Copenhagen

I went to visit Microsoft's European Headquarters in Copenhagan on a fact finding mission. The building is set in a beautiful forest setting on the outskirts of the city - not a bad place to work!

The Little Mermaid is the most stared at little statue in all of Denmark. Much smaller than I expected, but a tremendous attractor of the crowds. Someone should introduce her to the Manneken Pis - they'd make a cute couple...

The poor gaurd's at the Queen´s Palace have to be very patient - the tourists can go right up to them and take photos right under their noses. I think the Buckingham Palace gaurds get a better deal, protected behind the gates from the hordes.

Scenes from Copenhagen's most famous church. I liked the statues outside - lots of different characters in different poses, all looking very serene and saintly. There must have been twenty of them.

Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything"

Wow, what a brilliant book. I have always enjoyed Bryson's hearty travel books but he's really blown me away this time with his rivetting account of everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilisation. This book should be on every school's reading list because it makes physics, chemistry, biology and geography and all those other cob-webby text book subjects come alive like I'd never have thought possible. Brims with strange and fascinating facts that make you gasp and contemplate, I can't recommend this book more. 

My cousin, Kyle

Mike and Trish sent this great action shot of my cousin, Kyle, from Canada. Great photo. I can't believe how grown up he is. I still think of him as a little kid. This shot sure dispels that! Makes me feel a little old. And wistful I haven't met him yet.

Gothenberg

Off to Gothenberg on Wednesay and Thursday. I was rather busy so no time for siteseeing, although I was here over 30 times last year so did't mind too much. I was upgraded in my hotel (they said it wsas beacause I am a preferred customer but I think they ran out of normal rooms...) to a palacial suite with three rooms and two TV's. Did't get too much time to enjoy it tho - just a place to crash.

I met up with some friends from work after a busy day in Gothenberg. THta's Caroline you can see in the doorway, looking smashing in the red coat against the blue door. Smaka is famous for it's Swedish meatballs and the food was great as always.

Amorous Andrew

Andrew after a couple of glasses of wine.

Crepes in Cambridge Square

This is one of our most popular rituals - stopping off for crepes after visiting the Cambridge Library on a Saturday morning.

Visit to Buckingham Palace

We went to visit the inside of Buckingham Palace with Rosemary, Nick and Sally. Wow, what opulent banquet halls - quite exquisite. The palace has 500 rooms and 78 bathrooms, so I doubt the queen and her hubby ever have rows about who takes a shower first or who is taking up the most cupboard space.

Proms at Hyde Park

Then off to the Proms. Lots of Pomp and Circumstance, flag waving and singing at the top of our lungs. The Corrs also featured, who I love, so I was rivetted. The weather threatened a few times, but ended up behaving itself. All in all, a wonderful, truly British experience.

Lisbon

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New Lisbon

Off to Lisbon for a day and a night to get our Portuguese dealer sold on a web site. The meeting went very well and then it was straight off to do some sightseeing (first time in this part of the world).

My hotel was right accross from the grounds of the Expo 98 so that was my first port of call. Lots of very modern, flashy buildings. I took the lift to the top of the tower (see middle photo) for a good view. The Lisbon bridge is very impressive. Built specially for the Expo, it reaches 17 km's accross a very wide river.

Old Lisbon

It got pretty dark very quickly once I got to downtown Lisbon which was a pity because it was beautiful and there were photo opportunities galore. I walked up to the castle on the hill that looked down onto the city (see last photo) and it provided a relaxing spot to contemplate. I found the city to be suprsingly run down in parts, but very atmospheric and packed with history. Not that I had a chance to see that much! Hopefully, I'll be able to wrangle another trip in a month's time.

Trip to Brussels

I went on a whirlwind trip to Brussels but managed to stop off at the Manneken Piss and Grande Place in the evening for some photos. The light wasn't condusive for master pieces but here and below are a couple of snaps. The drawn version of the little boy is photo'd off a window. Who would have thought that a little boy peeing could cause so much excitement! The little flash of light in the window shot (giving him a bit of modesty) was a complete flook of the light, i certainly wasn't trying to do anything clever. Amazing co-incidental positioning!

Grande Place

A walk with the dogs

Went for a walk with Amanda and a friend along the river with their two dogs, Geena (the collie) and Eliza (the pug). I stopped off for a dip in the Cam which was deceptively cold!!

Exploring Ely

We explored the town of Ely today with Mike and mum and had a lovely day. Started off with lunch at the local pub where we got to enjoy the stunning weather in the garden.

The highlight of Ely was the cathedral. Very impressive. Built in 1077, it took 292 years to build (stats provided by Mike after a bout of research!)

How is this for a skylight!

This swan was quite a friendly fellow.

Mike saw an antique shop full of old things an enthusiatically encouraged us in. I entertained myself by taking portrait photos of little figures around the shop.

Punting in Cambridge

We all went punting on the Cam on Friday evening (no trip to Cambrige is complete without a punt) and took a lovely picnic along. Here are some photos taken along the river. Good fun - The colleges in Cambridge always looks extra special from the river.

This duck was very inquisitive and came to say "hi" and ask to share some of our picnic. Mum and I had a little competition to see who could take the best photo and she won, despite the fact i took snapped five times more shots. Cute little fellow, isn't he. He swam around us for ages.

Titan Lilly

This lilly at the Cambridge botanical garden flowers only every thirty years and only then, for two days at a time. And Mum and Mike just happened to be there on the week it happened! The left photo (of the closed stem) was taken on Wednesday and the open flower (right photo) on Friday (Mike stood in a queue for over an hour to capture it on film.)

The Cape Town cuties

Matthew

Jo sent us some nice photos. Here's her hubby, Antony, and little Matthew. Matthew is a year and bit and a very chilled out little fellow. Gorgeous.

Sammy

Little Sammy - isn't she cute. Can't believe she is 4 and a bit already. She's wonderful with Matthew - the perfect big sister.fx