Retirees Living Abroad in Europe
We re-imagined retirement and decided to stop trading our precious time for money. We’ve quit our jobs, sold our cars, rented our house and took off on a round-the-world gap-year Adventure of a Lifetime in 2018. The first part begins with a 6 month travel adventure throughout Europe.
It has been a fantastic experience calling Europe and the UK our home for the past 173 days. We are feeling a bit sad to be leaving but we are even more excited about seeing firsthand the 15 countries we will travel to on the next leg of the Adventure. This story describes our 6 month travel adventure in Europe.
6 Month Travel Adventure Begins
Wrapping up our time in Europe, we have lived in Bucharest for the last four weeks. We’ve used this time to catch up on writing, computer stuff and getting our more than 30,000 photographs organized. Yes, 30,000 photographs – Wow! As we went thru the photos it became clear to us that we’ve had way more experiences than we can remember, LOL! It was fun looking back on the places we spent time since arriving in Rome back on March 1. We hope you enjoy seeing a quick overview of what a 6 month travel adventure living in Europe looks like.!
This crazy looking map shows our travels over the past 173 days.
Italy
Roma
Ahh Roma! We loved being just yards from the Colosseum so that we saw it each day as we came and went. We were constantly enchanted by the ethereal fountains and piazzas we stumbled across in every direction. Imagine being able relax and admire stonework that was carved 2000 years ago. Other things we loved in no particular order: street pizza, Vatican City, bruschetta, Largo Argentina Cat Sanctuary, walking as far as our legs would carry us and the excellent public transportation when our legs gave out.
Sorrento – Amalfi Coast
Our next destination was Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast. This picture is from a day trip to Positano that involved a terrifying bus trip over the mountain on hairpin turns. The scenery was worth every white-knuckle moment though. While in Sorrento, we were moved by witnessing the Easter Week Procession in the tiny hilltop town of Sant’ Agata dui Golfi
Orvieto
This picture is the Orvieto 14th-century Roman Catholic cathedral. Orvieto is a wonderful and very charming Italian hill town located in Umbria. We loved exploring the medieval cobblestone lanes, taking a tour of the Etruscan caves and walking along the city wall. Orvieto is known for its amazing 360 degree views thanks to its location on top of lava bluff. Remember the caves where they raised pigeons for food in the ‘pigeon holes’?
Florence
This picture was taken at Piazza Michelangelo in Florence. The large dome in the bottom left of the photo is the famous Duomo. Our favorite things in Florence was eating at the Market Centrale – a kind of gourmet food court, visiting the Stibbert Museum for its huge collection of suits of armor, taking a Roman Guy Tour of the Uffizi Gallery and spending an afternoon in the hilltop village of Fiesole. We’ve been advised the sunset from Fiesole is not to missed so we’ll have to go back sometime on a clear day.
Cinque Terre
Our next stop was the Cinque Terre (Five Lands) in the Liguria region of Italy. Our Airbnb was in the “flatest” village, Montorossa. We had an absolute blast during this week. Barbara hiked between Montorossa and Vernazza and we (unsuccessfully) challenged
Milan and Lake Como
Late April: This photo was taken in the town of Varenna on the shores of Lake Como. We took the hour train ride from Milan to spend a day at the lake. Our time in Milan was extended to a week after the Paris Rail strike caused us to divert to Milan. Milan was such a pleasant surprise. We found plenty to do, including visiting the Milan Cathedral and people watching in the huge square in front of it as well as having dinner in the Navigli Canal District, having coffee at the Cat Bistrot and spending an afternoon wandering around the beautiful and sentimental Monumental Cemetery.
United Kingdom – England, Scotland and Ireland
London, England
We spent May in London in the Isle of Dogs area which we found to be a fantastic base of operations. Our place is only a two minute walk to public transportation. This photo was taken at the top of the “Walkie-Talkie” building aka 20 Fenchurch Street. The building in the background is the 95 story Shard and the River is the Thames.
Cobh, Ireland
Cobh (pronounced “Cove” if you happen to have an Irish accent) Ireland just outside the larger city of Cork. We took a local tour of the area that included a visit to the Titanic Museum and a trip to a cemetery where the passengers from the Lusitania are buried. Yes, Ireland is every bit the Emerald Isle that people say it is. And our local tour guide gave us a great experience of the Irish “gift of gab.” He was so personable and a great storyteller.
Dublin, Ireland
A toast to Oscar Wilde who wrote “life is too short to be taken seriously”. This photo was taken in Dublin, Ireland at a pub just across from Merrion Square where the Oscar Wilde memorial is located.
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Next stop was Belfast, Northern Ireland which we were surprised to learn is part of the United Kingdom, not part of Ireland. Belfast is a beautiful city but still has a gritty edge which is a reminder of the 30 years of “Troubles” the city lived with. This picture was taken overlooking the garden at the Belfast Castle (aka the Cat Garden).
Glasgow, Scotland
A beautiful sunny day in Glasgow, Scotland. We took the Hop On Hop Off bus and stopped at several places. This was taken at the Transportation Museum which we really enjoyed. Besides the usual planes, trains and automobiles, this museum had vintage bikes, scooters, a psychedelic painted microbus and several walk-thru street vignettes complete with double decker street cars.
Loch Ness and Scottish Highlands
We enjoyed a boat ride on the lake where we saw the ruins of a castle but no sign of Nessie. The countryside is gorgeous and especially so now because the gorse is blooming covering the hills with the yellowest of tiny flowers.
South Queensferry, Scotland
We loved this fanciful Nessie sculpture covered with colorful mosaics. It was made by local school children.
Honfleur, France
A very misty afternoon in the pretty town of Honfleur France an hour away from the Port of La Havre. This area was home to impressionist painter Claude Monet.
Wales, UK
Wales – Friends John and Maria arranged for a canal boat trip on the Llangollen Canal complete with a crossing of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct — at 126 feet high, its the highest in the world. We had a wonderful day with this lovely couple and family. It is one of our top memories and experiences of the trip.
Liverpool
We adored our Magical Mystery Tour of Liverpool which introduced us to the delightful but almost undefinable Scouse culture. Hint: Scouse can refer to the unique Liverpudlian accent and slang, is the name of a local soup/stew, and is how a native person from Liverpool can be referred. For example: I had a hard time understanding the instructions for making a pot of Scouse because the Scouse spoke with such a strong Scouse accent! This is a city of warm, hard-working and down-to-earth folks. Some of our favorite things were visiting the Beatles boyhood homes, taking the Ferry Cross the Mersey and drinking Shandys (beer and lemon soda) in real pubs and hearing everyone referred to as “Luv.”
Edinburgh
We spent ten days in Edinburgh near the landmark area of the”Meadows”. This picture was taken at Rosslyn Chapel — the same Rosslyn Chapel featured in Dan Brown’s novel Da Vinci Code. Jon loved checking out details mentioned in the book, especially going down into the crypt, and seeing a tomb of a Knight Templar.
Baltic and Northern Lights Cruise
St. Petersburg, Russia
Peterhof Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. We toured this palace, the Church of Spilled Blood, Catherine Palace, the Hermitage and took in a Russian folk show during our weekend port call. We were very surprised by how chilly it was in St. Petersburg given was July.
Copenhagen, Denmark
At Nyhavn 17th-century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark. We also walked through the counter-culture village of Christiana while we were in port. Very interesting town, lots of bicycles and tourists!
Bergen, Norway
We took the funicular up to Mount Fløyen for an outstanding view of Bergen Norway. Islands covered with colorful houses and buildings as far as the eye can see.
Ålesund, Norway
In Ålesund Norway Barbara insisted we go up to the Fjellstua Viewpoint for this breathtaking panorama. Norway is full of beautiful, pristine vistas like this one.
Seyðisfjörður, Iceland
After a couple of sea days we make land at Seyðisfjörður Iceland. This is a little town that you can walk through in about 15 minutes and wave to the locals sitting on their front porches. It has a quirky main street reminiscent of the 90’s TV program “Northern Exposure”. While we were in port a big car ferry came in and the most futuristic and heavy duty recreational vehicles rolled off prepared to brave the rough Iceland terrain.
Reykjavik, Iceland
We took the Golden Circle tour from Reykjavik. Here we are posed in front of the Gullfoss waterfall. The tour also stopped at the Geysir Hot Spring Area. Iceland is a starkly beautiful place with a kind of unearthly feel. We thought it was a wonderful place to visit but as Californian’s we wouldn’t want to live here.
Tórshavn, Denmark
High up on a hill in Torshavn Denmark in the Faroe Islands. We loved the sod covered roofs.
Lerwick – Shetland Islands, Scotland
Our final port of call in Lerwick Shetland Islands Scotland. The architecture here is typically Scottish — sturdy stone construction. We’ve seen similar in Glasgow, Edinburgh, The Orkney Islands and now here in Shetland. It makes us think of Harry Potter and Hogwarts.
Bucharest, Romania
We spent about four weeks in Bucharest Romania. It is a very interesting country with wonderful people who have been through a lot and are still working to change their government into something they are happy with. While we were here we visited Transylvania and Bran Castle, Brașov, Peleș Castle near Sinaia, and took The Tour of Communism.
Just taking a break on the pretty terrace of a neighborhood sushi joint in Bucharest. We had a chance to catch our breath and get some much needed R&R. We are excited to be back on the trail towards the next 15 destinations!!!
Where to Next
We head to Athens Greece to board a ship to make our getaway from Europe. This will be a 64-day grand voyage adventure with many multi-day and overnight visits to stunning cities. Sailing from the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal we’ll visit Egypt, Jordan and India before charting a course eastward. After stops in India, Malaysia, and Singapore, we’ll make way for Southeast Asia. Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam which will serve as our gateway to China and our destination of Beijing.
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