Blogs from Berkshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

It's here. The first day of the ride in earnest. Waking up early had its benefits today. We were able to pack up and get out by just after 7am. Our luck continued when they let us take our bikes on a peak hour train towards London. We were training it to the Thames (about 20kms) and then riding along the Thames as much as possible towards Oxford without much chance of reaching there tonight. That's about when our luck changed - So, What Could Possibly Go Wrong (WCPGW)? Just as we started to ride, I pulled over to adjust my camera with Jeff just behind me. By the time I was finished he was nowhere to be seen. I thought he gone on so followed, but he had gone around a corner behind me to ... read more

Well it’s 54 days until we go on our ”holiday of a lifetime” , another World Cruise. We are very lucky to be able to do our second world cruise. We embark in Southampton on 11th January and return on 23rd April 102 days. i have been busy getting ball gowns and other clothing for the cruise. I think we are going to need a few cases! We have the visas we require Australia and Egypt. The itinerary is as follows Southampton-Lisbon Portugal- Heraklion Greece-Suez Canal-Luxor Egypt-Salah-Oman- Abu-Dhabi UAE-Dubai UAE- Muscat-Oman- Penang Malaysia- Kuala Lumpar Malaysia- Singapore- Bangkok Thailand- Ho Chi Minh Vietnam- Bali Indonesia - Darwin Australia- Whitsunday Island Australia- Brisbane Australia- Sydney Australia- Melbourne Australia- Kangaroo Island Australia - Adelaide Australia- Margaret River Australia-Perth Australia -Port Louis Mauritus- Le Port Reunion- Darwin South Africa- ... read more

Okay troops, you have enjoyed a four-year reprieve from Bird and I; we conclude you are sufficiently recovered to tolerate more of us, so again off we go. Yes, we know there remains a COVID threat out there, but we will be in Europe where people are a bit more rational about mitigation than the U.S. Furthermore, we are fully vaccinated with two boosters, and we are careful. At any rate we are off to England, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland on 31 May, returning 25 July. The itinerary is noticeably less ambitious than in the past-remaining a full week at some places and close to a week in a number of others. We ain't spring chickens any longer! Perhaps as an added benefit accruing to our long-suffering readers, there will likely be fewer posts per ... read more

Piprey on wheels Windsor and Eton Royal train station had only one platform which opened into the lovely shopping complex of high end designer shops and cafes. I parked my cycle and walked up to the castle to buy a 23.50GBP adult ticket to see the Windsor castle. There were so many people serving at the ticket booth, at the check in and ushering people in and out. There was no live tour. We were given audio head sets. Indeed, so called State rooms were the former queen's quarters with some table, chairs, paintings and the bone china cutlery used during dinner. The views from that height was not bad and moat was now a garden. A big group of small school children blocked everything. Like a shepherd, the ushers asked us to be ready with ... read more

16 September 2019, Monday Day 15 on Thames Path, a rest day in Windsor and visit to the castle. Day 30 of travel. A new day dawns and it is a rest day--yah! For some reason we thought daily mileages were decreasing after Marlow; instead every day is longer than indicated in the national trails guide book. A nine mile day is thirteen, an eleven mile day turns in to a fourteen mile day--it is most distressing ?. And fatiguing. The night before, Julia had smoothed the ruffled feathers of four tired, frustrated travelers as they arrived at her door. She served tea in her lovely parlor, shared information of the area (important information such as, "Where is the nearest laundromat?") and sent us off to a local pub to get a "nutritional attitude adjustment." We ... read more