo ... vacation posts will be temporarily delayed.

A couple of weeks after we got back we finally got our tiles and pavers laid on the pool area.  Tina picked out all the colors and we were both super happy about the end result.

Tiles and Pavers Installed

At the same time they went ahead and graded the yard again ... or at least the parts that don't still have coquina rocks on them.  At least it's starting to look like a bit of a yard again.

A "Kind Of"A Yard Again

And then finally, on the infamous Friday the 13th of September 2013, the pool itself was finished, filled with water, and finally started looking like a real pool.

A Filled Up Pool

It's ONLY been 13 months since we started the project, and we still have a lot of work to do, but I think Tina's somewhat overreacting to how long everythings taking.

A Happy Wife

And of course I reserved the right to be the first person to take a swim ... and it felt mighty mighty good!

The First Swim

So with a promise that I'll try to finish the vacation pics soon, so long for now.

Day 11 - Joy a Many in Rostock Germany

Rostock is a city in the very northern part of Germany on the (... ... ... wait for it ... ... ... this is going to be a shocker ... ... ...) the Baltic Sea!  My parents decided to take a tour to Berlin, which included a 4 hour bus ride there and a 4 hour bus ride back  Tina and I were wayyyyyy too lazy for that.  We were originally a little bit sad to find out that no stores are open in Germany on Sunday.  However, churches, restaurants, and festivals keep on going.  (More on the latter in just a moment.)

Once again, the architecture and the mixture of new and old is just amazing.   The sense of history we have in America is just nothing compared to the rest of the world.

So even being there on a Sunday, we were fortunate enough to be there on the weekend of the Hanse Sail Festival.  This "small" town of 200,000 people attracted upwards of 2 million people to this festival for the weekend we were there.  And it's no wonder why.  It was a typical Germany festival of rides and food and beer ... and beer and food ... and beer and beer ... ... ... Did I mention beer?  Anyway, Tina and I had a great time walking through the festival and enjoying the festivities, including the mens singing group that we saw when we first started walking through.

But ... shocker ... shocker ... I always find myself attracted to the kids of a city as much as the local sights.  That was no different in Rostock.

And then this little cutey.  There was a bit of a fight while we were watching because the little boy in front wanted to walk the dog.  However, this girl was insistent that she was better at it.  Having raised 4 girls, the little boy didn't have a chance.