24-26 July: 96th Birthday

No not me! Those who may have been reading this blog from its inception may recall that this is the time of year  which is my Father's birthday. So Saturday 24th July I found myself back at Vienna Airport for the early morning British Airways flight to London-Heathrow, en-route to Sussex to join my sisters and some friends to celebrate my Father's 96th birthday..

It was a lovely day and despite a delay due to London Air Traffic Control being short stafffed "due to sickness" we arrived only a little bit late. The captain was not slow to let us know how peeved they were in the cockpit over the delay; and then at the end of the flight there was an apology for the "firm" landing; apparently the plane ( a new airbus 320 200) had been in fully automatic landing mode  and " it could have done it better" was the comment  from the First Officer who was the pilot flying!

The Hertz car was waiting and although the traffic on the M25 and the M3 and the A3 was bad due to the crowds heading off to see the Farnborough airshow I was soon arriving  at Angmering to stay with my friends Tim and Wendy at their beachside property, my base for the weekend.

On Sunday we drove over to the party venue in the Toyata Land Cruiser that Tim and Wendy use for their great journeys  across continents (see for example  http://www.singaporetomacau.blogspot.com/   and  http://www.californiatoalaska.blogspot.com/ http://drivecanada.blogspot.com/   are the three latest)

The weather was perfect as it always seems to be with Dadwag's birthday and the venue was the house where Dadwag lives with my sister Alison and her husband Tim.  Lunch was taken out on their back deck overlooking the Sussex countryside and the Wild Brooks . The company was the usual band of suspects, the three kids (me and my two sisters - they with husbands) my friend Clare  (who always  makes the super birthday cake) and  a small group of our very oldest friends - Tim and Wendy, Colin and Angela and Diana  and then my sister Alison's son Tom with partner Juliette and Rueben the partner of her daughter Beth who was sadly away working on a location in Crete; after the birthday the big news being that my nephew Tom's partner  Juliette is  expecting a baby.   After lunch Dadwag made a short speech and we all enjoyed the afternoon chatting until it was time for the various travellers to start back to their destinations.

Dadwag opening presents

Tom and Juliette

Dadwag on the phone to Michael ( my son) in Australia with some of the gang  around the tables

My sister Susan making sure Beth can join in from Crete

..........................the end of the cake that Clare made.

Lunch was great , the company superb  - another wonderful birthday party.

The evening was spent alone in Tim and Wendy's house as they headed off to  London and a prior appointment.Next day I was soon shopping at M&S for a few essentials to take back to Vienna and then a session with Dadwag doing the Daily Telegraph crosswords  (The Times was finished already!) and we had lunch;  then he had a nap and I drove back to Heathrow for the evening BA flight back to Vienna and work.
Next trip Canada!

July 10-11: Kalladorf, Austria

After a short stay in the flat to do the washing I found myself in the car with my colleague Shaun  en route to meet good friends Lynn and Denis at a small winery in the village of  Kalladorf, which is about an hour's drive north of Vienna on the road to Prague.

Dwntown Kalladorf on a Saturday afternoon!

The location was a very quiet village and Denis and Lyn were waiting when we arrived - they had already cycled  about 70+ km from their house at Mitterarmsdorf in the Wachau. The location for the weekend itself was Weingut Burger http://www.weingut-burger.at/  run by a charming couple. The courtyard is very pretty.

 The Bed and Breakfast was very reasonable and dinner was good food and great value - and of course the wine was very good.
Before  dinner we went out to tour the 500 year old wine cellar  in the next village wher they store all the vintages. 

Lyn, Denis and Herr Burger at the cellar  entrance.

Wine lockers

Some of the cellar is rented out as small lockers for individuals to keep their own special collections; each locker rents at Euro 138/month and we counted over 200! The tour showeed us over all the cellars ans we  saw large qantities of wine but we also got to taste a few as well - the guides did all the driving!

The old main cellar

The tasting table

Some of the thousands of vintage wines in store

Dinner was taken in the ourtyard and was very good - plenty more wine to drink as well - really just tasting before we made decisions on what to buy on the next day.

The next morning was great day and the breakfast in the courtyard was super. We also found they had an old farm machinery museum  in a barn at the back and that was very inteeresting. They have several old fire pumps and at least two of them are still in working condition and are used  for displays at local shows and fetes.

One of the restored fire pumps and the uniforms they wear for the demonstrations.

A even older pump.

After the museum  visit Lyn and Denis set off................

...so Shaun and I finished off loading  all the wine that everyone had bought into my car and we set off for the easy drive back to Vienna on what had become a lovely sunny morning. Apart from the usual chaos of Sunday roadworks on the motorways in and around Vienna  it  trouble free drive.  The weekend had been a very nice way to relax after the week of working away in Africa, and the wine was cheap as well as good quality.

July 4-9: Accra Ghana

The flights with Austrian to Frankfurt and then Lufthansa to Accra were no problem despite the early start on Sunday. For once the transfer in Frankfurt was pretty good and I had time for a leisurely coffee in the lounge before it was time to board the A340 for thre flight to Accra. A daytime flight for once which made a change and also only a 2 hours backwards time shift so no jet-lag issues.
The arrival at Accra was OK - an airport that is looking a bit tired and we were bussed to the terminal as there are no airbridges. The immigration was quick and  then it was out to the humid air and my host was waiting. An easy drive into town of about 30 minutes and then the check in at the Villa Victoria Guest House; friendly people and  I was put in the Annexe which turned out to be a brand new house  on the next block. A vast palace of a place which I had all to myself until my colleague Jan Slezak arrived on Tuesday night.

This picture shows Jan standing on the front porch of "our" house

The first floor

The stair case

Jan at breakfast - furniture was a bit sparse

The weather is cloudy and humid but no rain - just very threatening skies from time to time with sunny spells in between.
The work is out at the research facility which sits in a large area of parkland about 15 minutes drive from the Villa. The drive is interesting as there is a lot of traffic and I am impressed by the high degree of courtesy that the drivers all show each other and predestrians - unlike other parts of Africa I have been in recently and certainly not like Europe!

The roads however are in a parlous state with only the main roads surfaced and then they are full of potholes which helps to keep the traffuc speeds down. There are also speed humps everywhere so the traffic scene is pretty calm.

Potholes and speedbumps together

Roadside barbershop, but he has lawnmowers outside- new meaning for a close shave?

Many of the mininbuses had semi-religious messages on them; this one says "God is in control" which could explain the driving bewtween potholes being so variable.

As always in Africa there is plenty of colour at the roadside with lots of market stalls

More potholes

Every day we drove to our work at the Nuclear Resesarch Centre along the main East-West feeder highway quaintly known locally  as "Atomic Road" and we were particularly taken with this sign for the "Atomic Road Pharamcy"

When the work was over we had a trip to the Arts and Crafts Centre downtown. This was rather sad as the area is run-down and the  "artists" are all very pushy and prices a real rip-off.

Friday evening saw us heading home to Vienna. Jan on KLM via Amsterdam and me on SN Brussels airlines , naturally via Brussels. A reasonable flight but delayed and no explanation or apology from the crew which was an indication of the indifferent service.

Brussels airport wasclean and efficient and the flight to Vienna on the HS 146 (RJ 85) was good with lots of memories of  the old days and flights out to the Indian Ocena Islands when I heard the screech of the flaps each time they deployed or retracted.

July 3: Back on the road again.... Ghana July 4th - 9th

Well, it is actually  tomorrow that I head off to Ghana but it will be a day that starts really early as the flight to Accra is via Frankfurt (again) and I have to be  gone from the flat by 0545!  The mission will be two meetings back to back and I am on my own for the first 3 days then my mate Jan will be joining me  - it is all tied up with my Africa wide project and Jan's work on mineral resource reporting.
It will be my first trip to Ghana but sad it should be after their last minute loss in the World Cup on Friday - I really did think they were the better team and deserved to win to say nothing of their being the first African nation to go so far.