Greetings from the Grand People (Chapter 1)

Dear Family,
It's nearly two weeks since we left South Africa so it's about time we brought you up to date on our travels so far.     Our flight from CT via Dubai to Zurich, although tyring, was very interesting.   Dubai airport was an eye opener in that it is huge and very spread out.  It felt as if we had walked over a kilometer from where we entered the airport building to gate no 29 where we were to board the Zurich flight, all in one direction, and all along the way there were indigenous bodies lying on the floor fast asleep waiting for their onward flights.    As we flew out of Dubai, we could see below tall buildings all sand colour rising out of sand.     Not a vestige of green anywhere, no trees, grass etc.   Definitely not an inviting place to live.      We were able to see something of the countryside, clouds permitting, as we flew over the Syrian coast, over Yougoslavia, Istanbul and the  Black sea which stretched out as far as we could see.     Then, as we flew over Austria and Switzerland on our approach to Zurich, it was exciting looking down and seeing the snow capped peaks all along the Alps and Austrian and Swiss mountains.   What a sight!     It was also marvellous watching the approach to the Zurich airport.     Looking down on the countryside was beautiful with areas of green fields all neatly arranged like a patchwork quilt in between forests with a lot of little clusters of houses with white walls and red tiled roofs.     Delightful!    Mom had the window seat and I was next to her, so we had a good view down below the aircraft.
We were met by the family in a seven seater VW Touran and drove to Scuol through some magnificent snow clad mountain scenery,  which we had seen as we flew over, through many tunnels of varying lengths up to over 8kms long and over some fantastic mountain passes.  

You can imagine our excitement.   Scuol is a very old village ringed by high mountains and Nigel Killeen's home is over 400 years old.  It was great catching up with all Nigel's news and exploring the town with him.  

After arriving there on Thursday late afternoon we spent until about 11h00 on Saturday with Nigel before continuing our journey to Plzen in Czech Republic via Austria and Germany.  We spent Saturday night in Augsburg at an Ibis Hotel and Hayley did a 32km training run in preparation for her "Midnight Sun Marathon" early on Sunday morning.  We had a late breakfast and continued the journey stopping at various towns along the way.  One of the stops was at Nabberg which is a very quaint little German town where we took many photos and had  delicious ice creams.  

We arrived "home" here in the late afternoon.
Monday saw Hayley up very early to fly to London for meetings and unfortunately her return flight was horribly delayed so she only got home well after midnight!.  Mom and I went with Colin into town in the afternoon to see something of the town centre and then fetched the girls from school, so we were able to see the school and meet the teachers.  One of the highlights of the town is to climb up the cathedral tower, over 100 meters high, and I was able to see just about the whole town from there and take some pics. 

We also did a tour of the Brewery one morning and had lunch in the brewery restaurant afterwards.  It is the largest restaurant in the town (Hayley:  In the whole of South Bavaria actually..).  Mom and I  had a traditional dish which is a goulash soup served in a loaf of bread.  It is a round loaf which is hollowed out and filled with this delicious goulash soup and is a very tasty meal.

Last Saturday afternoon we were all in Prague to visit Hayley's boss, George, who is also a South African, for a good old South African braai.   The first Springbok rugby test against Wales was on in the afternoon so we were able to watch the Boks beat Wales in Bloemfontein.   A lovely day and a lekker braai was enjoyed and we only got home very late, the little ones were put to sleep there and slept all the way home.
On Sunday we took the girls on their bikes to the park in the forest in the morning and after lunch went to visit their Czech friend, Mike, who owns the flats in Prague,  We had a super afternoon at their home on the outskirts of Plzen and the girls had a swim in their pool.

Yesterday Mom and I  were up early to go to Prague with Hayley and then we caught the underground Metro into the city centre where we did "The Superior Tour Of Prague"   It was advertised as a full day in Prague on foot, by river boat and a tram ride, which includes lunch, drinks, a boat cruise, a tram ride and a "walks of Prague" CD.  We both thoroughly enjoyed the tour and Mom's health is so good that she was able to keep up the whole time and not get out of breath.  We did the Old Town, the New Town, the Jewish Town, the Little Town and the Prague Castle.  

We met our English speaking Guide, Hannah at 10h00 in the town square holding an open red umbrella so we could recognise her, and it transpired that there was only one other couple on the tour with us.  They were of the same vintage as us and are spending five days in Prague before returning to London to go on a sea cruise on the QE2 for a couple of weeks. With just the four of us on the tour it was so nice as we could all hear what  Hannah was telling us.  We thoroughly enjoyed a traditional meal in a traditional Czech cellar restaurant.     Needless to say, we took hundreds of photographs and will now have to sort them into batches and label them all.   The tour only finished well after four pm and we then had to negotiate the rush hour traffic on the underground Metro to get back to where we were to meet Hayley.  A  pleasantly tiring,  exciting day!     It was awesome walking along streets dating back to 900 to 1400 and going into churches and buildings that old too.     Prague never had any disasters hit it like fires and bombs in later years so it is still authentic and /or restored beautifully.      Renaissance, Classic, Baroque etc.     The barogue buildings are very ornate with statues all over the place and frilly extra bits adorning them.
Well, that about sums up our holiday so far.  Mom will now read through this epistle, correct my mistakes and add in the details I have missed.                                                                 
  Hello - the descriptive bits are my contribution!!      I just want you to "feel" what we have been experiencing.      As we arrived at the point under an old bridge where we boarded the cruise boat, we could hear the lovely music of a piano accordian being played below.     As we went down the steps, a bloke in sailor suit was lost in his art of playing his instrument.      I could not stop watching this brilliantly talented musician.      He was still playing when we came back!       Another memory I shan't forget.
In the Old Town Namesti (square) a very grey bearded bloke was playing a saxaphone with an orchestral backing of fifties music.      Man did he make that instrument pull at your heart strings.     Then he picked up a trombone for the next sentimental number.   Early in the morning,  when we hit the old town square,  Dad and I were nearly fighting over who could have the camera as, with every corner or vantage point, there was a wonderful picture waiting to be taken.      It was so frustrating seeing a marvellous picture then not having a camera to click.

Time to dish up supper.   6.30 pm    Time to send this.
We are so thankful to the Lord for blessing us so abundantly -   Praise Him.     Lots of love to you all.     Mom.  

(Greetings Chapter 2)