Queen's Castle in Copenhagen

The kids at the Queen's Castle in Copenhagen. It was built in 1632, Rolf just loved that. The grounds were gorgeous! We didn't spend much time here; we were in a rush to get back to the boat since we had to be there by 4:00. We wish we could have spent more time in the city but it was nice to get an overview of our first port.

Copenhagen Denmark

Wednesday, June 30 Our first port: Copenhagen, Denmark

The city is absolutely beautiful and clean. It is the city with the most bicycles per capita in the entire world. They are everywhere! We spent 6 hours touring the city on our own. The food was great; Quinn had a crepe with Nutella from a street vendor for lunch, that's her perfect afternoon! We didn't buy much: Copenhagen is EXPENSIVE!! Rolf did buy another plate for our kitchen wall and we bought our Christmas ornament, but that was it. Great place to spend the day!
Anna & Ellie Butler along with the kids, downtown Copenhagen

Travis in a shop, showing his viking side! We told him he is not allowed to wash and wear this shirt again on a shore excursion. It looks like this is the only shirt he brought. We'll see who wins that battle!

The kids on one of the main canals through the city. The buildings are all painted so colorfully. This is a main restaurant and bar street so there is much going on to see and do.

Travis and Quinn jumping in the pool for the first time! They couldn't wait to get in once we were on the ship and unpacked. There are 2 big pools and 6 hot tubs. Travis is loving the basketball court and Quinn doesn't want to do anything except swim. They both signed up for the Kids Club and if we let them, they would be there all day and night! No kidding, they are having such a great time with the new friends they have already made. One of Quinn's friends is the daughter of the ship's doctor. She is from South Africa and they are pretty much inseparable. Travis has found a friend named James and he is from Canada. It has been pretty nice for us adults though; the kids club is open from 8am-11pm so we can have meals together without the kids - and without feeling guilty about it!
Here is our stateroom. It is not the largest room we've ever had, but we were all pleasantly surprised with how big it is. There is a ton of storage and we are pretty comfortable. My favorite: no windows so the first morning we slept until 10:30! It was great. No one has been seasick at all. The water has been as smooth as glass though, so we haven't been tested! Hopefully it stays that way!

Here is Dover Castle and the White Cliffs of Dover from the ship. Obviously, we boarded the ship in Dover, England. The cliffs were really cool to see and Rolf loved seeing the castle. The first structure was build in 600 and it has been evolving since. He was pretty impressed by that! The ship left port right on time and we spent the first hour or so . . . eating! There was a beautiful lunch buffet by the pool so everyone went to eat as they came aboard. Travis is LOVING all this free food. He says this is the best vacation we've ever been on . . . and we haven't even been in port yet!

The kids by the ship before taking off. We're ready to go!

Our adventure to Dover!

Today I don't have pictures but I do have a funny story. We left our hotel in London this morning and took a taxi to St. Pancras Station to catch the fast train to Dover, which is on the eastern coast. The train was gorgeous: clean, comfortable . . . and air conditioned!! The tube trains are not and believe me, with the relaxed outlook Europeans have on bathing, sometimes those tube rides back to the hotel at night were quite challenging. But I digress. We arrived at Dover Priory Station about an hour after leaving London. We walked off the platform fully expecting to see a bustling, busy station. What we saw was . . . a man sweeping cigarette butts off the ground. No one else around! If it would have been nighttime I'm sure we would have heard crickets! We waited at the taxi stand for a car to our hotel and about 5 minutes later the man came up to us and said that he hadn't seen a taxi at the station in at least 30 minutes!

He left us and then came back with a phone book. He helped me call 5 different taxi companies. NONE of them had cars available to come pick us up! (Keep in mind, the World Cup game between England and Germany had just started!) We really didn't know what we were going to do. The man left and came back again with the station manager. The manager said, "Going to Dover, eh? Well, go over to that gray car over there, I'll take you myself!" He did! I couldn't believe how nice he was. It was a 15 minute drive to the hotel and he talked the entire way! We were jammed in like sardines, but at least we arrived safely. Rolf paid him even though the man didn't want to take any money. Rolf made him take it, "You just saved my vacation, you deserve it!"

So thanks to the train station manager our day was not spent lugging 6 pieces of luggage, 2 backpacks, and 1 purse to our hotel! And once I saw how far we would have had to have walked: Rolf would probably have been lugging me!

The hotel is very nice. We are sitting at the hotel pub having a bite to eat and watching the World Cup. Let's just say the spirit has deflated since the score is now 4-1, and not in England's favor. We are going to go out exploring after the game. Planning on going to bed early tonight, need to be at the dock by 8am in the morning. Happy Sunday, love you all!

The Birthday Boy!

For Travis' birthday dinner he and Rolf wanted Fish 'n Chips. We stopped in a little pub in Kensington and had a wonderful dinner. Travis ate every bit of his dinner! Nothing new there ;)
For dessert we stopped at a bakery right outside the tube station. So here is Travis with his Birthday Donut! It really was delicious despite the lack of ambiance!

We leave on Sunday for Dover. We are taking a taxi to St. Pancras Station to catch the rail train. It's about an hour long ride to Dover where we are staying the night before we catch our cruise ship on Monday. So I don't think I'll have any more postings until Tuesday or Wednesday depending on how many pictures I take and how tired I am! Hope all is well with everyone! My next post will be from the Baltic Sea!

South Kensington

Each of the tube stations looks different on the outside, but this one is really old and beautiful. South Kensington is a pretty nice area of the city. We walked past a Lamborghini dealership and Travis said, "That's what I want for my birthday!" Yeah, right!
Inside the Natural History Museum. The building was absolutely stunning and the displays were beautiful. We also went to the Science Museum. Rolf and I wanted to go to the Victoria & Albert Museum but the kids just didn't have it in them!

The four of us in Kensington Park. We sat on this bench for over an hour. We were just so beat and it was so hot. The bench was in the shade and by a bathroom so we were all happy! The kids spent, I kid you not, at least 30 minutes taking turns "writing" words on each others' backs with their fingers and then they would have to try to guess what words they were writing. It was surprising how content they were to just sit and relax. Guess we haven't been doing too much of that since we got here though! You know Rolf and I, relaxing is something we don't do on vacation! Quinn actually asked if the cruise would be more laid back than London has been. Mabye that's a sign . . . nah, we'll hit it again tomorrow! ha :)

Kensington Palace. Queen Victoria was born here and Princess Diana loved this home. The gardens were also very beautiful. They were doing extensive renovation on the grounds so it was difficult to see all of the palace and gardens.

Portobello Road

Quinn on a side street off Portobello Road. Does anyone remember the movie "Bedknobs & Broomsticks"? That is one of my favorite kids movies and there is a scene in it on Portobello Road. I was thrilled to be there! We left our hotel early and took the tube down to Notting Hill then we walked the rest of the way to the road. It is a HUGE open market. We waited to go until today so all the vendors would be there. We spent a couple hours there and we only bought a pair of sunglasses for Quinn and food for our picnic lunch! We were so glad we went early, by the time we left you literally could hardly move downt he street, and there were hoards of people getting off the tube and heading in that direction. We were like fish swimming against the current to get out of there!

This paella pan was enormous! It was about 4 feet across and it smelled heavenly! We didn't buy this for lunch though. We bought bread, cheese, fruit smoothies, and apple turnovers. We walked to Kensington Park to have our lunch. It was Travis' birthday lunch, as today he turns 14!

Here's the birthday boy! He wasn't very thrilled about spending the morning of his birthday shopping, but when we sat down to lunch he perked up :) Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. I've passed them along to Travis. He had a great day!

In front of the famous Portobello Market, well obviously! Another reason we were glad to get an early start was that by 11:00 the temp was soaring toward 90! But we were on our way to the park to sit under a nice shade tree. It has been an unusually hot June for the city.

Quinn plays piano in the streets of London!

Along the streets of London pianos sit, along with a sign, "Play me, I'm yours!" She sat down and played a couple songs. She actually had people tapping their feet! I videoed it on my phone but for some reason I can't get it posted here. It was so cool to watch her play, we were behind St. Paul's Cathedral.

The British Museum

Travis with his favorite philosopher, Socrates. Travis LOVES the fact that we took this picture of them "together"
"DumDum bring me some GumGum" That's how Quinn knows of this statue, from the movie "Night at the Museum". Not the fact that it is one of hundreds of similar statues on Easter Island, mysteriously placed there by unknown persons (or aliens, depending on who you ask!) Rolf finds it mortifying that this wonderful piece of stone will be remembered as a silly talking head! Ah well, modern movie making at its best!

The kids with the Rosetta Stone. Well, not really. A copy of the stone, one that you can touch. We did see the real thing but it is encased in glass and has about 100 people around it trying to get a photo!

The British Museum

We had a wonderful afternoon at the museum. It really is amazing to see the antiquities and treasures that England has amassed over the years. Rolf had to point out to the kids that most of the items in the museum were stolen when countries were plundered by the English over hundreds of years. Quinn thought that was terrible! She chose to believe these items were gifts from all the countries!

St. Paul's Cathedral

Rolf, Travis & Quinn climbed 257 stairs to the Whispering Gallery inside St. Paul's, then they continued another 271 stairs to the Golden Gallery at the very top of the dome. It is the highest level you can walk to in the church. At some points Rolf had to crawl up the stairs because it was such a small area. The view from the top was spectacular. They took 360* views of the city of London. On a clear day it is said that you can see 30 miles from the top, and it was pretty close to that today! I, on the other hand, decided to stay below. I spent my time outside the cathedral in the gardens and also spent a little time in the gift shop - well, of course!
Inside the main hall of St. Paul's

The main dome of St. Paul's

The kids by a telephone box by the cathedral. What a Kodak moment!

General comments from the kids

I've been keeping track of all of the funny things the kids have said since we've been here. My favorite from Travis, upon coming out of the bathroom, "Man, even the toilet handles are on the wrong side!"

From Quinn: "I had to put ear plugs in last night because you three were making a symphony out of snoring!" Oh, did I laugh at that!

Missionaries!

We were heading into the Tube station and saw 2 missionaries going in too. We finally caught up to them and found out we were taking the same train. They are from the Netherlands and New Zealand. It was so much fun to talk to them, but I think they were afraid of us when we came up to them so boldly! I had to snap a picture and they joked that that doesn't happen very often!

Tower of London

Getting ready to tour the Tower of London. All Travis was interested in was seeing the dungeons where prisoners were tortured and seeing the Bloody Tower. Quinn loved seeing the Crown Jewels, surprise, surprise!

The kids with a Beefeater. Travis says that sounds like a good job to him, I told him the job title does not accurately portray the job description!
We ran into the Butler's while we were at the Tower! They are the family that we are going on the cruise with. Ellie & Anna and the kids were so happy to see each other again! Quinn couldn't wait to see Anna, they are two peas in a pod! They are going to be double trouble on the cruise!

The most famous bridge in London: Tower Bridge

More London Pics

Quinn falls asleep every time we get on the tube! She says the warmth, rumbling, and motion just lull her to sleep. "I just can't keep my eyes open Mom!" Of course, then she is wide awake at bedtime!

The kids in front of Westminster Abbey. We toured the abbey and then took a river cruise down the Thames to the Tower of London. I'll post a few pics from the tower too.

There is an ENTIRE department in Harrods just for dogs and cats! Quinn was just going crazy thinking about what we could take home to Ozzie. In the end, cooler heads prevailed (dad's!) and we didn't make a purchase in that dept!

Quinn in the toy department at Harrods. It was fun to see all the toys there. A salesperson tried to sell us "instant snow". "We have plenty of snow where we come from!" I told her!

First Day in London

The London Eye at twilight. It takes 30 minutes to go all the way around. We may get back over to take a ride but we have a lot on our agenda!

The kids in front of Big Ben. Oh, the pictures are just starting . . . these kids better get used to smiling!

Quinn & Travis in front of Parliment. We went to ride the London Eye, above, but arrived just a bit too late. It was ok, we sat along the river and watched the sun go down. It was a wonderful way to end our day.

Here are the kids in the American Airlines waiting room where we had the place to ourselves. It was a great way to wait for the plane, but we were really glad to catch the first plane so we didn't have to spend any more time here!

Double Decker Bus Tour

Today was our first full day in London. Rolf was trying to talk us into getting up at 6 am this morning to get our day started early. The kids and I rebelled and we slept until noon! By the time we were out the door it was close to 1:30. Just the way I like it :)

We spent the afternoon taking a double decker bus tour around the city. We saw every major (and many minor!) landmarks. Quinn wants to go back to Harrod's, Travis wants to go see the Tower of London, and Rolf wants to see the Globe Theatre. I'm ready for Westminster Abbey. Tomorrow we'll start seeing everything in more depth.

England won today in the World Cup game and we could hear cheering from many pubs as we drove by! Quinn is searching for a London United shirt, that's all that is on her mind.

Travis is enjoying finding all the differences between England and the US. His comment today after coming out of the bathroom: "Man, even the handle to flush is on the wrong side!"

I took tons of pictures but BOTH of my cameras ran out of battery. It was a good thing the tour was over. I was in a panic! So I have to charge before I can download. I'll post pics as soon as I can. We're on our way to our hotel as soon as we leave Kathy's but we're meeting her for dinner tomorrow night at a local thai place that she highly recommends.

Hope all is going well with everyone back home. Thanks for the comments, we love reading them!

We made it!

Hello All,
Well, we couldn't have had a more perfect trip. Dad took us to O'Hare this morning; we left Lowell at 4am! Thanks Dad, we owe you big time!

Thanks to Liz we were able to take advantage of American Airlines' Employee lounge. In the words of Travis & Quinn: this place is awesome!! We had our own private waiting area complete with CLEAN bathrooms, food and drink. The kids put puzzles together to pass the time and Rolf and I just relaxed.

We were a little nervous about making the flight. It was packed and we didn't know if all 4 of us would be getting on. For those of you who don't know, we flew using our friend Liz's employee passes. Which means we got tickets for a ridiculously low price, but the trade off is that we have to fly stand-by. We had our fingers crossed and it paid off, we were close to the last 4 people on the plane! Rolf was in first class, that lucky dog, but also the person with the longest legs so we voted that he should get the first class seat. The kids and I were back in coach. Wasn't bad though, we were surrounded by some really nice people that we chatted with throughout the 7 hour flight.

We arrived in London, 10:45 pm local time, breezed through customs in less than 30 minutes, picked up our luggage and headed out the door, straight to a waiting taxi. Now, the taxi ride was quite a thrill. Our driver almost rear-ended the car in front of us before we were even out of the airport. That was just a taste of what was to come! Quinn and Travis were thrilled to sit backwards in the jumpseats but Quinn soon found out that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be: car sickness hit with all the twists and turns the driver was making.

Tonight we are staying with our friend Kathy Rathke, she is also an old neighbor of ours from Saline. She has been living in London for a few years now and her flat is just wonderful. We were so glad to arrive and see her! She has welcomed us warmly, even though we are taking over! Rolf just pointed out to the kids that her building is older than our country. That kinda boggled their minds!

Tomorrow we check into our hotel, take a double-decker bus tour, and who knows what else! It will be an adventure, of that I am sure.

No pictures yet, not really anything to take a picture of. Well, I guess that's it for now. We're trying to go to sleep, it is 2 in the morning here, but only 9pm in Michigan so we will suffer tomorrow!

I'll check in again when I can and hopefully get some pics posted. Love you all!!

Hello All,
Well this is going to be quite an experiment for me. I take photos and I journal but I have never done both together on a blog until today. I'm setting up this blog so that if you would like to follow us on our summer adventure, you may do so.

We leave for our month-long trip to Europe on June 21, Rolf's birthday, what a present! We'll be in London for my birthday on June 23 and for Travis' birthday on June 26. We won't be in London for Quinn's birthday on January 28 - haha!

On June 28 we travel to Dover, England and board a Norwegian Cruise Line ship bound for the Baltic Sea. We will spend 2 weeks traveling to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Germany, and Estonia.

We then are traveling UNDER the English Channel via the Eurostar Train, otherwise known as, "The Chunnel". I may need heavy medication to get on that train! We'll arrive in Paris and spend 5 days there before flying home.

This 'Trip of a Lifetime' has been in the works for the past 20 years! Rolf and I went to Paris for our honeymoon and always said that when we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary, we would take our kids back to Paris. We celebrated our 20th this past November and here we go! (I didn't want to go back to Paris in November, it is cold and rainy!) We thought since we would be over there anyway, we would also work London into our plans.

Our friends, Dave & Lisa Butler, who live in Nashville, but who we grew up with, were planning a cruise for this summer. (Dave sat in front of me in first or second grade, can't remember which one now, but now you know how long we've known each other!) We have kids the same age, in fact their daughter Anna was born on the same day as Quinn, just one year later. (They are two peas in a pod!) We have always talked about taking a trip together, and they called us to see what we were doing this summer.

As luck would have it, we were planning on being in London the same time they were planning this cruise that leaves from Dover! We just couldn't pass this opportunity up.

So here we go, off to Europe, first to London, then with the Butler's on the cruise, then to Paris for a few days before returning home. I hope to be able to post pictures and updates on this blog. I'll practice before we go so that I know a bit about how to work this thing!

We are really looking forward to this trip, can't wait to see these cities through the kids' eyes. The cruise will be something new for all of us, we have never cruised before. Yes, I have sea-sickness tablets! Wish us luck!

Here she is in action! She had forgotten her jersey that day so instead of being her usual #46, coach gave her #89. It threw me off! I kept looking for #46!

Lacrosse!

Quinn is back on the lacrosse field after breaking her thumb in a game a few weeks ago. She is playing with a cast/brace that the orthopedic doctor made especially for her. It fits under her glove so she is able to play, even though the thumb fracture isn't fully healed yet. She is one tough cookie out there. It is so much fun to watch her play. Last night's game, which they won, was very exciting. Quinn evaded 6 defenders to reach the goal, only to have the ball fly out of her net just as she was getting ready to score! I'll see if I can also get some action shots posted!