Home & Pictures

Many of our pictures have been sorted and are now posted in an on-line photo album. See the right side of the blog for the link. Just click. Or else http//wbrowne.myphotoalbum.com
Hope you enjoy them.

Now that we are home w are getting back into some sort of routine. We are back on the schedule at the Van Andle Arena for events, getting back in the Red Cross and I am starting with the Grand Haven RSVP program. This program is for retired people. You are sworn in, have unifroms and do some patrol work ( checking for handicap and other parking violaions, wall the business districts, help at playgrounds, check homes for people on vacation, just a bunch of little stuff). This is two 4 hour shifts a week.

Karen has a few Doctor appointments and we are taking a short trip with the van before it gets cold.

All for now.

Bill & Karen

On to Paris

We left Rick's Tuesday Morning about 7:15 am for the train station. Had to lug two large suitcase, 2 carry on's and 1 back pack down 3 flights of stairs to the car. At the Gare (station) I again had to lug them down stairs and again back up to get to the other side of the tracks. On to Les Arcs where we had to layover for a couple of hours. Again down and up to the station and then down and up again to get on the train. This time the LGV which goes over 160mph. Guess what, our car is a double decker so I have to haul these things up a tight stairway and find a place to stow them. Finally Paris, Gare de Lyon station. Back down the stairs, and then more stairs to get a taxi. On to the hotel. More stairs up on flight to reception and then our room on the second floor ( 3rd in US Hotels). In Europe the ground floor is the ground floor and what we call the second is the first floor and so on. If I ever do this again, we will use small bags, back packs, or get a slave. Karen cannot lift much so I was tired by Tuesday night.

Our Hotel was in the Latin Quarter in an area called Little Athens because of the number of Greek Restaurants. We overlooked the narrow street that was usually noisy from 11 am to 3 am. because of the restaurants and bars, and from 5am to 6am for trash pickup and deliveries.
Really noisy, but no matter, when your tired you sleep, and it was fun being where all the activity happens.

We would go out of our Hotel, make a left, go about 100 feet and we would see Notre Dame.

Tuesday night we took an hour cruise of the Seine River at night and then ate dinner in one of the Greek Restaurants, and that concluded a long day.

Wednesday we toured Notre Dame, an amazing architectural wonder, with its flying buttresses and is quite beautiful. We then walked to the Bastion to check in to a trip on the Canal, but nothing was open. Had a big lunch, took a nap, and then walked around the area for a few hours.

Thursday we went to visit Sainte Chapelle, a very beautiful church built by Louis lX between 1242 and 1248 to house the relics of the Passion of Christ. The most famous of these was the Crown of Thorns, which cost more than the Chapel itself. The Chapel consists of two sanctuaries, one above the other. The lower was for the servants while the magnificent upper chapel was for the King, his family and close friends.

The upper chapel consists of 15 truly beautiful 15 foot tall stained glass windows depicting in over 1100 scenes the story of mankind from Genesis to the Crucifixion.

The on to the Louvre. Saw some of the must sees (Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, etc) and then somehow Karen and I got separated. Took over 2 hours to re-connect. We then viewed art and statues by many of the famous artist. Got a light lunch, walked home, and then out to dinner at a French Cafe. The restaurants try to get you into their places by talking and telling you how good they are. This one was good.

Friday, walked to a park, Jardin du Luxembourg, said to be the most popular in all of Paris. This a a green oasis of about 60 acres around the Luxembourg Palace. Its center piece is an octagonal pool. It also consists of broad walkways, formal terraces and statues of various queens of France.

The Palace is now home to the Senate, but has been used as a prison and during WWll the German Luftwaffe used it as its headquarters and even built air raid shelters underneath the gardens.

Back to the Hotel and packed up for our trip home on Saturday.

We arose about 8:00 am (2:00 am our time). We were told we had to be at Charles de Gaulle Airport about 3 hours before flight time or 11:00 am. Guess they were right. From the time we checked our luggage to the time we got through security it took about 1 1/2 hours. Our flight left around 2 pm (8:00 am EDT) and got to Detroit around 4:30 pm. Had to go through Customs, pickup luggage, take it to security to finish its trip to Grand Rapids and then through Security again for us. Arrived in Grand Rapids a little late and our daughter Pam picked us up and we were home around 10:00PM. No heat for some reason, house is about 60, will get it fixed Monday.

Now to download and sort pictures, get new passports, get haircuts, pick up our mail, etc, etc.

All for now.

Mom & Dad Browne

Frejus and Area

We are on our last day at Rick's and tomorrow we take the train back to Paris and then Saturday we fly home.

Frejus is in Southern France on what is considered the French Riviera.  Frejus is next to Saint Raphael and the only difference is crossing the street.  Actually the city of Frejus is not not the Mediterranean but the beach or plage there.  It is a very nice area and sort of tropical, palm trees, etc.  I think a lot like the panhandle of Florida.  Very mild in the Winter.  We have visited the Sunday Market twice.  Every Sunday vendors come and set up on the street along the beach.  You can buy anything, fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, baked goods,  hot prepared food. clothing, shoes, you name it.  These vendors travel from town to town.

We have gone to the beach a couple of days and enjoyed the sun, in October.  One night we went to dinner on the beach and took an American girl and her daughter, with whom they have become friends,  Had an enjoyable night.  They met this gal at the first day of school, her daughter is one grade ahead of Irie and they have become friends.  Michele even lent Rick her car and we went to St. Tropez  Sunday afternoon.  

We have enjoyed a rather relaxing time here, all in all.

The apartment that Rick and Lisa have is quite nice for 3 but a little cramped for 5.  It is in a secure, will maintained building about 3 blocks from the beach and across the street from the school.  Everything is quite convenient consider they do not have a car.  The grocery store is about 3 blocks, the pharmacy 1 block,  the bakery 3 blocks, so hey get lost of walking in each day.

All for now, update everything after we get home

Mom @ Dad Browne

Bits and Pieces

Now that we have finished the structured tour of our trip I thought I would add some things and answer some questions some of you may have.

What about photos?  Well we have taken a boatload of them and when we get home we will download them, pick the best and put on a site you can access.

Would we come back to Europe?  Most definitely, but to places such as Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Scotland, Ireland or even Russia.

Will we do it?  Probably not, expensive and our age.  We still have New Zealand and Australia on our list, that may or may not happen.

About our tour?  Our tour consisted of of 48 people and by chance they were all English speaking.  Only 2 couples from the States, the rest from Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.  About 1/4 of group were singles and we can tell you about our tour mates later.  We had the same bus driver, Fabio, from Italy, who is very good and can put a bus in places you would thing impossible.  Our leader was Kevin and he hails from Australia and was very knowledgeable and has been doing this for many years, 17 I think.

We stayed in 4 and 5 star hotels, our baggage handling included, so we got rather spoiled.  Breakfast was included and many of evening meals were also included.  Many of our lunches were at stops on the highway.  The better gas stations have pizza, sandwiches and a cafeteria to get a hot meal at a reasonable price.

I thing it was amazing that all of us the bus got along well and we could sit and visit or eat with anyone.  We had all ages from 30 something to 70 something, just a good mix.  They all did a good job of keeping track of Karen also.

Things are very expensive in Europe and incomes only moderate so I wonder how they make it, except the locals do not eat out that often.  

Most of the countries accept the Euro.  It takes about $1.40 to buy 1 Euro.  Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria are not a part of the economic union but are a part of the European Union so they us their own currency, but accept the Euro and give change in their money.  Switzerland also uses their own currency.

The highest price I saw for gasoline was 2.09 Euro per liter, 3.89 liters to a gallon so in US Dollars approximately $11.95 per gallon.

You can buy beer and wine in a restaurant or store for less than a cola.  A cola in a restaurant will usually cost from 3 to 4 Euros or about $4.20 to $5.60 for a small coke.  We have learned to order the plate specials at noon as they usually include a beverage, entree, and dessert for a very low price and this is what the locals do. Low  5 - 10 Euros.

Transportation in these countries is somewhat different.  In the time we have been gone I have only seen 4 or 5 large vehicles, excluding trucks & buses.  They drive all small cars and now that they can afford cars there is not place to park them.  They park on curs, sidewalks, double and triple park, barely giving room for vehicles to pass.  The Smart car has become very popular since by parking on a 90 deg angle rather than parallel park they can put two in one parking space. 

 

Yes they do issue parking tickets, but I understand, at least in Italy, no one pays them and every few years the government cancels them and they start over again.

There are many bicycles and in many of the cities there are painted lanes on the sidewalks for the bicycles.  Motor scooters and motor cycles are all over.  They dart in and out and around traffic without a care.  I think they have a death wish and sometimes wonder if all the sirens we hear are for ambulances going to scrape another motorcyclist of the front of a bus or truck.

All the cities have subways, buses and trolley systems that are not getting used like they were because everyone now has a car,  The traffic jams are horrendous, just one big moving parking lot,  Oh, and they use their horns a lot, as if that will move a bus or truck. I would not want to have to drive in this mess.

The rail system in Europe is fantastic, affordable, on time and fast.  The TGV trains go up to 160 miles per hour ad the regular trains are quick also.

So, in means of transportation, many, many still use the mass transit systems or walk.

Language has not been quite the barrier I thought it would be.  You somehow just get by, since many of the Europeans have some English skills, especially in the touristic areas, coupled with the use of pictures on menus, although many have English underneath the language or in some cases have English menus for us dumb Americans.

The Europeans are energy saving, since it cost so much.  In many buildings, especially hotels, passageway lamps come on when you enter and go of when you exit.  They do not use ice cubes as it cost to much, but are used in some mixed drinks.  There are recycle bins all over the cities and they just don't waste much.

Schools in France.  They attend Mon, Tue, Thur. & Fri. from 8:30 to 11:30 and 1:30 to 4:30 with no school on Wednesday.  They have July and August off and 4 two week breaks during the school year.

Well I have rambled on to much so will close for now.  We will update on Frejus in the near future.

Mom & Dad Browne

The City of Lights Paris

We arrived in the late afternoon, checked into the hotel and then Karen and I found a place for dinner.

The next day we had a tour of this fabulous city and then went to the Eiffel Tower.  We went to the 2nd viewing level. What magnificent views of this city, all the way to the suburbs.  We could see the Arc de Triomphe , Champs de Elysees,  Notre Dame, the Louvre,  the layout of the city, its parks, everything.   After that some went on an extra cost excursion, but some of us opted out and negotiated the subway back to our hotel.  Quite easy actually.  We also opted out as the tour was in the area we will be staying when we return to Paris.

That night we went to a restaurant for a farewell dinner, since  about 6 to 8 of were leaving the tour in Paris.  The next morning we boarded the LGV train to Frejus and Ricks.  This train gets up to 180 miles per hour.  Pretty quick, quiet and smooth.  We arrived in Frejus around 4pm Saturday and are now at Ricks until the 14th when we go back to Paris.  

Until the next update

Mom &  Dad Browne

Switzerland

Ah! Beautiful Lucern.  We arrive in the late afternoon and immediately heat for our cruise of the beautiful Lake Lucern.  Many marinas filled with sailboats, many nice old castle type homes and other homes.

Switzerland is a wealthy country and we could tell it as soon as we crossed the frontier (boarder), the roads were not rough or wavy, but smooth and quiet.  There is a very industrialized city in the north, but the farmers are among the wealthy.  The main crop appears to be grass.  Most all of them have cows, the Swiss Brown.  Many of the homes or most of the farm homes have the basement as the barn.  The cows run free range in the hills and mountains during the summer and most have very large cow bells around their necks.

Next day started with a trip via the worlds largest and steepest cog railway to the top of a mountain where we enjoyed fantastic views of the area.  The descent was by cable cars.  The first was large and held about 50-60 people and tool about 5 minutes to get to the next lever, where we boarded 4 person small gondola cars for the rest of the descent into town.  We spent the rest of the day seeing a lunch folk lore show and shopping or walking around Lucern.

Our lodging for the two nights was in a little village about 25 minutes up in the hills called Englebert.  What a nice change from all the busy places we have been.

The Swiss measure everything, beverages and food.  They do not think you need more than you need.  For example, wine at restaurant is sold by the deciliter, about 1 0r 2 oz, for about $8.50

Of course the Swiss are known for measuring instruments and among those the watches are very popular.  They are sold everywhere. 

Since most of our time this trip as at large cities, this became one of our favorite places.

Up very early for the trip to Paris, we want to arrive before 4pm ad the heavy traffic.

Nest our last stop of the tour, Paris.

Mom & Dad Browne

Italy Part lll

From Roma on to Florence, Pisa and Nice.

Florence, the birth of the Renaissance.  We had a group picture taken with on an overlook with the city of Florence in the background.  The museum with Michelangelo's Davis was on strike, but in the square we saw an exact replica of this famous statue.  We spent the afternoon in the old city and came upon a festival celebrating the  harvest of the grapes.  People in various renaissance dress and they paraded around the squares.

The next day we were on the way to Nice, stopping to see the leaning tower of Pisa and then an afternoon at Monte Carlo, Monaco, where the rich and famous go.

At Nice, Karen and I spent the afternoon in the parks and along the waterfront, eating at another outside cafe.

From Nice we go to Lucerne, Switzerland.

Later

Mom & Dad Browne

Italy Part ii The Vatican

What can I say about this fabulous place.  Saint Peters Basilica was designed by Michelangelo and it simply awesome.  It is 45 stories tall, but never does it appear to be that large.  His use of the columns and shaping and spacing make it appear smaller and the same size from anywhere.

Our first view was the evening before and saw it lit up at night.  Simply beautiful.

We had a tour of the Sistine Chapel and the ceiling that Michelangelo painted is unreal and again awesome.  Before getting to the chapel we toured a few of the museums of the Vatican and the art treasures are priceless and indescribable.  The inside of St. Peters is also amazing.  The statues, art, gold, many alters, and some of the popes are in state in glass.  outside of the Basilica we were again awed by the architecture of Michelangelo.  Cannot put it into writing.

Again until next time

Mom & Dad Browne

Italy Part I

We are finding out that each country has their own unique customs that have not changed, nor should they.

On to Napoli, Isle of Capri, and then to Sorrento overnight.  We took a bus ride up the mountain on a narrow road to a hotel for lunch in what they call Anti-Capri.  Lunch was great consisting of salad, two types of pasta, fish and ice cream.  The bus ride alone was worth the cost.  Narrow two way road that two buses cannot rally fit but somehow manage.  The lodging as usual was a 4 or 5 star hotel with all the things you need.

Next day we went to the ruins of Pompei that was covered by ash when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.  The ruins were discovered in the 1800's by accident but have been excavated and excavation is ongoing today.  Since Vesuvius is only a short distance away, the inhabitants had no chance to get away. The ash and gasses killed everyone and everything within 10 minutes.

On to Roma or Rome for 3 nights at another 5 star hotel.  We enjoyed seeing the 3 stat of Rome, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern.  Ate dinner across the street from the collisieum, and toured it later in the stay.  Saw the ruins of the Forum where Julius Ceaser was killed.  The site of the Circus Maximus, which is now a park.  The Spanish Steps, the Trivoli fountain and tossed in our 3 coins for luck, love and to return to Rome.  We visited the Parthenon also and is not a church.

We also visited the Vatican which will be our next post.

For now,

Mom & Dad Browne

Greece

Greece is 2ND poorest county in the European Union, only Romania is poorer.

On our way to our hotel in Kalambaka we could see Mt. Olympus, the home of Zeus other Greek mythology gods.

We are told Greece is a very hot rock in summer and a very cold rock in winter.

On our way to Athens we go by the plain of Thermopoly where the Spartans defended the road to Athens.  We also stop at Delphi for lunch and then visit the ruins of Delphi.  This was a temple area set up in early Greece.

Finally we are at Athens, about 4 million people.  We only stay overnight as we board our ship for a cruise of the Greek Isles in the AM.

First we cruise to Mikonos, then to Rhodes we we visited the ancient walled city and then a brief stop at the island of Patmos.  Then to Kusadasi, Turkey we we visited the ancient ruins of Ephesus.  In ancient times it was a seaport, but silt buildup dried up the port and thus ended the city.  The apostle John spent a lot of time here.  Then Back to Athens.

 That night from the top of our hotel we could see the Acropolis lit up at night and it was awesome.

The nest day we visited the Acropolis and the ruins of the various buildings that were there.  Also we visited the Parthenon.  Then on to Patrai for on overnight ferry to Bari, Italy

It was interesting that when our bus driver went to pick up the bus after our cruise that there were many police around the bus.  Come to find out that many Pakistanis have rigged up a system to ride under busses and trucks trying to get to Italy as once in Italy it is easy to get to England and that is where they want to be.

Next Italy

Mom @ Dad Browne

Catching Up

Last we wrote we were just getting ready to leave Bulgaria.  By this time we had experienced many different regions and cultures with many more to go. We have seen how the very wealthy live and how the rest of the people live.  Most have to wok 2 jobs to stay even or just to get a little ahead.

We have been eating local dishes and find them quite good for the most part, although some were somewhat bland.  Breakfast is somewhat different.  Usually have scrambled eggs, bacon, not cooked the way we are used to,sausage, fruit, breads and rolls, cheeses, cold cuts, tomatoes and juice.

Lunches usually are on our own and we usually eat a local sandwich at an outdoor cafe.  Out door dining is all over Europe and very common.

The eastern block countries are now quite  colorful as compared to years ago when every thing was dark or gray.  They have supermarkets,car dealers, boutiques, just about everything now.

Next Greece

Mom & Dad Browne

Still on the road

We are now in Nice,France and have had a day to relax. Walked to the Mediterranean and enjoyed the view. Also spent time in the park.

Since last blog we have been many places and have seen many things and will tell about them in a later blog.

All is well Later
Bill & Karen

Former Eastern Blok

We have visted Hungary, Romania and now Bulgaria.
In Romania we vistied the palace that former communist dicator Czaucescus was building before the revolt in 1989. It is 2nd only to the Pentagon in size cost over 1.5 billion $$ at that time and was only 70% complete. Avery useless building has it is mainly large halls on many floors and lots of marble and crystal. Even the glass doors are crystal not glass. He also built an office for his wife. That building was so hugh, it is now the Marriot hotel.
They had to relocate 70,000 people to build this thing and part if includes a replic of the Champs Elysees in paris, only it is one meter wider so that if would be larger. The Romainians hate this area and it is never used.

The communist were very good at relocating people and putting them in these ugly concrete apartment buildings. They moved people to put them where they wanted for manufacturing, or just to have a larger city.

We are now in Sofia, Bulgaria. Next Greece.

BUDAPEST

This city is pronounced as Budapescht and is composted of the merger of two ancient cities, Buda and Pest. It is a small country and really of no value to countries that ruled it except that is is on the way to somewhere. \the country was founded when two tribes the Myams and the Finns were traveling thru, the Finns continued on to found Finland. The language is unique to itself and there is no other like it ,but has some small relationship to the Finish.

We are in a former communist country and it is still very evident in the way the country was run down, with not repairs or maintenance given to building parks, etc. Even though the Russians provide a lot of money to rebuild after WWll they were not allowed to restore or rebuild churches. They are doing that now and restoring buildings as funds are available. The communist also built large ugly apartment buildings which are evident all over.

It is interesting how all of Europe that we have visited is so westernized. Very easy to travel, no border stops, shop and eat.Most things are in several languages and if not you just figure it out. They do a lot things better than we do and any fears we had about traveling here are now gone and having a good tome.

Last two days only eating native Hungarian food and it is delicious.
Until next
Bill and Karen

Veinna and More

Here we are in Vienna and have seen the summer palaces of the royalty. It was designed by the same architech as the Palace of Versailles and is very similar only smaller. Very beautiful and interesting and much is original from the Hapsburg family that ruled for 640 years.

Tomorrow to Budapest.

I find it very interesting on how much has been rebuilt since WW ll. The cities are very modern in areas and old in other areas.

Back in Vince we did some sight seeing, had a marvelous fish dinner in a quaint restaurant on the fisherman's island. Seafood lasagna, seafood spread for the rolls, shrimp. calamari. etc. Very good, but Karen had steak.

We had a gondola ride with musicians, accordion and vocalist and a kiss under each bridge.

We have seen and enjoyed a lot of different cultures and have been eating the foold that is customary to the region we are visiting. The meals that are included in our tour are always the food of that particular area. Tomorrow we go on a Danube River Dinner cruise with Hungarian food. Should be good.

Karen has been having some balance problems and is getting bruised. Fell while stepping over the side of a bathtub, fell going into a shop. She is OK.

More later
Bill & Karen

Week 1

We have been to London and toured the city somewhat and had an adventure trying to get back to the hotel. After several attempts we made it. The next date left for Amsterdam from Dover via ferry. Amsterdam is about 2,million people with 1.5 million bicycles, which have the right of way. An interesting city of canals which we toured by boat.

Next to Cologne. Germany where we visited the Cathedral that took 600 yrs to build and somehow survived the bombings of WWll while everything around it was destroyed. Later a cruise on the Rhine River and then on to Mannheim for another overnight.

The next day we stopped at Heidelberg and walked the city and enjoyed a framers market complete with fresh fish van and a meat market with butcher. Then to Munich and then to Innsbruck for the night. Sunday we went to Venice stopping at Verona and viewed among another things Juliets balcony from Romeo and Juliet.

Today we spent the entire day in Venice, very interesting and will write more later as am running out of computer time.

More later

Finally the Day is Here

After months of planning, making lists and checking them twice, packing and re-packing the first day of our European adventure is here.

We have a neighbor boy to mow the lawn, if it ever needs it again. We still have not reached 90 this summer, but it has been very dry without any measurable rain for weeks. The pool is closed. The house is clean, somewhat. Itineraries given to relatives, wills made, medical directives completed, flights confirmed, everything ready, we hope.

Our flight leaves Grand Rapids, Michigan at 3:00pm to Detroit and then we connect to to London Heathrow where we will arrive around 7:00 am London time. Then we will be picked up and taken to our Hotel and the tour begins.

Since we will not be carrying a laptop with us, we will be dependant upon finding Internet cafes to update our blog and hopefully ad some pictures as we go.

As a side, it is also our 47th wedding anniversary today.

Until we can make contact next time.

Busy Month

Since the last post we have been very busy. Maggie, Rick & Lisa's dog spent a month with us prior to being shipped to Paris to join the rest of the family. There were a few snags in getting her there, only because of some paperwork things that were never mentioned anywhere, which caused a little anxiety. But she is now happy with her family.

We were going to have some tress trimmed and a few cut down. However, we found that we needed to take down 11 tress, which we hated to do, but necessary. Then all of the cleanup from the stumps being ground. Still not done with that task.

Next we had all of carpet cleaned. This was planned for earlier, but decided to wait.

We had also promised some of grand children that we would take them camping. So we spent 3 days taking Kaden & Knoel to Sleeping Bear National Lake shore for their camping trip. We all had fun.

Between working at Berlin Raceway and the VanAndel arena we have managed to get our rail reservations completed, our hotel reservation for Paris. and all the rest of the documentation completed. We now have a lot of small things to do before we leave, but should be ready days in advance.

Until Later.

Starting to prepare

With about 7 weeks until we depart on September 1, 2008 we find that there are a lot of things that need attention.

We will be limited to one suitcase and one carry on each for a trip of approximately 6 to 7 weeks.

Clothes need to be relatively wrinkle free and easily washed out in a hotel room sink and dry overnight. Most of the hotels say you cannot do this, but travel guides say go ahead, just don't leave any trace or clothes hanging to dry during the day. The cost of having clothes cleaned or laundered is very expensive in Europe.

We need to check out the electronics (cameras, hair dryer, razor, etc.) to see which are dual voltage and if we need a converter or inverter, or even a surge protector because of the electricity differences in Europe.

We need to finalize our plans for the period of time on our own. Do we take the train or do we fly form Paris to Frejus and back.

Which credit cards do we take and is our ATM card usable in Europe. We need to buy some Euro's before we go.

And the list goes on and on and on.

More on the next post.