Wow!

After 164 days away it is hard to accept that the trip is over. 

The last few days were driving from New York to Florida with some stops to see friends along the way, a great ending to a great trip. All the way around the world without getting on a plane.

Everyplace we went was amazing and people were friendly. The Viking Neptune is a wonderful ship and the crew is outstanding. They took such good care of us.

I know people will ask questions like “What was your favorite?” “Any surprises?”

That is really hard as it was all so good. For me some highlights were; The Panama Canal, Hobbiton, Milford Sound, Komodo Island, Vietnam, Singapore, Sri Lanka (A huge surprise), Petra and Luxor. 

The biggest surprises to me were really getting to understand how big the world is, it is huge! Also, how social the little ship became. We met great new friends; Deb and Monroe, Edi and Howie, Carl and Christine, Jesse and Martha, Phil and Kathy, Rodger and Deb  and so many more but for me personally especially Robin and Chris who re-ignited my love of photography and taught me so much about our oceans and the life in them and the challenges our oceans face.

For a short while it will be nice to be home with our friends, but never fear, we are heading out on our next adventure in July. Iceland, Greenland, Norway, the UK, France, Spain and Portugal are on the list for this summer and fall.

Would we do another world cruise? 100% Yes!

We are happy to tell tales and show pictures over a beer anytime!

May 19th to 25th

We were picked up by Edward our driver (If you ever need a great driver in London, let me know) and did the 1.5 hour drive from Richmond to Southampton. We boarded the Queen Mary 2 without any issues. 

This ship is about as different as possible from the Viking Neptune, but it is still wonderful. What a great way to cross the ocean.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Mary_2

It is grand ship all in art deco intended to invoke the past centuries grand era of ocean sailing. From high tea to classical music and ballroom dancing to a grand dining room and a traditional English pub. Much like being in a fine European hotel.

Two other Viking couples are on the ship as well and we had a fine dinner with them talking about our adventures and the future. A very fun evening.

The weather has been iffy, a lot of fog and rain and some rough seas, amazing how this ocean liner just cuts through the waves like butter, the little Neptune would have been rocking and rolling.

May 10th to 18th

We spent several fantastic days with friends and visiting the sights around Richmond and into London. 

Spring is a great time to be here as the flowers are in full force even if it was a bit chilly.

We managed to find a pub every day for lunch and then had dinner with our friends in the evenings.

We walked a lot. About 47 miles.

Kew Gardens

https://www.kew.org

My favorite garden in the world and we got to go twice. Absolutely beautiful, the bluebells were in full glory throughout the garden. 

The Natural History Museum

https://www.nhm.ac.uk

This is a beautiful building in London. The exhibits seem to cover everything from Dinosaurs to Whales.  So much to see.

The Wildlife photographer of the year exhibition was there, stunning photos.

Richmond Park

https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/richmond-park

This huge wild park is a great place to go for long walks. The views were outstanding and the azaleas were in full bloom at the plantation garden.

Hampton Court by Boat

https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/#gs.1025olg

We decided to take a riverboat cruise up the Thames to Hampton court and back. A great relaxing morning. It was very cool to go through the locks on the Thames.

The ship we were on was actually one of the ships used in the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940. Very cool history.

https://www.thamesriverboats.co.uk/boats/index.asp?page=princess-freda-105

We found a great little pub for lunch and then enjoyed the palace for a couple hours before sailing back to Richmond.

The British Museum

https://www.britishmuseum.org

Another beautiful building with even more to see than the NHM. Complete sensory overload.

I had always wanted to see the Rosetta Stone and now I have. 

The Ham House

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/london/ham-house-and-garden

We walked the couple miles down to this old house on the Thames, so much history in this area.

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