Netherlands, England and Wales with Buz and Kathy, and Ireland to visit Linda's sister

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Buz and Kathy paid us another visit in the summer of 1985. Their previous visit had been in 1978 when we lived in Glan Munchweiler, Germany.

9 August 1985 Friday. We picked them up at the airport and showed them around Brussels and Waterloo.

10 - 11 August 1985 Saturday and Sunday. We spent the weekend in Holland; first stop was Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum, and then on to Marken and Volendam. We spent the night in a tiny cottage in Volendam.

13 August 1985 Tuesday. I had to work Monday so early Tuesday morning we headed to Brugges on the way to catching the 2:45 pm ferry from Zeebrugge to Dover, England. From Dover we drove to Canterbury to visit the cathedral. We then drove through the Kent countryside to Stone on Oxney where we stayed at the Old Post Office B&B that Linda and I had first encountered in 1982. We had a pleasant evening talking with our hosts, the two sisters, and had dinner at the Ferry Pub for old times sake.

14 August 1985 Wednesday. We drove the short distance to the seaport town of Rye, where we walked around the quaint town and shopped a bit. We toured the Kent countryside on our way to visit Leeds Castle, near Maidstone, which is probably my favorite castle in England. We spent the rest of the day there, before continuing to our hotel in London just in time for dinner, and a walk around the neighborhood.

15 August 1985 Thursday. We spent the day sightseeing in London, revisiting all the traditional sights, as this was Buz and Kathy's first visit to England. We started with Buckingham Palace, and even got to see a parade with Queen Elizabeth on her way to the Horseguards. After seeing Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery, and the half price ticket office at Leichester Square, we ended up at Harrod's for some heavy duty shopping. That evening we saw the musical "42nd Street" at a West End theater.

16 August 1985 Friday. We headed southwest from London to see the rocks at Stonehenge, the Wells Cathedral, the Clark shoes factory outlet store at Street, King Arthurs burial site at Glastonbury Abbey, and the Roman baths at Bath. We spent the night in a B&B associated with the Beefeater restaurant chain (they specialized in restored pubs) in the town of Bradfort on Avon near Bath. After dinner we walked around the pleasant village and then played cards.

17 August 1985 Saturday. We drove just northeast of Bath to the small village of Castle Combe, which was the setting for the original "Dr. Dolittle" movie. After a short walk through the town we continued into Wales. Our first stop was Tintern Abbey, of Wordsworth fame. Next was Caerphilly Castle, built in the 13th century, and the largest castle in Wales; second only to Windsor Castle in the UK. We spent the night at another Travel Inn/Beefeater in Mumbles near Swansea, finishing the evening playing Dutch Blitz.

19 August 1985 Monday. Buz and Kathey returned to London by train where they would catch a flight home to the States. We were sorry to see them go as we had so much fun traveling with them. They would be back to travel with us two more times before we left Europe. Meanwhile, Linda and I continued on to Fishguard to catch the ferry to Rosslaer, Ireland. Upon landing in Ireland, we drove as far as a B&B west of Waterford. It was a Georgian manor on a large estate, and was very nice.

20 August 1985 Tuesday. We drove along the southern coast of Ireland through Cobh to Blarney Castle. We ascended to the castle battlements where the Blarney Stone was located, on the underside of the top of an opening where I guess archers used to shoot at the enemy. There was a gentleman there to help us lean back so that we were facing up to kiss the Blarney Stone. I'm not sure it improved our ability to gab.

Then we drove through Killarney and Limerick to Galway, where Linda's sister and husband Trevor and their children Gillian and Peter lived. The drive from our B&B to Galway was only 260 miles, but it took all day as the roads were winding and narrow; further hampered by cars double or triple parking on the only two lane road through most of the villages. Anyway it was great to see them again.

21 August 1985 Wednesday. We drove into the center of Galway and visited some bookstores and other kinds of shops. We toured the city and the immediate outskirts.

22 August 1985 Thursday. We toured the Connemara Peninsula, which is a beautiful corner of Ireland. We passed Ballynahich Castle, which is now an exclusive hotel, which we couldn't afford to stay at. We also passed tthe place where Charles Lindberg landed when he crossed the Atlantic in the Spirit of St Louis. We stopped at a number of loughs; Lough Garra and Lough Mask, and finally returned to Galway for the night.

23 August 1985 Friday. We said our farewells and drove across Ireland through Athlone and by Lough Ree to Dublin. We drove around and stopped at a couple of sights, but needed to be at Dun Laoghaire in time to catch a late afternoon ferry to Holyhead, Wales. After disembarking we drove to a nearby B&B for the night.

24 August 1985 Saturday. We drove along the northern coast of Wales, stopping to see the massive Conway Castle, constructed by Edward I between 1283 and 1289. It is surrounded by a quaint village. Then we were off to the tourist beach town of Colwyn Bay...give me the French Riviera any time! We drove around Chester, and then the back roads to Shrewsbury before skirting Birmingham and catching the M40 towards London. We stayed with Bob and Jean, former NATO colleagues, in their home at Henly on Thames. Bob and I went to the local pub for a pint before we had dinner at their home.

25 August 1985 Sunday. Bob is an avid antique collector. His specialty is Victorian glassware. He took Linda and I to some Victorian garbage dumps where he finds most of his antiques. We also visited an antique fair, and then it was time for us to head home to Overijse. We skirted London on the M25 and caught the ferry from Dover to Calais, and then home.

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