A Dream Wedding and Edinburgh Fringe

It’s July 2025, when Loes and Lianne arrived at Ljubljana airport and the same day Robin joined us in Don Papa, our family home in the mountains. It’s 8 days before the wedding day. There are still things to organize, like little gift bags for the guests at the end. I bought 3 kilo of personalized M&M’s, as a surprise for the happy couple but I decided to tell this to Robin and already gave it before the day. Robin decided to put it in the gift bags.

The four of us made a few lovely hikes, not too far or challenging as my knee was/is still recovering from the surgery.

The weather was wonderful, sunny and warm but not too warm.

On Monday Noa arrived in Don Papa so 5 women now and we played a lot of games. On Tuesday evening Robin left and we left on Wednesday to Bad Gleichenberg. (3 days before the wedding). We brought Lianne and Loes to their hotel, this was also the party location after the ceremony. It’s pretty isolated up on a hill/mountain. Difficult to describe, a hill is too low, a mountain too much. Anyway, a beautiful spot they’ve chosen.

Loes and Lianne had each their own room. The bathroom was a bit tight, luckily, they are both very slim and managed sideways to get under the shower.

The four of us had a quick lunch with them before Noa and I drove to our hotel in Bad Gleichenberg, called Landhaus. It’s more a building with little apartments, as all the apartments had a little kitchen as well.

We choose the rooms we each wanted and from Noa’s balcony we took a table and chairs and put it at our balcony. It was lovely. Robin picked up Rob, Ailsa and Jack from Hauptbahnhof in Graz that evening. They wanted to eat something so Noa and I cooked something simple. Hugo and Anna landed at Graz airport around 23:00, but they had a delay so it was almost midnight when I saw them. It was an hour drive to the hotel, and we had thunder and rain on our way back. The family was complete now, a great feeling.

Thursday July 17^th was hen’s day or bachelorette party or in Dutch, vrijgezellen feestje. Noa and Robin’s best friend from Bad Gleichenberg Wilma, were in charge of this day. We started with a breakfast at a hotel in Bad Gleichenberg. A beautiful location.

Robin wanted also her mother-in-law Edith, her godmother Loes and me to join this day. We, the oldies, felt all three honoured. During breakfast I held a little speech. After the second sentence I already cried. The tears were high these days anyway, happy tears though.

During breakfast Robin got a card, like a bingo card that she had to fill in during the day. A little quiz and more things she had to do, not too crazy.

After breakfast we went to the park in the center of Bad Gleichenberg. Whenever she gave a wrong answer she had to do a circuit of balance things that were there in the park.

It was really nice and she played it so well. Wilma picked up her dog Aika, and we all cuddled her. She’s a golden retriever of almost 15 years. We had a little coffee or drink and a game at a restaurant before we headed to the Thermen  (Spa) half an hour from BG. It was packed in the pools, it was half of July, summer holidays, so we weren’t the only ones of course. But it was fun. Here they let Robin swim with the whole group except for Wilma and myself. Wilma was filming the girls. It was so fun, again it made me cry, the love Robin was surrounded with.

After the Thermen we went to Robin and Armin’s house. Armin had organised a barbecue for the men. All the partners of the girls were already invited at 4pm and we were not allowed to come in before 6pm.

Armin did a great job. He’d asked Jack to taxi the three ladies cars inside their garden, like they do with airplanes. Jack was wearing an outfit like at the airport and had these sticks in his hands. They have a big garden around their house, so Jack guided us inside from the road. He also took a wrong car from the road, he thought it was one of the girls’ cars, but it was a guy who must have been thinking;” what the heck is this!!” Jack bonjoured him out of the driveway again back on the road and we all had a great laugh.

Armin prepped it all so well, food was good, there was a little trailer which was basically a fridge/freezer, never seen it but it was smart, with these warm days.

Edith made punch and I brought a salade, but there were already so many salads. Armin made a bonfire, to keep us warm during the evening. The whole day was just amazing. They have a beautiful home with a huge garden and orchard and great friends and family.

Friday July 18^th was a quiet day. We only bought a new car in the morning. Not the price and deal that we came in for, but slightly over budget, but Rob said, why not, no more troubles, 6 years guaranty and a bit bigger than what we have at the moment for Don Papa.

In the evening, we went out for dinner at a pizzeria in BG. Just the two families. Afterwards the boys and their partners went to the park and did the same challenging circuit as Robin did the day before.

Once they were back home we played a drinking game called King'sCup/Ring of Fire. It was hilarious, we had so much fun.

Then all of a sudden it’s July 19^th the big day, the day our daughter got married with Armin. Robin and Armin had to come up with a compromise, I hear you thinking, about what? In Austria you wait for the guests together at the townhall. Robin however wanted to surprise Armin and wanted to be given away by her dad. The compromise was that she would come in a normal dress to the townhall and entertain the guests till 15 minutes before the ceremony. Her two friends Annika and Carmen helped her getting dressed at the mayor’s office. Robin left family and friends a bit more than 15 minutes, she was writing cards for all her friends, her husband to be, her mother in law, her father in law, to Loes, her godmother and to her siblings and Rob and myself. Touching words, about how much each and every person meant to Robin. I read it the next morning and was in tears (again).

Back to the moment Rob gave her away. The Gemeinde Amt, townhall was beautiful but small. The wedding was small, that’s not an issue but because it was such a short isle, the song Robin had chosen was 'You never walk alone'. Reason behind is that Armin is a huge Liverpool fan, but Armin didn’t hear a thing, he was so focused on Robin. Robin had brought a 3D card with Dutch houses and a windmill, a little funny gesture to show where she’s from. Jack and Hugo were the flower “girls” and I over heard Jack saying, “okay Hugo you are the youngest, so you pretend you don’t want to do this and I will be the happy one”  We saw them coming and yes, Jack was the happy one, jumping and throwing happily the rose leaves and Hugo did what he had to do, like a little child. Armin didn’t know about this little performance, but he had a big smile on his face, these guys are his brother-in-laws now!

After the ceremony we went to the party location which was the hotel Loes and Lianne were staying. A bus ride of 20 minutes brought us there. Rob drove Armin and Robin in a very big Mazda CX80 which they got from Armin's friend.

First there was a speech from Eva, Armin’s witness and one of Armin's collegues in the army. She was also Armin's best (wo)man. She did a game with them, Armin and Robin had to sit back-to-back, they had to take off their shoes. She had many questions, to see how well they knew each other. It was fun and really well organised. After this game we went inside for dinner. This was a buffet, Robin had made nice menu cards in two languages with all the food everyone could choose from.

Then it was time for Rob to give his speech. He started in English and German and then he decided to have an interpreter, who happens to listen to the name Jack. He was brilliant, together they were brilliant. After the speech we showed a little film with the title: “A day out of Robin and Armin’s life”, where we had a mask with their face on and played them. For example, the first time I met Armin in Vienna, he had flowers in his hands. I thought "wow, he's thoughtful", and took the flowers from him and said I'll put them in a vase. He then whispered to Robin that they were meant for her and not me!

After dinner and all this fun a few went outside because it was so hot inside. It was a warm day. Everyone followed, outside was better, still 28 degrees, but more oxygen. Also, the DJ set up his table outside and this way we danced till 3am with very loud music! There were maybe 2 other guests staying at the hotel. They sat outside with a beer or more and found it very amusing to see us all dancing.  Nobody in the area complained because it was high up on a hill with no houses. This would never been possible in a city with many people living nearby. Later at  night Rob and I gave a little present to Armin and Robin. They didn’t want anything as they have already everything. But because Armin is a huge Liverpool fan and Robin walked down the isle to him with Rob earlier that day on “You’ll never walk alone”, Liverpool’s club song, Rob and I gave them Liverpool shirt with Champions and 25 (it was this year their 25 championship) in a frame. I’ve never seen Armin so happy with something. He showed it everybody at the party and then he gave it to his dad who had to put it in the car so it stayed safe there. This turned out to be a great gift.

Armin and Robin had organised taxis to bring everyone back to the village.

I had blisters on my feet of all the dancing, but my knee did well!

What a great day and what a great party. I’m so happy for the wedded couple.

The next day we drove back to our house in the mountains with Noa, Loes and Lianne. Jack, Hugo, Anna and Ailsa took to train home. Noa did not feel great, no clue why so we needed to make a few emergency stops. In the evening when we were all together, we played a drinking game again. This time Loes and Lianne joined the game too. It was hilarious.

On Tuesday I brought them with Noa to the airport at Ljubljana. Noa and I decided to go into Ljubljana.

We received a phone call from Rob, he told us that Hugo and Anna were leaving to Germany. Anna’s granddad passed away that night. They had planned to stay the whole week. Also, Jack and Ailsa figured out their travel time to Vienna airport and concluded that if they would leave the next day the would not be on time for their plane so decided to stay in a Hilton in Vienna the night before, so they were also gone when Noa and I came back home.

All of a sudden 6 people left. Noa left the day after. Rob was working a lot from home and I had a lot of golf lessons. The weather had turned around a bit, the heatwave passed, and we’ve got more cloudy and rainy weather. We had planned to play golf with Thomas and Anna Maria Santler but we ended up with a very nice dinner in our favourite Steak house Adriana in our village. Also on Rob’s birthday we went out for dinner together and soon after that we left.

Armin has his birthday a few days after Rob's. We always bring the car back to them. Now our car went almost straight to the garage because in November we'll get a new one. We had a lovely dinner with Armin's parents and Wilma and Stefan.

In August we went back to Scotland again. Rob flew directly and I was picked up by Jack at Schiphol airport. We went out for dinner, weather was gorgeous, we sat at the lake near our house. Next Monday I took the ferry from Hoek of Holland to Harwich. There’s a shorter way but 4 times more expensive! I go from to Hoek of Holland to Harwich, then the train to London Liverpool Street station, there I take the tube to King’s Cross station, then the train to Edinburgh.

Once back in Edinburgh it was Fringe (or Festival) month. The whole of August it Fringe month. Every assembly room, theater, or auditorium at the university there’s something to see or listen to. We went to see Come from Away, a musical about the diverted planes during 9/11. These 38 planes were diverted to Ganders, a little town in Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada due to the closure of North American air space. The town and surrounding communities, with their population of roughly 10,000, welcomed over 6500 of the stranded passengers including the crew and not to forget animals who were stuck in the hold of the planes. The story highlights the immense generosity, humanity and unity of the Gander residents who housed, fed, and entertained the travelers, forging lasting friendships and a profound sense of community during a time of global uncertainty. It was the second time Rob and I saw this show, and we would go again.

Second show we went to was the story of Fleedwood Mac. Brilliant band with telling the story/history of Fleedwood Mac in between the songs. On the left photo you can see how packed Edinburgh is during Fringe. The middle photo was when we walked through Princess Gardens we saw this big choir, problably a few different choirs combined together for the occasion.

For the weekend of 23^rd of August, Cok and Monique came from Leiden. On Friday Rob was working so, the three of us walked Ayo at the park behind our house. Then we went through the door in the wall, a centuries old wall. It brings you up Calton Hill. I never did that before, so the three of us were exploring something new.

We found a lovely café up on that hill, it has spectacular views over the city. From there we walked through the gardens of Princess street up to a little market at the very end of it. Then Monique and Cok explored a bit of the city on their own. I went back to walk Ayo, iced my knee before the four of us head back to the city. At the same assembly room as where we saw Fleedwood Mac, we now were going to the Police and Sting story. Again a brilliant band, great performance and Monique and Cok loved it too. We ate something at home before we heaed back to the castle for the Tattoo. 75 years of Tattoo in Edinburgh. It is something so impressive, but like my sister-in-law said, you need to at least love a little bit of back pipes.

The next day was Cok’s birthday, so we had another surprise. We went to the Brewhemia to attend an Abba sing-a-long show. It was hilarious! At 11am we were drinking prosecco and had fake microphones on our table to sing a long! In the afternoon we went to the last show, the black Blues Brothers, which we thought it was also a cover band of the Blues Brothers, but no, it was acrobatics! A totally different show than expected, but fun though. We only had two ladies in front of us who were drunk. You could even smell it. They were shouting and found themselves really funny. When we left the theater, Cok and Monique were faster than Rob and me. The two ladies fell in the aisle, one forward, one to the side in between the row with chairs. I looked at Rob who stood behind them, like I honestly didn’t push them. I could walk outside and told Mo and Cok, they wanted to go inside to see it with their own eyes. Rob told us that there was help immediately and that one of the very drunken ladies said she was a bit nauseas. The other one got up from between the aisle and decided to try to get her shoulderbag over her shoulder again by trying to wiggle it from the floor around her body which was very entertaining to watch. We laughed all the way back home. In the evening, we had dinner at Fisher’s, a fish restaurant. Sunday morning, we had breakfast at Calton Hill café, with the beautiful view and then they left again, back to the Netherlands.

Our next blog will be about our 35th wedding anniversary and the road trip we made with our children through the highlands of Scotland, the NC 500.

Stay safe everyone.