Lund Blog

just click on Chose Language to change to danish/dansk.

Christmas is near and time to send our bulletin to family and friends all over the world. It has been a fantastic year for us with journeys from Dubai to Madagascar and in between the yearly trip to Scandinavia.

After a nice Christmas and new Year celebrated with family and friends, we got a call from Sven Poulsen and Inge asking us, if we wanted to take a nostalgic trip back to UAE with a visit to our old working place Tawam Hospital in Al Ain where the three of us worked 32 years ago . In the end of January we flew out for a weeks holiday with Brunei Air, which was o.k. apart from that they only served soft drinks on that long flight, not the best of start on a holiday.
We arrived very tired at Dunes Hotel apartment after midnight  
to find out that the check in time was not until 2pm so I had to use my charm;;; Luckily for us the staff felt sorry for us four old folks and they ended up giving us to fantastic apartments (upgrade) for the night, but they let us keep them for the whole week. We had a great time, but Dubai had changed so much that we hardly recognized it  and all the old charm had disappeared. The skyline was out of this world, the traffic terrible but the taxi was cheap so we got around that way. We managed to find some of the old charming places where all people were very friendly and  helpful to show us around.

 

We hired a four wheel car for a day trip to Al Ain to visit the hospital and our old houses. again lots of changes of course, and it                                              took us a long time  to find the houses where we lived,

 

 

 

 

 

and only two were left on our street which nearly was a town now, and the hospital was so huge we had difficulties finding the entrance. Time for lunch at the old Hilton hotel, again just a little difficult to find, no desert any more everything is green and lovely. I told a member of staff that we used to come to the hotel 32 years ago when we lived there, and then he came and gave me a picture of the hotel from 1971 so I could remember it, as it once was. We had to make a visit to the Zoo- which again took us a long time to find, but John was happy to see it again.

In Dubai we managed to find a German hotel where they served wine ad libitum to you meal, so we spend two wonderful evenings with great food and wine, as I was getting tired of water and soft drinks;;;;

 

 

Back in Windsor for a couple of months where we spend lots of time with the grandchildren. Easter Saturday we took the boys to Windsor royal theater which they enjoyed very much, especially after a meal at Mc. Donald- their choice not mine. We have spend a lot of time together with our friends Anita & Jim going to the theatre for “Bugle Boy”. “Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime”, ” The Voysey Inheritance” and the opera “The Mikado” and to the cinema for several excellent films.

 

 

30th April we drove to Scandinavia for three weeks, and this year we wanted to visit friends we hadn’t seen for many years. First stop Skoedstrup for a reunion with Else Goss -an old friend from our time in Kenya 1973-75,

then on to Viborg to see John’s family, and as always we had a great time with them all. Further north to Strandby for a couple of days with Pernille & Bjarne – friends from Thule air Base-
, and then to Lysekil in Sweden to see Ann Kerstin & Jan -friends from our time in Boraas 1967.

The weather was bad but we had a great time together so who cares about the rain. Then we took the ferry to Bornholm
for a visit to Ulla & Anker( John’s school friend since 5th grate), and again we had a fantastic time, Bornholm is such a beautiful island with lots of art and good food.

Back to Sjaelland for a stay with Lone & Soeren( friends since our university days) , but we always visit them so it is just like coming home.
Together we managed a trip to ARKEN one of my favorite art museums to see THE HUNDERWASSER’s very colorful exhibition follow by a good Danish lunch in the museum. While staying in Gl. Holte we went managed to

visit Dr. Merete Maury – another old friend from our Thule days-, nice to catch up on old days over a perfect lunch in her beautiful house.
The following day we went to see Anne & Bent Aamann -old friend from our student days-,.
We had a lot of catching up after so many years on this lovely sunny day and once more over a fantastic lunch. Then it was time to visit Hanne & Henning ( John’s friend sin grade 1),
but again they are people we see every time we are back in DK, and the two old boys talk over Skype more or less every day. Second last stop was Hundested for a couple of relaxing, sunny days in Inge & Sven’s summer residence. Inge gave a fine party in celebrating of  Sven’s 75th birthday,

which gave us a chance to see most of their children & grandchildren again-always a joy. Last stop was Alleroed for a day together with Ruth & Joergen ( friends from our Kenya days) and a perfect ending to our Scandinavian trip 2014.

               FRIENDSHIP IS THE OIL THAT LUBRICATES THE ENGINE, RED WINE HELPS TOO.

Back in Windsor for a reunion with our own children, grandchildren & dogs. The summer was fine in UK so I spend lots of time working in & enjoy my garden.  Then came the celebration of all our birthdays. In June I turned 78, Kristien 8 and in August Mikkel was 6, Helena 3 and Stephanie ? and in July Claus turned 47. During the summer holiday we spend a lot of time with the grandchildren, such as fishing trips, boat trips, sleepovers e.t.c., mostly one at the time which means three days a week + all three on  Saturday mornings. We love it and they do keep us going.    SPOILING THE GRANDCHILDREN- IT IS MY JOB.

 

Tima is still working hard with teaching deprived children plus she has had two litters of Cocker Spaniels this year, and 18th November COCO her Alsatian had nine puppies, so she is very busy as always.

In august she celebrated her 50th birthday with a fabulous garden party, where she served roasting pig on spit with all the trimmings, live music by a girl band called “Never The Bride”. What a way to celebrate your birthday;. The real birthday is 16 December and of course we will have a smaller family party for the whole family in our house with Othello cake & champagne.

In September John wanted a three weeks trip to Madagascar to see all the Lemur’s in the wild. I have to admit, I was not too keen on that trip, but as always he managed to persuade me to go with him, and it turned out to be a fantastic experience. We flew via Paris to Antananarivo ( TANA).  

 

From there we had hired our own car with driver and a fantastic guide for a trip through the southern part of the island to visit National Parks, climbing in the rain forest, going for night walks and all in hope of seeing Lemurs, frogs, chameleons and not least all their beautiful flowers & trees. John celebrated his 78th birthday in Andasibe Forest Lodge, where they produced a magnificent birthday cake with candles & firework , and we ended the day with a night walk in the rainforest in hope of seeing the smallest Lemur and we did. An unforgettable birthday I hope.

 

The diary & pictures from that trip can be found on our blocker on:  www.lunduk.com/madagascar and just click on Chose Language to change to english.

 

We flew with Air France, but few days before our return flight to UK the pilots  went on strike for over a week- so what now? Our agent in UK managed to get us back to Tana for a overnight stay, and the following day on a S.A. airliner to Johannesburg and two hours later further on to London. It was a long and tiring journey, but we returned home only 24 hours late at 6 o’clock in the morning to be meet in the airport by Claus, who drove us home. Next morning the grandchildren came for breakfast as they had missed us so much-so they said-and us them. Then Tima came from Reading with our dog -to save John the trip- and the whole family were reunited again.

Nice autumn in Windsor where John spend most of his time playing the piano & reading , so his motto is:

                                             THE PROPER STUDY OF MANKIND IS BOOKS.

 

December is just round the corner so it is time to get the Christmas decorations up, baking all the traditional Danish Christmas cookies to be ready before Tima’s birthday. It will be the last time I make Christmas in this house as we are downsizing in 2015. We are changing house with Claus & Stephanie who have a much smaller house in Bracknell, as the three children need more space, a bigger garden and access to better schools. Luckily for us the grandchildren were very happy to move into our old house as long as they still could come back to their old house every weekend. We will let you know our new address when the time comes.

 

A big thank you to all our old friends for giving us such a wonderful time this summer, for housing us and not least for all the great food and wine you served us, it is most appreciated.

 

                                           Youths passes, but with luck immaturity can last a life time.

Our motto for 2015 is:

                                           IT IS BETTER TO BURN OUT THAN TO FADE AWAY.

We wish you all a very merry Christmas and all the best for a healthy and prosperous New Year.

JOHN & ULLA