Year 4 Day 7 “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 5/07/2024. Clifty Hill 2 – The battery was dead this morning after running the beverage refrigerator all night. So, we may be using a cooler for a few months. We bought an RTIC cooler which they say is comparable to yeti but about 1/3 less expensive. Let’s see if that is true. The ice certainly stays frozen. The new quieter generator arrived, and Steve was using it today to charge the batteries and run his power tools. It is not only quieter but using a lot less gas. So now we own three generators.
All the copper water lines are in, and the electric water heater is almost completely installed. The whole house filter will be installed tomorrow, and the overflow drain piped out of the house. Then there is a little of the white pvc drainpipe that needs to be fixed. After that we can dig the trench to the city water meter and attach our house to the city water. Hopefully on Monday we will be calling for a plumbing inspection. Woohoo!!
Every day on our drive to work we pass Disney Lane. I just think that is so cool. Somebody must really love Disney here in Science Hill.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
EZ Bites Relief Bug Bite Suction Tool: https://amzn.to/3yBDEiQ This handy little suction tool really works on those nasty swelling bites and with no chemicals. I have taken to keeping one with me at all times in my purse. It is easy to slip out of the package, use it, and then slip right back into the original package.
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Year 4 Day 6 “Living the Dream”. Monday, 5/06/2024. Clifty Hill 2 – First thing this morning I pulled some stuff together to make a Kentucky Derby hat. The Newcomers club had their monthly lunch today and we celebrated the Kentucky Derby. I won a gift for having the most unique hat. We played Kentucky Derby Bingo also.
In front of the room at the restaurant in honor of Memorial Day there was a missing man table, or it is sometimes called the fallen comrade table. I have never seen this table set up before or heard the meaning of it. A retired military person in the group read this story. Each item on the Missing Man Table represents the emotions and feelings reserved for those who did not come home. The ceremony symbolizes that they are with us, here in spirit. All Americans should never forget the brave men and women who answered our nation’s call to serve and fought for our freedom with honor. The symbolism of the Missing Man Table is:
The table is round, to show our everlasting concern for our missing men.
The cloth is white, symbolizing the purity of their motives when answering the call to serve.
The single red rose; displayed in a vase, reminds us of the lives of these Americans and their loved ones and friends who keep the faith while seeking answers.
The red ribbon symbolizes our continued determination to account for our missing.
A slice of lemon reminds us of their bitter fate; captured and missing in a foreign land.
A pinch of salt symbolizes the tears of our missing and their families who long for answers after decades of uncertainty.
The lighted candle reflects our hope for their return, alive or dead.
The Bible represents the strength gained through faith to sustain us and those lost from our country, founded as one nation under God.
The glass is inverted, symbolizing their inability to share a toast.
The chair is empty, the seat that remains unclaimed at the table.
I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room when she was done. As you go out and about this month you will see this table set up at many businesses. Please take time to reflect on the meaning of this table and thank current, past, and families of our military for their service.
I think it is spring flush out the hydrant’s day in Somerset, KY.
More copper water line work.
The batteries and inverter are set up this evening and we are testing how long they will run some lights, and a small refrigerator. Steve is like a little kid with a new toy.
Anyone for Wedge Salad tonight? Steve’s favorite. This recipe looks great.
This event looks fun!
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
YETI Tundra 75 cooler: Here’s a link to today product recommendation: https://amzn.to/3WJkqQ3 All the YETI coolers are great. They really keep the ice lasting a long time.
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Year 4 Day 5 “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 5/05/2024. Clifty Hill 2 – We are trying to get set up to move in at the end of the month. We spent a lot of time today cleaning up and creating a livable area.
It is amazing how many tadpoles there are in that little stream behind our house. In 14 weeks, we are going to be overrun with frogs. Sleeping should be fun in a few weeks. Frogs are really really noisy.
We are planning to hook up to the city water this week. As we were checking it out, we realized that the ground settled around the meter box and the plastic box is broken. The meter seems to be okay.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
YETI Tundra 75 cooler: Here’s a link to today product recommendation: https://amzn.to/3WJkqQ3 All the YETI coolers are great. They really keep the ice lasting a long time.
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Year 4 Day 4 “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 5/04/2024. Clifty Hill 2 – Lots of fun things happening this weekend! Kentucky Derby, May the Fourth and Cinco de Mayo! What’s everyone doing this weekend for fun? Our fun is working on our copper water lines
and watching the neighbor brush hog our new five acres.
Last night we saw the play Annie at Lincoln County High School. Koral was Molly. She did so well as did all the High schoolers in the play.
I have to tell you I bought these little round tins of mints in Germany and brought them home. I gave a few to the granddaughters last night. All went well. Koral got hers with her flowers and candy after the play. I got a call later from Justin after we got in the house saying look at the pictures, I just sent you. OMG the tin I gave her was lips on the front with the saying take me with you in German. I never looked at the back of that tin. Just look at the pictures below. NO, say it isn’t so. Grandma gave her 18-year-old granddaughter those mints.
I bought numerous tins of mints from the same store and the same display in that store. All the other tins did not say “Pfefferminz Penis”. I really did not expect to get that phone call at all.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
YETI Tundra 75 cooler: Here’s a link to today product recommendation: https://amzn.to/3WJkqQ3 All the YETI coolers are great. They really keep the ice lasting a long time.
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Year 4 Day 3 “Living the Dream”. Friday, 5/03/2024. Clifty Hill 2 – We are working on installing the copper water lines. There are a lot of fixtures in this house. Three toilets, four lavatories, one bathtub, two showers, two sinks, a washer, and two hose bibs. That is a lot of copper. The house is 52 feet long and these fixtures are spread all over the house.
Even though we have rented a vrbo home, we are spending all of our waking hours at the Wellington. We are currently using a generator and my mobile hotspot. We are in the process of setting up a temporary off grid battery system. This system will capture the excess energy from the generator when it is running. Then an inverter will run the lights and possibly a small refrigerator in the evenings. We think it will be a few months before we are hooked up to the electrical grid.
Tonight, we are heading to see Koral in her last high school play Annie. She is a senior and graduating this year. She will be attending Berea college in the fall. That is Justin’s alma mater. Koral is his youngest child. We are so very proud of her.
Of course, I have to also give a shout out and lots of praise to Julianna, Jenna’s oldest. We are super proud of her also as she was installed into Saint Mary’s Honors Society this morning. What smart girls they both are.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
YETI Tundra 75 cooler: Here’s a link to today product recommendation: https://amzn.to/3WJkqQ3 All the YETI coolers are great. They really keep the ice lasting a long time.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 4 Day 2 “Living the Dream”. Thursday, 5/02/2024. On the way to the house to work today we stopped for coffee to go at Mom and Pops Mt Zion Diner. Can you believe, it only cost a $1.00 for a cup?
Before we left for Europe, we had just packed everything from the Williamsburg into the garage area of the Wellington. We spent today with Justin’s help moving and organizing our belongings, so we are able to work around them. We tried to disperse the furniture to the rooms they will eventually remain in. Most of the personal belongings were carried to the attic. The tools were left in the lower level and the garage.
The room number stickers from having our laundry done on the MSC Euribia do not come off our clothes. They must be ironed on.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
YETI Tundra 75 cooler: Here’s a link to today product recommendation: https://amzn.to/3WJkqQ3 All the YETI coolers are great. They really keep the ice lasting a long time.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 4 Day 1 “Living the Dream”. Wednesday, 5/01/2024. Back to work, getting the Wellington ready to move into. My plants are enjoying their new home.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
YETI Tundra 75 cooler: Here’s a link to today product recommendation: https://amzn.to/3WJkqQ3 All the YETI coolers are great. They really keep the ice lasting a long time.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 364 “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 4/30/2024. Woke up in our vrbo rental home for the month under the Eiffel tower. That is so crazy.
Today is back to Lowes and work.
Europe is only in our memories and aha in my daily blog.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Halla Minis Cherry Sugar Free Cough Drops: Here’s a link to today product recommendation: https://amzn.to/4f5UtTf HALLS Minis Cherry Flavor Sugar Free Cough Drops are perfect to carry in your pocket, purse, and backpack when traveling. They stay dry and are the perfect size for that little tickle. I keep one in my car, and nightstand also. I used to always keep individual wrapped cough drops around but found the paper was always sticking to them and they are so large I needed to find a place to throw them away after a few minutes in my mouth. These minis are just PERFECT in size and NO sticking paper.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 363 “Living the Dream”. Monday, 4/29/2024. Day 28 of 28-day European Vacation. Traveling from Massy, France to Science Hill, KY. Our last dinner out in France last night was early and quiet. We needed to be up, packed, showered, eaten, checked out of the hotel, and out on the sidewalk by 7am to meet our Uber car this morning.
We walked back to our hotel after dinner and had to stop and admire this tiny car. Perfect size for me to zip around town. Look how easy to park. I can’t imagine Steve driving one of these. Imagine no parallel parking?
Then the last smell of the fresh bakery on the corner, I am going to miss walking around this town.
We headed to breakfast at 6am and the breakfast area is packed. There is a group from LA leaving the hotel on a coach bus. Here’s a video of room 719 at the Hilton Garden Inn, Massy, France.
This hotel is South of Paris and about 28 miles to the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. We had an uber pick us up at the hotel at 7am figuring it was usually a 40-minute drive. It is Monday morning at 7am so Roissy-en-France Traffic is horrendous with many accidents. It took us almost two hours to get to the airport. Our Uber driver was wonderful. I love France and the way they stamp your passport. We have not been to any other country where our passport has been stamped every time we went through customs. Steve was randomly picked for searching before boarding. He did get to board with priority seating because of it. I was in group 5. We flew on an American Airlines Boeing 777-200ER from Paris CDG airport to Dallas. The flight was 10 hours and 5 minutes. The 777-200ER is the world’s largest jet and has the largest landing gear of any commercial aircraft type. The ER stands for Extended Range. This plane carries 368 passengers. The twinjet engines of the Boeing 777 are equivalent to 175,000 horsepower. Pilots can accelerate this plane from 0 to 96 km/h in just 6 seconds. The engine is listed as the most powerful jet engine in the Guinness Book of Records. Flying really S***S. After 10 minutes I am already thinking, Are we there yet? We took off at 11:35am. First, they served little bags of pretzels. Then they served drinks (alcohol and non-alcohol). Coffee for me. Then lunch came. I had the pasta, and it was excellent. Steve had the chicken which came with spinach and yellow rice. It was good also. Very surprising meals and very happy with American Airlines. They also served crackers with laughing cow cheese, a salad, a roll, and a brownie cake. Steve ate the rolls and cakes. I guess they were good. Excellent cheese, crackers, and salad. You can’t go wrong with laughing cow. Then they came with ice cream. Interesting it was really hard. They must have good freezers. I am feeling like a penned up stuffed goose. Six hours into the flight it started to get pretty rough. We were really bouncing around. I was feeling pretty stressed. It might have also been the coffee I have been pounding down. To make myself feel better I looked up statistics on flying and found that at any given time, there are between 8,000 and 13,000 airplanes in the air. Over 30,000 flights with two million passengers on board take off every single day in the United States alone. Well, I was thinking that would calm me but no. So, I started counting down the time till we land in Dallas. That didn’t seem to help either. We have to take a smaller plane to Lexington from Dallas. I also looked up safety for this plane. Nope, I am not even going into those statistics. Blocked that information right out of my brain. The closer we get to Dallas the more turbulence we encounter. Of course, our altitude is dropping so you usually do encounter more turbulence, I think. Then one hour from Dallas they suspend service because the captain says it will be too bumpy from here out.
We land in Dallas safely and if it wasn’t for global entry, I don’t think we would have made our next flight. What a difference in planes. Only smaller planes fly into Lexington.
23 hours later we are back in Science Hill, Kentucky. The good old USA took us back. We now get to see Koral graduate.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Halla Minis Cherry Sugar Free Cough Drops: Here’s a link to today product recommendation: https://amzn.to/4f5UtTf HALLS Minis Cherry Flavor Sugar Free Cough Drops are perfect to carry in your pocket, purse, and backpack when traveling. They stay dry and are the perfect size for that little tickle. I keep one in my car, and nightstand also. I used to always keep individual wrapped cough drops around but found the paper was always sticking to them and they are so large I needed to find a place to throw them away after a few minutes in my mouth. These minis are just PERFECT in size and NO sticking paper.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 362 “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 4/28/2024. Day 27 of 28-day European Vacation. Day 4 Massey, France. Today is our last day in Europe. Tomorrow, we have an uber picking us up at 7am to head to the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. After Breakfast
we headed back to Paris for a 1.5-hour Seine River Walking Tour we booked through Viator. The price was $78.68 for both of us. We took the B train from the Massy-Palaiseau train station this time to our meet up spot, in front of the Statue of Henry the IV on the Pont Neuf Bridge. I had to keep track of the stops on my phone. Good thing I took a picture of the route. I could not understand the announcements. The places do not sound like I would say them. There were 16 stops. We went underground after Denfert Roschereau.
We got off in the Paris Chatelet Les Halles train station. This is a massive train/subway hub. It is the largest and most complex metro underground station in the world with 20 platforms serving eight (three RER commuter rail and five Métro) lines. This station is one enormous labyrinth. I read that during rush hour, almost 120 trains stop every minute, that’s 1 every 2 seconds. We came up into a nice shopping mall. The two days we have gone into Paris we noticed a real lack of public toilets or any bathrooms. This is a real issue especially with the summer Olympics being held in Paris this year. There is a start-up that is hoping to solve Paris’s public urination problem. This application will reward businesses for making their toilets accessible to the public and help users to find them. Hopefully the ICI Toilettes app will make its way into the capital in time for the Olympics. We walked around, bought some souvenirs, had lunch, and made our way to the middle of the Pond Neuf bridge in front of the Henri IV Statue.
We were there a few minutes, and a few ladies came by and wanted us to sign a petition to make Paris accessible to the handicapped. Then they wanted money. I pulled change put of my pocket. That change was about 30 euros. The woman tried to take all of it. A man and Steve came running over to me saying give her that money back. Steve grabbed it from her hand, and they ran away. The man said they are thieves/pick pockets and check your wallets. They surround you and then steal from you. Yikes, I am not used to dishonest people. We walked a long time with our tour guide. We are in the heart of Paris. Some of the things we saw were: Below the Pont Neuf bridge at the western tip of the Île de la Cité is a small public garden which provides a lovely panoramic view of the two banks of the Seine and landmarks including the Louvre Museum, the Passerelle des Arts footbridge, and the dome of the Institut de France. The Pont Neuf bridge is the oldest stone bridge built the beginning of 16th century under Protestant king Henry IV. The Statue on the horse of king IV is not the original Statue. The original was destroyed in the French Revolution and then rebuilt in 1818. We walked down along the Seine River and passed many bouquinistes. The tradition of bouqunistes dates back to the 16th century. There are around 240 of these green stalls along the Seine. They get a license but do not pay taxes. We ended our walk along the Seine at the Pont Royal Bridge. The Pont Royal Bridge is the 3rd oldest bridge. Then we walked over to the Musée d’Orsay. Some of our group continued into the museum. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography.
We walked back to the Paris Chatelet Les Halles train station pass some homeless sleeping in the doorways.
We actually managed to find the correct platform and get back to our hotel. In the train station there were military personnel carrying machine guns. Hmmm, not sure if that makes me feel comfortable or not.
Here’s an interesting tidbit. Budweiser is Bud in France.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Halla Minis Cherry Sugar Free Cough Drops: Here’s a link to today product recommendation: https://amzn.to/4f5UtTf HALLS Minis Cherry Flavor Sugar Free Cough Drops are perfect to carry in your pocket, purse, and backpack when traveling. They stay dry and are the perfect size for that little tickle. I keep one in my car, and nightstand also. I used to always keep individual wrapped cough drops around but found the paper was always sticking to them and they are so large I needed to find a place to throw them away after a few minutes in my mouth. These minis are just PERFECT in size and NO sticking paper.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 361 “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 4/27/2024. Day 26 of 28-day European Vacation. Day 3 Massey, France. Today we stayed in Massy. We walked around the town and visited the Park de la Tuilerie. It was a gorgeous spring day to walk around the city and park. It is a much warmer day than any other day of this trip so far.
While walking around town we came upon a sidewalk bicycle repair station. I have never seen one of these anywhere before.
It rained in the afternoon, and we ate at Momma Kitchen Caffe again. It was not as crowded today, and I had the second-best meal of this vacation. The Cesarcce Pomodoro & Stracciatella was Yummy, Yummy, Yummy.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Wired Headphones: Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/4cgBHqH I find that keeping a few pairs of inexpensive headphones in our luggage works great. Here’s a great little pair that has come in handy for traveling.
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Year 3 Day 360 “Living the Dream”. Friday, 4/26/2024. Day 25 of 28-day European Vacation. Day 2 Massy, France. The views from our seventh-floor corner room windows of the Hilton Garden Inn in Massy, France are great. There was a window facing each side. We saw how people use their balconies as their yards. When we walked to the elevator, we were treated to a wall of glass which overlooked the trains coming and going into Paris.
The streets are quiet outside of the hotel this morning. I think everyone in France or maybe all of Europe are on a later schedule then us. I love the quiet of the morning and not the mobbed evening. We are making our way to Paris today and will be taking a Seine dinner cruise we booked through Viator. Getting there should be an experience. We bought our train tickets in the morning. They were five euros each. After purchasing the tickets, we walked around and explored Massy. We passed the Safran Headquarters campus. Safran is the world’s second largest Aircraft equipment manufacturer. This company employs 92,000 employees in 276 locations.
We ate lunch at Mamas Kitchen before we headed to Paris. The restaurant was packed at noon. We decided that since restaurants close at 2:30pm and reopen at 6:30pm that people rush out at noon time to eat. We had pizza and a calzone. OMG, we split the calzone and to my surprise egg yolks came flowing out of mine. Nope – can’t eat it.
Walking around the streets of Massy you see many people eating long loaves of bread. I have never seen that before. Oh, my favorite food since I have been in France is the croissant. I love love love them. They are not buttery like I have had in the United States. They are airy, flaky and just melt in your mouth. I am so in love with them for breakfast with a slice of fresh cheese. From what I understand towards the end of the 19th century, French bakers replaced the brioche dough with puff pastry. The train to Champ de Mars was definitely not as smooth or nice as yesterday’s Bullet train. It is more of a city subway train.
Paris is just one huge city, but we did get to see the Eiffel Tower and sit at a street cafe. The Eiffel Tower was erected for the 1889 Universal Exposition and overlooks the city from the Champ-de-Mars. Its height is 330 meters.
Vendors had their wares set up on blankets on the sidewalk in front of the Eiffel tower. When any police came, they would do a mad dash gathering their stuff up and running away. Then when the coast was clear they reappeared.
There were bikes available to rent, use, and then drop off anywhere when you were done.
We paid 15 euros for a coffee and a small soda at a sidewalk cafe. These are city prices for sure. This city has a tremendous number of tourists and very few bathrooms. Look at this men’s urinal. You open the door which barely closes behind you and urinate against a cement wall. The urine then flows down the cement wall and falls into a grate below your feet. Everyone walking down the street can see men standing behind the doors urinating. Dolores, you are not in the United States any long.
We spent hours walking around, taking pictures, and just staring in awe like a tourist.
In the evening, we did a Seine River dinner cruise from the Ile aux Cygnes, in the middle of the Bir-Hakeim Bridge. The L’Ile Aux Cygnes is a narrow artificial island, about ten meters wide and nearly a kilometer long. It is located between the Grenelle and Bir-Hakeim bridges. It was created in 1825 and is adorned with a few hundred trees loaded with birds. One pooped on my phone and another pooped on a passenger’s head while waiting to board. This island is famous for its 16-meter replica of the Statue of Liberty, located at the southern tip.
Read more about Paris en Scene 3 Course Seine River Dinner Cruise here – https://www.viator.com/…/Bistr…/d479-6557DINNERCRUISE… Our boat departed at 7:30pm. The food was ok. A really salty entree of rice, veal, and vegies. They played music the whole time. I would have liked a little commentary. They had a photographer that came around and took pictures. They later came back with them printed to sell to you. They also served alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages drinks for extra money. The meal came with a bottle of Evian water. The sights were amazing. I have never seen such huge buildings. They were blocks long. We passed by the Eiffel Tower, Pont Alexandre III, Grand Palais, Musee d’Orsay, Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Cite de la Mode Et du Design, Ile de la Cite / Ile Saint-Louis, Louvre Museum, Place de la Concorde, and Statue de la Liberte. A lot of people were sitting and waving along the shoreline for a large part of the trip.
We saw the Eiffel tower at night sparkling after the dinner Cruise and someone proposing. We had no idea that Every evening, the Eiffel Tower adorns itself in gold and sparkles the first five minutes of every hour, while the beacon shines across Paris. Whether you’re visiting the Tower or walking nearby the monument at night, it’s something I am glad we saw. It was very magical! The Eiffel Tower’s lights at night are made up of three components: the golden lighting, the sparkles and the beacon. The spotlights in the golden lightings system take about ten minutes to turn on at nightfall using sensors.
We missed the last direct subway/train back to Massy. So, we Ubered back to our hotel in Massy. It was a very scary trip. YIKES – we were traveling at 138 km per hour on very congested roads and the driver did not understand anything we said. I was so happy to get out of that car. Whew, I felt like kissing the ground/sidewalk when I stepped out of the car.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Wired Headphones: Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/4cgBHqH I find that keeping a few pairs of inexpensive headphones in our luggage works great. Here’s a great little pair that has come in handy for traveling.
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Year 3 Day 359 “Living the Dream”. Thursday, 4/25/2024. Day 24 of 28-day European Vacation. – Day 4 in Le Havre France and bullet train to Massy, France. We checked out of the hotel early and spent some time walking around Le Havre. I am going to miss this city, our hotel (Hilton Garden Inn), and our hotel marina view.
Le Havre, France is a beautiful city and a must place to visit. The hotel kept our luggage while we wandered around town for the last time this trip.
Then we went back to the hotel. picked up our luggage and took an uber to the train station. Our train to Massy, France was sitting on track 1. It looked very different than the other trains. Much sleeker looking.
This train ride was super smooth. We did ride sitting backwards. The seats are huge and comfortable. If only they were going to be like this on our American Airlines flight home from Paris, France to Lexington, Kentucky. Although the typical airplane is about three times as fast as a typical bullet train. We are in Coach 1 upper level First class seats 95 and 96. First class is a little quieter, the seats are larger, and they have headrests. The car is mostly empty till we get to the first stop. A lot of people joined us there.
The countryside is beautiful.
We went through a lot of long tunnels. In the tunnels my ears kind of closed up. The only noise you hear in our car is a little low talking and the air compressor that opens the train car door.
Our route at some points ran along the Seine River.
I am amazed we made it to our hotel. Being your own travel agent has sometimes led to problems. But we got off the train in Massy and our hotel (Hilton Garden Inn) was close enough to drag our bags to. We are in a corner room on the 7th floor this time. The streets are a stream of constant pedestrian traffic. After checking in we went to a local supermarket. It was packed and the lines were very long. Steve is always thinking about construction.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Wired Headphones: Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/4cgBHqH I find that keeping a few pairs of inexpensive headphones in our luggage works great. Here’s a great little pair that has come in handy for traveling.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 358 “Living the Dream”. Wednesday, 4/24/2024. Day 23 of 28-day European Vacation. – Day 3 in Le Havre France. We had another great Hilton Garden Inn breakfast. Although, today it was more crowded due to a motor coach full of people staying at the hotel last night. The help was running like crazy.
It is cold today. The sun is not out at all, and it is damp and windy. After breakfast we wandered through the local markets. The produce, fish, seafood, flowers, pastries, meat, etc were like pictures on a postcard or in a magazine. They are so fresh and beautifully displayed. Steve bought some chips. Yup another mistake. They are roasted chicken flavor. He is so funny.
We had lunch at Le 7 Cafe. There we enjoyed some good food, good coffee, good beer, great servers, and a friendly cafe puppy dog walking around. As the cafe filled up the puppy was leashed to the coat rack with her toys.
The draft beer served was Leffe Blonde which is a Classic Belgian Blonde Abbey beer from the Abbaye de Leffe brewery in southern Belgium. It is a powerful well-known brand and a wonderful example of classic Belgian beer.
We took a tour bus ride around town in the afternoon. We saw the Yogurt pot/vulcano which opened in 1982 and is a national theatre. This port is at the mouth of the Seine River. We drove by the shipping container art installation by Vincent Ganive. These arches are one of Le Havre’s newest and best-loved landmarks. The artist assembled a string of multicolored shipping containers making up two monumental arches that sit between the city and the sea. Other things of interest we drove by was the eye looking towards the English Channel, the Notre-Dame Cathedral, and St Joseph’s church.
After the bus tour we headed to Frank’s Hot Dogs and had ice cream sundaes.
Are you sure they are dry?
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Wired Headphones: Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/4cgBHqH I find that keeping a few pairs of inexpensive headphones in our luggage works great. Here’s a great little pair that has come in handy for traveling.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 357 “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 4/23/2024. Day 22 of 28-day European Vacation. After a great breakfast at the hotel, we headed out for a long walk.
We were heading to the Hanging Gardens. We never made it there but spent a few hours walking the residential streets and also along the waterfront.
The beach of Le Havre is a prime destination for many who come from as far away as Paris.
The beach is made out of pebbles, not sand. It looks as though it gets very busy when it is warm. It is in the 40’s today with the sun peeking out occasionally. The beach here is very long with a promenade that stretches for 5 kilometers. I was amazed at the number of small huts lined up in rows on the beach. These huts apparently are often the property of families for generations, and a small piece of the beach is rented from the city for the summer. These huts are used mostly for storing gear! They are erected at the beginning of the season and taken away around the end of September.
There are about 15 restaurants alongside the beach promenade that open April to October. These restaurants are all made out of shipping containers. Each restaurant gets so much land and designs their own restaurants by cutting up and redesigning the containers.
Close to our hotel we came upon a skatepark. It’s the biggest one in France. Once a year an international competition is held at this skatepark. In the evenings there is live music performed in a large, paved area near the skatepark area.
We then headed inland, stopped at a few stores, and had lunch at Denver Restaurant. It was another fiasco of food ordering. Coffee was Expresso. An afternoon caffeine shot for sure. Hamburgers were like seared on the outside and raw meat on the inside. We asked for well done. The employees barely spoke any English and of course we don’t speak French.
It was a fun day though. The past two days we have seen huge container ships entering and leaving the port. Le Have is the largest container port in France.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Wired Headphones: Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/4cgBHqH I find that keeping a few pairs of inexpensive headphones in our luggage works great. Here’s a great little pair that has come in handy for traveling.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 356 “Living the Dream”. Monday, 4/22/2024. Day 21 of 28-day European Vacation – day 19 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. It is disembarkation day in Le Havre, France.
We are in the Carousel Lounge at 8am listening to some jazz type night club music and French speaking groups of people.
I said yesterday that this is not a major port for disembarkation. Yes, I think we are the only Americans disembarking. We used uber to get to our hotel. No English spoken driver, but he turned an app on his phone so he could understand us.
The Hilton Garden Inn in Le Havre upgraded our room to a sea view and also allowed us to check in at 8:30am. Here is a video of our room.
Look at the gorgeous view.
The laundry facilities here in this hotel is free. Woohoo!! What a joke, us trying to use them though. We thought our clothes weren’t drying. Then I realized if you take them out of the dryer, they feel wet, but are dry in a few minutes. The dryer was so cool. It was a Miele heat pump dryer with steam finish. Our clothes came out like they were ironed. I want one. After we figured this all out, we were able to give instructions to a woman from believe it or not Allentown, Pennsylvania. She came into the laundry room and was confused. Then she realized we were from the United States. She was thrilled. We had lunch by the Babette bar area in the hotel. While we were eating our cheese pizza. That was a disaster also. We wanted a Marquerita pizza and somehow ended up with a four cheese. Yes, no sauce. We are two bumbling fools in France. We ate our pizza and watched people come ashore from the Portsmouth ferry.
After lunch we headed out to find a pharmacy for contact lens solution. We did get something but played charades a lot. The restaurants are all closed from like 2pm to 7pm around here. Europe really does have a problem with public bathrooms. We found some that were for both sexes. I didn’t use them. No seat and pretty wet around them. Le Havre, France is a very nice town though with nice people.
MSC Euribia 18-night Northern European Cruise ship review.
Pros – All employees are the best. Nicest, sweetest, kindest people – large bathroom sink in the room. Loved the no splashing – Surprisingly great internet most of the time. As the trip went on, I think it became bad internet. We rented a movie and the TV kept turning off. Then when you went back to resume watching the movie it would resume way sooner. Good thing it was a bad movie. Stay away from Strays. It was another movie that must have used the F word 500 times. I don’t understand why they have to ruin a movie doing that. Movie would have been good otherwise. – Room was cleaned twice a day – Ship was very clean and looks new – The most amazing delicious pizza – The Main dining room service was excellent, the waiters were running to serve and please you – Excursion departures were on time – Excursion tour guides were friendly, knowledgeable, and considerate of your needs – The Bar service was excellent – The Beds and pillows were awesome. Very comfortable – The Main dining room ice cream was good and very creamy – All ports had nice charter buses, and most had charging ports – Elegant night is elegant – Casino was not a total rip off. It was not a constant take. You could have fun playing – We got to see a lot of different countries – The laundry service was expensive, but your clothes came back so nice. Everything was on hangers and ironed. Even the jeans. – The spa was great to get your mani pedis. They did a beautiful job and did not use a Dremel. – MSC & Me app was easy to use and had everything you needed on it.
Cons – Late dining hours led us to eat in the Market place buffet most every night. Originally, we were assigned to 9:30 pm dining. We went the first night to try and change it to 5:30 pm. They sent a note to our room the next day saying we were changed to 7:30pm. That is still was too late for us. I didn’t bother asking again for the first seven nights. The first day of the eleven night I tried to change the dining time again to 5:30pm with no results. – Passengers do not wash their hands before going into the buffet and it is not enforced – We observed numerous passengers handling food at the buffet and then putting it back. I didn’t see any employees say anything to them. We tried to eat as soon as the buffet was set up for the different meals. – Laundry service is super expensive, and I did not see any specials. We washed 14 underwear and 14 socks and paid 45 Euros. That was with a 15 % discount. – There was no free ice cream on the pool deck – We did not get one towel animal – The ship was very crowded. We do find that all larger mega ships on Royal are also very crowded. – The plastic glasses in the buffet that they served draft beer in were dirty looking.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Wired Headphones: Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/4cgBHqH I find that keeping a few pairs of inexpensive headphones in our luggage works great. Here’s a great little pair that has come in handy for traveling.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 355 “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 4/21/2024. Day 20 of 28-day European Vacation – day 18 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. We are at sea today. We are traveling from Bilbao, Spain back to Le Havre, France. It is unbelievable that we have been on this ship 17 nights.
The time has flown by. I love the view of the ocean every day. It seems as though we just got on. We are invited to a complimentary dance class today. Sounds fun to do on our last day, but I have a scheduled manicure for that time. There is also a MSC Voyagers club party for Diamonds today.
Tomorrow, after departing the ship I will do my official review. But I do love most things on the ship. I would not hesitate to go on any MSC cruise ship. I have to wonder if they are not the cleanest cruise ships at sea. At breakfast in the Marketplace eating a fantastic freshly made vegetable omelet and sipping a cup of nice rich coffee we watch the sun rise from the sea. Absolutely Breathtaking!!!
It is sad we are leaving the ship. We do have another 8 days before we are back in Kentucky. After breakfast it was a little casino time. Then a video of deck 5. Here’s the link to that video
Then time for another manicure pedicure before leaving the ship. The cost for a manicure and pedicure with shellac on the hands and regular polish on the toes is 140.30 euros. Thandi Christine from Zimbabwe is the sweetest nail technician. I wanted to take her home. My hands and feet look great. I was also going to get my hair color touched up and a wash, cut, and style, but I was too cheap. It was 59 euros to color my roots and 79 euros to wash, trim, and style my hair. Plus, you then add 15% gratuity.
We picked out three pictures to purchase for 31 Euros. That price is after a 40% discount for being diamond. I just couldn’t not add a photo to my cruise albums for this trip. One of the pictures was huge. It is not going in any album. Every cruise we take we get two photos. Royal Caribbean provides two free because we are diamond plus. Oh, I had a slice of charcoal pizza for lunch. I didn’t taste any difference in the flavor or texture. The color was a turn off though. I found myself fighting with my brain. Yes, Dolores it is okay to eat. It will not hurt you.
It is a sad day when the departure information and luggage tags are left on your bed. The worse part about the last night is packing up. We have to have our luggage outside our door by midnight. Our disembarkation time is 8:20am. Not many passengers are disembarking tomorrow. First disembarkation time is 8:20am and last is 8:40am. It is not one of the major ports for passengers embarking and disembarking.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, and dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Wired Headphones: Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/4cgBHqH I find that keeping a few pairs of inexpensive headphones in our luggage works great. Here’s a great little pair that has come in handy for traveling.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 354- “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 4/20/2024. Day 19 of 28-day European Vacation – day 17 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. In Bilbao, Spain today.
Bilbao lies at basically sea level, but the mountains on either side rise to 1,300 feet. This is an industrial port city in northern Spain and is famous for its Guggenheim Museum. We are in the Bay of Biscay which is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. Bilbao is named as the second cleanest city in Spain. Spanish and Basque is spoken here. As a young man in his 20’s my father immigrated to the United States from Spain. The rest of his family stayed in Spain. I never had the opportunity to meet any of my Spanish relatives as my father passed away when I was six and we lost contact with them. In my teens I tried to locate family in Spain but could not locate anyone. Just a little history to show how much feeling this stop produces in me. We are going on a walking tour at 10am. From the ship it looks very very hilly. I expect to have a hurting butt/hip tonight. This is beautiful here. So clean, green, and well-manicured.
First stop is the Guggenheim Museum.
The Guggenheim is a family foundation. In the 1990’s Bilbao offered the foundation a free building construction and would pay employees for 25 years. This museum opened in 1997. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao was built between October 1993 and October 1997 and the site chosen was a former wharf with port and industrial use on a curve of the Nervión. This build represented recovery of the banks of the river for the city, redeveloping them for culture and leisure. The Puppy outside is beautiful. It is totally made of flowers and the flowers are changed twice a year. The people of Bilbao say this is Puppy’s city and the Guggenheim Museum is Puppy’s home. The atmosphere around the Puppy is wonderful with a man playing an accordion.
I want to stay here. Is it my Spanish heritage calling to me. Walking around the Guggenheim Museum, we were in time to see the fog sculpture which occurs every hour.
So very cool. We then walked up to Mama’s spider next.
I usually hate visiting museums, but this is awesome. If we come again, I am going inside. We took a train to the Old city.
Everywhere you go there is the homeless.
We had Pintxos and wine at a local cafe. Pintxos are like tapas. The difference between the two is generally that the tapa is courtesy of the bar, while the pintxo is ordered and paid for. They were yummy and so was the wine.
People in this area eat fish five times a week.
Before heading back to the ship, we stopped and had La Salve lager and flat white coffee at a small Belgium coffee shop bakery called El Tilo de mami Lou Cupcake. The deserts looked fantastic, and the owner served us. La Salve Bilbao is a brewing company founded in Bilbao in 1886 by José Schumann y Cordés. I found the lager bitter and the coffee strong.
On every excursion we have met so many nice people. Today was no exception.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, and dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
RFID Blocking Wallet – Minimalist Leather Business Credit Card Holder –Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/3yzVX7D I love love love these business credit card holders. I carry three of them in my pocketbook. All different colors – One for gift cards, one for business cards, and one for credit card, license, and insurance card. Look at the great assortment of colors. A perfect way to stay organized. It is so convenient to grab the one with your credit card, license, insurance card, and even a few dollars. Slip it in your jeans pocket and you are set to go. The colors are the best. Get a few in different colors. Everyone should have at least one of these.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 353- “Living the Dream”. Friday, 4/19/2024. Day 18 of 28-day European Vacation – day 16 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. In La Rochelle, France today.
As I stated yesterday, I am on the quest to try different foods, and this is the perfect opportunity. This morning, I noticed Grilled Black Pudding. Something told me not to take it. It was thick rounds. I sat down with my coffee and looked it up on the internet. Yup, I am so glad I did not take it. I don’t think I can try that. Black Pudding is a combination of suet or fat, grain or cereal, onion, seasoning and, cow or pig’s blood, all stuffed into a natural casing (animal intestine). Everything I read says it is a super food. The primary ingredient in black pudding is blood, but all that means is that black pudding is naturally high in iron and zinc. Iron is great for a healthy body helping to metabolize proteins and playing a vital role in the production of hemoglobin and red blood cells. I am not a vampire and sometimes have difficulty eating meat if I think about it. But blood NO THANKS!!! Americans call it blood sausage. It isn’t very common in the United States. You may find it in a British style restaurant. It’s called black pudding because it’s black. I read there is also white pudding, which doesn’t include blood.
While we waited to meet at noontime for our excursion, I did a little video of the MSC Euribia deck 15.
We were discussing today, that since we boarded the flight in Philadelphia sixteen days ago, we have not spent any dollars. Lol only Euros. Waiting for our excursion in the Delphi theatre we noticed every other row has wider seats.
We decided the next time we do a European cruise we will not do so many excursions and just wander on our own. In my video linked above I talk about the yacht club. Well, if you book the yacht club your butler waits for you at the excursion stop for you to get off your bus. Nice service, you do not wait in any lines. We laugh we are Bella – steerage.
This tour is another tour that World War 2 is brought up. It seems as though Europeans are obsessed with World War two. We pass the La Rochelle submarine pens. In 1941 these pens were built in secret. Most of the construction was performed at night. By 1942 the pens could hold 13 U-boats. The city remained under German control until 1945, one of the last French cities to be liberated by the Allies. Today, they are used by the French navy and are not open to the public.
I was surprised to see Palm trees here.
This town is much different than where we have been.
Bathrooms in Europe are a lot different. Today’s winery bathroom had the men’s urinals on the wall in front of the ladies room. All the ladies were lined up watching the men do their thing. Interesting indeed. Steve decided he would hold it. Lol I’m excited about visiting a winery that makes Cognac. Cognac is made with grapes and has a very specific distillation and blending process located in a small, protected area in the southwest of France. It is brandy, but not all brandy is cognac. It is a product of white wine. It was a wonderful, nice day at the winery and very interesting
The sea water is a very beautiful green color here
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, dinner menu, and information about our next port stop.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
RFID Blocking Wallet – Minimalist Leather Business Credit Card Holder –Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/3yzVX7D I love love love these business credit card holders. I carry three of them in my pocketbook. All different colors – One for gift cards, one for business cards, and one for credit card, license, and insurance card. Look at the great assortment of colors. A perfect way to stay organized. It is so convenient to grab the one with your credit card, license, insurance card, and even a few dollars. Slip it in your jeans pocket and you are set to go. The colors are the best. Get a few in different colors. Everyone should have at least one of these.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 352- “Living the Dream”. Thursday, 4/18/2024. Day 17 of 28-day European Vacation – day 15 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. In Brest, France today. Brest is the westernmost port of France.
You cannot walk through the port to town, but there is a free shuttle.
One view from the ship is of a hill and sticking above all the newer homes is a castle or church. It is sunny and a high of 56 degrees Fahrenheit.
Steve has a bit of a head cold, so we decided to not do our four-hour bus excursion.
It is a nice quiet day on the ship.
The crew is hard at work though. These guys are getting training.
Brest is the second largest French military port after Toulon. The city is located on the western edge of continental France. It is steeped in Celtic heritage, it even has its own Celtic language, Breton. Breton is still spoken by nearly 200,000 people in the region. Today is really the first time I have spent any time outside by the pool on this trip. In the sun it was nice. At lunch time I tried a Scotch egg. Scotch egg is a boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs and baked or deep-fried. It was a cold appetizer and had good flavor. I am not someone that tries different foods. I am pushing myself to experience new things though. I keep looking at the Charcoal Pizza. I guess I am going to have to try it before I get off the ship. It just does not sound appetizing. They don’t have pepperoni pizza on the ship. They have spicy salami pizza. MSC has the best pizza, ravioli, and any pasta. All pasta, pizza, and mozzarella cheese are made fresh onboard.
Look at this picture and just let the tantalizing smell of roasting chicken set your taste buds on fire.
On this ship there is a charge for soft ice cream cones. I think it must be for European departures. We have been on MSC ships from the United States and ice cream cones are included in your cruise.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner and dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
RFID Blocking Wallet – Minimalist Leather Business Credit Card Holder –Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/3yzVX7D I love love love these business credit card holders. I carry three of them in my pocketbook. All different colors – One for gift cards, one for business cards, and one for credit card, license, and insurance card. Look at the great assortment of colors. A perfect way to stay organized. It is so convenient to grab the one with your credit card, license, insurance card, and even a few dollars. Slip it in your jeans pocket and you are set to go. The colors are the best. Get a few in different colors. Everyone should have at least one of these.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 351- “Living the Dream”. Wednesday, 4/17/2024. Day 16 of 28-day European Vacation – day 14 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. At sea today traveling from Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands to Brest, France.
We are officially homeless. Our new neighbors are settling into the Williamsburg and when we get back to Kentucky, we will be staying in a VRBO for at least a month. At Noon we are in the English Channel and Wyatt Island England is on the starboard.
It is partly cloudy. Tomorrow should be sunny and 50 degrees Fahrenheit. One complaint I have with any cruise is that you can’t hear the captain’s noontime message in your room. Even when you are out and about, people never stop to listen to the captain. It is so rude. The employees sometimes are the worse. People show some respect and listen to your captain. There is a little entertainment around the ship on sea days.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
RFID Blocking Wallet – Minimalist Leather Business Credit Card Holder –Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/3yzVX7D I love love love these business credit card holders. I carry three of them in my pocketbook. All different colors – One for gift cards, one for business cards, and one for credit card, license, and insurance card. Look at the great assortment of colors. A perfect way to stay organized. It is so convenient to grab the one with your credit card, license, insurance card, and even a few dollars. Slip it in your jeans pocket and you are set to go. The colors are the best. Get a few in different colors. Everyone should have at least one of these.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 350- “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 4/16/2024. Day 15 of 28-day European Vacation – day 13 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. We are in Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands for the second time.
I never really thought about the temperature here. The middle of summer is a high of 72. Nope, this is not the place for me.
We waited in the Delphi theatre for our group to be called.
Many people were talking about not sleeping last night due to the high winds and rough seas. Our bus broke down and we had to stand outside on the dock and wait for a new one.
As we got on the bus frozen and windblown people were not really patient. The bus was rocking from the high wind. I always learn some little trivia from our tour guides. So here goes. Oh, really in Dutch is echt waar. Television shows are broadcasted in English here. In Rotterdam we are about 20 feet below sea level. There is a huge rivalry between Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The football teams are the pride of the respective cities: Ajax from Amsterdam and Feyenoord from Rotterdam. The match of Ajax and Feyenoord is usually called as De Klassieker (The Classics), and it is a highly popular match in the Netherlands. Rotterdam has at least 112 bridges.
The cube houses are so cool!
We pass many statues and artwork.
The most unusual was the eight-metre tall sculpture Cascade. It is made of polyester and is eighteen stacked oil drums, which appear to descend from the sky like a waterfall. They combine to form a column of life-size drums and a syrupy mass drips down of human figures. I am not sure what it means but it was interesting.
Then there was the Santa Claus. This statue was created by American artist Paul McCarthy in 2001. Officially the work represents Santa Claus holding a Christmas tree in his hands, but the artist has implied that it could also represent a buttplug.
Most people here travel by bikes and own two bikes.
Walking around the city was very wet and cold.
We got back on the bus and there were now more people than when we stopped. Netherlands has not been one of my favorite stops. Maybe due to the weather. The Dutch government is a parliamentary democracy, which according to the constitution of the Netherlands consists of the King (or Queen) as the head of state and the Council of Ministers. Willem-Alexander is King of the Netherlands.
I am so happy to see our ship. We are cold and wet.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, and the dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
RFID Blocking Wallet – Minimalist Leather Business Credit Card Holder –Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/3yzVX7D I love love love these business credit card holders. I carry three of them in my pocketbook. All different colors – One for gift cards, one for business cards, and one for credit card, license, and insurance card. Look at the great assortment of colors. A perfect way to stay organized. It is so convenient to grab the one with your credit card, license, insurance card, and even a few dollars. Slip it in your jeans pocket and you are set to go. The colors are the best. Get a few in different colors. Everyone should have at least one of these.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 349- “Living the Dream”. Monday, 4/15/2024. Day 14 of 28-day European Vacation – day 12 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia. We are at sea today traveling from Hamburg, Germany to Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands. It is a cloudy day, and the seas are the roughest they have been on this trip. There are some white caps around.
Last night the seas were so calm.
Today we just lounged around. Here is a video tour of deck seven of the MSC Euribia.
We actually napped a little in the afternoon. It was a late-night last night. We went to the theatre show. It was singers, sets, lights, and dancers devoted to Ed Sheeran music. Excellent show.
After the show they had a Sunshine party in the Central Gallery. I love the led screen where there are different shows all the time. Both shows were very entertaining.
As the day wore on the waves increased in size. We had dinner at Le Grill tonight. That is the steak house on the ship. The atmosphere, service, and food were excellent. The Price was great also – It was free because Steve has Diamond status with MSC.
In the evening, we are notified that due to weather conditions tomorrow we will be departing from Rotterdam two hours later than scheduled. I have the feeling it may get rough tonight. This ship moves around a little with the rough seas, but not a lot. It is huge with a gross tonnage of 183,500 and accommodates up to 6,327 passengers and 1,711 crew members.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, and the dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
RFID Blocking Wallet – Minimalist Leather Business Credit Card Holder –Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/3yzVX7D I love love love these business credit card holders. I carry three of them in my pocketbook. All different colors – One for gift cards, one for business cards, and one for credit card, license, and insurance card. Look at the great assortment of colors. A perfect way to stay organized. It is so convenient to grab the one with your credit card, license, insurance card, and even a few dollars. Slip it in your jeans pocket and you are set to go. The colors are the best. Get a few in different colors. Everyone should have at least one of these.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 348- “Living the Dream”. Sunday, 4/14/2024. Day 13 of 28-day European Vacation – day 11 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. Today is our second time docking at Hamburg, Germany.
At 9:30am we are on our nice motor coach and headed for our four-hour Hamburg Highlights Excursion. All the excursions we have been on so far have had beautiful comfortable motor coaches with USB chargers. Much different than the Caribbean.
Hamburg has the largest train port in Europe.
Hamburg is located on the Elba River and is the last city where you can cross the Elba River. Today we take one of the bridges over into the city.
There is also a tunnel. In the 1980s the port was moved over the Elba River. They took the old port area and built and are still building HafenCity. HafenCity is Europe’s largest inner-city urban development project. It is a model for the new European city on the water. HafenCity was not diked despite the risk of flooding; it is not cut off from the water. Instead, the entire area is raised to around 8-9 m above sea level. You can take tours of this city.
We then pass into the warehouse city. Speicherstadt. It is the world’s largest complex of warehouses, spanning an area of 260,000 square metres. It was built into the Elbe River between 1883 and the late 1920s on thousands of oak poles as a free economic zone in Hamburg’s port. We then passed the ELBPHILHARMONIE & LAEISZHALLE concert house. This is a gorgeous new building. You can walk up to the balcony area which is over the brick and before the glass top of the building.
So far everything is gorgeous and clean. The area is very quiet today due to it being Sunday and people are not working. Our guide is excellent. We passed St. Nikolai Memorial. The ruins of this church, bombed by Allied forces during Operation Gomorrah in 1943, now house a WWII memorial and museum. The dancing office towers were very cool looking. The top of the building is a restaurant, and the basement is a music club. We then went through the red-light district.
The Beatles came here in 1960 and spent 2 1/2 years here.
We then came to the Este River which appeared like a lake. It was beautiful with many sail boats and canoes in the lovely sunny spring day. So far, I am in love with this city and Germany. My favorite place we have been to so far in Europe. Nivea cream is produced here. Nivea is a German personal care brand that specializes in skin and body care. It is owned by the Hamburg-based company Beiersdorf Global AG. This was the origin of Eucerin brand. Nivea comes from the Latin adjective niveus, nivea, niveum, meaning “snow-white”.
I lost track of the different areas/neighborhoods we passed through. Hamburg is structured into 104 city districts in 7 boroughs: Hamburg-Mitte, Hamburg-Nord, Wandsbek, Bergedorf, Harburg, Altona, and Eimsbüttel. We passed through an intersection with the Sierichstrasse which is a fully reversible, two-lane city street. This is the only one-way street in Europe that changes direction instantly in the middle of the day. From 4 a.m. to 12 p.m., traffic on the two-lane road only goes into the city and from 12 pm to 4 am traffic only goes out of town.
More pay rest rooms in this city and they cost 60 cent Euros to use. This church made a lot of money from tourists using their restrooms. There was a line down the sidewalk.
Every place has a McDonalds and in every McDonalds the ice cream machines are broken. Germany is no exception.
Everyone on this cruise is so nice and friendly. I keep running into people that have been following me on Facebook. It is so much fun to hear about where they are from and to learn tips from them. There are a lot of new passengers getting on board today.
When getting on an MSC ship you are greeted by Do Re Mi. Do Re Mi is a mascot created by MSC. He is a large compass and is a fun character who greets everyone on the gangway as you board the ship.
Then you are greeted with the overhead constantly changing shows. The LED ceiling show is awesome today in the Galleria Euribia.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, and the dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
RFID Blocking Wallet – Minimalist Leather Business Credit Card Holder –Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/3yzVX7D I love love love these business credit card holders. I carry three of them in my pocketbook. All different colors – One for gift cards, one for business cards, and one for credit card, license, and insurance card. Look at the great assortment of colors. A perfect way to stay organized. It is so convenient to grab the one with your credit card, license, insurance card, and even a few dollars. Slip it in your jeans pocket and you are set to go. The colors are the best. Get a few in different colors. Everyone should have at least one of these.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 347- “Living the Dream”. Saturday, 4/13/2024. Day 12 of 28-day European Vacation – day 10 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. Today is a Sea Day. We are traveling from Southampton, United Kingdom to Hamburg, Germany. We decided we needed to do some laundry on the ship. So, we sent 14 pairs of underwear and 14 pairs of socks to be washed. We were charged 45 euros. That is after a 15% discount for being diamond. Take me back to Royal Caribbean. We each get a free bag of laundry which can be stuffed on Royal’s ships. I did read today that Royal is going to cleaning your staterooms every other day. At noon we passed by Amsterdam eating the best cruise ship pizza. The temperature outside was 57 degrees Fahrenheit.
Then we headed to the casino while our Granddaughter is being confirmed. She looks like an angel.
We had dinner in the Colorado River Dining room on deck 6 aft. It was crazy busy and loud. We don’t understand why the acoustics are so bad in the buffet and this dining room. The servers were running like crazy, and they were excellent. The Greek salad was fantastic. Lasagna okay, but very mushy. Steve had sliced veal shank. He said it was good but had a lot of fat. So now we are taking to bribery to get into early seating dining. Hey, throwing Euros around helps everything. This ships restaurant employees must do a nightly dish, pot, utensil show. It is kind of loud and obnoxious to me. The first night we saw it was original and cool.
After dinner we wandered around the ship.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, and the dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Packing Cubes – Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/49Z48ax These are the best packing cubes. I have had other less expensive ones. These are worth the little extra cost. Traveled to Europe for a month and used these. They are strong, the sizes are perfect for my needs, and they keep your items organized. I rolled my clothes and packed them tight. They seem really durable. I expect to have and use these for a long time. Also, the burgundy color is nice and rich looking.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 346- “Living the Dream”. Friday, 4/12/2024. Day 11 of 28-day European Vacation – day 9 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. We are in Southampton, United Kingdom for the second time with this ship. From our balcony you can see the Southampton Civic center clock. This municipal building is located in the Cultural Quarter area within the city. The building with the clock is occupied by a library, a museum, the city council, an art gallery, and I am other interesting offices such as Guildhall.
We have a mandatory immigration control visual inspection this morning at 10:45am in the Sportsplex on Deck 16. All guests must go this quick face-to-face meeting with their passport and cruise card.
Last night we ate our first meal in the Colorado River main dining room. The food was interesting. Steve got medium well prime rib and he swears it was wiggling. Steve loves the vanilla ice cream, and they give you a huge serving. The service was exceptional it was quiet compared to the Marketplace buffet. We caught just a little bit of the servers playing plate music.
This morning for breakfast I tried Spelt bread which I had never had before. Spelt is one of the world’s most ancient grains. It’s native to Iran and parts of Europe and was one of the first species of wheat ever used to make bread. The bread was wonderful. It was a hearty nutty flavored bread. We always eat our breakfast as early as possible in the mornings whenever we cruise. We love the quiet at that time, the fact the food is not picked over yet, and the utensils have not been handled by a million people. Therefore, as soon as the Marketplace Buffet opened at 6:30AM this morning we were there. It was nice and quiet.
Before we headed to the theatre to meet for our excursion, we went back to the Buffet again to have some coffee. Look how crowded it is later in the morning.
It is amazing how many employees on board can speak many different languages. In the theater waiting for our excursion to leave, the announcers speak at least five languages. We are loaded on a motor coach bus and on our way promptly. An observation I have is on American cruises things aren’t always on time. On a European cruise line everything is early. I f they say 9:30am, they may leave buy 8:45am. Bath is located in the county of Somerset, England. The city is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognized for its significant cultural and architectural importance. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization which is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. Bath is known for and named after its Roman-built baths. The population is about 100,000. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, 97 miles west of London and 11 miles southeast of Bristol. Our ride today will be over an hour. This will be another long day. We failed to do our safety drill meeting yesterday for the back-to-back. Hoping we are back in time for our 6pm scheduled time. Today is a gorgeous sunny day and the trees are starting to blossom. In the United Kingdom buses are taken in the cities and coaches are taken between cities. I won’t make that mistake again. I was corrected by the tour guide. Lol
We drove from Hampshire County into Wiltshire and then Somerset.
We drove over the Avon River three times. This is a famous chalk river. There are only 200 chalk rivers globally, 85% of which are found in the UK in southern and eastern England. Chalk rivers emerge from the chalk aquifer. The water is very pure and rich in 47 minerals and remains at a fairly constant temperature year-round.
Somerset county is famous for its legends such as King Arthur and alsopp;[[[ its Cheddar cheese. Cheddar cheese originates from the village of Cheddar in Somerset County. Our destination is Bath today. Here there are hot springs. The water is heated by high temperature rocks to an estimated 156˚ Fahrenheit before rising back up through one of the three springs in the center of the city, namely the Cross Spring, the Hetling Spring or the King’s Spring which supplies the Roman Baths. Once they reach the surface, the spring waters are on average 113 º Fahrenheit. The waters then cool down to the optimum bathing temperature of approximately 93 º Fahrenheit. It is one of the most expensive cities in England. Bath has been attracting health seekers for thousands of years. The Romans called the town Aquae Sulis, meaning “waters of Sulis” – an ancient British god of healing springs. Most of Bath’s buildings are made from the local, golden-colored, Bath Stone. The dominant architectural style is Georgian Palladium style. The city was a fashionable popular spa and social center during the 18th century. Today on our drive to Bath there is another motor car accident, and we have to alter our route. The same thing happened when we left Stonehenge last week. This tour is way too long of a drive. I would not recommend it. Look at this map it is about an hour further away from the cruise port than Stonehenge.
It was almost as bad as the flight from Philadelphia to Paris. We saw and learned about Chimney pots though which was really interesting. Chimney pots have been used in Britain since the 13th Century. They are usually made from clay or tin. Chimney pots are known as ‘tuns’ in England. A Chimney pot is supposed to draw smoke more effectively out into the air.
The bus made a short stop at The Royal Crescent. The 500-foot Royal Crescent is one of Bath’s most iconic landmarks. It was designed by John Wood the Younger and built between 1767 and 1775. This building is arranged around a perfect lawn overlooking the Royal Victoria Park. There is an impressive ha–ha, which was designed to keep grazing animals out of the more formal areas of the garden. I had never heard of a ha-ha before. A ha-ha is a type of sunken fence that was commonly used in landscaped gardens and parks in the 18th century. It gave the viewer of the garden the illusion of an unbroken, continuous rolling lawn, while providing boundaries for grazing livestock. Very cool idea. No stepping out into your front lawn and stepping in animal droppings. The Royal Crescent is currently home to the five-star hotel The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa, the museum of Georgian life at No. 1 Royal Crescent, and also private housing.
It is so funny to see bricked up windows. This is due to old houses from when the Window Tax was in force in the UK between 1696 and 1851. “People were taxed on the number of windows they had in their houses so many windows were bricked up to reduce tax paid by homeowners.
Bath is super crowded with many street performers. The street performers were amazing. We had clotted cream ice cream for an afternoon treat. It was yummy. Clotted cream ice cream is a traditional British ice cream that’s associated with Cornwall. It is sold throughout the United Kingdom. This ice cream is made with Cornish whole milk, eggs, and clotted cream. We had a few hours of free time. It was a warm beautiful sunny afternoon. At the end of the day, I am glad we did the excursion. Pretty cool we visited a T-K-Maxx not a T-J-Maxx
We made it back to the ship at 5:40 and did the mandatory assembly station drill at 6pm. So again, we are given 7:30pm dining. So, I guess we are eating in the buffet the whole vacation.
We made a quick trip around the ship after dinner to check out the macarons and see what is displayed on the Galleria Euribia ceiling. Very cool ceiling tonight. The Galleria Euribai is the indoor promenade which features an 80-meter LED ceiling which changes through the day during the cruise.
There are many great benefits from being a MSC Voyagers club member. We didn’t go to the Welcome Back Cocktail Party, but here is a short video as it was just starting, and we were walking by.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, excursion planner, other invites, and the dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Packing Cubes – Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/49Z48ax These are the best packing cubes. I have had other less expensive ones. These are worth the little extra cost. Traveled to Europe for a month and used these. They are strong, the sizes are perfect for my needs, and they keep your items organized. I rolled my clothes and packed them tight. They seem really durable. I expect to have and use these for a long time. Also, the burgundy color is nice and rich looking.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 345- “Living the Dream”. Thursday, 4/11/2024. Day 10 of 28-day European Vacation – day 8 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. We are back in LeHavre, France. It is our back-to-back day. This new cruise is eleven nights. We have to change rooms. We were told to be at guest services to be there no later than 8am. We were also given written instructions saying that. We are up early, at breakfast at 7am, showered, packed up, and luggage is all tagged sitting in our room. We are at guest services at 7:45am with our passports in and to change rooms. No one in guest services knows what to do. They say come back at 10 am. So back to our room we trot. At 8:30am our cabin attendant comes and takes our luggage. Okay, so we are now out of our room. Let’s see what guest services says now. There are new employees at the desk, and they tell us to come back at 9am. This new woman does explain that the paper sent to our room was incorrect it should have said 10am due to the time of docking this morning.
We waited around and went back down at 10 am. I played on the internet while we waited all the places we have visited in our life. Actually, there are more than I thought.
We are all checked in and unpacked for the next 11 nights before lunch. Our current room is on deck 14 next to the aft starboard elevators. It is the opposite design. The bed is near the closet. I really don’t like when the closet is near the bed. It is difficult to get in and out of it. Here is a video of our new balcony stateroom 14152.
We did not get off the ship today. We will be spending three nights in LeHavre when we disembark this cruise in eleven nights. The views from the ship are fantastic. We were able to see the The Catène de Containers sculpture. This sculpture was created by Vincent Ganivet in 2017. He made two archways of containers to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Le Havre. You couldn’t miss St. Joseph’s Church.
You couldn’t miss St. Joseph’s Church. The church’s single, central tower dominates the city skyline and is easily visible from the city’s port. It resembles a lantern and is referred to as the “lantern tower” or the “lighthouse at the heart of the city”. The tower is 107 meters tall, made of concrete, and acts as a beacon visible from out at sea. I hear it looks especially nice at night when illuminated.
Besides viewing the sites from the ship, we spent more time exploring the ship itself. We visited the Gelato & Sorbet bar (yummy, yummy), the regular bar, and the MSC Foundation. No casino today. It is a port day, and it is closed.
MSC is committed to future generations and devoted to keeping our planet safe and clean.
It’s a tropical island ship.
I have never been on a ship that had so many bicycles. How cool is this?
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, excursion planner, other invites, and the dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Packing Cubes – Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/49Z48ax These are the best packing cubes. I have had other less expensive ones. These are worth the little extra cost. Traveled to Europe for a month and used these. They are strong, the sizes are perfect for my needs, and they keep your items organized. I rolled my clothes and packed them tight. They seem really durable. I expect to have and use these for a long time. Also, the burgundy color is nice and rich looking.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 344- “Living the Dream”. Wednesday, 4/10/2024. Day 9 of 28-day European Vacation – day 7 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. We sailed 73 nautical miles last night. This morning, we are in Zeebrugge, Belgium. and the ship is full.
Zeebrugge is located on the coast of the North Sea. I had to try the hotdogs with a fried egg in the middle for breakfast, Interesting but not my cup of tea. Just so everyone is aware the water on MSC’s ships is excellent tasting.
The wholesale fish market here is one of the largest in Europe. The port welcomes around 180 cruise ships and nearly 500,000 passengers each year. More than three-quarters of the passengers are German or British. Guests are not permitted to walk inside the port. A free continuous bus service is available through the port.
Our excursion today is at 11:30am.
We spent time looking out our balcony in the morning. We watched the Delphine a Ro-Ro Cargo Ship built in 2018 sailing under the flag of Malta pull into port.
Today is balcony cleaning day. The dividers are down between the room balconies.
Belgium is divided into two parts. Three different languages are spoken in Belgium. As we pull out through the port on our motorcoach the parking lots are loaded with new cars and New Holland farm equipment. In the parking lots are many windmills. People drive on the right side of the road here. Belgium is known for its beer and chocolate.
Most people are catholic. Everybody pays for the churches even if you don’t go or don’t believe. It is part of the taxes. Everybody must vote. We walked and walked and walked around Brugge. Brugge is the capital of West Flanders in northwest Belgium. It is distinguished by its canals, cobblestone streets, and Medieval buildings.
Here we saw Belgium horses pulling carriages, ate Belgium waffles, walked Belgium blocks, and tasted Belgium chocolate. At 4pm Steve and I have had enough of walking. Walking on uneven stone has really made my hip and leg hurt. I have been trying to do the exercises the physical therapist said to do, but miles and miles of walking every day is starting to really make it hurt. The same thing is happening with Steve. His chest is killing him.
Tomorrow is our back-to-back day in LeHavre, France. We are not doing an excursion. The next cruise starting tomorrow is for eleven nights.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, other invites, and the dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Packing Cubes – Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/49Z48ax These are the best packing cubes. I have had other less expensive ones. These are worth the little extra cost. Traveled to Europe for a month and used these. They are strong, the sizes are perfect for my needs, and they keep your items organized. I rolled my clothes and packed them tight. They seem really durable. I expect to have and use these for a long time. Also, the burgundy color is nice and rich looking.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 343- “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 4/09/2024. Day 8 of 28-day European Vacation – day 6 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. Hello Rotterdam, Netherlands.
We are eating breakfast with no cameras with us as we cruise up a Canal to pull into port. This is a gorgeous gorgeous city. We are facing away from the dock looking at the Eramus bridge which takes you into town. All the tables around us are mostly families enjoying their breakfast and I don’t hear anyone speaking English except for the cruise staff. Although everyone gives us a big smile. Rotterdam is a major port city in the Dutch province of South Holland. There are twelve provinces in the Netherlands. The most populous province is South Holland, with just over 3.8 million inhabitants We are surrounded with bold, modern architecture along with old 17th century buildings. It is awesome. Rotterdam was the first city in Europe to have a completely car-free shopping street. This so far is the nicest cruise port we have docked on this European vacation. Today we are headed to Amsterdam on an 8-hour tour.
Interesting news about this area is that Air Products will build, manage and operate a CO2 capture facility at its existing hydrogen factory in Rotterdam. The plant is expected to be operational in 2026 and will be the largest blue hydrogen plant in Europe. Hydrogen is called ‘blue’ when CO2 is captured during the production of hydrogen for storage. After breakfast we head back to our room. The view from our balcony is of the port side and we are right in the city. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Can’t wait to get off the ship.
MSC is strange compared to Royal Caribbean. Cruise passengers get on and off at every port. We are in the Delphi theatre at 9:30am. Meet up time is 9:45am. We have learned to get there early. The last excursion left the ship and we had to run to catch up and get on the tour bus. Although, we were so excited and had no idea where everyone went to that we were the first ones on the tour bus. Lol Another cool windy day today. High of 53 with 25 mph wind. Should have packed a coat. We are headed to Amsterdam. The cruise terminal in Rotterdam has been a passenger port since 1870. In 1873 Holland American Cruise line was founded here. As we set off on the motor coach to Amsterdam the capital of Netherlands, we are stuck in heavy traffic. One observation I have is on this cruise most people are more on the slender side and I have only seen one handicapped mobility scooter since we have been on the ship. Once we started to drive through Rotterdam, I realized that the city is not as new as it appeared from the ship.
We passed lots of river boats that are being used to house Ukranian immigrants.
40 percent of the Netherlands is below sea level. Electronic pumping systems pump water out of the Netherlands 24 hours a day to the North Sea. On the drive we see a few casinos. Then we pass The Hague which is the seat of government of the Netherlands. The old windmills we picture when we think of holland are no longer used for pumping. They have been out of use for over 60 years. They are under government protection. People live in them but must keep them historic looking. In order to purchase a windmill, you must be a licensed miller. The famous Dutch tulips are blooming, and we pass many blooming fields on our trip. There are also fields and fields of green houses.
We passed Schiphol, the only international Airport in the country. This is not the country’s only civil airport – the Netherlands is home to five civil airports. As we neared Amsterdam we drove along the Amstel River. This is the only river in Amsterdam and the city is named after this river. The financial district in Amsterdam is the only area with skyscrapers. You can’t get away from grafitti. Everywhere we have ever been you find it defacing our buildings, bridges, etc. Lots and lots of bikes with huge bike lanes. Nobody wears helmets while riding their bicycle. The city is not particularly clean. Actually, there is a lot of paper stuff littering the sidewalks. Amsterdam is a global city. You will find every nationality here. Here you will find 110,000 students, 70 museums, 22 cinemas, 45 theaters, around 1000 cafés and more than 1,100 restaurants. We drove through city park and then the museum area. Drove past the red-light district. Window brothels, sex clubs and escort agencies can operate legally with permits from the city of Amsterdam.
We then took a Canal Cruise on the Tulip.
We passed the house where Anne Frank was hidden. Then we passed the church from which she heard the church bells that she wrote about in her diary. The railing along the canal was paid for by insurance companies because of the number of cars that over parked and ended up parking in the canal. The canals all revolve around the central train station. We did a complete circle. During that time, we clipped another boat going the other way. After the canal cruise we were provided free time of about two hours in city center. We walked around, had some lunch, and visited a few shops.
It was cold, windy and rainy. The area is fairly dirty with lots of litter and gum on the sidewalks. What I will always remember about The Netherlands is that every building and structure is a work of art. The thought that went into designing in this country is amazing. As I am posting, an announcement is made that the pilot will be disembarking the ship this evening at 11pm if need be, by helicopter due to inclement weather.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, other invites, drink package pricing, and the dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Packing Cubes – Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/49Z48ax These are the best packing cubes. I have had other less expensive ones. These are worth the little extra cost. Traveled to Europe for a month and used these. They are strong, the sizes are perfect for my needs, and they keep your items organized. I rolled my clothes and packed them tight. They seem really durable. I expect to have and use these for a long time. Also, the burgundy color is nice and rich looking.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Year 3 Day 342- “Living the Dream”. Monday, 4/08/2024. Day 7 of 28-day European Vacation – day 5 of 18-night Northern Europe MSC Euribia cruise. It was a lazy day at Sea traveling from Hamburg, Germany to Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Here are some pictures from yesterday’s port, Hamburg, Germany.
From Hamburg to Rotterdam, we will cruise 247 nautical miles in the North Sea. The North Sea is part of the Atlantic Ocean. We wandered the ship as we cruised by miles and miles of windmills. I love to check out all the different slides, pools, family activities, bars, and children’s programs. Steve does do the slides sometimes. I am just a chicken. MSC is pretty cool with the super water slide and rope area, the bowling, the formula 1 race cars, the interactive HD Cinema, and the Hologate Blitz. On every cruise line you get a different experience. The family and children’s activities on MSC are very different than Royal Caribbean. The difference in these activities is one of the big reasons why you should cruise different cruise lines if you cruise more than once. There are subtle differences between every cruise line and within that cruise line every ship.
Steve spent some time at the Roulette tables. I stayed with the slot machines.
The big thing is every cruise line has different shows. I love MSC shows.
You never know what you will see. There was even a wedding group preparing for the ceremony.
I am so infatuated by the windmills. What an awesome experience to see this. I can’t keep my eyes off of them. I am assuming the ones I am seeing are fixed foundation ones. Fixed foundation offshore wind turbines have fixed foundations underwater and are installed in relatively shallow waters of up to 160 to 200 ft. The number of windmills in this sea is tremendous. Did you know that the average wind turbine generates enough electricity in just 46 minutes to power an average home for one month. Crews of technicians often live on a floating staff hotel for two weeks at a time. Their work schedule is two weeks on then two weeks off. Look at the pictures below. The National Careers Service predicts demand for wind technicians to double in the coming years and that by 2050, 50 percent of the world’s electricity will be supplied by wind and sun. But everything you do affects something. They say that offshore wind energy projects could: Increase Ocean noise, which could affect the behaviors of fish, whales, and other ocean species.
Here’s today’s Daily Planner, other invites, and the dinner menu.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Packing Cubes – Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/49Z48ax These are the best packing cubes. I have had other less expensive ones. These are worth the little extra cost. Traveled to Europe for a month and used these. They are strong, the sizes are perfect for my needs, and they keep your items organized. I rolled my clothes and packed them tight. They seem really durable. I expect to have and use these for a long time. Also, the burgundy color is nice and rich looking.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
