DISNEY WORLD!

COLD EASTER - APRIL 1996

January 1996 brought a trip to Frankfurt and February one to Paris. In March, I stayed at home and in early April, the whole family went to New York, and then to Orlando... In New York we caught some melting snow; in Orlando it was one of the coldest Easters ever recorded!

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NEW YORK


"CHINATOWN"


"SOHO GALLERY"


"WEST BROADWAY"


"FAO SCHWARTZ"



"MOMA"

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DISNEY


"SEVEN SEAS LAGOON RESORT, now the GRAND FLORIDIAN"


"POLYNESIAN RESORT"


"EPCOT - MARRAKESH RESTAURANT"


"EPCOT - NIGHT PARADE"


"MAGIK KINGDOM"


"MAGIC KINGDOM - ENTRANCE"



"MGM - NEW STAR"


"MGM - CHINESE THEATRE"


"MARKET PLACE"



"PLEASURE ISLAND"

GREENWICH - LONGITUDE ZERO AGAIN!

BACK IN LONDON - DECEMBER 1995

After Brazil, I flew to Geneva and Brussels; then to New York and, finally, to Paris (no pictures, no videos). In December, the family went back to London. I was there for a conference, and they were shopping! Anyhow, we managed to have some time together, and visited Greenwich.



"FOOT TUNNEL - A nice (and different) way to get to Greenwich is through the foot tunnel under the Thames. You take the Underground Jubilee Line to Canary Wharf station, a work from Sir Norman Foster. Then move to the Docklands Light Rail and get to Island Gardens station, on the Isle of Dogs. There you walk the 371 meters of the 15 meter below water foot tunnel - entrance on the photo - to get to the Cutty Sark..."



"CUTTY SARK, FERREIRA, MARIA DO AMPARO AGAIN - This time with the young lady"


"AT THE WHEEL - Sailors in command"



"GREENWICH: 51° 28' 38" NORTH 0º 0' 0" E/W"


"NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM and Canary Wharf at the distance"




"SNOW in the park"


"TOWER BRIDGE"


"TOWER OF LONDON"


"MR.ROOSEVELT, MR. CHURCHILL, WATCHES OF SWITZERLAND and THE YOUNG LADY"


"NINEVEH at the British Museum"

BRASIL - NUM PAÍS TROPICAL...

AMAZONIA AND NORDESTE - NOVEMBER 1995

One day I'll YouTube the videos. For the time being, enjoy the photos - not a great achievement...

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AMAZONIA

After a long Lisbon-São Paulo flight, we changed planes and flew to Manaus. Manaus is an interesting city to visit, a duty-free port and a curious fish market near the river. After some time in Manaus (no pictures) we sailed to the Amazon Village.


"ON THE WAY - The world-known explorer in a new expedition..."





"DRY SEASON - the water level was so low that we had to use this kind of boats to get to our destination. At a certain point it was even needed a pushing for the boat to move forward. In Manaus, where we stayed at the Tropical Hotel, the river was fourteen meters below the usual highest point of the wet season..."


"ARARA - Low waters are not a problem for the coloured birds..."


"DRY AMAZONAS - We would be sub water standing at this place during the wet season"


"AMAZON VILLAGE - A Swiss investment in Amazonia!"

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FORTALEZA

The Varig flight from Manaus to Fortaleza was delayed and the itinerary was amazing: Manaus - Santarém; Santarém - Belém; Belém - São Luís; São - Luís - Fortaleza. UGH!


"TATU - Zoological lesson at the Praia das Areias Coloridas (Coloured Sands Beach)"



"AREIAS COLORIDAS"


"SWIMING POOLS - The Sea was far from being inviting"


"HOTEL DA FALÉSIA"


"A VER O MAR Restaurant"


"BUGGY at the marginal from Fortaleza"


"MARGINAL BOULEVARD, FORTALEZA"


"PORTUGAL SQUARE"


"ALENCAR THEATRE"

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SALVADOR DA BAHIA

From Fortaleza, the Manaus flight from Varig carried on: Fortaleza - Recife; Recife - Maceió; Maceió - Salvador...


"HOTEL TROPICAL Seen from the Souto's house"



"IEMANJÁ - The best moqueca de camarão of the world!!!"

GERMAN SEMINAR

DEUTSCHE BUNDESBANK FACHHOCHSCHULE - OCTOBER 1995

After the vacations in Madeira and Porto Santo, in September 1995 I went once to Frankfurt and once to Paris. Then, in early October, I went to Amsterdam and Brussels, and again to New York. On October 20th, 1995, I had a meeting at the European Monetary Institute. I flew home that night, just to return to Frankfurt on the 22nd, this time to go to the Deutsche Bundesbank Fachhochschule, for a seminar on the Law Governing Central Banks. There are a few photos from the event. The seminar was held in German and took place at the Hachenburg Schloss.

The Hachenburg Castle was first mentioned in 1222. Between 1717 and 1746, Georg Friedrich Graf zu Sayn decided to rebuild the old castle and it became then a baroque residence. In the nineteenth century, the castle belonged to the Dukedom of Nassau and later to the Kingdom of Prussia. From the beginning of the twentieth century there had been a forestry school in the Upper Castle, though the lack of money led to its gradual deterioration. In 1946 the castle became the property of the Federal State of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was sold in 1971 to the "Castle Hachenburg GmbH" to be converted into a hotel and owner-occupied apartments but in 1974 the company went bankrupt. The castle was put up for compulsory auction and was purchased by the Deutsche Bundesbank. The castle was rebuilt and entered use as a centre for basic and advanced vocational training centre.


"THE HISTORICAL STAIRCASE"


"THE GARDEN GATE - the group does not allow seeing the gilt metalwork which shows the initials of Georg Friedrich Burggraf von Kirchberg and of Sophie Amalie Burggräfin von Kirchberg Gräfin von Nassau-Saarbrücken..."


"THE TEN O'CLOCK GATE - Group at the gatehouse that used to be closed at 10:00 p.m.; thus the denomination"


"FOUNTAIN at the Castle's upper courtyard. This is what you see when you enter the ten o'clock gate"