Helsinki

 We arrived at the port in Kiel about 8am, so after breakfast, we headed out to see the sights

We made it to:

Rathaus (City Hall)  - the facades still had bullet holes from WWII,

Opernhaus (Opera House) - not able to go inside,

Alter Market (Old Market)

Danische Strasse ( Danish Street) - shopping area,

Schloss (Castle) - nothing like you imagine a castle to be,

Schiffahrtsmuseum (Maritime museum) - being Monday, it was closed!,

St Nikolia Church

Holsten Strasse - shopping area

We also wandered through the city park and around a couple of large ponds. Autumn here is more advanced than the UK and cooler. We also nipped into Starbucks to get coffee and use wifi - sorry about interspersed photos in the blog, I was trying to be quick!

23/9 Day at sea.

Listened to another talk by the ex police office - were no nearer to solving any crimes. Jake and I decided that, no matter what, we were having a swim and hot tub. Beautiful sunny day, 12C , with a strong cold wind. I think we were lulled into a false sense of security when we saw others swimming because it was FREEZING!! Managed 2 laps before running soaking wet across to the hot tub. Oh joy, it was so warm and soothing, but my legs felt as if they had been cut a hundred times. We'll think carefully about the next swim!!!

Wednesday 

Arrived Helsinki 9am - 6C with a very chill wind.

After breakfast, we headed off the ship - slight mishap with sister as to where we were meeting!  

Hop on / off came up to the ship, so we headed out. Beautiful sunny day - reached 12C - so Helsinki was at its finest. Spent a number of hours seeing the sights.

First port - Kiel Germany

 The few days before boarding the ship, we were once again dodging showers, but we did manage to do some gardening. This entailed harvesting corn, tomatoes and raspberries. Jake had been worried that she had only a few tomatoes this year, but she has enough to feed a few armies! The freezer is now full of the above veg after a few hours of prep!

Friday dawned, surprisingly warm - reached 23C. Our drive down to Southampton was uneventful, and  after the boarding procedure, we headed to our cabins

. Jake and John are on deck 10 and towards the rear of the ship while I'm right at the front on deck 11. 

After lunch, when our cases were delivered, it was warm enough to get our swimmers on and have a swim. Very pleasant. 

This is the largest ship I've been on.  Fitness on here will not be a problem. It felt like I'd walked 0.5km just to get to laundry!

Met some interesting people at dinner and ended the day taking part in a quiz - we didn't do very well!

Saturday was a sea day. Unfortunately the weather clouded over and there was a chill wind - this was probably because we'd 'bagged' our deck chairs!

Jake and I went to dance fit, but it wasn't up to the standard of my Wednesday class! 

It was a black tie and Captain's evening, so we put on our 'sparkly' clothes and saluted the main crew members with Champagne! 

A half hour with a ' not funny' comedian ended the evening.

Sunday dawned a bit brighter and was another sea day. I had an early start as I was delegated to get the laundry done! I completed a number of laps back and forth - must find out how long this corridor is!!!

Interesting talk about DNA by an ex police Inspector. 

We came into Kiel early this morning and have had a wander around.

Windy and wet!

 I was unable to upload photos to my first blog but here are some photos from Liverpool.

We were able to have a walk and work in the garden before the rain drove us inside. I, of course,  think it's cold but my sister says it's not!

Photos from our walk and gardening.

Helped the English economy a little today - well I had to check Mark's and Sparks out! 

We did learn today, doing a crossword,  that

 a gust of wind is known as a 'willywar' on that note we've had a few 'willywars' today!!

Heading north

 It was stressful enough knowing that the lift , which has been out for 13 days, wouldn't be in use on the day I head to the airport (Thursday). A text from Qantas topped that!!

The message QF1 to London cancelled!!

Next message - we have changed your flight to Saturday!! Two days away - no way!! I'm going to meet Jake and John in Liverpool on Friday!

Finally, after being on hold for a long time and being passed around, I was finally booked on Emirates to Dubai, then BA to London, arriving 8 hours later than the original flight.

I did tell a fib and said I was on a cruise on Saturday and was Qantas going to pay me for my missed cruise! 

Flight to Dubai was good. It was then a rather complicated trip around the airport to get my boarding pass for the BA flight - luckily, I had 3.5 hours lay over. Arrived late into London. - looks like the flight took a longer route around the Middle East after the 'troubles' in Qatar.

Managed to get a train and eventually arrived in Liverpool at 8pm to be greeted by Jake and John.

Saturday morning we were on a walking tour around Liverpool at the same time trying to dodge the showers! It's cooler than I expected! Where's the Indian summer? We heard about all the diverse happenings of  Liverpool during the years. Obviously music is one of its main claim to fame, although an awful lot of films have been made there.

Our walk ended at the museum so we had a cuppa and then checked out the upper floor devoted to music especially the Beatles.

We are now at Jake's.

Heading home!

 As soon as Ivy and Benny were back from Chicago they were at the doctors where strep throat was diagnosed! As they were infectious that put paid to planned trips  for a week!

My time has been spent in the pool, playing with Ivy's toy horses - stables to be built - and doing craft with her. Each morning she has been to the stables to give her pony, Dottie, a work out. 

When Benny and l  haven't been in the pool we've been playing badminton, practising putting - he is right into golf at the moment - and playing some board games.

I've been to see Ivy riding her pony - watching them taking the jumps is impressive.

Benny's soccer training has been watched! We had a trip to Top Golf - a golf simulator where you can 'play' a round or see how far you can drive the ball. I'm a failure as I can get past my hockey 'swing'! I would be better at Pitch and Putt I think!

At this moment I'm at a hotel in Atlanta - flew in a sardine can yesterday from Augusta. I hate the goodbyes  but there's always next time. 

I have a flight to LA this afternoon and then the late flight to Sydney arriving early Tuesday! Then it's back to reality!

USA

 A week has flown by since I arrived! It was great to see the family again. Obviously both Ivy and Ben are taller - Benny always has to compare his height to me, he has a way to go yet!!!

I spent a day with Ivy - she gave up her horse riding! We had fun in the pool and she was explaining about hobby horses - look it up on YouTube! That's a whole different world! We had a great time.

I've had a day with Benny too. We spent most of the time in the pool! I don't understand why he feels a need to 'wrestle' me when were in the pool! He remembers things we did last year and so we play word games together. I also sat through some programmes on 'scary moments' which was on YouTube - his choice!

Went to see Ivy horse riding her beloved pony Dottie. She is really riding we'll and her love for Dottie is there for all to see.

Went to see Benny at his 'Golf camp' - it was a simulated course and he did very well when he concentrated!

Also went to watch him at soccer training - Justin still trains one of the teams.

 

At the moment Lauren, Ivy and Benny have gone to Chicago to visit friends so that leaves Justin and I to look after the chickens - there are 8 of them - we get about 4 fresh eggs a day! We also have Rooster, the dog, who hasn't been well, to keep our eye on! Lauren's dad was a vet so he's been checking on Roo.

The weather has been very warm but yesterday was horrendous - even I had to go into the air conditioned house! It reached about 42C!! A couple of dips in the pool didn't help! Justin and I went out in the car late afternoon and it was registering the temperature at 103°.  Thankfully thunder and lightening rolled in during the evening and has cleared the air.

You can still see remnants of where the hurricane came through last September. On the edge of their boundary is woodland - plenty of trees fell during the hurricane. Ivy, Ben and I were in the pool the other day when we heard a strange noise, maybe deer rooting around in the wood, when suddenly a tree crashed to the ground! 

As I sit here a friendly little fellow passes by 

Sometimes he's bright green sometimes brown!

Arrived USA!

 Our first day in London was seeing less touristy spots. Kerry and I had spotted various places, on instagram, that we'd never been to before so decided to check them out. We walked to Waterloo station where we visited the 'Graffiti tunnels'. This is a space where anyone can graffiti. Some of the art work was amazing!

We then walked towards the British museum to the Post building where a lift takes you to the 9th floor for amazing views over London. There are also planter boxes of flowers.

 

Even though the weather is a little cooler in London my feet are still getting a work out and I was relieved late afternoon to get my feet up!!

We are staying at Russell Square and found a lovely Mediterranean restaurant where we had a delicious meal.

We decided to do the tourist hop on/ off trip on Sunday  - our idea of being lazy! It was so much easier although we still did over 15000 steps!

On Monday it was time to pick up the pace and continue to visit unknown places. Our first stop was Leadenhall Market - not as we'd expected - no market now but there had been in the past!

Onward and upward to 120 Fenchurch street - a garden and amazing views on the 15th floor. The smell of the roses and Jasmine as you left the lift was lovely.

It is also free!!!

We wandered towards the Tower of London where a visit to All Hallows by the Tower church was next on the list. This is the oldest church in London and founded in 675AD. We ventured into the crypt where there was evidence of a second century Roman pavement. The church survive the Great Fire of London but did suffer bomb damage and some of it had to be rebuilt.

We then wander over Tower Bridge  to a pub which is under the bridge.

We caught the Underground to Covent garden and had a wander around for a while before coming across Mr Foggs Tavern - a Victorian tavern, rather eccentric but interesting drinks!

 

On Tuesday morning I headed to Heathrow for my flight to the USA. It was chaos at the line up for American Airlines because the site for the ESTA - US visa - was down. It took me over an hour in line to check in but once that was done life was easy. I was suitably impressed with the plane, staff and flight - so different to the internal flights I'd taken!!

Although we left late we arrived on time. I landed in Charlotte, a small hub, and perhaps that helped with the entry into America. The Border Force official was more interested in knowing about the Australian spiders than me entering America!

Justin picked me up and it was a long drive back. On arrival to his place it seemed like a year had never passed. Even Rooster, the dog, didn't get antsy with me! Ivy and Benny have grown ever taller - Ben says he's nearly as tall as me! I enjoyed my hugs.

Ivy stayed home with me the next day and we swam, played and chatted. Ben was out at all his activities.

Yesterday I spent time with Ben at his 'Golf camp'- he can really whack the ball when he concentrates. I then watched his football training in the evening.

The weather is 32C+, bright sunshine with thunder rumbling in the afternoon. My swim before breakfast today was lovely!