Belgium - And France As A Bonus!

Our port in Belgium was Antwerp, more than 50 miles up the River Scheldt.  Not the usual entrance into a country, but not much is usual when you travel by ship.  In a world of immediate gratification that allows and even expects minimalist spelling like "gr8", it's hard to slow down into the relaxed cadence of the mindset of a ship.  In fact even the activities on the ship continue at a frantic pace while the ships coasts along.  So it's easy to fall into the trap of making up for the "slow time" on the ship when we do reach port.  Traveling 300 miles in a day is replaced by covering 300 miles in two hours on a train. 

Our time in Belgium split into the same confused trend.  We spent our first two days dealing with a minor medical issue - everything is fine - but it did require a very slow pace for those days, continuing to live on "ship pace".  One day we visited Passchendale, a WW1 battlefield, and the next we wandered around Antwerp and the old canal town of Bruges, including renting a boat!  A highlight of the day in Bruges was Ryan FaceTiming with his class from a square outside a church in Bruges.

We passed the next three days at breakneck pace, spontaneously deciding that the boys needed some kid time at Disneyworld Paris.  We rented a car and scurried out of Belgium into France.  After checking into one of the worst "quality per dollar" hotel rooms we've ever stayed in, we enjoyed the next day cavorting around Disney.  Although we had fun on the great rides, it paled in comparison to our experience to Orlando.  When we were told curtly that they had no salads (the only vegetarian option for Christy of their four entrees) at 11:15 AM, we knew we weren't in Orlando anymore (side note to any Disney execs who read this, Disneyland Paris is NOT helping your brand - or maybe the bar is very low for these experiences in Europe)!

That afternoon we decided that it was possible to show the boys Paris in 3 hours!  So we got up early the next morning, took a 45 minutes train ride to Paris, ate breakfast, visited Notre Dame, walked by the Louvre and spent some time at the Eiffel Tower.  And then back to Disneyland by noon to pick up our car, drive back to Belgium, get lost on the way to the car rental lot and walk back to the ship.  Not exactly ship pace!!

Three ports visited and ten more to go!

England - Jolly and Old!

After doing beer, fish and chips, castles and rain in Ireland, it would seem that we had already covered England.  Fortunately, there was plenty to do after our arrival in Southampton. Like all good travelers, once we landed in England, we headed straight for London. 

Christy found a great hotel near Hyde Park that was within walking distance of Buckingham Palace and other sites.  At least they were walking distance on the first day, when we put about ten miles on our tired feet.  Not so much the next day, when we spent a little more time on the Underground!

While we had no royal sightings, we did manage to visit many royal and government sites.  Among the favorites were learning the gory history of the Tower of London and our walk down the Thames to the London Eye (giant Ferris wheel).   We also got to attend a session of the House of Commons.

The highlight of our time in London was catching the theatrical production of "War Horse".  Our anticipation about seeing how they would utilize actual horses on a stage was tempered right away when we realized that the horses were portrayed by puppets.  However, we were immediately amazed by how realistic the "puppets" were.  They were each handled by three people and were remarkably realistic, complete with the sounds, heaving ribcages and little movements you would expect from a real horse.  The production was truly a highlight and the boys were at the edge of their seats, despite the play ending at 11 pm.

After two days of covering London by foot and Underground, we divided and conquered the last day, with Luke and Milton traveling to the Naval museum in Portsmouth and Jay, Christy and Ryan venturing to Stonehenge and Old Sarum.  Stonehenge is an interesting place, more as a result of the questions about its origins and uses than due to its current appearance of a circle of beautiful large rocks.  From Stonehenge we visited Old Sarum and explored the ruins of its medieval fort/castle.

Next stop Belgium, and our first stop on this voyage to a country that speaks a language other than English!

Ireland - The Emerald Isle!

After 7 full days on the ship – and the slow torture of one-hour time changes every other night – we hit the port of Galway, Ireland with great anticipation!  It was our family’s first foray into Ireland.  And it didn’t disappoint – friendly locals, Guinness everywhere, castles, crazy driving, sheep, Guinness everywhere, lush landscapes, lumpy beds, pelting rain and yes -- Guinness everywhere.

Galway is a small port on the West Coast of Ireland.  We decided to check out the small town of Galway and explore its quaint streets for a day before driving off into the green of Ireland in search of a leprechaun.  What a good choice that was.  We had a fantastic time as part of a theatrical walking tour, complete with plenty of gory history and a lead actor who even taunted the locals, calling one random fellow the town drunk.  Turns out that our “guide” had spent six months in Colorado – in the most unlikely of places – Ward!

The first shock of driving in Ireland comes when you realize that it will be a right hand drive car with a left hand stick!  It helps to be a lefty at that point, but even that isn’t enough when you see the roads you have to drive on and the size of the tour buses that will be sharing the road with you.  Throw in the rock walls that appear in place of road shoulders and you have the recipe for a fish and chip induced heart attack.

We decided to visit Connemara to see the wilds of Ireland.  And the wilds delivered as we saw everything from how to go from sheep to sweater in four “easy” steps, to a mini gothic church built by a grieving husband for his wife on the grounds of their beautiful castle/mansion.  We managed to stay at the last minute in a great manor house right on the edge of Connemara Parklands.  And of course we did all of this in rain ranging from mist to downpour.  No surprise to the locals, but we didn’t realize this is the rainiest part of Ireland – which is saying something!

No visit to Ireland could be complete without a visit to a castle –especially one where the movie Braveheart was filmed.  The castle at Trim dates back to the Norman conquests of Ireland in the 12^th century.  Incredibly, a good part of the castle still stands (the Irish were not fans of the Normans), including the inner keep.   A highlight was watching the sunset over the castle ruins as we watched competitors jump their horses as they warmed up for a competition. 

We managed to wrap up Ireland with a few hours in Dublin and an exciting trip through some of the narrower streets we’ve ever driven on.  Our first port ended without incident and no loss of life, limb or bumper!

Toronto - The more things change, the more they stay the same!

We enjoyed four quick days in Toronto, as a waypoint before heading to the ship in Halifax.   The boys finally got to spend some time with their cousins from Toronto, up at their cottage on Lake Muskoka.  We had a great couple of days on the lake!

Monday and the days following saw us venturing down to Toronto for a visit with Jay’s grandfather John and Mom and Spencer.  Luke got the chance to visit on his own with Nana D and explore her art work.

In just a few days, we managed to hit many highlights – at least for Jay – visits with family, a Swiss Chalet dinner, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Granite Club, lunch and beers with friends and the chance to buy Canadian junk food – a quick trip back in his childhood!

Colorado - Leaving on a Jet Plane

We had a frantic final several weeks in Colorado as we prepared for our nine months of travel – not just Semester at Sea (SAS) but also the five months of travel to follow our ocean journey around the Atlantic. 

It was tough enough to get all the usual tasks associated with long term travel complete – applying for visas, getting poked with needles, researching destinations, arranging care for the pets and house, visiting the doctor and dentist, packing for months away and taking care of financial affairs – but on top of that we had scheduled a week vacation in Canada, purchased a ranch property with its own large and varied set of issues.  And of course Jay had a golf tournament and Christy had bike races!

However, we managed to get it all done and have left many of our cares behind in the hands of people who will help keep real life running while we take the boys on a discovery voyage around the world.  We left home for SAS with 6 large checked bags, 2 roller bag carry-ons, and 4 backpacks – 12 bags to keep track of!

And....so it begins!

7AM this morning - here's what an early departure to Toronto looks like.  Not tooooo much stuff for four months of travel!  One entire suitcase of kid school books!

Now we have 4 days in Toronto before an early flight to Halifax to meet our fellow voyagers and board the ship!

6 days until we fly - 11 days until we sail!

Well, here we are again.  Following on our wonderful voyage in the Fall of 2009, we will soon be setting out for our second Semester at Sea experience (third for Christy).  This time, instead of circling the globe from Halifax to San Diego, the route will take us around the Atlantic from Halifax to Europe, the West Coast of Africa and the East Coast of South America, before heading through the Caribbean on our way to Fort Lauderdale.

We will post after each port and maybe even between ports - Halifax, Ireland, England, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Ghana, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Dominica and Fort Lauderdale.  So follow us here or on Facebook - I think they are linked and we will hope to give you a flavor of where we are and what we are experiencing.  As you can imagine, email is the best way to get hold of us if you have advice or questions.

We are looking forward to experiencing new adventures and making new friends, all while staying connected to our current friends.  Please enjoy sharing our adventure with us!

Thanks to Jonathan Galos (F12) for creating the template above!