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| London's Paddington Station Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
I HAVE gotten away from my recounting of our most recent European adventure. Fall and then year end comes along and does that to me. But I don't want to forget it. It was as much fun as any trip "over the pond" we have taken (which have now been a few). In Mid-August, we spent just over 3 weeks in Europe: a week in London, and then 12 days on The Celebrity Apex cruise ship in Norway (mostly).
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| Paddington Hilton - London Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
SOMETHING THAT made this one unique (and special) was the company we kept. I have often mused here how many new friends we make during cruises. Some of them remain acquaintances. People we had a lot of fun with and keep in contact with. We hope, someday, to run into them again (on a cruise, or otherwise). But others have become something more. Close friends who we not only share a lot in common with, but with whom we have gotten together again (sometimes multiple times). Probably our first were Lou and Penny who were our table-mates on our first Celebrity Cruise. We see them not infrequently. We met Mike and Elaine on our 2022 Baltic Cruise (also on Apex), and we have joined them on 2 Caribbean Cruises since, with another scheduled for 2026. On that same Baltic Cruise, we met Todd and Heather (more on that shortly), also. In 2019 we took a cruise where we were "on our own," and met yet another group of fun people. We have "run into" one of the couples who we spent some time with while on the cruise (Rob and Carol, from Manchester, England) a couple times now. Including this trip.
The company we kept
WE HAD spoken over time with Rob and Carol about getting together. They make trips to the U.S. occasionally, and we get over to London whenever the opportunity presents itself. This year, it was our week-long "prequel" to the Norway Fjords cruise on the Apex. Our cruise port for this one was Southampton, England (about 1 hour from London by car), and LHR Airport generally makes the most sense for us for flights. This one was really great, as we found a direct flight from our home airport of Tampa International.
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| Celebrity Apex - 2025 Copyright Todd Skobinsky 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
AS IT turned out, the first part of our week in London coincided with a trip already in the works for Rob and Carol, and we were able to spend several very enjoyable days together.
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| Where it all began: Paddington Train Station (all 6 of us came into London here) Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
BUT THE hits kept on coming! When we were on the Baltic Cruise, we met Todd and Heather. We didn't spend a lot of time with them, as they were with two great friends (we met them too - Eric and Bern). Eric was planning to surprise Bern with a proposal and Todd and Heather were in on it. It included some serious planning and a couple events. We met them (where I seem to make all my new friends, LOL) back in the cigar smoking area near the Sunset Bar, though and got to know them a bit. Enough so that we knew we had much in common and could become good friends. We kept in touch over the years, and in 2024, Todd messaged me that they had signed up for the Norway Fjords cruise and suggested we consider joining them (at that time, Norway had announced that 2025 would be the last year they would allow the larger cruise ships in the fjords. That has since been extended - apparently indefinitely, invoking the old phrase - IMHO - "money talks"). We jumped at the chance and over the next several months, spent some time planning.
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| We had cocktails with both Rob and Carol, and then later dinner and cocktails with Todd and Heather here - just a couple blocks from our hotel and right on the edge of London's ritzy "Hyde Park" Copyright Andy Richards - All Rights Reserved |
PART OF the plan was to spend some time in London. They came in just a couple days before the cruise, but we made the most of 3 very full days. Lots of fun and adventures. After a week on the cruise together, we have definitely cemeted that friendship - lots of laughs and enjoyment and we now have two more scheduled for 2026 and 2027!
With that company, how could it not be a great week in London!ROB GREW up near London and lived there as a young person. Todd spent some time when he was younger working and living in London. Todd and Heather have also visited there on a couple occasions. So it was fun to have some folks with some familiarity with the city. We had used Paddington as our base of operations back in 2022 when we spent a week there prior to a Princess Cruise in the English Channel. It was a central rail and tube hub and also had an express train to and from LHR. We liked it a lot, though we really didn't explore Paddington itself much. We decided on the same spot this trip. I fixed the "explore" Paddington this trip! And being familiar with it, Todd and Heather decided to stay in the same place - which made things easy for us). Rob and Carol stayed in a hotel literally across the street from our Paddington Hilton, so that was also convenient.
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| London, England Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved |
WITH THAT company, how could it not be a great week in London! It met - and exceeded - all our expectations! The next series of posts will chronicle London and then on to the North Sea and the Fjords of Norway. I know this is supposed to be a blog about photography - but over the years, my photography and my travel have more often than not become one jumbled up experience. And experiences they are. Travel shooting is so much more than photography. It is culture, and art, and architecture, and people, and unexpected things. It is a constant learning experience. I have changed the photography equipment I carry multiple times in response to a perceived need for more portability, and in reaction to new technology. Thats just gear, though. The other side is always trying to find a new perspective on a new image, and always trying to find unique, interesting, and at times humorous, subjects. I am not always successful, but I sure spend a lot of bits and bytes trying. Rather than spend a lot of time talking about technical photography, when I am on these trips, I let my photos posted here speak for themselves and hope that people enjoy them. But make no mistake, it is still about photography, and I never travel without a camera of some description. And when on land, I usually do early morning walks and find shots that interest me. I made some fun shots on this trip. I also spent a week in London in 2022, and posted a series of blogs following that trip on my Blog Archives, with many more photos.