http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/The-Martini--s/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from The Martini s en-us Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:38:29 +0000 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:38:29 +0000 Jon did not sleep the night before his big Ironman. We met up with Brian and Erica around 5am. I walked Jon to his transition area and then to the swim start. All the athletes were in the water and the race started at 630am. It was the hottest day in Nice and there was no breeze. I got a perfect spot to cheer and see everyone come out of the water. Jon jumped on his bike and had a long climbing b http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d-Azur/Nice/blog-414519.html Thank you to everyone that has sent us comments through the travel blog We love to get messages from home.Today was all about preparing for the Big Race Tomorrow Jon Brian and Erica did a little swim in the morning and I walked the boardwalk. We all went to breakfast and then got everything ready for the Ironman tomorrow. All the bags were filled with shoes helmets bike tubes energy drinks a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d-Azur/Nice/blog-412908.html We coated ourselves in sunscreen Jon did an hr run along the Ironman course and I walked on the promenade. We met for baguette sandwiches for lunch. Yes lunch. Avoiding jetlag when you are pregnant is hard because you cannot take things to put you back to sleep. We were both awake from 15 but then fell back asleep until 1130. There went the morning to jet lag. Jon did a swim after lunch and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d-Azur/Nice/blog-412520.html We arrived in Nice with all of our bags at midnight. Amazing after we missed our connection from Heathrow to Nice. We were so happy to check into the Mercure hotel right on the boardwalk and go to sleep.Our first day Jon woke up and built his bike and went on a morning bike ride. I did some shopping while he was riding. We strolled around and had some lunch and then took the scenic bus to see som http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d-Azur/Nice/blog-411865.html We have been waiting a long time for this exciting day to come. Jon is all trained and ready to partcipate in Ironman France. When we planned this trip there were only two of us but now there are four ok two are 4 12 months 18 weeks today inutero but they definitely count. We are traveling with one large bike box and two regular suitcases. And of course carry ons. The weather in Nice has been http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d-Azur/Nice/blog-411857.html July 17th 18th and 19thJuly 17th we were at sea all day sailing from Edinburgh to Dublin. We arrived in Dublin on the 18th for two days in Ireland. On our first day we walked around town on Grafton St. This is a big pedestrian walking and shopping street. We headed to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells. This is a very old book created over 1000 years ago in Ireland. The book is the New Tes http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Northern-Ireland/blog-303120.html July 15th and 16th 2008Today the ship docked in Edinburgh Scotland for two days. We had a fantastic day exploring Edinburgh Castle. At 100 we heard the cannon blast. We saw the crown jewels of Scotland and had lunch in the Castle. Then later that evening we had a private ghost tour. Edinburgh is home to the show Ghost Hunters. Our guide was a very good story teller and took us all over Edinbur http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Edinburgh/blog-303091.html July 14th 2008This is our first Sea Day and also my Birthday. We are sailing from Dover to Edinburgh. In the day we all spent some time at the Aveda spa for massages and facials. This was very relaxing and wonderful. Then we all got dressed for the first formal dinner. Everyone looked great and sang happy Birthday to me. That evening we headed to the Luxe bar and somehow Kim and I ended the nigh http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-302477.html July 13 2008We all got to Dover and boarded the Crystal Symphony. The ship is fantastic. We are all on the 9th floor on the same side of the ship with our rooms almost all next to each other. Wink Jon and I got off the ship because we did not sail until 6 pm to go see Dover Castle. This is a fantastic castle with a lot of history built in 1190. King Henry the VIII spent some time there. There is http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/blog-302473.html July 12 2008On our last day in London before we headed to Dover to catch the Crystal Cruise ship Wink Sai Jon and I decided to go on the London Eye and then check out the costumes at the Globe Theater. The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel with big glass pods that hold about 20 people each. There is a great view of the Thames Big Ben Parliament and Buckingham Palace from 443 feet. It takes a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-302465.html Jon and I were in London for 2 weeks for Ascot and now we are back again. This time we are joining 14 of Jon's family for a cruise of the British Ilse and then we are headed to the South of France. So we met some of Jon's family in Palm Springs and got on our Virgin flight from LAX to Heathrow. Once we got to Heathrow we boarded 3 vans and came to the Wyndham hotel. Today was our first day in Lon http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-298581.html Ascot is all week but by far the best day for fashion is Ladies Day. Ladies wear show stopping hats and dress to impress. This is my favorite day of Ascot. Everyone drinks Pims Cups and had a great time. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Buckinghamshire/Ascot/blog-291355.html We always have an amazing time at Ascot. The Queens horse racing event is a fantastic fashion show. This year everyone was buzzing about the stict dress code and how they were going to enforce it more now for the Royal Enclosure. Everyone looked great and we all had a wonderful time even though we didn't bet on the right horses. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Buckinghamshire/Ascot/blog-291041.html There are so many amazing museums in London. Jon and I have been to many of them but I had not yet been to the Victoria and Albert Museum. This is a wonderful museum with so much to see. There is a great fashion section of the museum that has clothing from all time periods. There was also an amazing showing of jewelry. They had pieces from the beginnings of jewelry to now. We enjoyed the museum an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/London-City/blog-291008.html Jon and I took the tube to the Imperial War museum. At the museum there is an exhibit on Ian Fleming and James Bond 007. Jon is a huge 007 fan. We were not allowed to take pictures in the exhibit but there was a lot of memorabilia from his life as a spy and his inspiration for all of his novels that were later turned into the 007 movies. We both really enjoyed it. We purchased the museum book. Cam http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Chelsea/blog-290998.html Camille Jon's Grandmother Jon and I packed up and left from Indian Wells to LAX to London Heathrow. We like to stay at the Wyndham Chelsea Harbour because it is a great hotel with all suites and it is easy to get to Ascot. The Royal Ascot horse races are in the town of Ascot that is about 1.5 hr by car from the Wyndham. This year Shirley Koenan and her daughter Sherry joined us. Shirely is a go http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Chelsea/blog-290990.html On our second day in Istanbul Camille hired a car and driver and guide to take us to all of the amazing sites of Istanbul. We first went to the Blue Mosque which was built by Sultan Ahmet in 1609. This Islam mosque is where they go when the call to prayer is sounded which they literally have speakers that sound someone singing during the day. You can hear it all around the city. To go in you have http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-205334.html The ship sailed into Istanbul Turkey mid day and we had a spectacular view of both the Europe and Asia sides of the city. Istanbul is the only city in the world that is on both continents. The Bosphorus is the strait of water that separates Europe from Asia where we sailed into. We went to the top of the ship outside where the commentator pointed out all of the amazing sites. Turkey is a very fas http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-204238.html We arrived into Corfu Greece. Jon went on a mountain biking excursion. Wink Camille and I went into Corfu and did a little train tour and then had lunch at the Imperial hotel in Corfu which was very elegant. The stop was very quick and we had to be back on the ship by 500 to set sail. We also attended a cocktail party in the Captains quarters. His penthouse is very spacious and amazing. It is g http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Mykonos/blog-203851.html We set sail from Venice and the view from the ship of St. Markrsquos square was beautiful. We headed to Dubrovnik Croatia which we had just visited in June. We took Jonrsquos Mom Wink off the ship when we hit port in Dubrovnik and showed her all of our favorite spots including the gelato place. The walled city of Dubrovnik is very beautiful. We had our Muster today where you have to put your http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Dalmatia/Dubrovnik/blog-203053.html