Bags are packed...we're ready to go! HOME

After a year of planning and saving our 6-week European vacation is now coming to a close. We have been to many countries (8 in total), travelled over 7,300km (by car alone!) and met so many interesting people. We've had so many "once in a lifetime" experiences, that's it's been hard to pick our favourites. At dinner tonight, Aidan asked us which was our favourite country...none of us could pick just one, so we decided on top two. That being said, it kept changing as the night wore on! It seems like Paris came out on top for all of us because of all the amazing sights we got to see (Eiffel Tower, Tour de France, the Louvre, D'Orsay, etc.) then came Amsterdam/Netherlands (Ralph) Switzerland (Aidan and me), but then I switched to Venice and Amsterdam...it's just too hard to say because each place was very different. We liked special things in each place. Vasa Museum in Stockholm was a huge highlight for Ralph. Canyoning and Parasailing in the Swiss Alps was top for Aidan, although he loved body surfing on the beach in Italy as well. There were just too many special moments. We all agreed that Kutna Hora in Czech Republic was the creepiest place we visited, although Ralph was really taken with the gothic church there. I can't believe we've actually done it and it's over now! To our family in Holland and Sweden, THANK-YOU so much for hosting us and taking such good care of us in the first part of our vacation. It was so great to meet all of you and finally be able to put faces to names for those of you we hadn't met yet! We would love to have you over to visit us in Canada ANYTIME! For those of you at home that have been following our journey through this blog or on facebook, I hope you've enjoyed hearing a bit about our adventures-- the good, the bad and the ugly! A special thank-you to Sue and Dave back in Victoria for handling everything at the office so that I could enjoy this special holiday with my family. Lots of love to everyone. Here's hoping we manage ok with all our luggage on the metro tomorrow morning and we find our way to the airport. I better get back online and research the metro/RER so I know where we need to go in the morning! Next stop CANADA :)

who's that girl?

Had a pretty mellow day today, as mellow as you can get in the middle of Paris! I did something really outside the box...a photo shoot with Paris photographer Brice Hardelin. Being someone that is used to being behind the scenes and/or promoting other people, it took some getting used to...being in front of a camera like that. I was encouraged by my friend Trish who had her portrait done a few weeks ago. It was stunning and I thought, "wow, that would be cool to do in Paris." Well, I did it, and I was surprised by the feelings that came up while doing the shoot. The overwhelming feeling at first was actually "fear." I thought that was kind of weird, but realized, I'm just not used to exposing myself like that. I like to think that I'm an open person, but wow, put someone in front of you with a camera and I definitely wanted to put my arms up like some kind of protective shield or hide my eyes away from the camera. Well, Brice is very patient and the results left me very grateful for the opportunity and speechless! Before the shoot my 15-year-old son teased me about doing the photo session, but he was the first one to see the picture on facebook and was duly impressed. Today I feel very much at peace as I reflect on our amazing vacation and I feel beautiful too...thank-you Brice!

Hit the wall today...

Back at our little apartment in the Marais district. We spent the day at the Musee D'Orsay and then wandered up to Napoleon's tomb and walked to the Arc de Triomphe. About half way up the Champs Elysees I hit a wall and felt like I couldn't go one more step. Yesterday was another full day as we went to Sacre C'oeur in the Montemarte district and did another full day of walking (with lots of cafe stops to people watch). We've been travelling with our friend Trish the last few days, although today along the Champs Elysees we said our goodbyes. She still had energy to shop and I alas was done for the day. She is off to London tomorrow and we have our last two days in Paris before we fly home on Friday.

Yesterday we were walking down a little street in Montemarte and I heard someone say Aidan's name. I looked back and there was a young boy in a cafe with his family. Turns out they're from Victoria and the boy and Aidan go to the same school (same grade and some same classes!) They also recognized us from the day before at the Tour de France because they were across the street from us and couldn't miss our signs and Canada paraphanelia. Had no idea that they actually knew us tho! After chatting for a bit, seems like we're even on the same flight back to Vancouver on Friday. Very small world indeed. Looking forward to getting home now. The trip is amazing, but it sure makes you realize what a wonderful place Canada is. Will probably spend the next few days exploring our very funky neighbourhood and doing some shopping before we have to say goodbye. More rest tonight to recharge the batteries for the last push before HOME :)

Tour de Freakin France

I don't even know where to begin. Yesterday has to rank right up there on the "best day ever" category. I'm having so many of those lately it's like an embarrassment of riches. The day started early when I picked up our friend from Victoria, Trish, so we could all watch the Tour de France and cheer on our local hometown guy, Ryder Hesjedal together. First stop, a store where we could buy posterboard and felt markers so we could make signs. No posterboard, but they had large white shipping envelopes with bubble wrap inside so it made them a bit stiffer...check, they'd do the job. We stopped in at a local cafe and bought our lunch for the road, but before we left, we spread out on the tables and started to make our signage. After some initial funny moments as we tried to get the Canadian maple leaf looking right for our "Canada flag" we were off to the races. (Thank goodness for our passport, which had a very tiny, but good model for us to use so our flag didn't look too amateurish.) Aidan and I also dashed back to our apartment to change our shirts because we realized we both had "Canada" shirts in our suitcases and today of all days was the day to be wearing them. Next it was off to the Place de Concorde to go and find a spot with the masses. We got there about 12:30 and it was already pretty crowded. We were trying to find a good spot when these two older ladies called Aidan over. They saw us with our signs and red shirts and decided we must have their spot right against the fence. They were from BC and had been waiting there for quite awhile, but realized they weren't going to be able to stay there for another 5+ hours, so they gave us their spot. The one lady said to us, "you've got these great signs and are all decked out, so you really must have a place right on the rail so they can see you." She was so great. So, signage, good spot, now we wait...Had a picnic lunch on the sidewalk. Had a group of student artists from the US next to us who were sketching the surroundings the whole time, another group of Norwegians all decked out with flags and colourful costumes and a very grumpy English couple...more on them later.

At about 3pm, all the sponsor vehicles started to come through the Concorde Plaza and it turned into a big party atmosphere. That lasted for over an hour. Many of the team cars also came by including the Garmin cars and bus (Ryder's team). They actually stopped and came out and took our picture. They must've alerted the CBC crew, because at some point the reporter and cameraman came looking for us. We did our interview that made it onto the CBC National news that night!! (click on the hotlink to have a look...it was fun!) THEN, along came the riders. That was super exciting and of course our guy did amazing. We clicked pictures like crazy and didn't really know if we were getting anyone in particular. I lucked out and one of my shots is of Ryder!!! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that it was #54!!! How cool is that! :)

Now, let me really set the scene. We were standing at the Concorde in Paris with the Eiffel Tower in the background and from afar we could see the big screen TV so we could actually watch the riders as they were making their way to the Champs Elysee. The atmosphere was electric, we were attracting alot of attention because it's not often Canada is represented at the Tour de France. Many of the other team buses and cars waved, gave us the thumbs up and took our picture. We were all yelling and cheering as the riders went by and remember that grumpy English couple I told you about? Well, they actually told us to BE QUIET!!! Here is what they said, "we've been listening to you cheer for the past three hours and now we're trying to watch the race, can you please stop yelling." They were actually really mad. We were in a crowd of tens of thousands of people...everyone yelling, clapping and making noise and they wanted us to be quiet so they could watch the big screen way off in the distance! Well, I thought Trish was going to come to fist to cuffs with the big Brit guy. She told him to settle down and I thought he was going to hit her! He said, 'well are you going to stop yelling?' I let him know that 'no, every time those riders come by we will be cheering, yelling and screaming...ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE IN THE CROWD AROUND US!'

Trish figured if they wanted to watch the race on the screen, then they should've stayed home and watched it on TV! Anyhow, it was actually kind of funny.

After the race, yours truly actually managed to bust through the barriers and the French Police guards and get into the area where all the team busses, cars, riders and support crew were. Went looking for the Garmin team bus to try to get a pic with Ryder. Unfortunately, they had already left! Every other team bus was there, so saw Lance Armstrong up close, Alberto Contador and several other athletes (big doping area set up there as well.) Anyhow, it was all very fun and cool. However, our day didn't stop there. Had a wonderful dinner and then we set off for the Eiffel Tower. Went up at night and saw the lights of Paris from the top of the tower at midnight. There was a full moon, the tower would light up with "sparkly" lights for five minutes at the top of the hour and we even saw a young man bend down on one knee and ask his girlfriend to marry him at the top of the tower!! It truly was a magical evening and an amazing, once in a lifetime day. I am living a dream!

exhausted, but resting up for more

Well, I think I finally got hit by the "i'm so tired truck, I think I'm going to tip over." We are in our flat in Paris, the 3rd district (Marais). It's right in the centre of the action and it's great. We arrived last night after spending the morning at the Canadian museum at Juno Beach. We stopped at the burial site for the Canadians that died on D-Day and the following Battle of Normandy. There were so many white markers. The tears start flowing before you even realize you're crying. Ralph and I were both moved to tears more than once yesterday. Then we took the tour of the beach and went through a german bunker and saw the various remnants of the fortifications from back in the day. The museum itself was a great history lesson. Clips from the front on D-day. More stories from veterans. It leads you through how Canada got involved in the war and had the speech from Hitler, the British PM and then the Canadian PM when they each declare war on Germany. Was also very nice to see "home" again. Just seeing the Canadian flag on our way in, was so nice. Made us all miss home. The emotion of yesterday, must've taken more energy than I realized because today at about 4pm, after a full day of visiting the Louvre and wandering to see the sights of Paris I just couldn't keep going another step. Had to get back to the apartment to lie down for a nap. We were going to go back out again tonight, but realize we've still got 5 more days, so we'll save our energy tonight, recharge our batteries and be ready to roll again tomorrow. We're going to meet our friend Trish in the morning and then go and cheer on our hometown cycling hero Ryder Hesjedal (sp?) at the finish of the Tour de France. I LOVE IT!! I was excited to see the finish of the Tour, but to now have a fellow Victorian who's in the actual top 10 to cheer on is just a gift. Trish and I are professional cheerers of our local sports hero's so it's going to be very fun! Saving energy for tomorrow is a very good idea, so it's off to bed for me! Early for a change :)

pictures :) Aidan flying and me back on terra firma

Went flying...like a bird!

Our final morning in Interlaken, Switzerland was AMAZING! The thunder and lightning that came through the night before made way for beautiful blue skies and we were able to go paragliding before we left for Paris. I have never experienced anything like that before in my life. First, let me say when you first arrive in Interlaken and you look into the sky you will see not only the majestic mountains, but a beautiful rainbow of paragliding sails sweeping and looping way up in the sky until they gently drop below the building skyline. It happens several times throughout the day, but when we arrived at about 6pm, you couldn't take your eyes off the sky and it looked so peaceful and beautiful that it really was the first thing you wanted to do. That was certainly my first question...how do we arrange to do that! Luckily, we were able to finish off our great stay in the Swiss Alps flying like birds over the treetops and in the mountains. It was so quiet and peaceful and beautiful up there...not scary at all! (once you get off the ground ;)

The first thing they do is get you into a harness that will act like a seat while you're in the air. You fly "tandem" so the pilot is behind you and you run together down this very steep mountain until your parasail catches the wind and lifts you off the ground and in seconds you are literally flying. It's like you're about to jump off a steep cliff, but you don't jump at all, just run and then lift-off! We were about 2,500 feet (800m) up and it's about a 15 minute flight down to the landing field. We caught a few cool updrafts and then my pilot took us swooping very low over the treetops (ok, that felt a bit scary when we were first heading for the trees!) But, you look down and see the town below, the lakes, the mountains and we actually saw a little deer type animal way up on the cliffside in the trees. We were also flying next to a hawk who was making alot of noise trying to talk to us. Aidan and Ralph took off behind me. Aidan requested a bit more of a spin and roller coaster ride (and got it). Anyhow, can't imagine anything else quite like that. Between canyoning the day before and then the paragliding, it was definitely a highlight, although there's been so many. One more week to go until we head for home. We've covered alot of ground over 7,300 km...woah. Feel totally blessed to be living this adventure. More soon.

Salzburg, Venice and the Swiss Alps!

Well, it's been a long time since we've had internet and we've done so much! After Prague we went to Salzburg. We all wished we could've stayed there two nights. The fellow in Prague that told us there wasn't much to see must've been a big city person! It was beautiful, so we packed in as much as we could in the short time we had. We arrived about 12:30 and as soon as we checked into our hotel we booked the Sound of Music tour which started at 2pm. We were able to see all the sites where they filmed the movie in and around Salzburg. The great part was we got out to see the lakes and alps as well. We were all singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music...lalalala" (we still are!!) When we got back we wandered into the old town along the river and boy did I ever wish we were there when the shops were open!! It was a fantastic shopping town. Alot of unique stores, not the same kind you get everywhere. Oh well, probably just as well as Interlaken, Switzerland is crazy expensive!!

Our next stop after Salzburg was Venice. We spent four nights in a great apartment where we could really feel at home (and do laundry!) We even had a rooftop terrace. We had a stressful time getting there tho! When we crossed into Italy, we hit our first real toll booth. It spit out a ticket and we took it...without giving any money. We were confused, but the gate opened, so we drove through it. All was great for the next several hours, until we came to the toll booth outside Venice. It would only speak to us in robot Italian, the signage was all in Italian and no matter what card we popped into the slot, nothing was working, the gate wasn't opening and we had cars behind us...everyone had to back out and we all had to go to a different booth. Of course, we figured the booth we were at just wasn't working, but alas, it was us that had no idea what to do. I finally got out of the car and went to a car that was at the toll and watched what they did and asked a few questions. Luckily, one of the Italian fellows spoke a bit of english and told us what we had to do...remember that ticket that popped out of the first toll booth at the beginning? Turns out we had to put that ticket in first, THEN it will take your credit card or cash for however much you owe. Needless to say, when we arrived at the parking area in Venice we were a bit frazzled. We then had to walk with all our bags into the maze of cobbled pathways and somehow try to find our apartment (in 40+ degree heat!) It took awhile and when we did we were all soaking wet because it was so hot outside. A cold shower was the first order of business. Once we recovered sufficiently we did the first thing recommended by a travel writer for Venice: #1 thing to do: "get lost in Venice". We spent the next five days "getting lost". Can't stress about it because there really is no other way to see Venice than just get out there and explore and see what you come across. Every evening and morning we would awake and fall asleep to the bells tolling on the hour and half hour. We had a market in our square where there was fresh fish, vegetables, fruit and flowers sold in the mornings. The Saturday evening was a huge festival and there was a firework show that lasted over 30 minutes and we were able to watch it from our rooftop terrace! We had the perfect seats and got to avoid the huge crowds. Later on that evening in the middle of the night we were treated to an amazing thunder and lightning show. The heavens opened up and it POURED rain for a few hours. By 8am the next morning, that was a memory and the sun was shining again (but a wee bit cooler, thank goodness!) We ventured out to Lido island which has the sandy beach and huge surf and body surfed in the sea all afternoon.

Now, after Venice we are in Interlaken, Switzerland. Had an amazing day "canyoning" in the Grimsel canyon. Basically you are rapelling down 150 foot rock cliffs, jumping off waterfalls and sliding down natural waterslides in the canyon, ziplining through rock tunnels and ya...your basic full on adrenalin rush. We were supposed to go paragliding later this evening, but a huge thunder and lightning storm hit here at dinner, so we're hoping to go tomorrow morning at 9am before more thunder hits in the afternoon. Our fingers are crossed because it looks like so much fun. Paragliding over the alps...oohh yes. Hopefully! Well, it is late and everyone is snoring beside me, so I better get to bed. So much more to share and I wish I was better at posting pictures on here, but I just run out of time in the day to do all the internet stuff too! Just over a week to go on our adventure. Paris is our next and last stop. Tour de France anyone? Go Ryder Go! :)

a tale of two villages

Last two days in Prague we've been very adventurous. We decided to get out of the city, so yesterday we took a train to Karlstejn Castle which is about 45 minutes (by train) out of Prague. Then when we got back we took the metro to the Palace here in Prague. We managed quiet well which surprised me, (we're practicing for Paris :) I loved the train ride into the countryside. When we arrived in Karlstejn, it was a 2km hike pretty much straight uphill to the castle from the tiny little train station where we got off. It was like in the movies. You get off and there's noone there but you and you just start walking. I loved it. We also had a reprieve from the intense heat. It was only 28 degrees yesterday which makes a big difference when you're walking around outside in the sun for hours on end. Today was back up to almost 40 degrees. We went outside Prague again today, but this time we drove. Went out to Kutna Hora which is a UNESCO world heritage site. I didn't like it so much. There was a huge gothic church and it was an old silver mine there. It is also the site of a "bone church". Literally the church is decorated and made up of the bones of 40,000 people who died back in the 14th century when they were hit with the Black Plague. We toured that "ossuary" after visiting the "torture museum" (Aidan's pick). I don't know, but it left me with a bit of a creepy feeling and I was happy to get out of Kutna Hora (UNESCO or not, it wasn't my cup of tea.) What I found a bit disturbing was reading all the history about the trials and judgements and torture that was meeted out to people back in the day while at the same time, they were building the most extravagant church out there. The two extremes juxtaposed together were a bit jarring for me today. It didn't help the waiter we had at lunch was very rude. I almost started to cry when he brought me my lunch. It was a plate of fried kidney beans with onions...I ordered vegetarian bean goulash and I had no idea what I would get. That seems to be the order of the day around here these days. Ordering food in Germany and Prague has been a bit of a crap-shoot. Sometimes you luck out and it's amazing (you really have no idea what you're ordering sometimes) and sometimes you just look down at your plate and wonder how you'll be able to eat it. Ah, the joys of travelling. Today was the first day that I felt a bit homesick. Looking forward to Venice. Off first thing in the morning and will overnight in Salzburg before heading to Italy. :)

Greetings from Prague

We are now in our own little apartment in Prague for 4 nights. Today started with a Segway tour around Prague. For those of you who don't know what they are, those are the Jetson-style things on wheels that you stand on and they wheel along, going much faster than you could if you were walking. We covered alot of ground and given the heat again today, there were many people we passed who kept saying they wished they were doing what we were doing. Walking in that blazing sun and heat for hours is a bit too much! I found out about it by searching for the top things to do in Prague and this came up as #1 on Trip Advisor. I'm finding it very handy for recommendations and reviews of various cities, attractions, hotels, etc. We spent last night in the Old Town Square with thousands of others watching the World Cup finals. We were decked out in our orange Holland gear (shirts, hats, vuvuzelas etc.) along with many others. There was also a large contingent cheering for Spain. Well, the game was epic and the atmosphere exciting and intense. We had to move from the square because it was so packed that Aidan couldn't really see any of the game. We found a little bar with a TV right next to the square so we got to sit and see the game, but still be close to the crowd for all the action and cheering. We enjoyed everything about the game except the end! There were alot of disappointed orange people leaving the square last night.

Oh yes, I had mentioned earlier about the access to money issues because of PIN's and our debit cards not working in Germany. Well, it turns out it works just fine in Czech Republic, so that's a huge relief! It's nice to have cash in our hands again! We are now back to the three of us as Kira flew home tonight. She's been 5 months in Australia and Europe and was very ready to go home. We are very tired after every day too, but not homesick yet! The one thing that does get quite exhausting is not really being able to communicate fully with anyone and not really being able to read any of the signs and information around you. It's kind of weird, but I finally had to go onto the Times Colonist and Globe and Mail website, just to be able to read news in English. I will see things in their newspapers and magazines and be so curious, but not have a clue what they're talking about. For a person that likes to be 'in the know' it can be a bit humorous sometimes. I pick it up like I want to read more and then realize I can't!! Anyhow, Aidan is asking me to turn out the light so he can go to bed. I really need to figure out how to get to sleep earlier. Too much adrenaline I think! I'll have to sleep when I get home. Goodnight from Prague.

Emotional day in Berlin

I'm back out on my veranda of our little hotel...it's late again and hotter than yesterday, but there's a bit of a breeze. Germany just won their World Cup game tonight, so alot of honking and vuvuzela's. It was an interesting day today. We got up early so we could try to get as much in before the real heat of the day, but today didn't matter, it was just super hot from morning until night. Scorching sun all day. We ventured out with our water bottles in hand and made a good day of it despite the heat.

We started out at the Reichstag, the seat of government for Germany. Outside of the building is the old facade, but because it was bombed extensively during the war, the inside is all modern. Berlin is a hard city to describe. There's kind of an unsettling feeling here. There's no real centre and there is construction everywhere. There is also history everywhere and some of it not so pleasant. Whereas the first night we wandered around in wonderment to get our bearings, we really didn't know what we were looking at. Today, we got more of a history lesson which started at the Reichstag and kept going from there. We were at the top of the Reichstag where you can see all of Berlin and the various monuments. They describe them for you and it was very eye opening. From there we went to the Brandonberg Gate, the Jewish Memorial and then made our way to "Checkpoint Charlie." To be honest, I wasn't really sure what it was, I just knew it was recommended as one of the things you HAD to do when in Berlin. I'm glad we went, even tho it was very emotional. At first, when you arrive, you're not really sure what you're looking at. Is it a street? a building? a monument you're looking for? I didn't know. Then, you just stop and take it all in. There are historical photos and write ups along the walls up and down the street. Reading it you begin to realize where you're standing. It was the main crossing point for people from East and West Berlin and where many people died trying to escape or secretly cross. Many many were successful and we learned more about their stories when we went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum. It was there that you saw story after story about the wall going up and families being separated and then specific stories about people who fled using ingenious methods. They included hiding in suitcases, in cars, building hot air balloons, flying contraptions, underwater breathing devices, cantalevered ladders...all from scraps of stuff they were able to cobble together. It was the stories of the Stasi seperating mothers and fathers from their children that got to me the most. Maybe it was because it was very hot and I was tired, but I almost started to weep when reading some of the accounts of forced adoptions. They would take kids away from parents and adopt them out. They would do this as punishment if any of their family members had escaped and to set an example. It was heartbreaking and there were so many other stories like that. It was very sobering and made you realize the broken history that is Berlin. Whereas we were blissfully unaware of what we were looking at earlier in the day, it all became very real after the Checkpoint Charlie museum. Aidan was looking at the pictures of people being stopped or shot at when crossing the wall and asking me why the pictures looked so recent. It was only 1989/90 that freedom really came to those people. He couldn't believe that this kind of thing happened only a few years before he was born. Not that long ago at all.

The day ended at the Aquarium (Aidan wants to see the various Aquariums and we're ok with that given how patient he is with all these museums and history lessons!) The evening was spent having dinner in the square outside watching World Cup soccer and Germany winning 3rd place! Lots of excitement and merry making (still going on below!)

We head to Prague tomorrow. Travelling tip # whatever....you loose track of the date and days when you're on the road and it's probably not a good idea. When we arrived in Berlin, I didn't really think that it was later on Friday so the banks wouldn't be open. Never dawned on me there wouldn't be a bank or money exchange place open on a Saturday...well there WASN'T. With the new Visa PIN's, our stupid VISA doesn't seem to work at interact machines, so we need a teller in order to get cash. We used our last Swedish Kronor's on the ferry and I figured I would get Euro's when I got to Berlin. Not so. Now, we're heading into Sunday and Prague and we have no real cash on us. This is a bit troubling, but I'm hoping the toll road will take Visa!! What's even more troubling is there were many places in Sweden where our PIN number didn't work, so we had to bypass it by giving them our passport as ID with the Visa. Anyhow, that is a bit worrisome. Here we saved up all this money for a year for our trip and we can't ACCESS any of it!! More than a bit annoying. Better planning on my part was needed, but it never occurred to me the Visa wouldn't work properly. Oh well, lesson learned. As soon as I can get access to a bank I'm withdrawing ALOT of money so we don't end up in this situation again.

I'll be glad to leave Germany. It's been a real learning experience, but there's been many German servers that just aren't that friendly or welcoming. They almost seem to resent you and certainly don't go out of their way if they see you don't understand what they're saying to you. It's been our first experience with this. A few have really stood out and were helpful, but several were not. I wonder what it will be like in our other places? You really realize you're far from home when you come face to face with that kind of thing. Well, that's about all for tonight. Going to try to get a bit more rest tonight!

European Adventures Phase 2

Well, phase 1 of our holiday is now over. That would be the meeting and visiting with family and exploring our family roots in Holland and Sweden. Now, we begin Phase 2, which is just us visiting various cities around Europe. We are currently in Berlin. Everyone is sleeping (it's almost 1am). We've been up and on the road since 7:30 am this morning. We left Sweden and arrived in Berlin at about 5:30pm. It's smoking hot outside...still 26 degrees at 1am! It's supposed to go to 36 degrees tomorrow, so I'm unsure just how much sightseeing we'll be able to do in that kind of heat! I am sitting outside on our little veranda off our room. We're in a very old hotel on a quiet square right downtown. It's very beautiful and quaint. The long long drives are now behind us (unless we get stuck in a traffic jam!) We are getting much better at being on the road and using our GPS. We are now very well organized with food for the road, so it's making the long drives much more tolerable.

Tonight when we got to Berlin, we had Thai food at a great restaurant that several people recommended. Ralph and I then got bus tickets and went and explored the city to get our bearings for our "tourist" day tomorrow. We went to Alexander platz in what was East Germany. The architecture there is very stark and bleak looking. However, they had an excellent open air picture display of the history of the square and of the former East German government. It told the story of the various democracy movements that tried to take hold over the years before the Berlin wall came down in 1989. I remember that so clearly because I was working at CBC Newsworld and that was a huge story. It was very cool to be standing in the square where so many people demonstrated against their government for more freedom. The pictures and photo essays were hard to place in what is a vibrant, active and modern square nowadays. It's so hard to imagine that people had to live in such repression, just because of an arbitrary line drawn in the streets so many years ago (1961 I believe.) The story wall showed how the writers, artists and actors really lead the various movements (peace, democracy, environment, freedom). There were several groups that were very active and worked in private homes and churches to form an underground "news" channel. They would publish essays and writings urging people to think beyond where they were today, but because they weren't allowed to publish anything that wasn't sanctioned by the government, they would painstakingly have to make several copies and then these would circulate amongst the various networks around East Germany. They had copies of various manuscripts and essays displayed. It's hard to imagine in today's day and age of instant information how hard they had to work at sharing their thoughts and ideas and how they risked their freedom by doing so. When today, here I am writing my thoughts and experiences from a balcony in Berlin and it can reach whomever decides to read it...anywhere in the world with the click of a button. Wow. That was only 20 years ago and it seems like it's from another world.

Well, I'm looking forward to the next phase of our adventure. We will be losing Kira on Sunday as she's going back to Victoria on Monday and we're off to Prague. Unfortunately, I think I've picked up her cough...I'm just hoping and praying it doesn't turn into strep. I don't think so, but am trying to stay medicated and just ahead of it so it doesn't get worse. With that I should probably try to get some sleep. I am loving Europe tho. It's so exciting and dynamic and alive over here. Love love love it. Can't believe I'm really here.

Family Reunions

I am writing this as I wait for my pictures to download. It's very late and we're in Soderhamn, Sweden on our way back down from visiting my Swedish cousins in Ostersund (up north). It was a time for family get togethers and visiting our history and roots. There was a caravan of us that set out for Hunge (a small village in Sweden) where my Grandpa came from. There is an old flour mill there that was run for many many years by my Grandpa's father. We all heard stories from my Grandpa about the place where he grew up and many from our family have made the pilgrimage to the flour mill. It is absolutely idyllic there now. However, when my Grandpa used to describe it he remembered the hard work that he had to do every day as a very young boy. It obviously made an impression on him because he always had stories to tell us from his youth there. Everything in the mill is still as it was and during the summer they still make flour there and people are lined up to buy the fresh milled flour. When we went into the mill, they still had the books there from in the early 30's that had each customer's name with how much flour they had bought and how much they owed. Everyone that has come there (from our family) has written their names in the posts on the inside walls. It was very cool to see my Granpa's name, uncle's, aunt's, cousins and many other family members that we just met today!

It's so great to get connected with family, some that we know well and others that we are just meeting for the first time. It's hard to say goodbye tho. As Aidan said today, "you just get comfortable and get to know them and then it's time to move on again." It was very sad to say goodbye to our cousins in Ope/Ostersund. I want to go back and live there for awhile and learn Swedish. It was a beautiful little city and I felt so comfortable and at home. It looks like we will take a bit of Sweden with us as the kids have decided that our new house should be painted 'Falu red'. It's the colour of most of the houses in Sweden. It's not a rust colour and not a red colour...but it's a very Swedish colour. I guess that will feel like we're bringing a bit of Sweden to our own little corner of Canada and keeping our family roots alive. Love to all my family out there...new and old! Time to go to bed as we've got another long drive ahead of us tomorrow as we make our way back down to the south of Sweden and get ready for the next leg of our journey.

Spectacular day in Stockholm

Just had another amazing day. This time in Stockholm. We arrived yesterday and got the lay of the land in the evening. I had booked a hotel online only a few days before and had to do it in a bit of a rush because I couldn't find a room that would take all four of us (as Kira is with us for the next few weeks). Needless to say, I didn't do my research and it was a crap hotel in a crap area...we affectionately called it the armpit of Stockholm. We had to walk through a sketchy industrial area for 20 minutes or so and through a chain link fence and along a dirt path to get to the train that took us into Stockholm for our first evening of sightseeing. We called it the armpit because where we had to walk to take the train was in an area where there was alot of rotting fruit and vegetables, so it really was stinky! The next morning at 7am I was on the internet and finding another place DOWNTOWN. We got very lucky and found something right downtown, and when I called them, the room was ready, so we literally packed up then and there and were out of the "stinky" hotel by 8:30 and arrived at our beautiful hotel downtown by 9am!! It was great. We have spent all day wandering Stockholm. It was a sunny and hot day which showed off Stockholm in all it's splendour.

The first thing we had to do tho was get Kira to a doctor. Turns out she is really really sick. Tested postive for strep and has a very high sed rate (136 when it should be below 10!) The doctor was shocked at her numbers. She was an excellent doctor. Very thorough and great at explaining what we needed to do. Three prescriptions later (antibiotics, pain/fever reliever and Ibuprofen for the inflammation and we were on our way!) It's a relief to know that she's finally being treated and hopefully within a few days she'll be feeling better. She had to stay and rest at the hotel while Aidan, Ralph and I spent the rest of the day touring. Once we tucked her away into bed, off we went.

First to the water and we grabbed one of the hop on and off boats and got ourselves over to the Vasa museum where we saw an old viking ship that sank in 1667 (or 8?) during it's maiden voyage. It literally barely got out of the harbour before a wind blew it over! Because the water is not super salty, it was preserved and is quite spectacular to see. We then headed over to another island that has an amusement park and aquarium. Aidan works at a Koi Farm and really wanted to see the aquarium, so we enjoyed a tour of the fish and plants there, had tea and a pastry treat at the cafe right on the water and headed out again on the boat for our next stop. We went to the Royal Palace, but unfortunately got there a bit too late to be able to go inside. Spent the next several hours wandering through Gamla Stan (or old town). We stopped and had dinner in an outdoor cafe in the old town square at chocolakoppen (or something like that). I had the best meal I've ever had...at least that I can remember! The dinner and dessert and hot chocolate were unbelievable. They make everything from scratch and you sure could tell. I ended up taking Kira there later in the evening. She had spent the whole day resting and she was ready for a bit of fresh air and a bite to eat, so the two of us took a little walk and went back.

We're off tomorrow to visit cousins in Ostersund. An 8 hour drive! Oh yay! I expect we'll spend a leisurely morning in Stockholm before we set out. I'm going to bed tired, but very happy. It really was an amazing day. Ralph, Aidan and I had alot of fun.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Almost forgot! But hope everyone is having a great holiday.

Travelling legs and marathon driving

We're still getting our travelling legs. Kira is watching us and laughing as we try to figure out trains, planes and automobiles. She of course is now a seasoned traveller. We are but neophytes! We arrived in Stockholm late this afternoon after a drive from Ingrid and Hasse's house in Falkenberg. We stayed there for two nights and they provided us with such a warm welcome and fabulous beds...and boy did we need them. We did one of those "what were we thinking" things again when we thought it would be a good idea to drive all the way from The Hague in the Netherlands to Falkenberg, Sweden. 4 countries and 14 hours later we arrived at our destination. We were getting pretty giddy in the car I can tell you that. On the bright side, it's going to make all the rest of the driving seem like a piece of cake! Oh ya, and whoever invented the GPS is brilliant. We are loving our TomTom and are getting more proficient at using it, especially after our marathon drive day.

Visiting with family has been a real highlight. Ralph's Tante Tiek and Ome Frits hosted us in the Hague. We saw where Ralph was born and where his mom's family grew up. It was fun to see how Frits and Ralph have so many of the same characteristics! It was a bit freaky at times to watch Frits...he rhymed words when he talked, he always had to be on time (precisely) and he made funny whistle noises. For those of you that know Ralph, you'll know he does these same things. It must run in the family or something!

We were treated so well and were made to feel so welcome and at home both in Holland and Sweden it was hard to leave when it was time to move along. We will definitely be coming back after we finish our "grand tour" trip and spend some real time in these places. For now, we're getting a little taste of alot of Europe.

Overwhelming...

Wow! Just packing up to leave Amsterdam and getting ready to head back to the airport where we're going to pick up the car we leased. The fellow who leases the cars told us we really didn't want to try to drive in Amsterdam and now that we've been here for 4 days I can see why! All I can say is "what were we thinking?" I'm a bit nervous about picking up the car and starting to drive in Europe, but here goes. Everyone else seems to manage, so hopefully we'll be ok too. Ralph's uncle is going to meet us in Leiden and we'll follow him into The Hague to their house. So, wish us luck. We're looking forward to seeing open countryside, windmills and the beaches. Amsterdam is amazing, but for our little hick brains it's all overwhelming. The city doesn't sleep. There is never a time in the night or day when it's quiet...ever! We were right in the centre of the city, which was very cool because we were able to just sit and people watch. Aidan and I would open our apt window wide, lean out and just watch the street action below. There was never a dull moment.

Probably the highlight of Amsterdam for me was seeing Anne Frank's house. I was so moved when reading her diary when I was younger that to see where she actually lived and wrote and to try to imagine what it must've been like was very emotional. I'm looking foward to seeing even more history as we move along. We've all enjoyed learning more about the artists Van Gogh and Rembrandt. We went to Rembrandt's house and saw his studio where he painted his masterpieces and learned about his etchings. Fascinating. We saw how they made paint back in the day and took the "recipe" with us. Might be a project for Ralph and his students next year. Ralph is feeling very inspired here and we've only just begun!

One more sleep...

Today started out very promising. Restless night (due to the excitement). Aidan had his last exam at 1pm (Science) and he just couldn't sit still to study he was so excited. Singing, dancing, running around the property, bouncing on the trampoline...anything but studying. He just wanted to get going. After a very long list of things to do before we left and things to remember, we were almost on our way when I decided that I would try to "fix" our internet problem with our desktop computer before we left so the boys (our house sitting guys) would have internet on that computer. Well, after a call to Shaw who assured me the cable was working, I was put onto the "router" guy from Linksys, who happened to be all the way in India. He assured me I just had to do an upgrade (15 minutes) and all would be good to go. I was watching the clock..."ok, I have time to do this before I have to leave for the ferry." Well, an hour later and after getting my feet tangled in the cords of the computer and falling on my elbow and knee...no hands out to brace because I was holding the phone and running for my cell phone, I was finally told, "no, there is a problem with your tower." Cursing was involved in this drama...a few times (the fall and the unsuccessful attempt at fixing the problem.) Oh well, at least the guys will have wireless for their laptops. I should've just left well enough alone tho! The rush was then on to get to the ferry. Once aboard we settled in, ate at the buffet, saw whales, read the paper and slowly started to feel like we were on our way. Finally, a year in the planning (and lots of saving) and we are actually going to Europe. Seeing Kira tomorrow when we arrive in Amsterdam is an added bonus. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to do pictures as we get rolling. For now, we are 'chillin at the Holiday Inn' (until tomorrow! :)

The countdown is on...

Well, we are now just two days to go before we head to Vancouver to catch our flight. The haircuts, shopping, clothes, cameras, batteries, chargers, suitcases have all been organized and are ready for packing. The house has been scoured clean and emptied ready for our house sitters and the horse was moved today to our friends house where I know he'll be well cared for. The only real thing left to do now is pack our bags and go. Only problem is Aidan and Ralph still have two more days of school. Aidan has exams (on Monday and Tuesday) and Ralph will be overseeing students who are writing exams. Me, I'll be finishing up a few files at work and then transferring them over to my very capable colleagues. Looking forward to seeing Kira on Thursday morning when we arrive in Amsterdam. It's been almost 5 months since we've seen her...although with Skype and Facebook we haven't felt like we've lost touch, which is great. Getting the blog set up and figuring out our TomTom GPS system for Europe are next on our list of things to do before we leave :)