December 2008 update

December has been a very busy month for us, and you'll see several updates in it. Since we hadn't planned to come back to the US for the holidays, we made some plans to enjoy them here in the UK, and in Europe.

We went around to some celebrations in the London area and looked at the decorations, lights, etc. Spent some time with some friends, Jools and Farah, and James caught up with the boys, as he'd been traveling almost all of November.

It's been very cold here since the middle of November, so getting in the mood for things. In Hyde Park, near Buckingham Palace, we went to the Winter Wonderland festival. This was great, and it was just right to get the season started.

Enjoy

Happy Winter Solstice

Today, Dec 21, at 12:04 pm, was the Winter Solstice. This makes today the shortest day of the year, and from now on, days get longer by a few seconds a day.

In London, the days are currently less than 8 hours long, as you see from the Astonomy data below

Astronomy
Sunrise: 8:05 AM GMT
Sunset: 3:55 PM GMT
Length of Day: 7h 49m
Tomorrow will be 0m 4s longer.
Moon Rise: 2:06 AM GMT Moon Phase
Moon Set: 12:08 PM GMT
Moon Phase: Waning Crescent
29% Illuminated

Yes, this means the sun comes up after 8:00, and sets before 4:00! It's depressing. And on cloudy days, which we have plenty of, they seem even shorter.

I'm looking forward to some longer days. Happy Winter Solstice!

Vienna

As i mentioned, I spent almost all of November traveling. In the middle of the month I had to be in Vienna on a Wednesday and Thursday, so we decided to fly Diana in and stay a couple of extra days.

I'd never spent much time in Vienna, literally less than 24 hours. Of course the city has a tremendous history, but it was an interesting mixture of old and new. Much of it was very modern surrounding the historical buildings.

While we were there, Vienna was just opening up their Christmas markets. There were several of them around the city. German Christmas markets are lovely places and great for getting into the mood of the season. We were fortunate enough that on our last day, it was snowing while we were in the markets, really making the season seem right. Then, we almost got stranded there by the snowstorm!

We went to see the Lipizzaner stallions show at the Spanish riding school. This is their home turf and they are awesome animals. I could only take photos before and after the show, they were very serious about no pictures during the performance, even without flash. Still, you get a nice look at the building they perform in.

It was very cold while we were there, and has stayed cold ever since. You'll even notice in one of the pictures that the horse had ear coverings. Some things were a bit tough to do due to the cold, so if the outdoor pictures are shivery, that's why :)

Autumn in Richmond Park

We spend a lot of time walking the dogs, and Richmond Park is one of our favorite places. You've seen lots of pictures of this park in the spring and summer, with the deer, parrots and beautiful landscape. In October and November, the deer were preparing for the rut. All of the bulls have their full racks of antlers, and they are bellowing all over the park. The females are separating off into smaller heards for mating.

You'll also find a picture here of Diana and Elijah on the train. The dogs are allowed to ride the public transport systems here, trains, buses and subways. We've been so impressed at how our dogs took to this. You see the picture here, Elijah is just laying down on the train, relaxing and waiting for his stop.

november catch up

Seems like we're always in catch-up mode with the blog. Well, in early November, both Diana and I went to the US, and for the first time since we left we were both in town at the same time.

Cassidy was in a car wreck , and unfortunately totaled her car. Thank god she wasn't hurt. Cars can be replaced. Anyway, we needed to get her some transportation, and that takes a while.

We had so much to do we were both very pressed for time. Our friends Mike and Sara are moving to Seattle (Mike is already there). They were storing our camper and truck for us. We sold the camper to Diana's sister Sabine, and she and her husband Jim came up to get it.

I was in San Jose for a few days, then a quick stop back through NC again on the way back to London. These visits are very short and hectic for us, and we try to see as many people as possible while there. Always, we miss some.

A quick update on our status here. Our assignment here was for 1 year and due to end the first week of January. Right now, we're extending that for 6 months, we'll get new work Visas in about 2 weeks. After that we're not 100% sure, and will keep everyone posted as things develop.

I've been coming back through on business travel about every quarter, but with the global economic slowdown, the company has curtailed that. We can only travel now to see customers, and all of mine are in Europe, so I guess I won't be back over for a bit.

The invitation is still out there for all to come visit. Cassidy is planning to come by in early January, and Diana's daddy and his friend Mrs Delores are coming in April. Aside from Cassidy and her friends, they'll be our first visitors. As Cassidy says, she's had more visitors in England than we have.

Look for some new posts soon, as we've been around some in the autumn here in the UK and Europe. I'm back on the road again as soon as I get back, with trips to Brussels, Amsterdam, Vienna, Paris, Rennes (France) and Madrid scheduled for this month.

Hope everyone is well.

Cassidy's Fall Break to Dublin

Since we hadn't had Cassidy over for a while, we wanted to take advantage of her few days off for fall break. She was tired of coming to London, so we met in Dublin for a very quick few days. Diana and I flew in on Wednesday so we had a place for Cassidy to crash on her arrival, as she suffers from jetlag really badly.

We had a blast. We toured the city, including St Patrick's cathedral. We also booked a coach tour out to Tara and some of the neolithic monuments. It was kind of cold and rainy, but we did our best. On Saturday we got drenched and decided it was a PJ night. We ordered in pizza and watched TV.

We ate tons of good food, and had a pint or two of the black :) Yes, it's different in Dublin, where Guinness actually tastes like beer. We even toured the Guinness Storehouse and learned to pour our own perfect pint.

Of course, we caught some really good traditional Irish bands as well. every place had several bands playing.

I'm trying a new tool I downloaded and I made a movie of our pictures, set to music. Please let me know what you think, especially those of you on slower links, as I know we have readers on dial-up connections still. I can make 2 more videos with it before I have to pay for it, and don't want to pay unless it's good to use it.

Brussels September 2008

At the end of September I had to work a trade show in Brussels. Now, Brussels is a funny city, and not my favorite in Europe. In fact, it rates above only Paris from being at the bottom. But I enjoy going anywhere with Diana, and she'd never been there.

I say Brussels is funny. As the HQs of NATO and the EU, as well as lots of other international organizations, you'd think it would be a very international city. But it's not, it's French!. Outside the tourist areas, no one can or will speak english, and you see very few foreigners on the streets.

Also, I'd always wanted to take the Eurostar, the train that runs between London and Paris and Brussels. So we booked onto it.

After a September of really rainy, crappy weather, the weekend in Brussels was lovely, sunny and mild. We spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday playing Japanese tourist around the center of the city. Then, when I went to work on Monday, Diana went to the city outskirts for more sightseeing.

A couple of more notes. Brussels is also a city of bizarre fountains. You'll see several pics of fountains. The most famous is the Mannequin Pis, which is a little boy peeing into a fountain. They dress him in different costumes. There are 2 other that go with this, his sister and a dog. There's pictures of them too. Not really sure why the Belgians are so fascinated with urination.

Also, you'll see pics of the Atomium. This is a giant replica of an atom left over from the 1958 or something world's fair. Oddly, the place I was working the trade show turned out to be right beside it.

A Great download

Old & In The Way Breakdown Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

David Grisman Bluegrass Experience The David Grisman Bluegrass Experience Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM

I'm starting to do some automatic posts on music I'm listening to and how to download it. I'm not a big listener to pop music or stuff you can hear on the radio, and I don't use iTunes online store much, preferring more eclectic sites.

Virginia waters Walk

We try hard to find walks to do on week-ends and we found a walk near Windsor
Park called Virginia waters walk. We had to take a train to start the walk. The walk was advertised on the trains web site. The walk was advertised as a 8.5 mile walk which we found out later. We did not prepare for a long walk. No snacks or water for the boys or us.

The walk was mostly side walks through a golf course lined with mansions that are homes to the likes of Sir Cliff Richard and golfer Ernie Els. We finally got to the park and because it was a nice day a lot of families where out and about, biking and walking having picnicking. At the park the trail went around a lake called Virginia waters and around the lake we saw a Roman ruins, brought in the 19th century from near Tripoli, and finally the Cascade Bridge by the waterfall,and a Totem Pole, a gift to the Queen from Canada. and small cottages.By the end of the walk we decided that it was not walk we like. We enjoy more the country side walks better.

County Fair at Hampton Green

While James was in the US in August the boys and I took the bus to Hampton where at the green
(a open green park) a county fair was being held. The advert said that a jousting
group was performing and a wild bird display. It was a warm day the boys kept looking for shade.

We were able to watch both shows. The pictures maybe a little fuzzy.
Holding the camera still and the boys under control was a challenge especially when the horses came close. Over all it was a great day out. The boys get lots of attention. They do so very well on the buses.

Diana's Birthday Cruise

Since Diana's birthday and our anniversary both fall in August, we've always just taken a weekend away to celebrate both events. After much research, we decided to ride the train to Newcastle and take the ferry cruise to Bergen, Norway.

James and I had a great time on this trip. It was our first cruise together I hope not the last. The ship was a ferry which transported people and cars/ motorcycle's and supplies to and from England to Norway.

The cabin was small but comfortable with two twin beds and en suite bathroom some rooms had bunk beds which thank goodness we did not get.

The weather out to Norway we had lots of sun and warm breeze,we stayed on the deck most of the day soaking up the warm sun shine.
We visited all the bars on the ship. This vacation was so relaxing. We both had books to read.

The food on the ship/ferry was wonderful we opted for the 2 course meals.
The landscape of Norway was breathtaking with the small cove villages on the coast and the many sail boats. The ship made a total of 2 stops one in and the other in Bergen.
The over night crossing got a little rough we really could feel the ferry going thru the waves

When we got to Bergen we found out that the Tall Ships Competition was taking place and they were resting in Bergen that same week-end. The town port was full of beautiful yachts and old ships and many sailors (oh my goodness they looked smart).Here's a link with some of the ships in the race

http://www.tallshipsracesbergen.no/eng/pages/The_Tallships/


Finding a place to eat was a challenge but James found a Irish pub that served a German schnitzel. We have a standing joke that I look for only German food on our holidays. Regardless if we're in Spain or Norway or Scotland. Most of the time I do find one. In our wanderings in town I found a karaoke bar it was great fun and we met the most charming couple and their friends. Most of the songs were country and western songs is was a blast to hear them sing them most were very good and the dancing was good the floor did not move.

On the ship, James took me dancing every night It was a challenge to dance with the movement of the ship. We did not stop swaying for days maybe a week after we got off the ship.

Slideshow is below

July Update

We try to do something, see something, or go somewhere every weekend. I mean, that's much of why we're here, and we have nothing else to do. I usually work 12-15 hours a day Monday -Thursday, but try to stop by 5 or so on Friday and take the weekend off.

In July, we went to some local town festivals around the area. These ranged from a town fair (where we got our pictures in the paper)



to a local Blues festival



to Dragon Boat races on the Thames River.



We also take the opportunity when the weather is nice to have a picnic. There's pictures here of 2, the second one in the Richmond Park, about 15 minutes walk from home.



It had been really hot here (about 80F) and you couldn't sleep at night, so we had to buy a fan. It worked, the weather turned colder :)

One weekend we went into London to the Borough Food Market where Diana found a German deli and loaded up on German meats.

Finally, the weather had been so nice we decided to go to the beach. We took the train to Bournemouth on the south coast for a weekend at the beach. The doggies loved playing ball in the sand and we had a really good time. One thing to note for this set of pictures is that all of them were taken in the same day.

Edinburgh the last leg of our Scotland tour

hoOn the way out we stopped at a working cooperage and the Glenfiddich Distillery.



We got to Edinburgh via train from Aberdeen. I found a Guest house walking distance from city center and on the bus line. The house was called The San Marco Guest house
http://www.edinburgh-guesthouse.net

It was wonderfully decorated and Avril the hostess was great and met all our needs. When we got to Edinburgh late afternoon she recommended a restaurant near that had a 2 for 1 dinner special that night. Dinner was great and the wine hit the spot. The next morning breakfast was a cooked breakfast eggs, ham, and toast beans. I choose a small breakfast cereal and fruit and one of James’s eggs. The boys got a taste of ham from breakfast that they enjoyed. (THANKS DAD).

The room was absolutely beautifully decorated 2 double beds and single bed in blue and white color scheme. The only down side to the guest house was that it did not have a green area close to walk the boys they did not like doing things on the side walk and concrete. Especially Elijah he likes grass or mulch under his feet.

Edinburgh is a medieval city it has an old town and new town we mostly walked the old town. In the old town you can walk from the castle to the palace called the royal mile. Edinburgh is a hilly city with lots of alley ways called (closes) with many steps.

We found out that the large cities in Scotland are not dog friendly. Only one pub called the Jolly Judge that we could go in with the dogs. This came in handy the last day in Scotland. We had a shock when we tried to take the boys in the Bobby pub for pint and meal. They did not allow dogs in or outside the pub because they serve food is what we were told it was against the rules. Luckily I ordered a couple pints a dram of whiskey for James before they told us that we could not have the dogs in the outside seating area. Here is a link to the history of the area and the pub and why we where disappointed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby


In our wanderings around Edinburgh James found shop that sold old and used CD’s. He was in heaven for about an hour. We had to buy a small suitcase to bring back the whiskey and the CD’s and sweaters. I could not visit Scotland and not get a wool Scottish sweater. May be 2.

I got James and the boys trekking up a volcano rock call Arthur’s Seat in a park in Edinburgh. The view from the top was disappointing. I though that we would see the coast line. James and I did a tour called the Real Mary King’s close http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/
A tour about life was like in the old days of tenement life. The tour takes you under the modern city streets. City under the city.



Our only mistake we made in our trip of Scotland was the last day our train did not leave until after midnight. So we had all day to wait luckily we could put our luggage in storage. It was a long long day. The weather was damp and chilly so the Jolly Judge pub came in handy. We sent several hours there. We all were ready to come back home. It was an amazing holiday it was relaxing, adventurous and sometimes stretched our endurance levels (out of shape 40 something’s). We met friendly people and tasted delicious food and tasty Scottish whiskies and saw absolutely amazing scenery. Well this is the last entry about our Scotland trip. More adventures to come.

Cairngorm Mountain

So after walking around the coast, through the fields and pastures, in the forests and along the river, the only left was to hike up into the mountains. Cairngorm is a ski resort near where we were staying. It has an option to ride a train to the top, but it you ride up you have to ride down. If you walk up, you can ride the train down (thank god!). So we decided to do that.

Amazing experience really. The views were lovely, and we went through about 4 different climate zones on the way up. Darkstar and Elijah thoughts it was great, and Elijah must have climbed the whole thing 3 times :)

There were 2 paths to the top. Our original plan was to take the easy one, but we met a ranger at the bottom who recommended the steeper one. He said it's only steep for a bit, then levels right off. LIAR! It didn't level off until we got the the house on the top.

We started off in T shorts, then gradually added fleeces shorts, rain jackets, gloves and hoods as it got colder and wetter. We packed a lunch to eat at the top. Fortunately, the place at the top had refreshments and we were able to get a pint and a wee tipple to warm us.

Walking the River Spey

For those of you with a taste, and some knowledge, of single malt whiskeys, you know that there's primarily 2 areas in Scotland where it's made, the islands and the River Spey. The Spey winds through some lovely countryside and Diana found a country walk along it.

Carrbridge

We were staying in the little village of CarrBridge in the central highlands. this village is about 4 blocks long, has a lovely stream running through it, and a central wooded park.

We were actually staying about 2 miles outside of town, at The Pines guesthouse, a B&B. Lynn was our hostess and she was wonderful. One night, she made a very special dinner for us. Lynn has a beautiful place, with lots of room to walk up the hills behind there. We took some amazing photos from behind her house. Diana loved her yard as it was full of gnomes, bird and squirrel feeders. She has the fattest squirrels and bunnies you've ever seen.

The rest of the evenings there, we ate at the one pub in CarrBridge. This place was dog friendly, sometimes having more dogs than people almost. The food was hearty and good, especially the grilled pork chops. We discovered there was so much we could actually split the dish. We met a young man there named Liam who tried to teach James how to play Snooker.

This was our base for several days adventures. Those will come in other postings.

Oban and the West Coast

Wow, this is where Scotland becomes really amazing. Get out of the cities and it's such a lovely country, the people are wonderful and it's great.

But to tell the story chronologically, we picked up a rental car in Glasgow and left for the west coast. This was by far the worst weather day we had on the trip, rainy, cold and windy. I had bought a Sat Nav system to find our way around, and it worked fine about 99% of the time, which is as good as any of them. I'll do a separate entry on the car and driving.

We stopped on the way at this lovely church, St Conan's. To look at it, you think it's 1000 years old like so much of this part of the world. We picked up the book on it and it was actually started in the very late 1800s, and not finished until after WWI. A bit disappointing. Still beautiful and on an awesome piece of real estate. Location, location, location.

After leaving there we had another hour + to drive. We were actually staying about 20 miles south of Oban, in a place called Loch Melfort. We finally get there, Diana goes and checks us in, then opens the room. I'm opening the rear of the car to get the bags out, and she says "well, it's a bit dated", then I walk in and see the view

Suddenly it was OK. Also, this place was bed, breakfast and dinner. Dinner every night was a great 2 course meal, all you had to pay for was your drinks. The meals were awesome, and the creme brule' was irresistible for desert!

We spent a day in Oban, a port town where the ferries leave for the western islands. It was a very neat town, lots of woolen shops and items, gorgeous scenery. If we'd had the time, we would have taken one of the wildlife excursions out to see the Puffins and other rare species. There was also a ferry to Ilona, the island bed of Christianity in the British Isles and still a working monastery and religious shrine. Would have loved to see that, but just didn't have the time.

Anyway, we found a walk that went through a lot of farmers fields and livestock areas, but had some beautiful views along the way. I had eaten Steak-and-black sheep pie for lunch, and felt the livestock were after revenge the whole time. Especially at the end when we were headed for a hill and the cows seemed to have scouts on the ridgeline. Then a group of 4 moved in and cut us off, so we had to leave. I was thinking of all those westerns I'd watched growing up :)

Wildflowers in Scotland

Hello everyone, We tried to take a few(haha) pictures of the wild flowers we ran across in Scotland. The vegetation was lush and every shade of green. The forests were lush and amazing to walk throw. The forests you could not see throw it was so thick and dark. The story of little red riding hood came to mind. The wild foxgloves were the most prominent flower, also orchids and ferns and some flowers that looked like forget-me nots. Fungus plants (Moss Campion a tundra plant) that grow on the rocks with beautiful blooms and daisies like flowers.

James was so patient when I pointed out different flowers to get a picture of. He even started to take pictures on his own. The heather plants were amazing the deep purple blooms made the landscape look like a sea of purple.

The trees were also amazing to see the birch and scot's pine and juniper bushes.

The thorny thistles and it's bloom is the national symbol of Scotland, you find it everywhere. In the states it would be a weed.

Glasgow

We stayed at the Kelvin Hotel. This is a converted Victorian house, and these types of B&Bs are all over the UK. We've stayed in several. They are pretty basic but functional. The real difference is the people who run then. We've stayed in a couple where the owners didn't give a damn, and we've stayed in some that the people running it were great, like the Avalon Hotel in Brighton. In this case, we lucked out. Linda was gracious and took great care of us. We arrived about 8:30 am, in the middle of breakfast. She let us in, gave us a place to store our bags, and even offered us breakfast! When we returned in the afternoon she has set us up with a room with a private entrance for the doggies and put our bags in there. Now that's service!

Anyway, as everywhere, the doggies attract a lot of attention, and we met and talked to a lot of nice people. Only found 1 real dog friendly place, but others where we could sit outside and eat or drink with the dogs.

We couldn't wait to get out of there and into the highlands, so bright and early Tuesday morning we were off!

Prepping to Leave

We had an entire weekend at home before leaving on the sleeper train late Sunday night. Of course, we packed and repacked several times. It's impossible for us to travel light, but having to carry stuff for the dogs added to it.

We spent much of Saturday outdoors as it was a lovely day, starting with a walk through Richmond Park to see the deer. They are all growing their antlers in for the fall rut, and they are still covered in velvet.

On Sunday, our friends Farah and Jools invited us to a party, and they didn't want the doggies to leave.

Finally the time came and we took the tube through London to Euston Station, where the sleeper train leaves from. We had a private berth, just the 4 of us. The Caledonian Sleeper is MUCH better than the French sleeper we took a few years ago. It's not like sleeping in your own bed, but it's ok, and better than sitting in a seat for 8 hours. It leaves Euston in the north of London at 23:00 and arrives in Glasgow at 7:00. About 30 mins before it arrives, the conductor comes through with coffee and a small snack.

Scotland Holiday Report

It was great. Diana did all of the planning and did a bang up job. She found some incredible places to stay, all dog friendly, and very reasonably priced. They were all bed and breakfast places except 1, which was bed, breakfast and dinner. And when I say breakfast, I'm talking a full English cooked breakfast, not doughnuts and watery coffee.

As an overview, we left London on Sunday night, June 30 on the sleeper train to Glasgow. We picked up a car in Glasgow and drove to the west coast, near Oban. We spent a few days there. From the west coast, we drove into the central highlands for several days. from here we did several days trips, including a Highlands Games.



As we left, we stopped by the Glenfiddich Distillery and a working Cooperage nearby where they make and refurbish barrels for the whiskey. We dropped the car in Aberdeen and immediately caught a train to Edinburgh for the last few days. On Wednesday night, we rode the sleeper car back to London. I return to work on Monday.

The weather overall was awesome for Scotland. Only 1 day was truly bad weather, rainy and cold with a lot of wind. Most of the rest of the time was warm and sunny. We had a couple of days with some showers, but we were prepared for everything except the hottest and coldest temps.

There's so much to share in this trip, we're going to do it over multiple entries. I'll use this one as the master and link to the others.

We spent the weekend prepping to leave, that entry is here with a slideshow

First stop was Glasgow, the report is here with slideshow

Diana has an entry about the Wildflowers we saw here

Oban and the West Coast is here

Our walk along the River Spey is here

And our climb up Cairngorm Mountain is here

Carrbridge is here

An entry on Edinburgh and our last day is here


In the other entries, I'll share some photos, but not all. The master photo album is linked here. Also, we mapped where the pics were taken on Google Maps here, and you can look at it in Google Earth (Warning: Google Earth must be installed on your computer and you'll need a high speed internet link, this won't work on dial up. It downloads a small configuration file to your PC that's safe)

Battle to Bexhill Walk

In June, after I'd been traveling for so long, we wanted to get away from the city for a bit. Trying to take advantage of some of the history in the area, we went down near Hastings, where William the Conqueror invaded in 1066. The actual site of the battle now has a village on site, called Battle. This is all in the rolling hills of Kent, and was about an hour train ride from home.

The walk that was planned to be 5.3 miles that ended to be 8 + miles. But what a great walk. It started at the Battle abbey. James the history buff did not get chance to see the battle fields, I was a weenie and wanted to start the walk. James was very disappointed. We hope to get back with out the boys to see everything.

The 1066 walk went through several nature reserves and by a 1,000 year old yew tree and through several farm grain fields. Darkstar even found a country pub. We got off track when we got to the marsh area in the walk. The sting weeds were as high as our necks well some of our necks (mine) the boys just ran thru them. The boys were great even when we finally got out of the marsh and found out that we were 3 miles off track and had to walk back thru town to the train station. Again the beach was not sandy but had large stones pebbles . We found a pub in Bexhill to rest before the train trip home again.

Sunday Update: Cassidy sent us an email that she gets a log in prompt when we publish pictures, but not when we put in the slideshow mode. The main point of putting a link in to the picture album is that you get much larger pix than the slideshow mode, and in some of these landscape shots, we thought you might want to see that.

So, you'll find the slide show below, and here's a link in case you want to see the larger pictures. If anyone has problems with seeing the pictures or anythi8ng else on the blog, please let us know. I'm constantly trying new things with the application and I can't tell very well if they work or not.



And the map location where they were taken. It's also pretty cool to look at these things in Google Earth

Off on Holiday

We're off for the next 2 weeks to Scotland. We're taking the sleeper train to Glasgow tonight (with the doggies). We'll pick up a car in Glasgow and spend about 8 days in the highlands, hiking, sightseeing, catching some highland games. We turn the car in on the east coast in Aberdeen, then train it to Edinburgh and sleeper back to London arriving the 10th.

Not taking a laptop, but will have my mobile. We'll get some updates posted as soon as possible after our return.

I'm back in the US

Hello Everyone, I'm back in the us for a little while. The trip over was good. No crying baby's seated close. I'm glad I changed my seat from the back of the plane to the middle.I was seated with a deaf mute on the trip over. So it was pretty much silent . A few times on the plane ride over he got up at the wrong times and the personnel got irritated. I haven't to flown on delta since 911 and they made announcement that you are not to walk thru the plane from coach to business or first class, you will be arrested and/or flown back to your country due to homeland security.So the first time my seated partner got up it was a concern to everyone.Communication was very slack, they did not tell him the do and don't on the flight over. We had a tail wind and landed half an hour early but the staff at the airport was not ready and we had to stay on board for 20 Min's at the gate.I'm now at my sister's place outside Atlanta near Macon Ga. It was a great time last nite talking and catching up. Spending time with Veronica and Ricky and Gregory was wonderful but short maybe a longer visit next time.Veronica especially loved the present I brought over from Germany (flips) they are peanut butter flavored snack which you can't get in the states. I plan to leave this afternoon to drive 2-3 hrs to Augusta and visit my dad and young sister.

Updated July 11th added pictures of my trip.
Friday afternoon Daddy and I sent the day catching up and took a drive to his large new dog house (5th wheel camper stored at the lake.) Also saw Ms Dolores but unfortunately she was working during my visit. Sent some time on Saturday with Sabine and her family. Her son Brian will be leaving in July to join the Navy( Best of luck Brian ) I left Augusta Georgia and drove up to North Carolina Sunday morning . Stopped by Jame's Dad and Regina's for visit before getting to the house in Cary.
I was able to visit with Roslyn and Ben and the boys and had a wonderful dinner of BBQ. I also had Dinner with Cassidy at mellow mushroom pizza restaurant. We where able to catch up and spend some time together.The town house was in great condition only a few dust bunnies found. I also saw the girls at NCSU health center. Everyone looked great, I enjoyed seeing everyone. I left Tuesday morning to drive 6 hrs back to Atlanta Ga for a evening flight back to James in the UK.

Diana goes to ATL June 08

Diana is visiting the US

Diana left yesterday for Atlanta to visit friends and family for a few days. It's her first trip back since she arrived in March. We're used to me being gone, but not her. Neither are the doggies. As she was packing, Darkstar was trying to go with:




















Hang in there buddy! It's a guys weekend and momma wil be home on Wednesday.

Housework

Diana is adjusting well to being a stay at home Mom (to the doggies). She finds things to clean in the house I never knew existed. Have any of you guys heard of this “dust” stuff? Apparently you have to wipe things down that never get touched to get it off. Mondays are her laundry days, and Fridays are house cleaning days. I was working from home last Monday morning prior to catching an afternoon flight and watched her slaving away at the laundry, per the photo below:

Some random thoughts I wanted to share

We’ve been here for 6 months now, sure doesn’t seem like it. The time is flying by.

One of the things you don’t expect is the big difference in the length of days. When I arrived in January, the sun didn’t rise until about 8:30 am, and set by 3:30 pm. Now, a week from the summer solstice, it’s bright daylight before 4:00 am, and not completely dark until almost 11:00 pm.

You quickly adjust to your surroundings. According to the TV weather, some areas are still having grass frost in mid-June. We consider a day at 60F and partially sunny to e a beautiful day and try to rush outdoors. 85F is too hot and we can’t sleep.

Another adjustment. When we first arrived, we converted everything to dollars. This process made everything incredibly expensive, as the exchange ratio is 2:1, so all marked prices are doubled. Now, we pretty much think in Pounds Sterling.

Sports - I arrived just before the 6 Nations Rugby tournament. Watched a game on TV and enjoyed it, so I found a web site that explained the rules. I really dig the game now. Tough sport.

European football (soccer) though is different. Right now the Euro cup is playing. It's easy to catch some of the excitement, but then about 1 game in 3 or 4 is enjoyable. The rest are gawd awful boring.

A weekend in Aschaffenburg

I was traveling from Romania to Germany, and it seemed like a great opportunity to stop by and see our friends Frank and Heike, and their son Kai, in Aschaffenburg. I used to live there and got to know them very well. Plus, they've know Diana and me as a couple longer than anyone.

They have a camper at a permanent camping place where they go every weekend when the weather is nice. There's a lot of retirees that live there full time, and lots of people come out on the weekends.

It was also the first weekend of the European Cup soccer tournament, so on Saturday night, they set up a plasma TV outside to watch the football matches. We made a batch of chili, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. As the night went on, the party got a little silly, with strange hats coming out and some even stranger characters showing up.

Diana Visit's Nurnberg

One of the weekends that I was in the US, Diana went to Nurnberg, Germany to visit her Tante Hannelore. Hannelore was actually her mother's best friend, but I think we all have someone like that in our families.

Looks like she had a great time. They went to the Nurnberg Zoo and saw the polar bear cub, wolves and other animals. They also visited the nazi stadium in Nurnberg we've all seen in movies.

Peter, Hannelore's husband, and Peterle (little Peter) her son, build and race model cars and have a variety of tropies.

There's also a couple of pictures of the place Diana's dad was stationed when he met her mother. Emotions were high.

A link to the online album below. Double click to see the pictures and a Google map of their locations

nuemberg germany trip may16-18

Mid-June travel update

Well I don’t think I’ve ever had this kind of a travel schedule. I’ve basically been on the road non-stop since April 14, including 5 weekends! A couple of those were our choice, tryin to take advantage of where I was for Diana to get out, but the rest were purely due to business travel. During that time I’ve hit 12 countries, including the US (which ate up 2 of the weekends).

Generally, travel days run about 14 hours each, trying to do your job as well as meet with partners and customers. It sounds exotic, while in fact it’s exhausting. You’re doing con calls in airports, working on documents in hotel rooms, eating too much and exercising too little. Never getting enough sleep.

Had my first trips into Eastern Europe in the last couple of weeks. Spent 3 days each in Prague and Bucharest. Eastern europe is the only part of europe still cheap. In Prague, 4 of us had a very nice dinner with drinks and desert for about $60. One person could not eat in the same level of restatraunt for that price in London.

Everyone says Prague is lovely, and they are correct. We had about 2 hours the last afternoon to spend in the city before I had to get to the airport. Baeutiful old architecture, well maintained, pretty safe feeling. Only down side is tons and tons of tourists. People from every nation there in tour groups wandering about. The prettier areas are very crowded with tourists.

Bucharest on the other hand is different. As soon as you arrive, you know you are in a poorer, eastern country. Just a little shabbier, not as well maintained. Lots of new buildings, but lots of older, very rundown buildings too. Not much pretty old architecture. Also, it has some vague, not very safe feeling. We never felt threatened, but you knew you needed to keep your guard up.

Everything went well in Bucharest. We always try to find a resatraunt that serves local food, and we found one. Lots of grilled meat, polenta and bread. As we were sitting there, I saw an old Byzantine church. Stopped in for a look. Romanians are Orthodox. I’ve never been into an Orthodox church before, and this one was just wonderful. Very small, no pews or benches, apparently everyone stands during these services. Lots of ornate icons of madonnas, saints and other figures I don’t recognize. In the rear, there was this quaint Greek garden. I didn’t have a camera with me, so can only describe it.

Sitting in Berlin now. First trip here since right after the wall came down. Very cosmopolitan, new and dynamic city. Realize that during the almost 40 years between the end of WWII and reunification in 1990/91, the Russians prevented the Germans in Berlin from rebuilding. When I was here in 90/91, there was still rubble in East Berlin from 1945! Bullet holes in buildings, etc. Now all of that has been razed and replaced with modern, glass and steel buildings.

Only 1 more trip left, Amsterdam next Tuesday. Will be glad when it’s over and I can stay home for a bit. Of course, as soon as I get off the road, Diana is going back to the US for a visit.

Cassiddy's Second visit

Running way behind updating the blog. Cassidy was in town for the second time during May. This time she brought friends.

Her Italian roommate from last year, Ombretta, and Ombretta's sister Raphaella were her for the first few days. The girls appear to have had a great time running about London.

The day the Italian girls left, Cassidy's boyfriend, Brian (Bobby, Billy?), arrived for several days.

Unfortunately, for all of this time except the first day, I was in the US, so really didn't get to visit much. Looks like everyone had a great time anyway!

These are all Cassidy's pictures.

Spring time and everything is blooming

Everyone talks about the weather in the UK, and especially about the rain. One of the big advantages of the rain is the lush vegetation and flowers. Now, as the soil warms up, everything is blooming.

Some of these pictures are from our garden, some from Hyde Park in central London. And yes, it's warm enough, I had to cut the grass once.

The boats were in a canal in London called "Little Venice". People live on these boats, called narrow boats, and we ran across a club meeting.

A weekend at home

Just so you don't think we're running around every weekend, we do spend most of them at home. And the weather is really getting nice here. This was the last weekend in April, we took the doggies for an extremely long walk along the river. Everybody was out and it was a lovely day. We when we got back to the house, we just continued enjoying the weather in our own back garden, and used the grill for the first time.

Stockholm Sweden Week-end April 19-21 2008

Again the weather was absolutely wonderful sunny and breezy. No hint of rain anywhere. James and I arrived Saturday morning James just got back home Friday night from Madrid so he was a little blurry. He then was leaving Monday morning from Sweden to Copenhagen and then to Amsterdam and then to Brussels.



We looked everywhere for a chocolate moose but couldn't find one. But we did find some interesting looking vikings.





We walked through the old town called (Gamla Stan)a island it was so beautiful. We also took a boat ride through the harbor around Stockholm. We also took a ferry ride(Djurgsrden ferry) to the Vasa Museum it has the world's only surviving 17Th -century ship and then a walk through the Nordic museum (which was disappointing) We also saw the changing of the guards at the palace.



We even found a pub with live music a 4 piece band playing American music.The band was playing in the cellar. You had to go down steep narrow stairs to the cellar where you literally were sitting among the band as it was playing. Most people were sitting around the room at long tables, when people came down the cellar stairs they just moved in tighter to make more room. People also just stood around the front of the band as they played.



The weather was so great that that we saw a few convertibles we even saw a guy walking his pig through town. The weirdest thing that we experienced was the noise the car's were making we finally figured it out they still had snow tires on. and they made a humming clicking noise.





Monday morning James left to go to Copenhagen, I had a half a day to do some shopping But I decided to go to Skansen a open air museum. It's a royal park with a zoo and living history museum. Being a Monday it wasn't busy with tourist only mothers with children. I was able to see what it was like to live in Sweden the the early days. They also had people in character but They only spoke Swedish. I took a few pictures of the animals seen in Sweden (bears, wolves and elk(moose) and reindeer. The batteries were almost dead before I got through the whole park. I really liked Stockholm the people were nice.

The whole picture album is here

Stockholm April 19-24 2008_1

Week-End at the Beach(Brighton)April 11-13 2008

What a wonderful week-end we had at Brighton Beach

In planning this trip we found a wonderful pet friendly hotel run by two guys (Brian and Tom) and a son (George). The place was called Avalon it is an old Victorian style Town house turned into a hotel with I think 9 rooms. We got the largest room with a king size bed and full bathroom. (Not shared) Some converted houses to hotels you share bathrooms. We had ready made breakfast every morning made by Brian and Served by Tom. The First Morning we had an English breakfast. What is in an English breakfast?
• The key components of an English breakfast include:
• bacon *
• sausages*
• black pudding
• eggs *
• tomatoes*
• baked beans*
• mushrooms *
• potatoes
• fried bread

We only had the items with the *

What we had plus coffee toast with butter and jam and Orange Juice.
It was wonderful and I could not eat it all. The next day I just had toast fresh fruit and ham and fried egg.

I agree with Diana, Brian, Tom and George were great hosts. For more information about The Avalon Hotel, click on the link.

James and I went down separately to Brighton beach . James had a late afternoon Friday meeting so he came down later. So the Boys and I took off for our first train trip. The first leg was short around 10 min ride with 20 min wait for the next train. Then 1 hr ride to the coast. The boys were great they always get a lot of attention here in the UK. They stayed near me or sat on my lap. Because the train was not full Elijah a and Darkstar held their own seat.



I gave the boys a hair cut and Elijah needed a fleece sweater for the trip. The Weather men/women here in the UK are as bad or worst then in the states. They predicted rain and chilly. The weather both on Sat and Sun day was sunny and nice with some breeze. I brought a rain coat but did not need it. Just wore it at night when it got cold and damp.



Friday night we went to the 40th anniversary tour of Jethro Tull. I knew a few songs but James was in pure heaven. The seats were great up close and personal the concert was in an old theater called the Dome. The place was absolutely beautiful.

Before the concert we all went to dinner (James and I and the boys) The place was recommended by Brain as being dog friendly it was called the Wellington. The food was good I had a half chicken dinner and James had wild boar dinner (the boar was in a sausage link) which we have discovered while here in the UK we don’t like very much.

Saturday we walked down the coast line to the marina and harbor. Oooh one thing I forgot to mention about the beaches here no sand just smooth rocks and stones. Hard to walk on especially for the boys (no ball playing on this beach).



We had a great week-end. Saturday night James and I walked down the pier and found a bar with a live music. They were ok, more punk than our tastes. We then went to a local bar which was recommended for a few more drinks. James had to almost carry me home they made very strong drinks, thank goodness the hotel was very close. Sunday was a slow going morning. The boys wanted to play ball so we found a green park and we played and walked around town and slowly made it to the train station to go back home.

Full slideshow here

Spring has Sprung!

As I mentioned a while back, I've been on the road almost constantly for about the last 2 1/2 weeks. This included 2 weekends in a row out of town, though both were our choices. We spent a weekend in Brighton Beach, here in the UK, then spent last weekend in Stockholm, Sweden. Look for blogs about those adventures soon, we're still sorting through notes and photos.

So this is my first weekend at home in about 3 weeks, and today, Saturday, is the kind of day you live for over here. Sunny, warm, we spent the entire day out in the sunshine with the doggies. Have a few pics to post. As usual, double click on the picture below to look at the entire album.

Saturday April 26

We're way behind on the blog, and hoping to catch up here very soon. Things are going great, and we've got some exciting things coming up, including a visit by Cassidy, her prior roommate, a sister, and Cassidy's boyfriend. Diana stays busier taking care of the house than I thought possible, but the house is always ship shape.

Anyway, we'll try to catch up here soon and will update you when we do. As usual, thanks for your comments and thoughts.

Goodbye to a Great lady

my Aunt Mabel died last night. She's been in the hospital for a few weeks, apparently suffering a series of strokes.

Aunt Mabel was 95, and had lived alone and on her own since 1976 when her husband passed away. She learned to drive in her 60s, and drove into her early 90s. She was a primary caretaker for my grandmother for many years, was active in the church and garden club. And she spent all that time living alone with no signs of Alzheimers.

Most of all, as Toni pointed out, she was a link to our childhood. It seems like she was always involved in our lives, and now she's gone. I know it's part of growing up, but it's a bit painful as we continue to loose those links.

Anyway, I'll miss her. RIP.

More bad news from the US

Well it looks as if my Aunt Mabel is not doing well. Toni says she's back in the hospital, non-responsive and not eating. She has a no feeding tube order on file. Not good.

Also, I just spoke with Cassidy and her boyfriend, Brian, just lost his grandfather. Our condolences to Brian and his family.

Jethro Tull

Tull are on their 40th anniversary tour this year, playing lots of shows around the UK. They have a couple of US dates, but are obviously focusing their tour on the UK. As I looked at their web page, many of the cities were complete mysteries to me.

However, I bought a pair of tickets to see them in Brighton, which is a beach town about an hour or so SE of London. I've learned through experience not to buy tix too early, as business travel has forced me to sell more than 1 set. But I took a chance on a Friday show and grabbed best available tickets.

Come to find out, we were stage right, close enough you could throw the program and hit Ian Anderson on stage. Great, great venue. Small, very nice, wonderful acoustics and a great crowd.

I'd never seen Tull, and Diana had barely heard of them, but she's pretty game about things like this. All I can say is they were great! They focused a lot on their early stuff, with a lot of jazzy tunes, etc. Gradually going through time to end the show with Aqualung, and a Locomotive Breath encore. Ian Anderson is into his 60s but still scampers around the stage with lots of energy, and tells some hilarious stories in the process.

All in all, well worth the money. Besides we had a great weekend in Brighton, but that's a story for a different blog entry.

On The Road Again

So I haven't been doing much traveling for a while. This is for 2 reasons. One is that, as a company, we've tried to reduce travel. On the other hand, I've really been focusing on trying to build relationships here in the UK.

However, all that's changing. Today in Hawaii at our Partner Summit, we're making some major product announcements, and Monday we start a big roadshow. The roadshow is a rolling seminar the will cover all of western Europe, Eastern Europe, Russia, Middle East and Africa and Latin America. In the middle of all this, I'm going to the US for about 10 days in May (most of which will be in San Jose). Suffice it to say, I'll be on the road until about the second week of June.

One advantage to this tour is that I only have to present in the afternoons, so that keeps me from having to fly in the night before in most cases. I am tying some customer meetings to the trip so I may stay an extra day sometimes.

If you look at the Google Calendar I have pinned at the top of the blog, it's pretty much show you where I'll be. Diana is going to join me for a weekend or two in the process, and that's represented by the locations shown across the weekends. When you see us out for a weekend, look for a blog update soon afterwards.

Again, for those of you looking at the calendar thinking I'm gong to lots of cool places, remember that most of the places distinctly resemble airports, hotels and meeting room. Only the restaurants are different. Many of these places I'll spend a total of 6 hours in.

Another Result of Global Warming

We were told it never snows in southern England. It gets cold and rainy, sometimes windy, but rarely freezes. So I blame this on that moron AlGore and his stupid global warming campaign. It's been snowing all day in London! And, in case no one noticed the date of this post, it's APRIL! Pics below from our yard (double click on any of them to see them larger).



If you can see in these photos, the flowers blooming in the snow.



OK, so our friends the Riders left this weekend. It was a bit emotional because, as I mentioned earlier, they are kind of our only friends here. On the up side, we loaded up with their stuff! I posted earlier that I've been here the whole time without TV, now we have TV. It was an interesting experience hooking the parts up, only to eventually find we didn't have the right cables. Diana took the lead and we finally got it together. We need to get a TV stand for everything, but now we have TV.



Of course, the biggest downside to this is we now have 4 remote controls. I'm just waiting for the business trip when I get the call that none of them work :)



So now we have the BBC (which I payed 135 GBP, or about $270, for a TV license to support). We have a digital box that gets us about 25 or 30 channels via an antenna (an aerial here), but we have news, some weather, and some shows. I'm starting to miss the music playing all the time already.....

Almost one week in-country

Hello Everyone, I have now been in the United Kingdom one week. And what a week it has been. James had a list of things that I needed to do when I got here because he hasn't the time. Getting established with a local vet so we can get the boys their very own passports.They will need them if we travel outside the UK/Ireland.We have already ran into a problem with that.They were micro- chipped in the USA and all the scanners have been able to read their chips until day when the local vet couldn't read it we even tried another vet and they also couldn't read them. I had to contact (e-mail)the chip company the Cary vet and the pet moving company regarding our problem.

The next item was getting established with a doctors office here they are called surgery's even the vet was called a surgery. I was able to get the paperwork and fill out the forms now I just need to take them back and then they will set up us with an appt. to see a physician for a meet and greet.I also need to get James his own National Health service number which means calling a government agency and then they will then give me another number to call which will be a local area number so we can make an appt.to speak with a local representative.

The next item was to get the correct recycling containers. One for plastic/glass /cardboard(toilet paper rolls and paper towels rolls and cereal box's) one for food scrapes which they pick up and add to area compost piles.(they are very very green here). Garden rubbish (trash) is also recycled.

I have gone out and shopped for house hold items and groceries several times in this week.

Also a couple loads of laundry We only have a washer so drying clothes on a cloudy day is a challenge. We have lots of radiators(our heating source) and an AGA see attached pix. (large gas cast iron oven). One day this week was partly cloudy and windy I could hang the clothes out ona line to dry, like the old days (the clothes smell clean and fresh). Jeans are a little stiff and don't shrink.
Now to the fun activities the boys and I have gone for several long walks. Monday we went for a 4 hr walk down by the Thames river called a towpath. it was very muddy and hard on the feet and toes lots of rocks and pebbles and did I say mud puddles. I was able to let the boys off their leads most of the time they had a great time running off energy. We passed an estate that was being filmed for a movie or TV program about young Victoria. We saw some beautiful black horses and a large carriage being loaded up. I found this out by meeting a elder women and her dog Henry.

My intention was to go to Teddington Locks along the tow path.A gentlemen and his dog (did not get the dog's name) we meet on the path informed us that Teddington was the place that the D-Day boats left from and that Glen Miller(big band music) once played here. We did not make it to the locks a quarter mile short. Elijah started to limp and so we turned around and I carried him for about 15 Min's 13 pounds is a lot to carry. I think he was foot(Paws) sore and the mud was cold. and then Darkstar not to be left out wanted to be carried. What we do for our pets luckily I had a large scarf to make in a holding pouch. The scenery was great and the river was moving fast.

Tuesday we rested for our next big outing. Wednesday we went for a 3 hr walk to a local park called Richmond Park is was a Kings hunting area in it's day. In the park you can drive your car though (gates close at sun set) walk, ride bikes and horse back ride in the park. The park is on 2500 acres . One of the things that it's famous for is the two kinds of deer in the park that run and roam freely in the park. see the attached pix.



You can pretty much get very close. the boys wanted to play. the deer just kept eating or moving away. We even have seen some wild green parrots, here is the proof look at the last two pictures closely.

Lastly we have made some friends at a local pub and one of them will be available to pet sit and walk the boys for us. That was another thing that was on the list.

Well that's all folks I'll try to made the next entries shorter and more pictures. When I leave the house I always need hat, scarf, gloves, key, money(for the bus or a drink) and umbrella and a camera.

It's Not all Peaches and Cream

We continue to enjoy living in the UK. Frankly, since the early 1990s, I'd forgotten how much I really like the European lifestyle. I really dig the walking culture of people always on the streets. I like the village culture, of every town being different and every shop and square is local and has local flavor. The US has become so homogenized, to the point the only difference between 2 towns or 2 cities is the weather.

The doggies and Diana are adjusting and we're all doing lots of walking, usually an hour or more per day. Believe it or not I've actually lost a few pounds!

But being this far away from friends and family is not easy. Last week I had a cousin pass away in Ohio. And one of my favorite aunts has now had a stroke and is in a nursing home. And it's almost impossible to stay on top of things. All of our hopes and prayers for Aunt Mabel.


We also miss our friends and family. With the doggies here, we're starting to meet a few people, but really don't have any friends. We've had Brian and Andrea here, and they've gone out of their way to make us welcome. However, this is coming to an end as they return to the US this weekend. We had lunch with them Sunday for the last time.




We're not real big on fooling ourselves, so we expected to be fairly insular here. And we knew it would be remote, but it was something we definitely wanted to do.

What I didn't expect was how much I'd miss Cassidy. I've spent most of her life making sure I could be close to her. When she was small, I saw her every other weekend, making sure I blocked the weekend out to spend with her, even if it meant working 80 hours during the other 5 days. As she's gotten older, we've both made an effort to block time out for each other. I really enjoyed it when she came over to the house to spend the entire afternoon with me the day I left to come to the UK.

Now it's much, much harder to stay in touch. We have Skype, and email, and IM, and I have a VOIP phone to use, but with the time zone difference and everyone's busy schedules it's really hard. And I miss it. with her busy schedule, it's tough to catch her when she can talk much, and it's expensive for her to call here from her cell.

I'm very proud of how mature and independent Cassidy is, but sometimes I probably take that for granted. We've always been able to communicate very frankly with each other and have to make ways to continue doing that.

I also realize that, aside from this blog, I haven't done very well at keeping in touch with other friends and family. So, it's time to change that. I'll make a more concerted effort to do so. Will also send out mine and Diana's Skype IDs in an email to everyone. Skype really works well and is a great, and cheap, way to stay in touch. Nothing I can do about time zone differences and people's schedules.

So, to all our friends and family, remember we love you and miss you. We're always thinking of you and please make that extra effort to stay in touch as well.

We're a Family Again!

Well it's been longer and harder than I think any of us expected, but it's over now. The doggies came in on Wednesday and Diana is here to stay as of today. We're a family again!

I'll say that I travel on business more than a lot of people, although business travel to me has always seemed like just part of the job, some people struggle with it. I've been gone up to about 2 1/2 weeks at a time, but it's nothing like this. The thing about business travel is you are always so busy and so exhausted, you don't have a lot of time to miss you family.

Here, I've been living here, gong to the office daily, coming home to an empty house. Diana has been dong the same, in NC, waiting for the clock to tick down on the doggies. Now it's all in the past.

The boys have arrived in the UK

James just called (07:08 am) and the boys have landed and the airport personnel reported that they are fine and well they were out of the crates and watered and feed. Now James is just waiting at a area cafe until they pass customs. Just two more day until I leave. Yesterday I got the boys off and visited my co workers at state it was a great visit seeing everyone. Today I take the truck back to Catham county and visit James's dad in Spring Hope and then dinner with a friend.Sometime I need to pack. Well got to go it's trash day need to get everything out.

An update from James: getting the doggies was a piece of cake. It was expensive to do this, but well worth it. I talked to a guy that had brought his cat over by himself. He said it was such a hassle he paid a pet moving company to bring his dogs over.

Anyway, they are here safe and sound. I've taken them for a couple of long walks and while they enjoy it, you can tell they are jetlagged and exhausted, per below

Easter Adventure days 3 & 4

OK, so it hadn't been what I'd hoped for, lots of crawling around medieval ruins and imagining "Knights in white satin, never reaching the end". Instead, lots of wind and rain.

I will say Calais is much different than Paris. I found most of the people generally nice and helpful, and willing to speak English. Several of them were actually very nice. Overall, I found the cultural experience to be rather positive. Hey, remember, it's an adventure. These are the parts that make it good!

So Sunday I'm up bright and early, check out and get a taxi to the port. Pig Pen singing "Let me jump on your wagon and ride..." None of the customer service numbers for the ferry companies work as it's a weekend (BTW, it seems a matter of pride here that customer service numbers go to UK or French call centers, of course, that means they all work UK and French hours!)

Anyway, the wind has stopped, the ferries are running and I can get on the (:45 ferry. Life is good. The French port is better equipped than the British one, so I grab a coffee and croissant and wait for my ferry.

Interestingly, the French side has a security check point, much like you see at airports. for boarding the ferry. The Brits don't have this. Also, the British immigration officers love to talk to you, so after getting my passport stamped, I'm in a conversation with the guy about weather and crossing the channel. I think these guys live in the UK and cross for their job. Interesting commute.

Anyway, the ferry crossing back is a piece of cake. Smooth, flat channel, empty boat. I make friends with a Canadian couple heading to see their kids (adults) in the UK. A pic of the white cliffs of Dover from the ferry coming back. Oh, BTW, if that looks like a snowstorm, it is.



Ferry lands, we get on the little bus for the terminal and Buddy guy is screaming "Somebody's been sleeping in my bed, and you know that's a terrible thing to say"

Get to the terminal, I gotta pee, hit the head, come walking out through customs (there was none of this BS in France when landing) and Warren Haynes is screaming "And you still don't understand Why they hate you, Mr. Man"
and as the doors open, there's 12 cops standing there. One immediately walks up to me and motions for me to step aside.

Now, I'm a 47 year old white guy, with nothing but a backpack. They were either profiling someone or were bored. I've seen bored cops, these weren't them! I assume they were stopping everyone driving down that sidewalk that day!

Anyway, he had 40 questions about where I'd been and what I'd done. Told him that mainly I'd ended up hiding from the wind and rain. He asked me for a receipt for my lodging and i told him it was in my backpack somewhere, but I'd need to dump the whole thing and search every pocket to find it, but I'd gladly do that for him. Suddenly he was a fine feller and started joking about the weather.

I gotta say, that was the one point in the adventure that irritated me. Really don't think I deserved that level of harassment.

Again, I decided to walk from the ferry port to the train station, as now I knew the way. It was snowing like mad!

Now, I get to the train station and there's no trains. Engineering works on the tracks. You have to take a bus replacement service to Ashford. the name meant as much to me as it probably does to you, so I hop on a bus. Cream playing "That same thing..."

Of course, what I don't realize is that this bus is now a local train, and will stop 12 friggin times before it gets to Ashford, and it takes an hour and a half. This was a 2 hour train ride down, now working on 4 hours back.

Got home it was still snowing, though not overly hard. Here's a couple of pics where I tried to catch it. You may have to look full size to see the snow.



Somewhere in this process I got one of those chills you just can't get rid of. When I finally got home about 4:00 pm, I turned the heat up in the house and sat here in my coat and hat for a good 30 minutes until I began gradually peeling outer layers off. It was about 6:30 before I got reasonably warm!

So it was an adventure. Not one I want to repeat, but not one I regret taking. Some good things, would have been better with better weather, but who woulda thunk it would snow for the first time in 2 years here on Easter weekend?

One final note on the pics, Google Photos has a capability to link photo locations to Google maps and Google Earth. You can follow that here or from any of the photo links

Easter Adventure, Day 2

OK, have already blogged about the food. As I mentioned, I did well on selecting the hotel. Not a 5 star place, but, by European standards, very decent for the price and location.

On Saturday morning I awoke to a gale outside. Not sure I've ever been in wind this fierce. Also was raining. Not hard, but with the wind so string, it took no time to get wet.

I was determined. So after finding a place that served the biggest ham and cheese omelet I'd ever seen (had to have been 8 eggs!), I went looking for historical sites. Near the market square, I found a 12th century tower where Edward III received the town's surrender. Apparently, all of ancient Calais was destroyed during WWII and this is all that remains. It's at



And across the street was a cheese shop I thought would interest Cassidy



Then wandered down to the main city square and got these photos. Lots of Hooker on this trip "I'm a boogie Rambler, boogie night and day".

The Story of Calais was that in the 13th century siege,when the town wished to surrender, Edward III required 6 of the prominent citizens to bring him the keys to the city, naked, with nooses around their necks, a very humiliating display. These "6 Burghers" are the pride of Calais.





Also there was a memorial to citizens from Calais who have lost their life in various wars. Remember European countries have many more wars in their history that we do, but this one starts in th e19th century with some of the colonial wars. It has an addition for Afghanistan.



There's a few other pics in the album at here

I also toured the WWII Museum. It was in an old Nazi war bunker and they had a nice collection of uniforms, weapons, newspaper articles, etc. And enough in English to makes it worthwhile.

However, by mid-day, I was as cold and wet as I wanted to be. I stopped into a pub and had a pizza for lunch and dried off and warmed up. The rain and wind kept coming, so I spent the afternoon in my hotel room watching rugby on BBC. Now, I don't have a TV in the UK yet, so the ability to watch 4 hours of english-language TV was a treat itself.

I discovered that the port of Calais had been closed down for a while Saturday due to high winds, and I was concerned about getting out on Sunday. I was basically tired of staying someplace with nothing to do and no ability to get outdoors, and got anxious to get home.

So my plan became to get up Sunday and call the ferry ports to see what the schedule was. There was an option to take a train to Dunkirk (not the French spelling) and catch a different ferry from there. It's about 12 miles.

The forecast fro England on Sunday was for heavy snow, and I had concerns about getting from Dover to Richmond. The adventure continues....