The Motherland

I am having a blast in Holland. I am staying with Annemieke and have been quite spoiled. I finally touched a windmill!!! Pictures to come...and I am loving the crazy gardening skills that the Dutchmen have!
I have Annemieke's graduation party tonight and Verieke's tomorrow, so don't worry everyone, I'm still eating while I'm out here...all healthy things of course!
I can't believe I only have a few more days left. Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Moving On

So, it was a sad day today...I said goodbye to Carla and Scott and the kids, as well as my dear friend and travelling companion extrodinaire...Katy. I am looking forward to this week with more family in Holland though. I am now at Luuk and Eef's house with Annemieke. I had a McKroket tonight!! YEAH! But it was kinda bad they said so I have to tray a fresher one again...Oh well.
I have no idea how this week will shape up to look like, but I know it will be fun. It was nice to be with Oom Joppe and the family...I think the girls are just as crazy as our family! :) Lots of fun.

The Family

Amsterdam

We had a great day today...even though it rained a lot here. Carla and Scott are taking great care of us in Amsterdam. Today we visited the Anne Frank museum and the Heineken brewery which filled up a whole day! The Anne Frank museum was very moving and really made you more aware of how the Jews were treated and the fear they lived with for many days and years. The Heineken brewery gave you lots of free beer and taught you a bunch about beer making and even a video presentation about 'the life of a Heineken bottle,' which was lots of fun. Tonight we have Carla's family over for a bbq. I'm looking forward to meeting the relatives of grandpa's side! Talk to you all soon.

So I forgot to explain the pics I just posted...they are backwards in order too, so I apologize. The first one is of the mountains here in Salzburg where the Sound of Music was filmed. The next is of us summer tobaggoning down the mountain...well this is us riding to the top anyways...then Katy and I in front of a nice fountain in the Meribell gardens before the tour. The picture with the building is one of the canals in Venice, if you look closely you can see some gondala rides going on. Finally, Me on the beach in Greece (I love the skirt Jane!!)

The Sound of Music

So, we have finally left Italy. What a great experience. The people there are crazy, but great entertainment. We had a really fun stay at the campground there also. We met 2 girls from Ireland and 2 sisters and a guy from Australia and had great laughs with them. Walking around Venice is like no other city. There are no vehicles except for boats. You really can´t get lost here, except you are constantly feeling like you have no idea where you are! It´s really amazing.
Our hostel in Austria here is nuts. There are kids everywhere in the building, apparently it´s school trip season. This morning we really had a treat. We went on a Sound of Music tour here in Salzburg, seeing many of the scenery that was used in the making of the movie. We also learned some of the Austrian history and traditions...yes, even I enjoyed this history lesson! I can´t wait to watch the movie again soon! Maybe when I´m back home on Dad´s new TV...haha
We are here for another night and then head out on the train tomorrow morning for Heidelberg.
Love to all!

Hello everyone! It's been a couple of days and really crazy ones too. Our hostel/resort on a Greek island was a really nice one, yet we managed to get very burned at the beach...oops. The way to the place is quite the story too! better in person though. Then the travel story of all stories was our flight from greece to milan to venice. We didn't make the connection to venice and were put up in a hotel in milan last night and then our flight wasn't until 2:30 today, and ended up getting delayed again by 45 minutes! So stressful, but now we are in Venice at our campground safely! Hopefully I can write again soon.

Hello From ATHENS!! No, not the wonderful village I live in, the one everyone thinks I'm from when I say I'm from Athens...GREECE! It is SO hot here, but we're having a wonderful time. I can't believe the sights I am seeing. Katy has posted pictures on her site, so please take a look (it's hard for us both to post pictures on this site!) Again, her link is just on the right! Lots of love! Hi Oma!

Rome was a bit of an overwhelming city, but we saw what we should have. Dad, I have a great picture of a New Holland tractor in the Vatican City pulling some boundary markers around! I lost my sunglasses, but didnt realize it until like 15 minutes later, so we had to retrace our steps, but they were still there on the ledge by the Pantheon! YEAH! This campground will be hard to leave, we've had fun here. Yesterday we met a couple from Holland and told them how many traditions we still keep up as Dutch Canadians and they were so shocked! It was funny. Tomorrow we take a plane to Athens. Hard to believe. Thanks to our parents who write each time - Katy and I love you! To others: don't be intimidated by there love for us, post away! haha. Hopefully I'll write again soon.

Well, we have made it to Rome. Last time I wrote we were in Switzerland and getting ready for a big adventure. Katy and I were on the side of a mountain at 10am strapped to a big kite...and a Swiss pilot! (Katys was cuter than mine, boo) We went paragliding through the Swiss Alps and it was incredible. We took a lot of pictures, but unfortunately for you all we canàt load them onto this computer in Rome right now...sorry! Rome was overwhelming for me, too many people at the station, but once we got to the campground we were in paradise. Itàs like a little resort here. We went swimming this afternoon by a beautiful pool and tanned in the chairs around the pool. Tomorrow its a busy day in Rome trying to conquer as much as we possibly can! Thanks to all those who have left us messages so far! Keep them coming, we love to know we are loved! haha.

Today was a day like no other. after missing our train stop overnight, we were able to travel through zurich and bern which allowed us to see a lot of switzerland at a quick glance. We are at the most beautiful place in the world Ive ever been to. I seriously think it has to rate on one of God's 'top 10 most beautiful things I've created list.' It's too bad that we have little time in switzerland. Hopefully I can get some pics up again for everyone to see.

paris, france

we are in the city of love with each other...not exactly romantic, but we're having fun! the eiffel tower was massive. all the buildings here are...i am constantly in awe of all the architecture. last night we hung out at our hostel pub and met 2 grils from alberta and they were awesome! Renee is quite similar to me to the point of creepiness...haha. katy and jenna were much alike too! we're doing some more tourist things today, but trying to relax also. tonight we head to switzerland by night train.

Ireland

Today was our first full day in Ireland. We toured around ourselves and did pretty well...Dublin is definitely not as big as London. We had a lot of fun at the Guinness brewery and a whiskey distillery too! It is beautiful here in Sandycove and Annemiek and Maurice's place. Tomorrow we are heading out to the countryside. It should be a day of lots of beautiful scenery.

More Pictures

Hi again, I just wanted to suggest to you all to click on Katy's link on the right. We're working out a few kinks with picture posting...so she has a bunch for you all to look at.

London

Hi everyone, Sorry it's taken so long to write...we had no access to this site or our email while in London. This first pic is Katy, shaun and I on the river cruise that pointed out many of the London sights.
Let me tell you though - we had an amazing time. We were also spoiled by Shaun and Karen. They are the best tour guides in London (Though I must say Shaun did learn a lot about his own city!)To summarize briefly: we went to the London Eye, boat cruise on the thames river, Tower of London, the London aquarium, Kensington palace (there was a beautiful showcase here of Princess Diana), Buckingham palace, and lots of other things to make our days so busy that we fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow on Shaun's king size bed that Katy and I shared! (thanks again shaun!) Probably the most incredible part of London we were able to partake in were two shows, both very different: The Phantom of the Opera (classic) and We Will Rock You (more recent/comedy and musical) featuring the music of Queen. They were both really spectacular. I know this is very brief, but I wanted to let you know how I'm doing. I hope everything back in Ontario is great. Katy and I are now safely at Annemiek's in Ireland on the Coast-it's SO beautiful! We'll be exploring dublin all day tomorrow and hopefully I will get the chance to post again!