Carcassonne is cool

We left London after a train adventure to Stansted airport. Ryanair is cheap - so cheap that the tube/train fare to the airport was much more than the flight! David and James enjoyed the 90 minute flight to Carcassonne where the airport is a dead ringer for the one in Kelowna, but with more palm trees.

A short bus ride through town took us to the Cité - the large ancient fortified castle origionally settled by the Romans. The history here is intense as this was a commercial cross-road of Europe and the former border between France and Spain. The ancient culture here had their own language known as 'Oc' - therefore the name of the area - Languadoc.

Our Hostel is within the walls of the Cité, just outside the gates of the Cathar castle. The streets are narrow, cobble-stone and full of interesting shops and bits of history. We have explored the old and new parts of town, and are getting a rental car tomorrow so that we can see more of the region.

David and James are doing well but Deirdre and I could use some more sleep! What else is new...

Hopefully a good picture of us all

Short post today - went to British Natural History Museum and saw many stuffed animals on display and lots of Dino bones too. Felt vaguely like Alberta, except for the MASSIVE CROWDS OF PEOPLE FROM MANY DIFFERENT COUNTRIES WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET OUT OF ANY ONE'S WAY... Sorry - was that out loud?

the Victoria Line

David & James have now memorized the station stops on the way in and out of Jill's line (Victoria) on the tube. Spent the day with Deirdre's cousin Chitra & Jill visiting the London Eye, touring the town by open-top bus, and in the Burrough Market. Had a great lamb shoulder dinner (which couldn't be beat) complete with purple potatoes and greens. Bought apples, but it turns out they're from Washington State.

Tired, but mostly over our jet lag now. Off to the National Gallery tomorrow, we think.

Can't say we're missing the snow in Calgary, but maybe a bit of the powder in the mountains...

RK

Hanging out with Jill in London

Had a great day yesterday taking the bus (riding on the top!) down to Stratford, and then the train under the Thames to Greenwich. Lovely day for strolling and playing in the park. We found that the clipper ship Cutty Sark is under repair and restoration until October 2008! But the Maritime Museum was open, so we did manage to see some great Nautical stuff. Also, the Royal Observatory with its famous clocks, and of course the Prime Meridian. James wanted a picture of Gumby and Pokey on either side of the hemisphere divider... We took a very relaxed boat cruise up river, past all the new development along Canary Wharf and then on under the Tower Bridge to Westminster. We managed to catch a lot of great views in the setting sun, and be on the tube in time for full Thursday evening rush hour. David fell asleep; James was chatting up a rather posh looking young woman, telling her about Calgary and how it is so snowy there...

Jill roasted a chicken for dinner, and her fellah, Tom came over. He brought a race-car set with a variety of Le Mans style racers which were a just bit of a hit with the boys. Hours of Jackie Stewart/Sterling Moss fun...

We hope to go to either Hampton Court (former home of King Henry the 8th) or the Science Museum today. It is sunny and warm, and there are flowers coming up everywhere.

London - day one

Left cold snowy Calgary at 6pm local time - overnight arrived Heathrow 9:45am. Saw Northern lights over Baffin Island on the way. Stacking up with the dozens of other huge planes over London was wicked fun - big lazy circles in formation with a British Air 767 over the city with great views of the the Thames, London Eye, St. Paul's, the Millennium Dome and the Parliament. Probably one of the most thrilling rides we'll have!

Jill met us and we had a downright scary taxi van ride back to her place in Walthamstow. Settled in, and then rode the tube down to Green Park. Daffodils are up everywhere. We visited the Canadian War memorial (nice fountain with scattered bronze maple leaves), checked out Buckingham palace - apparently missed seeing Queen Liz leaving in her car by about 10 minutes. We hung around thinking she'd just popped out for some beer or a loaf, but she didn't return. No changing of the guard when she's not at home! Lazy sods...

Visited Trafalgar Square before heading home on the tube for pizza dinner. Both David and James sound asleep on the tube... Experienced the truth of travel with kids as someone really had to go to the bathroom on the increasingly fast walk back...

Thanks Becky for the ride to the airport and the cookies this long morning ago! Thanks Jill for taking such good care of us on our first of 155 days of travel! Hopefully our energy will increase as we overcome our jet-lag, and we will see many more sights in London over the next few days.

Will post pictures as soon as we figure out how...

Rob

Last few days of adventure planning

Thanks to Iris and Neil for the great going away party last Thursday. The theme wines were particularly excellent - espicailly Spain! Can't wait to get there to taste more! Thanks to everyone else who has been helping us to ready for this trip - Becky and Colin for doing their stuff, Sue and Steve for offering to feed us as we stop stocking the fridge, Bob for being our house manager, and the Men of Kensington for buying me a couple of beers at the pub last night.

We are leaving Calgary on Tuesday Feb 27th, flying to London. In early March, we will be in SW France - Carcassonne and area - then we will move on the Barcelona and Valencia. In early April we will be in Tuscany, and will make our way to Salerno and Pompei. We fly from Rome to the Greek island of Kos in mid-April, and will be sailing back to athens on a chartered Lagoon 440 cat with our pals Lynn Brett, Meagan and Kate. We'll then be touring southern Greece, and fly from Athens to Milan in early May. We then are heading North to Courmayeur and take the gondola to France, arrving in Chamonix. We will be in Paris May 15-22, and then in Normandy. We fly from Nantes to Dublin May 30th and will have three weeks to visit with Deirdre's many Aunts, Uncles and cousins. June 32rd we are flying to Aberdeen and will be touring northern Scotland, including the western islands of Jura and Iona. We hope to visit the Isle of Mann, and will head back to Wales and to London in late July. If all this goes according to plan, we will be at Heathrow for our return flight to Calgary on August 1st, just in time for some group camping in Kananaskis?

Those wishing to make contact during the trip can do so through comments on this blog, or by sending e-mail to keithadventure@hotmail.com

We'll keep you posted...

Balzac Billy

So, our favourite holiday has come and gone - Grounhog Day. It's not just about the Bill Murry movie, or the prediction of early/late spring. This is Alberta. There is no such thing as spring; just chinooks, dry heat, cold and sometimes snow at any thime during the year. Sometimes all on the same day. No, what I like is that there is in fact no groundhog in Balzac, Alberta, so a guy dresses up in a gopher suit and pretends to see his shadow or not. What a country we live in! After clearly predicting an end to winter, we are looking forward to -20 degreeweather and more snow. Which is ok, because of the need to do more skiing, especially traction-kiting, if possible.

I wish I had a gopher suit to ski in.

Trip plans continue. We have added Barcelon and Valencia to our destination list, are are pleased that Jill will likely be joining us in bothplaces, and maybe on the yacht in Greece too!