Our first day of the tour. It was distracting have so many people in the lobby of the Thistle Euston. There were several tours starting the day we were leaving and one of the tours wasn't heading to Europe. With snow falling outside I got totally distracted and had to go out and play a touch. In the end we found the right bus to get on. There had been a massive snow fall overnight so we weren'

My time here in Coban is getting better each day. Itrsquos a small town and I see some people every day but that doesnrsquot bother me. Instead I find it kind of nice. I have already staked out my favourite restaurants favourite places to grab ice cream favourite place for coffee and I pretty much have a favourite for everything now. I love that every day on my way to and from school I w

One thing if you are going to be travelling on these bus tours dont expect to sleep in That just never happens. A wake up call at 8am is an amazing sleep in. Dont expect to get many of these For our morning in Amsterdam we had to be on the bus for 830am. That means breakfast was at 745am and wake up call 7am. I did write a whole pile of these minor notes in my cosmos book however that wa

Breakfast again was amazing. However this was kind of the last of the really really good breakfasts Ok some along the way weren't too bad but compared to this one they just never made that mark again It was all good though ....Now this was the first day of Optional tours The first optional tour on offer being the Cruise along the Reine River. Luckily I had read about it previously and op

Uggs boots are fast becoming a hot fashion item in the US and Canada and for good reason. Uggs are wonderful Australian footwear that is making their presence felt in the worldwide fashion footwear arena.Ugg boots are what are known by some as sheepskin boots. These boots have been made in Australia for tens if not hundreds of years and are well known all over Australia. However now they are mak

So here I am in the Bay of Islands and it is absolutely chucking it down with rain. The last two days have been spent toodling around Auckland hanging out with the guys from the hostel. There were three John an American who replaced Art the American Lorry the Finnish Viking his life plan is to go home and build a house and then he will find a wife Edouard the Frenchman otherwise known

Woke up really early and checked the internet for interesting places to visit today Had a small breakfast dropped off the laundry and jumped a cab into the old town We got out at the Plaza de Armas What a beautiful Plaza The colonial style buildings are a testament of the opulence of the Spanish Empire of that time. Intricate wooden lattice gives way to the fruits of the master stonemasons ha

Its raining here and so I am reminded of home but it is still warm. We have managed to use the swimming pool daily. Yesterday it was like a hot tubsolar heating of course. We have used the time to review our photies and if we can manage the technology we will try to upload one or two. I will save the other 300 til I get back Hope bridge is going well for all those still clubbing

I celebrated my birthday today with some friends and some local family. We had an afternoon tea at our house. It was lovely.

Day 143Many of our adventures since leaving the condo have had to do with weather wind rain and snow. We arrived in Catalina Mountain State Park on the 18th. This is one of our most favorite parks the views are wonderful and the hikes in the mountains are a challenge for us. This is also the park that we got stranded in 2 years ago when the only road in was covered in mud and sand when the sno

In Tminus ten days I will be packing up my skis clothes sleeping bag gas tank cameras video cameras Olympic tickets and headinghellip wait did I say that right Yes Olympic tickets After a bunch of research double checking things attempts at preparations itrsquos official ldquoIrsquom going to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.rdquo Let me fill you all in on how this incred

Today was a fabulous day. However the start was a little roughmdashI woke up at 856 and was supposed to meet Denise outside my house at 9. I frantically texted her which actually takes a while on my cell phone here because the only t9 setting it has is in French telling her I was running ldquoa fewrdquo late but luckily was out the door around 907. We treched our habitual 1.1 miles to

We had not done any extended passages for quite a long time so the thought of heading our for a couple of nights at sea brought some mixed emotions. We had really been enjoying the short island hops and now we had to get the boat ready for a bit more a serious sail work. We planned to sail to the A.B.Crsquos being the islands of Bonaire Curacao and Aruba via the islands off the Venezuelan c

It was April Irsquod just got back to Abruzzo after another experience on the road. Spring was well underway in its annual task of making the world and our lives more colorful. The earthquake had struck. Hardly. Invisible waves in the night breaking stones bending steel plowing old roads and paving new ones instead. Those leading to the grave.And then the usual routine of fear obviousness an

Friday was our first group trip. We filled two buses and left at about 9 30 am and after a short hour long bus ride we had reached our final destination Toledo. The city was beautiful. It felt...very Spanish. ha. It was a much different feeling than being in Madrid because Madrid is a metropolitan city and it definitely feels like one. Toledo is much smaller and filled with incredibly narrow str

In Tminus ten days I will be packing up my skis clothes sleeping bag gas tank cameras video cameras Olympic tickets and headinghellip wait did I say that right Yes Olympic tickets Even for me I double take to realize itrsquos actually happening. I will say this again as itrsquos become a bit of my mantra ldquoIrsquom going to the Olympicshellip Irsquom going to the Oly

We are still in Geraldine busily working away on the house. It has been really wet for the last 4 weeks which has made life difficult However the bottom plates bucks external wall top plates and roof trusses have all been built. It feels like we are not moving very fast but I think now I reflect that we have done well Rob and I have also been down to Twizel and Mt cook for some R R.

so last night was rather terrible. It started out fine at a kind of house party but then progressed to going to a really crowded pub where it was shoulder to shoulder and nose to nose. now remember... bekah is REALLY claustrophobic. So I was kind of silently freaking out for about an hour. And then someone accidentally poured beer down my back. needless to say i wasnt having a good night. My roomm

Just working this entry thing.....sorry

I can honestly say that I never imagined myself going to Uruguay. Really the name sounds like it would be a boring place or slightly ugly. Never judge a country based on its name I can say that for sure Such a beautiful and tranquil country I went with 2 friends from school and we stayed 2 nights in a hostel. It is neat because you can get to Uruguay via bus or boat. Clearly the boat is a