LONDON

Yesterday two proud parents and a very excited son made their way to London, managing NOT to get lost, despite disagreeing with the "sat nav" lady,(resulting in husb saying"I think we should all CALM DOWN") and managing to avoid the congestion charge.The cub is now settled into his London flat and I`m feeling all excited for him. He has a great set-up, surrounded by commerce,with every food shop or store you can think of.He has Debenhams for neighbours and a 24 hour Asda opposite.He won`t starve.And he can run out of loo rolls at 2am and just nip out and replenish them.

And just around corner the spacious Clapham Common with numerous football pitches. Imagine our delight(especially Husb`s!!!!!!!) when we witnessed a kestrel swoop down right before our eyes to snatch up a poor unsuspecting mouse and then proceed to devour it.Right in the heart of London.Fantastic.

It seems almost a shame he has to go to WORK!

Good luck Chris!!!!!!!!!

Graduation!

The pictures say it all. Two VERY proud parents. A great day!

L.O.T.O.S.(Life on the open sea)

In summary it was a great cruise. Not fantastic weather but considering we were north of Scotland for the entire duration it was hardly surprising. I can honestly say that neither husb or I ever felt like we were on a boat once...we could see the boat swaying but couldn`t feel a thing. The food was lovely..more melon and pineapple than you could ever wish to eat! The evening shows performed by the Headliners were fabulous and we saw all but one show, my friend`s daughter was easily the best dancer.The gym and pool werent needed due to the regular stomping round the promenade deck(and that was AFTER a stomp around a Baltic capital city.)Nice cabin. Fantastic staff. Great stuff.

KRISTIANSAND, NORWAY

Man made beach with a carpetted back rest.. hooty but a pleasant hour just chilling..it even had a disabled access ramp into the sea.

A very relaxing walk through the town. We were "JUST LOOKING" - Kristiansand is the 5th most expensive town in Europe, as confirmed by the price of a Macdonald`s burger..£9 (as I said we were just looking!)

Generally a very nice day. But not a lot to report.

OSLO,NORWAY

We LOVED Oslo. What a totally brilliant day. Fabulous weather (AT LAST) The sea looked magnificent, all sparkly and shiny. What a bonus after all that rain and gale force 8 winds the previous night. I`m smiling just thinking about it.

We took a boat trip across the bay to the Viking Ship museum. How do these things stay afloat?


Another boat to the Fram museum. A proper vessel.In fact the strongest wooden ship ever built..it has travelled further north and further south than any other surface vessel. It was used by Roald Amundsen.

Nipped next door to the Kon Tiki Museum. How did THIS thing stay afloat? A balsa wood raft that miraculously "sailed" across the Pacific Ocean. (I saw this 40 years ago but wasn`t nearly as impressed as this time..well I was only ten... it was just a piece of wood then)(it still is.. HOW did it sail for 70 days???)



Ferried back into town.. the sea glistening in the 33 degrees sun...

Past the splendid looking university, through a very classy market, across to the National Art Gallery where we ran round to see the very famous, recently stolen and reclaimed, Edvard Munch painting THE SCREAM, and then ...because we were using our "OSLO CARD" (hence all the inclusive boat rides and museum entries!)... hopped onto the nearest tram.(yellow) This took us into the middle of nowhere but what the heck, it was included in our OSLO CARD so we got off and got a SKY BLUE one back again. Oh it was such a good day.

Oslo...Very relaxed, modern, busy, clean, expensive... lovely.

ARHUS,DENMARK

Our day began with a "posh" breakfast in the Peninsular restaurant(our dinner was in the Oriental restaurant)(so THAT`S what"P+O"stands for)...Smoked haddock and kedgeree... and then we were off......

to DEN GAMLE BY...a fascinating insight into the way of life in Hans Christian Anderson`s time. 75 historic houses were literally transported to this site as they became available. We were able to go inside them and upstairs to see what life was like in the past. Den Gamle By is the only 3* museum outside Copenhagen.(you can see modern Arhus in the background of this first photo)



We spent the rest of the afternoon looking around the main town..Arhus is the 2nd largest city in Denmark.