I love to travel and see the world, both close to home and far away. This theme was perfect as most of July was spent far away from home. I can't tell you the last time that I took three full weeks away from work and, boy, could I get used to that! What started last October as a kind of a joke between friends turned into a grand adventure that was really three, maybe four, in one. After the US Grand Prix in October, my buddies were talking about going to Silverstone for the GBGP. Next thing we knew, we had tickets to the race. As time passed, we realized that the race wasn't in London and places to stay were hard to find. My racing pals wanted to fly in on a Thursday and out on Sunday or Monday after the race. I had other plans. After talking to the family, we decided to work this into a family trip as well. We'd go early, spend a few days in London, the boys and I would meet my friends where we were staying in Banbury, and Amy would stay in London and see more museums. THEN, my cruise pals called and said they sure would like to go on a cruise this summer. Looking at the schedule, there was a cruise that Amy and I had already done leaving a week after the race. Perfect. We loved the cruise before, none of these folks had done it, BOOK IT! So that was trip three, four if we call Amy's London stay as a separate trip. Enough of that, let's get to the pictures. These are in chronological order, not my order of love levels.
While in London, there was a special exhibit on Aardman, the producers of Wallace and Grommet. I love all of their work so you better believe we found our way there. We saw so much in London. The boys kind of went reluctantly. Too much negativity they see from social media, both UK and France. I was happy that they learned that many times social media is a lie. And to see that they truly enjoyed themselves.
I love racing in general but F1 has become my favorite over the last 10 years or so. Silverstone was a great experience, the birthplace of the Grand Prix. We sat in the newly minted Landostand. It was filled with fans of last years champion, Lando Norriss. A sea of highlighter yellow! It was a great spot though. a tight turn at the end of a long straight offered lots of passing opportunities. And to the left was the the pit entrance, which gave some early insight on race strategies.
There is something magical about this place. This is only my third time in Paris, the first was when I was 18. My friends and I sat on the steps here, listening to the buskers, drinking cheap wine, smoking cheap cigarettes, and sharing a baguette. No more cigarettes for me but I knew i had to get back here with my boys so they could experience Sacre Coeur and Montmartre.
After France, we made headed to Venice. That's where our cruise was leaving. I love travelling with my people and just love them in general. Sharing places I love with them was also special. Venice is a place I enjoy just wandering around and getting lost. The boys got on a train and headed to Florence and on to Rome on their own adventures before heading home. We loaded up for a 7 day cruise.
I love the ocean! Our cruise took us to Montenegro, Croatia, Sami, Corfu, and Nafplion, Greece and ended in Athens. Amy and I took many side quests while I friends spent their days in the ocean or at a bar. That's the great thing about a cruise; you can choose your own adventure. There are plenty of pictures on my flickr if you so desire.
A bonus picture to share because it's important to me. Mt grandfather was killed in WWII a little more than a month before my mom was born. He was only there for a short time, fortunately, from what I've read in his letters. It was a cold winter. 25 or so years ago, Amy and I took my mom to find where he was buried. It was the first time any of us had been there and was an adventure in it's own right. I knew that I needed to get my boys there so they would know and can continue to show future generations.
That's July! Quite an adventure indeed!! As I mentioned, I have the full set over on my flickr page. I'd be honored to have you look. I took a handful of photos that I'm really proud of how they came out. I look forward to seeing the others from this month and encourage you to take a look too, over at a lil hoohaa.
