Travel with Dale & Margaret

Since nothing much happened today, June 13th, on our sea day as we sailed Northward to Oslo I figured I’d fill in with a bonus post.  In my frequent travels to the UK in the past I have always found it amusing how Brits have a different way of saying many common things.  For instance, a trunk in the car is a “boot” and a parking lot is a “car park”.  Seems logical enough.  I can understand this because, when I was a little tike I used to tell my parents that a driveway should be called a “garage way” much as our freeways are called “motorways” in the UK.  Made more sense to me.

I found a few strange things on this trip to Coworth Park and have included the pictures below.

As we drove onto the grounds I noticed a speed limit sign.  I figured it would be in kilometers per hour (kph’s) like all other speed indicators in the UK but no…this one was in mph.  And, not only that, it was in 1/2 increments, telling us to only go 9 1/2 mph.  Really?  Our speedometers are that accurate?  I figured that this was a UK’ish way of telling you to stay under 10 mph.  I guess that 9 1/2 mph does look simpler than saying 16 1/4 kph.

Next we saw the sign telling you where the Car Park, Stables and Cottages are.  But, when you got to the Car Park area there was a sign next to it that said “No Entry to Cars”.  Go figure.

Then, there was a tow truck of sorts, apparently removing the illegally parked cars in the car park, with a sign on the side that said, “23 1/2 Hour Recovery”.  Well, how does that help?  How do I know which 1/2 hour you are taking off for a break?

Next, I saw the sign in the restroom, er, “loo” in the restaurant.  I found it amusing that the sign said “Disabled Toilet”. While I’m sure they meant, “Handicap Toilet”, I had to wonder why anyone would want to use a disabled toilet.

Yes, you are correct.  I was a bit bored today in the middle of the North Sea.

We arrived in Amsterdam today about 2:00 pm, right on schedule.  Amsterdam is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, lying at the center of the Randstad, one of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe.  It’s name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the city’s origin: a dam in the river Amstel.

Originating as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, it became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age. During that time, the city was the leading center for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned and built. The 17th-century canals of Amsterdam located in the heart of Amsterdam, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2010.

After having lunch in the Grand Dining Room we headed out on our own.  Getting directions from a nice lady in the Marina atrium we grabbed a map and, since we’ve both been to Amsterdam several times, including once together, we opted to do a self-guided tour today.  It was a beautiful day as we set off for the 2 mile walk into the city.   We started by walking along the waterfront, then went over a nice bridge that was well traveled by both local walkers and bikers riders.  In about 30 minutes we arrived in the heart of the city where we went in search of the flower market. We never quite got there but instead found other interesting sights.

The city was much as we remembered with lovely canals, beautiful flowers and interesting smells rising up from the numerous coffee shops (see the menu in the Gallery).  We decided to rest up sipping wine at a sidewalk café  before heading back to the ship.  Previously we have toured  many museums out of the 50 in town, including the largest, the Rijksmuseumwhich which has famous works from Rembrandt, including “Night Watch” and many famous Van Gogh paintings.  You can also see Anne Frank’s house right along a canal downtown.

We passed beautiful buildings on the way back to town, walked up the long ramp onto the Marina.  We finished the night with a wine tasting dinner with a small group.  Something like a five course dinner, wine-paired.  Very nice food and a good time.

By the way, the picture of tulips and the windmill was taken from a postcard.  While Dale wanted to see some windmills we forgot to go by the two that are actually within walking distance in town, but the photo he took of the postcard was pretty good!

Margaret’s Top Picks:

Amsterdam Full Gallery:

http://travelwithdm.smugmug.com/Travel/Baltic-Serenade-Cruise/Amsterdam-June-12-2013/30609155_WDbJbF#!i=2642581179&k=MkZdB2V

Early this morning we were assisted by our very speedy bellman in loading our bags on the golf cart, we had another great breakfast at Coworth Park and we were collected by our prompt pre-scheduled driver to take us to the cruise ship port at Southampton.  Since Margaret has not been to Stonehenge previously, we had decided, to do a drive-by of the “pile of rocks” (this is what Judy called Stonehenge last night).  This took us a bit out of the way but, what the heck, it was a rainy day and we had plenty of time.

The driver was a lovely chap named Tony and he gave us some great background on UK politics and history.  It’s interesting how cab drivers know a LOT about politics…I guess it’s because they are in their cars listening to talk radio all day!  After a 1 ½ hour drive through some beautiful countryside, we arrived at Stonehenge – and Judy was right!  It is really just a pile of rocks located on the side of the highway.  It was still drizzling outside so we decided to snap a few snapshots and wave to the landmark while we stayed safe and dry in the car.

Stonehenge, a UNESCO’s World Heritage Site, is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England.  One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones.  It is in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.  Archaeologists believe it was built anywhere from 3000 BC to 2000 BC.   It was produced by a culture that left no written records. Many aspects of Stonehenge remain subject to debate. There are a number of theories, some of them very colorful, are often called the “mystery of Stonehenge”.  This is not a mystery we are going to solve today!

Our driver was gracious enough to stop at a sporting goods store so we could purchase some warmer clothing…we had packed for a “summer cruise” and while it is June, it feels like March here in the UK.  Better to be safe than cold and miserable and we managed to find a very reasonably priced sporting goods store close to the docks.  Armed with our jackets we then stopped at an ASDA store and Dale ran in to pick up some provisions.

The embarkation went off without a hitch, it managed to clear up a bit as we headed South down the channel and passed by Cowes and the Isle of Wight, a place we had visited a few years ago to see our son sail in a youth sailing regatta.  Right off the bat we had dinner at one of the specialty restaurants, the Asian themed Red Ginger.  The sushi was great and we managed to sit next to a delightful couple from Manchester who are currently living in Majorca, an island off the coast of Spain.  They were to become good friends by the end of the cruise.  That’s them in the last gallery picture.

We are very happy with the beautiful, 1200 person Marina, pleased with our stateroom suite and are anxiously looking forward to seeing the Baltic region!

Margaret’s Top Picks:

London Day 3 Full Gallery:

http://travelwithdm.smugmug.com/Travel/Baltic-Serenade-Cruise/LondonDay3-June-11-2013/30608524_QgWdQL#!i=2642492628&k=CPDvZzx

This morning we woke up at 9:00 am and had a delightful breakfast in the Mansion building here at Coworth Park.  It was provide free with our booking on American Express Platinum which also gave us about 85 pounds to spend on site.  Yesterday, on our final descent into Heathrow we flew right over Windsor Castle so we knew that it was pretty close by.  Our friend Judy (see below) told us that this was a must-see tour and, while Dale had seen it before we decided it would be something good to see together.  So, off we went.  Fortunately, we hit it on a slow tourist day and so had virtually no wait lines.  After a nice 20 minute cab ride to the castle we did a quick self-guided tour using the provided headsets.  When we entered Queen Mary’s Doll House and the Royal Apartments area the guard watching the queue told us that some days the wait is 4 hours!  We waited about 10 minutes!  The short queues and the reasonably cool weather made the experience quite enjoyable.  While they didn’t allow you to take pictures Dale managed to click a shot and we put it in the gallery below.

Like most things in the UK the history is incredible.  This castle dates back to the early 1,000 AD time frame and has been occupied by Royals since then and including up to this morning!  The Queen departed just before we arrived — she spends most of her weekends at Windsor and was leaving about the time we arrived, going off to see her husband, Philip, who is in the hospital with an infection.

After returning to Coworth Park in a modern version of the old-style UK cab, we had a nice lunch and took it easy by resting up for our special dinner with our friends, Judy and Franco.  They live on their estate about 3 hours outside of London.  They had asked us to come visit when we are in the area but we ended up not getting to go to their beautiful home, because it turns out that they were going on a Regent cruise starting in Iceland and then going to the Baltic!  Because they had to get to Heathrow early in the morning they decided to stay at Coworth Park the night before which meant we could have dinner with them.  While we were sad not to get to spend more time with them, we were excited to spend an evening catching up.  Judy and Franco were part of the “Machu Picchu Survivors” — who we met on our 2010 Circle South America adventure.

A great time was had by all and we even managed to get to sleep by half past midnight — good and bad given we are 8 hours later than home, but sometimes you need to mix things up to get on the right time zone.  One of the funny things we found out at dinner is that despite Judy living in the UK her entire life she has never been to Windsor Castle!  What’s good for the goose isn’t good for the gander?  Well, as you can see, we didn’t see any geese but we did have some ducks and swans with their babies.

Tomorrow we embark the Oceania Marina — with a drive-by of “the pile of rocks” (otherwise known as Stonehedge).

Margaret’s Top Picks:

London Day 2 Full Gallery:

http://travelwithdm.smugmug.com/Travel/Baltic-Serenade-Cruise/LondonDay2-June-10-2013/30608140_s8CdLT#!i=2642449992&k=WQm4K6p