Blogs from United Kingdom, Europe

The Ultimate Guide to Luxurious Europe Tours in 2024: An Introduction For some trailblazers, embarking on a Luxury Europe Tour is their ideal journey, combining breathtaking scenery, shocking historical moments, and opulent pleasures. Europe will be wealthier and more accessible in 2024 than it has ever been, with tailored trips designed to provide the maximum amount of comfort and constraint. This guide will walk you through the top destinations, unforgettable experiences, and practical methods for organizing a final, luxurious trip to Europe. 1. Europe's Top Luxury Destinations: There are many locations in Europe that epitomize luxury vacation. Often referred to as the "city of lights and love," Paris offers a combination of high-end architecture, indulging in delectable cuisine, and top-notch... read more

So we arrived, without any problems, at Heathrow Airport. We went through Passport Control without any problem. We bought tickets for the Heathrow Express…a nonstop train that goes directly to Paddington. We’ve been to London together three times and I’ve been here another two times, so we are quite familiar with the area. It’s almost like our home away from home! We made our way through the streets to our Favorite hotel, The Balmoral Houde! We couldn’t wait to see our favorite friend, Flavio Martinez! We met Flavio back in 2019 on our first trip here and we just love him!! He’s one of the reason we always stay at this hotel. True to form, Flavio was waiting for us and had everything ready for us. While it was early, our rooms were ready! My favorite ... read more

We are in Northern Ireland. We came via a night in Donegal, that included a visit to Donegal Castle and some fun picture taking. We left Donegal first thing in the morning to go to Derry and the UK. Derry's a city I was really interested in experiencing and did that. Spent 2 hours on a walking tour with a survivor, Jimmy Toye, of Bloody Sunday. He relived that day, more than 50 years ago, moment by moment, taking us to the spot where the British soldiers stood when they fired at the young Irish protestors, and where each of his friends had fallen. It was very moving and intense, too much for some. I learned a lot...the connections with the civil rights movement in the 60s is a strong one. The civil rights issue here ... read more

We got up early as we wanted to be ready as soon as the boat docked. We had an all day private tour scheduled. As soon as we got the “you could go to shore signal”, we left. Our driver was outside the gate with a sign with my name of it. The car was a van and was very spacious and our guide was great. He drove us from Invergordon, where our ship docked through small villages and our first stop was to see the long hair cows common in the area. These 2 where named after Outlander characters. Our next stop was Beauly Priory where Claire, from Outlander, picked herbs. Unfortunately, it was under renovation to shore up the structure and that won’t be completed until June. We then walked around the town square ... read more

We made it back across the English Channel, so we changed times zone. We actually gained an hour last night. That was good because we stayed up late watching horse races – awaiting the Preakness. We wore out at about midnight Central European Daylight Time, so we missed the main race by about an hour. We are sure Elizabeth was watching it and thought it would be fun to watch it with her, but we were “scratched” before the race. This morning, we got up at 8:00 UK time and headed down to the Palm Dining Room to have a leisurely breakfast. Unfortunately, they closed early today because so many people hit the buffet before leaving the ship. So, we had a leisurely breakfast at the buffet instead. We will try another morning and someday will ... read more

Happy Birthday to Patterson and Melody! Fourteen years ago, was a pretty busy day. And many of the days since have been packed with interesting things. Thanks for keeping us all entertained. I just noticed the dates have been in error for the last couple of posts. I don’t know if I can correct that, but I will try. We had another night of smooth sailing and we both got a pretty good night sleep. We aren’t completely over our colds, but they are considerably better – the symptoms seem to be clearing almost as quickly as they came. We are in Portland, England. Never heard of it before - that’s understandable because there isn’t much here. This is a sheltered harbor which was a jumping off point for the invasion on D-Day. Otherwise, it is ... read more