Travel

The Gardens of France

The Gardens of France

Jardin Botanique de Vauville This was my favorite garden, or Jardin. It was created in 1947 by a man who loves plants and gardens. He wanted a garden of exotic plants but the climate of Normandy is very windy and plants have a difficult time growing. So, he began...

Paris France

Paris in springtime. We experienced rain, sun and wind during our visit here. The Paris of the past must be different than the Paris of current day, or maybe my expectation was different. I had envisioned a quaint little city and small intimate streets with flower...

Portland UK and Salisbury

Portland UK and Salisbury

Our ship docked in Portland UK and we took a tour bus to see Stonehenge and Salisbury. Stonehenge Stonehenge is considered a prehistoric monument. I learned that henge is actually a term for the mound that surrounds the stones. It is in the middle of a dense complex...

Cork Ireland

Cork Ireland

Cork Ireland is about 20km from Cobh, where we were docked. We took a nice bus ride there with our tour guide Michael. The roads to Cork were very narrow, bairly containing the girth of our tour bus, and the hillsides were covered in beautiful green. The climate in...

Cobh Ireland

Cobh Ireland

Cobh has the only port in Ireland capable of docking a Cruise ship. Cork Ireland was the port the Titanic disembarked from on its final voyage. Titanic White Star Line was determined that no expense would be spared in the construction of Titanic. It took 3 years for...

Setting sail on our Transatlantic Crossing

Setting sail on our Transatlantic Crossing

Today we set sail on the Serenade of the Seas, a vessel on the Royal Caribbean Cruise line. The SS United States holds the record for the fastest crossing at 3 days, 10 hours in 1952. Our trip will take 6 days to cross the Atlantic. The majority of passenger traffic...

Paris in the Spring time

Paris in the Spring time

Early in May I will be in Paris for the first time in my life. I'm almost 55 years old and it has taken this long for me to get to see a place that I have long identified with. You see, I was born the oldest of identical twins. When we were born my mother named me and...

Cork Ireland

Cork Ireland

Our first stop after a long six days at sea will be Cork, Ireland. Cork is in Southern Ireland. With a population of 119,230 it is the second largest city in the state and the third most populous on the island of Ireland. We will be docked in Cobh which is 19 miles...