Visiting Belgium

Our June vacation, June 2025,

we spent a few days in London

before starting on a 11 day cruise to Iceland.

You can view our days in London

on my previous blog London

At Southampton, south of England.

We boarded the cruiseship and explored around.

.

We were amazed at how big this ship is.

We were on the 15th floor

at the top left Suzanne is waving to us. 

A few photos of the ship

Lots of places to relax

Our journey began and to our amazement, 

we passing by the Isle of Wight in the

distance, a place of our roots.

Visiting Europe Spring 2025

In June we visited London and Windsor

 for a few days before embarking upon

an incredible cruise to Iceland. 

I went with my daughter and family

also my sister Annie.

I have a lot of photos from Ann, Sabrina,

Martin and Suzanne.

In the photo below is my grandson Mathieu,

sister Annie, granddaughter Sabrina,

me and son-in-law Martin.

Suzanne took the photo.

We arrived at the airport in Montreal, 

we're waiting for the 2nd taxi with 

Martin, Mathieu and Sabrina.

This was Annie's first time 

across the Atlantic, 6 hrs.

She was a little anxious.

 I wear sunglasses because of an eye condition Entropion.

Still waiting for surgery. It could be a long wait. 

There's a lot walking at Heathrow Airport.

 

We stayed at the Marble Arch Hotel

in Central London

Walked through Hyde Park to 

Buckingham Palace

It was very crowded in London

with tourists,  unlike my previous visit

Visiting London in the Fall of 2019

Parliament Square Garden

Iconic Mailbox

Lots of red buses

Marble Arch

The gates at Buckingham Palace,

Queen Victoria Monument. 

Suzanne and I on the right of the middle.

Queen Victoria reigned for nearly 65 yrs.

Queen Elizabeth reigned for 70 yrs. 

 Buckingham Palace

Westminister Abbey

Tower Bridge

We had lunch at The Ivy Tower Bridge Restaurant 

Delicious food

Nicely decorated

Big Ben

On a previous visit in 2019

Big Ben was under renovations.

This time I heard it chime.

 Many monuments in this area.  

The Woman of World War II.

Sir Winston Churchill

Gandhi

People everywhere 

On our second day in London, we took

the Underground at Paddington Station

 and the train to Windsor,

Windsor Station

Windsor Castle

Founded by William The Conquerer,

in the 11th century and has been

home to the Royal Family for over 900 yrs.

We visited the State Rooms inside,

with Gothic architecture

stunning chandeliers,

 Queen Victoria's art

 collection, china, etc.

 "no photos allowed inside"

Annie at Windsor Castle

A lot of walking around the grounds.

At the top, the flag pole 
donated by Vancouver, Canada,
one of their tall trees. 
A different flag flies, 

when  King Charles is home,
 and on special occasions.

No wind today, its not flying.

St. George's Chapel,

a medieval Gothic Church,

Previous Monarchs are buried inside the

Chapel, including King Henry V111.

We visited the

 King George V1 Memorial Chapel,

The Royal Vault, 

the resting place of

 Queen Elizabeth 11 and Prince Phillip.

Also Princess Margaret was cremated

(The only monarch to be cremated) and

 her ashes are buried beside Prince Phillip.,

We also saw the changing of the guards

which takes place three time a week.

We hadn't planned to see it, it just happened

when we we were there. 

Some Shopping

Annie at Daniel Department Store,

with her bag of sweets

.

Fancy Hats

There is an Ivy Restaurant also in Windsor

These structures are made of wood,

resembling the Iconic Telephone Box 

we see around London.

Good food in London

and reasonably priced. 

A cutie with his huge icecream.

Breakfast 

Pubs

We returned back to London

with anticipation to board 

our cruise ship the next day.

On the train to 

Southhampton to board the ship.

I'll be back with blogs on 

Belgium, Amsterdam, Norway,

and Iceland.

Thanks for your visit

💙💖💛