A Look Back at Our European Adventure

    

On March 21st we left our little Motorhome at George's brother Dick's house to start a new adventure on the other side of the pond.  We stopped in Pennsylvannia to pick up our partners in this adventure and then we drove down to Washington DC to catch our flight to Heathrow via British Air.  Carrying suitcases was a new adventure, in itself,  for us after 8 years of traveling in the Motorhome.  Did we pack the right clothes or did we have enough clothes for Europe?  Would all of our luggage fit in the rental cars we had set up in Europe? These and many other questions that popped into our minds as we left the security of our home on wheel, but it was too late to worry, the die had been cast.

 

The one thing we knew we would miss ....the grandkids, they would be in our hearts and thoughts for the next 3 months.

 

  

These two would experience so many "firsts" while we were traveling... it helped seeing the grandkids via "FaceTime"and for the pictures the families shared, we really thank them for sharing their lives with us.  Don't know if we would have had the wonderful experience that we did, if not for Kris, Amy, David and April thinking of us as we meandered around Europe.

 

The four of us, Pat, George, Maryann, and Tom....we could not have asked for two people to travel with that were more compatible with us.  We shared it all... all types of weather, one track roads to super highways, intensely reflective moments, awesome sights, confusion, language problems, we slept in every conceivable type of lodging from a shared room to two bedroom cottages, we tried all the local cuisines, met some of the nicest people and one or two that got up on the wrong side of the bed, through it all we remained very close and, if possible, became closer.

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This might have had a lot to do with having a great time...Tom and George "tasted" a different beer every night...Pat said they  drank their way through Europe but the ladies also had a drink every night (water counts as a drink).  By the way, every country has a different name for a glass of water, when you order water with your meal,  and some countries don't mind charging more for water than beer.

  

Buckingham Palace, a different view from the Queens park, one of three in London

 

Back in the USA....George, Maryann, Tom and Pat....87 days of living and traveling together... Building memories, having fun, sharing our adventures....thanks Tom and Maryann for the wonderful time we had exploring Europe together!

Thought we would pass on some of the best and memorable things on our travels: (thanks Maryann for your notes, you can now plagiarize my blog).

The Best country we visited.....all thirteen countries were different and each were unique in their own way so this one is a thirteen way tie!

Most Unusual restaurant we ate in: It could have been the  old vegetable storage barn in Weimar, Germany or the abbey at Loch Ness in Scotland but we finally decided that the 500 year old wine cellar in Lancaster, England, that still had the look of the old wine storage caves used by the monks of a bygone era, was a notch more unusual.

The Best beer: Bitburger Pils...we tasted over 30 or 40 beers from all thirteen countries including microbrews and there was no contest!  

The Best Week: Nornmandy observances were so much more then we expected, the villages of Normandy celebrated the 72nd anniversary of D-Day and if you visit Normandy try to be there at least the week leading up to June 6th

Best Day: We all had a best day: For Pat, Maryann and George it was when we visited our ancestral villages, Tom's was when we visited the Jameson Distillary - that should say something of where Tom's mind is...but in his defense, if you every tasted 10 or 18 year old Jameson you will probably agree with him!

Most Unusual tour: the Brno Ossuary (an underground storage of human remains)... We know there are other Ossuaries in other cities but we happened upon this under a church square and did know what to expect.  It was kinda creepy, at first, the way they stacked and placed the skulls and bones.  Yet it was tasteful, reverent, and almost a piece of art.

Most Thought Provoking:  Auswitz Death Camp....words nor pictures can depict the inhumanity of the Nazis toward the Jews!  After visiting the death camps you will come away with how we MUST remember this and how we should never let this happen again. Yet today, we hear of the atrocities that ISIS is doing in the Middle East and are allowing it to continue without a collective united world-wide military campaign to stop it!

Best food dish: We had fantastic meals in every country but the two dishes that stood out above all the rest were: Clam chowder in Dingle, Ireland and French Onion soup in London 

Since we stayed in many different lodgings and believe that there was only one place we stayed that would not rate at least a 3 star, we broke the "Best" into categories : 

           The Best..... Hotel/Resort:  Ballykisteen in Tipperary, Ireland was just a little better than the Abbey at Loch Ness, Scotland 

                                Bed and Breakfast:  The Grove in Oban, Scotland, this was probably the nicest B&B we stayed in and it was by accident that we                               found it at the last minute.  The owner, Karen OBrien should be the Innkeeper of the Year and she said that she actually has a nicer B&B a couple miles away

                                Rental: Kate's Cottage in Stow-in-Wold, England, our first two weeks in England set the standard and tone for our entire trip.  Kate's Cottage is a standard all cottages should strive to emulate....and Kate was a perfect hostess!

One of the lasting memories we will take from our adventure, and we built many great memories, will be how nice people were to us in every country, including France.    

     

The Thing we Missed the Most:  By a unanimous vote: OUR FAMILIES AND OUR GRANDKIDS!!!!!!!!

The Event we Most Appreciate:  No one was injured in our automobile accident in the Scottish Highlands

Throughout our travels, we would see constant reminders of European history: the medieval times, the religious impacts, the Nazi and Communist subjugations and occupations, the stories of how countries struggled, adapted, prospered and failed.  The story of Europe is etched in the many monuments, churches, cathedrals, abbeys, castles, manors, old and new buildings, the mountains, valleys, beaches, the farmlands and pastures.  The villages, cities, and countryside are unique and a story of their own.  We loved our adventure but it would take thousands of visits to know and understand the lands we call Europe, we were fortunate to be able to have a glimpse into their lives and history.  The four of us now have a storehouse of memories that will forever bond us together.  One final thought comes to mind...for all we've seen and done, there is no place that compares to the USA..we have freedoms not enjoyed in any country, we have so many natural and man-made treasures, and we have a salad bowl of diverse cultures and people who make this country great.

We also can not tell the story of our travels in Euope without paying a special thanks to the many Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could enjoy the life we have now.  To all the men and women of our military services both active and retired....Thank You!  Also thank you, the readers of this blog, for your interest and comments.  It was in large part because of your comments that made us sit down periodically to reflect on our travels. 

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Normandy - The 72nd Anniversary of the D Day Landing

Seventy two years ago the United States, Great Britian, Canada, along with forces of the free French launched an unprecedented naval attack against Nazi Germany.  It was not in defense of their countries, it was in defense of freedom for the millions of people in Europe that were invaded and subjugated to the Nazi regime.  Seventy two years later the people of France still mark this event with celebrations starting in April and lasting to September in cities and villages throughout France.  We were fortunate to attend a few of these memorials, celebrations and observances in the 8 days we spent in the Normandy beach area.  Our thoughts, our commentary, our pictures can not adequately tell the story of the sacrifices, bravery, and events of the days surrounding the D Day landings, we can only provide a glimpse and our impressions of this history changing event.

We started our adventure rather naively thinking that we would walk on the beaches of Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword; see a 

Bfew monuments, attend a wreath laying ceremony and call it a day.  Little did we realize the appreciation, the magnitude and enthusiasm of the French.  They have reenactments of the WWII military camps, hundreds dress in period clothes included military uniforms and 1940 era dresses and suits, they host parades with vintage military vehicles including, jeeps, old staff cars, 2 1/2 ton trucks, half tracks and different types of troop carriers, they have nightly dances with 40s music, and daily picnics and festivities, there were also many parachute reenactments with soldiers from various countries from the WWII vintage C-47 and C-54 aircraft.  In our 8 days in Normandy we stopped by the many many monuments, we stood in silence at the American, English, Canadian and German cemeteries, we observed where the troops came ashore on the Normandy cliffs and beaches, we visited  various museums dedicated to all aspects of D Day and to the American, English, and Canadian military, we witnessed several city and village celebrations, we saw the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall including the German pillboxes, observation points, gun implacements and bunkers, attended the numerous parades, plus we talked toWWII vets and current members of the American military who were supporting the events everyday!  Everyday was a new adventure and new memories that will last the rest of our lives.

What did we take away from all of this?  The men and women who fought the war were unselfish patriots who ensured the world would be a better place for all of us.  How did they accomplish this amazing invasion of the European continent, against all odds, with terrible weather, and a German defense that was put in place over a two year span that was designed to stop them?  They had to scale 30 meter cliffs in the face of German bunkers, assault the beaches with German machine guns mowing down wave after wave of the landing forces, break through hedge rows eight to ten feet high, endure fighting hand to hand, securing every farmhouse, church and building in every village; all the while pushing the Germans back and holding on to objectives already captured in face of the many counter attacks.  The individual and collective heroism may never be repeated again in history.  In addition to the fighting we were amazed at the shear numbers of men, vehicles, and supplies it took to accomplish this unprecedented invasion.  We also found a new appreciation of the free French and the resistance movement in France that helped the war effort and were specifically instrumental in the D Day invasion.  We can only imagine the suffering of the casualties, both the thousands of military and the thousands of civilians, that occurred on the days leading up to D Day and the months after the landings.  Just on the Omaha and Utah beaches, Americans lost 2500 men on June 6th and an additional 238 paratroopers.  Can anyone comprehend the destruction and loss of lives these men faced, yet they continued their quest to rid the world of the barbaric Nazi regime.  

We have visited the Warsaw ghettos, the Auschwitz death camps, talked to survivors of WWII and seen the atrocities of Hilter's Nazis in every country we visited in Europe.  We have learned of the sacrifices of not only the men who gave their lives for the freedom of people they never met, but also of the millions of civilians who died as a result of the Nazi atrocities and the war itself.  We can only pray our children and grandchildren never have to face what our fathers and grandfathers' generation faced in the 1930 and 40s.  After seeing the history of Europe, through the eyes of the people of the thirteen countries we visited on our almost three month journey, we say a prayer that we have learned a lesson form the events leading up to WWII and that the freedoms we enjoy will not be trampled on and that this nation will be forever strong enough to stop any power who would again endanger the peace and freedoms that so many sacrificed their lives for in WWII.

 

The monument to the landing forces on DDay

 

Standing in Silence at the American Cemetary at Omaha Beach!  Over 9000 American men who sacrificed their lives in Operation Overlord, the Normandy invasion of June, July and August 1944, are buried here in Normandy.

 

A German gun implacement, built as part of General Rommel's "Atlantic Wall", the defense of the northern coast of Europe!

 

This man landed on Omaha on June 6, 1944, these French ladies gave him a kiss to say thank you for his service ...notice they are dressed in 40s period dresses.

 

The 82nd Paratroopers reenactment of the June 5, 1944 parachute drop.  This was a field that was flooded by the Nazis in '44 and where several American paratroopers drowned during the night drop before the D Day landings the following morning!

 

Pointe du Hoc, the 30 meter cliffs, where the 2nd Ranger Battalion landing on Utah beach scaled the cliffs to attack the Germans and secure the beach.

 

Part of a German bunker complex that connected 4 major gun implacements.

 

 One of America's greatest generation enjoying the parade given in their honor,

We left Normandy and it's beaches but will remember forever the sacrifices of so many for the freedoms we have now!  We hope you will have the opportunity to experience the Normandy D Day observance first hand , it was the initial reason for our trip to Europe and it became the best part of a wonderful journey through 13 countries.  As we wind down and prepare for our return to the states we will bring home with us the 84 days of friendship, of building lasting memories, of traveling in four different cars and staying 33 hotels, cottages, or B&Bs, of making new friends, of having one wreck and more than a few close calls, and of course enjoying the people, food, beer and cultures of Europe.   June 15th will be a close to this exciting adventure but with over a thousand pictures and hundreds of stories, it will never be forgotten by the four of us old timers who got the chance to experience one more road trip!

 

Moving through Europe

It has been awhile since we posted our adventures in Europe, we will attempt to bring you up to date with this posting.  If you are on Facebook,  we have posted pictures and narrative about our travels hoping to keep everyone appraised on whereabouts.  It has been quite the trip as we travelled in the former   East Block communist countries and marveled at the architecture, history, culture and the natural surroundings of these beautiful countries.  Our last posting was in the Lake Balaton area of the, the largest lake I Hungary.  We travelled north to the capital city of Budapest, where we where immediately impressed with the rich history and architecture of the city.  Unlike some of the large cities of Europe; Budapest was not destroyed in WWII, so we actually felt like we were taken back in time to the early 1900s.  Budapest's history as the capital of the Austrian-Hungary empire, the European center of trade throughout history, the Nazi and Russian domination and control, and today as a vibrant capital and enterprising city speaks to the resiliency of these people.  We left Budapest and ventured back into Slovakia to visit the small village of Velky Folkmar, the ancestral home of Maryann's family.  We were amazed at the welcoming we received in the village.  We were treated like visiting heads of state.  The towns people went overboard to help us.  Even though it was a Saturday,  the town's Manager took us to his office, called his secretary to come in to work to provide us with drinks and attend to any needs we would have, called his son to come to his office to translate for us, called around the country to assist Maryann with her family history, gave us two personalized books on the town's history and then gave us a tour of the village (in the rain)!   To say we were impressed would be putting it mildly.  Leaving the village we drove to Kraków, the home of Schindler's factory and the story of Schindler's List depicting brutality of the Nazi's regime and how Oskar Schindler save thousands of Jews from the death camps.  Auschwitz-Bergen concentration camp was close to Kraków so we drove over to visit the infamous death camp.  The horrors of the Nazi's brutality came to life , man's inhumanity to man, the pain, suffering and deaths of a million Jews and another 100 thousand non Jews was too much to comprehend.  We were overcome with emotion as we toured this memorial to what the Nazi plan of Jewish extermination really meant...it also caused us to pause and think of what ISIS is doing now in the Middle East.  We can only hope that savagery of history will not be allowed to be repeated.  Our next stop was Warsaw, the capital of Poland.  We stayed in the smallest hotel room we have ever saw...but it had all the conveniences of larger hotel rooms, just smaller.  The Jewish Ghetto and memorials throughout the city tell the story of the plight of the Jews in WW11.  This is also the city where we attended a Baroque Organ concert by the famed organist Przemyslaw Kapitula, he is the Continuator of the musical tradition of Warsaw Cathedral and Saint Anne's Church in Warsaw.  This was our first time actually hearing Bach, Surzynski and Ernst on an organ...amazing!  We were walking through the Center of town square and got caught up in a protest rally for the better treatment of horses in Poland.  On a more somber note we watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown in Warsaw.  The most fascinating part of Warsaw is the amazing architecture.  Since Berlin was a six hour drive we decided to stay in the city of Poznan where we crossed a big bucket list item...we went to the croissant museum.  Actually, it was interesting and we had a lot of fun, trying to make St Martin Croissants.  We also enjoyed our evening meal on an outside cafe in the market center.  On to Berlin, the divided city is divided no longer and you can not tell the former East Berlin zone from the West.  We saw all the tourist things including the Brandenburg Gate, Check Point Charlie, the Berlin Dom (an Evangelical Curch that merged the Lutheran reform and United Churches and the burial place for the German royalty.  We stayed in the old East Sector in a Holiday Inn that had a 5 star rating and was as any in West Berlin.  The people we met throughout Berlin were friendly, outgoing and extremely helpful.  After Berlin we made it to Weimar, the birthplace of Goethe, the Weimar Republic and where Martin Luther actually preached,  in the Church.  We stayed  in a romantic hotel with a vineyard, homegrown vegetables gardens and a history dating back 300 years.  One of the highlights of our adventure is looking up the ancestral towns of our forefathers.  We have visited Pat's in Lancaster, England and Maryann's in Velky Folkmar, Slovikia and now we have visited the ancestral towns of both the Cannode's and the Mohns (George's mom and dad's forefathers).  We were surprised in Langenselbold when we actually met a couple named Mohn and spent some time with them.  Only 3 miles away was George's dad forefather's ancestral town of Huttengasse.  Small world when these families were united in Ohio in 1939.  Now we are staying near the Luxemburg boarder and will attend the Memorial Day services this country conducts in memory of the Americans who fought and died to save their country.

  

Budapest, gave us an old world feel with the massive government buildings, electric tram cars skirting around the city, and century old buildings still in use today as offices, apartments and quaint neighborhood stores.  

 

Tom and Pat discussing where to go next as Maryann documents our visit to the city on the Danube.  We rode on all the modes of public transportation in Budapest, from the trams and buses to the rail and boats....very efficient way to visit any city in Europe

 

Maryann standing at the bus stop in her ancestral home of Velky Folkmar, Slovakia 

 

Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, "the death camp" of Nazi Germany.  This "museum" stands as a reminder of the horrific actions of man and a testament that we should never forget and guard against this occurring again....but today we have monsters in the Middle East that are as bad or worse than the atrocities of the Nazis....ISIS!!!!!

 

 

All that remains of the infamous Warsaw Ghetto walls surround the Jewish population of Warsaw during the Nazi occupation.   There are reminders throughout Warsaw of the treatment and disposition of the Warsaw Jews but the wall is a vivid reminder of the inhuman treatment these people suffered!

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Pat and Maryann doing their impression of Lucy and Ethel while making St Martin croissants in Poznan.  This was a stopover between Warsaw and Berlin and we enjoyed the Croissant Museum's light hearted approach to making their world famous St. martin's croissants.

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Standing in front of the Brandenberg Gate in the former Soviet zone of Berlin

 

The Berlin Dom, a magnificent church that houses the sarcophagus of the Kings of Germany!  This a high church and Tom and I climb to the Dom!

The beauty of the Berlin Dom can not be captured in a picture.

 

 

The church in Weimar where Martin Luther actually preached his sermons, also the home of the German writer and statesman lived and died, it is where the Weimar Republic was born (Weimar Republic was the government of Germany before Hitler), and Schiller, the German poet and philosopher died.  We took a side trip to Weimar and stayed overnight in a Romantic hotel just outside of Weimar.

 

George standing with Wilhelm and Rosemarie Mohn.  This family is at least a twig on George's mother's family tree.  Visiting the Mohn ancestral town will be one of George's memories of our adventure in Europe.

 

The famous Porta Nigra, the oldest andr largest Roman structure north of the Alps built in the present day Trier, Germany from 186 to 200AD

We are winding down our European adventure with only three weeks left, but we still have one major goal and a few minor goals to accomplish before we board the plane in Heathrow on June 15th.  Our reason for coming to Europe was to spend June 6th at Normandy, we had originally planned on spending about three weeks over here....see how old people lose track of time.  We will wrap up our almost three month adventure by driving to Luxemburg for a Memorial Day observance at the Luxemburg American Cemetary where the people of Luxemburg pay their annual homage to the men who freed their country and General Patton who is buried there.  From there we plan to either drive to the Atlantic coast of France or go up to Normandy early to observe their various city celebrations of the Normandy beaches invasion.  After Normandy we will visit London, friends in Bristol and northern England and relax the night before our plane trip home at Heathrow.  Thank you all for following our adventures, we have a remarkable time, lots of laughs, a few close calls on the roads, seen some of the most beautiful architecture, followed history and cultures in 10 countries and through it all made memories that will last the four of us a lifetime.  We hope you stay tuned for the wrap of of our adventures in France and England they maybe the best adventures of our trip.

 

Seven Countries in 13 Days

We left Ireland and headed toward our date with the ferry in Dover for our cross channel voyage to pick up another car and start the second half of our adventure here in Europe.  We stopped in Swansea and Bristol to see friends before staying overnight in Dover and catching the ferry on May 1st.  Catching the ferry started a five country trip in one day as we left England, got our car in France, drove through Belgium and Luxembourg to arrive in Germany for a night of rest.  We stayed at Spangdalem AB for two nights while we got our bearings, mailed some packages and made plans for our adventure through Europe.  We wanted to visit our old haunts in Ramstein AB and visit with friends of Tom and Maryann's so we drove down to Ramstein and spent another two nights seeing all the changes to the base in the last thirty years, seeing our old apartment in Machenbach outside the base, George visited the fire station where he was the Fire Chief in 1986, and trying to find other landmarks of a by gone era.  It was time to start our adventure so we changed our plans and drove to Prague instead of Berlin first.  What a beautiful city with its castle, 19 bridges, glorious architecture and friendly people.  Leaving Prague, we drove into Slovakia, staying in a quaint little bed and breakfast, on our way to Budapest.  As we were driving to Budapest, we remembered the English pub owner who told us of Lake Balaton and it's beautiful surrounding area.  Change of plans...headed south to the lake.  It was a great change of plans, the Lake Balaton area is simply the gem of Hungary.  We are staying in a hotel overlooking the beautiful and very large lake.  We decided to stay a few days before heading up to Budapest.  Our future travels will take us to Budapest, and on to the Auswitz concentration camp, Kraków, Warsaw, Berlin and eventually to Normandy for the June 6th celebrations.  Our plans remain fluid and can change but Normandy is why we started this adventure so all other plans are written in sand and as you may have noticed change as we go down the road.

 

We stopped in Bristol to see Alastair and Louise.  Tom and George are jealous of Alastair's 1930 Austin.  Yes, George doesn't know enough to put shoes on when going outside!

 

The White Cliffs of Dover as we depart Englan on the ferry.

 

This is the apartment house we lived in during our last assignment in Germany.  It was brand new back in 1983, it seems like just a couple days ago but 30 years passes quickly.

 

The Czech Republic...we couldn't travel to Communist countries back in the 80s, not only has the map of Europe changed but so has the politics of Europe.

The Prague castle with Tom, Maryann, and Pat.

 

A little boat trip o the Vitava river in Prague...seems not everyone you ask can take a good picture....Maryann, Pat, George and just a little bit of Tom's hat and arm!

 

The architecture in the Czech Republic and old Europe is amazing...every city we visit in every country has their own unique style and history depicted through it's buildings.

 

Entering Hungary...although that is not hyow I spell Hungary!

 

The scenery never gets old as we make our way around Europe.  This picture is out of our hotel room balcony in the Balaton region of Hungary.  That is Lake Balaton in the background.

 

Another beautiful day on Lake Balaton taken from the Abbey overlooking the lake.

 

Another view from a hilltop in Tihany, Hungary 

While we miss our families in Colorado and can't wait to be back, it is these travels, seeing the backyards of the world that we enjoy.  It is even better when we can share these adventures with good friends and make new memories that will last us all a lifetime.  Thank you all who read this blog for coming along on our travels and hope you enjoy the sights and adventures we try to capture in our blog.  

 

It's a Long Way to Tipperary!!!!!

We are traveling around the fascinating country of Ireland, the people, the culture and the countryside are awesome.  We are staying in Tipperary, yes of the same name as the song!  We are centrally located in the south middle part of the country which allows us to take day trips to just about all parts of the island.  We have been to Dublin but found it to be another big city with a few tourist things to see but what we really enjoy is the small villages, the countryside, interacting with the locals and most of all the beauty of Ireland.  Every turn of the road is a new adventure and we guarantee you that the pictures do not depict the beauty of this country.  Every chance we get we have interacted with people in the pubs, along the streets or in the shops; they are very outgoing friendly and willing to share their stories and their history of their country with us.  One of our favorite trips is along the Ring of Kerry and the Wild Atlantic Way of western Ireland.  Rugged beauty, towering cliffs and wide valleys mark this part of the country.  We have posted a few pictures on Facebook and a few here but we have literally taken hundreds of pictures, making Tom pull over to the side of some very narrow roads.   We have stopped old and young people in the villages to ask their favorite place to eat and have always ended up with the best food at a reasonable price along with a little history lesson.  BTW...Guniness is the favorite beer and Tom and George have mastered the art of ordering it with at least one meal a day.  Another little tidbit of information we gathered is that Jameson whiskey is not distilled in Dublin.  We toured the Jameson Distillary outside of Cork and discovered that they are the only Distillary in the worl that distilled Jameson whiskey...of course Tom and George volunteered to taste three different whiskers, a Scottish, Jack Daniels Black and a Jameson 3 year old ....Jameson won hands down and they had another shot just to be sure.  

To say we are having a wonderful time, enjoying each other's company and exploring Ireland would be an understatement...we will have many memories of this trip and most of those in addition to what I have already said, will be of the laughter and the drives along some of the narrowest cowpaths a car can go on while meeting another truck, car or tractor coming at you. 

Can you believe a Swiss Chalet in the middle of Ireland...you never know what you will find when you ask a local about the surrounding area.  Interesting local sights, great places to eat or a place to enjoy a Guiness.j

Here it is ----the world famous Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney Stone.  George had to kiss the Blarney Stone (although he never has had a problem dispensing a lot of blarney).  so it was up to the top of the tower, lay on you back, stretch outside of the wall and raise your lips to the Blarney Stone.  That hole at the top of the tower is where he kiss the stone.

West coast of Ireland along the Wild Atlantic Way on the Ring of Kerry.  The terrain varies from gentle sloping pasture land, deep gorges, towering cliffs, or wide beaches...a fascinating drive around western Ireland.

Stopped along the Ring of Kerry -- What no guard rails!!!

Enjoying the seabreeze in the Atlantic, heading towards the "Cliffs of Moher"

The Cliffs of Moher on the Ring of Kerryb

The birds using the Cliffs as a sacturary 

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The village of Dingle on the Dingle peninsula, West Coast of Ireland on the Ring of Kerry.  Avery colorful village with the typical narrow streets.

Pasture lands for the millions of sheep we saw throughout Ireland.

We have only a few days left in Ireland as we will board the ferry on May 1st to sail back to England for four days before crossing the channel to Pick up another car in Calsis to begin the continent part of our adventure.  If that part of our excursion is anything like the month and half we will have spent in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, this 3 month trip will go down in our book as historic!  We will keep you posted and hope you enjoy our pictures and adventures.  Stay tuned, there is a lot more to come from the four crazy old people traveling together in Europe!

Touring England, Scotland and Northern Ireland

When we left the Cotswalds and drove to East Anglia we decided to take our time and enjoy Britain at a slower pace.  We visited the northeast coast, drove down the coast and back to our home base of RAF Lakenheath.  We thought England was a small island in the North Sea, across the channel from the continent of Europe...what we found was a charming friendly country full wonderful people who embraced us and welcomed us in their country with open arms.  As we continued to drive around the UK exploring new back yards, we discovered a country rich in history and proud of traditions.  We visited the ancestral home of Pat's family near Lancaster (see the special blog we posted on her family's history).  We drove across the country to the city of Edinburgh and its massive castle.  What we also found in Edinbrugh was a total stranger, Norry, who we stopped to ask directions to a good place to eat, changed his plans and took us to a pub about a quarter mile away.  Along the way filled us with the history of Edinburgh, the castle and pointed out other interesting facts on the city.  When he left us to go to work, we were amazed that a person would take a half hour out of his time and who was on the way to work to befriend four strangers from the USA.  Our next stop had to be St Andrews, the birthplace of golf.  While visiting the Old Course at St Andrews we tried to make arrangements for lodging on the west coast of Scotland.  The owner told us we had to be there no later than 8:00pm and we were 3 1/2 hours away and it was 4:30.  We raced across Scotland and was rewarded with the best bed and breakfast in Great Britain.  The Grove will stand out as not only a place to stay but as a place we met people who we want to remain friends with long after we leave Great Britain.  Karen, the owner and Billy our hostess went out of their way to make us feel like family.  They will be welcome in our homes anytime they choose to visit either Arizona or Colorado.  Our next stop was an unexpected crash while sightseeing on the back roads of Scotland...Ouch!  But we moved on with another car (ours was totaled) and drove to Loch Ness.  We made arrangements to stay in the Abbey at Lock Ness.  What a treat to stay 3 days in the Abbey and be treated like royalty.  No we did not see Nessie...the picture I posted on Facebook was two very little clumps of dirt rising out of the Loch that looked like Nessie and we couldn't  resist posting the unique picture.  We left Scotland and took the ferry to Belfast and Northern Ireland.  Did you know that the Titanic was built in Belfast, we visited the museum for the Titanic in Belfast?  If you get a chance to visit Belfast and go to the museum you will enjoy an interactive museum like we have never seen in all of our travels.  We also drove over to see the Giant Causeway and learned of the folk lore surrounding the Giant Causeway, another very interesting site.  For some reason, the pictures we downloaded from our travels around Northern Ireland have not posted to our IPAD and we will post them on our next blog posting.

Cromer...a secret RAF base during WWII!

We drove through A village called Hope....this was in the next village!  A little English humor!

A Roman aqueduct on the road to Lancaster

We found a pub in Lancaster that was established in the early 1700s...eating in wine cellars was a little different but then again so are we!

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Edinburgh Castle

This picture says it all....all you golfers out there....this is Mecca!

This is a picture of Tom and Maryann, Pat and George and Karen, the owner of the Grove....in our humble opinion the best bread and breakfast in the United Kingdom!

This was the result of a car passing us on the right as we were turning up right!  No one hurt badly but we were a little shaken up, but It did not deter us from continuing our adventure.

A perfect picture, taken from a bridge that was on our way to Loch Ness!  

The Abbey at Loch Ness!  Anyone for Chess?

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Our home while at Loch Ness!

The Scottish Highlands

We indulged  ourselves of a little beer at every stop...Coors owns Doombar so we had to support our son and his job at Coors!

Our last stop in Northern Island, the Marble Arch Caves...the longest caves Great Britain, very picturesque....we will try to download pictures of the caves on our next blog when we post of our adventures in Ireland.

We are now in Ireland and will stay here for about 10 days touring the countryside, trying to immerse ourselves in the culture, visiting the landmarks and enjoying the Irish pubs, music, and people we meet.  We hope your Spring is full of new adventures and will visit our blog to see what we are up to as we find new backyards to explore throughout Euope