South Africa

Long time no blog … well, I’m about to make up for that. Warning: it’s a long one.

Executive Summary

We just got back from an amazing week in South Africa, a trip that exceeded all expectations! I never imagined that I would go to Africa and now we both want to go back for more. John had the opportunity to lead a workshop and speak at a conference in Johannesburg. My first thought was “No way are you going there”, and that grew into me joining him and extending the trip to do a Safari in Kruger National Park before the conference and a tour of Cape Town and area after. Given the timing of our departure, we called the trip our 3.5 year honeymoon.

While our trip was only a week it felt like we were gone a lot longer. We had delicious food every night and the hospitality was top notch. We got into a routine of early to bed and early to rise (with no coffee I might add) so we could fit everything in. We saw a plethora of animals at Kruger Park, including the Big Five and we took in the spectacular beauty of Cape Town’s peninsula. We only saw a small part of South Africa (SA) and every place we went to was so beautiful it made us want to explore the country (and the rest of Africa) more.

Prologue

While the main goal was to have fun, we were a bit nervous about this trip, as we had read and received lots of warnings about the crime situation in South Africa. Some of the highlights: Johannesburg was generally considered the most dangerous city in the world in the late ‘90s, and SA still has 20,000 murders per year. Armed robbery is common, as are carjackings, so accepted practice is to run red lights at night. Carjacking has occurred on approach roads to Kruger Park, and tourists have recently been robbed at gunpoint on Table Mountain in Cape Town (all places we were going).

Not much you can do if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, but we planned ahead to avoid the wrong places as much as possible, and had all of our transportation prearranged. We also left our jewelry and watches in London, and tried to look as uninteresting as possible, to decrease our chances of being targets for theft. Also John took a karate class in October, although he couldn’t walk for three days afterwards.

Without wanting to spoil the plot, we were lucky and had absolutely no problems, and felt safe the whole time we were there. (But if you’re going, be careful.)

Chapter 1 – Arrival & Kruger National Park

Our journey to SA started early on the morning of Friday, February 23rd, with our cab pick up at 4:00am to take us to Heathrow. This was the first of four early mornings in a row. The smooth flight, through Amsterdam on KLM (like on our first honeymoon), got us into Johannesburg (Joburg) at 10:30p.m. and we stayed at the airport hotel.

Our only stupid tourist move of the trip: on arrival we walked out of the airport looking for the shuttle bus to our hotel (the hotel is located 500 meters from the terminal, but we had been advised that it’s not safe to walk there). A “helpful” gentleman asks if we are looking for the Southern Sun shuttle, which we were, and proceeds to lead us around the corner on a dimly lit shortcut to where the shuttles wait. About 20 seconds later he points us to our shuttle and asks for 200 Rand in return (about C$35). John gives him R50, and he says “More”. John gives him another 50, and he says “More”. John says what we’ve given him is fair (hoping we don’t get stabbed as result), and he says, “Ok, enjoy your stay”, and walks off. So we paid him about $17 for 30 seconds of work, but we had to laugh at our own stupidity.

Saturday, February 24th -- Kruger National Park

We were up on Saturday morning for our 7:15 pick up to take us to Kruger National Park. Kruger is in the eastern part of SA and it is huge, about the size of Wales or Israel. In our van, we were accompanied by a Swedish family with three boys and a Swedish couple. It was a hot, sunny day despite being the rainy season, and we couldn’t believe that by 8:30 the sun was higher in the sky than at noon in London. Being below the equator meant the sun was in a different part of the sky and I was constantly confused about what direction we were headed.

The four hour drive to Kruger was beautiful; it started out like Alberta prairie and then got more lush and rolling. The landscape was so inviting. We were all dropped off at Phumulani Lodge, just outside Kruger’s Numbi Gate. We scoped out Phumulani’s compound; there was a very African, open air reception/lounge/bar/dining lodge with a thatched roof that opened onto a patio and pool area, and there were 17 huts for accommodation. The huts were well spread out in the woods and our hut, #3, was off by itself. We had a deck with lounge chairs, a well appointed bedroom including a mosquito net over the bed, a large bathroom with a tub and big slate tile shower. (Further to the mosquito net, we were taking anti-malaria pills as advised, but I don’t think I saw a mosquito the whole time.) We enjoyed lunch at the open air lodge. I was in heaven: It’s not that often that I am so warm that I don’t fear getting a chill that causes me to pull my sweater on. There was no chill-fear that sunny Saturday afternoon.

After lunch, we headed out on our first game drive, both decked out in safari clothes (Christmas presents). Our guide for the weekend, Sindy, picked us up in an open air, covered jeep and we headed into Kruger Park’s higher rocky area. In addition to being a wealth of park and animal information, Sindy had amazing eyes: after growing up in and around the park he could spot animals long before we could see them. We cruised through the park, the hot air blowing through my hair, spectacular scenery, sun shining – I didn’t care if we saw any animals – I was loving it as is.

It’s not common to see animals in the hot afternoon because they are hiding in the shade trying to keep cool. But, we did see a few herds of impalas (graceful, elegant, deer like creatures), kudus (bigger impalas), hippos and a few rhino toilets. We did lots more driving and we soaked in the views of the new territory. Near the end of our three hour drive, we spotted an elephant! Barely though, as he was well hidden behind a tree, but we were thrilled none the less (little did we know what we would see the next day). On our way out of the park, we saw a dead kudu and her baby; they were killed by a lion after the kudu gave birth. Reality check.

On our return to Phumulani, we enjoyed a beer by the pool and then a fabulous dinner. We were in bed and asleep by 8:30! We were exhausted after our two days of travel and we had to be up and ready to leave on our game drive at 5:30 the next morning.

Sunday, February 25th -- Kruger National Park

We boarded our jeep, along with the Swedish family at 5:30, and our excitement was enough to make us forget our coffee cravings. It got light out very fast but it was cool and cloudy so we cozied up under a blanket in the front seat. We headed deep into the park. The terrain changed so quickly and was so diverse; that is why there are so many different animals in the park. I had set my sighting expectations low, so as not to be disappointed, and I sure wasn’t.

Our first sighting was a white rhino and right after that, a large male elephant. He was off in the trees but we got some good shots of him. John pulled out the binoculars (thanks again C&P, they came in handy) and zoomed in on the elephant, but he quickly realized that they weren’t necessary as it the elephant started walking straight for us! He ended up about 20 feet away - big highlight.

Next up was a herd of zebras; I find their stripes captivating, especially on their faces. Sindy, our guide, said we had to press on though because he had heard on the radio about a leopard sighting. We bolted down the road and paused for a moment to see a giraffe and a buffalo. We arrived at a clearing, and lying under a tree was a leopard! She was tough to see, the binocs were clutch. We noted a heard of impalas up wind, perhaps her next meal. We watched her for a while and then went back to see some giraffes who had now been joined by zebras. All of this before 7:30! Four out of five of the Big Five, namely rhino, elephant, buffalo, and leopard, leaving us only the lion left to see. In the next hour, we saw some warthogs and some wildebeests, and then the rain started. The front plastic window of the jeep wasn’t up so we got soaked, but eventually we stopped to put it up.

At 8:30 we were dropped off at one of the camps in Kruger for breakfast. It was in a lush area, overlooking a river and had accommodation, camping, a restaurant, a shop, and picnic areas. The sun emerged and dried our clothes, and we wolfed down the hardy breakfasts that Phumulani had packed us. Then we walked along the river path and I jumped when we saw several foot long, colourful salamanders.

We set back out in the jeep and our next sighting was a small tortoise crossing the road. Sindy got word of some lion, so we sped off in that direction. There were two males, lying down deep in the trees. We watched them through the binocs and then one got up and limped away. He had an injured front leg and was very skinny as a result. That completed our Big Five count – what could possibly be next?

We took a road along a river and saw hippos, crocodiles and storks on the shore. Then we came across five female lions relaxing in a dry river bed! After that we saw another elephant, an eagle and more buffalo. The terrain kept changing and was so scenic. I was itching to get out of the jeep and hike … until we saw four more lionesses, the hunters. Down the road from the lions we saw a herd of mama and baby elephants walking up a river bank – another highlight. We like elephants.

The Swedish mother in our jeep wanted to see more hippos so we drove to large pond and there were about 20 hanging out in the water, which is where they spend most of their time during the day. Note: hippos have killed more humans than any other African animal; apparently they are very territorial and can run like crazy. They were accompanied by some crocodiles and we saw some storks and a kingfisher on the shore.

It was still overcast as we headed to a different lodge for lunch around noon. The lodge was on a swamp about 10km from Mozambique, and we could see more hippos, buffalo and crocs. We watched the rain move towards us; it was torrential when it reached us but stopped long enough for us to get back in the jeep. The rain socked in and it was more rain than I have seen before (and I lived in Vancouver in Jan/06). The muddy ground turned into flash floods, water rushing everywhere. The rain poured in the side of the jeep soaking John, and it poured through the front onto our feet turning our shoes into swimming pools. Oh well, that made it more adventurous. We huddled under the blanket on the three hour ride back to Phumulani. We had a few stops for animals: a monkey, a bunch of baboons (one male sitting on the road was peeing with his unit out in full view as we went by, others were huddled together on a rock trying to keep warm in the rain), another elephant, four rhinos and more baboons (several babies were riding on their moms’ backs, super cute).

After drying off and warming up back at our hut, we played some cribbage in the lodge. We wanted to walk as we normally do so much of that on our travels, but in the interest of safety, we didn’t. Dinner was even better the second night, after which we played more crib (by candle light for a while because the power went out). We had another early bed time as it sure is a long day when you are up at 5:00. I was lying in bed and John was curiously wandering around the bathroom and bedroom. He suggested that we tuck the mosquito net into the mattress and I thought he was being overly cautious until I saw the large spider and mini salamander that he had seen in the bathroom. He did not tell me until the next morning of the larger lizard he saw walking up our bedroom wall…

Monday, February 26th -- Kruger National Park, and Johannesburg

The Numbi gate was closed when we headed out on our early morning game drive Monday morning so we had to drive half an hour to another gate. That allowed us to see some new territory and some local villages. It was overcast but not raining. Once in the park, we drove through a flat dry area and caught a glimpse of a cheetah running after some kudus. Sindy advised that June was the best time to see lots of hunting. Everything is green and leafy in the rainy season and the watering holes are plentiful, both factors making it harder to spot the animals (we were lucky). In the dry winter, there are no leaves and all the animals congregate at the limited water holes. Sindy said you can just park at a watering hole and watch the action.

A herd of buffalo (hundreds of them) had been through the night before. We saw a few of the abandoned males in the brush and one old guy on a river island to make it easier to protect himself.

We had breakfast at the same spot as the day before, but this time it was a buzz with monkey activity. Monkeys everywhere; running, jumping, playing, stealing food. We ate while watching them and then did the same foot long salamander walk as we did on Sunday. We also noticed several bats hanging from the thatched roof of an eating area. The little guy on the porch at West Hawk seems like nothing now.

We were picked up from there by a van with all of our bags, and we were taken on the Panoramic Route back to Joburg. We left the Kruger Park terrain and our elevation climbed. Thick lodge pole forests, round hills, waterfalls, rainforest, ravines… The landscape changed about every half hour and so did the weather. It monsooned again and then we entered a thick fog, which inhibited most of the panoramic views.

Our first stop was at a waterfall but we couldn’t see it. The rain paused for our next stop which was at a waterfall set in rolling hills. I just wanted to hike! Next was God’s Window and while God kindly paused the rain again while we got out to explore, he forgot to de-fog the window. As we couldn’t see the view, we hiked up a trail and within 10 minutes we were in a rainforest! Our legs were grateful for the little jaunt. When we came out the other side of the rainforest, we were at the edge of a cliff and met with a wall of white. Pretty cool even without the views! The sun came out as we lunched on savoury pancakes in an old gold mining town, Pilgrim’s Rest. From there it was a five hour ride back to Joburg. I enjoyed the scenery for a while before falling sound asleep. John said it turned into “Alberta Prairie” again.

Chapter 2 - Johannesburg

As we entered Joburg, we passed a bad accident that had just happened. The police and medics weren’t there yet. First on the scene was the area Armed Response team (comforting). Whilst sitting in traffic, John and I sat in the back of the van, following all of the safety tips we read, but the Swedish kids up front (who had commendable behavior for the entire 7 hour journey that day) did the opposite. They had their bags were in full view, had their cameras out, started making faces at and taking photos of the people neighbouring cars, and then they opened the window to chat to some guy selling bowls at a traffic light! We weren't that impressed, but we did manage to make it safely to our hotel in Sandton (a suburb of Joburg).

We were advised not to walk anywhere except for to the conference centre next to the hotel and the mall across the road. We had dinner at the hotel and I watched the Oscars replay while John prepped for the next day. We couldn’t believe how much we did in one day and one weekend.

Tuesday, February 27th – Johannesburg

John was giving a workshop at the conference all day Tuesday, and I was under strict orders to stay in the hotel so that he wouldn’t worry about me. I didn’t have a problem with that. I was happy to have a relaxing day enjoying the hotel amenities. I hit the treadmill in the gym, had a leisurely breakfast, sat in the sun by the pool and did some blogging by hand (ie journal writing), then went back to the gym. John met me there when he was finished around 3:30. His workshop had been well received by the delegates.

We ventured out across the road, explored the mall, admired Nelson Mandela’s huge statue in the square named after him, and then John showed me the conference centre. There were security guards all over our hotel, in the parking area and patrolling the mall. We enjoyed a crib game by the pool and then went back to Nelson Mandela square for dinner.

Wednesday, February 28th – Johannesburg and Cape Town

John was at his conference in the morning and he gave a presentation at midday (which also got good reviews – so proud of my man). It was Day 2 for me of being a Lady of Leisure. I did a repeat of the day before - gym, breakfast and pool - accompanied by the other wives of delegates.

We had a safe and quick ride to OR Tambo airport early afternoon to catch our flight to Cape Town. At the airport were greeted by a sign saying “Enter at your own risk” and we saw another sign inside that said “Check Weapons and Firearms here”. Disregarding the newspaper articles about incidents of crime we read while we were there, overall Joburg seemed safer than we expected but we were happy to take the necessary precautions. In reality, we were confined to the generally white, upper middle class suburb of Sandton, where businesses have relocated after abandoning Central Joburg, and where every house is surrounded by a six foot wall, lined with barbed wire and topped with electric fencing. Not exactly genuine Joburg. Next time we’d like to see the Apartheid Museum and Soweto (the largest township established under apartheid). I was skeptical about these tours as I didn’t want to gawk at others’ misfortune, but John read that the tours are run by Soweto residents and the money goes to benefit the area.

Chapter 3 – Cape Town

We arrived in Cape Town early evening and were picked up by our hotel driver. We drove past a township, by the university and a famous hospital (where the first heart transplant took place), past Table Mountain and to the Victoria and Alfred (V&A) Waterfront where our hotel was. The hotel was much nicer than I was expecting and the service was outstanding; the online photos did not do it justice.

We were happy to be able to walk through the large V&A Waterfront area (it is a tourist area and well patrolled by security). It reminded us of Victoria Harbour and Granville Island combined. There was an African singing troop playing in the square, which of course I adored as it reminded me of Paul Simon’s Graceland album. We had a beer at Mitchell’s Scottish Ale Brewery in honour of Mom’s family, and then dined on a delicious meal at a Cape Malay restaurant (actually Indonesian, not Malaysian, influenced by the Indonesian slaves brought in 300 years ago). Food everywhere was quite reasonable, granted our sense of reasonable may be warped after being in London and Oslo.

Thursday, March 1 – Cape Town

We started the day with a half day tour of Cape Town’s City Bowl and Table Mountain. The City Bowl is the downtown area and so named because of the surrounding mountains which form a bowl: Table Mountain (TM) which is big and flat on top, Devil’s Peak, Lion’s Head, and Signal Hill. It is very common for clouds to form over TM and cascade over the edge; locals call it the Table Cloth.

It was a sunny day but there were a few clouds over TM. We headed there first and took the rotating cable car up. On the way up and from the top there were spectacular views of the whole peninsula and city. We had a good walk on the paths, admiring the views and the flora which is unique in the world. After that we went to the Cape Town’s fortress, and drove through Bo-Kaap (the Malay Quarter which has distinctive colourful houses) and other City Bowl sites. At the end we walked through the Company Gardens (the Dutch East India Company) and visited the main museum. There was a really interesting display of 150 years of the Cape Argus Newspaper; we spent all our time there. We enjoyed all the parts of the tour but we were disappointed that we did not have more time at each stop and we felt it wasn’t worth the money. We did get some interesting SA history tidbits and tips for traveling to other parts of Africa from our guide.

The tour finished early afternoon and we decided to take advantage of the sunshine. We got a ride down to Camps Bay Beach, a beautiful long stretch of white sand, blue water and big crashing waves, and we rented some lounge chairs and caught some rays. The wind kept us cool under the hot sun which was good because we were too wimpy to attempt a swim in the Atlantic. Damn cold! The Indian Ocean on the other side of the peninsula is supposedly warmer but was a further drive, and it is also home to more Great Whites. Once we were sufficiently fried, we had ice cream, got a scenic ride back to our hotel, enjoyed dinner at the Waterfront and hit the sack.

Friday, March 2nd – Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope

We were up for our 8:30 Cape of Good Hope tour departure (much easier than the 5:30 safaris). The day – pure sunshine, no clouds, hot. TM was totally clear. The tour took us down the Atlantic side of the Cape peninsula to Cape of Good Hope and then back up the Indian side. There were five other travelers in our van, two British couples and an Aussie lady.

We drove along the coast and admired Clifton Beach and then got a good view of Camps Bay Beach where we were the day before. Next we entered Hout Bay and from its harbour we got on a boat for a quick ride out to Seal Island. We could smell the seals as we approached (very distinctive odor and certainly not pleasant). There were hundreds of them sunning themselves on the warm rocks and playing in the water. Fun to watch. Out past the island in the ocean, we could see a spot where waves were breaking. In the winter, waves there can get up to 20 metres high and they host extreme surfing competitions (http://www.redbullbwa.com/gallery/index.php?id=11).

We took Chapman’s Peak Drive along cliffs overlooking the Atlantic. It was like the Sea to Sky highway from Vancouver to Whistler but not as safe. It took our breath away for more reason than one. We passed a gorgeous, very long beach, moved inland and passed an ostrich farm, and then hit the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. Driving through the reserve we saw baboons and wild ostriches, and made our way to the Cape of Good Hope, the most south westerly point of Africa, where the oceans meet. It was a bit of a let down because for some reason we were expecting the waters to meet distinctly, like the Fraser River into the Pacific, which they didn’t. We had to settle for cliffs, a rocky beach and just plain ocean (oh darn).

We drove around the bend to Cape Point and hiked up to a lighthouse with incredible views of the cliffs, beaches, Indian, Atlantic, and mountains – big highlight. The walk worked up our appetites and we had lunch at The Boulders, more delicious food and fun conversations with our fellow travelers. The restaurant was overlooking False Bay which is renowned for its Great White sharks (breeding ground) and also for its surfing (feeding ground). The beaches have shark lookouts. Check out some amazing photos of Great Whites breaching in False Bay at
http://www.apexpredators.com/store/showCategoriesProducts.asp?categoryID=6.

From there we walked down to a nature reserve to see African (formerly known as Jackass) Penguins, which are native to the area. We saw them on the beach, playing in the water and waddling through bushes. There was a mama scolding her baby and moulting ones that didn’t move much because they were fasting. To get cool air into their bodies, the penguins keep their beaks wide open, like dogs panting. All very cute.

Driving up the Indian side of the peninsula we went through Simon’s Town, home of a big navy base. The route took us into Cape Town but on the back side of Table Mountain. The Atlantic side of the peninsula was a desert and this side was very lush and green, a perfect locale for the Botanical Gardens. We strolled through the gardens, set in behind TM, and admired the unique flowers and plants. One of the flowers had petals that looked like bird feathers! John’s Mom and Grandma could have spent days there, no, likely weeks.

As we came into the City Bowl, TM was clear of clouds but Lion’s Head had a tuft of white on it. To the locals, that means rain will fall the next day. We could have used a nap when we got back to our hotel but our efficient concierge had got us a table at Mama Africa for dinner, an African Restaurant back in the City Bowl. It was a lively place with a great atmosphere. I had kudu and springbok stew and John had mango chicken (both very yum). We enjoyed the live African music and had a chuckle when the second song they sang was a cover of a British boy band tune. It was a lovely way to spend our last night in Cape Town.

Saturday, March 3 – Cape Town and the journey home

On our last day in SA, we slept in a bit, checked out and enjoyed breakfast at the V&A Waterfront. We wanted to do a tour to Robben Island, home of the Alcatraz-like political prison where Nelson Mandela was held for many years, but they were all booked up and we were tight on time. Instead we went to the District Six Museum. The sixth district of Cape Town was a vibrant mixed community and in 1966 it was declared a “white area”. By 1982, 60,000 residents had been forcibly removed to a township outside of Cape Town, their houses flattened. This of course happened all over the country during apartheid. We soaked in all the history the museum had to offer, not just about District Six but also about Cape Town.

As predicted by the Lion’s Head cloud the day before, it rained and really cooled off. Our hotel driver picked us up with our bags and took us to the airport. It was 2:00pm and the start of our 24 hour journey home. Cape Town to Joburg, 7 hour layover, overnight to Amsterdam and then a connection to London.

At the Johannesburg airport we caught a glimpse of the big red sun setting over the horizon, and then we sat in a restaurant overlooking the runways, planes and a big, brilliant full moon. We toasted our amazing trip and started discussing our next African adventure. Perhaps a hiking safari in Botswana for our 10 year anniversary?

John, you did a superb job planning the trip. Thank you.

Oslo, Norway

Well, we didn’t think it was possible but we managed to find a place more expensive than London: Norway. John had a conference in Oslo from last Wednesday to Friday, so I flew to meet him and we spent the weekend exploring Oslo and Lillehammer (site of the 1994 Olympics). Luckily, Norway was a beautiful winter wonderland, thus satisfying my snow cravings and making up for the cost.

John’s conference was at the Olso airport which is about 45 minutes north of the city and John was staying at the airport’s hotel. As part of the conference, on Thursday night he had the opportunity to go to dinner at City Hall, the site of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Eating herring at our Christmas in Denmark prepared him for the feast of rare reindeer and cod! (He survived and didn’t have to buy another dinner back at the hotel.)

John greeted me at the airport when I arrived on Friday afternoon. The sky was clear and blue, the temperature was cold, and the landscape was covered in snow. It reminded us of winter in Winnipeg. We headed out, bundled up, for a long walk in the snow and made it back at dusk. We had a relaxing evening enjoying dinner and cozying up in our hotel.

We arose early on Saturday, packed up our rental car and hit the highway to Lillehammer. John was very excited to drive our rental car, a BMW 116i, a lucky upgrade. Unfortunately, the speed limit was only 80km all the way (worse than Manitoba), but John was still able to discover that some cars actually can accelerate on an incline. Our Mazdas seem to have missed that feature.

It was a beautiful crisp, clear day. Dawn seemed to last the whole drive; then we realized the sun wasn’t going to rise much higher. The 2.5 hour drive took us along the longest lake in Norway and into the hills. The terrain reminded me a bit of Lake Windermere in BC. The ski resort was 15 km past Lillehammer and called Hafjell, which we nick-named “half hill” due to its size. While it wasn’t Whistler or Sunshine, it did have some long cruiser runs and we managed to find some untouched powder in the glades. My rented skies were short, fat, curved and a total blast! So many short fast turns made so easy. I may have to invest in a pair when we move back to Canada. We skied the day away, but had to take a few breaks to warm up as we weren’t conditioned for such cold.

Skiing was made possible thanks to our friends and captains of our ultimate team, Liz and Phil, who lent us the winter gear we were lacking.

After Half Hill, on John’s whim we went across the valley to the Olympic Bobsled track and bought tickets to ride down it in a bobraft, a rubber bobsled that fits five passengers and one driver. John didn’t tell me until it was over that it goes 80km/hr down the track! I was kind of expecting a slow cruise down but the required helmets and pep talk about g-forces started to make me nervous. The ride was more thrilling than any roller coaster I have ever been on! Climbing up the corners, G-forces I’ve never felt before, no time to anticipate the turns; I have a whole new respect for the sledding sports. Those skeleton competitors are absolutely crazy! To any Calgarians reading, we highly recommend a visit to COP’s track for a ride.

Our hotel in Lillehammer was just above the main part of town on the mountain where the Olympic Village was located (ski jump, large arena, etc). After our exciting day of outdoor pursuits, we had a much needed sauna to relax. It was a 10 minute walk down a steep hill, past quaint, cozy, Norwegian houses with smoke streaming from their chimneys, to get to the centre of Lillehammer. We quickly cruised the pedestrian street and then settled ourselves into a restaurant for dinner at table by the window so we could watch winter from the warmth. With full bellies and tired bodies, we slowly made it back up the hill and into bed.

On Sunday morning we had a Scandinavian breakfast at the hotel (we chose to have jam and nutella on our toast as opposed to the fish spread) before starting our journey back to Oslo. The sky was white and a snowfall looked imminent. Once in Central Oslo, we set out on foot. In order to stay warm I had to sacrifice appearance; I looked like Stay Puff Marshmallow Woman with my down vest, fleece and snow pants on under my long coat. Motivated to find a Starbucks to satisfy our caffeine cravings, we walked most of downtown, past an outdoor skating rink, the university, the theatre, parliament and the train station. Our search led us to the Information Centre where we were advised that there are not any Starbucks in Norway, due to the public’s wishes. After cursing to each other that the cold must be affecting the Norwegians’ good sense, we settled for some local coffee and made our way to the Akershus Castle and Fortress.

We walked the walls of the snow covered fortress which overlooked the harbour. Guards were on patrol and marching around, and there were statues on the grounds to check out. The Norwegian Resistance Museum is located on the grounds and we spent two hours in there learning about the resistance movement in WWII. During their occupation of Norway, the Nazis used the fortress as their base, prison and execution grounds. Many resistance groups lived, trained, stock piled and planned from well hidden camps in the woods and hills.

When we left the museum a snowfall had started! We walked (and I did some gleeful skipping in the snow) back through the city centre and past the palace to get to our car. To our disbelief, parking for the afternoon cost the equivalent of CAD$40! We tried to spin a positive – at least we weren’t broken into – but that didn’t help much. Yes, our wallets were getting empty, it was time to go back to cheap London. We shudder to imagine what a Starbucks would have cost…

We had a long wait at the airport so we sat in the Sports lounge and watched the Arsenal match with a few drinks. It was another late Sunday night arrival home but it was worth it to have another great European weekend getaway, and we highly recommend Norway. Thanks for the wonderful Christmas present John!

Barcelona, Spain

This past weekend we did another “honeymoon repeat” trip, this time to Barcelona, Spain. The second time round certainly did not disappoint!

I think Barcelona is such a beautiful and vibrant city. I love the look of it; the distinctive buildings with their tall, skinny shuttered doors in place of windows on every floor and fronted by wrought iron balconies, the palm trees, the statues, La Rambla (the big walking/shopping street), the small side streets, the squares, the harbour, the beach… I could walk the city for hours admiring it.

The sun was shining warm and high in the sky, which was a nice break from cool London. This time round, we were much more used to eating/trying tapas so we took full advantage of the local restaurants.

We were up at 3:15 am Saturday morning in order to catch our early flight out of Gatwick. I just got my work car which made getting to the airport easier and given the time of day, the roads were clear. We stuck to the big highways so we wouldn’t get lost (and in order to keep the Amazing Race style bickering over navigating/driving to a minimum).

We arrived in the city centre around midday and met up with our friends, Andrew and Jess (A&J) at our hotel just off La Rambla and Plaza Catalunya (i.e.: good location). The occasion of the trip was to celebrate Andrew’s 32nd birthday. Saturday was the Christmas day equivalent in Barcelona so many shops were closed but the streets were packed with people out promenading. A&J arrived a few days before and were able to take part in the Three Kings parade on Friday night (check out their website for details on that, www.fushmush.net). Christmas lights were hung on all the streets and cute Santa dolls on ladders were hanging off many of the apartment balconies. We grabbed a bite and strolled La Rambla observing the many street performers stationed along the street.

On A&J’s recommendation, John and I went to tour 100 year-old Casa Batllo, one of Antonio Gaudi’s architectural masterpieces in Barcelona, while A&J hit the Picasso museum. The building from the outside and inside was very striking. John was amazed by all the detailed wood work. There are almost no straight lines in the house and every room had ingenious features that maximized natural light, ventilation and colour. One of the ceilings on the main floor was molded to resemble a whirlpool and one of the top floor rooms was modeled after a whale’s rib cage. Okay, enough of me trying to describe it and not doing it justice -- check out www.casabatllo.es/.

While we were very impressed with the distinctive architecture of Casa Batllo we were slightly put off by the exaggerated praise heaped on Gaudi and his work in our audio guide. Something to the effect of “the greatest genius the world has known”, you’re now entering “the most incredible room you have ever been in”, and “we are sure this visit to Casa Batllo has been a life changing experience for you”. Interesting, yes. Life changing, no.

On our way to meet back up with A&J we walked through the Gothic Quarter and briefly into the Salvador Dali Museum gift shop (to get the highlights). With A&J we walked down La Rambla to the harbour and the Christopher Columbus column and statue, and then to the beach for Andrew’s first view of the Mediterranean. To sustain us on the walk back we indulged in churros dipped in melted chocolate – can’t go wrong there.

We had a nap at our quaint and cute accommodation, Hosteria Grau, an upgrade from standard hostels, before heading out for Andrew’s birthday dinner. We wolfed down a few rounds of tapas and beverages and then walked to another restaurant/bar to enjoy the popular Spanish liquor, 43, and some great conversation.

Wake up on Sunday morning to catch the train into the Montserrat Mountain Range was painful but worth it. The 50 minute train ride took us to the base of a mountain with a Monastery built into the side of it. I had found this spot in a guide book and it reminded me a fictional mountain monastery in a book I read so I just had to visit it. We took a cable car up to the Monastery, spent some time taking in the spectacular views (check out our photos), and then explored the Basilica (incredible for being built so high up). The monastery is inhabited by 80 monks and a renowned boys choir, that was unfortunately on Christmas vacation when we were there.

We were in no shape to hike to the top of mountain from the monastery (Grouse Grind equivalent), so we took the funicular and walked one of the hiking trails from the top. Montserrat Mountain peaks are very unique, made of coarse sedimentary rock like I’ve never seen before. One peak resembled a dog head with human female torso (if you get my drift) and one resembled a mummy head. Montserrat is beautiful and I would recommend it as a great day trip to anyone passing through Barcelona.

Back in Barcelona we had another yummy dinner of tapas. We made it a bit more adventurous by ordering off the Catalan menu. It had pictures so it wasn’t too risky, but John still managed to end up with one full of steak tartare (it looked like bruchetta in the picture). Andrew was brave enough to eat it.

We timed the entire day very well with all of our connecting forms of transport and we were at the airport in good time but unfortunately our plane wasn’t. With a ½ hour delay, we touched down in windy, rainy London around midnight.

We had a bit of an adventure driving back through the middle of London, in the rain, wind and wee hours of the morning. It was probably the best time for us to attempt our first drive through the city given the lack of traffic. We continue to be amazed how the main roads in London resemble back streets back home. I was driving and John, Andrew and Jess did a great job of navigating. We all made it home safely.

All in all another fabulous weekend getaway. The perfect combo of a beautiful city, spectacular countryside and of course the wonderful company of Andrew and Jess. Thanks again guys and HB Andrew!

Christmas in Denmark

I have to make a quick comment about the great time we had at my work Christmas party.

The party was put on by a company that runs big corporate parties. It was in a large tent on the grounds of an estate not too far from where we live. It was a “Monte Carlo” themed night with casino tables, a band, dancing girls, men in tuxedos, women in fancy dresses. My office bought a few tables, as did some other branches.

We had decided to pay corkage and bring our own wine, which was delivered to the event earlier. When we arrived, it was easy to pick out our table out of the hundreds because, not only was it the only table with wine bottles on it, it was covered with wine bottles, barely room for place settings. Our most senior manager made it his mission to ensure everyone drank and that we finished all the bottles. We played “Simon Says” and “Grand Old Duke of York” drinking games, did the Mexican Wave around the table (same as “the wave” we do back home in stadiums at sporting events), wore our paper crowns from the Christmas crackers and at one point all got under the table for a photo op!

After dinner, we were first in line for bumper cars (or Dodgems as they are more commonly known as in Britain). I haven’t laughed so hard in ages! Then, everyone moved to the dance floor. I couldn’t believe all the people up dancing! (John didn’t have enough wine to make it though.) I was craving some dancing to good music and that’s what I got. Just like back home, Bankers know how to enjoy a party.

Christmas in Denmark

John and I had a wonderful Christmas in Denmark with my Aunt Carla and Uncle Poul (C&P). C&P made us feel right at home, as did all of their Danish family and friends! We relaxed, enjoyed the company and conversations, took in the fresh air and cozied up in C&Ps beautiful home.

We experienced Danish Christmas traditions. We observed how the Dane’s manage to produce many extremely cute kids. We discovered that Danes have the ability to eat twice their body weight in food over Christmas; the key being to do it over an eight hour sitting. We learned and practiced several Danish phrases: Glædelig Jul (L&J pronunciation: Glayli Yul, translation: Merry Christmas), Godt Nytar (L&J pronunciation: Got Newt Or, translation: Happy New Year), Yuleman (likely spelled incorrectly but in the way we pronounce it, translation: Yule Man, the Santa equivalent).

I fretted for days prior to our departure that we would not make it to Denmark for Christmas. A “London fog” had set in and you could barely see a few feet in front of you. Heathrow had cancelled all domestic flights, and many international ones. Our flight was out of Stansted, to the northeast of the city, and luckily it was only experiencing minor delays. We arrived at the airport with our heads in a fog from the office Christmas party the night before, and cutting it close time wise as usual. We entered the longest security line up we have ever encountered at the same time as our friend Denise’s friend Spencer from Vancouver! I love random meetings like that! Spencer is living in London too and was headed to Norway to have Christmas with a friend of his living there. The security line up was the perfect opportunity to catch up.

We flew out of the fog, only slightly delayed and were greeted at Esbjerg (on Denmark’s west coast) by C&P’s smiling faces. We caught up on the 2 hour drive to Martofte and Poul taught us how to say Merry Christmas in Danish, “Stor Varm Babs” (sp?). Carla couldn’t bear it and taught us the correct pronunciation of Merry Christmas to avoid us walking around saying “big warm tits” to everyone.

Saturday afternoon we had a brief walk with the dogs around the fields, and much needed naps. Carla prepared us a stellar dinner and then we decorated their Christmas tree. Dane’s don’t typically put electric lights on the trees; they have special candles holder ornaments to light the tree with candles! The candles create a beautiful effect and we managed not to burn the house down.

Sunday, Christmas Eve, was our longest sleep in of the trip (about 9:30). The sun came out and the six of us (including the malamutes Nook and Trot) went on a long Christmas Eve walk; through the fields, along the beach, into a forest and then through more fields. We stopped on the beach and had a little Danish picnic of beer, Christmas cookies and coffee.

The Danes typically celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, and not so much on the 25th. We went to Poul’s sister Bodil’s beautifully appointed house. In attendance: Bodil’s partner Palle (and mayor of Munkabo and as of Jan 1 two other surrounding communities); Bodil’s daughter Annette and her husband and two sons, Soren, Emil and Oliver; Bodil’s son Michael and his wife and daughter Mette and Emma; and Bodil’s mother in law Ditte (sorry if I have misspelled any names).

Christmas dinner is usually duck or goose, but lucky for us, Bodil likes to serve turkey. It was one of the best Christmas dinners we have ever had! Different and delicious dishes included caramelized potatoes, cooked red cabbage, roast apples and pork stuffing. We did not heed the warnings that there would be several servings of food and filled our plates to the max on the first round. Of course, we were over stuffed after round two. Dessert was a creamy rice pudding with cherry sauce and almond bits. There is one whole almond in the dessert; the entire bowl of pudding must be finished and the one that finds the whole almond gets a present.

After dinner, I got to light the candles on the Christmas tree, getting it ready for caroling and dancing. Everyone encircled the tree (which was in the middle of the room and not against the wall) and then the Danes and Carla began to sing as we danced (walked) around the tree. John and I hummed along when possible, and threw in a little Milli Vanilli style lip synching for good measure. During the last carol, we started by circling the tree and then Emil led the string of us all holding hands through every room in the house. Present opening was next and we were pleasantly surprised by a visit from Yuleman who had a few gifts to deliver to the kids. Oliver received a Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Carribean, costume: so adorable!

We got home at 1:00 and it wasn’t too tough to fall asleep despite our anticipation and excitement for our Canadian Christmas morning.

Santa found us in Denmark! Stockings for the four of us were stuffed. It was Poul’s first ever stocking, and John was lucky enough to get the “Elton John” stocking, so named because of its bright colours and sequins.

The presents were plentiful thanks to Mom, Sarah and Aunt Barbara shipping large packages across the Atlantic (presents from John’s family had been opened in London via webcam). Highlights included a West Hawk Lake painting (with sentimental value) for C&P from Suze and Grandpa, Ealing Aeroplane Spotting Club kit (binoculars and log book) for John from C&P, travel accessories for me from Suze and Sarah, and hoogli (Danish word, I spelled it as it sounds) items for our white flat from C&P. We got C&P some sailing gear for them to use on their new sail boat. We’re looking forward to visiting them in the summer so we can go out on the water!

We skipped Christmas breakfast in order to save room for our all day Christmas eating adventure at the home of C&P’s friends, Elizabeth and Anders. To squeeze in a Christmas day walk and a bit of exercise, Carla and I walked part of the way and we arrived around 1:00 to A&E’s beautiful Danish farm house. Elizabeth is the 9th generation of her family to live on the farm and her baby daughter Anna is the 10th!

The party also included about 15 of A&E’s friends and family; a charming collection of people who made us feel very welcome and spoke lots of English. We were all seated in the grand dining room and the courses started coming. The food was very traditional, and required us to be a bit more adventurous than Christmas Eve dinner as fish, namely herring was involved. John probably had more fish that day than in his entire life and he did remarkably well! Carla coached us through how to eat everything and waited until after John ate the herring to tell him it was raw. Given that we weren’t used to herring, we really enjoyed the carefully prepared dishes. We also liked that they were accompanied by local micro brew beer. Skol! (Cheers!).

The eating went on until about 8:00pm. We paced ourselves better than the night before and the day was broken up with chatting and mingling about the house, a trip out to the barn to see the antique carriage, and English Christmas Caroling by Carla and Carolyn (that’s right Carla, I’m outing you – you two sang like angels). Thank you very much to Anders and Elizabeth for the delicious food and for being great hosts.

With full bellies and heavy eyes we went back to C&P’s and rigged up the Skype and web cam to call our families back in Canada. We touched base in four provinces: we got eight of John’s family members on the web cam at once in Vancouver, reached the Kitchen/Church family in Bearspaw by phone, saw my new nephew on his first Christmas in cold Winnipeg, and then reached my Dad at his Dad’s farm in Curries, Ontario. We got news of our first confirmed London visitors – Sarah, Kevin and Cole! They are coming in May and the trip was Sarah’s Christmas present from Kevin. We are so excited to see the three of you!

C&P were up early, as usual, to get ready for the Boxing Day festivities at their place. They woke us up by playing James Brown (a nice tribute). Poul’s family arrived around noon, the same crew as Christmas Eve, but with the addition of Bodil’s other sons Torbin and Henrick and their wives and children. We felt like part of the family and had fun chatting; we were very impressed by everyone’s English. Two of the kids, Oliver and Clara, started telling me in Danish about Amazing Amanda, the new doll, to which I had to respond by just staring back dumbly. At one point in the day, John tried to get a smile out of 20 month old Emma who was gripping on to a chair leg and grimacing. Her Dad, Michael, advised John that she was pooping.

We filled ourselves with more Danish Christmas food, beer and snapps. Carla kicked everyone out while it was still light out to get some exercise. We tromped through the fields and up to the top of the burial mound with a view of the sea. It was just the break we needed before going back for more food. A cheese platter was served near the end. John tried the worst smelling cheese I have ever encountered and he said it tasted better than it smelled. He had to wash his hands after to get rid of the smell. I wolfed down a few helpings of Annette’s delicious dessert: fruit salad with a heavenly yogurt/whipping cream sauce.

At the end of the night, we wished everyone a Godt Nytar and the youngest (who could talk) and oldest family members, who could not speak English, eloquently wished us “Good-bye”. Carla and I did some dancing while we cleaned up and washed dishes. The cheese smell was still lingering all over the kitchen so we scrubbed down everything it had touched. We still got a few wafts the next morning. C&P, John and I managed to stay awake to watch an episode of Seinfeld (Poul’s new DVD).


On Wednesday, we got a break from parties and were awakened by Nook the dog jumping on our bed. John met up with Palle (Bodil’s partner and Munkebo mayor) and went to the Odense airport to talk a little business. Carla took me through several neat shops in Odense. John joined back up with us and we checked out the city’s main church, walked through the pedestrian shopping streets and at John’s request admired a few HC Anderson tributes (please note my sarcasm here).

Arriving back at the farm we were greeted by C&P’s friend Neil and his wife and mother in law. Neil used to live in South Africa and has been there more times than he could count. He had some great tips for us, which included “don’t get killed”. Carla made us another scrumptious dinner and we sat around their new large dinner table eating and visiting.

We were sad to leave the next day after such great family time, party time and cozy, down time. Thank you Carla and Poul! We’re looking forward to our next visit!

Christmas in London

Sick of hearing our limited selection of Christmas songs over and over, Leah & I decided to download a few new ones from iTunes today. For some reason, in the Weatherill-Down household, the staple Christmas album was always “Once Upon a Christmas” by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. This is a collection of your favourite holiday songs sung in a country style, that Leah quite rightly hates.

But to humour me she searched iTunes for “Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton”. iTunes' response?

“Did you mean: Kenny Rogers in Dolly Parton? Your search returned no results.”

A Christmas miracle!

Cole's Arrival!

On December 6, 2006 (great day 6.12.06), my sister Sarah and her husband, Kevin, proudly welcomed their son, Cole Kevin Anseeuw, to the world. He arrived right on his due date and was 8 pounds 4 ounces.

Sarah went through the labour and delivery calmly and with grace, with Kevin by her side. They spent a few days in the hospital getting accustomed to the new addition to their family and they are now at home helping each other with the new responsibilities. John and I are proud and very impressed with both of them.

John and I are very excited to have become uncle and aunt to such an adorable baby! (We still love you too Callie.)

Congratulations Sarah and Kevin! Welcome Cole!

Bratislava, Slovakia & Vienna, Austria

We’re back to our cute little London flat after another great weekend of traveling. This time we flew to Bratislava, Slovakia, had a day trip to Vienna, Austria from there and we were joined by our new Aussie friends, Jess and Andrew (their website, www.fushmush.net).

We arrived in Bratislava late on Thursday night and made our way to our hostel. It was in a neat old building and we got our first private, double room. Going forward, I think I will be adopting Jess’ motto of “I don’t do dorm rooms”. It was for sure worth the extra money to get a better sleep and to be able to spread our stuff out without having to repack it and store it in a locker all the time.

We did our first walk through the “old town” and into the main square where the Christmas markets were set up. We found a little restaurant for a late dinner and some cheap, good quality beer.

Bratislava is a smaller city with about 450,000 people. We were surprisingly impressed by the historic buildings in the old town but what we found most interesting were the remnants of communist rule. The old buildings are not restored to perfection like in Salzburg. The old town and the hilltop fortress/castle are situated on the north side of the Danube River and in contrast, on the south side of the river, as far as you can see are communist era apartment blocks. Before our trip we didn’t getting any rave reviews about Bratislava but we enjoyed it and appreciated it.

On Friday we had a leisurely morning, enjoying breakfast and wandering the Christmas markets. We walked along the Danube and then up to the hill top castle, which resembles an upside down table. One of the main sights from the castle is a tower on the bridge with a UFO shaped viewing area on top. It was calling our names so we ventured up it. From there we had a great view back at the castle, to the west into the Austrian hills (only three kilometers away), and to south the gray, endless apartment blocks.

We did a walking tour, which wasn’t much to rave about. We were hoping for a bit more information on recent history. Then we found a restaurant with neat, dark ambience and enjoyed some traditional Slovakian fare.

After that, we managed to get on the right tram and find our way to the Samsung Arena for a Slovakian Extraliga hockey game! HC Slovan Bratislava vs MS HK Zilina. Tickets were $4 and a beer was $1. Can’t get that in Canada!

The game was in an old Communist era arena, purpose built for something, not hockey, nor for merchandising and food/bev sales. We swarmed outside the doors to get in the small entrance. There was no concourse, and only a few places for beer stands to be squeezed in. Unfortunately, John was unable to find a place to buy a t-shirt anywhere. Aside from a few puck bunnies and the cheerleaders (more on that below), Jess and I were the only women there.

We got the tickets thinking they were in a great location; centre ice, not too far up. However, we did not expect to end up with the four worst seats in the arena! The seats were split, two on each side of a media platform, thus blocking the view of half the rink when sitting. The other half of the view was blocked by one of the many large red pillars that surrounded the arena in order to keep the roof up. Luckily, it wasn’t a sell out so we just moved into a corner with a great view.
It was Jess and Andrew’s first ever hockey game and they chose to cheer for Zilina, because Zilina had Australia colours on. John and I jumped on the home team’s band wagon and joined in with the constantly cheering fans (way more vocal than any Canuck game, and only a third of the spectators). There were two early goals making it a tie game, and then two late goals to keep it tied. HC Slovan Bratislava managed to pull out a victory in over time!

Unlike NHL hockey games, there were cheerleaders/dancers performing in the aisles. They reminded me of CFL cheerleaders, but slightly less talented and slightly more provocative. They performed a combination of step aerobics and musical chairs; step aerobics routines to the music in between plays and then as soon as the music stopped (and play resumed) they would sit down as fast as possible.

I found the whole experience very entertaining. It was likely the highlight of John’s time in Europe so far, but probably only increased how much he misses watching and playing the game.

Sunday we got up in good time and caught the 1 hour train to Vienna, Austria. (Round trip tickets EUR7, same price as a day pass for London transit.) Salzburg was grand on a small scale; Vienna was grand on a very large scale! We loved it too! There were impressive palaces, a majestic opera house, strikingly Roman Parliament buildings, luxurious hotels all lit up; I wish you could picture it as I do.

The Christmas markets were in full swing, packed with people, and much more significant than in Bratislava. The main market was set up in front of the town hall. The trees in front of the town hall all had large, lighted ornaments hanging in their branches. The windows in the gothic town hall were numbered 1-24, with one being opened every day revealing a picture. The best Advent Calendar I’ve ever seen!

We started the day with a trip around the centre of town on a tram to get an overview of the city’s sights, but more importantly to find a Starbucks for John. He was very desperate for caffeine. We all owe thanks to Jess for spotting one. After being sufficiently caffeinated, John was a new man, and we made our way through the heart of Vienna; past its big church, through the pedestrian shopping streets decked out with lights for Christmas, by the main palace.

We cruised through the smaller Christmas market and indulged in garlic hashbrown pancakes. Then we spent some time in the larger market, in front of the town hall; many different Christmas wares were for sale, along with mulled wine and local delicacies. We chose not to indulge in any mulled wine (see the Salzburg blog), however J&A enjoyed some. We did try roasted chestnuts for the first time (we have seen kiosks selling them in every city since Ljubljana so it was about time). For lunch we managed to find a table at the popular Einstein restaurant, and we warmed up over beer and wiener schnitzel.

After all that food, we had to burn off a few calories so we tossed a Frisbee around in front of the town hall. A&J are our teammates on our new Ultimate team, the Fugazees and like us, their previous team back home was called the Chuckers. Because we hadn’t had enough exercise, we decided pay EUR3 to walk up the skinny spiral staircase to the top of the church tower so we could have a view of Vienna. We were very disappointed when we reached the top. We were expecting to be able to go outside on a viewing platform, but there wasn’t one. Instead we had to look through windows in a small room in the tower which housed a gift shop and 75% of the windows were partially blocked by scaffolding.

It was dark by then and the city was lit up beautifully! We walked and trammed to Hotel Sacher to have some Sacher Torte. A&J got to cross both wiener schnitzel and the world famous torte off their lists. (John and I had never even heard of the torte before.)

We arrived back in Bratislava around 9:00 and enjoyed a light dinner, some more good cheap beer (Vienna was more expensive than Bratislava, and Andrew and John had to work at getting their average beer cost back down) and some great conversation before hitting the sack.

We left early Sunday and made the long trek back to London. It takes about the same amount of time to get from the airports to our home as it does to fly to these European cities. It was a fabulous weekend of exploring two different cities, but what made the trip were our traveling companions. Thanks for joining us A&J!

We’re looking forward to our next trip – Christmas in Denmark!