Thank God for Portia (our GPS).  Yesterday she faithfully steered us from the quiet calm of Bronte's Hathersage thru Sheffield's maze of city streets to our little motel on the far edge of town.  With heavy traffic, bewildering road rules, non-existent street signs, and the infamous roundabouts, it was a bit of a trial. Mom … Continue reading A Day in The City

Yesterday was all about visiting Pride & Prejudice sites, today was Bronte's day. We started off with a little tour of Eyam, a town ravaged by the plague in 1666, half of the inhabitants died.  Not that this has anything to do with literature, but the town was unique in that they self-imposed a quarantine … Continue reading Bronte’s Day

Strong clear sunshine greeted us this morning, a great start for our first full day in England.  I had to plan each  day's activities for this part of our vacation as it was necessary to pre-book our accommodation (high season), so today's itinerary involves touring the stately homes of Chatsworth and Haddon Hall, both a … Continue reading A Stately Day

Sunday - We had to jolly old England along this morning, long before we ever set down in Great Britain.  Our transfer to Frankfurt airport left the ship at 7am (naturally I didn't get any sleep past 3:30am), so we had an early start packing Sheila, finding ourselves cups of life-sustaining tea & coffee, and … Continue reading Jolly Ole England

Day 6- Well, not really. We cruised all night again (boy, we're covering some miles here), not arriving in port till 6:30am.  As it was, Karlstadt was just a pit stop to herd us off the boat and onto the tour buses.  We had a long day touring ahead and would not be able to … Continue reading Last Day A Sailin’

Day 4 & 5 - Just a quick little voyage this morning, from 5-7:30am.  We were so busy sleeping, then eating, we hardly knew we were underway!   We docked right in downtown Mainz, so technically in the middle of things, but there was a Fair set up so our view was blocked by a ferris … Continue reading Sailing Along

Day 3 - The first question asked when meeting new people onboard is always:  "Where are you from?"  Interestingly, the 2nd is usually:  "Is this your first river cruise?"  We've learned that most are repeaters, many having cruised China as their first Viking trip.  It's easy to pick out these expert cruisers:  they have the … Continue reading Koblenz > Rudesheim

Day 2 – There’s nothing like the gentle rocking of a ship to lull you asleep.  We sailed thru the night and I think Sheila and I slept thru most of the night.  Our neighbours were enjoying CNN at 6am, so we decided that since we were awake, it was a decent time to get … Continue reading Cruzin’

My solo wanderings have temporarily morphed into a family affair - I'm off on a 3-week European adventure with my mom (aka Sheila).  Leaving from Vancouver, Canada we'll spend a week cruising the Moselle River in Germany from Trier to Wurzburg, then jet off to Manchester, UK for a 2-week drive around the Yorkshire Moors … Continue reading The Adventures Continue…