Home ! Sandy, Ut....

Well a year has gone by, hope you have enjoyed my adventures thru my blog. I flew into Spokane on the 3rd of May, was met by my brother and his wife. Spent a couple of days there visiting and catching up on sleep. On Wednesday the 6th I left their place with my truck to do the drive back to Salt Lake City. What a beautiful drive, through the mountains, following the river and everything was turning green. Took me approximately 12 hours to drive, arriving at Marianne's that evening. Spent a couple nights there as no bed in my place. On Thursday got the keys back to my place, which thankfully was in great shape..Yeah!! Got my cable/internet/phone connected and had dinner with Gor. On friday my shipment from London arrived, so was here for that, did some cleanning, then dinner with Marianne. On Saturday we moved my things back in from storage was a busy day, but all in the garage now. Started work again on Monday, am now pretty much settled back in to my place and loving being home. The weather really helps as it feels like summer and the sun in shinning, the view of the mountains with snow is Fab.....

Last Hurrah before heading home !

We flew to Barcelona on Tuesday the 21St of April, spent the night, saw a little of the city. We visited The Familia by Gaudi, then ventured to the old town, visited a couple of local markets, which was fun. Then headed to the pier to board the ship.
We sailed at 8pm from Barcelona, first port of call on Thursday is Cannes, we took the local train up to Monaco for the day, was great and didn't even get lost. On Friday we docked in Livonia, we took a tour to the Cinque Terre, what a great day, the villages that we visited were built right at the waters edge then up the side of the hill, we went by boat to the first village, walked to the second, boarded the boat again to the third, had lunch there and then by boat to the 4Th to board the bus back to the ship. Saturday was Rome, again a good tour, saw the Pantheon, Trivoli fountain, Piazza Navona, St Paul's and the other major sites from the bus. Sailed for Naples that evening, did Naples on our own, took the hop on/hop off bus, got to see most of the city, an old city was interesting, but not my favorite. Next we were on to Messina, we did the sightseeing bus here also, got a good overview of the city, not a lot to do here, the square with the church was great. Sailed for Valletta, Malta - really liked this city, took a tour to the Mdina, was great very impressive and then time to shop and check out the town of Valletta, good have done with more time in this port. On next to Cagilari, enjoyed this city on our own, climbed the Bastion great views from here, old narrow streets, did some shopping then took the city sightseeing bus to get an overview of the city. Then we had a day at sea, which was a day of rest, watched a movie, read and checked out the ship again. Friday docked in Palma, was an overcast dreary day, but made the most of it on our own, walked the town, did a little shopping, then took the city sightseeing bus for an overview of the city. The Palace and Cathedral were very impressive, however they weren't open to tour due to it being a holiday. Our last night on the cruise as we sailed for Barcelona and our return to London. We returned to London on Saturday the 2ND, we meet my Keiron & Phil at the airport, checked into the hotel, then headed off to Windsor to check out the Queen's residence and the town. Had great afternoon wondering the town, shopping and visiting. Had a meal at the local pub then back to the hotel to relax. Phil, Keiron and myself headed to the pub downstairs for a couple of beers and to say good-bye, but not for long as they'll be coming to visit soon. We headed to the airport around 8am on Sunday to board our flights back to the states, Phyllis and Sharon to Kansas City and myself to Spokane.

Time is short....

Well my time is very short now, last day of work at the office is the 17Th of April. How fast a year goes. They decorated my desk, had a card and got a lovey picture of London and cat charm from everyone. We were then all off for drinks at The Tabernacle for my leaving. Was a great evening with lots of the guys from work showing up. Saturday was a quiet day, got things ready to pack. On Sunday, Phil & Keiron came over, went to the park, came back and had waffles (as Keiron had never had them), then they packed up all the stuff I couldn't bring back and headed back to their place, along with my 2ND suitcase which they will bring to me at Heathrow on the 2ND of May.
Went to meet my last visitors at the Heathrow airport - Phyllis & Sharon arrived on Sunday evening the 19Th of April at 10:30pm, we took a car service back to my flat.
Monday we awaited the packers, they took forever to arrive, suppose to be there at 9am and arrived finally at 11:30a, then finished all the packing around 2pm. We then too the tube to Hill stop, walked to Keningston Palace, toured the Palace, then on the bus through Piccadilly Circus and got off at Trafalgar Square, walked down Whitehall to Parliament and The Thames, past Westminster Abby, then back toward the flat and dinner. Tuesday morning we went to St Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace, then back to the flat to head to the airport.

Been a Slacker -

Been a while since I updated, so here is for the last couple of weeks. On the Wednesday the 8Th, I took the afternoon off to attend my good friends Keiron and Phil's civil legal wedding ceremony. There were 10 of us that met at Liverpool Station to go to their council house for the ceremony. Was a nice ceremony, then went to Canary Wharf for drinks on the Thames, then to the Four Seasons for dinner, was a fab evening and very enjoyable.
In the UK they have a four day holiday for Easter, so was off on the 10Th and 13Th. On Friday went to Keiron and Phil's place and spent the day. Keiron and I went out to Greenwich to get a photo at the museum, didn't work, we got told no photos. Oh well, we stopped at the market to do a little shopping and a sausage hot dog. Keiron thought we would take the bus back to the Ferry across to their place. Well we got on the right bus, but going the wrong direction, so had to turn around. Saw lots of Southeast London that I hadn't seen before, we arrived at the ferry, which is a 5 minute ride, was fun, you could see their building from the ferry, then boarded a bus and got off at their building. Phil cooked dinner was yummy, then watched a video and headed home.
On Saturday went out to Bath, what a pretty city. Enjoyed the city, did a little shopped, walked all around, across the Putney bridge, got some great pictures of the bridge, then returned home.
Sunday & Monday stayed close to home, back to work on Tuesday for my last week.

Arundel

Great weather on Saturday so took the train to the town of Arundel to visit the castle there. It is still the home of the Duke & Duchess of Norfolk. What an impressive place, huge grounds, with lots of trees and flower starting to bloom. The castle itself was Fab. Very impressive and really enjoyed it. The town was small and quaint, was a great day.
Sunday - went for a stroll thru Regents Park, what a massive park, was beautiful with all the flower and trees blooming, many people out on the lake in paddle boats and around. Meet Janine at St John Wood's station and we did Regents Park together, was a great afternoon. The amazing thing was only need my jean jacket..Yeah !

Dublin, Ireland

This weekend I was off to Dublin on Sat morning. Stayed at the Merrion hotel for one night and explored Dublin. Walked to Grafton Street which is the pedestrian shopping street, lots of people and shops. Visited Trinity College did a tour there which was lead by a professor of the college, he had sense of humour the tour was great, it ended the Book of Kells, which we then toured on our own. Amazing!
Then boarded the tour bus for an overview of Dublin, good tour, went by all the important places, say the Guinness Storehouse, a number of churches/cathedrals, the River Liffey, O’Connell Street, then had dinner and back to the hotel for the evening.
Sunday, took a free three hour walking tour of Dublin, this was great was lead by a young lady who was from Ireland and she showed us all the sights and told us lots of history, saw Dublin Castle, Christ Church, Chester Beatty Library, the Norman ruins, thru Temple Bar, O’Connell Street, the bank of Ireland, over the Ha’penny bridge, Trinity College. It was a very informative and fun tour, really gave you the overview of the history of Dublin. Did a little shopping and took some pictures of the river, then back to the hotel to collect my bag and board the bus back to the airport for my flights home.

Saturday, the 14th of March
Went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is huge, but very interesting, had a great exbihit on fashion thru the years. Enjoyed it. Left there and went to visit the Original Twinings Tea Shop. Twinings have had a shop on the Strand since 1717! Twinings Strand Shop also boasts a small museum, which charts the history of the Twinings family, along with some fabulous examples of tea caddies and more unusual items from the world of tea. Of course I bought some tea. Then back home.
Sunday was a day of rest stayed in all day - worked on my scrapbook.

Saturday the 21st of March
Great weather this weekend, I know you don’t hear that very often from me. However the sun was shinning and it was about 65 degrees outside only needed a sweatshirt-no coat!
Keiron came up to see my place, we wandered around Hampstead had lunch, then headed down to explore The Harvey Nichols department store, was fun, but nothing we could afford. Then went for a drink at a bar/restuarant that floats on the Thames, we sat outside and enjoyed the setting sun with great views of the London Eye, Big Ben and the Thames. What an enjoyable day.
Sunday I headed off to see the town of Moreton-in-March, which is located in the Cotswolds. Great old town with really old buildings, explored the town and shops, then headed back stopped off in Oxford for a couple of hours to explore a little on my own. Then back home.