Saturday, July 23, 2011

Our Kontiki Tour - July 6-20, 2011

We're at home now and are slowly adjusting to the Eastern Timezone.  (I don't know how Oliver does this when going to Australia on such a regular basis.)

Our travels were amazing and we covered 5 countries in two weeks.  Oliver drove our Volvo stationwagon over 3000km.  So many adventures and highlights to reflect upon.

This blog is a recount of our two week trip that was filled with family, friends, the Arts, and old European cities.  The beginning is at the very bottom - so scroll all the way down!  Mikhaila did some research on the cities before we visited, while Zoe researched the story of Carmen.

As we unpack and clean up from our kitchen renovation...we are starting to prepare for our next journey to Edmonton, Alberta to visit with our cousins Stan, Eileen, Josh, Tasia, and Rachel.  We hope to explore Jasper, Banff and Lake Louise by camping.  From there, we're heading to Vegas with my parents....so stay tuned for our next blog.

Kat and Ollie

Friday, July 22, 2011

July 19-20 - Amsterdam, Netherlands


We are now driving towards Amsterdam for our final night in Europe.  It’s been a great time and lots of highlights to reflect upon. Here are some of our highlights in no particular order:
  • The beautiful wedding of our cousins - Bad Schandeau, Germany
  • Carmen- Gars am Kamp, Austria
  • Chocolate tour - Brussels, Belgium
  • Anne Frank House- Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Vienna Opera House-Vienna, Austria
  • The palace and the garden mazes - Vienna, Austria
  • Time spent with family – Papoulkas, Tutte & Mae!
  • Collecting pins - everywhere!
  • Swimming pools and waterslides in Austria
  • Spanish Riding School- Vienna, Austria
  • Cheese sandwiches
  • The Palace in Prague and listening to the choir sing
  • Charles Bridge, Clock Tower, Prague

July 19th - Brussels, Belgium


We had a restful evening last night and tried to organize our bags as much as possible.  We had a large room with bunk beds and a cute little kitchen area – it was perfect for our little group.
After the girls settled in to sleep we decided to search online and plan a great final day before heading home.  Brussels is a large city – but not as large as the other cities so we thought it most important to just have some fun.  After checking out all the major sites, we decided to do a chocolate tour.  I told the girls the only thing we would eat all day was chocolate.  The girls protested saying that we would get sick, but I told them that it was a chocolate tour and all we could eat was chocolate.   We decided to compromise so we ate chocolate, waffles with fresh fruit and cream, and Belgian frites with spicy mayonnaise. We covered all the national foods of Belgium and had a yummy time!
While we were on our chocolate tour, we saw the Grand Place and were in awe of the gorgeous buildings that made up the square.  All of them were ornately carved and it was full of colourful flowers and cafes.  During a rest time, Mik and Zoe took out a deck of cards and played while sitting on the cobblestones.  We also went to the Chocolate Museum to see how chocolate has developed over the centuries and how chocolatiers create such beautiful masterpieces such as chocolate masks, shoes, instruments, dresses and so much more!  It was a delicious tour indeed – but our stomachs were full and we decided some walking was needed to work off the treats.

Another part of our tour included locating statutes that needed to use the bathroom.  The most famous of course is Mannequin Pis – a little statue of a boy going the bathroom into a fountain.


The story goes that visiting dignitaries bring various outfits for the little statue when on official visits and he will wear various costumes during holiday times – http://ordre-manneken-pis.blogspot.com in French.  The second statue is a little girl Jeanneke Pis; she’s squatting into her fountain but is locked up firmly behind a wrought iron gate.

Finally there’s a dog named Zinneke who is raising his leg against a fire hydrant.

We’re not sure why the Belgians keep making statues of characters going the bathroom – but it’s fun to find them throughout the city. 

July 18th - Dusseldorf, Germany


We arrived in Dusseldorf at around 12:30 in the morning and managed to get a family room at the Park Inn where we stayed last year.  It was 11:00am before any of us woke up and we were all feeling pretty groggy (I had to get caught up on my course since I hadn’t been online for a couple of days).   We arranged a late check out and enjoyed a swim to stretch our bodies and get rejuvenated.

Oliver called to his relatives and we were happy to hear they were home for the day and we could visit after our check-out.  We spent a lovely afternoon catching up with both of Oliver’s uncles and his Aunt.  The girls loved the afternoon tea party as they received generous helpings of delicious strawberry cakes and pastries.
It was a great way to close our trip by getting to spend more time with family – it really is the most important thing in life!

We are now on currently driving to Brussels, Belgium which is only 2 hours from Dusseldorf.  We are planning to spend some time touring the city tomorrow, but most importantly – eating Belgian chocolates!  We’ve booked a family hotel just 5 km outside of the city…so we’ll have to explore some transit routes to make our way into the city centre.

July 16th - Carmen


Carmen is an amazing opera and the girls wanted to know the story before we went to the show, so here is Zoe’s retell and drawing of the opera.  Each picture represents a different Act in the play.





The theatre is a former castle that is now used for open air performances– it was a great place to watch a show and with the setting sun, it created a beautiful atmosphere.  Fabien met us out front and brought us to Antigone who looked amazing in her Carmen costume.  She showed us all the backstage happenings and introduced us to many of the characters who were warming up for the show.
We were amazed and so proud as we watched Antigone perform (click on the mp3 to listen to the aria Habanera); she was outstanding and her singing gave us goosebumps.  She was perfect for the role and really made the character come alive.  At the end of the show we jumped up to give her a standing ovation, but the people behind us quickly told us to sit down…we weren’t aware that standing ovations are not the way Austrians show their appreciation:)


July 17th - The Long Drive


 Well, it’s time to start our way back to Amsterdam…a long drive ahead of us, but one that must be done.  After a leisure breakfast at the guesthouse we checked out and went to meet Antigone, Fabien, Jacques, and their friend Lisa at the Gars pool for one final dip.  Again, we were impressed with the waterslides and public pool layout…the river was there for swimming too, so it was perfect for a family day.  Unfortunately, after the lunch hour it was time for everyone to go.  Lisa had a plane to catch and Mae went along with Antigone and Fabien back to Vienna to continue her travels. Once all the goodbyes were said…it was time to go…we hope it won’t be long before we see our wonderful cousins again; hopefully they’ll make it to Canada soon.

We’re currently on the road and have been driving for about 8 hours.  Our thoughts are to go to Dusseldorf so that we might visit with Oliver’s relatives Heinz and Christiana.  From there we are thinking of going to Brussels for the day before heading to Amsterdam.  We’ll see, as one never knows what can happen while on the road.

July 16th -Vienna in the morning...Gars am Kamp in the afternoon!


We had an early start to the day and went to the Schonbrunn Palace which was the summer palace for the Hapsburgs. 



It reminded us of Versailles with big beautiful fountains and gorgeous gardens everywhere.  We started the tour by using audio phones to listen to information about the royal families who had lived there.  It was a great history lesson, especially when we found out that Marie Antoinette was Sisi’s daughter who married King Louis of France.  When we went to the gardens there was a band from Asia playing classical music..so it was a perfect way to stroll through the gardens and get lost in the garden mazes.  The girls quickly figured out how to maneuver through the pathways and beat us every time to the treehouse exits.  We encouraged the girls to see how fast they could get through a shorter maze as we thought it was easy and made for kids.  Although we could see them, it was the most complicated maze of all and we had to go in and rescue them from the labyrinth!

We picked up Mae at around 3:00 from her hotel on the other side of town and made our way to Gars am Kamp to see Antigone sing Carmen.  Our guesthouse was in a cute small town where if you blinked, it was gone – similar to Ethniko!


Anyways, the day was hot so we went to the next town in search of a pool.  We all had a ball as the pool had a huge waterslide and diving boards. It was a great way to cool off and get refreshed for the evening performance.

July 15 - Vienna, Austria


Today was a late start as we enjoyed a good sleep and a Honey Nut Cheerio breakfast.  The girls were super happy to have cereal in coffee cups while watching German cartoons!  It was a bit of an overcast day, so we decided to start by taking an indoor tour of the Vienna State Opera House.  It was absolutely amazing to see such a beautiful building dedicated to opera.  What we really thought was great was that ticket prices range from 3 E to 250.  People of all incomes can see an opera – even if it’s standing room.


We’ve decided to purchase tickets to the Grand ball when the girls come of age…they still do the traditional debutante balls to find aristocratic matches, but the Ball is opened to everyone for a price.  And it’s best to purchase your tickets for the following year, the day after the Ball happens.  We’ll have to put it in our calendar for 2017!

After the Opera House we went on a Hop on Hop off tour and saw the Hofburg Palace…our next stop to tour was the Spanish Riding School where the girls were fascinated by the Lipizzaner horses.  Both Zoe and Mikhaila want to become riders – but one must be at least 17 and speak a number of foreign languages – so we’re keeping with French and Greek school!

We ended the day with a walk in the park with Mozart – at the memorial of course!  The whole city is dedicated to so many famous musicians and artists..it was such a pleasure to learn so much about them.  The music was everywhere and certainly made us feel happy about being in Vienna!

July 14th - Brno, Czech Republic


After a nice extra long sleep-in we went back to Anna’s house to chat while the kids played lego together.  It was a nice relaxing way to spend the day and just take it easy on the touring.  Mae and Anthony were catching an afternoon bus to Vienna, so we drove to the downtown of Brno and were surprised to see it was quite a bustling city!  After saying goodbye to Mae an Anthony, we decided to explore the old town of Brno.  For the next couple of hours we walked the streets and marveled at the architecture.  Why is it we don’t have such beautiful buildings in Toronto – now it’s only condos.  One funny story – we saw a beautiful church from the 1800’s with a bent spire at the top.  It turns out the sculpture who was hired to create the spires was not paid by the city, so as a result, he bent the spire to show his protest. - and it is still there to this day!
We bought some Bohemian crystal figurines – one for each of us to remember our time in Czech.  We also found shops that sold Burek – we tried both cheese and meat – it was delicious and only cost around $2.  Zoe the food critic will let you know more about it!

 

We then said good-bye to Czech and made our way to Vienna, Austria.  We found a Holiday Inn close to the Ringstrasse so we had a great location. After a huge rainstorm, we went out for walk to see what was in our area.  Turns out all the stores in the city close at 7:30, only café’s and restaurants remain open. 

July 13th – Brno, Czech Republic


 We checked out after breakfast and got prepared for our journey to Brno to visit with Anthony’s daughter Anna and her family.  The two hour ride to Brno was uneventful and again we managed to book a hotel online.  So great to have these devices:)

It was a pleasure to meet Mila, Zedenik, Patricia, Anna, and Martin – although he was ill from daycare.  They live in the suburbs of Brno in a beautiful home with a fabulous view of the mountains.  We chatted about life in the Czech Republic and it was interesting to hear that since the Revolution they now have vegetables…something they never really had access to while the Communists were in power.  Often, Mila had to wait hours for bananas and oranges, so by the time one tried to get anything else…it was gone.  Mila is now having fun exploring different ways to prepare vegetable…again something we take for granted in Canada.
Anna is extremely shy, so it took some time before she would even chat with the girls – which was fine with them as they are very patient.  We ended up going for a nice walk in the forest behind their house…I think it was uphill the whole way!  Afterwards we went to the city centre and the kids had ice cream to recover.  We left our new friends there with the understanding that we would meet up tomorrow.
The kids were super tired and somewhat cranky after all the touring in Prague, so we took it easy and went to a restaurant for some real food.  For dessert we wanted to try some Czech sweets, so we ordered apple strudel and honey cake to share.  It was all delicious and the plates were empty in a matter of minutes.  Zoe is our food critic and will give her feedback later on!
Our hotel rooms have been on the cozier side so we only brought in our knapsacks to stay the night.  Thankfully, wireless could be accessed anywhere in the room so we could actually sit in bed, stretch out, and do our work:)

July 12th – Prague, Czech Republic


For breakfast, the girls were super happy to have hardboiled eggs and crepes with jam…they really like Prague already!
Off we went for our 3 hour walking tour and started at the Starbucks in the Old Town Square.  Oliver was quite happy with this meeting place!  I’m happy if I can find a Diet Pepsi that has bubbles and is cold…they tend to sell it flat and warm…oh well – it’s a good way to give up the habit!
Our tour guide’s name was Jana and she was amazing – a small person with a big voice and personality!  She’s from Prague, but has lived in Spain and America while doing her studies so she spoke perfect English.  The tour was amazing as she shared a lot of social history on what it was like to grow up in Prague.  Her grandmother lived in the city her whole life – but was officially part of 7 different countries over her 84 years.  Jana’s parents were also part of the Velvet Revolution in 1989 when communism was defeated and they joined hundreds of thousands of Czech’s who met on Wensleslas square and jingled their keys to indicate it was time for them to claim back their homes – it was really interesting to hear what life was like with the secret police and how people were afraid to trust their friends, neighbours and even their families..  We all so appreciated how lucky we are to live in Canada.
There were a few key highpoints the girls really enjoyed – one was the legend of St. James church where a thief tried to steal a gold necklace off of the Virgin Mary and it grabbed his arm and wouldn’t let go.  In the end, they had to cut his arm off and the mummified arm is suspended over the door to warn others not to steal.  Creepy – but the girls found it neat.

The other topic that fascinated the girls was the story about the Catholic Priest Jan Hus who proposed that mass should be delivered in the language of the people and that communion should be given to all.  He was burned at the stake for being a heretic.  His followers rebelled and during a number of religious wars took part in defenestration – where they threw the Catholic leaders out the window.  In one instance, the victims survived because they landed in a pile of manure.  The Catholic church said that it was a miracle because the angels came down form Heaven to save them.  Our girls just thought it was hilarious they landed in poop!

After the tour we went back to Starbucks and met up with Mae.  It’s amazing we don’t have many opportunities to see each other in Toronto, but yet we can meet in another country?

After catching up and a lengthy rest with the pigeons we continued to walk around and view the Astronomical clock that was voted the most over-hyped tourist site in the world. We thought it was cute and tried to see it as often as possible. 

Then we walked over to the Charles Bridge towards the Castle…of course the bridge is magnificent with all the different statues and Saints.  We decided to be royalty so the girls acted as our knights and led our group through the palace grounds.


At one point we stopped to listen to a beautiful choir practicing…while this was taking place, Mik and Zoe were investigating a fountain…all of a sudden, we had a very wet Zoe as she took a tumble face first into the water.  Luckily, teta Mae had a warm jacket that Zoe was able to wear as we made our way back to the hotel.

July 11 - Happy Anniversary!


Today is our anniversary – 13 years of love and fun!  We’ve come a long way since our first year together…..
This morning I woke determined to visit the gym and get back to some sort of routine…after doing some quick weights I had the choice of running on the treadmill or going outside in the rain.  I chose the rain as I really wanted some fresh air and scenery.  For the next hour, I ran alongside the Elbe river – it was so beautiful in the morning…sheep grazing, flowers in full bloom, mountains and green everywhere.  It was a great way to start the day.
Afterwards, I took the girls for a swim in the hotel pool, which was a refreshing way to wake up from their grogginess.  Then we met for a great breakfast and unfortunately, had to say our good byes to the family.  We were all heading our separate ways….but we were so happy to celebrate such a special occasion with them. Soto and Gisella are heading off to Salamina for a couple of months, Alexis back to Hamburg, and Antigone to Gars to sing in Carmen.

We spent a lovely afternoon touring Dresden and admiring the beautiful buildings; many of them were destroyed during WWII, but have since been rebuilt and/or restored. We continued our goal of climbing as many church towers as possible, and enjoyed the view from the top.  It was well worth the climb!  We did a 2 hour city tour and Oliver had the misfortune of getting caught in a queue while purchasing a Christmas ornament during a short break.  The bus was held up while waiting for him but the girls were saying “Please don’t leave our daddy”  Luckily, the tour guide was patient and waited for Oliver to come back to the bus.  He was not a happy camper!
We finished the day by walking around the sights before getting back in the car and starting our drive to the Czech Republic. 

On our way to Prague!
Our next adventure is in the Czech Republic….neither of us speak any part of the language so we’re hoping all is good!  We are meeting up with Mae and Anthony…..and just booked a hotel enroute.  Let’s hope for a good Internet connection!

We’re here and our first impressions are wow – this is a beautiful city! The buildings are ornate – lots of baroque architecture
Our hotel is called Nobuka – we booked it on Hotwire as we were driving on the HWY.  I love the ease of online booking – I remember when we were in Italy and had to walk around checking rates and rooms – now it’s all so much easier:) Oliver is convinced we are staying at a vampire hotel as all the folks dress in black with lots of heavy make-up

The hotel room is very cozy and although wireless is free, it only works in a little alcove at the door – so here I am doing my course work while sitting on a suitcase in the corner.  Oh well…at least it’s free!  Breakfast is also included at this hotel so we’ll see what’s a traditional Czech breakfast in the morning. 
We tried to meet up with Mae and Anthony upon arrival, but the trams were rerouted because of construction, so we decided to just try again in the morning when we were fresh for the day.

Tomorrow we head out on our walking tour…

July 10 - The Day After...


Morning came quickly and I had to wake the girls up from a deep sleep in order to make the brunch on time.  We are all still adjusting to the jet lag.
Anyways, that morning the Papoulkas family was hosting a beautiful brunch at the Elberesidenz.  It was a lovely sunny day and we had the whole patio on the water just for the wedding guests.  There was a cold pool on the lower deck and it wasn’t long before the kids were all in splashing and having water fights.


Everyone was in a relaxed mood and continued conversations from the previous evening.  It was a lovely opportunity for out of town guests to say good bye.
It was great to spend some more time with our family and they kindly booked us a room at the hotel with them so we could enjoy some more time together.  After a leisure afternoon and rest, we met up again and went to Fabien’s dad’s place to eat dinner all together with his relatives.  One tent and a few tables were still standing and so we enjoyed another meal together and shared fun moments from the wedding – like the “3 tenors”. 
We made our way down the “stone steps” for the final time and headed back to the hotel for a much needed rest.

Mik- When Zoe and I first went in the wading pool, the water was freezing cold!  But after a while, the water wasn’t that bad.  We tried not to get too wet, but that didn’t work. 

July 9 - Wedding Day


What a beautiful day for a wedding!  The sun is shining and there’s not a cloud in the sky.  We woke in plenty of time to go for a morning walk in the town and purchase some groceries.  There are lots of green spaces throughout the city and the Elbe River runs alongside it with bike and running paths – my kind of placeJ
The wedding ceremony took place at the back of the Park Hotel overlooking the river.  The flowers were in full bloom and the smell of lavender was everywhere.  A white tent was set up and the guests took their places to watch the happy couple.
It was wonderful to see our cousins again – Sophia and Lea Melina have grown a lot since last summer, but the girls wasted no time with shyness and quickly were close friends even though they speak German.  Lots of hand gestures were made to communicate and off the girls went chasing butterflies through the gardens.
Alexis and Ursula had also made a long drive from Hamburg the night before so were weary from the long day of driving.  We quickly caught up and were sad to hear that Uschi’s dad had recently passed away after a lengthy illness. 
Fabien was there to greet the guests and it was great to see him so handsome in his wedding outfit.  His family from France was there to support him and the mingling of French and German could be heard throughout the crowd.
When Antigone and uncle Soto arrived on the staircase a hush went through the crowd as she regally swept down the stairs in a gorgeous empire style dress in a soft ivory colour. Tante Gisella and Jacques were not far behind making their way down the stairs to see mamman et papa.


The cello played and welcomed the guests and the happy couple to the tent.  Then an official performed the ceremony and the exchange of rings took place.  Friends of Antigone sang beautifully at the close of the ceremony and it was a perfect way to celebrate the new couple. 
In between the ceremony and the reception we had a nice break to rest and relax and get ready for the party ahead.  We were under the impression that the reception was at the Elberesidenz, but then we discovered that it was actually to be at Fabien’s father’s place up the mountainside.  The estate was an old travelers’ place used for mountain climbers who needed a break.  Fabien’s dad, Renault, renovated the place and it is now a stunning villa built on the side of the mountain with modern fixtures and a gorgeous view of the lower town.
The live band had their stage built into the side of the mountain and played a variety of music all night long. 

White tents with decorated tables were set up to welcome the guests to the party.  Of course being a French/German wedding there was a room set aside specifically for wine and cheese – Oliver was in Heaven!

The dinner was catered and a variety of food was served to accommodate both cultures who were there to celebrate.  The wedding cake was cream puffs piled high in the shape of a tree wishing the happy couple congratulations – the girls loved being able to pick the puffs from the tree!
We met so many amazing people from around the world – Germany and France of course, but also Americans, and Australians.
We all had lots of fun with our cousins and new friends.  We danced all night and finally left at around 2:00 am.  We later heard that the party continued until 7:00 the next day – that’s when the police came!…..I guess I’m getting too old!

Mik-The villa in the mountains was really high up.  If you weren’t careful, you could fall off!(just kidding; there were railingsJ)  The wedding party was awesome!  I invented a new dance move there.  It’s called “ The Hammer!”  This couple liked my dancing so much, they tried to copy me, even when I was doing “The Hammer” which is impossible unless you are me.

July 8 - Travel to Dresden


Today is a long day of driving….from Amsterdam to Bad Schandeau it is 8 hours.  Luckily we are well equipped with activities and food for all.  We managed to purchase some healthy groceries before leaving so broccoli and carrots have been crunched throughout the day.
Oliver figured out the navigation system built into the car, (I didn’t know he could read Dutch?) even after 13 years of marriage – he still has some surprises!  He is enjoying the drive along the autobahn…the girls and I are ready for our next hotel in the mountains.  We’re about an hour away….hopefully tonight we will sleep and wake up refreshed for the wedding.

First impressions of Bad Schandeau
The spa town is about 45 minutes away from Dresden.  It’s set up in the mountains with cute little shops and a medieval type look with bridges and cobblestones.  From some of the signs, there is canoeing and kayaking along the river – if we had our gear here – that would have been fun!

Later….we are now up in our Guesthaus and it is gorgeous!  For only a $100 a night we have an entire flat, fully furnished and a balcony with patio furniture.  It has two bedrooms, a sitting room a full kitchen room, and bathroom.  It is very modern and looks to be newly painted and carpeted. 

After meeting the owner and checking in it was almost 9:00 pm….a long day of driving for Oliver and the kids were still full of energy.  The owner called a local restaurant who said they would cook some food for us.  The girls were excited to eat Spezle, German pasta fried in onions and butter with ham and bits of potatoes.  Ollie enjoyed some schnitzel and I had a turkey salad.  The owners and locals who were there were super friendly and chatted with us for the rest of the evening. 
After leaving I said to Oliver, that we would never have come to this town if we were touring and would have missed all of this beauty and friendliness.  We’re here for a reason!

Now to prepare for the wedding tomorrow…we need to set alarms so that we don’t sleep in and miss the service.  The ceremony is for 12:00pm at the Park Hotel which is at the bottom of the mountain from where we are staying.

Mik-When we went to the restaurant, I had no idea what anything was!!!  But, as usual, I liked the food. (I like almost all foods, I’m not that picky.)  As my mom said, Zoe and I had Spezle.(pronounced sh-pet-sle)  It was really good!!!!!!:)

July 7 - Amsterdam


What a beautiful city!  The flowers are all in full bloom and the fragrance is beautiful.  We rented a Volvo stationwagon and made our way to the outskirts and our hotel.  We arrived there at 10:00am, (4:00 our time), and the receptionist was incredibly kind to let us check in early so that we could get some sleep!  After some refreshing shut-eye we headed out to explore with the local transit.  Our neighbourhood was totally residential and it was great to see kids everywhere playing outside by the beautiful canals.  We loved crossing over the many bridges – some of them decorated with flowers….we also had to be mindful of the bike lanes as they were integrated into all traffic areas with their own traffic lights.
The bus took us to the central station where we then began our own walking tour.  We enjoyed the fun atmosphere of Damrack street with street performers and unique shops – most of them with clogs!



We then made our way to the Anne Frank house where we were able to tour and learn about how the family hid upstairs in a secret annex for two years and never being able to go outside.  It was sad to hear of someone betraying them to the Nazi’s.  Only Anne’s dad survived the camps and he found Anne’s diaries and had them published so that we might learn of how prejudice is so harmful and hurtful.  They had an amazing activity for us all to do at the end of the tour….they talked about discrimination of the Jewish people, but then also gave more modern-day scenarios such as
·      the making of laws to have Muslims remove their headscarves in France
·      Removing the crucifix from public schools in Italy
·      Mein keimph created in Manga
·      Banning neo-Nazi clothes such as combat boots with white laces
·      Racial profiling
Once given the different scenarios we were able to vote with clickers on how we felt about the different topics.  It was interesting to see the results of the people who were there, as well as the averages collected over a period of time.  It made me really think about some of the decisions we make about different cultures and their perspectives.
After the museum, we kept on walking while wishing we had bicycles with flowers in our baskets…it was beautiful and simple.
We managed to grab a bite at a local diner and afterwards caught the bus back home.  The bus driver was super friendly and invited us up to chat with him.  He had visited British Columbia for the Olympics and was very positive about Canada and it’s beauty. He shared some information about a grand cheese festival happening in a Northern town on Friday, but unfortunately, with our travel plans we are unable to attend.

Sleep was elusive for Mik and me….Ollie and Zoe have a great sleeping talent and their soft breathing could be heard right away.  Mik and me were still up at 4:00 in the morning as we heard the roosters starting to call the farmers.  Oh well…a few days and we’ll adjust!

Zoe
The food on the plane – chicken fingers and fries!
I liked the museum – the voting machines were fun.
The bus was fun too – it was awesome because it went so fast and the bus drivers were really nice. ,l
There were lots of bicycles which was great because they don’t pollute like cars do.

Mik
-canals – everywhere, watery
-the beds in our hotel were comfy
-voting tool at the Ann Frank Museum
-pretty flowers were everywhere

Today, Zoe made me laugh so hard that my face hurt from smiling:) I thought I’d never stop laughing!!  The drive to Dresden is going to be very long, but me and Zoe came prepared with lots of activities.  The wedding is going to be one to remember!!!!:)  The hotel room is simple but nice.  I especially liked the circular chairs because the chairs were really comfy.        

July 6 - On The Plane


Vacation – yeah – Doctor Oz said today that vacations are one of the most important ways to alleviate stress.  It is a must for people to get away and relax…he recommended a month in Tuscany, but I think 2 weeks in Europe will do for now!

The plane is half empty so there is actually room for us to stretch out and relax; Oliver is happy for the extra legroom.  We can’t understand how people would not take better advantage of the half price tickets …I realize it’s a charter, but it’s still a great way to go.
Anyways, on the plane they don’t have individual televisions, but rather these awesome personal players that cost 10 euros each.  The girls got one to share and had a great time watching Looney Tunes.  Would you believe there was an episode of Bugs Bunny and Carmen?  I can’t believe the coincidence.  It’s like they knew we were coming!

While waiting for the flight at the airport the girls and I giggled as we went to the bathroom and saw signs on each cubicle advertising Free Wifi Everywhere.  We were shocked to think people might work on the computers while in the bathroom!  I guess we shouldn’t be surprised by anything nowadays!

We managed to book a hotel in Amsterdam via Hotwire - it’s a Golf and Country club on the outskirts of the city.  We tried to order an early check in time, but their mailbox was full so we’ll do our best to get some much needed shut eye when we arrive.

Monday, July 4, 2011

City Research

Here is some research on the cities we are going to:

Amsterdam

  • Population: 8.1 million
  • Major tourist attractions: Anne Frank house, Vondelpark, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdams Historic Museum, Artis Zoo, and Kasteel De Haar
  • Currency (money): Euros
  • National Food: Pancakes:)
  • Interesting Facts: Languages-Dutch and English, Popular Sport-golf, and Bloemenmarkt is the worlds only floating garden
Dresden

  • Population: 2,515
  • Major Tourist Attractions: Blue Wonder, Bruhl Terrace, Golden Horseman, and Great Garden
  • Currency (money): Euros
  • National Food:"Birnen Bohnen und Speck" (pears, green beans, and bacon)
  • Interesting Facts: The canals are crossed by 400 bridges, Dresdon is nicknamed "Venice of the North", and Kalverstraat and Leidenschestraat are the chief shopping centers.
Prague   

  • Population: 10,28 million
  • Major Tourist Attractions: Art Master Gallery, Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, and St. Nicholas
  • Currency (money): Koruna or Czech Crown (CZK)
  • National Food: Bread Dumplings
  • Interesting Fact: The National Anthem is: "Kde Donov Muj?" (Where is my Home?) 
Brno Czech

  • Population: 10,403,259
  • Major Tourist attractions: Bucovice Palace, and Moravian Karst and Caves
  • Currency(money): Koruna or Czech Crowns (CZK)
  • Interesting Fact: Popular Sports- Football and Ice Hocey