We flew out of Dublin at 8pm local time, and landed at Paris Beauvais just before 11. Paris Beauvais is to Paris Charles de Gaulle as Abbotsford airport is to YVR, so we knew it would be a bit of a journey to get from one airport to the other. We did not, however, realize that the trains would no longer be running when we landed, and that we would need to take a bus. And then another bus. And finally, one more.
We arrived at CDG at about 2:30am, and by 3 we had found a spot to sleep, in a little out of the way alcove sort of thing, with four chairs along each wall and enough space for 3-4 people to lie down in between. We actually slept impressively well, and didn't wake up until almost seven, to find the airport mayhem in full swing. We had not been the only ones sleeping in the airport, but unlike London Luton, we seemed to be the only ones at this airport with enough sense to bring sleeping bags on our trip, so we got a lot of stares as we stuffed our bags. I stayed with the stuff as Michelle went to the washroom, and then we switched. When I returned, however, our spot had been overrun by at least 40 uniformed school children, led by a woman who was loudly and inefficiently handing out croissants.
"How the hell did this happen?" I asked loudly, before I could stop myself. Michelle just sort of shrugged, and I climbed over some kids to get to my stuff, which I then set about re-packing. "They just started showing up here," Michelle explained, fully aware that they were all English speakers and could understand us perfectly if they chose to pay attention over the shouting of the croissant woman. A boy then asked Michelle if anyone was sitting beside her. "It's a table" was her pointed response. He didn't seem to understand the distinction, and sat down anyway.
After some reminiscing about our previous experiences with irritating children and stupid chaperones (why wouldn't the woman at least give us some warning that she was going to block our exit?), we put on our backpacks and stood up. But our exit was very much blocked, burgundy-sweater-wearing kids six deep.
"OKAY KIDS, LET US OUT!"
I wasn't angry, but those kids didn't doubt I meant business. They parted like the red sea.
From there we went to check-in, where we learned that our flight was at least 2 hours delayed. After going through security, we sat down at our gate and took a little nap, and woke up to realize that we were lying in front of the currency exchange window, which would explain why there were transactions going on directly above my head. Good times.
We ended up leaving Paris three hours later than scheduled, which of course caused us to miss our connection in Montreal. We instead caught a 6:00 flight out of Montreal, which then was ground delayed because of storms in Ontario.
We finally arrived at YVR just before 10, fully 35 hours after leaving Dublin, and five and a half hours later than anticipated.
But we slep in our own beds, and it was wonderful.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Some Numbers
Days: 57
Cities: 21
Countries: 8
Hostels: 17
Planes: 9
Trains: 18
Buses: 9
Ferries: 4
Cups of coffee: upwards of 100 (each)
Jars of Nutella: 4
Bags of Haribo Candy: 11
Hours until we get home: 37
PS - apparently Ryanair found my bag. Now we'll see if they can get it to me.
Cities: 21
Countries: 8
Hostels: 17
Planes: 9
Trains: 18
Buses: 9
Ferries: 4
Cups of coffee: upwards of 100 (each)
Jars of Nutella: 4
Bags of Haribo Candy: 11
Hours until we get home: 37
PS - apparently Ryanair found my bag. Now we'll see if they can get it to me.
How they do it in Dublin
Extreme Drunk Irish Guy at the next table, just turns around and starts poking Heather in the shoulder: "I'm going to have you tonight, you know that right?"
Heather, raising an eyebrow: "Is that so?"
EDIG: "That's right. Tell your mates, now, go ahead. You're a lucky girl!"
Heather, turning away: "Uh-huh"
Later, after someone halfway across the pub drops some silverware, she feels someone obnoxiously poking her again.
EDIG: "You start dropping stuff and I'm not gonna have ya. You be careful now."
Heather: "Thanks for the tip."
We decided to move to a different table.
Heather, raising an eyebrow: "Is that so?"
EDIG: "That's right. Tell your mates, now, go ahead. You're a lucky girl!"
Heather, turning away: "Uh-huh"
Later, after someone halfway across the pub drops some silverware, she feels someone obnoxiously poking her again.
EDIG: "You start dropping stuff and I'm not gonna have ya. You be careful now."
Heather: "Thanks for the tip."
We decided to move to a different table.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
tempting fate
I guess if you try to visit 20 different cities in 8 weeks, including 7 flights, you are bound to have a luggage problem sooner or later. Mine happened later, but two days before we fly home, Ryanair has lost my luggage. That's right, we were only in the air for 35 minutes between Glasgow and Dublin this morning, but somehow my bag didn't make the trip.
Woohoo.
Fortunately, all my valuables were in my carry-on, and while I'd be disappointed to lose a couple of souvenirs that were in there, there was nothing totally irreplaceable. And really, I pretty much expect that it'll be at our hostel when we return in a few hours.
Oh the adventures.
Woohoo.
Fortunately, all my valuables were in my carry-on, and while I'd be disappointed to lose a couple of souvenirs that were in there, there was nothing totally irreplaceable. And really, I pretty much expect that it'll be at our hostel when we return in a few hours.
Oh the adventures.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
a bunch of stuff that happened
I'm not gonna lie to you, we have pretty much run out of steam, and our lack of ambition seems to applying to our blogging as well. So here's a general overview.
Tuesday we went on a really cool pilgrimmage all over the island, although we switched from the off-road route to the on-road route when the two crossed over, since the borrowed boots were making Michelle's feet quite unhappy.
Wednesday night was a Guest Concert where we got roped into playing a song, so we pulled out U2's '40', Nelson Boschman-style, which seemed to go over pretty well.
Thursday was our roommate Amy's 21st birthday, so we talked some of our group into coming to the pub to celebrate after evening worship, which was pretty fun. What stands out to me about that night is Phyllis trying to avoid some fisherman who seemed to take a bit of a fancy to her ("I'm a sixty year old woman, and I made it quite clear that I'm married.") and also Peter mocking me for drinking gin with 7up instead of the apparently divinely sanctioned tonic. Whatever to you, Peter.
We left Iona yesterday morning and arrived in Glasgow by dinnertime. We met up with Kevin, Stacy, and Amy from Iona for pub food and a movie, as the rain made touristing pretty unappealing. We actually ran into Peter at the movie theatre, as he was looking for a way to pass the time before his night train to London, and Stacy also ran into Margaretta at her hostel this morning, on her way home to Sweden. Apparently Glasgow is a small world.
This morning we met up with Stacy and Amy again, (Kevin left early this morning on his quest to visit the northern tip of Norway) and have spent the day wandering around Glasgow. We happened to visit the Cathedral just as a seemingly high-brow wedding was finishing, so we hung around and watched the people mill about in their hats and kilts and suits. Then we wandered the City of the Dead, a huge old graveyard with all sorts of old-style grave markers.
Now we're just doing some internet time before we grab some dinner and go to bed early, because tomorrow we fly to Dublin!
Tuesday we went on a really cool pilgrimmage all over the island, although we switched from the off-road route to the on-road route when the two crossed over, since the borrowed boots were making Michelle's feet quite unhappy.
Wednesday night was a Guest Concert where we got roped into playing a song, so we pulled out U2's '40', Nelson Boschman-style, which seemed to go over pretty well.
Thursday was our roommate Amy's 21st birthday, so we talked some of our group into coming to the pub to celebrate after evening worship, which was pretty fun. What stands out to me about that night is Phyllis trying to avoid some fisherman who seemed to take a bit of a fancy to her ("I'm a sixty year old woman, and I made it quite clear that I'm married.") and also Peter mocking me for drinking gin with 7up instead of the apparently divinely sanctioned tonic. Whatever to you, Peter.
We left Iona yesterday morning and arrived in Glasgow by dinnertime. We met up with Kevin, Stacy, and Amy from Iona for pub food and a movie, as the rain made touristing pretty unappealing. We actually ran into Peter at the movie theatre, as he was looking for a way to pass the time before his night train to London, and Stacy also ran into Margaretta at her hostel this morning, on her way home to Sweden. Apparently Glasgow is a small world.
This morning we met up with Stacy and Amy again, (Kevin left early this morning on his quest to visit the northern tip of Norway) and have spent the day wandering around Glasgow. We happened to visit the Cathedral just as a seemingly high-brow wedding was finishing, so we hung around and watched the people mill about in their hats and kilts and suits. Then we wandered the City of the Dead, a huge old graveyard with all sorts of old-style grave markers.
Now we're just doing some internet time before we grab some dinner and go to bed early, because tomorrow we fly to Dublin!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Craig the Canadian.
When discussing with the group composed of mostly Methodists, the fact that both Margaret Thatcher and George Bush, much maligned for their lack of compassion, are Methodists, "Their hearts were strangely warmed."
When discussing unfortunate Mennonite names, "They also have names like Harder and Peters. No wonder they were persecuted!"
There was another, but I forgot it now.
This guy is a riot.
When discussing unfortunate Mennonite names, "They also have names like Harder and Peters. No wonder they were persecuted!"
There was another, but I forgot it now.
This guy is a riot.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
caelig
Last night we had a caelig, which is basically a party with dancing (sort of square dancing, but not really), and where people can get up and tell a story or share a song.
After some dancing, which even I participated in a little, Michelle decided that she should share the Moose Song, a little Canadian content for the Scots. I wanted to join in, but we knew different versions, so I decided not to contribute further to the gong show. It went over reasonably well, especially the part where the other Canadian staying at the Abbey, a Lutheran minister named Craig, jumped into the centre of the room and started doing actions. These were not just actions with his arms, like most people would do. This was like Carlton Banks dancing type actions. I almost died. I'm still laughing now.
Craig, you are our hero.
After some dancing, which even I participated in a little, Michelle decided that she should share the Moose Song, a little Canadian content for the Scots. I wanted to join in, but we knew different versions, so I decided not to contribute further to the gong show. It went over reasonably well, especially the part where the other Canadian staying at the Abbey, a Lutheran minister named Craig, jumped into the centre of the room and started doing actions. These were not just actions with his arms, like most people would do. This was like Carlton Banks dancing type actions. I almost died. I'm still laughing now.
Craig, you are our hero.
Monday, June 11, 2007
where the line between heaven and earth grows thin
You can borrow coconuts from the office at Doune Castle and go galloping around with them if you like. I'm not even joking.
On to other things, we have been at Iona for two days now, and it truly is the most beautiful place in the world. We spent Friday night at Oban Backpackers hostel, which was, incidentally, the best hostel we have been to on this trip, and then got up Saturday morning and took the 9:30 ferry to the Isle of Mull. The sailing was only 40 minutes, much to my disappointment, but it did allow us to spend two hours sitting at a little cafe near the ferry terminal, where we ate both breakfast and lunch, waiting for a bus to take us to the other end of the island.
The hour long bus ride across Mull was made interesting by a team of rugby players who spent the majority of the ride singing songs and cheering on sheep that were, uh, copulating, as we passed by.
We took another ferry, this time only 10 minutes, and then a short walk brought us to Iona Abbey, a 13th Century cathedral that fell into disrepair after the reformation, and then was completely restored between about 1900 and 1965. We are staying in an 800 year old former monastery!
Despite Scotland's reputation of being cold and miserable, we are now on our third day on Iona, and temperatures are holding steady at about 23 degrees, and almost completely clear. Last night's sunset was at 10:15, and it was phenomenal. We watched it from a sandy beach, that we got to by walking through a sheep pasture.
Needless to say, we are in love, with a place called Iona.
On to other things, we have been at Iona for two days now, and it truly is the most beautiful place in the world. We spent Friday night at Oban Backpackers hostel, which was, incidentally, the best hostel we have been to on this trip, and then got up Saturday morning and took the 9:30 ferry to the Isle of Mull. The sailing was only 40 minutes, much to my disappointment, but it did allow us to spend two hours sitting at a little cafe near the ferry terminal, where we ate both breakfast and lunch, waiting for a bus to take us to the other end of the island.
The hour long bus ride across Mull was made interesting by a team of rugby players who spent the majority of the ride singing songs and cheering on sheep that were, uh, copulating, as we passed by.
We took another ferry, this time only 10 minutes, and then a short walk brought us to Iona Abbey, a 13th Century cathedral that fell into disrepair after the reformation, and then was completely restored between about 1900 and 1965. We are staying in an 800 year old former monastery!
Despite Scotland's reputation of being cold and miserable, we are now on our third day on Iona, and temperatures are holding steady at about 23 degrees, and almost completely clear. Last night's sunset was at 10:15, and it was phenomenal. We watched it from a sandy beach, that we got to by walking through a sheep pasture.
Needless to say, we are in love, with a place called Iona.
Friday, June 8, 2007
stirling
ATTENTION: Heather's Dad, you should probably go rent Braveheart immediately and stop embarrassing your daughter. Honestly.
Stirling, a mere hour outside of Edinburgh, is a beautiful city with a super old castle, humungous and cool graveyard, and of course, the William Wallace Monument. We are, in fact, staying at the Willy Wallace Hostel, and it is one of the better hostels we have encountered on the trip.
Last night we walked the 10-15 minute trip up to Stirling castle, which was closed, but we got some wicked good pictures of the surrounding area. The hill has been fortified for like 2500 years, and served as one of the primary military strongholds in Scotland for centuries. We also saw the church where the infant son of Mary Queen of Scots, King James VI was crowned.
Today we're going to the Monument, which is very exciting, and also, get ready for it... Doune Castle.
What is Doune Castle you ask?
It is the castle from Monty Python's The Search for the Holy Grail. Dad, I know you've seen that movie. WE ARE SO EXCITED!! I didn't even know it was a real castle, but it is, and we're going there!! We are so cool!
We'll let you know how it goes.
Stirling, a mere hour outside of Edinburgh, is a beautiful city with a super old castle, humungous and cool graveyard, and of course, the William Wallace Monument. We are, in fact, staying at the Willy Wallace Hostel, and it is one of the better hostels we have encountered on the trip.
Last night we walked the 10-15 minute trip up to Stirling castle, which was closed, but we got some wicked good pictures of the surrounding area. The hill has been fortified for like 2500 years, and served as one of the primary military strongholds in Scotland for centuries. We also saw the church where the infant son of Mary Queen of Scots, King James VI was crowned.
Today we're going to the Monument, which is very exciting, and also, get ready for it... Doune Castle.
What is Doune Castle you ask?
It is the castle from Monty Python's The Search for the Holy Grail. Dad, I know you've seen that movie. WE ARE SO EXCITED!! I didn't even know it was a real castle, but it is, and we're going there!! We are so cool!
We'll let you know how it goes.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
stairs and hills
They're everywhere. It was early in our trip, in Naples, as we climbed up the sizable hill (at least the height of a 4 story building) to our hostel, that Michelle turned to me and said "I think that all we do on this trip is climb stairs and hills!"
Sure enough, this theme has followed us throughout our journey and whenever we find ourselves on an endless spiral staircase or a ridiculous hill, we just look at each other, roll our eyes and say "stairs and hills."
I tell you this now because Edinburgh is a new level of crazy as far as stairs and hills go. Who builds a city on such narrow hills? Honestly. I mean, it's ridiculously beautiful, but my legs will be glad when this part is over.
Yesterday we took another hop-on-hop-off bus tour, which was quite enjoyable. We also wandered up to Edinburgh Castle and looked around (without dropping the mad cash necessary to get inside) and explored both Old and New Town a little bit, and did some shopping.
Last night we went to a pub called the Drop Kick Murphy, which was satifactorily Celtic and we enjoyed ourselves.
Tonight we're takin the bus to Stirling, to see the Willy Wallace Monument!
Sure enough, this theme has followed us throughout our journey and whenever we find ourselves on an endless spiral staircase or a ridiculous hill, we just look at each other, roll our eyes and say "stairs and hills."
I tell you this now because Edinburgh is a new level of crazy as far as stairs and hills go. Who builds a city on such narrow hills? Honestly. I mean, it's ridiculously beautiful, but my legs will be glad when this part is over.
Yesterday we took another hop-on-hop-off bus tour, which was quite enjoyable. We also wandered up to Edinburgh Castle and looked around (without dropping the mad cash necessary to get inside) and explored both Old and New Town a little bit, and did some shopping.
Last night we went to a pub called the Drop Kick Murphy, which was satifactorily Celtic and we enjoyed ourselves.
Tonight we're takin the bus to Stirling, to see the Willy Wallace Monument!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
lookin for loch ness
no, not really, we're too cheap to go all the way up to inverness. but we are in scotland, and so far, (as in, from what we can gather between the airport and our hostel, plus a trip to get some late-night fries) we love it!
today we rode bicycles in amsterdam and ate at a sweet restaurant called 'wok to walk', a sort of take-out mongolie grill type idea that was AWESOME.
Michelle would like for you to know that bike riding makes her butt hurt. Obviously, it's quite late, so we'll give you a real post tomorrow.
Cheers!
today we rode bicycles in amsterdam and ate at a sweet restaurant called 'wok to walk', a sort of take-out mongolie grill type idea that was AWESOME.
Michelle would like for you to know that bike riding makes her butt hurt. Obviously, it's quite late, so we'll give you a real post tomorrow.
Cheers!
Monday, June 4, 2007
hangin out in the hostel bar
You may be surprised to hear that we have met a fair number of people on our trip. We have never really bothered with names, and generally only call people by where they're from. "What's up, Argentina?" "Hey Toronto, come sit with us!"
There have been some stereotypes that have developed over the weeks, and last night, after a few glasses of Heineken (it's pretty much the only beer you can get in this city), some of these came into focus.
"Toronto people are all like 'Look at me I'm so metropolitan'. You meet some people from Vancouver that are like that too, and that's really bad because they are choosing to be that way. But Toronto people just can't help it." - Heather, after 'Toronto' left to go try and talk more girls into joining our table.
"It's like sangria, but with beer!" - One of the Argentinians, on dumping peanuts in their beer.
"Hell no we're not Canadians. We're from Daytona Beach. Yeah, that's right, the land of NO ACCENTS. Everyone else in the world has accents but us." - Some girls that 'Toronto' tried to get to join us.
"That is the reason why we put Canadian flags all over our stuff." Heather, to 'Ohio' after the Daytona Beach girls left.
There have been some stereotypes that have developed over the weeks, and last night, after a few glasses of Heineken (it's pretty much the only beer you can get in this city), some of these came into focus.
"Toronto people are all like 'Look at me I'm so metropolitan'. You meet some people from Vancouver that are like that too, and that's really bad because they are choosing to be that way. But Toronto people just can't help it." - Heather, after 'Toronto' left to go try and talk more girls into joining our table.
"It's like sangria, but with beer!" - One of the Argentinians, on dumping peanuts in their beer.
"Hell no we're not Canadians. We're from Daytona Beach. Yeah, that's right, the land of NO ACCENTS. Everyone else in the world has accents but us." - Some girls that 'Toronto' tried to get to join us.
"That is the reason why we put Canadian flags all over our stuff." Heather, to 'Ohio' after the Daytona Beach girls left.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
I'm from Holland, isn't that weird?
We're in amsterdam, although the last couple of days we have spent outside the city.
Yesterday we got together with Michelle's second cousin Netty, who took us north to Alkmaar, which was a very cool little Dutch town despite our having missed the famous cheese market. She also took us to Sint Pancras and another town whose name I don't know how to spell (or pronounce for that matter), and showed us where Michelle's family comes from. It was really cool! After that, we went to the beach, and wandered along the beautiful sandy dunes until we found a place to eat dinner, which was fantastic!
Today we met up with some girls from Taize who live in Utrecht, a half hour train ride away. They took us to this cool site of an old Roman border, which also had a whole bunch of bunkers from WWI that we could explore. Did you know that the Dutch had this insane 85km long stretch of land that they could flood at any time in order to keep out their enemies? I didn't. How clever!
After that the girls took us to a Vineyard church service in Utrecht, where there happened to be an English guy speaking today, so that was nice, and also, you know, interesting. Then we went and had dinner at one of the girls' apartments, and discussed the social problems in our two great countries. It was really fun! Two out of three of them have family in Canada, and are planning a trip next summer, so we are working on talking them into coming out to Vancouver as well. Talking about Vancouver, I realized how much I really love my hometown, and as much as I'm sad that the end of this trip is in sight, I won't mind returning home. On the drive to the train station Michelle and I sang lines from Five Iron Frenzy's "Oh Canada", a song that truly lists all the good things about our home.
And that's really all I have to say about that.
Yesterday we got together with Michelle's second cousin Netty, who took us north to Alkmaar, which was a very cool little Dutch town despite our having missed the famous cheese market. She also took us to Sint Pancras and another town whose name I don't know how to spell (or pronounce for that matter), and showed us where Michelle's family comes from. It was really cool! After that, we went to the beach, and wandered along the beautiful sandy dunes until we found a place to eat dinner, which was fantastic!
Today we met up with some girls from Taize who live in Utrecht, a half hour train ride away. They took us to this cool site of an old Roman border, which also had a whole bunch of bunkers from WWI that we could explore. Did you know that the Dutch had this insane 85km long stretch of land that they could flood at any time in order to keep out their enemies? I didn't. How clever!
After that the girls took us to a Vineyard church service in Utrecht, where there happened to be an English guy speaking today, so that was nice, and also, you know, interesting. Then we went and had dinner at one of the girls' apartments, and discussed the social problems in our two great countries. It was really fun! Two out of three of them have family in Canada, and are planning a trip next summer, so we are working on talking them into coming out to Vancouver as well. Talking about Vancouver, I realized how much I really love my hometown, and as much as I'm sad that the end of this trip is in sight, I won't mind returning home. On the drive to the train station Michelle and I sang lines from Five Iron Frenzy's "Oh Canada", a song that truly lists all the good things about our home.
And that's really all I have to say about that.
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