We Say Hello to Kris, Greg and London, and Farewell To Taffy

Tower of London.

Where the Crown Jewels are kept inside the Tower.

London Bridge.

Walking home on Picadilly after the Phantom.

Changing of the Guard.

The Glass Carriage - the one William and Catherine used.

The State Carriage - this weighs 4 tons.

Westminster Abbey is an incredible place. 

Our friends the Soupens.

The girls in Covenant Garden.

The Tube is a great way to travel.

Outside Kris and Greg's apartment - ready to go to Lion King.

Special dinner to celebrate Taffy's life with Kris and Greg. Greg broke out a 1995 Krug and 2001 Hewitt - wow!!

Long-time friends Kris Harvey and Greg Kryder and their golden retriever, Taffy, moved from Paris to London in the fall of 2009. You can see them in early blog posts in Paris and during our summer week in southern France. While Steve paid a quick visit in May, 2010, the family hadn't gotten to London to see them yet. We took advantage of a four day weekend in June to make the quick flight over to see them. Sadly, only 1.5 weeks before we were to arrive, Taffy passed away. We are all saddened by this, our family was very fond of her. We decided to use the time to celebrate her life with Kris and Greg, while taking in some of London's great sites.

London is an incredible city and Kris and Greg's apartment is ideally located in Mayfair, between Hyde Park and Green Park. We toured the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, the Royal Mews, saw the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, and enjoyed having tea. We also took the girls to the theatre and saw Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King. We enjoyed both of them. Phantom turned out to be special because we met John Henry Owen and Tabitha Webb, the actors who played Phantom and Christine. They signed our program and spent time chatting with us. Owen was voted the favorite Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, and has played Phantom over 1400 times - what a treat.

We also had lunch with the Soupens - good friends from Dubai. Ashley and Steve worked together in Dubai for Honeywell. It was so good to see them again, too. 

We continue to be blessed and are mindful of how fortunate we are.

Lucerne with Auntie Jenn

Simple ingredients - butter, veal, butter, bread crumbs and butter.

Famous Lion memorializing the murder of unarmed Swiss Guards during the French Revolution

Chapel Bridge. Tower was used as a prison. 

A little fuel after an full day of sight seeing.

Classic Swiss town in the German speaking part of Suisse.

Ridiculously beautiful place.

The site of considerable butter intake - The Old Swiss House.

Steve had a business meeting in Lucerne in June, 2010. Unfortunately, it was business first and he didn't get a chance to see as much of the city as he wanted. He did have a fantastic dinner at The Old Swiss House - one that he wanted to repeat. Auntie Jenn was visiting us in Crans on her way to Berlin and we decided to do a day trip to Lucerne. It is a bit of a drive, so we had to move fast and pack as much in as we could. We had lunch at the Old Swiss House (it was veal, butter and Barbaresco - heaven), viewed on the the largest Picasso collections outside of Spain, strolled across Lucerne's famous 14th century covered wooden bridge and took in the beautiful scenery - another example of quaint Swiss-German architecture, pristine lakes all surrounded by the majestic Alps. This place is crazy beautiful.

Morges Tulip Festival

Just south of Lausanne is the city of Morges. Like so many cities in Switzerland, considerable resources and care is invested in the parks and gardens. And it shows. Each May, Morges holds it annual tulip festival at Parc de l'Independance. It is a sight. With over 100,000 tulips representing 300 varieties, the colors are amazing. Kate was in her element and documented the trip with over 300 tulip photos. Not sure we got them all, but we have many photos to enjoy. To add to the views, the park is located on the banks of Lake Geneva. The flowers, the lake and the Alps - simply breathtaking. And it's free......

South Africa Holiday

View from apartment balcony of Lionshead

View from apartment - ship in distance

View from our apartment window - evening

Camps' Bay looking up at Table Mountain

Beach at Camp's Bay

View from apartment of cloud coming over Table Mountain

View from our apartment balcony

Camp's Bay Beach

Anna and Kate at Camp's Bay - Lionhead in Background

One of the gifts from Dubai was it provided a venue to meet so many people from all over the world. We met many South Africans and all encouraged us to visit their country. So we did. With their help, we created an itinerary that focused on the natural gifts of the land and a bit of history of the country and its people. We rented an apartment in Camps Bay, a suburb of Cape Town ideally situated within the city. Within 20 minutes we could be in the center of Cape Town and its warf, within an hour we could be in the winelands or well on our way to Cape Point. Within a 10 minute walk, we could be at the sandy beaches of Camps Bay. The trip met all expectations - the people warm, friendly and eager to teach us about "This is Africa"; the scenery was spectacular and its history and historical places impactful; and the food and wine exceeded all expectations. We managed to drive on the "wrong" side of the road without too much trouble and, GPS in hand, found the country easy to travel. While we enjoyed the luxury afforded by our circumstances, we continued to be mindful of both how fortunate and blessed we are and the struggles of too many of God's people without basic necessities. All of us want to return to this paradise, but must settle for the memories created during this wonderful holiday

Robben Island

View of Cape Town from Robben Island

Leper cemetery and church

The quarry where political prisoners performed hard labor.

The entry point for political prisoners.

N. Mandela's cell for 18 years

Masemola served 26 years at Robben Island

Our tour guide and 6 year prisoner of Robben Island

Robben Island is located 4 miles off the coast of Cape Town. The island is about two miles long and just over one mile wide. Ideally situated to isolate, it has a long history of being a destination for exiles. Originally used as a prison by the early Dutch settlements, it was later used as a leper colony and finally a prison for political prisoners during the years of apartheid, including Nelson Mandela. Today it is a monument to the triumph of freedom and is now a historical place open to the public. Our tour was conducted by a former political prisoner who not only showed us the prison facilities, but also shared his personal experiences as being a prisoner, including the tour of Block F, where he and 62 other prisoners were held. As we traveled back to the mainland by ferry, we talked about how grateful we are from a country with a government of the people, for the people.