Ramadan and Great Photos

G'day

In muslim countries such as the United Arab Emirates the Holy Season of Ramadan has commenced. During the four weeks of Ramadan, muslims who follow the traditions of Islam fast from sunup until sunset ... no water or food of any kind. After sundown, they then feast. The shops are absolutely chock full of foods and food cooking implements ... some very large pots and pans to accommodate the large Arabian families.

At the college our day is condensed into a six hour day and many of our students turn up tired from eating and drinking all night and not sleeping. But we still endeavour to ensure learning occurs, it's just a bit slower than usual.

On a different note, while at Salzburg I took a photo of our friend Kel who spent some time with us for the first part of our holiday in Europe. We were having lunch at a restaurant and I looked up to see this perfect image for a photo ... a nice smile, colour, shape and contrast. Snap! ... and here it is.

I've entered this photo into a couple of photographic competitions, so wish me luck.

Best wishes

Robin

PS: I've been hard at work upgrading my site ... take a look here.

Back to the Grind

G'day

All good things come to an end. And there's only so many ancient churches, Roman bridges, museums, cobble-stoned town squares etc that one can look at without everything becoming a blur.

I'm back to the grind and Chris is back to housekeeping and social activities. She will also be continuing her voluntary work assisting Emirati students with their English, working four hours per week.

We had a wonderful holiday visiting Germany, Bavaria, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Switzerland, England and Scotland. The countryside in Germany in particular was spectacular ... green, green, green! The history of these countries, in comparison with our Australian history, is staggering; buildings, swords, armour suits and personal implements 900 years old or older. I kept wondering about the lives of the owners of the many artifacts I had seen. At one time in Scotland I stood in a cell block within a castle and wondered what poor souls had spent years of their lives shackled looking at the same walls at which I was now looking. Spectacular!

Without going into great detail, the photos from top to bottom herein are:

1. Christina in the London Eye
2. The London Eye (30 minutes to do a complete circuit)
3. A young lady and her father taking a traditional route for nuptials at beautiful English town, Reeth
4. Salzburg countryside from Salzburg Castle
5. A structure in a roundabout at Maastrich, Holland which symbolises the European Union

NB: Click on the photos to see larger versions.

Best wishes

Robin
for Robin and Christina

Sitting at Munich Airport

London? Been there done that. We visited Big Ben, the Westminster Chapel and Minstry, the Kew Gardens, Buckingham Palace (saw the changing of the guards)and took a ride on the London Eye. The most notable thing about London for us was the cost of everything. It´s so very expensive.

We had a delightful time at Reeth, a lovely country town outside Leeds, and stayed at Leeds for a couple of days with friends. During our stay we visited York and soaked up a heap of the history.

Anyway, we have arrived back at Munich, from where we set out from Dubai several weeks ago and travel by train to Oberstaufen in the morning where we spend a week at our timeshare. The week after we move to Mitterfels for another week in a timeshare and then back to the UAE ... and work.

We are having a good time and enjoying the sites, although it´s been hard on the feet.

We will attach some photos to our nex post, so watch this place.

Best wishes


Robin