Off again by foot to the Bell Centre for the 3rd plenary which as usual contained a fine speech by John Kenny and the promotion of the New Orleans convention in  2011. On arrival we were met by a DG and his wife on wheelchair duty – so Mrs Q couldn’t resist the ride

The main event of the morning was Dolly Parton who sang 9 to 5 of course then told us of her amazing charity providing 1m books a year to underprivileged children. She was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship by John Germ and told him not to pin it on her as she might fly around the stadium!! She was very amusing and ended her piece with many thanks to Rotary and another song called TRY.

In the afternoon after a bit of shopping in the House of Friendship we went back to the hotel before returning for the final session. While resting on the bed watching the World Cup we experienced an earthquake! The news bulletins put it at 5.5 on the Richter scale so the room really did shake about , but no damage which was just as well as we were 12 floors up!

The final ceremony was special and the first time we have seen one as we missed both LA and Birmingham. It opened with a session from Russel Watson who was very well received and ended with Circ de Soleil! then Russell Watson came back on and sang Auld Lang Syne with us.

Dinner in the evening in the main tourist area with Peter, Greg and Brian plus wives. and a walk back part way to our hotel.

Day 2 began with breakfast in Starbucks and the on to the Bell Center. Today speakers included a terrific story about street kids in Philippines. That was followed by the head of Polio Eradication Cote d’Ivoire and the Kick Africa ball and finally a presentation on schools in Afghanistan by Greg Townsend.
The rest of the day was spent looking round Montreal, a harbour trip and dinner near the waterfront. Highlight of the evening was the ceremony lighting up the Marche de Bonsecours with the End Polio Now logo

Walked to the Bell Centre in hot sunshine – it is only two blocks from the hotel. Again we have the parade of the great and the good plus spouses – ugh!

Foundation Day today and we begin with Glen Estess and his keynote speech followed by the award to Peter Kyle of the Alumni Service award. A very impressive CV. He was followed by Jo Luck of the Heifer Corp a charity which was  quite good.

The second half of the morning was special – firstly Bruce Aylward of WHO Polio Eradication announced that we have Polio on the run ! this went down very well – he was so upbeat about finishing the job. He was follows by Queen Noor of Jordan who spoke eloquently on Peace .

We walked back to the Palais de Congress to avoid the queues for buses and metro. Lunch with David and Sandy then we decided to do a boat trip on the river and enjoy a restful afternoon. In the evening we joined other RIBI DGs at John and Carol Samuels place to enjoy a few drinks and relax

Lovely hot morning as we made our way by coach from our hotel to the Palais de Congress for the inter faith service where DG1030 Martin gave a reading.
Then it was lunch in the House of Friendship and then to the Bell Center for the openning ceremony.

RI President opened the event with the flag ceremony. This was followed by various ethic dancing and the usual parade of Past Presidents. The highlight was the hour long performance by Celtic Thunder.
After we met with Brian, Greg and Peter plus ladies for dinner. Burger and chips $25!

Now that was a very interesting journey!
First no air con on bus to Heathrow so we were pretty damn hot on arrival.
Then Linda fell on the down escalator with her bag. No damage other than bruises thankfully.
Met our friends John and Carol at the airport. Flight good until we learned the England v Algeria score:(
Long queues at immigration and eventually got into a taxi to find it driven by an Algerian! He also seemed to be taking part in last weeks F1 event here!
Quick bite and sleep

Just setting “out of office” email and getting ready to go.

May not be much here for a week ,but loads of pics and memories when I get back

Started early in the morning to review Eric’s papers on Leadership and succession. Then out in the warm sun to set up the sprinkler system for all the tubs!!!

After lunch I watched Argentina v South Korea and the Argies might be a bit wobbly at the back but going forward they were excellent.

Saw snippets of Nigeria v Greece – who shot themselves in the foot then!!

Evening packing and making sure I have all the right documentation for Montreal

Watch France beaten by Mexico – how poor are they?

Meeting with Chris James, District Secretary to iron out a few last minute items for him. Seems that Handover is going slow so Chris will jog Stan to promote it more.

Then to collect John M from Bishop Sutton and take him to the BRI for his chemo. The Club are doing a rota for John and to save Marion the effort. Parked in the city and wandered the shops looking for World cup on TV – NONE!!!!

Collected John at 3 pm and dropped him at home

Evening meetign at John Butlers with Steve Tanner, Chris Steele and Graham Baskerville to make progress on the new Bath club.

Governors meeting in the morning and the last time I chair it as DG:) Range of issues as usual including succession, training of officers and leadership. Thanks to David and Robin for their contributions [ their last meeting]. Thanks to all for your support and contributions too.

PM client meeting at home interrupted by Keri popping in to say goodbye before she goes off to Greece for holidays.

Email now dying down to just a few although a club issue reared its head  and it took a few phone calls to make progress. More to do with style than anything else! How many times have I said the club decides, the president presides!

Evening at Chelwood AGM –

After a hectic weekend we go shopping in Bristol for the morning, watch some football on TV and sunbathe in the garden. Start now to get our heads round the trip to Montreal

Read through notes for Governors meeting tomorrow

Evening meeting of the SWALLOW Board discussing finance . new phone system and staff policies