Sun Jun 8 - Tues Jun 9 - Solihull and Merseyside

Sun Jun 8 - Tues Jun 10 - Solihull  and Merseyside

Sunday June 8th

Harriet.. always on the go!!!

View through the solarium

Today is a visits and travel day. We followed Sue and John and a very slow lorry ..up to Solihull to visit Nephew Robin, Sam and the girls. It was a rewarding family time as we inspected Rob and Sam’s new digs! Very nice indeed and a wonderful garden for the children. Lots of laughter and good eats (wonderful roast pork with crackling.. it's been years!!!). Salutations to our wonderful hosts and to Harriet for helping, and Jessica and Abigail for providing constant amusement. Lookout Abigail is going to be a footballer and Jessica is the team manager! LOL

John and Abigail

Happy Granny Sue and Abigail

After suitable goodbyes and farewells we headed on up to Merseyside got to Derek and Lin's without any hassle and settled in to discover lots about their cruise from Australia to Japan and share cruise tales. Had a lovely visit from Alison and shared some big hugs.

TAAA DAAA!!!!

Abigail

Jessica

Monday June 9th

Big brother Tony in his kitchen

 Visited Tony in Great Sutton and had a good old chin wag in the kitchen. Went to Bromborough to St Barnabas church (the site of many 'Tate' celebrations and funerals.) Had a quick visit.  Quick pop into Asda for english chocs etc and then back to Derek and Lin's.  Jo came over to visit and we saw Lee when he picked up Maggie. Poor Maggie getting stiffer in the back end each time we see her (FYI she is a border collie!) Had a great dinner / evening out at the Shippons Pub in Irby. I didn't take any photos over the last couple of days... just felt like we were home and I didn't think of it... DUH!!

Allison and Maggie

Tuesday June 10th

Went over to see the extensive renovations at Sallies, what a task to take on and my how Mollie and Lois have grown and Jacob is becoming quite mischievous. Said Farewells to Derek and Lin, then on to the Wheatsheaf for a Highfield gathering. Gill and Geoff, Jackie and Graham (who landed from Singapore that very morning) Jack and Nancy. Good fun and nosh as usual. All too short but at least we got together. Next time we’ll take longer and be sure to get the missing cousins too. 

The Highfield Gang and co.

We got back to Clapham about 9.00 pm and dropped off the car. All went well and according to plan.

Jun 6th - Jun 7th - End of the cruise... UK

Jun 6th - Jun 7th - End of the cruise... UK Dover

White Cliffs of Dover

We had a leisurely breakfast on board and left the ship at 9.00 am. We waited at the dock and after some confusing texts...long story not for here...John and Sue arrived, well and smiling. We dropped by the rental car agency and added Derek as a second driver and set off to see Dover castle. It was an intriguing visit comparing the various additions since 1100 a.d. and in the knowledge that Hitler had the castle off limits in the blitz as he wanted to use it as an HQ. The medieval tunnels were interesting but a highlight was the World War II tunnels and exhibit for Operation Dynamo... Dunkirk.
We moved on to Canterbury to find that the Four Seasons B & B was better than expected and enjoyed a cuppa before walking into town. Had a brilliant early dinner at the Parrot pub (oldest in Canterbury) and then wandered about including a stroll around the  external grounds of the Cathedral and the cloisters, which was enhanced by the strains of operatic music emanating from the main hall of the cathedral... a private concert of some sort.  We had a pleasant walk back to the B and B. A great day and so good to see Sue and John.

VERY ancient staircase

View from castle.. Our ship on far right

Sis Sue, John and Janice

Our Favourite Sisters

View from castle

Taken from cliff opening of WW2 tunnels

Ship in Danger?? Brits are serious about defense

The Parrot.. oldest pub in Canterbury

Great pub meal!!

History of The Parrot pub

UHHH..Leaning? or Have I had a pint too many?

This really is leaning from age!!

Canterbury Cathedral

Cloisters

Fascinating bosses on the ceilings throughout

MANY years since I 'pulled a chain'

Inside Canterbury Cathedral

 Saturday Jun 7 - Canterbury Cathedral to Clapham
Well our first full day in England required a full English breakfast, heartily enjoyed by John and Derek, Janice had Eggs Benny and Sue had a smaller vegetarian fry up...exercising admirable constraint.
We tottered off to walk around the town center (picked up a UK SIM for the phone) and view the inside of the Cathedral. We  spent a few hours there, learning the heritage and soaking up the early English history. From Thomas Beckett's murder, (right there in the cathedral) the tomb of the Black Prince, and several other kings ans queens, the oldest stained glass window in UK, to the numerous tombs, exhibits and stories, this is certainly heritage England.
In the late afternoon we traveled on to Sue and Johns place in Clapham, (near Bedford) enjoying the lovely English countryside on the way.  We relishd the home-prepared JFH signature chicken curry.. delicious!! Another great day with family.

Main Pulpit!!

SO decadent.. yet beautiful

Tomb of King Henry 1V and Joan of Navarre

Gloves, hat, vest, shield  of Edward

Thursday June 5th – Antwerp and Chris

Thursday June 5^th – Antwerp and Chris

What a great day! We had arranged to meet Janice’s Nephew Chris at the dock. He lives in Brussels and came to Antwerp to see us.  We got off the ship hoping we could find him and there he was walking toward the ship.  We wandered through town and found a coffee shop for a croissant and coffee and a good long natter and catch-up.  It was drizzling rain outside, but we decided to walk some more and he showed us the amazing railway station. He wanted to take us to the Diamond Museum in town and after much futile searching, Chris asked at a diamond shop and they said that the museum had closed 2 years ago… shoot! 

We enjoyed taking in the sites and sounds of Antwerp before finding a restaurant for lunch. It was great. Derek and Chris ordered ribs and we have never seen such a huge portion. It was enough that Chris was able to take some home for his boys (Gabriel and Adam) … it was a pity that Maria and the boys couldn’t make it today but it was a Thursday and Maria had a big project on the go and boys were at school. Hopefully it won’t be long before we get to see them again.

Chris had to leave to pick the kids up at school and we continued exploring the town and found a great café with fast internet to allow us to catch up on emails. As the weather had cleared up we wandered around some more and found a commemorative plaque dedicated to the Canadians who fought to liberate Antwerp during WW2.  Of the 13000 Allied troops who died in that battle 6500 were Canadian.

Derek and I sat on our balcony as the ship departed our last port of call and suddenly spotted a few forlorn looking people on the pier who looked like passengers. Turned out they were!!! The ship left 6 passengers in Antwerp who were too late getting back to the ship after they got lost in their rental car.  We had a drink with the cruise director in the bar and he explained that there is a small window of opportunity in the tide to get into Dover, so we couldn’t wait any longer for them… I cannot imagine how they felt helplessly watching the ship with all their possession on board, only feet from the dock, but it might well have been a million miles away!!

We had our last dinner onboard and said our goodbyes to our wait staff, put our bags outside our room and had an early night. Ready and excited to see Janice’s sister and brother-in-law, Sue and John, tomorrow in Dover.

Wed June 4 – At Sea

Wed June 4 – At Sea

Our last sea day.  Red legs unchanged, we headed down to the med centre thereby not breaking Janice’s habit of visiting it on every cruise so far!! This trip was short and sweet. As she lifted her pant leg to show the nurse at the desk, the Dr. came out of his office, looked down and said “ I know exactly what that is, you don’t need me.. come in and I will show you on the computer”. So we tottered in and he explained that I had “golfer’s vasculitis”, also known as “Disneyworld syndrome”. It always occurs on the inside of both legs and nowhere else and stops abruptly at the sock line. It is caused by exercise in a hot climate followed by stasis and is very common (and I reluctantly admit “as we get older”) MOVING ON……….. wallets intact…. 
Janice’s legs discreetly covered and glad of the cooler weather, we lolled around, did most of our packing and got gussied up for the last formal night. It started with a Captains cocktail Party, where we enjoyed a few drinks with our Aussie friends and then headed in to dinner… Beef Welly with a side of Lobster…. YUM!!