Jim and Maggie's Excellent Adventure
aka Our European Vacation
This is our story of "What We Did on Our Summer Vacation".
Click on a picture, in most cases, you will get to a page with a list of related full-size pictures.
Friday, August 6 - San Francisco to Heathrow
Thanks to Tom and Paula who gave us a ride out to SFO (and also our return trip). Our thankfully uneventful flight
was about 10 hours, leaving San Francisco at 4:00 p.m. and arriving in England at 10:00 a.m.
the next morning.
Saturday, August 7 - London, England
We walked all over town and saw
Buckingham Palace,
Big Ben,
and a few 
Other Sites.
And what did we do on our Saturday night in the cosmopolitan city of London? In bed and asleep by 8:00 p.m., after all
our bodies thought it as 4:00 a.m. in the morning!
Sunday, August 8 - London, England
We took a tour that went to
Stonehenge
and the 
Town of Bath.
Bath got it's name from its famous
Roman Bath House.
Monday, August 9 - From London to Dover, England
We saw a few
Sites in London
on the way to Dover.
Once we reached our destination, we saw the
"White Cliffs of Dover"
just behind our cruise ship,
the 
Norwegian Sky.
The Norwegian Sky begins it cruise with its 
Maiden Voyage Sailaway.
Tuesday, August 10 - Cherbourg, France
We took a tour to the city of
Ste Mere-Eglise to visit a D-Day Museum and church.
From there we headed to
Utah Beach, one of the 4 major beaches used during the D-Day Landings.
We enjoyed the 
French Countryside on our route to and from
the 
Town of Cherbourg
Wednesday, August 11 - Solar Eclipse
Looking for a clearing in the middle of a storm, we were finally able to get a good view
in time for
the 
Last Total Solar Eclipse of the Millenium.
A sister ship, the classic
S/S Norway
was also nearby.
Thursday, August 12 - Dublin, Ireland
We toured around 
Dublin on our way
to 
St. Patrick's Cathedral.
We also payed homage at the 
Guinness Cathedral (Brewery).
Friday, August 13 - Ayr, Scotland
We received a warm greeting at our 
Arrival in Scotland.
We toured the grounds of 
Culzean Castle.
On our ride through the 
Scottish Countryside, we stopped briefly at the world-class Turnberry Golf Course.
We spent some time in the port 
Town of Ayr.
Saturday, August 14 - At Sea
Simply a day aboard the ship with some gorgeous 
Views at Sea
Sunday, August 15 - Bergen, Norway
Bergen has a funicle, or tram, that goes to the top of a steep hill. From there we saw
some
great 
Views of Bergen
and the surrounding landscape. At the top
of the hill is
a 
Forest
with walking trails, one around a ring
of mountain tops, others back to the bottom of the hill.
The best local bakery we found
on the entire trip was
here in 
Bergen,
which also had a
prominent 
Castle Fort.
With Norway being the home of Norwegian Cruise Lines, and this being her first port,
we had
the grandest 
Sailaway of all from Bergen.
Monday Morning, August 16 - The Fjords of Norway
Norway has beautiful
Fjords
that were carved by
glaciers. Though the ice is gone from as far south as we were, we were told the you could still find the
glaciers and icebergs further up. The fjords create lots of waterfront space for buildings and homes,
and apparently make
great 
summer homes and vacation spots
for the locals.
Monday Afternoon and Evening, August 16 - Oslo, Norway
We saw a bit of 
Oslo when we hired a taxi driver
(ah gee, we had to travel in a nice new clean Mercedes taxi) for awhile. He took us to
the 
Viking and Kon-Tiki Museums, and then
dropped us off
at 
Vigeland Park. Vigeland Park is a
large outdoor showcase for the sometimes rather graphic nude sculptures and work by Vigeland. The masterpiece is several sculptures that compose
his "Circle of Life" that shows from infancy through the final stages of life.
Oslo was the one port where we were docked into the evening.
A 
Fireworks Show was put on specifically for
our ship.
Tuesday, August 17 - At Sea
Lots of R & R, even for the camera. We only took a
few snaps of our 
views at sea.
Wednesday, August 18 - Amsterdam, Holland
We arrived in 
Amsterdam on a rainy morning.
Sometimes called Venice of the North, Amsterdam is built around
a series of 
Canals.
We took a canal tour through the city that allowed us to get off and see many parts
of 
Town.
We toured the infamous "Red Light District" of Amsterdam (heck, they even mark it very clearly on the tourist
maps) just because we had to see, but sorry, no pictures are here for you to view.
We set voyage back to our home port of Dover, England, with our
final 
Sailaway
which provided some pretty views as we left.
Thursday, August 19 - Time to go Home
Arriving in Dover, we met with some of our new
friends, 
our "cruise buddies,"
and took one last 
Look Back
at the seas of our most excellent adventure.
Look Back
at the seas of our most excellent adventure.