Ozzy Osbourne in Buenos Aires and the trip over

So the adventure begins and what an adventure it has started out to be in more ways than one. I will just tell you how the last transit day has been. I have at least another 12 hours to go before I reach Buenos Aries, Argentina. At this point I will be arriving 8/12 hours later than expected and will have gone through five airports. I am in Peru. Peru you say, yes my flight was to go to JFK in New York, just touchdown and pick up more. We were three hours late leaving Toronto which made changes to this “pick up.” They sent them on another plane and made us wait about three hours there for another flight, and then another two hours on the tarmac. Then that flight went to Lima (Peru), where I am right now and then it goes to Santiago, Chile then Buenos Aries, Argentina. Oh my lord. So should have got into Buenos Aries Argentina at noon and will get in at 8:30pm at the earliest. If no more changes happen, but I won’t count on that as at every airport today there has been some delay.

At least there is free WIFI here there wasn't in New York. Oh yes and New York. On the walk to the plane after you have gone through the gate they had a sniffing dog and 10 undercover cops with their badges around their necks asking questions. Are you travelling alone? Please come here, passport. Do you know you can leave as much money as you like in the USA but not take as much money as you want out? How much money do you have on you? If one of us was to search you right now would the amount you said be correct? Ok, thank you, carry on. Crazy and they were completely undercover, not the clean neatest looking men. So that was a new experience.

35 ½ hours after leaving the Hubbard’s in Richmond Hill I arrived in Buenos Aries at the hostel. By the end with all the changes there were four of us left from the original flight from Toronto. We looked at each other after the carousel stopped moving and we didn’t have our bags yet, so I thought this is going to be another first, no luggage. A first that didn’t happen. Our bags came on a different flight and were at the under end of the airport sitting on the floor in a heap. Well at least they were there.
So today… I was site seeing just like Ozzy Osbourne. Yep Ozzy and I were at the Cementerio de la Recoleta today at the same time. I saw these guys with long curly hair and thought that is a little different then at the front of them was Ozzy. A must see in Buenos Aries, it is a very cool cemetery. The monuments are grand and something to see. Evita is buried there.
Click on the link for Ozzy Osbourne and Buenos Aires Argentina photos

A little change in plans...

There has been a little change in plans. My dad was taken to the hospital the day I was to leave and is in Intensive Care (ICU) with pneumonia. He is getting great care and has come a long way since the day he was admitted but still has a long way to go. Please keep him in your prayers. For those wondering Antarctica will remain on my wish list.

Day by day he is getting better, so keep fighting dad.

"The Map" Summer 2010 Destinations

View Larger Map

Scroll across the map using the arrows on the top to see all of the locations.

A) Beijing China B) Ulaanbaatar Mongolia C) Irkutsk Russia D) Listvyanka Russia E) Ekaterinburg Russia F) Moscow Russia G) St Petersburg Russia H) Helsinki Finland I) Tallinn Estonia J) Stockholm Sweden K) Oslo Norway L) Andalsnes Norway M) Bergen Norway N) Oslo Norway O) Copenhagen Denmark P)London United Kingdom

It was an awesome, expansive trip that covered a lot of land and I met numerous amazing people along the way. Until the next adventure, keep loving life.

The following link will get you all of this trips photo albums and some previous trips pictures.

Click on this link for the photo albums

Stonehenge and Bath England Photos

I had another terrific day today. I went to the City of Bath and saw the Roman Baths and then on to Stonehenge for a private tour where we actually got to walk around in Stonehenge and not just around the perimeter of it. It was so cool. I booked a day trip from London out to both and it turned out to everyone’s surprise, even our guides that we had a private evening tour of Stonehenge that included going right up to the stones and checking them out as the sunset in the background. Most people have to do the loop around the outside so this was really neat, hence why I took so many photos because there was no one around and therefore no one to get in the way. It was closed to the general public at this point. There were 25 of us in our group and all day long there are tour busses upon tour busses there, but not for us. So this was really special.
Check out the photos at the following link;
Many Stonehenge and Bath Photos

London England, Photos

The picture is taken with the Tower Bridge in the background.
Oh my word. I have had a sightseeing overload kind of day. There is just so much to see in London my head is spinning. I started the day at Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard with all of the other tourists and then I did the hop on hop off bus around London. It went to all the major sites and helped me get my bearings. Total tourist thing to do, but with the number of sites there are in this city it was well worth the 20 Pounds it costs. It even included a boat cruise and walking tours. I ended up at Westminster Abbey at mass time, so that saved having to pay over 10 pound to see the inside of the church, they can’t charge you to worship, so I went to mass. I saw Big Ben, the London Eye, Parliament, Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery (when it was raining outside, a good way to escape the rain), St Paul’s Cathedral, The Tower of London and the Tower Bridge to name a few things. The museums are free in London which is great. So that was a great way to escape the rain.
Check out the numerous photos at the following link;
Many London England Photos

Pub Crawl Clapham London England Photos

Aug 20 2010 A little bit of a hiccup today that cost me $350. I missed my flight and had to buy another one. It was a stupid, costly mistake, but these things happen. I was on my way to the airport by train which was to take 20 minutes and the train was delayed. It was to arrive on track number two but in hind sight there was a regular train that comes on track number two at the same time and the one I needed must have come through second. The monitors didn’t indicate where this train was going and there were no workers around so I got on it. I guess I should have waited and maybe there was the correct train behind it? I wasn’t the only one who got on the incorrect train. We realized after about 30 minutes on it that it wasn’t going to the airport and had to get off and wait for another train. We got on the next train that was also to take 20 minutes to get to the airport. I and the other three people that made the same mistake got on the train only for it to go to Central Station and be delayed there for another 20 minutes or more making this train take 50 minutes. I made it to the airport as my flight was boarding and had to buy a new ticket. When I bought it the guy said you need to move as this new flight leaves in 50 minutes and you need to check in. It was funny because then this flight was delayed 25 minutes waiting at the gate and if that had have happened to the first flight maybe I could have made it. I will give the check in person credit they called the gate to see if I could board but they said I wouldn’t make it. So I am hoping these are my three things as you know things tend to happen in threes, ATM card eaten, wrong train and missed flight, hopefully the last two aren’t a combo unit and I still have a third thing to come.
So last night in the paper I read that SAS (Scandinavian Airlines), who I am flying with, has had 17 000 safety violations that they have flown with over the last seven years, so maybe I wasn’t suppose to make that first flight? Anyways these things happen and it is a good thing I still have a pay check coming through, a credit card to fall back on and a job to come home to. Off to London for the week to spend time with Karen and Tina my cabin mates from the Trans Mongolian/Siberian Railway.
I wasn’t the only one who missed my flight in the line boarding these two guys beside me were also belly aching that they had to get new flights and pay the difference etc. Another guy with them also had the same problem and he only has one hour to make it to his next flight in London and on to the States. I wish him good luck. I cannot see him making it.
Karen gives the most amazing directions. I made it to her flat without a problem. It took an hour and twenty minutes from the airport via the Underground or Tube with three changes and then a little walk. After the rest of the day I really appreciated her thorough instructions. I arrived to a lovely homemade pizza dinner with Karen, Tina and Bobbie (Tina’s mom) who are both visiting from Brisbane. Karen and Tina were my cabin mates on the train across Siberia.
The flat is huge so we all fit nicely. It is a two bedroom that she shares with another woman Kirsty, who happens to be in France at a wedding for the weekend. The flat has a good size kitchen a lovely bathroom with a nice tub and shower and a big living room. It is a pub that was converted into four flats. The guests are all in the basement and it is massive. We each have some form of double bed, a futon, blow-up or a mattress and there is still tons of room for all of our stuff and a few tables and even more floor space. It is great. The flat is in a great location too. Just off of High Street in Clapham Common.
So yesterday we headed out to check out the many Charity Shops on High Street and the Pound Store (Dollar Store) as it is so good and ended up on an old fashioned open top double-decker bus doing a pub crawl. As you do... We hit the Charity Shops along the way checking out the park and some of the sites and then had lunch at a pub and a couple of pints. We made it to the Pound Shop and then thought on the way back to the flat we would stop into another pub for a drink and happened upon this free pub crawl so we joined it with all of our shopping in hand. It was very random. We ended up having an awesome afternoon touring around in the open top bus and having a pint and some great food along the way, got to love spontaneity.
Check out the photos at the following link;
Pub Crawl in Clapham London Photos

More Copenhagen, Photos

Well today was day two on the free bike in Copenhagen and my pelvis is suffering from it. You know the pain I am talking about, you have all had it. Man, oh, man it is raw. The bike was a great way to get around this city though. Today I met Kelly a girl from Nova Scotia in my room and we toured around together, you can cover so much more ground on the bike. It was fantastic and there was no rain today and the sun was a shinning, yeah. Kelly is like having your own personal photographer, I feel like there are many Sarah shots today. You can see for yourself;
More Copenhagen Denmark Photos