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Jane KippJane Kipp
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10 カ国を旅行しました もっと詳しく Hamilton, Canada
  • 旅行者The Land of the Vikings
    日18

    Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

    6月6日, アイスランド ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    I'm up bright and early just before 6:00 AM. I shower, finish packing, and am downstairs by 7:00 AM. A last trip to Neros for my coffee and crossiant and I'm waiting for my car to the airport. I am flying out of Stansted airport, which is a 1.5-hour drive from Paddington. I'm not going to do that on the tube or rail with luggage. RHIP.

    As I drive through London, a few notes. I don't know if it is my age or the fact that I have seen London before, but the shine has rubbed off this penny somewhat. The people are not quite as engaging or helpful as I remember. The driver for my car came into the lobby and announced it was the white car and then left. The lady at the desk brought my luggage out since my hands were occupied with my coffee and crossiant. I loaded the luggage I to the trunk and opened my own door to get in. I'm not royalty or a snob, but one would think that for 120.00£ maybe a little help would be nice. The ride to the airport is quiet, I guess not everyone is a morning person. I don't know if I have changed or London has, but it feels as though the romance is gone.

    One thing I haven't seen or noticed is a petrol station. I'm realizing that as I drive to the airport.

    On a more practical note. Since Canadian cell phone companies are ridiculously priced for travel packages, I use a company called Airalo. I bought 5G of data for around 25.00 US. It was for a Northern Europe package and covered many different countries. After using it for over 2 weeks, I still have just over 3G left. I have used it for all our on land connections for everything from email to banking to maps and more. The other thing I do is travel carry-on only. I'm too old to lug heavy suitcases. Lastly, for footware, I invested in a pair of Vessi shoes. They are a Canadian company on the West Coast. These have been great. They have good support, are waterproof, slip resistant, and lightweight. We have been in all kinds of weather, and they have held.up great. Check them out if you want. https://vessi.com.

    I get to the airport with plenty of time. I get through security and find a restaurant for some breakfast. I don't think there is food on board. This is only a 2 hour flight to Iceland, from there I catch a 5 hour flight to Toronto. We board and push back from the gate 15 minutes late. It is a beautiful day to fly here, at least. I don't know the weather in Iceland. I have lucked out with having an aisle seat of three. The middle seat is empty! Yay! I am flying on Play Airlines. The seats are comfy enough, and there is plenty of room.

    I had a good flight to Iceland. The flight was quiet and I had some extra room. I have spent a couple of hours in the Saga Lounge in Iceland prior to boarding to go to Toronto. We are boarding late, so I think it might be later getting in. Maybe we will get a good tail wind.

    We landed at 7:20 PM. in Toronto. It was a nice flight with a nice dinner, wine , snacks and quiet. Then, of course, the lunacy called Toronto Airport. Customs kiosk that are self-serve. Customs agents that are chit chatting as you go through. Hand them a piece of paper and then leave. As always, I have a car hired to take me back home.

    It's been a 16-hour day for me.
    4 countries
    Over 16,000 kms

    Good night.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者The Land of the Vikings
    日17

    Last Day For Me

    6月5日, イングランド

    Today is my last day in London. I have woken up to a beautiful sunny day. We had some rain late last night, but that is a thing of the past. I head down to Neros for a coffee and crossiant. I come back and start to sort my luggage out. I, unlike Kitten, am not buying another suitcase. I don't want to try and navigate a larger suitcase, and I certainly don't wish to check bags at the airport. I am taking two planes home, unlike Laura, who had a direct flight from London. Trusting two airlines with checked luggage is just pushing you luck now a days.

    I leave and head to the park near my hotel. This one is called Kensington Gardens. What a beautiful day to get some shots of the waterfountains and the fowl. They have an old Rolls Royce that has been converted to a truck. Just past this are many fountains with birds.

    I used to love shopping at Mark's and Spencer (we had one in Hamilton, Ontario). I am going to head down to the one on Oxford Street and see what they have. I hop on the tube and off I go. I get there and open the door, excited to find a dress to take home with me. I wander through the store and quickly realize that the M&S of the past is gone. Instead, they seem to have the same clothing as everywhere else. They used to have pieces that would stand the test of time, but now they have just disposable clothing. There are no lined wool skirts or jackets. No classic blazers. It's a little disappointing. I suppose that time really doesn't stand still.

    Next up is St. Paul's Cathedral. A short tube ride, and I pop up near the cathedral. Built in 1765 and opened in 1710, it is on the site of a previous church. It has a height of 111 meters and is built in the baroque Renaissance style. I was missing a cathedral in the blog, so here you go. A splendid one at that. I didn't climb the 300+ stairs to the top of the dome, sorry. The inside has many crypts, one of which is the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon.

    Dinner tonight was at the Italian place across the street from the hotel. I had a marvelous carbonara and a Panna cotta for desert. Tonight I pack and tomorrow I leave.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者The Land of the Vikings
    11
    日16

    On My Own Again

    6月4日, イングランド ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Laura had to leave early this morning. Gone by 8:00 AM. It was absolutely hilarious watching her pack last night. We had to buy a larger suitcase for her since she had a successful day of shopping yesterday. I believe that this is normal since Laura and Nicole had to do the same thing in Greece a couple of years ago. Ah well, youth, what can I say. I don't think I laughed that hard in years. Laura is a determined little thing (no idea where that comes from) as she tried to squeeze one more thing into a suitcase. Laura did make it to the airport on time and with everything in tow.

    I had a leasurely day to myself. I took a nice long shower, then went down to Nero's for an almond croissant and a latte. I head back to Collectif today because their outlet store is open. They have more clothes in my size. It was a disappointing trip as they didn't have anything I wanted. After that, I took myself down to the Victoria and Albert museum. This is free and open to the public. The displays range from architecture in Britian 1760-1900, design in gold, silver, ironwork sculpture, tapestries, medieval and renaissance Britin, To Buddhism, Japan Korea and more. An amazing way to while away the afternoon.

    It is just interesting to walk around and see stuff. Check out the clock video. The imagination here is great!

    I came back to the room for some quiet time. I haven't said much about where we are staying. It is called the Edward Hotel in Paddington. The room is small, maybe 4 meters by 3 meters. The bathroom is tiny (included in the 4 X 3 meters). There is one hanging closet (with 6 plastic hangers), no dresser or drawers of any kind. While it is functional, it is not luxurious by any means. Somewhat of a letdown after our cruise cabin. It is fairly close to the Underground, and there are many restaurants within walking distance. It is quiet at night and the staff are lovely. However, it was not a place where I would come back to again. You rely on pictures and reviews, but I'm wondering if they can be counted on anymore.

    I had dinner at a noisy pub just down the street called The Bear. I had a burger and a glass of wine. The burger was delicious and just enough for tonight. This place is for the locals to come and get a pint and work through the worlds problems. I like visiting places like this to see everyday people. It allows you to get a vibe of where you are.

    Tomorrow is my last full day here. We'll see what happens.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者The Land of the Vikings
    1
    日15

    Laura's Last Day In London

    6月3日, イングランド ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    I actually slept well last night. That may have been the over 13,500 steps from yesterday! There is a wonderful barista down the street from our hotel named Nero. I head down there for a coffee and crossiant. Then I head over to the bank. The last time I was in the UK (10 long years ago), I had brought back some leftover currency. I brought it back with me this time to use. I tried to pay for our lunch yesterday, and they told me that the currency was not used anymore. So I went to the bank down the street to change it. The old paper notes and the 1 pound coin have been changed. Now my wallet is much lighter.

    Today is Laura's last day in London, which means that we are shopping. We went a store called Collectif. They have new clothes but in the 1940's style. This is where Laura gets many of her dresses. We went shopping for me today. However, they don't have my size. They have an outlet store beside them, but they are closed today. I'll head back here tomorrow.

    We then see the Spitalsfield Market. Sure, why not. There are plenty of stalls selling everything from leather goods to jewelry to clothing to food. We stop for some fish and chips and conrinue shopping. A few hours later, we head to Camden Market on Hawley Warf. More shopping is done here. Next on the list is the Camden Brewery. Is it considered elder abuse is Laura walks me over 15,000 steps? She didn't even water me!

    We finally caught the tube back to our hotel and some well-deserved dinner. Wine is involved.

    Laura had to pack up tonight. We had to buy another suitcase. It has been a jenga puzzle and hilarious to watch. Laura has to leave early tomorrow to go back to Canada. That leaves me with two more days to myself.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者The Land of the Vikings
    日14

    London's Next

    6月2日, イングランド ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Today is sad because we have to disembark the ship. Now, who's going to cook? Who's going to provide fresh towels and make my bed? Ah, the luxuries of cruising. We are all packed up and looking forward to London. We dock I Southampton, UK. It is a beautiful day in Southampton, I'm hoping for the same in London. We have to catch a train and then the tube to our hotel. Wish us luck!

    We have breakfast and make it off the ship. I already have 2500 steps in at 9:00 AM. I hired a ride to get to the train station in Southampton. They use Bolt app over here. We get our tickets and the train arrives 15 minutes later. We take the train to London Waterloo and then we catch a Tube to Paddington. This is a 109 km or 68-mile trip. So that is a ship, a car, a train, and then an underground all before noon. I think I'm going to need a nap!

    We found our hotel after navigating the rail and tube. Our room is quite small but it is London. That means you pay a fortune for a small room. However, we won't be in it for long. We drop our bags and head down to grab a bite to eat. There is a nice Italian restaurant across the street from our hotel. Yes, please! After dome food we head to the Tower of London. Laura must see the Crown jewels. We do the tour with a very nice Beefeater named Gary. He gave us a brief history of the tower, and then we went I to see the tower. There are 292 steps up ( and another 292 down) . There are many exhibits ranging from the horse statues to weaponry. After I kill myself in the tower, we head over to the Crown Jewels exhibit. When I was here 10 years ago, they had many more jewels on display. However, Laura got her fill of bling. (She snuck through twice)

    We head back to Paddington and find a Mexican restaurant called Wahaca.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者The Land of the Vikings
    1
    日13

    Brugge - Last Full Day

    6月1日, ベルギー ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Today is a gloomy, windy day out, with a temperature of 14 C. I am signed up for a 1.5-hour walking tour with a 30-minute canal boat ride. They call it the Romantic Brugge tour. Not unless I can find someone with a lot of body heat to snuggle up to! Laura is not feeling well, so I'm going solo.

    Brugge is an UNESCO World Heritage site. The population is 19,000 and is surrounded by a water ring. There are many canals that work their through the city.

    Our tour was marvelous, with many of the buildings explained. Brugge is known as the Venice of the North. Another influence in Brugges was the French. This is a very international city.

    We did a walking tour first and then a boat tour. We had some spare time to eat and shop. I did find some gluten-free chocolate.

    Tonight, we pack because tomorrow we disembark and head to London.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者The Land of the Vikings
    日12–13

    Amsterdam Is But A Dream

    5月31日, ベルギー ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

    We were supposed to be sailing into Amsterdam today. However, the weather is not behaving. We have to go through a lock, and the weather is too rough. Hence, we move on. Laura was soooo looking forward to Amsterdam. Amsterdam has legalized marijuana. Laura has been pot free since we left Canada. Needless to say, she was like a two year with her blankie in the dryer during the announcement (leg kicks and everything). The Captain arranged for an overnight stay in Brugges. We are going to be dockong around 2:30 PM, and we have no curfew tonight.

    Laura and I have lunch at a new restaurant today called Indulge. This is a group of street food carts that you can order from. You have tapas, Thai food, Shwarma, Coco deserts, etc. Laura had pre-ordered Pad Thai, and I ordered a noodle salad. I also got the goat cheese and apple tapas. Desert was, of course, a chocolate éclair.

    We dock around 3:00 PM and get off the ship at 4:00 PM. We are in a small town, and we have to figure out how to get to Brugge. After checking out a church, we follow the crowd to the local Spar and get a train/bus ticket. We wait for the train into Blankenberge and then catch a bus into Brugge.

    We made it into town and to the old city center. Unfortunately, most of the stores are closed. We can still walk the streets and see the amazing architecture. The trek back took about an hour and 20 minutes. We made it back just in time for dinner.

    Dinner was the usual wonderful fare of potato and cheese soup, turkey with gnocchi, and some mango cake for desert. Wine was included as well.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者The Land of the Vikings
    日11

    Last Day At Sea

    5月30日, North Sea ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Today is our second day at sea. Laura had a late night, so I let her sleep. I head down for breakfast and then find a spot to look out the window at the north sea. I then start a new pair of socks. I got so e new needles and wool in Alesund.

    Today, they are doing a pre-immigration for when we dusembark on Southampton, UK. It is a great way to do customs check on board instead of trying g to process 3000 people when we dock. I've never done this before, so we will see how easy it is.

    Today, the weather is overcast with periods of rain. It may be an inside day of reading knitting and getting more shots of the ship.

    We have a slow day, and there is nothing wrong with that. Constantly being on the go gets a little tiring. We have a nice dinner tonight. I hit the casino to lose some money and then head back for some sleep.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者The Land of the Vikings
    日10

    Happy Birthday To Me

    5月29日, ノルウェー ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Today is my 63rd birthday. This is how I like to celebrate, somewhere different. I have Laura with me this year. Last year was the East Coast of Canada. Today, we are in Bergen, our last port in Norway. Bergen is a burning metropolis compared to our previous ports. We don't have a tour booked today. We are just going to 'wing it'. So out of my comfort zone.

    The weather is rainy when I wake up, but it is starting to clear. Apparently, Bergen has over 200 days of rain a year. We are fortunate that the rain has stopped.

    When we get off the ship, we get tickets for the hop-on hop-off bus. This will take us everywhere we want to go. We hop off first at a park by the university. It is a beautiful place area. The trees and flowers are all in bloom down this far. As we walk in, there is a pond with ducks and a water fountain. There is a little bridge to walk over the water to get to the main part of the park. The lilac bushes are still blooming here, so I can bury my nose in for a good sniff! We follow a path to another section where it opens up to a large fountain with kids run I g and playing. It looks like a school class is having lunch here. There are also other families with their children and older adults enjoying the beautiful day. The sun is out now, and we have shed our jackets.

    We catch the bus again and head to the fish market. The one here is not the chaotic crowded wharf type that I have seen in other countries. This on is in a nice building and has more of a farmers market type feel. There are plenty of fish and other things from the sea to buy. They even have sea urchins that you apparently slice open clean and eat some part that is like caviar. Um, no, thank you.

    Next up is the funicular up to the mountain top. At the top, we can see a large portion of Bergen and the cruise port. Yep, the ship is still here. The day has turned out great and we can get some really nice pictures.

    Back down the mountain, we waited for the bus again to get us back to the ship. We have a short day in port today and have to be back on board by 4:30 PM. I'm starting to get nervous because the bus is taking g a really long time. We do make it back with 10 minutes to spare.

    Tonight, we have booked the Onda restaurant for dinner. It is the Italian restaurant tucked away in the corner of the ship. In all honesty, it wasn't that great. We both had the salmon, and the portions were large but nothing special. Laura did, however, plan for a birthday cake, and the staff did sing Happy Birthday to me. This is a nice ending to the day.    もっと詳しく

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  • 旅行者The Land of the Vikings
    日9

    Another Day, Another Town

    5月28日, ノルウェー ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We wake up in Alesund today. This is a much bigger city, with a population of 67,000 people. It's much bigger than Geiranger. The port looks a little more industrial than the scenery we have seen the past few ports. This port is actually at the entrance of the Geirngerfjord, where we were yesterday. There are many shops within walking distance that we take in after our tour. Alesund is actually made up of 3 different islands connected by bridges.

    Today we are going to an ocean park. Our tour starts with a drive-through town. There was a fire in 1904 that devastated a large part of town. It started in a fish factory and spread quickly since the buildings were made of wood. After this time, all the buildings had to be made of stone or cement. There are beautiful views from everywhere and i can't image a house without a view of the mountains or water. Spring is in full bloom here, with many colourful flowers and trees. The buildings are interesting with their norse emblems and facades. Many of the buildings have the date of when they were built up on the top. We see more of this when we walk through the town. The ocean park doesn't disappoint. They have many natural tanks of various fish and crustaceans inside the main building. Outside, they have two areas; one large one for the seals and a smaller one for the otters. The day is a little overcast, making it hard to get good pictures, but I try.

    Back in town, we are left to walk around on our own. There are many shops that catch our eye. One of which is an antique store. The owner is very nice and speaks very fluent English. (Thank goodness because my Norweigian is definitely lacking!) He has many little spoon collections and jewelery from the past. The best part was the paintings. His father was a painter, and he showed us how his and other painters used a technique that changed the painting with lighting. If you look at the painting in full light, it is a nice landscape, but when the light is lowered, the painting seems to have a light coming from within. It was amazing! This is why I like to travel because you discover things in the real world that books can describe, but experiencing them is so much better.

    We walk farther into town and check out the buildings and winding streets. When we boarded the ship, my wooden knitting needles were broken in the luggage. This, of course, means that the socks that I was knitting had to be put on hold. Today, however, I found a wool store! They didn't have the same size needles, but I did manage to pick up some more needles and wool to start another pair. After this, I leave Laura to her shopping and make it back to the ship. My poor little feet aren't as young as hers.    もっと詳しく

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