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It was a busy day that followed. The ship arrived in St Petersburg at 7.45 a.m. while we were in mid-breakfast and we were due to leave on an excursion to the Hermitage Museum. This museum is one of the world’s great art museums and is situated inside the Winter Palace. The Winter Palace itself...

The following morning, after breakfast, there was a tour of the wheelhouse for those interested. As a one-time boat owner I was extremely curious so Jackie and I went along. This was a fascinating half hour as the first officer explained the instruments and controls. The radar was a...

Thank you, Keesha, that's just what we were planning. We're thinking of a trip to Beaune and enjoying some of that magnificent wine, and then trundling across France a short way to Lons-le-Saunier which has some really spectacular countryside. Jackie came home on Wednesday last, and on Thursday...

I bet her parents were upset at losing their daughter.

The time for Jackie’s hip operation came around on Tuesday. I drove her to the hospital and was with her as she went through the admission process and was taken to her room. Once she was settled in and unpacked, I left her to the nurses and orderlies who were prepping her for the op the next...

My trousers, shirt and shoes are now dry so it’s back to Russia! We cruised all night, arriving in Yaroslavl at 8 a.m. There was a tour of the city at 8.15, so we’d been up a little earlier so we’d have time for a leisurely breakfast. We were now on the Volga River, so I had become a Volga...

There will now be a short intermission in the saga of the Russian river cruise as we had tickets for the Andre Rieu concert in Maastricht. These concerts are an annual affair and we had been given tickets by our son as a joint birthday gift the year before. The ticket seller had taken him for a...

After lunch we cast off, the ship moved away from the quayside and we began our cruise in earnest. Moscow is an enormous city and it was quite a while before we were cruising through open countryside. I knew that Russia produced a lot of plywood as I knew someone who was in the business of...

The next day, Sunday, was a lazy day for us. There were several tours on offer but we took a day off. In the morning I went for a brisk walk through the park close to where the ship was moored and then out onto the highway where a number of shops were open. I wasn’t shopping as we didn’t need...

Thanks for the compliment, Keesha. I don't have any difficulty in remembering any of the books I've read, but I'm not sure why that is, even when it's been Mickey Spillane. (I even remember that Mike Hammer's secretary and PA was named Zelda.) When I was in the air force at RAF Hereford I took a...

The ship turned out to be as luxurious as in the brochure (and we all know that’s not always the case, don’t we?). The restaurant was situated at the stern with windows on three sides giving great views of the scenery we were passing through, though I should say that she was going to stay in...

Thank you, Keesha, I'm touched by your remarks and the good wishes. I should be honest here, my knowledge of and use of English seems to be a God-given gift. I've never really had to work at it. Another gift I have is that I only have to see a word once and I can spell it for ever after. It gave...

Hallo there, Keesha, and thank you for your good wishes. How we ended up in Luxembourg is pretty simple - I was working in Germany for the US Army newspaper Stars and Stripes as a printer/proofreader/keyboard operator. This, of course, was in the days of hot metal when the type was set on...

Thank you, Keesha. Your sense of humour isn't too bad either.;) We hope the weather stays warm too, but I don't think that Jackie will be doing much waltzing as the concert is just over a week before she has her operation for her new hip. Sadly, though, we don't know how Britain's decision to...

They're delicious fried with ginger and spring onions. ;-)

Hi there, Keesha. This will be the second year we've been to Maastricht for one of the open air concerts. Last year our son bought us tickets for a joint birthday gift, but he was pretty unhappy with the ticket sellers who charged him for seats close to the stage but in reality sent him tickets...

Thank you, Keesha. Once again your thoughts are very heartening and much appreciated. As long as people are interested I'll keep writing. Our next little trip is in a couple of weeks when we go to Maastricht for André Rieu's open air concert in the Freedom Square. But you remember what it was...

We spent the early morning, after showering, in packing our bags before going downstairs for breakfast which was again superb, and while we were eating we discussed things to do. We were being picked up at 4 p.m. and checkout time from the hotel was at midday, so that meant we would have 4 hours...

So you feel you're an idiot? Welcome to the club. I once made a pan of tomato sauce but it was a bit runny, so I left it on a low heat for a while. Forgot about it entirely and went out to dinner with my wife .Between the starter and the main course I remembered what I had done so I rushed off...

By this time we felt we needed a drink and thought we’d go to the bar before having something to eat. Before we left our room, however, Jackie called Reception again and told them that our bags still hadn’t arrived and it was now getting on for two hours after we checked in. “Don’t worry...