Father-Daughter Trip to Switzerland...

In late August, Jimmy went to St. Gallen in Switzerland for another week of his Renewable Energy Executive course. This time he took Veronica along. There was nowhere to sit on the overnight train, so they ate dinner sitting in the bike storage train car.

They spent one night in Lucerne with Bill and Nina. While Jimmy went on an intense mountain biking outing with Bill and Nina...

...Veronica explored Lucerne on her own.

Later they had drinks along the lake before heading to St. Gallen. Veronica went to class one day with Jimmy, but otherwise just wandered around the lovely Swiss town.

More Urbex...

Here they are going into one of the big storage tanks at the power plant.

This was a nearby steel factory, It was massive!

After spotting some asbestos, they decided it was time to leave.

An Abandoned Cooling Tower...

After her return from California, Jimmy and Veronica set off for Charleroi, Belgium to visit an abandoned power plant. Seeing Jimmy cycling towards it helps to show the scope of the massive cooling tower.

According to an article in Slate, the plant was built in 1921 and closed in 2007 due to its high carbon dioxide emissions.

After some looting by metal scrappers, security guards were occasionally posted, but were fortunately absent the day of Jimmy and Veronica’s visit and they were able to walk straight in.

They went back at night to take some photos with a laser; it was creepy, but the result was cool.

Surprised by Friends...

Adelina set up a surprise dinner for Veronica that evening. She instructed Veronica to put on a nice dress and to meet her at Den Haag Centraal. From there they headed to The Penthouse, Holland’s highest restaurant on the 42nd floor of the The Hague Tower.

 The skies were clear, so the visibility was great.

 Veronica was especially surprised by Max.

 All smiles for her 18th!

Kimiko also joined Adelina and Max to celebrate Veronica’s birthday with a fancy three-course dinner. 

The view was fantastic!

Happy 18th!

On August 19, our big girl turned 18. She’s definitely changed a lot since her first birthday.

 She and Jimmy had a nice lunch along a canal in The Hague...

...and then went to Hotel Des Indes, where Veronica bought her first legal drinks: one for her and one for her daddy.

Beautiful Amsterdam...

After her return from California, Veronica spent a day in Amsterdam, where she took these awesome photos.

A Good Hash Needs a Good Circle...

Melissa and Pieter Black came up from Frankfurt to stay with James for the weekend for this special hash. 

 The circle looked quite entertaining...

 ...with Opee getting into the action wearing a special sexist apron.

Bummer that I missed it!