The next morning we were treated to a wonderful breakfast. Lots of food choices. I had crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, and chicken sausage. I had water and apple juice to drink. I did notice that they don’t serve milk as a beverage just like in England. We headed out for our first location, the Gassan Diamonds Factory. The Amsterdam diamond company, Gassan Diamonds, is located in the former steam-driven diamond polishing factory. In this monumental building, we saw the diamond cutters at work while our guide explained the diamond cutting and polishing process. Gassan Diamonds has over 425 years of craftsmanship and tradition. It is famous for the ‘Amsterdam Cut’ diamond and also, Gassan's inhouse cut diamond; the Gassan 121, which has 121 facets. During our visit to Gassan Diamonds, we had the opportunity to purchase ... read more

After landing in Calais we headed north through Belgium towards Antwerp. The Port of Calais was the first cable ship port in Europe and is the fourth largest port in France and the largest for passenger traffic. The highway system I similar to America’s. There were 3 lane and 2 lane roads. Large modern windmills dotted the land. Lots of farm land of wheat or corn along with cows and sheep. The houses I noticed had a triangular upper story. Just before Antwerp we had to make a huge detour from our normal route due to a huge accident on the main highway. It would have been an hour sitting in traffic, so the driver decided to take another route that would take us through the suburbs of Sint-Niklass, Nieuwkerken-Waas, and Vrasene before getting back onto ... read more

Wednesday, my last day in London before leaving for Europe, I decided to go to the Museum of London before spending time getting some laundry done. I also had an early departure time of 4:45 a.m. so I wanted to be back early to my hotel to pack and get some rest. I took the Tube to the Museum of London, It was raining during the 3 blocks I had to walk to get to the Museum. Since I had the London Pass I also got a free Museum Highlights Book. The museum had lots of artifacts from early prehistoric up to modern times. It was very informative. On the outside of the museum was part of the original London Wall that the Romans built when London was known as Londinium. As I was leaving, I ... read more

Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge built between 1886 and 1894. The bridge crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London. The bridge consists of two bridge towers tied together at the upper level by two horizontal walkways, designed to withstand the horizontal tensionforces exerted by the suspended sections of the bridge on the landward sides of the towers. The vertical components of the forces in the suspended sections and the vertical reactions of the two walkways are carried by the two robust towers. The bas... read more

I awoke early reluctantly so I could be at the train on time. Found out that the ticket I booked was good for all day so I got on the first train out of Liverpool. There was no change of trains so we made it to London in 2 1/2 hours. I got to Euston Station and took the Tube to Paddington Station. No I didn't see a bear anywhere. From there I took a cab to the Elysee Hotel. Check in wasn't until 2 so after leaving the suitcase with the hotel, I walked to Argos. Argos is a department store that uses computers tablets for people to place orders. If they have it in stock at that location, the clerks go in the back warehouse section and bring it to you at the check ... read more