Restoring the glorious past. . . . . . . .

A couple of weeks ago, standing in the brilliant sunshine, crisp March wind twirling through still leafless trees, Carolina blue sky almost painful to the eyes, memories of this amazing house stirred in my mind. I could imagine Mattie Heck's carriage pulling up to the massive front doors and her looking up at the tower of her beautiful new home. It was 1869, the Civil War was over. Her husband, Colonel Jonathan McGee Heck - later a wealthy industrialist - had the house designed in the Second Empire style and built as his gift to his wife. She was tired of living in the countryside and wanted to come to Raleigh - a growing city full of excitement during its rebuilding following the war. This was Mattie's house.

The imposing structure, its history full of interesting facts, is at long last poised for a huge interior renovation since being sold on one more time (by the state of North Carolina who only restored the exterior over the past several decades) to the N.C. Association of Realtors.  Restoring the interior after years of neglect will take millions of dollars, but how wonderful it will be to see in the months ahead. Historic beauty is often quick to be razed to the ground and forgotten, this part of Raleigh's glorious past will be renewed.
Thank you new owners. . . . . . . . . .wishing you well with this huge undertaking.

A last glimpse of Sicily. . . . . . . . . .

Prior to moving many photos off the laptop into portable storage, 

just wanted to share these remaining ones taken in Sicily in May.

Enjoy, and remember, this Italian island is a truly beautiful place to visit if you

 have the chance. I would love to return some day for the scenery, the history,

 the oranges and lemons. . . . . . and the best pizza ever!

"Arrivederci stunning Sicily".

La Coruña, Spain - Architecture and Fashion. . . . . . . . .

Named the 'Crystal City' because of the glass-enclosed balconies which adorn

the tall apartment buildings facing the harbor, La Coruña is a delightful mix of old and new. 

This area in the region of Galicia, is the wettest and greenest part of Spain, a world 

away from the popular resort areas. 

We walked around the city in an on again off again light drizzle, but still able

 to enjoy the architecture, plazas etc. 

As for a final chance at shopping, an exciting thing for me was discovering,
 with a little help from a local lady, the world's fashion giant Zara's flagship store. 
This company is actually based in La Coruña, its massive headquarters
 and design center being just a few miles outside the city.

Did I shop? You bet I did! The entire first floor of the huge shop was a showcase

 for that week's new stock and was full of amazing affordable items. I did 
notice that there were some very fashionably dressed women on the streets of
 this lovely Spanish port city.

La Coruña was our last port of call before setting sail for the return to
 Southampton, England. 

The Bay of Biscay was somewhat rough, but meeting up with several of our

 newly made friends on board, for good eating, drinking, laughing, and watching

 yet another fabulous musical show in the theatre, soon made us forget 

that the regal Queen Victoria was at sea tossing us, and the great singers
 and dancers, about a wee bit. All was good!

It's quite exciting cruising in winter, a much different feeling than in hot weather. 

Some people would not want to do it perhaps due to the lack of hot days on

deck, or sightseeing ashore in what can be chilly, wet weather. 

We thoroughly enjoyed it and would not hesitate to do it again.

Beautiful Bamberg. . . . . . .

On the road through beautiful countryside to Bamberg, Germany.

 Dear friends, Paula and Babs, taking an afternoon coffee break.

I loved Bamberg, known as one of Germany's most beautiful cities and listed 

as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are 2,000 buildings listed as historic 

monuments. . . . .its old city center is Europe's largest existing group of 

historic buildings. 

 . . . . . . . and at the end of our visit to Bamberg we were bussed to meet up 
with our replacement vessel - a sister ship the LIF - which was sailing south and, 
like us, couldn't get under the bridges with the high water! 
We were dropped off the buses in a field near the river and, after about an hour's 
wait, fortunately in warm late afternoon sunshine, the Viking Lif arrived and we 
were soon aboard and settled in our new cabins and ready for dinner as we sailed 
toward Wurzburg.

A German surprise ~ Warnemunde…

Other than a stopover in Frankfurt's less than friendly airport, I had never visited Germany.
Knowing this cruise included a German port of call at a place I'd never heard of, I was not overly excited. Quite honestly, expectations were somewhat low. I was happily surprised when we sailed in, docked, were straight off the ship, and just a few minutes walk in brilliant sunshine brought us into a pretty town right on the edge of a busy beach.

Founded around 1200, Warnemunde at the mouth of the river Warnow, was for centuries a small fishing village of minor importance. In 1323 it lost its autonomous status when purchased by the nearby city of Rostock in order to safeguard the city's access to the Baltic Sea. In the 19th century Warnemunde began to develop into an important seaside resort and today has a population of approx. 15,000. Still a fishing port, it also has a shipyard. The construction of a modern cruise line center in 2005 has contributed to Warnemunde's establishment as the most important harbor for cruise ships in Germany, and is a jumping off-point for Berlin.

Warnemunde from our balcony - couldn't dock much closer than this!

Sauntering along the waterfront, colorful market stands where everything from local honey to fish, some still smoking, and many interesting seafood items, were for sale. Being a Sunday, families were obviously arriving from other nearby towns to shop, eat an ice cream or meal, and have a swim.

Rows of houses, hotels, shops lined the riverside………………

…and in the back streets the smaller houses and shops were 

smothered in the most wonderful roses.

The beach is windswept with vast dunes and sweeping stretches of sand on each side of the river's mouth.  I loved the shoreline at the beach - no crowds early morning - if I'd come prepared I would have been dashing into that water in no time flat!

Next time, making use of the always great local transportation in most of Europe, we took a quick trolley ride and then a train into Rostock……a great town where families gathered for fun and a huge Sunday picnic. 

Even just one day in Germany was marvelous………join me in Rostock soon.