How About a Rhinefahrt?

After a fun evening of BBQing and playing card games with Berit and Oma, we all headed just south of Bonn this morning to meet with aunt Helga and uncle Ralph (our frequent visitors to California). We had a real German breakfast (I thought I had taken a picture of it). Then we headed over to Koenigswinter to board a ferry up the Rhine to the old medieval town of Linz.

 Here comes the boat.

 We all started out by cuddling up in the beach baskets outside, but most of us soon headed one deck down to the sheltered panorama restaurant.

 These are the Drachenfels ruins, which we visited two years ago. 

At this point I will be inserting a picture of what is left of the bridge at Remagen at a later time. Andrew took this picture and it is still on his camera. 

One of the remaining pillars now houses a peace museum. 

 We had a about two hours to walk around Linz. Fortunately it was staying dry so we were able to stretch our legs without getting soaked. 

This was a fountain created by an artist who is famous for building similar fountains in the city of Aachen. All the figurines had bendable joints to the amusement of not only Sophie. 

In one shop window we discovered these juke box puppets. Upon paying 1 Euro you could choose a song from a long list of tunes and they started playing away. The mimics were excellent including eyebrows raising to the swing of the beat. Oh, and Andrew chose Stars and Stripes Forever. 

Even the local street musician from a couple of blocks down came to join us watching the performance.

 Sophie was enthralled. 

Back on the ferry downriver Sophie received her hot chocolate with cream as promised. She has been such a trooper with all these day trips. 

Skye Is The Limit (at least for us on this trip)

The weather had turned quite a bit cooler today, so we had made a wise decision in moving our trip to the Isle of Skye from yesterday to today.

 At Mallaig harbor, on our way to the ferry, Grandad showed us his boat. In the row of four, it's the second one from the right. 

 I asked Sophie to pose in front of our ferry...

 ...the she asked me to pose in front of this bus. 

 Leaving Mallaig. It was about a half hour ferry ride to Armadale - enough time to walk the entire ship once, via the cafe and the souvenir shop. 

 Between the Red and the Black Cuillins. We ordered some tea and scones in a restaurant at the crossroads just before a busload of French tourists arrived.

 Debra and I

 We drove past Talisker Whisky Distillery, erroneously thinking that it was closed for construction, on our way to Dunvegan Castle. I was impressed to find a castle like this in so remote a spot. 

 And such elaborate gardens!

We wanted to have an "inbetween" lunch/dinner in Portree (the main town on Skye), but found out after walking the entire "downtown", that every restaurant was closing between lunch and dinner. We thought we were cutting it a little close for the last ferry to the mainland, only to find out that the ferry was delayed coming in.

Ben could spot his home from the railing.

Looking for Neverland in London

On the itinerary today: 

Sightseeing (above all show Sophie where Kate and Wills got married), find a pirate ship in the middle of London for Sophie, then a night off for Mama and Daddy.

 First stop: Westminster

 Somebody is pulling faces and it's not Big Ben.

 Open Sesame!

(at Palace of Westminster)

 The Horse Guards in Whitehall

We checked out the Mall being prepared for tonight's concert, Trafalgar Square and had lunch in the Crypt Café under St Martin in-the-Fields.

Then we had to go find that pirate ship playground.

 And here it is: at the Princess Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens (near Kate's future home). It was the most impressive playground I have ever seen. All fenced in and only people with children were allowed in. It was built based on the Peter Pan story with the ship being the absolute highlight of the park. 

 Sophie went wild!

 She found the music court

 Here she is brewing a magic potion in the fairy tale section

 Then it was back to the pirate ship and up the crow's nest. Can you spot her near the top?

 "I am Peter Pan and you are Captain Hook!"

Then she jumped off the ship so many times trying to fly until she banged her chin on her knee and came crying.

 As I mentioned before, tonight was a night off for Andrew and I. - Thank you Sandra! - While Sophie and Auntie Sandra were painting their nails and watching the big concert for the Queen at the hotel, we went back to Saint Martin-in-the-Fields for this concert.

 Andrew found another person's blog on the internet about this concert with some very good pictures:

http://blog.londonconnection.com/2012/06/04/st-martin-in-the-fields-for-mozarts-coronation-mass/

Can you see me on picture 8? That is how good our seats were - we looked the sopranos in the eyes.

 This is us enjoying an intermission drink back in the Crypt.

Our concert was fantastic; the most enjoyable one I have been to.

After singing out loud to Rule Britannia, Andrew felt ready to conquer the world as we stepped out onto Trafalgar Square. Instead we "invaded" the Mall to see the last hour of the big concert there. 

It was a breathtaking atmosphere - so many people and everyone was just enjoying themselves. 

We "saw" Stevie Wonder, Sir Paul McCartney, watched the Queen light the beacon and were amazed by the fireworks display. Truly a once in a lifetime event.

Queenspotting

The big day has finally arrived. We were headed to London on what we started calling our hajj. Call us crazy for joining millions of other nutters on trying to catch a glimpse of the Royal Family. I think we were all a bit excited about the next three days.

 Waiting for the train. Sophie is dressed for the occasion. Her t-shirt says: Off to London for Tea with the Queen.

Not quite awake yet?

 Everyone on the train was reading about the Jubilee, including Sophie. For once we were glad that our stop, Bournemouth, was the first one on the line. Towards the end of the journey there was standing room only even for first class passengers. 

 From Waterloo Station to our hotel on the Jubilee line (how fitting) - Sophie's first ride on the tube (going against the traffic). Almost a non-event for our little city slicker. 

We dropped our bags off and headed straight to Battersea Park where we had bought tickets for the jubilee celebrations there. The flotilla was scheduled to start just up the river from there.

 While Andrew and Sophie reserved  our little viewing spot near the shore, Sandra and I were looking for something to drink.

This was the queue for the £27 pitcher of Pimm's. Yes, maybe not. We will be better prepared next time.

 Back at the viewing spot: Sophie is practicing her wave and cheers.

 Adding a little more decoration while waiting.

 Then the first boats started passing by. We had to peak through a bunch of branches and undergrowth, but it was still better than the back of somebody else's head. 

This was one of the orchestra boats playing Handel's Music For the Royal Fireworks. Very atmospheric.

 Then finally the barge carrying the Queen and Kate and the rest of the bunch passed by! Can you spot her/them? Why did Camilla have to wear the same color as the Queen?

 Here is a closer look at the same picture. Our one and only live spotting of the Royals, but it will still be worth reading the blog posts about the rest of our trip, I promise. 

Sophie saw Princess Kate and was so excited!

 Further into the park there were screens with a better view, but if we had watched them, we could as well have stayed at home - warm and dry with a glass of Pimm's. And what would have been the fun in that?

Once the Queens boat had passed it started to rain. And it was not just a shower. Still we wanted to take a peak at the festival at Battersea Park - the theme was vintage covering the past 60 years of the Queen's reign. 

This is Sophie and Andrew dancing the Lambeth Walk. 

 Then Sophie spotted this kind of scary giant swing - with a big US flag! She grabbed Andrew's hand and gave it a whirl. Andrew had to hold on to her tight, but she looked quite happy afterwards. 

 Europe has given Sophie a thick skin. A little rain cannot deter her from doing laps on yet another carousel. 

 But with no tea tent in sight and the rain pounding down, we had finally had it. Absolutely drenched (except for Sophie in the stroller) we headed back towards Victoria tube station. Only to find out that they had temporarily closed this tube station due to overload. Then Sandra spotted a bus going towards our hotel and that is how Sophie got to ride for the first time on a London bus on the top level. 

It felt so nice to change into some dry clothes, but we agreed that it was absolutely worth it and a lot of fun was had today!

Off to Daddy's Old Stomping Ground

We headed to the West Country towards Andrew's hometown of Weymouth for a day trip today. Sophie had been there before, but the last time was two years ago and she was too young to remember. Today, she was taking it all in and very interested in learning which house Daddy used to live in and where he went to school. 

 On the way I asked to stop at Shitterton to have this picture taken (Andrew was embarrassed). The town finally figured that this stone will be impossible to steal as a souvenir. 

 Our first stop was the Royal Navy cemetery in Portland. It is a very quaint cemetery on the hillside overlooking Portland harbor. Since Andrew's grandparents' ashes were scattered (partially at this site), the family donated a  bench in their memory here. The view is fantastic. Unfortunately, Sophie was acting a little grumpy at the time. Probably getting a bit hungry.

 Thus, we headed back to Weymouth for some real fish and chips by the harbor. Sophie is not so sure...

 With our stomachs filled, Andrew insisted we take the row boat ferry across the harbor. It was not just a first for Sophie but for Sandra as well who had lived in Weymouth for years. That is not Sandra in the picture by the way. 

 Frolicking on the beach. It could have been a wee bit warmer. 

Not too cold for a traditional donkey ride on the beach, however. Reliving her daddy's childhood.

{If anyone has a picture of Andrew on a donkey - I would love to have a copy}

Afterwards we visited Andrew's other aunt Susan and her husband Dave for some tea and cake. By then the rain had set in - in time for our upcoming jubilee pilgrimage to London.

Here is one picture of Sophie's last trip to Weymouth two years ago visiting with great-granny, who has since passed away.