May 9th, 2023
Up and out of the room by 8:00. After 138 days it was like leaving home.
The collection of luggage went smooth and we had a car service pick us up and take us to our friend’s home in Richmond.
Once in Richmond we had a bit of a walk. A beautiful city.
We will be in and around Richmond for 9 days and then off to the Queen Mary II for the crossing to New York.
May 8th, 2023
Through the night we sailed up the River Thames and anchored in the middle of the river at about 3:00AM.
We got off the ship and did a short guided tour around maritime Greenwich. A nice tour, the Cutty Sark ship is there, great history. We then walked up to the Royal observatory for a fantastic view of London. We walked through a beautiful park on the way back to the ship.
We got back onto the ship to finish packing and start saying our goodbyes to new friends. There were some tears.
Tomorrow morning we have to be out of our room by 8 AM.
May 7th, 2023
Today we sailed across the English Channel and into the port of Dover. It was amazing to see the White Cliffs.
Canterbury is a quaint town with a lot of history. The cathedral is beautiful and the bell tolled while we were there.
May 6, 2023
A very moving day
We travelled through the beautiful Normandy countryside to Omaha beach where we spent a while reflecting on what happened there 79 years ago. There were white roses in the water around the monuments, put there by someone that knows we should never forget.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-Day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings#Omaha_Beach
We then traveled to the nearby American cemetery, it reminded me of Arlington, but different. All these men died here on this beach. So many graves. Heart wrenching.
We then went to the site where the allies built an artificial “Mulberry” harbor to support the landing. Many parts of the harbor can still be seen at low tide. An amazing feat of engineering.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulberry_harbour
We stopped at a local bistro ate moules et frites and drank a bottle of wine while we contemplated what we had seen.
We then went to the Musée du Débarquement, Arromanches which is an excellent D-Day museum.
May 3, 2023
This is a city we really wanted to see and it did not disappoint.
The sail in up the Tagus river was beautiful followed by a 3 hour walking tour of the old town. What a great city.
Of course we had to try out the local Pasteis de Nata, warm out of the oven, fantastic. Loved the store with birthday year canned sardines.
We will be back in September to explore some more.
May 1st and 2nd, 2023
This was a new port for us and it turned out to be another fabulous Spanish city. We did a short bus ride to a beautiful beach on the Med and then to a recently found Roman amphitheater. The Romans were everywhere and built awesome buildings.
We then walked through the old city where the pedestrian streets are paved with marble. Susan had the best coffee ever, Asiático coffee. We also found some Iberico ham and a couple local beers.
A beautiful place that we would love to go back to.
The next morning we sailed through the Straight of Gibraltar. Sadly it was a cloudy morning so no mountain photos, but there were dolphins and birds.
Viking did host a very nice brunch.
April 30th, 2023
Today we are in one of our favorite cities.
We got off with some new friends and jumped on the Hop-On Hop-Off bus for a tour of the city on a very nice day. The tour was great and we saw some of the fantastic buildings in Barcelona.
After the bus we wandered up La Ramblas to find a sidewalk cafe for lunch and a couple beers. Then we walked through the Gothic Quarter which I love getting lost in.
I wish we had more time in this great city
April 28th, 2023
Today we toured the Principality of Monaco a very small, very pretty and very expensive little place on the Mediterranean.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaco
We had an excellent guided tour through the old town, then we had lunch overlooking the Med.
After lunch we went to the Musée océanographique de Monaco, Jacques Cousteau was director there for a long time. It was a fantastic place.
After the museum we walked over to the famous Monte Carlo casino to see all the outrageous cars and get a look into the lobby. You can’t actually get into the casino without a passport and paying 19 euros. We did not need to see a casino that badly.
The Monaco Grand Prix is soon, so they were setting up the track which blocked some views and pathways. But we did get to walk on the track.
April 27th, 2023
Today we are docked in Civitivechia the port for Rome, but instead of Rome we decided to go see the Etruscan Necropolis in the nearby countryside.
https://www.worldheritagesite.org/list/Etruscan+Necropolises
This UNESCO site is really old, some of it back to the 9th century BC. The tombs are fascinating and beautiful.
We also had perfect weather and the wild flowers and the views were outrageous.
Afterwards we went into the charming village of Tarquinia to see the museum with many artifacts from the tombs including a 9000+ year old painted ostrich egg. How it has never been broken is beyond me.
After the museum we walked around town and got a gelato. This would be a nice place to spend a few days.
April 26, 2023
This was another place I remember learning about in grade school. It did not disappoint.
We had a great tour guide and saw a ton at Pompeii. Afterwards we walked up into Naples and found great pizza, wine and gelato.
A great day