LOOKING BACK AT AN INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE - GOODBYE EUROPE - Goodbye Southampton!/Hello Queen Mary 2 Ship!

It's been incredible, almost exactly 9 months (a week and half shy,) and I've visited 26 countries, 13 of which were totally new to me and after making a list of all the countries I've visited in my life time, it now stands, with the additions, at 36. I've been so fortunate and blessed to have been able to see so many and so grateful for having seen all I did these last months.

Pretty Flowers

For my own curiosity I've made a list below with countries I've visited this trip marked with a (+) and countries and cities that were new with a (*) and those which I amazingly visited more than once, Italy being visited more than the rest marked with an (X) and then number of times.

THE 37 COUNTRIES I'VE VISITED IN MY LIEFTIME

Austria+

Bahamas

Belgium+

Bosnia and Herzegovina+*

Canada

Croatia+*

Czech Republic+

Denmark+*

England+(2X)

France+(6X)

Germany+(3X)

Greece+

Hungry

Iceland

Ireland+

Italy+(7X)

Luxembourg+*

Malta+

Mexico
Monaco+*

Montenegro+*

Morocco+*

Netherlands

Northern Ireland

Poland+*

Portugal+*

Scotland+*

Slovakia

Slovenia+*

Spain+(3X)

St. Lucia

Sweden+*

Switzerland+

Tunis

Turkey+*

Virgin Islands

Wales+

THE 26 COUNTRIES VISITED DURING THIS LAST TRIP WITH CITIES 

Austria+

Bad Ischl*

Salzburg

St. Wolfgang*

Belgium+

Bruges

Bosnia and Herzegovina+*

Medjugorje

Mostar

Pocitelj

Croatia+*

Drace

Dubrovnik

Karolbag

Korcula

Opatija

Orebic

Potomje

Pula

Rijeka

Senj

Split

Ston

Trstino

Zadar

Czech Republic+

České Budějovice*

Český Krumlov*

Cheb*

Františkový Lázní*

Karlovy Vary

Loket*

Mariánské Lázně*

Prague

Terezin*

Denmark+*

Copenhagen

England+(2X)

Aldeburgh*

Birmingham*

Blaxhall*

Chester

Coniston*

Hawkshead*

Bowness*

Ambleside*

Folkestone*

Glemham*

Iken*

Ilford and Grants Hill*

Grasmere* & Keswich*

Windermere*

London

Newquay*

Norwich*

Snape Maltings*

Southampton*

St. Ives*

Penzance*

Tunstall*

Woodbridge*

France+(6X)

Cannes*

Marseille*

Nice*

Paris

Reims*

Calais*

Germany+(3X)

Baden-Baden*

Berlin*

Bremen*

Cologne

Dresden*

Frankfurt

Hamburg

Greece+

Athens

Piraeus*

Ireland+

Dalkey*

Dublin

Dun Laoghaire*

Wicklow*

Wexford*

Italy+(7X)

Bari*

Bolsena

Cadanabbia*

Catania, Sicily

Chiavenna*

Cinque Terra*

Civitavecchia

Florence

Formia

Geata

Sperlonga

Terracina

Genoa*

Griante*

La Spezia*

Lake Como*

Lucca

Milan

Montecatini Terme*

Naples

Pisa

Roma

Tirano*

Trieste*

Varazze*

Celle*

Savona

Luxembourg+*

Luxembourg

Malta+

Valletta

Sliema
Monaco+*
Montenegro+*

Kotor

Perast

Risan

Morocco+*

Casablanca

Poland+*

Krakow

Warsaw

Portugal+*

Lisbon

Scotland+*

Aberfoyle

Edinburgh

Glasgow

Loch Lomond

Sterling

Trossachs Park

Slovenia+*

Ljubljana

Piran

Portorož

Spain+(3X)

Barcelona

Cadiz*

Malaga*

Palma de Mallorca

Valencia*

Sweden+*

Malmö

Switzerland+

St. Moritz*

Turkey+*

Ephesus

Izmir

Wales+

Holyhead*

Last day in Europe

Mom in front of our hotel

Mom getting tired of me taking her picture

Mom trying to figure out what used to be positioned on the  base

It was a nice, sunny day and perfect for a walk through the pretty parks of Southampton. So glad we had these last moments to enjoy walking around Europe before leaving for our cruise back to NYC.

Southampton is a nice town with mostly a few shops and several pretty parks in perfect bloom this time of year.

So it's time to say goodbye to Europe and this part of my adventure but how truly incredible it all has been and I'm so glad I got to end it here and that mom was able to join me on this lovely journey across the Atlantic home bound.

Great, amazing, fabulous, inspiring, truly incredible European adventure!!!

Birds of the area with the largest pigeons I've ever seen

Mom totally tired of pictures

Small wild daisies

Pretty Rock garden

One of those huge pigeons but in a lovely setting

Goodbye Birmingham, England!/Hello Southampton!

Scenic view from the bus on our way to Southampton from Brimingham

The morning started so early and before I knew it we were at the Megabus stop in Birmingham having just said bye to the sweet waiter, Leo from last night who turned out to work at the front desk of our hotel as well.

Yellow flowers through a rain splattered window

Our bus driver got lost so the bus arrived about 40 minutes late and only after the Megabus rep who coordinates travel at the waiting area went with another bus that arrived early and lead the lost driver to us. It was so, so cold but I survived waiting outside with the luggage as mom stayed warm thankfully on the early bus that went off to help lead the lost bus in.

The following pictures are from the famous British University town of Oxford

St. Frideswide Church Oxford

The trip was fantastic and so easy once we got rid of the luggage and were snug in our seats. No changing buses, no running from the train to the taxi to the bus and so on. And the scenic drive made the 5 hours fly by. It also helped I had a great audio book that I downloaded from the New York Public Library to enjoy as the beautiful green pastures captivated the eyes and captured the imagination. And the surprising moments when large fields of yellow flowers come up out of no where and were simply breathtaking.

And just as we arrived in Southampton city center we passed the Jury's Hotel where I had booked us a room and just about 100 feet away the driver stopped and made an announcement over the PA and I saw someone getting off so I quickly gathered my belongs and signaled to mom that we should get off and thankfully the bus driver kindly went along with our request to get off and removed our luggage from the under storage area. Technically we weren't suppose to get off until the bus station so this was such a happy turn of events. It was only a 5 minute walk in the cold and wind to get to our hotel, so perfect!

After a quick check in and dropping off our bags we headed down to the lobby cafe for a satisfying and tasty lunch. Mom went up to take a nap and rest and I went off into the town center to just explore a bit.

The city has several very pretty parks and a main shopping street with some castle remains as well small segments of ruins from the wall that apparently once encircled and protected the seaside, main shipping trade port.

The rain started to come down more ferociously and the wind picked up so I headed back to the hotel because it was just too cold for anymore exploring. Hopefully tomorrow morning before we have to take the taxi to the ship I'll have a chance to walk a bit more around the neighborhood.

The Rock Garden

View from our room