29 to 31 July

Chillin' with Bodey at Beverley Road!!

Kew Gardens

We spent the day at Kew Gardens with Ann Dean, a friend that Debra met in Italy when she was there a few years ago!

24th - 27th July 20 Beverley Road CHISWICK W4 2LP

Just "chillin" in Chiswick and planning for our trip to Scotland and Ireland 8 - 23 August

Thames Tradesmen Rowing - Last day

Still full of enthusiasm, Isabella is now rowing on her own!!

Back to rowing

Rest Day

Beverley Road

Rowing on the Thames - Day 2

Isabella has taken to the rowing like "a duck to water"

Isabella - rowing school

This morning we caught the 190 bus from Chiswick to near Chiswick Bridge. We then walked to the Thames Tradesmen Rowing Club http://www.ttrc.org.uk/ where Isabella had Day 1 of a two day introduction to rowing course. Debra and Ken walked to Chiswick House http://www.chgt.org.uk/ where, after the obligatory tea and scones with jam, they "took the tour". The house and gardens have just reopened after being restored and  the audio tour was great. After lunch and a walk through the gardens we walked back to the river to collect a tired rower!! She had a great day and performed exceptionally as the only girl and youngest in a group of 9.

Visit Wallingford and Oxford

We were up early and caught the tube to Ealing Broadway then First Western to Reading,  a trip of just over 1 hour. We were picked up by Jane Millar and then back to Wallingford where we unluckily missed seeing Andrew rowing on the Thames. We drove into the Chilterns and enjoyed a lovely walk before lunch at The Cherry Tree Inn  http://www.thecherrytreeinn.com/local_info/the_chilterns.asp 

Dibble, Kate, Lucy, Debra and Jane

After lunch we headed into Oxford where Andrew and Isabella did a great job punting us around! http://www.oxfordpunting.co.uk/homepage.html The Millars dropped us off at Oxford Station and caught the train and tube, arriving back at Chsiwick around 23:30 - what a great day!

Chiswick - Rest Day

Chiswick - Rest Day

Chiswick - Rest Day

Copenhagen to Chiswick

We took the metro to the airport and boarded our 2 hour BA flight to Heathrow. Caught the undergorund back to Chiswick.

Tivoli Gardens - Copenhagen

We visited the Tivoli Gardens http://www.tivoli.dk/composite-3351.htm for lunch an Isabella, Caitlin and Claudia took on some of the more challenging rides!! We then saw Caitlin and Claudia off on the overnight train to Cologne.

Copenhagen - National Gallery - World Cup final

Very hot again today so we visited the National Gallery http://www.smk.dk/en/ and had a light lunch before taking the "tour". Then rested in the park on the way back to the apartment. In the evening we walked down to the harbour to watch the world cup final on a big screen but the atmosphere wasn't great so we headed home to watch it on the tele.

Copenhagen

Our apartment is on the 3rd floor of the building on the corner - it was great!

After coffee at Oscars we headed for the palace and "took the tour" then walked to Strogert for some retail therapy. Because it was so hot (30C) we got some supplies at the supermarket and took the 10 minute walk to to the park at Rosenborg Palace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenborg_Castle 

http://www.copenhagenet.dk/cph-map/cph-rosenborg-r.asp for a picnic. We then walked back to the apartment to watch Germany beat Uruguay.

Copenhagen

On the canal cruise boat at Nyhaven


Heading for Princess Mary's place (palace?)

http://www.copenhagenet.dk/cph-amalienborg.htm

As we got back late from the airport we slept in and then walked to Nyhaven via an excellent coffee at Cafe Oscar. We then took a canal tour followed by a light lunch at Salt - a restaurant which enjoyed a cool breeze from the harbour. The girls then toured that part of the Royal Palace which is being renovated as the house of Princess Mary. We strolled home via the supermarket and rested for the remainder of the day.

Copenhagen

Debra and Bella at Nyhaven http://www.stromma.dk/en/CANALTOURS/

We arrived around 0900 and after a bit of confusion with the trains we found our way to our apartment. We then went for a wander to Nyhaven and back via the supermarket!. After a quiet afternoon we headed out the the airport to meet Caitlin and Claudia at 2300. Back to the apartment and straight to bed!!

Chiswick - packing for Denmark

Today we've had a slow day repacking our cases which are showing the signs of 5 months on the road! We leave Heathrow for Copenhagen at 0650 so have a cab booked for 0500 - luckily its quite light at that time of the morning. Cailtin and Claudia arrive in Copenhagen late tomorrow so we can spend a few days together before they continue their European jaunt and we fly back to London.

Buckingham Palace

Caught the tube from Stamford Brook to St James's Park then walked to the palace. Here are the girls waiting patiently for the changing of the guard - very crowded and very hot with lots of "pushy" tourists - still we had to tick it off the list. Back to Beverley Road to prepare for Uruguay v Holland - go Uruguay!!

Chiswick

Rest day

Bye bye rental car

We drove out to Avis Heathrow to return our rental car which we have had for a month, then caught the tube from Hatton Cross to Acton Town then two stops on the District line to Turnham Green. Chiswick has a residents only parking system which means we are better off without a car and the tube is only 10 minutes walk.

Eurostar

Drove Caitlin and Claudia to St Pancras to board the 8am Eurostar to Paris. Had a quiet afternoon.

Langtons depart and Cailtin & Claudia arrive

We drove the Langtons to Heathrow for their midday flight to Sydney. Then drove to Salisbury to collect Caitlin and Claudia from school. Spent the evening finalizing arrangement for their month in Europe and Debra prepared roast lamb dinner as a treat!

Chiswick

Another rest day - it's great to be in a 'home' after 5 months on the road!