Up and running again!

We are off for another adventure. This time to South Africa for six months.  Just testing to make sure that I remember how to post a blog! More information on its way.
Heather

Heading off again!

Well, we are heading off again!  This time we are going to South Africa for 6 months.  Dave will be a visiting professor at University of the Witwatersrand and I am going to be an external assessor of the South African Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths. All the kids are coming of course and will be attending school there. Elizabeth will be at the American International School and Holly and Rory are attending Sacred Heart College.  We are hoping for some travel around the region both before and after school starts and with luck, my sister Christine, will be joining us for Christmas.  Let the adventure begin!

Memories

 

I want to capture in my mind and in my heart some of the wonderful moments we have experienced over the last six months. Warning….this may have special meaning for only our family!

Arriving in Annecy in February and loving the lake and canals.  Our first experience with fondue and an introduction to French cheese. Rory and Heather rollerblading. Skiing in the Alps.  Eating French fries up on the mountain. Sledging in Interlaken. Meeting teachers and getting enrolled at school. Looking for the darn trouses and fountain pens. Settling into my office at the WHO and making friends with Matthews, Annie and Severin.  The market in Ferney Voltaire.  Fudge.  Wine.  Cheese. Chocolate.  Driving the Renault Scenic. Biking to the bakery in the morning for baguette, croissant and pain au chocolat. Passing fields of bison on the way to work in the morning. Singing in the car.  Listening to Virgin Radio and World Radio Switzerland.  Our French CD’s…Les Grands Poetes. Claudia, Mauricio, Nathan, Livia and Hannah.  Soccer with Tim and Emma.  Martin and Doris.  Dick and Mary.  Juliette and Dan.  Canada day with Brazilians, Austrians and Germans.Memorable dinners with Keith and Jennifer.  Wine from the bomb shelter. Dave having dinner with Alexa in Geneva. Talking the boat to Yvoire across Lac Leman.  Brunch at the Olympic museum in Lausanne.   Rory finally really learning to ride his bike without fear despite crashing into a parked car in Stockholm..   Dinner at Annies.  Doug Laube .  Singing along with Anna Laube in the car. Athens when Dave yelled out to Heather “Forget about the kids Heath. Save yourself!! (long story)  Visits with Camille and Charlotte. Long car rides with some short tempers.  Heather saying “If you don’t stop bickering, I’m gonna pound ya!!” Musesums, churches, battlefields and concentration camps.  Palaces.  Swimming…..in Annecy, Lake Geneva, Hallstatt, Poking, Lake Como, the Mediterranean, Stockholm, the Atlantic, the pool in Ferney.  Dave and Rory in their little bathing suits (French style). Window shopping in Geneva, Paris, Rome, Florence, London.  Traveling by car, boat, train and plane.  Our B and B owners who befriended us and shared stories with us.  Friends we made along the way.  Rory’s conclusion that Rome is the best city ever.  Taking the “Roman Holiday”.  Rory fainting in the colloseum and then picking himself up and carrying on . Rory saying to Elizabeth “Is that a historical question?”  when really he meant rhetorical. Hiking in the Alps. Playing “stone face” in Sifnos  Lost in Sifnos with Jerome and Elise. The Greek equivalent of the snow birds putting on a private show that we were able to witness. Attending concerts in Salzburg and Vienna.  “Betty Blue Eyes” in London.  Suzanne, Lorraine and Mike.  Running around in their gardens.  Friends from school…..Nina, Clemence, Camille and their families.  Madame Gentle.  Rory and his Classe Verte.  Holly learning to play rugby. Dropping the kids off at school and marveling at the mountains just outside the doors.  Going for walks in Bretigny. Our lovely house with its roses. Awakening to the swallows each morning (we had three nests under our eaves) Dinners outside on our “patio”  Claudia dealing with the rat!  “Keep calm and carry on”. Dave looking for (but never finding) man capris.  Sleeping in dormitories in the Alpenhof, Lucerne, Lausanne, Menagio. Christine and Dana sharing the experience in Italy.  Hiking and gondala rides. Cow bells.  Fields of poppies. Breath taking beauty.  

 Arriving at the airport in Toronto in tears.  Wishing it would never end. Giving thanks for the precious time together as a family.  Wanting more. The warm embrace of extended family in Canada.  Stoney Lake (swimming, skiing, tubing, bonfires) and finally, back to Halifax. 

Southern England and home

The "tree" in Lingfield, where Heathers mother lived

The church in which Heathers parents were married

Nelson's ship, the Victory

Arundel Castle

Arundel Castle

Dinner with Mike and Suzanne

On the plane, heading home

Jumping back into life in Canada (at the cottage on Stoney Lake)

Sunset from the plane

Arrival back in Halifax, tired but happy

London Pictures

St. Pancras Station, London(arriving on the Eurostar)

First night in London. Dinner with Lorraine

British Museum

Buckingham Palace

Trafalgar Square

Pretending to be bored with Big Ben!!

The London Eye

Visiting the Tower of London

Tower Bridge

London and southern England

 

 London, England. 

We stayed in a Kings College London residence in West Hampstead and found it comfortable with easy access to downtown, but nothin’ fancy!!  We packed a lot into a few days, but feel, even more than we did with any other city, that we need to go back.  We saw a lot, just not enough!!  The British Museum was a wonder and terrific for the kids (free too!!).  We loved the Egyptian mummies especially.  Our ramblings took us to Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Covent Gardens, Picadilly, Westminster and the Parliament Buildings, Big Ben and the London Eye.  We also toured the Tower of London (any idea how many suits of army Henry VIII had?? They got bigger and bigger with the passage of time!)   We “shopped” but only really bought some Olympic 2012 gear.  Also picked up a Wills and Katie mug that I am quite proud of!  We  (particularly Elizabeth!) loved Marks and Spencers (where we bought some things) and Fortnum and Mason (where we only bought tea).  Lets face it: London is not cheap!

Despite not seeing it all we dragged ourselves away to the south of England where two of my cousins live.  Lorraine is in Crawley Downs and Suzanne is in Walberton (both in Sussex).  After one night with Lorraine (she was leaving the next day for Canada!) we landed in on Suzanne and spent a delightful three days with her and her partner, Mike.  We visited Lingfield, the village where my mother and her parents had moved to when she was a teenager and where she later married my father.  The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul dates back to the 1200’s.  Imagine being married in front of the tombs of medieval knights and their ladies!! We had tea at a little tea shop in the village and visited the pond with its ancient tree and mini prison (called “the cage”).  I remembered these from when I had gone to England with my family almost 40 years ago. Our travels in the south of England also took us to Portsmouth where we were able to tour Nelson’s ship, the Victory.  We stood on the spot where Nelson was shot and learned about the historic and decisive battle of Trafalgar with Napoleon’s fleet.  We also went to Arundel Castle. For those of you who saw the movie “The Young Victoria”, it was partly filmed at Arundel.  It is still privately owned by the Earl of Arundel/Duke of Norfolk and his wife and since the family lives there, is not completely open to the public.  Much of it can be toured however and is wonderful. We also made a trip to the beach where more swimming took place. We followed that up with some traditional English fish and chips!  Very good, and very bad for you!  Finally, we made an excursion to Chichester - a very pretty town with a wonderful cathedral. 

Two entertainments that I mustn’t forget to mention.  In London we went to the musical “Betty Blue Eyes” – featuring a pig in postwar (and ration-era) Britain; and in Portsmouth we saw the final installment of Harry Potter.  Great excitement for us all!

Finally, back to Heathrow Airport for the trip back sure to Nova Scotia, via Toronto and the cottage. A mixture of excitement and apprehension for us all, as our amazing adventure came to an end but our arrival home beckoned. We have had an incredible journey and have made memories that we will treasure in the years ahead.

Paris at night