LUXEMBOURG - OCTOBER
We have been going to
Luxembourg in October for the last several years. The Luxembourg branch of RAFA
always hold their Wings Weekend during the 1st or 2nd week so it has been a good
opportunity to visit Dani. With all the hassle, and with it being Danielle's
30th birthday on the 7th October, this years visit was rather more significant.
We flew
out on the Thursday and stayed at Dani's house to be joined by Dick and
Shireen Shuster on the Friday. They had gone by ferry and had driven
across from Holland.
Dani's birthday spanned the Friday and
Saturday. It started with a lunchtime office party in the business centre of
Luxembourg followed by a night out in the old town. They really party well
in Luxembourg.
Saturday commenced with a
reception at Dani's house followed by dinner and "jeux
de quilles"in a nearby
village "pub" During the rule of the ex-boyfriend, non of Danielle's
friends were invited to the house so all were very impressed at their
first visit to her batchelor pad even though it was only 1/2
furnished. (The rest was enroute from Spain?).
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Danielle
on the steps of her house |
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The following weekend was the RAFA Luxembourg
annual "Wings Weekend" when the Luxembourg branch under the very
capable direction of Brian Darke and his team, organise remembrance and
fund raising events. It started on Friday evening with a reception
in the British Embassy. On Saturday we laid wreaths on the wartime graves
of RAF airmen who gave their lives over Luxembourg city and in the
village of Rambrouch in the North of the country. |
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Remembering
9 young airman lying in a foreign field having given their lives for a
free Europe |
The
memorial erected by villagers in honour of the crew of a Lancaster
bomber that crashed in flames near their village. |
Danielle,
Les & Jill at the 2005
"Luxembourg
Wings Charity Ball" |
Whilst in Luxembourg - two
major problems hit us - and it's Spain again! ....
The Spanish Banker's Euro cheque
that I had, was not acceptable in Luxembourg, nor across the border in my French
bank. I had to fly back to Spain and pay it into my Spanish bank so that
they could transfer our Euros to another European bank! - For doing this paper
transaction, and without our knowledge or approval, they took a massive
commission of 0.7% - literally bank robbery! (So much for the
"Euro" as a European currency!! Naturally we are arguing with
the banks - snag is they have already taken our money!!! Overseas property
owners - be warned!)
The
2nd problem was that the "enroute furniture" - wasn't - I made the big
mistake of trusting an Englishman in Spain and had paid him in advance of delivery! (I
should have known better for we're convinced that the majority of English
businessmen in Spain are crooks!) - After a lot of hassle, heartache,
and some serious threats on "the remover", the furniture that had been
collected in Spain in mid September eventually arrived in December!. If anyone
is considering using a Mr Stephen Draycott of Moves2Spain.com - DON'T!
Snotty's 60th Birthday
|
Entertained
to "12th Night" & dinner in the Bard's home town - Stratford
on Avon |
Brian & Liz had very kindly
invited us to celebrate Brian's 60th birthday with them. Brian is 364 days
younger than me, a mere lad, so it was appropriate that his celebration should
span 2 days - this covered his 60th & Chris Saunby's and my 61st. We
enjoyed a very nice meal on Brian's Birthday, and then the Quigley's and
Saunby's were entertained, in Stratford on Avon, to the RSC's superb and
most entertaining rendition of "12th Night". We were then entertained
to dinner
in the theatre restaurant - on our birthday! A good deal really !
- thanks Brian - you must do it
again for your 61st!
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Not only did Brian & Liz entertain us
royally for 2 days, they then chaffeured us to Heathrow where we had to catch a
plane for Chicago and then on to San Diego ......
MEXICO, PANAMA & OTHER
PLACES
Back in the quiet cold days of late February, we
had had decided to take an Autumn cruise to extend the summer! It seemed a
good idea at the time, but as the summer had progressed we were "travelled
out" and were not looking forward to the cruise at all. In fact other
than we new we were starting in San Diego, sailing down past Mexico, going
through the Panama Canal and finishing in Miami we did not know which
ports we would be stopping!!! However, we'd paid for it so we had to
go!
We flew American Airlines from Heathrow to
Chicago & then down to San Diego. We shall not be flying with them
again, especially on their internal flights. The flight from Chicago to San
Diego (4 hours) made Ryanair look like first class travel not the bus service
that it is!
We had decided to try Royal Caribbean Cruise
lines this time as we hadn't cruised with them before ..........
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We
started by visiting the maritime museum since it was next to the cruise
ship's berth and it was celebrating my birthday 21st Oct (albeit 1805) -
unfortunately, although the USS Midway was moored on the next key, we didn't get
aboard & had to settle for this photograph of her flight deck taken from our balcony |
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We
even managed a smile after the "hottest" Mexican we'd ever
tasted |
Far
left - we stumbled into a church in the middle of a wedding and then
watched them parade past (Above) whilst we "enjoyed" lunch
(Left) |
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Our
Ferry (A floating up market holiday camp for old farts really)- we tried
all the activities - |
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Unfortunately
my hands were not up to "rock climbing" so I fell off" |
Now
this is more like what old farts do! |
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As usual Jill
was attracted to the sculptures in Mexico |
Intrepid English
tourists in the Costa Rican rain forests!
Actually - Our
dining room colleagues for two weeks..... |
Jill,
Tony, Pat, John. Norah, Les |
 |
The most interesting part
of the trip was passing through the Panama Canal - this is where our cabin
and balcony, right at the back of the ship, paid off....
Left - Jill actually got out of
bed at 06.00 Hrs as we entered the canal passing under the "Bridge
of the Americas" which joins North & South America
Right - Although she immediately
went back to bed, by the evening she was ready to enjoy going through the
final and most spectacular locks! |
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We went through slightly ahead of another
cruise ship, which was slightly smaller than ours, but you can see how
massive the structures are and how much the drop is! The locomotives
are there to hold the ships in place so that they do not damage either
themselves or the locks - there were 4 in front and four behind. |
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After Panama (Where, naturally, I bought a hat), the cruise continued
through the Caribbean finishing in Miami.
A Quiet Christmas?
After the cruise we had another week in France to oversee a
new central heating system being installed as we're going
to end this year as we've spent most of it - away from home (Our English home
that is) - Danielle and Chris are joining us and we're off to France for a
family Christmas and some skiing. We're staying on for the New Year
celebrations, but Dani
& Chris are returning to Luxembourg and London respectively, for theirs.
Jill said she had had enough of traveling this year and vowed
that 2006 would be quiet year. She gave herself her notice a few months ago and
retires from the business on 16th December! However, she then decided that
instead of a big bash for her 60th on the 7th January, she would like a quiet
family affair and have smaller celebrations throughout the year and around the
world!
We start 2 days after returning from France by heading off to
Rome for a long weekend to celebrate her actual birthday . We're meeting
up with Danielle and Chris their with their respective new boy/girl friends so
it should be a pleasant weekend. Two weeks later we head off round the world
again for 6 weeks, west about this time. We shall be visiting a few places we
haven't visited, yet meeting up with many old friends Down Under! (So much
for the not traveling in 2006!!)
| Thanks to the fact that we live within 1/2 a
kilometre to an historic monument (the church) and the intransigence of
"Batiment de France" who control planning within such areas, we
cannot get planning permission for our "mini-chateau". We
have decided therefore to simply extend our existing house and have lots
of smaller outbuildings containing the garages, pool room with
indoor/outdoor pool, Jill's studios and a summer kitchen. This has
been approved so, hopefully, we will start building in the Spring for
completion by summer. However, it is our intention to invite as many
friends as possible to spend long weekends to celebrate Jill's 60th so we
look forward to seeing you all in 2006.
Right - We look forward to welcoming you
here in 2006 |
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We
wish everyone and your families a very happy Christmas
and
a healthy and happy 2006
& may all your
sunsets be as beautiful as this one ...
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