First was the arrival of Claire and JJ. "We'll send them for a week, then come and pick them up," said their parents suspiciously. Claire, of course, used to be my Californian baby, but somewhere along the way she became 13, and now JJ's 11. Claire looks like Christine and acts like Vince, JJ looks like Vince and acts like Christine. It's all very confusing, but we had a fabulous week of Rubik's Cube art and visits to racing circuits. Sadly, their parents did arrive to take them away.
It didn't matter, because on the day they left Pete's friend Emilia arrived, together with her parents! They were only here for one night, with things to do in Amsterdam and London after seeing us.
But luckily on the day they left the Lefevres got here, our neighbours from Houston! This was Levi and Lexi's first trip outside the USA, and while Kindra had been to Germany as an exchange student, Dave had only been over on his honeymoon. They took a quick trip to Cologne while staying. "I noticed we were the loudest people on the train," Dave observed. "And then I realized we're the loudest people everywhere." Texas meets Europe! We had a fantastic time with them, and our cupboards were restocked with the best of Trader Joe's and Houston espresso beans.
We waved them goodbye after an action-packed two weeks, then welcomed Isabel, sister of our Chilean friends Silvi and Ignacio. She was undertaking a grand tour that had already included Egypt and Jordan, and took herself off to Bruges, Antwerp, etc. The highlight of her stay was when Pete and I showed her around the royal palace, which they open for a couple of months while the royal family are off in Cannes or Nice or wherever. There was a lot of gold in there.
Then came the Hammonds - so large they arrived in two chunks. First was Katharine, Scott and the twins, and we all went to Germany, to attend the world's largest videogame conference and also to see the war grave of a great uncle who was shot down over Dusseldorf. While there we visited the utterly crazy Landschaftspark, an ex-smelting facility where they've left all the industrial equipment for people to clamber over. A health and safety nightmare! And a lot of fun.
Then the second Hammond tranche was served: Bethany with boyfriend Alfie, who are Interrailing around the continent. Instead of roughing it for a month, they decided to halve their journey and double their budget, including a finish in Disneyland Paris. Kids these days, eh? I put them on a train to Bern yesterday, so they are now officially on their own in the big wide world.
That concludes the summer season! The tour guide can now take a very well-deserved break and hand over to the cleaning and maintenance manager. Wait...they're the same person! All I can say is: book early for Summer 2023.
Watching the racing at Spa Francorchamps! This was a pilgrimage, an honour, and a privilege. More for me than the kids, but whatever.
Putting them to work. Nobody stays for free!
JJ has an objection.
So sweet together! For the 6 nanoseconds it took me to take the photo.
I warned them!
Classic album covers...made of Rubik's Cubes! JJ is a solve-it-in-7-seconds cube whizz, so was impressed.
I'm sorry Claire.
The older Muckers arrive, so we head to the nearest bar.
Pete and Emilia. They grow so fast!
Maybe Stefano should have stayed off the waffles.
Isabel arrives from Chile, via more countries than I've ever been to.
Then onto a legitimate form of government.
Reunited with his best friends from Texas!
Food.
More food.
A visit to the sewer museum. Hypocritical of Katharine to complain about the smell.
It was as yucky as it looked. Fascinating, but not a stop that will be added to the tour permanently.
Guten tag from GamesCon 2022!
We weren't alone.
My son following in my footsteps. So proud.
You know you're in Germany when...
Bottomless beer!
A surreal visit to an ex-industrial park.
I presume these tracks are decommissioned.
Bethany and Alfie arrive.
Getting ready to travel.
Brussels has the fifth largest church in the world. Who knew? Here's Bethany at the top.
It's cheaper to take these kids to an all-you-can-eat buffet than to cook for them at home.
Learning the flags of the places they'll be visiting.
And getting on the train to Bern! My work here is done.
