Our next stop was Bonn, where we went to visit Derya. She is studying for a Masters in Geology at Bonn University and took us for a tour inside the Poppelsdorf Palace (below) that contains the Mineralogy department.

© Thoma
Source: Wikimedia Commons under GFDL

We were all fascinated by the immense variety of rocks on display in glass cabinets in the hallways — every colour and shape imaginable. And from there we wandered along the Poppelsdorfer Allee for a short tour of the city.

Early the next morning, we flew from there to London, beginning our stay in St Katherine’s Docks. From our windows, we could watch the masts of yachts swaying gently in the little harbour. It was also handy to one of London’s prime attractions for us, the Tower of London. Loxon and Wiki were so excited to see the canons, ravens and knights’ paraphernalia, that they happily sat through a half hour lecture on the history of the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula when we first arrived. Their patience also weathered the crown jewels exhibit, thanks largely to the ceremonial swords, and they were well rewarded by the weaponry and armour displays that we had saved for last.

We spent the next few days catching up with friends, including David and Laura’s family and Esther and Albert’s, both of whom are now living in London from Barcelona and hosted us for fantastic dinners. We also arranged a lunch at the Science Museum, where we got to meet Frank and Anne’s son, Max. The kids disappeared into the Pattern Pod, where they were so content that it was hard work to extract them. Luckily our next stop was also perfect for kids, the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground just across Kensington Gardens.

Then it was time to move to new lodgings with Rebecca and David. Their house is a fabulous renovated church tower in Gyspy Hill in the south of London (seen below). Originally part of a Victorian church built in 1867,

© Stephen Richards
Source: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons

the rest of the building burnt down in the 1980s, leaving the tower to be restored as a residence. The lift serves all levels, but if you want to walk, you’ll have to bend yourself into the original spiral stone staircase that feels like all those European cathedral towers you’ve spent money to climb, only narrower. The ornate carved stone windows, the archaic clock mechanism that still drives the hands on the face of the tower and the giant belfry all contribute to the atmosphere. And the views from the terrace across the entire London cityscape are phenomenal. We all loved staying there.

While there we held a lunch, where it was great to see a few more friends, including Tony and Ruth, who came down from Cambridgeshire with their daughter, and Jumana and her family. We also walked down to Crystal Palace park on a cold and rainy day to see the dinosaur statues.

Then it was back to Germany, where we stayed with Oma Birgit and Opa Günther in Ludwigsburg. We were there for St. Martin’s eve, and Wiki and Loxon enjoyed the traditional walk through the darkened streets with their paper lanterns, courtesy of Aunt Sabine. This would be our last chance to catch up with Marion’s family before leaving Europe, so Uncle Jürgen brought cousins Leonie, Alex and Olivia to visit one more time. He also took Mark and Marion for a tour of the Porsche museum in Zuffenhausen.

For our last night in Europe, we drove back to Basel, handed over our car to the purchaser and stayed with friends from Marion’s work. Then it was off to Singapore, leaving our life in Switzerland behind us.