Our Friend Julie Visits

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Geo: 51.3347, 1.41787

Our Friend Julie came to see us while on her 2008 European vacation.
We tried to keep her busy with showing her the sights around Kent. We
took her to Lilys favorite beach (Botany Bay), Ramsgate Harbor,
Canterbury (to see the Cathederal), Walmer Castle, Dover Castle,
Samphire Hoe park Dover,

A day trip to Brugge is always a fun way to spend a afternoon, so off
we go. While in Brugge we to the opportunity to visit the Church of
Our Lady where there is statue of Madonna and Child by Michelangelo.
This work is also notable in that it was the only sculpture by
Michelangelo to leave Italy during his lifetime. It was bought by
Giovanni and Alessandro Moscheroni (Mouscron), from a family of wealthy
cloth merchants in Bruges, then one of the leading commercial cities in
Europe. The sculpture was sold for 4,000 florin. Not only was it very
impressive to see but the church it self was amazing. I have seen the
inside of more churches then I can count but this one was truly
stunning. They also had a piece of the Holy Cross there as well. We
did a little shopping then found a nice sunny place to have beers and a
early dinner before we had to rush back to catch the ferrie back to
Dover.

Well we found out that the Big Sky International Kite Festival was
taking place in Margate on Sunday and of course we had to go. Julie
and Kim started walking with Lily from Ramsgate and I packed up the car
with all the kites, folding chairs, and made a lunch to take with us to
the beach. By the time I was done and went to pick them up they had
walked all the way to Joss Bay. We parked the car and headed to the
beach with the Tiny Dog and all our gear, only to find out that in
Margate they did not allow dogs on the beach for another 2 weeks. What
a bummer. Kim had to run Lily back home. There were loads of kites.
The sky was actually crowded with kites. Some small and many huge. It
was challenge to find a place to fly. With the tide heading in the
space on the beach was shrinking by the minute. It was a great day
with an amazing number of kites to see.

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