September 2007 London & Dublin

Thanks to my cousin Stephanie for inviting us to stay with her in London! We started our week with a bus tour of all the major city landmarks, including Westminster Abbey.

Big Ben, with the London Eye in the background.

The second half of our tour included a boat ride on the Thames River. It was lunchtime so we got some fish and chips for the journey - yum!

Parliament and the London Eye.

The Tower of London's "Entry for the Traitor's Gate" is no longer accessible, but you can still see it from the river.

The Tower Bridge

Buckingham Palace

The gardens in St. James Park were still in full bloom.

2nd day - The Tower of London, established by William the Conquerer in the 1070's.

The entry hall to the Crown Jewel room displays the crests of all the monarchs since William the Conquerer. I snuck this photo of the crests of Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V - the title characters of the Prenzie Players 6th season shows!

Tower Guard [The ER on his uniform stands for Elizabeth Regina]

View of Parliament from the London Eye.

3rd day - We took a motorcoach tour out into the English countryside to visit Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge.

Our first stop on the tour was Windsor Castle, also established by William the Conquerer in the 1070's. Windsor Castle is an official residence of The Queen and the largest occupied castle in the world.

In Bath, we visited the Roman Bath ruins. In the background is Bath Abbey. The town has excellent examples of Georgian architecture including the famous Circle and Crescent buildings.

After touring the ruins, you can visit the restaurant and have a glass of the waters. Not so tasty in my opinion!

Our last stop of the tour was Stonehenge. You can't get close anymore, but it's still quite impressive!

On Saturday, we went to the British Museum to see the Chinese terra cotta soldiers on display there, but the exhibit was sold out for the day. Although we were unable to view the authentic statues, we could have purchased a replica available in various sizes :)

Stephanie, Brian and I spent an evening at the theatre to see Avenue Q - if you haven't heard of it, it's a hilarious musical featuring muppet-like puppets living in New York City.

Brian is enjoying a full English breakfast, which includes eggs, bacon, sausage, baked beans, hash brown potatoes, and don't forget the toast! (He is wearing his Suomi shirt :)

Week Two Ireland! On a bus tour of Dublin, our guide told us that this church was being used in the filming of the TV series "The Tudors" - can you see the beautifully dressed actors in the lower left?

The River Liffy (An Life in Irish) at sunset.

A self-guided tour of the Guinness Storehouse includes samples of their delicious stout.

I think Brian's favorite stop on our journey was the Jameson's Whiskey tour!

After the tour, six visitors were selected to participate in a taste testing. I can honestly say I preferred the Jamesons! Brian was disappointed to not be selected, but I let him finish my samples :)

We rented a car and Brian had no problem managing shifting gears and driving on the left side of the winding narrow roads on the way to our Bed & Breakfast in Wicklow County.

St. Kevin's Monastary ruins and education center. The site is surrounded by wooded walking paths, a stream, lakes and includes a small nature center.

Excellent example of a High Cross.

Wicklow Mountains

Boulders make great tripods for self portraits!

Stone marker designating St. Kevin's Way.

On our way back to Dublin, we stopped by Powerscourt House & Gardens. The estate includes 47 acres of gardens! To learn more visit their website: http://www.powerscourt.ie/gardens/house/history.htm

View of the Wicklow Mountains from the formal gardens. (Their website picture gives a much better perspective than mine)

The Japanese Garden. Lots of levels and little stone walled paths and grottos.

This pub has it all! Hotel rooms, a restaurant on the top floor, live music on the middle floor, and a bar on the ground floor. We had dinner here - excellent traditional Irish fare!

Brian - quit playing with your food!

Stephanie didn't get enough of us in London, so she joined us for drinks in Dublin!

On our way back through London, we had a few extra hours so we checked our luggage at the train station and headed back downtown. We hadn't found time before to visit the Globe Theatre, and were lucky enough to catch the last tour of the day before they had to set up for a performance. Great way to end our journey!

August 2007 Turku, Finland

Turku, founded in the 13th century, is the oldest and fifth largest city in Finland and was its first capital city. It is located at the mouth of the Aura River, on the southwest coast. Due to its location, the Port of Turku is one of the busiest seaports in Finland with around 3.7 million passengers per year. Turku has been designated by the European Union to be the European Capital of Culture for the year 2011, together with Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.

Brian, Foster and I spent 3 days at the end of August exploring Turku and some of the surrounding towns. This enormous iridescent fish tail fountain seemed like the perfect spot for a photo.

SIGYN - The last remaining three-masted barque in the world. Now a floating musuem!

Foster and Brian enjoying the view along the river walk.

This plaque explains in Finnish, Swedish and English that the damage to this building was caused during WWII.

Turku Castle, dating from the 1280s, is the largest surviving medieval building in Finland. The Castle's heyday was in the mid-16th century; that was when the Renaissance Floor and King's and Queen's hall were built. The castle was the center of the historical province of Finland Proper, and the administrative center of all of Finland. Its strong walls and dungeons also served as the state prison for centuries. The castle is Finland's most visited museum and offers guided tours in the summer.

This small chapel is still used today for services and wedding ceremonies.

This banquet hall in the Renaissance addition is used for wedding receptions and other special events.

Several of the castle rooms have been decorated to show various styles of decor over the centuries.

Brian examining some shackles in a prison cell at the castle.

Turku Cathedral is the mother church of the Lutheran Church of Finland, and the country’s national shrine. Its bells chime at noon over the radio (Channel Yle Radio 1) throughout Finland, and they also proclaim the Christmas peace to the country. Construction began in the 13th century and continued into the first decades of the 19th century.













This alcove contains the tomb of a wealthy family and is painted in rich colors with a celestial inspired ceiling.