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Canada, Canada
Transit only
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London, United Kingdom
LoHampstead Heath
Churchill’s warrooms
Dinner Morito Exmouth Market
Notting Hill Portbello Road
Ottolenghi coffee and pastry
Kensington gardens and palace
Cousin Charlie
Natural History museum
Wimbledon
Wednesday
Wallace Collection- brilliant
Selfridges quick look .
Ottolenghi Marylebone busy
so went to a cafe. I enjoyed crab pasta and a cider, Adrian had fish,sorbet and minute glass of wine. Jewellery store opposite got robbed by white boiler suited guy. Interviewed by police as witness.
Looked at Liberty amazing building.
Fortnum and Mason interesting too. Biscuitorium
Walked past Buckingham palace - changing of the guard
Back to apartment. Ella popped in.
Went to M&S grabbed light dinner.
Thursday
St Paul’s cathedral
Guildford by train. Lunch with Annie.at Withers inn.
Dinner with Matt Issy Paul and Alison
Friday walked to Shakespeare Globe can’t get tickets at suitable time.
Tried to find Ella’s work
Borough Markets- amazing cheese sample. Sat near Thames and ate cheese bear claw.
Walked to Imperial Museum . Spent hours there. Amazing.
Back to apartment for cuppa.
To Ella’s flat for early dinner. Matt too.
Then to Garrick Theatre, The Producers . Very funny. Issy met us there .
Quick drink at Garrick Arms.
Saturday.
Bussed to Tate Britain. Constables and Turners.
Walked back past Westminster Abbey. Rooftop viewing of tennis at 120 Fenchurch with Matt and Ella , Emily and Mia. Old Spittafields Market with private room to watch tennis. Tarsh joined us. Walked home . Matt called in at 10 on his way home.
Sunday
British Museum
Drinks at Alwyne Castle Pub with Matt Ella Charlie W and Sarah Malcolm and Louise , Tarsh Mia Bridgette. Ed Laura ,Lance and Grace
Walked back to apartment
Monday early start
Euston Train Station to Glasgow
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Glasgow, United Kingdom
Transit only. Picked up rental
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Isle of Arran, United Kingdom
Ferry to Arran after picking up rental in Glasgow. Ferry a bit like small interislander. Guys went outside very windy. Drove to the Corrie. Lovely old hotel on waterfront. Dinner at The Corrie.
Tuesday, guys played golf. Louise and I had coffee at the Kinloch Hotel. Had a bit of a walk. Picked up guys drove around coastal route. Went to cheese shop gift shop, the Douglas for a drink, dinner at Drift Inn
Wednesday guys went for a walk Glen Rosa. Louise and I went to Brodick Castle really interesting and lovely gardens. Was given to Government in 1957 instead of death duties.
Picked up guys. Ate some Arran icecream!
Went to distillery couldn’t do tour as full.
Went and saw ruined castle.
Back to hotel for drink on grass out front. Walk along shore. Saw doctor’s bath.
Dinner in Brodick at country pub.
Thursday. Early start. At ferry.
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Glasgow, United Kingdom
Dropped off car. Train
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Oban, United Kingdom
Arrived in Oban. Quaint seaside town. Walked around. Lots of touristy shops. Ate seafood basket at local chippie. Hotel very comfortable-larger room than Arran.
Friday. Took ferry to Mull then bus to Tobermory . Very picturesque. Wandered around. Back to Oban. Walked around town . Round the world Clipper race finishes here. Looked at some of the boats. Dinner at nearby whisky bar.
Adrian watched All Blacks- impressed on tv
Breakfast , walk , then on train to Edinburgh via Glasgow.
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Glasgow, United Kingdom
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Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Sunday. Train arrived mid afternoon, hotel. Drinks at cool pub. Then dinner at very posh restaurant The Spence (owned by Gleneagles golf club) with friends of the Allan’s. Lovely surroundings.
Monday train and then bus to St Andrew’s. Good look around. Amazing ancient cathedral wreck. Walked around university. Sat in snug at pub and had a drink before returning to Edinburgh. Walked up royal mile to castle. Dinner at Italian then Johnnie Walker tour- very slick and whisky tasting.
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Liverpool, United Kingdom
Three trains from Edinburgh. Hotel a bit of a walk from station. Looked around. Dinner at Greek restaurant-yum. Visited the Cavern- was fun.
Wednesday
Guys went to golf early. Breakfast at hotel totally underwhelming. Ran out of food and what was available was of poor quality.
Louise and I trained to Manchester and checked into our alternative accommodation which is lovely. We spent time looking at the shops. Some good variety. Trained back to Liverpool. Met guys, went for a drink and then an overpriced dinner! Back to hotel. Guys didn’t want to decamp to Manchester tonight as it’s a longer trip to golf from Manchester.
Thursday. Guys golf. Louise and I had spot of shopping then cruise on Mersey followed by happy hour Aperol Spritz and deconstructed burgers salad and fries. Tasty and lots of salad. Guys arrived back from golf and we packed up and left Liverpool a day early
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Manchester, United Kingdom
Thursday night. Arrived here 10pm hotel is lovely. Close to train station so easy commute this end. Great breakfast-lots of choice. Going sightseeing walked around. Then free bus around Manchester. Train to Hebden Bridge. Dinner at pub then back to hotel.
Saturday. First tram trip then train to Euston London
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Canterbury, United Kingdom
Arrived in Canterbury Saturday afternoon. Cathedral impressive but we couldn’t go in as closed . Went for a drink at pub then Adrian and I went to Evensong at cathedral and had a good look around. Back to pub (golf on) then dinner at lovely Mediterranean restaurant. Noise an issue at hotel. Saturday night and the revellers were in fine form!
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Dover, United Kingdom
train from Canterbury . Long walk to terminal from Dover train station in the heat! Nearly ended up at wrong part of port until a lady asked where we were going!
Legend very comfortable. Stateroom well cupboarded! But they don’t do jugs and cups. Thankfully they do water glasses (suitable for a pre dinner wine!) we brought our allowance of wine onboard and water. Dinner very nice. Must remember entree is a main!
Monday. Time went forward an hour- cruisy day today. Explored ship. Enjoyed a very nice brunch. Lazed in sun after finding quiet spot. Appears that most Americans have excessively loud voices and lots of big appetites 🤣Soon time for pre dinner drinks. Tonight is elegant theme! Won’t wear jandals! Already looked at menu/ think I have appointment with jumbo shrimps.
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Copenhagen, Denmark
Tuesday. Arrived in Copenhagen . Breakfast on boat then bus from port. Hop on hop off, went to Tivoli gardens first wasn’t open so had Danish pastry and coffee first, then tried. Queues were endless decided against. Got on hop on again. Spent a lot of time around canal area-very scenic. Enjoyed beers and aperol in the sun. Went to Little Mermaid. Bus back to ship.
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Kiel, Germany
Arrived in Kiel. Went ashore and wandered around shopping area. Bit drizzly, Saw old church. Kiel was heavily bombed in Second World War so architecture not that enthralling. Had coffee.
Then back to ship for lunch and then afterwards off again for walk along the promenade and through the gardens.
Lovely sunset.
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Berlin, Germany
Thursday.On train for Berlin, big day. Got together at 7.30 for briefing. On train 8.30 and 3 hour trip before transferring to bus for 3 hour tour, checkpoint Charlie. Brandenberg Gate, Parliament buildings etc, in group 8 - lol , then free time , walked in rain to an area Malcolm and Louise recommended, aperols, beers and fries by canal, back to bus by 5.30 then onto train. Long day!
Friday - at sea. Gym including me🤣. Brunch . Then chilled out on our balcony. On deck loungers now by pool enjoying the sun.
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Tallinn, Estonia
Estonia old town was great. We took a taxi to the top of the hilltop to the Russian church. Allowed in but no photography inside. Got photos outside. Never seen so many souvenir shops in my life! Also some nice clothing. We had a coffee at cafe and spent hours meandering. Arrived at the big square and had beers and aperols. The rain arrived so we stayed put a while then continued walking down hill. Rain was pretty heavy but we walked back to ship,
Had a mid afternoon pizza. After dinner went to comedy show- 3 married couples answering 10 questions, very funny.
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Helsinki, Finland
Had early breakfast. Then ashore at Helsinki, cruise shuttle available but too expensive! Looked at hop on hop off but they were charging like wounded bull. We walked for 10 minutes then caught tram into city centre, interesting being in a place where signs give no indication of English meaning. Had a good walk around. Impressive architecture, loads of the big brand shops . Went to a lovely cafe/restaurant for coffee. Rainy today again! Walked through outside food market , tried some salted sardines (delicious )and then general market, prices up there. Some lovely wooden ware and fur products though plus the usual souvenirs, Went through an indoor food market, beautiful presentation of food. Looking not eating, ranged from caviar to nices!
Walked again and tried to find pub for our usual! Unsuccessful in city centre, got back on tram and headed towards ship. Got off and searched some more , Sunday not a good day to pub. Went to cafe but eye watering prices for beers and aperol put us off. Will stick to wine tonight!
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Stockholm, Sweden
Monday .Breakfast then off boat. Walked to train station then train to Stockholm 18 stops! Metro to Gamla Stan the old town of Stockholm, walked around . Coffee at cafe. Lots of cobblestone streets. Lovely water lillies. Pretty area. Food presentation in shops is very inviting. We didn’t have that much time as long train ride and due back on boat by 4.30. We walked back to station and got back to port went to little local town and enjoyed beers and aperol spritz’s. Had a little look at shops then back to boat in timely manner unlike about 5 coach loads (15 mins late) and 2 people who ran from a taxi ( at least 20 mins late)with people cheering them on from the ship. They were very lucky that the excursions were obviously late or I think they would have missed the ship!
Now have 2 days at sea.
Tuesday. Brunch . Just lazed around. Adrian gymed. Amazing how much drivel some people spout in loud voices. We came up to deck 10 in the sun to enjoy a pod, lovely spot. Seen lots of wind turbines today and some yachts way out at sea, cruised under a massive bridge. Another good show- a Scottish singer
Wednesday. Gym then brunch followed by a coffee. Overcast today and cooler, meant to be hot in Amsterdam tomorrow
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Amsterdam, Netherlands
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London, United Kingdom
Friday morning. Arrived into St Pancras. Loads of people everywhere. Beautiful weather. Wandered around . Went to Canopy Market. Looked at Coal Drop shopping centre. Chatted to a friendly security guard who really likes the Black Caps. School holidays so lots of kids enjoying the water fountains in the square . Incident happened at Euston Station so Piccadilly Line was shut. We had to go another way to Heathrow. Transport was heaving.
Lucky we had lots of time
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Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Flight from London was good. Got my scissors confiscated at security in Hong Kong. They had gone through Wellington Auckland and London no problem! Just a small pair.
We sat on the tarmac in London for an hour last night as they had loads of air traffic so hour less stopover in Hong Kong. Looked at duty free😢so expensive.
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Auckland Airport, New Zealand
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Wellington, New Zealand