I got the opportunity to see London while being in the UK. I managed to see the Tower of London, London Bridge, Buckingham Place Windsor Palace, the changing of the guard, Parliament, Big Ben (got to hear him too), Westminster Abbey, The Millennium Wheel, No 10 Downing Street, and Trafalgar Square. And oh yes the Queen!!!!!!

After visiting Belgium and the Netherlands we were off to see the Bristol Royal Infirmary ICU in the UK. The NHS in the UK is in as much disarray as our provincial hospitals here in SA. Security was very tight with security guards and police inside the hospital. Their ICU setup was very similar to ours.

While in Belgium we decided to take a drive and visit the Netherlands which is only and hour away. We arrived in the middle of a Sint Niklaas parade. Sint Niklaas arrives on a boat travelling don the many canals. He is then taken on a horse through the city for all the children to see. Sint Niklaas has a helper called Swarte Piet who happens to be black which for us is quite funny as that will never be accepted here in SA. He would definitely be banned!!!! Amsterdam is another of Europe’s jewels, people are friendly and seem to be very family orientated. Hard drugs are however freely available having been offered a number of times while walking around (they are illegal). Weed is sold in coffee shops across the city, for most tourists it’s a novelty.

Belgium is like one giant farming community for me as everything is very flat there are farms wherever you look. People are very friendly and interested to hear where you come from given that the local language is Flemish and they can understand Affrikaans quite easily. We stayed in the city of Sint Niklaas the birthplace of Father Christmas. Christmas is spent differently as there is very little commercialisation and is focused on the children and the story of Sint Niklaas.

After spending time in Germany it was off to Belgium to visit a hospital there called Waasland Community Hospital to see how they implement IT Systems in their ICU’s versus here in SA. I can honesty say no difference and in some aspects SA is better.

I managed to walk around Düsseldorf and Ratingen City. Both very beautiful in their architecture and history.

I had the opportunity to travel in November to Düsseldorf Germany to visit the Medica exhibition. The exhibition can only be described as massive, a number of halls containing 3000 exhibitors from all over the world. Draeger, I can say had one of the best stands with so many new products that interest was over whelming.

The wedding date is set for the 24th of March 2007. The venue will be Valley Lodge. We have decided to have the reception down by a beautiful river under some large trees. Guests will be asked to come casual and dressed in pastel colours. Picnic blankets for those who want to lay on the grass with their families and enjoy the day.