United Kingdom

Sunday 25 September 2005

Before we hit the road we met Carmen and David and their two lovely daughters. It was great catching up with family news. We travelled all day visiting Holt and Cambridge only finally running a camp site to ground at 8pm near Oxford. It was a delightful spot on the Thames River. A beer and fish and chips at the Barley Mow pub next to the site completed the day.

Greshems at Holt

Gaivs College, Cambridge

Kings College Chapel, Cambridge

Saturday 24 September 2005

Today we headed West through Uppingham with Rhys Kemp as a great host and guide for a tour of Uppingham School. Patsy was impressed that the staff had their own pub, an ex-Public House. He and Jacque are very settled and happy. We then visited Great Yarmouth and doubled back to Dereham to stay with Jane and Don Campbell. We met Richard, Buster's son, Donald, Jane and Don's son and spoke to Trevor. We had a lovely evening.

Rhys Kemp

Petersborough Cathedral

Don and Jane Campbell
David and Carmen

Friday 23 September 2005

We moved on to have lunch with Veronica Garland in Derby who is a fund of information about old St Andrews past pupils and staff. Then onto Chris and Liz Madeley in Sutton Coldfield for a great evening with a terrific meal cooked by their Canadian friend Zazz. Once again it was a joy to exchange memories and news.

Veronica Garland

Chris and Liz Madeley

Thursday 22 September 2005

Saw Vera Garland for a really great lunch and much remembering. She has a wonderful terraced house which is in fact two houses joined up to make one large place. Then onto Stockport frantically looking for a camp site and not succeeding. We found Anthony and Linda Stronge's place at about 5.00pm. We then went round to Vera Stronge's place and brought her back to Anthony's for a huge supper, a couple of drinks and a lot of remembering. Vera kindly let us stay at her place, a great little two bedroom flat. It was a fine day meeting all these old friends.

Vera Garland

Anthony, Linda Stronge and Family

Vera Stronge

Wednesday 21 September 2005

Headed off for York where we stayed at a great little camp site on the outskirts. We then hit York for a walk around the Minster, the Shambles and the wall. Bought sweets in an ancient sweet shop. Contacted Vera Garland in Methley and Linda Stronge in Stockport and teed up visits. A cheapish pub meal finished the day.


Tuesday 20 September 2005

Spent the day driving round the Lake District. Took in Kendal (mint cake), two Troutbecks, the Derwent and Borrowdale, an old stomping ground of ours. Spent the night at our camp eating chicken legs and blue cheese, the 'chippy' had closed at 7.30pm. God, it was like being back in Queensland!

Troutbeck 1

Between the two Troutbecks
Troutbeck 2

Borrowdale

Monday 19 September 2005

Left the Race Course campsite and motored south around Edinburgh and down the East coast to Newcastle before cutting across to Carlisle and south to Sedbergh where we just caught Sue Garnett literally as she was leaving for the first leg of a trip to Slovenia. We had a beer together and heard about her latest exploits in Sedbergh which included a BBC TV programme she took part in and several plays produced locally. The camp site was delightful with our tent next to a small brook.

Susan Garnett

Sunday 18 September 2005

Took the A83, A82, A85 to Perth to meet up with John Napier from Malawi days. He boards with his friend Moira and rents his flat in Stanley. His daughter Janice is a lawyer, his son a body-builder and Helen working in accounting somewhere.

Car and Tent at Perth

Saturday 17 September 2005

A great breakfast followed by a trip to Tarbert to get flu muti for sandy's cold. The wedding ceremony was at 2pm with a non religious celebrant from the local government officiating. Fay seems to be a great girl and Chris, although a little cherubic, is his old cheerful soul. Dave and Doreen seem exactly the same with a few wrinkles. Anthony looks the same and is about to leave a lucrative job in the Foreign Office to take up a post as a sort of secretary to the Archbishop of Canterbury working at Lambeth Palace for a pittance! The wedding breakfast began at 5.00pm with festivities, including short speeches going on until 1am.

CJ and Fay Ball

Sandy and CJ Ball (The Groom)

Stonefield Castle (The Venue)

Sandy and Anthony Ball (Brother of the Groom)

Patsy and Anthony Ball

David Ball Junior (son of Anthony)

Friday 16 September 2005

We used Don's phone to get the best price for car hire and after a walk to Maxwell Park in Glasgow we walked into the Central station and caught a bus to the airport to pick up our car. Took the route over the Erskine Bridge to Stonefield Castle. As we arrived the dreaded Ball arrived in the car park of the hotel as well. The meeting with Doreen and Patsy running towards each other was classic MGM. Great room, the best so far on this trip!

Thursday 15 September 2005

Sandy took in the Helsinki sporting museum Paavo Nurmi, Lasse Viren then we took the airport taxi (20E) to catch flights to Copenhagen then on to Glasgow. People in Glasgow were very helpful and we made our way by bus and taxi to 134 Kenmure St with no trouble at all. We sat on the steps for a while before Don Hargrove and tenants came home and let us in. Got to bed at 12.30am.

Don Hargrove

Scandinavia

Wednesday 14 September 2005 (Finland)

A leisurely walk around Helsinki looking at the Lakes and taking in the 1952 Olympic Stadium plus a whole lot of mundane personal things we were unable to catch up on until now.

St Marks Cathedral1952 Olympic Stadium

Tuesday 13 September 2005 (Finland)

Found our way by tram Number 4 then Number 3B to the IN booked Fenno Apartments to find a little room with bathroom and kitchenette. Sandy ill all day, some bug so a quiet time doing a bit of shopping and watching BBC World on TV.


Monday 12 September 2005 (Sweden)

Spent the day in Stockholm seeing the sights. Gustavus Adolphus Square and the various islands that Stockholm is built on. Then an overnight ferry to Helsinki. Huge ferry with an inside cabin for four with us as the only occupants. A fascinating trip along a river dotted with islands for the last hours of daylight before moving out into the ocean.

Old Stockholm

Pong Sushi Restaurant

Sandy at Sandy's

Sunday 11 September 2005 (Norway)

Took the 1028 back to Oslo. Once again magnificent scenery going the other way - fjords, U shaped valleys, lakes and mountains. We waited 3 hours at Oslo Central for our train to Stockholm. The sleeping cabin was magnificant - own toilet and shower - only the BlueTrain and the Indian Pacific were better.


Saturday 10 September 2005 (Norway)

Took the 1035 to Bergen. The scenery along the way was breathtaking as is the price of everything, literally double anything in Australia. We arrived in Bergen, booked into a very expensive, very smart hotel, The Grand Hotel, and wandered around the city, which is in a beautiful setting surrounded by mountains. Most of the houses were made of wood, Norwegian wood. Temperatures dropping. This is the furtherest North we go.


Friday 9 September 2005 (Sweden/Norway)

Caught the 0823 to Goteborg, going across the longest railway bridge we have seen, crossing to Malmo, Sweden, from Denmark. Then we changed at Goteborg for Oslo arriving 1645. Oslo was as expensive as Copenhagen but we were expecting it this time. Wandered around a bit and saw the fairly impressive Royal Palace.

Thursday 8 September 2005 (Denmark)

Caught an early train to Copenhagen. Patsy was amazed when the whole train rolled onto tracks on the ferry and was taken across the sea to Denmark. We arrived at 1400 hrs and had the greatest difficulty finding accommodation. Denmark is eye-wateringly expensive! 150 Aussie dollars fro a sub-standard double room without a bathroom. We went past an English pub and saw that they had TV with the Ashes Test, so went in and paid ten dollars each for a beer and watched the last two hours. We finished the day with a walk to the Little Mermaid passing the palace where Princess Mary lives.

Princess Mary's Palace

Berlin

Wednesday 7 September 2005

During the morning we took in the Check Point Charlie Museum and the 1936 Olympic Stadium before a very fast train to Hamburg. Sandy took a short walk to see a bombed out cathedral kept as a memorial to the futility of war.

1936 Olympic Stadium

Tuesday 6 September 2005

Took the train to Cologne where we changed for Berlin. Crossed over the Rhine and checked out the Cathedral again. Nothing has changed since 1979. In Berlin accommodation was very expensive so we booked into a Youth Hostel Dormitory with two young men with tattoos. We walked in the dark to the Brandenberg gate and crossed into what had been Eastern Berlin with ease. It was a two and a half hour walk.

Brandenberg Gate

France

Monday 5 September 2005

Took the train to Lille and then onto Brussels. Not a lot to marvel at in Brussels. A very dirty Town Square, council mismanagement again. We were in an area of quaint African and Arab immigrants! Another quiet evening.

Sunday 4 September 2005

Took a train to Amiens hoping to arrange a trip to the Somme First WW battlefields. Amazingly as we left the station there was a minibus with Battlefield Tours printed on the side. And so we were on a tour. It was, as with the Anzac Cove trip, very moving. We saw many graveyards and a huge memorial to the missing many of whom were from Sandy's father's old regiment the Kings Royal Rifles, the 60th. Sandy's father was wounded on the Somme in 1916. We spent the night in the Anzac Hotel in Amiens. At 2145 we took in the amazing lighting display at Amiens Cathedral where a projection system lights up the white stone carvings with the colours that existed in Medieval times.

The Somme Battlefields

Saturday 3 September 2005

Took a train to Lyon where we stayed for three hours and walked the Rhone. A neat city but a little dirty. One felt that the council was inefficient; Then we took off for Paris and booked into the Hotel Picardy , a lot more expensive than Montpelier. A little Indian meal finished the day. French restaurants are too pricey.

The River Rhone

Friday 2 September 2005

Caught a train from Barcelona to Montpelier. The latter a great little French University town with a very modern town square. These rural places are quite different from the cities. We stayed in a great little hotel just opposite the station. A get your breath back day.

Spain/Portugal

Thursday 1 September 2005

Sandy did a 2 hour recce then took Patsy for a walk to Plaza Espanya (escalators all the way up the hill which pleased Patsy). Saw the Olympic pool, the stadium where the arrow was shot to light the Olympic cauldron and the diving pool with the view of the city behind it. A stroll through the narrow streets of the old town (plus town square of course) and down the many boulevards (pedestrian inthe middle with parallel one way streets on either side). The rest of the day 7:30 pm onwards was spent in our luxury room with a view to the west and TV with CNN and BBC and a KFC supper.

View from the room

Olympic Diving Pool

Wednesday 31 August 2005

Returned to Salamanca at 00:02 and spent the rest of the night on the station platform with other younger back packers. We caught the 06:00 to Madrid. Bought a reservation for Barcelona leaving Madrid Atocha.
Put back packs in locker and off to see the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia where Picasso's ¨Guernica¨ is on display. Sandy has always wanted to see this. A great lunch in the Madrid Atocha area and a great train trip to Barcelona, service was like a flight. Got off the train at Barcelona Sants at 21:33 to see a sign on the station for Barcelona Sants Hotel, 70e. We took it and it turned out to be fabulous. We were really tired from staying up on the platform the night before so slept very well.

Tuesday 30 August 2005

Up at 3:45am to catch the 4:51 to Coimbra B (Portugal). Arrived 08:33 Portuguese time, and caught the shuttle to Coimbra A, then walked to Coimbra Parque to get the 09:39 to Maranda do Corvo (10:04). Phoned Major from Coimbra A at 9:30am and he said that he would meet us at the station. We duly arrived to be greeted by BB with Toby on an extendable lead. The Major has aged since 9 years ago, and walked very slowly back to his flat with us, stopping frequently for rests. He is still totally lucid with a slightly gravelly voice. We talked of the present and the past. We took him to lunch after a beer at 'his' cafe. He is suffering grief as he has lost his dear sister and Bill Baker in the same week. He is frail, it was really good to see him.


Monday 29 August 2005

Arrived in Madrid at 9:33am. The only way to get to Coimbra was the 11:00 to Salamanca and the the 04:51 Tuesday morning to Coimbra! Sandy found a cheap pension in Salamanka where the lady was happy for us to get up and leave at 3am in the morning. Salamanca was amazing. An incredible cathedral (Cathedral Nueva 1733) next to a smaller one (Cathedral Vieja 12th Century), a Roman bridge and numerous old 1400's buildings including a University founded 1218! Visited the Mathematics faculty at the university where a lecture was taking place. The buildiing was from the 1700´s.