Athens, Greece
The last stop of our 2 month excursion. Before we flew into Athens, I am not going to lie, I would have been willing to hop a plane straight home and skip it all together. Little did I know, we would have missed probably thee most incredible part of our trip. Not necessarily because of what we did or what we saw necessarily (although it was spectacular) but because of the sheer kindness and love that we recieved from 4 complete strangers.
We flew into Athens in the early afternoon on Saturday. On the bus ride from our plane to the airport (yes, you have to take a bus) we stood behind this man who looked vaguly familiar. Lyndon leaned over to me and asked, "is that the Where the Hell is Matt guy?" I basically just raised my eyebrows and shoulders knowing that I would not be able to answer that question. Insead of asking the guy, Lyndon decided just to say "Matt" in a quiet, low tone over and over to see if he responded... great tactic, I know... No response so we assummed it wasn't him. If any of you have never heard of or seen this guy's videos, then click here.
Basically, this guy travels around the world doing this silly, little dance wherever he goes and there are always a bunch of voulenteers from that area that come and dance with him! I saw the video a very long time ago and hadn't thought of it again, until now. We got off the bus and made our way through the airport to the baggage claim. There, we see him again! But we still don't have enough nerve to ask if it's the guy. He leaves. We were hungry at this point and decided to just grab some food at the airport. We sit down at this litte cafe and in walks this guy again! So, figuring that enough is enough, Lyndon decides to go ask if it is him. We reherse what he should say, I add in my few tips, we put on our packs and walk up to this guy. At this point though, we are pretty much positive it's him because Lyndon Google'ed his name and compared the photo... fool-proof idea! It turns out that it was the "Where the Hell is Matt?" guy! We introduced ourselves, got a photo with him and then found out he was going to film a dance in about an hour at the Olympic Stadium! Of course we wanted to go dance in his video and after he knew that, he asked if we would want to share a cab to the location! Feeling pretty "star-struck" as this is probably the most famous person either of us have ever met, we said sure!
Once we got to the stadium, we helped him set up his camera and I was appointed/voulenteered to be the camera girl. I stood up on top of this wobbly ladder with a tri-pod balanced on top, camera bags acting as suspended weights and all being held together with bungee cords! It worked great! Just another example of Greek ingenuity! We recorded a bunch of different dances with GREAT success, many laughs and smiles and after about an hour, we were done. While we were packing up and getting ready to leave when this girl came up to us and asked us how many cities Matt was going to be doing this trip. I looked up and admitted with a laugh that we actually only met Matt a half hour before we got there! Apparently some people there thought Lyndon and I were his crew! Hillarious and just another awesome part of this crazy story. We found out that this girl, Anna - who has lived in Athens since July of this year - and her friend, Jimmy, were both Canadian! Instantly having some sort of common ground with them, we had a great conversation and were invited by Anna to come with her and Jimmy to meet up with her friend from Athens and he was going to show us around the city! We exchanged contact info and told them that we would love to!
The next morning, we met them in front of the parlement building to watch the changing of the guard. Anna then treated us all to a soft pretzel/bagle type thing and we began walking around the city. We went to the Acropolis and walked through the old riuns and were amazed by the history and architecture that still is visible today - amazing! We saw the Parthenon as well as a huge, natural, marble stone that the apostle Paul preached the gospel from thousands of years ago! It was amazing to walk the slick, marble steps and climb over the marble rock where Paul once walked. So amazing!
After we walked through the Acropolis, we met Vasilis, Anna's friend, for some lunch! He took us to this amazing Mexican resturant that we never would have found on our own and began quizzing us on what we have already learned/know about Greek history. I tell you, this man is a born teacher! It was amazing to hear all his knowledge on Greek history and its architecture. After lunch, we all went to the Acropolis museum where we were given the most INCREDIBLE. tour. ever. by Vasilis! For dinner, Vasilis took us down some alleys, streets and more alleys that seemed to get scarier and scarier as you went until we found this little resturant that makes some of the most amazing Greek food I have ever had! He ordered a bunch of dishes and we all ate and shared and talked for about 3 hours. It was wonderful to be with such kind and generous people, sharing stories and making memories.
Lyndon and my flight left TOO EARLY this morning at 5am and we had to catch a bus at 2:45am to make it to the airport on time. Instead of booking a room for just a hand-full of hours, Versilis invited us to come to his house until we had to catch the bus. We arrived to this quaint, cozy, stylish apartment where we were shown an AMAZING "patio garden" that was full of amazing plants, flowers, fruit trees, herbs and I am sure much more! Versilies pulled off a leaf from a bunch of different plants and herbs letting us smell the unbelievable fragrances that each one gave! Later we all sat in the living room where he trated us to some de-lish-us plum sake and even more wonderful conversation and hospitality.
Even thinking about it now, I am overwhelmed by the kindness and random, yet so divinly planned, connections turned friendships that Lyndon and I have made in a span of less than 48 hours. God is good and He had blessed me through these new people that I now know.
At this moment, Lyndon and I are running on almost no sleep in the past 30 hours and are waiting for our flight to Vancouver. I keep thinking back to this crazy journey that we have had and I already miss it. It's hard to believe that this chapter is coming to a close and I am sad to see it go. At the same time though, I am anxious and looking forward to getting home, having my bed back, my washing machine back (!!!!) have my space back and sharing LOTS of stories with family and friends. I also am looking forward to my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season!!! I hope that you all have enjoyed reading the stories and re-caps I have written on where Lyndon and I have been in the last while! I am no writer, but whatever! I do my best and I hope you all have enjoyed this installment :) There are more to come!!! - Tiffany
-saturday october 22nd 2011-
Santorini, Greece
We finally made it here! It seemed like it was going to be an impossible feat but we made it! It was still a bit of a stormy day and on the ferry ride over there was no way anyone could walk with dignity. Everyone walked like they had just one too many to drink even though it was only 9 in the morning. I don't think I got my land-legs back until the next day. On the ride over, the ferry was packed becasue of the 3 previous days of ferry cancelations due to bad weather. We sat in a group of about 10 charis that all faced each other. There was a couple that sat to our left. The older gentleman kept nodding off from the repetitious rocking and would start to snore lightly. His very petite wife would then elbow him with a loud wisper "You're snoring!". Poor guy. It was pretty funny though and laughter (even though it was 'inside' laughter) was very welcomed considering the frustration that we had been feeling the past few days. "Free Comedy" as Lyndon calls it. Life just wouln't be as great without it.
We took the bus into Thira (Fira) from the port and miraculously found our hotel after (yet again) being given the most vague and terrible directions known-to-man. Where we are staying looks steriotypically Greek. It's plaster, white-washed walls with blue shutters on the windows and doors. I love it. The best thing about this place though is there is this sweet cat that the owner feeds and in turn, the cat now considers the owners her own. The cat has taken a liking to Lyndon and Lyndon to her. She likes to come and cuddle with us on the porch in the evenings when we sit around the computer and watch either The Office, Modern Family or X-Factor auditions on Youtube. I guess in a small way it reminds us of home... Since we have been here on Santorini, before we go to sleep at night, we listen to at least an hour of The Help on audio book as well. (Thank you Amber for those!!) It's one of the highlights of our days that we look forward to.
Staying here in Santorini has been different compared to everywhere else we have stayed. In total, we will have been here for 10 nights. This is record breaking considering the longest we have spent in a COUNTRY before this was 10 days. This is not exactly how we have planned it though. We arrived here in Santorini on a Wednesday and planned on taking a ferry to Mykonos on the following Monday, however, a 48 hour strike was announced that began on Monday. Not being too concerned by this, we just booked a ferry for Wednesday instead. Once Wednesday rolled around though, another 48 hour strike was announced. This means that we would not be able to ferry out of here until Friday! Keep in mind that our flight home is on Monday. So, realizing that Mykonos was now out of the question, we just booked a ferry straight to Athens. Yesterday, however, we found out that ANOTHER 48 hour strike was announced (grrrr) so we had to book flights into Athens for Saturday because by the time we found out, ALL of Friday's flights were full! I feel a little bit better knowing that we have flights booked but I still have not let out my breath fully becasue last week there was an airport strike in Athens... We are hoping, praying and checking often to make sure that there is not another one of THOSE annouced! Thank you to everyone who is praying us though this! Don't get me wrong, we are very much enjoying Santorini but are even more looking forward to coming home!
Santorini is a much smaller island than Crete or Rhodes was and from what we have seen, looks very differnt. How I could sum it up for you all is every movie, photo or image that comes to your mind when you think of Greece, Santorini is where it is from. The town we are staying in - Thira - is full of white-washed walls that all seem to be built one on top of the other. We have walked many-a-time the stone paved streets, alleys and crazy-stairs. Each way you look looks like it could be a piece of art. The only other place I think I have described like this was Venice. Santorini, there is none other like it.
A few times we have rented a quad and drove around the whole island. One day it turned into a beach-hunt day. We found Black Beach which was, as it is titled, a black sand beach. It was quiet with beautiful, clear, blue water. We relaxed there for a couple hours taking in the rays then hopped on the quad again to go see more amazing sights. We found "Old Thira" which has old walls, more crazy-steep stairs and is built on top of this amazingly-high crest on the island. We drove up this road that had Idon'tknow how many turns in it, each making the view look more magnificent. At the top, you could see the shoreline on BOTH sides of the island! After some exploring and searching for some lizards, we started driving again. We made to Red Beach. It's apparetly a well-know beach because of the red lava rock that surrounds it. It took a bit of a mountain climb (literally) to get to the beach but boy-oh-boy was it worth it! It looks like a giant shovel dug out this concave section in the mountain that revealed this rich red-velvet looking rock with an amazing beach at the bottom. We laid down our towels and began soaking in more rays... sigh, and it's October.
In the middle of Santorini, there is an active volcano that sits as it's own island. On one of our days here, we took a boat out to the volcano so we could hike it and see the active crater. The crater itself is quite large and although it wasn't a volcano with the crust rim around the top that I had hoped, it did have vents that blew steam and it was HOT! It was pretty cool to be standing on top of an active volcano - not gonna lie. Once we boated back to Thira, we rode the donkeys back up the mountain to the town. These donkeys are CRAZY! The men that sell you tickets to ride them pretty much just put you on one, slap it on the rump and it just starts going! Every once in a while they would break into a run which was SCARY considering the only thing keeping you from falling off the mountain side was a 3 foot wall that now is miniscule from sitting up high. The donkey that Lyndon rode had a nice, chicken wire muzzle on it. We figured it either ate too much or had a biting problem... we found out it was a biting problem. The donkey I rode also back-kicked a donkey behind me! What an ass.
Something that I started on this trip was collecting rocks from the beaches that we go to! I emphatically explain to Lyndon that I only take the really cool ones but still he makes fun of me because I literally am hauling rocks in my pack... sigh. I tell him often "you may not get it and you don't have to but I get it so support me". Yes, sometimes it comes out sounding like one word.
For breakfasts, we found this place called Corner that makes delicious Belgum waffles! We have been there 7 times and the favourite - voted by both of us - is #6. A belgum waffle with strawberries, bananas, REAL melted chocolate and whipped cream. Oh-so-good! We are at the point now where we could just say "I'll have my regular" and she would know exactly what we are talking about. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing... We actually are becoming quite well-known among the local shop owners here. The other day we walked into a leather shop for the first time and the lady asked us how long we have been here because she recognized us from walking past her shop every day. We were suprised because I haven't ever noticed her shop before! But then she told us that there aren't a lot of blonde people here in Greece let alone tall blonde people, referring to Lyndon. It's funny but true. Knowing this, it now makes sense why the guy at the resturant we walk past every day greets us like old friends and give us a thumbs-up with a wink! Oh what funny memories.
Today we are flying to Athens. I am a little nervous about going there actually because of the riots that have gone on just last week. All these strikes seem to bring out the worst in some people and I am just don't wanna to get caught in the cross-fire! But, we will go knowing that the Lord is with us. And I will keep my 'thug' face in my back pocket just incase ;). - Tiffany
-tuesday october 18th 2011-
Crete, Greece
Our trip to Crete started with a 13 hour ferry that brought us into port at 6:30 am. If we were anticipating this, it would have been a great plan - to take the ferry overnight and arrive early in the morning so that we would have the WHOLE day to explore and see Crete. Again, this would have been a great plan if we knew, but we didn't. I am not really sure what we were expecting when we bought the tickets, but I do know that I was thinking it was going to be a shorter ride, that is why I didn't even think about booking a bed. I wish we had booked a bed. Instead, we found a corner that had fewer people in it, layed a sheet down and tried to sleep. Thank goodness we had ear plugs or I don't think I would have gotten the 3 hours that I did! After our very long ferry ride, we were SO grateful to see land! Once we got off the ferry, we found a place to stay and made our way there. We were SO exhasted from the ride that once we got there, we crashed and slept for 5 hours... so much for getting to Crete in the morning!
The place we were staying was beautiful! It was about a 20 minute bus ride away from the central area with a view that was just breathtaking! I tell ya, I have been in Greece for the past 2 and a half weeks and I have to keep pinching myself and telling myself to not get used to seeing such amazing views because these sights ARE NOT NORMAL!!!
The place that we were staying was run by a small family and it seemed much more resort-like than anywhere we have stayed on this trip. There was a beautiful pool area and a resturant that we went to for the first few evenings. The food there was AHH-mazing. The Dolmades were thee best that we have yet to have and the pasta - yes pasta - was divine!
We had originally planned on staying in Crete for only 2 nights, however, the day that we were hoping to sail to Santorini, the weather took a turn for the worst and the ferry was cancelled. Not only was it cancelled for that day, but the 2 days following that!! It really doesn't sound that bad as I write it, but when each morning, you wake up, pack your bags and haul them for 20 minutes in the pouring rain to find out that the ferry has been cancelled, it gets really old, really fast. But really, who cares. I mean, we were stuck on an island in Greece!
The first day that the ferry was cancelled, the weather cleared up a bit in the afternoon and Lyndon and I went for a walk to try and find this drifting competition that we had seen posters for. We found it at the end of the ferry port in this huge parking lot. Lyndon seemed pretty excited about it so we decided to go watch. I think that it has a chance to be Lyndon's favourite part of our trip... For me, it was cool but I was mostly glad to see how much Lyndon was enjoying it. After almost 4 hours of watching how well drivers could control their vehicles after purposly sending them into a skid, we left to find some dinner. We ended up at this little resturant where we found out that our very Greek waiter was born in Montreal, Canada! This seemed especially cool considering that it was Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. At the end of our meal, he brought us a plate of watermelon and some ouzo, and pourd all three of us a shot - we like to think it's because he liked us. :) In actuality though, we found that in Rhodes and in Crete, that is what the waiters did after you would eat at their resturant. We had ice cream brought to us, apple and pear, wathermelon, honeydew and all with ouzo on the side. I don't really know why they do that, but I liked it and I think North American resturants should adopt it!
For the other "extra" days that we had in Crete, we did lots of walking and exploring. We found some interesting little stores and also MANY souvenir shops. We bought a foot pumice and gave our feet a little T.L.C. one evening too. On the morning that we actually left Crete, as excited as we were to get out off of that island, I know that I will miss it. - Tiffany
-tuesday october 11th 2011-
Rhodes, Greece
In a change of plans, Lyndon and I flew into Rhodes, Greece instead of going to Athens. Rhodes was not initially on our list of places to go but we were very glad that it was added! We stayed at a very nice hotel that was only a five minute walk to the water - awesome! This hotel included a delicious and full breakfast which was a welcomed bonus considering that up until that point, a pice of toast or P.B and J was a pretty standard morning meal. The first evening that we were in Rhodes, we went for a walk down to the water and along the docks. There were some beautiful yachts and sailboats docked, some we knew had followed us all the way from Monaco too because we recognized them from the boat show when we were there!
-tuesday october 4th 2011-
Rome, Italy
-wednesday september 28th 2011-
Modena, ItalyOur arrival in Modena was quite uneventful and welcomed considering the days before. We arrived early enough to spend the evening wandering the streets and through different parts of this small town. We found a pizzaria to eat at for dinner and did our best to try and decipher the menu... we managed alright with a pepperoni pizza and some tortellini with a white, cream sauce considering we really had no good idea as to what we had ordered. The food was delicious! Lyndon and I both are built for Italian food - Pasta, Pizza and Gelato.
-monday september 26th 2011-
-Photos are up!-
Venice, Italy
Yay! We made it to Italy! I was very much looking forward to seeing this boot-shaped country and so far, we have seen some beautiful sights and had some interesting experiences. First of all, we arrived after a long travel day yet again and were looking forward to finding our room getting our packs off of our backs and taking a rest however, this is not how things panned out. We were told to take the number 11 bus and that it left every half hour. We walked a ways and found a stop but no number 11. After some waiting and asking bus drivers, we discovered that number 11 does not exist. Alright, so we asked a nice lady at the stop how we get to our destination, she tols us that we needed to take the number 10 bus and that it was 2 blocks away and down the street to the left. We found it just as the number 10 was pulling away - shoot! But we waited, and waited, aaand waited. Finally, once the number 10 came around again after 30 minutes or so, we boarded and asked the driver if he would be stopping at the stop we needed to go to, he said that we were on the wrong number 10 bus. Argh! He was kind enough to point us in the right direction - literally because he spoke no english - and we started walking again. I will point out that we had arrived almost an hour before this and were no further than 2 blocks from the station. We found the other bus stop and waited some more. The bus came after about 15 minutes of waiting and we boarded feeling a bit better that we were making our way to our hotel.
Once we got off that bus, the directions we had told us to walk 300 more meters and we would be at the hotel. We started walking, however, the directions never specified where to walk! After finding ourselves in a somewhat residential area, we had decided that we had not-a-clue where we were going and we needed to find someone to help us. We walked back to a pizzaria and told the lady where we needed to go. She did not speak english but she recognized the name of the hotel. She began to try and explain how to get there the best she could, but we were not picking up much. Then a man with two young children piped up and said something to her in Italian. We gathered that he was going to take us to the hotel. We followed him down the road, accross a bridge, down an alley and then we spotted the hotel! We thanked him as best as we could and parted ways. We arrived at the hotel and a young lady greeted us and asked us for our name. We told her and she began looking through some papers. After a short while, she said "We don't have your name". "We have no record of your reservation and we are all booked". After a long day of travel and 2 hours of trying to find this place, we were frustrated. She offered to call a near by hotel to see if they had any room but they were FAR too expensive for our budget. Basically after that we had no words. We just sighed and said "We have no idea what to do". She then leaned back in her chair and said, "I have an option for you but you may not like it", "I have a room that I sometimes rent out. It's in my house and is about 15 minutes away from Venice". After a few questions and figuring out details, we accepted. The only thing was that she didn't get off until 11pm... and it was only 8pm. You have to understand, the area that we were in was on the outskirts of Venice. Nothing was open acceps 2 pizzarias and a bar and it was dark out already. We went outside and sat and talked. I tried to not bring up the past days events with Lyndon as he was still very much in real-time frustration about it all. We were tired and just wanted to go home! After eating some food, walking around a bit it was almost 11 so we made our way back to the hotel feeling better that we would be sleeping soon. We got our packs and were anticipating getting into this lady's car but no no no, we instead walked to the bus station....argh! "Not another bus!" I thought but refrained from blurting out loud. Instead, I decided to put my big-girl panties on and suck-it-up. We talked with this lady for a while, found out her name is Sabrina and that she lives in her own home in a quiet neighbourhood just outside of Venice. Our conversation continued once the bus came, when we got off of that bus and onto the next... Finally, we were at the final stop and we walked the rest of the way to her home. She showed us around a bit and then we said goodnight. The next morning, Sabrina made us breakfast and told us how to get into Venice. I was grateful to have her "insider" advice on the town. We hopped on the bus and 20 mnutes later, we arrived in Venice!
We did so much walking and exploring in this maze-like town. Every alley way is beautiful and deserving of a photograph. There are so many shops and even more sounvenir stands! A lot of Murano glass work and lace and gelato - as many of you know, ice-cream is to Lyndon as water is to anything living - necessary. I sure didn't mind the gelato either :). After spending all day on this island, we headed back and crashed into bed.
This morning we both woke up excited about moving on to our next destination. We had breakfast again with Sabrina and talked with her for a while about her family, about Venice and about how we think she should open up a hostel right in Venice! It was neat to see how conversation developed and we were even able to talk a little about our faith. Even though Lyndon and I have not had one of the best experiences here in Venice - according to us - we just have no idea what we are being used for on this journey. Praise the Lord for His mighty work that He is doing!
Now we are heading on the train to Modena - our second stop in Italy! - Tiffany
Nice and Monaco, France
-friday september 23rd 2011-
Barcelona, SpainWhat a beautiful place! Lyndon and I arrived in Barcelona on Tuesday evening and after finding our hotel, were told that we should make our way to the National Palace for the last evening of the water show that took place in a HUGE fountain out front. We left our things in our room and made our way to the palace. There were so many people there it was almost unbelievable! The water show was quite amazing and the Disney tunes that it was coreographed too totally addd to the experience, dispite them beng Catalan. After the show, we walked up MANY stairs to get a closer look at the Palace and to get an even more beautiful view of the city. Barcelona, such a beautiful city, especially at night. Now being informed of the bustling nightlife of Spanish culture, Lyndon and I tried our best to enjoy as much of it as we could while we were at our last stop in Spain - this included midnight gelato stop - yumm!
The next day, we found a market while walking around and saw amazing displays of fruit and vegitables! There were these blended fruit drinks available EVERYWHERE and they were delicious! The perfect pick-me-up in the middle of a hot day. We walked further and foudn the harbour where we stayed for a while, sitting by the water and feeding the fish. It was such a great, relaxing afternoon.
The next day, we had purchased a metro pass because there were a few different sites we wanted to make sure we saw while here in Barcelona. We went to Guell Park and walked around for a long time taking in all the amazing views and pieces of history. There were aspiring musicians that would serenade you as you walked along the paths. Some were quite talented, others were quite strange... All-in-all, it was an experience :). Our next stop was to see the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. Oh. My. Goodness. If you have never heard of this place, look it up. Right now. It's construction was started in 1883 and the design was taken over by Gaudi in 1884 and it is still being completed today! We walked out of the metro and obviously overcome with hunger, we spotted a Burger King and b-lined it for the entrance. After a satisfying Whopper, we were ready to figure out where this place was. Having seen many people through the windows of Burger King taking photos with their cameras pointed up at a 45 degree angle, we figured that the cathedral was close. We walked out of the doors and realized just how close it was. If we would have turned around after getting off the metro, we would have run into it... Oh boy. Amazing what hunger can blind you from.
Lyndon and I enjoyed Barcelona very much. We are loving that the weather is getting warmer as the days draw on! Bring on the extended summer! We are sad to already be checking the amazing country of Spain off of our checklist....sigh. Here are a few photos to remember it by. Hope you enjoy them! - Tiffany
-tuesday september 20th 2011-
Madrid, Spain
First of all, sorry this post is a couple of days late! Hope you still enjoy it :)
We woke up early, checked out of our hotel and made our way to the police station in Bordeaux to report our lost train tickets. Once at the front of the line, we quickly realized that the police man spoke not-a-word of english. Not quite sure how we were going to be able to proceed, we were told via hand motioning to take a seat and wait. Finally, a different police man spoke to us in French and we figured he was telling us to follow him. We did. He showed us to a little room and he began speaking English! Broken, but English! He was very friendly and we had no problem with small talk. When he found out we were from Canada, he told us about one of his favourite comedians who is Canadian. Neither Lyndon or I had ever heard of the guy. The kind French-man finished our reports and then said something about looking up a photo. He then began to feverishly hunt-and-peck away on his keyboard and then whipped the screen around to reveal a photo of this comedian! We laughed at how casual this stressful situation was and felt very releaved and grateful for this blessing! We thanked him and then left for the train station.
Arriving at the train station, we were anticipating booking tickets for that early evening however, the only train we could get that day left within an hour and it only took us to the border of France and Spain. We were informed that once we arrived, we would have to buy another train that would take us to Madrid and that train left 20 minutes after we were to arrive! Stress. Stress because of how close the arrival and departure were. Stress because we had to still buy a ticket once we reached this middle destination and stress because we still had nowhere to sleep that night.
Once we were at the train headed for the middle destination, we walked onto our car, the doors opened and then the smell hit us. It was warm, stuffy and the strongest smell of body-odour I have ever experienced. Dispite the stinging eyes, we walked on and instantly spotted the origin of the smell. 4 young, backpacking boys. We quickly made our way onto the car past the first 4 seats to find ours. Once I was about half way down the car, I realized that we had passed our number. I told Lyndon and we began to backtrack. We kept moving closer and closer to where we had boarded and dredded every. smelly. step. There were our seats. Right behind the boys. It was a long, 4 hour train ride.
The next train was not nearly as bad however, we began feeling more and more anxious as the hours kept passing. It began getting darker out and we still didn't know where we were going to sleep. I told Lyndon "the thought of sleeping in a train station isn't nearly as bad in the day-time as it is in the night". We arrived just after 10 pm and went straight to Information to see if they knew of any places to stay at such short notice - the lady didn't speak any Engligh. We tried getting an internet signal with no luck so we decided to go look outside the station to see what was near by. We walked out and right there was a hotel. It was clean, decently priced and a bed. I was so grateful - we both were! After much frustration, headache and tears, we felt like we were starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The next day we took the Metro to the downtown area and found our hostel. A sweet, tiny spanish woman ran it and didn't speak a-lick of English but we managed to communicate fine (translation sites are THE BEST!). We walked around the town that night and found many neat little restuants and shops and I bought a dress :-). Over the next two days we did even more walking, found a park, took a nap on the grass, ate McDonalds for lunch and an ice-cream for dessert, walked more and tried to keep taking it all in.
Outside of our hotel Saturday morning, two, dark haired smiling faces walked up and greeted us with warm hugs that were SO welcomed and appreciated! We introduced ourselves and then made our way to the car. They took us on a tour of Madrid, first to one of the oldest areas of the city. We walked around here for a while and found a place to sit down and have some lunch. After lunch, we drove to a town - Patones - that was the only town in Madrid that was not invaded by the French in the 1500's. It was breathtaking. Stone walls and streets that twisted and turned up a hillside inhabited by little shops and their owners, B&B's, tiny resturants and character! I would LOVE to go spend a few days in this little place. My camera and I were in love! We spent a fair bit of time here and then headed to the Garcia home for dinner. On the drive, out of curiousity, Lyndon asked what time dinner is usually eated in Spain? For the last 3 nights, we could not seem to get it right! Shops seemed to close at really strange times and resturants didn't seem to open until very late! - Something was up. Jose Jr. and Maria laughed. They told us that typically in Spain, stores and shops close down in the afternoon for a siesta and then re-open a coupe hours later. Also, dinner is searved around 11pm and people will eat it as late as midnight or 1am! This seemed so crazy to Lyndon and I but it's definitely part of what gives Spain it's culture.
Once we arrived at the Garcia home and dinner was ready, we sat down outside and Jose told me I would probably want to take a photo of this dish. I got my camera ready and he lifted the lid. It was hot, and it smelled delicious! We all ate to our satisfaction and we had some wonderful conversation and fellowship. This family is just. The. Best. Only having met them that day, I already love them all. Their hearts for the Lord, their hearts for the people of Madrid, their kindness and generosity - it is inspiring. Lyndon and I both hope to spend time with them again one day soon.
We are now on the train on our way to Barcelona where I am told we need to make sure to try Chacolate con Churros - a delicious, Spanish dessert. We are sad to be leaving new friends but also looking forward to more adventures. We have our new train tickets and are feeling encouraged and blessed! Thanks for stickin' with me to the end of this post! Here are some photos of our time in Madrid. - Tiffany
-thursday september 15th 2011-
Bordeaux, France
A common site...
-thursday september 9th 2011-
Paris
Once we had reached The Louvre, we were both speechless at how massive this building is! The amount of artifacts and artwork that were in this place was astounding. We were already exhausted when we had arrived and that definitely continued as we made our way through this huge maze of ancient pieces of history. We saw beautiful statues including Venus di Milo, "Winged Victory" and of course, Mona Lisa herself! Even though I have seen this painting a thousand times, it was very cool to be staring at the original. What a wonderful experience these past few days have been. Here are a few memoris of Paris - Au revoir! - Tiffany
-monday september 5th 2011-
Londonderry/London
So today you are all going to hear about 2 FABULOUS places that we have visited because days are seeming to meld together here. Londonderry was our last stop while we were exploring Ireland. We arrived after a very looong day of travel that neither of us were anticipating in the begining. 9 hours, 3 train rides later, we arrived there finally and what a sight as we began to pull into the city. As we broke through the trees, to the right was a beach with water as still as glass with a beautiful glow of the sun through some clouds and a misty haze that seems to be ever present in the air. To the left was a beautiful mountain that was covered in the most vibrant green. I swear, the grass, the plants, the trees - everything growing - here in Ireland is the most amazing green that I have ever seen. My grandma used to say that the last rain of spring has green paint in it. I am pretty sure that Ireland is where all that green rain comes from! It was lush and gorgeous.
The city itself was beautiful, yet again, filled with old buildings that have been run down and restored and converted into homes and shops. What is special about Londonderry is the history that is still so close to their heels. It has only been the last 10 years that there has been peace in this part of the country between the British and the Irish people. We took a walking tour and went to a couple museums and tried to learn as much as we could about the city and all that has gone on here. Londonderry was originally built within a wall that is very thick and very high (It's been attacked 3 times and no one has ever overcome it). This wall still stands today! The land was also originally known as Derry however when the British came over to Ireland, they had brought many people to inhabit the land and the name was changed to Londonderry. In Ireland, today, you still will only hear the Irish refer to it as Derry. It's very interesting - if you feel so inclined, read up on it!
You could walk along the top of the wall that still has connons in place alone side look-out-towers. We walked to "Free Derry" and saw a monument that stands to remember 14 young people that were killed when they took a stand for Ireland - you will probably remember this as Sunday Bloody Sunday - Also a song made famous by U2. Anyway, I don't mean for this to be a "heavy" post. We had just learned so much in our time in Londonderry and with a history so recent that the locals can tell you first-hand stories, it's just what was on our minds while we were there. The people of Ireland are very friendly and hospitable. We stayed in a funny, little place. Our room was (again) the last room and (again) at the top of 6 flights of stairs in a creaky, old house. We were asked by some locals if we have lot's of bears in Canada - as that is what they had heard (apparently we are infested with them) and also we were asked to clarify what we always say... "What's that thing you Canadians always say? 'ah' or 'oh'?" I said "eh?" and they both broke out, "EH" "EH"!! It was good for a laugh. We were both sad to leave Derry and Ireland, but we were looking forward to moving on and seeing a new country!
Right now, we are sitting at Starbucks on our last day in London. I love London. We saw Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye... sigh... so many amazingly detailed and beautiful buildings! Too bad the Queen wasn't in - I would have loved to go for tea.
On the day we arrived, we went to see Wicked. I have been looking forward to this for SO long and let me tell you, I was not disappointed. I can't even describe to you how amazing it was. Perhaps I just knew the songs too well or perhaps it is because it sparked a desire that I have to sing and preform again or perhaps it's because I am in London, but I will never forget that show. Lyndon even will still break out into song "No one mooourns the wickeeed"! I'm glad he enjoyed it too :). London has been so fun. It's very metropolitan and very big. We both have said we wished we had more time here. Maybe we will see ourselves wandering these street again. But not now. Today we are off to Paris! Thank you for reading everyone! I hope you have a marvelous day! - Tiffany
-Photos of Derry-
-Photos of London-
-friday, september 2nd 2011-
GalwayI saw them! The beautful, vast, green rolling hills that surround this gorgeous country. Feeling more embrasive of our tourist ensamble, we bought tickets to go on a tour so that we could enjoy more of the surrounding countryside. The morning of the tour, this huge, amazingly comfortable bus drove up looking freshly waxed and we all piled in with our pre-made lunches and cameras. Ohhh we were 'that' group. The one that all piles off the luxury bus and everyone around looks at with wide eyes and they begin to quickly shuffle out of the way. I kept thinking of the scene from Dispicable Me when the tour bus drives up to the Pyramids. Then when the kid is ricocheted off the pyramid and is flying through the air and everyone, standing shoulder to shoulder is snapping away in hopes of getting a great shot. Yes, we were also that group (minus the flying child) - and I was right in there!
All joking aside, the tour was great. We got to see many cool little spots and views that could take your breath away. But I think one of my favourite parts was hearing the history and the stories behind the old, broken down structures. For instance, only in Western Ireland is land divided by short, stone walls that are not grouted, just strategically stacked. All of these stones have come up from the ground because less than a meter below the lush greenery is solid rock known as The Burren! It's amazing and hard to believe that this country that we all know to be so lush and green only sits on less than 4 feet of dirt! Amazing! In all other parts of Ireland, land is divided by shrubs.
On our tour, we also went to see The Cliffs of Moher. They were unbelievable! So tall and straight down. I couldn't help but take photos of them. Really, Ireland is a place where I can't help but capture amazing photos. Everywhere I look on the countryside is breathtaking with its green hills and beautiful old structures. One town we stopped in was called Doolin. It must have been straight out of Lord of the Rings. It was so quiet and quaint with steep hills and colourful little homes and shops. We found a little chocolate shop where we bought a piece of white chocolate with oreo crushed in - yum.
-monday, august 29th 2011-
Cork
Cork Baptist Church
The hill we walked to our hostel
-sunday, august 28th 2011-
Dublin
Flying into Dublin was beautiful! The weather is just how I would have imagined Ireland to be - 18 degrees celcius, overcast, rainy and lovely. We spent our first day walking (literally). We looked into getting a bus ticket, but realized most of Dublin was compact enough that we could walk almost everywhere! We saw many old buildings and lots of beautiful old churches. We did a tours of many of them including Christ Church, St. Michael's (which is now converted into a Viking Museum) St. Patrick's Church and others. The architecture here is gorgeous! It is so neat to see places that have a history that dates much further back than Western Canada. The majority of the streets are hand laid brick which is very badly decayed and the sidewalks are layed brick or tile.
Yesterday we decided to walk to the Guiness Storehouse which was about a 45 minute walk from our hotel. The building itself was huge! We decided to not go on the tour as 14.40 Euro per person is quite expensive when converting to Dollars (the fact that we still have at least 17 more cities ahead of us also rang in our heads - savingmoney at this point is good) Instead, we took a few photos and kept walking.
I have yet to see the green rolling hills that I have pictured Ireland to have in my mind but I am sure that we will find them eventually. We arrived in Cork yesterday by train and will be spending our time here until tomorrow. Right now though, here are some photos of Dublin! - Tiffany
Dublin
Flying into Dublin was beautiful! The weather is just how I would have imagined Ireland to be - 18 degrees celcius, overcast, rainy and lovely. We spent our first day walking (literally). We looked into getting a bus ticket, but realized most of Dublin was compact enough that we could walk almost everywhere! We saw many old buildings and lots of beautiful old churches. We did a tours of many of them including Christ Church, St. Michael's (which is now converted into a Viking Museum) St. Patrick's Church and others. The architecture here is gorgeous! It is so neat to see places that have a history that dates much further back than Western Canada. The majority of the streets are hand laid brick which is very badly decayed and the sidewalks are layed brick or tile.
Yesterday we decided to walk to the Guiness Storehouse which was about a 45 minute walk from our hotel. The building itself was huge! We decided to not go on the tour as 14.40 Euro per person is quite expensive when converting to Dollars (the fact that we still have at least 17 more cities ahead of us also rang in our heads - savingmoney at this point is good) Instead, we took a few photos and kept walking.
I have yet to see the green rolling hills that I have pictured Ireland to have in my mind but I am sure that we will find them eventually. We arrived in Cork yesterday by train and will be spending our time here until tomorrow. Right now though, here are some photos of Dublin! - Tiffany
-saturday, august 27th 2011-
Getting There
This post was ment for a few days ago but due to exhaustion and internet frustration, it has not been posted until now - hope you still enjoy it! We have made it! After a very long day of flying and waiting and walking, we landed in Dublin 16 hours after taking off from Kelowna. We were tired and sore and in desperate need of a shower. We made it through customs and found our packs. As soon as I swung mine over my shoulders, I felt it. It was an overwhelming feeling. I was looking like a tourist. It must have been the combination of blood-shot eyes, shorts and runners and if that wasn't enough, it was the Canadian flag luggage tag hanging from my bag. Yep, I was representing the socks and sandals, floral shirt, white nosed, fishing hat, camera around the neck, tourist! Not that there is anything wrong with this. It is just my own issue and I need to get over it. I told Lyndon he needed to give me a break - afterall, it was only my first day.
We found our little hotel along Talbot Street, took the "lift" up to our little room and crashed. We woke up 3 hours later and that felt almost harder than not being able to sleep before. Feeling hungry we decided to head out to find something for dinner. We ended up eating at the little hole-in-the-wall italian pizza place just down the road. After a slice and a coke (which are smaller here than back home), we then went back to our place and went right back to sleep. We are very happy to be here in Dublin and even more excited to be starting this trip! Here are a few photos from the very begining of our travels. Enjoy! - Tiffany
-thursday, august 18th 2011-
T-minus 5 days
Slowly I have been getting through laundry and purchasing all the little knick knacks that we "need" for our trip (mini hair gel, mini hairdryer, mini hand sanitizer...you know, the necessities) - packing light is expensive! Today, I finally succumbed to the reality that I need to pack my clothes. As soon as I took out the first pair of shorts and put them on the bed, I felt (what I think may be) the first excited nerves that I have felt in a long time for this trip! Eeeek! THIS IS AWESOME! After I took out of my closet what I thought to be very minimal, I stacked it all up.
Looking at the pile that I made though (and this is just clothing)...I think I am overpacking...shoot!
-monday, august 15th 2011-
Slowly I have been getting through laundry and purchasing all the little knick knacks that we "need" for our trip (mini hair gel, mini hairdryer, mini hand sanitizer...you know, the necessities) - packing light is expensive! Today, I finally succumbed to the reality that I need to pack my clothes. As soon as I took out the first pair of shorts and put them on the bed, I felt (what I think may be) the first excited nerves that I have felt in a long time for this trip! Eeeek! THIS IS AWESOME! After I took out of my closet what I thought to be very minimal, I stacked it all up.
Looking at the pile that I made though (and this is just clothing)...I think I am overpacking...shoot!
-monday, august 15th 2011-
6 countries, 18 cities, 9 weeks - YES
I feel like I have finally come to the end of a long "To Do" list and can now focus on getting all things lined up and in order for our trip! Lyndon and I have been in the process for the past 3 months planning a 2 month excursion to 6 countries and more than 18 cities! We fly out of Kelowna on August 23rd and land in Dublin, Ireland on the 24th! From there we are traveling through the UK, France, Spain, Italy and flying home on October 24th from Athens, Greece. I thought "could we be crazy?!" when we booked our non-refundable tickets a mere 9 weeks before our departing date. Maybe we are but that's "OK", right?!
Most days I feel anxious and nervous and find I need to remind myself to breathe and pray. Pray against fear because I feel it so easily can come to the forefront of my mind. PLEASE don't get me wrong, there is SO much more excitement and joyful anticipation that I have, but I don't think I will experience that until we are already flying away. Right now I am preoccupied with having to choose which 2 shirts I will be alright wearing until the middle of fall. -Tiffany
-wednesday, august 3rd 2011-
Love, Laughter and Long-Weekends
Yesterday, Lyndon and I along with 7 other family members made the long, 11 hour drive back from a little place called The Great Canadian Barn Dance near Waterton Alberta where we had celebrated Lyndon's Grandparent's 50th anniversary (yes!!!) family reunion style. It had been at least 5 years since that side of the family has all been together and this time, there were 3 new members! Myself, my brother-in-law and one of the sweetest little 'blondies' ever! (spell check is insisting that I have made up that word but I swear it exists)
It was hot, dry, flat and windy but such a great time. I loved meeting the part of the family that couldn't make it out to our wedding last year and reconnecting with the ones that had. I found myself sitting back and thinking, wow, I am so blessed to have married into such a cool group of people! One evening we spent thumbing through a bunch of old photos that Grandma had brought along. Anyone who knows me knows that old photos and videos are one of my weaknesses - hence the reason why I love to document every occurrence of life with photos - I just tell people, you will thank me later.
Once we were saying our good-bye's, Grandma pulled me aside and hugged me with all sincerity and told me how much I am loved by them. Brings tears to my eyes even now. Thank you Lord for blessing me with so many more wonderful people I can call family! - Tiffany
-thursday, july 14th 2011-
I woke up early this morning to a beautiful, overcast sky. The air was still a little bit crisp and I loved it. I headed on my way to see the good-ole eye doctor. It has been just about a year since my last appointment but because I have been going regularly since about the age of 4, I knew pretty well exactly what to expect.
Usually my prescription goes up by 1/4 to 1/2 a diopter, I am never able to read the bottom line and the good-doctor puffs air on my eye then shines the painfully bright light - I swear - straight through to the back of my head! I am sure he could have read my thoughts it is so bright! This all compounds to seem much worse since having to have my pulps dilated to the size of dimes.
As I was waiting for the dilating drops to kick in and for the doctor to arrive, I had a good 10-15 minutes to myself. Sitting in an empty room with everything out of focus, my mind started to wander to photography (not that this is new). But, this time seemed a bit different. I had a little epiphany. I know what life looks like all out of focus (literally), I have known since I was 4! From the first time that I recognized that leaves had a distinct shape, - even from far away! - the detail and the intricacies that are in each and every created thing can put me into a state of 'awe'! We are surrounded by so much detail and there is just so much beauty in that!
Perhaps this is where the seed of my love for photography was planted - a long time ago when I walked out of the eye doctor's office at the age of 4 and exclaimed "Mom! There are leaves on the trees!" Being able to creatively interpret and forever capture all the amazing details of this crazy-awesome creation we call earth is just - the coolest thing!
Thank you to eye doctors for making me able to see and thank you Canon for making tools where I can put almost everything out of focus again! - Tiffany
