LEAVING AMERICA - HELLO EUROPE !!

April 2012 , we boarded the Celebrity Eclipse to begin our odyssey around the world.  It was with mixed feelings of excitement and trepidation we sailed out of Miami.  We had a balcony cabin that gave us a good view of Miami receding into the background. 

Goodbye Miami taken from our ships balcony

The transatlantic crossing took 13 days with the majority of them at sea.  The Eclipse is one of the newer Celebrity ships and had some really nice features including a grass lawn on the top deck and a Corning glass-blowing studio that gave live glass-blowing demonstrations.  There was also a very extensive Cellar Masters that provided wine tasting and allowed guests to select and sample wines from a machine that dispensed wine by the glass. 

Our first stop was in the Azores, Portugal, but the weather was not very good so we did not get off the ship.  We were then supposed to go to Cork, Ireland but, because of a severe storm in that area, we were diverted to La Coruna, Spain.  We got off the ship and walked around the town.  Because it was a holiday there were not a lot of shops open and it was a very old, historic town so the buildings and cobbled streets were very interesting.  We checked out the old, historic church, saw the large hams hanging from the ceilings in the delis and checked out the port area.

Jann in La Coruna with Celebrity Eclipse

Typical cafe in La Coruna with hanging hams

Jann with friend in La Coruna square

View of La Coruna from our ships balcony

After a very relaxing cruise we landed in Southampton, rented a car and drove up to Pauline and Tony Melvins in St. Albans.  Jann has known Tony since he was 14 years old when his sister was her roommate in Washington D.C.  Tony and Pauline visited us in California a few years ago and Jann has got to know the entire wonderful family. 

Jann stayed with them for a week while Pat drove up to Shrewsbury to spend time with her father and go over some papers he wanted to review with her.  Jann, one week later, caught the train up to Shrewsbury and we drove up to Manchester to visit Jean and Jimmy.   Jean is Pat's stepsister.

Visit to Lyme House with Jann and Jean

We had a lovely few days with Jean and Jimmy and visited a couple of parks and pubs (of course.)  We then drove over to Bingley in Yorkshire to visit Pat’s school friend, Freda. We spent  one week with Freda before she headed to Turkey and then we stayed on for a few days after she left. 

Jann and Freda at Dick Hudson's pub

Historic Dick Hudson's pub on the Yorkshire moors

During the two weeks we were there, we took the opportunity to explore Yorkshire from the coast to the Yorkshire moors.  We saw some amazing historic homes, including Castle Howard that was used for Brideshead Revisited, Harewood House, home of the Earl of Harewood and the Bronte parsonage in Haworth where the Bronte sisters created their iconic novels. 

Castle Howard was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle between 1699 and 1712.   It is also home to a world-famous collection of Chippendale furniture as well as paintings and porcelain.  The grounds are magnificent with statues, temples, lakes and fountains.  There was also an interesting exhibition of the transformation of part of the house to the film set for Brideshead Revisited. 

Front of Castle Howard

Jann on Castle Howard staircase

Castle Howard Dining Room

Jann in Castle Howard drawing room

Statues in Castle Howard entranceway

View from front of Castle Howard

The other historic homes we visited were all of a similar vein with lots of history, fabulous gardens and incredible collections of antiquities from around the world. 

We also travelled around the Yorkshire moors and visited local market towns like Masham.  Haworth, the home of the Brontes, has a great cobblestone main street.  When we were there ,it was patriotically decorated for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

View of the moors

Our Chevy "moor mobile"

Jann at the Bronte parsonage

Main street Haworth decorated for the Jubilee

Patricia in Malham, Yorkshire

Jann in Malham, Yorkshire

We took a day trip to the Yorkshire coast and had a great visit to Whitby, a seaside town in North Yorkshire with a thriving fishing industry.  Overlooking the town and the North Sea are the ruins of Whitby Abbey, a Benedictine Abbey that was originally established in 657 AD.  It is the port where Captain Cook learned seamanship and embarked on his world tour, discovering Hawaii and Australia on his explorations.

Jann at Whitby Harbor

Pat overlooking Whitby Bay and Whitby Abbey

Jann at Whitby Abbey

Detail of Whitby Abbey ruins

Pat in archway of Whitby Abbey

Whitby Abbey ruins

Jann in old town Whitby

Monument to Capt. Cook

Street in old town Whitby

View of Robin Hoods Bay, Yorkshire coast

Gorse on the moors

Harewood House was another Georgian mansion we visited while in Yorkshire.  Built in the 18th century it is the home of the Earl and Countess of Harewood.  In1922, one of Victoria's daughters, Mary, married the Earl and thus it became a royal family home that not only Victoria visited but also the current Queen.

View of Harewood House from the back

Tea on the terrace at Harewood House

Jann in gardens at Harewood House

Gardens at Harewood House

While in Bradford, where Pat lived prior to heading to the U.S., we visited some of her old haunts and checked out a local pub that had been written up for the variety of boutique beers that it served.  Although the pub was not in a very good area of Bradford and was a virtual “hole in the wall,” we had a very interesting bartender who helped us navigate the many beers and gave us a great history.  We took quite a few local Yorkshire beers back to London to share with Tony. 

Yorkshire beers

We got back to St. Albans in time to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.  Tony, Pauline, their daughter Michelle, her husband Chris headed with us down to the Thames to watch the Royal Barge and flotilla carrying the Queen and the Royal Family celebrating the Jubilee.  

We caught the train from St. Albans and when we arrived in the city we decided to go for lunch first.  Probably the wrong decision because when we first arrived there were spaces to stand alongside the river, however, when we finished lunch and returned to the Thames, we couldn’t get anywhere near river. 

We walked up and down the banks of the Thames, but the police had (in their infinite wisdom) decided to close the streets leading down to the Thames, which caused huge crowds all heading in the same direction.  We decided to cross to the other side of the river but found the same horrendous crowd control procedures there.  

Jann, Pauline and Tony gave up and headed to the nearest pub but Michelle, Chris and Pat journeyed on and eventually got a view from London Bridge. Unfortunately, the police blockades made it impossible to enjoy anything but a peekaboo view but we did see the flotilla heading towards us.  Then Michelle pointed out that the police had opened up the bridge at one end and a crowd was heading our way and we could be crushed against the metal barrier.  Needless to say we hotfooted it out of there. 

Michelle, Jann, Pauline, Chris and Tony at lunch

The Jubilee crowds

Our view of the flotilla from London Bridge

The atmosphere at the Jubilee was amazing, especially for a Brit, but the excessive traffic restrictions and poor crowd control measures they put in place really put a damper on the day (not to mention the rain!)

Before we left England for Malta we were able to have lunch with Di, who was staying at her bungalow in Maidstone.  We had a nice visit and pub lunch in St. Albans and it was fun to get together and catch up with everything that was happening in California.

Jann and Di and our pub lunch

We had a fun time in England despite the weather.  It rained just about every day.  It was time to find some better weather so we left St. Albans and headed to Malta for the next part of our adventure.