1000 Super Saturdays

Assisi - 2009 The Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi , Umbria region, Italy - mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of the Friars Minor.  Die foto links bo is deur Ruanda geneem.  Die res van die foto's is in die strate van Assisi Ons het eendag Assisi toe gestap, en dit was n langerige stap wat ons heen en weer moes doen.  Ons het by aankoms in n klein kafeetjie koffie gedrink en kaart gespeel, en later sommer op een van die buitemure middagete gehad.  Die foto regs bo dui die poorte na die dorp aan.  Natuurlik is Elize besig om sjerrie te drink teen die koue....Stap is nie vir sissies nie, en die volgende foto wys Dewald letterlik "uitgepass" op die bed. Assisi se winkels in die aand is asemrowend, en dis net liggies waar jy kyk.  Ons het ten duurste iets by een van die koekwinkels gekoop, amper die koste van n hele maaltyd in SA. Italiaanse kos en wyn, pizza, pasta....  Net ons families sal n gym gebruik wanneer ons in Italie i...

Carcasonne Carcassonne, a hilltop town in southern France’s Languedoc area, is famous for its medieval citadel, La Cité, with numerous watchtowers and double-walled fortifications. The first walls were built in Gallo-Roman times, with major additions made in the 13th and 14th centuries. Château Comtal, a 12th-century castle within the Cité, offers archaeological exhibits and a tour of the inner ramparts.  By about 500 BC, Celtic people already had a fort at Carcassonne. When the Romans conquered Gaul about 100 BC, they built a new, stronger fort. Some of that fort is still part of the castle today. In 453 AD, the  Visigoths  conquered Carcassonne, and they also made it stronger.  Carcassonne  is the largest walled city in Europe (among those that have their defensive wall still intact). Its citadel  known as  the Cité de  Carcassonne , is a medieval fortress dating back to the Gallo-Roman period, and was restored by the theorist and architec...

Collioure is a town on the Mediterranean coast of southern France. On the sea, the medieval Château Royal de Collioure offers dramatic coastal views. The bell tower of 17th-century Notre-Dame-des-Anges Church was once a lighthouse. The Modern Art Museum includes paintings by Henri Matisse. Nearby is the Moulin de Collioure, a 14th-century windmill. South, the hilltop Fort St. Elme has a museum with medieval weapons. Dewald was fascinated by the trenches and the castles, and thought we might find some remnant skeletons from the Spanish war. The  Battle of Collioure  (20 – 23 December 1793) saw troops from the  Kingdom of Spain  attack a  Republican French  division during the  War of the Pyrenees . The Spanish troops led by  Gregorio García de la Cuesta  were completely successful in ousting the French under Louis Pierre François Delattre from  Collioure ,  Fort Saint-Elme  and  Port-Vendres . The contending sid...

Saasfee Saas-Fee, a resort village in the Swiss Alps near the Italian border, is known for its proximity to mountains more than 4,000m above sea level, or 4-thousanders. It's a gateway to more than 100km of pistes for skiing and snowboarding, plus sledding and toboggan runs. The Mittelallalin Ice Pavilion is a frozen grotto carved into the Fee Glacier.    

1. Ironman PE 2008 Ironman PE 2008 was virgin territory ito the IRONMAN, which has since changed my life a bit.  It was also amazing to find two old friends doing it with me.  Ben Swart who joined us for an adeventure race in Scotland many years ago, and Stef Grobbelaar who shared a bungalow with me during my two year army stint.  My training partner, Jaco Brand as well as a future friend, Frank Smuts also participated.  It was a perfect sea, a windstill cycle, and a very hot run, but we all finished in respectable times. I was very happy with a 12h53 time, as I targeted 13 hours.  All the family from Port Alfred drove through to support.  I shared  a wonderful bottle of wine after the event with Oom Coetzee Brand.  PE has presented the Ironman SA ever since, and is a proud representative city to many international visitors. I will always remember the start, with the helicopter hovering over the beach and everybody seeding themselves. ...

Roadtrip 2008 - Fanie, Hessie, Deon, Elize, Ruanda en Dewald, verby die Smitte in Port Alfred Bloemfontein  Ons het in Bloemfontein oorgeslaap, en Ouma Rita is op daardie aand oorlede.  Ons het die volgende dag Nooitgedacht toe gegaan, die geboorte-huise gaan besoek.  Die storie is onder die familiegeskiedenis opgeteken. Deon het nie sy slaapbroek ingepak nie, en moes met Elize se pienk linterige slaapbroek slaap.  Dit het gelag veroorsaak toe ons die volgende oggende die sleepwa moes haak en die pienk lint steek bo die denim uit.  Die gastehuis-eienaar het nie geweet wat om te se nie.  Peglarae Die kinders moes onder Hessie se tafel slaap, en die fietse moes aan die garagedeur-motor gehang word.  Dewald maak koffie, en sou later jare die enigste een word wat vir Oupa Gawie kon tevrede stel met n goeie koppie koffie.   Van Rheenenspas The Little Church of Van Reenen lies halfway between Durban in KwaZulu-Natal ...