France

Arc de Triomph du Carrousel in Paris. We didn't see much of the famous traffic jams because August is holiday season in France but we did get a great view of the city and, surprisingly, hardly any crowds!

 

The beautiful 'Hall of Mirrors' at the Palace of Versailles.

The Roman masterpiece, the aqueduct 'Pont du Gard', near Nimes. This beautiful structure has stood for about 2000 years!

Ireland

A lovely castle ruin on the 'Ring of Kerry'. Completely free, open, fun and explorable in the middle of a cow paddock.

 

An unbelievable secret hilltop view - on the 'Ring of Kerry'.

 

Rayner's infamous 30th birthday helicopter flying lesson ended unexpectedly with an emergency landing in a field.

Northern Island

A mural in a Protestant/Unionist area of Belfast. There are a lot of these around and they are still fiercely protected by their communities.

Rayner at the Giant's Causeway.

At the Giant's Causeway; a unique natural wonder.

Scotland

View over Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat. Edinburgh in August is so much fun because of the annual Edinburgh Festival and Fringe Festival! The world's largest.

Urquhart Castle and the lovely Loch Ness. No sign of Nessie while we were there.

Rayner on top of Ben Vrackie in the Highlands. A long steep climb but a really enjoyable one. The purple tinge on the land in the background is the sea of purple wild flowers we walked through!

England

I can't help it; England will just have to have an extra photo!

Walking in the Lakes District; captured during a brief break from the rain!

Enjoying wild raspberries in the Lakes District.

The lush green hills of the Lakes. A walker's paradise!

Magnificent Stonehenge. Don't let anyone tell you it's over-rated!

Belgium

Rayner, ready for a canal cruise in Ghent.

Gravensteen - the Castle of the Counts in Ghent. The first castle we visited in Europe!

Belgian chocolate is as good as you think it will be!

Germany (Berlin)

Rayner at the Berlin Wall, Eastside Gallery - a place with some amazing graffiti art and lots of ugly tagging.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

One of the palaces at Sans Souci - an enormous complex of parkland, gardens and palaces at Potsdam, an hour from Berlin.

Netherlands

A typical Dutch scene: windmills, flowers and canals! The stereotype is both real and wonderful.

Bicycle is by far the best way to get around locally in Holland, and a perfect way to enjoy it too!

Rayner with some of his family after a nice lunch in Leiden.

Hello.

Hello! Long time no see!

Not everyone is on Facebook, and tonnes of email attachments are no fun at all, so we thought we'd set up this very simple blog as a way to share some of the photos from our travels. We have been a long way now, and taken about 5800 photos, so in order not to scare anyone away I have decided to set a limit of three photos per country for now!

Please enjoy, and leave us a comment so that we know you stopped by!

Looking forward to seeing you all in a couple of months,

Love Rose and Rayner