travelinwifey

Just returned from the family's vacation to London and a 10 night Western European cruise and had a wonderful time. This trip was with my spouse and my inlaws. Here are the details of our adventures.

Air- Virgin Atlantic airlines. Flew direct nonstop from our hometown to Gatwick. Was able to save approx. $100 per person by calling Virgin direct and getting a senior discount for the inlaws. Flight went smoothly.

Gatwick to London - traveled via rail. IMPORTANT: if there are 4 of you travling together you qualify for a 2 for 1 discount. This can only be purchased at a railway ticket counter, not after you board the train. Cost for the 4 of us to London was 24 pounds. It may have been less expensive to book a round trip ticket but we weren't sure if we would take a taxi from London to Gatwick upon return to the states. Took a taxi from Victoria station to our hotel in Mayfair. Again, everything went smoothly.

Hotel: 4 nights at the Sofitel Saint James via Priceline at a rate of $225 night. Not a huge savings vs. the Sofitel direct, we saved $400 total for the 2 rooms. Still spoiled from those $150/nt room rates from 1 year ago but no luck at such a hugely discounted rate this time. Due to schedule changes we booked an additional night (Fri) at the Sofitel and lucked out with a rate of 110 pounds for the single night, almost the same as the Priceline rate that evening only.

This was the second time we stayed at the hotel. Rooms are nicely appointed though I had a terrible headache most mornings from the down comforter and pillows as well as the woolen drapes. But heck, I'm in London and I'm so happy to be there!

Upon arrival the first night we walk over to our favorite touristy restaurant in Leicester Square, Fiori Corner for some spaghetti and people watching just across the way from the underground stop in the heart of the square. Dinner for the 4 of us with coke lights and bread cost approx. $110. The weather was excellent, about 80 degrees.

Attractions for the 5 days: Did the Original London Sightseeing Bus. We hopped on and off at many of our favorite sites including St. Paul's Basilica. Also went to the British Museum and the Imperial War Museum (great spy section and so much to learn there about the world wars).

On day 2 we took the rail to Hampton Court Palace from Waterloo station. This was our favorite day. Again, we purchased discounted rail tickets because there were 4 of us and it cost 2.65 pounds per person. Also we picked up a dicount brochure (must do) from the train ticket seller and received 2 for 1 entrance prices into Hampton Court. Spent the day there seeing the estate and gardens and had a ball.

Dining was very expensive. No matter where we went it always seemed to cost us more than $100, even at the inexpensive london chain restaurants such as Bella Pasta or Deep Pan Pizza. For lunch we usually dined at any shop where we can find tuna and sweetcorn sandwiches! Most often we enjoyed cafe Marco? that was next to our hotel. Tasty sandwiches and convenient.

Details on our voyage out of Southampton and Western European Capitals to follow including Brussels, Oslo, Copenhagen, Hamburg, and Normandy.......

travelinwifey

On Wednesday we departed beloved London and headed toward Southampton where we boarded the Golden Princess.

Again, we took the rail from Waterloo to Southampton. The cost round trip with discount for the four of us was 17.65 pounds.

I spent a great deal of time researching a cruise that would take us to great, never before visited places from Southampton and was happy to discover the Golden Princess. We booked this cruise through cruises-n-more.com, and a bid incentive to take this cruise was the discounted cruise vs. land rate was $260/day for a balcony room that included meals. Now shore excursions were another story! Very expensive but well worth it.

Since we were traveling with hubby's elder father we were able to board through the express line for embarkation, the entire process took approx. 40 minutes. Total travel time from London to the ship and checking in luggage took about 3 hours. We were surprised when the cruise line kept our passports. They would hold on to them for 8 days, until we reached Rotterdam. Heightened security measures I guess.

Zebrugge- Took the excursion to Medieval Bruges and Ghent. This was possibly the favorite day of sightseeing. Enjoyed seeing the historic towns, St. Bavo's catherdral, and took a one hour cruise of the canals. Purchased homemade Belgian chocolates and Marzipan which I'm still enjoying now! The people were quite friendly.

Oslo- took a tour of the city and visited Vigeland Sculpture Park. Drove to the ski jump site of Holmenkollen from the 1952 Olympics and got great photos of the town and fjord below. Visited the National Gallery to see my favorite painting "The Scream". This was always one of the things I wanted to do in my life and am so glad to have been able to see one of these remarkable paintings by Munch with my own eyes. Unfortunately it rained all day but I didn't mind it. Cruising out of Oslo looked a lot like Alaska with the rolling green hills and lush landscape.

Copenhgagen - visited Frederiksborg Castle. I had no idea just how breathtaking this visit would be. Exploring castles while on holiday is one of my favorite pastimes and this spot is among my favorites. The ballroom was so colorful and opulent but at the same time cosy and welcoming, as is the rest of the palace. It's great to daydream about what it may have been like living in those times. Frederiksborg dates from the 16th century.

Hamburg - traveled to the town of Schwerin and visited Schwerin Castle. Another lovely visit. Enjoyed lunch at the estate and walked around the grounds. Stopped for photos of Rathaus and picked up some souvenirs.

Rotterdam, Le Havre (Normandy), and London to be continued....

travelinwifey

Rotterdam - took a trip to Amsterdam and cruised the canals. Definitely need to revisit Amsterdam! Only got to see the famous red light district from a tour bus but we did have a woman that flashed us from her apartment ....saw a houseboat growing lots of ganja from the windows and cruised past Anne Frank's home. Went to a wooden shoe factory and picked up a few pairs of clogs for memories.

Le Havre (Normandy) - really wanted to visit Versailles but will save for another trip when we have more time in France. FIL is a vet and he wanted to visit the Normandy landing beaches. Was very surprised to see all the resident's French AND American flags. Felt good to break away from the stereotypes. The American Cementary was very touching and I am so glad we took the time to see the important spots of WWII.

After the cruise we headed back to London for one final day of sightseeing. Took the hop on hop off bus one more time, later that day we went to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith at the Odeon theatres in Leicester Square. Shockingly, we spent $120 for the 4 of us to see the movies, grabbing a bag of popcorn and colas. We misread the cost, tickets were 11.50 pounds vs. the 7 pounds per person we thought we'd be paying for an early viewing. Enjoyed the movie, very entertaining.

We regretfully headed home the following morning again via rail promising to return to England and the rest of Europe soon. We were able to pay for an upgrade to Premium Economy on the Virgin flight home. Meals and such were the same, we just got the business class seats.

In all, this ranks as one of our best vacations, yea!!!!! I admit I do like to stay in historic hotels in Europe vs. cruising but we were extremely happy with our voyage. I thought I'd gain weight on a 10 night cruise for certain, but only gained 1 1/2 pounds to date, hopefully that will slip away in a few days.....We were able to get more value for our money by cruising, and felt the pinch in London due to the weak dollar. Would this ever stop us....no way! We tried to dine less expensively and traveled rail vs. taxi whenever possible. All the Europeans were so friendly, had many pleasant conversations with locals.

Any questions, be sure to ask! Happy travels all!

travelinwifey

Oh yes, forgot to add that we Pricelined the Thistle Charing Cross for our last night's stay at $105/nt. Had we known the hotel would be so nice we probably would have just Pricelined a 4* in the Mayfair zone to save money. Rooms were newly refirbished in a modern and wood floor/closet style, very comfortable and cosy while the rooms were definitely on the small side. Very clean and a large bathroom. Great location at the Charing Cross station and very close to the excitement of Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Piccadilly, musueums, and dining and such

Grandma

Your report was very encouraging since we've just booked the St. James Sofitel.(Thanks for the heads up about the down!)

But I'm curious about Munch....I thought The Scream was stolen. Or am I confusing it with another Munch.?

travelinwifey

Hi Grandma, yes, I researched the Scream info before we left. There are a few copies of the Scream and lithographs. The more famous copy of the Scream was stolen from the National Gallery (which we saw) and was found several years later then returned. Another more notorious copy was stolen from the Munch museum when the thieves walked in and ripped the painting from the wall frame in broad daylinght probably destroying much of the art in the process. We saw the one in color.

Grandma

Aha! I'm beginning to get the picture (pardon the pun). So is the original stashed away some place or has it been destroyed? Your story reminds me of a situation we knew of here in Nueva Yorka. A gentleman was a collector of antique frames. Into these frames he put copies of famous works. So... someone got into his penthouse and cut the pictures out of the frames and took off. - -

travelinwifey

I found this on another website....

"Munch executed four versions of the painting, of which the most famous are a tempera on cardboard version (measuring 83.5 x 66 cm) formerly in the Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway (shown below), and an oil, tempera, and pastel on cardboard (measuring 91 x 73.5 cm) in the National Gallery (shown to right), also in Oslo. A third version is also owned by the Munch Museum, and a fourth is owned by Petter Olsen. Munch later also translated the picture into a lithograph (shown below), so the image could be reproduced in reviews all over the world. However, the original is currently missing from the Munch Museum, having been stolen by art thieves in August 2004."

So I guess the original painting was stolen which is such a shame, and from what I've read as mentioned before much of the painting was probably destroyed as it was harshly ripped from it's frame. What a shame

travelinwifey

And here's info about the theft of the 2 paintings.........

On 12 February 1994 the National Gallery's Scream was stolen. Initially the theft was linked to various anti-abortion groups active in Norway, but this turned out to be false. After three months, the painting was offered back to the Norwegian government for a ransom of USD $1 million. The ransom was refused, but the painting was nevertheless recovered on 7 May, following a sting operation organised by the Norwegian police with assistance from the British Police and the Getty Museum.

On August 22, 2004, the Munch Museum's Scream was stolen at gunpoint, along with Munch's Madonna. Museum officials expressed hope that they would see the painting again, theorizing that perhaps the thieves would seek ransom money. The paintings are still missing. On April 8, 2005, Norwegian police arrested a suspect in connection with the theft. On April 28, 2005, it was rumoured that the two paintings had been burnt by the thieves to conceal evidence. On June 1, 2005, the City Government of Oslo offered a reward of 2 million Norwegian kroner (about $320,000) for information that could help locate the paintings.