tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17153985187386650612024-03-12T21:13:04.085-07:00Steve and Dana' s European Extravaganza!steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-16752113678626902362010-06-19T18:18:00.001-07:002010-06-19T18:18:51.987-07:00LONDON, ENGLAND. THE FINAL DESTINATION<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgwuh5otCqj5Sl3zcGNxoN6O99jwbHGHB6btl5bg2Yi7TpzMCGG559EqhFpo8Zkp4dPb0nxINngMrNr4snL6tswJr164duty03F5kz5xoPlsScGys9mhpi46Rh8FffIRzOeNkBdLio-9d3/s1600/Picture+991.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgwuh5otCqj5Sl3zcGNxoN6O99jwbHGHB6btl5bg2Yi7TpzMCGG559EqhFpo8Zkp4dPb0nxINngMrNr4snL6tswJr164duty03F5kz5xoPlsScGys9mhpi46Rh8FffIRzOeNkBdLio-9d3/s200/Picture+991.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484655388845593986" border="0" /></a>Dana hanging out by the BBQ<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1nFeGEzUSLhTg8efm6EuKpCaTpYDKhUI3J5LV5dx3Lfblinjr8kX8FeCnl4efUixwEs2i-u7UKWMfGDw94iv0AUm-uQsLXhEekAJ45pJecYtKi3JAKmAdh4QKCZKCgpzifyXhVMIczzMt/s1600/Picture+992.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1nFeGEzUSLhTg8efm6EuKpCaTpYDKhUI3J5LV5dx3Lfblinjr8kX8FeCnl4efUixwEs2i-u7UKWMfGDw94iv0AUm-uQsLXhEekAJ45pJecYtKi3JAKmAdh4QKCZKCgpzifyXhVMIczzMt/s200/Picture+992.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484655380621925890" border="0" /></a>Jean-Phillip, Ana, Us<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRpvJrDLrQF1mk1LUJBqP7i3oN-TsC0JMpsU4hJ1_HEoHEM18ZvnGfNePoiG-D0dxhjI3SFb0kUEJUFqYM4RD4eHNirC0Fl_VpBsKhmlqFuavI3WujRU4ViKlWxDwJFprG0wYvaWgXaDSz/s1600/Picture+983.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRpvJrDLrQF1mk1LUJBqP7i3oN-TsC0JMpsU4hJ1_HEoHEM18ZvnGfNePoiG-D0dxhjI3SFb0kUEJUFqYM4RD4eHNirC0Fl_VpBsKhmlqFuavI3WujRU4ViKlWxDwJFprG0wYvaWgXaDSz/s200/Picture+983.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484655375872828866" border="0" /></a>Tower Bridge<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjwgLbNug_4hLthLneFxU-XnWUaXn6m6v7TimGz-qy5zC3MffG7J_aNNsi2M1qYiWES-VFPxDWUfzv7eGaD0F4jpOpNelkdj1v2YJp4FVXGKFZnmpqKst95HW6WDECcsI00NvlTf1PuXN5/s1600/Picture+971.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjwgLbNug_4hLthLneFxU-XnWUaXn6m6v7TimGz-qy5zC3MffG7J_aNNsi2M1qYiWES-VFPxDWUfzv7eGaD0F4jpOpNelkdj1v2YJp4FVXGKFZnmpqKst95HW6WDECcsI00NvlTf1PuXN5/s200/Picture+971.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484655366119849794" border="0" /></a>Tower Bridge at Night with a sailboat going through<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehoodTt3imRQ22_8zWGKnBVuNe9sN93K8bkGgCN2zlRAS1cHmyCKlu59mqW5gYYNBOiMfY9V-sdog9nlPlWYxyZS0gTBCLhNaaa5P2MyYq03JQqdJibEXpWC8532eKDL53cs9TtTP-cCC/s1600/Picture+940.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehoodTt3imRQ22_8zWGKnBVuNe9sN93K8bkGgCN2zlRAS1cHmyCKlu59mqW5gYYNBOiMfY9V-sdog9nlPlWYxyZS0gTBCLhNaaa5P2MyYq03JQqdJibEXpWC8532eKDL53cs9TtTP-cCC/s200/Picture+940.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484654186956459442" border="0" /></a>Us in front of Tower Bridge<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoOEqO8yMsEdAavgGUVG5ERBM378m_q1zJSI2q7Cpgb0GXYcTHbls9211pnAWDv7QpF7ebIqAbrSSGrTZq-T_qz0RoXbaG78MzulLaOV-RODfDK5C7p1NOJnw984oV6eW7a3pXlk4sxRy/s1600/Picture+930.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoOEqO8yMsEdAavgGUVG5ERBM378m_q1zJSI2q7Cpgb0GXYcTHbls9211pnAWDv7QpF7ebIqAbrSSGrTZq-T_qz0RoXbaG78MzulLaOV-RODfDK5C7p1NOJnw984oV6eW7a3pXlk4sxRy/s200/Picture+930.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484654178157747090" border="0" /></a>Steve and London Tower<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYW1Rbc6BdvRdkX0UdTc-RdIsF2pLkuJkfND3m74eUkWW04jMOmi83SdcN9vES9twIVBcff2bwxkQwx6isJUXpu4jpfagPDKxdNWHHZBjhNVbWyaI8v2IMJG8Px8Fs3ktHKjvw61MvxdXD/s1600/Picture+897.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYW1Rbc6BdvRdkX0UdTc-RdIsF2pLkuJkfND3m74eUkWW04jMOmi83SdcN9vES9twIVBcff2bwxkQwx6isJUXpu4jpfagPDKxdNWHHZBjhNVbWyaI8v2IMJG8Px8Fs3ktHKjvw61MvxdXD/s200/Picture+897.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484654175165747586" border="0" /></a> STEVE and Big Ben!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkOBQIWhUgwR8TmRWebwxllszQPsE8_NbLfjnAm24uTKNKitNBABxs-eEWJ5gq2MHkhdoWH7c9dxQOyHxaK5lofNd6EuCuERv1h64e0vDbyc1mXDBupoKVBSWyd3XZ-5fTRbpFO5x7g8B/s1600/Picture+889.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkOBQIWhUgwR8TmRWebwxllszQPsE8_NbLfjnAm24uTKNKitNBABxs-eEWJ5gq2MHkhdoWH7c9dxQOyHxaK5lofNd6EuCuERv1h64e0vDbyc1mXDBupoKVBSWyd3XZ-5fTRbpFO5x7g8B/s200/Picture+889.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484654164533108658" border="0" /></a>Us and Big Ben<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYV3NEyCDulTnbgLJKW4AZRxs_Eli7NeHS_av_rUhqIVeSpaYyDOOEgCVmMVgClovrTIARTATGK9vJDhmbqxOTyMDvfGZRBd07S9bUu6iEBS1rGO-2Fsrg1J54cGVyltB-H4zTNH4Bdtb/s1600/Picture+883.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYV3NEyCDulTnbgLJKW4AZRxs_Eli7NeHS_av_rUhqIVeSpaYyDOOEgCVmMVgClovrTIARTATGK9vJDhmbqxOTyMDvfGZRBd07S9bUu6iEBS1rGO-2Fsrg1J54cGVyltB-H4zTNH4Bdtb/s200/Picture+883.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484654160699767826" border="0" /></a>Dana and the walking bridge from Harry Potter<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaEDhndeg2Rp6iaeSppgp1KKk0z1EGawrtgLPtXwcc3mLD0fUsPTeh7vqGwx4VW69Aw4hcSYkyPqq6nNEkLPDzzvFlZA33uOaQoq9uHuk5kjdVdOrrQtnjVPkbslos0_Ns5fxu1UbvJFLb/s1600/Picture+873.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaEDhndeg2Rp6iaeSppgp1KKk0z1EGawrtgLPtXwcc3mLD0fUsPTeh7vqGwx4VW69Aw4hcSYkyPqq6nNEkLPDzzvFlZA33uOaQoq9uHuk5kjdVdOrrQtnjVPkbslos0_Ns5fxu1UbvJFLb/s200/Picture+873.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484652819995146946" border="0" /></a>Random light billboard<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjklLS_aHFF9gc-v8K7MXUOeifr96r2HE7igb1jgE2MH1A0vXnE_wmfKFuZFBLI7_M4A9G614dfRti7AktqADLWTPkN5megdM8dWi1SSajMnspLI0su9pRg9mzIJk_POlEJ4t7bfDNEr-x/s1600/Picture+850.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjklLS_aHFF9gc-v8K7MXUOeifr96r2HE7igb1jgE2MH1A0vXnE_wmfKFuZFBLI7_M4A9G614dfRti7AktqADLWTPkN5megdM8dWi1SSajMnspLI0su9pRg9mzIJk_POlEJ4t7bfDNEr-x/s200/Picture+850.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484652817770338802" border="0" /></a>At the end of the palace road<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPjGTUwqhh2DECR7N4oZ2LUH6ePPHd3_0sLsoPnhygDzMH_qHMwXBWZNIow6Mo7hGJeAikrVw_bVKJqLsPbLhUqLmltLpwH0WTVJp-d8PyT49PuiYsa12tLEQS04QZlF_oZcyKClPkmh0O/s1600/Picture+813.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPjGTUwqhh2DECR7N4oZ2LUH6ePPHd3_0sLsoPnhygDzMH_qHMwXBWZNIow6Mo7hGJeAikrVw_bVKJqLsPbLhUqLmltLpwH0WTVJp-d8PyT49PuiYsa12tLEQS04QZlF_oZcyKClPkmh0O/s200/Picture+813.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484652810019359778" border="0" /></a>Changing of the Guard<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4CFyME7Ajeok0BytIHZAssbOdJHiN9p03YiAACfN8wDWKPQjMrPSQQWpyMBUqqPmyGCgEHAyffVcwI4jDeuxBsovG71SRmg6wgLvBw462Tm5ou0qBVSJv1Ua0_WC-4Rqkr0bc8L8el3eP/s1600/Picture+843.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4CFyME7Ajeok0BytIHZAssbOdJHiN9p03YiAACfN8wDWKPQjMrPSQQWpyMBUqqPmyGCgEHAyffVcwI4jDeuxBsovG71SRmg6wgLvBw462Tm5ou0qBVSJv1Ua0_WC-4Rqkr0bc8L8el3eP/s200/Picture+843.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484652794016587938" border="0" /></a> Buckingham Palace<br /><br />So sorry this is really late in the series, but here it goes anyways. We arrived at midnight and slept in the airport till 6 am. We almost missed our shuttle bus back into London, but caught him just as he was backing up! We found our new host Ana who agreed to let us stay with her for two nights. Also staying with her was another couch surfer named Jean-Phillip. He is from Paris and looking to work and learn English. After a quick breakfast we headed out to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. We caught the tail end of it and then headed to an open food market to try different foods. We walked along the river towards tower bridge when we realized one of our metro passes was missing. We backtracked and searched but with no luck. So we bought another pass and took the "tube" to London's parliament building and to see Big Ben! We also took pictures of West Minister Abby before heading back to Ana's for the night.<br />Our last day in London was spent walking through Soho, and checking out London Tower and Tower bridge (ie. London bridge). London Tower was super expensive so we just enjoyed the view, but took lots of pictures of Tower bridge. Ana brought us to a friends house warming party that night. It was a Portuguese/African house warming party, which = A lot of FUN!!!! While we were waiting for the food to be barbecued, Dana and I went back to Tower bridge to take night shots. It took us a lot longer to get there and back, so the party was twice was big when we got back. It was so much dancing, and eating good food. We finally left at 2 am seing as how we still needed to pack and get up at 8am. The party was still going strong when we left.steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-17965232211791773632010-06-19T16:09:00.000-07:002010-06-19T17:36:08.999-07:00Back to Agadir<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIO5RplXOi0y3U3TIuujLltf_urewdHsIVhweVfTkIpbdBTorWE6VeWs2-jAWW9Y2q47qHEJSZSSTTlLO_-_3uv6331JQRt-fhwYa4jz0T4ia-ce2ij3o7IP4icBzS_rZbt6y0FsVPzsOp/s1600/Picture+796.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIO5RplXOi0y3U3TIuujLltf_urewdHsIVhweVfTkIpbdBTorWE6VeWs2-jAWW9Y2q47qHEJSZSSTTlLO_-_3uv6331JQRt-fhwYa4jz0T4ia-ce2ij3o7IP4icBzS_rZbt6y0FsVPzsOp/s200/Picture+796.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484647844050512514" border="0" /></a> Washing hands in the ocean<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFEcSrFGWsNFbLBeDMYI3ab2J-40punVnYIo0wUH48rhoPV-Jpj7T3DMqP2pzb7-snna8JxTWd4w0RxIKx7udSDKTgVAbQqtoqYrjwQr3QYr4-bVcuyTAxLZfubbjsFSQh-5S8HkUm0GL/s1600/Picture+707.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFEcSrFGWsNFbLBeDMYI3ab2J-40punVnYIo0wUH48rhoPV-Jpj7T3DMqP2pzb7-snna8JxTWd4w0RxIKx7udSDKTgVAbQqtoqYrjwQr3QYr4-bVcuyTAxLZfubbjsFSQh-5S8HkUm0GL/s200/Picture+707.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484647839873438434" border="0" /></a> Us at the beach<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiud4LPRJVHBZQVh3-K-A0DujAyTdqz1vbAImKtUUypyGWEJelgiF9mHfYtZb1g-9O-55KYf-lQkjWQWs7bTTYcfXSJuDcKmV86-5K6U0gAx36EIs28xQgW1CrMgkyptDDG1cbJLuJCNlHi/s1600/Picture+694.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiud4LPRJVHBZQVh3-K-A0DujAyTdqz1vbAImKtUUypyGWEJelgiF9mHfYtZb1g-9O-55KYf-lQkjWQWs7bTTYcfXSJuDcKmV86-5K6U0gAx36EIs28xQgW1CrMgkyptDDG1cbJLuJCNlHi/s200/Picture+694.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484647834391453266" border="0" /></a>Fishing boats<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNK1odarDLsxeTiWo9naUp6qZElD6q7eGaSFOEnCL5xGytkbt99SMqXIa3wwm3mzQX9eixRmpEa-1TZDk4wjQHUw3ExuTIekillk137X2ohnHCjAzD4NLrORyXMB_PCwr-0yESqLvWMhe/s1600/Picture+691.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNK1odarDLsxeTiWo9naUp6qZElD6q7eGaSFOEnCL5xGytkbt99SMqXIa3wwm3mzQX9eixRmpEa-1TZDk4wjQHUw3ExuTIekillk137X2ohnHCjAzD4NLrORyXMB_PCwr-0yESqLvWMhe/s200/Picture+691.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484647827238564146" border="0" /></a>Grande taxi and petit taxi (thats what their called)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhvt0DVC7WG9aMp4skIj79p03GyG7QOrCheXK7vj2oCGw7Ui_n4cnHX4Mx6uDtkSCmFW1VdcEzwMMFdUnEQvomBM177Tf4ScJEWJNj_M6SWyJmSDCU4rsNV5qCx2shPNzMYOIbOZBQ-Vi3/s1600/Picture+682.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhvt0DVC7WG9aMp4skIj79p03GyG7QOrCheXK7vj2oCGw7Ui_n4cnHX4Mx6uDtkSCmFW1VdcEzwMMFdUnEQvomBM177Tf4ScJEWJNj_M6SWyJmSDCU4rsNV5qCx2shPNzMYOIbOZBQ-Vi3/s200/Picture+682.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484646663548472450" border="0" /></a> Us and Hisham having breakfast<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_zsFwEXySy7fxyL5gX8CDrVeHcJQ8BTPJ63gosFZ-dd4j9FKDo-KeDAeukuCuSks8UGbBbmhxtP6iDpKj9UQM7AXkPtV0zru9gd09NGbbWhRqhdHxp_NZNRWEMw-hqP-vqidh0KEpatKO/s1600/Picture+676.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_zsFwEXySy7fxyL5gX8CDrVeHcJQ8BTPJ63gosFZ-dd4j9FKDo-KeDAeukuCuSks8UGbBbmhxtP6iDpKj9UQM7AXkPtV0zru9gd09NGbbWhRqhdHxp_NZNRWEMw-hqP-vqidh0KEpatKO/s200/Picture+676.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484646655498895890" border="0" /></a>Steve and Hisham at the beach<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wrJyH1gamaBJPrXE3__m1Ttx_vV0ADpe8gBsrBU9p2iiVgVZTMepYVsEUcGf-20YApG92AmSzGnBvwLBYg-Nz9l3crkjWk5N-DhhOz24rek4e81b2nD0MGFfmdtTnMlnpobOcgVvQxlX/s1600/Picture+667.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wrJyH1gamaBJPrXE3__m1Ttx_vV0ADpe8gBsrBU9p2iiVgVZTMepYVsEUcGf-20YApG92AmSzGnBvwLBYg-Nz9l3crkjWk5N-DhhOz24rek4e81b2nD0MGFfmdtTnMlnpobOcgVvQxlX/s200/Picture+667.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484646652142519842" border="0" /></a>Dana by the Marina<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWazb3mD8aYbASEfL2dWMMvAdNSZi18cHyO6H0qiW79BaQ43RXyJyt0KFrxLpml1Mp7ihPbXrkQI937P5J8PdJQWru4xp9YB7uvf9t3Fd_EhFhDkvpmrqTSKUgTNOeCxXHUYemDPZUm5NK/s1600/Picture+660.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWazb3mD8aYbASEfL2dWMMvAdNSZi18cHyO6H0qiW79BaQ43RXyJyt0KFrxLpml1Mp7ihPbXrkQI937P5J8PdJQWru4xp9YB7uvf9t3Fd_EhFhDkvpmrqTSKUgTNOeCxXHUYemDPZUm5NK/s200/Picture+660.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484646644801992194" border="0" /></a>Dana and Hisham at the zoo<br /><br />We caught a bus in the morning back to Agadir. They tried to check our baggage and charge us for it, but we had played that game already. We held onto it with plenty of room for our feet! A family got on with their son being sick. He was throwing up the whole 4 and half hours, we moved back a row as nonchalantly as possible. We arrived in a town called Inzegane, which is a twenty minute bus ride from Agadir. Again we had to wait for our host to come meet us. A store owner called for us and also gave us a place to sit and ordered us some tea. Hisham came shortly after and we headed to his place. We headed into Agadir to look around, walked through the zoo, and down by the marina and the beach before heading back and relaxing. Then next day we went walking through the souk (the market), Dana got a few gifts. Hisham's family lives in the four floors of their house, but they only have the hole in the ground for a toilet. So for us it is a little awkward trying to use them! And we will leave it at that!<br />We took a bus ride to a beach further away where a lot of people go surfing. We just hung out by the beach and enjoyed the sun for a few hours. When we walked to the bus station to leave Morocco, I felt like there was a parade going on, and we were the main float. Everyone stares in Morocco and it just feels so weird to be the one being stared at. When walking to the airport from the bus stop, some kids stopped us to interveiw us about why we came to Morocco for their English class. We both were very happy to finally get on the plane to fly back to London.steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-43528501840678166542010-03-12T11:44:00.000-08:002010-03-25T09:16:21.798-07:00Crazy,Pushy, Marrakech<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZ6vB9S29CC6VJw7WTctiEkedkZkGnHZfGrCDi15u3IlKOP_-OY59B2M0JCbw0ACBfl58LV7NW2EqNg_Qm6ua-Otee5L9RL-77YCSRQ0KzAYOF9hdWIlW2XgzIaPu8WWILARYGs5J27_V/s1600/Picture+628.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZ6vB9S29CC6VJw7WTctiEkedkZkGnHZfGrCDi15u3IlKOP_-OY59B2M0JCbw0ACBfl58LV7NW2EqNg_Qm6ua-Otee5L9RL-77YCSRQ0KzAYOF9hdWIlW2XgzIaPu8WWILARYGs5J27_V/s200/Picture+628.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452605723791354114" border="0" /></a> Dana in the souk<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLt2fd2FQOLhkyYCqy-4H4JlrZq_h7cGF5IcN6GvA_NNfOYtEdQ7ZjP3YBtm8Ty_RdWVd5QXCUi5k5ajcbtZDkYDAiETO0dY2Q0qbjHrb12duENiZznScinGzqjYwe-glut8j2Jx2jRis-/s1600/Picture+619.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLt2fd2FQOLhkyYCqy-4H4JlrZq_h7cGF5IcN6GvA_NNfOYtEdQ7ZjP3YBtm8Ty_RdWVd5QXCUi5k5ajcbtZDkYDAiETO0dY2Q0qbjHrb12duENiZznScinGzqjYwe-glut8j2Jx2jRis-/s200/Picture+619.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452605714393055938" border="0" /></a> Dana in Cyber Park<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4c4A_FpgMXbzNfKMmw2SnmUBzbXlrE-Cz0Tc1raln2ZqkpI3AywrpRr3EcI35bwjZLo7KpLTl7OitF-Fpru_3JwFc0amKYSJyysbSGbZwNhCOtpSjXHrjnoMcV-TKusMtrGZpsNvDXMk9/s1600/Picture+623.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4c4A_FpgMXbzNfKMmw2SnmUBzbXlrE-Cz0Tc1raln2ZqkpI3AywrpRr3EcI35bwjZLo7KpLTl7OitF-Fpru_3JwFc0amKYSJyysbSGbZwNhCOtpSjXHrjnoMcV-TKusMtrGZpsNvDXMk9/s200/Picture+623.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452605713004099746" border="0" /></a> Steve infront of the Mosque<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzwJWJhKV-uzSz5kXTWx6n40PsY75omGHU1fKKr-lyc-kSWymPJ9q7HyTQvJ5W1DssFptFY8I1svR4JB_R4Dm1V3grfgGYYVyeUVCRnZpDDfKQvcvOnlejJdklk0Z6-s8UgvO7P-A4nFz/s1600/Picture+614.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzwJWJhKV-uzSz5kXTWx6n40PsY75omGHU1fKKr-lyc-kSWymPJ9q7HyTQvJ5W1DssFptFY8I1svR4JB_R4Dm1V3grfgGYYVyeUVCRnZpDDfKQvcvOnlejJdklk0Z6-s8UgvO7P-A4nFz/s200/Picture+614.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452605704111853682" border="0" /></a> Dana in downtown Marrakech<br /><br /><div>On our bus trip down, both times, we met men who spoke english and were very hospitable by treating us to food at the rest stop and going as far as to invite us to stay with them if our plans didn't work out. Thankyou again Abdullah and Moonir. We have definitely found Moroccan people to be the most hospitable so far. We got a couch surfing host very last mintue when we emailed in Marrakech. Jon just moved there from London and was very nice to host us last minute. We all went to the large main square to eat supper in the evening. Marrakech is a lot more touristy than Agadir. We spent a full day walking around town, going to the souks (larege open markets). </div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-4393980411615350902010-03-12T11:33:00.000-08:002010-03-25T09:03:26.775-07:00Into the Desert!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTlnfsiV1w2eVRTMfjEos9KAJdpekGbhzcLSsXaACdpNfbId4-hF_4pDQEemF3c_vqv9pEEcXX8AWEFNIXv8crVGZpZctjPQ2EEsapOFNGfPyBf6RmbXzGcOSgVkgNFrUAplLcE-tAkn5i/s1600/Picture+522.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTlnfsiV1w2eVRTMfjEos9KAJdpekGbhzcLSsXaACdpNfbId4-hF_4pDQEemF3c_vqv9pEEcXX8AWEFNIXv8crVGZpZctjPQ2EEsapOFNGfPyBf6RmbXzGcOSgVkgNFrUAplLcE-tAkn5i/s200/Picture+522.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452602134062115666" border="0" /></a> Moroccan Stamp! Curry stain<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_suTQe2Fc8vtCw-sw7SZJFaoaCEUCbgfkeVfyWSfCIKhvJHTaKTemteT7aDaJm6pJ7_ps2kyzC9rOCyDND6bO8dN7jmgU9FMELPCv6RaRa3raqoFlTun7aCywWyMpLpupOR1mir9PGkD5/s1600/Picture+390.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_suTQe2Fc8vtCw-sw7SZJFaoaCEUCbgfkeVfyWSfCIKhvJHTaKTemteT7aDaJm6pJ7_ps2kyzC9rOCyDND6bO8dN7jmgU9FMELPCv6RaRa3raqoFlTun7aCywWyMpLpupOR1mir9PGkD5/s200/Picture+390.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452602125403243714" border="0" /></a> Having breakfast in the desert<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjW2yBzRparSDHU3YG0_B_65D302ok2yezN_yLKbaspfskgmC3XN509D-R5GSZDkhyphenhyphenqV-IhiFdHw36X_0dD1bxCmwoILCUowR1Ey5YfD5kuGWrBo7lGFAMJjvcVqep40FSnDCAZCk7QW7V/s1600/Picture+394.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjW2yBzRparSDHU3YG0_B_65D302ok2yezN_yLKbaspfskgmC3XN509D-R5GSZDkhyphenhyphenqV-IhiFdHw36X_0dD1bxCmwoILCUowR1Ey5YfD5kuGWrBo7lGFAMJjvcVqep40FSnDCAZCk7QW7V/s200/Picture+394.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452602121886437362" border="0" /></a> Riding our camels Bob and Jimi<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwLxkjG1XBsin5ldVw34j-q7mN4p55fpTSgBfGqqPt59xhAVBYSQDBvof65AFCXsQjtqmrHi3WmHj8dKaRgw8d4BbQJmBNkw12Ph99xJiy_L3YMfhNkAa33a0YW7Qx6obQvK4BewFxnrw7/s1600/Picture+302.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwLxkjG1XBsin5ldVw34j-q7mN4p55fpTSgBfGqqPt59xhAVBYSQDBvof65AFCXsQjtqmrHi3WmHj8dKaRgw8d4BbQJmBNkw12Ph99xJiy_L3YMfhNkAa33a0YW7Qx6obQvK4BewFxnrw7/s200/Picture+302.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452602110739249554" border="0" /></a> Sunrise in the desert<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8z15ndLoEjziCTyYJ_ZZB1lwqgJc7eOf7m8Bw9H04Ts_AJe3N0A2zVVF2lQq0ntoYHc4DTfDhW_Rwf2jbvGnZkvOE95HlFwKteqd_4SuNqTUqaM9VX8Lp6KEPefvw7pKC9RzJyU1HPkV/s1600/Picture+149.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8z15ndLoEjziCTyYJ_ZZB1lwqgJc7eOf7m8Bw9H04Ts_AJe3N0A2zVVF2lQq0ntoYHc4DTfDhW_Rwf2jbvGnZkvOE95HlFwKteqd_4SuNqTUqaM9VX8Lp6KEPefvw7pKC9RzJyU1HPkV/s200/Picture+149.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452599512916554290" border="0" /></a> On the way to Merzouga<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg30QWDRjdFVoYHlKgOl6NATzXREzOA7dpux2DVymMNwGoLpBUKJiee68FdRrXea11DYreh86_ZIkjoYRTHq7jov2ZUbGCZvnWbfsfDbrqnvbS5yOwvSQiZyKYcfZ42MZy4j3ocABbmjvYQ/s1600/Picture+076.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg30QWDRjdFVoYHlKgOl6NATzXREzOA7dpux2DVymMNwGoLpBUKJiee68FdRrXea11DYreh86_ZIkjoYRTHq7jov2ZUbGCZvnWbfsfDbrqnvbS5yOwvSQiZyKYcfZ42MZy4j3ocABbmjvYQ/s200/Picture+076.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452599505046458098" border="0" /></a> Hanging out in a berber country side<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3qTisOHmdoQrv_-SRkcwjeleg9k4Ofep2uYA1wS3DQtzsVrjj7jWKSb8jynL1OQ_vfzJP5g6Ky9Ml0XSYCq9HRhUjXp2L5glOJjHI2A_LNoKG2bhGDieT6fonlvY3AHiBTSj5z9t9HAs/s1600/Picture+053.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3qTisOHmdoQrv_-SRkcwjeleg9k4Ofep2uYA1wS3DQtzsVrjj7jWKSb8jynL1OQ_vfzJP5g6Ky9Ml0XSYCq9HRhUjXp2L5glOJjHI2A_LNoKG2bhGDieT6fonlvY3AHiBTSj5z9t9HAs/s200/Picture+053.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452599498879599346" border="0" /></a> Mohammed fixing the flat tire<br /><br /><div>In Khenifra we stayed with our host Mohammed. He helped organize a trip for us. Before we went on our trip, we spent the afternoon with Mohammed's family, a real berber family (natives of Morocco) She cooked us a very nice meal in their home. We spent the afternoon just sitting around looking over the mountains not talking because we were left with his family who did not speak english or french. The next day we drove to Merzougato his uncle's hotel where Dana and I rode camels at night into the desert, with our none english speaking guide Brahim. There we spent the night in a tent and had a huge and delicious tajine meal. We climbed the sand dune at 6 am for the sunrise but it was unfortunately cloudy. That day we went back to the hotel and then drove to Tienrir, to go and see the gorges. At one point crossing the road we had to get pushed across a section because water was rushing so fast over the road. That night Steve got quite sick so a little music playing with the locals after dinner and he was done for the night. The third day of our trip was spent just driving back to Khenifra. Saturday we took a 6 hour bus ride down to Marrakech. </div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-79648013615265233352010-03-12T10:55:00.001-08:002010-03-25T08:28:41.539-07:00Agadir, Morocco<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tDmQHkmv70HIl5PGksF93EkBxnIDgFR4F1qO4Dw-LgTfJ0zzBMbhC2uOYm3mW21TBJil6h_jBJs-7y2okEfFB3uZapiTBwvle4tVVv-Xwsa_4aE_1Zrz7Sh52WmU2UhUHFXNIDnH4SXa/s1600/Picture+028.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tDmQHkmv70HIl5PGksF93EkBxnIDgFR4F1qO4Dw-LgTfJ0zzBMbhC2uOYm3mW21TBJil6h_jBJs-7y2okEfFB3uZapiTBwvle4tVVv-Xwsa_4aE_1Zrz7Sh52WmU2UhUHFXNIDnH4SXa/s200/Picture+028.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452591955694309186" border="0" /></a> Main strip in Agadir<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuY6jNDPcXUqEhelgOyEkhTdIuMjmjjMuDb_oX7PC_W58X3ZHkKuvz2PwbP3vuisuJSZmip_VZoCt0kjF0MMAjG3gjDvqrDflGzZfDdbOtDxc3mwSKF8Na4Wpmsg4x-5PV-GwohadK426e/s1600/Picture+045.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuY6jNDPcXUqEhelgOyEkhTdIuMjmjjMuDb_oX7PC_W58X3ZHkKuvz2PwbP3vuisuJSZmip_VZoCt0kjF0MMAjG3gjDvqrDflGzZfDdbOtDxc3mwSKF8Na4Wpmsg4x-5PV-GwohadK426e/s200/Picture+045.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452591949247823474" border="0" /></a> Dana on the beach<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPR5JjhE3f_rAfdOUj-t4Mbi6uVfrE_SC5bHCZIHHVdpxMvQySHAsmkPqvxk3-Y9v1vyay4SU1PbmjHkMCskW-I-lC6BIp1lhLHm_TJfAlFkaJ8Ke0ZhhefSFY-55sOj1gG_UgihGGauLX/s1600/Picture+018.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPR5JjhE3f_rAfdOUj-t4Mbi6uVfrE_SC5bHCZIHHVdpxMvQySHAsmkPqvxk3-Y9v1vyay4SU1PbmjHkMCskW-I-lC6BIp1lhLHm_TJfAlFkaJ8Ke0ZhhefSFY-55sOj1gG_UgihGGauLX/s200/Picture+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452591939115931810" border="0" /></a> Arabic in the hill side<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4FZkrN3GFN4FRVIhEC0CohOkniwSBWG8gJ-va7nLxjSukwEWWu6IlEQood855d_ibMHW7dOnP7YPudb3UcmvkHGRx7mwPx2wZqpj-c4Q_BxqrQPOeZNAk7i6tD0FzetTPawMrn6D7hm7Q/s1600/Picture+003.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4FZkrN3GFN4FRVIhEC0CohOkniwSBWG8gJ-va7nLxjSukwEWWu6IlEQood855d_ibMHW7dOnP7YPudb3UcmvkHGRx7mwPx2wZqpj-c4Q_BxqrQPOeZNAk7i6tD0FzetTPawMrn6D7hm7Q/s200/Picture+003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452591934954495794" border="0" /></a> Dana and Jamaa at the souk<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7c_KSe5UgL0Isg3eY32KFU4j8-TEKrhIdTWEkbayz19HjCPD9LClpuFtQCl6ajJSD5qQ0WyweI6KLidz-2SysyC0UeJGxJ7c6tUD3un2kM43X74eHuA-wUcLpiQfR1EWznsghM0EicG8E/s1600/Picture+030.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7c_KSe5UgL0Isg3eY32KFU4j8-TEKrhIdTWEkbayz19HjCPD9LClpuFtQCl6ajJSD5qQ0WyweI6KLidz-2SysyC0UeJGxJ7c6tUD3un2kM43X74eHuA-wUcLpiQfR1EWznsghM0EicG8E/s200/Picture+030.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452591927141825042" border="0" /></a> Us in Jamaa's apartment<br /><br /><div>We went from a cool 5 degrees in London to 17 degrees at 8pm in Agadir, Morocco! After calling our host and waiting, we were picked up by Jamaa and his friend Brahim. We picked up Pascal and then walked around town by the beach and marina. Jamaa and his friends treated us to some good seafood. Everyone eats with their hands out here, usually a piece of bread to pick the food up with. And usually sharing from the same plate. In Agaidr we mostly walked around town, and spent one day at the beach. The waves were powerful and the sun was hot (30). Steve peeled and Dana received a bad sunglasses tan! We took a 10 hour night bus north to a small town called Khenifra.</div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-4273461220864041762010-03-12T10:44:00.001-08:002010-03-25T08:09:42.227-07:00Kiev, Ukraine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBWao8KlV4AKuFeMjBLaJCq3B281kdarLVVhu2Efu610ofXKDvyiGhlf4AuszrYpT65hjE8H5pyj-_UXpv4CgmUIst3dJ-V_hH00By9-JZvHHpoYx79ZyDANAI7cPLR1_FckbfxndEZyA/s1600/IMG_1159.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBWao8KlV4AKuFeMjBLaJCq3B281kdarLVVhu2Efu610ofXKDvyiGhlf4AuszrYpT65hjE8H5pyj-_UXpv4CgmUIst3dJ-V_hH00By9-JZvHHpoYx79ZyDANAI7cPLR1_FckbfxndEZyA/s200/IMG_1159.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452588102877128274" border="0" /></a> Statue in main square<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9CidExxPL9CV-452mnOngw8dHwjgcYojX5624b5F9-7X3b_aoQSdssAKr8bLMW4N7V9LL-UbzzyUzfvDdXHredDVKm9w17H56ziVGZYgepxP6G3VIcXdKHP9qYWIUaEKo-8vRvsI6WsOC/s1600/IMG_1208.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9CidExxPL9CV-452mnOngw8dHwjgcYojX5624b5F9-7X3b_aoQSdssAKr8bLMW4N7V9LL-UbzzyUzfvDdXHredDVKm9w17H56ziVGZYgepxP6G3VIcXdKHP9qYWIUaEKo-8vRvsI6WsOC/s200/IMG_1208.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452588099916707858" border="0" /></a> Lovers bridge, locks everywhere<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXR2gEIj5rYOXkpa1_OxtZi4GWMDNqvHdy8yaYsfYFYI5TgC5oYYFBXccb_L6b_KBwwu5YIgpqQVgAW2bKTCnVImfHooEeNGDCXS8wo2MInykO7RcTr6LFhC7qTwQqCigi9JiQ23pq9pu1/s1600/IMG_1203.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXR2gEIj5rYOXkpa1_OxtZi4GWMDNqvHdy8yaYsfYFYI5TgC5oYYFBXccb_L6b_KBwwu5YIgpqQVgAW2bKTCnVImfHooEeNGDCXS8wo2MInykO7RcTr6LFhC7qTwQqCigi9JiQ23pq9pu1/s200/IMG_1203.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452586801256969922" border="0" /></a> Can't remember which church this one is<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCdpkM1K0C8smDdy1-_hfJH8kFcf0NL28tec6qvwdYiFNMpqIdnV41zha9cCrTgmkWc5f-3t52S1Gbbmmsr_HLXf5KXeZd6xIKxiF6wdc2___rcEEgIOvUWSWpiZgRK_RhYqBsaVarbVX/s1600/IMG_1176.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCdpkM1K0C8smDdy1-_hfJH8kFcf0NL28tec6qvwdYiFNMpqIdnV41zha9cCrTgmkWc5f-3t52S1Gbbmmsr_HLXf5KXeZd6xIKxiF6wdc2___rcEEgIOvUWSWpiZgRK_RhYqBsaVarbVX/s200/IMG_1176.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452586790694665426" border="0" /></a> Friendship Rainbow....awwww<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOg71zwp_LVT21qkq-AO-HnhZz0aglizlmIumfPZ9l3LuwbRMQ_V_JZk1-x4dVqDi7srjpc6EMgKfTCUq8EMzxqXfz_Ci6cZ98nbJKhsF6L1kYWwZHlPfXc8hTb1PEIV28H4wW5DoPnceu/s1600/IMG_1197.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOg71zwp_LVT21qkq-AO-HnhZz0aglizlmIumfPZ9l3LuwbRMQ_V_JZk1-x4dVqDi7srjpc6EMgKfTCUq8EMzxqXfz_Ci6cZ98nbJKhsF6L1kYWwZHlPfXc8hTb1PEIV28H4wW5DoPnceu/s200/IMG_1197.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452586790036802802" border="0" /></a> Us infront of the that same church<br />From the train station we took a bus to out next host Kolya's apartment. The bus was only supposed to take 40 minutes, with traffic it took over an hour! We found his flat, and no answer, came back a little later and found out he had been there the whole time, he just didn't hear the buzzer! We dropped our stuff off and then headed back to the city center. There are some very beautiful and colourful churches here in Kiev. We walked through the park in the evening and saw friendship rainbow (yes it is as cheezy as it sounds) Dana did a little shopping before we headed back to Kolya's. The bus takes an hour no matter what time of day. Traffic seems to be bad all the time. The rest of the night we drank tea and hung out and talked with Kolya. The next day very similar; we walked around more churches, we walked through a park near the river. Spent some time looking for a good exchange rate to get money, and stopped in the expensive malls to take time to warm up. Dana made pasta for the three of us, and we just hung out with Kolya again before going to bed. Our last day was spent fighting traffic to the train station, and then catching a shuttle to the airport. Now we fly back to London to finish our help exchange in Whiltshire.steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-77145446183101027012010-03-11T14:31:00.000-08:002010-03-24T08:52:42.147-07:00L'viv, Ukraine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunpyl2aIUfXEBE709LnaIJW2NzIiCklkFtfESc81-hPzK-ynqRZ6AqvSwoFY31EE4K_PmIc4xnsqt3ChRTsWKfWqHa-Ozn8o0k3QGsyh11vHnbsgzosWwFdGAhbriITjMoYDBdGEEylQ6/s1600/IMG_1106.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunpyl2aIUfXEBE709LnaIJW2NzIiCklkFtfESc81-hPzK-ynqRZ6AqvSwoFY31EE4K_PmIc4xnsqt3ChRTsWKfWqHa-Ozn8o0k3QGsyh11vHnbsgzosWwFdGAhbriITjMoYDBdGEEylQ6/s200/IMG_1106.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452228174475151922" border="0" /></a> Tiny public buses<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkb0wJ0LCXEfZOWLi5KK9PaddC6AqrpzMxLG6I_ELsOAKQazHzehpdHTa5IGJb30i_43QCQ3G2IVMDwFpiRSPoo-j_SDsd5Zm3F7cog4tNLdc8GpvXEeazf0ujaRuxAZvXL3_4mk0XWYIk/s1600/IMG_1083.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkb0wJ0LCXEfZOWLi5KK9PaddC6AqrpzMxLG6I_ELsOAKQazHzehpdHTa5IGJb30i_43QCQ3G2IVMDwFpiRSPoo-j_SDsd5Zm3F7cog4tNLdc8GpvXEeazf0ujaRuxAZvXL3_4mk0XWYIk/s200/IMG_1083.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452228169866398850" border="0" /></a> Dinner in the bunker<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBo1B2qsgAQDWiZC5LmvYFMEAU3-y0ZNz3viCDoiYjnB876zTAQPy8y6MTKgHtyR5BCoBJBMY92ZyFN5vLKzDVTRlzOYugt-Hxe35cEPJYrZVm_Qg7ZCsJbXK1QNhULyMDWsQIEuK_999F/s1600/IMG_1142.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBo1B2qsgAQDWiZC5LmvYFMEAU3-y0ZNz3viCDoiYjnB876zTAQPy8y6MTKgHtyR5BCoBJBMY92ZyFN5vLKzDVTRlzOYugt-Hxe35cEPJYrZVm_Qg7ZCsJbXK1QNhULyMDWsQIEuK_999F/s200/IMG_1142.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452227578181071570" border="0" /></a> Andriy and Us<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXjWhFX9Tqjuae3-MJftgpc7FpN7rSDBD5US6qtV0QTQOPsdiHMOy64POT5T_CYJdObK1Ga8bWqj55bfjAX6O68YLGqobH2gSGnhF8BaNpdk0zhwemN7_zVX0G_ktIBBn1dF3i01x3Qg0m/s1600/IMG_1144.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXjWhFX9Tqjuae3-MJftgpc7FpN7rSDBD5US6qtV0QTQOPsdiHMOy64POT5T_CYJdObK1Ga8bWqj55bfjAX6O68YLGqobH2gSGnhF8BaNpdk0zhwemN7_zVX0G_ktIBBn1dF3i01x3Qg0m/s200/IMG_1144.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452227573304411970" border="0" /></a> Dana and Andriy at the top of the hill<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJOOBzjaKuOCp0oY9qWqt04VaPWeUGQBFJFLIG4KP9hGes7_TgB1qpqE3rLh6z4LFZaoAlID1vNrHXg_TXQQt1GtL48LpE0a5mOJ3S3BY3NFto0_ZMPGfG4rR28AdVdKEzg1qebvceKQ0W/s1600/IMG_0996.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJOOBzjaKuOCp0oY9qWqt04VaPWeUGQBFJFLIG4KP9hGes7_TgB1qpqE3rLh6z4LFZaoAlID1vNrHXg_TXQQt1GtL48LpE0a5mOJ3S3BY3NFto0_ZMPGfG4rR28AdVdKEzg1qebvceKQ0W/s200/IMG_0996.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452227563717381218" border="0" /></a> Fun statue<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzFFU5g6Kpve3qApFiSMrd0b0nZXkCkL9ottPBrCZlT8LRalC4h62bRB3BV3bWKvbei81feQahi4Tm6mCTQHO71WzkExtdknr8aK3yKmJgoRC79AtteM2mg4Vy8EVOUEyvm6wWIbHi7Vl/s1600/IMG_0990.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzFFU5g6Kpve3qApFiSMrd0b0nZXkCkL9ottPBrCZlT8LRalC4h62bRB3BV3bWKvbei81feQahi4Tm6mCTQHO71WzkExtdknr8aK3yKmJgoRC79AtteM2mg4Vy8EVOUEyvm6wWIbHi7Vl/s200/IMG_0990.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452227558083814146" border="0" /></a> Open market we went to many times<br /><br /><div>We slept in the aiport Wednesday night because we could't get a bus or train to get us to the airport on time on Thursday. Our flight was delayed an hour so we were in the airport even longer than we had planned. We flew into Kiev just after 7pm and were greeted with white snow everywhere! We were also greeted to little or no english speakers, except for the persistent taxi drivers. We exchanged money and found our way into an old mini bus which brought us to the train station an hour away. Our next hurdle was trying to buy train tickets. None of the workers spoke english, luckily we had some english speakers on our bus and they helped us get our tickets. We also met a very nice guy on the train, Stefan, who helped us find our bunks and talked with us before we went to sleep. A better sleep than in the airport, but still not very restful. Stefen helped us phone our host Andriy (Andre) and we were able to meet half an hour later. Transportation is cheap here, the tram cost us 15 cents each. We hopped onto a bus back to his apartment, chatted for a bit then slept for four hours! It's a 30 minute walk into town, we met Andriy there and he showed us around while we also tryed to find the tourist office (which we eventually did). Andriy had a date so we parted and walked back to the apartment to make supper and relax. The few days were spent sleeping in and then walking into the city to see teh sights. It was only minus 1, but it felt colder. We went to see several nice churches, a weapons museum, a cemetary, the open market (many times), and we walked up a hill which overlooked L'viv. Andrey was a great host, very easy going.We spent a total of 6 days in L'viv, then caught a night train back to Kiev!</div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-82603997088172856142010-03-11T13:57:00.000-08:002010-03-24T08:34:48.103-07:00Whiltshire, England<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXyR2cSRvms_7Vy3gCa0C6SYtIREwvT7brX6Xf5LG1M0HZ5fD6_0UCe-cUvdCFPXuSsswhRtTx9I1q9WjXwT2OxLLwgwEpVmRv0MoCjFfkaqQtFeFr08rFpRof1kXVW8fDsBtHdArHrLK/s1600/IMG_0991.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXyR2cSRvms_7Vy3gCa0C6SYtIREwvT7brX6Xf5LG1M0HZ5fD6_0UCe-cUvdCFPXuSsswhRtTx9I1q9WjXwT2OxLLwgwEpVmRv0MoCjFfkaqQtFeFr08rFpRof1kXVW8fDsBtHdArHrLK/s200/IMG_0991.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452221911316999378" border="0" /></a> snow drops.... all over the yard<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVkAJ6ULVnEWjejnht7TUHUWnMvYYxBJ4I6YyLwNPmzZsmtvsycfXD-Tov6iIAF7TAo8kvUeoK7Ne21Uz85jjgMiroG3PV9V8vikW1Nx-jGuq6GL0SgfvaWZZ88WbDIvYuUPiKKgYfHGcR/s1600/IMG_0983.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVkAJ6ULVnEWjejnht7TUHUWnMvYYxBJ4I6YyLwNPmzZsmtvsycfXD-Tov6iIAF7TAo8kvUeoK7Ne21Uz85jjgMiroG3PV9V8vikW1Nx-jGuq6GL0SgfvaWZZ88WbDIvYuUPiKKgYfHGcR/s200/IMG_0983.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452221900220460210" border="0" /></a> Me and Ruben<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZHXdttgGslqqmcLwxkJC4rOQM9dmwZA8B9WS0jG7zMU503nC8gHDCdufbKCJc6tZ8nkjupXGIHKfTRsuRh6agfeKbl-qAOQ1_rwfih0eIgFaPerhEeixRbGuIELDp2QIMMauM8kvJGAS/s1600/IMG_0970.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZHXdttgGslqqmcLwxkJC4rOQM9dmwZA8B9WS0jG7zMU503nC8gHDCdufbKCJc6tZ8nkjupXGIHKfTRsuRh6agfeKbl-qAOQ1_rwfih0eIgFaPerhEeixRbGuIELDp2QIMMauM8kvJGAS/s200/IMG_0970.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452221892045427426" border="0" /></a>Dana working in the polytunnel<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwb9KS8AYy19tx_7ozlkT3KxqHIuwiBltoBB2g60iwQJqGW_4DhmCtd3DJ-wZMWkev0NKqoQxZcRvVrkip64MdsZZIM495Cb8PXuaK8zheLKGAEh57D81RjV1Ia15o_jdOyrRYk0ohS4jj/s1600/IMG_0974.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwb9KS8AYy19tx_7ozlkT3KxqHIuwiBltoBB2g60iwQJqGW_4DhmCtd3DJ-wZMWkev0NKqoQxZcRvVrkip64MdsZZIM495Cb8PXuaK8zheLKGAEh57D81RjV1Ia15o_jdOyrRYk0ohS4jj/s200/IMG_0974.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452219080923387810" border="0" /></a> Front yard, with river<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFB_buSGYY3pr1iNTvlhruxQ-eiUpEaGl2ZlVeufYMs2orCKw1fsECw9S9RGCYwBrNHEBrfdUC_qGjIpxWV1RvQ7798Z8Bipr7f3DkbLhupN3n7lFRiNIF3QSF8xhJwT8PxP-Vq7VW11b/s1600/IMG_0966.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFB_buSGYY3pr1iNTvlhruxQ-eiUpEaGl2ZlVeufYMs2orCKw1fsECw9S9RGCYwBrNHEBrfdUC_qGjIpxWV1RvQ7798Z8Bipr7f3DkbLhupN3n7lFRiNIF3QSF8xhJwT8PxP-Vq7VW11b/s200/IMG_0966.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452219064955437010" border="0" /></a> Their house<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnHH3MYi9exghfkdGwxsf5cJaVhP0fvBlcFyrCjOsPbgSZp_s98r2753ij4SFm0-vmweg0amttlyDLMV1llXcaedQHbfHMRl_1NpU3pBcxM9Lluevfr6ZYD5tL5sMZaV8LHOHEfz2UcKa/s1600/IMG_0937.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnHH3MYi9exghfkdGwxsf5cJaVhP0fvBlcFyrCjOsPbgSZp_s98r2753ij4SFm0-vmweg0amttlyDLMV1llXcaedQHbfHMRl_1NpU3pBcxM9Lluevfr6ZYD5tL5sMZaV8LHOHEfz2UcKa/s200/IMG_0937.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452219053913755970" border="0" /></a> Lacock village where they shot Harry Potter scenes<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiorLWiAPghke2_RfOEIk0uVFCdDy6-t4bsWnKxT2vvVfqgCpao4cG_7GCIgt5fgv-BnwbwRUZxApIr1SLF8i0anzBsQoOqZ3f2VCDhFDhvoqBBWE2OnN7v_w9E0m7Injsn2lJ3bFXZjZxT/s1600/IMG_0922.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiorLWiAPghke2_RfOEIk0uVFCdDy6-t4bsWnKxT2vvVfqgCpao4cG_7GCIgt5fgv-BnwbwRUZxApIr1SLF8i0anzBsQoOqZ3f2VCDhFDhvoqBBWE2OnN7v_w9E0m7Injsn2lJ3bFXZjZxT/s200/IMG_0922.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452219046113467394" border="0" /></a> Dana in the Abbey<br /><br /><div>Our bus from London arrived in Salisbury in the afternoon. Ellie picked us up and we also got her two energetic boys, Joss & Ruben. We felt right at home immediately. Ellie and her husband John have a nice house in the woods. They have solar panels for electricity, and a generator when that isn't enough. On Sunday, Ellie took us to a village called Lacock. Some of the scenes in the first two Harry Potter movies were shot here! While we were at their place, we helped cut up and clear a tree. We used green engineering to help restore some of the eroded bank near the stream. We shoveled a lot of compost and organized a shed and polytunnel (greenhouse). Steve fixed a freezer door, and we both broke up large chunks of chalk to fill pot holes in the road right in front of their house. We hung with the family in the evenings. Steve went with John one night to a pub to wath a rugby match. We stayed for 5 days, but returned after our trip to the Ukraine.</div><br /><div> Ellie picked us up from the Swindin, and we were very happy to see her after a long night and not a lot of sleep. We drove by Avebury which has a walking path along many large stones standing upright like Stonehege(which really isn't very spectacular). We were only back for a few days, but it was great. Also Ellie really helped Steve out by getting her son's school to supervise him for his written portion for entrance to University. We got the polytunnel ready and planted seeds one day. The other day we organized the big shed and also moved some furniture up and around in the attic. We really enjoyed our time and we were sad to leave. We took the bus to London on Wednesday, put our packs in storage and caught our bus to the airport to fly to Morocco!</div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-2057490458728722962010-02-15T11:29:00.001-08:002010-02-23T14:56:42.982-08:00Edinburgh, Scotland<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihj9FO6xBQC1xkePicERrj1yAQClPiwruhxLbgn2u8lZr2FwOk8XyBo15p1i23Da6qHW3vFkO9CWh2aAXiA2drvArQD0zpJMHYuwS_yYRwIOwr8ETeIj_Yn7TxNkC-CgrLGBFkNyxljK6K/s1600-h/IMG_0881.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihj9FO6xBQC1xkePicERrj1yAQClPiwruhxLbgn2u8lZr2FwOk8XyBo15p1i23Da6qHW3vFkO9CWh2aAXiA2drvArQD0zpJMHYuwS_yYRwIOwr8ETeIj_Yn7TxNkC-CgrLGBFkNyxljK6K/s200/IMG_0881.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441568871427715314" /></a> Dana in the Castle<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRAVkgNWQiFHunBlojkx9b36dF6C4mainz4AiYhKYHckwR4D3iRFxOpSKqkbrXrTitkApo_mA6-hHUVT_lxzzNYFT35WqIN4BAmOvLl7yA6AfSQsHRw0lvwdkI8bA671Ne28Jga102M4qa/s1600-h/IMG_0838.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRAVkgNWQiFHunBlojkx9b36dF6C4mainz4AiYhKYHckwR4D3iRFxOpSKqkbrXrTitkApo_mA6-hHUVT_lxzzNYFT35WqIN4BAmOvLl7yA6AfSQsHRw0lvwdkI8bA671Ne28Jga102M4qa/s200/IMG_0838.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441568867006376162" /></a> Us in front of Edinburgh Castle<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1mcfhyphenhyphenNwvK-9ZuKphE5ruVZ2quCPMoFQD_UANkjZ6DDGFE_4jqJuxR1ZzucSAgkAEXPwSQvbVx95utUJwhjdBbX4qVuXELiUcmpcGYsN8EOyiB5C7Ctdj6zWz-KNZV1gu5vlCtIHDaYL/s1600-h/IMG_0826.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1mcfhyphenhyphenNwvK-9ZuKphE5ruVZ2quCPMoFQD_UANkjZ6DDGFE_4jqJuxR1ZzucSAgkAEXPwSQvbVx95utUJwhjdBbX4qVuXELiUcmpcGYsN8EOyiB5C7Ctdj6zWz-KNZV1gu5vlCtIHDaYL/s200/IMG_0826.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441568855725666338" /></a> Steve using the phone, ok... not really<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US">We walked 30 minutes from the bus station to our next hosts apartment. A polish couple working and studying in Scotland. In the morning we walked into town, a fox ran right across the road infront of us. We took a quick look at the Royal Palace before walking up Royal Mile Road to Edinburgh (Ed-in-bur-ra) Castle. Our first real castle, but not worth the 22 pounds to get in! Afterwards we had some food at the Elephant house cafe. This is where Harry Potter was first written! We had a virus on our memory stick, and had lost some pictures. Lukasz had a program to recover pictures from our memory card. So fortunately we got them all back and even got rid of the virus on the memory stick. The next day we did some shopping and went to the National Scotland Musuem. The museum has a huge interactive section which we spent most of our time in; building robots, driving a Formula 1 simulator, and testing our reaction time. We made Lukasz and Wiola dinner, then they walked with us back to the bus station. We caught a bus back to Glasgow to catch our over night bus to London, England!<o:p></o:p></span></p>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-51903550627340679652010-02-15T11:28:00.001-08:002010-02-23T14:19:20.522-08:00Glasgow, Scotland<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis_MgMdJY6UF9egFp-jUTWwGpdPeI7w0wS_wkvyyDkjXSMmCKwibUY8b8UAs4OzuQKqShyuFVBZCBERnmpw9FZYW0SUvLxkE0dvenYrnEKtk_uB3DDL72gmmGc5eIieSVVsV0h5Vikoav1/s1600-h/IMG_0930.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis_MgMdJY6UF9egFp-jUTWwGpdPeI7w0wS_wkvyyDkjXSMmCKwibUY8b8UAs4OzuQKqShyuFVBZCBERnmpw9FZYW0SUvLxkE0dvenYrnEKtk_uB3DDL72gmmGc5eIieSVVsV0h5Vikoav1/s200/IMG_0930.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441565770310039074" /></a> Us in front of Glasgow University<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5wEnWHENdypMXtquYyApDVn3lYOQW9qWCviC6vntKExHwKV-yvi3vDyWh4QDHPZgEgnK8AWHqOahyphenhyphen9CeZijCPl54DE43R1VtkslSrFnlSVd8y06SHgpYlx1zV18xB0y8WgQxmElVyN14/s1600-h/IMG_0926.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5wEnWHENdypMXtquYyApDVn3lYOQW9qWCviC6vntKExHwKV-yvi3vDyWh4QDHPZgEgnK8AWHqOahyphenhyphen9CeZijCPl54DE43R1VtkslSrFnlSVd8y06SHgpYlx1zV18xB0y8WgQxmElVyN14/s200/IMG_0926.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441565764569034322" /></a> Us, Marianne, and Dave at Ketchup<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsP2LH7kd87ZXR834eZeURMzCc4C8bfNyHFooVbXPIQE6nDEGyddZuDUQsWYzx7xVP-VDbiiJdXfZ1bODXy6Z759JSjyZ_p9EEwOewJOHdhNOjNu7h87jhsU94Fmh4Wvy8_v2K5g2Ylcp/s1600-h/IMG_0803.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsP2LH7kd87ZXR834eZeURMzCc4C8bfNyHFooVbXPIQE6nDEGyddZuDUQsWYzx7xVP-VDbiiJdXfZ1bODXy6Z759JSjyZ_p9EEwOewJOHdhNOjNu7h87jhsU94Fmh4Wvy8_v2K5g2Ylcp/s200/IMG_0803.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441565762625884386" /></a> Dana opening up our haggis!!<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US">Our flight from Dublin to Glasgow took 55 minutes, and cost us $75 for everything! (way cheaper than a ferry and trains) We found our hosts easily from the airport, Dave and Marianne had done a 6 month trip around the world two years ago; so they had a lot of stories to share. We went to a great burger joint called Ketchup where we got two for one burgers which were huge and delicious! They showed us around a bit before we called it a night. The next day Marianne was off so she went with us to the Kelvingrove Museum, and the University and Park. We got haggis, mashed potatoes, and mashed carrots and Rutabega for a late lunch. It was quite good, wouldn’t be first on our list to order again, but definitely tastes better than it sounds! We left shortly after to the bus station where we caught a bus to Edinburgh to meet our next couch surfers!<o:p></o:p></span></p>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-60417046950841431982010-02-15T11:27:00.000-08:002010-02-23T14:10:11.698-08:00Dublin in two parts!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7lVy8H2_ZWk3CDvckaK7GyTPsr9woLtg94dBBflO0xz_ApR4Oxfb2kHkQEEa3jMU5hd4-4Te2ezYau6APMps6u3ckDEvWaxS8_c5qeAP0KatL453iEO3GiIOKbwo_E0zA4GrqLSNpJkk3/s1600-h/Picture+050.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7lVy8H2_ZWk3CDvckaK7GyTPsr9woLtg94dBBflO0xz_ApR4Oxfb2kHkQEEa3jMU5hd4-4Te2ezYau6APMps6u3ckDEvWaxS8_c5qeAP0KatL453iEO3GiIOKbwo_E0zA4GrqLSNpJkk3/s200/Picture+050.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441564356487939426" /></a> Central Dublin<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xHgfOB-erXt1rKYOmmIRSUGl0IU1hk30o7bA3UxFuxuw7f5DfXWv7kC2Dzeomnp5J_d8v5PAnaWV-ZxQJB3UNa1PWNfuVPguZ6JO5JYqhdx9w8Moca7RSnpggGqRiLg2EnAwHy6wqhLg/s1600-h/Picture+041.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xHgfOB-erXt1rKYOmmIRSUGl0IU1hk30o7bA3UxFuxuw7f5DfXWv7kC2Dzeomnp5J_d8v5PAnaWV-ZxQJB3UNa1PWNfuVPguZ6JO5JYqhdx9w8Moca7RSnpggGqRiLg2EnAwHy6wqhLg/s200/Picture+041.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441564351137854178" /></a> St. Patrick's Church<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqulo-DgksZDv2dN7nCUvVWPouTuVz2umn4wPhPs_6tsMSANibUP4UI1LtabSOtna06k88mKi7beavAVvPHtxyhawvb-QQkeMg8vzwui1Rf0jwClzGt0tEyFuvDifKAOnpDV0Bg4de2V1x/s1600-h/Picture+017.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqulo-DgksZDv2dN7nCUvVWPouTuVz2umn4wPhPs_6tsMSANibUP4UI1LtabSOtna06k88mKi7beavAVvPHtxyhawvb-QQkeMg8vzwui1Rf0jwClzGt0tEyFuvDifKAOnpDV0Bg4de2V1x/s200/Picture+017.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441564342449319074" /></a> Dana at Ha-Penny bridge<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US">So the first time we arrived in Dublin was on Jan. 13<sup>th</sup>, it was cold and raining as we were fleeing... ah...silently leaving Berlin and the Shengan Area. We stayed with a couch surfing couple; Rod who is from Brazil, and Maret who is from Estonia. Really easy going friendly people so we got along just great. The first day in Dublin was spent speaking to embassies to try and see if we could get back to the Shengan Area. When not doing that we walked to the Temple Bar area (Like Cordyon area in Winnipeg), saw St. Patrick’s Church and the courtyard of a castle. The crosswalks make a noise like you are being warped across to the other side of the street. Steve thouroughly enjoyed each intersection, Dana became less pleased with Steve with each intersection! The next day we left in the afternoon for our help exchange in Tralee. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US">The second time in Dublin was on Jan. 30<sup>th</sup>. We stayed with Rod and Maret again. The weather was a little nicer this time, not raining or windy. We bought some luggage for our next two trips we will be taking to the Ukraine and Morocco. We mostly hung out and watched movies with Rod and Maret. We stayed up too late the last night watching movies when we had to be up at 7am in order to catch our trains and bus to the airport to fly to Glasgow, Scotland, oh well! Time to go from green to plaid!<o:p></o:p></span></p>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-32867213725703337332010-01-31T14:02:00.000-08:002010-02-23T14:01:59.343-08:00Tramore, Ireland<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGi6hLhv_wishc8oXwsYUKKbOHiEjF4619S3rJ1_vIvLLwPevw9hdoZXpIjCi6LwJdjXM6s5ef20aNYIbF9rHBxUqAkRG-llyKRNNXnTcwsu41rx3B5ypgX8pjx56B6jnEGmFnBhKO2mh/s1600-h/Picture+294.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGi6hLhv_wishc8oXwsYUKKbOHiEjF4619S3rJ1_vIvLLwPevw9hdoZXpIjCi6LwJdjXM6s5ef20aNYIbF9rHBxUqAkRG-llyKRNNXnTcwsu41rx3B5ypgX8pjx56B6jnEGmFnBhKO2mh/s200/Picture+294.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441562051481099938" /></a> Dana, Kayleigh, Karen, Mark, and Steve<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIXwvSCQnwEWCY_nHhGM7dpKH82dZBchdKqglWlhqWwEVJkQEeApOV1wKNERXDJtZh9QP1N27jL4XzLH60rb6ciJqQ_JOcA6qPCEova3J59MRnygpQROUCHRFpgDN6CXXZZyXN_pOoC8P/s1600-h/Picture+287.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIXwvSCQnwEWCY_nHhGM7dpKH82dZBchdKqglWlhqWwEVJkQEeApOV1wKNERXDJtZh9QP1N27jL4XzLH60rb6ciJqQ_JOcA6qPCEova3J59MRnygpQROUCHRFpgDN6CXXZZyXN_pOoC8P/s200/Picture+287.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441561464743484034" /></a> Dana getting ready for some painting<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMPEsdr1-iPL5yHc4aPmsvHy_ei_82oVMpE4Km7lZULzOwXYig09PrJsyaVFfYW6DDHe3Y4pma3c0EIoHEhjnpuMasOW4foQhc9jMG63W-4_YVKOKupqZ6MEzKJksaKfPjKzHQyburzheo/s1600-h/Picture+283.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMPEsdr1-iPL5yHc4aPmsvHy_ei_82oVMpE4Km7lZULzOwXYig09PrJsyaVFfYW6DDHe3Y4pma3c0EIoHEhjnpuMasOW4foQhc9jMG63W-4_YVKOKupqZ6MEzKJksaKfPjKzHQyburzheo/s200/Picture+283.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441561461881799554" /></a> Steve driving a right wheel car!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtttctGr9wh9ozaBx23qbCJAAV92goh3sTo9tLScNQ4YwRw9ou8tjWfIjq2-v17Wq7bZQtOEish14tRszyne7HNYU6nJTbOIiEHMrGvzb6sNlYdGP9FwUNmLDX96dCA7R30IjotVhkYqoM/s1600-h/Picture+038.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtttctGr9wh9ozaBx23qbCJAAV92goh3sTo9tLScNQ4YwRw9ou8tjWfIjq2-v17Wq7bZQtOEish14tRszyne7HNYU6nJTbOIiEHMrGvzb6sNlYdGP9FwUNmLDX96dCA7R30IjotVhkYqoM/s200/Picture+038.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441561453078548226" /></a> Dana and Karen on the Copper Coast<div><br />We took another two trains to get to Waterford, then took a public bus into Tramore. We walked into the residential area of Meadowbrook and found Karen and her daughter Kayleigh watching t.v. Karen is very involved with couchsurfing, but we found her through help exchange. Karen and Kayleigh are both very friendly and welcoming. Karen showed us around Tramore, and also took us along the copper coast to the many beaches. She organized a pot luck with a couple of friends one night, then we headed out to the pub to have a drink as well. Two more times we went to the pub to listen to traditional Irish music called trad. The last time we went Steve sang a song, and Dana danced with a much older man (Steve kept his eye on him).<br />While we were at Karen's we patched and painted a room on the main floor, we tackled Kayleigh's room so that she could once again function in it and find things. Steve put up a curtain for the closet in her room, and Dana cleaned the main floor. Steve also fixed the leaf in the dinning room table. We just had a great time relaxing and chatting with Karen, she is very easy to talk to. She even let us use her car to drive to the Dunmore caves, and the town of Kilkenny. Steve drove the right wheeled vehicle without any "issues" ! It was really neat inside the cave, we got our own private tour for 2 euro ! Unfortunately we didn't get to see any bats, they were still hibernating! We got great tips from Karen about couchsurfing and are excited to host when we get back home. Actually as of today, it is just under 6 weeks until we fly back to Toronto. We are now heading back to Dublin for a few days before flying to Scotland!<br /></div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-10601042486057241422010-01-29T12:59:00.000-08:002010-01-31T14:02:18.628-08:00Tralee, IRELAND<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oLdMnQHb1s5Jky8X2CdTEIBKBwL3DjVOgi8U4LktzSpOqLOo3lyJvj4gKXojk-NUXxy0VECRGMqRhdcS0MbYw46HTL1ugfs7V2wVWJjOgNVRlNIIegHusqWMqH6ND73JarGxHk0caVpP/s1600-h/IMG_0643%5B1%5D"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oLdMnQHb1s5Jky8X2CdTEIBKBwL3DjVOgi8U4LktzSpOqLOo3lyJvj4gKXojk-NUXxy0VECRGMqRhdcS0MbYw46HTL1ugfs7V2wVWJjOgNVRlNIIegHusqWMqH6ND73JarGxHk0caVpP/s200/IMG_0643%5B1%5D" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433027576974192738" border="0" /></a> Baby calf born two days after we arrived<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHiyZfVpC4jgKjEOFR23DPf6iPwzzvX9uU2CDb3i3e9FycJxREJpYx7SBtbVUm_WXRNztrd1E9hbq2larQ1jEFkE1aSA52z-beajo_-q4-m2LMpJuCoN26VfW5QJBLqaqsH3D_SAzmGAH/s1600-h/IMG_0629%5B1%5D"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHiyZfVpC4jgKjEOFR23DPf6iPwzzvX9uU2CDb3i3e9FycJxREJpYx7SBtbVUm_WXRNztrd1E9hbq2larQ1jEFkE1aSA52z-beajo_-q4-m2LMpJuCoN26VfW5QJBLqaqsH3D_SAzmGAH/s200/IMG_0629%5B1%5D" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433026915150815730" border="0" /></a> Looking into the backyard of Claire and Gerard's farm<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj57Dj0ETko7yz9ORyke6QvHahu7wc35iFuToToMgv0BltCixvsKcsPsyiteCTnuVc_S6V_gskj9cI6SeRn62U_Ez836ibhTHqE4BM7odAHsSp1Na_GHhbeluWb5o7VGd2nB5AhUmUL9Rul/s1600-h/IMG_0578%5B1%5D"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj57Dj0ETko7yz9ORyke6QvHahu7wc35iFuToToMgv0BltCixvsKcsPsyiteCTnuVc_S6V_gskj9cI6SeRn62U_Ez836ibhTHqE4BM7odAHsSp1Na_GHhbeluWb5o7VGd2nB5AhUmUL9Rul/s200/IMG_0578%5B1%5D" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433025757632211346" border="0" /></a> On our bike ride in Killarney<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nf1hOwMT1EORTmz_yShlWuNbCeIqmCzIU6DhY8sB1jfU9Rksj23Ly3dxpG6dkcLlK7U6ir0X3ABuywAcZtik5QA3PCM0c5iYXga_Y4XRHV_iwb1Cc5KjkFFwyQbpdA76C_5HDqF-ZQQM/s1600-h/IMG_0603%5B1%5D"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nf1hOwMT1EORTmz_yShlWuNbCeIqmCzIU6DhY8sB1jfU9Rksj23Ly3dxpG6dkcLlK7U6ir0X3ABuywAcZtik5QA3PCM0c5iYXga_Y4XRHV_iwb1Cc5KjkFFwyQbpdA76C_5HDqF-ZQQM/s200/IMG_0603%5B1%5D" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433025751211011858" border="0" /></a> Ross Castle in Killarney National Park<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCTlQnerW4HTOeS6ggxO4G1NQ4sMQSy_uc4lNICd-81Yoe38N2BpSxDLmjW_lf7FLHgT7EuAZwXkZNQFCIEUvVhQ7RIf7nEsFDtsPxc8_Af7RXjap_8j2E7jRMaIsgWXWhLOl31ziBxvQ2/s1600-h/Picture+151.jpg"><img style="width: 200px; height: 134px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432340480155166242" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCTlQnerW4HTOeS6ggxO4G1NQ4sMQSy_uc4lNICd-81Yoe38N2BpSxDLmjW_lf7FLHgT7EuAZwXkZNQFCIEUvVhQ7RIf7nEsFDtsPxc8_Af7RXjap_8j2E7jRMaIsgWXWhLOl31ziBxvQ2/s200/Picture+151.jpg" border="0" /></a> Baby Lan<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPouZatF2dNM-WRnv3WBO5ZktYM21ZWPeZ9ljeOrz8oWnXqZDA5z_ZAFRWHCDAwhnQSvcoYWxEyROPNlxC1HMrIBJjpZfrFiDte_ICFuRwUuKlY8QEl6MGy561Q4v23fxE-UDwJIfx1mZ/s1600-h/Picture+096.jpg"><img style="width: 200px; height: 134px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432340477483958082" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPouZatF2dNM-WRnv3WBO5ZktYM21ZWPeZ9ljeOrz8oWnXqZDA5z_ZAFRWHCDAwhnQSvcoYWxEyROPNlxC1HMrIBJjpZfrFiDte_ICFuRwUuKlY8QEl6MGy561Q4v23fxE-UDwJIfx1mZ/s200/Picture+096.jpg" border="0" /></a> Anna and Francis<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi29JvShCdHBhF1rp4i5XQxrJDZ41BeDmaKrTQxy-eVQ12eX6kNk0UyxXTZ8eHxGwWcEBoEpe4Z4vXN0KYzZFC1GcjngMqo-ZVhAZzolDDyCBoS-VLJWBFNUr3tFkqD2R5ud0G8g3iiJ1dJ/s1600-h/Picture+064.jpg"><img style="width: 200px; height: 134px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432340473225809778" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi29JvShCdHBhF1rp4i5XQxrJDZ41BeDmaKrTQxy-eVQ12eX6kNk0UyxXTZ8eHxGwWcEBoEpe4Z4vXN0KYzZFC1GcjngMqo-ZVhAZzolDDyCBoS-VLJWBFNUr3tFkqD2R5ud0G8g3iiJ1dJ/s200/Picture+064.jpg" border="0" /></a> Us at the top of the mountain<br /><br /><div>We arrived in Dublin, Ireland in the afternoon, and hung around just for two days. And we will get to that a little later, fast forward to our next help exchange. We took a four hour train ride from Dublin down to Tralee; a small town in the south west of Ireland. Claire greeted us at the train station and took us back to the house to meet the rest of the family. Her husband Gerard and her live on a dairy farm with about 70 cows, and 100 chickens. They have three adopted Vietnamese daughters, Anna (7), Francis (5), and Lan (11 months). It is not a busy time with the cows at the moment, most of them start giving birth in February (Although one birth happened while we were there). </div><br /><div>We did a variety of things while we were there; stain a table and benches, help organize the garage, put up shelves, clean windows, pick sea-weed from the beach and bring it back for fertilizer in their green houses. We also collected eggs, helped milk the cows, give teenager cows medicine, Dana tried to consolidate two address books into one and Steve fixed a bunch of things around the house! We even babysat the kids in the evening twice just so Claire and Gerard could have a night out together to celebrate their birthdays before things get really busy on the farm. On one of our days off we went with Claire and the girls to the local church for mass, then we went hiking with Gerard and his two friends up a mountain in Kerry county. It was actually a tough climb, but very enjoyable. On our other day off we took bikes and hopped on the train to Killarney. There we tried biking on the Kerry Ring road, but were pressed for time. So we took a detour and went into the National Park and rode to Ross Castle. The area was quite wet in parts and we had to bike very slowly through some flooded paths. It took us only half and hour to get down to the train station, and 2 hours to get back up the hill to the farm in the dark on a country road with no lights! We are definitely not in as good shape as we wish we were! Claire, Gerard and the girls were great hosts and we were sad we were only staying for one week, but Friday morning we said good-bye and took our next set of trains to the south east corner of Ireland to Waterford. Then we caught a 40 minute bus ride to the town of Tramore to go to our next help exchange with Karen and her daughter Kayleigh!</div></div></div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-44782941169619884722010-01-28T09:56:00.000-08:002010-01-29T08:35:10.029-08:00STEVE + DANA + BERLIN = NAKED ??<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhDLMqc_lAs3M_9Qz3LyxvztOTTwRGQnVUhQB5lAI_K0btq0NAInTIurgFWEN_JiY_jEpqhqaensWRfeMLwiF_RSRokB37ic5e7e-9BvA8jyisvbgh7zmofaShtHrazI7GbdA5aMoE6pR1/s1600-h/IMG_0442.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhDLMqc_lAs3M_9Qz3LyxvztOTTwRGQnVUhQB5lAI_K0btq0NAInTIurgFWEN_JiY_jEpqhqaensWRfeMLwiF_RSRokB37ic5e7e-9BvA8jyisvbgh7zmofaShtHrazI7GbdA5aMoE6pR1/s200/IMG_0442.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432200942298354946" border="0" /></a> Looking down the original wall<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgENdbmewFp22Pmy6Cb1ud2k6WP5jf-sfIVqEOAaMrsWjTmqxkg1TFFNiwDeMmwEU8ZaMZiCLFVBZdKC4MFxUhKO-TRS1qyGevd3Q57Ti_zvuPZyAlYFqBskaRLP28P-gXoPCWLeaIL6RXf/s1600-h/IMG_0452.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgENdbmewFp22Pmy6Cb1ud2k6WP5jf-sfIVqEOAaMrsWjTmqxkg1TFFNiwDeMmwEU8ZaMZiCLFVBZdKC4MFxUhKO-TRS1qyGevd3Q57Ti_zvuPZyAlYFqBskaRLP28P-gXoPCWLeaIL6RXf/s200/IMG_0452.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432199077519192306" border="0" /></a> Us infront of the Brandenburg Gate<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBY9PQr2vAYYYvuiHwT4qG5o_YW6qAkqhV6ooPpWfGHG7GDy27L7tvnRumy1djcHTl1IH7HhD_WwpcMH-kBE5Sgffo5AdE0YrRj8Uwdmimd8RTv3ldbSCb4QQXkYr_24kG2wEHZSbCPVu/s1600-h/IMG_0454.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBY9PQr2vAYYYvuiHwT4qG5o_YW6qAkqhV6ooPpWfGHG7GDy27L7tvnRumy1djcHTl1IH7HhD_WwpcMH-kBE5Sgffo5AdE0YrRj8Uwdmimd8RTv3ldbSCb4QQXkYr_24kG2wEHZSbCPVu/s200/IMG_0454.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432199073897892226" border="0" /></a> I think it's pretty obvious<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1YRfUf7FmmatMDi0WsaSXUz5psF1C3V6cgjRT7G1pIkibQwDUc4YueFDg6FBBfTxOM-Bnh1XOA0RybAbxJHHD3PFAjbgM9T5PVgEYmTvCEEJmu5fmq76_VI7CIqycjDQ02kktc7wNjA1l/s1600-h/IMG_0476.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1YRfUf7FmmatMDi0WsaSXUz5psF1C3V6cgjRT7G1pIkibQwDUc4YueFDg6FBBfTxOM-Bnh1XOA0RybAbxJHHD3PFAjbgM9T5PVgEYmTvCEEJmu5fmq76_VI7CIqycjDQ02kktc7wNjA1l/s200/IMG_0476.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432199065991074786" border="0" /></a> Dana in front of the church which was bombed during WWII<br /><br />Now that we have peeked your interest, and also haven't blogged for awhile, we share about Berlin. We arrived in Berlin in the evening and found our host Claudia not far from the S-bahn (inter-city train) stop. She had a large comfy couch for us to crash on, along with her two cats. It was a little cool in Berlin, minus five, but it was nice to have snow. Friday night we did something a little different, we went to a sauna with a group of other couch surfers. The difference is that when you go to a sauna in Germany, you are naked! It was very strange at first, but once you see everyone else finds it normal, you are able to relax, mostly! The facility is in three enclosed boats that are on the river; with a pool and two saunas and a bunch of lounge chairs. (where you cover up with a towel)<br />Saturday morning we had a traditional German breakfast with Claudia, then headed out to do some shopping and joined a free walking tour around Berlin. It started blowing snow during the tour, so we took off and did some window shopping. Steve went to a bar later that evening to watch an NFL playoff game with a couple of couch surfers. Next day we checked out an open market, then went to the berlin wall documentation centre, and then saw 1.6 km of the original wall, which had been repainted by the original artisits 10 years ago. We also visited a church which has been preserved in its shattered state as a reminder of WWII. We also saw Checkpoint Charlie and the Brandenburg gate. We have now run into a problem with how long we have been in the Shengan Area so.... we have changed our plans a bit and are now going to fly to Ireland!!steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-72599651636777021442010-01-11T13:01:00.000-08:002010-01-11T14:15:32.149-08:00Ringing in the New Year in Austria !<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYGuBRN7_QJVJcNWD8igeC7IDGGhOj0_iaglgm8d9-0Q0Gf1QzqFLOxMZvuC9mp-a19DbTi1ZJgyeUx0BOp4JfaGqh4JxRvd2ptu5I8hB1u2C4tIs-EYuyNY5dHEvvKLKNFSc3gKhMYEOn/s1600-h/IMG_0864.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYGuBRN7_QJVJcNWD8igeC7IDGGhOj0_iaglgm8d9-0Q0Gf1QzqFLOxMZvuC9mp-a19DbTi1ZJgyeUx0BOp4JfaGqh4JxRvd2ptu5I8hB1u2C4tIs-EYuyNY5dHEvvKLKNFSc3gKhMYEOn/s200/IMG_0864.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425609073264846002" border="0" /></a> A scene from the Opera<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ZjdVJQngIabOANHYJwAwOKNOBGeuvDONBw_pfi4-wzpv_nEiXNxEgQJe9cONUxsznzyV4AoiRv0Kke7HM1sUlhmlIXPKcwUBXkyWjLdcmfsPJf0wrMzzA8WLm9vzXvPYxrqnyNxta6n2/s1600-h/IMG_0398.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ZjdVJQngIabOANHYJwAwOKNOBGeuvDONBw_pfi4-wzpv_nEiXNxEgQJe9cONUxsznzyV4AoiRv0Kke7HM1sUlhmlIXPKcwUBXkyWjLdcmfsPJf0wrMzzA8WLm9vzXvPYxrqnyNxta6n2/s200/IMG_0398.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425609069332298498" border="0" /></a> Just hanging out with Pinocio (no idea if its spelled right)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9P5UqMrVONLRtviJ-aVlfczszHpLCUWR5J-VXsIHgt8BU7Ze9dXua1Tw2otEuDzK94gNzFl5rFBzgYjftM-dlf-pNRd7jKAGnqczFUPK8r_X8MoCQKhvmsP92g8WBtYOOeqno5n1tgM0/s1600-h/IMG_0397.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9P5UqMrVONLRtviJ-aVlfczszHpLCUWR5J-VXsIHgt8BU7Ze9dXua1Tw2otEuDzK94gNzFl5rFBzgYjftM-dlf-pNRd7jKAGnqczFUPK8r_X8MoCQKhvmsP92g8WBtYOOeqno5n1tgM0/s200/IMG_0397.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425609064496859026" border="0" /></a> Dana infront of St. Stephan's Church<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtDFEXw4XAlbzqh2XBl6Io6zK_-ONDC_mRs-eD03GKL7yWeiV1AqmAIzibAf_PjB7P2Y9wQjZuV4G12CYI0LlBV4uHYnM9OHekpQ44KbkLwI3jrBKH11O8E3Zird_IsYZEiLVR4kGkraa2/s1600-h/IMG_0855.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtDFEXw4XAlbzqh2XBl6Io6zK_-ONDC_mRs-eD03GKL7yWeiV1AqmAIzibAf_PjB7P2Y9wQjZuV4G12CYI0LlBV4uHYnM9OHekpQ44KbkLwI3jrBKH11O8E3Zird_IsYZEiLVR4kGkraa2/s200/IMG_0855.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425605826106710850" border="0" /></a> In the Opera house<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhySx3itilyTcGSW_CA8JQrH_KiJ2W9ahl8lb54J_pmqEfnLxUSvX0-9ZvOShEnNBpnvlRr3GU3fhOH4WKf6VR9828qPoRsmrAKMfFHRp-hrAg_zrJkDHeGTfecwG95aEcpSgamSB311FhY/s1600-h/IMG_0828.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhySx3itilyTcGSW_CA8JQrH_KiJ2W9ahl8lb54J_pmqEfnLxUSvX0-9ZvOShEnNBpnvlRr3GU3fhOH4WKf6VR9828qPoRsmrAKMfFHRp-hrAg_zrJkDHeGTfecwG95aEcpSgamSB311FhY/s200/IMG_0828.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425605819203358354" border="0" /></a> Fireworks at New Years Eve<br /><br />Happy New Year to everyone! Ours started out in a cloud of smoke and lights flashing everywhere. We ended up getting off the metro in Vienna, Austria 3 minutes before midnight, and found pepole setting off fireworks and firecrackers EVERYWHERE!! We just stopped and watched for a good ten minutes. A group of people beside us even gave us some champagne to toast to the new year! The fireworks did not stop until two am. Actually to be more accurate, they continued on for about three more days, just a little more sparatic. The crazy thing is that everyone is lighting off fireworks in the streets (its illegal but they get to do it once a year, so everyone takes full advantage of it) We did another help exchange in Vienna, with a host who was not even home! One of his renters Keith was there to give us instruction on what took us a total of 3 hours to clean up a demolitioned room. The rest of the time was ours with a free place to stay for the week. We actually became pretty lazy with staying up late, sleeping in late, and just taking a few short walks around the area.<br />When we did head out we checked out the Opera house and actually went to see Die Fleidermouse (the bat), for 4 euro each. They were standing room only tickets we bought 2 hours before the show, but they were dead center facing the stage in the back, so they were fabulous! This is actually the first ever opera we saw back in Winnipeg with Grandma and Grandpa Rempel, so this made us think of them! There was a little Austrian woman who put up a good fight to get a front row spot, she came with elbows flying and several women got an elbow in the back as she went by! We ended up standing for 5 hours including waiting in line, but it was worth it. Oh yah, the Opera house is very elegant and fancy. Many people were dressed up, and drinking champagne during the intermission. Needless to say we were completely under dressed. So as I reflect on this week in our trip, I realize we did not do too many things in Vienna, but we enjoyed the slower pace it provided. Thursday morning we packed up and caught a train to Berlin, Germany. 10 hours on a train, here we come!steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-74600509356437571942010-01-03T16:29:00.000-08:002010-01-06T17:04:19.664-08:00Munich, Germany<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rjVE-x1tdL4fwAMWn-wnY8ZVODeg2VKcaExIZTgYUIgZY2eqfelHN1C96q6e4AZ_ZB8d5Mj7sjuqJaTY6-4TQKZAXvTXNSUf4urMtyKgljg-Es9YCOUKRI-4nB0ZfvjOpg-x9R8jBtxU/s1600-h/IMG_0823.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rjVE-x1tdL4fwAMWn-wnY8ZVODeg2VKcaExIZTgYUIgZY2eqfelHN1C96q6e4AZ_ZB8d5Mj7sjuqJaTY6-4TQKZAXvTXNSUf4urMtyKgljg-Es9YCOUKRI-4nB0ZfvjOpg-x9R8jBtxU/s200/IMG_0823.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423796745755798146" border="0" /></a> Me, Johannes, and Jens catching up<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXkF041I8nGaJGxwPO4V15IvqKrVoUZLb0gLMUzFMk5vVRDpube3RrHNfe98HWWefnMMHfq4lEP1GhibnwX5keLumKyGyvOPi75DRwNWL8xTd1DBPm_o65adH811WDwsccRyXI8_XjD7L2/s1600-h/IMG_0792%5B1%5D"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXkF041I8nGaJGxwPO4V15IvqKrVoUZLb0gLMUzFMk5vVRDpube3RrHNfe98HWWefnMMHfq4lEP1GhibnwX5keLumKyGyvOPi75DRwNWL8xTd1DBPm_o65adH811WDwsccRyXI8_XjD7L2/s200/IMG_0792%5B1%5D" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423794015660682402" border="0" /></a> Main gates into Dachau concentration camp "work will set you free"<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLkdYUct2GCsjy31ApDEvFvW8OgTImlgrGg3CGhQEnkOI76Voi1_QqY_PwSiKmCD9ToPPI-HSTtfVlpuoy9KkDvwHgk6zjWpvuRCF6T8JZ8961H_4rAf3Ge-li7QodJ864nbzSB9qtbbDC/s1600-h/IMG_0801.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLkdYUct2GCsjy31ApDEvFvW8OgTImlgrGg3CGhQEnkOI76Voi1_QqY_PwSiKmCD9ToPPI-HSTtfVlpuoy9KkDvwHgk6zjWpvuRCF6T8JZ8961H_4rAf3Ge-li7QodJ864nbzSB9qtbbDC/s200/IMG_0801.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423793199486923154" border="0" /></a> Us, Dennis, and the girls studying in France<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn2P12gn4OMjcr_MbWphP4VUe1pfMY7q6_SyPafZ8jpw1L__pK3c1g6nHGgj3dE2OC_qlY1Yc2Ah96AR4cgI2qllf08-ENvd-n-7cpXFV6abNYydOBEICENFZ_0tTahNlRprkbqf42oLYk/s1600-h/IMG_0366.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn2P12gn4OMjcr_MbWphP4VUe1pfMY7q6_SyPafZ8jpw1L__pK3c1g6nHGgj3dE2OC_qlY1Yc2Ah96AR4cgI2qllf08-ENvd-n-7cpXFV6abNYydOBEICENFZ_0tTahNlRprkbqf42oLYk/s200/IMG_0366.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423791888947438850" border="0" /></a> Close up of Glockenspiel<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEindazO0zo4b8rqGffrhchzIjVDZVQRbqdbm-8onPCMQ1AMJKsSQQsHlId9R760VxvwrSQsLqIk5jMaUjUU9l5nQHid1QIIrT69VcRL1FMtnMMsBYtVYhmKIeuZNctl-WCj9mcyGQVyJOPJ/s1600-h/IMG_0354.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEindazO0zo4b8rqGffrhchzIjVDZVQRbqdbm-8onPCMQ1AMJKsSQQsHlId9R760VxvwrSQsLqIk5jMaUjUU9l5nQHid1QIIrT69VcRL1FMtnMMsBYtVYhmKIeuZNctl-WCj9mcyGQVyJOPJ/s200/IMG_0354.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423791881274050466" border="0" /></a> Dana in front of the Glockenspiel<br />We left Paris on the 26th in the afternoon and arrived in Munich by 10pm. We were supposed to stop in Stuttgart first but plans changed, so we found ourselves in Munich and finding a hostel. In Germany just about everything is closed on Sunday; so we walked around the city and took in a modern art museum for one euro each! On monday we did a free walking tour for the first time. Our guide Ricky is from Canada, he is studying German history in Munich so he was quite informative and funny. We met another canadian couple on the walking tour and exchanged traveling tips as we walked. That night we stayed with Dennis, (couch surfing host) and his two friends who are studying in France. The next day we went and visited Dachau concentration camp. It was quite amazing to see the buildings, the living conditions the prisoners endured, and to hear and read all of the information. We watched a 20 minute video of old footage from the start to the end of the camp. It was a lot fo take in, but we were both happy we did. We were supposed to leave Stuttgart after we got back from Dachau, but our plans fell through again. So Dennis very graciously let us stay two more nights. We all went out for German food that night, and stayed in and made supper the next. We took a day trip to Augsburg the next day, but it rained the whole time. We just walked around until we were pretty wet and then got back on the train and returned to Munich. On New Years eve we said goodbye to our new friends and finally headed to Stuttgart to meet some of Steve's friends from bible school in Sweden. (Not before missing the first train there!) It was a great time catching up and sharing a few memories. We said goodbye after a few hours in starbucks and caught our two trains that took us to Vienna, Austria. We got off the metro 3 minutes before midnight and were greated with fireworks going off in every direction. There was a haze of smoke because of all the fireworks. A group of people we were standing by even gave us some champaigne to toast to the new year! We walked a few blocks after inhaling enough smoke and found our next exchange place!steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-80075794360213014572010-01-02T13:14:00.001-08:002010-01-03T15:55:02.977-08:00PARIS !!!!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnzkHMLhLxV3a3wCj7O_hZy7-YGzU2AKLsVXVZCywe0kx5weNOvzPqye4vx8mk1xsKAQXyT2Vpmy0-P_PvslWIS6hJDFfFQB7Ausb6F8vhs6BVI3ySUKpVZG-WEo85nRri0imL7X8pwer/s1600-h/IMG_0310.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnzkHMLhLxV3a3wCj7O_hZy7-YGzU2AKLsVXVZCywe0kx5weNOvzPqye4vx8mk1xsKAQXyT2Vpmy0-P_PvslWIS6hJDFfFQB7Ausb6F8vhs6BVI3ySUKpVZG-WEo85nRri0imL7X8pwer/s200/IMG_0310.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422664043657400050" border="0" /></a> A civilized shot with the Eiffel Tower<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Sr9dHHbxTzzbES8bb0VhQIxIRFfrLevwCXQ8xvj_2n8XpxF7HkWJyuTjAn4nR4Re0LDd3eF9BjWjmcx1TlirDDI6_KSm6-jU5oq2zOwMAvXD0I-rpfF3_KsmSyTyj_ThRVFSdkMlyDlx/s1600-h/IMG_0243.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Sr9dHHbxTzzbES8bb0VhQIxIRFfrLevwCXQ8xvj_2n8XpxF7HkWJyuTjAn4nR4Re0LDd3eF9BjWjmcx1TlirDDI6_KSm6-jU5oq2zOwMAvXD0I-rpfF3_KsmSyTyj_ThRVFSdkMlyDlx/s200/IMG_0243.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422664036740322962" border="0" /></a> Take that Eiffel !!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFMsFei3n5kDr2_kFsX0FDfXJR20NDU4_UAII3wxA77OV2RulZEGtmhorJedjIsYwd3iKeh9VFusM4aEyN6YPFlNFFpp8Xg9yG62NWAZqpAl1DoyQ_TeRPd5y18wACUlEOVMDHKucOb3BA/s1600-h/IMG_0198.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFMsFei3n5kDr2_kFsX0FDfXJR20NDU4_UAII3wxA77OV2RulZEGtmhorJedjIsYwd3iKeh9VFusM4aEyN6YPFlNFFpp8Xg9yG62NWAZqpAl1DoyQ_TeRPd5y18wACUlEOVMDHKucOb3BA/s200/IMG_0198.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422661930783087554" border="0" /></a> Notre Dame Cathedral<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDrWgMuLoNpO6M9-ZIzPKZriloI8jj2mN_8s9OCKFFAVuQ6Ki8UzjXHR6cikeU8HYjbl4X_pUFZs53JUAOuyUF8ToHWfh__nxgonYE8ZPKmHLftdOM33Lzvs9AnyfSO9gFfEgeDc3YCWo5/s1600-h/IMG_0164.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDrWgMuLoNpO6M9-ZIzPKZriloI8jj2mN_8s9OCKFFAVuQ6Ki8UzjXHR6cikeU8HYjbl4X_pUFZs53JUAOuyUF8ToHWfh__nxgonYE8ZPKmHLftdOM33Lzvs9AnyfSO9gFfEgeDc3YCWo5/s200/IMG_0164.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422661920192343730" border="0" /></a> Us outside the Louvre<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirx4wdvHepYYC25eP4EcTYwk9wu3Z9g63bzDQwNCqcGTAC1hXLdgXSPSu1ORNN5VOgCSgT8lsh6fTwc04qZCpvG4x-8eUozrw2qb0FfOrLG491ObPL-qTXsbJ2PHQi3Cuht9BGA2g-CjhI/s1600-h/IMG_0102.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirx4wdvHepYYC25eP4EcTYwk9wu3Z9g63bzDQwNCqcGTAC1hXLdgXSPSu1ORNN5VOgCSgT8lsh6fTwc04qZCpvG4x-8eUozrw2qb0FfOrLG491ObPL-qTXsbJ2PHQi3Cuht9BGA2g-CjhI/s200/IMG_0102.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422660202299374946" border="0" /></a> Dana and Moulin Rouge<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcYtdQC9ZE0HCB4Tg_3ChxdL9U15yXwI8I_DCgSDkTmeqp68TeqHe9F-rM0esrXoQGn4eSNS_S6sjyfWd4wnA-cwV3BvqqAtbCWbowCoBBF_lpHou7LLAwWbbumQcj2ZIwNlrbphpc9qO/s1600-h/IMG_0055.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcYtdQC9ZE0HCB4Tg_3ChxdL9U15yXwI8I_DCgSDkTmeqp68TeqHe9F-rM0esrXoQGn4eSNS_S6sjyfWd4wnA-cwV3BvqqAtbCWbowCoBBF_lpHou7LLAwWbbumQcj2ZIwNlrbphpc9qO/s200/IMG_0055.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422660195785682658" border="0" /></a> Us and the Arc de Triumph<br /><br />The rain, not snow was waiting for us in Paris. We walked around to see a few things and then went to meet Karine, who we were staying with. Karine is the god-sister of our friend Rachelle. We met her and her boyfriend and spent a little time with them that night; Karine even made us dinner. After sleeping in, we headed out sight seeing. We started off at the Sacre Coeur and Moulin Rouge. Then made our way down to the Arc de Triumph along Champs Elysees. (there were huge christmas market all along the streets) After the the Arc we started making our way back. We had a relaxing night to ourselves. The next day we tackled the Louvre! We saw 95% of it, but there was only so much museum we could handle. The Napolean apartments were one of our favourties. We went for a walk through the Tuileries Garden by the Louvre and then crossed the river and walked down St. Germain to see the church and what did we find.... another Christmas market! After that we had to walk all the way back to Karine's (35 min) and then we left to stay with Arno another couch surfing host. He was very welcoming and even added some salmon to our pasta dinner. We hung out and talked before heading to bed. The following morning we walked to Notre Dame Cathedral, Palace of Justice, and the Pantheon. Arno wasn't around when we returned to get our bags, so we had to leave without saying goodbye. We got a hotel room for two nights as our christmas present to each other, it was in an area close to the Eiffel Tower. We found our bed sloped backwards when we got there, so we think they upgraded us when they gave us a new room which was nice of them. Since it was the 24th of December and nothing was opened on the 25th, we did some grocery shopping for the next two days before heading out to the Eiffel Tower. It wasn't ideal weather to go up, but we figured we had put it off long enough. It started raining and was hazzy when we got there, but we found out it was opened Christmas day, so we just bought tickets for the the next day and headed back to go for dinner. We had a nice dinner at a restaurant followed by dessert and french moives backi n the hotel. We both would agree that is didn't feel like Christmas (a little snow might have helped). We slept in and Dana made a very nice breakfast for us. We finally headed out to the Eiffel tower around 3pm. It was a good thing we bought tickets the day before because the line up was huge when we arrived. Today the weather was much better, and we picked a great time to go, we got sunset pictures from the top of the tower, and then night shots from the second and first levels. We headed to a Christmas market on the other side of the river and walked around before heading back to the hotel where Dana put together a wonderful Christmas dinner after we had called our families to wish them a Merry Christmas. The next day we checked out at noon and caught our train at 3pm for Munich, Germany!!steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-62999171823483853792009-12-17T08:06:00.000-08:002009-12-20T15:02:40.967-08:00Winter Wonderland<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEeVJ7rEwpD8r5JQI_ZkCp1J8MQ0XSEVPxGLl34NhmvIqV6aFMAiAzrJonBHiYCh0WCA-JIl52Bwl3u9D3w5Dk1v-tD6MDTyMARWu7Hl2vegTh8KARND4aoZ1NJTDO_Tc4BMZaGsKAa3xc/s1600-h/IMG_0714.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417448944856101682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEeVJ7rEwpD8r5JQI_ZkCp1J8MQ0XSEVPxGLl34NhmvIqV6aFMAiAzrJonBHiYCh0WCA-JIl52Bwl3u9D3w5Dk1v-tD6MDTyMARWu7Hl2vegTh8KARND4aoZ1NJTDO_Tc4BMZaGsKAa3xc/s200/IMG_0714.JPG" /></a> Steve picking out a snack!<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqNPNSqDV0nSE9JerEejmMFKMRDaryjGHd95qp6o5UJs9M_0bAqVnC_TqF6pLPpdkaNy-f8s5qJcayznfe51qgR7t3xp5kQasozqsxIkj3Nca0IbAm-3Cee9x23gk87mN5DoUGS8ZDQJ5/s1600-h/IMG_0348.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417448941219692578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqNPNSqDV0nSE9JerEejmMFKMRDaryjGHd95qp6o5UJs9M_0bAqVnC_TqF6pLPpdkaNy-f8s5qJcayznfe51qgR7t3xp5kQasozqsxIkj3Nca0IbAm-3Cee9x23gk87mN5DoUGS8ZDQJ5/s200/IMG_0348.JPG" /></a> Where we stayed<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEiRm0fGy2lhZHOgzomT3YXLV8gIHKYxJhlTxTFJ8StRufacP4z7fUZ6fgTGUsdtKX-BDI-BVvf06J3BSTRjbjb9OuS6H0H8O3u4EqIcQ8N6aFCZLiJF6tX2yU4HZ-tigzhK9JpW6fXwvj/s1600-h/IMG_0357.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417448935168532434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEiRm0fGy2lhZHOgzomT3YXLV8gIHKYxJhlTxTFJ8StRufacP4z7fUZ6fgTGUsdtKX-BDI-BVvf06J3BSTRjbjb9OuS6H0H8O3u4EqIcQ8N6aFCZLiJF6tX2yU4HZ-tigzhK9JpW6fXwvj/s200/IMG_0357.JPG" /></a> Ahhh.... the French Alps! <div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKGY9ge-Fwmd8JLde2W9QPHRDshxAqypYx5pjAIeLtOTpMsoJo5Mw7R8UpYr70xvaSzuA3QIpyheW_CrYxxHzpVY-VWMkJCsSm74hdiB1sJoi34sNNagS7QrVCSPPzaLrCj5rWK65buCT/s1600-h/IMG_0734.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417441956381592322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKGY9ge-Fwmd8JLde2W9QPHRDshxAqypYx5pjAIeLtOTpMsoJo5Mw7R8UpYr70xvaSzuA3QIpyheW_CrYxxHzpVY-VWMkJCsSm74hdiB1sJoi34sNNagS7QrVCSPPzaLrCj5rWK65buCT/s200/IMG_0734.JPG" /></a> On top of the ski hill at Bernex<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPJt6SaTWtojNP1rW8z_e95qs7gMgAZB3y638wPtRtbeIVjiEeogRehSdn7J4m2cw1eq60lI3SPMiUAEqYEFN5n3r7-I4T5zAi4JWA5pvGae7YZCqiTW_rF1kj6KeiDS58U8QPyh637-6/s1600-h/IMG_0740.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417441950773087074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPJt6SaTWtojNP1rW8z_e95qs7gMgAZB3y638wPtRtbeIVjiEeogRehSdn7J4m2cw1eq60lI3SPMiUAEqYEFN5n3r7-I4T5zAi4JWA5pvGae7YZCqiTW_rF1kj6KeiDS58U8QPyh637-6/s200/IMG_0740.JPG" /></a> After a full day of riding<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnpBU9gJ1irArA2u0d-6XH6vsTzsCCkWp5zdA8RpCkLroo8rTTzxjguPG1z-6oQZqpjHu6782PYTvruj4e5vWp_6bjuZbnsaoPMMbv4KTda9C_5YDTU0_trR337N2w31dCwty0_rvpr_uB/s1600-h/IMG_0737.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417441945064374018" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnpBU9gJ1irArA2u0d-6XH6vsTzsCCkWp5zdA8RpCkLroo8rTTzxjguPG1z-6oQZqpjHu6782PYTvruj4e5vWp_6bjuZbnsaoPMMbv4KTda9C_5YDTU0_trR337N2w31dCwty0_rvpr_uB/s200/IMG_0737.JPG" /></a> Sure Dana, your outfit is cool<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6LVqJte0_43ymQdzIRWjR_u4hcmM-6ThO_3eiIMCI5SFoOxeAaSec9czDIGxgKCXQ4rQHOXjm7RAOI4wrmUlOjEKj6LfZ8kFMkoWAukRVVtiNNok7YOyUR9_-dtCVmbnb3kr9jD5iZfU/s1600-h/IMG_0727.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417440398910774882" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6LVqJte0_43ymQdzIRWjR_u4hcmM-6ThO_3eiIMCI5SFoOxeAaSec9czDIGxgKCXQ4rQHOXjm7RAOI4wrmUlOjEKj6LfZ8kFMkoWAukRVVtiNNok7YOyUR9_-dtCVmbnb3kr9jD5iZfU/s200/IMG_0727.JPG" /></a> In Thonon<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzeqWh9CVWvhvgH9J4oaYUvom-P0XmjjvWrZctlsgQbNdn78udVPMTLgyNIkcKLnbmOB6f2KLCKXaW_ZOA1ILEJIRBek9Cpu_FuCOecN-bkYq3nDlcpMnWmdfDksuFMU_8yIwVjn3tKjs/s1600-h/IMG_0320.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417440396905582258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzeqWh9CVWvhvgH9J4oaYUvom-P0XmjjvWrZctlsgQbNdn78udVPMTLgyNIkcKLnbmOB6f2KLCKXaW_ZOA1ILEJIRBek9Cpu_FuCOecN-bkYq3nDlcpMnWmdfDksuFMU_8yIwVjn3tKjs/s200/IMG_0320.JPG" /></a> Walk in the forest<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS9rikf3CiW_uiNDaDkHXR_X99nszK3clPtjA5iCIjfGfWQOoyOB2kHD8HZ48S7baLwrlfgp7S5WeJlcGvWH5qilXa7sUAwm7NJGE5fDp1kInPNspGl8BDhyphenhyphen3OrOLqsh0y8WMn7CfC9xSl/s1600-h/IMG_0294.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417440387137429554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS9rikf3CiW_uiNDaDkHXR_X99nszK3clPtjA5iCIjfGfWQOoyOB2kHD8HZ48S7baLwrlfgp7S5WeJlcGvWH5qilXa7sUAwm7NJGE5fDp1kInPNspGl8BDhyphenhyphen3OrOLqsh0y8WMn7CfC9xSl/s200/IMG_0294.JPG" /></a> Beautiful forest walk together<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnp7FDbFwKsoxDlNugkse-KF0hEP7kAsuzJGHu9cxN70HrWAEXRjpXskl1y55ZvQ0ah8CLLts0LR01_sOAHKg1_qSvWPhjYYrJA5sIDq1NrRuPZDsnypUaGrG54edwKmmluYSXhPw5zh9/s1600-h/DSC00370.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417440379530076642" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnp7FDbFwKsoxDlNugkse-KF0hEP7kAsuzJGHu9cxN70HrWAEXRjpXskl1y55ZvQ0ah8CLLts0LR01_sOAHKg1_qSvWPhjYYrJA5sIDq1NrRuPZDsnypUaGrG54edwKmmluYSXhPw5zh9/s200/DSC00370.JPG" /></a> Steve driving the tractor!!<br /><br /><div>We travelled all day to get to Evian les Bain. Despite a train being cancelled and some other issues we eventually made it, although later than scheduled. We called Philippe from the train station and he came to pick us up right away. There is no snow in Evian but, up the mountain where they live there is lots of snow and mountains! It is so beautiful! Fact of the day: Evian les Bains is where Evian water comes from. We met everyone in the morning after breakfast; there is also a family from Hungary who is staying here. Steve got to drive the tractor and helped move wood, bee hives, and a heating system (he really enjoyed it). Dana plugged up gaps in the wood with paper and glue. Throughout the week we helped close in a room by building walls, putting up doors, and putting a wood stove in to help keep us warm (we are working in a large building not insulated, so heat was very appreciated). Philippe and his wife Cecille have two girls; Camille (Ca-me) who is 11, and Morgane who is 8. They speak mostly French but, they do speak and understand some English so we can still communicate. </div><div>It has snowed most of the time here which we have really enjoyed! It has been around minus 7 on average. On our time off in the afternoon we have gone for a number of walks in the nearby forests, and also to the towns of Evian and Thonon. On Friday we were invited to Morgane's School play, which was really cute with lots of good food and drink. Saturday we went snowboarding in the French Alps all day!! Dana made a fashion statement with her colourful snowsuit kindly borrowed to her. It felt good to go out and snowboard again, even though we waited a couple of times while they did avalanche blasts (it was opening day and they were not ready!) Also not having goggles made visibilty difficult when passing by the snow making machines. We are sore now but it was totally worth it! In the evening Philippe took us and the girls to Montreux, Switzerland! There is a really good Christmas market there that they go to every year. </div><div>On Sunday we went to see Philippe sing in the men's choir group he is apart of. We heard Christmas carols in French. We really felt at home here. It was wonderful to sit by the fire, have a christmas tree, and have lots of SNOW!! The family made us feel so welcome and were so generous with everything. Now it's off to Paris for Christmas!! So Merry Christmas to you all!! We love you and will miss not being around this year but, will be home soon! </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-41012006493283450362009-12-17T05:53:00.000-08:002009-12-17T08:06:02.026-08:00Bordeaux, take two!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiccsXdtTGvXiJaC3lQ2bkwYPn310Tue84atZCusCnhiSUPvxxfaDEoqkUZOVPEcATLqy7GOutMnN1SVAsrJg8nACE0CKRVda2YFi8Sjzo8Qvdd1fsxE18_iqk45R3apg_0HG8SCA19tfvE/s1600-h/IMG_0264.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416229865992284514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiccsXdtTGvXiJaC3lQ2bkwYPn310Tue84atZCusCnhiSUPvxxfaDEoqkUZOVPEcATLqy7GOutMnN1SVAsrJg8nACE0CKRVda2YFi8Sjzo8Qvdd1fsxE18_iqk45R3apg_0HG8SCA19tfvE/s200/IMG_0264.JPG" /></a> Dana and Lauren<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMW4J7SiRyyJO9pYeN66vyws6My33cPaqYTAzucmqQGkvq5gnmQSSAp4yNHg4u1XvoSFJlCWobE-QQeV2w1ay1NVZ_Do7gfapI-CDmqjDOj3b2-GkLV6ej3MMD6PZErDh_zcdJzqvaR6fx/s1600-h/IMG_0277.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416229859237389746" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMW4J7SiRyyJO9pYeN66vyws6My33cPaqYTAzucmqQGkvq5gnmQSSAp4yNHg4u1XvoSFJlCWobE-QQeV2w1ay1NVZ_Do7gfapI-CDmqjDOj3b2-GkLV6ej3MMD6PZErDh_zcdJzqvaR6fx/s200/IMG_0277.JPG" /></a> the Cathedral and passing tram<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3N3GzYPN8UnxyiKSlCmjvN9bL0PIXCZJIObpHpMb-t5BlFKkVuZB0HQ_fKAad6jlpRYOeYvOU1LXTXzq8xKXo-dn6EnqEY1OsFx9RrtdQ3oX3ug29EMBvopICvJU3p5oYZl82Ji8uoG6E/s1600-h/IMG_0257.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416229856710825074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3N3GzYPN8UnxyiKSlCmjvN9bL0PIXCZJIObpHpMb-t5BlFKkVuZB0HQ_fKAad6jlpRYOeYvOU1LXTXzq8xKXo-dn6EnqEY1OsFx9RrtdQ3oX3ug29EMBvopICvJU3p5oYZl82Ji8uoG6E/s200/IMG_0257.JPG" /></a> at the Christmas market<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrajzDZ_9s2BHIwZB-M2-6CkMKFqrxSxA6xwndBP3cMwOVuYyzWN32v2XsPwA_m6LUEzFvicq96yf7jhJO8Y9VnFfeAg5wNAbexvB8Zinh_y0p4KY9Llhu0VgVsf47MrGi6uFTiVY-3tV/s1600-h/IMG_0254.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416229850220118050" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrajzDZ_9s2BHIwZB-M2-6CkMKFqrxSxA6xwndBP3cMwOVuYyzWN32v2XsPwA_m6LUEzFvicq96yf7jhJO8Y9VnFfeAg5wNAbexvB8Zinh_y0p4KY9Llhu0VgVsf47MrGi6uFTiVY-3tV/s200/IMG_0254.JPG" /></a> Steve and Lauren<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAV_0nc3qUSnGXoa9V2c7IZvcqv0xBjyIvViTRiMoG1U_nQHyA2gxOwYZ_UuxuKgdvh_CZ0qQJy3vtmNYGIYL8x3zvEjFq3viwE_ihm94M0LjskMdu39dz3Yo4QdLpHJTKM0b425cE-KYS/s1600-h/IMG_0244.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416227872914174386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAV_0nc3qUSnGXoa9V2c7IZvcqv0xBjyIvViTRiMoG1U_nQHyA2gxOwYZ_UuxuKgdvh_CZ0qQJy3vtmNYGIYL8x3zvEjFq3viwE_ihm94M0LjskMdu39dz3Yo4QdLpHJTKM0b425cE-KYS/s200/IMG_0244.JPG" /></a> Lauren, Dana, and Steve in Bordeaux<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO3aSq9ULLLc5LFUCg49uJuLlHwfSeCPmEMeGDm1P3FyP48d3Im72qnC4W0uz-qk4_8K2-2DdrZbE14edDmlWMdthM73z7lR_isGAb4AjeImfVmz9JcC00dLlevjFJx1ISPU7c5CLlZ4ay/s1600-h/IMG_0233.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416227866333165986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO3aSq9ULLLc5LFUCg49uJuLlHwfSeCPmEMeGDm1P3FyP48d3Im72qnC4W0uz-qk4_8K2-2DdrZbE14edDmlWMdthM73z7lR_isGAb4AjeImfVmz9JcC00dLlevjFJx1ISPU7c5CLlZ4ay/s200/IMG_0233.JPG" /></a> Us at the water mirror<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eQad6YIzic0wZ-17SdxTvXI6_ibzB7jXdZ2QQl5GKhIldj2np6yYfSWt5D-HIonoB5Y83GOJFxpCBkH0wwwdRYa3QoBxnfCRGD_rISYL9ZSvW005DBXdbFU1zZh0ecNGZGnNhP4R28pT/s1600-h/IMG_0213.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416227861844253522" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eQad6YIzic0wZ-17SdxTvXI6_ibzB7jXdZ2QQl5GKhIldj2np6yYfSWt5D-HIonoB5Y83GOJFxpCBkH0wwwdRYa3QoBxnfCRGD_rISYL9ZSvW005DBXdbFU1zZh0ecNGZGnNhP4R28pT/s200/IMG_0213.JPG" /></a> Lauren and Dana at the sweet shop<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijq70CIWP_OnUG6Uvj1Jwl6D32xwcMH7PtxdfB_t3KbrLwfWH77K1E4VzsnSpy3UALQHWlxcDP-Dez9RgGvze_4n6e9fswEsf8s2i8WEj4dHNXzeU-7NxLIquBFUbxn5g6824UI-kLUqNR/s1600-h/IMG_0207.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416227859184655138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijq70CIWP_OnUG6Uvj1Jwl6D32xwcMH7PtxdfB_t3KbrLwfWH77K1E4VzsnSpy3UALQHWlxcDP-Dez9RgGvze_4n6e9fswEsf8s2i8WEj4dHNXzeU-7NxLIquBFUbxn5g6824UI-kLUqNR/s200/IMG_0207.JPG" /></a> Oh Christmas tree!<br /><br /><div>For the weekend we headed back to Bordeaux to actually see the city and Lauren. On Friday Lauren had invited us to her churches young adults Christmas party. They were going to be playing white elephant and so if we wanted to participate we were welcome to. So our plan was to pick something up when we arrived in Bordeaux. Our train was a little late getting in, so we had to quickly rush to find something and make it to Lauren's on time. Everything worked out fine and we made it to Lauren's pretty much on time. Again she made us feel welcome and glad to be there. Within a few minutes we were out the door and heading to the church. It was a very fun evening. We got to meet many of Lauren's friends there and had a nice meal together. There was salad, veggies, meat and potatoes with melted cheese, and pop. After supper we heard a message and sang Christmas songs all in French! It was awesome! Next was white elephant. Everyone chose a number to see the order in which we would go. There was no limited for how many times something could be stolen but' there was a time limit. It was really fun. Dana ended up with a box of chocolates, Lauren, a calendar, and Steve, a beach mat. We then hung out for the rest of the evening and had some tea and dessert. Sometime during this Steve noticed one of the boxes of chocolates we brought was still under the tree so, he swiped it! Lauren gave her calendar away, Steve gave Laurn his beach mat so, it all worked out in the end. We walked back to Laruen's after the event was over and hung out for a while. Then Lauren went over to her friend's place for the night. The next morning Lauren came back after she was done teaching English; she teaches some children and families English two times a week. We had some breakfast and then headed out to explore Bordeaux. We ran into some of Lauren's friends during the day and had a wonderful tour of the city from Lauren. We stopped at a known bakery in Bordeaux and purchased some macarons (raspberry, pistaschio, and black currant passion fruit) and canelles. We spent some time walking around a cute Christmas market and then Lauren treated us to some yummy raisin and nut bread and then a coffee at a cute little cafe. We ate our desserts with our coffee because that is the only way to do it! Chloe, another one of Lauren's frineds joined us for coffee as well. We spent the evening in Bordeaux taking pictures and walking around and then headed back to Lauren's for supper. We enjoyed some yummy pasta together and then went to Lauren's friend's for her birthday! We had a very fun evening there and met lots of people from Winnipeg (as well as other places)! Then we all went back and had a slumber together! In the morning we said goodbye to Lauren and headed to the train station to make our way to Evian les Bains for our next help exchange!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-86335285426572103882009-12-16T09:57:00.000-08:002009-12-17T07:23:17.217-08:00Parsnip throwing, chainsaw hogging, soldier eating Aussies!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykQ7J3V3WVzp-LH4nCBTyQ8ud-jrLSsQGI1WdFLlzMcpWruaNWk5ZDEqt_QwvSQof_SrCGEaFbTwQfQP2vOH-T8j_wE1spNGUekF5xRxXzIiDNpXGf3G8JtIujMTS7KDMOO6ZomTgqZ-k/s1600-h/IMG_0708.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416225322640243282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykQ7J3V3WVzp-LH4nCBTyQ8ud-jrLSsQGI1WdFLlzMcpWruaNWk5ZDEqt_QwvSQof_SrCGEaFbTwQfQP2vOH-T8j_wE1spNGUekF5xRxXzIiDNpXGf3G8JtIujMTS7KDMOO6ZomTgqZ-k/s200/IMG_0708.JPG" /></a> (L-R) Kevin, Dana, Amber, 2 of Kevin's friends, Dusty, and Steve at the telethon<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV52SBxpxzV5XQDVxuv9cng_FVVyfQb_PMdzbgI4Lp0TPlroqYmElydoHTDJEXx-_na2s9LBiI9N_Ov5H2jqNyqIQtr7oPfduk2i6y6sUiQWBrCRcIETVxWX0EOuOv3xzPH3u8fubNoMuD/s1600-h/IMG_0187.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415907412481578706" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV52SBxpxzV5XQDVxuv9cng_FVVyfQb_PMdzbgI4Lp0TPlroqYmElydoHTDJEXx-_na2s9LBiI9N_Ov5H2jqNyqIQtr7oPfduk2i6y6sUiQWBrCRcIETVxWX0EOuOv3xzPH3u8fubNoMuD/s200/IMG_0187.JPG" /></a> Dana, Enid, and Amber<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiRA0DRE2N11P5FP55Wj2dS3XghOenEiHweC7ypiW_JmoCvmD0bDzQvlpA0wdBfMmyDjrEzBWKSsbw935gokh1VApw2hxpiO3aVUNYhJdVr9CPD-mskXEZJ0V7obnkmJ3WgPDZixQB6wVi/s1600-h/IMG_0181.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415907408653670594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiRA0DRE2N11P5FP55Wj2dS3XghOenEiHweC7ypiW_JmoCvmD0bDzQvlpA0wdBfMmyDjrEzBWKSsbw935gokh1VApw2hxpiO3aVUNYhJdVr9CPD-mskXEZJ0V7obnkmJ3WgPDZixQB6wVi/s200/IMG_0181.JPG" /></a> (L-R) Dusty, Amber, Kevin, Enid, Dana, and Steve<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvx8Dhu7CH8srNOM7BEFJwAZ8Bne-dQ-Vt86GmBKBZDiXBryveXq9GkC-Zi4j8j7kUc4RxW8iM4Ntqilc0q7tCgQUvfuTDuaYBK382BfuH-ODlXuHoA4achufbrorEYIn_MI4oZJFMf0O/s1600-h/IMG_0176.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415907402272547650" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvx8Dhu7CH8srNOM7BEFJwAZ8Bne-dQ-Vt86GmBKBZDiXBryveXq9GkC-Zi4j8j7kUc4RxW8iM4Ntqilc0q7tCgQUvfuTDuaYBK382BfuH-ODlXuHoA4achufbrorEYIn_MI4oZJFMf0O/s200/IMG_0176.JPG" /></a> Dana in the hot tub<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pF-hYypbgqrUAo0Cv7Wa1agiIHxQa02cxQBAo1eC8AqzDnpv8g1rn-VZFzlSUnzwoS4tpBdVGbC7K6pHj-mCvT-SprLGRFoyZMjK80phSTKjSsrUYbcFOzLRnNiK3qUDvW_80Q9u93Bc/s1600-h/IMG_0162.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415907395326790722" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pF-hYypbgqrUAo0Cv7Wa1agiIHxQa02cxQBAo1eC8AqzDnpv8g1rn-VZFzlSUnzwoS4tpBdVGbC7K6pHj-mCvT-SprLGRFoyZMjK80phSTKjSsrUYbcFOzLRnNiK3qUDvW_80Q9u93Bc/s200/IMG_0162.JPG" /></a> The Gites<br /><br /><br /><div>Kevin is a very funny easy going Englishman who moved to France 7 years ago with his wife Enid (she was in London when we arrived). We arrived at the house where Sally and Sam were waiting to greet us (their two dogs) and we met Amber and Dusty the two Australians who were also staying there. Kevin showed us the gite (guesthouse) we would be shaing with Amber and Dusty. We each had our own upstairs with bedroom and bathroom, and shared a kitchen and commom room on the main floor. Beside the gites is a workout facility with sauna and a hot tub. We were albe to unpack and relax and then Kevin took all of us into town for the telethon that was happening. The Telethon happens all over France and it is to raise money for children with Myopathy and related diseases. We had a nice meal with an endless supply of wine and were able to meet some of the people from the town. Everyone there was super friendly and inviting. We had a really nice time. Thoughout the week we helped with jobs around the house and yard. Steve and Dusty tackled a massive hedge that needed to be groomed and cut pretty much in half... a chainsaw was lost in the process. Kevin cooked us amazing meals everyday! Everyone was great and a pleasure to be around! We took advantage of the gym and especially the hot tub!One of the days we went with Kevin into some of the surrounding towns where he showed us around. Enid came home at the end of the week from visting the UK. She is wonderful and lots of fun too! The night she returned we all shared a wonderful meal together and lots of laughs. It was great to meet Amber and Dusty too! They were very easy going and fun to be around. They have been away from home for three years traveling and working and still have a ways to go before they plan on going back to Australia. For our last breakfast Amber introduced us to soliders. It is a fun breakfast they had as kids. You soft boil an egg and put it in an egg cup. Then you cut the top of the egg off and cut your toast in strips. Finally you dip your toast in the egg and enjoy! It was fun. As for the parsnips... we'll leave that one out. We had a wonderful week there!</div></div></div></div></div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-44181826664087976762009-12-16T09:35:00.000-08:002009-12-16T09:57:15.483-08:00Bordeaux, take one !We left at 8am to catch our first train on our way to Bordeaux. We arrived in Hendaye with 5 minutes to catch the next train to Bordeaux, we made it but it was full. So we spent the next 5 hours in the train station in Hendaye because it was raining! Which turned out to be good because while we were waiting we were able to reserve our train to Paris for Christmas (we got the last two seats!) We finally caught our train and arrived at the University where Lauren met us with a big Canadian hug. It was great to see a familiar face, and she made us feel so welcome! She had two exams the next morning so she left to study and stay at a freinds place and let us stay in her room. After having some bad sleeps, it was nice to sleep in and take it a little easy. We got to see Lauren just before we left and we promised to be back next week. We caught our train to Marmande in the early afternoon. Our next host Kevin picked us up at the station and brought us to our next help exchange!steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-4636831119106736932009-12-16T08:34:00.000-08:002009-12-16T09:35:37.748-08:00Madrid<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvaGmQIvm2w_GIiyyO7FyF-MJNH5pJR_R-QYv4UBiU3LmYv3jbqLDfOdarFsyuby798RA5Eeip2CdrkXrh6FM-wqE6oBlGsjkOpw-Txb4xcnE3of4nB6zgQJQIFqakHzgmy3HmQvFnD2D/s1600-h/IMG_0156.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415887425389947554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvaGmQIvm2w_GIiyyO7FyF-MJNH5pJR_R-QYv4UBiU3LmYv3jbqLDfOdarFsyuby798RA5Eeip2CdrkXrh6FM-wqE6oBlGsjkOpw-Txb4xcnE3of4nB6zgQJQIFqakHzgmy3HmQvFnD2D/s200/IMG_0156.JPG" /></a> We got our picture the next night<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3Iyw0AXwtuTeof94BU8UhZ7fk2iTxxjad58VPnYJ8dxUCQ4ZbfQFDFm3b0MsE9hPxxKVikqkNMfAJ_gPqck-cZJttqFSHVGBSKeqmSElwaB-yB75b7SqnyE_s4cA5HyhprLs8Xw3UgFa/s1600-h/IMG_0139.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415887418546798146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3Iyw0AXwtuTeof94BU8UhZ7fk2iTxxjad58VPnYJ8dxUCQ4ZbfQFDFm3b0MsE9hPxxKVikqkNMfAJ_gPqck-cZJttqFSHVGBSKeqmSElwaB-yB75b7SqnyE_s4cA5HyhprLs8Xw3UgFa/s200/IMG_0139.JPG" /></a> Dana feeding the birds<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeExWGLnqCFMtNYPnt1qAsyqSvKtCmLrCHDT6v6bvtFPNgp24GLxyVZvNAEpfWEu8zKlwrhYOlyfvgmaSSLQUX16Kx5O5xQCS08X69-U2snx8okf5cbsbsI1ssu-FmljGlm5OOg-7q2rOn/s1600-h/IMG_0128.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415882271351928530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeExWGLnqCFMtNYPnt1qAsyqSvKtCmLrCHDT6v6bvtFPNgp24GLxyVZvNAEpfWEu8zKlwrhYOlyfvgmaSSLQUX16Kx5O5xQCS08X69-U2snx8okf5cbsbsI1ssu-FmljGlm5OOg-7q2rOn/s200/IMG_0128.JPG" /></a> Parque del Buen Retiro<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqj-07QUdee2QGeblPLcqC1hIF4ADP-r4qTbomtKaoWhcDrLwSjas8fqM5hDCaEsAoRwc66gr9Md2CCUFiiQLLbRC3TtEme_Xvoz7RUAIFt6L_ECuEYzxHpa5eGJAcgh9gOjmwoxnsPq_o/s1600-h/IMG_0119.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415882264353347090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqj-07QUdee2QGeblPLcqC1hIF4ADP-r4qTbomtKaoWhcDrLwSjas8fqM5hDCaEsAoRwc66gr9Md2CCUFiiQLLbRC3TtEme_Xvoz7RUAIFt6L_ECuEYzxHpa5eGJAcgh9gOjmwoxnsPq_o/s200/IMG_0119.JPG" /></a> Downtown Madrid<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCUplB5FmSvf2m1WKZsNbZo4TvVrFBzUimRggPqA6p8P0EEYX3eu_EEWCCSCsQbj7bh4_XzkLYkdCxtYLhJjVaCXjPMfj2GNNUKD57sQiA36d58LFCwevZXAe7kfUV8_qrl1ClK6mvVrCq/s1600-h/IMG_0102.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415882260935052322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCUplB5FmSvf2m1WKZsNbZo4TvVrFBzUimRggPqA6p8P0EEYX3eu_EEWCCSCsQbj7bh4_XzkLYkdCxtYLhJjVaCXjPMfj2GNNUKD57sQiA36d58LFCwevZXAe7kfUV8_qrl1ClK6mvVrCq/s200/IMG_0102.JPG" /></a> The lights went out!<br /><br /><div>The next moring we arrived in Madrid. We slowly made our way to a hostel we were thinking of checking in to. When we found it the staff were very unfriendly and wouldn`t check us in until we booked on-line, but he wouldn't even let us use the computer there! We found a wonderful hotel nearby that let us use their internet for free even though we were not guests there. We ended up finding a way better hostel in a better location! After we checked in we met some new friends there. There was a guy from Belgium, two girls from Sweden, two guys from Quebec, an Aussi, and an English girl. We spent the day and evening walking around Madrid. In the centre of one of the squares there was this huge Christmas tree made from lights that we wanted a picture with. We were getting our camera set up and had taken a couple sample shots when our watches struck 10 pm and all the lights went off! A Spanish couple just laughed when they saw and then said something in Spanish, we didn't have to understand to know that they were making fun of us! The next day we walked around again to see Madrid in the light of day. We went to Parque del Buen Retiro which we really enjoyed and saw many beautiful buildings. The Park had some very tame birds that would come eat out of your hand! We did some shopping and went back to the hostel for a late supper. We hung out with all the people there for a while and had some free sangria from the hostel. The next day we were leaving very early so, we packed everything up and got ready to leave. We are headed to Bordeaux to spend the night at our friend Lauren's and then off to a help exchange! </div></div></div></div></div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-46463065932672788982009-12-14T12:47:00.000-08:002009-12-14T14:06:38.766-08:00Life on the Farm!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheV8puB2uKxyaNxDkQmrHb-KCZnQzZSyJfaUfeNSGC5a2RTtLy7ncZ2O3e0cdbhzTLt3km4zc9q-wL7Dr_UEME5FeDWWS372L5GbTPiVk4bngMV_9frHrnkKmTv-SRQ1bKR9M7bORiYzl/s1600-h/IMG_0076.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415215447420562226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheV8puB2uKxyaNxDkQmrHb-KCZnQzZSyJfaUfeNSGC5a2RTtLy7ncZ2O3e0cdbhzTLt3km4zc9q-wL7Dr_UEME5FeDWWS372L5GbTPiVk4bngMV_9frHrnkKmTv-SRQ1bKR9M7bORiYzl/s200/IMG_0076.JPG" /></a> To the Farm!<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoYyun9lFWRpaF9ZrmsSHNH1xJn9FNgJpsYZECOExQ5nEQzjQ8qQn7FtvHDuHhVWNxBQO8ZeCHHMOi5JuXHtaTyijS0ri1AvIeQMwVuKDmZPE0x_c5_LMeq1eXsRu9kd7QRKuOrvOL2Vg-/s1600-h/IMG_0064.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415215440718987954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoYyun9lFWRpaF9ZrmsSHNH1xJn9FNgJpsYZECOExQ5nEQzjQ8qQn7FtvHDuHhVWNxBQO8ZeCHHMOi5JuXHtaTyijS0ri1AvIeQMwVuKDmZPE0x_c5_LMeq1eXsRu9kd7QRKuOrvOL2Vg-/s200/IMG_0064.JPG" /></a> "The Shitter"<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCzH2X9WfGyA1XK4EwLbDetWgipHvMx_RCDUFeRTm0-w8usuf8TrmbQ6d-lALYTHlQfM5hlCPzhdgRVkwtY3zmtx2P3OznfkyHDzAaCnuWFbSnJf8qlyuRyAiCPT_qmK3bqinmAY_-qa3/s1600-h/IMG_0061.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415214468087449634" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCzH2X9WfGyA1XK4EwLbDetWgipHvMx_RCDUFeRTm0-w8usuf8TrmbQ6d-lALYTHlQfM5hlCPzhdgRVkwtY3zmtx2P3OznfkyHDzAaCnuWFbSnJf8qlyuRyAiCPT_qmK3bqinmAY_-qa3/s200/IMG_0061.JPG" /></a> Papa Pig<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTJyTrb7CAl_a0HO4FFLj_PRq3vO5UFfhtA5hJqT_Woj8vv7q8_QweDleEbSaalmvWJUifSYMFUY26pnbQGJ4kZAGOqVcGqyhi4lrHUwVirDIZz7-QJ3aHhrgLmFySFfXhO6nbfokZwJ1H/s1600-h/IMG_0044.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415214460610319570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTJyTrb7CAl_a0HO4FFLj_PRq3vO5UFfhtA5hJqT_Woj8vv7q8_QweDleEbSaalmvWJUifSYMFUY26pnbQGJ4kZAGOqVcGqyhi4lrHUwVirDIZz7-QJ3aHhrgLmFySFfXhO6nbfokZwJ1H/s200/IMG_0044.JPG" /></a> Steve washing his clothes<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK438ASQlpo2RHeLYSQBDjqu8_53obEo_PJrcDUvEeNraPmMvukJIrqNoYNDJSQHZbwkugro3NQU3WrDMjOmzlXFVjNxpEmtHewI7UGn4yqik-XoEmhPVsOMndO1qYtGnKR8fAAfZCDGn5/s1600-h/IMG_0030.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415214456142240498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK438ASQlpo2RHeLYSQBDjqu8_53obEo_PJrcDUvEeNraPmMvukJIrqNoYNDJSQHZbwkugro3NQU3WrDMjOmzlXFVjNxpEmtHewI7UGn4yqik-XoEmhPVsOMndO1qYtGnKR8fAAfZCDGn5/s200/IMG_0030.JPG" /></a> the house<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMC_Eh-0XS6lky6y3Ev8nBguX6IGWKRE4ojgj1IGuCPBp8zkQgv13oq8vuT9ESBZSErj7EEohySTCYgBj8cwvjK-qacmYf1r3WlqofpjoGMOrWAz6W0DE34m5Sa7MLPtE7VJLja4alht4c/s1600-h/IMG_0022.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415214450133742034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMC_Eh-0XS6lky6y3Ev8nBguX6IGWKRE4ojgj1IGuCPBp8zkQgv13oq8vuT9ESBZSErj7EEohySTCYgBj8cwvjK-qacmYf1r3WlqofpjoGMOrWAz6W0DE34m5Sa7MLPtE7VJLja4alht4c/s200/IMG_0022.JPG" /></a> Dana and Jolle cleaning olives<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEuYmgjb7RFU4MxuRZm0tCMLkoatCGkvfz-HomNj0IdFV9ySIEtDTcEcVjNkBUuomCNGoPdfIEmkOMdY0q2_CObYACpbEEv-YmONOTao7pX-ZvP6ZaAXTu0P1RxzSMQTtvLRfbdATyBHic/s1600-h/IMG_0017.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415213254388533602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEuYmgjb7RFU4MxuRZm0tCMLkoatCGkvfz-HomNj0IdFV9ySIEtDTcEcVjNkBUuomCNGoPdfIEmkOMdY0q2_CObYACpbEEv-YmONOTao7pX-ZvP6ZaAXTu0P1RxzSMQTtvLRfbdATyBHic/s200/IMG_0017.JPG" /></a> Dana with eighteen layers to stay warm and her wacking stick<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8SXpj7GTEnzagT2BdT7LC4xYJElbAenndV7RVSS5SspdVtmKeO8nQdjRDcUsHTRNR_GarqRjPuBz260-wFf5-9-T6SbSgxhGaL6DfTcCEy0RiBwiUOajEP2JOzmp9B5tRsAEkdfgAN4F/s1600-h/IMG_0011.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415213248578538322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8SXpj7GTEnzagT2BdT7LC4xYJElbAenndV7RVSS5SspdVtmKeO8nQdjRDcUsHTRNR_GarqRjPuBz260-wFf5-9-T6SbSgxhGaL6DfTcCEy0RiBwiUOajEP2JOzmp9B5tRsAEkdfgAN4F/s200/IMG_0011.JPG" /></a> Baby pig....oh and Dana<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYbgsD-Y-EpHE_NZuFSyOjtMnfT5aa5GJnI8Xi5QufXuNEQCmpnO-3T_0Hep_3Nu9LVn4H33PiNtjRyHsdOP_AqnytV43cuApgkla0GJ6CESgNdCKj3PxB5swTDAsvYAW1PzocwndM9k7B/s1600-h/IMG_0009.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415213242613631186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYbgsD-Y-EpHE_NZuFSyOjtMnfT5aa5GJnI8Xi5QufXuNEQCmpnO-3T_0Hep_3Nu9LVn4H33PiNtjRyHsdOP_AqnytV43cuApgkla0GJ6CESgNdCKj3PxB5swTDAsvYAW1PzocwndM9k7B/s200/IMG_0009.JPG" /></a> Three not so little pigs<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8iM_ABraYNrDy-M4e3ISGfW84sbU-QNHW1IT2uEZDQEykiKAKqx06n5XJsn5JuwEcfmb8w9IfwubTlCV9E0pDrF3JG2u_zvYGr7Fba9ePjyiuQ3Iy844MdtCUzAhy2HIWlzbtj3WL6cV/s1600-h/IMG_0004.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415213238808232146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8iM_ABraYNrDy-M4e3ISGfW84sbU-QNHW1IT2uEZDQEykiKAKqx06n5XJsn5JuwEcfmb8w9IfwubTlCV9E0pDrF3JG2u_zvYGr7Fba9ePjyiuQ3Iy844MdtCUzAhy2HIWlzbtj3WL6cV/s200/IMG_0004.JPG" /></a> Early morning fog<br /><br /><div>We arrived in Pedrogao Grande by bus. After a few unanswered phone calls, Mane came to pick us up and took us to his farm... we weren't worried. We were given a tour of the house and grounds once we arrived. We were shown the garden, our room, the rest of the house, and cellar. Dana noticed that in the tour we were not shown where the bathroom was... hmmm. Well, there was no bathroom! Outside there was the "shitter", guess what that is for and to go number 1 the whole outdoors is your bathroom! You just had to make sure you didn't go somewhere someone would find you. They are almost completely self sufficient; they have solar energy, vegetable gardens, 70-80 goats, chickens, pigs, fruit and olive trees. The only running water comes from a pump which is outside. The house is heated by the open fireplace or from cooking using the wood stove. Mane is a cheese maker (mostly busy during the summer months), which he sells at the local market, and to those who stop by. His son Jolle (yo-lay), Jolle's girlfriend Gillian (from the US), and Mane's girlfriend Sabilla were also there helping on the farm.</div><div>Our typical day would start when the rooster crowed at 4 am, but we would try to go back to sleep. Next the rooster would crow around 5 and so on until it was time to get up for breakfast. We would have breakfast around 7:45am, then pick olives from 8-12/1. We would have lunch, then the goats would get milked by Mane and Jolle, Gillian would feet the pigs (which just had babies), and after that we would help clean the olives we picked in the morning until 5pm. We had a little time off before we would help prepare supper and eat around 8pm. Everyone would go to bed around 9:30pm. It was quite rainy and cold during the week, so our shoes were usually quite soaked and our hands were also cold. But don't get us wrong, it was a really great experience. The whole family was very nice and it made us appreciate certain things quite a bit more to say the least. On our day off we went to visit the town of Pedrogao which is quite cute. It was Mane's birthday on our last night so Sabilla had a small party which was fun with good food. We met some of the neighbors and everyone was up later than 9:30! We left the next day by bus to Lisbon to catch a train to take us back to Madrid. There were some minor complications but, we made the train in time and that's all the matters!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-58939078388293459332009-12-03T14:19:00.000-08:002009-12-14T14:10:43.638-08:00Lisbon, Portugal<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvAIf8L9-yUE5q5uFh02daLCtszMcsAbnYBitbHGBMmhFLs49HwJCQ6OZsKOnQrQovVGjNUNK6_Eer2-xO6uJq32x4z-v1NTJahdJZqxglXpqHlVNjtgqo2ZoGmkW2VohrzJvAe4FpxaM/s1600-h/IMG_0933.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415160352873116274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvAIf8L9-yUE5q5uFh02daLCtszMcsAbnYBitbHGBMmhFLs49HwJCQ6OZsKOnQrQovVGjNUNK6_Eer2-xO6uJq32x4z-v1NTJahdJZqxglXpqHlVNjtgqo2ZoGmkW2VohrzJvAe4FpxaM/s200/IMG_0933.JPG" /></a> Our first Christmas tree<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU0ZxCR9efnwiUbwvnUwtR-GXsr0tLfDKxlgB3jlK-C90oNISiA6XOpSJASJuWEBiKVFzJhT4mZ6pBYrzedUIT4sgEkvZuflLplRNxFbTxDDTYF8_b9aWNdUIt5xmGRFt0-zBUy15_Z3qZ/s1600-h/IMG_0888.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415160350054619522" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU0ZxCR9efnwiUbwvnUwtR-GXsr0tLfDKxlgB3jlK-C90oNISiA6XOpSJASJuWEBiKVFzJhT4mZ6pBYrzedUIT4sgEkvZuflLplRNxFbTxDDTYF8_b9aWNdUIt5xmGRFt0-zBUy15_Z3qZ/s200/IMG_0888.JPG" /></a> Dana inside the castle<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7h1NJLlciY2UE1mL6d5_O63RbbUZMlxvCuTmd4hQZJ1EtPR0ZauvFV88x2lbx5uPOT7Q0n-6skDMQB3-GU68sTv0w5PpUZUnH2s9p5wC8pmisDQIJffGHMcQERIqQSqiw1DfXaJeDNVK7/s1600-h/IMG_0865.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415160343329683970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7h1NJLlciY2UE1mL6d5_O63RbbUZMlxvCuTmd4hQZJ1EtPR0ZauvFV88x2lbx5uPOT7Q0n-6skDMQB3-GU68sTv0w5PpUZUnH2s9p5wC8pmisDQIJffGHMcQERIqQSqiw1DfXaJeDNVK7/s200/IMG_0865.JPG" /></a> Overlooking Lisbon from Castello de Sao Jorge<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCh69ERw3b0cl_CmuED6FdEhr5iF5CJgxp3whkIyy47VX3LSUHZGMf8rhxZAs5QS8ytyywJYoQj59wqAbigNQL6B4jU0cN59JnHmkcUVLQRnzD2MDQws_3o7ZSotJR9iKoPY7-L-2qw3Vj/s1600-h/IMG_0836.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415159191795983218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCh69ERw3b0cl_CmuED6FdEhr5iF5CJgxp3whkIyy47VX3LSUHZGMf8rhxZAs5QS8ytyywJYoQj59wqAbigNQL6B4jU0cN59JnHmkcUVLQRnzD2MDQws_3o7ZSotJR9iKoPY7-L-2qw3Vj/s200/IMG_0836.JPG" /></a> 2m waves off the coast<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYli5ZPx2hyphenhyphenr2jqR699CPIyCtBK2xHybafWsqOBG77sjqv9e0obwqUO2Bh6IYd-TLPzNawKJl4IsH0_JxbJ_OEKzBSlUnwPJwLEuMRi3KhxuCCa44noe3ILvlVTrKtZcUf3iD46CuGa9E/s1600-h/IMG_0827.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415159185750084802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYli5ZPx2hyphenhyphenr2jqR699CPIyCtBK2xHybafWsqOBG77sjqv9e0obwqUO2Bh6IYd-TLPzNawKJl4IsH0_JxbJ_OEKzBSlUnwPJwLEuMRi3KhxuCCa44noe3ILvlVTrKtZcUf3iD46CuGa9E/s200/IMG_0827.JPG" /></a> The pier<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeA2Zhj8mblQz0DJNEAhiOwUrDPhuu2q01fkSH3n07-JgB_7ddH0XTdtT9s6_qTOLPgGdKTTre7MDPzbstmdErjaKxsYSdKr1d0UYCtrlchHzuVpg8qAwkE3e5CkWJHKsyrngS9seRSLoA/s1600-h/IMG_0811.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415159179678228562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeA2Zhj8mblQz0DJNEAhiOwUrDPhuu2q01fkSH3n07-JgB_7ddH0XTdtT9s6_qTOLPgGdKTTre7MDPzbstmdErjaKxsYSdKr1d0UYCtrlchHzuVpg8qAwkE3e5CkWJHKsyrngS9seRSLoA/s200/IMG_0811.JPG" /></a> Beautiful garden in Sintra<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihER3sd6Ma2N_pPFFdfBeRB8Wac8RL3-LK41IDZN8Va3c2tmCUjiM4ecsXVE8ilhx060rZKK80-z7C_6NYJVPxuCx3wSZfPitEKOHVWmLgRZPPZRtcX5iE05F9ZWCsQKP_snAX8vGG3c2q/s1600-h/IMG_0794.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 134px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415158396559553586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihER3sd6Ma2N_pPFFdfBeRB8Wac8RL3-LK41IDZN8Va3c2tmCUjiM4ecsXVE8ilhx060rZKK80-z7C_6NYJVPxuCx3wSZfPitEKOHVWmLgRZPPZRtcX5iE05F9ZWCsQKP_snAX8vGG3c2q/s200/IMG_0794.JPG" /></a> Castle in Sintra<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixmPwAQFYp-0A6bcKUGJdXGoFnOVb3jImISJUw7x5TSglC06sGMplj3I_q6VC0jx2nUxRA-UtkkQDUjBuhacT3e0LNFSGxAvuDWWKUrh1EH0I6n0mniGH4lQAHWJZ35s6xRcDW8UyL9lZO/s1600-h/IMG_0784.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415158390773281266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixmPwAQFYp-0A6bcKUGJdXGoFnOVb3jImISJUw7x5TSglC06sGMplj3I_q6VC0jx2nUxRA-UtkkQDUjBuhacT3e0LNFSGxAvuDWWKUrh1EH0I6n0mniGH4lQAHWJZ35s6xRcDW8UyL9lZO/s200/IMG_0784.JPG" /></a> On the stairs in Sintra<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGhnU8umYzqf5r-8PFaLHxRrFmyNajcsoNZtvBjaqVvoACEu5uHreSYboh4d5wccFIuDRpxO5iaLz6Bp2xFXDv9AOMBZU6rdpg8-rYaTBLDkSWWItQbRL_x-ylIhvJTnbO2GxSb3MuFe-/s1600-h/IMG_0870.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414518551074995826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGhnU8umYzqf5r-8PFaLHxRrFmyNajcsoNZtvBjaqVvoACEu5uHreSYboh4d5wccFIuDRpxO5iaLz6Bp2xFXDv9AOMBZU6rdpg8-rYaTBLDkSWWItQbRL_x-ylIhvJTnbO2GxSb3MuFe-/s200/IMG_0870.JPG" /></a> Castello San de Jorge<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QYomylbaqXuTG340jfk4WNGOo5J8a_HAYcyps3QzNqnPnLkzH-jlQe-7sA8N77rh7BSjuCvI0Hy0xkJ-7jQvBuMHTNJnX2UHLnCXz7cHkaJtyjdl0ayv_uN01SQC1v2eNgjisxBiSQDX/s1600-h/IMG_0790.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414518549141913522" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QYomylbaqXuTG340jfk4WNGOo5J8a_HAYcyps3QzNqnPnLkzH-jlQe-7sA8N77rh7BSjuCvI0Hy0xkJ-7jQvBuMHTNJnX2UHLnCXz7cHkaJtyjdl0ayv_uN01SQC1v2eNgjisxBiSQDX/s200/IMG_0790.JPG" /></a> Regieira Castle </div><div> </div><div></div><div><div>We took an overnight train from Madrid to Lisbon, needless to say we did not get a goodnights rest! We arrived at 7:30am, and slowly made our way to a suburb of Lisbon where our couch surfing host lives. We walked, then took a train, then a bus (which dropped us off too early), to finally arrive at our meeting place outside the Blockbuster! (yes the same chain as in Canada). Sofia was not there, so we called and she came shortly after. That afternoon she took us to see the town of Sintra. Steve drove her BMW there because Sofia had a sore foot, he thouroughly enjoyed driving! Sofia gave us a guided tour of the national castle even with her being on crutches. We also peeked around the grounds of the Regieira castle. We hung out, ate some tasty Portugese desserts, and sampled Ginja (Portugese liqueur) in a chocolate cup! Sofia made us an amazing Portugese supper with cod and potatoes. The next day Sofia dropped us off in Lisbon and we ventured out on our own. We went inside Castello de Sao Jorge and a church called Se de Lisboa, and enjoyed exploring and taking in the view of the city. Later that night Dana and I cooked for Sofia and Nuno. We really enjoyed hanging out and getting to know them. The next morning we checked out the central market which is a giant flea market, but pretty much a big garage sale. We then caught the train to our help exchange by Pedrogao Grande, central Portugal.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1715398518738665061.post-40714574606287591332009-11-30T09:32:00.000-08:002009-12-15T15:05:01.851-08:00L'Ampolla & Valencia<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrs4YIHf58SvxaQr9KvP203UmSDKrBSMheanBHqhMEyTeF9IEENOe_bVOVklsfdIEXuo3o69HNCvbpwaszH68HjryrqKBNqpcsd-ltuynBKjiuhWD3N0ySPTK3eYjFT_6GfjSpwZ9DNSQe/s1600-h/Imagen+182.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415601895457076034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrs4YIHf58SvxaQr9KvP203UmSDKrBSMheanBHqhMEyTeF9IEENOe_bVOVklsfdIEXuo3o69HNCvbpwaszH68HjryrqKBNqpcsd-ltuynBKjiuhWD3N0ySPTK3eYjFT_6GfjSpwZ9DNSQe/s200/Imagen+182.jpg" /></a> Dana getting creative. That's a bus going by<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3iLHMZXEg_eSsUc6flOPgvRoc1zJDov4RceM1J8nbrrsj8C2Jup-rffoD94349jlOXXi6vJfb_Nk3t2gRTER9TPftvOsQwhQMPdDJwcBpC6WBog79suKmSiU2icSaizF0Zz-KqcRE1Y3/s1600-h/Imagen+198.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415601535472854450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3iLHMZXEg_eSsUc6flOPgvRoc1zJDov4RceM1J8nbrrsj8C2Jup-rffoD94349jlOXXi6vJfb_Nk3t2gRTER9TPftvOsQwhQMPdDJwcBpC6WBog79suKmSiU2icSaizF0Zz-KqcRE1Y3/s200/Imagen+198.jpg" /></a> Steve in Valencia<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mDfCoC8_cbLlmj4b-FuDtwt3UShI_0SF0FbETNHRUT2VVj6XM2i7clgGZG3zRu4H0Cdo4q2dn0OzoYuYBMYm4aCUiXD9OuHZbNi6Xj2T8Kl2EEN2lNkHI61jebEYgMFjUhrcWACJQqCE/s1600-h/Imagen+215.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415601530685822690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mDfCoC8_cbLlmj4b-FuDtwt3UShI_0SF0FbETNHRUT2VVj6XM2i7clgGZG3zRu4H0Cdo4q2dn0OzoYuYBMYm4aCUiXD9OuHZbNi6Xj2T8Kl2EEN2lNkHI61jebEYgMFjUhrcWACJQqCE/s200/Imagen+215.jpg" /></a> In Plaza de la Virgin<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlqKYfJG01_7MTlfGPRDqcuvvfivyyRx6ekf2CO5gwTr5KS6ddO3g92Ilf_nkb8Whwl-TMYswPhItexc6edFBH2Awxo9OzihnCcyh2GN7vUUodCiNKmBbfp0z8v74EhZAiIymR5GvXXl4/s1600-h/Imagen+176.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415601525205471106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlqKYfJG01_7MTlfGPRDqcuvvfivyyRx6ekf2CO5gwTr5KS6ddO3g92Ilf_nkb8Whwl-TMYswPhItexc6edFBH2Awxo9OzihnCcyh2GN7vUUodCiNKmBbfp0z8v74EhZAiIymR5GvXXl4/s200/Imagen+176.jpg" /></a> Amazing sky at sunset in Valencia<br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7GR0SwCpGkllzsWldELCDE5SYhXiLGc2wtonDGNtr70-tb0-m5TB9I_rkAzkhahNrqbXqdyatR5RXfczfmB0v4l05iLWjSCD1Pq-DMDnD6XlIV7sNR5xcEthV3X3TpqJoUWVoE6286vjn/s1600/IMG_0760.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409954132452400802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7GR0SwCpGkllzsWldELCDE5SYhXiLGc2wtonDGNtr70-tb0-m5TB9I_rkAzkhahNrqbXqdyatR5RXfczfmB0v4l05iLWjSCD1Pq-DMDnD6XlIV7sNR5xcEthV3X3TpqJoUWVoE6286vjn/s200/IMG_0760.JPG" /></a> Us, Andreas, Patrice, Lluisa having our bbq<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2WH2oirW5gAjGj7ptu9F64xwG3d5WEetYQqMP5KzA60In-_cEp4qk79dCdAJKZxMNFg0N_ll-WfRYpg1Dqf9B3CH4cWU-scqG_jDQXRLuXJqMZ52VXE6m4jDibfjnTriqCkgmppFL6BC9/s1600/IMG_0677.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409954123939219362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2WH2oirW5gAjGj7ptu9F64xwG3d5WEetYQqMP5KzA60In-_cEp4qk79dCdAJKZxMNFg0N_ll-WfRYpg1Dqf9B3CH4cWU-scqG_jDQXRLuXJqMZ52VXE6m4jDibfjnTriqCkgmppFL6BC9/s200/IMG_0677.JPG" /></a> tree after we worked on it<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ViwHqE5MawRsM9RzlJGXyxs6skTsxvBsgA1qHwVTNjg2BLrpOPa9-KWUFUm8tc4Yj2eu1Rnh8tu-MZ5Vej6aSC2j816jWrCww5pQI7G-DKc6_U7rECnNYqafUhV4khvHbsJ3HKCz22VL/s1600/IMG_0671.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409954116747728658" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ViwHqE5MawRsM9RzlJGXyxs6skTsxvBsgA1qHwVTNjg2BLrpOPa9-KWUFUm8tc4Yj2eu1Rnh8tu-MZ5Vej6aSC2j816jWrCww5pQI7G-DKc6_U7rECnNYqafUhV4khvHbsJ3HKCz22VL/s200/IMG_0671.JPG" /></a> tree before<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaWe4f8j216aeNXx0vR8L3Q5KtuR0IPEQBZ83OYcOm2g33i5Hjh-FQQ9fct-g-MgCEvPE-niFWSkNG43naG8Oh0D7DmLri3TFvFWcBIpXYkoUprC8Cf4KeMS2tY-7T2uANCu__d2Lun2i0/s1600/ImageBC+1000.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409954108766858018" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaWe4f8j216aeNXx0vR8L3Q5KtuR0IPEQBZ83OYcOm2g33i5Hjh-FQQ9fct-g-MgCEvPE-niFWSkNG43naG8Oh0D7DmLri3TFvFWcBIpXYkoUprC8Cf4KeMS2tY-7T2uANCu__d2Lun2i0/s200/ImageBC+1000.jpg" /></a> Dana on our bike ride in L'Ampolla<br />Lluisa was there to pick us up at the train station with a friendly smile! She is a very kind and friendly woman. When we got back to her place she showed us our room. It was beautiful! Very bright and clean with lots of space and our our bathroom! We aren't in the main house which is located a bit higher on the hill. We were in a guest casita attached to 3 others and a kitchen, and also a yoga room on the back side of the kitchen. They are in the process of setting up the place to host yoga retreats. In the kitchen they had lots of food and leftovers for us for dinner. Lluisa left us to have the evening to ourselves and said we would meet in the morning. We met Patrice, Lluisa's husband in the morning, he is French, and a funny guy. The wind was crazy on our first day, Dana spent the day doing small chores with Lluisa and Steve sanded an old wood table. The next day the wind was even stronger and they gave us the day off because it was very difficult to work outside. We did yoga in the morning with Lluisa. It was a little different than we were expecting, but it was relaxing. The place is beautiful! There are plenty of trees and green around us. From Patrice and Lluisa's house you have a view of the delta and can see all the way to the Mediterranean. The only problem is that there is not much to do here. All the roads around us lead to peoples houses and it is olive tree after olive tree. So a day off did not give us many options, especially since the nearest town was not very close to walk to. There is another helper working with us , his name is Andreas and he is from Hungary. Patrice drove the three of us into town so we could use the internet and have something to do. L'Ampolla is a small town with beautiful seaside. We spent the rest of the week working in the garden, cleaning things up, and doing general maintenance. We ate on our own for breakfast and dinner, but there was plenty of food and leftovers in the kitchen. We all eat together for lunch which is always amazing! It is like we eat at a fancy restaurant every day, we are very spoiled here. A few nights we went for a walk, a bike ride, or played ping-pong outside. Lluisa is the only Spaniard in the area, all the neighbours around are from Switzerland. One day a man named Peter drove by and invited us to go and see the olives being pressed. It was cool to see; it is quite a process. After the olives are cleaned they are put into a machine that purees them up. Next the mush is spread evenly into these round piles of baskets. The weight crushes the olives which makes some of the finest oil and then the baskets are pressed in a machine which extracts the rest of the oil. We were given a bottle from last year which was amazing.</div><div> On Sunday we went to Valencia; we stayed with a couch surfer named Carlos! He was a very nice guy studying economics at the University. Valencia is a very pretty city! We really enjoyed the buildings and the atmosphere, especially at night time with the fountain and everything lit up. We walked through different plazas, cathedrals, and basilicas. The next day we went to the central market, which was huge. We bought some fresh oranges which were delicious and some paella which was okay. (a little too fishy for our liking) We packed up our stuff at Carlos' and then headed back to L'Ampolla. We spent the next week doing similar chores of cleaning and gardening. We spent one day olive picking, which turned out to be not too bad, we picked 50 kilos of olives. Dana made a pumpkin pie with a pumpkin they had bought. She was very happy because she missed making one for Thanksgiving. The week went by very quickly and on our last day we had a huge barbeque. Lluisa bought chicken, rabbit, and sausage from the butcher. We also had barbecued veggies, guacamole, and potatoes! It was extremely tasty! We said our goodbyes and shortly after eating she drove us to the train station. It was sad to leave because we finally felt at home there. Now we are off to Lisbon!</div></div></div></div>steveanddanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01195868810797243937noreply@blogger.com0