The One That Got Away

"Ben - walkies"



Got Him! Jess & Lucy though ready for the off.



Having caught the cache bug we set off for to find another one.



Through puddles, across fields and rickety bridges, searching under trees we go...



Sadly we didn't find the cache (time ran out) - will be back for it though - with wellies! Instead went to watch High School Musical 3. Hmmm jumping for joy

Treasure Hunts

Geocaching is the way forward - treasure hunting with using a GPS.



Here Ben & Jess find one of the clues. Successfully finding the treasure, Jess took a Spanish 5 peseta coin - incase it was worth lots - on ebay it's selling for 57p!! We left a Virgin Atlantic pen.

And to celebrate finding the cache - (location must remain secret) we all climb trees...



...apart from Lucy - she finds that a bit difficult.

Hot Springs of Poprad

The next morning we got up at some ungodly hour as we had to go to the airport to catch the presidents plane up to Poprad. Why the Presidents plane - well because we had to arrive before the Queen - of course and this would allow us time to get in position in the High Tatras.

Seems simple but the security we had to go through was unbelievable. More so than for the Royal flight. Duncan (the BBC cameraman) and I went through last as we had the most luggage as usual. Finally through we waited in the VIP lounge which was straight out of the 70's - very atmospheric. At last we were allowed on the plane - before the red carpet was laid out. Climbing the stairs and looking down at the tires - they were interesting. Bald kind of interesting. The fact that you can see the braiding under the rubber all the way round was a nice effect. Glad they did if for the Presidents plane as you wouldn't want him to have a blow out on landing now would you.

I sat at the back next to one of the emergency exits.

Never guess but we did land safely.

Up at the High Tatras - it was cloudy to say the least. Here we waited for the Queen and Prince to come up on the vernicular railway. Hill tram to you and me.



Every now and again the sun burn't through the clouds to warm us all up a bit while we waited.



And then the cloud seemed to come back in force again. All these peopel had walked up. Sadly we didn't have that luxury we came up in a mini bus....



Finally just before the Queen arrived blue sky's appeared revealing stunning view up to the Tatras themselves.



Ever present was security - though once again they didn't seem to do much about the snappers getting in the way of us and the Royal party so they couldn't see where they were going.



Finally she arrived and all went well - despite the distinct lack of snow - a few patches were around. To get from one position to the next before her we had to run around the back of the cafe building which involved clambering up a 10m bank - it must have been the altitude as I was panting so badly when we got round the other side.

Trying to not to fall down the mountain, I was perched on the very edge, was bad enough - until more of those pesky Slovakian Photographers came and asked it I could move a bit more. No being the answer - and they didn't want to go down the hill, they just pushed in. Sam in the mean time was really having kittens.... just didn't do what they were told - and through out it all she kept smiling - absolutely fantastic!!

Back down in Poprad for the last engagement before the Royals flew home we met back up with Sam and made our way to the Ice Hockey ring where the Queen would drop a puck starting a Hockey match. We couldn't go through the main entrance as the red carpet was out so we headed to a side entrance with two huge goons in place. Goons is exactly the right word. Cunjure up a pair of big fat Eastern European secret police thugs and that's what we were confronted with. Sam explained who we were and what we were doing - and we made our way to go in - - all 10 of us with official passes. The answer was no! We tried again. No. Sam was getting frustrated as the Queen would arrive soon and there would be no British press there at all. No no no no NO! That was enough - we turned around and wait straight through the main entrance - saying hi to one of the British Security detail - who had no problems with us at all - along the red carpet and then ran round the ring and on to the ice to set up.

Still happy, the Queen enjoyed the the game, we said bye to Sam who was flying back on the Royal flight. And just to make sure they knew we left via "goon exit" smiling all the way.



The package done and lives done we had a few hours to kill until dinner... Hmmm staying at a hotel called Aqua City built on the site of hot springs. Having secured a new pair of trunks I ventured down to the spa area to meet the girls for a quick Sauna.

I'm not sure whether it was to mask the sulphur smell or just for effect but each sauna room had different herbal infusions in the steam which made each room really refreshing. Not as invigorating as the ice plunge pool though. Jesus it was cold.

Have been revilatised we headed to the out door pools - a nice 34'C - the same temperature as the pool in Delhi - but in the cool mountain air much nicer. Best of all they had an aluminuim cylindrical bouncing pool. OK so I don't know if there's a proper name but its a 6 foot cylinder standing upright in the pool a narrow entrance and a bowl shaped bottom. I went in with Rose. We stood on one side with three guys on the other. To start off you take turns jumping up a down and with the water acting like a see saw you start getting higher and faster - to see who wins or rather who goes out of sink and gets water up the nose and very wet. Unsurprisingly they were very determined and in the end we had to give up from the shear voracity... dignity all still intact though.

All in all a very good trip.

Royal farewell to Eastern Europe

The Queen has completed an eventful tour of Slovenia and Slovakia - but a royal viewing of my legs wasn't on the official programme.

By Peter Hunt
Royal correspondent, BBC News

Her Majesty had come to Slovenia and Slovakia to meet their people - not to encounter Phil, my cameraman, and I perched perilously on a table.

We had chosen this vantage point in a crowded room to film the Queen.

In our haste, we hadn't realised we were obscuring a wall covered with children's pictures, which were on display for her to look at.

We shuffled along the table, until we could shuffle no more. We were pinned against the wall, as the Queen walked past, admiring first the drawings, and then our legs.

It was a reminder that for a woman who thrives on routine, the unexpected can momentarily delight. To the relief of her aides, this was the only unscheduled occasion on an otherwise carefully planned overseas tour.

(What Peter doesn't say is that as soon as she walked past we both started giggling uncontrollably as it was so unexpected - Phil).

As on all visits, she received gifts.

The Queen performs a ceremonial face-off

In Slovenia, she was given one of the world famous Lipizzaner horses.

She did not have to worry, though, about her excess baggage allowance. The now royal prize stallion is staying put in its Slovene stable.

It would not have troubled her if she'd had to take it home. Down the years her family has been given an elephant, a baby crocodile, beavers and two lovebirds, who lived at Buckingham Palace, called Annie and Davey.

The gift giving, the official welcomes, the state banquets and the endless handshakes are familiar ingredients when the Queen packs her bags and heads off to fly the flag.

The collapse of communism has provided an ageing monarch with new stamping grounds to promote her country.

This was the first time she had visited Slovenia and Slovakia. Both are fledgling states who have embraced the EU and Nato.

In amongst the familiar, there are always moments which stand out.

She met a modest and very remarkable 99-year-old man. Sir Nicholas Winton saved hundreds of Jewish children from certain death by smuggling them out in trains from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to foster families in Britain.

He told me it was "gratifyingly nice to know something one did in one's life was successful".

'Gift of life'

Sir Nicholas met up with some of those he saved - "Winton's children", as they are known.

He gave them the gift of life. Most of their parents were not so fortunate. One of those he rescued, Vera Gissing, spoke of how her mother and her father took her to the station.

A beaming monarch enjoyed a rock star welcome to an ice hockey match

She can still recall "the anguish in their faces" as the train left. It was the last she saw of them.

As well as honouring the sacrifices in their past, the Queen's hosts always like to promote the aspects of their country they are most proud of.

So it was that the Queen took to the mountains in Slovakia. In doing so, she notched up a first - a pretty impressive achievement for someone who has been to so many places in her long and eventful reign.

When she set foot in the Tatras, it was the first time ever she had been to a ski resort.

The mountain view was impressive, though the absence of snow was a pretty crucial missing ingredient for an octogenarian who has never sampled apres-ski.

Once off the mountain, she was in only slightly more familiar territory.

Her destination was an ice hockey stadium. When she entered, the crowd roared, the players banged their sticks and the Queen beamed.

She does not normally do beaming. She leaves that to the politicians.

But it's amazing the psychological impact of a rock star welcome on the recipient. She was there to drop the puck between two opposing players.

She proved a dab hand, having performed a ceremonial face-off once before in Canada. The red carpet rolled out onto the ice ensured there were no regal mishaps.

And with that, she was off.

Back home to unpack and walk the corgis, until the next time her government asks her to represent their interests elsewhere.

When the time comes, I'll make sure my legs are well and truly on terra firma.

Original page here.

Devin Castle

After two days in Slovenia we flew first thing in the morning to Slovakia, direct to Bratislava. As part of the 'traveling party' this meant we flew in the Queens jet - a BA charter - with us at the back amongst hats and clothes all labeled with Queen or Prince.

Landing. we where whisked off the back of the plane and into mini buses to join the convoy into town. As some strategic point, though we were at the back we separated off and headed down a ring road to the first location - which was meeting the President. As we raced down the road the following Police motorcyclist drew level and waved his hand for us to go faster as we were falling back. Only for the driver to shrug his shoulders and point at the sign by the sun visors - the bus was limited - a real keystone cop moment!! Threading our way through halted traffic we eventually reached the Palace just off a square in the centre of town we waited for the rest of the cavalcade to appear. Surprisingly we had actually beaten it and all lined up - diviing up the work again - between the Beeb and us.

What became very apparent was that the local media didn't follow the same rules in respecting distance and intrusion as we did when it comes to respecting which really bugged Sam, the Queens Press Officer. On a short walk about between locations a photographer barged past Prince Philip, knocking him off balance which resulted in his comment 'its like a scrum round here'. I do feel a little sorry for him as he's definitely left out- the Queen is top dog and he follows around - but after so many years I guess he's used to it. He always seems happy though. Liz had cheered up too, during the time in Slovenia she was really moody and hardly smiled at all. Here though she was beaming - a much nicer friendlier image. We all have our off days so to be expected from time to time.

That afternoon we made our way to Devin castle just outside the city which used to be the site of the iron curtain. Over the river was Austria and freedom - previously obscured by a huge fence.

Here we met Nicholas Winton and some of his children. Its very rare that you meet someone who totally humbles you and leaves you in awe of their achievements. As we sat and interviewed Nicholas we all became stunned by his complete modesty in what he had done. During the second world war in Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia Nick had saved the lives of over 700 Jewish children by smuggling them to Britain, and finding families for them to live with. When asked why, his answer was ' What else was there to do?' After the war he also kept this secret from his wife, with some papers in the loft detailing his exploits only unearthed in the 1980's.

This is the story of one of his 'children', an 8 year old girl.... It was time to go and on the way to the station the girls mother and father where being as buoyant as they could telling their daughter not to worry and she would see them again soon. Trying desperately to stay stay strong and not to cry as they said goodbye to their daughter, her mother gave her a diary.

"Whats this for Mum".
"That's so you can write down how you are feeling, when you are happy and sad - then when we see you again you can show it to us and we can read what adventures you have been up to."
"OK Mum I will."

Taking her number, 200, she got on the train waving goodbye to her parents. A while into the journey the train stopped and all the children with numbers below 200 where told to get off as they were now safe. Not really understanding, scared she asked another girl next to her what to do. that girl said stay on the train and so she did. had she done as she was told and got off the train she wouldn't be alive today to tell us her story. Very sad.

In no way have I done her story or Nick justice - a true hero.

Its after the Queen met Nick and some of his children where I came to be standing on a table as the Queen walked by - but that is better told by Peter Hunt in this blog which is a little later on.

Next was the laying of the wreaths at the memorial in the shadow of the castle.



This ended up being another nightmare for Sam trying to control the local snappers. They just ran riot and got everywhere. Here they ran past her and grinning in a really purile catch me if you can attitude. Despite that the ceremony continued.



And the poor Prince bringing up the rear. Not having been barged out the way at least.



Soon after it got dark, everyone else had left to do something far more interesting, we though finished editing - well Vicky did. I did a live and then we waited an age for a taxi to come and take us to the hotel. By which time, after an 18 hour day, and running low on blood sugar levels - the concierge who was standing around doing nothing and didn't help with the luggage trolly got the thin end of my tongue - as did the check in clerk - "This is a 5* hotel - yes? I didn't know guests were expected wheel their own trolly's..." Thankfully 'my girls' very quickly made sure I got some food and drink!! Bless them. I'm so not like Nick!!

Slo Slo With Liz...

One year one from visiting seeing the Queen at CHOGM in Uganda, we landed Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. We is Sarah, Rose, Vicky and myself. Even before we had left check in at Gatwick it was like Dad taking his my 'gaggle of girls' on holiday - not my phrase either. The Queen was doing her winter tour which would be a couple of days in Slovenia and then Slovakia before heading home again. All in all it should be a good trip.



Having been picked up with the BBC crew and some other hacks we were ferried to the hotel by the embassy. Once we had dumped our stuff, and with nothing to do as Liz arrived tomorrow a tour of the town beckoned. Rose had some friends there and they took us for a walk around Ljubljana.

Absolutely stunning and despite being late October, a golden sun shone down through the late afternoon sky warming the square and riverside cafes where the locals where hanging out having coffee and drinks.

I love their bollards.



Makes a huge difference to the normal concrete monstrosities you usually see. And they fit in very well with the buildings, cobbled streets and cyclists.



Having found ourselves a little cafe, well when in Rome, we enjoyed the crisp fresh air and good company. Rose is Sarah's producer, Vicky's an editor and came to take the strain off me - which was a very welcome relief, and Sarah of course. You couldn't ask for a better team to be honest.



Our cafe is nestled somewhere by the trees over looking the Ljubljanica. As the whole of this part of town is pedestrianised, the only traffic being cyclists, it is very tranquil. The building are all original and it has a very serene feel to it. Somewhere to sit and watch the world go by.



Back to earth with a bump we had to do some work the next day and made our way to a castle just out of town for the Presidential reception. When I say a castle - I think it was a castle in name only as it appeared to be more of a chateau.

Having gone through security with a new bunch of pushing and shoving snappers - not our for a change the local Slovenes we waited by the red carpet. Like everywhere with red carpets someone always gets annoyed when you walk on it. I just want to know -how you're supposed to get across if you can't walk on it.



Military precision at its best. On my command everyone look at their shoes - - - now!



Part of the privilege culture in the Slovenian army is that only officers with swords can hold the string. Everyone else must look away for fear of being turned to stone. Hmmm perhaps that's how they get their bollards.



The Queen and Prince Philip safely and warmly welcomed they did their usual thing of meeting people and shaking hands. While this went on through out the afternoon we filmed bits and not others and then settled down by the river to do lives. Opposite the Cathedral - which was useful when the bells rand out - but as the city has a huge castle (proper one this time) on a hill just to the right of the photo, lots of narrow streets with tall buildings, this was the only place I could see the satellite from.



It was somewhere around this time that Vicky mused on how Liz and Phil spent their time while waiting for things to happen. We just sit around, chat, make phone calls, and drink coffee. Presume they do the same. And then it got dark.



Rose tries out her camera - again.



As far as back drops go - not bad at all. The rivers giving off a strange green glow though.



The next morning we visited the Lipica stud farm where the Queen was presented with a horse. It all did seem very familiar looking at the bumpf we had been given on the way down. Then 'doh' it suddenly struck me I'd been there before - the year when we had a school trip to Venice. We popped into Yugoslavia to visit some caves and a stud farm. Slovenia was Yugoslavia. Such an intellect. Sadly we didn't see the caves this time but saw half of the dancing horse show. The first half before they start dancing that is. That's all Liz & Phil saw too. Why they didn't start the warm up before they arrived I don't know as dancing horses is a lot more impressive than trotting around in formation... but what do I know.

Before we got back on the coach to Ljubljana we happened to pass some local produce stalls, that the Queen had been shown. Now as the day was over it would be a shame to leave good food to waste. Salami bread and cheese haven't tasted so good. Journo's really are a bunch of locusts - as soon as we caught up with the other stragglers they turned around and made a dash for the remaining scraps.

Back in town and after lunch there was a 'walkabout' across the three bridges and back to the hotel. To say the crowds turned out was an understatement. It was packed with serious flag waving going on. This was bigger than the biggest thing that had happened in Ljubljana. Given its fairly laid back and sleepy atmosphere its not hard to believe. Very good to see.

And within and hour of the royal party walking through - all the barricades had been taken down and the square back to normal again. Cyclists rule!!



"The day the Queen came"



This is definitely somewhere to come back to for a weekend visit. Everyone was friendly, and welcoming and a stunning place to explore a bit more.

The Three Bridges

Here I am sat over looking central Ljubljana watching the world go by. An hour and a half ago it was packed with three thousand odd Slovene's to see the Queen walk through. Now back to normal with bikes whizzing past every so often.

Very tranquil.

Legoland 2008

"I wish, I wish, I wish.... I wish I was at Legoland" - and poof yes Jess you are here again. Just like magic.



And you brought Ben along with you too. Fantastic.



All hooded up ready to brave the cold October water of the Viking Ride.



After a couple more rides we wait for the big show at the light house.



The evil monkey tried to capture on of the goodies..



After a show that is basically the same every year - well it has been for the last 10 years - a bit of acrobatics jumping over horses, getting wet, including us, speed boat action and falling off the lighthouse again and again and again.... we arrive at our allotted time for our bubble car ride.



All I can say is don't do it. Its noisy, slow, jerky, uncomfortable, and had the distinct feeling of being really really unsafe. Especially as you can only load the cars in a specific and limited way. They should tear this one down and put something up instead.

Moving on to better things - mini land... being covered by a TV crew.



Just like the real thing - London on a crisp blue day looks fantastic. Always impressed and notice new things..



Like Batman outside the cinema,



and Dr who by the London Eye,



and a Darlek in Canary Wharf.



Jess and I were convinced that when we came before there were more superheros and villains but could we find any?



Meanwhile in Florida at Cape Canaveral the space shuttle is preparing for launch.



Oh no Darth Vader is invading. Thankfully Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobe are waiting to save us.



Hey look James is off climbing again...



Such a fantastically amazing place - full of dreams and imagination. Not sure I'll ever get bored with it.



It's race time.... go go go



Ben and Jess line up their cars made from the last few wheels and bits lying around.



As they speed down the track it's Ben in the lead...



See the tension, feel the power, see the noise.



And yes Jess wins by a whisker... 138cm/sec is a smidgeon over 3 miles per hour... fast in Legoland any way!



Waiting in the queue for the Pirate Falls ride again - definitely the best one, Ben & Jess build a tower to the sky...



And I'm not going to mention the banana as I know it will get me in trouble from Jess.

All I do know is that Lego IS the best toy of all time!!