Berlin, Germany

Since we got back from Berlin, we have done a few fun London/England things worth noting.

Thursday was our friend Phil’s 30th Birthday so we went to help him celebrate on a bar/restaurant on a boat on the Thames. It was right across the river from the London Eye and right down the river from Parliament and Big Ben. Great scenery, great atmosphere, great conversations with friends!

Friday night, we joined our friends Nick and Kath at the opening night of the Ealing Comedy Festival. It was set up in a tent in the park not too far from our flat that I like to go walking in. There were eight acts, all very different and all hilarious! We were very impressed.

Saturday, we decided to go back to Snowshill, a small town in the Cotswolds which we drove through when we were there in April. To our surprise, the town was having its Summer Fete that day (it was very quaint). We wandered the town and admired the adorable stone cottages with perfect gardens. Then we went walking on the surrounding public footpaths. Eventually we made it onto the Cotswold Way, a famous walking path. We followed it into another quaint town called Stanton, where we ate our picnic lunch before heading back. We lucked out with the sunny weather and thoroughly enjoyed the English countryside. Ok - on to Berlin!

Berlin, Germany: July 6-9

Last weekend we did our first trip to Germany, Berlin to be exact. We were looking forward to immersing ourselves in history and learning a lot, but we did not expect to like the city as much as we did. It was big and spread out, had so many different elements and such a variety of architecture. We were glad we had three days to explore it all. We were also glad to have two nights in a really nice hotel, a 30th birthday present for John from Suze and Stan; quite the contrast from the tent and outdoor bathrooms of Sardinia two weeks before.

I arrived late on Friday night at Schoenefeld and was greeted by John. He had arrived earlier in the day for a meeting. The crop smells and flat land around Schoenefeld (southeast of Berlin) reminded us of Winnipeg. We stayed near the airport that night and took the train into Berlin on Saturday morning. The train into town gave us a glimpse of all the neat buildings to visit. The Spree River runs through the city and man made beaches, beach volleyball courts and sand castles lined the shores. The weather that weekend did not warrant the beach; as soon as we got off the train we bought an umbrella to shield us from the pouring rain.

We dropped our bags off at the Palace Hotel, near the impressive/ominous Kaiser Wilhelm Church which has not been restored since it was bombed in WWII, grabbed a Starbucks and took the bus through Tiergarten (big central park) to the Reichstag (German Parliament). The line up to get in the Reichstag was just as we heard/read about, so we admired it from the outside. The wind was howling which enabled us to get some good shots of the German flags blowing. We walked to Brandenburg Gate and took note of the new US embassy being built next to it.

On Stan’s recommendation, we visited the Holocaust memorial. The memorial is the size of about a city block, beside the new US Embassy. It is covered in big, cement rectangular blocks (called stelae) of different sizes and heights in a grid pattern. Underneath (underground) the field of stelae is an information centre about the victims of the Holocaust. The exhibits brought the people and experiences to life for us.

From the memorial, we followed the Berlin wall, now marked with a double line of bricks in the cement, to Potsdammer Platz and then onto a segment of the wall still standing and housing the Topography of Terror, an exhibit about the history of the Nazis in Germany and located on the site of their old headquarters. The big umbrella we bought was coming in very handy as it was pouring rain while we walked. Potsdammer Platz is a square of very modern buildings and a mall. The location is part of what used to be the “death strip” (the empty space on the East Berlin side of the wall) and has only recently been built up. Given the rain, we decided to put off the outdoor Topography of Terror until Sunday.

Instead, we took shelter in a Balzac Coffee shop across from Checkpoint Charlie and ate some sweets (Balzac is a small town in Alberta where Stan was born so we got a kick out of the Balzac Coffee chain). Checkpoint Charlie was the famous US border crossing from East to West Berlin. We checked out the museum which documented all of the different kinds of daring escapes from East to West; tunneling under, driving across in inventive hiding places, ballooning over. We were pooped after so we went to our hotel to relax and enjoy some of its amenities.

On Sunday, we stuffed ourselves with the hotel’s breakfast before taking the bus back to the Topography of Terror. The sun was shining so we left the umbrella behind. We adorned our headphones for the next 1.5 hours and learned all about the history of the Nazi party. It took us through the chronology of events and focused on specific party leaders and people who opposed them (who then became prisoners/victims). One opposer, a pastor who helped several Jews and prayed for them, stood out for us as he had the same name as my Mom’s cousin’s husband, Helmut Hesse.

From the T of T we took the subway to the Berlin Wall Memorial in northeast Berlin. The train line ran from West through East and back into West Berlin, and during the time of the German Democratic Republic (GDR - East Germany) it didn’t stop at the East Berlin stations. They became ghost stations. From the Wall Memorial we walked back into central Berlin through a very nicely restored part of East Berlin, past two grand museums (which we didn’t go in), and then past the beautiful Berliner Dom (big church). We ate outside on a restaurant patio overlooking the Dom and the Spree River. It was lovely.

Next up, the GDR Museum. This museum was interactive and filled with various artifacts from the GDR; the Trabant (the only car that people had or could get), a road atlas for only communist countries, clothing, and a full scale apartment. We found the exhibit on the housing very interesting. They mass produced huge concrete apartment blocks, all the same, with same cookie cutter apartments inside. They could construct an 11 storey building in 100 days!

From the GDR Museum, we walked along East Berlin’s main street, the grand Unter Den Linden. It was a stretch of huge, impressive buildings; the university, government buildings, art galleries, and embassies, leading to the Brandenburg gate. We walked by the Reichstag again to see if the line up was any shorter. It wasn’t, so we stretched out on the Reichstag front lawn for a while and watched some guys doing freestyle Frisbee (the closest comparison I can think of is like hackey sack but with a spinning Frisbee). With sore feet and backs from all the standing and walking, we bussed back to Kaiser Wilhelm Church/square and enjoyed a very large sundae at La Fontana, beside a big fountain, as recommended by Suze and Stan.

After a brief relax at the hotel, we went to Potsdammer Platz on the bus. We drove by the Reichstag enroute; it was 9:00 pm and there was still a line up at the Reichstag! We ate dinner in a big pedestrian square, which enabled us to people watch and check out the surrounding modern buildings.

We slept in on Monday and had another big breakfast. We had done all of the museums that we wanted and felt like we had gained a good knowledge of Berlin’s history over the past 80 years. So we went for a bus ride through the former East Berlin. I wanted to see some of the old GDR cement apartment blocks and boy did we ever! In some parts of town they are becoming quite trendy to live in. To cap off our Berlin experience, we went into the Berliner Dom and climbed up the many stairs to the top viewing area. We got a great 360 degree view of the city.

We stopped off for a quick lunch of Berlin currywurst, which capped off a weekend of surprisingly good food, and caught the train to the airport.

We would highly recommend Berlin to anyone - we found it a fascinating city. Thank you Mom and Stan for the nice hotel treat!

Sardinia, Italy

I’m back to the blog after our four week travel hiatus. The weekend after our wonderful week in Spain, we had Sarah, Kevin and Cole back with us in London after their cruise through the Med. They were exhausted and it was cold and rainy here so we were all happy to hang out in the flat playing games and playing with Cole the whole time. We did venture out to browse the shops in Ealing and we drove to Windsor Castle. Sarah and I didn’t think it was possible but we managed to lose every cribbage game we played against the guys.

We were very sad to see them go at the end of May; they were the last of our steady string of visitors until September. It took me a few weeks to get over it.

Over the past three weeks, John has been playing hockey, including a tournament in the Isle of Wight, we started our summer league of Ultimate Frisbee and our team is doing well so far, I ran a 5km for Cancer (slowly, but I did it!), with the help and hard work of John’s Dad we found new tenants for our basement suite in Vancouver, we visited Hampton Court Palace, and hit up several pubs throughout London with our friends. Pics of our recent London activities are on the website in the London 2006/07 set...

Last year, when we were doing research on moving to London and possible traveling opportunities, we came across a water sports all inclusive getaway in Sardinia, Italy on http://www.activitybreaks.com/. It looked like the perfect trip for us; fun in the sun (and water). Back in April, together with Andrew and Jess, we tried to get into a beach Ultimate tournament in Portugal for the weekend of June 23rd and 24th. We didn’t get in so instead we booked the Sardinia activity break. We took the Friday and Monday off to make it a nice long weekend.

We left our place at 3:00a.m. last Friday morning to pick up A&J and head to Stansted airport for our 6:15 departure. It had been (and still is) cold and rainy in London so we were all looking forward to the sun and heat of Sardinia. Sardinia is an Italian island in the Mediterranean, just south of the French island of Corsica. The island is hot, rugged and dry with beautiful beaches and rocky coastlines. We flew into Alghero, on the west side of the island and then drove our rental car two hours to the east side of the island where we were staying. (John had a much easier time driving compared to Sorrento, Italy).

We stayed just outside the small coastal town of Santa Lucia in a big group campground, called Amfibi Treks, owned and run by a Dutch family. Our accommodation consisted of a tent and mattress (we brought sleeping bags), toilets and showers were outside, as was the big group dining area. There was a bar and games area, and a place to snooze in hammocks known as “chill hill”. About a 5 minute walk away was the beach with snorkel gear, windsurfers, kayaks and beach umbrellas included for our use. Our friend Denise said it sounded like Club Med but with Canadian National Parks bathrooms – that’s about right.

We had just missed lunch when we arrived so after moving into our tents we found a little restaurant and had some good Italian fare in Santa Lucia. We were all moving very slowly, partly due to the lack of sleep and partly due to the heat. It was over 30 degrees and sunny every day! Then we headed straight to the beach. John and I don’t always shy away from the sun as we should so it was good to have some Aussie influence to make sure we had plenty of shade and plenty of sunscreen. The Amfibi gear hut on the beach supplied us with umbrellas, and as we set up our little lounging area, Jess and I started singing Rihanna’s new song, Umbrella (pronounced in the song as umbarella). That became our song of the weekend. I don’t think it ever left our brains. I’m still singing it now back in London but for different reasons; to quote the song “now that it’s raining more than ever”.

The boys went straight out on the windsurfers while Jess and I lounged and read. Jess devours books and has given me many good recommendations. For John’s birthday she gave him Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I read it during the trip and loved it. Thanks Jess! It was an awesome read. I highly recommend. We all went for a long, late afternoon swim in the Med. I LOVE swimming the Mediterranean. It was so warm and blue and clear. I was in heaven.

Back at the camp, we met up at the bar for Happy Hour and free drinks. We befriended a fun Brit named Andy who was there on his own. He was having a “rediscover windsurfing” weekend away from his wife and three kids.

Given that it was the end of the school year, the camp was filled with a bunch of 16 year olds on a school trip. We had a great time observing them; the suave Italian boys with perfect hair and stylish clothes, and the girls with their outfit coordination, one night seemed to be frilly skirt night, the other short shorts night. Man, those girls sure could move their hips on the dance floor! Their teacher was a huge, solid, bald, tanned former professional rugby player, who wore blue Crocks. Jess and I thought he looked like a pirate.

Friday night was limbo competition night at the bar, organized by one of the Dutch windsurfing employees with dreadlocks. John, Andrew and I entered. I guess John was a bit of a limbo pro back in the day. He was focused but had some stiff competition, including a few young boys who had a definite height advantage (they were short), and the school girls who seemed to have been born without spines (they were bendy). John made it the top ten but in the end a girl with very big hair took the victory and all John got was a sore back. We were all reassured to know that John is not built like a 16 year old Italian school girl – a fact we celebrated with several beers.

We were all in rough shape Saturday morning but we made it up for the 8:00 breakfast call. Then we went straight to the beach and under our umbarellas for a nap. We spent the day there; reading, windsurfing, snorkeling, swimming, kayaking, throwing the disc, chatting, backgammoning, snoozing. We didn’t even have to walk back to camp for lunch; it came to us. We knew that there was a lot to see and explore on the island but we were content just to relax and enjoy the heat and the beach.

We had happy hour at the outdoor bar again and John and Andrew played some darts. After dinner we set up at a table in the bar area and played diminishing whist. We taught Andy the Brit how to play and he did very well. Saturday night was Disco night at the bar so, in addition to playing cards, we were further entertained by the dynamics of the 16 year olds dancing and mingling on the dance floor.

Sunday was more of the same at the beach but it was much windier. By the afternoon they had to bring the windsurfers and sailboats in and our umbarella kept blowing away. We cut the beach day short as a result. A&J went back to camp for some hammock time and John and I walked into town for some very delicious gelato. We then set up at Chill Hill for some reading and snooze time.

I guess the Italian school kids partied a bit too hard on Saturday night so they were under strict orders from the Pirate to be well behaved on Sunday night. That made it a lot easier for us to access the beer boat at happy hour. Jess and I read while the boys began the Sardinian Heptathlon. It consisted of ping pong, darts, pool, backgammon, cribbage, pentago, and foosball. The heptathlon turned into a quadathlon because Andrew went undefeated in the first four matches. Too bad limbo wasn’t one of the sports. We ended our last night in Sardinia with a few rounds of diminishing whist and a rousing discussion of time travel theory.

We all wanted a few more days of relaxing beach time so it was tough to get packed up on Monday morning. We decided to leave in good time so we could see more of the island before going to the airport. Andrew scoured the guide book and found us an amazing historical site to visit which was on our route, Nuraghe Santu Antine. It was a stone complex built in 16th century BC (3500 years ago!), consisting of a central palace/fortress and remnants of a surrounding village. We saw several conical stone fortress things across the island but this was much larger. We had so much fun exploring all of the well preserved passageways. Inside the main tower were two domed rooms on top of each other and a stair case spiraled around the outside leading to the top where another domed room used to be. It was so impressive! The site was in the interior of the island and it was very hot and dry. I loved the feeling of the hot wind on my face.

The drive from there back to Alghero was picturesque. We would have liked more time to explore the sites of Alghero; it has Spanish, Catalan and Italian influences. Unfortunately, all we had time to do was devour an amazing Italian lunch before heading to the airport. We frantically managed to fill the car with gas; all of the stations were closed for siesta so we had to make out the Italian auto pay instructions at the pump. It would have been funnier if we weren’t so tight on time.

We made it back to London with no problems, we just missed some severe London traffic jams on the drive home, and then A&J treated us to our first dinner of Portuguese chicken.

Our weekends away are usually go go go, so it was nice to have one that was slower paced. The highlight was being outside all of the time, in the fresh warm air. Another excellent trip. Thanks for the great company A&J!

It’s now been a year since we moved out of our house, finished work in Vancouver and left for Manitoba for our summer at the lake. Wow, how time flies! Last night (Friday, June 29th) we went to Canada Day in London at Trafalgar square. We had some Moosehead beer, took in some Canadian music, and scanned the crowds for familiar faces. The highlight for me was meeting Tanya Kim from CTV’s E Talk! She was emceeing the event and in town for the Princess Diana concert tomorrow. Today, John is away at a hockey tournament in Swindon and I’m at home, free to blog away.

Southern Spain

On Sunday, May 13th, after an action packed few days with the extended Mitchell family in London, Sarah, Kevin, Cole, John and I flew to Malaga, Spain (southern coast of Spain, on the Mediterranean). Back in January when we were planning our European adventure, I suggested southern Spain as there are lots of neat places to visit, plus we could get some beach time in. A colleague of Kevin’s gave us a recommendation on where to stay, where to get our rental car and places to visit. That sure made things easy! Kevin was pleasantly surprised that all of that internet correspondence and booking actually resulted in a rental car and condo waiting for us.

The whole trip exceeded all of our expectations. The highlight for us was getting to spend time with our five month old nephew, Cole. Warning – most of the photos posted will be of him.

Our condo was about an hour southwest of Malaga, just outside the town of Estepona. It is tough to tell where towns end and begin because the coast is all built up with holiday condos. It is a very popular vacation spot for Brits & Germans. There was a lot of development going on; we have never seen so many cranes!

We rented a two bedroom condo in a complex right on the ocean, with a grassy courtyard/pool area where we could lounge. From the beach we could see Gibraltar. Rod Stuart used to own the house next door. There weren’t many other people staying in our complex so we had the pool to ourselves. Later in the afternoons, we usually got an entertaining, leprechaun-like visit from two young resident Irish boys, O’sean (pronounced oh-seen) and Fin.

We quickly settled into a relaxing daily routine. We’d wake up in good time and play with Cole over breakfast. Sarah, the sandwich artist, would make us delicious baguette sandwiches for the day. Then we would do some sort of sight seeing. Upon return, we would hit the pool for some sun tanning, swimming and relaxing, interspersed with playing with Cole, reading magazines, playing backgammon and napping. When we had had enough of the sun (it was brilliantly sunny and hot all week), we would go up to the condo, make dinner and play with Cole some more. The men would begin their San Miguel (beer) consumption for the evening. Our dinners were always casual but tasty. After Cole’s bedtime the men vs women Cribbage games would begin. On average two games a night. The women started the week off strong getting up to a lead of 4 to 2, but unfortunately, by Saturday night, the men were the series champions with a score of 9 to 7. We’d hit the sack and get up to do it all again.

Monday, our first full day, was John’s 30th birthday. We had a very relaxing day of exploring Estepona and hanging out on the beach and by the pool. Sarah and Kevin treated John to a birthday dinner of tapas at the harbour. I surprised John with tickets to Ricky Gervais’ live comedy act at Royal Albert Hall (Ricky Gervais is the creator of the show The Office and the star of the original British version).

Before we left Canada, John’s boss, Martin, and his wife, Leanore, took us out for dinner in Vancouver. They have both done lots of traveling but the recommendation that stuck with us from that night was when Leanore exclaimed that we must visit RRRRRRRonda! So, on Tuesday, we took Leanore’s advice and headed into the steep Spanish hills to see the town of Ronda. Ronda is built on either side of a very steep gorge and it is connected by an impressive bridge. The city and the scenery were breathtaking. We took in the views at various look out spots and wandered the streets before treating ourselves to ice cream and heading back to the pool.

About an hour past Estepona, on the Atlantic side of Spain is a town called Tarifa and a string of beaches famous for the windsurfing and kitesurfing. I got John two days of kitesurfing lessons for his birthday and Wednesday was day one. Windmills covered the range of hills leading into Tarifa. The Spanish coast on the Med side is covered in condos but on the Atlantic side, due to the constant strong winds, there are only a few little hotels and hostels for the windsurfers. We pulled into a hotel parking lot and watched a guy on a 4x4 herd his cows down the road while waiting for the Dragon Kite School instructors to arrive. The lesson was on a huge, windswept, scorching hot beach and Day 1 consisted of learning to fly the kite. A guy in John’s lesson from Switzerland is in the airline industry and knew of John’s company because he is good friends with the guy that now works out of John’s office in Vancouver – small world!

We left John to the kite flying and drove to the first of two recommended beaches along the coast, Bolonia beach. At Bolonia, there were some very well kept Roman columns which we had a quick look at before determining it was far to windy for us to set up camp on the beach. We decided to go to the Canos de Meca beach which the guide book said had beautiful white sand and was sheltered from the wind. It was an interesting but long drive to Canos de Meca, past fields of windmills, a white washed hilltop town and through a forest, but the beach ended up being just as windy. We pulled out our towels and lay out in the sheltered dunes for a while, admiring the kite surfers’ skills, before getting sand blasted and heading back to see how John was doing. John got the hang of the kite flying and was excited to go back on Day 2 to get in the water.

On Thursday, John and I went back to Tarifa for his next lesson. It was another clear day so we could enjoy the views of Gibraltar and Africa enroute. Sarah, Kevin and Cole were going to walk the beach around our place and follow it into Estepona.

As we arrived at the beach, the instructors warned that it might be too windy to go out. Sand was blasting across the beach and stinging our legs. While they got set up on the beach, I explored the parking area. There were several hippy camping vans with wind/kite surfing gear attached to the roofs and there were a few permanent campers. It was quite the contrast to the developed Mediterranean shore line. After about half an hour, the kite surfing group headed up from the beach; unfortunately, it was so windy that it would be too dangerous for them to go out on the water. Sorry John, I owe you another day of kitesurfing lessons. Perhaps in Sardinia in June…

We went back to Estepona to find S, K and C. My sister senses were tingling and they guided us to the right spot on the right beach, right where the Anseeuws had set up camp. It was kind of cool. The beach was sheltered and hot so we decided to hang out there for the afternoon. Poor John; he spent most of that afternoon and some time every other day on his blackberry working. Oh the roaming charges!

On Friday morning we drove through the city of Algeciras, parked at the harbour and walked across the border to the British territory of Gibraltar. Gibraltar is a big rock with about 30,000 in habitants and a bunch of apes. The main industry is the military, supplying and repairing ships when they are in the harbour, and tourism. They are working on projects to reclaim some of the land around the rock.


We paid for the tour which took us on some crazy, skinny cliff roads up the mountain. The views of the harbour, Africa and Spain were spectacular! The first stop on the tour was St. Michael’s cave. It had huge caverns and cool stalactites and stalagmites. During WWII, the cave was used as a hospital. We then drove up to the top of Gibraltar to take in the views and check out the apes. There are 5 groups of apes living on Gibraltar and they are very well fed, but super aggressive. Kevin saw one jump on a young girl’s head to steal her food. The last stop was at the Great Siege Tunnels, created in 1782 during the Great Siege. They proved to be a strategic advantage in wars after that as well. From there we had a good view of Gibraltar’s airport runway. Six flights fly out a day, and the runway is split by the main road into Gibraltar so traffic has to stop when the planes take off. Lucky for John one took off just as we were leaving and he was able to get it on video.



Saturday, our last day in Spain, we decided to do a quick road trip so we would have more pool time. We drove inland to the little town of Casares, which is perched atop a hill. All the buildings are white and the roads running throughout are skinny and quaint. At the very top of the hill there was a 14th century castle in ruins.

A few months ago I read a book called The Queen of the South. It was set in Southern Spain (all the places that we were driving around) and it was about a woman who ran a big drug smuggling operation. In her early days, she would run drugs in a small speed boat in the Med around Gibraltar, and she would often be chased by the police in a helicopter. I kept thinking of this book during the week. After we got back from Casares and had a bit of pool time, Sarah, Cole and I decided to go for a walk. We walked by a motor boat run onto shore and a few police officers interviewing people. We didn’t think much of it but on our way back, a police helicopter swooped down into the bay in front of us and there were 6 more police officers on shore. We asked a lady watching the scene from her balcony and she said a drug smuggler ran his boat on shore and then escaped on foot. The police were trying to find him. That added a bit of excitement to our walk and brought to life that book I read.

We had such an awesome time hanging out together, relaxing by the pool and touring the area but we didn’t make it to Marbella (ritzy resort town), or the ferry over to Africa, or to Granada. Wish list for next time I guess.

Cole was a great traveler. He has a wonderfully cheery personality. We loved his dance moves (the crazy eyed Stevie, the prayer, the side slap and the leg kicks). I’m going to miss his smile. Good thing we can web cam.

On our last night, the boys polished off the last of their San Miguel beer and the girls attempted to overtake them in cribbage but to no avail. One of my favourite songs, Dario G’s Sunchyme, came on the radio so we got Cole dancing. We were up early on Sunday morning to get to the Malaga airport. Sarah made her last batch of amazing sandwiches for us to take. S,K and C flew to Barcelona where they started a week long cruise through the Mediterranean, stopping at Nice, Rome, Naples, and Palermo. They are back in London for a few days after the cruise before flying back to Canada. I’m so happy we get to see them again; I’m suffering from Cole withdrawal already...

Thanks Sarah, Kev and Cole for the great time in Spain. Happy 30th Birthday John!

Mitchell Family in London

It all started at Christmas time when Kevin, my brother in law, surprised my sister Sarah with a trip to London and Europe as a Christmas present for their family (including their new son, Cole). After that, Mom and Stan booked their visit timing it with an animal welfare conference in Berlin and with Sarah, Kevin and Cole’s visit. My aunt and uncle in Denmark, Carla and Poul, thought it would be a good chance to see everyone and meet Cole so they booked tickets to London. And then, Carla suggested to my aunt Barbara that she bring her family (uncle Bruce and cousins Eleanor, Margot and Hugh) to London – and they booked tickets too! I couldn’t believe it, all this family converging in London! Needless to say, I was over the top excited.

Barbara and her family arrived on Monday, May 7th and spent the week in Central London visiting all the sights. Carla joined them on Wednesday. Of course the weather had been hot and sunny prior to their arrival and then it turned to rain. On Thursday night they all made their way to the Ealing Ramada in West London, about a 10 minute walk from our flat. I joined them for a late dinner and then walked Carla, Barbara and Margot to our flat in the pouring rain so they could check it out.

John and I were up at 5:30 Friday morning to go to Heathrow to pick up Sarah, Kevin and Cole. I barely slept the night before and the car couldn’t move fast enough to the airport. S&K have discovered the benefits of a traveling with a baby, namely skipping the queues. They made record time getting through Heathrow: they were last off the plane but were ushered right by an hour long wait at Customs and then their bags were waiting for them on the carousel! We made it there in time to greet them as they walked through the gates. Cole had a big grin on his face, he was carried by Sarah in the Baby Bjorn and Kevin had the video camera getting Cole’s arrival in London on tape. I was so happy to see them all.

The sun shone as we drove them to Ealing. Sarah and I were in the back seat with Cole and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. S&K made an adorable baby! We got them back to the flat and settled in for a nap, and I made it to the office in time for my 8:30 Friday morning meeting. It was tough to leave, the flat that is.

When I walked in the door from work later that afternoon, I was greeted to the pleasant sounds of S&K, Cole, Mom and Stan, and John chatting in our living room. I’m usually pretty happy when I get home from work but never as much as on that day. We just hung out for a few hours enjoying each other’s company until the aunts, uncles and cousins arrived from their day of sight seeing. The 14 of us went for a lovely dinner at a local Italian restaurant. As we were leaving, a guy at the table next to us asked Stan about his belt buckle. He was from a ranch in the interior of British Columbia and now lives in Ealing – small world!

We all rendezvoused at the flat on Saturday morning. Mom and the Aunts kindly went grocery shopping for our dinner that night, and then they went to Osterley Park and Manor for some sister bonding. John went to play in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament for the day. The rest of us all went in to Central London to do the London Eye. I thought it was amazing that we were all able to stick together in the crowded tube stations and the crowded streets of London. London is not wheelchair or stroller friendly so it was nice having all the family members to help S&K with Cole’s stroller. At the London Eye, the men stood in the long line to get us our tickets. We pulled out Cole when we got to the line up to get on the Eye, and all 10 of us got to skip it! I really enjoyed the slow ride on the huge Ferris wheel overlooking London. It gave me a good overview, reminded me that London is not very big, and it was neat to see the sights from above.

After the Eye, we walked along and over the Thames River, and had a bite to eat near Embankment and Charing Cross. We had plans to do a quick walking tour until it started to pour rain. So, we ran into the nearest tube station and headed back to Ealing. From there, Kevin and Poul went exploring in Ealing (and by exploring, I mean finding a pub and having a beer) and Bruce and Hugh went to the temporary amusement park set up in Ealing Common. When the ladies got back from tea at Osterley, Barbara took Margot shopping, Carla, John and Sarah met the boys at the pub, and Mom and I looked after Cole and started making dinner.

John’s 30th Birthday was on Monday, May 14th, so on Saturday night with all of the family present, we had a big birthday dinner and celebration. Our friends Andrew and Jess joined in the fun. We all crammed into our little flat and everyone contributed to the dinner. It was a fun night of eating, chatting, playing games and hanging out together. Of course there was birthday cake and present opening. John thanks everyone for all of the thoughtful gifts.

We did most of the goodbyes on Saturday night but left a few for Sunday morning. SK&C, John and I were leaving for a week in Spain and everyone else was headed back home.

I had such a wonderful time with everyone and still can’t get over what a unique experience it was. Thank you all for coming to London. It made me really happy but of course really sad to say goodbye.

Wales, UK

On Friday night (May 4th), after spending a few days in Berlin at a conference, Mom and Stan arrived in London! I was so excited for their visit that I could barely do anything but be excited all week. Mom and I had a tearful reunion at Heathrow, 8 months after our tearful farewell at Lake O’hara in September. On Saturday, we went to Wales to go walking (British hiking). It was the perfect way to spend the weekend and to catch up with Suze and Stan (S&S); lots of time to visit while driving, walking and dining. We had narrowed our destination down to Newport in north Pembrokeshire because of the coastal walks and the walks through the Preseli Hills which are scattered with ancient pagan standing stones. It turned out to be the perfect place because Newport was a quaint town with lots to offer on its own.

This country is small compared to Canada, but we continue to be amazed at how long it takes to drive places, due to small roads and dense traffic. Many of the country roads in Wales are bordered by high stone walls and shrubs making it difficult to see the countryside as you drive.

After a five hour journey we arrived in St. David’s on the Western tip of Wales and the Pembrokeshire Coast. St. David’s, Britain’s smallest city, is home to a famous Cathedral and a Bishop’s Palace. Stan did not want to spend his vacation in Britain visiting churches and castles so Mom promised him that this would be the only one. Usually cathedrals are built in prominent locations, however this one was built in a gully to attempt to hide it from marauders travelling by sea or land. Unfortunately, this strategy didn’t work that well, as it was attacked several times. The cathedral is impressive and so are the ruins of the Bishop’s Palace.

From St. David’s we did a short drive to the beach and walked along classic Wales’ coastline cliffs to St. David’s head. Our B&B was in Newport, northeast of St. David’s and still on the coast. The B&B was an old house that had been beautifully renovated only a year ago. We had views from our rooms overlooking the sea. Our host spent time telling us about all of Newport’s places of interest: Pentre Ifan (5,000 year old standing stones), the castle, St. Mary’s church, the beach, the mystical forest and the nearby Cwm Gwaun valley, where the community that lives there still follows an ancient calendar. Saturday night, we had a hearty dinner of meat pies and burgers at the Golden Lion pub, a good British experience for S&S. We even got a quarter of a pint of pull ale into Mom.

After a lovely breakfast on Sunday morning we headed out on the short version of the Preseli Hills Circuit (12km). It was sunny for a while, then it turned cloudy with a few drops of rain, and it was constantly windy. We were lucky that we didn’t get poured on. The trail took us up into the bare Preseli Hills, past the steep rock outcrop Carn Ingli, through fields of sheep and then down into the eerie Cwm Gwaun valley. The steep walls of the valley were covered with corkscrew oak trees and carpets of blue bells. It was beautiful but the banjo tune from the movie Deliverance kept running through my head which made me wary.

We found a quaint tea house on a farm in the valley where we could warm up and fill our bellies. The quirky hostess served us and told us about the valley (she said that they are all very “close” there), her farm, and her gardens which she has bus loads of people in to view. I was giving John and hug and asking if he was alright; our hostess picked up on that and comment to John, “Oh, so you’re not used to the walking are you? You must be a townie”. Stan didn’t let that one go for the rest of the weekend.

We finished the walk by going through more fields and by an ancient standing stone. All of the walks are on public footpaths through private land. Stan was baffled by this concept and kept trying to think of ingenious fencing ideas to keep walkers out of the fields.

After our walk, we had a quick warm up at the B&B before heading out in the car to see Pentre Ifan, the impressive 5,000 year old standing stones that used to form a burial mound. A 16 tonne flat stone lies on top of three standing stones. The whole structure looks precarious but I don’t think its going anywhere. The stones from Stonehenge came from the same area. This little jaunt was Stan’s first attempt at driving on the left side of the road and the right side of the car. It was a good place for a first drive as there was no traffic and the roads were only wide enough for one car so he didn’t have to remember to stay on the left. He did well and managed not to scrape up the left side of the car on any of the stone walls.

After Pentre Ifan, we went back into Cwm Gwuan Valley in order to check out the Duffrin Arms Pub (aka Bessie’s pub). About five different people had told us we had to go see it because it was “an experience”. The rain had set in so the valley was dark and even more eerie. After passing a crowd of locals heading into Church on Sunday evening, we found Bessie’s pub. The pub was a converted sitting room of a house with seating for about 10, with a tiled floor, and a hole in the wall from where you could order Bessie’s home brew beer. A glimpse was all the “experience” we needed as we weren’t sure how friendly the locals would be if we stayed for a beer (again, the banjo tune from Deliverance was running through my head). I’m sure you needed special Cwm Gwuan Valley stomach enzymes to digest the beer as well.

We had another great dinner in Newport and then we strolled down to the beach to burn it off. Of course Mom and I got carried away with the exploring and we didn’t end up getting back until well after dark.

Monday, bank holiday weekend in the UK (ie: a long weekend), we did a shorter walk, only a few hours around Dinas Head. It was a good contrast to the hill walk the day before, giving us steep coastal cliffs (if somewhat in the clouds). We ended at a little beach and a convenient tea house with great cakes. Mom was very impressed with the tea houses.

Instead of taking the main highways to Cheltenham, we took the scenic route through the Brecon Beacons (a famous National Park in Wales). It gave us a great glimpse of more of Wales but it took a long time. On all of our drives, John and I enjoyed listening to S&S’s agriculture commentary as we passed different fields of crops and livestock. It added a new dimension to travel for us. In Cheltenham, John and I caught the train back to London. We left S&S with the rental car and maps so they could make their way to the beautiful Cowley Mannor, their hotel/spa for the night. After Cowley they went to to Bodysgallen Hall in North Wales and then to visit some friends. I was so worried about them on the British roads I had to call every night to check on them, but they did just fine and had a wonderful time.

Our long weekend walking in Wales turned out wonderfully. We did all of the walks and saw all of the sites I had hoped, but it wouldn’t have mattered if we didn’t because it was just so nice to be with Mom and Stan again. It made me sad knowing it was only for a short time. Luckily, I had another weekend with them and 10 other family members to look forward to. My Aunt Barb and Uncle Bruce along with my cousins, Eleanor, Margot and Hugh were arriving in London from Calgary, Aunt Carla and Uncle Poul were arriving from Denmark, and my sister, her husband and new baby, Cole, arrived from Winnipeg. Another weekend I couldn’t wait for!

Naples, Italy

Our good friends Jane and Ty from Vancouver (but now they live in Calgary) arrived in London on Saturday, April 14th, exactly one month before John and Ty’s 30th birthday. They weren’t here long before heading out on a whirlwind trip through Southern France and Italy, but we did manage to get some Ultimate Frisbee in on Sunday afternoon in Hyde Park. Those two are so hard core they even brought their cleats with them.

We arranged to meet them at the airport in Naples, Italy the following Friday evening for a fun filled weekend touring Sorrento, Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast and Capri. I was so excited for this trip; it fulfilled two of my travel dreams and exceeded my expectations. Since I was a kid I have wanted to visit Pompeii as I find the volcano-preserved history fascinating, and for a about a year before we left Vancouver we kept a newspaper article and photo of the Amalfi Coast posted on our fridge as inspiration to get to Europe.

The challenge of the weekend was surviving and navigating traffic in Naples. London traffic and roads are nothing in comparison. We were petrified and in awe. Cars and scooters speed along, honking like they are in a wedding procession, and passing at any opportunity on single lane highways, taking chances that any Canadian driver would consider insane. We rented a car and John did an impressive job of driving all weekend. The frequency of honks at us reduced from two in the first two minutes, to almost nothing by the last day there.

We managed to get out of Naples, past Mt. Vesuvius, and along the other side of the Bay of Naples to Sorrento. The chaos of Naples highways turned into chaos of skinny, windy roads on the edge of breathtaking cliffs as we went through Sorrento and area. Our hotel was high up on a cliff, overlooking Sorrento, the Bay of Naples, Mt. Vesuvius and our pool. It was called La Terrazze, named for its large terraces with amazing views.

We got there around 11:00pm and luckily a nearby restaurant, Don Pedro’s, was still open for dinner. Don Pedro, the owner, picked us up and then waited on us all night. Oh, the food! Don Pedro has a small farm in behind the restaurant where he grows the fruits and vegetables served. I had the best Caprese salad ever, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella like I’ve never tasted before. Of course, the rest of the courses, pasta, meat and wine were just as stellar. Ty became a fan of the Lemoncello (strong lemon alcohol) served after dinner. It was great to chat with Ty & Jane over a long meal.

We awoke Saturday to sun beaming onto our terrace. It was tough to leave that glorious spot but we had places to see. Our first stop was Pompeii, the Roman city buried and preserved by the ash of Mt. Vesuvius’ explosion in 79 AD. We were all surprised by the sheer size of the city. It was so well preserved that it was easy to imagine what it would have been like to live there, unlike the ruins in Rome. Eighty percent has been excavated and the remainder is still in progress; it is hard to fathom the amount of work that would have taken.

Jane received a tip from a colleague to get a guided tour of the city, so at the entrance we started to enquire. The guides prowl the entrance hunting for business. We were scooped up by an aggressive older guide, Giovanni, well dressed and well tanned from his many days under the Italian sun. He offered us EUR40 for the four of us; we said we would opt for the cheaper audio guides instead. In an amusing way, he said that would be the “biggest mistake of our lives!” and then offered EUR30, equivalent to the audio guides, so we accepted. Payment was not required until the end. He certainly provided some added entertainment to the tour.

Our tour group totaled 9 as we entered the gates. We passed some people with audio guides who chose not to go with Giovanni’s tour, and he loudly expressed to them that “that was the biggest mistake of their lives!” After about 15 minutes, Giovanni started to drone on a bit and when we next stopped, 3 members of our group had disappeared. He was livid, because he wouldn’t have started the tour with only 6 people. He went on a hunt for them but to no avail. We kept going but could tell that Giovanni was distracted, his eyes always peeled for the missing tourists. We bumped into them later in the day and he lectured them loudly about honour and integrity, and how the money didn’t matter to him, it was the principle. We got a kick out of that. Soon after that, he asked two good looking young ladies to join the tour for free. Then, at the end of the tour he said that we had to pay EUR40 because those three others left at the beginning and he wouldn’t make any money. Simple solution – get payment up front. What happened to “honouring your word” and “I’m not in it for the money”? We paid him EUR30 and he went off in a huff. We chuckled about it several times over the weekend.

As for giving us a tour of Pompeii, Giovanni did a pretty good job. Highlights included the Roman forum, the Roman Baths, one of over 50 bakeries, one of over 25 brothels, the amphitheater, the “flying penises” to ward off the “evil eye”, and the houses. Each home had a winter and summer reception room and depending on how wealthy you were, you had different dining rooms for different seasons. Frescoes adorned the walls and tile mosaics the floors. The brothel had beds made of stone in the bedrooms and frescoes on the walls of different sexual positions for the patrons to choose from.

While in the baths, Giovanni sat us all down and gave us a talk about seizing the day, carpe diem. Life is short, spend your money now, because who knows when it will end. I guess you would have to have that mentality living in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, with scientists predicting it is well overdue for an eruption…

After Pompeii we drove along the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast to the town of Positano. We’ve done a few edge of the ocean drives, Sea to Sky highway in BC and Chapman’s Peak Drive in South Africa, but this was the scariest; steeper cliffs, skinnier roads and crazier drivers. The views were worth it though. Positano is a colourful village built into the cliffs up from the water. It was a larger version of the quaint towns of the Cinque Terre which we visited on our honeymoon. We parked at a high part of Positano and walked down many stairs and steep roads to the town centre by the water. I was dreading the walk back up but it wasn’t so bad and it helped burn off all of the gelato we ate at the beach. There are several other villages along the coast, including Ravello, which got rave reviews from some of our friends. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it farther down the coast to see them, but that will be a good excuse to go back.

After Positano, we were pooped and decided to head back to our terrace with the gorgeous view to enjoy some drinks before going to dinner. Our venue of choice for dinner was not a traditional restaurant. It was at a farm house, high up on the ridge over the Bay of Salerno, with a rustic dining area. The produce served came from the farm. Like the night before, the owner picked us up and waited on us all night. We had a huge course of sample dishes (lots of new things to try), then pasta, and then dessert (we didn’t have room for a meat course). All the food was so delicious; I can’t say enough good things about it.

We were hoping to enjoy breakfast on our sunny hotel terrace on Sunday morning but we didn’t get up early enough and we wanted to catch the 9:55 boat from Sorrento to the island of Capri (25 minute boat ride). The departure time was actually 9:45 and we just made it in time by sprinting down the docks. We had received recommendations to take a boat ride around the island. When we arrived in the Capri harbour it was swarming with people and we were trying to figure out the best way to circumnavigate the island. There were huge line ups for the larger commercial boats that sped around the island in an hour or ones that just took you to the Blue Grotto (cave with amazingly blue water). We were trying to figure out what to do and Ty started talking to a guy trying to sell us a boat ride. John, Jane and I thought “what is Ty getting conned into?” Turns out Ty made the move of the weekend talking to this guy; he arranged us a private, two hour boat ride around the island, stopping wherever we wanted. Taking the big public boats would have, in the words of our Pompeii tour guide, been the “biggest mistake of our lives!”

Our Italian driver picked us up at the docks. The boat had a big open bow for us to lie out on and a few benches in the back. The trip was the highlight of the weekend. The cliffs rose above the water and seagulls soared gracefully beside them. The water was the most brilliant blue I have ever seen. It was tough to take it all in. My descriptions won’t do it justice so please check out the photos. Our driver took the boat very close to shore and took us into several grottos carved into the cliffs. Jane said her cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Ty was the brave one and dove into the cold water for a quick swim. The water was so inviting but not quite warm enough for me.

After the boat ride, we hiked up to the town centre of Capri for lunch and then took a bus to Anacapri on the other side of the island for gelato. Part of the road to Anacapri had the scariest cliff to date; it could only fit one car at a time. Pooped from all the sunshine and good times, we caught the boat back to Sorrento and began the drive back to Naples airport.

It was a good thing we left ourselves extra time because traffic was thick and slow all the way into Naples. Once in Naples we were all stressed trying to find the signs to the airport and then we got stuck in a traffic jam. Two lines of cars were squeezed into a one lane of an elevated road not moving, scooters were honking and trying to get through and we didn’t even know if we were on the right road! Stressful! Luckily, we made it to the airport in time and John had a well deserved beer after his impressive driving. Jane and Ty took the bus from there to their hostel in downtown Naples and we got on the plane back to London.

What a weekend! I still can’t believe we were just there. April was a very good time to visit because the weather was comfortably warm and the area wasn’t overrun by tourists yet. It was busy enough for us; I can’t imagine what it would be like in July and August.

Thanks Jane and Ty! We had such a great time with the two of you.

Cotswolds, England

It was getting close to the end of March and we realized that we still hadn’t booked a trip for the Easter long weekend. How could we not be taking advantage of four days off in a row? We hunted for cheap flights to Europe, but to no avail, so then we thought, why not explore somewhere in England? At the last minute, we managed to book a cabin for four on a farm in the Cotswolds, about two hours west of London. Jess and Andrew joined us.

We lucked out with weather as the whole weekend was sunny and warm. It was just the kind of trip we were in need of: slow paced, low stress travelling, lots of fresh air and comfy accommodation where we could sleep in, make our own food and chill out. It was very appropriate for Easter too as the leaves were coming out, flowers were in bloom, bunnies were running around and sheep with their lambs scattered the fields.

The farm we stayed on was just north of a city called Cheltenham, it was a sheep farm and they had some race horses. Most importantly, it had a big, open, unused field which we used to set up Frickets (a backyard Frisbee game for two or four people, usually involving beer). Every night before dinner we would spend a good hour playing as the sun was going down.

Post dinner activities involved cards. A&J taught us diminishing whist a while ago and we are slowly getting better at it. They kindly surprised us with a cribbage board as a present thus enabling us to teach them how to play crib (our fave). Andrew had been studying up on line and holds the record for the most strategic beginner crib player we have ever come across. (The crib board’s next trip will be to Spain for a week in May. Sarah and Kev better have their game ready.)

Over the weekend, we managed to cross three of England’s cities off our “places to visit” list.

The first one was Oxford; we stopped there on our drive out to the Cotswolds on Friday. Oxford is a beautiful university town, straight out of the past, with grand old stone buildings. Unfortunately, we don’t have photos that do it justice. We had fun exploring the heart of the city and wishing we could have gone to school there. Oxford, we recommend.

Next up for cities was Bath on Saturday. We didn’t make it there until late afternoon, and the traffic (pedestrian and vehicle) was heavy. We had a nice lunch on a patio and then hit the main sights on foot but didn’t partake in any of the Roman baths (natural hot springs). My personal favourite was the Royal Crescent, a huge, grand, half moon shaped building opening onto a park with beautiful flowers. Later on as we ate ice cream overlooking the river, we saw crowds start to stream out of a rugby match. We decided that was time to make our move. Bath was a neat spot but crowded, so we would recommend going there in the off season (whatever that might be).

Our third city was Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. If you have read past blogs you will know we have a bit of an aversion to cities that cash in on famous people that used to live there. Stratford was one of those places. If you really like Shakespeare then it’s a place for you, if not, just go explore the Cotswolds, which is what we did.

Our city visits were quick and efficient, because what we really wanted to do was see more of the Cotswolds (meaning cottage in the wolds – open country). Cotswolds – we highly recommend. The area is beautiful farm land with lots of tiny villages with buildings only made of stone and all of the fields are surrounded by stone walls. The work that went into building all those walls astounds me! Exploring the Cotswolds is like going back in time.

Back in the 80s, John’s grandparents did a house exchange for a year and lived in a cottage in the Cotswolds. On Friday night, John called his grandma and got the approximate location of Post Cottage where they lived, near Oakridge and Water Lane. So, on Saturday before going to Bath, we went on the hunt for Post Cottage.

The search first took us through a stone village built onto a hill with a very skinny main road that the car barely fit through. We got directions to Oakridge from an adorable old man out for a walk. The single lane route took us through a fairy tale forest and then into more quaint rolling farm land. We decided to park the car and explore on foot because the public footpaths were beckoning. (You can walk on private land here and there are signs every where showing you where the public footpaths are.) We walked into the village of Oakridge and went into the local pub to get directions. It was about noon and there were two sweet couples in having a beer. What a classic scene! As we left we were met with another classic scene; a seniors walking group headed to the local pub after their morning walk.

We managed to find our way to the little village of Water Lane and Post Cottage appeared right before us, just as one of the couples in the pub had described. What a beautiful spot! An adorable cottage with a large garden in bloom with spring flowers. John and I want to do a house exchange there!

We knocked on the door and met the owner, Joy. Despite surprising her (and likely scaring her as John was not clean shaven), Joy was very welcoming and figured out that John must be Pat’s grandson from Vancouver. Pretty impressive. She told us how Pat and Ron did so much work around the cottage and the community during their stay. They were very popular. Ron made the Post Cottage sign that still hangs on the gate. We caught a glimpse of the inside of the cottage and it looked just like Pat’s photos from 20 years ago.

On Sunday after Stratford, we went to the cute little town of Broadway. We did a walk through the sheep fields around the town and then had a great pub lunch. We drove back to our farm on the little side roads so that we could get our fill of the villages and countryside (the village of Snowshill is one to go back to), and we checked out a tiny place called Deerhurst. It had a chapel built in 1056. On our way home on Monday we stopped in Winchcombe for a walk and to check out its castle.

The highlight of the weekend was finding Post Cottage and realising this beautiful country with great walking trails is only a couple of hours away. We’ll have to fit some walking day trips into the schedule. Hopefully we get similar weather.

Thank you to A&J for joining us, cooking up such great food, feeding us with lots of Easter chocolate, and helping make the trip so much fun. I think we are going to have to plan a Canada Day Frickets tournament in London.