We should have taken a nap, but instead we went to Sector 17, the shopping district. This area was filled with very nice stores on the ground floor, but looked largely deserted on higher levels. There were some persistent beggars, who we were better prepared for with pens and candy on our second visit.
Despite not having a map, the driver eventually found our hotel in Sector 43 and our friend was in the lobby to great us.
This cow was being walked in the uncle’s neighborhood, where many of the events over the four days would take place. We saw haircuts given on street corners here as well as in Delhi. This city has a high concentration of Sikhs, a warrior offshoot of Hinduism that doesn’t believe in the caste system. Our friend’s family is easily identifiable as Sikhs by the men’s turbans; neither the men nor women typically cut their hair ever in their lives.
While we were travelling on a toll-highway, there didn’t seem to be any vehicles prohibited. There were tractors of all sizes and fancy painted trucks. The only big rigs seemed to be oil tankers. There also weren’t any lane restrictions or lanes for that matter. Everyone used horns rather than blinkers to communicate where they were headed. It seemed very random to me, but clearly had some pattern as we didn’t see any accidents in either direction.
A variety of animals also pulled carts along the highway including horses, donkeys and cows. Clearly they weren’t able to keep up with us when we hit 60MPH on the few segments that were far enough between villages.
It’s nice that the driver’s wise enough to wear a helmet on the highway, but guess he’s not too worried about his wife or child. We failed to manage to get a photo of the many ladies carrying babies on motorcycles or the family of four with one child in front of the driver.
There was an endless parade of interesting vehicles on the shoulder of the highway including these wheelchair cycles. Sorry, but also missed taking a photo of the fellow walking two monkeys.
Rickshaws are used throughout India, but no idea why they were allowed on the highway. We never did manage to ride in a bike rickshaw, but had many rides in auto rickshaws (which are actually 3-wheeled scooters with a vinyl roof and back and cloth on one side. They all had meters in them like real taxis, but were never used. We always made sure that the fare was agreed upon before getting in (a 40-minute ride cost under $5, so a very economical way to get around).
Not entirely sure what this fellow is carrying, but appears to be a trash man. 
This winter has definitely been our coldest yet in the Netherlands. While our last real snowfall was 5 inches on December 22nd, 3 weeks later the bike lanes and sidewalks were still covered in ice. We heard rumors that the main waterway through our area, the Vliet, was frozen, so when David and Andrew slept over on January 10th we went out to investigate. While our route onto the ice through a small marina was a bit nerve wracking when we heard cracking underfoot, our worries disappeared once we got onto the main canal. The kids had a blast seeing how far they could slide.
Although we had walked through the tunnels carved into the White Cliffs of Dover, it wasn’t until we drove down to the beach, that we could get a good look at these infamous cliffs composed of chalk with streaks of flint. As the sun was setting fast, there wasn’t time for a long walk, but we enjoyed the views.
The following day, we took a long walk through the fields of Kent. We were impressed with the ancient laws that allow the public easements on all private lands to get from one point to another. In our case, we were just trying to get to lunch, but it was nice not having to worry about getting yelled at for trespassing.
On Saturday, Camilla had previous plans to take her girls to London for a play, so Tristram played tour guide for the day. We set off early for Dover Castle so we could get a spot for a tour of the Secret World War II Tunnels (unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take photos). These tunnels were originally dug in 1803 as barracks, but were abandoned in 1826. In 1939, they were converted into an air raid shelter, then into a strategic command center and underground hospital. The large scale evacuation in May 1940 of 338,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk (across the English Channel) was planned from here. The fortress itself was known at The Key to England as it sat at the closest point to the continent. We enjoyed seeing the brightly painted reconstructed furniture in the Great Tower, built by Henry II in the 1200’s, and the actors re-enacting a crucial moment in Henry II’s history.
After our 2 a.m. bedtime on New Year’s Eve, we really weren’t looking forward to having to be on a train at 9 a.m. to head to Kent. Our grumbling quickly stopped when Tristram picked us up and brought us back to his and Camilla’s cute cottage in the countryside (they own the right 2/3 of the house). We were sad when they moved back to the UK in July, so were thrilled to be able to spend two nights with them. Although it’s a bummer that Tristram has a two-hour commute to work in London, we can see why they love living at the intersection of Ham and Sandwich.
After dinner, we headed to Sally and John’s hotel, which was just a block from the Thames River. The kids watched a movie in the room and we snuck a bottle of bubbly into the bar. At 10 p.m. it was time to bundle up and stake out a place along the river to watch the fireworks. We managed to beat some of the crowds to this particular stretch of river and secured front row spots. While it’s true that we stood in the cold for two hours for a 10-minute firework show, it was worth it. The fireworks were actually shot off of the individual pods on the London Eye and were quite spectacular. The crowds were so intense afterwards that it took us 30 minutes to make it back to Sally’s hotel then another hour to get far enough way from the river to be able to access a Tube station for a ride back to the hotel. Regardless, it was a great way to start 2010!
We started our day at the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. This underground museum was opened to the public in 1984. Over 100 strategical meetings were held here from 1939 to 1945. I especially enjoyed seeing the room with all typewriters and the other with all the phones--so amazing to think of what was accomplished there without any computers.
After lunch, we made our way to the Tower of London. Somehow failed to get any views of the overview, but here’s an idyllic scene just across from the infamous Tower Green where Henry VIII had his queens beheaded. We enjoyed seeing the crown jewels (stored in the Tower of London since 1303), including one of the world’s largest diamonds at 530 karats. Afterwards, we took a nice walk across the Tower Bridge. We got lucky and found a wonderful restaurant offering a special 3-course meal that could squeeze us in. Considering it was New Year’s Eve, we were surprised by the quality considering the low price (especially with the free bottle of champagne).
We were so excited when we realized that we’d be in London at the same time as Sally, John, David and Andrew. We were even more excited that we could share New Year’s Eve during the boy’s first visit to London. And what a great day we had! We met up at 9:30 a.m. for a full day of sightseeing, great food (Sally helped earn us a free bottle of champagne by staying calm after the waiter spilled a tray of Kir Royales in her lap), and fireworks.
