Berlin Pictures

Our high speed train. It travels at speeds of up to 186 mph!




The Dom




The back of The Dom alng the Spree river




The Wall Memorial. A very sad era in world history




Checkpoint Charlie




I found it ironic that there is a McDonalds just inside the old checkpoint!




The old sign is still there!

Germany 2012

We arrived at the airport 2 1/2 hours early to relax and eat lunch. We checked our bags and got our boarding passes. When we arrived at the Sky Lounge, the agent there told us the plane to jFK was delayed 3 hours and we would miss our connection. She immediately put a hold on our luggage and began rerouting us. She sent us to Detroit, and it was boarding and we had to go. Ok no lunch. We got to Detroit and the connecting flight was already boarding. After boarding, we were told there would be a delay taking off as there was mechanical problems. We sat for an hour. Then we taxi to the end of the runway, and had to return to the gate for further repairs. We sat another 2 hours went by as we just sat on the plane, with no food! After 3 hours we finally took off and they fed us around 11 pm. When we arrived in Frankfurt, we were missing 2 suitcases. It's been 2 days and Jim is wearing the same clothes, as all his clothes, my shoes and makeup are MIA. I am wearing flip flops and dressed in winter clothes! Since we are staying in an apartment instead of a hotel, I will have to go to a laundry mat tomorrow morning and wash Jim's clothes, since he does not have another set to wear.

We finally got to bed the first night here. We had been up 34 hours without sleep. Today we toured around Berlin, and saw The Brandenburg Gate, the sony Center, lots of platz', but the highlight was seeing part of The Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. It does look exactly as it does in all the war movies I have seen!

The weather was rainy but has cleared for now, and it's been in the 60's and windy. It's been chilly.

The Trip Home

Despite the fact that England had 186% of its monthly amount of rain while we were there, we had a great time. We awoke at 5 am. in order to get to Heathrow Airport, well ahead of the scheduled flight, only to find that the flight was delayed by 2 hours.  After we boarded and pushed back, there was a mechanical failure that required us to go back to the gate for repair. This created a further delay. We were approximately 3 1/2 hours late getting into Atlanta.  Since we were one of the first to arrive for the flight, our bags were first on, last off. By the time we got our bags, we were literally last in line to get rerouted on another connection. It shouldn't be too difficult as Delta has flights to Orlando every hour. Except that it is summertime, and Saturday. All the timeshare owners are coming to orlando for their week. They did not have any flights available for us tonight. We had to stay over in Atlanta, and leave Sunday morning. Again on Sunday, we get to the airport well in advance of the flight, settle into the Sky Lounge and we hear, Beep, Beep, Beep, there has been an emergency reported in the building, please stand by while we verify the situation! Jim and I just looked at each other. Evidently the emergency was nothing and our flight went off as scheduled. We arrived home safely.

Leeds Castle, Hampton Court Palace, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre!

I apologize I haven't posted in a few days. It's been busy but fun. We visited Leeds Castle and what we thought would be a 1 hour stop on our way back to London, took several hours. The gardens were beautiful and the castle amazing. We tend to take our time a stroll around the grounds. They had a maze and it was fun to go through. I did not use the left hand rule, so if it wasn't for the spotters helping us out we may still be in there! Yesterday we visited Hampton Court Palace and again spent hours touring. These gardens were amazing. Especially the old grape vine they built a greenhouse over to protect it year around. Then today we finally got the chance to tour Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Though we could not get tickets to see a production, we did get to sit in on rehearsals for The Taming of a Shrew, which will open in 2 weeks. It was really interesting to watch. We have had Lots of fun, seen some amazing places, but we leave tomorrow morning...and yes, we both are exhausted and looking forward to some much needed rest.

Canterbury

We toured the Cathedral today and saw were the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket was murdered by the 4 knights. King Henry II, his friend wanted to be rid of him after they argued over several issues dealing with the power of the church. This church is very important historically, as it is the main headquarters of the Church of England. King Henry VIII, changed it from Catholic to Angelican. Then we took a boat tour on the river Stour, and walked through gardens to get to the GreyFriars House. It was a very relaxing day.

Kent

Today we travelled to Canterbury, and drove through Kent. Kent is considered the garden of England. It was a very picturesque drive that took us much longer as we made 2 wrong turns! Oh well, as we zig zagged across Kent we enjoyed really nice scenery and saw some nice towns. When we arrived, we walked around the Cathedral and walked through The Kings School, which is the oldest school in England. It is a boarding school and the students wear uniforms. Though as they were all heading in to dinner, they had changed out of their uniforms. It was really nice and got pictures of the old buildings. I wonder if the students realize how special the buildings are. Tomorrow we will tour the cathedral. The Canterbury Cathedral is historic because when King Henry the II wanted a divorce from one of his wives, he asked Tom Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury to grant it, when he refused, the King sent some knights up here to kill Tom Becket. This is when the King then changed the religion from Catholic to "The Church of England". I don't know why he went through all this effort after all, King Henry VIII, decided to just find his wives guilty of treason and behead them! This town is also known for The Canterbury Tales written by Chaucer.

Brighton

Last night we arrived in Brighton. It's a beach town, on the English Channel, directly south of London. The winds were gale force and the temperature was 12 degrees c. In New Smyrna we would be all battened down ready for a hurricane. Here they carry on as usual! Today was the first day I actually could wear my sunglasses. The winds died down, the sun came out t when and the rain stopped for the day. It was really nice. We still needed a jacket at times but it was a bright crispy day. We visited the Royal Pavillion, and then spent the afternoon by the beach at the pier walking around. They had a bike race where people rode from London to the beach (52 miles) so it was really crowded today, as the people lined the road near the pier to cheer on the riders as they crossed the finish line. It was fun to watch. The English people are so polite that when I pull the tourist trick of stopping abruptly to take a picture, causing them to run into me, they say, "oh, sorry"! It always amazes me. The middle schoolers on field trips at some of the historical sites too were so well behaved. I am amazed. It makes me want to come teach here, with these students. I also love the proper English and some of their sayings. It's very direct, proper and polite.

Cheddar Gorge and Stonehenge

Today we travelled to Cheddar Gorge. It was amazing. We toured 3 caves, seeing where "Cheddar Man" lived and bones were found. We also saw a lot of stalctites and stalagmites. The entire area was under water many, many eons ago, like during Panacea times. Cheddar man's DNA has been linked to living people in the area. Cheddar cheese is made in the village and is stored in the caves for aging. We hiked to the top and got really close to some wild mountain goats. I took a lot of pictures. Again I am sorry I can't see to post them to this blog as they are stored on my iPad which the blog site does not seem to recognize as a computer. Jim had to drive a long way today as we then went to Stonehenge. Talk about incredible! They brought those rocks all the way from South Wales and they wave several hundred tons. Further 1/3 of the rock is beneath the ground which really makes you realize that this had to mean something to someone 3000 yrs ago! It was raining with gale force winds when we were there, so I am not sure how my pictures will turn out. Between the rain and my shaking hands...it was hard to focus. We drove nearly 3 hours down to Brighton, which is a chic beach resort town directly south of London. The weather is amazing, with winds whipping at 41 mph and gusts much higher. At home, this would be a tropical storm, just waiting for a name! The temp is 13 degrees Celsius, but feels much colder. It's not the temperature but the wind that makes you so cold. Our hotel room over looks the English Channel which is quite rough tonight. Tomorrow it should be a lot nicer. Jim has done an incredible job driving in the UK. Not only driving on the wrong side of the road, but from the wrong side of the car with the shift by his left hand! He tends to run over the left curb now and then, so I keep my window rolled up. We are often driving down very narrow roads with hedges right on the edge of the road. I could easily end up with bushes whacking me in the face! LOL. We ate our first meal in a really nice restaurant tonight and it was surprising good. We had quail, rabbit, and Dover Sole. I have found the food in general to be surprisingly good across England. We have been eating mainly in Pubs, which I would equate to TGI Fridays, Chili's etc. I have enjoyed the Guiness so much that I had my first glass of wine tonight at dinner. Well, time to batten down the hatches, it's been quite a day.

Bath - Day 2

We drove to South Wales to visit the Cardiff Castle. It was a beautiful drive over the bridge into Wales. The Welsh language is as strange as Greek to me. Thank goodness they were kind enough to translate everything in English or we could still be going around in circles. They were having a renaissance fair for school children on the castle grounds so we got to see some reenactments including a jousting match. That was fun, until it began to rain again and we headed back. When we got back to Bath I went shopping in a shoe store that sells shoes by the brand name Hotter. I fell in love with them and bought 3 pair. I would have bought more, except for limited suitcase space. I do have their website and the will ship them to the US. Finally, a country that makes shoes for wide footed women. I LOVE England. I may come back once a year just to shoe shop! LOL.

Bath - Day 1

We travelled to Bath today. This is home to Roman Baths, and Jane Austen, the author. On the way we had a beautiful drive through the Cotswald Hills region and we happened to stop in an awesome little town called Tetbury. There was a set of steps that line a road dating back to medieval times. I took some pictures of the buildings on main street that look like it could have been the inspiration for JK Rowlingwhen she was describing Diagone Alley in Harry Potter! I can't wait to show the pictures to Ashley, my HP expert to get her opinion. Once we arrived in Bath, we walked to the city center to visit the Roman Baths that date back to 20 AD. nearly 2000 years ago. They were amazing and remarkably complete and among the finest in England. It was built here for the hot springs which feed it (46 degrees year round) and are the only ,hot springs in England. We also visited the Abbey which was built in 1499, and is the last of the great medieval churches in England. Next we walked down to the Pulteney Bridge. This bridge together with the Pointe Vecchio bridge in Florence, Italy, are said to be the most beautiful bridges, as they both are built with the shops on the bridge. The Pulteney Bridge is also said to be the most romantic bridge in the world! I am sure it would be on a sunny day, but armed with umbrellas in the pouring rain, it was not very romantic to me. Speaking of the rain, we have had 5 out of 7 days. Then today's newspaper says, "Three months of rain will fall in just three days. Britain is set to be battered by hurricane force winds of 80 mph from lunchtime today. Concerns of severe flooding.". The article went on to say this is the worst rain in a century! Jim's umbrella finally broke tonight, so far mine is hanging in there even though it has turned inside out more time than Jim's! LOL. At least Jim and I continue our tradition of traveling to areas that have extreme weather conditions. Everyone tells us that just 2weeks ago they had quite a heat wave. Tomorrow we plan to drive into South Wales and visit another castle.

Stratford Upon Avon - Day 3

Today we visited the Warwick Castle. A medieval castle that has never been destroyed, or even breached as it was quite a strong fortress. It was awesome. Finally, the weather was gorgeous, though rain is to come again tomorrow. For those who are wondering how my foot is holding out...well the first week went well, wearing my tennis shoes but they have swelled and rubbed a big blister. I am back into my flip flops again, and worried as the rain will bring more cold temps again. Each day is a battle with my feet. I went to a Clark's shoe store today and my feet are definitely 2 different sizes. I finally found a pair that will hopefully work at least for awhile. Tomorrow we will be heading to The Bath region.

Stratford Upon Avon - Day 2

What a quaint town this is! We took a boat tour down the river today and saw some beautiful homes. I also saw a red fox, swans, goose, and ducks. As we were walking down the river, we saw a "foot ferry". An old man runs a boat back and forth across the river so people can cross it in the middle of town. The boat was powered by the man cranking a wheel which turned the chains which must have been attached to a paddle wheel under the boat, for propulsion. Then we toured Shakespeare's childhood home before he had to flee to London, his wife's cottage (Ann Hathaway) and his oldest daughters home. We toured the church where he was baptized and buried. Tonight we saw Julius Cesear in the Royal Shakesperean Theater. It was very well done. Bravo. Things we learned today: The origin of: -Sleep tight -For whom the bell tolls -Graveyard shift -Not worth their salt -Got a frog in your throat? Last but not least, I found that I really like Guiness! Especially, Guiness Extra Cold.

Stratford Upon Avon - Day 1

We left London and drove northeast an hour and a half to Stratford Upon Avon. Jim did a great job driving on the wrong side of the road, from the wrong side of the car! As a passenger, I still find it awkward and keep trying to get into the wrong side of the car! Avon is the river that runs through the town. This is the birthplace of Shakespeare, and home to the Royal Shakesperian Theater. We have tickets to see Julius Cesear tomorrow night. The town is a very quaint and picturesque, situated on a small river. There are narrow boats docked all over where people live, or just weekend. I will have lots of pictures since this is quite unique. It is colder, and constant rain, but we are well dressed and frequently stop to warm up in one of the many pubs.

London - Day 4

What a day! We visited The Tower of London which was quite impressive. I loved the stories told by the Beefeaters who give the guided tours. Most impressive was the traitors gate which is where Anne Bolyn was brought in by boat to be executed. I also saw where she and Catherine Howard were beheaded. Interestingly though, they are buried all around the altar in the chapel. Further, we travelled to Greenwich to visit the Royal Observatory and the Prime Meridian. I stood in 2 hemispheres at the same time! Thanks to Sweeney Todd (and yes we walked down Fleet Street), I cannot bring myself to order any of the traditional meat pies in London. We did however have a wild boar hamburger today. The weather was nice again today. It was overcast and cool enough for a light jacket or sweater, and jeans are perfect. It just started to rain again as we sit down for dinner. We appreciate it holding off until now as we are walking miles a day in our adventures. I am so glad I threw my sneakers in at the last minute. They have been a godsend and my feet, though hurting, have not swelled.

London - Day 3

Today we had beautiful weather. The sun was shining but still cool. Perfect for walking around London. The best way to describe London, is a combination of New York and Washington D.C. There is so much to see and do! Today, we rode the London Eye. Got 3/4th of the way around when they had mechanical trouble and we were told to have patience while they investigate. Then it reversed and put us all the way to the tip again. A little nerve wrecking, but the views were beautiful. We toured the went to the British Museum and the highlit was seeing the original Rosetta Stone! We also saw the antiquities that Brits took from Greece that were part of the Parthenon building, and evidently the Greeks are still quite angry and want them back. We saw the Globe Theater but did not go to a show since it was standing room only. Along the way, we visited many Pubs. Sorry for the lack of pictures but the blog doesn't seem to recognize my iPad as a computer for uploading the pictures and I haven't had the time to find a solution. We have walked so much during the day that we are absolutely exhausted at night.

London - Day 1-2

We arrived in London yesterday. The weather has been raining on and off, cold and very windy. Another trip to add to the extreme weather list! We are prepared though, thanks for the very televised Queens Jubilee, I changed my wardrobe at the last minute. Yesterday, we walked around the Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Trafalgar Square areas. We saw the Royal Marines Marching Band in concert and followed as they marched past Buckingham Palace. It was really impressive, especially when they played the Star Spangled Banner! Today, we toured the Westminster Abbey. Beautiful and so historic. We walked the Tower Bridge, and around outside of the Tower of London, we were too late to go in today. Then we walked along the river Thames, until we found yet another pub! I believe we are attempting the world record in the number of most visited pubs in London, in only 4 days. The food has been surprisingly good. I will post pictures soon.

England 2012

We will be leaving for England June 6th and returning the 23rd.  The first 4 days will be spent in London, the remainder of the trip we will be touring the countryside and concentrating on the southern half of England.  We plan to visit the areas of:

• Bath/Bristol
• Cheddar Gorge & Caves
• Stratford-Upon-Avon
• White Cliffs of Dover
• Canterbury
• Stonehenge
• Brighton Beach - of course I have to visit a beach :-)

If anyone has any suggestions for things to see, or places to stay or eat in these areas, please feel free to post them.

Our contact information while we are traveling:
e-mail:  barbararector@gmail.com
Skype:  barbara_rector