and now it has come to this...

The moving company came to our house this morning promptly (in true German style) at 8 a.m. and we had to throw everything we didn't want packed into one room, and that happened to be the bathroom, poor Ron had to set-up a new office. At least I didn't catch this photo of him with his pants down!




Not a whole lot of words to write, just wanted to share a few photos of the day!

LONDON CALLING...

It was time for a last hurrah for us before our final move back to America. We really tormented whether to go or not because of the timing being so close to our move, but we realized the chances of us getting to just hop over to the UK for a weekend were slim. So, in true Taylor fashion we quickly packed some suitcases (actually we're getting pretty good at this) and on the last day of school and after a going-away party hosted by one of Jacoba's friends, we drove to Berlin to catch our really, really reasonable flight to London's Heathrow.

This is where it gets interesting. On our way we encountered road construction (gasp) and we were squeezed into a little country road along with approximately 500 other cars all going to Berlin. This detour created a 45 minute delay and now we know why German's love their Autobahns, we drove like maniacs going 192 km per hour!! (gasp-gasp) Alas, IT STILL WASN'T FAST ENOUGH, because we missed our flight by about 3 minutes, they closed the gate and wouldn't let us on, even though there was about 15-17 minutes before take off. Can you imagine? So, after Ruby gave the ticket agent her best "Puss n'Boots" (think Shrek) eyes- the agent re-booked us for a flight first thing Saturday morning for a minimal fee. We were super lucky.

We hit the streets of London right after we checked into our hotel. We had showers throughout the day but somehow always managed to be inside when they popped up, it was perfect British weather. Highlights for our first day included the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, Tower of London Bridge, marvelous fish & chips, Guiness, English tea and lots of yummy treats. But we opted out on the Spotted Dick.



Day two was fantastic, after riding the train and then the tube to Baker Street, Jacoba started hyperventalating when she saw the Sherlock Holmes museum and the Beatles memorabilia shop right next door. It was in a really charming part of town and along the way we discovered an amazing shop with cupcakes!!



After our sugar rush we headed to the British Museum, much like the US's Smithsonian, you could spend days inside and still see just a fraction. We did our best to catch and enjoy the highlights, we were not disappointed. We saw things from Egyptian artifacts to a modern exhibit on Living & Dying, of course, the Rosetta Stone and the world's oldest known best preserved dead man...

We had lost our invite for tea at Buckingham Palace but we still managed to see the famous guards with the big furry hats. We strolled through Hyde Park and enjoyed the Lady Diana memorial walkway to her fountain. It was really beautiful and the flowers along the way were very pretty. We took a special little walk and saw Peter Pan's statue and the house of the author. And after a great dinner headed over to Picadilly Circus, and that it was. The girls also enjoyed riding around in the little old-fashioned black taxi cabs.






Monday morning bright an early, Avis rental car offices got us hooked-up with a snazzy rental car. We were going north towards Lichfield to visit some very special family friends that Jackie had not seen since the 6th grade. It was really exciting after all these years. Ron did super driving on the opposite side of the road and I still marvel at how he was able to shift gears left-handed after being so used to the right side set up...After a brief visit to the city cathedral and walking tour through Lichfield we jumped back in our car and headed further north to Appleton Thorn. Here we met up with a dear friend from Ron's days at Auburn University.






Although our trip was fast, we managed to see many wonderful things and visit some dear friends. We made it back to Dresden on Tuesday night at 1 a.m. without any flight delays or near misses! Cheerio!

I thought I saw James Bond dashing out of the Casino...

D. We took a day trip via train to Monaco, Monte Carlo. This was also a city Ron and I had visited before, it was one of our highlights. Our girls really enjoyed going there, too. The city was getting prepared for the upcoming Grand Prix Race so you could see signs and bleachers being put together for the spectators. You'll want to tune into your sports channels to watch the excitement of the cars racing through the curvy, narrow city streets.



We visited the Botanical Gardens, Jardins de Monaco et de la Cote D'Azur, (just rolls right off your tongue) full of succulent plants and what makes it all so unique, is that it is on the steep mountainside with amazing views of the city and shoreline. The garden was built in the 1930's and provides optimum exposure for the some thousand species of cacti & succulents that offer year round blooming. The views from the garden are breathtaking.












We didn't hit the casino because the card dealers were striking but the exterior of the building is gorgeous. Ron also forgot to pack his smoking jacket, how tacky.


We spent time going through Le Musee Oceanographique or better known as the Aquarium. Every year, almost a million visitors come here, it was created over 100 years ago by Prince Albert I of Monaco. When Ron and I were here before there was all sorts of information about Jacques Cousteau but this time we didn't find his name mentioned once. We're a little curious as to why, have to get on Google and investigate. We never grow tired of visiting aquariums.




Lastly a tour of the Palace, it wasn't too shabby. It was interesting to compare this place to some of the castles we have visited this past year. It is definitely still a working "palace" so we only were allowed in part of it. In the photos you will also see the Cathedral where Grace Kelly was married, a time-out bench for naughty tourists and some other amusing shots.