Photos from our European Vacation

I'm posting Facebook links to our photos and you do not have to be on Facebook to view.  2 weeks into our 3 week trip you will see my arm in a sling.  A funny thing happened on the way to The Forum (literally) in Rome... I was listening to an audio guide of the sights and tripped on an ancient cobblestone.  In a valiant attempt worthy of a gladiator to save my phone, I came down hard on my wrist and fractured it badly!  The ambulance came (wee-woo) and took me to the hospital where only one person I came into contact with spoke English- fortunately the doctor who treated me.  They had to "manipulate" my arm in a manner similar to the rack I had just seen in the Tower of London 2 weeks earlier.  I ended up with a cast from my fingertips to above my elbow which was like carrying a 10 lb baby around for the rest of our trip.  This all happened the day before our cruise and nothing was going to stop me from getting on that ship!  We did have some of the wildest adventures and I'll try and post some stories to go along with the photos soon.  Two days after we got home, I had surgery on my wrist but will be rid of the sling in a week and I start physical therapy.

London

Hampton Court

Paris

Zurich

Bernina Express (Swiss Alps)

Venice

Rome

Allure of the Seas

Barcelona

Palma de Mallorca

Aix-en-Provence and Cassis

Cinque Terre

Adding one story that I posted on Facebook...

So the Bastille Day in Paris story... Yes, high speed Eurostar from London at noon and dinner cruise reservations that evening... What could go wrong? Well how about our Eurostar breaking down and limping into Paris 3 hours late? So now it's after 5 pm and we are trying to walk to our hotel that I know is a 9 minute walk and we get totally lost! Make our way back to train station and Jeff says let's just take a taxi! "Taxi driver" tells us €30 and I say, "It's a 9 minute walk!" And he says, "Ok, 2 euros a minute!" Sorry, I've read my Rick Steves and know a scammer! So off we go walking again and get even more lost! Without anymore detail, let's just say we were introduced to the more dodgy areas of Paris! Finally after an hour or so of wandering the streets and back alleys of Paris with luggage in tow, we find our lovely little hotel at about the time we are supposed to be boarding our boat! We check in, throw on our dressy clothes and have Micael point us in the direction of the Metro. What more could go wrong? Is it even possible to make it to our "prepaid" dinner cruise to see the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower? We hop on the packed number 7 metro (I have my directions- 2 trains and a bus or if no bus a 20 min walk) and within 30 seconds a pickpocket has his hand in Jeff's pants trying to steal his wallet (in our rush, no time to put on the money belt) and Jeff slaps his hand away saying, "Get your hand outta there!!!" Think that"s it? Non! We are on #7 but heading in the wrong direction! Get off first stop and run around and get back on #7 going right way. Transfer to # 8, get off at correct stop but no bus so start speed walking with thousands of Parisians along the riverfront (almost sure boat has left by now) and finally arrive dripping in sweat to our dock... And we are not too late!!! The rest of the night was amazing as you can see from the video of fireworks over the Eiffel Tower! Unforgettable! I have another video to share about a magical moment onboard "The Cristal" and yet another tale about our adventure back to the hotel... arriving at 2 am! (No, we didn't get lost again!)