tarmax and train trax

Almunecar, summer 2010

2010-07-15T11:06:00.001-03:00

Erik and I love to travel. We both possess incredibly strong (and argumentative) personalities, but when we travel, we have learnt to live with a synchronicity. We enjoy similar things and have a similar sense of wanderlust. We also see the world as one big adventure, waiting to be discovered. I think this is perhaps my single favorite thing about him….his curiosity about the world.

Our recent trip to Spain was filled with normal ups and downs. From the outside perspective, I have been told it looked idyllic. Frankly, parts of it were simply breathtaking and zen-inspiring. But like anything truly extraordinary, some parts were hard as well.

But the good parts....they were simply great.

There was magic in the landscape and colors……

There were moments of pure bliss….

There were balmy evenings spent on a terrace overlooking the Mediterranean with always-cold white wine, Serrano ham and crusty bread….

And there were experiences and emotions to soak in. Football comes very close to religion in most small towns in Spain.

There were new toys of all shapes....

And sizes....

And there were (many) hot afternoons spent nibbling on tappas, drinking sangria and letting boy wonder wander along cobblestone sidewalks....

And lots of days filled with adventures for boys, both big and small.

Traveling is, at its very best, an escape from the ordinary and a journey into the extraordinary.

We were lucky to be staying with family during this trip. It made things alot easier and alot more special. And in a million ways, it felt natural to share this trip with people who form part of the rich tapestry of our lives. It hits you hard, as you grow older, just how important and fulfilling it can be to foster these connections through the years. I hope that as boy wonder grows older, that he remembers how wonderfully rewarding it can be to connect with other people on a human level. At the very best of times, it doesn't even require language.

Not all days spent traveling can be perfect....but during this trip, except for a couple of days of illness, they all came close. I don’t know if it had to do with planning, with destination or with company; I suspect however that it was a precarious combination of those three things.

There were a couple of scary days, including one that required a trip to a foreign language pharmacy to find medication for a sick toddler. But we all recovered, only slightly worse for the wear. And on the balance….it was a grand adventure, the kind of journey that helps shape us into the people we want to become.

I’ll always hold a soft spot for Spain, in particular Almunecar, because it’s where I saw boy wonder experience travel, at its very best.

Almunecar

2010-06-23T15:23:00.003-03:00

In about 2.5 hours, we are leaving on a jet plane to Almunecar. Pictures and stories to follow.

Anticipation of sun, wine, tappas and relaxation. Will check in soon.

Tokyo (round 2) Sept 25-28

2009-09-30T06:30:00.023-03:00

The first thing you should know about Tokyo is that Metropolitain Tokyo houses approximately the same population as all of Canada. One (crazy) city.

To say that Tokyo is unique is an understatement of massive proportions. Tokyo is about a million things, all rolled into one. Tokyo is majestically old yet wonderfully modern and creative. Tokyo is all organization and rules as well as innocence and perversion.

I could go on and on....and give you a page full of adjectives but I'm not sure I would be properly describing Tokyo or doing it justice. I think a better way to describe Tokyo is through a few standout experiences (both pictured above and below, some sort of festival-walk, seen on streets of Hajaruku).

Shinjuku

Tokyo is so big that it is divided into wards, 23 of them to be precise. Each one of these wards could be a vacation destination in itself. When we read about Tokyo, trying to determine what we'd do, it felt a little overwhelming. We basically decided that we'd focus on just a couple of places. For approximately half of the time we were in Tokyo, we stayed in Shinjuku. We stayed in Asakusa, photographed here, for the remainder of the time.

Shinjuku is known for many things including its ubiquitous (and obnoxious) train station (see above), crazy bars, hundreds of restaurants, not-to-be-missed red light district, towering business center and quirky yet intense nightlife. We chose to stay in East Shinjuku on the fringe of the entertainment district.

Shinjuku is the least homogenous-place in all of Tokyo. It is rich, interesting, fast-paced and also complicated. We found our stay to be interesting, fun, dizzying and overwhelming.

We thought staying in Shinjuku would allow us to walk almost everywhere we wanted and that we'd really be in the heart of things, even if it was only for a few days. A certain amount of care was taken in chosing our hotel, which was about a half a km away from the reputed alleys of the golden gai, about the same distance from the red light district and only about 20 minutes walk from the insanity of Shinjuku station. In theory, we thought we could find almost anything we needed in about 15-20 minutes.

Heh!

Our first order of business after arriving was to find a francophile bar called La Levée. We had a point of reference on a map, a name, a tentative location (in the alleys of the golden gai) and that's about it. According to all of these things, it was determined that la Levée was about 500m distance from our hotel. Again, one might *think* that this should be easy to find. Heh! One would think wrong. I'm pretty sure that neither of us was drunk by this point....but everything seemed to feel like this.

Shinjuku is a dizzying tangle of streets, alleys and temples. It ended up taking us over 2 hours to find La Levée....with a map. But the place did not disappoint.

We saw the small (minute) sign for the bar sandwiched between two other bars on a dimly lit side street. As we climbed the stairs to the 2nd floor, we had no idea what to expect. We did not expect to find a bar that sat less than 12 people.

We did not expect to spend the night laughing with a bunch of French ex-pats.

We did not expect to learn that regulars could buy their own bottles, mark them, and put them on the wall. We did not expect to see bottles marked with Quentin Tarrantino and Francis Ford Coppola (above). We did not expect to have such a great night.

Giants!

When Erik proposed that we take in some baseball on our trip, I (Natalie) had my doubts. I (Natalie) had never been to see a major league game, and here I was, agreeing to see two of them in just as many weeks. The Tokyo Dome was a great place to get initiated to baseball. For those skeptics, I assure you that the Japanese take their baseball very seriously. The Yomiuri Giants franchise is 75 years old this year. They are the current leaders in their division and also the pride of Tokyo (and Japan, to a certain extent).

The Tokyo Dome is an electrifying dome which serves copious amounts of beer, hot dogs and sushi.

Fans are dedicated, hardcore and organized. In turn, their voices are loud, heartfelt and patriotic. The game itself went 0-0 for all nine regular innings. The fans tried to will it otherwise and both teams played their hearts out. But still a draw.

By the time the game went into its first overtime inning, the crowd had reached full fever pitch. The tension in the air was intoxicating, every swing a possible victory. And when Sakamoto swung his bat and connected with the ball, magic happened. Pure Magic. And I (Natalie) now truly GET why people LOVE baseball.

Sumo!

Sumo is as much part of Japanese culture as sushi and electronics. A Beginner's Guide to Sumo will tell you that sumo dates back at least 1500 years and actually helped determine, at some point, the future of the Japanese race.

Sumo is incredibly simple yet also strangely complex. The entire goal of a match is to throw your opponent to the ground or outside of the sumo ring. Simple. But not really, sumo is so much more. Sumo is about ranking, training, fight-winning moves, categories and ancient rituals and theatrics.

In a mini-post of its own, Erik posted the winning match at September's Grand Tournament. At the grandest of grand venues, the two wrestlers entertained not only an electrified crowd but also a newly elected Prime Minister. There were dozens of rituals that we observed (most of which we couldn't understand) and thousands of cheers and heckles that rung out like foreign songs throughout the stadium. Reigning Champion Asashoryu Akinori also did not disappoint. He stomped, he slapped and he yelled. Best of all though, he performed.

Although relegated to an obvious 'foreigners section' in the sumo stadium, the sumo tournament was one of the most authentically Japanese parts of our whole trip.

Kyoto - a wonderful mix of old and new. Sept 20-25

2009-09-29T20:30:00.001-03:00

Kyoto was the 2nd of 4 stops on our two-week trip to Japan/US. After a weekend of relaxing in Niijima, we headed to Kyoto partly because a friend of ours was doing a sabbatical at the University of Kyoto and also partly because this city, so wonderfully foreign, just seemed interesting.

In the reading we did prior to leaving for our trip, we had read much about the insanity of Tokyo. We could easily imagine the exoticism in Niijima but we couldn't quite form a clear expectation of Kyoto. And as a rule, blank canvases preconceptions make for interesting trips.

While we were aware of some history, we couldn't fully appreciate that Kyoto remains a tangle of graceful Shinto temples...

a place where old traditions somehow remain largely mysterious...

a city that has some depth....

and beauty...

and surprising youthful edge...

and finally, contains a living dichotomy that is harder than you might think to nail down, or categorically identify.

Kyoto was both everything that one might expect...

and amazingly, just a little more...

We made but two quick day trips outside of Kyoto, to places that still house castles that you might remember seeing in your childhood dreams. It was hard to reconcile not having two more weeks to do even more exploring.
(Himeji, an hour from Kyoto)

As happens frequently when we travel, we both identified with Kyoto as a place where we could actually live...

If only....

one could ever make the leap...

5 days was entirely too short....

Next stop - Tokyo.

Sumo Sept 27

2009-09-28T06:30:00.001-03:00

One of the coolest and most cultural things we saw during our travels in Japan was the Sumo tournament at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. It is a 2-week long affair lasting approximately 8 hours a day and we got to go to the final day of the tournament! It was incredible how one can get caught up in a sport one hardly knows. Despite all that, we had a blast: we ate sushi, drank beer, spoke to two Spaniards and most important of all, watched some Sumo!

Below is a little video of the playoff match between the two best sumo wrestlers out there today :
Asashōryū Akinori (winner) and Hakuhō Shō.

Asashōryū being the crowd pleaser at minute 6:00.
The actual duel at minute 6:30.

More posts and photos to come : Erik just wanted to share this video asap.

Niijima Sept 18-20

2009-09-21T20:42:00.013-03:00

We arrived via high speed Ferry to Niijima on Friday right before a (then unknown to us) Typhoon. Our friends living in Kyoto, graciously arranged for us to stay at a local bed and breakfast near the beach. We could write a whole post about the owners of the B&B including details on chain-smoking, bickering, generosity and home-made sushi that would have been worth a fortune that could be served at any Michelin-rated restaurant....but we'll stop here in telling you that it was all that and more...

Niijima is a funny, exotic and wonderful place. As we were visiting off-season, we mostly had the place to ourselves. We counted all of 5 white people on the whole Island. Niijima is a favorite vacation destination for ppl living in Tokyo and we are told it is incredibly busy during the summer season because of its proximity to Tokyo (less than 3 hours away) and its rich history...

The best way to describe Niijima is that is a place that really makes you feel like you are in some sort of Indiana Jones movie...

It is not only beautiful...but full of great things like tons of fresh fish (making for incredible food) and a slow languid pace of life (not to mention a strange and slightly bizarre surf-culture complete with marijuana-leafed souvenirs and Bob Marley posters). And one of the best parts....no one is in hurry is Niijima.

We spent our weekend riding bikes back and forth across the Island, swimming, trying to communicate with the owners of the B&B and quite frankly feeling astounded....at the raw beauty of this place that was so close to an urban center yet felt so foreign and exotic to us.

Native blooms

The coast line with a slight outline of the public onsen (hotsprings) where we spent a fair amount of our time...

Better shot of the onsen...

More beach. There were kilometers upon kilometers of various colored sand, we swam on one of the beaches, the water was salty and warm and the surf was fun and strong. The rest of the time we spent simply gazing at the waves...and no, it never got repetitive....

As the weekend went on, we noticed with only slight worry that the weather network (which was all Japanese) seemed to be announcing some bad weather off the coast of Tokyo.

It was pretty rainy and windy (which sucked for biking) but as we did not understand Japanese, it was difficult for us to figure out that it might actually mean something bad, especially in terms of our return. We figured out that it *might* mean something when we finally understood (though diagrams) that all flights and boats on Saturday were canceled (we were intending on leaving on the Sunday ferry)! With a bit of confusion, much beer and alot of pointing and drawing and even a phone call to a bilingual relative in Toyko, we finally were able to exchange our boat tickets for a direct flight to Tokyo as we were told that this was likely our only chance to get off the Island. We took it.....

About two hours before we left...we decided to make one last trip to the beach, the surfing beach. Erik was riding his bike ahead when all of a sudden he heard a gigantic crash and some screaming. The rusty metal clip which held the basket over the front wheel of Natalie's bike snapped (does this REALLY surprise you?), causing the basket to get jammed into the wheel...and causing Natalie to go head over feet over the bike. See results below...

Yes those are actual tears (the damage to Natalie's face actually got much worse than it appeared after the swelling set in, more pictures later) but she took it in stride and decided to enjoy her last couple of hours on the Niijima. It was, after all, rather hard to not feel better when you got to recuperate in a place that looked like this.

Next stop Kyoto!

Love to everyone
Natalie & Erik

Tokyo (a stopover) Sept 17-18

2009-09-21T20:34:00.009-03:00

Our flight on Japan Airlines (JAL) was everything you might imagine a 13 hour flight to be. Exhausting, boring, interesting, fun, strange and long. JAL was a pretty good option however...imagine a cross between British Airways elegance and WestJet value. The food was good (not great), the seats were reasonable (not comfortable) and the service was polite (not friendly).

Arriving at Tokyo airport could be the subject of a whole separate post...but we are lazy, so it wont! Imagine more people than you have ever seen (none of which look even remotely like you) and signs everywhere (none of which you understand) and noise.....so much noise. And then, imagine yourself having to navigate trains and buses after having been awake for 24 hours. Welcome to Japan....insanity! It is actually now about a week later and when we both discussed the evening (prior to this post), we found it hard to remember much...except for the confusion.

We stayed our first night at a ryokan (a traditional Japanese Bed and Breakfast). A ryokan generally differs from a B&B in a few key ways. Usually, breakfast AND supper are included, some sort of view is usually provided (we overlooked a small zen garden) and the bedding is traditional futon which is laid out on a tatami floor. The reception was however warm (see sign below)

Our ryokan was located Asakusa (a historical part of Tokyo) and offered and traditional Edo-styled meal (which had more food than what 4 people could properly eat!)

Later that evening we walked (ok, more like ROLLED) around some quiet alleys nearby to see what we might find...It was mostly quiet...but graceful and beautiful.

At this point, our stop in Tokyo was meant to be temporary...but it was hard to not get excited about returning....

One of many temples we stumbled across....literally about 5 minutes walk from our ryokan (not exactly akin to anything in downtown Fredericton)

The next morning, bright and early, we hit the Tokyo Fish Market.

This market runs 5 days a week and plays host to an INCREDIBLE amount of commerce. On any given day, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fish are won at auction or bought outright. The auction section of the market is an actual tourist attraction where you can watch (from a roped-off area) local buyers carefully inspect single fish or large lots of fish. Some (like the tuna shown) are worth THOUSANDS of dollars.

Part of what is difficult, in any city, is actually getting a *feel* for the city without becoming an annoying (and obtrusive) tourist. We usually strive to find a happy medium....however this fish market was difficult....because as much as we wanted to SEE what was going on....we absolutely wanted to avoid annoying (or getting in the way) of business.

As we were heading out however....camera still in hand, we caught one of the fish vendors fueling up his mini-cart at a local gas station....and he posed, spontaneously...and suddenly, most of our worries evaporated.

Given the incredible quantities of fresh fish, it goes without saying that breakfast that morning was the freshest bowl of sushi that either of us will no doubt EVER have....it was the perfect way to end our (brief) stay in Tokyo before catching a ferry for our first real destination, Niijima.

Niijima

2009-09-19T06:00:00.002-03:00

Spending an incredible weekend in Niijima. Limited internet access, will post more later...but for now....here are a couple of pictures of paradise.

Love
Natalie and Erik

Part 1 - Québec and Ontario - Family and Friends

2009-09-13T21:29:00.008-03:00

Working on the same day you leave for vacation can be really difficult. Working on the same day as you leave for vacation is probably not a good idea!... This past Thursday was no exception to this rule. Enter two hurried, stressed and did I mention hurried people....and you get a picture of the way our vacation started. Thank god we started packing three weeks ago....what neither of us can figure out is how we still ended up forgetting things. Why is vacationing so hard sometimes?

After a smoother than anticipated drive (Felix-wise) we stopped our first night in Québec city to visit with dear friends G. and G. The evening turned into ALOT of late night laughter. The next morning (which started a bit too early) made way for a great stroll through Québec City, breakfast and time spent at a local park. It was the perfect way to start a vacation. Here's an attempt at a family picture.... you may notice that "Someone" didn't want to stay still for the picture (Erik is such a brat sometimes! Heh!)

Here is HUGE cross at a location which is THOUGHT to be the landing place of Samuel de Champlain.

Made it to Northern Ontario in great time...and MOST surprisingly had to make almost NO stops except for gas. Narrowly avoided a head-on collision BUT realized that kid will likely NOT cry if he has a backseat buddy. Also, spent considerable amount of time questioning whether our Felix was indeed abducted by aliens and replaced with newer, easier baby. Odd...and incredibly pleasant. Discovered that the kid is COMPLETELY obsessed with trucks and tractors....OBSESSED.

Did I say OBSESSED?

In Cochrane, we went to see some pretty awesome Polar Bears. Entertaining and awe-inspiring. Also entertaining = the fact that "Someone" thinks that all animals are called "doggies". (Erik does know all of his numbers tho! Heh!)

DOGGIE!

Spent some time visiting things around town....

Spent some time visiting the back yard....(life in a Northern town can be quite glorious at times...)

And last...but not least...spent alot of time on the floor (mostly sober)....laughing and playing.

Vacation has started well....in fact, one might even say VERY well.

Natalie, Erik & Felix

Summer 2009 - Japan and Chicago

2009-08-31T21:19:00.003-03:00

It's that time of year. The time of year when we find ourselves itching for a vacation, getting impatient for time off, and chomping at the bit to just get out of this tiny little City.

This summer will bring us to a few very different places that all hold great promise for fun and adventure . In just under two weeks, we leave the Tiny Capital and head to Northern Ontario, from there we drive back to Ottawa to begin a kid-less vacation (go team!). We then fly Ottawa-Chicago-Tokyo. Once in Japan, we'll spend time in Tokyo, Niijima and Kyoto with many stops between. On our way back to Ottawa, we'll also spend a brief stint (3 days) in Chicago getting a taste of the Windy City, probably just enough to convince us that we HAVE to return (so many places to visit, so little time!).

Pictures and itineraries to come, but first, there is packing to do, work to finish and plans to be finalized.

NYC - Natalie

2009-05-20T10:40:00.001-03:00

Thursday morning 8am: arrive to a rainy day in New York. Think to self: wow...simply fucking wow!

Thursday morning about 9:30am: soldering through a pre-booked double-decker bus tour. Feel very dorky, but wow...also COLD and WET and this guy's head is really very shiny.

Thursday morning noon: note to front desk staff at Doubletree, please please PLEASE do not tell us to come back for our room until it is ACTUALLY ready. Thank you!

Thursday late afternoon: all previous angst replaced by intense desire to relocate to this City. Start imagining how I could sell this to MD.

Thursday 3pm: hotel still not ready...but it's hard to be really angry when you are seeing things like this....*le sigh* And, why did I not buy that shirt from Banana Republic when I had a chance? Am sometimes too cheap, *double sigh*

Friday morning about 11am: up bright and early,...this day is going to be great!

Friday afternoon: Circle K cruise, feeling happy, light and free...also staggeringly exhausted and wondering how on earth we will find energy required to see entire island in 4 days. Also, doing mental math concerning relocation costs.

Saturday morning: First stop of the day is Ground Zero. Saw this note, had a hard time keeping it together. Didn't expect to feel so emotional.

Watched a fireman work around a truck located in front of Ground Zero construction site, had to resist urge to hug him. Almost like an out of body experience.

Saturday 1pm: pre-Canal street purse adventure, trying to imagine what life must be like as an immigrant. Hard, yet full of so much promise.

Saturday 1:30pm: wondering why Little Italy (1 block away from Chinatown) seems so much more civilized than Chinatown...maybe has something to do with cannoli, or then again maybe it's because no one is assaulting one another with the promise of fake leather goods.

Saturday 5pm: feet legs and back hurt....yet must....go....on.

Sunday 10:30am: thinking that Central Park has to be one of the happiest places on earth, also, WTF is this guy doing with 5 dogs?

Sunday 11am: 5th avenue is full of magical places AND dichotomies. Felt like schoolgirl in the elevator at Tiffany & Co.

Sunday 11:05am: briefly wonder what it would be like to be independently wealthy and actually stay at the Plaza....then get a little sad that this will never happen, related: buy lotto tickets more often.

Sunday noon: So hungry I could eat a horse, or a metal model car, or both. Related, why doesn't anyone know where Serendipity III is? And I wonder if John Cusack will be there?

Sunday 5pm: wonder if it's normal that I cried for most of production. Also, SEE Billy Elliott, no really. See it if you can and bring tissues.

And finally, my ladyloves...my awesome, fun, creative and completely wonderful long-time, long-lost fabulous friends. I miss you already! Next time let's bring better shoes and more money!

Reykjavik - Pure Energy

2008-08-20T10:44:00.000-03:00

What a place....what a place...what a place.

The last 6 days have been filled with great food, crazy drinking with insane Icelanders, lazy sleep, relaxation, swimming, sightseeing, wonder and wandering. Details soon to follow about exactly how we spent our days...but in the meantime, here's a picture of the Blue Lagoon, where we started (and will end) our trip...

PS - The colors are 100% real...no digital enhancement....word!

Iceland

2008-08-07T13:00:00.002-03:00

To follow our adventures in Iceland read The 2-D Capers Of Genghis & Felix at GenghistheDog.com.
Older posts begin below.

heartbreakingly beautiful

2007-07-25T10:03:00.000-03:00

It's trite to start a post saying that a picture paints a thousands words...but there's often simply no better way to convey a feeling, a color, a mood or a story.

I wish we'd taken more pictures, I wish we'd had more energy and motivation to be those people that constantly had their cameras ready...

I wish you could understand the heartbreaking beauty that we saw day in and day out...I wish I was back in New Orleans.

Bourbon Street, colorful, vibrant, decadent....you would not be complete without a Mango Mango at each corner!

The French Quarter was charming...

delightful...

and decrepit, all at the same time...

We saw the Bayou in all of its glory...

And we were witness to culture, proud and true....

We saw heartbreak....

But we also saw beauty...

and pride...

An Open Letter To New Orleans

2007-07-04T16:21:00.000-03:00

You are a mystery worth discovering for so many reasons....yet you keep us guessing because there is far more substance to you than what you'd like to let on. You are not all Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras...

You are young musicians playing trombones on street corners, you are old jazz men wearing white hats sitting on bar stools, you are speak easy pubs where local legends stop in and get invited on stage, you are kids glistening shirtless giving tap performances using buttons stuck to their sneakers because they can't afford tap shoes.

You are gumbo and jumbalaya, sure thing...but you are also twenty foot oyster counters, lobster stuffed ravioli, fried aligator, sugar coated beignets at 2am, po' boy sandwiches for less than 10$ and portions that are good for the soul.

You are tragedy and heartbreak... but you are also resilience and passion and kindness. You are the guy at the end of the bar who has moved 9 times in the past two years, you are the guy in the Vodoo store who admitted to not yet having a kitchen, you are the entire family who was taking our cooking class who was from a parish that was completely destroyed...who was still laughing and still there...

You are about calling people 'Ma'am and Sir', you are about tipping your hat, you are about asking complete stangers you meet on the street 'How y'all doing today?'...

You are where the Saints live and play...on so many levels... and despite all that you've been through in these past couple of years...you are most definetly open for business.

And...we're off!

2007-06-29T07:07:00.000-03:00

After a 5am rise in our hotel room, and clearly feeling the effects of only a few hours sleep, we are now in crappy Montreal airport, with an, ugh, 3 hour lay-over.

However, we do see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel: we will be in NOLA in less than 8 hours.

At which time we will be sweating like pigs, drinking our alcoholized beverages in plastic cups in the middle of the street and jazz hopping.

As they say often in Cajun country:
Let the good times roll!
Or more appropriately:
Laissez les bons temps rouler!

way better than studying for the bar....

2007-06-24T16:31:00.000-03:00

New Orleans 1 - The Big Easy

2007-06-21T11:10:00.000-03:00

Alot of people we know don't tend to travel. They list many reasons for not traveling among them; lack of money, lack of time, and surprisingly, lack of interest. While I get the first two, I seldom get the third. I (Natalie) do think that it IS possible to travel with limited means and limited time when you plan ahead (we are both young professionals, we understand this and also understand that it's not easy) but I GET that not everyone is interested in traveling this way, on a budget and with a plan. I do get it, sort of. I also get that the Trans-Siberian Express is not everyone's "cup of tea".

In speaking to friends and family about recent trips, I've noted that generally we get that waning look or that wide-eyed look...people generally fall into the "I could care less about Mongolian culture camp" or "you two are certifiably insane camp". I have NOT however see either of these two looks when talking about our next destination: New Orleans, Louisiana. It seems to be a popular place....YAY. Anyone want to join us? It's still a week away!

In just over a week, Erik and I will leave on a 9-day trip to NOLA. While both of us have expressed interested in visiting the Big Easy many times through the years, this trip came about in a rather strange kind of way. It all started with the Police. Not the real "police" but rather the musical Police. Many of you know that The Police are one of my all-time favorite bands. EVER. Erik has known this for years and has even gotten extraordinary entertainment out of this fact in foreign countries. (I recall a day in Amsterdam, summer 2001, where I spent a frantic 20 minutes trying to spot Sting in a crowd....simply because Erik thought it would be funny to get me going...NOT FUNNY, imagine the injuries I could have sustained?!?). I really did assume that I'd never get the chance to see The Police live. I mean who would have imagined that they'd reunite to tour and play music?

So when the tickets went on sale this past Spring for the Police reunion tour, Erik and I tried to make what seemed like the impossible...possible. I logged onto www.ticketmaster.com an hour early. We had chosen Boston as our destination (close, drivable, as it were) and we even knew what kind of seats we wanted, it was the perfect plan. But the ticket gods had other plans. Rejected, I sulked for the rest of the day.

Then it dawned on us (ok, on Erik)....AIRMILES = UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES

And thus a trip to New Orleans was born. We will be flying out of Halifax, NS on June 29th, returning via Washington DC and Halifax on July 9th, 2007. While in NOLA, we will be staying at a (hopefully) fabulous hotel in the French Quarter. As we are staying for just over a week, we are optimistic about getting the chance to do more than just eat, drink and see live music.

When I think of the Big Easy, I imagine early morning walks, long lunches, smoldering afternoons, lively people and places, chilled wine and spicy food on luscious patios and easy nights filled with smoky bars and smooth sounds. Easy, fun, relaxing and invigorating.

Updates and pictures soon. Please leave a comment with any useful information.

Natalie (& Erik)

Bleeding hearts in San Francisco

2007-01-04T11:04:00.000-04:00

There's a saying that goes something along the lines of not being able to visit San Francisco without leaving your heart behind. I (Natalie) get it, I really do, but that's not really want happened to my heart when I was there over Christmastime. Yea, a little of my heart got left behind but a whole chunk of it got smashed, broken and melted into a tearful and sobbing mess.

...

One of the first things you notice about spending time in San Francisco are the sheer number of homeless people living on the streets. With the easy climate, dearth of places to live and eclectic nature of the city, one can easily understand the reasons for this occurrence. I assume (possibly naively) that it would be easier to be homeless in San Francisco than in NYC.

In the past decade, I've been to quite a few big cities in several countries. I've seen homelessness before that has tugged at my heartstrings (there was an incident involving the Statten Island Ferry terminal that haunts me to this day) and I've even visited cities with horrendous child poverty problems but NOTHING prepared me for the homelessness in San Francisco. It is rampant, it is sad and it is everywhere.

Some of the homelessness in San Francisco is easier (for me) to take; the artist siting and sketching against a parking meter in Haight or the young dreadlocked couple playing instruments near one of the Piers. I'm not saying that any aspect of their respective lives is easy, I'm simply saying that I was less affected by the tragedy of their particular situation...at least what was perceptible to me. I ingorantly assumed (and may be totally wrong) that these kids probably have some kind of skill that will get them by and will probably find their way to a better life, eventually. There were however many others, including an aggressive man who approached me on Christmas Eve, for whom I don't hold this hope or belief.

As a small town Canadian, extreme poverty and homelessness isn't something I encounter (at least not to this extent) on a daily basis. I don't have a tough shell when it comes to dealing with the problems and personalities of people who are forced to live on the street. Yes, I do see people living on the streets. I try to buy samosas for the guy standing outside of the market on Saturdays and I try to remember to bring along extra coffee money for the guy that stands outside of the Tim Hortons each morning. However, that's about the extent of my day to day involvement with homelessness.

When it comes to homelessness, I don't understand, I can't relate. For this, I am eternally grateful. However for this I am also eternally guilt-ridden, upset and angry.

There is a part of me (which is not so small) that secretly wants to bring all homeless people home with me, feed them, clothe them and give them each a part of my life savings. I once almost naively invited a couple sitting on the curb, with their mangy dog, to sleep on our kitchen floor (it was all we had as we were living in a Bachelor apartment at the time). Believe it or not, I had to be convinced (in my slightly drunken state) that this was a colossally bad idea and was extremely unsafe and unwise. (duh!)

I naively think (and still do) that all people that I set out to help will be nice, kind and grateful..... I am a bleeding heart liberal. I can't help it, it's the way I am built. It probably comes as no surprise that I am woefully unprepared (emotionally) to deal with homelessness when we travel and often find this aspect of any trip to be particularly difficult.

There is another part of me however that takes a certain comfort in the fact that despite being exposed to so much homelessness and so many tragic situations that I haven't become hard. Sure, it would be easier, sure, it would make traveling a little less emotional at times. But the fact remains that I never want to become hardened to to the problems of humanity.

I guess I am doomed to more frustration, more anger and likely more tears. I can strengthen my resolve to take more action to help improve the lives of those around me and around the world.....but I won't strengthen my resolve to the point of judgment or ignorance.

I can't...I won't.

Faithful

2006-12-26T13:06:00.000-04:00

On December 24th, 2006 Erik and I attended a game at Monster Stadium with Lori and Shayne.

I (Natalie) was the only one amongst the 4 of us who had never been to an NFL game. I've seen the Hollywood movies and I've had many male friends. I've been told many times that a great NFL game can sometimes be a thing of legend, can sometimes bring brothers, families and friends together. Funny enough, I also thought that these things could also tear these same people apart....(maybe that's just Hollywood speaking).

I was lucky to be seeing this particular NFL game through the lense of a lifelong 49ers fan. It was kinda like bringing a 5-year old to Santa's village. Everything about the game was like a trip to Germany for me. Everything about the game was like a trip to Mecca for him.

We walked through the expansive parking lot which was filled with entire families barbecuing, playing cards and throwing around a football. You could hear laughter, music and fun. Some came equipped with stereos, barbecues, TVs and I even saw a generator. These people are serious about their football....but they are JUST as serious about their tailgating. There was no lack of comfort.

Walking into an NFL stadium for the first time is something of a religious experience even for a football neophyte like me. The size of the crowd, the size of the stadium, the size of the field...none of which even compares to the size of the hearts on display....which are all hoping, wishing, praying that the 49ers would lead them to victory on the homefield. The cheers, the boos, the smell of hotdogs and most of all the laughter. There is no other way to describe these fans...but as a family.

Throughout the game complete strangers came together believing in one single thing...that the 49ers should WIN this game. I saw 60 year old men dancing and 3 year old girls waving and cheering. But on Christmas Eve, it was not to be.

As the game wound down, 49ers down by 7, dozens started to make their way down the aisles, back to their cars. The final game of the year would not be one of legend.

Others straggled in the aisles, exchanging Christmas wishes, hugging fellow fans and extending warm handshakes "See you after Christmas" was heard all around me.

I didn't learn much about football on December 24th, 2006, but I learnt a lot about football fans. In a word they are Faithful....faithful to their team, faithful to their sport and most surprisingly.... faithful to one another. It was a good day.

Merry Christmas Everyone

2006-12-25T14:33:00.000-04:00

May you all have a wonderful day filled with love, tenderness and
lots of the good things in life.

Natalie & Erik

Out of Africa.....

2006-12-24T14:56:00.000-04:00

Fresh off a pretty interesting tour of Alcatraz, all hungry and tired, we set out for our hotel. We waited in vain for a cable car (too full). We ambled through the streets laughing (men are bad at not knowing proper directions) and ended up walking up Battery Street from the Pier.

I (Natalie) casually remarked that a friend of ours had told me about the great comedy clubs in San Fran when not a full block later, we stumbled on the awning for the Punchline Comedy Club.

We decided, on a lark, to check out the billboard and quickly saw that for the dates of December 22nd and 23rd ....right beside the words "SOLD OUT"...was written DAVE CHAPPELLE!

NO...fucking...way.

Again, on another whim, we climbed the stairs to the door, saw a last minute lineup and were informed that stand-by seats might be available, but only for the 10pm or midnight show. We collectively laughed at our "good try" and went about our way walking back to our respective hotels.

After eating and sleeping, some texting took place and despite my protests (haha) we decided (again, on a whim) that we'd be stupid to NOT try to get into the midnight show. What IF? So we set out to walk to the club again, leaving at midnight with Red Bulls in hand.

We waited in line for a little over two hours (still not thinking that it would be possible, to see Dave Chappelle LIVE ....at such a late hour)....and the stars aligned....WE GOT IN.

After two opening acts, Dave took the stage at about 3am...and played for over 3 HOURS!....when he started he was stoned out of his mind...then he sobered up....then he got delirious with fatigue....but the WHOLE time....he brought funny to a WHOLE new level. Man, he is one seriously funny (and deranged) guy.

Thanks for the awesome Christmas present San Fran. We might have to leave our hearts here for good.

San Francisco here we come (sung to the tune of the OC) UPDATED WITH PICTURES

2006-12-23T15:25:00.000-04:00

Why the title? Wanna guess? It's not really because we are still "on our way" .....but it MIGHT have something to do with the fact that Erik sang that damn song intermitently for about 10 hours on Thursday, it has stuck....and it's stuck good. I was working on the "flowers in my hair" thing....his song is however much more annoying....therefore much stickier to get rid of in the brain!

We got here late on Thursday night after a very painful flight (babies crying, hotter than hell and turbulence that kept Erik saying "remember that scene in Lost"....thanks hon!) We are staying in this funky little hotel called Hotel des Arts, which is a neat, if not a little too beatnick...but so cheap that we really can't complain. Our room is small but brightly furnished and we have a perfect window view into the next building (which is located about12 feet from our window at the same level....ahhh...the joys of staying in a downtown hotel!). I hope to make a new friend!

We got alot done on our first day in the SF. We walked through the Castro, the Mission, the Shopping District and also wandered into Chinatown (which is about 2 blocks from our hotel). We had a fabulous lunch in the heart of the Latin Quarter at the Rosevelt Tamale Parlor.
At the end of the day, we climbed Hayes Street to see the much anticipated Painted Ladies....funny, I didn't see Uncle Jessie anywhere...we did step in lots of dog crap and Erik managed to slide (baseball style) down a grassy hill getting mud all the way up to his elbows.....(you can't take us anywhere)

We capped off the the night meeting up with Shayne and Lori for dinner at Brindisi, drinks at Voda (a vodka bar, as it were!) and then more drinks at the Irish Bank where an Irishman rather aggressively tried to take Lori home with him....in front of Shayne.

Today has started with a hangover.....but not of the monumental St. Petersburg kind. Will post more pictures later.

Natalie (& Erik)

San Francisco: Waits with charms unfoldin'

2006-12-19T09:20:00.000-04:00

Source: http://bergoiata.org/fe/californie-paysages/25.htm

In a short couple of days, Erik and I are lucky enough to find ourselves traveling to the city by the Bay for the Christmas holidays. We'll arrive in San Francisco on Thursday evening and will stay for approximately one week and then we'll be off to Vancouver for the remainder of the trip to spend some time with the brother in law (Hi Serge) and spend some more time exploring another cool city. We'll be accompanied by two good friends who will ensure trouble, laughter and great memories.

We're not really sure what SF has to offer (aside from Trolleys, Bridges, Wharves and Burlesque) but we're keen to find out and anxious to go exploring. We do have a few things figured out though....we know we're staying here (which we are super psyched about) and we've officially planned a trip to here. We've also bought tickets to see these guys on Christmas Eve (Yes, you can all say it now, I am the best wife EVER, period). The rest is up in the air...I love these kinds of trips.

Anyone reading ever been there? Any suggestions?

Hope George Lucas does not sue me!!!

2006-11-17T14:44:00.000-04:00

The Bills Win!!!

2006-11-08T09:11:00.000-04:00

Friends, it was a great weekend: saw family, saw friends, vices were indulged upon and the Bills won!

Shayne, Lou and I drove 13.5hours through the states to get to Ste-Catharines. One way cost us $20US in tolls. Fucking tolls!!! Got there very early a.m. and slept the rest of the day. We stayed the weekend at cousin Richard le char (thanks again for everything Ritchie). Jay met up with us on Saturday. We watched alot of football, Ali G, MTV and drank alot of beer. We attempted to have a Playstation Basketball tournement going at 4a.m... that didn't work out as planned.

On game day(Sunday), we got up at 7a.m. for a 1p.m. game. Yeah tailgate!!! We were following my cousins from Ste Catharines but fuckers did not wait for us. HEY ASSHOLES WAIT NEXT TIME!!! Needless to say, we had no idea where we were going. But we did get there eventually, although not before stopping at the duty free for some beers.

Licence plate of cousins who did not wait for us. Big fans or what?

We got there finally. We found a parking sport near Bills' Superfan Kenny. We found my cousins not far trom there. It's quite surprising we did find them because there are acres and acres of tailgaiting parties.

Now a few words on Bill's Superfan Kenny...

Kenny has not missed a game for 205 games! That inlcudes pre-season games, regular season games, playoff games AND away games, away games!!! Crazy bastard is THE Super-fan.

During every game at around 11:15 a.m., he will go through the ketchup motion, where a fan will spray, or attempt to spray Kenny's burger. as you can see the consequences are somewhat humurous.

Kenny before ketchup and mustard: Kenny with ketchup and mustard.

Not only that, but Kemmy will have his "crew" make breakfast and shooters in a bowling ball for anyone who wishes it. For FREE!!! He truly is an institution.

Bowling Ball Shooter. You go girl!!!

After the tailgaiting, we made our way to the Stadium while finishing our tasty beverages. We watched the game in great spirits. Much cheering went on. Although Lou looked depressed most of the game: he is a Packers fan. The fact that Favre made some stupid plays did not help either.

Favre getting ready to make a stupid play.

In order to avoid the traffic after the game, we continued tailgating for a while. Cuz Richtie was too lazy to make his way to the toilets. All in all, it was a great time. Although the 13 hour drive back was a bit painful. We could barely see straight by the time we got home.

Next chapter: Erik spends a weekend in Ottawa.

The Great Debate...

2006-11-01T10:53:00.000-04:00

Only a few days until the Bills host the Packers.
The only question right now is: who is going to win?

Green Bay Packers
The visiting Packers have a a 3-4 record, inching away to a winning season. Their road record is actually not bad with 2-1. They have a 2 win streak and are hoping to up that to 3 this weekend. And considering they are playing the Bills, they might actually end the weekend with a win, although the Bills seem to have an all right defence.

Buffalo Bills
The hosting Bills have an even worse record with 2-5. They suck at home, they suck on the road, they suck with a 3 game losing streak. They appear to suck all 'round. Right now, irrate fans and desperation are their only incentives for a win; it's not pride, 'cause they lost that a few years back. You can't win games on a good tailgate party alone!!!

So, who is going to win?
We will see in a few days!!!

Buffalo Bills Mania!

2006-10-26T09:47:00.000-03:00

Hello folks, sorry to not have written for some time but we just have been staying put for the last little while (although I am still waiting for Natalie to put our photos up on Flickr). This post, and next posts, will mostly touch on my up-coming trip to Buffalo to see the Green Bay Packer play against the Buffalo Bills. Last time I went to Buffalo, I went with my brother and a bunch of my cousins to see a 1:30pm game. We got there shortly before 9am and I felt we got there late!!! NFL tailgate parties are crazy. By the time we got there, some people were already passed out, steaks were cooking, people were doing shots and the list of vices goes on...Hopefully, this time will be no different.

Will keep you posted.
Erik
PS-the photo above fairly depicts where we are sitting.

Happy B-day Pops!!!

2006-10-06T08:02:00.000-03:00

I would like to wish my father, Big Lou, a happy 60th birthday!!!

Bonne fete el pere!!!

Part VIII - Bustling Beijing

2006-09-12T06:24:00.000-03:00

Well, it goes without saying that we are now home. However, the trip is really not complete without one last post about our final destination on this trip: Beijing.

But first a bit about the train ride from Mongolia to China, which had to be the best train-riding experience of our whole trip....why? Because of Brent and Renee. You see, we had this notion, that we were kinda world travellers...we were adventurous, savy, wild..yes, all of the above. We rocked..right? WRONG...Renee and Brent rock, they truly do...and so much harder than we do.

You see Renee and Brent were normal on the outside (I might even say average) but on the inside, they were true adventurers...none of this wimpy one month trip stuff. In the previous year, they'd fought cancer, sold their house in London, travelled throughout Europe and Africa, accross Russia and planned to be on the road for another six months or so before settling in Australia. We inadvertantly found kindred souls. All four of us had a blast talking about everything from politics, to religion, to books, to tv and finally to sex. Through a bizarre set of circumstances we didn't get their number, which makes us really sad, but we know that they're out there living it...this adventure... and this somehow makes it a bit better to have missed out on their contact info.

Beijing is a curious city in so many ways. History, landmarks, religious sites, beautiful monuments and people. People everywhere. Beijing is one of the world's largest cities and you can almost feel it as soon as you step off the train. Bicycles, vendors, taxis, students all moving....in every direction. Everyone has something to do. Everyone has a place that they need to be. Everyone but us. And don't even start us on the students...who all wanted to sell us something...after they told us their very "unique" story.

Despite our trip taking place in mid-September, we found all of the tourist spots to still be incredibly busy and everyone in a bit of a hurry. In some ways, it was a difficult last stop to make. Beijing has an intensity to it that is palpable. It's not a city for the faint of heart or for the "out of shape"...unless taxis are considered...which is actually a good idea, because they are dirt cheap. And for the record, everything in Beijing is really farther than you plan on it being...all the time. It's just the way it is.

On our very brief stop in this massive city, I think we might have tried to pack in a bit too much excitment. We visited Tianamen Square, Chairman's Maos' Mosoleum, the Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall of China, the Ming Tombs and a Jade Factory. And we were on foot through all of it, except for the last three. There was one day we figure we walked almost 10 kms. Yea, we felt real fresh at the end of that one!

One the best parts of our stay in Beijing was the evenings. We didn't do much....but wander, snack and drink it all in. Our hotel was not far from a pedestrian street called Wangfujing that literally had everything from pearl markets to a Rolex store. Off Wangfujing, we snacked nightly at the Dong Hua Men Night Market where you could buy almost anything that wiggled on a stick. It wasn't fine dining, but it was a notable experience, to say the least.

One would literally have to stay a month in Beijing to do it justice. There is so much to see, so much history to absorb and so many streets to walk. We know that 3 days only scratched the surface of all that is Beijing. Our one solace? The fact that we will hopefully be returning within the next 18-months to pick up a daugther. That's more than enough to keep us going.

Part VII - Holy Mongolia Buddha!!!

2006-09-12T05:38:00.000-03:00

Mongolia was everything we thought it would be, and more. From the capital city, UlaanBaatar to the Bayan Gobi, we loved every minute of it. Our only regret was that we couldn't stay longer. We started off our Mongolia stay in the capital, UlaanBaator (fun fact: 1 million of the 2.7 million population live in this city, almost everyone else lives a nomadic lifestyle).

As previously stated in our post about buddhism, we arrived early on a Sunday morning to a mostly empty city. It's a nice way to start off sightseeing, without the hustle and bustle. Our schedule was tight (as we only really had the day to see the capital) so we focused on monasteries and temples. They were a delight to see: vivid colours, fascinating architecture and detail all set amidst overgrown landscape. We were advised that over 94% of all Mongolians practice Tibetan buddhism (interesting fact for a country that is lodged between Russia and China).

One of the striking things about Mongolia's capital city is the sheer amount of homeless children who mostly seemed to be living on the streets. We had heard about this problem before however we weren't really able to get a grasp (despite enquiries) as to the root of this problem. Although always begging for money, they were always polite and friendly. The children appeared to be relying on each other for survival. It was tragic and very difficult to see; we couldn't help but want to give them everything we had.

On day 2 of our trip to Mongolia, we rode off into the Bayan Gobi. To get to our ger camp was a 290 km trip. In Canadian standards, this would take no more than 3 hours. In Mongolian standards, this took over 5 hours. Imagine the worst road you have EVER seen (potholes, erosion, etc) and then multiply this by 10...this is the state of highways outside of the capital city. Add to this, the fact that we were riding in a semi-luxurious sedan as opposed to an SUV or a Jeep (our travel agent will be hearing about this) and a driver who was always frustrated when his car bottomed out (which was very VERY often) and you get the picture of how unpleasant a ride we faced. But despite all of this, we arrived safely and were able to keep focused on the main issue...we were in fucking MONGOLIA!

From our ger camp, we took short trips to a couple of monasteries, some monuments, a nomadic family and the sand dunes. Every single minute of the car ride was worth it. We saw ancient spiritual places of worship, the site of Genghis Khan's ancient capital, we drank fermented mare's milk (it's as bad as it sounds), we tried on traditional clothing and we rode camels in the sand (off which Natalie fell, yes she did).

One of the things that marked us profoundly about Mongolia is the spirit of its people. Most of them live a nomadic lifestyle, moving their gers (round felt tents which are surprisingly comfortable) from one spot to another, at least 10 times a year, in search of grazing grounds for their herd (which include sheep, goats, cattle, horses and yaks). Those Mongolians that live in an urban setting, face rising prices, low wages and slower development than what most people could tolerate. Despite very difficult living conditions (by Western standards), they seem incredibly happy and peaceful. We encountered so many people simply wanting to help, or graciously offering us a taste of Mongolia, it was hard for us to not fall in love with this place.

The day we left, we were quite sad. However in another way we were happy, because as the train pulled away from the station it actually began to snow. Despite our love for the people, I don't think we're quite cut out for snow in September. LOL

A brief interruption - A most important message

2006-09-12T05:32:00.000-03:00

Arrived in London yesterday, but this post will not be about travelling or about us at all.

This is about our newest best friend who arrived in this world on September 7th, 2006. Welcome to the universe Alexandre! We are so happy that you arrived safely, we've been waiting to meet you for a long time (let the spoiling begin!).

Congrats S&M!

Part VI - Everyday Buddhism

2006-09-06T08:05:00.000-03:00

We arrived in UlaanBaatar early Sunday morning. We walked through mostly empty streets towards a buddhist monestary. We saw monks, old and young, reciting their sutras and being all monklike. The morning prayers moved us, but not as much as the gesture we witnessed after exiting this holy place.

As we were walking away from this place of worship, in a zenlike state, we saw many "wild dogs" walking and meeting along the sidewalks. We both agreed that we were torn between feelings of warmth at seeing these dogs happy and completely free and feelings of sadness at seeing them wimpering and hungry. However, nothing prepared us for the sight of a dog lying on a sidewalk who had not made the night. As we were contemplating this dog's short, but free life, a few people walked by the dog without blinking an eye.

Then, it happened. Out of the corner of our eyes, we spied a robed monk briefly stop by the lying dog. As buddhists cherish all life, big and small, he proceeded to pick up some sand from the sidewalk, recite a prayer and sprinkle the sand as a sign of respect for our fallen little friend.

He then went on his way, without looking back as this was not a show: such is his faith.

Part V - Just a quick one - Siberia

2006-09-01T05:45:00.000-03:00

Hey folks,

This will be just a quickie as we are soon leaving for Mongolia. We've spent the past few days in Siberia (I know, I know, how crazy is that?). We started out at a quaint little fishing village beside Lake Baikal called Listvyanka. Total population 2500.

There wasn't much to do and it was kinda cold as hell but it was a great way to relax. The Lake itself is also kinda fascinating. It is the deepest lake in the world and one of the major sources of fresh water in the world.

We had a cool, old, kitschy apartment to ourselves and we spent our time walking up and down the main street (as there was no public transportation and the town was about 3 km from where we were staying).

We arrived yesterday morning in Irkutsk. The guide book called this the "Paris of Siberia". We're not so sure about that one. The population is about 600,00 and it is a kinda neat city. Especially interesting if you consider that virtually everything had to be brought in by rail in terms of its construction. It is literally in the middle of nowhere yet people here are thriving and seem pretty happy. We are actually enjoying this city much more than we had thought. We arrived on the first day of school and were treated to a great many students, old and young, all dressed up walking the streets of Irkutsk. It made for a nice way to see the city.

We are leaving in less than an hour for our train to Mongolia but not before another trip to a Banya (we LOVE Russian baths...brilliant). Our train ride will take about 36 hours in total and we're a little nervous about the Passport control however I'm sure that everything will be ok....just long and possibly annoying.

Part IV - Des bains pi des trains

2006-08-31T05:40:00.000-03:00

Other than the Kremlin, our last day in Moscow was pretty uneventful (well, as far as Moscow goes!). However, with a little push from Erik, Natalie decided to go to a Russian bath with him (although men and women were seperated). A Russian banya consisted as such: shower, steam, cold dip in barrel, swim (for Erik only, Natalie got a whirlpool though), shower, tea and snacks, then repeat. And all naked mind you!!! There were also several services available, including (for women anyway) manicurists, hairstylists, massage therapists, laundry service, etc...It was the perfect thing to do before heading on an 80 hour-5000km train ride to Siberia.

The train ride itself was quite a feat. We really didn't know what to expect. I don't think there was anything that could have prepared us for what we experienced. We wanted the "Russian Way" and I think we got it. We got a Russian family anyway. For most of the entirety of 5000km we shared our cabin with not one, not two, not even three people. Yes, there were 4 + us. There was a family of three (including a two-year old toddler) AND the grandmother. It was however pretty fun at times. There were several questions exchanged but hardly any answers exchanged. We did however share some beer, some food, some pictures and we learnt at least a bit about our respective cultures.

Vlad and Papa

The Russian landscape was spectacular. We literally spent hours staring out of the windows into meadows and villages. It seemed (along the railway anyway) that people are mostly congregated in small villages made up principally of wooden houses. Gardenning appears to be at least sustaining if not profitable. Several of what we might call "shanty" houses had amazing gardens and small farms. Most of the roads were made of dirt and we regularly spied people walking everywhere. We'd like to say it was depressing but the reality is that it was quite charming in a pastoral kind of way. There were several places we passed where we both wished we could have hopped off the train to do some exploring.

As for sustainance, we survived mainly on the rations we bought in Moscow and from the awesome food that was available on the platforms from the babushkas. The train stopped several times a day including at least 1-2 times for a period of more than 15 minutes. So we wandered, stretched our legs and played a guessing game as to what food might be good. Out of the four days, we only bought one bad thing....pretty good I would say.

One thing quite pleasant about this kind of trip is that time seems to drift by. Unless we looked at our watches, it was often difficult to tell whether it was late morning or afternoon. Evenings passed by quickly. The train itself runs completely on Moscow time although we actually rode through 5 time zones.

Whenever we wanted exercise (and if we were willing to brave the smoking chambers between the waggons) we wandered down to the dining cart. We ate, played cards, read, tried to figure out why the waitress kept scowling at us, and relaxed.

Upon debarking the train, we were chauffered to Lake Baikal where we spent a couple of relaxing days but more on that later.

PS-For those of you who did not know, it is election time in NB. Does Erik show it?
Also click here: Erik made the NB CBC online news!!!

Part III - Moscow - Bringing Babushka Back!

2006-08-24T18:04:00.000-03:00

Well, we arrived in Moscow after a relatively pain-free overnight train. We (Erik) once again haggled for a taxi and wound up at the Wallmart of hotels (actually, Erik believes it is more like the Giant Tiger of hotels, for those who remember this chain). We kid you not, this place is the funniest thing ever. There are 4 monstrous ugly grey buildings that are mostly linked together. Inside, you can find dry cleaning, several restaurants, bars, internet cafes, post office, a strip bar and even a bordello. All prices are overinflated (duh) but some of the services are convenient. With over 2000 guests PER hotel, car alarms are ringing 24 hours a day. And don't even start about the packs of wild dogs roaming the parking lots barking at people and cars. Scary.

One of the places we've been dying to see is the Red Square: revolutions, history, Ivan the Terrible, Soviet governments, even Lenin's tomb. It's all there and it is breathtaking. We've visited the Red Square 4 times so far and we still have about 24 hours left to go. We just can't get enough of it (and that's saying alot given that there are no benches).

Because of the plane crash a few days ago, Russia was in a period of mourning. Consequently (and due to regularly scheduled closings), Lenin's Tomb was not open. Erik was very disappointed. However, we did get to see Lenin live! (See below Lenin, although not pictured, was Putin. Yes, they were having quite a lively discussion, or so it seemed!)

Lenin LIVE at the Kremlin!

One of the higlights of this trip so far has been the food (who knew!). We've really lucked out in our choice of restaurants. From the obscure yet delicious Senate in St. Petersburg to this swanky splendor of the Metropolitain Hotel (pictured left), we've tasted some of Russia's finest foods. The Metropolitain is a venerable institution in Moscow. Everywhere you look do you see, golden trim, marble, stained glass and a beautiful water fountain. The service was also impeccable. It was a wonderful evening. Tonight we dined at an artsy cafe called FAQCafe where the service wasn't as great but the food was, and a third of the price of the Metropolitain at that.

We spent some time wandering the streets of Moscow today looking for souvenirs and fun items to bring home. We hit the jackpot at the Arbat where the streets are lined with street vendors, artists, boutiques, cafes and all kinds of other junk. If we saw 1 matrioshka doll, we must have seen over a thousand. We even saw matrioshka dolls made in the form of political figures. AWESOME. After a few hours and a few purchases of art, matrioshka dolls and soviet propaganda posters, we left with empty wallets.

One of the strangest things that we both realized is the vast difference that exists between Moscow and St. Petersburg. While Moscow is the capital of the country and the epicenter of all things Russian, the "happening place" appears to be St. Petersburg. In St. Petersburg, everyone was friendlier, sexier and filled with a joie de vivre that doesn't seem to exist in Moscow. In Moscow there appears to be less English (thanks alot Frommers, you suck!) and more abrupt. behavior. St. Petersburg brings the sexy back while Moscow just brings the babushka out of people.

Tomorrow, the Kremlin in detail, Russian baths (hopefully) and our trek to Siberia begins.

***

Erik still at work.

Part II - St. Petersburg - Bringing Sexy Back

2006-08-23T17:11:00.000-03:00

View along Nevsy Prospekt (street described below)

We arrived in St. Petersburg mid-afternoon. We weren't quite sure what to expect at the airport however many of our fears were abaited once we saw English translations on most signs (good start). We made it out of the migration section and our first challenge was getting to our hotel. Cosmopolitain-Erik took control and actually bartered (quite fiercely, I might add) with a local driver (official taxis are almost non-existant so you literally get into strangers' cars). As soon as he pulled out of the airport drive-way, we knew we weren't in Kansas anymore...

The view from our hotel window
La ride de taxi etait une aventure en sois-meme. Nous avons appris tres vite que tout affichage, toute ligne routiere ainsi que les vois, ne sont que des suggestions. C'est une anarchie vehiculaire!!! Nous sommes arrives a l'hotel qui paraissait comme un dongeon du dehors. (On s'est presque fait lutte par l'ascenceur) Heureusement le patois "l'habit ne fait pas le moine" etait apte ici.

We decided to venture out into the St. Petersburg night for food and possibly some vodka. We started walking and soon realized that we had landed on Saturn. The cyrillic alphabet is really impossible to understand (for us anyway, at least on such little sleep). We finally found a restaurant (3 hours later) but not before consuming at least 2 beer each on the sidewalk like all the other locals and gasping several times at the unexpected beauty. The main drag, Nevsky, is a lively mix of shopping, restaurants, bars and beautiful women. Interesting observation....ALL women in St. Petersburg wear high heels.....ALL the time. And most of these heels are of the 6inch spiked heel variety. Disturbing, fascinating and interesting....all at the same time.

Finalement, a 11h30pm, nous nous sommes rendu a notre restaurant qu'Erik avait choisit. Il avait fait un excellent choix! Le "Senat" etait dans la cave d'un ancient batiment gouvernemental qui hebergeait un genre d'entrepot pour archives. Apres le caviar, le canard, le vodka, l'agneau, le chevreuil, le vodka et le vodka, nous nous sommes rendu a un petit bar quelques minutes de marche du restaurant.

One of our drinking stops. Cool huh?

Erik once again proved his awesomeness when he stopped a young local couple to ask them where THEY liked to go for drinks. They pointed us in the direction of an awesome bar called Novus. The DJ played US songs from the sixties, the beer was cold and the vokda was cheap. We had a great time! (emphasis on great). It was more than a little funny to see all the cute Russian kids dancing to the Beatles. The story goes on like this...we walk, walk and walk some more...we get lost, and an hour later we finally get to the hotel at 6am (see Natalie and Erik for further details!)

Hermitage

Le lendemain nous nous sommes rendu a l'Hermitage. Le muse est reconnu comme un des plus grands au monde et contient au moins 5 differents edifices. La collection d'art est remarquable, les queues pour se rendre au musee etaient tout a fait aussi remarquables! L'Hermitage se trouve dans un ancient palais royale qui est vraiment spectaculaire, peut-etre la chose la plus impressionante a date.

Erik is working IT at the Hermitage...even when on holidays.

(Chris, please feel free to use for propaganda purposes! Hahaha!)

***

Note to our parents:

Despite Russian plane crashes and Russian bombs...

We are still alive...barely!

Smoke Smoke Anywhere!

2006-08-22T05:48:00.000-03:00

Hey el pere! (mom, print ceci pour papa): Tu aimerais bien ca St Petersburg. Tu peux boire une biere en marchant dans le milieu de la rue sans te faire harceler par un policier. Tu peut fumer dans les aeroports, places publics, restaurants, etc! Tu peux fumer anywhere...ANYWHERE!!!

For those of you who aren't fluent in both official languages, the rough translation to the above is, "HEY Dad, you can smoke anywhere here. You can also drink, literally anywhere. "

St. Petersburg is crazy that way.

More to come. Heading to Moscow tonight.

ps-we got in this morning at 6:30am!!!
pps-Lou, how's the dude, Genghirino?

Part I - London - Not vanilla ice cream

2006-08-20T18:43:00.000-03:00

Gros Ben
London in itself was a realization to me. Kinda like finding out that you really like something that you never really gave much thought to. I have always considered London akin to store-bought vanilla ice cream; good but not great and certainly not all that interesting. I am really glad to be wrong about this one. London is anything BUT vanilla ice cream. The people are interesting, the architecture is eye-catching and the history is so rich with pride, tradition and scandal (what a great mix).

Nous avons commencer Londres du bon pieds: avec une pint de biere au pub le plus pres de notre hotel. En parlant d'hotel, notre chambre est tellement petite que meme un schtroumph (smurf) aurait de la difficulte a se trouver de la place! Ah oui, est-ce que j'ai mentionne que ca fait environ5 jours que notre hotel n'a pas d'eau chade? On prend nos bains avec de l'aide de la bouilloire!

London Tower Bridge

We started off our first day by sleeping in, eating at a local bakery and heading to Buckingham Palace. We're still not really sure what is so interesting about this building (the Queen aside)...there were literally hundreds of people lining the gold-tipped wrought iron gates taking pictures of a concrete structure....a boring building really. Erik and I had more fun taking pictures of the people than of Buckingham Palace itself. We then hopped on the top of a double-decker bus. We opted for the double-decker in order to get a better feel for the city and its sights. Great choice. Highly recommended.

Speakers' Corner (Not the Much Music one)

Un de nos arrets les plus interessants etait le ''Speaker's Corner''. Grand bastion de la liberte d'expression, sauf pour quelques exceptions(pas d'insultes liees a la famille royale). Les gens se presentent chaque dimanche a Hyde Park avec une boite (ou une echelle) sur laquelle ils prechent de tout et de rien: de religion, de guerre, de politique et de coneries. Les debats sont nombreux avec des centaines de personnes qui sont a la recherche de discours interessants. Assez impressionant!!!

St. Paul's Cathedral

In riding through the streets of London, we saw many things. We saw Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, the London Eye, the London Tower Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe and, of course, the infamous Harrod's. We finished the day at a great Indian restaurant with a mediocre bottle of wine. Lots to digest for such a short stop but a great beginning to our adventure.

Next stop: St. Petersburg...

***

Train Trip

2006-08-08T08:15:00.000-03:00

(Click on image for a larger and more detailed view.)

Well, here it is. Here is the reason why we created this blog. Here is THE post which details our our trip across Eurasia. It consists of 10 steps (along with facts that you KNOW Natalie did not draft) .

We leave from Bangor Maine on August 19th and fly to London England, where we stay for 2 nights. Natalie is looking forward to sipping afternoon tea, drinking lukewarm pints and visitng the fabled Harrod's. We then fly to St. Petersburg where the real adventure begins and Natalie's knowledge of the world dwindles. Lonely Planet, anyone?

1-St-Petersburg (once known as Leningrad)
Peter the Great's window to the Western world. We are only here for a couple of days. Home of the Hermitage, the Peter and Paul Fortress and many things Russian.

2-Overnight train to Moscow
Hopefully this overnight train will not be as bad as the overnighter when we met those Italians (see Europe posts below). It's an 8 hour train ride. Should not be too painful...especially if a sufficient Vodka is bought prior to departure.

3-Moscow
Here for three days. Well what can we say about this place? Home of the Kremlin, Red Square, Lenin's Tomb...It's Moscow man! What else do we need to say?!?!?!?!?!

4-Four day train ride across Russia
This is where our patience and resourcefulness will be tested. Not much food, not much drink other than vodka (recent vodka training will no doubt come in handy), not much service and not much English, nor French. No showers, no baths!!!

5-Lake Baikal stay
For those big RISK players, you know where Irkutsk is: Siberia. Lake Baikal will be our home for about 4 days. A family will be hosting us for a couple of these. Again, recent vodka training will no doubt come in handy.

6-Two day train ride to Ulaanbaatar
Another train ride talking with some locals and hopefully get some cool hints as to what adventures await us in Mongolia.

7-Jeep ride in Bayangobi
This is where Erik get's excited: We are going to the ruins at Karakorum, hopefully (ancient palace of Genghis Khan' ancestors), and to a monestary at Erdene Zuu. We heard rumours that there are only 81 miles of asphalt in Mongolia. Holy jeep ride! Can you say "middle of nowhere"...

8-Stay in Ulaanbaatar
Capital of Genghis Khan's Mongolia, celebrating 800 years since the world's greatest empire. We really don't know what to expect on this leg of the trip. We can imagine alot of walking around and statements to the effect of "Holy Shit, we are in Mongolia". FUN

9-Two day train ride to Beijing
Again, hoping to get some insight on Beijing from other riders. One cool thing we heard about this leg of the trip: there is a time during the train ride where they have to go so slow, you can actually walk beside the train. We might test this rumour out... lol

10-Beijing
Confucius, Sun Tzu, Tian'an Men Square, Forbiden City, Great Wall, dim sum...Home of a great civilization (and hopefuly our first daughter).

We will also be stopping in London, UK for a couple days post Eurasia to cut up the travelling.

Well folks, that's the gist of it. More to come.

Please fasten your seatbelts and get ready for takeoff!!!

SEATTLE!!!

2006-07-25T10:08:00.000-03:00

We are cutrrently in Seattle; after spending over 8 hours in the air, 4 hours on the ground(layovers) and 3 *wonderful* hours driving. Erik had the joy of "delayed baggage" via Air Canada...(editorial from Erik: fuck I hate Air Canada).

Now we are finally relaxed....(editorial from Natalie: VERY relaxed) We are currently at cousin Warren and cousin Julia's home enjoying their jacuzzi and their beach.

Seattle wheather is much more enjoyable than Fredericton weather: 26 degrees in Seattle and 26 degrees in Fredericton are surprisingly different (humidity, anyone?). We've also had the opportunity to eat a wonderful Thai meal in dowtown Seattle, a great lunch in the Mountains outside of Redmond and a meal cooked by our host...cousin Warren... (also Natalie's boss) extraordinaire...coupled with wine from his fabuloso cellar (yea...I know...rough life!)

This afternoon brings us to La Conner Washington for a wedding, dinner, dancing and fireworks. Life should always be this fun.

Natalie & Erik

First Stop: Seattle!

2006-07-15T23:07:00.000-03:00

July 27 to August 2: Our first big stop will be Seattle! Big city, big mountains, big ocean.

Natalie had to be there for work and Erik cashed-in some airmiles and voila, free trip!

There are a few things we really want to see like the Orcas, Pike Place Market, San Juan Islands, some sushi spots and a few things in between. At the same time, we will be going to a friend's wedding.

For those of you intimate with this cool city, please post a comment or fire us off an email with your suggestions. Merci.

(Now if only our visa to Mongolia could be approved asap, everything would be great.)

Welcome - Bienvenue

2006-07-13T14:52:00.000-03:00

Hello folks and welcome to our travel website!

As most of you know, we like to wander and check things out. We hope to use this website to keep up with everyone and also to document our trips, large and small.

This year is quite a big year for us in terms of travel:
1-Seattle in a couple of weeks;
2-Russia, Mongolia, China and UK in about a month;
3-Buffalo to see the Green Bay Packers play the Bills (Erik only);
4-San Francisco and Vancouver for X-mas holidays.

There will also be short trips in between.

In the summer of 2001, we backpacked through a portion of Europe after Natalie graduated from law school. Click on the Rough Guides under "Recent Entries" to go down memory lane. They're our emails from that trip. Thanks Sacha for digging them out of the vault. (And please ignore the NUMEROUS spelling mistakes.)

In the days to come, we will be describing our routes and are hoping for some feedback.

Take care and welcome aboard!!!

Natalie et Erik

ps-please feel free to leave comments by clicking the comments link under each post.

Rough Guide to Europe Part I

2006-07-13T14:47:00.000-03:00

Date: Thursday, July 5th, 2001

Subject: Rough Guide to Europe

Hey guys,

This is our first contact with the real world since we left on Tuesday. Things are good, tiring, sweaty, and hungry but we are happy and seeing cool things. We are in Barcelona today (Thursday) and have spent the day walking up, around, and everywhere in this great city although not understanding much. Little known fact: the Spanish do not exactly like street signs!!!!

Apres un maudit vol de 9 heures, nous avons aterri a Paris. Nous avons marcher autour de Paris et visiter la Tour Eiffel. Cest une tres belle vue. Par apres nous avons embarquer sur un train pour 13 heures!!! Nous sommes arrive a Barcelone cet apres midi. On a eu notre premiere douche dans 60 heures!!! Crisse qu´on puait!!!

We plan on staying in Barcelona for a few more days. We visited a street called the Ramblas today. It`s a great and colourful pedestrian walkway filled with restaurants, bars, entertainment etc.... It really is quite something. We are now heading down the street to hang out by the dock (On the Mediteranean!!!!). We have plans to visit the Picasso museum tomorrow and taste some more of the great food here and I think Erik has plans on visiting the Red Light District!!! We´ll keep you posted whenever we run accross another Internet Cafe.

A part la chaleur et le manque de someil, tout est parfait!!!

Wish you were here! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

A la prochaine,

xoxox

Natalie et Erik

Rough Guide to Europe Part II

2006-07-13T14:45:00.000-03:00

Date: Tuesday, July 10, 2001

Subject: Rough Guide to Europe

Hi everyone, glad to hear some feedback from some of you (as for the rest of you; what are we, chopped liver?). Since we last wrote to you we have visited Nice in the South of France. What a beautiful place. We spent most of our time at the beach and also visited the Matisse museum (insert a 45-min long and arduous walk uphill) which was beautiful. Nice is pretty much everything you read about. Blue water, lots of cool restaurants and tons of oiled up French people in itsy bitsy bathing suits. Funny phenomenon that we noticed - most French women are MUCH better looking than French men! We spent two days in a small One Star hotel but it was SO much more quiet than a hostel and really kinda quaint.

We are now in Rome after pretty much the trainride from HELL. 1. It was 10 hours long 2. We got moved around because we did not have a reserved seat (at 3 am!!!) and 3. We had the pleasure of sharing a cabin with 3 drunk Italian men, one of which showed me his unit while trying to explain to me how all the beaches in Rome were nude (wonderful, really). The hostel that we are settled at now seems pretty good. We visited the Colliseum today and Erik was kinda like a kid in a sandbox. Suffice to say that he was very impressed with all the crumbling stone! Well, we will now leave you as it is finally time for us to get check into our hostel and finally get some sleep.

We really hope all is going well for everyone. We miss you all and hope to hear from you soon.

Nat & Erik

Rough Guide to Europe Part III

2006-07-13T14:44:00.000-03:00

Date: Sunday, July, 15, 2001

Subject: Rough Guide III

HI everyone, it is day 13 of our trip and we are in the beautiful city of Venice. It is pretty hard to describe unless you can see it for yourself. Nor pictures, postcards or movies can really do this city justice. Through a stroke of luck, we arrived in this city on the best weekend all year. It is some kind of annual festival this weekend. Last night we were treated to 50 mins of spectacular non-stop fireworks on the harbour. We have been spending our days walking around in awe and being amazed at exactly how expensive things are here.

Nous avons vu des choses spectaculaires. Sur l'ile de Murano nous avons vu une equipe dhommes en train de construire un chandellier en vitre (glass blowing). Cetait impressionant.

Avant Venise nous etions a Rome ou Jules Cesar fu assassine et ou la Chapel Cistine reside. Cest difficile a croire que tant d histoire peut etre retrouve dans seulment une ville!!! Nous avons visite le Forum avec un guide Irlandais qui etait cristement drole.

Today is our last day in Venice (wish we could stay forever) and our next stop is Munich. We leave tonite on another night train (which are the bane of our existence at this point in time) and should get there by six thirty tomorrow morning (fun fun fun).

We miss all of you tons, and hope that all of you are having a good summer.

Carole, your new niece is really cute (although Erik thinks she looks like Winston Churchill) please congratulate Michel and Brigitte for me.

Mom, it was really good to hear from you!!!

Manon, keep taking care of my family for me!

Anne, we are arriving in Toronto on the 26th and fly out of Hamilton on the 30th. Hope we can get together.

There are too many others to personnaly write to, but....you are in our thoughts and we look forward to showing you pictures and making you insanely jealous!!!

Lots of love

Nat & Erik

Rough Guide to Europe Part IV

2006-07-13T11:34:00.000-03:00

Date: Friday, July 20, 2001

Subject: Rough Guide IV

Hey folks,

We are now in Prague on day 18 of the journey. It seems we have reached the drinking phase of our trip after leaving the Beer Halls in Munich to land in a place where you can buy a large bottle of beer for 45 cents at the corner store.

As mentionned, before Prague we were in Munich. The city was quite a surprise as it was beautiful and possibly the best organised city in the entire universe. During our stay we took a 'Third Reich' tour of the important sites where Hitler and the Nazis originated. It was very interesting to be standing on the very streets where this history took place. The following day we went to Dachau which was actually the first ever concentration camp for the Nazis. It was eerie, disturbing and interesting all at the same time. However, the subject was handled in a very sensitive manner which promoted respect and understanding. I can't really do it justice by describing it, but we do have some good pictures. We didn't do too much in the way of nightlife. However, we did eat at a famous Beer Hall where 95% of the entire menu was focused around meat. Strange culinary practices....but the beer was good!

Je (Erik) suis victime de cette diete allemande base sur la viande. Javais des maux de ventre et du gaz pour les prochain 4 jours!!! Nous avons pris le train le matin de Munich a Prague. Une fois arrive en replique czech, ils nous ont demander pour nos passeports et nos visa touristique. It was some scary shit. Tu ne sais pas vraiment a quoi tattendre dans un pays qui est un ancien pays communiste et un pays de leurope de lest.

Prague et nous, n'avions pas commencer sur le bon peids. Aussitot descendu du train t'avait des crisses de tanants qui voulais nous rendre mille et un service pour vraiment "cheap", yeah, whatever. Cest un gros tourist trap Prague. Et ca continue... Une fois arrive a l'auberge, ils avaient perdu nos reservation mais heureusement il restait de la place. Toutefois, pour echanger nos cheque de voyage, la commission a payer etait ridiculment haute, anything to make a buck! Ensuite on rentre dans notre chambre et il a 50 autres crisse de personnes dans notre fucking chambre! Cetait seulement un vieux gym avec un paquet de bunk beds avec des lits dures comme la roche.

Apres une petite sieste (il devrait avoir des siestes au canada), nous avons manger et ensuite essayer de trouver un club de jazz. Crisse, pas capable de rien trouver dans grosse pluie en plus que jetais en train de mourir de crampes causees par mon experience culinaire allemande. On a ete se coucher...bin crisse, ca pris 3 heures avant de tomber en dormis car 20 des 50 personnes ronflais et un autres dix etait sur le gros party dans le salon a cote. Toutefois, la journee suivante etait spectaculaire...

We didn't start the day too early (see 50 beds in the same room here) as we were kinda sleep-deprived. We did eventually make it up to the Prague Castle which is kinda like a whole village behind ancient 14th century brick walls. Everything in Prague is kinda like a mixture of the stateliness of Munich in Germany and the ornate decorations of Paris. It really is something to see. The colours are vibrant, but the buildings are pretty simple in architecture. We walked around town for the rest of the day and then took another Siesta (God Bless siesta time!)

Taking advantage of the cheapness of Prague we then went out in syle to a restaurant that is actually in a cave where there are crystals and rock formations in the ceiling. We sampled Czech food at its finest and pretended to be grown-up tourists! haha...We then headed to a Jazz Bar (which Prague is quite famous for) which was named after a Miles Davis album. We listened to some good Jazz, drank some cheap alcohol and smiled and nodded at the Czech coolio people which were sharing our table. The party then continued back at our hostel where the bar was still open serving 75 cent pints!!!! Needless to say we have a bit of a headache today, but everything is still intact. We are heading to the Jewish cemetary today and then taking the night-train to Amsterdam. Our trip finishes at the next stop which is Paris. We will no doubt have very interesting stories from Amsterdam and our hostel does have internet access.

Take care Everyone

Salut tout le monde

Erik et Natalie