New!

TravelMeese

Hey all. we're home safe and sound..well most of us anyway, Jordans staying an extra week in Ireland, and we're going to be in Vancouver for the next week.
I've made a new blog, connected to this one that you can find though "viewing my complete profile", or by going to poetindisguise.blogspot.com . It will be my homeblog, because i'm really too addicted to this to give it up just because our lovely little trip is over. Check it out if you want, although I'll warn you that my rambling thoughts and exciting ucluelet adventures probably won't measure up compared to Europe... but I'll give it a go anyway.
Love to you all - and Happy Christmas already!
-Kait.

In Stirling still..

Hey all..
Yes actually it was a problem with my spelling and not my pronounciation as far as "arthurs seat" is concerned, and isnt it funny that King Arthur is said never to have even been there? I guess it was originally Archer's seat and then changed from there..ANYway..
Yes we're still in Stirling ,and today we visited the William Wallace monument and the Stirling Bridge on which Will's greatest battle took place. It was again pouring rain, but werent bothered by it except for slightly and it did nothing to deter us from stomping around in it for most of the day. The Wallace monument is quite impressive, but looks to me as if it were built to fall over. It looks somewhat like an extrmely old castle tower, ready to topple over any minute. I don't know if the designers planned it to look that way, or if it just wasnt a very good design in the first place, but either way it was fun to climb and interesting to see.
Yesterday we extensivley toured the famous Stirling Castle, and met one of the funniest scottish tour guides...Let's just say he was an extreme history buff who enjoyed his job just a little too much:) Remind me to show you the video we're making when its finished, i got some funny bits.
Tomorrow we're hanging out and seeing the last few things around here and then saturday we're leaving early for Glasgow airport...!! ahhh I really cant believe how fast its all gone..
Im ready to go home though...Thankful for the experience..I think i've seen just enough of a taste of everything to know where to go back to when i get the chance!!
Anyway thats all for now, i'll update again once I can and who knows..ive kinda caught onto this whole blogging thing so maybe i'll keep it going after i get home.
take care everyone, see you soon
-kait

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

We are right now at the "Willy Wallace" Hostel in Stirling, Scotland. We arrived today from Edinburgh, where we have spent the last 4 days.
After London Edinburgh felt much closer to home, and I am blaming this mostly on the rain and very chilly wind that we hiked around in for most of our time there.
I didn't really expect much better, it is the middle of November in Scotland, after all. Besides the weather I enjoyed our time in Edinburgh very much, and I believe the others did also. It's an extremely old city, and as one of our aquaintances (who was a livley french girl whom chelsea and i will tell you more about once we return) put it, a "very mystic" place. We opted to stay away from most of the mystic stuff though, and after having a good run through of it all from our French friend, we thankfully knew where to avoid.
We spent most of our time wandering up, down, and around the Royal Mile, a road that runs from the bottom of town where the Queens Palace in located, right up through the middle to the hill on which Edinburgh Castle stands. The street is full of shops and museums and cute little pubs (where unfortunatley we ate most of our meals, we're really getting lazier the closer we get to home!). We toured the Castle as well, and saw the crown jewels of Scotland (which were much more impressive than those of France we saw in the Louve) as well as the room in which Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to her son James, who became kind of Scotland and eventually king of England. He was the first king of what we now know as the "United Kingdom". There's a little history lesson for ya:) Gotta learn something new every day!
Another day took us up "authors seat", a very large rolling hill type-mountain rising up on the edge of town. It was quite a climb and the top brought us amazing views of the city and lots of fun jumping around in the wind, which was about 3 times as strong as the wind at the front of a BC Ferry. I almost lost my hat a few times. I'm hoping Jord will get his Pictures of it all uploaded before we leave on Saturday so you can have a look:)
SATURDAY! I can't believe it's finally so close. Honestly none of us can believe it and it has not sunk in whatsoever yet. I dont think it will until we actually see our parents face to face. I knew it would seem as if it had all just flown by once it was over...But I'm not giving a goodbye europe speach just yet, as we have 3 more days of exploring to do before we actually climb onto that awful plane. Tomorrow we will see the famed Stirling Castle. We'll update again before leaving, See you all Soon!!
-Kait & co.

I've gone to London to visit the Queen..

Ok, not really, but close enough. We happened to be (comepletely by accident i may add) at Buckingham Palace a few mornings ago just as the ceremonial leaving for the annual opening of state government (or somthing like that) was taking place. We saw all of the hundereds of Queens men on horse back riding in formation leading her golden carriage drawn by 6 white horses. Quite the sight. We stayed long enough to watch her return as well and got quite a good glimps of Her Majesty, the Prime Minister and several other officials. It was exciting and the marching bands played and we giggled at the guards in their big furry hats:)
This was only one of the many highlights of our time in London, a city I now love much more than I thought I would. I really wasnt expecting much more than another big, dirty city, but i suppose i was surprised at the comfort that came with being able to speak and understand the English around me. Not only that, but the people were genuinley the friendliest we have come across yet. Our hostel was wonderful, full of fun people and a safe, happy, English atmosphere.
The highlight HIGHTLIGHT of the 5 days we spent there for me was on wednesday night, when we splurged on our budget (they were a good deal!!) for 3rd row seats at Her Majestys Royal Theatre in Picadilly Circus(close to Londons west end) to see The Phantom of the Opera. Let me tell you if you have never seen this show live, it is a MUST. I had goosebumps the entire time and was completely captivated for the duration of it. Even if you didn't like the movie, you'll love the play. its fantastic, and the whole atmosphere of the playhouse and the curtains and the band tuning under the stage still makes me so excited! If only i lived in London, (or New York, or even Vancouver for that matter) I know exactly where my budget would be blown every month. At the theatre, without a doubt.
Other sights and sounds of London include of course Big Ben, Westminster Abbey (which was amazing, saw the tombs of Mary Queen of Scots and many many others), the London eye (on which we did not ride, it cost 30 quid and looked like a slow, slow ferris wheel). So anyway London was nothing short of Brilliant. On our last afternoon (which was drizzly and grey, and perfectly lovely) as i strolled down Portobello Road (some of you may remember this famous street from the disney Movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks, its full of antique stores and book shops, knicknack stands and more antique stores, most of which have been there since the early 1900s) with Eggnog-chai latte in hand and a big wolly scarf wrapped bulkily around my neck, I couldnt help but feel sorry that we were leaving so soon. It would be an excellent place to live if someone wanted to do such a thing, or better yet it would be fabulous to have a friend who lived there.
Now we're in Edinburgh, Scotland. After getting up at 4:30 am to catch a flight here (because it was oh-so-much-cheaper than taking the train although im still not sure it was worth it..) we're all very tired and glad for the security of this farmillior hostel. It's also a Globetrotters, which was where we stayed in London. It's not quite as nice and we cant find free wireless out any of the windows, but its warm and a nice spot to rest with a big tv room and friendly staff.
8 days and counting..the plan is to spend 4 nights here, explore the area (and maybe sneek in another Show at the theatre??..Kait is hoping) and then our last 4 nights will be spent in Stirling. We're exciting to go and visit Stirling Castle, one of the biggest in Scottland, as our great grandmother was Mary Stirling, and immigrated from the area to Canada. I doubt they'll let us take ownership back of our castle, but its exciting to see a part of our heritage anyway.
Love to you all, i hope your all gearing up and getting exciting for the rapidly approaching holiday season..I can't wait!
See you soon
-Kait & co.

Day 54, Sunday, November 12, 2006

Trains are the best time to blog.
After having spent the last 5 nights in Paris, we are now on our way to the coast where we will be taking a ferry to Dover. We’re headed from there straight to London where we will be staying the next 4 nights.
Our time in Paris was as wonderful as could be expected. The only drawback was our accommodation, which was the worst hostel we have stayed in yet. Apparently this is not unheard-of when hostelling in Paris, as it has the lowest standards for cheap accommodation in Western Europe. Quite weird, if you ask me. Anyway if you like the smell of cigarette smoke and Chinese food and don’t mind the yellow tinge of the walls or the view of factory smoke stacks, then this place was just fine. And apparently we were lucky, as this was one of the “nicer” places and we didn’t see meet any uninvited bugs or critters in the rooms.
Apart from our hostel, Paris was beautiful. The Eiffel Tower, up which we went one evening after dark, was much larger and more impressive than I thought it would be, and it’s base is the size of an entire city block. I was expecting it to be more space-needle-ish in size and was happily in awe at the mass of it. The view from the top was especially impressive and romantic. It was definitely one of those things that you wish everyone you knew was there to experience it with you.
Earlier on the same day we took a trip down into the Catacombs below the streets. We paid 3 Euro each to follow a dingy spiral staircase down 130 steps from someone’s private (and also dingy) storefront to the maze below. It was the kind of place and atmosphere that made you wonder how many people per year wander through the wrong gate and are lost and forgotten about. It was all very dimly lit, and the gated path took us through what seemed like an old sewer canal before opening up into a cave-like area with a few plaques explaining about the grave-site we were about to enter. I guess in the late 1800’s the graveyards of Paris were filling to capacity so the city decided to make use of the ample amount of space below their streets, which had been used for mining and would also be used for WWI and WWII bunkers and shelters. Anyway let’s just say that I don’t think I ever have, or ever again wish to, see that many human bones. It was incredibly musty and bizarre, our path took us for the better part of an hour winding through walls as tall as our heads made up entirely of human bones, with skulls places in rows quite decoratively and disgustingly, if you ask me. Quite an experience. We all went back to the hostel and took showers afterwards.
Notre Dame was quite fun to crawl though. It was all smaller than it seemed the the Disney Cartoon, but after climbing up in the bell tower and get a close up look of all the gargoyles and statues on the outside walls, it was easy to imagine a person like Quasey Modo (spelling? I don’t know) inhabiting the place. The spiral staircases were longer and narrower than the in Catacombs and seemed to go on forever. It was quite fun and the view from the top was fantastic.
The Arc De Triumph we did not climb, as it was 5 Euro and we expected the view from the Eiffel Tower would be quite better anyway. We stood underneath the Arc however, and watched as some sort of commemorative Ceremony took place as this weekend is the remembrance holiday for France as well.
We put much effort into making our way out to Normandy and the D-Day beaches for November 11, but discouragingly did not make it. The only non-reservation train that we climbed onto (15 minutes early, I might add) was already stuffed full, with nothing but standing room for the 2 hour journey, at the end of which we were still not even sure if we’d be able to find a bus going out to the beach. We decided to save it for “next time”, and instead spent the morning shopping for presents and eating at a deliciously cute little French restaurant, and then for the afternoon we headed back to the Louve.
We had already spent the better portion of a whole day at The Louve, but had only made it through one of the three wings. The place is enormous. After our second afternoon there we still left 3 or 4 entire exhibits untouched, and rather rushed through some parts of what we did see. I could see spending an entire week in Paris seeing nothing but the Louve and a few nice places to eat quite happily. As it is I’m happy with what I did see (which im not going to bore you with unless you ask, because once I start I’ll just go on forever). It was fantastic and I sapped every ounce of enjoyment out of every picture and sculpture I was able to spend a reasonable amount of time gawking at.
The only day I haven’t made mention of yet we spent entirely out at the Palace of Versailles. For me this was one of the best days, and it was also the only day that the sun was out, lucky for us. We strolled around Marie Antoinette’s gardens and gaped at the many King Louis’s private apartments and the famous Hall of Mirrors. The gardens were the most impressive part, with quite a large lake in the middle from where you could rent rowboats and paddle around. It was cute to watch but we decided not to spend the extra money.
Anyway of course there are many more details on which we’ll fill you all in on in about 12 days time. To sum up, Paris was everything Paris should be, and our feet are much more sore than when we arrived and our minds much fuller. (I think I actually felt smarter coming out of the Louve for the second time:)
On to London! I believe most of our excitement for this next leg of the trip comes from knowing that English will again be useful to us, and we can stop talking with our hands and in one-word sentences like “toilette?”
Love, joy, and peace to you,
-Kait.

kaits ramble

November 7, 2006

Well I just did a little re-read of a few of my past blogs and have realized that my writing style and effort has definitely gone down-hill in the last little while as far as blogging goes. Perhaps this could be seen as a good thing though, that I’m more preoccupied with where I am and in enjoying Europe than I am with writing about it. Or perhaps I’ve just gotten lazy☺
At this moment we are on a Train traveling from Strasbourg to Paris, and it’s so foggy out that even the houses we’re passing right next to the track are hazy and blurred. It’s chilly outside, cold enough to see my breath and make me thankful that I purchased a nice fleece jacket on our way up Mt. Blanc last week.
Our time in Strasbourg has been slightly uneventful compared to previous city-visits, including a 2-hour trip to the laundry-mat and dinner at a little smoke filled pizza parlor last night (where I single-handedly consumed an entire medium-sized vegetarian pizza. So much for losing weight on this trip.)
We’re glad for the rest, however, because Paris is going to bustling and busy and than it’s on to London, which will also be a busy stop.
We’re all doing very well health-wise and all that. We’ve pretty much mastered the art of European train stations and communicating in foreign languages using props and hand-gestures, and the only thing that still seems bizarre to us is the fact that we’ll be flying home in less than 20 days.
For the past 5 or 6 days I’ve been trying to make my way through reading the Old Testament, and I’ve made the commitment of not purchasing or reading any other books for the remainder of my time here in Europe. I’ve found that I can comfortable make my way though about 25 pages per day, and I’m right now in the middle of 2 Chronicles, which is as sluggish as it gets so I figure if I can make it through this I’ll be able to make it through anything. I’ve really come to appreciate how coming to Europe has thrown me completely out of my daily routines and away from everything familiar. God has used it as an opportunity to reveal himself to me in ways I have never experienced before, and to speak to me about aspects of my life that I’ve been much “too busy” to think about back home. I think anyone could appreciate the freshness that comes with experiencing new things and new places, and if for no other reason, I would still be thankful for my time here because of how much I’ve grown to love and trust God in so many new ways. The more intimately I get to know Him the more I desire to push everything and everyone in my life aside in order to make more room for Him. He’s all that I want and everything that I’ll ever need to be content and fulfilled. Yet merely loving Him, as He recently reminded me, is not enough. It’s not good enough to hide from the world and from the people in my life and simply know and trust God. A little verse that I learned in a song at church popped into my head this morning as I was mulling these thoughts around in my head.
“This is my Commandment; that you love one another, that your joy may be full”. It dawned on me that loving others is the second half of his greatest command, to love our lord with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, but to also love others as we love ourselves. As much as I want to hide from the world sometimes, as much as often feel the only one I can ever trust is God; He wants my joy to be complete by loving others, by being loved by others, as well. It’s amazing how balancing the priorities of our love for God and the other people in our life becomes so much clearer when we give Him the time and effort He deserves. Ok enough preaching from Kait…Hope you’re all doing well, and that you’re finding time in your school and worked filled lives to always learn something new every day☺ Love to you,
-Kait.

Paris!

Hey all,
I don't have long but I thought I'd let you Know that we are in Paris, and apart from our feet being completely dead, having a great time. We've been to the Louvre and Notre Dame, and Versailles. Its really great. I have no time left on the internet but we are alive and well.
Chel

Day 45, November 3, 2006

Great Gliding Gondolas

I woke up about half an hour ago to the winter sunshine pouring in through the large, old white window frame in our pretty little room here in Vevey, Switzerland. I haven’t been sleeping too well for the past couple of nights, so when I woke up early again this morning I thought I’d do something useful about it and update you all on the many fun, sometimes tiring but always interesting, events of our little clan of travelers.
This is our 5th and last day in Switzerland. We have spent 4 nights at this lovely hostel with wood floors, cheery colors, and even a little fireplace in our room. I’m glad we made time to stop in Switzerland, because as it looked about a week ago we didn’t think we’d have time.
Upon the close of our stay in Valencia we left Spain, not quite willingly. We had planned to spend 2 weeks touring the country before hurrying through France to Paris. But again left hostel booking to the last minute and believe it or not, were unable to find anything suitable within a day’s travel anywhere in Spain. So with some quick rearranging and only a few wistful glances at the map of southern Spain from me, we packed up and headed to Nimes, France (more for the sake of the comfortable looking hostel than because we knew anything about the town).
Apparently Nimes was the Roman capital of the area during the glory days of the Roman Empire. There are still standing huge and lavish gardens and fountains, as well as a smaller version of the Coliseum, still used for bull fighting and concerts in the spring. So we had more than enough to explore and keep us busy for the 3 nights we decided to stay, and after that headed up here to Lake Geneva in Switzerland.
Now I am so thankful we did! I can’t exactly speak for the others, but I know that this country has been one of the best of the trip so far. Although the current temperature is somewhere around -2 C, it hasn’t kept us indoors and the clear skies have been quite a blessing, as apparently rain is more than common this time of year.
On the first day after our arrival we took a train about 15 minutes around the edge of the lake, hopped off and got on another train that took us 30 minutes almost straight up, into the massive mountains on the lakes edge. Once we got off that train the plan was to take another funicular type tram up another few hundred feet to where we would start a hike even higher, but it was broken down so we decided to walk. An easy suggestion, not so easily done. Walking for 40 minutes through a switchback trail through the deep fallen leaves sounds, and was, incredibly lovely. I’m not sure of the exact vertical distance we climbed in meters, but I’m sure it was a lot and at some points it felt as if we were walking almost straight up. Once we got to the top the view was worth it though, and if you have never seen The Swiss Alps, I suggest you add it to your “things to do before I die” list. It’s absolutely breathtaking. We got plenty of pictures so once Jordan uploads them please take a look. The little farm chalets and very steep green fields full of cows and sheep all wearing large bells around their necks reminded me of the book (or Shirley Temple movie) “Heidi”. Switzerland is actually very close to as you’d imagine it.
The next day we took a train just 5 minutes down the lake to where the “Chateau De Chalone” stood. It’s pretty much a full fledged castle, built and rebuilt from the mid 1500s. It was an excellent way to spend the more dreary afternoon and we explored to our hearts content, finding more than one secret passage along the way. Ask me to show you our video once it’s done, we’ve got quite a bit of fun footage from this place.
I guess that brings me to yesterday, and also to the explanation of the title to this lengthy blog. We hopped aboard a train very early in the morning and took it about 45 minutes south to where we got off and transferred to another small, much prettier train at a different station. This train took off almost immediately vertical, twisting along steep cliffs and through tunnels, taking a route that makes our Port Alberni-Ukee road seem like a walk in the park. We stopped several times in small towns perched on the edge of cliffs, and made our way through the mountains and back into France, where we got off in the town of Chamonix. It’s nestled into the base of Mont Blanc, and is the base camp for all kinds of climbing, hiking, skiing, and extreme gondola riding.
Apparently it’s the highest Gondola in the world, and at a peak of 3200 Meters (that’s over 12,500 feet) above sea level and 2 kilometers above its base in the town, I’m not going to argue. I actually can’t believe I was brave enough to step onto the thing (which has been running since 1952), but my stomach was doing flip-flops before we got to the half way point. It was incredible; the air at the top was so thin and it was so, so cold that we could only dance around long enough to take a few frozen pictures before rushing back inside. Anyway, it was an amazing experience, and the ride down was just as (if not more) scary than the ride up. But no worries, we made it.
Now we’re headed to Strasbourg, where we will explore wineries and vineyards in the heart of Alsace till our hearts content. One of the many things (and perhaps one of the least important, but still notable) I have learned on this trip is to appreciate good wine. And what better place to learn than Italy and France?
Hope you are all well and I will try to update again when I can, most likely from Paris, sometime around the 7th-8th.
Miss you all, and I hope Ucluelet (and Sydney;) isn’t too rainy (or lonely), and that your all looking forward to Christmas time as much as I am ☺ I have a feeling this month is going to fly by.
Oh, before I forget, here’s our travel itinerary for the next couple of weeks.
Nov. 3-7, Strasbourg, France (and surrounding area)
Nov. 7-12, Paris
Nov. 12-17, London (and surrounding area)
Nov. 17-25, working our way North, stopping in Coventry, heading up to Inverness, and perhaps finding out a few relatives before making it to Glasgow.
Nov. 25, Fly from Glasgow to Vancouver via Calgary.

So that’s that, see you all soon…
xoxo,
Kait.

PS soooo I didn’t upload this when I hoped I would, and now we’re in Strasbourg!!! Again with NO internet! Ah, but I’m sure we’ll survive. We’re having fun and its freeeezing cold here! Love to you all, we’ll update when possible.