Europe 2013: Last 10 days in UK and Vienna

That Yorkshire cold was no ordinary cold. Had me out of action for 4 days on antibiotics. Fine now.

Our first trip out was to Derby. Janice had wanted to visit an auction since we have been over here but we had not been in the right place at the right time. The Bamfords auction rooms in Derby feature on Bargain Hunt on TV quite regularly so we drove over for the day. A very interesting experience and just as well we are not driving a semi-trailer back to Aus because Janice would have had it full to overflowing. We were amazed at the prices solid mahogany, walnut and rosewood furniture were selling for. Full Denbigh, Royal Worcester, and Crown Derby dinner services were selling for about 20 pounds. Fortunately Janice’s options were limited to jewellery but she still managed to come away with 2 diamond rings to add to the three she has already bought.

Janice’s cousin David and his wife Jean travelled up to Chester and spent two days with us looking around the city. On the Saturday evening we met Geoff and Jill Osborne at Shrewsbury where we had a delightful meal.

The following day was Dad’s 90^th birthday celebration held at the Red Lion in Doddleston, near Chester. Twenty four of us sat down to lunch and he had a fabulous time. One of his school mates was there and they have been friends for over 80 years. Photo of dad and mum with dad’s school friend in the background.

The following day was his actual birthday so we Skyped Tammy, Jamey and the boys and also Kirsty in the morning. After lunch we went out for a drive to visit some of mum and dad’s old stomping grounds calling in to see mum’s sister and husband in Mold and a cousin in Loggerheads.

The following day we visited some cousins in Northop before I drove down to Birmingham to catch up with some of my ex-venturer scouts for a re-union. Of the 9 scouts I took on a trip around Europe in an old army truck in 1969, I have been able to locate 7 of them. One is Paul who lives on a Scottish island (we visited him in July) and the other six I got together with for a very enjoyable evening. We have agreed to maintain regular contact.

An early start next morning to drive back to Chester for my sister’s birthday lunch. My great niece had come up from Uckfield to join in the celebrations and had a great time. Photo below.

While I had been in Birmingham, Janice had done a test pack and it is obvious we will need another bag. A quick trip into Chester to purchase a cheap holdall.

The next morning we were up early and packing. A quick trip down to say goodbye to mum and dad which was very difficult after such a long stay, and then off to the airport. The trip to London was uneventful but our connection to Vienna was delayed due to the late arrival of the aircraft. Anyway we were soon on our way, or so we thought. At the end of the runway apparently a warning light came on in the cockpit and we had to return to the terminal. We sat on the plane while engineers tried to rectify the problem but it was decided the job was too big so British Airways had to find another plane for us. This took some time so we eventually changed planes and were on our way 4 hours late, arriving in Vienna at 1am and booking into our hotel after 2am.

GOODBYE ENGLAND, SCOTLAND & WALES

Vienna is decidedly colder than Chester. It is only mid autumn but everyone here is walking around in heavy coats with hats, scarves and gloves. The daytime temperatures have been about 11 or 12 degrees but the wind has been icy. (so much so that I had to borrow Brian’s hoody as I was getting a headache from the cold wind). Luckily both days have been clear blue skies and sunshine as we have toured places of interest around the centre of Vienna and today we had a trip into the Vienna Woods visiting an old abbey where nuns of a silent order still practise their religion, plus a monastery and an underground lake which was fascinating.

Photo below of Austrian Parliament building