New Delhi Sight Seeing and Bahai Lotus Temple

 Bonus of sight seeing, courtesy of Pond's India Ltd...

On our final day in Delhi, we had a meeting with the General Manager of Pond's India at the Taj Palace Hotel, on August 9, 1994. Then we got picked up by the wife of one of their staff members, whom we met several times over the years. She was pleased for finally meeting us in person, as her husband always had brought home the little gifts we gave him upon meeting with us. Very pleasant to chat with her!Pieter shows on the video, the lobby of the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi, also outside with the Indian man in official dress. Next we walk onto the compound towards the Bahai Lotus Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.If viewing this short video on YouTube and on your PC, you can follow the clickable markings below the video.Musician with Cobra we captured.Next we walk towards India Gate, another UNESCO World Heritage Site.The weather was not clear, a heavily pregnant sky and almost fog did not let us capture the President's Palace with left and right the Parliament buildings.~By 20:30 we got dropped off at the airport and we were supposed to fly back via Amsterdam to Atlanta shortly after midnight. But we had some engine problems with one out of four... So that meant parking on an apron and it took that long that they started serving the hot meal. Around 8:00 in the morning, next day! we had to go back to the terminal and all business class passengers had to step aside. We were lucky for having gotten an upgrade on our KLM Royal Dutch Airlines' Royal Wing card, so we were chosen.That meant we were being carried by Air Canada to London, from there to Amsterdam, one night at the Barbizon Palace Hotel and next day to Atlanta, Georgia/USA...Travel at times can be fun!

Related link to previous post by me:

My 5th Consulting Trip to India & Visit of Taj Mahal | More info about this trip

Taj Mahal short Video

Red Fort of Agra short Video

Lalitha Mahal and Maharaja Palace Mysore  2 minute video

Sister Diny's Rabbit LOVED my Saddlebag from The Bridge Italy 

Taj Mahal short Video

 Bonus after working as a consultant for Pond's India Ltd...

After lunch at the Sheraton Hotel in Agra, we now went to the Taj MahalSo very impressive to see this UNESCO World Heritage Site with your own eyes.Photo making was prohibited, we bought a book instead.And this short video we got.Pond's India had arranged a private tour guide, you will hear him in-between explaining things.Very educative and we enjoyed it tremendously.When viewed on YouTube, on your PC you find again the clickable markings written below the video.Again, with my beloved The Bridge Saddlebag...More info with some photos in my earlier post: My 5th Consulting Trip to India & Visit of Taj Mahal...

Related link to previous post by me:

My 5th Consulting Trip to India & Visit of Taj Mahal

Red Fort of Agra short Video

Lalitha Mahal and Maharaja Palace Mysore  2 minute video

Sister Diny's Rabbit LOVED my Saddlebag from The Bridge Italy 

Red Fort of Agra short Video

 Upon completing our consulting period for Pond's India Ltd...

Red Fort of Agra UNESCO World Heritage SiteIf you click through to viewing on YouTube and on your PC, you see information below with clickable points.We started our day at 5:30 on August 8, 1994 with our journey from Delhi, to Agra.That was some 225 km to the south east over a divided highway, with concrete division.We never had seen an elephant as a means of transport, or the huge black camels...So many animals on the road and so much noise.We kept the windows of our Ambassador closed due to the air conditioning, which was a blessing for the noise and also for keeping some of the stench of animal manure, away from our nostrils.Wearing my The Bridge saddlebag, from Australia that my sister Diny's rabbit tasted after we had gone back to The Netherlands in September of 1994...

Related link to previous post by me:

My 5th Consulting Trip to India & Visit of Taj Mahal

Lalitha Mahal and Maharaja Palace Mysore  2 minute video

Sister Diny's Rabbit LOVED my Saddlebag from The Bridge Italy 

Lalitha Mahal and Maharaja Palace Mysore 2 minute video

After completing our consulting period for Pond's India Ltd, we joined one of their staffers...
Just showing you the magnificent architecture you find in India.A 2-minute video of Lalitha Mahal and Maharaja Palace in Mysore, KarnatakaWe have toured the palace twice, also on March 3, 1990.Wearing my The Bridge saddle bag from Australia...

Related link to previous posts by me:

My 5th Consulting Trip to India & Visit of Taj Mahal

Lalitha Mahal and Maharaja Palace Mysore

Chamundeshwari Temple and Chamundi Hills in Mysore India

Sister Diny's Rabbit LOVED my Saddlebag from The Bridge Italy 

Sister Diny's Rabbit LOVED my Saddlebag from The Bridge Italy

After having been to the Congress in Hong Kong, we continued traveling to Australia for another Congress in Sydney.

Next we flew to Melbourne for a weekend at the Grand Hyatt, using our points.
On Saturday, September 4, 1993 we went to an Italian shop, run by an Italian so I was happy being able to chat with her. In the window we'd already eyed a beautiful tan Saddlebag from The Bridge, Italy.

Now I became its happy owner!

Loved the lock and the stitching around the cording.

So did my sister Diny's pet-rabbit, as it managed to chew a hole in it, while we were visiting her on September 18, 1994... 🐇

Screenshot from video taken at the Gardens of the Alhambra in Spain, with the saddlebag.

We had visited Diny prior to that vacation by bus via France, into Spain and Portugal.

April 20, 1997 at The Spa at Norwich Inn in Connecticut where we stayed at one of their villas during our consulting work.
Wearing my saddlebag (left in picture).

The Spa at Norwich Inn where we stayed in a Villa... click it

From there, we also drove to Logee's for some unique plants

No, I have NO pictures of that favorite bag before the rabbit took a BITE... 🐇

Yep, the Rabbit took a bite right on the leather piping... 🐇

The Bridge Pellettieri in Firenze, Italy

For 1993 pricing Australian $ 119.00

But what to do about the HOLE?

Found THIS: LeatherNu and ordered it... just click link

Well, I have had it for almost 2 years sitting here before using it 'ONE DAY'

Finally I DID!

Starting out with the Leather Repair Compound...

On New Year's Day, I had filled in the RABBIT HOLE for the first time and let it cure... 🐇

On January 6, the RABBIT HOLE looking like this... 🐇

Hitting BINGO with the matching color brown already inside this package and applying a few coats of leather dye.

Got these sponges to apply the dye from the tiny bottle...

Next a few coats with the Clear Leather Sealer...

Result was GOOD! 

And this, after all those years...

Wore my Saddlebag to Church on my Angel Sister's 70th Birthday and feeling happy with it.

Poor Rabbit is long over the Rainbow Bridge... 🐇
It matches well with my Escada jeans and coat.

But I still LOVE my Saddlebag from The Bridge with quite a story attached to it, adventures covering three continents!

Being made in Italy, sold in Australia, taken home to the U.S.A., being bitten in The Netherlands and finally restored in the U.S.A.

Matching also nicely my suede/leather boots from Italy, purchased in 1989 when we lived and worked there. 

Related links:
Our Weekend at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne Regency Club | previous post by me
From Hong Kong to Sydney, Australia | previous post by me

With Dad to Okefenokee on the Georgia/Florida State Line

On December 1, 1990 we drove to the south of our state Georgia, right on the line with Florida.

For a very special visit with Dad!

Here Dad and I are walking some of the board walks with clear blue sky as you see and too harsh light for decent photos...

Sadly, the original boardwalk that we walked with Dad, got lost in the 2007 Big Turnaround Fire...
See this informative 'The Okefenokee Swamp Park' video here.

Pieter and Dad together.

Pieter wearing his leather 'The Bridge' bag, precious gift from friends in Italy...

Okefenokee means 'Trembling Earth' - glad Dad got to experience this!

Enjoy this very short still video from our trip in 1990 with Dad, a guided boat tour down the original Seminole Indian waterways!
It starts out briefly with Dad working in our garden, sawing wood, with the assistance of a friendly neighborhood dog named Ellis...

You get to see a gator as well!

Related links:
Blessing of our New Home with Dad being Present | previous post by me
Visiting Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins, Georgia with Dad | previous post by me
Dad Visiting Chappell Grist Mill Dublin Georgia | previous post by me
Dad did tag along on November 11, 1990 for helping us move into our new home | previous post by me

My 2nd Trip with Husband Pieter to Budapest in FREE Hungary

As you now know from reading my blog posts, we both LOVE the Hungarian culture, its composers, music and all.

So we booked a trip by luxury bus, all the way from The Netherlands with main stays Prague, Budapest and Vienna.

So here we went again on September 25 of 1996...

Happy me in the bus on our beautiful route from Vienna via Bratislava to Budapest in Hungary.

Comfy knitted Escada skirt with silk blouse.
We stayed at hotel Hunor in room 203.
address was: Budapest, Pünkösdfürdő u. 40, Hungary
After breakfast we head to Buda and Pest with our Dutch speaking guide; Imre.
He had been in The Netherlands after WWI when there was famine in Hungary.

More than 60,000 Hungarian children left between 1920 and 1930.
In 2018 there was an exhibition in Budapest, highlighting the famous 'baby trains' mainly to the Netherlands and Belgium to stay with foster parents.
My screenshot is being translated by google and thus a bit 'off' but it tells the story.
published on: www.rd.nl

from: www.federatio.org/history.html
We both found it heartwarming to hear about so much gratitude towards our birth country!

View over the Danube as seen from Buda looking at Pest...
While the rest of the group went on a boat on the Danube, we both went into the city.

The weather was pleasant for walking.
Wearing my Chanel loafers and belt with purse.
At a luxury mall we found a lightweight linnen/cotton/polyamide sweater for Pieter and for me socks of the same content, for wearing in my boots.
Oh, at this mall I also spotted a dream of an Escada suit that I later found on eBay as the boutique price was way off limit for us...

We drank a cappuccino at Café Gerbeaud before walking back to the Danube where our bus was waiting.

Back at our hotel and changed wearing my Escada suit; ready for dinner...

Dinner at a Csárdás restaurant in Budapest with excellent gypsy music + dance!
Yes, I was wearing my Hungarian blouse bought in Szentendre in 1984...
On Friday, September 27, we depart after breakfast for the plains between the Donau and Tisza.
We arrive via Kecskemét at the Pongrácz puszta where we first receive a welcome drink, the Barack Pálinka (apricot brandy).

Next we enjoy a wonderful horse show!

Wearing my Burberry blazer and The Bridge saddlebag.

Horse show and a DONKEY... to the right!

When I wanted a photo with these artists, this horse man planted his dusty hat on my head...!

The female rider and her horse with our entire group.
Husband Pieter is at the top right, wearing a cap (we both were the ONLY Americans!) and I'm to his left...

After a delicious hot lunch with goulash soup we went with 11 in a wagon...

The photographer was standing on top of his Trabant and he had these photos developed within the hour that we were out in the puszta.
The weather was nice and sunny!
On Saturday, September 28, we left Budapest by bus, via the Danube Bend with a stop in Esztergom.

Here in Esztergom we visited Hungary's Largest Church-Esztergom Basilica and Treasury (With Facts/Figures) just click through for informative short video.
This Basilica is also seen in my post about Pieter's 1974 visit during Communism.

Here in Esztergom lies Cardinal József Mindszenty reburied since 1991.
A primate of Hungary and hero of the anti-communist resistance. Mindszenty, who had been a prisoner from 1948 to 1956, took refuge after the Hungarian revolt in the American embassy in Budapest.
Cardinal Mindszenty died in 1975 at age 83, he was buried in Austria, where he lived in exile.
The proces for his beautification began in 1996.
As a child, I remember we prayed a lot for Cardinal Mindszenty!

From Esztergom I brought back this crystal and gold rabbit... named Snuffy.
We used to have a little wild rabbit here but with our felines of course none seen at present!

The bus went to Györ where we had lunch before leaving Hungary for Vienna in Austria.
We got most of this trip video taped...
~~☼~~
Thanks for your vist and comment!

Related links:
Communist Hungary with Husband Pieter Part III - Szentendre | previous post by me where I bought my blouse...
My 1st Trip to Communist Hungary with Husband Pieter Part II - Budapest | previous post by me
Husband Pieter's 1974 Visit to Esztergom, Hungary during Communism | previous post by me with Basilica in photo

Sydney Centre Point Tower, Captain Cook Luncheon Cruise & Opera House

On Saturday, July 2, 1988 we arrived from Melbourne by plane in Sydney at 10:00 AM. Our Australian friends Rob & Norah Tolson with daughter-in-law Buffie, picked us up and first we visited Sydney Tower Eye

Incredible view from 268 m (879 ft) height and at 360º and the antenna spire sits at 309 m or 1,014 ft.
Do you see the Opera House above the 2 tall buildings on the left?

Turning a little bit to the right and you see Darling Harbour here.

Mushroom friend Rob Tolson explaining...

Here you see the word Qantas on tallest building in this picture...

A bit to the right and you see the Sydney Harbour Bridge

We continue with a Captain Cook Luncheon Cruise

Here we are approaching Sydney Harbour Bridge while on the Captain Cook Luncheon Cruise...
Keep in mind, it was a cloudy winter day!

Here we are in a photo taken from Darling Harbour with the Opera House vaguely visible in the back.
Husband Pieter, me, Buffie and Norah Tolson.
Yes, it was winter time and I loved wearing my Burberry trenchcoat for that matter!

Climbing up the steps to the Opera House. Me, Buffie and Pieter...

Next we did enter the Sydney Opera House
From left to right: Me, Pieter, Buffie and Rob Tolson

More up close with Buffie stepping in, husband Pieter, Norah and Rob Tolson.
Pieter wearing his The Bridge bag, gift from Italy in November 1986.
We traveled with the Tolson family to their home on the rocks at the Hawkesbury river...
Stay tuned for more!

Thanks for your visit and comment.

Related links:
Surroundings of Melbourne Mushrooms in Mernda, VIC, Australia | previous post by me

Visiting Uncle Louis in the Australian Outback of Broken Hill, NSW | previous post by me
My 1st Trip to Work in Australia and also Meeting my First Cousin Liz | previous post by me
Husband Pieter's 2nd and 3rd Trip to Australia | previous post by me

Trips to Australia | previous post by me

{Angels engraved on lucky calendar coin of 1969} | previous post by me

{My Teacher, Mentor, BOSS & Husband over 44+ Years} | previous post by me

{My Own Design of Brass Mushrooms} | previous post by me