Wardemunde, Germany

Rolfie up on a tower in the center of Wardemunde. We climbed up 135 steps to get up there. It was nothing compared to the 257 stairs they climbed in St. Paul's to get to the top there!

Our afternoon snack. This was the BEST pastry I've had in ages. It was covered in sugar and had vanilla filling. If I wouldn't have looked like a pig I would have gone back to get another one!

Here we are in Wardemunde, Germany! (Pronounced Ver-de-mund) It was another hot day but we welcomed it. Better sun than rain! This ended up being a great port. It was one of Quinn's favorites. One of the first shops she spotted had handmade winter hats in the window. Of course, she had to have one! 85 degrees and she's buying a winter hat!

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.