Mar 18th - 21st, 2011 Trip South

( Steve and Mary Lockhart's house )
On the road to another adventure ! We have travelled only 1800 km in 4 days - slow but steady is our motto. Spent a night with Grammie Jeanne and had visits with Brian, Rosemary, Conner, Elaine, and Angie and even managed to get in a hockey game before we crossed the border. The weather has been great for driving with our new vehicle ( and summer tires ). We stayed in Portsmouth, Maine and it is the neatest little town on the water. A lot of old homes, quaint little stores and lots of restaurants. Ate at Rudi's - jazz band playing, waiters all dressed in blue jeans, black shirts and aprons and fantastic food.
On Sunday we made our way to Midland, NJ with perfect directions from Lockhart. Had a great night with he and Mary catching up on news, family, old times and friends, a delicious salmon dinner and a couple bottles of wine. Perfect night !  But woke up to snow Monday morning...... Could not believe it. It didn't last long or interfere with our drive to Washington. In DC, the trees are starting to show some red buds, the magnolias are in blossom and daffs are in bloom - and it is 21 degrees. After our buddy "TomTom" directed us to the Monticello on Thomas Jefferson St, we unloaded,  unpacked, and took off for a good long walk around Georgetown. Ended up at the Fairmont and just by chance Brian and Katie Calder were checking in. He has been transferred to DC. Made our arrangements to meet Katie the next day while Brian is working. Poor boy. Had a fun dinner at Martin's Tavern on Wisconsin ( sat next to the booth where JFK proposed to Jackie ) and on the way back to the hotel stopped at a book store. And quess who we ran into - Brian and Katie. Small world. From snow to daffodils in one day is perfect

Friday, March 11th, 2011

7 more sleeps until we leave for the warm south. Been a great winter for snowmobiling but looking forward to a new adventure.

Oct 18th - 19th, 2010

The last night on our trip. Yesterday we said our goodbyes to the staff who looked after us so well and the new friends we met. Off to the Gellert Hotel which has the famous hot bathes. We visited the market, had a "fast food" Hungarian lunch, checked in and then hit the hot bathes for a couple of hours. Such fun and they feel soooooooooo good. Even the steam room and cold water bath after wards was "interesting". Today we had a massage and then hit the streets walking, and we walked and we walked. Visited a couple of museums, had goulash soup at a small cafe, window shopped and after dragging ourselves back to the hotel we hit the hot bathes. Felt so good. Flights tomorrow and we will be home. Looking forward to it. See you all soon

Oct 15th - Oct 17th, 2010

Our last night on the ship. The time has gone quickly and we have had so much fun. Ditched the formal tour on Thurs and roamed the streets of Passua on our own and then spent a relaxing afternoon on the ship as we cruised down the river and thru the locks. Local entertainment brought on board has been fabulous. Tonight we a trio playing - two on violins and one on guitar. The last two days have been filled with a visit to the Melk Abby (which has a very interesting museum, old library and church), a topside cruise thru the Wachau Valley noted for its vineyards, a Vienna concert of Mozart and Strauss, a tour of old Vienna and the Ringstrasse, a show at the Spanish Riding School, the Captain's dinner and fun in the lounge afterwards with people we have met on the ship, Blake's story of his 3 shoes, up on deck this morning at 8am to cruise into Budapest, and meeting Dianne and Ivan at the Royal Palace in Budapest. We met them later on their ship which is docked 3 ships behind us. Tonight we are doing a night cruise of the harbour and lights. Nite, nite to all.

Oct 10th - Oct 14th, 2010 Danube

What a wonderful way to spend a holiday ! On the Danube River with a small # of people (145), excellent accomadations, excellent service, very friendly staff, delicious food, local entertainment, piano bar and dancing, excellent local wine, warm sunny days, and of course fantastic company ! We have had some interesting bus and walking tours of Nurenburg, Regensburg, Passau, and Weltenberg Abbey. Their history, architecture, and culture are fasinating and so old. We are such a young country. Passing thru the many locks on the Main-Danube-Canal was a highlight. Last night around 10 we sat on the outer deck, wrapped in blankets, drank hot chocolate/rum and went thru a lock very near Morris's home town. Our little memories are Vicki playing "Bertha" in a local musical chair/poem game, closing the lounge down every night after dancing, the local entertainment on board, watching and meeting new folks, the scenery along the river and the towns we tie up to, drinkibg a beer at the oldest brewery in Germany at Weltenburg Abbey, eating gingerbread at the market in Nuemburg, and so on, and so on. We have just spent the afternoon cruising down the river and are tied up at a dock in Linz, Austria. We were not here 10 minutes and another cruise ship pulled up beside us. Have to watch out opening curtains ! Hello to everyone back in Canada.

Oct 09 - 10th, 2010 River Cruise

Our last two days in Prague were packed with many memories. Yesterday we toured the Strahove Monastary by the Prague Castle. The view of the city from the outdoor cafe where we had lunch was fantastic. The weather was perfect, Czech food delicious and the beer cold. The 12th century library with thousands of books and hand painted ceiling was something to see. The perfect evening was walking the many little streets in the Old Town taking in the sights and sounds of Prague. Many languages but everybody switches to English whether you are Czech, German, Italian, Russian, etc. We found a small Italian restaurant in an old cellar. The service was perfect and the food delicious.

On Saturday we had a city bus tour with the cruise group and ended up at Prague Castle. Unbelievable the size of St. Vitus Cathedral.After touring the Old Royal Palace, St. George's Basicilia and the Lobkowicz Palace, the walk down the hill on cobbled streets towards the river thru the vineyard, and the walk across one of the many bridges over the Vltava River made the perfect end to an afternoon. After we were back to the hotel there was a huge peaceful demonstration on the streets by the hotel. It was hundreds of students but nobody seemed to know what their issue was. Vicki and Blake had never been to a NHL game so off we went to see the Bruins and the Coyotes play. Great game and one of the best parts was coming back to the hotel on the subway. Thousands of people and it was a piece of cake. Half hour from rink seat to hotel. Needed to fill our tummies again so off we went walking. Another old cellar restaurant, and since it was late, no one but us to enjoy the piano music and delicious meal. In Prague when you order meat espically the Czech food, there is no veggies or potatoes - order seperate. We tried a lot of goulashs, pork dishes and Czech beer.

Sunday was a tour to Trizen concentration camp outside of Prague. It was interesting and very sobering. The communist era makes up a lot of their history and from the guides we discovered many stories. The demonstrations, the invasions, the Jewish prisoners, the war, the liberation, the destruction of Stalin's statue, communist bldgs destroyed, the rebuilding of Prague and the change to the people of Prague. Also the floods of 2002 affected the city dramatically.
Sunday eveningwe wandered the streets again taking in the sights and sounds.Climbed the Clock tower to view the city lights, the Castle on the hills and the many Gothic towers and churches. Prague is a very clean city and safe. Thoroughly enjoyed the 4 days.

Friday, October 8th, 2010

What a wonderful city. On Thursday we spent 10 hrs on a walking tour thru the New City, Old City, Jewish Getto and Kampa Island with a tour guide (Dana). She was wonderful and besides showing the sights we learned a lot on what it was like to live during the Communist Era. Highlights were The Post Office (to buy NHL tickets), the interior of the largest bank, Old Town Square, cobbled streets, Czech food and drink, 10,000 Scots walking around in kilts and work boots for a big soccer game tonight, many alleys and side streets, churches, sculptures, Charles Bridge, John Lennan wall, the architecture, and many more. Today we switched hotels and joined the cruise group. We took the HopOn-Hop Off bus (would not recommend) to the Monastary and Brewery near the Castle. The weather and company are great