Boston, Georgia 10-25-08

On May 2nd, 2006, I had bi-lateral knee replacement. My orthopedic surgeon, Dr. David Bellamy told me after the surgery, “No more long distance running”. So, why you might ask, am I running with my oldest son in the Boston Mini-Marathon (13.1 miles)? Can you spell STUBBORN?

Here I am crossing the finish line with Rick and a friend of his. We all ran together. As you can tell from the clock, we ran the race in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 48 seconds.

Three racers who are very happy that this ordeal is finally over. Pictured are me, my oldest son, Rick, and his friend, Deva Diaz.

London 08-30-08

On Saturday, we arrived back in London and stayed for 4 days prior to returning to Tallahassee. This is an historical landmark for anyone who was a teenager in the 1960s; can you guess what it is?

It is the entrance to Abbey Road Studios where the Beatles recorded all their albums.

Of course, any true Beatles fan MUST get their picture taken walking across the zebra cross walk in front of Abbey Road Studios, where the cover of the Beatles Abbey Road (my favorite all-time album) was shot.

This is the original cover of the Beatles Abbey Road album. How famous is this shot?

Even the Simpsons have had their picture taken here.

Paul McCartney relived the experience for the cover on his live album in 1993.

Some of the tourists who get their pictures taken here have to ham it up!

On Sunday morning we went to Speakers Corner at Hyde Park. On Sundays, you are allowed to stand on a soap box (this is where the meaning for that phrase came from) and expound on any topic you choose. A crowd usually gathers and cheers, boos or chides the people who are speaking. You are allowed by law to speak on any topic, except you cannot say anything derogatory against the queen or royal family. If you do, you are subject to arrest. Any other day of the week or in any other place in London, many of the things you are allowed to expand upon here would subject you to arrest. So, Sunday mornings at this location allow citizens the only chance to participate in what we, in the United States, consider to be one of our greatest rights, our First Amendment Right to free speech.

While in London, we had the chance to see 4 plays. Hairspray, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, and this one, Jersey Boys (the story of Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons.

The Prince Edward Theatre was where we saw Jersey Boys.
Her Majesty’s Theatre is where we saw Phantom of the Opera.

We also went to the Tower of London, the old castle where the King of England lived. This is one of the bedrooms in the castle.

This is Castle Bridge, which crosses the Thames River.

The Royal Guard patrols the castle.

This is a statute of one of the Kings of England located in Hyde Park, which was across the street from the hotel where we stayed.

Lynda’s "Kenny Bear" was packed and ready to make the trip home. We enjoyed our voyage very much, but missed the United States, our home and our family, and it was good to finally put the trip to an end.

Amsterdam 08-29-08

Today, we got to visit Amsterdam, Netherlands. It’s another European city that uses bicycles as a major mode of transportation.

This is a downtown square in the center of the city.

Amsterdam has a lot of canals that provide alternative transportation for the citizens.

Looks like some suspects about to steal bicycles!

Here is a downtown church with a clock tower.

This is the entrance to Ann Frank’s house. We took a tour of the site and learned about her life and the history of Amsterdam during Nazi occupation.

This is a pedestrian shopping mall.

Europe has a lot of historical churches.

I’m not sure I could fit in one of these police cars.

Here is another shopping area along one of the canals.

This is the infamous “Red Light District”, which didn’t seem as notorious as its reputation.

This is a 400+ year old church that we stumbled across. It is now a museum and we took a tour of the bell tower.

These are some of the bells housed inside.

Lynda got to play the bells on this contraption, which is a precursor to the modern-day organ.

This is the main bell in the tower and weighs several tons. We marveled at how the builders were able to hoist it to the top of the tower in that day in time.

This is a view from the top of the bell tower. Down the canal, you can see a foot bridge with some people standing on it. Claude Monet painted this bell tower with the foot bridge in the foreground.

Here is the painting by Monet (1874).

This is how the bell tower looks today from that same foot bridge.
Here is a windmill off in the distance from the downtown area.

Amsterdam, like most of the European cities we visited, is using wind technology to produce electricity.

This is a little village we passed as our ship was headed out to sea.

Amsterdam is not on the coast, so you have to arrive and leave through canals and they use locks similar to the one at the Panama Canal to accomplish passage.

We witnessed a beautiful sunset as we bid Amsterdam farewell.

Tallinn 08-26-08

On Tuesday, we visited Tallinn, Estonia. It is a quaint town that used to be part of the Soviet Union, until it asserted independence in 1991 with the downfall of Communism.

Tallinn is a very old city and this is the main entrance to the older downtown area.

Viking folklore is big here, as it is in all the other Baltic States we visited.

This is the Swedish Embassy that is housed in one of the oldest buildings in the city.
This is a church in the downtown courtyard.

If you are not sure of your way around, this guy can help.


This is a bazaar at the base of the fortress wall that protected the old downtown area.

An old church we discovered while just walking around.

This church is a major tourist attraction in Tallinn.

It’s pretty easy to identify the police here.
A really creative sign to mark the entrance of a downtown store.
A clock on a church steeple.

Here you can see the contrast of the old town with the new.

Most of the old city is quaint, with many sidewalk restaurants.

We ended our day in Tallinn by eating lunch at a restaurant that served us some local fare, including sausage, caramelized onions and mashed potatoes.