Part VIII - Bustling Beijing

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!!!

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

(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!!!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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