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An unexpected upgrade to the business class on
Delta brought us from JFK to London where we
commenced our 6th grand European trip. London, a
symphony of wonder and true friendship, has
given us another opportunity to fall in love
with her again.
In one of the two rare sunny days, we set foot
on Kenwood Garden. After meandering through the
labyrinth of the underground tube with
unexpected stopped service, rambling up the
Highgate Hill then through an unpromising garden
door and trail covered by muddy footprints, we
are welcomed by a magnificent prospect of London
skyline. Part of the National heritage today,
the Kenwood villa houses a wealthy painting
collection including Rembrandt's self portrait.
After refreshment in a sunny but cold alfresco
seating area, we retuned to the villa again to
join the 2:30 guided tour which turned out to be
our exclusive private tour. The knowledgeable
guide Mr. Ferguson gave us a lesson of relevant
English history which makes all the portrait
paintings come to live. The Sargent painting of
lady Suffolk from America culminated the tour in
the last room. Steven has discovered his further
Royal blood connection from one of the monarch
on show. At the inauguration day, we were so
indulged by a private tour at the Tower of
London and were so privileged to be able to see
the inauguration on TV at a Yeoman's apartment,
a former cell converted modern flat located in one of the towers. |
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The last few days in
Paris we were running around trying to
catch up on our schedule. Our
anticipated of going to Marie
Antoinetteˇ¦s dairy and shell room at Rambouillant became a fiasco, ending
with Steven banging on the door of the
dairy. Even after all our calls and
planning they decided not to open that
day. We were redeemed the following day,
however, when we got a private tour of
the dukeˇ¦s dˇ¦Aumonts apartments at
Chantilly including both the monkey
boudoirs, frescoed all about with
singerie chinoiserie grotesques. |
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We hit several
SPAˇ¦s including a night at the grand art deco (succession)
hotel Gellert. We were severely chided for making photos in
the menˇ¦s thermal but had to show you the most beautiful
bathroom in the world. We also went to three opera and a
symphonic concert at the Liszt academy which we first knew
of from a design magazine when in London. Couldnˇ¦t trace it
down until we just came upon it while walking. The New York
Cafe is not our new discovery; however, the lunch special is
really a steal. |
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We
had to go to Bratislava to stay overnight on
March 31st because Sky Europe altered our flight
to early in the morning on April 1st to
Edinburgh without telling us until two days
prior to departure. The good things were that we
got to visit another country Slovenia and
stay in a lovely boutique hotel in Bratislava.
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In Edinburgh, we walked to one of Scotlandˇ¦s best preserved
castles on Sunday where Mary Queen of
Scots conspired to murder her husband.
To our delight, an Easter wedding was
taking place with all the boys in full
kilt, bagpipes etc. We hit Hollyrood House, one of
the living palaces for the current queen, and
Stirling castle for the lovely Easter Renaissance
fair. The infamous weather in Scotland?
We deemed ourselves lucky because it was
very friendly to us until the last few
days before we departed to Copenhagen. |
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Not unexpectedly, we got swept up with the
delights of Copenhagen. We got to sit right
under the Queen at the ballet. It was in a
little toy sized theatre where HC Anderson used
to go. Also saw a stupendous garden at Fredericksborg in the north and took a two night
cruise to Oslo. Great fun! |
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Copenhagen,
one of the top 10 most expensive cities, turned
out to be the only place we signed up with the
city card to take advantage of all the freebies
the city has to offer. A 72-hour pass took us to
Tivoli Garden three time including a pantomime
performance and a glamorous light show.
Rosenborg, Amalienborg, Christainborg, are among
the places we visited on the card besides
Fredericksborg, Andersen House, Louisiana Musuem,
Danish Design Center, and even the Aquarium. Great
deal. Let alone all the free transportation. At the theater
Museum, we were lucky enough to be the 11th
guest of the month and were requested to do a
quick survey and served with free coffee and
dessert. |
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We now have arrived in our beloved
Amsterdam home away from home and visited Keukenhof for the
late season tulip blossom and by chance encountered the
largest lily show in the world. We'll write more when our
trip unravels more.
Love,
Sean and Steven
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