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Monday, August 26, 2013

Cousin Jen Day I Baltic Europe


Hello All,

I figured it would be easier to update all of you at one time rather than individual emails (and Kamal and Kiera asked me to blog). Wifi service is intermittent on the ship so my updates may come late and only arrive on the days we reach a port.

We arrived London on Saturday night. Flight was fine. I watched Olympus Has Fallen and The Factory - both excellent movies that I recommend if you haven't seen them. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to get to the next moment with both films. The Factory had a shocking ending!

Sunday we spent the day with Ellen's friend Laura. She works for the government in "intelligence".  Very interesting and well traveled woman. It is a good thing I'm well traveled and I know my geography so I could keep up with conversation and even offer some new intel :o)

The Queen was on holiday at her castle in Scotland so Buckingham Palace was open for public tours. Thank goodness Laura got us tickets in advance. We were able tour 16 State Rooms in the Palace. It was a really interesting tour. They also had an exhibit dedicated to the anniversary of the Queen's coronation.

Then we went to high tea at Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly. Tea room was beautifully decorated and the scones were to die for. A must if any of you are ever in London.

Monday I met my friend Justine from Hess for breakfast. As most of you know, Hess is closing our London office at the end of the year so Justine will be laid-off as a result. Its heartbreaking to watch our colleagues/friends go through this transition, but I know Justine will land on her feet - she has always been a "star" player at Hess so I am certain that wonderful opportunities are in store for her and I'm hoping she and I will work together again in the future. It was too difficult to say good-bye so we just left it that we will find a way to keep our friendship going and meet-up every now and again some place in the world.    

Ulrika and Mats are at their summer home in Sweden until September in case any of you are wondering why we didn't catch-up with them.

After breakfast Ellen and I made our way to the bus station to catch our bus transfer to Harwich, England to board the ship.

By the way, Victoria Coach station is much more civilized that Port Authority.

The weather held up for us, mild and partly cloudy. Overall, two good days in London. I'm always happy when I get to spend time there and I realize now that I know it quite well and have an easy time navigating the city.

More on our cruising days in the next update...

Jen

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