Day 3 (cont) - Leaving Tilbury

Once we were back on board, the Prinsendam set sail. The small town of Tilbury is a commercial port city, so cruise ships do not usually dock there. Many of the townsfolk came out to see us off.

The terminal port in Tilbury.

Monica and Jeanette watch with keen interest.

Pulling away from the dock.

Captain Schoonderbeek directs the operations from the port flying bridge.

Citizens of Tilbury watch us depart.

Yes, he's going backwards. And passing us.

An old fort on the banks of the Thames.

Day 3 (cont) - Tower of London

After a roundabout, circuitous route we ended up at the Tower, a medieval fortress in the heart of London.

Rex and the boys skipped out shortly after arriving to find a pub. Unfortunately, the pubs don’t open until noon so they ended up eating at Subway, which they said wasn’t as good as back home.

Traitor's Gate

The Moat.

Water Lane

The Wall of the Inmost Ward (from Roman times)

The White Tower

The entrance to Waterloo Block where the Crown Jewels are displayed. Mom was very pleased to find they were all in her favorite color: shiny. She went through the exhibit 11 times. Photographs weren't allowed but it would've been difficult anyway because Mom kept fogging up the protective glass.

Legend has it that Charles II was told that if the ravens left the Tower, the kingdom and the fortress would fall. England isn't taking any chances.

Recreation of Edward I's chambers.

Fuzzy enjoys a rest.

The Rack. Not the real one. That would be too creepy. This is a reconstruction of one from plans found during the 1800's.

Fuzzy, Micki and Mom on the South Wall Walk.

Mom and Fuzzy in front of the Tower Bridge.

Day 3 - Bus Tour of London

Saturday morning, we headed back into London (via bus) to tour the Tower of London. We all surmised that this tour company charges by the length of the tour guide’s narrative. This woman, very knowledgeable about London and its environs, never shut up. Yes, it’s interesting to know certain facts about a city with which we are unfamiliar but we don’t need to know about speed limits or points against your driver’s license in that city. Especially since y’all drive on the left side of the road. Not right.

Still there were beautiful sights along our drive to the Tower. Many new buildings mixed in with the old.

Big Ben

British House of Parliament

The Eye of London (back in one piece thanks to the Fantastic Four)

The Tower Bridge

Statue of Sir Winston Churchill

Day 2 - Boarding the Prinsendam.

Fuzzy and I arrived at Heathrow about 10am Friday morning. I received several text messages once I turned my phone back on from Micki saying their flight didn’t push back from the gate until 11pm. They expected to arrive at 12:15pm. We found that Flight 174 with our luggage was due in about the same time, in a different terminal.

We waited in Terminal 3 until Mom, Dad and the Ryan clan emerged from customs. Once they were safely in the hands of Simon, the limo company driver, Fuzzy and I returned to Terminal 4 to retrieve our wayward luggage. American Airlines Heathrow Customer Service has much room for improvement.

Seth and Payton emerge first.

Mom and Dad are happy to be off the plane.

Rex and Micki ready to get to the ship.

We finally left Heathrow at 3pm on the Underground (London’s subway) to Liverpool Streets, where we were told to catch an aboveground train to Tilbury. What the Underground agent didn’t tell us is that we had to walk several blocks from the Liverpool Street Station to Fenwich Street Station. The map given to us at Liverpool was cryptic at best, as in the street names marked on the map didn’t match the real ones. We never would’ve found the damn thing if a hunky passerby hadn’t showed us where it was.

We hopped on the C2C (England National Railroad) to Tilbury and took a taxi from there, arriving at the Prinsendam about 3 hours after leaving Heathrow. We met and shared a taxi with Peter and Rosemary, a lovely English couple who live in a village about halfway between London and the Scottish border.

The Prinsendam was an oasis of respite in our nearly 24-hour sojourn. The check-in process went smoothly and soon we were in our beautiful stateroom with its balcony on the starboard side near the stern of the ship.

The ms Prinsendam. Note that this isn't Tilbury, England in the pic. (Not by a long shot)

Of course, we were starving by this time so we met Mom and Dad in the Lido Restaurant on Deck 11. We took some time afterward exploring the ship and its beautiful accommodations, eventually making it to the Crow’s Nest on Deck 12, the best inside viewing spot on the ship (i.e. out of the wind). There we met the beautiful Hernelia, the bar server. She became our best friend for the rest of the trip. The drink of the day was the mojito, one of my favorites, and she made it delicious!

Mom and Dad's suite.

Rex and Micki's verandah room. This is the same size room that Payton, Seth and James had but with three single beds, there was no space at all. The narrow gaps between their beds became the repository for dirty clothes.

The beautiful spa where Rex and Micki got pampered a lot.

The Atrium.

The Queen's Lounge or the show room where the Prinsendam singers and dancers performed.

The beautiful La Fontane Dining Room.

The Lido Deck Pool which was never this empty.

The Lido Restaurant where we ate breakfast every day. Delicious food!

The Crow's Nest where Fuzzy and I went almost every night.

But we were tired and it was time for bed. We had to get up early the next morning for our London tour.