Portsmouth, England - Day 2

Friday, May 30

We have really enjoyed our time in Portsmouth. "The Pier" B&B is in a great location and is very pretty - a lovely, comfortable place to call "home" whilst here. We started our day with an absolutely huge "full English breakfast" that could have fed 10 people. We knew that we definitely needed to walk after all that food and as we were not due at Alan & Ann's place until mid afternoon, decided to go to the D-Day Museum, especially as it is the 70th anniversary on June 6 and Portsmouth was very involved in all the preparations for the invasion.

Al beside a tank outside the D-Day Museum

Inside one of the landing craft used on June 6, 1944

The museum has been set up very well. It's main feature is the Overlord Embroidery - the most fantastic embroidery (patchwork style) that measures 83 metres in length - the world's longest of its kind and the modern equivalent of the Bayeux tapestry depicting the 1066 Norman invasion. Unfortunately, photos of the embroidery are not allowed so cannot be included here. The Overlord Embroidery was designed by Sandra Lawrence in her first year after graduating from design school in Florence - an amazing effort. She collaborated with military experts to ensure she correctly depicted all aspects of the D-Day invasion in 1944. You couldn't help but be impressed by the result - it really is a national treasure. The remainder of the museum displayed vehicles, guns and other equipment used in the invasion along with stories of the people who took part as well as those who lived in the Portsmouth area at the time. There was also an elderly lady veteran, Mary, present to answer any questions and generally chat about what happened on D-Day as she had been there in 1944. We could have spent more time in the museum but needed to get to Alan & Ann's so left and walked back "home" taking in the sights along the way. Portsmouth is a really nice area and has its roots in naval history so there are naval & war-related monuments in many places around town.

Al beside a monument commemorating the Battle of Trafalgar

We arrived at Alan & Ann's to find her brother, Michael and his wife Barbara, already there. Ann had invited her whole family along so we were able to catch up with Alan & Renee, Claire & Neil, Sarah & Mark and Francesca & Zoe. We haven't seen most of them since 2007 so it was lovely to get together again. We also met Barbara's brother, Dick, who is visiting her from Natimuk in Victoria. It was good to have another Aussie there! We had a great time catching up on family news, discussing the Family Tree, sharing family photos, etc. and the only thing that reduced the noise level was the eating & drinking. Ann had prepared a fabulous spread for us. In what seemed no time at all, it was 9.30 pm and time for people to think of heading home. By the time all the goodbyes had been said, it was about an hour later so we headed back to our little home away from home armed with a road atlas that Alan & Ann have kindly lent us ready to start the "driving" part of our holiday. Although we have Sat Nav in the car, it is helpful to have a full map to plan daily routes, etc. so we were very thankful. We are off to Bodmin in Cornwall tomorrow for six nights and really looking forward to it.

Alan & Ann

Claire, Ann, Noelle & Sarah

Sarah, Zoe, Francesca & Mark

 

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London to Portsmouth

Thursday May 29

As we left London the weather improved! It stopped raining and we even had to get our sunglasses out again. We caught the train back to Gatwick Airport as that is where we had arranged to collect the hire car. Why Gatwick you ask? The reasons were simple - it is well out of London and to the south, which was the direction we were heading.

We had booked a BMW 3 series (or similar) through our travel agent with Avis, and as usually happens they didn't have one available for us. Instead they had a Peugot 508 which didn't sound as good, but it did have a few redeeming features over the BMW, namely it had a Sat Nav and it had a Diesel engine. Once we got over our initial disappointment and had the car explained to us, as well as fitting all of our luggage in the boot, we set off thinking maybe this was a better car for our needs.

As usual, when driving a car and relying on its Sat Nav for the first time, we made a few wrong turns, missed a few gears (it's a manual like most hire cars here) and couldn't get the heating/cooling right. We asked the Avis man to key in the address of the B&B in Portsmouth where we had booked and to take us on the shortest route. This, of course, turned into the slowest route but it did take us through Charlwood in Surrey where Noelle's grandmother came from so she was happy. We drove through the typical English country lanes and forests, totally relying on the Sat Nav, but I was glad to see some bigger roads where I could get above 40 mph!

We finally arrived at our B&B and were pleased with its location and our lovely room. We didn't have time to explore as we had arranged to go to Sarah & Mark's house in Petersfield (relatives of Noelle) before meeting Alan and Ann (Sarah's mum and dad) for dinner at a nearby pub. Unfortunately we got caught up in the peak hour traffic out of Portsmouth and this doubled the journey time to Petersfield. The south east of England is very popular as it is commuting distance to London, so a lot of people live in the area and the roads struggle with the volume of traffic on them.

With Alan & Ann at The Drum pub in Petersfield

We hadn't seen Alan & Ann since 2007, and it was 1985 when we last saw Sarah, so there was lots to catch up on. Also it was the first time meeting Mark, Francesca and Zoe, their 16 and 13 year old daughters. We all enjoyed a lovely meal and caught up on everyone's news then, after a quick tour of Petersfield and a cuppa back at Sarah & Marks, we headed back to Portsmouth.

Sarah with daughters Zoe & Francesca

 

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London - Day 3

Wednesday, May 28

We had a great night out at the theatre last night so didn't rush to get up this morning, especially as it was still drizzling with rain, grey and chilly outside.

After breakfast we headed out for a walk along Oxford Street to soak up the atmosphere of London and partake in some retail therapy (especially as we now have more room in our cases). The number of people out and about reminded us of the difference between a city the size of Melbourne and a city the size of London. Oxford Street was a crush during lunchtime hours and very busy at other times. There were all the city sounds - sirens, traffic, car horns, music from stores, people chatting, people shouting and also all the smells - fresh bread, coffee, food being cooked, exhaust fumes from buses, drains, etc. - some good, some not so good but altogether, indicative of a vibrant, bustling city. With so many people around, many with umbrellas up, it was a real art ducking and weaving through the crowds as well as the cars, vans and buses at cross streets.

Al with Marble Arch in the background

We walked right along Oxford Street to Marble Arch - another blast from the past for Al as he lived in Marble Arch back in the '70's. We stopped for a photo opp then it was back along the other side of the street, as well as the detours down side streets and lane ways. One we walked along was St Christopher's Place - a lane saved by a trendy developer who saw merit in restoring it rather than demolishing it. It is now a gorgeous shopping street filled with trendy little boutiques and coffee shops.

A section of St Christopher's Place

As we had a dinner engagement with Lily Hockley (daughter of our friends, Col & Jenny), who has been living and working in London for the last two years, we headed back to our hotel in time to freshen up then walk to the restaurant near Oxford Circus. We had a great time with Lily and caught up on all her news and travels. It was good to hear she is loving her time in London and using its proximity to Europe to full advantage and seeing as much as possible - just like her dad and Al did way back when!

At Jackson + Rye restaurant for dinner with Lily

Due to many of the London restaurants not taking bookings we moved on to Soho where we were able to get in to Jackson + Rye restaurant. The food was really good and it was great to see Lily again. We said goodbye to Lily, and as the weather had improved we decided to walk back to our hotel.

 

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London - Day 1

Tuesday May 27

Another wet and cool day, so we consulted our "to do" list and headed off after breakfast for the West End to book some theatre tickets for tonight. The show we wanted to see was The Pajama Game, a Broadway musical comedy from the 1950s - just our style. We got some good tickets and then for something completely different we headed to the British Museum for some culture!

Noelle at the British Museum

On the map of the museum we bought, there were some items marked as "Don't miss" so we decided to have a look at them. Despite our good intentions to walk through the various rooms to reach these items we didn't get past the first display case without stopping! The first 2 rooms showed the history of clocks and watches and the craftsmanship and knowledge displayed over the centuries was incredible.

A mechanical ship clock from 1585 which moves along a table, plays music, fires the cannons and more!

After finally seeing the first "Don't miss" item, we ventured into a room on the 20th century and were blown away by some of the jewellery and other items in it. We loved many of the items displayed but sadly, our budget doesn't extend to items of this quality and rarity!

Compacts, cigarette boxes, and gold boxes by Cartier

After having looked around for a couple of hours we were getting "museum fatigue" and had built up an appetite so we adjourned for a quick lunch. Refreshed, we headed off for "Don't miss" #2 and did quite well reaching it but then the whole room beckoned so we had to look around.

"Don't miss" #2 - The Oxus Treasure

There was also a tour we wanted to do at 2:15 on "The World of Money" so we whizzed past #3 and then had to almost run through 6 rooms to see #4 to get to the tour in time. We just made it only to see a sign saying the tour had been cancelled so we just had to read all the explanations and look at the items by ourselves. It was another fascinating room.

A disappointed Al

The other room we wanted to see was the "Enlightenment" room, and boy were we enlightened! In the 18th and 19th centuries people were so hungry for knowledge and information and many wealthy collectors funded scientific trips and the publication of the findings from these trips were either displayed or donated to museums. We left the museum after 4 hours knowing that we had only scratched the surface of this amazing place - a must do if you haven't been there before.

We returned to our hotel to organise posting some items back home - Noelle now believes she has spare space and weight to buy more things to replace them! We enjoyed another pub meal on our way to the theatre and think the poms have raised their dining standards since we were last here. Arriving at the theatre we were pleased to be told our tickets had been upgraded and we ended up in the front row of the Dress Circle. The show was fabulous and another great night out.

 

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Copenhagen to London

Monday, May 26

Another gloriously warm day in Copenhagen - so much so that we had to keep our drapes closed to stop our room from becoming too hot while we completed our packing ready to leave for London.

The taxi arrived on time but peak hour traffic this morning slowed our trip to the airport. Copenhagen looked wonderful bathed in the sunlight as we drove beside the canal and watched the swans on the water and the Copenhageners on their bikes going about their daily business. It really is "Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen"!

Copenhageners going about their business in glorious sunshine

After the usual check in procedure and Immigration check (where our passport was stamped yet again - it is really filling up now!), we made our way to the gate where our Norwegian Air flight left at 12.35pm. We had great views over Copenhagen and the Danish Islands as we took off. The sea was a beautiful turquoise colour as well so everything looked lovely.

About 15 mins before landing, the pilot informed us that it was a grey, wet and chilly day in London and he wasn't kidding. What a shock to our systems after the weather we have been enjoying. The next shock was the quoted taxi fare from Gatwick to London! Neither of us could justify it, so it was off to buy train tickets and catch the train to St Pancras where we then got a taxi to our hotel at Tavistock Square.

After settling in, we headed out to explore the nearby area, check on tickets for some shows we would like to see and also find something to eat. We caught the Underground at Russell Square and travelled to Leicester Square where we checked out cheap theatre tickets. By then it was raining quite steadily and we could both see the beginning of the end of our nice suntans and wearing summery clothes as we shivered in our jackets under brollies. Oh well, that's England!

We enjoyed a typical English pub meal before heading back to our hotel. We were pleased to find a Fed-Ex store next door so we went in and enquired about prices to send some excess stuff home. We were given a box to fill (and we will have no trouble doing that) and return tomorrow so now our cases will be at least 5 kilos lighter (or, more likely, we now have space for 5kgs more shopping!)

Al, rugged up against London's wind and rain, outside The Rocket Pub (near Euston Station) where we ate tonight.

 

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Copenhagen - Day 3

Sunday, May 25

We had a nice sleep in and after breakfast headed out under a clear blue sky and warm sunshine. We never thought we'd be in shorts and summer shirts in Copenhagen! Our plan was to visit the Tivoli Gardens which was about a 15 minute walk from our hotel. The Tivoli was built in the mid 1800s and is the second oldest amusement park in the world with beautiful gardens and lots of old fashioned entertainment, as well as the modern roller coasters and other "throw up" rides.

We passed some interesting buildings near the Tivoli providing entertainment, so it's a great precinct for the locals to use.

The Cinema complex

The Circus building built in the late 1800s

We arrived at the Tivoli in time to see the pantomime at the Peacock Theatre featuring Pierrot and Rasmus the bear as well as some young dancers. This was very much a kids orientated pantomime but we enjoyed watching the little ones and their mums dancing along to the music.

Performance at the Peacock Theatre

Next on the schedule was the Tivoli Boys Guard who march around the park to stirring marching music, but the performers/soldiers looked like they ranged from about 8 - 16 years old. They did a great job though.

The Tivoli Boys Guard - the tall & short of it

As we were walking through the gardens towards the amusement park area we bumped into Jackie & Ken from California who were on our dining table on the Royal Princess. We caught up with each other's time in Copenhagen over lunch and chatted about our next travel plans. After fare welling Jackie & Ken, we continued our walk through the amusement park. Some of the rides were specifically for little kids while others attracted the bigger kids. Having just had lunch we decided just to look for today even though we love roller coasters!

Loop the loop roller coaster

We had hoped to watch the Monaco Grand Prix at some stage in the day so exited the Tivoli and crossed the road to the main station where we went to the Sports Bar we had looked at yesterday (scene of the '70's smorgasbord) and watched the race on their big screen. We only caught the second half but enjoyed a beer (and popcorn - a local habit) as it was a very warm day.

On our way home we bought dinner at our favourite market stall - the most delicious tuna tartare and a variety of salads, fresh baguette, cake and coffee. We then had to face the prospect of packing to meet the weight requirements of Norwegian Airlines baggage restrictions. Our room had got so hot during the day and we are in a carbon conscious hotel therefore no air conditioning so after packing we went downstairs to get some fresh air and cool off. Apparently many other guests had the same idea so the lobby/lounge was really buzzing and it was a very multi-cultural atmosphere. All in all we've loved Copenhagen and had a great time!

 

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Copenhagen - Day 2

Saturday, May 24

After a good sleep, we awoke to a cool, grey and damp Saturday in Copenhagen. We had breakfast in our room and headed out to catch the Copenhagen Hop-On Hop-Off Bus to get an overview of the city. We walked to where the stop closest to our hotel was shown on the map but after several buses went past without stopping, we decided to walk to the next stop that, in fact, was the start of the route.

The Little Mermaid

The weather improved as the day went on and we were shedding our warmer clothing before too long. The bus trip was great because as well as seeing what a beautiful city Copenhagen is, we heard an excellent commentary too. We decided to do a complete circuit without getting off and then use the bus to get to the places that most appealed. The bus stopped for 10 mins at The Little Mermaid (with emphasis on the "Little") so we did get off to take pics. There wasn't time to wait in the queue to stand beside the Mermaid for a photo opportunity so our pics have some strangers in them! At the end of the circuit, we got off to have some lunch and decide which places we wanted to return to but as we passed the Tivoli Gardens we bumped into another Aussie couple, Ingrid & Jack, who we had met on the Royal Princess so we "detoured" and had a kaffe & Danish pastry with them. After more farewells and promises to keep in touch, we went our separate ways.

Al outside the Tivoli Gardens

The sun was now shining brightly and it was quite hot. We boarded another Hop-on Hop-Off bus and headed for the Parliament House Building. From there we walked for miles taking in the sights of a Copenhagen, enjoying the sunshine, watching the Danes enjoying it too, taking heaps of photos and chuckling at the ingenuity of the Danes with their bicycles. They manage to carry bunches of flowers, breadsticks and other difficult shaped objects whilst riding along (often talking on their mobiles too); a lot of the business girls ride in stiletto heels and other Danes have bikes with all sorts of interesting shaped baskets, boxes and carriages attached to them for transporting everything (we saw quite a few carrying the wife and kids, another transporting the family pets and yet another carrying a metal BBQ). There are so many bikes around that you are much more likely to come to grief with a bike than a car. We noticed speed cameras for fining speeding bike riders, bike washing stations and bike-only parking buildings. Our cities could do worse than follow the Danes in their use of bikes because the pollution levels are low in Copenhagen and the majority of the people are fit and healthy because of all the exercise they get.

The Royal Palace

Nyhavn - an area beside the canal with lovely old multi-coloured houses

One of the sightseeing highlights was seeing the Royal Palace and whilst there, the huge gates opened and a black car drove out at a good speed with a young woman and man in the back seat. We really believe it was Princess Mary and Prince Frederick but the lightly tinted windows and speed of the car made it impossible to be absolutely certain. There were only a few people around the palace at the time and none of them seemed terribly excited about it. Oh well, we'll believe we saw them!

Noelle in the driveway to the Royal Palace Square

Al, and the boys he travelled overseas with back in the mid 1970's, have often talked about the fabulous smorgasbord dinner they had at Copenhagen's Central Station (that apparently kept them fed for a day or two with what they stuffed into their bags!) so Al was interested to visit the station and see if the restaurant was still there. He knew exactly where the restaurant used to be but it is now O'Leary's Sports Bar. A very young waitress at the bar confirmed that "many years ago" it used to be a smorgasbord restaurant so Al was happy with his memory but not so happy with her description of when it had been a smorgasbord restaurant!

Al at Central Station with fond memories

After another great day in Copenhagen, we bought our dinner (more wonderful Danish salads and goodies), returned to our hotel, had a Danish beer in the courtyard then went to our room to watch the UEFA football final interspersed with qualifying races for tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix. It was fun seeing the places we had walked around while in Monaco only a few weeks ago. It also brought back memories of our 2007 trip to the Monaco Grand Prix.

Sun bathing in a city square

We both love Copenhagen and are looking forward to another day here tomorrow but I suspect our sightseeing will have to fit around the Grand Prix telecast.

 

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Copenhagen

Friday May 23

Disembarkation went smoothly and we were scanned off the ship for the last time about 8:15am. We heard announcements about the long wait for taxis as 2 other big cruise ships had just arrived. They weren't wrong - we waited about an hour before we set off, only to strike a massive traffic jam to exit the port! After 20 minutes of watching the meter tick over and only travelling about 200 metres, Al settled back to "enjoy" the ride. Once we cleared the gridlock in the port we sped up but it still took about an hour to reach our hotel instead of 30 minutes!

We knew our room wouldn't be ready but we left our bags and headed off to explore our surrounds. Fortunately we found a market about 5 minutes away so we enjoyed a coffee and pastry while watching the locals go about their business. They certainly use a lot of bikes for different purposes and we were amused at the ingenuity of some of them.

Mum with kids at the market

Bikes for transporting goods

Al with a drinks seller in one of the pedestrian streets

The Danes also take care of your other needs if you've drunk too much tea, coffee or beer, and we were pleased they had! This one was in the square near the Round Tower which dates back to the 1600s and has been a multi purpose building for the Danes for over 400 years.

A WC for men in Copenhagen

The Round Tower

As we're close to the weight limit for our upcoming flights we dropped in to the Post Office to check costs of shipping stuff home that we don't need anymore, and discovered a Post and Stamp museum in the same building. A quick visit turned into a couple of hours as we found it very interesting and it also included the growth of communications from the postal service to mobile phones.

Al finally got his face on a stamp!

 

Our hotel puts on a "cosy hour" between 5 and 6 each afternoon where they give you a free drink and you can mix with some of the other guests. We joined a couple from Bairnsdale and had a pleasant chat with them before our hunger pangs called us away for dinner and an early night after a great first day in sunny Copenhagen.

 

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At Sea on way to Copenhagen, Denmark

Thursday, May 22

Our last day of cruising on this trip! We have been at sea for nearly 8 weeks in total and have enjoyed every minute of it and those minutes have flown!

Almost every passenger must have chosen to sleep in on this last sea day as the ship was very quiet until at least mid morning. Cases had to be outside cabins by 8.30pm tonight so this meant a flurry of activity around all the laundries this morning and this afternoon saw lots of bags of clothing, etc. discarded as people struggled to meet airline weight requirements and fit all their new purchases into their cases.

We joined the laundry brigade this morning so that we could start the next half of our holiday up to date clothing-wise. That done, we packed our cases but because we have a couple of days in Copenhagen before flying to London, we didn't have to worry about weight just yet.

Enjoying the weather by the pool

The big screen for movies under the stars

The weather today was glorious with warm sun and no wind - perfect to be up on deck. Al & Burgess decided to compete in the Hole in One Championship but neither was successful this time.

Sports Deck where the Hole in One and Ring Toss Competitions are held

Sports Deck facilities

After lunch together, we all decided to participate in the last Champagne Ring Toss for this cruise. We have had considerable success in this competition with Burgess winning two bottles and Al winning one. They have made our Happy Hours together very pleasant. Today there were 5 bottles up for grabs and again, Burgess was successful. Much more surprising was that Noelle was too! As the girls were going to High Tea, they decided to take a bottle with them and all agreed it was a nice addition. The boys favoured a gelati in more casual surrounds for their afternoon tea.

Because the weather was so lovely, we opted to have dinner outside in the Outrigger area on deck 16. We were joined by Jackie and Ken, a couple from California, who have been on our dining table for the evening meals throughout the cruise. The eight of us get on very well and have really enjoyed our meal times together. The final show with the singers and dancers was another excellent production, along with all the other entertainment we've enjoyed on this ship.

Part of The Outrigger area

Bill & Linda, Pat & Burgess, Al & Noelle, Jackie & Ken

Everyone had some last minute things to pack before putting our cases out and we had to have the suitcase weigh in so Al did the honours with our trusty portable scales and everyone met the airline requirements. After lots of hugs and kisses, we all parted with promises to catch up again in another year or two. We are the newbies in this retired life but are thoroughly enjoying it so far and it is so nice to know we will see each other again.

 

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