"When we were kids, the sun didn't kill ya!"

Are people really still getting a sunburn? I don't get it - what are they thinking? Have you not read anything in the last few years about the UV rays and the ozone layer?

I am not perfect - I love the sun - I really do - I even love a little color on my skin - I'm not against a tan at all. However, you can still get a tan without torching your skin! Yes, a sunburn turns into a tan - the melanin in your skin gives it color - but it is still possible to tan without burning. Sunscreen blocks UV light from entering your skin and therefore prevents the burn. It does not block all rays - SPF stands for Sunburn Protection Factor followed by the rating which is based on the sunblock's ability to suppress sunburn and lower the amount of DNA damage (yes, that's right, sunburns cause DNA damage).

A few weeks ago I visited my doctor and asked a few questions about the SPF ratings on sunblocks. I usually wear SPF 30, but my face cream only has an SPF 16 in it - so wanted to know exactly what those numbers meant.

She explained that the number is used to calculate your safe exposure time which means the amount of time you have in the sun without burning multiplied by the SPF number gives you the total amount of time protected. I burn easily since I have fair skin - I estimate about 8 minutes in the sun and I have a burn. Therefore, if I'm wearing SPF 30, if you multiply 8 by 30 which is equal to 240 mins or 4 hrs. Now, after hearing this, I thought about it and if I was in the sun for 4 hrs and only applied once, I would most likely have a slight burn. So, I looked it up online to find out what Wiki had to say....

I read that an SPF 10 protects against 90% of the rays, 20 against 95% and 30 against 100% and that you should reapply after 2-3 hrs. So this means that if you aren't wearing SPF 30, you aren't protected 100% and therefore, you will still get burnt.

I also read that some foods protect your skin against the UV light such as beta carotene and lycopene which are found in veggies such as carrots (duh!) and tomatoes. Also, flavonoids which is found in dark chocolate (eat your chocolate before being exposed to the sun, ladies!) helps protect your skin.

Ok, so I wear sunblock daily - I have made it part of my daily routine to apply it when I get out of the shower - I want to be protected (or risk turning into a huge freckle). It is also common knowledge that if you are swimming or sweating that the sunblock will need to be reapplied - even if the sunblock is considered 'water/sweatproof'.

So, on to my title:
"when we were kids, the sun didn't kill ya" says Dylan when I asked him his thoughts. He's French, so just turns dark brown and very rarely gets a burn - that still doesn't mean that he's not affected though. Your skin can be damaged even if you don't see the effect!

Ok, this is more like a vent than a blog entry, but I see people walking the streets with bright red skin and wonder what they are thinking. You may not make applying sunblock as part of your routine, but when you think of the damage that might be happening without you knowing, you might think twice. So....if you go out for a stroll in the hot sun, it should be something that crosses your mind. Another item that might convince you is the aging of the skin that is exposed to the sun - wrinkles are mostly caused by sun exposure - we've all seen the tanned sun worshiper that you know bowed down to the sun in the 70s and 80s and think that we never ever want to look like that....the time has come that we make sure we don't when we head into our middle age.

Ok, that's it for now - I hope that some of you have gained some knowledge about this and may make some changes to protect yourself. Enjoy the sun (protected)!

Summertime in Halifax and the living is good!

It's been 3 months since I've written here and feeling like it's time to get back into it. I was getting a little down after returning to Canada and on the job hunt for so long - but now that has changed and I start my new position on Wednesday with World Wildlife Fund - I can't wait!

The summer is just starting and it's July already. I heard that the weather in Belgium has been scorching - why is it that it rained for the six months I was there? The fog here is comparable to the rain there - it's a daily event!

So Canada celebrated it's 141st Birthday - fun times in the Maritimes! It is so nice to see such spirit among the city - it is really the first weekend of many to come as the summer is just starting. Now I have the JazzFest to look forward to. I volunteer for it every year and have a blast. I wouldn't call myself a huge Jazz fan - but chatting with the musicians, making some new friends volunteering, serving drinks to some fans and just having fun - it is fantastic!

Summertime also brings me a trip to the bungalow in Mira! My favorite place in the whole world. Now that I have a niece, it is especially exciting knowing that she lives to close. Now, I don't expect her to go tubing or jump off the float just yet - but that time will come!

Yah for summer!

Back in the Saddle...

Back in the city...
It's been over 3 weeks since returning to Canada and the differences are becoming clear the more time I spend here. On one hand, it is so nice to be home, but there are some things that I miss about being in Belgium.

One thing that I love about being home is having friends and family a phone call away! It is so nice to be able to hop in the car and meet up with friends, get together with them for supper, see new homes, renovations and paint jobs and just be all around more social. That was the hardest thing about living so far away - not being close to the people I care so much about.

As I am now mooching off of friends the last few weeks, I am most excited about moving into my new apartment. I move on May 2nd to a huge apartment that I deserve. After living in a shoebox the last 6 months, it is going to be overwhelming to live in such a huge place (3 bedroom in Clayton Park). It is going to be like Christmas opening all the boxes that I haven't seen in so long and now I wonder what I was thinking packing and keeping all my old belongings. There are a few things that I miss (hairdryer, curling iron, green tshirt), but I really don't remember the stuff that 6 months ago I felt I couldn't live without.

As for Brussels, I miss my good friend Alison, a girlfriend who was up for absolutley anything any day of the week, I miss the bakery (although I've been doing alot of baking since I've gotten home), the language and most of all, the subway. I see the Metro Transit busses chugging along through the city and wonder how I am going to adjust to waiting at a bus stop for a slow moving bus that runs on a schedule, ugh! When taking the subway, it ultimately runs on your schedule since it comes every 4 minutes or so. If you miss the first one, the next is very close behind!

Living away was a great experience that I am happy I have accomplished. Many people say "Happy to be home?" and I reply "yes, very happy"....in saying that, most people think I couldn't have lasted another day away - not necessarily. As being home for a bit now, I could go back in a second and make a life there comfortably (never permanently), but would still miss the same things as before - mostly friends and family. Therefore, I am in a place now that will make and keep me happy!

I advise anyone who has the opportunity to live in another country (even for a short period of time) to take advantage of that. It was so interesting to experience the day to day life of another culture. Perhaps I would have been happier in a place where it didn't rain everyday, but I enjoyed every moment of it and shed a tear when leaving. When we were packing, Dylan asked "Are you going to miss this apartment?" and I said "Nope, not even a little" and I was right, the apartment I will never miss, but the lifestyle, culture and experiences, I do miss. I also had a little cry saying goodbye to Alison (although she may not have noticed). It was sad saying goodbye to my 'partner in crime' for the last 6 months. Although I come back to some great friends, she made my overseas experience unforgettable!

It is a different life for me here and the biggest difference is having a car again (or the availability of a car). I never depended on a vehicle while being away - I walked everywhere and didn't think anything of it. I would put on my raincoat, grab my umbrella and purse and head out (even if it wasn't raining, best to take the umbrella anyway because chances are that it will rain in a very short period of time). Having a vehicle, I do what all the citizens of HRM do - hop in the car and get shit done. Drop into the superstore to pick up some extra things, head to the mall to browse, go to the bank - it is impossible to live without a vehicle here and now that I'm not living downtown, I can't imagine not having one. With the prices of gas (1.32/L now), it is so expensive to drive, and although it is suggested that people use public transportation, it is hard to imagine depending on it no matter what the cost of gas is.

So - to sum things up - I am definatley happy to be home and will be happier once I get my own space and unpack. I do miss Brussels and the whole European experience as a whole, but I think that I am better off on my own stomping grounds and start to make my life here. After spending two weeks at home in Sydney and a week in Halifax, I now know for sure that this is where I am supposed to be and am excited to get settled! Too bad it's raining today though...

My Love and Hate lists of Belgium

Well, the day has come that we are packing and leaving our European adventure behind us.....
It was a great 6 months, but we are both anxious to get home and continue on with our lives with our families and friends back in Nova Scotia. I have compiled a top ten list for all the best and worst things about my life here - hope you enjoy!
(the pic is of the monument at Parc Cinquentenaire which is right across the street from my apt)

Top Ten Worst Things about living in Belgium:

10. Not having a car and travelling underground on the subway - I've probably only seen about 20% of the city because I just pop up like a groundhog to the places I want to go.

9. Having to find things in a grocery store with no English (ex. when I couldn't find flour, I asked someone in French for "fleur" and they pointed me towards the plant section....flour is farine)

8. Belgian drivers - they are friggin nuts! Watch yourself in a crosswalk because you might get run over!

7. Dutch TV/subtitles/French TV - we only have 1 full English channel - BBC1

6. Belgian manners (they are lacking) - cutting lines, butting in front of you on the metro, rude salesclerks....etc.

5. People begging for money with baby's in their arms - women sit on the side of the road with their babies beggin all passersby for money "pour mon bebe"!

4. Shelf milk - yuck!

3. Living in a small apartment with no oven, no tub and no counterspace!

2. Dog poop everywhere - there is no law here requiring people to pick up dog poop...therefore, it is everywhere - on sidewalk, in metro, on road, on shoes....it is disgusting!

1. Rain - need I say more? (Slogan - "Belgium....where rain is typical")



Top 10 Best Things about living in Belgium:

10. Exploring the city - Brussels is quite large and around every corner is a place I've never seen before.

9. The laxidaisy attitude of europeans - no one is in a hurry or has any urgence to get things done (this can also make the 'worst' list and would if I lived here).

8. Fresh baked goods and pastry - the bakery around the corner has gotten alot of business from me over the past six months.

7. Making new friends and meeting new people and seeing a new culture! It was great to experience so many new things and really opened my eyes to new ideas!

6. The metro/subway - I'm not sure how I'm going to adjust to waiting for a bus after using the subway for the past 6 months - it comes almost every 3 minutes and always gets me where I need to go with no traffic!

5. Drinking in public - the novelty has worn off, but I do love the fact that it is an option to stop in a corner store, pick up a can of Jupiler, continue on my way while sipping the golden bliss!

4. Mannekin Pis - my favorite peeing boy! (and all his costumes - here he is dressed like a peeing painter)

3. Belgian waffles - yum!

2. Travelling - Belgium is surrounded by 4 countries and many others are a very short distance away! Also love the cheap airlines (I will never forget that 2 of us flew to Dublin for 53 euro - I couldn't get to Dartmouth for that!)

1. Beer - Belgium has over 1000 brands of beer brewed locally!

A day at the spa...in Spa (the town)

There really is a place in Belgium called Spa! In Spa, we went to Thermes de Spa which was a blast. Now, this CB girl has never been to a spa before, ever...and I loved it! Thermes de Spa is located at the top of a steep cliff overlooking the town of Spa.

It has 800 square metres of indoor and outdoor pools with bubbles, pressure things and spouts that you can lean against. We arrived around noon and stayed until about 7:30 pm and enjoyed every moment. I spent most of the day in the outdoor pools (pictured here). The indoor pools were nice too, but breathing in the cool air while swimming around in the heated pools was so nice - I have never done anything like that before! In the evening the steam coming off the outdoor pool was really pretty.

There is a sauna and a steam room, but I don't like to breath in hot air, so that didn't interest me too much. I tried the relaxation room which where lounge chairs in a room with black light with calming music above, but that didn't really do it for me either....I just wanted to get back into the huge bathtub!

Another thing that I did love was the heat lamps. There were lounge chairs set up with your own heat lamp above so you could dry off under the warm red light after getting out of the pool. That was really nice. They also had a little canal that you could float through as the jets would push you along - I did this over and over - it was fun - would be more fun with an inner tube though!:)

I literally spent about 6 of the 7 hours we were there swimming around in the pools and was a complete prune by the time we left last night! Anyone who comes to Belgium, this is a must! Thanks to our friends Andrew and Alison for taking us there on our last weekend in Belgium!

Munich and Frankfurt, Germany

After exploring the Alps, Austria and the Black forest, our goal was to make it to Munich and find a hotel that night. Because the trip was kinda unplanned, we had no reservations. It was easy to find the hotel in Triberg the night before - we walked in to the first one we saw and got 2 rooms....in Munich, a huge city, it proved to be a little more difficult!

We arrived in the evening around 8pm and couldn't find anything that looked remotely in our price range. 'Donna' only knew how to take us to the city centre and that was it, so it wasn't easy to get around. We went to McDonalds and used the internet there and some of us (mainly me) may have gotten a little cranky when finding a hotel wasn't as easy as we'd planned!

After a few hours of roaming around and a little cursing (mainly from the bus driver that Dylan cut off while pullling into a gas station - the bus driver pulled over and started screaming at him in German), we arrived at our hotel at about 10pm, had a well deserved beer (I was craving a drink) and some supper and crashed!

The next morning we explored Munich and my favorite part was having a few beers at the local joint and listening to the Oompah Band....it was classic! We went to the Residence museum in the city square which was impressive and walked around the city.

Although I was dying to try some weiner schnitzel and other German specialties, it didn't happen. I did have the option at one point, but once I found out what they were, I opted for a salad!

We left early afternoon and headed home....well, the direction towards Belgium. We drove and drove and drove and stopped in Frankfurt that evening for a late supper before arriving in Brussels about midnight!

The Alps

Crossing the border from Germany to Austria, we got our first glimpse of the this spectacular mountaing range. The Alps stretch through 7 countries - from east to west - Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, and France (and yes, Liechtenstein is a country)!

I was in awe at my first glimpse and was so glad we decided to drive to Austria at the last minute to see this amazing sight! Kelly's Mountain is no comparison to what I witnessed here!

Once into the Alps, we drove through a ton of small communties that were totally based on ski tourism. In some spots, we'd be driving down a road with mountains surrounding us on all sides and looking at the mountains, all you could see were ski lifts....it was hard to tell where they started and where they stopped, but the mountains were filled with skiers at every angle. The most popular ski town we passed through was St. Anton where we read they have 600 hotels in the area....now this was a small town - we drove through in about 4 minutes, but it was scattered with hotels. We had to go about 25km/hr because people were everywhere carrying skis and walking around in their ski boots - I have a craving to go skiiing in St. Anton now and have made it one of my goals!

We spent alot of the day driving through the alps and through some snowy areas. I was much calmer driving through the snow at this point in time, since we were mostly at the base of the mountains and not at the top this time. I'm not sure of the elevation we reached while driving, but the highest mountain in Austia reaches almost 3800 metres. We stopped the car numerous times to get some pictures and spent most of the day gazing out the windows!

The Black Forest

One thing I recommend when travelling to unknown places is to get a book with the details of the areas. I went to the library and got 5 books for our travels. We all have spend hours perusing through the books and they have given us some insight on what to see and where to go! Reading about Western Europe, Germany, Netherlands, Munich and Austria has helped us decide where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see!

We knew in advance that we were driving to Germany, but weren't exactly sure where....I thought Berlin, but after checking out some of the literature, it was decided that we were heading to the Black Forest - 200 km mountain range in south-western Germany. The Black Forest is famous for its Black Forest Cake - no joke! Although we all wanted to taste some of this famous cake (especially Linda), we never had the opportunity!

We left Friday morning and headed towards Germany. Funny when you leave Brussels, you can pass through so many countries in a little amount of time! We drove through Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and arrived in Germany late afternoon. No one was expecting it, but Germany was very snowy in some places and filled with blooming flowers in other places!

We followed the directions that 'Donna' gave us (Donna is our fake GPS via CD - who would say stuff like "drive straight 500m and make a u-turn if possible") towards the Black Forest and ended up passing through some wonderful towns along the way. We took the scenic route which allowed us to see some great places that we may not have been able to see otherwise. We arrived at Baden-Baden and drove to Fruedenstadt in the afternoon and then up a mountain where the roads were so bad that we ended up turning around and taking another route. The rental cars here hardly ever see snow, so the tires weren't great and there were a few people stuck ahead of us....I was extremely glad to get off the snowy mountain with the narrow twisty roads - my heart couldn't take it! The picture above was taken in Shiltach which was said to be the 'prettiest town in the Black Forest' and it lived up to this standard! We stayed in Triberg that night in a small quaint hotel along side a waterfall. Triberg gets its name from the 3 mountains that meet at this little town. This is where the 2 largest cookoo clocks in Europe are found (see pic below).

At 9am the next morning we went to see the big cookoo clock 'coo'....it was funny. When we went into the store we thought they would all be going nuts at 9am, but it ended up that they all had different times set so they went off randomly every few minutes. Cookoo clocks are all handmade here and were very nice, but not necessarily nice enough to buy one (they ranged from about 100 e to 3500 e).

On Sunday morning we continued through the Black Forest and headed towards Austria. We drove through the Alps which is one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen! It was quite surreal being surrounded by snow-capped mountains and some of the nicest scenery I have ever seen!

This trip was filled with lots of laughs, sights and some great times with Dylan's family!

Adventures in western Europe - Netherlands

Dylan's parents - Kenny and Linda - are here to visit for a week and we are having a blast and taking in lots of sights while doing some road trips. They arrived last Monday and we celebrated St. Paddy's Day in some pubs around the city. We checked out 2 Irish pubs and drank some Guiness, although the Irish pubs were both blasting dance music - so we didn't last too long. We went to the "coffin bar" which is located close to the city square and drank our beer out of skulls and our table was a casket - how fitting for my family! St. Paddy's day was very low key compared to my experiences in Halifax - that's for sure!

On Tuesday morning we headed towards the Netherlands to visit Amsterdam and the surrounding areas. Netherlands by car was an interesting excursion! Previously I had only been there by train so was nice to drive along the outskirts and see the farms and fields on the outskirts. We stayed in a cozy apartment close to Dam Square and went to see the sights. The weather was off and on raining all day but we toughed it out and walked around all evening. We visited the red light and the coffeshops - the most famous sights in Amsterdam. Later in the evening we went to the jenever bar called Wynand Fockink (introduced to me by Alison on my last adventure to Amsterdam) - jenever is a type of gin made in Holland. There are 'rules' to drinking jenever. The bartender fills the glass (shot glass on a stem - see pic) up to the very top almost overflowing and before you pick it up you have to bend down and sip the top of it off the bar . It is very strong, but tasty as you can pick from a long list of flavors. We topped the evening off with supper at a pizzeria and headed back to our 'apt' for the night. The next morning we checked out the flower market and walked the canals. While we were eating breakfast, we got our first glimpse of snow this winter - I was surprised to see it, but little did I know how much snow was to come in the next week.

We left and drove to check out the many tulip fields in Holland. We saw some scattered tulips, but most of the fields were covered in daffodils for easter. The colors and flat fields were beatiful - and easy to see what it would look like in about a week's time when it would be in full bloom! There is a yearly tulip festival called the Keukenhoff Tulip Festival near Lisse, Netherlands where and many people come to check out the bulbfields. The pictures of the tulip fields are not what we saw - they are what we would have seen in a week's time!

Wednesday night on the way home we stopped in Den Haag (The Hague) for supper. We walked along the windy freezing beach (see the waves in the pic) and stopped in lots of places until we finally found somewhere good to eat. At one of the places we stopped to check out, we sat down for a minute before deciding that it didn't look good, and left. I walked up the road and all of a sudden realized and screamed "I left my purse there"! Can you beleive it? How stunned am I? After what I went through last week in Greece, this was one of my dumbest moments. It was there waiting for me, but since then, I've gotten abused and hounded with reminders making sure my purse is always by my side!

Athens & Aegina, Greece

On Friday evening, we left for Athens, Greece. To get there from Brussels, we caught (barely) a connecting flight in Frankfurt, Germany with about 2 minutes to spare. Because of our late flight leaving Brussels, we had, literally, 10 minutes to run to our gate to get our connection. We made it, but our luggage didn't.

Once at the airport, we got a bus into the city, then a taxi to our hotel - the Economy Hotel. When we arrived, they had lost our reservations and didn't expect us, but we got a room and besides a very upsetting experience (I'm going to save the details for another post to make sure I don't ruin the details of this trip) - had a good sleep.

On Saturday morning we awoke to a beautiful sunny day, about 22 degrees, and headed out to start this wonderful vacation! We went to the Acropolis (acropolis is a general term, but b/c the most famous is in Athens, it is known as The Acropolis) - where the most famous ruins overlook the beautiful city of Greece. You can see the Acropolis (Acro - top, polis - city, the "top-city") from all over the city - at night it is all lit up and breathtaking! We explored many sites at this location - including the Parthenon (pictured here), the Propolaea, the Erechtheum and many other unknown ruins. The Acropolis is covered in pieces of marble - like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Actually, everywhere we walked, there were piles of marble on the sides of the roads, in fenced in areas and shelves - Athens is a huge puzzle and they are trying to put it all together.

Surrounding the Acropolis is grounds covered in ruins, so as you walk up the paths to the top, the grounds are scattered with parts of buildings and statues. One of the most interesting pieces of this is the Theatre of Dionysus. It is a huge open air theatre dating back to 6th century B.C. The theatre was carved out of the side of the mountain of Acropolis and although there is little left, it was an amazing site! In this picture, I'm reading about the theatre - there isn't much left of it as you can see, but imagine what it was like almost 3000 years ago.


To the left is a picture of the Temple of Hephaestus which was my favorite site and sight! This building is in the Agora district close to the Acropolis. It was lit up at night and was right next to a street of cafes and restaurants.
On Saturday night we ate our first real Greek meal - salad, tzatziki, moussaka and souvlaki - everything was delicious. We literally had Greek salad at every single meal (except breakfast). We tried mostly everything except the octopus which is quite popular in Greece. On the streets, there are vendors everywhere selling Kritsinia which is a round breadstick coated in sesame seeds. They cost about 50 cents and you can choose from soft or hard. I tried one, but Dylan opted for the chocolate filled bread (of course). We ate Gyros for many lunches also- souvlaki in pita with tomatoes and onions - they were cheap and quick to grab en route. The food was really delicious and made the experience more authentic!

On Sunday we went to see the changing of the guards at the Greek Parliament Building in Syntagma Square. It was interesting to see, but the best part was their uniforms. They wear pleated skirts - not like a kilt, more like a linen dress just past their bum - with tassels around their knees and big (actually, enormous) pompoms on their shoes (see picture of fantastic uniforms). The best part of this was the little old man skipping around the crowd dressed like a woman - you could see his thong, panty hose and mini skirt as he skipped by - it was hilarious! He wasn't part of the show, but put on his own act and sang as he skipped by the crowd....he may have been a little simple, I'm thinking!

We headed towards the flea market after this. The largest flea market is on Sundays and goes on for many blocks. We walked through, but didn't buy anything, although we were haggled a lot by people with briefcases full of watches, sheets full of purses and stacks of ripped movies....it really got annoying after awhile. We experienced these vendors everywhere we went!

We ate at an interesting restaurant on Sunday afternoon - it was an 'authentic' Greek restaurant on on the other side of the hill of the Acropolis. There were no menus, just a man who came to your table with a large tray of small plates of food. You pick what you want off the tray and they charge by the plate. We tried eggplant, pork, meatballs, salad (of course) and tzatziki. It was a lot like tapas, except the tray was filled before heading to the next table.

This picture is the Temple of Olympian Zeus which has 15 columns still remaining. Construction began in the 6th century BC and the column that you see on the ground fell in 1852. It was quite impressive!

On Sunday night we walked around the Monastiraki - which is full of walking streets - and took in the sites of Carnival. It is celebrated before lent and people dress up and hit each other with clubs to get the bad spirits out of you. We got bonked on the butt and head many, many times while walking through the streets. They sell plastic clubs (like you would picture a caveman to have) on the streets. There were street DJs, dances, costumes everywhere and it was great to experience part of the Greek culture. This is celebrated weeks before lent, but this was the last weekend - Monday was a national holiday - Monday Pure.

One thing that was very sad in Greece was the amount of stray dogs on the streets. At any given time you can see a half dozen dogs roaming around (as there are 6 dogs in this picture hanging around the entrance to the ruins here at the bottom of the acropolis) - some with collars, some without - looking for food. They weren't dangerous at all (we walked by all of these dogs on the way into this site), but it made me upset thinking about them without a home. Nobody really payed any attention to them (I talked to them, but never touched them as they were very dirty). I asked someone why there are so many and they said there is no animal control in Athens, so if a dog runs away or is abandoned, they just live on the streets. It was very sad! One thing I have to say though is that none of them were starving - they were all overweight! So they definitely get enough food! I saw many dishes of water set out as well, so there are people who do think of them regularly. It broke my heart to see them though because they were beautiful dogs and I would have taken any one of them home!

Another culture shock was the amount of smokers everywhere! There were no places that people weren't allowed to smoke. In our travels, I have never seen a country where smoking is embraced like it is in Greece. The airport, buses, taxis, restaurants, clothing stores...everywhere we went, people were smoking. It was so different to walk into a souvenir shop and the woman would come up with a cig in her hand and ask if she could help me find anything - it was so different from the strict smoking rules at home and even here in Belgium. There is no smoking in any airports that I have been to - except maybe a small glassed in room that I saw in Frankfurt....in Athens, people lit up as soon as they were off the plane and smoked while waiting for their luggage.

On Monday morning we headed for the ferry terminal and went to the island of Aegina. It was about an hour and a half by ferry and was great to see the city from the water. The ferry was very similar to the PEI ferry boat. Once we got there we walked to the beach and took in some of the views of the other islands. Seafood is sold on the streets here and we saw the fish market where sea urchins and octopus were most popular. We walked to the ruins, but the area was closed due to the holiday, so we just enjoyed the calmness of the island and sat on a patio and had our fill of Greek beer! We went around 3pm to get tickets home, and realized that we just made the last boat at 6pm since all the others were sold out. We heard of many people getting stuck on the island, but we were lucky to get seats on the last boat. On Monday night once we went back to the hotel and got cleaned up, we went out for night photos (a must when you're travelling with Dylan) and saw all the ruins lit up at night - it was gorgeous! We walked around for hours taking in the sights and getting our fill of more clubbing from costumed Greeks!

On Tuesday we spent most of the day figuring out my huge problem (next post), but got to travel up Mount Lycabettus by cable car to see wonderful views of the city. Once we got up there, i was shocked to see how big the city really was! There are 5 million people in Athens and 11 million people in surrounding areas. It was huge! The views were fantastic and we got to see the ocean from the mountain which was like a story book setting!

Tuesday afternoon we finally got my situation straightened out and headed for the airport by metro. The metro in Athens is the cleanest metro I have ever seen! It was mostly built for the Olympics, so it is fairly new, but there were staff in every station sweeping and cleaning (I've never seen anyone clean the metro in Brussels).
We arrived safe and sound in Brussels last night around 11:30pm and were exhausted! The change in Frankfurt was quick (we had 10 mins), but it was only 2 gates away so we made it with no problems!

I recommend Greece highly to anyone who wants to experience a different culture. Out of all the countries I've seen, Greece is definitely the most interesting and most fun - whether you want to visit a big city or tropical location, Greece really has it all!

The Case of the Missing Purse (and its contents)

Imagine - being in a foreign country and realizing as you reach down to get your passport that your purse is missing - that was me on Friday night! We arrived in Athens late Friday night and got the bus into the city from the airport. On the bus, I got a piece of gum - that was the last time I remember having my purse. The bus dropped us off at a square in the city where we got out and tried to get our bearings in order to find our hotel. A few men came over to help us figure out the map and where we were going - one was the taxi driver - we didn't know who the others were - and we hopped in a cab and headed for the hotel. I'm not blaming the other men....I didn't feel anyone cut if off my shoulder....I have been analyzing this since it happened and really cannot figure out how and when I lost it.

When we got to the hotel, I realized that it was gone about 2 minutes after getting out of the cab. Dylan ran outside, but the cab was gone. I could have left it on the bus, could have left it in the cab, I really have no idea.

After crying for awhile, Dylan gave me a pen and paper and instructed me to write down everything that was missing. He started calling credit card companies and I sat and cried. The worst part was not having a passport - I had no idea what we were going to have to do to get me out of the country in 4 days. I called the Canadian Embassy in Ottawa and the woman I spoke with was pretty much useless telling me that I should never keep my birth certificate with my passport - thanks for the advice and compassion but it's a little too late for that!

That night I slept a bit on and off, but dreamt about a knock on the door from someone who was returning my purse or our luggage because that was lost too....it never happened. The next morning I was still quite upset, but I got direction to "get over it" and make the best of the vacation. That is what I did! I tried to forget that I lost everything that was important to me - my passport (most important), my license, all IDs, camera, phone, MP3, sunglasses, etc.....

All weekend I kept reaching for it or looking for things that were in it. I had to buy sunglasses and lypsol right away and that was all I carried with me the whole trip! Dylan took the pictures and I supervised :)

On Saturday morning, we went to the Athens Police Station to file a report. It was like a prison there, dark and dirty. The detective who took my statement was sitting behind a desk smoking and barely spoke English. No one there was very helpful, but i got my report alright and I didn't' realize it then, but I needed the report to get a new passport reissued, so was lucky that I did.

We knew the Embassy in Athens was closed on Saturday and Sunday, but we walked there Sunday anyway to make sure we knew exactly where it was. We talked to a guard outside and he said to come back at 830 Monday morning. We were there early Monday to find out that it was closed for the Greek holiday "Monday Pure". It was so upsetting to find out that Monday it was closed and our flight left at 6pm on Tuesday, so I only had the day to get things straighted out. On Sunday, I bought a Greek good luck charm (a glass eye) that I wore around my neck for the rest of the trip, but felt that it didn't work too well since I was having terrible luck so far - my luck ended up changing for the better.

I called the Embassy in Ottawa to tell them that I needed to get things started in order to get my passport for Tuesday because we were told it takes a minimum of 24hrs. Thank goodness that Dylan told me to do this or I would still be in Greece right now! It was this phone call that sped up the application process so when the Embassy opened in Athens on Tuesday morning, they had all the information they needed to get me on my way!

We enjoyed our day - really, our whole trip - regardless of my huge loss.

On Tuesday morning, without any ID, it took a bit to get into the Canadian Embassy, but I got in there and started the paperwork! How do you get in somewhere where you need ID when I didn't have anything to prove who I was except my fingerprints? (btw, I've never been arrested and therefore, never fingerprinted except when i was about 10 years old when my Dad worked in Ident and my brother and I got gag mugshots taken).

Dylan took this shot of me while we were exploring while waiting for my passport. It was kind of a joke like the "where's waldo" of the Canadian Embassy. The flag is very small, but you can see it between the tree and to the left of my shoulder.

Originally, I was told that the only way to get replacement passport was if I was going back to Canada, they wouldn't issue one to someone who was continuing on in Europe, so I thought I was going to end up arriving in the snowy weather in capris and a tee shirt. Once I turned on the tears and explained that I needed to go back to Belgium for 3 weeks, they were very helpful - tears really do work, ladies!

I had to go get new passport photos done (with sun burnt face) and was told to come back at noon. We went out for a bit exploring and were back shortly after noon to find out that it was going to take longer. At about 1:30pm, I left with a temporary passport and a smile on my face! This is me finally smiling with my shiny new white passport, my worry beads and my Canadian tee (I thought the tee would help me at the Embassy)!

This was quite possibly the scariest experience of my life. Besides losing my passport, I am still a little upset over losing everything else that was important and private to me in my purse - I know all the ladies out there will understand - I have to start from scratch now and start getting things replaced. I owe a lot to Dylan because he was so calm and knew exactly what to do. I was lucky to have him there with me to keep me thinking clearly and to support me - Thanks!

Another trip home...

As many of you know, I lost my Grampie on Sunday, February 24th. Life is going to be hard with him not here, he was a wonderful man and he will be missed. We share the same birthday, so every year I will celebrate his life on this day.

It was so hard being away from my famly at this time and I think Dylan and I both realize now, that we want to be home. Being in a different country, on the other side of the ocean is so different than being a few hours drive away. We are both really looking forward to getting back to Canada. We both lost someone close to us since Christmas and travelled home to be with our family and friends during the hard times, but it is not the same as being home and having them close at both the good times and the bad!

I am lucky to have great friends at home who really looked out for me and helped me - putting me up for a few nights, lending a vehicle, making me smile and taking care of me - thank you!

When I was driving back to Halifax after being in Sydney with my family for a week, there was a blizzard on the mainland and the driving was rough. I'm not comfortable driving in snow at all, but this was bad! I decided to stop in New Glascow to get a coffee and see what the forecast was. After talking to a few people at Tim's, I decided to stop and call home to get Dad to check the weather forecast. I heard that there were multiple accidents on the way to Truro and was too nervous to keep driving. I walked over to the hotel next door to Tim's and used the payphone in the lobby. While on the phone, I heard a familiar voice and turned around to see Dylan's Aunts Bev and Darlene, who were driving home from Halifax and decided to stop because the weather was so bad on the way home. It was so great to see some familiar faces when I was worried about the drive and they kindly offered to let me stay with them for the night. It was like someone was looking out for me! I thankfully accepted and had a wonderful evening with the ladies. I even got my own bed, which was very kind!
Thank you both Bev and Darlene for the great hospitality!

I left the next morning to drive to Halifax. On my way, I stopped in Dartmouth Crossing, then continuted to get lost in Dartmouth. While driving down one of the main roads, a cop walked out into traffic and motioned for me to turn the corner and pull over. I thought there was an accident ahead, so immediately followed the orders and rolled down my window. When he came over, I was shocked to see that he had the gun (speed gun, not bullet gun) pointing at me to show me that he had just caught me doing 72 in a 50....ugh....what bad luck!

I passed over my license and waited in the car thinking to myself that since this was the first time getting pulled over for speeding that he would issue a warning and I would be on my way....slowly. He returned with a fine for $279, I lose my license for 10 days and lose 3 points on my license....imagine! I was shocked and upset...the tears didn't help me this time though!

I rode the break the whole way to Terri's in Dartmouth, getting passed by every other car on the road. I still don't beleive that I got a ticket - HRM cops are on a power trip!


I flew out on Wednesday after a bad ice storm on Tuesday night and made it as far as Montreal where my flight was cancelled to Washington. I ended up having to wait in the Montreal airport for 8 hrs to leave and flew to Frankfurt and finally arrived in Brussels the next day at 11am....was a long 24hrs, but I made it finally safe and sound.

Little did I know at this point that my bad luck would continue...

Barcelona, Spain

Everyone I talked to said that Barcelona was the place to go.....and they were right. A huge city with a small feel to it situated on the north eastern coast of Spain right on the Mediteranean Sea - it was heaven!

We arrived in Spain on Friday night and made it to our hotel with no problems. It is about a half hour bus ride to the city and then a metro ride to our hotel. Our hotel was 4 stops away from the main city square - Catalunya. It was about 10pm by the time we got to our hotel, so we didn't make it too far - just explored a bit and got a good nights sleep.

On Saturday morning, we walked to the Sagrada Familial - the first of many works of Gaudi that we would see. The Sagrada Familial has been under construction since 1882 and there is still alot of work left to do. The temple has the most unique design I have ever seen, it is decorated with architecture that I would never dream that is possible. Some of the designs that are built into the stone work are so intricate and detailed, that I would think it is imposible to include them in the basic walls of a building. The photo here shows the front of the temple - it is hard to see, but the detail is fascinating. On the other side of the church, Gaudi included in his design sculptures of birds, a pine tree, fruit baskets, etc....things you wouldn't expect to see on the outside of a church!

On our way to the temple, we walked through a market that was just getting set up for the day. This is my favorite picture of our trip - this dog was running back and forth on the roof of a building barking - drooling over the yummy smells coming from the street below. He was sticking his head over the side of the building to get a glimpse of the food - it was too cute! This picture shows his head sticking over the side - it was hard to get since he wasn't staying still for too long. You can see his head sticking over the side of the building here - I love dogs!!!

After we left the Sagrada Familial, we headed onto the metro toward the downtown core where we purchased tickets to the Hop On Hop Off tour bus. This was a great purchase (thanks to some friends suggesting it) - we saw so much that we wouldn't have seen if we just rode the metro. The weather was beautiful (about 16-18 degrees all weekend and sunny), so we got to sit on the top of the open air bus and enjoy the sun and the sights - I even got a sunburn with SPF 30 on!

Driving around the city and taking in the sights, we saw some of the buildings in Barcelona that Gaudi had designed before his death in 1926. One was designed like a dragon, another like a skeleton and another that was nature inspired. They were some of the most beautiful buildings I had ever seen! We wore our green headsets (see Dylan in picture) that pointed out all the essential sights. Dylan said that I was more into the "hopping on" than the "hopping off" - but it was just so nice to be driven around that I was in a trance with all the things to see. Palm trees were everywhere and although it was chilly in the shade, the blue sky was dreamy!
One of the first stops we made was on the way up to the mountains towards a castle on the top of a hill overlooking the sea. Since I'm used to Halifax scenery, it was odd to me that Barcelona is in a valley with mountains on both sides, then the sea on the other side of the mountain coast. The views from the top of the mountain were breathtaking - although, the shipyard that took up alot of the scene brought me back into the reality that we were in a big city. This picture was taken of the harbour. The harbour is full of activity with sailboats and barges - it was loaded with action. If you turned to the right from this shot, it would be the shipyard that went for miles. Another stop we made was at the Olympic Village. Some of the ports were built just for the olympics along with many parts of the waterfront which were redevelopped. This picture of the Sagrada Familiale was taken from the top of the mountain (zoomed in) and shows how huge the church actually is compared to the rest of the city.

On Saturday we spent alot of time on the bus roaming around the city. We had lunch on La Ramblas which is the main walking street. It goes from one end of the city to the centre square with lots to see along the way (outdoor vendors, shopping, restaurants). It was so fun to walk around and browse the local vendors tables (there was alot of jewellery which I loved, but I didn't splurge and purchase any).

On Saturday night we walked La Ramblas looking for a place to eat. We ended up walking right by a parade celebrating the end of Carnival. Carnival is celebrated all over Europe (kids even get a week off for it) and it is the same as Mardi Gras. The word "carnival" means in Latin "to take away eating meat". It is celebrated before lent and the costumes and wild outfits are to scare away demons. The parade had dragons and odd animals that shot firewords, there were thousands of people gathered on the streets to witness this mascarade (see pic).

On Sunday morning we hopped on our bus tour and headed on the red line (we went on the blue line on Saturday). The red line took us to the opposite side of the city and our first stop was at the Parc Guell - a park designed by Gaudi. At first, I was not excited by a park, I wanted to see important stuff - but this ended up to be my favorite part of the trip. The park was filled with mosaic designs and benches that were beautiful (see the wavy bench in the pic on the right - it is covered in mosaic designs)! The famous lizard made from mosaic is located in this park (see picture - but ignore the ass on the left side). It was so hot there - we walked around for over an hour taking in all the sights.

We got off and travelled up the mountains to a church that was located at the top. It was the weirdest sight to see a huge church that was surrounded by a circus fair....there were slides, rides, swings, ferris wheels, and tons of kids running around eating cotton candy - by a church!

On Sunday evening, we went for Tapas - I wasn't sure what I was in for - but they were delicious. Since I'm not a big seafood eater, we had less choice since seafood is so popular here, but we found some things we liked and enjoyed it. Communicating in Spanish was not easy and the tapas restaurant we went to was off the beaten track, so they didn't speak any English - we did alot of pointing and grunting when trying to communicate - but everyone was very accomadating!

We got up early Monday and left Barcelona....our flight was at 10am, so we were up early to get to the airport in traffic. Arriving in Belgium, I was in shock when I got off the plane because the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day.....I'm so used to rain here that I was in shock to see the sunshine!

Canadian War Memorials in France and Belgium

Continuing our adventure from my last post....

On Sunday morning, we left Sedan, France and headed towards Vimy. Vimy was almost a 300km drive - we drove towards Reims and then northwest to Vimy. The scenery along the trip was very plain with lots of farms, fields and wind turbines. I have never seen so many wind turbines in my life as I did along this highway. We also saw 2 deer grazing in a field, but I wasn't quick enough with the camera. There were alot of horses and sheep. The land was extremely flat!

We arrived at Vimy around 11am and really appreciated the memorial site. The designer of the war memorial was Walter Seymour Allard from Toronto who won a competition for his design in 1922. It took 11 years to complete the project. I had seen pictures of the memorial previously, but had no idea how huge it was. It was a moving experience to be here and in the spot where the war was fought - it made me both sad and proud.
The Vimy Ridge War Memorial was restored and rededicated on April 9, 2007, commemorating the 90th anniversary of the battle on this field. We watched a video at the visitor's centre showing how they did this. It took almost 4 years for them to restore it.

The Canadian War Memorial is so big that it can be seen from 30 kms in every direction. At night, the centre (between the 2 massive structures) is lit up so it is never in darkness. In 1922, use of the land to construct a memorial was given by the French nation to the people of Canada in recognition of Canada's war efforts.

The visitor's centre was very interesting and was nice to see some fellow Canadian faces (and people who spoke English). All employees at Vimy Ridge Memorial site are Canadians working on site. The site also has original trenches from the war which you can walk through. The surrounding area around the memorial is loaded with craters and is blocked off with electric fence with signs posted saying "Danger, undetonated explosives" (see picture). This really brings things into perspecitve as the war was fought on this ground. We visited the Cemetary at Vimy Ridge and walked around the grounds.

We left Vimy and headed towards Passendale to see the St. Julien Memorial site. This monument is in remembrance of those who experienced the first gas attack of the war. This was much smaller, but still very interesting to see. In Passendale, we went to the war memorial museum, but it was closed, so we walked around a park that has tools used during the war on site. We also visited Tyne Cot Cemetary in Ypres where over 70% of the graves are marked with headstones which are inscribed with the words "Known Unto God". Their identities were unknown at the time of burial. Their names are all noted on a wall within the cemetary now. There are 966 Canadian soldiers buried at Tyne Cot.

At every site we visited, we signed the visitor's log. We looked through it at every site and saw people from around the world visiting the Commonwealth War Graves. One that stuck out was a couple from Halifax who visited Tyne Cot exactly one week before we were there. It was also nice to see people from other countries visiting the Canadian War Memorial sites.

We left Ypres, Belgium and drove toward Brussels and arrived late evening. Once we got into the city, we had a hard time finding our way back to our apartment. It's funny that when you travel by train and subway, you pop up like groundhogs every once in awhile, but never really know how you got there. I've mentioned before that in Brussels, there is a lack of stop lights and roundabouts - the rule of the right applies at all intersections - so, me being on the right side of the car, I was gripping the door like a maniac and my eyes were darting back and forth (like that was going to save me).
On the way home, we spotted the Atomium (building shaped like an iron atom which was built for the World Expo in 1958). It was all sparkly and nice so we stopped to admire it. I have seen it during the day, but this was a first at night. We made it home after about an hour of driving around Brussels, unpacked the car and headed back out to the airport to return the rental.

It was a great weekend - we saw so many interesting things that were on our "list" of things to see. I am no longer nervous about driving in Europe - it's the same as home, just alot faster!

Rhine River

What a weekend! We didn't end up going to Amsterdam, instead we rented a car and drove to Germany to see the famous Rhine River! The Rhine River is home to many of the castles in Germany as this river was used to transport goods to many cities inland and the castles of the rich oversaw these deliveries. It was so interesting to see and read about the history of the castles and those who inhabited them. Many of them are ruins as they were destroyed in the war, however, some are still private homes and others are hotels/tourist attractions. I think we went at the right time of year because there was little traffic along the river and I've read that this is a very busy spot during the spring and summer. The map here shows some of the castles along the river in the Rhine Valley - the river runs a total of 1350kms through Germany, Netherlands, France and Switzerland.

Dylan worked on Friday and I met him at the airport to pick up the rental at 4:30pm. We left right away and got out of the city fine. I was a little nervous about him driving with the crazy Belgian drivers, but we got along great. We drove out of Belgium and through the Netherlands to get to Germany. The German highways were a little crazy, but we got used to getting out of the way of the speeding cars approaching. The Autobahn wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be. We had a VW Polo (4 door hatchback) that maxed out at about 140km/hr, and cars were passing us like we were driving Miss Daisy! Even the highways that had speedlimits were max 130 - and cars were just using this as a guideline and drove like there was no speedlimit at all.

We arrived at our destination on Friday night - Bonn, Germany - at about 7pm and headed out to explore the city of Cologne (Koln in German). It was a really nice city with the Rhine running down the middle of it. They had an absolutely huge cathedral and a nice shopping area. We really didn't get to see too much, but we explored, walked around and tried a German beer. I would definately like to go back to Cologne to see more of the city - it is a very short train ride from Brussels. Friday night we stayed in Bonn at a nice hotel on a golfcourse in the middle of nowhere!

On Saturday we were on the road early and drove along the river to start our castle viewing. The Rhine is so big that we kinda started in the middle of the river (from Cologne) and we headed toward Rhine Valley. Most of the highway that we drove was along the river, however, in some spots, we drove through small towns to get back along the highway - this led to us getting lost quite a few times before finding our way back toward the scenic drive. We knew we were on the right track becuase we just kept the river to our right the whole time.....it was easy to tell if we were headed in the wrong direction. The map above starts in Bonn where we stayed the night, but we had a little ways to go before the highway was right along the river. Once we got situated, it was practically impossible to get lost unless you veered away from the road, which we did a few times in order to get better views of the castles. This is a picture of the first castle we saw. The area around the Rhine is loaded with vineyards. I never saw a vineyard before, but saw many fields filled with them along the drive. The coasts looked like patchwork quilts - and they were all along slopes, which means that the grapes would most likely need to be handpicked. This castle is privately owned, so we didn't get much closer, but there was a walking track along the vineyard and a parking lot at the bottom, so they were ok with people coming to see the property. As we continued along the drive, we stopped when we could to get pictures, but with a two lane highway, sometimes it was difficult.

It was funny that as we were driving along we got used to scanning the side of the mountains looking for castles, they were everywhere. There were alot of ruins and imagining the history behind them - I was in awe! This picture does not give this castle justice. It is embedded along the side of a mountain overlooking a small town. We couldn't find a way to get to it, so just took pictures from the road.

The white castle pictured is on an island in the middle of the river. It was used as a place where tolls were collected from boats passing by. There was actually a man on the island with his dog - so I assume that it is privately owned now. It would be a terrible place to live because during the day (Saturday) we saw a minimum of at least 50 barges travelling up and down the river. Some of the barges had a load on them, others were empty. Most that we saw had cars and boats on them which to me indicated that the owners lived on the barges. We did see some of this in Paris while walking along one of the canals. People actually live on the barges with their kids. I can't imagine a life like that, but would be a way to see the world.
This castle was one of my favorites. It was on the other side of the river, so we couldn't get a closer look, but for some reason, I love the zig zag driveway....kinda like Lombard Street in San Fran! While driving by we saw a few cars, so I'm not sure if it is privately owned or not. It is actually really big, although doesn't look it in the picture.

Throughout our drive, we only saw a few places where you can cross. We drove down the west side of the river, but I'm not sure if that was the best way or not. We crossed multiple bridges in Cologne and saw one when we got to Mainz, but only saw a few ferries (probably 3) along the drive. For some reason, we weren't allowed to go on a ferry with our rental - it was part of the rental agreement and they stressed the fact that we couldn't. Since we always follow the rules, we didn't cross. The highway is situated so close, that you can easily see both sides of the river and therefore most of the castles on both sides.

We arrived in Mainz later in the afternoon where we got lost for over an hour and finally stopped at a hotel to ask for directions out of the city. We were staying in Sedan, France Saturday night at the biggest castle in Europe. We drove from Mainz, Germany through Luxembourg and then into France. We arrived in Sedan late evening and at this time realized that we didn't have the name of the castle or directions to it. We tried to steal internet to look it up online on the side of the road, but weren't successful. I got out of the car and walked toward a group of teenagers and said "we are staying at a castle tonight, but aren't sure the name of it - do you happen to know if there is a castle that is a hotel closeby?" The kids looked at me like I had 5 heads and said to go up the street and turn left......Once we drove about 10 feet up the street - the biggest castle in Europe came into view - no wonder they thought I was nuts....you can probably see this monstrous building for miles around!

The castle was very cool! When we arrived we had to drive over a drawbridge to get onto the grounds where the hotel was located on the inside. It was quite large - the hotel only took up a fraction of the grounds. There was also a museum, a few restaurants and other things to see. We didn't stay too long, but roamed around in the morning a bit. It was fun to stay in a castle although it was quite modernized. Only one wall in our hotel room was the original wall, but some of the rooms in the lobby and restaurant were all stone. This was the end of our castle viewing - it was a great time! I am going to end this post here and write about Sunday next post!