Christmas 2009

Two Beauties....

Young Man with a horn !!

Big Christmas hugs to all !!

These Guys are the best !!

On December 10, The Jazz Ensemble at the Darien Middle School featured the fabulous Benjamin Rucquoi on piano and the talented Jacob Rucquoi on trumpet - what a duo !!! Jacob is the bouncing bugle boy......

Vienna and Danube Cruise 2009

A few days in sunny, warm Vienna spent checking out the Hofberg Palace with Hapsburg family jewels and the living quarters of Emperor Franz Joseph who reined for 68 years.

The Vienna subway is spotless and easy to manouver although the main sites are within walking distance- one gorgeous monument after another and in this Christmas season the lights were twinkling in the pedestrian shopping area.

Sunset on the Hapsburgs......

Tea at Demel's is quite special.....

Boarded the River Cruiser Aria on Nov.24th and had beautiful warm weather for sunning on the top deck - showing off my lebkuchen (gingerbread cookies) from Schmidt !

First stop - Melk Abbey where the Benedictines stashed lots of fabulous treasures

Baroque bling in the Chapel of the Altekappel in Regansburg, Germany where we heard a lovely acappella men's group.....

Fraus at market in Passau

Rescue dogs in Passau

Little chefs making cookies at the Christmas market in Vienna

Town Hall Christmas Market in Vienna

Can you tell I was missing Noah????

Ornaments of every hue......but especially gold!! (Hapsburg influence ??)

Regansburg Cathedral

Regansburg was never bombed, so the old bridge and the village are still pristine.

British VIrgin Islands, Virgin Gorda, June, 2009

As soon as school was out, we headed for Virgin Gorda and 10 days of snorkeling and relaxing on the beaches. The water was much warmer than in Feb. and very calm, just perfect for snorkeling. We had a great day at the Bitter End, sailing and sailboarding and going out to Necker Island on the big snorkel boat. Josie and I had a spa day at Little Dix and Dave took the kids to the Baths to roam around the boulders.

Mangoes on Spring Bay

We had a terrific house overlooking the water; the kids were in the pool all the time although it was like a bathtub in the heat.

A great way to get around !

This just happens to be Necker Island, owned by Richard Branson......he didn't invite us for tea!! (but the snorkeling was great.....)

We had lunch at Leverick Bay.......

More pictures of Virgin Gorda from previous visits may be seen on earlier blogs......
Ben and Jessica sang this song with a choral group at their school- Banjo Man!!

Cruising the Rhine and Mosel, May 2009

Our Grand Circle cruise began in Basel with the opening day of a fabulous Van Gogh exhibit at the Kunstmuseum. We had a day pass for the trolley and rode all over Basel; it was a Sunday and little traffic. We visited the Munster Cathedral where Erasmus is buried and which has a marvelous terrace overlooking the Rhine, shaded by chestnut trees with pink and white blossoms. The city was filled with wisteria and lilac- white, lavender, and purple.

The 120 passenger Rhapsody
http://www.gct.com/gcc/general/default.aspx?oid=233466&linklocation=home_t2t

The town hall or "Rathaus" in Basel



The Fab Four - my new friends Betsy, Jackie, and Shirley from FL....Sally and Dottie joined us and somehow I didn't get their pictures!!

STRASBOURG
Strasbourg, FR was our next stop where we had an early morning boat ride through the city which has several very old locks and a covered bridge. Again, masses of wisteria and lilac.

The Astronomical clock in the Munster Cathedral in Strasbourg is a mid-nineteenth-century version of the original fourteenth-century clock. The seven different stories indicate the month and year, the time by the sun, and GMT, while angels turn over hour glasses, a crock crows thrice, and the twelve apostles parade before Christ.

These Alsatian buildings are typical

On to the Black Forest (Swartzwald) and Baden-Baden, the spa town. Very misty and lovely ride up the narrow road into the mountain. The 19thC town is full of old hotels and the spa Casino was the site of the April NATO meeting attended by Obama.

Just across from casino in Baden.

Look at the size of this asparagus from Bonn!!

Koblenz
This is called the German "corner" where the Rhine turns into the Mosel.

View from Cochem Reichsburg Castle which was destroyed by the French and rebuilt in 1930s by wealthy Frenchman. Taken over by the Nazis in 1941, it was given back to Cochem in 1945.

Lovely day in Berncastel- May Day which is holiday in Germany.

I was up and out early on May 2 in Berncastel to take pictures before the crowds arrived.

LUXEMBOURG

We visited the American Cemetery in Luxembourg. http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/lx.php It was a beautiful clear spring day with a slight breeze to ruffle the flags. General Patton is buried alongside his men of the 3rd Army.

As we stood there with our local guide, a veteran, the carillon began to plan.

Not far from the American Cemetery is the German Cemetery where four times as many German boys were buried, by Americans as there was no German army left to do it.

They are buried 4 to each grave with names, birthdates, and date of death.

I was interested to see all the German Kleins that were buried there.





In Nijmegan, the Netherlands, we visited the Liberation Museum. Nijmegan was mistakenly bombed by the Allies in Feb. 1944. Operation Market Garden as it was called, was to capture the bridge at Arnhem which proved to be "The Bridge Too Far".

http://www.rememberseptember44.com/

Nijmegan

Kinderjik- a UNESCO site of 19 windmills

If you are interested in the Dutch management of the North Sea flooding, you might enjoy reading about the Delta Works: http://www.deltawerken.com/English/10.html?setlanguage=en


The Antwerp home of Rubens, who designed it with his beloved Italy in mind.
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/rubens_arch.html

The Fab Four in Antwerp