Shirley Wong

The final two days of London seemed like a whirlwind. We woke up on the 11th, hopped on the tube and headed to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards. It was very crowded, but it had to be done. You can’t come to London without seeing the changing of the guards at least once. It would be like going to Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower. We really couldn’t see much, but Tricia had her selfie stick, so she set up her phone and just videoed away. She did get several brilliants on her nifty gadget. She also got some awesome footage. After the changing got the guard, we found the hop-on-hop-off bus tour and rode around the town. We drove by Trafalgar, Picadilly, Tower Bridge, etc… all the sites… We decided to get ... read more

Last day in Edinburgh. One of Tricia’s mission was to run in Scotland and run in London. Today, we achieved 1 of the 2. We woke up early and went for run in the Gardens. Considering, I hadn’t worked out for the last few months, I told Tricia I wasn’t going to run with her, but I would walk. It was quite a site to see. Tricia would run and every few steps, she would stop to take a picture.. run a little, take a picture, run some more… take a picture. I did the same, but walking… You couldn’t help it… the gardens were quite and had very few people around. Perfect picture taking time. All in all, we ran about 40 minutes or so… run in Scotland, check! After our run, the Rices went ... read more

A bright sunny Thursday to start the day off. We had purchased out hop-on-hop-off bus tour for 48 hours, so we still had a few hours left to use it. So we hopped on to get to Our Dynamic Earth, near Holyrood Palace and Park. What is Our Dynamic Earth? It's a pretty cool museum that takes you thru time... from the beginning of the universe to present day earth. We start off in a classroom where the ghost of James Hutton demonstrates his theories on how the Earth was formed. After that you journey on to a room with a huge 3-D globe that shows the shifting of the earth and the plates. Then it's into the "time machine," a room that shows the formation of earth. Once the earth forms, you move into a ... read more

Day two of the Scotland Adventure started with a slow climb to the Castle. We decided to start the day off visiting the Castle. The Castle sits on top of volcanic rock and protected by cliffs on three sides. It's one of the highest points and easily the most identifiable monument of Edinburgh. The Castle presents fabulous views of the City below, houses the crown jewels and showcases the Mons Meg canon which launched 500 pounds of cannonballs back in the day. The Scots and the English battled for control of the castle during the Wars of Independence until finally in 1314 it was recaptured by the Scots. The Castle has been home to many royals include Queen Margaret and Mary Queen of Scots, whom we found out only had a bath twice a year. In ... read more

Aruba... One Happy Island... similar to Virginia is for Lovers, Aruba has staked claim to One Happy Island. Having visited just recently for a week... I can wholeheartedly agree. Aruba is one happy island. The minute the airplane started the descent onto the island, I immediately relaxed. The whole week we were there the weather was partly cloudy, low to mid 80s, with a constant Caribbean breeze. Upon landing, you go thru Aruban customs, which was relatively painless. We stayed in Oranjestad at the Renaissance Ocean Suites, which was considered "downtown" and the less touristy section of Aruba. The island in itself is about 19 miles long, not too big. The airport was a short cab ride to our hotel. In Aruba, the driving is the same as if in the States. In addition due to ... read more