Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, Pictures

Luxembourg is a great city. The train ride here was beautiful. Through vineyards, hills, tunnels, along the Rhine with castles on hills in the distance. Very lovely. Then I make it to Luxembourg and see the gorgeous buildings, walls, bridges and old structures. It too is a workout up and down the hills, but really nice walking. There is a really nice park down in a valley where once you are in it you can not see any buildings and just the wall, water, trees and greenery.

A place always gets defined by the people you meet in it and I met a very nice man from The States last night in Luxembourg. We shared the walk through the park and a beer. He has an interesting story and it was great to hangout with him. He is a financial controller for NATO in Iraq and will now be working in Luxembourg for NATO. He was here for a job interview and got the job. His stories of Iraq (he has lived there for four years) and his experiences with the Navy living on a submarine and aircraft carrier were very interesting.

I went to the Casements. A UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a series of underground tunnels created by Count Siegfried in 963. The casements offered shelter to 1000's at a time over centuries. The most recent being shelter during the world war. Originally they were made to protect the fortress. There is a very nice Abbey in town, many churches and walking paths.

There is money in Luxembourg. I had no idea it is as successful as it is. The highest income per capita in Europe. A real banking town and many a suit around.

Click here to see the pictures from Luxembourg

Weekend with Erin, Pictures

You have got to love Europe. I have been hopping countries left right and center this weekend. I had the opportunity to have a last visit with Erin in Germany on the weekend so I took the train from Amsterdam to meet her on Saturday. It was a good visit. She also had a friend Julie from Vancouver staying with her for the weekend. We had an interesting little outing to a Retro Gaming place where you pay three Euro for unlimited gaming. You name it it is there, Packman, Pinball, Sega, etc etc. If you know me I am not a video game person and I sucked, but it was fun and I did improve.

Sunday we decided to go to France for lunch. You know, don't you just go to France for lunch? Got to love it. It was about an half and hour drive. We went to Wissembourg, a quaint town, walked around and took in the lovely flowers and buildings. Then we hit a man made beach at a quarry in France for some sun and swimming.

Monday I headed to Bonn Germany by train. I was to take a boat cruise on the Rhine to get there, but couldn't make the connection as there was "danger on the tracks" and trains were not running to the station I needed. This was a big walking day for me with my pack and extra bag I now have. I am feeling it in the legs. I had a 15 minute walk in the train station at the airport to switch from a long distance train to a regional train. It is all inside and part of the airport, up and down escalators and all around. Once arriving at the Regional Train area I was sent back to the Long distance trains and another 15 minute walk do to this "danger on the tracks." Anyway. Made it to Bonn, also a lovely town. It is where Beethoven was born. Once arriving in the town I continued my weighed down work out as the street the hostel was on was like no other I have seen before. It was really two streets far apart. Making kind of an L shape. I could find buildings 6 and 8 and odd numbers from 21, but not the 7 I was looking for. Finally I found it a good 10 minute walk from where 6 or 8 are and dropped off those bags. My shoulders were thanking me for that by this point.

From there I headed to Luxembourg because why not. It is lovely and I love when you are pleasantly surprised by a place. I didn't have any former knowledge or expectations and it is fantastic.

Click here to the pictures from the weekend with Erin

Brugge Belgium, Amsterdam Holland and Pictures.

Visited Brugge Belgium and am now in Amsterdam. I am sure lots of you have seen the movie In Brugge. I will have to check it out once home.
Brugge is a lovely, quant town with many canals. They call it the Venice of the North, but they think Venice should be called the Brugge of the South as it is older. Anyway it is a great city with wonderful chocolate shops and architecture. Some of that Belgium chocolate got wasted today. It melted in my backpack and created a mess, what a waste.
Did you know that a bad smell can keep you awake? Well I learned this the other night. A guy came into the room at 3am and he was rank. Now you will think with booze. No. It was some other awful odor that two Aussies that were in the room too described as rotting road kill. They had his feet close to their heads and I had is bag, backpack, shoes and his stuff by my head. I got up and moved the shoes, but it was more than that. He needed to shower, do laundry maybe throw out socks, shoes or everything.
So carrying on with smells, Amsterdam… The smell of pot is prevalent. The Red Light district is interesting to say the least, quite the entertainment around here. No pictures of the ladies in the windows though. They will come after you and throw urine on you or smash your camera. I guess they keep cups of urine beside them in case, lovely. It is quite interesting to see the negotiations and coming and goings, 15 minutes and if you are not finished you must renegotiate. The Red Light district has existed since 1600. There is a church in the heart of the Red Light district. It was for the sailors to go to confession before they headed back out to sea and if they were going early in the morning they could have their confessions listened to in advance, for a sum. There are quite the interesting shows in this district too and the tricks they can do. G readers so you will have to ask specifics of me in person.
A lot of the buildings are on a lean towards the road and have a hook at the roof in Amsterdam. This was for merchants to get their shipments into the building without using the stairs. Still used for houses today, coaches, fridges etc.
Taxes in Amsterdam are based on how wide your house or building is. There is one house that is only as wide as the door.
The Frank’s hid out in Amsterdam during World War II and the site where Anne wrote her famous diary and took refuge with her family is now a museum in town.

Click here for pictures from Brugge Belgium and Amsterdam Holland.

WW I sites, Belgium, Pictures and Videos

This picture is taken at the Memorial to John McCrae who wrote in Flander's Field. I have gone off the "backpackers" beaten track and come to Ypres a village in Belgium. So off the track there are no hostels here. I am staying in a B and B owned by a lovely old lady in a house from 1926 with 10' ceilings. I am so glad I came off the beaten track and visited Flander's fields. WOW! I was at the site today where John McRae wrote his famous poem back in 1915. Ypres is where the Last Post is played each evening at 8pm, so you know where I have been. There was so much destruction here during WW I it is hard to take it all in. Around every corner is another cemetery with some known and many only known to God soldiers gravestones. The Last Post is played at the Menin Gate each evening by buglers from the local fire brigade. There was a regiment from Eastern Belgium last night to partcipate in the ceremonies. Each day there is some type of ceremony. It was excellent. I videoed it and hopefully can post it for you to see. If you think you can use any of the pictures or videos for your purposes, as I know many a teacher is reading this, feel free. This area is so moving. At the Commonwealth Cemetery we saw two new graves that were where two soldiers were only laid to rest 10 days ago. There bodies were discovered by a farmer. On the way to the Cemetery we had to pull over to see shells that were at the side of the road. A farmer had uncovered them when plowing the field and put them at the side of the road for pick up. Three were still potentially live. It is a full time job, job for life, detonating shells. Over 200 tons are collected each year. I visited original support trenches from WW I and saw the Canadian Memorial at Vancouver Corner, where the first gas attack occurred. On a differnt note. Belgium has wonderful food, beer, chocoate and waffles. I have enjoyed trying all of these. The Kriek (Cherry) beer is great and I have been having lots for you Erin. (She cann't get it in Germany.) In Ghent on Saturday morning I walked past City Hall and they were lined up to get in and be married. It was interesting to watch the goings on of the corner all waiting to get in. One group of black people had the most life, throwing rice, dancing and singing in the street. Again the architecture is fantastic, but different in Belgium. I have found some new (old) dormer designs for the Moloney boys to incorporate into their many dormers. (They love putting dormers on places.) Well I am really enjoying my history lessons over here. I have always wanted to come to Flander's fields and I am so glad I am here. I must go the Last Post will be taking place soon.

Click here for Ypres WWI site photos and pictures from Belgium

D-Day Beaches, Pictures

Yesterday I had an excellent opportunity to visit Caen and the Normandy beaches. Wow. It was a powerful experience. I took an early two hour train from Paris to Caen. I spent the day there and it could use a lot more time than that, next time.

I visited the museum for a few hours and then did a five hour guided tour of some of the beaches and areas were the allies landed. The Cemetery was unbelievable with the rows upon rows of crosses. Rick you would need a week at least to visit this area. He is a huge history guy and I know you would have loved the trip I did yesterday.

I have to add a thank you to those veterans. I am not doing this justice in this write up, but it was unbelievable.

Click on this link to see pictures of the D-Day beaches and some more of Paris.

Paris, Pictures

Bonjour from Paris. All is wonderful. The sites are spectacular and especially at night. Last night I did an awesome tour by bicycle to see Paris all lit up. The Eiffel Tower was excellent and on the hour for five minutes they really make it sparkle. Our tour guide was terrific and we dominated the road. There were 22 people in our group, but Paris is really bike friendly with shared lanes for busses, taxis and bikes. Notre Dame Cathedral is quite the site. Part of the tour was an hour long boat cruise complete with red wine. It gave a really good view.

I went to the Catacombs yesterday. It is full of over 7 million bones. It was an underground mine used for mining limestone and when the cemeteries were full they filled it with bones. Creepy.

There are tons of buskers here and the streets really come alive at night. They are terrific as well, drawing big crowds. Only in Paris would a couple be all dressed up and busking by dancing.

Click here to view pictures of Paris

Austrian Adventures, Pictures

This morning I donned a full piece wet suit, neoprene boodies, hiking books, a harness, helmet, drove up a huge mountain and repelled off a bridge into a glacial waterfall to start my day. Wow! I went cayoning today. I hadn't heard about the sport until two weeks ago but gave it a go today and I am hooked. It is a combination of hiking, rock climbing, swimming, sliding, repelling and abb-sailing. The glacial water was chilly to say the least, but it was awesome. We followed the flow of a waterfall down the mountain. We hiked through it, slid down it, jumped 5m into it, repelled 15m down it, it was awesome a great adventure and workout. I am tired now. I wasn't able to get any photos so I included a link to a video on the companies website. Hope it works for you. Look for Feelfree Canyoning and press "Hier starten" to see the video. It is towards the right of the page.

Click here for the link to a canyoning video. Press Feelfree Canyoning Hier starten to see the video. It is towards the right of the page.

It has been an adventure experience in Austria. Yesterday I went golfing at Olympia golf course. It has spectacular mountain views. I met a 17 year old girl at the club who is on the Austrian Junior Golf Team. She and her mother, (who worked at the club, maybe owned it, not sure) were lovely. The course was short but spectacular views. Then right across the road in the mountain is the Olympic Bob Sled track and yes I went for a couple of rides. It too was awesome. I have always wanted to go bob sledding and it was so cool. One minute and six seconds, 1270m, 14 curves and up to 95km/h. The gravitational force (not sure if that is the right name) on one of the curves was incredible. You sit upright but on the curve if felt like mine spine was being compressed from the skull down. It didn't last long but it was intense.

A company rents the track for three nights a week from 4pm - 6pm and does rides for 25 Euro. For the ride to go they need four people so one time there was only three to go and I got to go again but for free. I know it was a lot of money for a 1 minute and six second thrill, but when in Austria at an Olympic bob sled track... Today was way better bang for my buck, five hours of cayoning experience, a beer at the end, a shot of Schnapps, an Austrian lunch, 75 Euro. Great opportunities.

Now for the less thrill seeking activities but good experiences too. When in Salzburg I met a girl (Laura) who is a music teacher in Melbourne who is traveling for five months. We did the Sound of Music tour. I thought of you Sarah (Jones) Morrison the whole time. Sarah is a huge fan for those that don't know. The hills really were alive with the sound of music! Laura and I rented bikes for a day and rode around Salzburg. It was a nice way to get around. The parks were lovely and the mountain views were great. It was a hot, hot day so we wheeled those babies up to the Monastery for a pint. They make some of the greatest beer in Austria at the Augustine Monastery in Salzburg. It is huge and they have a great system for getting food. There is a hallway with different vendors and you can buy what you want and bring it to your seat. They have amazing roast chicken, fries and oh course beer out of wooden barrels.

It is hard to believe in this laid back, beautiful country that they would need Red Bull, but they do I guess. Did you know it was created in Austria? We saw their headquarters.

Innsbruck has hosted the Olympics twice and I can see the ski jump from by hostel. Austria is beautiful. I love those mountains. Having an amazing time. See you soon.

Click here to check out the photos from Salzburg and Innsbruck Austria.

Click here for the link to a canyoning video. Press Feelfree Canyoning Hier starten to see the video. It is towards the right of the page.

Czech Republic, Pictures

The Czech Republic is fantastic. Prague was a wonderful city to tour around. Put lots of miles on there, tons of walking. I am now in Cesky Krumlov in the South and it is fantastic too. A great quaint little town to walk around and check out. Many castles and churches in this country. There are bears living around the perimeter of the castle in Cesky Krumlov.

Have ran into four people I met in previous cities in Prague. It is funny to run into people you know on the street and it is a huge city. One girl I met from Australia in Vienna ended up being my room mate, very small world. I was to stay in a five person dorm and it ended up being a two bed dorm and she my room mate.

I visited the town of Kutna Hora. It has a bone church. During the plague the cemetery ran out of room and a priest decided to decorate the inside of the church with bones. There are pyramids, a crest, strings of garland and chandeliers all made out of bones. I couldn't help but think it would be a great spot for a Halloween party. I will be using my photos from there for Halloween.

Went to a great micro brewery in Prague and sampled their beers. I am not usually a dark beer fan and I don't drink coffee but I have to say those were my two favorites.

I visited the Jewish Museum in Prague. It has a fantastic display of over 4000 pieces of children's artwork from Terezin Concentration Camp. A women taught art lessons there and this work was found in a couple of her suitcases after she was sent to Auschwitz, like the children. It was powerful to see how they depicted the times. It was done to help them deal with what they were living through.

Good food, views, cheap prices, good shopping and tons of sites to see here.

My hostel is pretty cool in Cesky Krumlov, I have a loft room with a girl I met on the bus coming here. But check out the hostel in Prague, it was the best yet. Click here for the link to the hostel in Prague.

Pictures from the Czech Republic.

Auschwitz-Birkenau, Pictures

Wow! What a day yesterday. I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau. It is was powerful. It is hard to believe that this all went on not that long ago and that similar "problems" are happening in our world and that we are letting them happen.

You can not take pictures inside the buildings at Auschwitz so I don't have a picture of all the children's shoes. There was one room full of children's shoes. When I say the room was full I mean there were three regular walls and the forth wall was glass. It was filled from the top and therefore the contents of the room were meters deep. Children, old, crippled and anyone they saw not fit to work was told to undress "remember where they put their cloths." They thought they would be coming back for them and sent instantly to the gas chamber. Auschwitz was a death camp. You were sent there to die. When the people arrived by train they were told to line up and pointed in a direction either right or left. One direction was for heading instantly to the gas chamber and the other was to work for awhile before going to the chamber.

There was a room full of human hair (two tons of it). They shaved their heads and sold the hair to textile companys. The children's shoes as I mentioned. A room full of adult shoes, and others full of eye glasses, trunks and cloths. On the trunks they made them write their name and birthdate on the outside. Some that I saw were from children that were one year old and three years old.

Birkenau is three km's from Auschwitz. It had many wood buildings and Auschwitz had a lot of brick buildings. I noticed that both locations now are very lush and green. At the other camps I have visited (two others in Germany) they have been barren and grey. Survivors say there was no grass back then and only mud and dirt. If there was grass they would have eaten it they were so hungry.

This write up does it no justice, but it is something you need to experience for yourself.

You can see some photos from Auschwitz-Birkenau by clicking this link.

Krakow Poland, Pictures

The pictures I have of Krakow do not do it justice. It is an amazing city. The buildings, parks, and the numerous churches are spectacular. The buildings were not destroyed during WWII like most of the other cities in Europe.

The food is good too. Lots of perogies.

I did a walking tour around the city yesterday. It was a bit chilly but good for checking out the sites. The walk was five hours. I went to the salt mine today. The mine is underground and was a working mine for over 700 years! It closed down operations in 1996 and now is a tourist attraction. It was very interesting. The salt is black. It is called green salt as the lighting wasn't good back then and they thought the black colour was green. There are fasinating sculptures made out of the salt and it was miners that created them. There are three chapels in the mine. One of the small ones is called Holy Cross Chapel and then there is this amazing one that is quite large and still holds weddings and special ceremonies. It was spectacular to happen upon. I knew nothing about this mine before going so I was pleasantly suprised with the whole visit. Did I mention there are churches everywhere? They also have more masses a day then we do at home, so yes I made it to mass and oh yes the former Pope is from Poland, so there are statues of him everywhere too. Even underground.

On the way to the salt mine I was on the public bus with a group of Scouts from Sweden. They were between the ages of 17 and 20 and were earning their "international adventure" badge. It sounded cool. They were dropped off in pairs around Poland and give seven maps. They knew the end location and had to figure out which map would work and where they were. They had 10 days to walk 160 km's with their gear. They had to carry camping gear, food, water etc. Around 20kg's of stuff each. They could stay with people along the way and eat with them but only if the people invited them. All of them earned their badge and were supporting new belts with a compass as the belt buckle. A present for finishing. Each year two countries are chosen as the adventure country. They said next year is Spain and Italy but that you can only do the adventure once.

At the mine I went through with a couple and his parents from England. They too were cool to talk with. It was his birthday and she suprised him with a trip to Krakow. She woke him at 2am and told him to get up. She didn't tell him anything, just get dressed and ready. At the airport she gave him a present to open and it was a guide book for Krakow. Then once at the hotel in Krakow they went for breakfast and there were his parents. They had flew in the day before. I have always wanted to be suprised with a trip, so if my future husband is reading, oh forget that. Anyone can do it. I have always wanted to be told to pack a bag for hot or cold weather and then taken on a suprise trip, hey they could even pack a bag for me like this woman did for her husband. They were having a great weekend away. Must be nice to jet set like that and go to Poland for the weekend.

Enjoying the city. I have to say it is fantastic.

Click on the following link for Krakow Poland pictures

Vienna Austria, Pictures

Click on this link for pictures of Vienna Austria

Have spent the last few days checking out Vienna Austria with a lot of other tourists. The streets were full and lots of people at the attractions. There are many nice old buildings, churches, museums, shops and palaces to roam around and check out. Again lots of walking.

The hostel was huge but really nice, clean and close to everything. They even had instruments for people to borrow, piano, guitars etc. Mozart is from Vienna so I am not sure if they were going for a musical hostel or what but it had a great atmosphere and it was also full of local artists work on the walls for sale.

Just took an overnight train from Vienna to Krokow Poland, an eight hour journey in a nice, clean, modern cabin with three beds and I was the only one in my cabin which was a suprise.

Budapest Hungary, Pictures

Budapest Hungary has the most talented masons and bricklayers of any city I have been to. I know it is a wierd starting sentence but it is true. Their work is fantastic. I could continually take pictures and they wouldn’t do it justice so I just took a few photos. There is so much to see architecturally I walked for 10 hours yesterday.

A must in Budapest is to visit the Thermal baths so that is how I spent the day today. A spa day. The thermal baths are hot pools filled with naturally ocurring hot water. They actually have to cool it down to use it. Their website says that "70 million liters of 21-78 degree C warm thermal water spring forth daily from 118 natural thermal springs." There are outdoor pools, a wave pool, indoor thermal baths and sauna areas. The corridors are vast and it is a large facility. I took advantage of the other services they offer and had a massage today. Not just any massage, a chocolate one. It smelt and felt great. I know you have a visual of being covered in chocoate sauce, I did too, but it was a chocolate cream or lotion. It was relaxing.

Click on this link for Budapest Hungary pictures.

Belgrade Serbia, Pictures

The picture is of me at a kiosk on the street that was selling only pantyhose. I thought it was a little random as there were no other kiosks in the area.

Spent the day walking around Belgrade Serbia with Michaela from Sweden. Again pleasantly surprised. The guide books say “Belgrade is not a beautiful city.” Well I guess they comment on so many that some have to be “not so beautiful,” but it was good. Enjoyed walking around. Lots of nice buildings and a lot of people who speak English. Great markets, really cheap veggies and bakeries. Had a feed of yellow beans tonight mom, reminded me of you, dad and the garden. It was nice to use the hostels kitchen and cook a nice meal of yellow beans and pasta.

Not as an eventful day as yesterday.

We happened upon an international parade with people dressed in their traditional costumes. Not sure what it was about but then they broke into dances in the square. It was neat to see. Came across some Military buildings that were bombed during the war in 1999 and left the way they were hit. The largest Orthodox Church in the world is in Belgrade so we visited that too and a fortress. Overall a pleasant day.

Click on the following link for pictures from a day in Belgrade Serbia

Guns, drugs, fireworks, cigarettes and a Serbian train

Guns, drugs, fireworks, cigarettes and a Serbian train. WOW! What an adventure.

Met Michaela from Sweden in the train station and sat with her all the way to Belgrade. We met Brian from Victoria on the train and I cann't help but stop smiling. I am on overload, we have seen so much today.

Brian saw one of the train employees put fireworks under the train and while he was standing in the hall a woman hid cigarettes behind his seat.

Michaela and I were in a six person (full) cabin and the fluorescent light fell out of the ceiling nearly missing us. We thought wow this is an old dodgy train. Good thing we didn't get electrocuted. An hour maybe passed with the light hanging by the wire until it gets better. The cop comes into the cabin and we just wait in the hall and doorway and doesn't he pull out of the ceiling two guns. Wow!

So at this point the train is stopped or has been stopped the whole time he searched. But I cann't believe we are still on the train. Right at his feet.

The cop checks a few more cabins but not thoroughly as they didn't get the cigarettes but a girl in our cabin says this happens daily. I guess cigarettes are expensive in Serbia so they smuggle them from Bulgaria.

So we were stopped for half and hour. Then we carry on and don't we see a guy right at our door get a pack of drugs out of the ceiling in the hall while the train conductor is standing 2m's away, watching.

They finally come to check our tickets and the two women in our cabin don't have tickets so they pay the conductor off with some smokes.

Then another guy takes the paneling off in the hall for more treasures. As we look around you can see screws out all around the paneling and windows.

Oh and the train toilets, god. The odour and filth. We went through a lot of hand sanitizer today. I have been in some bad toilets but todays have to take the filth cake.

It was a 10 hour train ride that was three hours late getting into Belgrade Serbia and I have to say that it was the best train ride I have ever had. What an adventure! The country side of Serbia was a lovely view too.

The train trip was documented with photos click on this link to check out the Serbian train ride.

Sofia Bulgaria, Pictures

I am currently in Sofia the capital of Bulgaria. I love when you are pleasantly surprised with a country or city. I thought Bulgaria would be a little more dodgy than it is. It is way more modern then I expected. The train station is a bit old and dilapidated but the rest of the city has surprised me. I went on a walking tour with a guy from London England and a local guy. Lots of info and great architecture.

Crazy small world I met a couple of girls today from Canada, Edmonton and Toronto. So the girl from Edmonton's boyfriend is from Peterborough, Cavan really and yes we know people in common. It is a small world.

Click here for photos from Sofia Bulgaria

The hostel has a real positive vibe to it. You can feel the good energy and it is also great that it has the following for free; breakfast, internet, supper and with supper (spaghetti) you get a beer.

Thesaloniki Greece

All is well in Thesaloniki Greece. It is in the north on the Aegean Sea. I have spent the first couple of days of school employees and students summer holidays on the beach in Greece working on my tan. I am staying at a pension/hotel across the road from the beach, 25 km's outside of Thesaloniki.

It is a quiet area. So quite I didn't see anyone guest or staff at the hotel until my third day at the hotel. The keys to my room were left in the mailbox outside of the hotel. For the first night I am not sure if anyone else was here. The hotel has 30 rooms. The second day in the evening I heard people in the hall but that was it and today I finally met the owner. He is a dentist in the town 25 km's away and has the hotel on the side. I have to say he left good instructions and I didn't mind the piece, quiet and sunshine. NIce locals at the beach. One old Greek lady sees me coming and starts smiling. She puts the sunscreen on my upper back. God love her.

Tomorrow I will take the train to Sofia the capital of Bulgaria. I hadn't planned on that stop but it looks good and why just pass through. It will also break up a potential 18 hour ride to Budapest Hungary. So the plan is for the next week or so, Sofia Bulgaria, Belgrade Serbia and then Budapest Hungary. All maybe for a few nights each.

Turkey to Athens, Pictures

You have to love this picture of my Turkish little buddies and a couple of village women. These kids lived by my hotel and were great little gaffers. The hotels are right in the village and because I was there for so long I got to know the neighbours. I was invited into their homes for juice, tea and snacks. They loved me and I love them. It was sad to leave. I loved being immersed with the locals, thanks to Yasar and his friends too for my daily activities and socials. I think if I didn't have this rail pass already bought that you would find me in Turkey in August when I am suppose to come home. But there is still lots to see on my list, so need to get on the move.

I am currently in Athens. I arrived after the 11 hour over night bus from Goreme to Istanbul and then a day walking Istanbul with Jenny from BC. Then to the airport for my flight to Athens which kept getting delayed and was three hours late leaving which put me arriving at the hostel about 3am.

Toured around the Acropolis and main Athens sites yesterday. It was good and hot. Happened across a Polish catholic mass going on at the Acropolis so joined them for communion. The priest was with a group from Poland touring around and they were happy to have an Italian, Canadian and Argentinian join them.

Still trying to plan out the next seven weeks. Looks like I will travel to the north of Greece tomorrow spend maybe a couple of days and then on to Hungary.

Click on this link for a mixture of Goreme, Istanbul and Athens photos

Went to the Archaeological museum in Athens. It is pretty impressive and well done. While there a turtle walked through my legs when I was sitting down so that is a cool photo. I also went to a private museum that had the works of MC Escher at it and it was awesome. He is a great graphic artist with a huge math connection. I have some of his work up in my classroom so that was so cool to check out. I saw it listed in the airplane magazine and was able to find out that it was in Athens. So I was in luck.

Hamam, Turkish Bath

Still hanging out in Cappadocia but I have set the plans for a move. I am taking a 12 hour overnight bus from Cappadocia to Istanbul on Wednesday night with Jenny a girl from BC. We will hang out for the day in Istanbul together and I will catch a flight in the evening to Athens for the next leg of the adventure.

Jenny is having a similar time to me in Cappadocia she too has local friends and like me doesn't know where the time goes during the day. We have become a little lazy and enjoy a scrabble game with our lunch and maybe a walk/hike and then evening entertainment with friends.

Last night I got another trip into the Hamam. Man they are fantastic and I am not sure why I haven't taken advantage of it more often. A little sauna, exfoliation with a big rubber mitt, shampoo, massage and last night was topped off with a jacuzzi. I have learned a little bit about the Hamam. People use to go to the Hamam, or bath house for their weekly bath and wash but now it is a luxury, relaxing thing to do here. I met some American peace core people who were in Morroco and used the Hamam for it's original purpose as their village didn't have running water. They didn't understand why it was so expensive here. I explained it is a luxury here. They were paying 50 cents and here it is anywhere from $20 - $50. Depends on if you get the tourist price or if you go with a local. The men are seperated from the women and men bath men and women, women. So now the whole muslim lack of covering, conservatism etc makes sense to me. The locals go as a social. Often going at the same time and day of the week to gossip with friends.

All is well and I figure the next bit will be moving through the countries quick using my rail pass. So I am enjoying the last few days of relaxation in Cappadocia with the great scenery and people.

Mt Nemrut Turkey, Pictures

I have had an action packed last few days. I went on a three day, two night tour of Eastern Turkey. It was fantastic. It was a little hot. Lots of driving. 16 of us in the van with no air conditioning and a highway under construction so we were covered in dust by the end of the day. It was a bit of a battle to get the driver to keep his window down. He didn't like the wind blowing his comb over we think, but we were hot in the back. So too bad about the hair buddy.

The sites were spectacular. The second day started with a wake up call at 2:30 am followed by a twisty, steep drive up the mountain and then a hike for the sunrise at the big heads of Mt. Nemrot. When we left the hotel it was warm and I was thinking I didn't need my warm cloths, but thank god I took them. At the top of the mountain it was freezing and the wind was blowing hard. It was a full day that ended at 10 pm. We saw some more ruins, a Roman bridge, a dam, a local bazaar, Abraham's birth place and then drove to Harran at the south, 15 km's from the Syria boarder to see the first Islamic University and the beehive houses made out of mud and bricks. WOW!

While at the dam two fighter jets flew over and I couldn't help but think they must be going to Iraq. No worries for you though all is well and safe here. It just made me stop and think.

The air conditioning was fixed and made for a better 10 hour ride back.

I am back in Cappadocia now visiting my local friends and using today to figure out where to next. I was up at 6 am this morning for some reason and saw all the hot air balloons out my window so I decided to go for a walk and check them out. The balloons go out every day for sunrise.

Click on this link for lots of photos of Eastern Turkey

Goreme, Pictures

Well I am back in Goreme. It is a small village in the heart of the Cappadocia region in the center of Turkey. I love this town. The views are spectacular, lovely people, great hiking and plenty to see. It is a funny little town. You can see a moped one minute going down the road, followed by a family on a tractor, or a family on a 4-wheeler, a Mercedes or a horse and buggy, anything goes. I have had the use of Yasar's moped so I can bop around to great hiking areas stop, walk, do a little reading and enjoy the scenery. It is fantastic.

Tomorrow I am doing a three day two night tour further east in Turkey. It should be great.

Click on this link for more Goreme, Cappadocia photos

Ayvalik Turkey, Pictures

I had a great weekend with Mel and her boyfriend Alper in Ayvalik. Mel and I took the bus 2 1/2 hours to Ayvalik, on the east coast where he lives. It is a lovely town that has very different architecture than the rest of Turkey. There are some really neat old houses there. His place has a great balcony with a view of the water.

Ayvalik use to be a Greek town and after 1923 the Greeks had to go back to Greece and the Turkish that were in Greece had to come back to Turkey. So there is a lot of history and there are always references to that year and the swap of people. Some families had lived in the different countries for generations but were basically kicked out and sent back to where their ancestors came from.

In Ayvalik Alper runs a basketball school. So there was a brunch on Sunday for the players and their parents and we got to go. It was nice. I should get him in to help with my team. He played on the Turkish National team in his day.

We had a great time walking around Ayvalik and Cunda visiting cafes and taking in the scenery. Check out the pictures at the following like.

Link to Ayvalik pictures

I am now in Goreme again, back to the fairy chimneys, moped and more great people. I am in the Cappadocia area which is in the center of the country.

Pamukkale Turkey, Pictures

I had an early start today. I was up and ready to go by 6:30am. I was awake so I got up and they said to see Pamukkale early in the morning or late in the day to avoid the tour groups. So I headed out. It was a fantastic morning. Turkey has so much to offer. I came to Pamukkale to see the travertine terraces. There is a spring in the area that has so much calcium in it that over 1000's of years it has left a white precipitate on the side of the hill/mountain. You can walk through part of the calcuim covered area and swim in the mineral pools. Over the years the amount of water in the area has depleted but it doesn't take away from this natural wonder. So if that wasn't enough. After I climbed the side of the hill there are Roman ruins at the top. Hierapolis is here, also spectacular. I spent over five hours exploring this area and finished with a dip in one of the mineral pools on my way back down. It was fantastic.

Hierapolis is where St Philip the apostle was martyred. I am humbled regularly by my lack of history knowledge. I am learning. There is an amazing Roman Theatre here complete with the original stage dating back to the second century. The Roman city is great too. I was visiting the basilica in the ancient city when I happened across an American high school group. They are traveling around Isreal and Turkey following five apostles routes. They broke out into Amazing Grace and it was beautiful. I made my way back to them and as they passed me I said how nice their singing was. There teacher explained what they are doing and that they were from Holland Michigan. It was a lovely group of really nice young people.

There were lots of poppies for me to check out while I was walking around too. I love how the poppies grow against the ruins.

Sorry I have ran out of photo space on the blog so I cann't put up a photo with my write up at the moment. I think I can link it with my other email account but the information at the moment is in Turkish so I cann't figure it out. Incase you haven't noticed the photos are coming from a different account now as that original album is full. So if you want to see any of these picture albums you can get them from this address.

http://picasaweb.google.com/getoutandhavefun

this was the original address

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahemoloney

Click on this link to see the Pamukkale Turkey Photos

Greece for a day, Math Pictures

I took a two hour ferry ride to the Greek island of Samos for the day today. Got to like the idea of going to Greece for the day. It is where the town of Pythagoria is and the math teacher had to visit there. They have a statue of Pythagorous and we use his theorem all the time at school. It turned out to be a national holiday in Greece so there were no busses running, tourism office was closed but I still made it to the other side of the island to Pythagoria, just had to go by taxi. So it was a bit of an effort and expense so that is why I took so many pictures of the statue and you may not like any of them from today. I hope to use them in future math lessons.

Pythagorous Pictures

Ephesus Turkey, Fıve Moloney's and Pictures

Today I had the cool of experience of seeing family in Turkey. My brother Glenn, sister inlaw Shelley, niece Maddy and nephew Max came in on a cruise ship to Kusadasi and we visited Ephesus together. It was awesome to see them all. I was able to find them easily as I was staying in a hotel right across from the pier and there was only one ship in at the time so they were easy to spot. We hired a taxi for the day to take us to Ephesus the second best Roman City remaining after Pompeii which we also have all visited. Ephesus was neat with a lot of marble remaining and it was hot. The heat must radiate off of it or in the valley or something, it was intense sun. The library at Ephesus was the coolest for me with it's great marble columns. The library was built over Celsus' tomb by his son. Max has been learning about this era at school so also found the site interesting and Maddy was all set to pose for photos at any opportunity and had some great shots there. Glenn too liked standing on a column that is the same style as on his business cards, Ionic period we have determined.

We visited the Virgin Mary's house lit prayer candles, wrote prayers and placed them on a prayer wall, blessed ourselves with holy water from a spring there and ended the visit with a beer at the Virgin Mary's house. It was for dad, Glenn said he would think it was funny us having one for him at the Virgin Mary's house.

The Virgin Mary's house was an interesting discovery in the 19th Century. An invalid nun who had never left Germany wrote a book describing the site that she said had been visions given to her. Her descriptions led to it's discovery. It is thought that she came here after Jesus' death with John [I think that is correct, don't quote that, I don't have my book in front of me.]

My hotel room in itself is an interesting story. It has a great view, pool, no elevator and I had seen it listed in a book. I went to check it out, climbed at least 6 sets of stairs with all my stuff to the reception. Again a reception with a view. I was shown some rooms, all the same and finally they told me the price. 40 Euro, I said wow, way too much for me. So they said ok 35, 30. I said sorry no I was interesting in paying about 20 TL which is about 10 Euro. Fine he said, showed me another room, all of them are the same. So I guess some money was better than no money in his eyes, which was good. The place is empty and it is a big spot, they must be hurting, again those economic times.

I was able to see the gang off at the pier. They are off to Egypt and the pyramids next. The hotel had binoculars and I am pretty sure I saw Glenn out on the balcony. I watched the ship take off from the pool, of the life. It was so good to hand out with them for the day. I am glad we were able to meet up.

Click on this link to see our pictures of Ephesus

Dalyan and Kaş Turkey, Pictures

Currently on the coast of Turkey in Dalyan. It is a nice small town centered around a river, lake and the sea. I took a 30 minute boat ride down the river today to the Med. Sea and spent the day at the beach. I should sleep tonight with all the sun I got. It was very plesant a nice breeze all day, so I am sure some wind burn or colour. Not feeling a burn yet.

I have been taking local busses here and I have to say they are great! It is a large coach bus, without bathrooms though, even though they are modern. They have stewarts on the bus that pass out water and the other day we got free ice cream! My kind of bus ride. I took one the other night for 10 hours to get from the middle of Turkey to the south coast and then had to switch to a mini bus, mini van for another four hours. All in all fine, except the big Turkish women I was sharing a seat with took up quite a bit of room and sat like a man with her legs seperated and her arm resting on mine made mine go to sleep from the weight. Anyway that is rude of me. The night bus was fine.

I should enlighten you on the Turkish bath or a Hamam. Wow! I went the other night and lets just say I cann't wait to go again. You start off with a sauna for 15 minutes followed by a massage on a large warm marble slab complete with exfoliation during the massage. Oh yes and the whole time you are douced with bowls of warm water. After a rinse and exfoliation come the bubbles. Your whole body gets shampooed with bubbles. The women has what looks like a pillow case that she dips in the shampoo she then waks it out making the bubbles and completely covers you in bubbles and then another massage and doucing with warm water. Then a dip in a swimming pool, shower and fresh squeezed orange juice. A lovely evening. I think it is very interesting that they have been doing this since the Romans, or before, I don't know in this muslim country that is very conservative. I have to dress very modest in the villages, pants during the day, shoulders cover etc to respect them, but then they go for these Turkish baths and you are pretty exposed. I guess it is a woman massaging a woman and a man a man and you can go as a couple or segregated by your sex. It is all interesting.

The hospitality in Turkey is wonderful and I am not rushing out of here anytime soon. I should be at least another couple of weeks here. The people are lovely and because I am learning some Turkish phrases they love me even more. They all want to know where I learned. I really know only a few but it is appreciated. It is really hard to retain.

Click on this link for pictures of Kaş and Dalyan Turkey

Izmir and Cappadocia Turkey Pictures.

Having a wonderful time in Turkey. Man the scenery here is spectacular. I was able to visit with Melanie Paton from Peterborough for 5 days and will see her again in a couple of weeks. She has lived in Turkey for close to 10 years and is teaching English at a private Turkish school to grade one kids. There are two english teachers for each grade and four sections of each grade. She was awesome to stay with and took me in on little notice. I have to say thanks and then I wasn’t feeling the best so I was able to recoup a bit there. She is a fantastic person with tons of energy and life. Her apt inspired me to buy some Turkish items, it was so homey.

One day I went to a village where Paula, Melanie’s friend lives by bus, 20 minutes and spent the day with her. She is from Calgary and lives here with her husband. They built a stone house in the village and nieither of them speaks Turkish and the builder no English. A big accomplishment. Paula has a friend in Cappadocia, which is in the center of Turkey and she set me up with him so now I am here. You know, his uncle has a hotel and his cousin is a hot air balloon pilot, he is a guide and his friend will pick you up at the airport using the sign with your name on it! So lots of connections. Now I know how those people in Peterborough without my connections feel when we drive down the road and wave at everyone. It is the same here for Yasur. Even got to drive a moped through the scenery.

Oh the call to pray is currently on and it is so cool to hear billowing through the village.

Cappadocia is beautiful and not too be missed. I am so happy I made the effort to get here. It was created by volcanic ash and for my Egypt friends it reminds me of the Valley of Kings. There are huge, tall outcropings called Fairy Chimneys everywhere and people lived in the caves. Some still do and my hotel is in one of them. The town is not very busy and it is little so it is nice to walk around and the hiking in the valleys and craitors is spectacular. The colours of the rock are continually changing with the sunlight.

I went for a runrise hot air balloon ride this morning. The views were spectacular. I don’t know where all the people came from to fill the many balloons that were out, as I mentioned the town is not too busy. But I guess they must have come from the other three villages in the area. The ride was awesome and long. It was an hour and a half long and finished with champaigne. My body wasn’t right so I passed on that drink before 8am. I will tell you as you may have heard on the news, who knows? There was a balloon accident two days ago here and a man from England died and three others are in the hospital. I guess the balloons were too close and hit each other causing a problem. I still went, you know me if I die doing something I want to do I know I have had a good life.

I should be able to meet up with Glenn, Shelley, Max and Madison next Sunday as their cruise ship comes into port in Turkey and I will make the effort to get to there by then. So that will be neat to see them. For those that don’t know that is my brother, sister inlaw and nephew and niece.

Turkey is spectacular and there is so much to see. Click on the following two links for pictures.

Click on this link for Izmir Turkey pictures

Click on this link for Cappadocia Turkey pictures.

Istanbul and pictures.

Having a good time walking around Istanbul. It is a huge city and there are tons of things to check out. The food is fantastic. However I was sick last night. Not fun.

We went for a cruise on the Bosphorus yesterday. It is the waterway linking Europe with Asia. Turkey is the only country on two continents and the town of Istanbul is on both parts. We went to the Spice Bazaar too.

Click on the link for more Istanbul pictures

Istanbul, pictures

Erin and I are having a great time in Istanbul Turkey. There are lots of sites to check out, mosques to see, good food to eat and people to watch. I love hearing the call to prayer come over the loud speakers spreading over the whole city.

Click on this link to see the fire drink I had in Santiago de Compestela and Istanbul pictures

The image shown is of Erin and I with our head scarves on at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.

Spain, pictures

Barcelona won the Spanish Cup while I was here and I was at the celebrations and the "riot." As the picture indicates flares were going off, fireworks, horns, people yelling, screaming, hanging off of street lights, drinking on monuments and marching through the streets all night long. There were riot police everywhere and finally at 3:20 am I said we should get out of here and back to our hostel as the riot police were marching through the streets with their tear gas canisters in plain view ready to set them off. It was something to see, they sure love their soccer, sorry, football. The night I was flying out of Barcelona they won the league, which was an even bigger deal so that caused the streets to be closed again and taxis were hard to find and then I some how missed the bus to the airport which I was an hour early for. So I ended up paying a small fortune to get to the airport by cab at 4am. Luckly I was safe as it was a sketchy evening to be out, but it was a 6am flight from an airport 100km´s outside of Barcelona, getting the picture of the small fortune paid to get to the airport...

Barcelona was great. Gaudi was an amazing architech and his work in Barcelona is worth checking out. I learned where the phase "that´s so Gaudi" must have come from, but the man was a genious. I am not sure why they don´t use his techniques and ways of building now, oh yes, money and time. Only one of his projects was finished in his lifetime, but his ideas were really cool.

I flew to the west of Spain to Santiago de Compestela and was at mass and the church where all the pilgrams come to. That too was neat to experience. The church was packed and packed with backpacks, hippies, people in hiking and rain gear, not their Sunday best for sure, but I bet they were feeling their Sunday best. Two people at my hostel hiked 700 km´s to get there over 32 days. It was neat to see the pilgrams.

Checked out the beach in Barcelona for a couple of days with Alina from Romania. I could write a book about what we saw those two days at the beach, crazy people and their choices of what to wear or not wear at the beach. There was this one women on Friday afternoon who showed up in her work cloths and this is me saying what I think is going on in her head. "I worked hard today. I think I will go to the beach on my way home. What undergarments did I wear today? Oh it doesn´t matter." So she strips down to her thong see through lace underwear, no bra and proceeds to lay on the beach and get a message from one of the ladies offering this 5 Euro service on the beach. All day we heard "Coka, Fanta, Cerveza, massagi." I did get the 5 Euro massage on the beach and it was good, bathing suit stayed on for those wondering.

Click on the following link for pictures from Barcelona and Santiago de Compestela Spain

Off to Turkey tomorrow.

Nice France and Monte Carlo Monaco, pictures

Have spent the last couple of days exploring Nice France and today went to Monte Carlo Monaco where they are having the formula one race in 10 days. We walked the track and saw the set up. Man there is a lot of money in Monaco. The houses and cars there, holy smokes. It is a crazy city to walk, up and down, tons of stairs, lots of exercise.

Monaco is the second smallest county in the world after the Vatican for your info. I am off to Barcelona tomorrow by train.

Nice France and Monte Carlo Monaco photos, click here

Canada Quarter Final Game; Pictures

Went to the quarter final game and saw Canada win 4 – 2 against Lativja. This is such a hard keyboard to use. It did not know the French have a different layout. The a, ., z, q, etc are all in different places. It is hard to type. I am currently in Nice, France. I took a 10 hour train ride yesterday from Switzerland via Italy. I had to change trains four times. I met two guys from Saskatoon doing the same route so we stayed together and we will go on to Barcelona together in a few days. They are good fun. We got a bottle of wine each last night, once we got in and walked the city, got to love being able to have a beverage in public.

Click on the link for pictures of the quarter final game Canada vs Latvija

Paragliding in Switzerland, Pictures

It is a beautiful day here, 24 degrees and I am just back from paragliding. I went to the top of a mountain and ran off of it. I was soaring through the air like a bird. It was awesome and such a smooth peaceful ride. The panoramic view was spectacular.

Click on this link to see my paragliding photos.

This hostel has great internet access and uploading capabilites unlike a lot of places I have visited, hence the photos being added so often and it is free. This is my last day here though. Off to the hockey game now. A great day. Paragliding and I get to go to the Canada Latvija game.

Boat ride and hike Switzerland, Pictures

Today started out with no plan and was a full day that just kept getting topped. The woman at the hostel suggested a boat ride and walk along the lake. It was awesome. The colour of the glacial water is spectacular. The boat ride was an hour long with mountains on both sides and then we hiked about 8km along the water and through the woods always with the mountains in view. There were a pair of fighter jets that flew over at least four times during the walk.

It was funny before catching the boat we debated going to the grocery store and buying a sandwich as yesterday each village we visited was a ghost town and nothing was open and it was really hard to find food. So we thought we wouldn't get our selves into the same trouble as yesterday but it happened again. Looking on the map it looked like the town we were going to by boat would have shops and restaurants. No such luck. So we walked and ended up in a little town where again nothing was open. It is low season and the villages and cities are ghost towns. We found a restaurant with a sign saying open. We went in, greeted the guy, sat down and then 10minutes later he says oh you want food? Kitchen is closed. Even though the sign said open. So we walked on and found another one. At that place the guy was so rude that we left. We found a hotel and they said they would make us a sandwich. One piece of meat between two pieces of bread and nothing else, $7.50. Food just the same and really we should have learned from yesterday and we had bread and food at the hostel we didn't take.

After we got the sandwich we asked this guy at the information booth which I was suprized it was open, which way to walk to Interlaken? He laughed in a big berly laugh and checked our shoes, ok and pointed us on our way. We laughed too once we climbed the hill and realized the rest of the walk was up hill and just along the highway. So we caught the bus. Local busses are free in this town with our hostel voucher.

Once back in Interlaken we went to a chocolate show and we got to make chocolates and eat more than our fair share. For $14.80 we went to the show and with that price you get an $8 voucher for products. It was awesome chocolate. He said a Swiss eats 25pounds of chocolate a year. I wonder what a Moloney eats a year?

After the chocolate eating we went for dinner and ended up at this great restaurant with jovial guys working there trying to drum up business. I had a pork roast and mash potatoe dinner for $17.50 which is a really good price for here. We were given free salad and ice cream which was an added bonus. While we were eating the ice cream I heard this noise and then music. It was one of those big horns. The waiter said would you like to try it? I will bring it out. We were eating on the patio. So we got to play the horn too.

Then it turns out that the hockey game I bought tickets for the other day will be the Canada vs Latvija game. Which is another added bonus to get to see Canada play and Latvija has crazy fun fans. So watch for me on tv.

Click on this link for more photos of Switzerland

Hiking in Switzerland, pictures

Click on this link for pictures from my hike in Switzerland.

Loving Switzerland. I went for a hike today through the mountains outside of Interlaken. Ben is also in this town and hostel so we went together. (He was the guy that went to his first hockey game the other day.) It was an awesome day with beautiful mountains, snow, waterfalls, trees, valleys, rivers, cows and few people. It is low season so many of the villages we went through were all closed up. We took the train out of town, then a gondola up, hiked, took another gondola, hiked again and then a bus and train back. The views were spectacular, the pictures don't do it justice. We circled up and down and around a mountain valley I tried to show you the route in one of the photos.

Will do a hike again tomorrow and then Thursday watch for me at the quarter final World Hockey Champhionship game as I will be there.

Germany vs Austria

Click on this link for more photos
Made it to my second game of the World Hockey Championships. This game was Germany against Austria, Austria won, one nothing. I met a guy at the hostel from London England who had never been to an ice hockey game so we went together. He had lots of questions throughout the game that I explained for him.

This game was much cheaper. It was only 19 dollars for the same area I was in last time and not many people were at the game so we got to go right up to the front of the section. With your ticket there is free transportation in Switzerland until 12pm the next day. That works out for me as I was going to go to Interlocken tomorrow and the ticket itself to there was 26 dollars and I paid 19 for the game and it included the tram there and back today and the trip to Interlocken tomorrow.

Went to some great markets yesterday and have just been taking in the sites, flowers and smells of spring here. The lilacs are in bloom and smell awesome. The flowers at the market were breath taking too. They make great flower arrangements in Europe. I am getting a good work out from all the steep inclines too. I can feel it in my thighs and butt.

I am writing this blog post from a free internet bus out front of the arena. We have an hour or so until Switzerland plays Sweeden at the arena and we will watch the game in the tent on site.

Switzerland World Hockey Championships, pictures

Well I made it to Switzerland yesterday at about 2:30 in the afternoon and found out the World Hockey Championships are on in Bern and Zurich. I am staying in Bern, the capital. I went to the tourist office and found a hostel and while there I was able to buy a ticket to the 4:15 game with Russia against Sweeden. When in Rome, why not. Oh yeah, I am not there anymore. The ticket was about 59 dollars. So I rushed to the hostel, down and up these huge inclines, dropped off my backpack, changed rushed back to the center caught the street car and went to the arena. It was an awesome game and I made it on time. I was in the standing area. Most people stand to watch the games here. They actually had to install seats especially for the tournament. The Russians won in overtime. It was a fantastic game and I met some extream Swiss fans while I was there. They dressed me up in their flag and sunglasses and bought me beers. There was a double header last night and they were staying for the Swiss game as well, so were in their Swiss gear. That game was sold out so I stayed at the arena and watched it and the Canada game going on in Zurich on the big screens in a tent/bar out front of the arena. After there was a band that played in the tent. It was such a cool experience. There were fans everywhere with flags, drums and anything that would make noise.

Switzerland is beautiful and the people are lovely. I think I will stay here for a few days, who knows I may make it back to the arena. My hostel has kept me with the fact that they serve a free breakfast complete with a machine that dispenses hot milk and they have awesome Swiss hot chocolate mix to put in it. Little things please me and especially chocolate.

Click on the link for the Switzerland pictures

Venice Italy, Pictures

Another interesting day in Italy. Today I traveled by train from Florence to Venice. It was a three hour train ride. I arrived in Venice and took two busses to get to the "hostel." It is located in a campground close to the airport. I didn't know hostels could exist at a campground. You can stay in a tent for one, two or three or a "cabin" for three. I am in the cabin, luckly, as it was raining today. The "cabin" is a trailer with bunk beds and a bathroom. Interesting to say the least. I booked this place from my last hostel as they are the same company and at the last location it was bright, clean, spacious had a spa and indoor pool. So I thought what the hell. This should be equivalent. No, but it isn't bad it just makes me laugh that you could get anything from a massage to waxing at the last place and tonight I will be lucky if I am dry.

Venice is cool. I am actually 30 minutes outside of Venice so I took the two busses back into town once the rain stopped. It is something to see with it's many waterways, boats and people everywhere. I even saw three water ambulances and a police boat. I couldn't help but worry about children living in those houses right on the water. I would be afraid they would run out the front door and end up in the water.

It is a romantic city though. There were people taking gondola rides and lapping up the scenery. A gondola ride is 80 Euro for a half an hour ride, so I took the water bus for 6.50 Euro each way and took pictures of the people in their gondolas.

Click on the link for Venice Photos

Pompeii and Florence Italy

Well I had an interesting train ride yesterday. I went from Rome to Naples, Naples to Pompeii and then Pompeii to Naples, had a hiccup in Naples and then on to Florence. So the hiccup or story comes after I have spent the day checking out the ancient Roman ruins in Pompeii. Which by the way were very interesting. The ruins were covered by volcanic ash and rock in 79 AD allowing the preservation of the Roman city. It was very cool to check out the city, stadium and streets.

The hiccup or story: I arrived at the train station via a subway train to head on to my next destination, Florence. I was to take a couple of different trains to get there with a switch in Rome. The train was to leave Naples at 4:30 pm following by a quick change in Rome and on to Florence. In Naples it was after 4:20 and the platform number was still not up on the screen. I went to customer care to ask about it. When I was there they informed me that the train was 15 minutes late. I indicated that that was not going to work for me as I had another train to catch in Rome and if we were late I would miss it. The man checked the computer, looked at a few schedules, talked to another person working there, got on his cell phone and talked to another, all in Italian, so I had no idea what was going on. This took more than 15 minutes and as it turned out the train was now going to be 45 minutes late. He said you no worry, no worry. Well someone was looking out for me. After all these conversations and a few new stamps and a note written on my ticket he personally escorted me to the platform and to the steward of a high speed train and told me no problem, direct train to Florence, high speed, first class, no charge, no worries. I got free drinks and a chocolate bar twice on the trip that took three hours as opposed to six hours and arrived in Florence when it was still light out. The man was so nice and a lovely little hiccup.

Florence is another city that you can walk around easily and see the many churches, museums and sites by foot. Needless to say my feet are sore and would love a massage from all those willing. So I and everyone else are walking Italy. I haven’t mentioned it, but there are people everywhere.

Click on this link for Pompeii and Florence Italy Pictures

Vatican, pictures

Today I spent the day at the Vatican. It was a day full of long lineups and tons of people. I waited two hours to get into the Vatican museum. The line was two or three kilometers long. It was free today as it is the last Sunday of the month. It normally costs 14 Euro and for your information 1 Eruo is $1.77 Cdn at the moment. They say no matter the day it is a two hour wait.

I also went to St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican's main church. It was a 40 minute wait to get in and it was stunning. I made it for mass too. Father Bill gets more people for his masses at St Anne's. I thought it would be packed. It was 45 minutes long and in Italian.

There was a celebration at St Peter's square today as four new saints were named.

Click on the link for Vatican pictures

More Egypt and Rome, photos

Click on this link to see more Egypt and Rome photos

Egypt was fantastic. I traveled with great people and made some excellent friends. We had a blast together and the history there was spectacular. We spent a day and a night on a fuluca, a wind powered boat. It was so relaxing. We went to Luxor and visited The Valley of the Kings where there are 63 tombs and the most recent one only being discovered seven months ago. We were able to go into three tombs while we were there. The craftmanship thousands of years ago was amazing. The angles and rectangular corridors are perfect. Then if you look at their current buildings they are slapped together brick buildings that leave a lot to be desired.

We spent three nights in Hurghada, a resort area that a lot of Europeans visit. It was good. A sickness went through some of us there and I was very sick one night, thank God it was only for one night. It was neat to see all of these people hanging on the Red Sea in the resort area and then you think behind this town in the same country is over 5000 years of history. It was nice to be able to experience both types of travel in the one trip.

I went scuba diving in the Red Sea. I saw a dolphin and a ray that was yellow with blue polka dots. There was beautiful coral cliffs over 15m deep.

I am currently in Rome and enjoying the history here too. Now the sites are all within walking distance and I have spent the day exploring the blocks. Around each corner is another beautiful building.

Hope you are all well. I sure am. Thinking of you all. Love Sarah

Abu Simbel Temple Egypt, Pictures

Click on link for Abu Simbel Temple Pictures, Egypt

The day started with a 3:30am wakeup call followed by a 3:41am call to cancel the 4am convoy to Abu Simbel due to bad weather (a sand storm). We were to go back to bed and make sure we ate by 10am, meet at 10:30am to take the 11am convoy. We were part of 50 – 70 busses and vans traveling 3 hours through the dessert with police escort at the beginning, middle and end of the convoy. It was for protection incase of breakdown or thieves as there is nothing between Aswan and Abu Simbel, Egypt. There was the odd check point but no houses, service stations or people, just sand. Abu Simbel is 50 kms from the Sudan boarder.

Abu Simbel is two temples in the dessert. They were built in 1300 BC. The king made one for himself and another for his wife or wives. I think it was for his one special wife, but not sure. He had 85 wives and 155 children. The temples were very cool with amazing carvings and details. Each detail is of significance. The way the arms are crossed, royalty and it was made when they were dead. The stance, what's in their hands the headpieces every little thing has some special meaning.

Again this was another project that was moved from one area to another from 1964 – 1968 it was dismantled and moved at a cost of $40 million. It was moved because of this damn and the Nasser Lake. I don't know why they just didn't divert the water again, who knows.

We have been having excellent Egyptian food. I wouldn't normally choose where we eat or the food, but it has been fantastic. It is great to have the guide. For example the other day we entered one restaurant and at the entrance was raw meat strung all over the place and I am sure I heard a saw cutting bones while we were eating. But it is great food. We had a mixed barbeque of meats that day.

Off for a day on the Felucca, a wind powered boat that we will cruise 45km down the Nile in and sleep on tonight.

Pyramids, Egypt, Photos

Click on the following link for the Pyramid pictures.

Link for Pyramid Photos

I had an Easter Monday to remember. I spent the day exploring the Pyramids. They were spectacular. I loved climbing around the Giza site. There were three at that location that are approximately 5000 years old! I also had a camel ride around the Pyramids.

I am traveling with a small group of six people around Egypt for the next couple of weeks. It is terrific, we have a guide and it has made life easy and hassle free.

After the Pyramids and camel ride we visited the Egyptian Museum. Man the history here. I am sorry but I knew nothing about Egyptian history before coming and it has humbled me. I am amazed at how old everything is. I will have to do some reading.

At the museum I went into the mummy exhibit. It was so neat. The mummies were from 2100 and 1000 B.C. (before Christ!). It was shocking for me. The mummies were in great shape with hair, skin, fingernails and the intricate wrappings on some of them.

I ate pigeon today. It had a lot of bones, not a lot of meat.

We took a sleeper train last night it was first class and way above my expectations. I am now in Ashwan Egypt at the south and going even further south tomorrow, within 50kms of the Sudan boarder.

Today we visited a Greek Roman Temple (Philae Temple). Again the history, it was from 230 B.C. and was moved from one island to another from 1970 – 1980 after being submerged in the Nile River. Each wall or pillar tells a different myth or story. The legends and stories are overwhelming. My brain is on overload. I also visited the Unfinished Oblisk today. It is a large phallic sculpture made of granite that cracked while being constructed. All of the granite for the temples comes from the area of Ashwan and is transported throughout all the Egypt. This all started thousands of years ago, before Christ.

I am having a spectacular time in Egypt, hope you are all well.

P.S. It was 46 degrees Celsius today in Ashwan!

Munich Germany, Pictures

Click on the following link to see the Munich pictures.
Munich Photos
I have spent the last few days in Munich. It is a great city. I went to the BMW museum it was fabulous. Did you know they make a clay model of each vehicle or proto type? I learned they employ a ton of different artists above the typical engineers etc. In Munich alone BWM employs approximateley 35 000.

The BWM area was dominating. The buildings were works of art. They are big on creativity and solar energy. The BWM headquarters building is in the shape of four cylinders. Frank and all other auto teachers will have to take a class trip to Munich.

I went on a walking tour of the city, saw tons of churches, climbed one of the steeples for a panoramic view of Munich. Took part in the Good Friday procession while on the tour!

I went to Dacau Concentration Camp, wow! It was a beautiful warm day, but I couldn´t help but feel cold and chilled in the cells and gas chamber. Dacau was a concentration camp, not a death camp. The people were sent there to work. The sign on the gate indicates that work liberates. They were under the false pretences that if they worked hard they may be freed. Dacau is a place of learning and remembering. It was amazing to see a map indicating the number of concentration camps, subcamps etc. that existed. There was one memorial that said we must honor the dead and worn the living. It was about making people aware of what humans are capable of doing to each other. I cann´t do it justice, it was a powerful place.