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Europe 2023

April - July 2023
A 67-day adventure by Roger Read more
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  • 49footprints
  • 10countries
  • 67days
  • 758photos
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  • 10.2kmiles
  • 6.3ksea miles
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  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 2

    London

    May 1, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Gail outside our flat. We’re in the Maida Vale area of London. 1930's Era lift "out of service" - what a surpise! A block to basic shopping, a pub, couple of restaurants, deli, etc. have mainly re-connected with Toby and Kirsten, set up in flat and been trying to recover from jet lag arder than it used to be. Off to Ireland tomorrow.

    Added some pics of the flat. It is old, but quaint. 2 bedrooms, tiny kitchen and bath. But the kitchen has a washer/dryer (one unit) which is slow and small-around 3-4 hours for a load of 3 or 4 shirts or light slacks. Important.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 7

    Ring of Kerry

    May 6, 2023 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    Bus tour around the Ring of Kerry. Had lovely weather. Bus was small with about 16 passengers. We went on roads that were very narrow. When the driver pointed at a road ww were going to take, i thought he was joking. See the pics through the front window. Driver told the story of a driver at another company that took the same route and couldn't make a corner and had to back the hill on this one lane road. The pony is a Kerry Pony that they used to use to help harvest the turf (peat) which was then dried and burned for heat and cooking. No longer legal to harvest the turf.

    Lots of sheep and it is spring lamb season. So glad we took the bus tour - I would have burned out from driving by mid afternoon. Coastline has similarities to Oregon coast - quite rugged.

    Picture of Gail in a beehive hut recreation. Originally built by monks in the 5th century plus on an island off the coast. 10-12 monks lived on the island in those stone huts. 700 steps up from the water to where they lived.

    The stone circle is a "circle fort" where in early days, clans would shelter st night from wolves and also shelter from neighboring clans. There were also dirt versions in areas with fewer stones and more soil.

    Old stone houses are what they call "famine houses". Built during the potato famine and the forced migration of Irish from east to west by the British.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 8

    Dingle Peninsula

    May 7, 2023 in Ireland ⋅ 🌧 57 °F

    Another bus tour. Weather wasn't as good. Still beautiful, but was pretty socked in for half the day. Definitely saw some of the colors that earn Ireland the nicknam the emerald isle.

    Some equally challenging roads although we were on a full sized tour bus today. At one point a car had to back up for us. Driver said in the summer they make it a one way road.

    The long path leads to tiny pier they use for fishing, but also for transporting sheep from close by islands. There is a picture of the whole ramp full of sheep headed up.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 9

    Gap of Dunloe

    May 8, 2023 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    We set off on another day trip adventure. This time to the lakes of Killarney and the Gap of Dunloe. We starting out in a 1930’s (?) era bus headed to Ross castle.  Then to the boat for a ride around the three lakes of Killarney. First sight is Ross Castle from the water. Nine of us plus the driver in the boat. Water is a little choppy, a bit windy and quite overcast. The 3 lakes flow from upper to a shorat river to the middle to the lower. We started in the lower which is known as the lake of learning because of an old monastery on an island where the monks apparently wrote a number of books. Rhododendrons are an invasive species here. The guide said in a few weeks the hillsides would be red and purple with their blooms. The lakes are connected via narrow channels. How see in the pics a bridge over the channel connecting lower to middle. Was a fair current through that channel.

    At the channel/bridge from middle to the river leading to upper, the current was so strong that the guide had us disembark, walk to the other side and re-embark to continue. Pics show a bit of that current. Yes, we took a selfie - not my strong suit. Upper lake was more placid. At the top end of it, we stopped for lunch.

    Then we started a trip through the Gap of Dunloe on a little horse cart pulled by Wilma. Weather started moving in on us, so from here on out it was pretty misty. The trip was 7 miles, first uphill to the actual gap, then downhill on the other side. Series of small lakes on the downhill side. Driver said the hills would be all green in a couple of more weeks other than some of them that would be purple with blooms of heather.

    Evening was spent in the town and then retiring to the B&B before our return to London the next day.     Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 10

    London Interlude

    May 9, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌧 64 °F

    On returning from Ireland, we both came down with bad colds. Have been pretty much out of it since. Gail’s sister arrived on Friday and we haven’t seen her yet.  Got COVID tests to be sure - negative. Luckily we had no plans that couldn’t easily be deferred. The nieces arrive tomorrow. I think we’ll be well enough to join them.

    5/21 update:  Well, it has been a bit of a stretch. Our colds were pretty bad, especially mine. I missed Hampton Court and we both missed a performance of Book of Mormon that we had booked to see with Toby and Kirsten. They took friends instead. Then I noticed blood in my urine. So off to urgent care I went thinking I had a UTI. Wasn’t so simple. They considered admitting me to the hospital, but instead gave me 2 antibiotics and sent me to a nephrologist. Still not certain what the diagnosis is, but am pretty much back to normal. Have another appointment with the nephrologist Wednesday.

    We did have some fun with the sister and nieces. Went to Camden Market yesterday and a cabaret last night. Walked along Regent Canal. We did make it to the Harry Potter play. I was drugged up trying to control my cough, but it was an overall good experience. Also went to Kensington Palace and Harrod‘s. Walking from KP to Harrod’s, we passed the Iranian embassy where protesters had splashed red paint on the front of the building.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 25

    Leeds Castle

    May 24, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    Toby and Kirsten drove us to Kent to see Leeds Castle as a day trip. Nice little fairly modernized castle even though it had been originally built in the 1100’s. Surrounded by a moat. Beautiful grounds including a maze and grotto. Had a nice lunch at the Cafe.Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 27

    British Museum

    May 26, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    While Kirsten and Gail went off to tea, I went to the British Museum for a couple of hours. It is overwhelming. Such a display of, at the risk of offending my British friends, looted, confiscated, pilfered and/or stolen artifacts from around the world, mostly from British colonies or protectorates. What struck me most was the size of many of them. Huge stone monoliths that must weigh many tons. Of course there certainly artifacts that were more ethically acquired, but there really is no way to tell what is what except for those relics that have provenance displayed which makes it more clear that the acquisition was ethical, for example, many of the Roman era artifacts from England. one interesting display was a working clock from the 1600's(?)Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 30

    York

    May 29, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Dena arrived from Portland. We met her at Paddington, zipped over to King’s Cross and caught a 2 hour train to York. On arriving, we were surprised that the boarding passengers gave us almost no chance to get off the train with our luggage. I literally had to rudely push through people who were giving us no chance to move. A big surprise for the normally respectful Brits. as we exited the station, we saw throngs of dressed up people. Once we got into a taxi, we asked the driver about these people. He said it was people who had come to York for the horse races - apparently a big drunken dress-up party. Explains the deboarding issues.

    York is lovely. Our flat is just off one of the rivers and a short walk to the old town which is all narrow winding, mostly pedestrian streets filled with all sorts of shops. Also just a 15 minute walk to York Minster, the huge cathedral. Despite that cathedral, there are many other old, but smaller churches in the city. We have a tapas restaurant literally across the street, a couple of coffee shops within 5 minutes, groceries also close by. Really good location. The flat itself is in an old building, has pretty wonky, settled floors and is for the most part charming. The only glitch is that the hot water is funky. Sometimes it is hot. If it is not, there is a button in the kitchen that you have to press and wait 30 minutes for hot water - annoying, but not a deal breaker, I guess.

    Our first full day we went to a Cold War era bunker for the Royal Observation Corps. Only one remaining in the UK Not a place to shelter, but a place for volunteers to monitor the course of a nuclear war. Note to Audrey: the main computer of this bunker is named AUDREY. We also took a tourist boat trip on the larger of the 2 rivers running through York. We also walked the old town and had a lovely lunch at a riverside restaurant. All touristy, but fun.

    We also went to the Jorvik Viking center. A bit of a museum, but also a bit of touristy kitsch. Vikings settled the area for several hundred years. There have been numerous excavations by archeologists and one happens to be under a shopping mall that was built a number of years ago. So they put this museum at the bottom of the mall and you can see under the glass floor some of the old ruins. Jorvik, pronounced yor-vik, hence eventually York.     Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 31

    York - Howard Castle

    May 30, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    A bit more of York. We travelled 30 minutes outside of town to see Howard Castle. Nicely kept up castle. Very large. At one time the only private home in the UK with it‘s own dome - - yes, like a capitol building. Numerous fires over the years including one that destroyed the dome - since rebuilt although there are still rooms waiting to be refurbished from the fire many years ago. Grounds are extensive, but not ornate or really spectacular. At th3 gift shop Gail saw a ~10 year old girl admiring a plush peacock. The girl asked her parents about purchasing it, so Gail did and gave it to her. They hugged and Gail got many thanks from the parents. Unfortunately I didn‘t have the presence of mind to snap a pic of the hug.Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 31

    York Minster

    May 30, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    Back to York to see York Minster, the large cathedral in town. We didn't have a ton of time, and had some difficulty with the ticketing system. So Gail and Dena took a quick look around the main portion of the cathedral while I climbed the 275 steps (!) to the top. Narrow stone spiral staircase. Definitely one way at a time. In parts, my shoulders rubbed both walls as I walked through. All in all though, very impressive.  They have a museum underground dedicated to the effort last century to reinforce the foundation as it looked like the whole place was at risk of collapsing. I took a trip up the 275 (!) steps to the top. All in a couple of narrow circular stone staircases.Read more

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