On the Way Home - Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) & Greenland from above

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Pit Stop in Aachen

It's time to head home . We have time before catching the Eurostar in Brussels, so we drive a few kilometers from Maastricht to Aachen in Germany.
You may know Aachen by its more historic name of Aix-la-Chapelle. It was a favoured residence of Charlemagne who happens to be one of my ancestors. As such, I figured it would be worth looking at the cathedral where he rests. It was raining cats and dogs, so our stay was very short, just enough to get soaked and catch a quick visit to the awesome cathedral. Worth returning for a proper visit some day.

Return...

The rest of the trip was painless. A quick drop off at the Hertz counter; a coffee at the gare du midi prior to getting processed onto the Eurostar and a quick smooth ride back to London. We returned to the Novotel St Pancras as it's a short walk from the station. This time we get a nice room,complete with view, on the 11th floor. We get some more (shopping and supper) time with Bryn before passing out in our room.
Saturday morning consists of a nice breakfast with Bryn at the hotel and them being picked up by our driver for a trip back to Heathrow's T3. Air Canada recommends arriving 3 hours prior to departure, but today's intake goes smoothly and we're through all the hoops in no time! thank goodness for Maple Leaf Lounges! (although the 'new' lounge in Heathrow is shared with SAS and is more Scandinavian-minimal than the previous oak-paneled version).
Our flight is Air Canada's 899 from Heathrow to Edmonton. As we approach Greenland, the cloud cover lifts and we get an awesome view of Skjoldungen Valley before the clouds return.

That's it for this trip :-)

Belgium

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Mon. Oct. 12
Up bright and early - we set off for St. Pancras train station for our trip on the Eurostar to Brussels.
Once in Brussels, we picked up a rental car (a small gasoline powered VW Polo - underpowered and thirsty compared to the BlueMotion Passat) and drove to the city center where we took some photos of the Grand Place.  We had an awesome lunch of mussels and fries (moules frites), bought some wonderful chocolates (every other shop was a chocolate shop) and then drove on for another hour or so until we reached Brugge.

Once in Bruges, we arrived at our wonderful Hotel de Tuilerieën and then proceeded to check out the sites - of which there were many!  I've been to Brugge a few times before, but never had the chance to stay there.  We enjoyed Brugge tremendously and were able to take so many wonderful pictures - especially on the canal boat ride (one in particular is of a Labrador that was laying at an open window watching all of the canal boats going by - our guide quipped "it's a dog's life" right on cue as we motored past!!).  
We even climbed 360+ steps to the top of a belfryr and were rewarded with a magnificent view of the city.  Brugge was beautiful everywhere you looked!  We had dinner in a great little restaurant on the town square - where I was presented with a nifty little glass of beer!  We'd definitely like to visit Brugge again one day and spend a bit more time exploring.

Tues. Oct. 13
We heard that breakfast at the Hotel de Tuilerieën included a chocolate fountain - needless to say, that's where we had breakfast!  And what a fabulous breakfast it was - yum!  Of course the chocolate was the best!
After Breakfast, we were off to Maastricht for my conference.

Wales

Image by MomentaryShutter via Flickr

Sat. Oct. 10

Everywhere we looked on our drive to Dolgellau (where Bryn's grandfather hails from), we saw sheep, sheep and more sheep - including a token black one now and again!
We took as many pictures of the beautiful scenes before us as often as we were able, unfortunately we found that the roads were terribly narrow and for the most part did not have pullovers so as to allow people to take photos. We visited the Cymer Abbey ruins which was pretty neat. There was a beautiful little river and bridge nearby where we met a very nice local couple and their new puppy Buddy - who had recently returned from a vacation to Canada!
In Barmouth, a coney island sort of town - we had a lovely lunch in a quaint little nautical themed restaurant and then went on to visit the spectacular Harlech Castle - which was remarkably well preserved. We were able to explore up and down stairs and round and around the various towers. It was quite an experience! On the drive back to the hotel - we decided to stop at Dolgellau once again for dinner - as earlier we'd seen a few promising restaurants. We quickly learned however, that you needed to make reservations at the restaurants at least 2 days ahead.... Who knew it was such a happening sort of place?!!

Sun. Oct. 11

Off on our return drive to London, we stopped at Mermaid Quay in Cardiff, where we had a yummy lunch and could watch the tour boats taking tourists out for a ride in the bay. Finally got into London about 6pm, dropped Bryn off, checked into the Novotel Hotel St Pancras, returned the car (yay!) and back to the hotel for a good night's sleep!

On To Wales - 9 October

Image by MomentaryShutter via Flickr

Leanne and I picked up the rental car (standard,  drivers seat on the wrong side of the car - driving on the wrong side of the road to boot) I booked a VW "BlueMotion" diesel and was very impressed with it!

I would have gotten 1000 miles from the tank of gas (had we gone that far). The car turns itself off when it's stopped and put in neutral. Press the clutch and it restarts! Moving the gear shift lever with my left hand was somewhat tricky as I kept having to adjust to the curves and hills (more on that later).

After a quick breakfast at the hotel.  Then, it was off to Wales!

We made what had to be the shortest stop on record - at Stonehenge - actually on the side of the road where we were able to take some photos of Stonehenge over the fence.

The next stop was a U-turn to return to Pewsey Wharf to take some photos of some really neat barges on the Tennet & Avon Canal.;

We meandered (you have to love road works that close off the main route and force you into a maze of side roads!!) towards a sweet little village called Bibury where we had lunch at an awesome hotel.  Afterwards, we took a walk through the town and saw a trout farm and a wonderful little lane with neat old houses that have been there since the year dot.  We were able to get some good photos, but our guidebook informed us that as people still live in the houses today - it wouldn't be a good idea to peek in the windows!>

Then, on we went through some very beautiful countryside.  It ended up being hours &; hours of driving on some nerve wracking little "roads" at times - but at the same time, it was wonderful to see so many beautiful, picturesque little towns & villages.

11 hours after departure and having survived narrow, twisty, dark and rainy roads (Bryn was in what would be the driver's seat in North America, she may never be the same again)  - we finally arrived at the Plas Dulguog Hotel (in the pitch black)! The hotel was very nice, surrounded by lovely gardens.

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London - 7/8 October 2009

Image by MomentaryShutter via Flickr

Leanne and I are beginning our trip to Europe. I'm taking advantage of a conference and adding on some vacation days to visit Bryn in London, explore a bit of Wales and then proceed to the conference venue in Maastricht (Netherlands) via Brussels and Bruges before returning home via London.

London

Day 1

We're in London!  A car met us at the airport and took us to the very interesting Astor Court Hotel
We virtually dropped our bags and walked over to meet up with Bryn who had just finished work. She took us on a bit of exploring of Regent and Oxford Streets. We tried to visit the famous James Smith and Sons umbrella shop - in the rain......unfortunately, we arrived 5 mins. after it closed (who closes at 5:25pm???) - pretty wet and cold - so we had some dinner at an Italian restaurant - mainly so we could dry off!
We returned to the hotel for a bit afterwards and then met up with Bryn to see her apartment and onwards to Charlotte Street Blues, just down the street from Bryn's place, where we take in some blues music and she does some dancing.

Day 2

Today was a whirlwind of activity!  Found a great place to have breakfast and then off to do some shopping - a coat for Leanne (which she claims ended up saving her from getting frostbite on many occasions!), some clothes for Bryn and things needed for her apartment.  Then off to the umbrella shop once again - (this time it was open).  Have never seen so many different types of umbrellas in my life.  Bryn ended up choosing a great umbrella that would fit in her bag.

We also took a flight on the London Eye which was amazing.  We were blessed with beautiful sunny weather and could see forever once we were up and away!  We were able to get some pretty good photos.

Then off we went for afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason where Bryn and I had champagne (Leanne wimped out!) and we had a choice of lovely teas and very decadent cakes, cookies, pastries and scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Later that evening, along with Bryn we saw the musical Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre - which we enjoyed tremendously.

Finally called it a day and headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep in preparation for our trek to Wales the following day.