Canada (by Rob)

In Canada we stayed with friends for 5 days. We went to whistler for 2 nights where they had the winter olimpics this year. We also went on a cablecar to the snow.

We played in the snow and we had a coffee. We even went on another cablecar. When we were going up and down we saw 2 bears. I played trivial pisoot with Leyland. I like Leys dog called Blossom.

Vancouver: worth Whistling about!

Before going to Portland in the US (for a conference) we planned our flights so that we could spend a long weekend in Vancouver with our old friends, Leyland and Lise Pitt. We were very good friends with Leyland’s parents in Pretoria in the early 90s and have known Ley, Lise, Linda and Christine since then. Leyland also supervised Mike’s Masters thesis in '93 (at Henley - see earlier blog) and helped us to go to Australia in ‘96. Joined by Wade Halvorson (our oldest Australian friend - from Perth) and Nic Terblanche (from Stellenbosch), we all spent a glorious weekend up at Whistler: British Columbia’s famed resort and recreation complex and home to many events at the 2010 Winter Olympics (see below). Whistler is like no ski resort we’ve ever been to – it’s simply spectacular on every level. The highlight was a ski-lift trip to the very peak of Blackcomb (mountain) and then a cable car across the valley to the peak of Whistler - on the longest unsupported cable car span in the world (3km). See www.peak2peakgondola.com.

As always, meals were a particular highlight (Ley is a sensational cook) and the wines consumed were not overly modest – demonstrating that Italians don’t have a monopoly on ‘la Dolce Vita’! Another highlight from Whistler was seeing black bears in their natural habitat (see above) – and before you ask, no, they don’t always ___ in the woods.

Creating new memories with old friends

A great part of this trip has been catching up with our many old, dear friends scattered around the world (the ‘upside’ of the South African diaspora)! We have already mentioned Mike’s schoolmate, Sean, whom we spent time with in Italy and Germany, and the Reids. We then spent a great day/evening with another of Mike’s school friends, Colin Makin (top left). Mike and Col were in the same boarding house at Kearsney (1981-1985). Colin and Kieran (Tom’s godfather - who will no doubt feature heavily in future blogs) also shared a flat in Durban during their undergraduate days (in a block where Chris and Ann Beath once lived).

We then enjoyed a wonderful evening in Wimbledon with one of Lee-Ann’s oldest childhood friends, Cath Michell, her husband Charl and their two boys, Dan and Joe (top right). Lee-Ann and Cath spent many (if not most) school holidays together at Palm Beach on the Natal South Coast (where Lee's parents now live).

Finally, we had a lovely lunch (at Epson Race course) with Luke Jackson, his delightful wife, Suzanne, and their children, Erin and Rory (above). Luke and Mike began their working careers together as graduate trainees at Ford Motor Company in Pretoria almost 20 years ago. Luke also drove the bridesmaids at our wedding and spent a few months with us in Perth before Tom was born. It's been amazing seeing our boys playing with all our friends children and hearing (i.e. being bored by) many stories from their parents ‘good ol days’. Of course, it also makes us forty-something-year-olds fell old! On a less cheerful note, the only disappointment in the UK was not being able to see Mike’s cousin Gavin, who, along with his son Alex, had chicken pox!

Henley: steeped in family history

On a glorious spring day we took the boys to the beautiful Oxfordshire town of Henley-on-Thames to show them some of their family history. The picturesque Business School (bottom pic) is where Mike completed his Masters thesis in 1993 with our dear friend Leyland Pitt (see forthcoming Vancouver blog). That trip was the first overseas trip for both M + L (and included an engagement in Paris - see earlier blog).

In 1999 we returned to Henley (from Perth) for our first overseas sabbatical: an ambitious trip which involved taking a nine-month-old (Tom) around the world (literally). In fact, Tom took his very first steps in the cottage at Henley where we stayed in’ 99 (top right pic) and spent his first birthday at Heathrow airport. In addition to London and Henley, we also visited Oxford, Wimbledon, Kew Gardens, Reigate and Brighton.

The Reidbucks

One of many highlights of the trip so far has been spending time with two of our oldest friends, Craig and Marijke Reid. The four of us go back more than half a lifetime: they were with us the night we met (!) and we attended both of their 21sts. During our Uni days we went camping with them in Lesotho, Zimbabwe (not something we’d do now!) and the Drakensburg and ‘Craigie’ was a groomsman at our wedding. Needless to say, we did a lot of late night reminiscing around the kitchen table during our stay: listening to 80s music, enjoying the odd bottle of red, and even walking like Egyptians (a la Bangles) after a spot of routine deer stalking in the woods with the neighbour (as one tends to do in Surrey!). The little Reidbucks (Josh and Dan) and our two got on famously and the mix of different accents in the house was an auditory delight! We all miss the Reidbucks terribly, particularly Smokey Reid, the cat:)

London (by Tom)

Here’s London for you. When we arrived (by train) we got on a hop on, hop off bus that took us to the Tower of London. There we got on a river cruise up the Thames to Big Ben and the house of Palament. The commentator on the river cruise was really funny! Big Ben was smaller than I expected, but it was really cool. We got off the boat and back on the bus, which took us to Buckingham Palace where the royal family lives. We were at the front gates when we saw Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband, drive out in his Land Rover! We had a picnic in the park and then went to Trafalgar Square, South Africa house and down Whitehall to Downing Street. Where we saw the house of thenew prime minister of England David Cameron. It was his first day as prime minister. London is a really nice place to visit.

The best day of my life

Last weekend we stayed at Chelsea Football Club’s hotel at Stamford Bridge. It was a very emotional two days for me and it has been hard for me to write about it! On Saturday we went on a tour of the stadium, the press conference room, the Chelsea and opposition dressing rooms and the dug outs were they sit during a game. Then I met most of the Chelsea team! John Terry (left pic), Frank Lampard (right pic), Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Alex, Michael Ballack, Florent Malouda, Pedro. Lamps is one of my favourite players which is why, I chose no. 8 for my club shirt. The game was a stunner! The singing was loud and never stopped and there were some funny songs! Chelsea beat Wigan 8-0. There were lots of records broken at the match. 103 goals for the season, Drogba hat-trick and golden boot, biggest winning margin in Chelsea’s history. If Chelsea can win another FA cup tomorrow it will be the first double in the clubs history. This was the best moment of my life!

“We love Paris, in the Springtime....”

After returning the campervan to Munich with 3,350km’s on its clock, we took an overnight train (last Tuesday night) to Paris. Mike gave a seminar at ESSEC and they kindly put us up in a nice furnished apartment for two nights, right at the Arc de Triomphe, a 100m from the top of the Champs des Elysees. On Wednesday we had a massive day (walking >10km), down the CdE, to the Louvre (Tom was desperate to see the Mona Lisa), then we tried in vain to find the restaurant where we got engaged (on 18 Dec 1993), but unlike our marriage, it does not appear to have endured! So, after lunch, we continued down the Seine then crossed over to Notre Dame (which Rob declared was the last church he is visiting on this trip). On Friday Mike spent the day at ESSEC and Lee-Ann and the boys had a picnic under the Eiffel Tower. On Friday evening we flew to London where we were greeted by our old and dear friends, Craig and Marijke (and Josh and Dan), with whom we are staying. So, after nearly 3 months its Au Revoir to continental Europe and if the BA strike gets called off at some stage, it might be gidday USA a week from now....watch this space!

...and then back to France...!

From Barca back to France. We spent our 8th night on the Med again, a few metres off the beach, at Marseillan-Plage (just north of Narbonne). But, it was a different Med to the cote d’Azur (days 4 and 5). Windy and rough seas, but still charming (a bit like Cape Shank in winter). The next day we headed off for Lyon, but somehow got pulled towards the mountains and stumbled across a charming little village, Les Abrets (just north of Grenoble). The campsite was called Le Coin Tranquille, and it will no doubt return to being tranquil after we've left (www.coin-tranquille.com). We even had to order our baguettes the day before, and they were delivered fresh in the morning. We took a long walk in the countryside in the late afternoon and it was just so very, very rustic, authentic and ‘French’ (sounds lame, but true). Its not hard to see where Monet drew his inspiration from.

Breathtaking Barcelona

Barcelona!! (think of the Queen song). How does one describe this stunning city? We weren’t sure what to expect, but were literally blown away by the place. It’s a really impressive, liveable city on every level. Climate, public transport, gardens, museums, history (>2,000 years of it), great buildings, beaches, friendly locals - they seem to have it all. They are also fairly partial towards soccer. See pic (below) of the boys at Camp Nou, FC Barcelona’s 100,000 seat home ground. We were in the city on the day of the UEFA semi-final (Barca v Inter), but unable to find a spare $4,000 for last minute tickets, we watched the game live in a restaurant with big screens and dozens of obsessed locals. Quite an experience in itself (and yes, we did have Paella for dinner!).

And as an added Catalan bonus, our campsite was 5-star (literally and figuratively: http://www.vilanovapark.es/). The pic above is Mike outside Santa Maria de la Mar, the 15th century church to which Ildefonso Falcones international bestseller ‘Cathedral of the Sea’ (great book – highly recommended!) is written as a homage.