October 19, 2015
Here is the final travel map of our trip…sure looks like there is a lot of white space left to visit!!!
33 countries in 229 days!
33 Countries Visited During Our 229 Day Adventure
Author: carrievijil
Cruising Home – Transatlantic from London to Tampa
October 18, 2015
OK, OK, I’m about a month late getting my last post put up. I suppose I have been in denial that the trip is over…maybe if I leave the blog unfinished, I can pretend like we are still on the go and I’m not really back to reality. No such luck…
We did make it home and we are working on getting back to our real lives here in Florida.
The trip back home with relaxing and a good transition from the craziness of the past 7 1/2 months. We left London first thing in the morning and took a bus down to the cruise port in Dover. The ship was just about ready, so we only had to wait about an hour before we could embark. Our room was very nice, we were upgraded to a Balcony, which was great because we were supposed to be in an inside room (which was pretty tiny for a 2 week trip).
Our first stop was to check out the buffet and the kid’s play area. Being a Transatlantic cruise in the middle of the year, we knew there wouldn’t be many kids on board, but there were a few, so Hayden has a good group of friends to pay with.
NCL – Star
The ship had a great pool area, but it was pretty chilly when we were getting started, so we didn’t get much use out of it. We did sit in the hot tubs a few times and Hayden went swimming with some friends one day, but the slides were closed for repair most of the trip, so that kind of stunk.
Pool on the ship
Pulling out of over was really neat because we went past the “White Cliffs of Dover”. It was really pretty and we could even see a huge castle up on the top of the hill.
White Cliffs of Dover
White Cliffs of Dover
We did a great job of staying entertained on board. The kids area had lots of activities and events for the kids. Hayden had the same 7-8 kids that were in the play place everyday, so they got to be good friends. They even had a Superhero Day and a Pirates Day where they got all dressed up and walked around the ship. Adam and I also had a good group of friends that we really enjoyed getting to know. We played lots of shuffleboard, ping pong, and bean bag toss (although we are still pretty bad at all three). Adam also had a good group that played basketball and soccer together each day. We had lots of time to go to the gym which was good because there was TONS of food! With desserts every night, I knew I was in trouble. I did a decent job of running and “only” put on 5.5 lbs. 🙂
Pirate Night on the ship
Pirate Night on the ship
“Superhero Night”
“Superhero Night”
During the cruise, we did have a stop in the Azores which was nice because we could check Portugal off on our list. 🙂 The island was really pretty, but we didn’t really get too far into the island. We hung out near the port and visited the downtown area. There was a really neat fortress and lots of cool buildings. We were on a bit of “tourist overload”, so we walked around for a few hours, found a playground for Hayden, then went back up to the ship for the rest of the afternoon.
Playing in the Azores
Ponta Delgada
Ponta Delgada
Ponta Delgada
Ponta Delgada
Ponta Delgada
Ponta Delgada
Ponta Delgada
During the entire cruise, the water was absolutely beautiful! It was so blue and crystal clear. We did have some rough waters coming through the English Channel where the waves got up to 27 feet. We were on the 8th level and water was splashing on our balcony. I was feeling pretty terrible, but the medical center gave out free Dramamine, so that did help. After those two rough days, the rest of the trip was very smooth.
Sunset on the Atlantic
Deep Blue Sea
After 13 days (we got back a day early due to trouble with the population system), we made it back to Tampa! While there is something nice about being home, I think that I am a natural born traveler. I was ready to start planning a trip to South America, but Adam and Hayden over-ruled me. 🙂 Customs was quick and easy and we were back in the states. We are now the proud owners of very full passports and about 8,000 pictures from around the world.
“Welcome to the US!”
Back on US Soil
Around the world and back with just 3 backpacks!
From here, we need to find jobs and get ourselves back into a routine. Hayden’s not exactly looking forward to getting back to school, but he is ready for Taekwondo and to see all of his friends.
So, this adventure is over, but I don’t doubt that we will have another eventually. We still need to see South America, Australia and lots of areas in the South Pacific.
Thanks for following us!
More Harry Potter in London!
October 4, 2015
In addition to the Harry Potter Studio Tour, we did a Harry Potter walking tour of the sites from the movie. We ended up just doing it on our own instead of going with a group. It worked out fine to be on our own time. Lots of the places were a little disappointing because you can’t really see anything other than a building that was in the background (I guess we expected it to be a little more distinctively HP). Around town, we saw the Ministry of Magic, the Minister of Magic’s house, the inspiration for 12 Grimmel Place, the inspiration for Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley.
Film site for the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter
Inspiration for Diagon Alley
Inspiration for Knockturn Alley
We also went to the zoo where Harry goes for Dudley’s birthday in the first movie. The scene takes place in the reptile house, so of course, we went there. 🙂
Reptile House (from Harry Potter)
Reptile House (from Harry Potter)
The zoo turned out to have a really cool surprise because they had an Okapi. (Hayden’s FAVORITE animal) The Okapi here was AWESOME because it was right at the fence. They are typically very shy animals, so we have never seen one this close and active before. He was trying to eat the trees right on the edge and he was so close that we probably could have reached out to pet him! We spent about 30 minutes just sitting here watching him….it was a really neat experience.
Okapi
Okapi
Okapi
Our last stop of the day was at King’s Cross station to see the “original” platform 9 3/4. We did get a picture with the trolley, but to get to platforms 9 and 10, you need a train ticket. Plus, it’s not like in the move and right between the platforms is a train track, so we wouldn’t have been able to go there anyway.
Tomorrow, we will have hanging out with our friends, Caryn and Roy, from Germany (we were in the Army together). We are taking the kids to Kensington Palace and the Science Museum. It should be a great time and Hayden is super excited for a day out with the kids!
After that, it’s time to jump on the cruise ship and head home!
Kings Cross – Platform 9 3/4
Out and About in London, England (Part 2)
October 4, 2015
More great times in London. We found the M&M Store (shocking, I know) in Piccadilly Circus. The store was HUGE and had lots of fun stuff. Of course, there were London M&Ms, but they also had an M&M lab where they mix the colors to make them custom. Pretty cool!
Making of M&Ms!
While walking around, we found our next car…we have decided to pick up a Lamborghini when we get home. Hayden is looking forward to driving it on his 16th birthday. lol
Souvenir?
We also managed to find a Five Guys…YUM!! Since we will be home in just a few weeks, we decided to skip it and get our Five Guys fix when we get home. The funniest part about it was that they had a sign from the Lakeland Ledger in the window!
The next afternoon, we took the hop on hop off bus and went around to the Tour of London. The Tower was really cool. We did the Beefeater tour, which was very entertaining. At the Tower, we saw the Crown Jewels, the Torture room, the Green where Henry VIII’s wives (and many others) were beheaded. They also had a “tournament” going on where two guys were sword fighting…it was pretty cool. Hayden liked watching the sword fighting. Walking around the Tower was really amazing. To think that parts of it are almost 1,000 years old and to think about all of the history that has happened here is pretty crazy. I’m reading a series of books now that is about the Tudors and that time in England and it’s really interesting to see all of the places that I have been reading about.
Tower of London
Tower of London
Traitors Gate at the Tower of London
Tower of London
Tower of London
Tower Green
Sword Fight!
Sword Fight!
Right across the way, we walked across the Tower Bridge. We were lucky that it happened to be going up to let a ship pass when we were there. It was cool to see.
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge opening
Next on the itinerary is the Harry Potter Walking Tour for Hayden. He’s pretty excited to see all of the places from the movie.
Out and About in London, England (Part 1)
October 3, 2015
We are here in London and having a fabulous time! We spent the first day with our friend, Amy, that we met in Africa. It was great to catch up and we had a fantastic day walking around the city and seeing some of the sights. We went to Buckingham Palace and got there just in time to catch the tail end of the changing of the guard…holy cow…what a mad rush of people! There were TONS of people there and you could hardly move. We did manage to see some of the guards and we eventually got pictures of the gates/palace/etc. Unfortunately, the palace is not open to the public, so we didn’t get to go in, but that was fine with us.
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Changing of the Guard
Buckingham Palace
Wellington Arch
From the palace, we walked down to Harrods, (super fancy store) and got some lunch to take and eat in the park. Harrods has a really great food court with about every type of food you could want. For being such a nice store (and an expensive city), it was pretty reasonably priced. We took our food and went to sit in Hyde Park since it was such a nice, sunny day. We had a good time, and Hayden even got to check out the swans, ducks, and pigeons
Harrods
Feeding the ducks
From lunch, we walked around town a little more and made our way to Piccadilly Circus and to Trafalgar Square. Everything was decorated NFL for the Jets – Dolphins game on Sunday…it was pretty cool.
NFL in London!
We got some good pictures of Big Ben and the London Eye at both day and night. I like the comparative pictures…London really is a beautiful city!
Big Ben
Big Ben
London Eye and our hotel
London at night
The next morning, we went to see Westminster Abbey…WOW…super cool place! The building itself is so neat, but when you think that it is almost 1,000 years old and here about all of the history, it is really amazing. There are no pictures permitted inside, but it was beautiful. It was built over hundreds of years by different monarchs, but they managed to keep the style the same, so it looks like it was all built at once. Definitely a place that everyone should visit!
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
After the Abbey, we went to the Jewel Tower, which we thought would have jewels. It is the oldest remaining portion of the original Westminster, but we were disappointed to find that there were no jewels, that’s just the name of the castle.
Jewel Tower
We walked around a bit more and saw some more cool stuff…here is Hayden with the horse guard.
Cavalry Guard
Harry Potter Studios in England…Hayden’s BEST DAY EVER!
October 1, 2015
In the words of Hayden…BEST DAY EVER! We came into London from Gatwick, got checked into our hotel and spent the rest of the day out at the Harry Potter Studios just north of London. I have to say, it was AMAZING! We are Harry Potter fans, so we knew we would have a good time, but the place was really incredible. At the train station, a WB bus pics you up to go to the Studio and from there, it’s full on Harry Potter.
Our tour time was 2:00 pm and we got there right on time. The tour is mostly self-guided, so we could spend as much time as we wanted. We stayed there just about 4 hours and had a great time. They have TONS of props, sets, costumes, models, etc through out the studios. These are the actual studios where all of the movies were filmed, so it’s all completely original. Having read the books and seen all of the movies (several times!), we recognized just about everything and loved to look around. I’m not going to write a lot because I have about a million pictures to post…
Just one thing to add in addition to the pictures; we got awesome pictures of all of us riding in the flying car and Hayden flying on a broom. They are only in picture form, so I will have to scan them when we get home to upload them. (Taking a picture of the picture wasn’t working very well).
On the bus to HP Studios!
We’re here!
“Ron’s” handprints
“Hermionie’s” Hand Prints
Harry’s bedroom under the stairs
Hayden in the Great Hall
Ceiling used to film the “magical” great hall ceiling
Dumbledore’s Podium
Gryffindor Uniforms
Harry and Voldemort Costumes
Ron and Harry’s Beds
Gryffindor Common Room
Various Set Props
Tri Wizard Cup and the Egg that was a clue
The Burrow – the Weasley’s House
Potions Classroom and Snape’s Costume
Scene at the Malfoy’s House
Wand Training
Wand Training
Hogwarts Express
Riding the Hogwarts Express
Riding the Hogwarts Express
Platform 9 3/4
Platform 9 3/4
4 Privet Drive
4 Privet Drive
The Potter’s Cottage
Riding Hagrid’s motorcycle
Driving the Flying Car…Aaahhhhhh
Buckbeak
Holy crap…this is my worst nightmare!!
Hogwarts Full Model
Hogwarts Full Model
“Credits”…everyone that worked on the movie has a wand box with their name on it.
Back at the hotel, we had dinner and are going to bed early so that we can be up and running tomorrow for our first day in London!
Awesome Day at Stonehenge and the Roman Baths
What I Saw:
Today I went to Stonehenge and the Roman Baths. At Stonehenge, I saw sheep on the road with different colored butts.
My Favorite Part of the Day:
My favorite part of the day was going to Stonehenge because I got to see all of the stone.
What I Learned Today:
Today I went to Stonehenge and the Roman Baths. At Stonehenge, I learned that Stonehenge is more than 5,000 years old. No one knows why or how it was built. The stones they used to build Stonehenge are sarsen and bluestones. I think that Stonehenge used to be a house that’s now tumbled down.
Welcome to England! Day 1 – Stonehenge and Bath
September 30, 2015
We made it to England…YAY (sort of). We are happy to be in England, we have been looking forward to getting here, but it is bittersweet because it means our trip is almost at an end.
We flew from Dublin to Gatwick and spent two days here so that we could hit some of the outer areas from the city. We decided to rent a car instead of taking a tour, which turned out to be much cheaper We picked up the car from Gatwick so that we could be on our own schedule to spend the day out at Stonehenge and to visit the town of Bath.
First off…driving on the left hand side of the road was a bit of an adjustment, but Adam did great. It was pretty weird for me to be sitting in the passenger seat on the left hand side of the car. Luckily, we didn’t have an issues and got to Stonehenge in decent time.
Stonehenge was pretty cool. They have a really nice visitor center and the area is beautiful. The only problem was that it was very windy, so it was a little chilly. We overcame that issue by starting the trip with hot chocolates! We spent about an hour walking around the area, looking at the rocks and going through the visitor center. It is really amazing to think about how they would have built these without our technology…it made us think a lot about Egypt again since they were about the same time period as the pyramids and similar feats. Definitely a neat place to go and worth the drive out.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Holding up Stonehenge
Hayden trying to move one of the stones
Sheep!
Houses from the time when Stonehenge was built
Houses from the time when Stonehenge was built
After Stonehenge, we continued our way west and went to the town of Bath. We had a few issues getting into town, but managed to find our way eventually. By the time we got there, we were starving! We found a place right inside of town that sound Cornish Pasties…they looked like calzones, but had all different fillings. They were amazing! The dough was more like a croissant, so they were super flakey. Hayden had cheese and bacon, I had chicken and chorizo and Adam had steak and cheese…they were all super good! After that we walked into town a little and managed to (by total luck) find the Roman Baths. The Baths are in a nice square with the Bath Abbey and the entrance to the Baths. We sat in the square and finished eating before going through the Bath.
Bath Abbey
Bath Abbey
Bath, Abbey
Bath Abbey
The Roman Bath was very cool. Especially after spending some time in Rome, we really thought it was amazing how big and grand the Bath was especially since the houses and everything back in Rome were so small and close together. The hot springs were really cool and the way they had all of the pools set up would have been so neat to visit back in the day.
Roman Bath
Roman Bath
Roman Bath
Hot Spring at the Roman Bath
Some of the remains from the temple and the surrounding area are still on display and they are in pretty decent shape…very cool to see. I think one of the best parts is that you can see how the hot springs still flows today. They run in basically, a river under the entire complex and you can even see the steam coming up. \
Remains from the Roman Bath
Steam from the natural springs
Underground hot spring
At the end of the tour, we got to drink the spring water. It was warm and had a distinctive taste to it. Not terrible, but definitely not something that I would want to drink on a regular basis!
Drinking the spring water
After going through the Bath and looking around the Abbey, we had to find Sally Lunn’s…it is the oldest house in the town of Bath and dates all the way back to 1680. Supposedly, they have really good buns, but we opted to get fudge instead for our snack. 🙂 Our last stop was walking around the park in the center of town before we headed back to the car to get back to Gatwick. We left a little early, but wanted to avoid driving in the dark since we were still trying to acclimate to the other side of the road and the different traffic signs.
Oldest house in Bath, England
Bath, England
We did manage to make it back in one piece and tomorrow we will head into London for the most excited day ever (according to Hayden)…Harry Potter Studio Tour day!!!! He’s only a tiny bit excited. 🙂
Kissing the Blarney Stone!
What I Saw:
Today I saw the Blarney Stone in the Blarney Castle. In the Blarney Castle, I saw the Poison Garden too. I saw Mandrakes in the Poison Garden.
My Favorite Part of the Day:
My favorite part of the day was kissing the Blarney Stone because I got the gift of eloquence.
What I Learned Today:
Today I went to the Blarney Castle. At the Blarney Castle, I learned that if you kiss the Blarney Stone, you get the gift of eloquence. The poison gardens have poisonous plants from around the world and in Harry Potter too.
Visiting the Irish Coastline and Kissing the Blarney Stone – Galway and Blarney Castle, Ireland
September 29, 2015
We left Dublin on Saturday and took the train over to the West Coast of Ireland to Galway. By total coincidence, it is weekend of the Galway Oyster Festival, so it was a good weekend to visit! We have been very lucky because the weather has been beautiful. From what we heard, most of the time, it is cool and rainy this time of year in Ireland, but we have had great weather, so we are very thankful for that!
We got here and checked into our hotel where we hung out for the afternoon. That evening, we had dinner in the hotel restaurant…holy cow…it was amazing! Irish beef is undoubtedly, the best beef ever! We each had a different cut of beef and both were amazing. All of the food was so good that Hayden even ate his carrots and cauliflower and said, “if you could make vegetables like this, I would eat them at home too!” I guess I need to work on my cooking skills when we get home. 🙂
The next morning, we spent in, but then got into town for the day. We walked around the coastline, which was lovely. The tide was out, so we walked way out into the shore and got a little wet before coming back to dry land. We walked through into the Oyster Festival area and walked all through the town. The city was very nice and they had lots of oysters around for the festival.
We got back to the hotel a little early and relaxed since we had to catch an early train to Cork in the morning. We did manage to get up at about 3:00 am so that we could watch the blood moon for a few minutes. We had a great view right outside of our hotel room window, so that worked out great!
Galway coastline
Galway coastline
Galway, Ireland
Galway Oyster Festival
Galway, Ireland
Blood moon over Galway, Ireland
We got up first thing Monday morning to head over to the train station to go to Cork to see the Blarney Castle. When we got to the train station, we ended up finding a bus that was more direct then the train and they took our Eurail passes, so that worked out great! The bus ride was long (about 4 hours), but we made it and didn’t have to worry about connections like we would have on the train.
As soon as we got into Cork, we dropped our bags at our hostel and took the bus out to Blarney Castle. The castle was really cool. The grounds were very well kept and there were tons of really pretty flowers. We worked our way through the castle, including through the dungeon, the kitchen, some of the bedrooms, and the great hall. We made it all the way up to the top where we kissed the Blarney Stone. 🙂 The view from the top of the castle was really nice. You could see pretty much all of the grounds and even into the town.
Blarney Castle
Blarney Castle grounds
Dungeon at Blarney Castle
Dungeon at Blarney Castle
Blarney Castle
Blarney Castle
Blarney Castle
Climbing Blarney Castle
Blarney Castle
View from Blarney Castle
View from Blarney Castle
Battlements at Blarney Castle
View from Blarney Castle
Hayden kissing the Blarney Stone
Carrie kissing the Blarney Stone
Adam kissing the Blarney Stone
Just outside of the castle, in the gardens, they have a “Poison Garden” which was pretty cool. All of the plants are somehow toxic. Adam appreciated the marijuana and Hayden liked the Mandrake (they use it in Harry Potter).
Poison Garden
Mandrake (from Harry Potter)
“Toxic” marijuana
We found a playground where we climbed the wall…I was pretty impressed with myself for being able to get myself up the wall. lol
“I made it over the wall!”
Hayden made it up the wall too!
Waterfall in the Blarney Castle gardens
We spent the night back in Cork before getting up first thing in the morning and leaving Cork to go back to Dublin where we fly to London! How is it possible that we3 are heading to our last stop?!?! At least we managed to find a leprechaun while we were here in Ireland!
My little leprechaun
Vijil Family World Tour 