Copenhagen, Denmark

Well, we're off to Copenhagen.
After two nights in London and two nights in Dover, we were all anxious to get on the ship and set sail for Copenhagen.  When we boarded and got to our cabins, there was a lovely surprise waiting for each of us........champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries......YUMMY!!!!!

This was a treat from our travel consultant (aka--the 'world's best travel agent')----thanks Vera :o)

 

Our cabins were on the same floor, so after we all unpacked, we popped into each others cabin to see the view from everyone's balcony.  We then showered for our late dining reservation, at 8:15 pm.  

Dinner was absolutely delicious and we all agreed that the late dining option would work well for the entire 12 nights of the cruise.  

We thought we'd kick it off with a toast .........."To a great cruise"!

We didn't have a real late night as we had been having pretty full schedules since we arrived in England.  As well, we didn't want to miss a thing and we were docking in Copenhagen at 8:00 am the next morning.  We all went back to our respective cabins by about 11:00 pm, and  hubby and I were fast asleep long before midnight.

The sights of Copenhagen did not disappoint us.

Mermaids are of great significance in Copenhagen.....

 This statue of The Little Mermaid had literally hundreds of people taking photographs as we walked by.

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Some of the areas were like we had stepped back in time.  The cobblestone streets were so inviting---I just wanted to walk to the end of every street and see everything.  I was totally mesmerized.

  I loved the colors of the houses along the canals....

It was just so amazing to visit this beautiful city and see how they live.  It was very welcoming, clean and certainly a place I think I could go back to for a much longer visit.  I hope you enjoyed the few photos of Copenhagen that I have posted here.  I have so many, but it is very hard to chose just a few to depict the beauty of the city as I saw it.

Cheers

:o)

Blackcurrants from my garden

It's been a busy week or so since our return from vacation.  The  berry bushes are full and the berries are ripe!  I took some time yesterday evening to pick some blackcurrants.  I decided that rather than just munch them away, as we often do (te-he), I'd make a batch of muffins.  Have a look........

These muffins have orange juice and custard powder, so they have a beautiful rich, cake-like texture.

You could substitute any type of berry in this recipe.  I have used partridgeberries, blueberries and now blackcurrants.......Yummy!!!

Here's the recipe......

Berry Muffins

Preheat oven to 350* F and prepare a 12 cup muffin pan.

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp custard popwder

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1 1/2 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup berries

(Put all of the above dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well.)

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup orange juice

1 egg

(Blend these ingredients well and stir into dry mixture---Do NOT over-mix)

Scoop muffin mixture into prepared 12 cup muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Cheers

:o)

Delightful Dover

Dover, England was such a delight.  It is pretty, clean and we just loved our two days there before we boarded the cruise ship.

There were lots of beautiful old buildings around the town center in the waterfront area......

....like the Dover town hall......

What a sight from the fountain in the town square.......the Dover Castle........

A breathtaking view of the castle from the beach at night......

The famous White Cliffs of Dover were quite a sight..........

Of course, anywhere you can buy fresh steamed seafood---ready to eat--is a great place in hubby's eye.  He actually went back to this great little seafood stall on the pier three times in two days.....

This was the sight we saw as we sailed out of Dover..........

The seaport of Dover was so beautiful and relaxing......a perfect start to a perfect cruise.

Cheers

:o)

River Cruise

Right after we got off the London Eye, we ran to catch a river cruise on the Thames.......always nice to try to look at things from all angles, ha ha!!!

Here are just a few of the things I saw..........

As soon as we got settled in our boat, we looked up............way up.  Here's a a totally different perspective of the London Eye.  It is amazing.

The City of London School sits on the Victoria embankment of the river.  I absolutely fell in love with this building.  I have to go back to London.  I would love to have at least two weeks there to get the opportunity to go to some of these old buildings, go inside and roam around---that would be heavenly.  Can you just imagine the stories the walls inside this building could tell........

Isn't this building just gorgeous??!!??  This is City Hall of London, England.  It's design is quite a contrast to many of the very old buildings along the river, but is is magnificent, nonetheless.

.........and this beauty is The Tower of London.  The history of this building is just jaw-dropping.  I hope you have time to check out the links and do a little reading.

Below is a shot of the columns of the old Blackfriars Railway Bridge over the river.  When the new bridge was completed, the architects and engineers decided to keep the old columns in place rather than removing them.  This decision was made because they feared that their removal would somehow jeopardize the integrity of the new bridge only a few feet away.

This picture needs no explanation.....or does it???  It is the beautiful Tower Bridge of London, however it is often mistaken and called the London Bridge.  It was breathtaking from every angle.

Well, I hope enjoyed this tiny sampling of the shots I got from the river cruise.  Stay tuned later in the week for some breathtaking scenery from Dover area.

Cheers

:o)

The London Eye

Last summer, if you asked me what the London Eye was.......I have to admit......I wouldn't have known.  When we began planning this trip, I started researching........WOW......The London Eye very quickly moved to the top of my list of London's "Must See" attractions.

The thing is huge, majestic, beautiful, intimidating and just plane awesome.

Now, let's back up a bit.....this is a girl who doesn't like ferris-wheels, roller coasters or anything of that sort.  I would still be riding the merry-go-round at the fair, if the attendants would let me get on--ha ha.  So I was actually thinking I would be quite content to just be in the general vicinity of the Eye and get a few good shots---not the case, I was like a woman possessed, and was drawn to the thing the moment we stepped off our tour bus.  I couldn't get close enough to it and found myself longing to get on it!!!!!!   Much to everyone's surprise, especially my husband, I was first in line for the tickets.  
 

This was the scene when we "hopped" off the bus.  We bought 'express tickets' and were guaranteed a 10 minutes or less wait.....we were on that thing in about eight minutes!!!

It hard to describe the massive size of the Eye.  It is the tallest ferris-wheel in Europe (and was the tallest in the world in 1999, when it was erected).  It stands just under 450 ft tall. There are 32 air-conditioned capsules, representing the 32 different borroughs of London.  Each capsule is capable of carrying approximately 25 passengers. 

The views of the city are breathtaking as you slowly make one full revolution on the wheel.  It takes about 30 minutes to go around once and the wheel is moving slow enough that passengers are constantly entering and exiting without the wheel actually having to stop at any time.

I really didn't expect to photograph Big Ben from above it.....haha!

Unfortunately, most of these photos have glare, remember I was suspended in a glass capsule in very bright sunlight.

This was one of the "high" points of the entire trip........pardon the pun!!

The double-decker buses on the street look so tiny.....and I was zooming!!!

Cheers

:o)