Back Home/Coins Obtained

We are home.

It would be very difficult to describe all the wonderful and awesome things we saw and experienced.

We touched 2,000 year old walls and walked on streets paved with bricks from 1,000 years ago. We touched the tomb od Elizabeth I, and saw Stonehenge on an overcast and mystical day. We saw Paris from the Eiffel Tower, and cruised up and down the Thames. We saw beautiful countryside and enjoyed visiting with many friendly people. I walked along Omaha Beach on a foggy morning and tried to imagine what it must have been like in 1944. We watched the Changing of the Guard, traveled by Eurostar train at 186 miles an hour, attended "Lion King" in London, and visited the many historic buildings in Scotland and Belgium.

The trip to Europe by ship was great. Nineteen days on the Atlantic, and the Captain said it was the best and calmest crossing he had ever made.

Countries vicited: Bermuda, The Azores (Portugal), Ireland, France, England, Scotland, Belgium.

The trip home was interesting. Started in London at 3 a.m., and ended at the in-laws in Pueblo 27 hours and 10 mintes later. The route was different from any we had traveled before. We looked out the airplane windows down at Labrador, and saw ice floes. When we flew directly over Terry's roof in Indiana, we knew we were getting a lot closer to home. The trip started in London, then went to Paris, Houston, Dallas, Denver, and by car to Pueblo. After a couple days there to rest up, we drove home, arriving Sunday.

Fantastic trip. Memories to last a lifetime.

Coins.

Coin accumulation started as we were crossing the Gulf of Mexico, just out of Houston. The Cruise Director learned I was a collector, and said she had several "foreign" coins I was welcome to. She gave them to me, and refused payment. They included coins from Belize, Mexico, Argentina, Germany, Cayman Islands, and Brazil.

The stop in Bermuda was fairly brief, but thanks to some nice clerks at various stores, I was able to obtain coins, which, I think, are very attractive.

Coins obtained in The Azores were Euros, and most were from Portugal.

In Dublin I found our tour bus driver was named John Kenney, the same as a great uncle of mine. We decided we must be related. He insisted oin putting together a complete collection of Irish Euros, and even went to fellow drivers to find nice examples. He refused any sort of payment, although I gave him a good tip at the end of the tour, so I think he was compensated. What a nice person.

I found it almost impossible to give back coins as we traveled through Europe, and so came home with 197 circulating coins, many of which I have already started to distribute among out kids, grandkids, and friends.

In addition to the circulating coins, and some paper currency, I made three purchases. I will picture them sometime down the road when I can get one of our kids to do it for me.

In the order I obtained them, here are my purchases.

From the Central Bank Authority of Ireland, the two coin Samuel Beckett set. 10 Euro silver and 20 Euro gold.

From the Paris Mint, and purchased at a store just off Omaha Beach in Normany, the 1 ½ silver proof Euro commemorating the June 6, 1944 landing at Normandy. 37mm, beautiful coin.

Finally, the sterling collection of British coins, in a frame. The nine-coin set would make some collectors shutter in that the coins are obviously cleaned. I bought the set because I like English coins, and the frame is very attractive.