Spring Break 1999:
The Van Dammes endure yet another European Vacation
There's 800K worth of pictures embedded here, and we figured you probably don't want to wait 5 minutes for them all to load. So just click on the ones that sound interesting. If you want to see more, or higher resolution, just let us know. We have movies, of course, but you have to come visit us to see them.

Celtic patternCeltic patternCeltic patternCeltic pattern


Thursday April 15 we (MM, Jim and Kateri) left for London, but we only got as far as Newark, NJ for the night, thanks to Continental Airlines. This messed up our first day, which was supposed to be at the Sellers' place. We spent the next night riding (and sleeping) on Brit Rail, and hanging out in freezing terminals with various wierdos.

Finally we got to Wakefield (way up North, in Yorkshire) and were treated to a concert by Leona.  Then we watched  John  try to figure out what to do with a Turkey Joint, a hard-candy wrapped chocolate made exclusively in Rome, NY.  Charles, David and Kateri  found their behaviour quite droll.  We took a portrait and left for the railway station in John's Rolls Royce.

Brit Rail

We went to Edinburgh and saw the castle  and Arthur's Seat (an extinct volcano), and saw the other side of Earl Haig's statue. Marieke already took a picture of the horse's bum in March. Naturally we had to sample the local brew - "Can I have some, Dad?"  - then took the ferry to Ireland.

It's not Belgian beer, but it isn't bad, really

We only got to see a wee bit of the island, but it was pretty, even though it was mostly rainy. 

Well, to see the real Ireland you need a guide, so we brought Maura Magee, who we met when she visited Rome years ago.  We went to Tara,  a fortress since the stone age. The funny rock is the Stone of Destiny, where the chieftains were crowned. There the weather was its most fickle, raining and sunny within a few minutes.  We put Kateri on the altar at  Newgrange,  a burial chamber older than the pyramids. The background of this page is one of the 5000 year old stone carvings there. We also dropped in on the rest of the Magee family, her dad Pat and brother Ciaran.

Back in England, we took the Tube The London subway (The Tube)all over. Kateri posed outside the Globe Theatre and watched rehearsals inside. Mary Margaret straddled the Prime Meridian at Greenwich. Finally, we got to visit Marieke at Essex University (our supposed reason for going in the first place).

Whew. We are almost rested up now. Time for another trip?

BACK TO OUR HOME PAGE

11/8/99