Yodel lay hee hoo - Basel

 

 

On Saturday 15 September we flew from Terminal 5 (the new one) Heathrow to Basel - a short flight of just over an hour.  We cleared customs quickly at Basel and headed off to the city on the free shuttle. We had booked a night's accommodation at the Ibis near the railway station which was handy to just about everywhere.

 

 

We had lots of time to explore this beautiful city which was made easier by the Basel Card which allows you to travel free on public transport (buses, trams) while staying in the city. First stop was the Rat Haus (Council Chambers). a rather apt name :)

 

 

 

Our first view of the mighty Rhine

 



 

and a wonderful view of the Munster

 

It was near the Munster that we were stopped by a group of young guys out on their buck's night and I was asked to sign the condemned man's shirt :)

 

The following day we went exploring the streets and alley ways of Basel.  We were sitting down on the banks of the Rhine when we saw a horse and cart procession

 

 

Basel was in the grips of a fun bike marathon and we dodged cyclists of all ages and abilities through out the city. We headed uphill and stopped at the St Peter's Church (Peterskirche) a very old and beautiful building!

 

http://www.aswitzerlandattraction.com/switzerland-attractions-ah/st-peters-church.htm

We then explored down near the Rhine and came across St Alban Tor a former city gate in the city wall

We really enjoyed Basel and would like to see more another time :)







Cruising on the Thames

 

 

Each time we have come to London we have walked past the various cruise boat companies on our way to Kingston and  always said we would like to do one. Today was finally the day that it happened. As we were nephew sitting, Eddie came with us on the cruise from Kingston to Richmond which took around an hour each way.  This was the view of the Thames downstream from the pier with the Kingston road bridge in the distance.

There were a lot of boats moored along the river...

 

and the odd island or two...

 We had to travel through Teddington Lock which was a fantastic experience and Eddie's eyes were like saucers as the water dropped and the gate opened...

 And also the odd grand building or two

 

 

We spent an hour or so at Richmond, had a bite to eat and then completed the return journey.  A fun day had by all :)

 

Stripefest 2 - 11 September 2012 Windsor, Berkshire

 

Many will be aware that one of my past times is to play a FB game called Fairyland and over the past three years I have met a lot of wonderful players. Some time ago I became friends with Rowan, Liz and Vivien and was invited to join the 'Positive Thinking Takes the Chocolate Biscuit aka the Choccy Biccy Club" :). Our avatars on FL were all stripey animals:

• Rowan - Zebbie the Zebra
• Liz - Dunkie the Donkey
• Vivien - Scary Tiger
• Jan - Bandy the tabby cat

Rowan, Liz and Vivien live in the UK and some time ago Rowan and Vivien met at the London Zoo for the inaugural Stripefest. They had an absolute ball so over time we decided to hold Stripefest 2 and this time Liz and I joined Rowan and Vivien at Windsor.



 The surprise of the day was the gorgeous Bandit doppelganger that was presented to me by Rowan :)  Here are the Stripeys sitting patiently on the seat outside Windsor Castle - no doubt waiting for the humans to behave themselves!

We had a great day exploring Windsor including a 40 minute boat trip on the Thames. Here is an image of Vivien, Rowan and Liz getting into stripey mode!

 

It was with a lot of sadness that I left the others that afternoon - although lots of  great memories for the day and planning for Stripefest 3 ahead!



Enjoying the delights of Kingston

On Monday we set out for Kingston along the Thames which takes about 15-20 minutes along the Queen's Promenade. We really enjoy the changing scenery along the river!

 

One unusual feature is the benches - most contain a memorial plaque

There are lots of different craft moored...

 

 

And of course the odd swan and duck!

We always enjoy looking at "Whirlygig" which has a permanent mooring near the city centre. During footy season there is usually a Fremantle Doctors flag flying so we can only assume that one of the residents is an Aussie :)

 

 

Kingston is a very old market town and while there are all the major stores and supermarkets, there is still a market area near the centre of town which sells fruit and vegies....

 

I hope you can why we really enjoy this part of London!

It's a long way....

Finally arrived in London after an action packed and very long flight. I really enjoyed being randomly selected by Border Security for explosive screening. However on the bright side that meant I could tell the guy sitting next to me on the plane that he could feel safe that I was not carrying any!!

Great flight to Singapore then everything went pear shaped with a 2 1/2 hour delay which meant it was almost 2.30 am before we left for London.

Great being at Tan and Tas' place. Eddie has grown so much!!! Lovely and green here