Jayne's Trip To The UK

Soooo sorry it has taken us so long to up-date our Blog, but Jayne's Mum was very very sick and both of us had to return to Canada, Tim for a couple of weeks and Jayne for over a month to help Mum with her recovery. Mum is on the mend with good and not so good days,  but we are now both back and settling into a  German routine.

Enjoy my update from the trip I took to the UK

As Tim was going to Moscow on business, I decided to take a train trip to the UK. Some of you know, both my parents are from England and as I have a number of relatives living there that I hadn’t seen in a while I thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up.

It was a 9 hour train ride on three different trains.  I travelled on the DBahn (Germany's train) through Germany and Belgium.  Then in Brussels, I went through a border control check and boarded the Eurostar which took me through France, through the 'Chunnel’ and on into England where I got off at Ebbsfleet International Station in Kent (one stop before London) where I was met by my half-brother Tony.

The Eurostar

Tony and Suzanne

Tony and Jayne

After spending the first night with Tony and Suzanne in Offam, Kent (southeast of London), I headed over to my Cousin Jennie’s place in Holyport, Berkshire, thanks to Tony’s wonderful and reliable Ford Fiesta.

My 'wheels' while I was in England

I was a bit nervous at first, driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, but I only received one honk and one rude gesture along the way.

Jennie and I toured Windsor Castle, had tea in Windsor, and walked around Eton College.   We also had a chance to tour the 2012 Olympic Rowing site, located about 2 miles from Jennie and Malcolm’s home.

Windsor Castle



Windsor Castle at sunset



Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world and the Official Residence of Her Majesty Queen II. Its rich history spans almost 1000 years. The Castle covers an area of about 5 hectares (13 acres) and contains

St George's Chapel which is one of the most beautiful buildings in England and is the burial place of 10 monarchs.

And now, a little history lesson......Over a period of nearly 1,000 years it has been inhabited continuously, and altered and refurbished by successive monarchs. Some were great builders, strengthening the Castle against uprising and rebellion; others, living in more peaceful times, created a palatial Royal residence.

William the Conqueror chose the site, high above the river Thames and on the edge of a Saxon hunting ground. It was a day's march from the Tower of London and intended to guard the western approaches to the capital.

It has endured alot over the past 1,000 years, including a major fire in 1992 which took five years and US $60 million to restore.

The Queen spends most of her weekends at Windsor Castle.

Private Grounds of Windsor Castle

Gardens of Windsor Castle



My cousin Jennie at Windsor Castle



The gargoyles of Windsor Castle

St George's Chapel



Typical English Post Box!!





Market Cross House 1718 AD - Windsor



I then drove up to Cheltenham, Gloucestershire to meet up with my other cousin Charlie, at his office (he is the proprietor of his father’s business – Apperley Honing).  I engaged in window shopping in Montpellier (‘the’ shopping district in Cheltenham) while waiting for Charlie.

Typical Architecture of Montpellier in Cheltenham - gorgeous!

At the end of the business day I followed Charlie to his home in Worcester (he only lost me once) where he is living with his wonderful new (May 2011) bride Michelle.  After a night out on the town, we were joined, the next day, by my cousin Annie and John (who came down from Newark, Nottinghamshire) at the Worcester rugby pitch where we watched the Worcester Warriors trample the Italian Banca Monte Crociati club 57-10!

My cousin Charlie and his wife Michelle

My cousin Annie and her husband John

After the rugby game, we headed up to the social club ‘for a few’ and I got to meet (wow!) one of the players that had been talked about throughout the match, mainly because he stood out above everyone else.  Craig Gillies has no hair, no front teeth and stands 6’ 8”!!!  He is taaaaaaallllll!

Worcester Warriors

Craig Gillies

                                                        

I arrived back in Kent at Tony and Suzanne’s, and spent a number of days visiting the sites, and was also treated to a lovely day with Suzanne’s parents driving through the Kent countryside down to Eastbourne (where my Dad went to school and my Mum spent some time during the war).

Near Beachy Head, Eastbourne on the south coast of England

I spent a day with Tony touring Rochester Castle, a walk around Rochester and a drive in Tony’s 1948 Ford West Anglia (sorry Tony, I don’t remember the year, so I made it up.  I know it is old though). 

Ruins of Rochester Castle

Rochester Castle

Tony inside Rochester Castle

One more little history lesson (I promise).....Rochester Castle sits majestically alongside the river Medway in Kent, and was one of the first castles in England to be built entirely from stone in the 11th century by Gundolf, Bishop of Rochester (who was also responsible for the construction of the Tower of London).

The castle has come under attack many times (13th century, in 1264)  After the attack in 1264 it took another 100 years before the damage from this attack was repaired. In between this period the castle fell into disrepair and was subject to the elements of the countries weather. Major reconstruction took place during the reign of Edward III and by 1400 Rochester was, once again, a fully functional castle.  By the 17th century, the castle had once again become neglected. The keep had been ruined by fire and the locals had begun robbing Rochester of its Kentish stone for their own building projects. In 1870, the City of Rochester took out a lease on the castle grounds turning them into a public park.

View of Rochester Cathedral, England's second oldest Cathedral founded in 604 AD by Bishop Justus

House over 500 years old, Rochester - leaning terribly into the laneway.

The day ended indulging in a wonderful Indian 'take away' dinner, with my nephews Bobby and Paul and their mother Gill.

Paul, Tony, Jayne and Bobby

Gill and Paul

My last day was spent with Suzanne shopping and lunching in Maidstone, Kent and a dinner out with Tony and Suzanne’s friends Sue, Wendy and Peter.  We went to a wonderful old pub- The Angel, where we enjoyed a lovely dinner sitting in a converted horse stall.

Dinner in a 'horse stall!'

My train trip home was a bit of a milk run, I had to change trains five times - Ebbsfleet to Brussels, Brussels to Cologne (Koln), Koln to Main, Main to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Nurnberg, then finally Nurnberg to Erlangen - home, safe and sound, where I walked home from the train station.  I left at 11:00 am and got home at 10:30 pm.  Tiring but well worth it.

I found it quite astonishing that I could arrive and depart in England without taking a plane! What a wonderful thing to be able to do and so easy on top of it.

I had such a great time!  I will definitely do it again.  Next time with Tim.

We promise to be more vigilent keeping you all up to date on our adventures.  Next scheduled stop is a week in Venice at the end of March.  Stay Tuned!

25 cents to see the world!



Recently I have received several emails to let me know that Scotia Plaza has been put up for sale for a cool one billion dollars.  The reason for me receiving the emails is that I was part of the project management team that built this project.  It is the Bank of Nova Scotia’s Head Office and is a 69 storey office tower.  I started my career with PCL Constructors on that project, and was the longest serving member of our team as I was there just over 4 years.

I am pointing this out on my blog as it has reminded me of a very special day on the project.  In the fall of 1985 after several months of demolition and excavation we were about to pour the first load of concrete on the project.  This was for the footing of the elevator that takes the CEO of the bank from his secure parking spot onwards into the building for his days’ work. 

Duncan McGregor was the Senior Superintendent on the project at the time.  Duncan was a Scotsman teaming with what seemed like an infinite amount of wisdom to a young man just starting his career.  After all he had been the Project Superintendent on Commerce Court just across the street that stands at 57 storeys.  It was hard to believe that we were going to surpass that as it sure looked a long way up, especially from a footing pour 85 feet deep in the ground.  Duncan generally seemed jovial most of the time, but on this occasion he said that we had to absolutely stop what we were doing as there was something we had forgotten.  With such a serious tone, we were unsure what we had forgotten.  Was the rebar wrong?  Was the footing at the wrong elevation?  NO, it seems that we had missed the most important step for the first pour of the project.  Apparently it was customary in Scotland to place a coin in the first pour and it will bring the person good luck.  Duncan decided that as I was the youngest person there, that I should be, selected to make a wish and place my coin under the first footing.

My wish all those years ago was to have a career that would let me SEE THE WORLD.  I must admit that I was quite skeptical of Duncan’s proclamation of good luck from this gesture, and I really thought I had lost my coin.

So here I sit in Herzogenaurach Germany remembering this storey and realizing that I have traveled some of the world just like my wish I made on that day in 1985.

I pass this storey along so we all realize that we have the opportunity to help some young person in their life to make their wish and it really can come true.

I send a special thanks to Duncan wherever he is today!

I don’t think you should pass this onto the bank as when they realize that they have my 25 cents on deposit and the value that I have received from it, they will be sure to find a way to charge me a user fee for the safe keeping of my coin J

 

Winter Travel Innsbruck and Moscow

We have been fortunate to get a bit of travel in as we had a few days in Innsbruck, Austria, and Tim to Moscow Russia on a business trip.  Jayne is In London, England visiting family and we will update that trip in our next posting.

Innsbruck is a beautiful city that is sandwiched in a river valley with the Austrian Alps overlooking the city on either side.  We had beautiful weather and we were able to enjoy the old city charms from balcony’s clad with choirs singing and trumpeters playing to wine cellars with samplings for 2 dollars a glass. 

Cheers and Happy New Year!





Moscow was not a place that a child from the cold war era would ever expect to spend some time, never mind Red Square or the Kremlin.  The greater metro area has a population of about 15 million and as many cars.  The weather was cool with constant light snow that turns to brown slush from the cars instantly.  The city is quite north so daylight arrives at 11 am and leaves at 4pm, so with the combination of snow and little light it was a week long visit in the dark.  Sergey our man in Moscow, says that the KGB still likes to keep it that way so that we westerners are always a little fearful of Russians J

The city is booming and shopping is a national pass time. The Moscovites are living off of an oil rich economy and still not trusting government tend to spend all their money in case it becomes worthless or communism returns.  There is no manufacturing and the recent demonstrations have made Russians nervous about the future. This has caused nearly a 80 billion dollar outflow over the past few months.  It is difficult for Russians to invest in their economy until they are sure that they will get to reap the rewards.  They are living a fairly good standard of living, as we found that virtually every conceivable item from the west was for sale in vast quantities, and with a flat 13 percent income tax rate, this has allowed for hyper consumerism.

From a business perspective this is good for adidas Group and we plan to build over 200 stores in the Commonwealth of Independent States. It's an organization of 11 former Soviet Union republics, including Russia.

2012 Lada

The Lada we remember!

Red Square

Standing on the markers where the tanks are lined up for propoganda

This is the 0 mile marker where all distances in Russia are measured from Moscow

The Kremlin - Putin says to say hello!

Micky D's facing the Kremlin so governent workers can enjoy American food for lunch.  Who would have thought it ????

There are about a half dozen churches within the walls of the Kremlin dating from the late 1400's

Soldiers still patrol the Kremlin

Most Moscow shopping centers hold a free public skating rink and the stores rival anything in North America

This grocery store was so big it required over 70 check outs.  I don't think the shelve are bare anymore.

May your travels always be safe, and we will update once Jayne returns from England!