WW No. 46 - London Lady Beetles

Lady Beetle Blue

Lady Beetles

Hoo roo for now...

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London calling...

I arrived back, late, into London (Hotel at Heathrow) at around 11.30pm and after a very quick shower and freshen up, I headed down to the restaurant for some dinner...

The following day I was to be meeting up with KW, as it was to be a 'spotters day' here and there and a visit also to Kensington gardens thrown in. After meeting up with him at Victoria Coach Station, we headed back to the hotel to drop off his things before heading back into central London, and its City Airport, London City (LCY).

We caught the Tube to Tower Hill, and then a very short walk over to Tower gateway to get the DLR down to the airport. I just love the London Underground! Once at the airport, it was suggested we might like to go for a walk down to the end of the carpark, and thankfully, it was a great suggestion! There was an older chap there listening to Tower Frequency on his radio, so we introduced ourselves as spotters from Sydney and we had a lovely afternoon!

G-LCYL BA01

G-EUNA BA01

LX-LGD01

Approach into LCY

OO-VLI

We dodged some light sprinkle showers here and there, but a great afternoon was had. We then headed to the Thames Barrier (world's second largest movable flood barrier) and is downstream of Central London. Its purpose is to prevent London from being flooded by exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the sea. It was my first visit here, and the adjacent parkland's were great as well with the old canal's pruning of shrubs looking like waves!

Thames Barrier

Thames Barrier Park

After the Thames Barrier, into Chinatown, near Leicester Square/So Ho, where I knew of a great little (cheap) restaurant. After dinner we then headed down to the Tube and headed back to the hotel... Another great day!

Hoo roo for now...

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A couple of days in Ghent...

Well, after a couple of days in London, I am now in Ghent, Belgium- but its BOUND to be busy! Busy indeed it was! But I wanted to leave the last post for Louise an extra couple of days...

I arrived in Belgium via the Eurostar via Brussels. The transfer time in Brussels was quite good, no rush! Once I arrived in Ghent, I thought it simplest to just get a cab to the hotel. WHAT I should have done was just got the tram at 1.20 Euro instead of the 8 Euro the cabbie charged! But it was the easiest!

Suburban Train, Brussels

ROWS of bikes at Brussels Station

Ghent Bike... racks?

Monday morning, it was an early start with breakfast, and as I had to get to the 'official' hotel to get the bus, I had a walk to do. but it wasn't far at all in fact, enjoyable!

Ghent Square

Ghent Shopping

Ghent Shopping

Ghent Canal

The day of presentations, went down very well, there really is some great stuff happening! After the technical side was done and dusted, that afternoon we were treated to a guided walk around the City of Ghent and an official welcoming at the City Hall by one of the Councillors. The history of the City is just amazing, as it is something we just don't have here in Sydney being just a tad over 200 years old! I will add THESE pics of the tour of the city in its own post later in the week...

On the Tuesday though, we had a little extra time to sleep in as we didn't need to be at the other hotel for the field day until 9.30. So I still left early, and got some early morning photos of Ghent along the way. We arrived at the research facility which was also a soccer (OK, in Europe its FOOTBALL) pitch. There was a lot of machinery there and a lot to see.

At the Ghent University's research facility, we were treated to a lot of different machinery applications, some I had not seen before, whilst some are changes in technology. There was just SO much to see it was great! And after the morning exhibition, we then headed across to K.A.A. Ghent's home ground.

ETS Trade Show

ETS Trade Show

ETS Trade Show

ETS Trade Show

ETS Trade Show

ETS Trade Show

ETS Trade Show

Spiker

K.A.A. Ghent

K.A.A. Ghent

K.A.A. Ghent (Light Booms)

K.A.A. Ghent (Light Booms)

I had a great time in Ghent, and its certainly a city I would love to go back to...

Hoo roo for now...

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Two years on - its still so unfair... Rembering Louise

7.36am, 15th April 2009, my world came crashing down around me...

Louise

At first, I thoght all was ok, and then I felt as though I didn't know what to do...

Louise

You're now at peace, with our angle babies...

Louise 14

2 years ago today, Missing you more than ever, and loving you still today

Louise

Hoo roo for now...

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London to Ghent, via Brussels!

It was an early day today, only because I woke RATHER early (to early to own up too) but suffice to say, I am now very tired... I washed and made myself respectable before heading down for breakfast. After breakfast, I put my bag into the baggage holding room, and then headed over to London Heathrow for some spotting.

This mornings runway operations were 09L for arrivals and 09R for the occasional arrival but mainly for departures. I caught the bus, and when I arrived, although it was rather fresh and crisp, I found more than a few 'Bobbies' patrolling. Not wanting to get on the wrong side of anyone, I asked it would be OK if I was to spot for a little while, and explained where I was from, and it was accepted that if HE was to get a call, he would explain. So cool, it was all good to go! I was located on the departures entrance ramp on Terminal 5. Here are a couple of shots of the morning.

9A-CTL

4R-ALG

BMI G-MEDU

SX-DVO

I then headed back to the hotel to collect my bag, then a bus to Hounslow Central to catch the Tube to St Pancras to get the train to Brussels Midi to catch the train to Ghent to catch a cab and here I am in my hotel... As I said, I am tired, so I will close off here, have a shower and get some rest! After all, tomorrow IS the conference!

Good night all!!!

Hoo roo for now...

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A day in London... A Garden, a Park and a Palace

This morning, I woke sort of early, 6.30am, which sort of blew me away a little as I was tired, especially after a couple of beers with H&P last night!

So I got ready for the day, had breakfast and headed out... I was planning to head up to Stamford, but the plan changed a little so I headed for London instead. First stop was to get phone sorted a little so as I can do International calls/SMS. I headed down into Bayswater, which is where L & I stayed with R when we came over in 2004. It is a fantastic, vibrant, colourful, dynamic little strip with lots of restaurants (cheap) along the way. It is on the District/Circle line, and about 50m up the road is Queensway which is on the Central line! So its easily accessable.

After getting the phone fixed, I headed across into Hyde Park, Kensington, which is next door to Kensington Palace, home of Diana Princess of Wales before she was tragically killed in Paris. I walked around the Park a little, around the Round Lake which had some Swans and ducks swimming, before heading past some deck chairs and over to the Palace Gates. Unfortunately, the was some major renovations underway... I then headed around to the rear entrance, which is to get access into the Palace itself, and there was the most amazing little garden which was full of colour.

Hyde Park (Kensington Gardens)

Diana Princess Of Wales Memorial Walk

Round Lake

Chairs in Hyde Park

Kensington Palace Gates

Hyacynths

Tulips Lobelia and Marigolds

Kensington Palace Gardens

Kensington Palace Gardens Pond

And yes, it is SPRING here and within 24 hours of arriving, I had to visit a local Boots (Bayswater) for some Hayfever relief!

I caught the Tube back up to Marble Arch, and went into a highly recomended department store ?? and it was SO chaotic, I think there was a sale going on! However, it was SO bad, I could not get to where I wanted, shorts, due to the sheer number pf people there, so I headed out to get some lunch and head back to the hotel for a recharge (phone batt nearly dead)....

So that was my day!

Hoo roo for now...

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