Limehouse Basin Marina, London, UK

It looks like this might be the final post of the year. Christmas was spent in Amersham, Bucks, with the Admiral's mum and dad and sister, Susan . We had Ben and Jessica and the babies over and Josette arrived on Cristmas Eve. We all had a great time and we are all now back on the boat in 

Limehouse.

James and Katie arrived on the 28th with the  excellent news that they are now engaged to be married. We are all very pleased, the happy day is to be announced.

Julie arrived yesterday, the straggler, Jennifer is still gallivanting in St Barts and will hopefully be with us on January 4th. Josette went to Edinburgh to celebrate Hogmanay but the rest of us chickens are looking forward to a nice dinner and plenty of champagne and a view of the London fireworks to see  New Year in.

A Happy and Healthy New Year to all our readers 

Sydney, aged 3 3/4,front and centre  at her stage debut as Mary in the starring role at the nursery school Nativity Play

The Admiral, friend Hilary and sister Susan 

Sydney and Genevieve

Christmas dinner in Amersham

trying on the mermaid snuggies

something sparlkly

the happy couple, James and Katie

Danny and Lee and us at Limehouse

Limehouse Marina, London, UK

We are back at grey and rainy Limehouse Marina following our third and final visit to Europe's great capitals. This time we went to Budapest, Hungary and a very good trip  it was. The city was more spread out than Prague and walking distances were longer to see the sights. Out hotel was excellent and the baroque architecture there and throughout the city was very impressive. The weather was quite mild for the time of year but very grey for the first two days we were there. We walked miles and miles looking about the city. On the first day, we wandered around the Erzsabet and the Parliament district and on the second day the Castle district. We were going to go to the City Park and the warm baths but the weather was so dreary we didn't quite make it.

We found some nice restaurants and went to see The Nutcracker at the amazing State Opera House, a great production with brilliant costumes and set design. The sun decided to appear on our third day but having to leave for the airport at 1.30 pm precluded a visit to the baths. Oh well, next time we visit we will get there.

St. Stephen's basilica

A view of the Danube from the Royal Palace

The Fisherman's Bastion

The Parliament Building from Fisherman's Bastion

Matthias Church

The State Opera House

St. Stephen's Basilica

The Royal Palace shrouded in mist

Breakfast at the Boscolo Autograph Hotel

Hot Chocolate and Sachertorte at 

Budapest trams

Sydney on the carousel at the Dickens Festival in Rochester

Limehouse, London, UK.

It's Thanksgiving Day in gloomy Limehouse Marina today and the Admiral and I have just returned from a short jaunt to the fair city of Prague. Most enjoyable it was too and even the weather decided to cooperate but it was very cold.
We did all usual touristy things and there is a lot to see in a few days. We found Prague to be an almost fairytale kind of a city where everything works. Even though Prague is ancient, all is in good repair, the public transport is efficient and easy to use. Everyone was helpful and friendly and almost all spoke excellent English.
Highlights were the old town square with it's famous astronomical clock and ornate churches and of course the beer.
It's easy to walk every where in the old city and the architecture is truly impressive. On our second day we walked over the Charles Bridge to St Vitus'  Cathedral and the castle on a freezing cold crystal clear day. There were still plenty of tourists and one could only imagine how crowded this place must be in July.
We got a quick injection of culture at the State Opera House and enjoyed Verdi's Macbeth. I even managed to stay awake for the whole performance.
Oh, and did I mention the beer.
We will celebrate Thanksgiving with Ben and Jessica and the babies tomorrow and we wish all of you a very happy turkey day in the USA.

St. Vitus Cathedral

A view of the cathedral and the castle from Charles Bridge

One of the many 13th century towers in the old city. The Admiral and I had a very nice dinner on the 8th floor 

The old town square in the moonlight

The famous Astronomical clock doing its thing

The very ornate Spanish synagogue

The Prague Beer Museum. Not really a museum but more than 25 excellent tap beers

The Charles Bridge on a cold but clear morning

The State Opera House. We enjoyed a performance of Macbeth

Limehouse Basin Marina, Limehouse, London

We are back from our road trip to Berlin. We almost didn't get there due to the weather. We thought we would try Southend airport in an attempt to avoid the chaos that is Stansted. So much for that as Southend Airport is not an all weather facility and nothing was going in or out due to fog. After waiting 6 hours, we got bused to Stanstead and flew out of there instead. We, therefore, arrived in Berlin after midnight instead of 4 pm. Getting to central Berlin on public transport was a bit of a challenge but we finally got to the Marriott by 1 am. We wandered all over the eastern part of the city on the next day and did all the usual touristy things and visited Checkpoint Charlie, the Reichstag, the Brandenberg Gate and Unter dem Linden and had a nice lunch outdoors in a pleasant square outside French Cathedral. No fog in Berlin and the weather was cool but clear and sunny. Later in the afternoon, we went to a wonderful chocolate store called Fassbender and Rausch. Another two hours of walking off the chocolate and we were ready to go back to the hotel for a rest and some quiet dinner. Next day, the weather was again perfect and this time we looked at the west side of the city and saw Kurfurstendamm and then a long walk through the Zoo and the Tiergarten and then back to the east side of the city. The Germans certainly know how to build and re-build on a grand scale!

The Admiral sought out an Absinthe store near the Alexanderplatz and then back to the hotel and a somewhat indifferent dinner on Kurfurstendamm Street. The weather turned cloudy and cold and we planned to visit two museums but only managed one as there was quite a lot to see. 

An uneventful flight back to Gatwick where we were met by Phil and Sandra (Jessica's inlaws) and we spent a very pleasant two days with them at the lovely home in West Sussex.

On Friday, it was  back home to Limehouse for a little rest.

Outstanding chocolate at Fassbender and Rauch 

the holocaust memorial

Siegessaule

A political demonstration at the Brandenberg Gate

Kurfurstendamm lots of shopping

local Pilsner beer. 

The venerable Trabbie a relic from East Germany

Autumn foliage

200 hundred varieties of Absinthe

The Tiergarten

Remnants of the Wall

Limehouse Basin Marina, London

The end of October still finds us at the Limehouse Basin Marina and fortunately
for us the weather has remained quite mild and mostly dry. Ian and Marie-Luce
came by to visit earlier in the month and we had a boozy Sunday lunch over at
The Grapes on a beautiful fall afternoon.
On the 6th, we saw a rather dubious
play at the National Theatre and then went on to Rochester to spend some time
with Jessica and the babies.
We had lunch with one of my med school pals on the
weekend at her beautiful home in Chiswick and spent some time in Amersham with
the Admiral's mum and dad. 
That  was a busy week with dinner with my brother
and sister and my cousin Robert and his wife, Claude and then another wander
around Greenwich with yet another cousin Stephen.
Last week, we had a pleasant
visit from Jaqui from "Jackster" at Limehouse and spent an hour or three
catching up on our various activities.
We went to La Rochelle on the 20th. on
the dreaded Ryanair and the journey was quite smooth and easy using the
Stanstead Express.
It's been eight years since we were in La Rochelle and not
much has changed since then. The down town area is now pedestrian only and
although the locals don't like it much, we certainly did.
Our hotel was
perfectly located with a great view of the port and all the restaurants. The
mussels are as excellent as always.
We spent our first morning wandering around
the town and in afternoon went to the Amel yard to see the Amel 55 and 64's
under manufacture. On that afternoon, Porsche cars were doing some sort of a
promotion at the Amel yard and I got to do a test drive in a Cayenne hybrid,
which was interesting and a Cayman GT4, which was amazing!
We had dinner at a
new restaurant, Le Petit Auberge, and local oysters were very good.
Next day,
was a demo on the new Amel 55 with Antoine and Natalie.
The weather could have
been better. It was overcast and very little breeze but certainly could have
been a lot worse. 
The new boat is very impressive in many ways, even in light
air conditions and will need some serious discussion with the admiral and the
factory.
The weather turned colder on our return and we have had a problem with
significant condensation and damp within our boat and we were concerned about
mound and corrosion. We bought a good quality dehumidifier in addition to our
space heaters and electric blankets and this has made all the difference.
Callisto's interior space is now warm and dry and comfortable again.
The
dehumidifier can take out three liters of water over 24 hrs! So our books won't
turn into a stodgy mess and no risk of mound and spores.
Last weekend was
Jessica's birthday and she and the babies came down for a sleepover on the boat.
We went to the Mudchute Farm on the Isle of Dogs on Sunday.
This week was a
curry and the new James Bond movie with cousin Benny and yesterday, dinner at
the Little Ship Club in the city.
Next  weekend is the road trip to Berlin.
Never a dull moment 

A view of the towers in La Rochelle from our hotel room

 sleep over time 

A few oysters and a nice Sancerre for lunch

some creatures at the Mudchute farm on the Isle of Dogs

Docking the new Amel 55

little Evie

Jessica's birthday cake

instrument panel on the Amel 55-- sweet

Limehouse Basin Marina, London, UK

We have been blessed with the most marvelous weather for the past week, here in London. The birthday tea last Saturday for the Admiral's mum apparently went well and a good time was had by all. We went back to the boat on Sunday and have again been touring London's hot-spots in this glorious Indian summer. The nights have been cold but the days, warm and sunny.

All that comes to a screeching halt on Monday when a new series of low pressure systems are due and it will cold and gray and rainy again. I'll have to get an electric blanket and a new space heater next week.

Dominic, the fuel guy finally showed up on Monday so took  on 200 litres to top off the tank for the winter.

The lunar eclipse last Sunday, the so-called "blood moon". The weather was so clear we just had to get up at zero dark thirty but it was worth it

A misty day at the Limehouse Basin and the duckweed is back. The marina looks like a swamp. Local knowledge suggests the presence of duck weed this late predicts a mild winter.