One of the few benefits of being away from your family is the trip going over and coming back from a overseas deployment. This deployment the airplane broke in many lucrative places. Brya had many gifts from these places so it softened me being away for so long. But I still would rather be home with them. At least when Brya and I are able to travel, I can be her personal guide to these beautiful places!
LAST MISSION
This picture was taken at about 20,000 feet over a undisclosed location.
CREW PICTURES
We had a great crew and had a lot of success! Mission complete, now its time to get HOME!!!
NAPLES ITALY
This is Naples on approach, in the back ground is Mt. Vesuvius and Naples! The weather here is like that in Southern California, sunny and 75 degrees!
There is a vista point were you can see a better part of the city.
Love that mustache!!
Here is some of the local architecture in Naples.
Local fisherman's boat.
This was the hotel we stayed in while at Naples. Right downtown so everything was in walking distance!
This is the view from my hotel room, we were fortunate enough to stay at a five star downtown on the water!
Walking down an street in Naples to get some dinner.
Sunset by the hotel.
Sunset from my balcony at the hotel.
Naples at night!
POMPEII ITALY
So a brief history of Pompeii: Mount Vesuvius, a volcano near the Bay of Naples in Italy, is hundreds of thousands of years old and has erupted more than 50 times. Its most famous eruption took place in the year 79 A.D., when the volcano buried the ancient Roman city of Pompeii under a thick carpet of volcanic ash. The dust “poured across the land” like a flood, one witness wrote, and shrouded the city in “a darkness…like the black of closed and unlighted rooms.” Two thousand people died, and the city was abandoned for almost as many years. When a group of explorers rediscovered the site in 1748, they were surprised to find that–underneath a thick layer of dust and debris–Pompeii was mostly intact. About an hour drive south of Naples is the famous Roman Empire city of Pompeii at the base of Mt. Vesuvius. And incredible piece of history.
The local archeologist have about half of the city unearthed, an incredible sight.
Horse corral in the city.
All roads lead to Rome!! This is a Roman cobble stone road largely intact.
Roman Amphitheater in Pompeii
Roman Columns in Pompeii
Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius in the background!
This is an alley way in Pompeii with mountains in view.
The Romans were famous for painting murals inside their homes.
Roman architecture, its hard to believe that these structures have lasted more than 2000 years!
Roman Pillars.
Roman bath house.
When the volcano erupted the pyroclastic flow rushed down the mountain into Pompeii where the population down below had no time to evacuate, they are frozen in time. Very sobering seeing these people moments before they died.
A row of Roman homes in Pompeii.
CAMBRIDGE ENGLAND
Our next stop on our way home from the deployment was England. England's famous Red Telephone booths, I actually made a call in this booth, works as advertised!
Originally opened in 1667 as the "Eagle and Child", The Eagle is one of the larger pubs in Cambridge, England, on the north side of Bene't Street in the centre of the city. The site is owned by Corpus Christi College and is managed by Greene King brewery. Apart from the main bar, it sports a beer garden and the so-called RAF bar, at the rear, with graffiti of World War II airmen covering the ceiling and walls. We had the opportunity to have lunch in this famous pub.
Who is that handsome man in the door of The Eagle pub!
View inside The Eagle pub.
Another view from inside.
The University of Cambridge is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and given royal charter status by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's fourth-oldest surviving university The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople.The two ancient universities share many common features and are often referred to jointly as "Oxbridge".
These are the student dorms.
This inside the church which is located on the campus.
This is the painting at the front of the church.
This is a view from the back of the campus.
This is the River Cam that runs through the college campus.
River Cam.
We did a guided Cambridge Campus Tour. Who is that handsome man in the background with that robust mustache? This was a lot of fun and very interesting. The man in the blue jacket was our guide and believe it he was from the USA going to school at Cambridge. Very cool guy.
Cambridge has something to interest everyone, your tour could include the beautiful King's College and Chapel, the finest building of its type in Europe, the intimate Queens' College with it's wonderful sun and moondial, Pembroke College and Emmanuel College with their peaceful gardens and chapels designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Those interested in Architecture will be able to explore1000 years of some the finest buidings in the UK, whilst the wealth of scientific history can cover Newton, Darwin, the splitting of the atom and the unravelling of the structure of DNA.
LONDON ENGLAND
After a two hour train ride from Cambridge we finally arrived in London, this is the Waterloo Train Station where we started on our journey in London. First stop.......Trafalgar Square!
We were fortunate enough to be in London over Armistice Day which is the equivalent
By the font at Trafalgar Square.
A museum in Trafalgar Square.
Buckingham Palace is the London residence and administrative headquarters of the reigning monarc of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focal point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and mourning. Originally known as Buckingham House, the building at the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a site that had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte and became known as The Queen's House. During the 19th century it was enlarged, principally by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, who constructed three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The entrance into Buckingham Palace.
Statue on the road to Buckingham Palace.
The Victoria Memorial Statue with Buckingham Palace in the back. Now onto Westminster Abbey Cathedral!
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United Kingdom's most notable religious buildings and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. Between 1540 and 1556 the abbey had the status of a cathedral. Since 1560, however, the building is no longer an abbey nor a cathedral, having instead the status of a Church of England "Royal Peculiar"—a church responsible directly to the sovereign. The building itself is the original abbey church.
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced what, in later centuries, became referred to as a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws. In 1215, the tenants-in-chief secured Magna Carta from King John, which established that the king may not levy or collect any taxes, save with the consent of his royal council, which gradually developed into a parliament.
Parliament of England from the Quad to the South. Now onto Big Ben!!!
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and often extended to refer to the clock and the clock tower. The tower is officially known as Elizabeth Tower, renamed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012; previously it was known simply as the Clock Tower. When completed in 1859, it was, says clockmaker Ian Westworth, “the prince of timekeepers: the biggest, most accurate four-faced striking and chiming clock in the world.” The tower had its 150th anniversary on 31 May 2009, during which celebratory events took place.
St. Stephens Pub is located kitty corner to Big Ben. This is my shot from inside the pub looking at Big Ben. Very cool!
Picture of Parliament of England and Big Ben from the Westminster Bridge.
This is a view from the second floor of St Stephens Pub looking down on the bar.
Dessert at St Stephens Pub.
Billy Jack posing with the waitress at St Stephens Pub.
Grotbo and Billy Jack.
Billy Jack chilling.
Brya likes this one!
The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. Also known as the Millennium Wheel, it has also been called by its owners the British Airways London Eye, then the Merlin Entertainments London Eye, then the EDF Energy London Eye. Since mid-January 2015, it has been known as the London Eye.
This is one of my favorite pictures!
Love the blue lights!
Crew picture with a local in the center!
MUSEUMS IN LONDON
We visited a few museums while we were in London, the Tate Britain (National Gallery of British Art) and the Imperial War Museum. First a little history on both.
Tate Britain (known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery) is an art museum on Millbank in London. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in England, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, having opened in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the art of the United Kingdom since Tudor times, and in particular has large holdings of the works of J. M. W. Turner, who bequeathed all his own collection to the nation. It is one of the largest museums in the country
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organization with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military war effort and sacrifice of Britain and its Empire during the First World War. The museum's remit has since expanded to include all conflicts in which British or Commonwealth forces have been involved since 1914. As of 2012, the museum aims 'to provide for, and to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and "wartime experience"'
Big Guns!
RANDOM PICS
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