Conclusions

Well, it's been over two weeks since we got back and already it feels as though it was years ago. The trip met every one of my expectations. We had no major hassles, we saw everything that we really wanted to, we found a pace that suited us both and overall, had a fantastic time. We snipped at each other as any travelers together 24 hours a day for 42 days would, but the fact that spending time apart wasn't an option seemed to make it easier to sort things out on the infrequent occasions that we did get ratty.

There are so many conclusions that I could draw from the holiday, but here are a few. It was too short, but always would be, I suppose. On the other hand, 6 weeks is a long time for Erith not to see her mum and her friends, so at the end she was very keen to get home. Other conclusions?

• Erith will likely travel when she's old enough and I'm certain that she'll be a very competent traveler.
• You need a lot of time to see Europe. To see anywhere actually, but especially Europe.
• Erith and I have the power to make good weather - we did it for 6 weeks running.
• I couldn't stand doing that trip without Erith - I'd have spent the whole time feeling as though I'd lost the opportunity to open her eyes to the world a little bit.

The bottom line is that I'm thrilled with the way the whole thing came off - it was a really special time for a lot of reasons.

The most important conclusion is one that I knew before we went on holidays, but that was confirmed to me every single day. Erith is a really fantastic kid and I love her dearly.

I guess that's it - the trip's over and so is the blog. Thanks for reading.

Los Angeles

Photos - Erith and Marcus about to ride the Matterhorn at Disneyland, Erith with Captain Jack (a struggling actor), Erith at the Mulholland Drive lookout and our pool near Disneyland.

Marcus says:

After the customary customs hassles, we eventually flew into Los Angeles. We couldn't believe how brown it was as we flew over - we knew that they'd been in drought, but there were large areas where it was a struggle to spot any greenery at all. Not being familiar with LA, I had booked a place on Santa Monica Drive in West Hollywood - they were familiar names, so I figured the place would be at least reasonable. I asked a cabby how much to West Hollywood and he told me $40 - two dollars less than all I had with me as I'd only changed the Canadian money I was carrying.

The cab ride took forever - like all travel in LA it seems, you have to plan for it to take ages to get anywhere. Our cabby was talkative, telling us where to sit on all the best rides and how to best the crowds at Disneyland. He also advised us that West Hollywood was an area where "boys like boys and boys want to be girls". I thought we would be staying in the equivalent of Oxford Street, but it was a long way from that - aside for banners advertising a gay film festival and a slight change in the mix of couples, there were no signs of gay society. I can't help thinking that our cabby may not cope well with Mardi Gras, but he was a nice enough guy.

We got to the hotel - the impressive sounding Radisson Plaza. It was Fawlty from the moment we walked in. We'd paid for a suite for two nights, but they'd somehow overbooked, on top of not having our booking from Wotif.com. We were deserted for 10 minutes while the desk jockey sorted it out, during which time more and more people tried to obtain their bookings unsucessfully, some being told to phone Hotels.com. It wasn't a good sign, but as I'd already paid, he was going to have a very hard time with me. Perhaps he realised that as he finally came back and told us that even though we'd booked a king-sized bed, they could only give us a queen. No problem, though it turned out to be more like a double when we got up there. All the same, we were there and settled for 2 days. Within 2 hours we had done our laundry and were set for clothes all the way back to Sydney, provided we were careful.

We went out for dinner and decided to walk up to Sunset Strip, three blocks away. We wandered along there for about 5 minutes before stumbling onto Mel's Diner, which was used for the early episodes of Happy Days as well as for American Graffiti. We had to stop there - the burgers were good and Erith got a milkshake with whipped cream and a cherry on top, as well as the aluminum cup with the dregs in it. We watched the limos go by - there was a pretty steady stream of every type of luxury car and the odd stretch Hummer just for that classy touch.

We went back to the hotel and decided to spend the evening in the pool as it was a hot night. The pool area was nice and we got straight in. After an hour or so, we noticed that when we leaned our backs against the wall, we felt a prickling sensation. At first I thought it might be 12 volt electricity, as I noticed that one of the pool lights wasn't secured in its housing, but when we eventually got out, we realised that it was coming with us. It must have been fiberglass from pool repairs and our (ahem) enthusiastic frolicking must have stirred it up. Whatever it was, it was very annoying - just one more reason to steer clear of that hotel.

The next morning we knew that we had to catch up on the blog and book a hotel for our last two nights in Los Angeles, so we headed to where the concierge had directed us. We (okay, "I") was suffering from internet withdrawal, so we spent a couple of hours at it, eventually ending up with a hotel in Buena Park, 6 miles from Disneyland and having deleted the requisite 4 squillion junk emails that accumulate every few days while I'm not watching.

Having pretty much everything out of the way, we decided to hit the beach for the afternoon. Santa Monica beach was just down the road apparently, so we thought that the bus should be a reasonable option. About 45 minutes later, we got off near Santa Monica pier - it wasn't a long distance, but the shockingly bad traffic made it seem longer than it was. The bus attracts a different clientèle as well and while I didn't feel we had a need to be scared, I was cautious.

Santa Monica Pier was interesting - it seemed to be a reasonably close split of locals and tourists. We watched the fishermen occasionally pull in a mighty hundred grams of pure, unbridled fightin' fish. (Okay, they didn't actually fight, but what a boring paragraph if I didn't put that in...)

There were some cool musical acts - two young guys singing to a guitar and backing track were very good, as was an older guy doing the blues. It was a tough way to make a living though, as it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We got a locker and changed on the pier. (How? Quickly and as discretely as possible.) Then we made our way down to the water. It was great to be in the ocean, even if the waves were poor and the sand and water were kind of muddy. I don't mean to sound parochial, but let's face it - it's hard to find city beaches that compare to Sydney's. The water was nice though and as usual, I had a tough time getting Erith out, but we still had to take the bus home at rush hour and pack so we could check out the following morning.

We got up the next morning and asked the concierge what the best way to Buena Park was
and he recommended hiring a car so as to get the certainty of the price up front. That confirmed what the cabby had told me two days earlier, so we booked one and checked out. The car turned out to be a Lincoln Towncar - a limousine, but not stretched. We felt very important cruising Beverly Hills in a limo, but resisted the urge to lower the windows and do regal waves to our loyal subjects.

After at least an hour, we finally got to our new hotel - the last destination of our trip. It was a Holiday Inn, cheaper than where we had been in West Hollywood, was clean and organised and had a great pool, free internet access and a handy laundry.

We had only two goals for the day - the first was to organise tickets for Disneyland for the next day. The concierge was fantastic - he had us sorted out in less than five minutes. The second was Erith's design - spend the afternoon in the pool. It was a hot day, so I was perfectly happy to do that. We had a great time, staying in until we were badly wrinkled. It was hard not to notice that two of the families that we shared the pool with were obese, as many people are in the US. Not having exercised for over a month and having eaten a lot of junk food, I decided that I'd have to get back to a good routine when I got back.

We got up early the next morning, had a decent buffet breakfast and hopped into the bus to Disneyland. We got there before the gates opened, but we bought our tickets and got into the line. It was less expensive than I thought it would be - I think it about $US 60 each, which when you consider that includes all the rides, didn't seem too pricey at all. It was well-organised, so we got in quickly after the gates opened and headed straight for the Matterhorn. Erith was nervous, but wanted to do it, so we got in the queue. I'd never been on a ride like that with her before, so wasn't sure how she'd handle it, especially since it starts by climbing the inside of the mountain in pitch darkness. She was fine though - her first words when we finished were "I wanna go again!", so off we went. The other ride that we went on twice was Space Mountain, which was a real blast. You hurtle through a huge space, pitch black except for stars. It's so dark that you can't see the people in the car in front of you except when the ride tries to freak you out with spinning lights and other weirdness. They take a photo right at the end - Erith didn't want to buy it the first time because "her hair was in her eyes". Oh yeah, and she had an expression of abject terror. The photo from the second ride was better as Erith had put her hair up, but she still looked terrified. I was laughing my head off, but everyone else in the car was ambivalent at best. We bought the photo - if nothing else, it will be material for Erith's 21st birthday...

My family visited Disneyland about 30 years ago and I had a blast, so I was pretty sure that Erith would too. Of course it's quite different now, but still very organised, great rides, spotlessly clean and aside from what developed into big crowds, it was a great time. The only annoying thing is that just as we decided to leave, they had a big parade up the main street, forcing everyone off the footpaths and into the shops. Also, because you can't cross the street, it's very difficult to get to the gates - they block you in. I'm sure it was intentional and it was certainly effective. We went with the flow and bought plenty of souvenirs like dutiful little mouseketeers.

We caught the hotel bus back and had a quick swim while we did our laundry. Even though we were leaving the next night, we did our usual trick of washing everything except (in this case) a bathing suit each. We decided to go on a tour the next day as we didn't leave until 10:00 pm, so we organised that and a ride to the airport with the concierge, had dinner and konked out, exhausted. It had been a big day.

The next day we got shuttled to another hotel where we hopped into a bus seating 15 and started doing the tour thing. It was okay, but because everything is so far apart and the traffic is so bad, it took a long time to get anywhere. As we spent quite a bit of time on the freeways in LA, it was impossible not to notice how dirty they were. There were car bumpers, tire rims and various other bits of junk everywhere. We saw some interesting things though, getting a good view of the Hollywood sign and the Hollywood Bowl from Mulholland Drive, a bit of a cruise through Beverly Hills down Rodeo Drive, a nice stop at Venice Beach - all the usual things. It was good, as it helped us kill the day.

Eventually, we went back to the hotel, collected our bags, went to the airport and got on a plane. That was it, the holiday was officially finished.

Vancouver

Photos - these don't actually have anything to do with Vancouver, but it was kind of a bee-line drive followed by an overnight stay and a flight, so we don't have any pictures.

Marcus says:

Well, it was a long drive to Vancouver, but not at all an unpleasant one. We set off early and were soon to cross a time zone, adding another hour to our day. We were lucky with a road closure as highway 1 was closed just east of Golden, but we came in from the south on highway 93. Even though we had breakfast in Radium, we had to stop at Tim Horton's for a rotten cup of coffee and some beautiful fresh doughnuts as we knew that it might be our last morning with access to a Timmys. We got some stamps and mailed some postcards, bought some souvenirs and set off again.

We went through some familiar spots like Three Valley Gap and the Shuswap Lake area, where we saw a herd of horses in a setting that made them look wild, though they most likely weren't. The weather wasn't great, but then why would it be? We were going to be in the car all day anyway, so hadn't dialed up for the exceptional weather that normally demanded.

Erith discovered another culinary delight when we stopped at Wendy's for lunch. We shared what they used to call a malted (now it's a Frosty or something), risking brain freeze as we were both determined to get our full half.

We eventually got to Vancouver late in the afternoon, but had only a very coarse-grained map of the city on our map of the Rockies. We only took one wrong turn, but recovered from it after a couple of kilometers. The only thing was that I found myself on the wrong side of the road and had to pull over while a confused car went by us - it was the first time that my uncertainty had involved another driver. Erith seemed to sense that this was not a time to chide me about it, though we had a good laugh about it once we got settled.

We booked into a Holiday Inn not too far from the airport. We were really starting to feel the trip coming to a close, partly because our road trip was finished. We were about to leave our last country before the US, which was kind of designed just to break up the trip. It was nearly over...

Radium

Photos - The obligatory Lake Louise shot, the PT Cruiser that we took from Calgary to Vancouver, Erith and her friend Ellie on the whitewater raft and a bighorn sheep by the side of the road.

Marcus says:

We set off from Banff pretty early and headed to Lake Louise for the mandatory photo shoot - you can't go to Canada and not get a shot of that scene. Despite the fact that we hadn't been able to find a single place to stay through Wotif in Radium, we decided that we'd go there anyway and hope for the best, as every gamble so far has paid off. (Either that or I've repressed them - dunno...) Anyway, we got a nice place without any problem at all - there were vacancies everywhere. As we pulled up to the motel we had chosen, we noticed two deer grazing on a lawn, totally unconcerned by us pulling up close and snapping some photos. (I know, we'd look like American tourists snapping shots of kangaroos - too bad!)

Radium was just like I remembered it, which was good in the sense that it hasn't been overbuilt, but bad in the sense that it really seemed quite badly under-developed. There was no internet cafe and even the tourist-related activities such as horseback riding were poor. Also, there were no hotels with the possible exception of the Lodge sitting just across the highway from the hot springs, but even if it is a hotel, it seems unlikely that it would be expensive or popular. There's a big timber mill in sight from much of the strip and the strip feels like the intersection of two highways, which in fact it is. It seems that someone should swoop in with a pot of money and turn it into something more like Banff - I'm sure there's plenty to be made of it as it's a good place and not really out of the way.

One interesting thing - the highway leading into Radium from the north is downhill for about 5 km. Just as we were passing a truck pull-off on the crest, we saw a guy setting out on a skateboard, with his mates in the car behind him, videoing the whole thing. He must have hit 80 kph at least - we passed him when he slowed down to 60 on a flat and then pulled over to watch him streak past on another steep stretch. Twice he wobbled, but he held on. He had all the right gear on, but I'd still class him as both brave and stupid.

We went for a long drive into the semi-mountainous wilderness the next morning, no doubt subjecting our brand new PT Cruiser to the first gravel road it had ever seen. We went about 30 km down a very small road, but only saw a few deer and coyotes aside from gophers and chipmunks. It was fun driving on gravel -I haven't done that for years. We only saw about 2 other vehicles on the road, possibly because it was Sunday morning, but also because it was that sort of road.

Once we got back, we checked out a trail riding outfit. Yep, we were both still walking like cowboys from the ride a couple of days before so I don't know how we even contemplated it, but we'd had such a good time in Banff that we decided to do it. We were foiled by the operators though - they couldn't fit us in unless we burnt up another day, but we just didn't have it as we had to get to Vancouver to catch our flight to Los Angeles. We were very glad that we'd done the trail ride in Banff, as it was surely more scenic and the outfit in Radium seemed a bit dodgey anyway. They were probably okay, but they were small and seemed unorganised - I'm sure they wouldn't have matched the time we had in Banff.

We decided to check out white water rafting instead. At first, Erith wasn't that keen, but when she heard that there was a family-friendly trip and that there were other kids booked in already, she decided we should do it. I was looking very forward to it - I'd never done it before and even if it was going to be scaled back, it was just the sort of activity I love. Sun, water and exercise - what's not to love? We booked a three hour tour with the intention of jumping into the car afterwards and getting to Kelowna, hopefully catching up with Bernie Wilson before heading to Vancouver the next morning.

As per our directives, the morning was gorgeous - sunny and warm enough that I knew I wouldn't need anything except shorts and a T-shirt for the day. We got on the bus for the 1/2 hour drive to the river, doing the last 12 km down a gravel logging road, eventually arriving in the middle of nowhere. The bridge that we had just crossed to get there was the last sign of humans we would see for 40 km, until the bus at the other end of the trip. (Is that a banjo I'm hearing?)

The rafting was a lot of fun. Nothing too challenging, but plenty of rapids that splashed into the raft, evoking squeals out of Erith and Ellie - an eight year old Albertan girl on holidays with her mother. The water was cold, so the squeals were genuine - the guide told us that 10 hours and 120 km before, the water would have thawed off the glacier as the Columbia River is totally glacial-fed. Our three hours came to an end and the guide suggested that anyone who wanted to extend could, as the afternoon group was light on. Ellie and Erith both sprang into action - it's remarkable that two kids from opposite sides of the planet instinctively use identical tactics. I wasn't that hard to convince especially after Ellie had success, as Erith hadn't had a kid her own age to play with for a long time and they got on well.

The afternoon was more of the same. Where the water was slow and deep we would jump in for an icy dip - I'll have you know that my front flips were scored well by the rest of the rafties. We saw a bit of wildlife - a couple of deer, but not much else.

As the afternoon wore on, it was obvious that I was getting a sunburn on my thighs. I was pretty surprised as (kids, cover your eyes) I hadn't used sunscreen since Thailand, or maybe the first day in Italy. I thought I was tanned enough not to worry, but I ended up pretty red. The sun was hot and we were out for 7 hours, but it still took me by surprise. Erith had been covered and was wearing a wetsuit anyway, so she was fine. The other annoyance was the horse flies, though they were big, stupid and slow, so even the kids made sport of ending their miserable lives. They especially loved me, which was odd given that no other bugs are ever interested in me - perhaps it was because I didn't have bug spray on either.

We finished up at about 5:00 pm, with everyone totally exhausted. Erith snoozed during the 45 minute trip back, but as we had checked out of our hotel and it was obvious that we weren't driving anywhere, we had to check into another and get some dinner. We went to a restaurant just down the street that specialised in nothing but served almost everything. We got fortune cookies at the end of the meal, but I felt that there was a reasonable chance that I had been given the wrong one - it said "Need some adventure and enjoyment? Take a vacation." There were what looked like lotto numbers on the back, but I didn't bother investing in them.

We conked out early - tomorrow was going to be a tough drive.

Banff

Photos - Erith following our guide and the mule carrying lunch, the terrain that we were riding through, bears were around even if they weren't visible, and the Banff Springs Hotel.

Marcus says:

We cruised out to Banff - I love seeing the mountains rising above you as you drive out from Calgary. It's only an hours drive, so we got there mid-morning and started looking for a caravan site for Celene and Blain's caravan, which Reggie and Blain were driving out from Vancouver that day en route to New Brunswick. We checked the tourist information and they steered us out to Two Jack Lake, where we were told that there was no danger whatsoever of them filling up, as they were virtually empty.

We went to the lake as Erith wanted (of all things) to go for a swim. The water was cold, but not perishing as it was pretty shallow at the shore and the sun was sufficiently strong to take the edge off it. We made ourselves some lunch, then went for a drive to Lake Minnewanka. After that, we checked out the horseback riding situation, as that was something that Erith was very keen to do, and booked a ride for the next morning.

Blain and I had been swapping text messages so he could let me know how he and Reggie were progressing, and early in the evening they were approaching Banff. We drove toward them and picked out a couple of landmarks, then pulled over in a scenic roadside stop and called. The coordination was masterful and we found each other without issue. It was great to see them and they were doing a serious road trip.

We proceeded to the campground and parked the trailer, then took our car into town to get some dinner, as we were all starving. We took the first thing that we could find - Chinese, which was pretty nice. (There are still very few fast food places in Banff - Subway was the only one that I noticed.) We pigged out, then went back to the trailer to turn in. The mosquitoes were vicious! I don't normally get bothered by them, but they were lining up for all of us. Not timid little things like Australian mozzies either - these things were big and nasty. (I'm pretty sure that I saw tatoos on a couple of them and that one was wearing a knife, but it was getting dark so I wouldn't swear to it.)

The next morning we got up, had breakfast and prepared to go our separate ways. I woke up fairly early and noticed that Blain was missing - I found him sleeping in the truck. He says that I was snoring, but Reggie (nearly deaf), Erith (able to block it out) and I (blissfully unaware) hadn't noticed it. (If a tree falls in the woods... oh, never mind - I believe you, Blain.)

We went on to our horse riding appointment, following Erith's meticulously prepared directions designed to prevent us from getting lost. (She was very excited and not willing to take any chances.) There were shorter rides, but we decided to do a butt-busting 7 hours - if you're going to do it, you may as well end up walking the walk. We were in a group of four with a guide and mule packed with lunch. The other two were a mother and daughter from Canberra. The daughter hardly said a word the whole time and the mother said little, but what she did say tended to be a whinge. They were third and fourth in line with Erith just behind the guide though, so we hardly saw them all day.

I liked riding with a western saddle again - I soon found myself resting my wrist on the horn with a split-fingered grip on the reins, just like a real cowboy. Ali had offered me the hat that I was wearing in the photo on his quad bike and I'm glad I wasn't wearing it - if I had, I'm pretty sure that I would've been calling everyone "Maam" and rolling cigarettes one-handed with my free hand...

The scenery was spectacular. We hiked up the back of the Banff Springs and up to Sulphur Mountain, where the hotsprings and the gondola are located. We kept going around Sulphur Mountain and up the valley toward Mount Rundle, which runs all the way to Canmore. The paths varied from being driveable to steep, narrow paths. I was following Erith and saw her horse lose its footing at one point - just a slip of the hoof, but on a perilous section of track. I didn't say anything, but she had noticed it anyway, so told me about it after we'd finished. She was brave about it - not being overly fond of heights, I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd panicked, but there was no way she was going to miss out on the ride.

As rides go, it was spectacular. We didn't see much game - a couple of deer and a marten or something, but it was very beautiful and a gorgeous day. We wore pants because of the saddles, but the weather was perfect - it was shorts weather. (But then again, when isn't it?) The mosquitoes were bad for a while, but eased off as we got to a higher altitude, only to be replaced by horse flies. A minor inconvenience though - there was nothing I would have changed. More wildlife would have been nice, but that's a bit of a crap-shoot.

We finished the ride by coming west through the south end of town, past waterfalls and the golf course. Our sitting muscles were audibly screaming, but I noticed that everyone sat a little higher in the saddle as the Japanese tourists snapped photos of us.

We were too tired and sore to go on to Radium, so we booked into a hotel outside Banff with a pool and spa and tried to work the kinks out of our newly discovered muscles. We had an early night, then set off for Radium early the next morning.

Banff was nice. Seeing Reggie and Blain was great and Banff is still a pretty cool little town. They've managed it well and it has a nice feel, even if it is a tourist trap. I was glad that we spent an extra day there, but we were rapidly running out of time - it looked likely that we would have to abandon our plans to go to Vancouver Island. All the same, I was determined to let quality rule over quantity - we were not going to race from place to place just to say that we did it. It's not my style - normally I would race, but I'm glad we didn't.

Oh yeah - the girls being chased by a bear? A couple of days later I heard two bear reports - one was of two girls being chased at Lake Minnewanka, where we had been paddling. The other was of a girl being found near a ski resort, dead and eaten by a bear, though they had yet to establish whether the bear was the cause of death. They're out there, they just aren't as visible as when we were kids and everyone fed them by the side of the roads.

Friends, then on to Calgary

Photos - Tom McCartney (right) and Cliff Murray (left) - two of my oldest friends from school, Ali and Erith on Ali's farm, there's a new sheriff in town... and Erith will Ali's donkeys.

Marcus says:

As usual, we found ourselves too rushed to see everyone and there were a couple of people that I missed, but I did manage to spend one day catching up with a few people that I really wanted to see. We got up early and went to Tom McCartney's place and met his wife Valaine and their two kids. I've known Tom since grade one at school and still swap quite a bit of email with him, so it was great to catch up in person after 10 years. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to see his parents which was a real pity, as I spent a lot of time with them when I was young and aside from a fleeting visit 10 years ago, I haven't seen them for 20 years.

We met Cliff Murray (Spuggy, though he'll likely curse me for publishing that) for lunch. Cliff's an architect and seems to be doing really well - he's also an empty nester, though we're the same age. I met his son by chance - yep, he's a grown-up. It was great to see Cliff too, as I hadn't seen him in over 20 years. He's great - exactly the same guy, only mellower, like the rest of us, I guess.

After lunch, we went back to the Capri so we could hang around with Ali while he was working but before we went to his farm. He very kindly bought Erith a new bathing suit so she could spend the afternoon in the pool while he and I caught up. Later we went out to his farm to see the donkeys and hang around in the warm evening sun. The farm is so tranquil - the only sound is the whisle of the trains off in the distance, evoking imagery of riding the rails and Johnny Cash songs. The serenity seems to suit Ali - it probably counter-balances the hectic workplace of the hotel.

The day ended with me realising that I still have closer friends in Canada than I thought I did. I'm not big on maintaining contact or relationships, but with some people it doesn't matter. You get together and it's just the way it always was.

The next day we went to Calgary to pick up a different car - one that we could drop off in Vancouver. We got a PT Cruiser, which suited me pretty well as I'd always liked the looks of them. We took our time getting there and stopped at Peters for a burger. Peters has been around for ever and is the best burger place in the world. (There, I said it. You want to refute it, put your money where your mouth is.)

I was still steamed about my smashed suitcase, so we alsop sought out an authorised repairer for a replacement. I explained the situation and the woman in charge started telling me that she couldn't do anything because... I don't remember why - I didn't even listen. I explained it again, in a way that left little room for negotiation. After a quick call to someone else, she told me that it was my lucky day, as she was going to replace it with a much better one than I had lost. I didn't bother pointing out that it was a lucky day for both of us - I just thanked her for her understanding and left with a really nice new piece of luggage, unmistakenly better than the one that Air Canada had operated on.

We stayed across from the Olympic Park that night rather than rushing to Banff and having to find a place to stay. We watched mountain bikers ride down the side of the mountain kamikaze style, then went to Safeways to get some fruit and other food for sandwiches, as we were now officially on the road. Ahhh, I love a road trip, especially through the Rockies in the summer...

Andy and Gerry's

Photos - Andy, Miranda, Erith, baby Neveah and Mickey the dog, Gerry with his new toy, Ed with his (and Miranda's) beautiful baby, and Erith and I about to take Gerry's toy out for a play.

Marcus says:

I can't believe that I didn't take any proper family photos! I don't even have one with Sean and Leah! If anyone in Sylvan sees this, kindly put me out of my embarrassment by sending me a decent shot of everyone to post here. Okay, so I'm hopeless at this stuff - I doubt if that's news to anyone...

Anyway, for background, Andy (Andrea) is Lizzie's sister, Gerry is her husband of nearly 25 years, Sean (wife Leah) and Ed (wife Miranda, daughter Neveah) are their kids and extended family. They live in Sylvan Lake, a small but growing town about 20 minutes drive from Red Deer.

We had a blast at Sylvan - I can't believe how much some things have changed and others have remained the same. Andy is exactly the same as she was when we first met about 23 years ago - it's kind of uncanny. Gerry is pretty much the same, although he's mellowed a bit over the years - no doubt the inevitable result of time and the added kick of becoming a grandfather. Either way, it's a hat that he wears well.

Sean seems to have his fingers in a few pies, mainly related to starting businesses and developing existing ones with a couple of partners. Ed has a web design company, but is understandably finding it to be tough sledding in Central Alberta. Leah is working in insurance and Miranda is busy looking after Neveah and working part time.

We got to Sylvan on Erith's birthday, so it was nice for her to have some family around. It was a stinking hot day and in the afternoon we went to the home of a friend of Andy and Gerry's for a barbeque. He had a hot tub that Erith spent a fair bit of time in just because it was water, then we got the hose out and started drenching each other and anyone else brave enough to get on the lawn with us. It was a lot of fun and was followed by a display of Gerry's considerable barbeque ability. Alberta beef - there's nothing like it...

The next morning Erith and I went out for a spin on Gerry's new Triumph. I hadn't been on a street bike for a while, so it was a blast to go for a little spin. I kept it pretty short for a couple of reasons, not the least being the fact that I have a lot of trouble remembering which side of the road to drive on. In a car, I remember to keep the driver closest to the centre line, but on a bike I didn't have that - I had to keep checking which direction cars were parked in. We went out to the highway for a quick run, but kept it pretty short.

That afternoon, Erith and I went to the waterslide with Ed and his friend Anthony and has a great time. It looked like rain and they told us that they would shut it without refund if lightning started, but of course that didn't happen. The crowds fled at about 3:00 pm, when we arrived, so we had the place virtually to ourselves. Perfect - it was cloudy, but not cold at all.

The next morning we went for a bush walk to Jarvis Bay - it was very peaceful and hot again, so we found a small, secluded access to the lake and spent a while with our feet in the water. Later in the day, Erith and I went for a swim in the lake. Erith had been dying to get in the water (is she amphibious?) so we played silly games for a couple of hours while the others watched from shore. It was a lot of fun, but left us exhausted and in bed earlier than usual. (It was hard to get Erith to bed at a decent hour, as it was still light until after 10:00 pm.)

We had a lot fun in Sylvan and Erith really loved meeting new family. I asked her if she was happy to be on the road as we were leaving and she burst into tears - she got very attached very quickly. Thanks to all for a really fantastic time - we can't leave it so long before we get together again.

The farm

Photos - These are a few shots taken from the road. All in all, very impressive.

Marcus says:

We got up pretty early on Saturday morning, despite (or perhaps because of) still being notionally in another time zone. I wanted to take a spin out to the farm to take a couple of photos, which you would have seen at the top of this post. It was lush because of the weather, but it also had the feeling of being well-kept, right down to the grass being mown right up to the road.

The Golf Tourny

Photos - Marcus putting while Zane watches on. Kyle and my good mate Ali (driving), and Erith 's golf cart - she drove me around for the day.


Marcus says:

I hadn't known what time the tournament started, but it wasn't until 2:00, so we had plenty of time (and sufficient clean clothes) to let us have a leisurely breakfast and go out for a quick drive toward the farm. I had been ambivalent about going to see it as I suspected that it would be a dump, but I was really surprised - it looked great! It was incredibly green like everything else, but it looks as though it's being well cared for too - so much so that the next day I went back and took photos.

The weather was scorching hot - it was obviously headed for 30. Hay was drying out fast, so there was a lot of activity in the fields, resulting in that fantastic smell of fresh hay. It was good to cruise around - we popped into Pine Lake (what a swamp!) and had a look at what was going on in the old neighborhood. It all looked much as you'd expect, but it felt oddly good to see it again. So good that I returned the next day to take photos, but more of that to come...

The tournament was at Alberta Springs Golf Course, where I had never played due to the fact that it's quite new. The wet spring coupled with the fact that it's a good quality course meant that it was in superb condition. Soooo, a fantastic course, a great day and a bunch of people with a long (but variable) history with each other - that's got to be a good start.


The tournament was fantastic - it all went off without a hitch and you could tell from the occasional hoots coming from other parts that everyone was having a lot of fun.
I had brought a collared shirt specifically to ensure that I wouldn't be caught by the dress regulations, but stopped worrying when I saw one guy with his shirt unbuttoned all the way and another with bare feet. It was a really fun time, four-ball best-ball, so nobody had to stress over their game too much.

I started blazingly - we used Kyle's drive, then I dropped a 7-iron to within 4 feet of the pin and we birdied. We birdied the next as well, so were pretty sure that we were going to ace the day. It all went south from there, but nobody cared - we had a lot of fun and all played some great shots at one point or another.

After the game, we went back to the Capri for a poolside barbecue, where Ali distributed the the prizes with his usual dry wit. The band got up and played until midnight, while many parents and kids played in the pool as it was still very hot. A real blast - we went to bed at 11:30 because Erith said she was tired - a near first. Jennifer Barlow (Tim Pasutto's partner) took a stack of great pictures that I'll add or reference from the blog once I get them organised - thanks for that Jennifer, I got them by email. Thanks to Ali and Tim as well - our stay rocked!

Must go but will try to claw back another day or two tomorrow.

Headed for Alberta

Photos - Three views from our hotel room at The Capri. It's very green this year, but the trees are a lot more mature too. Red Deer really does look great in the summer...

Marcus says:

We woke up reasonably late after having spent a hard day getting to Canada from Europe and got on the computer to book a car and try to sort out my email, which was right out of control again. I also blogged for a while and we had a swim in the hotel pool before taking the hotel shuttle to the airport - $10 for the pair of us. As my suitcase was required but could not be latched, two belts were holding it together and my pants were tending to head south. Pants? Not shorts? No, we were right out of clean clothes, so I was wearing pants and my fleecy top. All in all, not an ideal start.

It didn't get better either. Despite having confirmed our flights from London, they had Erith and I in separate parts of the plane. Between that and my suitcase, I was somewhat short with the Air Canada staff as they gently nudged me down the service line toward the plane. The guy at the service desk in the boarding area got quite upset when I advised him about how he was going to correct our arrangements, but they were quickly fixed before we got on the plane.

We got off the plane in Calgary exhausted again. I tried the damaged baggage counter again and as expected, was provided with no satisfaction but the names of three authorised repairers in Calgary. We went to pick up the car and was told that Enterprise don't do bookings to other provinces, but the portal that I had used hadn't indicated that. We took the car for a week anyway and set off for Red Deer, 140 km away. Erith was exhausted and slept a fair bit of the way up, then we pulled into A&W for a burger when we finally got there. Driving hadn't proved to be too much of a challenge yet, as I was nervous enough to concentrate very hard despite being tired.

We checked into the Capri and went up to our room. Ali and Tim Pasutto had given us a killer rate on a really beautiful room on the 11th floor, so things were finally looking up. We had nothing to wear, so tracked down a laundromat and headed down, despite the fact that it was 8:30 at night. I changed behind a dumpster so I could was everything except for a T-shirt and a pair of swimming shorts. Ali rang while we were there - he didn't even know that we were in the country yet, so the laundromat seemed an odd place to track us down. We finished our laundry and went back to the hotel, running into Tim Pasutto who took us down to where the band was practicing for the next night. Ali, Fitz and Dave Fitz were all there, so we did a quick catch up, but Erith was totalled, so we went to bed. Phew! What a day! Again!

Niagara Falls

Marcus says:

We landed in Toronto after a long flight from London. We flew at 8:30, so had to be up early to be there by 6:30. The security at Heathrow was a bit of a pain and at times didn't seem to make sense (like having a separate screening area just for shoes), but it wasn't as bad as I'd feared it could be, given the bombings only days before.

We arrived at Toronto at about 1:00 pm, due to the time zones. Customs at Toronto was the most thorough that we've encountered so far. The young guy asked a lot of questions about why we were traveling, how I could afford to take so much time off, where Erith's mother was, etc. I appreciated why he was doing it, but I couldn't help but wonder whether a woman traveling with a child would have been grilled the same way. Perhaps he was just conscientious - I don't know.

Lizzie's brother Alan picked us up at the airport. It was strange to see him - he looked much the same, but 10 years older than when I saw him last... 10 years ago. He also has quite a bit of the look and mannerisms of his father, which was nice to see, as his dad was a very nice, gentle man.

We put in a damage claim for my suitcase, as Air Canada had managed to destroy it beyond use. They told me that I would have to visit an authorised repairer, which seemed odd as there were large pieces of plastic missing from the shell and the top and bottom were so far out of alignment that there was no way it was ever going to close again. They told me that since I wouldn't be in Toronto for long, maybe I should do that in Calgary, ignoring my point that I had no way of getting my clothes to Calgary...

Anyway, Alan took us to check into a hotel and then back to pick up his wife Andrea and their son Marsdin and we set off for Niagara Falls, as that high on Erith's list of things to see and do. We got there around 5:00, which with the long Canadian evenings still left a good 4 hours of daylight. We took lots of pictures and Alan was kid enough to post his record of the day at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/olph4rt/FallsDerFalls/photo#s5086463761475289666. (Thanks Alan, your pictures are great, but I'll have to post one of you...)

Got to go - getting hassled for the computer again... more soon.

I'm back. Niagara Falls was really good - we went behind the falls so as to get a great look. That's the fourth time that I've been there and the first time I've done that - it was well worth the effort. Niagara Falls has grown a lot, but fortunately for collectors of tacky souvenirs everywhere, it hasn't lost its complete lack of taste. They've really moved on from the humble snow-shakers - these days you could purchase a two-metre tall stuffed bear or moose if your luggage arrangements sufficed, and the Indian-themed T-shirts and velvet paintings are nothing short of astounding.

Anyway, after a quick browse we went to Planet Hollywood for dinner and my first Canadian beer. We had a nice dinner and drove back to the hotel. Erith and I were exhausted - it was 10:00 pm and we'd been at it for probably nearly a day without stopping. It was really cool to spend a bit of time with Alan, Andrea and Marsdin though - it's a pity it was so short, but it was a lot of fun.

Canada... east to west

Marcus says:

Whew! I can't believe how far behind we've gotten with the blog, but we've had a lot to do and not much access to a computer, so it's been a bit tough. I've got to get some of it down, as details leak out of my brain like sand through a funnel. If you're interested, I've added photos to many of the posts that didn't previously have them.

Someone just came in trying to get on the internet and as I'm supposed to be limited to 20 minutes, I've got to get off, but will pick up again tomorrow. So much to say, so little time... we will be posting more regularly now though, and I'm determined to get caught up over the next couple of days.

Our day in London

Marcus says:

Well, the changed time zones ensured that I woke up earlier than usual, but Erith slept in until 6:00 am local time, so 7:00 am Paris time. We went up the street for a bit of breakfast and set off for the furthest of our destinations for the day - the Tower Bridge. We walked from London Bridge in the drizzle, which seemed to fit the general weather stereotype for London, but it stopped pretty quickly. The Tower Bridge was pretty cool, particularly the the engine rooms showing how the steam engines produced hydraulic power stored by lifting Tonkin' big weights up a long distance. The bridge itself is interesting, but the Thames isn't really big enough to require any sort of engineering masterpiece, so it isn't exactly breathtaking.

From there, we walked backed to London Bridge and caught the Tube to The Eye - the big Ferris wheel-like viewing attraction. It goes up something like 130 metres, so gives you a great view of the city as you do one circuit, taking something close to an hour, I thought. It was well organised and the lineups weren't bad at all - I'd say that from lining up for a ticket to setting foot aboard probably wasn't more than half an hour. You get a great view of Westminster Cathedral (or is it Abbey - I don't have my map with me) and a few other points of interest, but really from there, London looks a lot like most other cities.

We got some lunch and jumped in the Tube back toward High Street and got out at ... blast, I should have brought the map with me... a station about two stops before High Street. We strolled through Hyde Park, and Kensington Park to Kensington Palace, which is only a couple of blocks from where we're staying. This was the first I saw of the London that everyone waxes lyrical about - it had turned into a beautiful day, hot and sunny and people everywhere in the parks, which were green, lush and well kept. We were tired from crowds and trains and walking, so the parks really finished the day nicely. I'm glad we went with the higher intensity activities earlier in the day and coasted toward the end.

We got back to the hotel and Erith was suffering withdrawal from water as we hadn't been in a pool or to a beach since Thailand, so we had to go for a dip in the hotel pool. It's a hotel-slash-spa, so I'm not sure that our frolicking was entirely welcomed, but as we have a long flight tomorrow morning and need an early night, I had to spill a bit of Erith's excitement energy over flying to Canada tomorrow.

Assessment about London? I think I'd have to reserve judgement - one day isn't enough to form a decent opinion. It didn't have the exotic nature of Rome or Paris, but maybe part of that was because I didn't have to struggle with the language. It was nice to say "thanks mate" after buying something, but it doesn't feel all that different to Sydney.

Off to Canada tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. Gerry says that it's hot there and I'm looking forward to some reliable sun as we haven't had any since Italy. Canada will be good for a lot of reasons, but it's going to be a bit frenetic until Saturday, when we can kick back. Well, we could, except that it will be Erith's birthday. All laundry dirty at the moment and wet bathing suits to go in in our bags - it ain't going to be pretty. We're still looking forward to it though...

On to England

Photos - The Tower Bridge opening for a sailboat to pass through, Erith at The Eye, Westminster Abbey from The Eye, Erith at Kensington Palace.

Marcus says:

Well, we left Paris after a few hiccups - we were looking for a book in lost property and missed our checkin, so had to rebook our tickets, then had two seats apart as they were the last on the train, so had to reorganise our fellow passengers to suit our needs.

We got to London and not having had internet access in Paris, we didn't have any accommodation booked, so set off looking for an internet cafe. We found where one used to be, then gave up and tried for a hotel room near Waterloo Station, looking out on the London Eye - the big Ferris wheel. They nearly laughed when we said we wanted a room for that night, so we went back to the train station to use the crappy terminals that BT provide to try to find a room. The prices seemed exhorbitant, but eventually I booked something and we took the Underground to get to it. The room is pretty ordinary, but we were relieved to be somewhere where we could put down our bags and relax in front of the Simpsons... in a language that we understood, no less. All in all, it was our least successful day so far - not productive and not that much fun, but there you go.

Our hotel is just off High Street in Kensington, so last night we went out for a walk. It feels so much better to walk when you don't need to actually get anywhere. We stopped at Marks and Spencer for some very nice food - I think we were craving vitamins as Erith had a tub of pineapple and a punnet of rasperries and I had a tub of pineapple and a chicken and noodle salad. We searched without luck for an internert cafe, so came back to the hotel and blogged for a while. Off to bed, then up early and down here to get caught up on the blog.

Today we're planning to do a little tour of London Bridge, the Eye and maybe a palace or two, but from the outside only, as neither of us are that impressed with endless opulance it seems. A walk in Hyde and Kensington parks seems likely too, as they're just up the road.

I'll check my email with the remaining 17 minutes on this terminal, but I don't hold out much hope of getting through much. If you need to contact me, leave a comment here on the blog and I'll get in touch, but I'll have thousands of spams as I haven't cleared them for nearly a week now. In fact, leave a comment on the blog whether you need to contact me or not, particularly any of Erith's friends who may be reading. We may not be in touch for a couple of days as we travel to Toronto tomorrow and then Calgary then Red Deer the follwing day, but we'll have a chance to update properly in Red Deer, so will update properly then.

More Paris...

Photos - the front of The Louvre, the Champs-Elysees from the top of the Arc de Triomphe and one of so many beautiful French buildings.

Erith says:

We arrived in Paris we got off the Metro and walked around the corner. I was so tired, but as soon as we got around the corner I had lots of energy because we saw the Eiffel Tower. Our hotel was right behind the Museum of Man. We checked in and found out that we had to move rooms on the second night. We got up to our room and we opened the curtains and we could see the Eiffel Tower from our bed. We got ready and went around to the Eiffel Tower. We stood right underneath it right in the middle. We had chinese food for dinner that night and then we walked back to the hotel and I went to bed.

The next morning we lined up for the Eiffel Tower. When they finally let us in at 9:00 am, we were the first ones up because we came up with the workers. We had the whole tower to ourselves for a few minutes. We could see everything from up there! There were three floors on the Eiffel Tower, but we only went on the second and third floors.

I've got more to add, but we're running out of time on this computer.

Marcus says:

Anyway, back to what I was so saying before I was so rudely interrupted by a desperate need for sleep, Erith and I finished off our day by walking down to the Pensioners - at least I think that's what it's called, but can't confirm as I lost the excellent book on Western Europe that I had been using. (Sorry Claudia.) It was a long walk on a summery Parisian night, with everyone outside in parks, playing with the kids, playing pitonne (or whatever it's called - I chose to mis-spell this version of it), or just generally strolling around like us. Very civilised and cool - a really nice feel and no feeling of fear or trepidation. Erith was keen to see the tower flashing, so we returned to it at 10:00 pm to have a look. There were still thousands of people milling aroung the base of it, many whom would surely get turned away and not get up that day. We marvelled again at our good fortune of being the only ones up there that morning - what a magical feeling that was.

The next day we got up and set off on foot for the Louvre, as we were both keen to see the Mona Lisa and have a general look around. We spent a few hours there, but were both tired from the day before, so didn't push it as hard as we might have. We looked mainly at paintings, with the Italian masters probably being my favourites, then we went to the Egyptian Antiquities section for a look at mumified cats, amazingly well preserved wooden statues, jewelery and all manner of other interesting bits.

We left there and were just walking through a park to the Champs Elysee when Lizzie phoned, so she and Erith had a nice chat. Erith is hard to keep quiet on the phone these days - she always has so much to report. We got some lunch and did the obligitory stroll down the Champs Elysee up to the Arch de Triumph, where we braved the stairs with already weary feet. We walked back to the hotel via Macdonalds, having dinner at 4:00 pm. One of us was tired and ratty, so took a nap. (Erith just watched TV.)

We went out for a last stroll later in the evening, both of us feeling that we could have spent a lot longer in Paris - it really is a fantastic city. I'd never been there before except on the back of a motorbike and then only passing through, but I will definitely go back again.

The language didn't even end up being an issue - having stumbled through Italian and finding my feet a bit with German, I was brave enough to have a go at French and found I had moderate success, carrying out entire transactions in French. Nothing chasllenginging mind you - there was a lot of "jambon au fromage" happening, but I felt none of the legendary French disdain for non-natives.

I've got to come back to Europe. Looking at the little roads flashing past as we blew by on the train, I think I'd like to do it on a big, fat slow motorcycle, ambling aimlessly down unposted roads with no agenda.

Paris

Photos - the view of the tower that we had while lying in bed, Erith alone atop the tower and the view of our hotel from the tower. Our hotel was the building closest to the middle of the bow of the curved museum and the clump of trees, second floor from the top, right hand end.

Marcus says:

We left Munich the way we found it - cold, rainy, industrial and far too smoky for comfort. The train took us through Austria and it was interesting to watch the transition of the countryside and the architecture, though obviously they would be linked. One thing that impressed us both was the alternative energy in the form of a solar farm and several wind farms - very cool!

We got into the French countryside and because we'd opted for the first class train travel, we were provided with a meal complete with a little bottle of red wine. Erith had a sip just because we were in France and I finished it off in no time. It was very simple wine - not a complicated taste at all, more like spiked grape juice. I'm no expert, but it seemed like a nice everyday wine.

As we moved through France, we could see that every waterway was filled to almost flood point and there was standing water in the fields - they must have had a wet summer. Many of the crops had sections where the rain had obviously flattened it and there was a lot of grain (maybe barley) that looked as though it should be harvested but was still standing. In fact, there were very few combines and very few fields that had been cut, presumably because of the wet. It changed as we got closer to Paris, which I took as a good sign.

Indeed it was a good sign - we got Paris mid-afternoon and although we were exhausted and had the hassle of figuring out the Metro (which is fantastic but very busy), we got to our stop without incident. (Which is to say, I didn't get us lost.) I had booked the hotel on the web and we had high hopes for it - it was a small, boutique hotel supposedly had tower views. We were tired and Erith was trailing me by a couple of paces as we got out of the Metro. "We need to find a reference point" I said, just as I saw the tower. Erith took two steps and looked around, and there was the tower in full view. We both got a big energy charge and decided to go down there oas soon as we had checked into the hotel. The hotel turned out to be directly behind the Museum of Man, which is the best viewing point in Paris of the tower. They had overbooked, so had to move us to an "exectutive suite" for the first night. It was tiny - you couldn't swing a cat. It wasn't particularly lavish either - I guess "boutique" lets you get away with "slightly dumpy".

We went straight down and checked it out for a while, snapping photos like... well, like the zealous tourists that we were. We got a bit of dinner and went back to the room - I knew it was going to be hard to wind Erith down and we wanted to get up early to go up the tower the next morning.

Did the room have views!! Only the top half half of the tower, but from less than a kilometre away it looked pretty spectacular and we could see it from lying in bed. At night when it lit up and then periodically flashed, it was a real sight. Our boutique accommodation really earned its keep when the sun went down... and the lights were low. We had three windows that opened onto the street below - one even had window boxes with flowers. Very Parisian...

We got up the next day and went down to the tower early. Really early. Earlier than anyone - we were first in line and only in line for some time. We ate some oranges and chatted in the sun - it was a nice way to kill an our or so. The line firmed up behind us and quickly got nasty. When they opened the ticket sales at 9:00, we were smug. Erith was racing in through the empty winding barriers and I was hot on her heels. We got our tickets and went to the lift. Then things got weird.

As soon as we got in the lift, the attendant closed the doors and started going up. You need to transfer lifts at level 2 to go to the top, so he dropped us off. We went straight to the lift to go up, and got in. We were joined a minute of two later by four staff, then we started going up. We were at the top without a single other tourist for about five minutes! We couldn't believe it - there were thousands of people waiting below and we knew that the lines would be there until 10:00 pm, yet we had a private viewing of Paris. It was spectacular. Once the crowds started coming, it quickly got to the point where you couldn't move, but we had a short but magic time to ourselves. Unbelievable and very amazing.

We spent the rest of the day doing laundry and wandering around, with a long walk to the ... sorry, out of time - I'll try to catch up tomorrow...

Munich

Photos - One of the numerous courtyards in the Residenz, one of the halls in the Residenz, sometimes used for dining and the Palace of Justice, another palce in the old part of the city.

Erith says:

Yesterday when we got to Munich we went for a little walk and went to an internet cafe to update our blog and to find a hotel to stay. We got to a hotel and it was very nice. Our room is 712 and we have a great view from our window. It's quite small, but very cozy.

This morning we went to an old palace. It was very pretty on the outside and very detailed. When we got inside, we got an audio guide to tell us about the things. There were two sections - one was rooms of the palace and one was crowns and jewels. I thought the palace was great and so did dad.

On the way back, we saw lots of lolly shops but didn't get any lollies. While we were walking back to the hotel, I got a new swimming costume and a charm for my charm bracelet.

Then we had lunch. I had penne pasta and it was very nice. Just when I had finished it started to rain. It was only raining for a few minutes and then it stopped. We walked back and went to the internet cafe to do the blog.

Today I'm excited because tomorrow we're going to Paris.

Marcus says:

We arrived in Munich yesterday, to weather that we're really not used to - it was cold and rainy, and felt quite a bit like a Sydney winter. We found a hotel easily enough - we've been having good luck using wotif.com and lastminute.com to get usually four-star accommodation for a lot less than the standard price. Even with the exchange to the Euro, the prices are comparable to what you'd expect to pay in Australia.

Paris may be a different story - Erith is looking for something at the moment, but I suspect that it may be pricier than what we've been getting so far. I realised last night that Wimbledon is on at the moment, so London could also be a challenge. We may pop in for a look, even if we don't watch any decent action - I've always wanted to go and besides, I happen to love strawberries...

As Erith said, we went to the Residenz today - it was very interesting, but a bit like overdosing on sugar. Opulent room after opulent room, all apparently used by very important people to meet with less important people. Bedrooms never used as bedrooms - set up for show only, etc. Another slightly sad aspect was that many of the rooms were bombed out of existence during World War II and although they have been filled with Authentic Royal Stuff, the rooms don't actually bear that much resemblance to their original use.

The treasury was also very interesting, but the sugar factor took hold again - fabulous jewel-encrusted goods of every description, but room after room after room of them. We stopped listening to the audio guide, then even stopped taking pictures, not because the items weren't magnificent, but because they were no more magnificent than those in the previous rooms.

We have been making a point of having a nice, authentic meal before leaving every country and today it was lunch. Erith had penne, but I had a brace of fine pork sausages stacked on saurkraut. We both had hot chocolate with hot milk and whipped cream delivered separate from the chocolate suace. It was superb, especially because of the inclement weather.

Munich has been a bit of a blow-through, but as I hadn't come here when I spent a year in Germany in 1981-82, I was curious to see it. The weather's poor and I'd rather have gone to Berlin, but it was worth coming and we needed to break up the long train trips anyway. Having struggled to make myself understood in Italy, I have found German to be a lot easier to communicate in - I'm amazed at how quickly it's returned. I guess it's possible to learn even while mis-spending your youth...

It's such a contrast coming to Germany from Italy. In Italy your take your life in your hands every time you cross the road, but here everyone obeys the lights even if there's no traffic coming for two blocks each way. They're also very clean - we've seen two people pick up rubbish that wasn't theirs - also a contrast to Italy, where that would seem to make you appear subservient, so would be totally unacceptable.

The major annoyance here is that everyone seems to smoke. Everywhere. Last night in the internet cafe, we were the only computer smoke-free, with a guy lighting a cigar as we left. I'm sure we must stink of smoke as the whole of Munich seems to. It must be impossible to quit smoking here and would arguably be pointless anyway.

On another note, we've completely run out of time and have had to drastically modify our plans. Unfortunately, we won't get to Poland to see my sister Belinda, who is studying there for a couple of months to escape the heat of the Middle East, where she lives the rest of the year. It's a real bumer as I was looking forward to catching up, but we would have spent the whole time on the train and Bel has been getting up at 5:00 am to prepare for classes anyway, so we wouldn't have got much of a visit. It's a drag when we're geographically relatively close to each other, but without more time it would never work.

Next stop is Paris for three days then London for two. I can't believe that we're getting close to being finished in Europe - we'll be half finished our trip when we fly to Canada next week.

Venice

Photos - Erith looking out the front of our gondola, one of the very common but very cool (in my opinion) wooden taxis, Erith on the bridge over the main canal.

Erith says:

Venice was great! The reason why we went there is so we could ride a gondola. We had a really cool gondola and it had red and gold seats. We had the main seats but there were two other stools and one chair. The man who was driving the gondola said that they have crashes all the time. It was very busy because we went in the morning and everyone was going to work. We went onto little quiet canals to get away from the traffic. It was very peaceful and the man pointed things out to us while we went past them.

While we were walking along the street one night we walked next to a big puddle and a bus came past and splashed us.

I loved Italy but when we went to Austria and Germany I was amazed! We came out of the train station and went to an internet cafe to book our hotel because we hadn't booked yet.

Marcus says:

We boarded the train on Monday morning bound for Venice and arrived early afternoon. I'd booked a hotel through lastminute.com in Mestre, which is about 10 km from Venice. It was a great deal and a very nice room - they were renovating the whole hotel, which was why it was so cheap. Mestre is billed as "a bit drab", but it's not really fair to compare it to Venice. It's nice enough and in fact there were a few palatial houses, presumably occupied with people for a bit more land than Venice has to offer. It rained in the afternoon and as Erith said, we got sprayed by a bus - it was a real drenching and we didn't even see it coming.

The room had some nice touches - for one, the bathroom was lined with big slabs of marble - the biggest on the floor being 1.8 by 0.9 metres and the norm being 1.2 by 0.9 metres. Having spent a couple of years in the marble and granite industry, I could appreciate the amazing tolerances - there were no lips that would have been more than a millimetre and the corners all met beatifully as well. I noticed the same thing at Cel's flat - the marble had all been cut so that the grain progressed nicely. It's not that hard to find quality stonemasons in Italy I suppose.

Venice was fantastic, but I was satisfied with only having one full day there. We did the gondola thing quite early - it was overpriced, but I think it's just one of those things that you have to do in Venice. We had a nice tour by a good guide - his english wasn't great, but he was happy to answer questions and point out the landmarks. He spent a lot more time talking to pretty much every other boat driver within earshot, some of whom responded in kind and some who just ignored him. He was the kind of mouthy but totally inoffensive guy that you might find anywhere in the world - it made me smile even though I had no idea what he was saying.

We had lunch and wandered around afterwards finding a museum that had built machines from da Vinci's codices. I love the things he drew and/or developed and many are still in wide use today. Most you could operate, so I was like a kid in a candy shop. Erith like them too, though no doubt wouldn't have minded a bit less commentary about a few of them.

On the way back I found a barber and got a badly needed haircut. Hoping not to need too many, I went for a numero uno instead of my usual number two, so I look like a cue-ball with tan lines - I'll have to be careful not to burn until it grows in a bit.

We took the train back to Mestre and went to a nice restaurant for dinner, as it was our last Italian meal. We had a cured meat platter for an entre, both had lasagne and I had half a litre of beautiful house red. Really nice food, outside in the warm evening, followed up by gelato (of course) and an early night, as we had a train for Munich the next morning at 7:00 am.

I loved Italy.