Traveling Suitcase

Day 1 in Paris, Before the Tour and La Boheme

2025-12-06T11:49:00.003-05:00

We paid for an extra night at the hotel, so when we arrived mid morning we would be able to check in and not wait til 4 pm. As we entered this small botigue hotel (had only 23 rooms) we had a little sitting area with a kitchen type area for the coffee machine. The door to the bathroom is there on the left.

The hotel was historic and they tried to keep the feel in the decore.
The hotel is family owned along with 2 others that they refurbished.

The room was quite comfortable, and the staff was excellent. We had 2 chairs. The closet was roomy with ample space for hanging items as well as shelves. Really much more then you often get in hotels in the states.

We were happy to check in, and take a nap before heading out to look around a bit. We also had tickets for the Opera this night and needed some rest before hand.

The hotel called a taxi for us and suggested a place for an early dinner before the opera. The Opera was La Boheme at the Bastille Opera House, which is the modern facility.

We would have preferred to attend the opera in the historic Opera House, The Garnier Theater, but apparently most of the performances are now held at the new facility.

The music was fabulous, but we didn't think much of the modern take on the Opera where the people are stranded in space. We didn't feel like the story translated well.

Once the lights went out, we had a hard time staying awake, and perhaps we would have enjoyed the performance more if it hadn't been the day we got there with our jet lag. It was the only night that would be possible for us to go though. So theres that.

PLEASE leave me a comment when you come visit, so I know you were here. Your visits and comments are very special to me. AND remember, leave your name and url and not your profile link. Name and url takes me right to your blog post so I can reciprocate the visit.

France Here We Come!

2025-11-11T11:43:00.004-05:00

France the 6th go round! France Magnifique through Collette is a trip with a history. Hubby and I first scheduled this tour for the Fall of 2021. Covid hit, it was postponed until The Spring of 2022, then again postponed until the fall of 2022. As Covid was still a problem it was postponed yet again for the Spring of 2023; but things were not yet really safe........so it was scheduled for the Fall of 2023. We did actually arrive in Paris a day early as we always like to give ourself a buffer due to travel and time to settle in due to jet lag.

However, on the day we arrived; hubby came down with Covid. So, we sat in our hotel room for 5 days for isolation and the tour went on without us. We then had to scramble to find flights home, as our previously scheduled flight was slated for the end of tour.

Feeling like this tour was jinxed, I decided we could not book it again the next year in 2024. We needed to take a different tour to break up the bad mojo. We went to Sicily in the fall of 2024.

AND drum roll

Here's hubby in the airport lounge as we depart for Paris France to take the same Collette Tour, France Magnifique. It's Billed as a 12 day tour, includes 16 meals. 10 Breakfasts, 1 Lunch, and 5 Dinners. We did our own airfair, so that's not included in the tour price, nor is the travel insurance that one really needs to get. We did manage to get our funds back from the ill-fated attempt in the fall of 2023.

I rarely do selfies, because I'm not good at it; but here's one of me once we got on board our flight to France. We did opt for business class seats which for a long flight, an overnight flight to Europe is certainly more comfortable.

Hubby took one of me, you can see the seating arrangement a bit more,

And I took one of hubby. We scheduled 2 additional days at both the front and back end of this tour. As we age, the travel seems a bit more tiring; so we wanted extra time. And, we wanted to spend more time in Paris then the tour allotted.

The tour has you fly in and out of Paris, but the tour actually starts in Versailles. So we booked 2 nights in Paris on our own. At this point we're still holding our breathe that we will get there and both remain healthy and get to actually take the scheduled tour.

We started our with our glass of Champagne and as we hit altitude the dinner preceding's began. We both had a good meal with wine, watched a movie; then reclined our lay flat seats to get some sleep. And while doing that is nice, you really only get a few hours because of the difference in time zones and they have to wake you for breakfast before landing.

Day 1 Afternoon, Sept 26, 2024 Monreale Cathedral

2024-11-07T10:54:00.008-05:00

Afternoon, still day 1 of our tour. Our itinerary reads: This afternoon head to Monreale Cathedral, ascending on foot to see its majestic Byzantine mosaics. Then, it's our choice! Explore the cathedral's cloisters, taking in their serene atmosphere of the monastic complex - OR - ascend the southern tower to the panoramic terraces for a bird's -eye view over Palermo.

Once we were done with the guided tour, we could explore on our own. This cathedral is considered to be the best example of Norman Architecture. The building began in 1174 by William II of Sicily.

It was elevated to the Archdiocese of Monreale in 1183, and completed in 1267. Since 2015 it's been part of the Arab-Norman Palermo and the Catholic churches of Cefalu' and Monreale UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There were two Sarcophagi, but I wasn't able to get a picture of the 2nd one. Both William the I and William II of Sicily are there.

It was quite colorful, with incredible detail everywhere you looked.

I opted for walking around the cloisters, while hubby climbed the southern tower.

Time to meet up with our traveling companions and board the coach to return to the hotel. We were told no sleeveless tops, no shorts above the knee. Our estimated time to arrive back at the hotel was 5:30 where we would have dinner on our own.

I tried to load the video hubby took of the birds eye view, but couldn't get blogger and the video to play nice. Sorry folks. Just a picture instead.

Day 2, Palermo, Sept 26-2024 Capo Market

2024-10-24T12:39:00.001-04:00

Day 2 of the tour, Breakfast started at 7 am and we were to meet at 9:30 in the lobby to begin our walking tour:

Our itinerary reads: Begin your adventure tasting your way through Palermo's lively markets on a walking tour unveiling the city's historical center and introducing you to traditional Sicilian street food, which layers Oriental and Norman influences with local produce such as wild fennel, olives, and spices.

Our group of 24 was divided into 2 groups, one group of 12 and one of 10. A couple of people opted out. The 2nd group was lead by Francesca above, who was very cute and animated. She was full of information and shared with us her childhood memories of the area, the food and the vendors. Group 2 was a bit delayed departing due to some technical issues with Vbox. Standing with Angelica is Vera and Joe from Australia. Visiting Sicily was especially important to them as they both have family in Sicily.

We started with The Capo Market, which was very colorful and busy with lots of fresh vegetables, and fish and other goodies.

Here they were squeezing fresh juice

I don't know what dishes we were looking at, but everything looked colorful and fresh.

We sampled as we walked the market, stopping at several vendors as we listen to Francesca tell us about the history and food. Wasn't able to get pictures of those stops, as our hands were busy eating. Here we actually sat down. On the left front to back is Don, Mike, Kathy, Joe, Vera. Across from Vera is Steve, Susan, Lucille, I was beside Lucille and then Ernie.

She's showing us wild Fennel

Olives, that aren't edible as they've not been processed.

We had a meat pie of sorts, a potato...sorta like a pancake, grapes and other fruit.

Continuing our walk through the market you can see the variety of foods...naturally pasta. I'm in the black on the right with a straw hat.

Taking pictures as we walk, you can see how crowded the market was, though we were told it's not as crowded as it used to be.

Lots of yummy goodies

Check out the huge cannoli!

While this isn't the best of pictures, you can see the longevity of this families business in the market. Francesca remembered being here with her grandmother who knew the original owner. It's still the same family.

By this time we had entered the 2nd market, but I don't remember the name. There are 4 historical markets in Palermo: Capo, Ballaro, LaVucciria, and Borgo Vecchio. We had 2 ladies in the group, Anne and Lynn who are quilters. They really wanted to stop and see some of the fabric shops we passed, but we kept walking.

A street alter. They were beginning to prepare for a holiday festival and parade.

We stopped in a little bar to have some desert wine. I'm not generally a fan of sweet/desert wine; but it was rather tasty and refreshing.

Walking on you see vendors grilling

You pass more goodies

Then we stopped for quick desert break and had delicious cannoli's.

Time to board our coach to return to the hotel. Hubby liked that our coach was scarlet and gray, Ohio States colors, lol. We'll have time to freshen up (30 ish minutes), then re-board the coach to make our way to Monreale Cathedral.

Since this post is heavy with pictures, the afternoon at Monreale Cathedral will be the next post.

Palermo On Our Own, Before The Tour

2024-10-18T06:00:00.003-04:00

We arrived back at our hotel to officially check in, after our exploring and having lunch; as our room was now ready.

The outside of our hotel, Best Western Ai Cavalieri Via Sant'Oliva 8, Palermo.

We did a bit of unpacking, and took a mini nap. You'll notice 2 twin beds. This is quite common in Europe, and we found out in our other travels it's best to request 2 twins for your room, otherwise you're likely to have only a double bed. They don't tend to do Queen or King beds in many hotels in Europe, particularly not at the more historic hotels which is often where you stay when touring.

We had nice little sitting area with a little half wall that separated the bedroom from the sitting area, and the door you see is to the bathroom.

Small shower, but adequate.

You can see the half wall I mentioned. We have a desk area with the TV (that was never turned on!!). A nice wardrobe. The room was small, but well appointed and we had coffee service there in the room on the desk with a small fridge in the cabinet.

This is the breakfast room, which was quite pretty. There was a meeting room just off to the right which is where we met our tour companions and tour guide.

The common areas in the hotel were quite pretty; though I never really noticed anyone sitting and enjoying them. Would have been nice to have a drink in one of these areas in the evening to chat with our fellow travelers, but the hotel did not have a bar.......I thought that odd. AND the breakfast room is used for just that, no other meals were served in the hotel.

After our rest, we headed out for a night of exploring and a lite dinner; but that will be the next posts since this post already has 10 photo's.

See you in a few days for next installment of our Sicily tour.

Heading to Sicily!

2024-10-14T14:15:00.007-04:00

Heading to Sicily. The map shows you were we're going, where we're visiting, as well as where we're spending the night. We fly into Palermo and out of Catania.

We took this 14 day tour through Collette using our Marriott Vacation Club Points (18,000 points). I've always wanted to go to Sicily. Can't really even point to a reason why, just because. lol

Step 1 an overnight stay in the Marriott Cincinnati Airport, where we used some Bonvoy Points for the night and got an upgrade to a suite with 2 bathrooms and living room. That was very helpful as we could get ready easily for our departure the following day. We flew out of Cincinnati, instead of home airport, Columbus because the ticket price was better. This hotel was much nicer than many close to the airports we've stayed in in the past.

Here I am just about to have desert after lunch in the Polaris Lounge in Chicago (Cincinnati to Chicago was our first leg of the trip). Oh, and some bubbly with desert. Doesn't the desert look pretty and yummy?

Hubby took my picture just after I settled in my business class seat

And I took his picture as he was getting ready to climb into his cubby. Every plane we've been on has a slightly different arrangement for business class seats. Our working parts were in the middle so we were both on the isle, making conversation a bit of a challenge. We've managed to have seats in the middle with working parts closer to the isle before, which is preferrable, but ....you never know how it's going to work out. We flew from Chicago to Rome, and even with getting some sleep after dinner on board, we're pretty tired when we arrived 9 hours later in Rome. Hustled a bit in Rome to make our connections from there to Palermo.

The Collette driver picked us up at the airport (nice small airport in Palermo), and drove us to our hotel about 45 ish minutes away. The airport is not actually in the city of Palermo.

All totaled, 21 hours of travel. It was too early to check into our room at the hotel, so they kept our luggage and we ventured out for a walk and lunch.

Lots of choices in small cafe's there in Palermo. The cutting board is shaped like Sicily! Lunch was excellent, but we couldn't finish it all.

Yes, hubby looks a bit tired. My first Aperol Spritz of the trip.

Fresh Mozzarella and a basket of bread in addition to our wonderful charcuterie board.

The name of our cafe'.

Please check back in as we settle into our hotel for 3 nights. The tour was there for 2 nights, but we arrived a day early so spent 3 nights there.

Day 8 Continue, Edinburgh Military Tattoo

2024-01-11T14:54:00.001-05:00

Before the start of the Tattoo, people milling about. Quests trying to find their seats and performers finding where they que up. The Tattoo is an annual series of military Tattos, performed by The British Armed Forces, Common Wealth, and International military bands. It's held once a year in August with nightly shows come rain or shine.

We're close to starting time here, as you see the stands filling up and darkness is falling. The show starts at 9:30.

We're seated on section 2, the right side of photo. There's a small section just as the performers come out of the castle, then our section. We had excellent seats just a few rows from the bottom, so very good visibility as the bands marched passed us and performed in front of us.

The show is magnificent, with cutting edge lighting, sound and military precision.

See, right in front of us. The pipes.........oh how I love the pipes.

This was The US NAVY Band, or a portion of them.

The tickets range in price from 42.50 to 970.00 Euro's and many seats are already sold for the next season, August of 2024. The prices vary by physically where you're located and what night you go. Our section 2 is currently listed at 88 Euro's, and was a part of our tour. This is the only video I took short enough to download.

So much pageantry. Truly a wonderful evening of fabulous performances. Nearly 220,000 people attend the Tattoo annually in August at Edinburgh Castle.

Everything was so moving. The evening ended in darkness at the Castle with a single bag piper atop the Castle Wall, immediately following the last band. Then lights came on so we could all make our way back to the our coaches. We walked the full royal mile and then some to get the long que of coaches awaiting all those in attendance.

Day 8 Edinburgh, Military Tattoo, Part I

2023-12-16T17:53:00.003-05:00

Our itinerary reads: Edinburgh Castle/City Tour. Explore central Edinburgh starting in the 200 year old "New Town" with planned streets and elegant Georgian houses where many famous writers and inventors lived. See the "Royal Mile" with its narrow medieval houses, then tour Edinburgh Castle to see the Crown Jewels of Scotland and the Stone of Destiny. The rest of the day is free for you to explore. On July 31 - August 14th departures, attend the world famous Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. **Our dates fell within that time frame and so we will be attending the Tattoo tonight.

As we toured the city via our coach, this was the first glimpse of The Castle. To the left you can see the back of stands erected for the Tattoo.

We're inside the area where the Tattoo will be held and we were able to find out seats. Nice to be able to do that during the day. We were in section 2 about 3 rows from the bottom. So...excellent seats. We'll be able to find our seats easier this evening since we got to locate them during daylight. The Tattoo begins at 9 pm. So this promises to be a long day.

Our tour group is making our way through the gates following our local tour guide.

Hope you can get a feel for how high up we are over looking the city below.

The Chapel. Many in our group got in the que to see the Crown Jewels. Jane and I had been there before when we toured Scotland and Ireland and so passed that by, and spent out time exploring the grounds and all the other buildings.

Inside the Great Hall. The details in the wood carvings around the room are breathtaking.

Explanations of some of the special things to see.

Back outside, look at that view of the city well beneath us. See the people in the left center...look how small they look.

Special resting place for mascots and regimental officers dogs in use since Queen Victoria's Reign 1837-1901.

Looking down into garden cemetery area.

Views abound.

After touring about, we elected to have a refreshment, before tackling all the shopping that exists on The Royal Mile.

Indeed they were refreshing. It was also nice and quiet in the bar after being with the masses in the Castle and surrounding areas.

Our old fashions were made with GlenCadam Reserva. We enjoyed our drinks so much we searched on the Royal Mile and were able to purchase a bottle to take bake to our hotel. I've since looked for it here unsuccessfully.

Our shopping complete we're threading our way through the crowds to get back to where our coach is parked in order to get a ride back to the hotel and rest up a bit before grabbing some dinner and heading out again to the Castle for The Tattoo.

You just never know what you're going to see in your travels.

Day 7, Lake District (in route to Edinburgh)

2023-11-20T12:27:00.001-05:00

Day 7's Itinerary reads: Lake District/Scottish Evening. Travel through the glorious Lake District, which inspired many of the Beatrix Potter's children's books. Visit the village of Grasmere, where Wordsworth lived and is buried. Pass through the village of Gretna Green as you cross the border into Scotland. At your hotel, enjoy a lively Scottish evening with dinner and entertainment. (July 31-August 14 departures will have a free evening instead.) We did not have a Scottish Evening of entertainment, as our tour dates fell within the dates listed.

Fuzzy Brush coin operated machine was hanging on the wall just outside the restrooms, as we stopped for a coffee and potty break along the roadway. I thought it so odd, different etc, that I took a picture. Rest stops in Europe are so very different than our little rest stops here in the US. We have restrooms, and sometimes a few vending machines with junk food (pop, crackers, candybars). In Europe they have real food, multiple choices, coffee shops, little grocery stores even. Much more full service. So, I guess means of brushing your teeth, doing your laundry (which we saw in some cases), isn't surprising.

Thought I'd repost the map so you can see where we are, and where we're headed. We left Chester and are making our way to Edinburgh where we'll spend 3 nights.

This is where we spotted the toothbrush machine. This rest stop is very space age looking. It stands 65 feet tall. The idea, when it was built was to call attention to motorist because advertising wasn't permitted along the roadway. Originally this was called Forton Services, because it's near Forton and Lancaster. Later it was called Pennine Tower.

This photo was taken shortly after it was built. Currently it's looking a bit shabby I thought.

Next stop Grasmere. A very old grave yard beside a very old church. Sadly we weren't able to see inside, as there was a service taking place since we were there on a Sunday morning.

Grasmere was a very pretty little village, though we had to dodge raindrops part of our time there. We had fun in a few little shops, and had a lovely lunch of homemade sandwiches, chips, and a fabulous hot boozed coffee.

We didn't get the same thing, but I don't remember what we did have. All was delicious. We wanted a break from fish n chips, and wanted something a bit lighter; as we were to have a group dinner at our hotel this night. The other highlight of this lunch stop was a very sweet young man who waited on us. He was early teens, maybe 13-14 and was just such a gentlemen that we stopped to tell the owner what a wonderful job he was doing and how much we enjoyed his service. It's one of the few places we left a sizeable tip.

Gretna Green wasn't much more than a potty stop, though there was a little shopping village here, and snacky food that we didn't need or buy, though some in our group were hungry again. We're now official at the Scottish Boarder.

Our lodgings for the next 3 nights The Leonardo Royal Edinburgh Haymarket. This isn't my photo, but the one from their website. It's a shame we spent 3 nights here, because it was quite worn down, not very clean. With a name like royal, you would expect more for sure. We were physical close to The Royal Mile, but not in what seemed a very nice area. Having been to Edinburgh before where we were able to walk from The Castle to the Hotel. Which you could here as well; but we were on the other side of the Castle this time and the area just wasn't as nice.

Since these are photo's from their webpage things look far nicer than they were. Maybe once upon a time it looked like this. We did not have nice tartans and decorative pillows on our beds.

Their specials, which did not appeal to us; but thought I'd share.

Day 6, Conwy, Northern Wales Continued

2023-10-28T13:19:00.003-04:00

A great view (stock photo), of the harbour walking area with The Conwy Castle looming over the city. Conwy is an historic fishing village built by Edward I in 1283, in Northern Wales.

It's still very much a fishing village/ a port city.

While we didn't have time to tour the actual castle we did walk about and get a feel for the little fishing village.

A good use of the old phone booths!

There was a little amusement area for the wee ones.

I'm not sure if this was a particular festival on the day we toured, or if the amusement area is always there.

We opted not to que up to enter the smallest house in Great Britain, so we could use our time to walk around and see more of the village. The red house sandwiched between the white cottage and gate area of the walled city was built to fill in the space back in the day. People did live in this 6 x 10 (72 inches wide by 122 inches tall) at one time. It was built back in the 1800's and used by fishermen who lived and worked on the harbour.

The name of the house, Cymraeg is listed here with hours of operation.

This is a short video I found on line by a travel blogger, it's short; but worth the time so you can see the inside of the wee house. A man named Robert Jones bought the house for 20 pounds back in 1891, and he rented it to a man also named Robert Johnson, who was not a small man, but was 6'3". Eventually he was evicted by the city council in the 1900's and the residence was deemed unsuitable for human habitation at that time. His Great-Great Granddaughter, Jan Tyley ownes and operates the house to this day as a tourist attraction.

Video Here (then scroll down for the video)

You can see how narrow the streets were as we explored.

Though we didn't tour the castle, it was ever present as we made our way among the shops in the historic area. And then we headed back to the coach to make our way back to Chester for another walking tour.

Beautiful black and white buildings again in the center area of Chester.

Looking down one of the mediaeval streets you see the Eastgate Clock. The Eastgate to the walled city was built by the Normans.

A close up of the clock which was installed at the Eastgate, City Center, in 1899 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. She was at that time, the longest serving monarch.

Chester Cathedral was built between the 10th and 16th century with the earliest parts dating back to 1093, Benedictine. In 1541 the old abbey became The Church of England when King Henry the VIII, separated from the Roman Catholic Church.

We were able to listen to the choir for a short period of time. Then headed back to our hotel in Chester, The Double Tree for our 2nd night there. Tomorrow bags out at 7 am as we head to Scotland.

Day 6 of 14 North Wales/Chester (part I)

2023-10-22T15:09:00.005-04:00

Day 6 Itinerary reads: Drive through the countryside of North Wales as your journey to Conwy, a medieval town dominated by a huge castle. Enjoy a walking tour around the picturesque streets and see the smallest house in Britain, followed by free time for lunch on your own. In Chester, take another walking tour to see medieval buildings and Roman Walls.

Our first stop to use the facilities....notice the machine to pay to use the toilet. You could actually use your credit card, which was helpful as most of us had no coin.

Not sure what people might have used the sinks for that made them put up the sign, but I wondered.

And an interesting place to place tourist information, lol. That's me in the reflection as I was taking the photo.

A pretty stream along side buildings. If you click to enlarge, I think you can see how closely the buildings were to the water's edge.

A very pretty little town/village with bridges and walk ways to explore. along the River Dee.

You know you're in Wales, when you attempt to pronounce the name of village Llangollen. The area is quite pretty, and hilly. Seems to be an area where nature provides the entertainment by way of rafting, kayaking, fishing, climbing, biking etc. There are canal paths to explore (though we didn't see those when we were there), and historic ruins (which we also didn't see when there).

A very old building used currently as a day care, was previously a church. But, look at all the interesting details in this old building.

There is a history trail with ruins, but as I mentioned above; we did not see that on our visit. This picture is from a visit the area webpage that I knabbed. Wish we had been able to see this while there. Our visit there was brief, passing through as we hoped back on the coach to continue our travels.

Beautiful country side with threatening clouds; but I think you get a feel for how rugged the country side was, and how hilly.

We stopped for a photo opt along the side of the road amid lots of sheep, though only 2 are in the picture they pretty much covered the hillside.

My friend, Jane got the photo of the day. She was able to get pretty close to these very special, 2 headed sheep! You gotta click to enlarge this picture folks, really...no really you do. LOL She couldn't have placed the two sheep any better if she tried to get this fun photo.

We made another brief stop at St. Margaret's. (The Church of Wales).

Aside from being a beautiful church with an interesting grave yard attached, it has a deep connection with World War I, and Canadian solders.

The church is known as the "Marble Church". We were unable to go inside, but pictures of the church look breathtaking. Nearby in Kinmel Park Army Camp thousands of Canadian soldiers awaited ships to take them home to Canada after the close of the World War. Food shortages were a problem, soldiers were unhappy. The influenza took the lives of 86 of their comrades between Nov of 1918 and March of 1919. The soldiers had had enough and rioted. How horrible to live through the war and then die of influenza and be buried here so far from home. Additionally 4 who died in the riot are buried here. There was an investigation that the army officers didn't do what they should to take care of their men, and to put a stop to the riot.

**I'll pause here due to the number of pictures from that day and pick up Day 6 part II in the next post. Please come back.

Day 5 of 14, Hay-onWye, Shrewsbury, Touring the UK

2023-10-14T11:04:00.003-04:00

Thought it was time to bring back the map, it's helpful to see where we are and where we're heading on this 14 Tour of The UK.

Todays Itinerary reads as follows: travel through the Brecon Beacons National Park to Hay-on-Wye, a town famous for it's bookshops. Continue to Shrewsbury, a picturesque town near the English/Welsh border. Take a walking tour with the town crier to see black and white buildings that line the narrow streets. Travel through Cheshire to your hotel in Chester.

Just outside the carpark is this cute map showing this historic little village of Hay-on-Way.

You can see how narrow the roads are in this little village, with shops lining the street. Lots of books shops, and charity shops. Unlike the US where you can donate to a charity, The UK has lots of second hand shops where the proceeds are directed to a specific charity. We noted the second hand clothes seemed more expensive than our resale shops back in the states.

On a hill overlooking the village is Hay Castle

At the base of the Castle is a monument with plaques honoring the towns dead in various wars.

Notice the book store across the street. With the bright sunny day, it was hard to photograph the plaques to read the names of those being remembered.

On the stone wall is a plaque with the history of the castle. You can see how old it is, how many times it's been destroyed and rebuilt.

As you climb the hill to enter the grounds of the castle you pass through this impressive very large and very thick door. This 13th century gateway is the oldest working defensive door in situ in the UK. It was restored in 2019 using locally sourced oak to replace some missing wood. 150 new nails were forged re-using medieval wrought iron! Truly impressive.

This very tall man, is Martin, our town crier in Shrewsbury. The woman to his right was taller than me. I'm 5'5, she was probably about 5'8'. Martin was well over 6 feet, closer to 7 ft.

The Black and Whites.

Notice the curved wood in areas? We were told you can tell if the building was built by a local carpenter by looking for curved vs straight boards. The curved wood indicates the building was built in forest after trees were felled then disassembled and brought to town and reconstructed by a local carpenter vs buildings with straight wood where logs were cut elsewhere and brought to town to build.

An old clock tower.

Beautiful stained glass window.

When we had our group dinners, we got a bit of selection like this while on the coach to select our meal for the evening. I'm the * and my friend has her choice underlined. One of the negatives of this tour company CIE was that all group dinners were in the hotel. I think most of us know hotels are generally known for having the best cuisine. In other tours I've taken, you generally leave the hotel and go to a nice restaurant, in order to see and experience a little more of the culture of the area. Between Jane and I, we've toured with 4 other companies. So this is one of the reasons I would not recommend this tour company and won't be using them again.

Our dining area with a view of the pretty outside gardens. The Doubletree was a spa and convention area, so it was quite large. We didn't have any time to even see, let alone use any of the spa facilities.

Our room for the next 2 nights.

The last 3 photo's are from The Doubletree's website. There was a large outside area that was quite pretty; but we didn't get to take advantage of it, partially due to our schedule and when we arrived it was raining.

**I hope this picture heavy post works out ok, I decided not to separate the day into part I and part II.

Day 4 Continued, Cardiff Castle

2023-10-08T15:57:00.006-04:00

This is a cut and paste of the itinerary: Our Itinerary reads: Explore Bath, a city of elegant Georgian buildings in a distinctive golden stone. Tour the wonderfully preserved Roman Baths. Head to Cardiff, where you'll take a sightseeing tour of the city before touring Cardiff Castle, a medieval castle fabulously renovated in Victorian Gothic style. Dine in your hotel this evening. So, we are inside Cardiff Castle.

The ceilings were gorgeous.

One of the walls in the nursery.

Cardiff Castle is one of Wales leading heritage attractions. From the Roman occupation, to the Norman Conquest, through Civil War, The Victorian transformation and the terrors of WWII, there are 2,000 years of history in the castle right in the heart of the city.

Picture after picture. There's so much to see on every wall, on every ceiling you hardly can take it all in.

Murals and symbols throughout the castle.

Even the rooftop area was gorgeous.

The Bute family left their mark transforming the house into the opulent Victorian Gothic Home it is today.

After departing Cardiff Castle, we headed Mercure Hotel, were we lodged just for 1 night.

Once again we were super rushed to check in, get out luggage and change for dinner, so no time to take our own pictures of the hotel, so these are from the hotel's webpage.

In the morning we'll head north from Cardiff.

Day 4 of Fourteen, Touring The UK,( Bath, Cardiff)

2023-09-28T06:00:00.002-04:00

Moving Day, so bags out at 7, breakfast at 7 and be on the coach at 8. We head northeast from Tavistock.

Our Itinerary reads: Explore Bath, a city of elegant Georgian buildings in a distinctive golden stone. Tour the wonderfully preserved Roman Baths. Head to Cardiff, where you'll take a sightseeing tour of the city before touring Cardiff Castle, a medieval castle fabulously renovated in Victorian Gothis style. Dine in your hotel this evening.

Beautiful buildings like this everywhere with gorgeous flower boxes and or planters in front. These two ladies (cousins), were part of our group. Their luggage didn't make it to London, so they did lots of scrambling until their luggage was found and caught up with them.

The buildings were golden.

We noted beautiful walkways, as we took a walking tour in Bath.

Sally Lunn's, the oldest house in Bath, built 1482. Sally lived there in 1680. It's a Tea and Eating House.

We're about to enter the Roman Baths. Gorgeous, look at the size and details of the structure.

You walk above the level of the baths and get a great view of the baths and some of the city. You walk on the same level as the baths and stop at various listening stations to learn more by using your voice box as part of your entrance fee.

You continue walking below the level of the baths where lots of artifacts are stored. Much has been excavated and studied. They've even found mounds of money. It's dark on this lower level so pictures are a bit of a challenge. AND, it's rather crowded as people continue to listen and stop at various stations. You could spend hours if you stopped at every station and listened to the entire recording. We were a bit hemmed in by our time table to grab lunch if wanted and be back at the coach at the appointed time, so we cut this area a bit short and headed to the gift shop.

We headed to Cardiff, the capital of Wales for a walking tour of the city. This is Aneurin Bevan 1897-1960. He's Welsh, and was The Minister of Health. He spearheaded the British National Health Service. During World War II, a need to care for lots of injured and sick people had to be set up. Thus this monument to him.

Making our way through the city to Cardiff Castle. This is the walled area.

Inside the walled area, the beautiful clock tower in the distance.

The Keep way up on a hill. A fortification built on top a Roman ruin.

Some of stone wall with the Dragon, the symbol of Wales.

Lots of history here, Romans, Normans, William The Conqueror, and even World War II are part of the history. The tunnels under the castle were used as air raid shelters capable of housing 1800 people. A system of ramps were used in order for people to get safely inside these thick walls when the air raid sirens went off. It's fairly dark inside the tunnel, but you can benches, and bunkbeds.

A soup kitchen

The tunnel got lighter as we got closer to the end. It was rather eerie in the tunnel. You hear a siren and a radio announcement talking about the war, sometimes it gives details of a battle. Gave me chills head to toe.

There are 17 pictures here and we're not inside the castle yet; so I'll stop at this point here and do part II for the inside of the castle. It's really something.

Day 3, Part II, Touring the UK, St. Ives

2023-09-23T10:46:00.007-04:00

Thought I would repost the picture of the map, so you can see where we are in our trip. We're over nighting in Tavistock for 2 nights. You can see St. Michael's Mount on the map that was part of the previous post for Day 3.

This was our Itinerary for Day 3: The plan for the day, be on the coach at 8 am, stop around 9:15 at the Jamica Inn, move onto Marazion for a picture stop of St. Michael's Mount, move onto St. Ives and have lunch; and be back at the hotel around 5. Our tour director generally had this posted somewhere the evening before so we could plan a bit, but sometimes he didn't put it out until we were at breakfast, and sometimes he only had a copy on the bus...which wasn't as helpful.

So Day 3, Part II. We proceeded from our photo op of St. Michael's Mount to the old fishing town of St. Ives, which isn't on the map, but is in Cornwall on the coast of The Celtic Sea. Historically it was a seaport and fishing town. It's turned into a hot spot for vacationers. It boasts art galleries, good food, high-end accommodations, and is suppose to be the place to be.

My friend, Jane and I were not impressed and felt it was overly crowded, dirty and really nothing specific to see. I suppose if you were staying there and wanted to go boating, or fishing, or simply laying on the crowded beach in the sun; you might enjoy it.

We waited a long time to get a table for the standard fish n chips at one of the first restaurants we came to that didn't look as busy or crowded as others.

The food was good, and we had a seat by the open area so could do lots of people watching and see the water.

Lunch took so long, we had very little time left so only window shopped as we made our way back to the car park to meet up with our fellow travelers.

On the uphill trek to the carpark we spotted this lovely Celtic Cross Memorial.

As you can see, it's to honor the men from St. Ives who fought in both World War I and World War II.

You get a feel for the narrow streets, and types of buildings in a rather hilly town as we were driving out of Cornwall making our way back to The Bedford Hotel in Tavistock.

This would be our 2nd night in this old castle looking old hotel. We were pleased to see they had fixed the electrical problem and we had lights and were able to charge our phones. The evening was our own, no group dinner this night. We took some time to get things in order so that we could have our luggage out at 7 am the next morning before departing Tavistock. We walked across the street to a courtyard area and had wood fired pizza and a glass of wine for dinner at Church Lane Pizza. Once back in the hotel, we headed to the bar to order a nightcap to take to the room. We ordered Manhattan's, but they didn't know how to make them. However, the young gal was willing to make it per my directions. It was quite tasty.

Day 3 Touring The UK, Bodmin Moor, Jamaica Inn, St. Michael's Mount (Part I)

2023-09-18T09:50:00.008-04:00

The plan for the day, be on the coach at 8 am, stop around 9:15 at the Jamica Inn, move onto Marazion for a picture stop of St. Michael's Mount, move onto St. Ives and have lunch; and be back at the hotel around 5. Our tour director generally had this posted somewhere the evening before so we could plan a bit, but sometimes he didn't put it out until we were at breakfast, and sometimes he only had a copy on the bus...which wasn't as helpful.

Our itinerary had a bit more info: Travel through the unspoiled beauty of Bodmin Moor: stop for photo's at Jamaica Inn, built in 1750 and immortalized in Daphne du Maurier's tale of daring smugglers. Visit the coastal village of Marazion to see the romantic outline of St. Michael's Mount, an island topped by a spectacular castle. In the old fishing town of St. Ives, take a walking tour to see it's cobbled streets, quaint cottages, art galleries, and surrounding sandy beaches. Enjoy time to explore before returning to a free evening in Tavistock.

This was the view from our hotel window,(The Bedford Hotel) you can see how old the buildings are, and how foggy it was off in the distance. We were staying in Tavistock. Our hotel was without air conditioning, which is not uncommon in Europe. It was also without an elevator, also not uncommon in Europe. Both of those conditions caused several in our group some issues. In my previous post I mentioned we were without electric our first night there and showed a picture of the hotel.

Our first stop was the Jamaica Inn. You can see it was indeed old (built in 1750). The beauty of Bodmin Moor that we were to enjoy on the way was a bust due to the fog and rain off and on.

The Inn had several rooms, folks looked around and some got a coffee, others of us made a bathroom stop and looked around in the gift shop.

Joss was the inkeeper, and the leader of a gang of smugglers who worked the Cornish Coastline. The author Daphne du Maurier actually stayed at the inn and used it as her inspiration when she wrote the novel, Jamaica Inn in 1936. Alfred Hitchcock directed a film staring Maureen O'Hara, a period piece set in the 1815 time frame. There was also a TV series staring Jane Seymour in 1983. Apparently the TV series followed the novel more closely. All I can find is Joss Merlyn was stabbed and found by his niece Mary.

I peered out at our coach before pulling up my hood on my rain coat, as it was raining a bit. Another cute red phone box.

Before getting back on the coach, I wanted at least one picture of Bodmin Moor; but as you can see with the fog, our views were limited.

Not sure I would describe the view of St. Michael's Mount as "romantic". But maybe if we could have seen the Castle on top?

From their webpage: what we weren't able to see. This photo was taken during low tide, when you can walk to the island. There are things to explore, places to shop and eat. You need a ticket to tour the castle.

A view at night of the castle lighted. You can get tickets for boat rides during the day or evening to get to the island during high tide. The St. Aubyn Family gave the land to the National Trust in 1954, thought they have a 999 year lease to stay and live in the Castle and maintain the visitors business. Our stop was about 15 minutes, long enough to attempt pictures and a few found time to use the restroom facilities. People were quickly back on the coach due to the rain.

I'm breaking this day up for 2 posts, due to the number of pictures. Please pop back in .

Day 2, Stonehenge and Salisbury

2023-09-09T16:16:00.004-04:00

The plan posted for us the evening before. Our itinerary reads as follows:

Marvel at the prehistoric circle of vast monoliths of Stonehenge and learn about the primitive builders who managed to create such an enduring monument. Stop in Salisbury, a charming old city where the cathedral boats the tallest spire in England. Arrive in Tavistock, a market town on the edge of Dartmoor National Park.

Our stop was a quick one. For one it was raining, not everyone even opted to hope off the coach. But, my friend Jane and I donned our ball caps and rain coats and walked around the circumference of the circle. We lucked out in that we were there before other tour groups so it wasn't crowded. My understanding is it's often quite crowded and hard to get a picture. You no longer get to walk right up to or among the stones, but it's still quite impressive to see.

If you click the picture to enlarge it, you should be able to see some people on the left hand side of the picture. This should give you some perspective as to the size. This is an UNESCO site, one of the first in England. It's a powerful witness to the people in the Neolithic and Bronze ages. The building of this site began 5,000 years ago, but why it was built is unknown. What it was used for is also unknown. Some of the stones (as they are not all the same type of stone), came from the south of Wales. How would simple people without modern day tools get stones this large and heavy from one place to another? It will continue to be studied, and perhaps in years to come more will be learned.

Again, look at the size. This is stone laying down tethered to a sled of sorts
See the people on the left.

Examples of grass huts can be toured behind the circle. You get a feel for what a village would have looked like.

A launderette outside a rest stop. Rest stops in Europe are nothing like rest stops here in the US. The ones we saw in England had gas, public toilets and a large facility with 2 coffee shops, some fast food options, and grocery items; as well as gift items to purchase. The launderette is a combined washer and dryer. We watched a man put his laundry in, add the money and then went inside to eat and shower possibly. The soap is also already in the machine. As you can see you select which size load you have.

The Salisbury Cathedral, the tallest spire in England at 123 meters, a little over 400 feet!! As you can see some work is being done. No doubt that's a perpetual situation given the age of the cathedral. The building began in 1220, and took 38 years to build. It houses The Magna Carte among other artifacts. Half a million visitors tour the cathedral annually.

A few of the many gorgeous stained windows.

This is an embroidered copy of the Magna Carte. We did see the original, but you are not permitted to photograph it. It's kept in a tent to keep light off it and only 3 people are permitted in the tent at one time with a docent controlling the entrance and exit of the tent.

Remember to click to enlarge so you can read the explanation.

A very detailed model of the cathedral.

A hot Cappauccino and shot of whiskey (can't remember what we had), was just what the doctor ordered. Was a pretty cool, damp day and we needed a pick me up as we were walking around the town a bit.

In the pub where we enjoyed our whiskey and Cappuccino. Forgot to make a note about the name of the pub, it was quite old. Might have been named Ye Olde Pub or something like that.

Not a photo I took, but one from their website. It looked like a castle, and was quite old. Many older hotels in Europe do not have AC or elevators. This hotel fell into that category. We ran into trouble on night one there, as we were without electric. 3 different staff members came up to our 3rd floor room to see if they could fix it. Something to do with the breakers. Each plug had their own. We lucked out in that one light did work, so we weren't in the dark; but were unable to charge our phones. They didn't have a room they could move us too, as they were full. They did get it fixed for us the next day. A rather charming hotel with a warm and very nice staff.

Day One, The Tour Begins, Windsor

2023-09-01T10:13:00.002-04:00

We had a refreshing Aperol Spritz and enjoyed the nice weather.

Our itinerary summed up Day one like this:

Your tour departs at 2 pm from your Windsor Hotel. Venture to see the splendors of Windsor Castle, a residence of the King, and the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world. Then take a walking tour arouind the medieval town of Windsor with a local guide. Enjoy a welcome drink with your group, and dine and explore as you wish this evening. Our welcome drink was scheduled for 6 pm.

Walk this way. There are no inside photo's permitted, but it was awesome to see it. Wish I could share with you; but it's a BIG no no. There are security checks as you enter so travel light and leave backpacks in the hotel or in our case the tour coach..

Trying to snap photo's as we walked with our guide wasn't super easy. You have to keep up.

Queen Victoria on High Street as you make your way to the entrance. As you can see lots of rehab work is going on. The tour guide said it's perpetual. The bronze statue was to commemorate her Golden Jubilee (50th year). At that time, she was the longest serving Monarch.

The State Entrance. Just outside this gate was wear The Queen was often seen with her dogs, and or riding her horse. She was quite popular and friendly according to our tour guide who saw her multiple times.

Turning the opposite direction from The State Entrance puts you in line with The Long Walk. A beautiful place to walk, run etc. It's 2.64 miles to the end where a horse statue resides on Snow Hill. This was created during the reign of Charles II.

Our local guide pointing out items of interest. Note the restaurant behind her, The Prince Harry. After our tour and welcome drink, we attempted to go there for dinner. They were not busy, but the wait staff and bartender just looked at us and walked away. We waited a few minutes more and then walked out. Guess they didn't want our business. We did note pictures of Harry and Meghan on the walls.

Tried my best to get a picture without people, but as you can see, wasn't quite successful. Windsor is full of tourists. The shambles built in 1718. Look how crocked it is. Remember you can click on any picture to see things larger.

While this old plaque isn't readable. It marks the location of Nell Gwynn's residence, and now tea room.

And Chinese Restaurant. The date on the building is 1648. She was a stage actress and one of King Charles's mistresses.

You'll recall dinner was not included, which is very weird. I've never done a tour that didn't have a welcome dinner. It gives the group a chance to get to know each other, and many people have just arrived that day and are tired. To have to search out somewhere to eat isn't a particularly good way to start the tour. So after our welcome drink, and a foiled attempt to eat at the pub right across the street from our hotel, The Prince Harry; we ended up at Meejana, 1 Church Lane in a very cute Lebanese restaurant. My dish was an eggplant something and was delicious. Don't remember what Jane had, but she was very pleased with it. **edited to add my friend remembered what I had, it was Mousakaa.

See what a cute little super clean place it was. Would highly recommend it. We were seated at an open window area, and they had outside eating as well.

Marching orders. Most days we had something like this posted to indicate what was next. So breakfast at 7am, luggage out by your door by 7 am, be on the coach at 8 am for departure. Dinner tomorrow at 6:30 in our hotel, our first group dinner.

ARRIVAL DAY WINDSOR, Thames River Cruise

2023-08-27T14:15:00.004-04:00

We arrived at Castle Hotel Windsor too early to check in, but they held our luggage for us and when the appropriate time came would deliver our luggage to our room. This is not a picture I took, but one from their website. Our room was not in this section of the building, but in a building behind it. The 2nd building is a much newer portion. We spent 2 nights here.

Just out the door were lots of shops, and yes...Windsor Castle is right there!

We stopped for a drink to pass some time, right across the street from The Thames River.

A nice outside patio with views of The River.

We had booked a 2 hour river cruise which was very relaxing after our over night flight and gave us a view of the castle. We scheduled with French Brothers . We had rain off and on, but still found the cruise enjoyable. We went through Boveney Lock. I understood the basic concept of going through a dock when water levels changed; but have never done it and found it very interesting. We had views of Eton College as well as the castle.

The ship was pretty basic with plastic chairs.

Walking alone the Thames after our cruise also proved to be enjoyable. You see lots of house boats.

The first of many Fish N Chips meals. This was excellent. Followed by a nice Irish Coffee

In a very nice outside patio right on the River.

Windsor is an easy place to get around with lots to see, places to eat and shop.

Back in our hotel to relax for the night we enjoyed Crown Royal Black. Our "offical tour" was scheduled to start the following day at 2 pm.

The UK in Fourteen Days

2023-08-23T14:10:00.003-04:00

I am recently back from a 14 day 13 night tour of The UK with CIE Tour Company. CIE Tour Company has it's office in Cedarknolls, NJ and has been in business for 90 years. I've taken tours before with Insight Vacations and would rate their tours (Ireland and Scotland, and Italy) over CIE. The accommodations and meals were substandard, IMHO. I did a review of the tour on yelp, and wish I had seen the reviews before booking. There are 22 reviews counting mine and the average rating is only a 2.5 out of 5. There were 7 people who gave the company a rating of 5, and 10 people who gave it a rating of 1. My rating was a 2. Interestingly CIE's webpage indicates they have a 95% satisfaction rate which seems not to match the reviews on yelp.

My friend and I choose this tour, as it's one of a few that included Wales. We choose the month of August in order to attend the Military Tattoo in Edinburgh. We covered a lot of miles as you can see. One of the pluses of the tour was only having a single night once, and the bulk of the time spending two consecutive nights in the same lodging.

The tour started in Windsor, which I really enjoyed. The tour ended in London.

We added an extra night at the front of the tour to give us time to adjust a bit to the 5 hour difference, and to give us a buffer should there be any problems with flights etc. You really just never know. Travel nowadays can present some difficulties.

Here I am with my Prosecco on board Delta in business class.

AND my friend, Jane. The flight was very nice, with excellent meal service and we managed to get a few hours sleep once the meal service was over and we were able to lay our seats flat.

Shirks Candies, Sansotta's Italian Restaurant, Cardinals (Marion Road Trip part II)

2023-05-21T10:39:00.006-04:00

Shirks Candies! Home made candy since 1932. Located at 1235 South Prospect Street, Marion Ohio. Closed on Sunday and Monday, opened 10 am til 5:30 pm Tuesday through Friday, and 9:30 am til 4 pm on Sat. A must when you visit Marion. You can order on line through their website. They have a facebook page as well.

Lots of variety, you won't leave dissapointed.

An area showing family members, news articles with some history of the family. Elwood "Bert" Shirk purchased The Carmel Crisp Shop which was in downtown Marion back in 1932. He made his Carmel Corn often as the theaters were letting out. The aroma tempting the movie goers to purchase. In 1940 he owned a sandwich shop were he also sold his goodies. In 1965 his son Dick and wife Joan took over the business and grew it. In 1999 their son Rick took over the business.

Me with my bag of goodies on the way out of the store.

My purchases: Cashews, Turtles, Peanut Butter Cups, and dark chocolate and sea salt covered carmel. All were fantastic.

Another family owned buisness to visit is Sansotta's located at 1292 Delaware Avenue, Marion Ohio. Hours are 10:45 am til 8 pm Monday through Sat, and 10:45 am til 5pm on Sunday. It's a small non frills restaurant with good homemade food. Pasta Bowls, Salads, Sandwiches, and daily specials. All very resonably priced.

Small amount of tables, but it appeared they do a large carryout business when we were there for lunch.

You order at the counter and seat yourself.

Hubby and I had 2 Torpedoes a piece. I had ham and cheese (pictured above) and he had meatball Torpedoes.

You can walk or ride around downtown Marion and see beautifully painted Cardinals. There are 17 to find. Ohio was the 17th state in the Union, and the Cardinal is the state bird. Each bird is painted by local artists and represents history. The plaques on the bottom tell you who the artists were, which businesses sponsored the Cardinal.

Look at the details, so pretty.

This one reprents the histoic Palace Theater.

The historic Palace Theater built in 1928 has served Marion for many years from Vaudeville and Silent Films to todays concerts and other activities.

The Beautiful Palace is also available for weedings and other special events.

President Warren G. Harding, Memorial, Home, and Library (Ohio Road Trip, Marion, Ohio...part I)

2023-05-14T13:37:00.000-04:00

President Warren G. Harding

Born Nov 2, 1865 Blooming Grove, Ohio
Moved to Caledonia, Ohio
Moved to Marion, Ohio
Attended Village Schools
Purchased the bankrupt Marion Star newspaper with 2 friends when 19 yrs old.
Owened the paper he turned around for 40 years after buying out his friends.
Married Divorced Florence Kling DeWolfe July 8th 1891
Became involved in politics is 1900
Served 2 terms in the Ohio Senate
Serveds at Lt. Governor of Ohio
Served in The US Senate in 1914
Won the ballot to be the Republican Presidential Candiate at the 1920 convention with Calvin Coolidge as his running mate, ran against Ohio's Democratic Governor, James Cox and FDR
Served as President for 29 months, died in San Francisco from a heart attack
600,000 people came to hear him speak in his front porch campaign, which was ONLY 3 months long.
Transistioned the country from WWI to peacetime
Created The Veterans Bureau
Created The Bureau of Budget, and was the first President to present a budge to congress

These 12 plagues are loaded with information about the President and is wife Florence, above are just a few of the highlights in bullet points. (I've cropped and posted each plaque separately in order so that you can read them, remember to click to enlarge the pictures to aid your efforts.)

These plagues are posted in order as you walk the circle to read them...and yes, they had raindrops on them while we were there. The plagues are centered in the walk way down the steps from the beautiful momument.

I actually forgot to get a picture of momument while there, so this is a copy from their website.(on a non raining day, lol)

The inside of round momument. Notice the tree to the right of the gravestones. President Harding wanted to be buried under an open sky...thus the non inclosed memorial, and next to a tree. When I was a child living there in Marion, there was a much larger tree that stood inside the memorial for many years. However, it was hit by lightening and removed and replaced.

A close up of the stones. The Memorial is located at 898 Delaware Avenue, Marion, Ohio. There are two parking areas, and admission is free to the public.

Continuing on around the 2nd half of circle of plagues.

These words are from his March 4th, 1921 Inaugural speech, and quite interesting. In case you can't read them from the plaque (though remember you can click any picture to enlarge):

Trump was obviously NOT the first to say American first, and Kennedy perhaps borrowed some sentiment from Hardings speech?

"In the great fulfillment, we must have a citizenship less concerned about what the government can do for it, and more anxious about what it can do for the nation."

President Harding's Home is located at 380 Delaware Avenue and is opened for tours from 9 am til 5pm, most days. Tours start at 10:00 am and are on the top of each hour. Tours are limited to 10 people at a time, tickets are required. Our senior rate would have been 15.00 each, but due to our membership in The Ohio History Connection (previousl known as Ohio Historical Society), our admission was free. This is a map of the grounds showing the Press House, Christian Home, and The Harding House.

The Christian Home

The side of the Harding Home, showing the porch which is the front of the house. I wasn't able to get a front view as traffic on the road was too heavy to get across the street to do so. Picture are NOT permitted inside, as most of furnishings are originals.

The Presidential Library and museum is located at 355 E. Church Street, this property is right behind the Home, and is where you check in and park. Entrance to the library and museum is included with your ticket and well worth the time. There is also a gift shop inside. This is their picture from the website, another photo I forgot to snap.

The state of Ohio ones and operates the Memorial, Home and Library. The state has owned The Memorial and Home since 1978, and the library was built in 2021.

**This is a bit long, but there was so much to see. Stayed tuned, there will be additional posts from my Road Trip to Marion to follow.

France, The Tour That Wasn't, Part II

2022-10-07T15:18:00.003-04:00

To recap, if you missed my previous post...We were suppose to be on a tour in France when Covid struck. So while we were in France, NOT on our tour we were in isolation in our hotel room and this was our standard fare. Room service with wonderful baquets, french cheeses and meats with wine of course.

Once back in Paris (in order to fly out after isolation), we lucked out...finally something went our way. Our Marriott was at the airport, but right next to the airport was Roissy-en-France. A commune in the NE subburd of Paris with a population of 2,883. Part of the Charles De Gaulle Airport (formerly known as Roissy Airport), is on property that was part of the commune. This little historic village was within walking distance to the Airport Marriott.

Through out the village, you see historic pictures next to buildings showing you what it looked like back then. This is The Church Eglise Saint - Eloi. Then and now.

At least we were able to get outside and go for a walk staying well away from people and masked. (Though I took my mask off for the picture, you can see me holding it). Cobblestone walk ways, cute little houses with painted shutters, and a fair number of cafe's dotted this little commune.

As we made our way back to our hotel it was getting dusk out and all the lights in the village were coming on.

If you're on your way to or from other sights in France, do yourself a favor and stay a night at the Airport Marriott so you can spend an evening in this historic quaint little village. Unlike us though, stop and eat in one of the cafe's, they all looked so inviting, and presumable you won't be isolating due to Covid.

PLEASE leave me a comment when you come visit, so I know you were here. Your visits and comments are very special to me. AND remember, leave your name and url and not your google+ profile link or your blogger profile link. Name and url takes me right to your blog post so I can reciprocate the visit. Profile pages do not.

France, The Tour That Wasn't

2022-10-01T15:30:00.004-04:00

A round about just half a block away from our hotel, Novotel Chateau de Versailles. We didn't make it across the street to read the inscription to know what the momument is. But it was quite large and intresting. We took a quick snap with our phones in between car traffic.

One view of Versailles. On day one of our arrival to Versailles after a 45 minute car ride from the airport (Charles De Gaulle) in Paris, we went walking just to explore. Versaille was just a couple of blocks from our hotel. We arrived just as they were locking the gate as the inside tours were done for the day. We were ok with that as we would be touring this with the tour group later. We arrived a day earlier than the tour to have extra time to adjust, and recoup after the long flight. So we were able to see the outside. Even in this one picture, you can tell how large and grande it is, and that rehad is in process. After all, it was re-built by King Louis XIII, back in 1631...or at least that's when he started with his grand plan.

We continued to walk around and explore looking for a little cafe for an early dinner. The little patio area where the green awning is attracted us. We had a couple of glasses of wine and a lovely light dinner as we enjoyed the good weather. We chatted about what we would do the next day before meeting up with the tour director and the group. We planned an early dinner, walk back to the hotel and have a nightcap at the hotel bar before calling it a night.

Covid had other plans for us! Had we met up with the tour group the next day we would have had wine and gotten to know the group and director, and then headed to our first savory French dinner. The following day we would tour the private apartments of King Louis XIV, The Sun King. We would have seen the Hall of Mirrors and opulent bedchamber of the queen. That evening we would have viewed the Royal Gardens of Versailles with a twilight promenade and enjoyed the Baroque fountains.

As the tour group continued on their merry way, we spent 5 days of isolation in a hotel room, scrambling to make alternative flight arrangements to return home once the isolation period was over.

The tour was through Collette, a 12 day tour, "France Magnifique" using Marriott Vacation Club Points. We added a day in front of the tour and 2 days after. Now we wait to hear back from the travel insurance folks in hopes of getting our money back. I might add this tour was apparently doomed from the start, as it had been scheduled 5 different times thanks to Covid.

Appomattox, The Battle, The Village, The Surrender

2022-09-16T12:41:00.005-04:00

There are many momento's, older photo's and signs filled with wonderful informtion about Appomattox. A very historic time for our country. A long battle, Robert E. Lee's surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9th, 1865 at The McLean House.

This post may be a bit photo heavy, but I hope you'll enjoy the photo's.

Please click on the pictures to read the details.

These printing presses printed parole passes for all the Confederates to allow them safe passage home. These passes also entitled them to free passage on any Federally owned Railroad or steamship to help them return home quicker and safer. Additionally it allowed them to draw rations from The Federal Government they had broken from and fought. Grant was extremely leniant with the enemy. The passes were printed and hung on the line to dry and distributed.

There were 700 total casualities for both sides. There were 27,805 paroled Confederates the day Lee surrendered; but while this surrender took place on April 9th, 1865; it was NOT the end of the fighting. Surrenders continued into the month of May from other Confederates.