Barb DaCosta

Traveler Europe Cruise 2023
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Oct 18, 2023
- 🌧 13 °C
- Altitude: 88 m
- England Durrington Larkhill Stonehenge 51.179352, -1.82517551°10’46” N 1°49’31” W
Day 6
Day 6 - London/ Stonehenge/ Southampton
October 18, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
Up super early for our transfer to Southampton for embarkation. I found a bus transfer that stopped at Stonehenge on the way so a total win win. Brae had steered me to a podcast he listened to before going last spring and I’m so glad he did cuz those stories were way more mind-blowing than our guide. It was all kinda surreal and seemed like a perfect way to get to the cruise terminal. We drove through Salisbury and had a distant view of the Salisbury Cathedral which was pretty incredible - 365 windows (days in a year) and 8760 posts (number of hours in a year). Smoothest check-in on the ship EVER, but we ran into a bit of a weather issue and our departure was delayed…more on that later. We were seated for dinner with a lovely lady from Coventry who spends a lot of time cruising and had a wealth of information, as well as another couple who are also regular cruisers. Couple of martinis, trivia game, nightly show and we were done for the day.Read more
Great blog. Loved the pictures - brought back lots of memories.❤️ [Mum]
10/23/23Reply
0 likes
Traveler Europe Cruise 2023
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Oct 17, 2023
- ☁️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 35 m
- England Greater London Leicester Square 51.510036, -0.13181451°30’36” N 0°7’55” W
Day 5
Day 5 - London
October 17, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
decent sleep again…we appear to have avoided any jet lag, woohoo! We walked down to the infamous Leicester square and after a couple of misguided attempts to get theater tickets, ended up purchasing them from TKTS London (equivalent of Las Vegas’ Tix4tonight). Walked from there to the Museum of Natural History and while we are not ‘museum’ tourists, it was very impressive and had come highly recommended by Brae who was here last spring. Next on our list, and way across town, was the Sky Garden. Hopped on the Tube for the first time and headed over. Sky Garden is a 360° panoramic viewing platform at the top of a building they’ve nicknamed the “walkie talkie” for its shape. Took some pretty spectacular pics from up there and glad we did it towards the end of our trip cuz enabled us to identify the ground we had covered in the past 3 days. Sent a Happy Birthday message to mom from up there too. Headed back to the theater district near Piccadilly Circus for a quick dinner and maybe the highlight of our time in London, The Book of Mormon - what a spectacular show and Alyssa was right, kinda the perfect show for Paul and I…fabulous!!!Read more
0 likes
Traveler Europe Cruise 2023
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Oct 16, 2023
- ☁️ 12 °C
- Altitude: 16 m
- England London Nelson's Column 51.507626, -0.12786451°30’27” N 0°7’40” W
Day 4
Day 4 - London
October 16, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
…up and at ‘em. Both of us had decent sleeps, again, and headed out just after 9. The HoHo is not allowed to drive by Buckingham Palace so we didn’t see it yesterday and I felt very strongly that I couldn’t visit London without seeing the palace soooo we walked there. Lovely walk down the Mall towards the gates, passing St James Gardens. After a few pics, we walked alongside the Green Park and then over to Hyde Park where we saw the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain - nice enough but rather understated we thought. We had a 2 day pass for the HoHo so hopped back on and went clear across to the other side. Took us almost 2 hours to go maybe 8km and good thing we left when we did cuz we were hoping to catch the Jack the Ripper tour which took us by the locations where 5 women were brutally murdered between August 31st and November 9, 1888. Our guide was extremely animated and knowledgeable and aside from the subject matter, it was a very interesting tour. Quick bite to eat and then back on the HoHo for a spectacular night tour around the city, again with a very knowledgeable and animated guide. Figured we hadn’t done enough walking, haha, and regular hoho stops running around 6:00pm, so walked back to the flat in Kings Cross, guessing about another 4km for the day. Neither one of us put on our map my run to keep track.Read more
0 likes
Traveler Europe Cruise 2023
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Oct 15, 2023
- ☀️ 11 °C
- Altitude: 14 m
- England Tower Hamlets Sower of London Tower Pier 51.506699, -0.07729551°30’24” N 0°4’38” W
Day 3
Day 3 - London
October 15, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
Fortunately, we both got a decent amount of sleep and woke up around 7:00am. Off to the races around 8:30 and managed to catch the first Big Bus (“HoHo”) down towards the river. Spent the entire day riding the bus all around London save and except a short but sweet cruise down the River Thames to the London Tower. Beautiful blue sky all day but definitely an autumn chill in the air. Not many pictures cuz it’s difficult getting them while on the bus. We were schooled a bit on Big Ben…it is only the bell that is Big Ben; the tower that houses it, as of 2012, was renamed the Elizabeth Tower on the occasion of Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, celebrating 60 years on the British throne. We headed back up to our neck of the woods and after a brief rest, headed out to a Malaysian restaurant that I had read about. Clearly lots of other people had as well as there was a rather large line up to get in; ended up having pizza elsewhere that was soooo good, we ordered a second one…both of which were topped with warmed honey - delicious 😋Read more
0 likes
Traveler Europe Cruise 2023
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Oct 14, 2023
- ☀️ 14 °C
- Altitude: 14 m
- England Greater London Charing Cross Monet Painted Here (historical)51.509675, -0.11797551°30’35” N 0°7’5” W
Day 2
Day 2 - London
October 14, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
Arrived in London around 11:30am after a ‘quick’ overnight flight of 7 1/2 hours…unfortunately, not much sleep was had - sure missed traveling Cathay business class. Took an Uber to our ‘home’ for 4 days in Kings Cross. Despite the distance being only 10 miles, it took over an hour - crazy. Checked in quickly and then headed out right away into the brisk autumn air…gonna try and push through til bedtime. Aimlessly walked down to the Thames and back. We will get more serious about actual sightseeing via Big Bus tours tomorrow. Delicious Mediterranean dinner and back at the flat by 7:30 trying to stay awake…and warm…the thermostat is broken and there is no one around to look at it til tomorrow. Super excited concierge though; pumping us for info cuz he is coming to western Canada next year. 8:30pm - lights out.Read more
0 likes
Traveler Europe Cruise 2023
- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Oct 13, 2023
- ☁️ 10 °C
- Altitude: 1,099 m
- Canada Alberta Hidden Valley 51.14761, -114.10351651°8’51” N 114°6’13” W
Day 1
Day 1 - departing Calgary
October 13, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
Well, when we booked this trip way back in April, it seemed like forever away and yet, in the blink of an eye, we’re heading off to the airport. Last time we headed out for an extended vacation, Hurricane Fiona got the best of us, but we’re ready for full on adventure here…lots of walking, riding and pickleball…yup, pickleball on the ship.Read more
0 likes

Day 6 - London/ Stonehenge/ Southampton

Day 5 - London

Day 4 - London

Day 3 - London

Day 2 - London

Day 1 - departing Calgary

Join us: