I'm enjoying the free wifi in the Ft. Lauderdale Airport as I wait for my 4:45PM flight to Chicago and then finally back to St. Louis!!!
I had an absolute blast cruising with Erika's family for the past week.
On Saturday we left Ft. Myers around 8AM and drove through the Everglades to Miami. We reached the cruise port around 11:30 and then did our best to hide from Justin and Becky, lest we spoil the big surprise just before the trip. We found Erika's brother Adam and his girlfriend Lisa and then met some more of Justin's friends: Matt, Kendall, Ryan and Amanda.
We finally got on the Carnival Liberty just before 1:00 in the afternoon, got a quick lunch, and then joined everyone in hiding while Justin and Becky boarded and then Justin went on his scavenger hunt, ultimately leading him up to all of us on the top deck of the ship. Becky pulled off a remarkable surprise, more than a year in the making!!! That night we enjoyed a phenomenal dinner in the Diamond's Steakhouse on board.
Our first stop was on Sunday in Half Moon Cay, Carnival's private Caribbean island. The beach was the best that I've ever been to and the views were everything that you wanted from an island in paradise. We hung out in the crystal clear water until the mid afternoon and then took the tender back to the ship just before we were to set out for our deep Caribbean journey.
Monday was a sea day so we lounged around the ship, found some great reading spots, and enjoyed the many, many pools (and the waterslide) onboard. That night, Erika and I found the Alchemy Bar and the best bartender we've ever met - Dario. The Alchemy Bar is strictly a martini bar but instead of a typical drink order, picking something here was more like a consultation. Dario would take our likes and dislikes, think a little, and then use fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs to put together the perfect drink. We liked it so much that we came back every night the rest of our trip. The last five nights, indeed, we brought Erika's entire family and our whole traveling party!
Tuesday we visited St. Thomas, though the port area was almost exclusively a large shopping mall. Instead of taking a taxi or a bus deeper into the island, we decided to stick around on the not-so-crowded ship and enjoy the pools and decks.
On Wednesday we had a long tour of San Juan. We first rode into the El Yunque Rainforest, the only rainforest within the US Forestry System. There, we climbed up a large tower for some great views of the island, and also climbed up a small waterfall. Afterwards we bussed back in to Old San Juan and saw the San Cristobal Fort that the Spanish built to protect Puerto Rico, the crown jewel of their Caribbean conquests.
Thursday we stopped early at the island of Grand Turk and enjoyed the beach and also Margaritaville. We got some great sun and surf and then went back to the ship as it departed at 3:00PM.
Finally, Friday was another sea day filled with exercise, pools, sleeping, and entertainment... and then packing.
I've had a fantastic and very lucky summer - traveling with the VGs, with Erika through Europe, and now with her family in the Caribbean. Thanks for following our journeys and have a great rest of the summer. I'm off to St. Louis, for a while, to catch up with my family.
All the best!
-Simon
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Back in the USA!
Erika and I are back in the States now!
We got into London at around 7pm on July 3rd and had one last dinner with our Contiki friends. Saying goodbye was very difficult - we definitely knew we were going to have a great time and see some amazing sights on our trip, but we didn't expect to make the amazing and, hopefully, lifelong friends that we made! You all have been wonderful and we cannot wait to visit you in Australia, and New Zealand, and South Africa, and England... and hope to host you in the States soon!
After leaving dinner we headed to Russel Square Station with Tania and Anthony. We said our goodbyes on the train and then navigated the Tube to Waterloo. From there, we took the train out to Feltham and finally arrived at our hotel, the St. Giles, around 10pm. Exhausted, we quickly got to sleep.
We woke up on the 4th at 5:30AM in order to catch the bus to Heathrow... something that proved quite difficult without pounds. After finding the only working ATM in Feltham, we managed to get to Heathrow almost three hours early and breezed through security.
Both of our flights went very smoothly and we got back in time to catch some great fireworks!
Here are some photos of our final few days - from Munich onwards:
Central Square in Munich
Erika on our bike tour of Munich
Surfers in the small river in Munich
Beautiful Bavarian architecture of Munich
Bavarian-Gothic church
Munich Beer Hall night
The Jewish Memorial at Dachau Concentration Camp
Bottle-Face: how we spent our time on the bus. Mikey is the reigning champion.
On the Charles Bridge in Prague
View from the Charles Bridge to the Prague Castle
In the Central Square of Old Town, Prague
The Astronomical Clock in Prague
Prague
In the Jewish Quarter in Prague
The Prague Castle
View from our paddle boats on the River
Erika and Simon on our Pub Crawl
Dresden
Dresden
Reconstructed Church at Dresden
A mural at the East Side Gallery on the Berlin Wall
At Museum Island in Berlin
The Brandenburg Gates in Berlin
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin
Another view of the memorial and the stellae
Berlin Wall Memorial
View of the Death Strip at the Berlin Wall Memorial
Edam - a small town in the Netherlands where we did a bike tour
Edam in the Netherlands
Canals in Amsterdam
View from the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam - go there if you have a chance
More canals in Amsterdam
Thanks for reading!
-Simon
We got into London at around 7pm on July 3rd and had one last dinner with our Contiki friends. Saying goodbye was very difficult - we definitely knew we were going to have a great time and see some amazing sights on our trip, but we didn't expect to make the amazing and, hopefully, lifelong friends that we made! You all have been wonderful and we cannot wait to visit you in Australia, and New Zealand, and South Africa, and England... and hope to host you in the States soon!
After leaving dinner we headed to Russel Square Station with Tania and Anthony. We said our goodbyes on the train and then navigated the Tube to Waterloo. From there, we took the train out to Feltham and finally arrived at our hotel, the St. Giles, around 10pm. Exhausted, we quickly got to sleep.
We woke up on the 4th at 5:30AM in order to catch the bus to Heathrow... something that proved quite difficult without pounds. After finding the only working ATM in Feltham, we managed to get to Heathrow almost three hours early and breezed through security.
Both of our flights went very smoothly and we got back in time to catch some great fireworks!
Here are some photos of our final few days - from Munich onwards:
Central Square in Munich
Thanks for reading!
-Simon
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
Amsterdam
We had a very fun two days in Amsterdam after our couple days in Berlin.
On our full day in Berlin we all took a long walking tour in the morning that took us past all of the sites - the TV Tower, Museum Island, the Brandenburg Gates and the Memorial to the Jewish Dead of the Holocaust. The memorial was one of the most moving places I have ever been and I felt claustrophobic, frightened, and humbled by the more than 1,000 massive cement stellae. In Berlin we also visited the Topography of Terror museum, set right in the former heart of the SS and Gestapo. The museum provided a remarkably honest and forthright account of the rise of the SS, German complacency during Hitler's ascension, and also the atrocities committed by the SS men. It was a harrowing thing to take in but I applauded current Germans for their support of this very necessary museum.
After visiting the museum we continued on to the Tiergarten and then finally walked past the Brandenburg Gates and back into the center of the city. Our night consisted of a very interesting pub crawl / historical story tour of the Berlin Wall remains and memorial. I cannot imagine how an entire city was rent in half by two warring sides but the memorial and our tour provided some remarkable accounts. Finally, the group started celebrating my birthday with a song on the Berlin metro as we headed to a club.
Yesterday we set out for Amsterdam quite early in the morning and we arrived around 7pm. After setting up our camp in record time we headed back into the city. We continued celebrating my birthday in the city for a little while before heading back in to get some much needed sleep.
Today, in our last full day with Contiki, Erika and I visited the Anne Frank House with several of our friends. It was a moving experience and I highly, highly recommend it to anyone who visits. The exhibits, alone, are worth a trip to Amsterdam. It is difficult to imagine the life that the Frank family had to lead during their years in hiding but the interactive museum, built from fragments of Anne's diary, does a fine job in painting the picture.
After we left we headed across dozens of canals and got a late lunch. We then set off for the famed Amsterdam flee markets, only to find most of them closing up. We hurried back through the Red Light District and quickly found our group near the train station. There, we met our coach driver, Cathal, for the last time as he will be leaving early tomorrow and we'll have a replacement driver take us back to London. We all headed to our last group dinner - a traditional Rice Table - an Indonesian buffet. Indonesia was once a Dutch Colony and the rice table flourished in the Netherlands.
Now we are all back at the campsite, excited to enjoy one last night together before we split up tomorrow. Erika and I, and many of the other campers, will be taking the coach back to London and then we're flying back to the US on Wednesday.
We'll see you all soon!
-Simon & Erika
On our full day in Berlin we all took a long walking tour in the morning that took us past all of the sites - the TV Tower, Museum Island, the Brandenburg Gates and the Memorial to the Jewish Dead of the Holocaust. The memorial was one of the most moving places I have ever been and I felt claustrophobic, frightened, and humbled by the more than 1,000 massive cement stellae. In Berlin we also visited the Topography of Terror museum, set right in the former heart of the SS and Gestapo. The museum provided a remarkably honest and forthright account of the rise of the SS, German complacency during Hitler's ascension, and also the atrocities committed by the SS men. It was a harrowing thing to take in but I applauded current Germans for their support of this very necessary museum.
After visiting the museum we continued on to the Tiergarten and then finally walked past the Brandenburg Gates and back into the center of the city. Our night consisted of a very interesting pub crawl / historical story tour of the Berlin Wall remains and memorial. I cannot imagine how an entire city was rent in half by two warring sides but the memorial and our tour provided some remarkable accounts. Finally, the group started celebrating my birthday with a song on the Berlin metro as we headed to a club.
Yesterday we set out for Amsterdam quite early in the morning and we arrived around 7pm. After setting up our camp in record time we headed back into the city. We continued celebrating my birthday in the city for a little while before heading back in to get some much needed sleep.
Today, in our last full day with Contiki, Erika and I visited the Anne Frank House with several of our friends. It was a moving experience and I highly, highly recommend it to anyone who visits. The exhibits, alone, are worth a trip to Amsterdam. It is difficult to imagine the life that the Frank family had to lead during their years in hiding but the interactive museum, built from fragments of Anne's diary, does a fine job in painting the picture.
After we left we headed across dozens of canals and got a late lunch. We then set off for the famed Amsterdam flee markets, only to find most of them closing up. We hurried back through the Red Light District and quickly found our group near the train station. There, we met our coach driver, Cathal, for the last time as he will be leaving early tomorrow and we'll have a replacement driver take us back to London. We all headed to our last group dinner - a traditional Rice Table - an Indonesian buffet. Indonesia was once a Dutch Colony and the rice table flourished in the Netherlands.
Now we are all back at the campsite, excited to enjoy one last night together before we split up tomorrow. Erika and I, and many of the other campers, will be taking the coach back to London and then we're flying back to the US on Wednesday.
We'll see you all soon!
-Simon & Erika
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