Twin Cities - The perfect May Day - and on a Saturday

Finally a nice day fell on a Saturday.
Perfect for biking and a great day to rendezvous for brunch on a rooftop in Uptown.
Old friends back from their winter travels as well as a new friend joined the bike group.

Chicago IL - Always something new

Chicago has always had a sense of home to me.  Spending 5 years there certainly helped establish that sense of home.
It is probably America's best kept secret.
Got to stay in the Palmer House - a historical gem.
Always something new to see and always a great deal of effort put in to do it right - hard not to love it.

Saint Paul MN - Belated celebration for Mary's Birthday...and so much more

With Mary's schedule and my travels we got of sync to get her most recent birthday acknowledged - we took care of that tonight.
I knew the evening was going to be interesting when a woman was walking up to the door with a dish of food in hand and I had no clue in the world who she was.  It turned out she was off to a party but forgot the address and saw Diane coming in the door here and figured this may be the place - we helped her get sorted and on her way.
We found many things to toast.  And what great fun it was to have Liping join us on her most recent visit from Botswana.  Always great to see her and she adds so much to the evening and the conversation.  So much news in her world.
Also got a ride in this morning before the next wave of rain hit - even Jim Hansen came out to join us.

London England - A nice bomb threat to bring back those memories of the 90s

The rain and wind didn't leave the UK out - equally nasty here much of the time.
On our last day brought back those memories of living in London in the 90s with daily delays for stray packages and the occasional bomb threat or explosion.
We were at a meeting and then the sirens began coming from everywhere.  Then the traffic was backed up as far as we could see in all directions.  And then the word was out - "bomb threat around the corner". The meeting went on.  The underground was closed in the area when it was time to move on.  And we finally got word it was just some guy tossing things out the window on to a major thoroughfare.
Between the rain drops we covered lots of ground to give Scott and Jason a good first taste of the City - and it looks like they are ready to go for the Olympics.  Things are looking fresh and new!

Tours France - Too quick and too rainy to see or do much

Caught an early morning train to Tours.  Beautiful ride.
We had planned a walk through the city on our way to our meeting.  But once again, on this trip, the rain owned the day and we got a quick ride to our destination.
A city that was mostly bombed out during WW2.  It is always interesting how they can blow up a city but the old church or churches in the middle stand solid.
A long day as we had to head back to Paris and then head off to London for dinner.

Paris France - The rain continued to follow us

Traveling with Jason and Scott.  Scott's first time in Europe - always fun to see it with someone with "new eyes".

We kept hearing that Europe was in a drought and every day it just kept raining and blowing all around us.
The days were grey but we did find some time to get out a bit between the rain and wind.  Our friends at Apple have a great view of the Eiffel Tower - we forgot to ask for the tour so had to go and check it out ourselves.