Our next NATO Infrastructure Committee visit was to West Germany. By now Linda was over her morning sickness, and at five months she was showing her pregnancy. This was a good thing for her as the German escort officers were very considerate of her condition. Everywhere we went they found her a seat, and brought whatever she needed to her. 15 September 1985 Sunday. We all met at the Melsbroek Belgian military airbase at 9 am where we then boarded a German military transport aircraft for the short flight to the military side of the Koln-Wahn airfield. We were greeted by our German hosts from the Ministry of Defense. We then boarded buses for a sightseeing tour of Bonn and the Rhine River towns in the immediate vicinity of Bonn. We were then taken to our ... read more

It had been several years since we had taken a holiday in Antibes, so we took a week vacation to return to one of our favorite places in Europe. Many say the Nice is nice; and most tourists tend to use Nice as their travel hub for the French Riviera. But for us Antibes is nicer...indeed, the nicest! We drove down from Brussels on Saturday, 20 July 1985 and returned home on Sunday, 28 July 1985. We stayed at our favorite hotel, the Royal, right across from our favorite beach, and at the edge of the old town. Our routine for the week was to spend the mornings on the beach. Then after lunch we would drive to Cannes, Monte Carlo, and other coastal town, or St Paul de Vence, Grasse, and other hilltop towns. In ... read more

1 June 1985 Saturday. The committee members, the NATO International Staff, and their spouses met at the military side of Zaventum airport to catch a C-130 cargo plane to Gaardemoen Air Base just north of Oslo. There we refueled for another long flight to Tromso, high above the Arctic Circle in northern Norway. It is as far to fly from Oslo to the North Cape as it is from Oslo to Rome. Tromso is near the North Cape. We arrived late afternoon, but it could have been early afternoon judging by the sun's height above the horizon. We enjoyed walking around this seaport town during its best season, with 24 hours a day of sunlight. 2 June 1985 Sunday. We started the day with the official tour of Tromso. We got to know our escort officer ... read more

We had been to the Netherlands several times when we lived in Glan Munchweiler from 1977 to 1980. Mostly these trips were associated with business trips. Our most recent trip was perhaps the most in depth; barging along the canals. Our first trip from Glan Munchweiler was in early May 1978 in conjunction with a business trip to northern Germany, with my Mom, just before our trip to France and Switzerland. We stopped in Keukenhof, where the tulip growers of Holland display their tulips. It is a fantastically beautiful park. After we moved to Overijse, Keukenhof was only a couple hours drive so we went there every spring. After visiting the gardens, we would sometimes make a weekend of it and visit other spots in Holland. This included the North Sea beaches near Noordwijk, the National ... read more

I previously blogged about celebrating Grandpa Northcott's 95th birthday in conjunction with Christmas of 1981. His actual birthday was February 4th, so I decided to honor him on this significant occasion by flying to Toronto to join the party. I was surprised that Mom had the same idea...I didn't know she would be there until we met at the party! Grandpa's favorite game was Scrabble. I challenged him to a game and he won...not using any words that were not in the dictionary, and with me trying my hardest. His mind was still very sharp at 100 years of age. I just hope I inherited his longevity gene. He passed away at 101. I returned to Brussels on February 10. Mom stopped over in Brussels from February 16 - 19 on her way back to Thailand. ... read more