We didn't scub up too badly, did we.

Considering we've had a year of roughing it I think we did okay.

More Snaps of the Wedding

Thanks for the pics Georgie!

Congratulations Natalie & Francois!

We're back! Had a fab time at Natalie & Francois's wedding. Everything went really well & as it was a bit of an international affair a few Czech traditions were in corporated into the reception. Natalie's Uncle Slavek broke a plate outside the reception venue & the newlyweds swept up the pieces together to symbolise how they will solve their difficulties together in the future. They also drank some specially prepared Czech wedding soup from the same bowl, using the same spoon, wearing the same napkin.

Thanks for a lovely day guys!

Manhattan from Ellis Island

Ellis Island Immigration Museum

Ellis Island is where over 12 million immigrants arrived between the 1880s and the 1950s. Here they were interviewed & inspected for contagious diseases before a decision was made about whether they could stay in the country. The immigration centre was turned into a museum in the 1980s & it's absolutely fascinating. We could've spent days here. You can listen to the voices of immigrants relating their experiences, look at photographs of what went on here & see artifacts that people brought with them on the long journey from home.

This article shows how a Czech woman & her daughter, arriving to meet her husband who had come before her, was given the 'makeover treatment' by a volunteer & taught how to look like 'an American woman'. I couldn't help wondering about the Swiss children who suddenly got a new muff & a tasty tea after the disappearance of Fluffy & his friends.

The Island of Manhattan

Pretty cool, huh!

Lady Liberty

The statue was a gift from the French. It is made of bronze & took thirty years to gradually turn green due to exposure to the elements.