Detail of Chinese Tile in the British Museum Let me start - at the end, of our trip to London. It's spring time, April 6, daffodils and tulips are blooming, the trees are budding. And then, we wake up to snow! Big fat floaty flakes of snow! Not much accumulation at all, but enough to delay our flights so that we are 20 hours late getting back into Krakow. When is it going to be warm sunny weather?... ...Anyway. Yes, back to the beginning of our trip, spring, London, Covent Garden. So many cafes, pubs, boutiques, what a great, but crowded place Covent Garden is. The street into the market was impassable, crammed with the street performers and shoppers and tourists, and this was on a weekday. The street entertainers were really working for their pay. ... read more

With more than a hundred canals spanned by 1000 bridges, we had great vantage points to watch the unofficial floating parade. The battery for the camera was low, so I missed photographing some classic old boats. Boat owners were cruising around in the spring-like weather. They had their drinks and snacks, nice little table settings on board for their guests. The big house boats are in all kinds of conditions. Some haven't seen anyone on board in years, and some had folks puttering around, tending to potted plants and having coffee on the decks of their floating homes. Just ten feet deep the canals are flushed out regularly through a series of locks. When temperatures drop below freezing in winter, few boats will cruise, so the ice that forms in the canals will be smooth ... read more

Amsterdam, Netherlands. Winter in Holland, what do you think of? Frozen canals? Skating? Not this trip, sunny skies and temp's in the low 50's. How lucky are we! But we hear a lot of comments about global warming, the canals haven't been frozen in several years. Lucky is a relative term. While planning our stay we decide to focus on the museums, because it should be cold in February?! To begin with, the first afternoon we met our guide Isabelle for a quick walk around the canal districts. She is very lively and sweet, beautiful accent. Having her show us around gives us our bearings, and an appreciation for the architecture and history. Returning when the weather is warm, when the trees are green, and flower boxes full would be lovely. Even so, we manage to ... read more

she napped away, in her sunny spot, on top of this high moss covered wall. We should pick and choose what we want to see in Lisbon, there is so much, and we are here only one day. We ask Cristina to show us what ever she would like to, and she kept us going for 9 hours! I took so many pictures! And have tried not to put too many on this site, but who knows when we will see all of you again, so this is our version of the dreaded "vacation home movie". We walked, hopped on trolleys, the subway, and ran for the bus. Michal, who works with Keith, joined us for the morning before his flight back. It wasn't long before we realized that Lisbon has a complicated and exciting ... read more

Along the road to Lisbon. After Cabo da Roca, and the drive along the beaches, we come to Cascais. A small fishing town. We were here just long enough to walk along the harbor, and through the little tourist shopping street. Danny took the car to the other side of town so we could walk through the shopping area. Here Abdul, finds us. We're not hard to mistake for Tourist. He's the guy that has his own entry in the guidebooks: be aware of bracelet 'salesmen'. If you decline purchasing the bracelet that he tries to slip over your wrist, then he'll get annoyed when you won't go with him to the fantastic bar to buy him a drink. Especially if you have allowed his picture to be taken, evidently he thought we owed him money ... read more