July 19/20 Boarding the Viking Eir (pronounced "air") The next leg of our journey begins in the port of Amsterdam just 10 minutes from our hotel. The Viking ship Eir sat glistening in the sun waiting for us to board and as on previous trips we were welcomed aboard relieved of our luggage and invited to lunch in the Aquavit Lounge until our room was available. Tom and I already knew the routine, once our room was ready a crew member came to find us and lead us to our room to explain all the amenities. The dinner hour now near we were hoping to meet a few couples to help make this journey fun and happily memorable. Tom and I went to the table at the back of the dining room on the left side ... read more

July 17 We now interrupt this blog transmission for a moment of history in our world. Okay who among you reading this blog learned that in the year 1620 the Pilgrims left Plymouth England and headed out to the new world? Well I'm here to tell you there was sooooo much more to the story! Every trip I take I discover astonishing facts about history that didn't make it into our school books, for instance: Most students don’t learn about the time the Pilgrims spent in Holland. They weren't called Pilgrims then, they were called Separatist because they were "separating" from their church and they arrived in Holland from England in about 1609. Seems they quickly learned that they needed more than Holland had to offer and thought their children may be becoming "too Dutch" which ... read more

July 8th I awake knowing that this is truly going to be a special day. Doug and Joan surprised Tom and I with tickets for the whole family to go to Wimbledon. As soon as we booked this trip Tom started looking into getting tickets for this Grand Slam event but came up empty handed. Not only are we going to the tournament but we actually have tickets for Court 1 during the 4th round of play. Tom and I have been to Roland Garros (The French Open), US Open in New York, and the Indian Wells tournament in the Desert. Being able to go to Wimbledon is a definite bucket list item and we couldn't be more excited. Doug decided that he and Tom must go to the Hyde Park tennis courts and begin our ... read more

Minus day 1............ The beginning of what is to be our trip of a lifetime begins tomorrow as we board the 4:30 flight to San Francisco. We have left no stone unturned as we have scrutinized every detail for this trip. Tickets for popular tourist attractions have been purchased and carefully tucked into our travel folder. Cars rented, train tickets waiting and boat tours ready for us to join. You can stick a fork in it.............it's done and just waiting for the day to be upon us. We Travel to Europe for an unprecedented 2 month adventure beginning in London England and ending, of course in the South of France. This trip will have 3 major junctures beginning with the 10 day London/Paris part we are thrilled to share with our family. We are so excited ... read more

Day 9 Avignon, that bustling City of 95,000 is on the Rhone and one of the few remaining completely walled cities in France. It is ancient, full of history and full of life. The entire city of Avignon spreads beyond the fortress walls and has almost 95,000 residents. Of those only about 12,000 residents actually live within the walls. It is often referred to as the City of Popes because between 1309 and 1423 during a schism in the Catholic church the Pope vacated Vatican City in fear of his life and moved to Avignon for protection. The Palace du Popes was erected right in the middle of the Avignon is mammoth in size and has its own cathedral. Though the building of most cathedrals alone in Europe took up to 500 years to complete, this ... read more