Category Archives: Travel

Thinking Global

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With all the hoopla surrounding the Olympics, it got me thinking about how fortunate I’ve been to have seen so much of the world. I took my first trip outside North America when I was 16; since then, I’ve been hooked on international travel. I’ve been lucky enough to tour dozens of different countries on five different continents, including:

Aruba, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Grenada, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Monaco, the Netherlands, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, St. Kitts, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, the U.S., Vatican City, and Venezuela

You’d think there wouldn’t be much left on my bucket list, but I’d still like to see Egypt, Greece and Turkey (particularly Istanbul, the city that straddles Europe and Asia) someday. You gotta have dreams.

I’m getting pumped about our family road trip to Washington coming up this weekend. (The boys finally get to use their passports!) Justin is back to his usual self and both kids are excited about Great Wolf Lodge, so it should be a good time. Stay tuned.

Our Little Camper

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It took over two hours to get Justin checked in and settled at camp, but it wasn’t so bad: we knew a lot of the other families and we were free to wander, chat, and play while we waited (the boys really just sat in the rec room watching a movie). Justin had a few anxious moments last night and this morning, but nothing big, and once I took him through the camp’s website and showed him all the cool stuff he would be doing he was pretty stoked. As luck would have it, three of the five other boys in his buddy group are kids he knows, so it worked out just about perfectly. He was headed for the pool when we left — awesome.

And having only Brayden to watch seems like a bit of a vacation. I feel bad admitting that a load has been lifted knowing that I don’t have to deal with Justin (or with the two of them fighting) for the next five days. We might even get a break in the mornings — Justin is almost always up at the crack of dawn, but Brayden can sleep longer. This could be good.

Travel Bug

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OK, I know we got back from Europe less than three weeks ago, but we’re already looking ahead and planning some getaways. We’re taking the boys to the Great Wolf Lodge for the August long weekend, which will be their first trip to the States, so that’s cool. And naturally we’re going to Saskatoon just after Christmas (as in Boxing Day), so I booked those flights. My mom actually offered to give us a bunch of their Aeroplan points if it would help us out with flights — the points are useless at Christmas, but I did a little checking and discovered they do work for four round-trip tickets on a brand new non-stop Kelowna-to-Los Angeles service (I STILL can’t believe there’s going to be a direct flight from here to LA!), so we are off to Disneyland next spring. And thanks to the points, we got those four tickets for only $359 in taxes. You just can’t beat that.  (Thanks again Mom and Dad!)

Tomorrow we drop Justin off at the Easter Seals camp. He doesn’t seem to be anxious about it and his BI has done some prep work with him, so I think it’ll be OK. I kind of wish I could be a fly on the wall for part of it, just to see what really goes on, but I guess what happens at camp stays at camp. Apparently his counsellor will call me after the first night to let me know how he’s settling in, so that helps. Here goes nothing.

Home Sweet Home

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It was an impossibly long trip back (we were travelling for 25 straight hours, thanks to a three-hour delay in Vancouver) but we made it, and we’re happy to be home. We’ll be even happier once we beat this @#! jet lag. I don’t know how flight attendants do it — the time warp must take years off their lives.

By all accounts, the boys did great while we were away. They followed along with a map on the fridge as we went from place to place, and they even made flags for each country we were in. They also put up Welcome Home banners, but thanks to the delay at YVR they were asleep before we got home. They were pretty happy to see us the next morning, even before they knew we brought them gifts (a Viking helmet and shield from Denmark and a captain’s hat from Germany, which they love), so that was heartwarming.

Grandma and Grandpa left yesterday, Chris is back to work today and things are getting back to normal (or as normal as they can be considering there’s no school). Justin’s off to camp in a couple weeks, so I’m starting to get his stuff organized for that — I still can’t believe we’re just going to drop him off with strangers for six days. Unreal. Brayden will be doing a preschool camp that week too, so I’m looking forward to some quiet time to myself.

Bring on summer!

 

Less History, More Chocolate

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Location: Bruges, Belgium

Once we gave up listening to the history lesson and just let ourselves relax, we had a pretty good time on our tour of Bruges today. The city is full of churches, guild halls and palaces from the 13th and 14th centuries, but we’ve seen dozens of those on this trip. Chris won’t even look at churches anymore, and I stopped taking pictures of palaces a few days ago.

We were more interested in the chocolate. Our tour included a chocolate-making demonstration and a Q&A session with a master chocolatier, who explained the difference between true Belgian chocolate and the cheap imitation crap we’re all used to buying. It was actually pretty interesting, even for someone like me who doesn’t really eat the stuff.

Afterwards we had some free time, so we did a little shopping and then had some lunch on the patio of a restaurant in one of the old market squares. (This was actually a rare treat — a lot of our tours are so busy that we don’t get a chance to eat until we get back to the ship.) We just sat there enjoying the sunny weather and watching the horse-drawn carriages ferrying tourists around. Very peaceful.

Tonight we sail for Dover, and tomorrow we fly home from Heathrow. I can’t believe it’s been over two weeks since we’ve seen the kids — we’re looking forward to some big welcome-home hugs.

Now to relax…

Going Dutch

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Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Maybe it’s vacation fatigue, or maybe it’s because I’ve been to Amsterdam before, but I really had to make an effort to be interested in what we saw today. On our canal boat tour, we heard about the 16th- and 17th-century buildings we were going by, and I couldn’t even bring myself to straighten up to snap a picture. I was just too tired, and the seats were just too comfy, and all I wanted to do was relax and let the world go by.

Of course, I might have more energy if I could get a good night’s sleep. It turns out Chris has a throat infection (he saw the ship’s doctor this morning), which explains the God-awful snoring that’s been driving me crazy this week. He’s on antibiotics now, so things should get better soon. Let’s hope.

The ship is having a special pow-wow tonight for all the Canadian passengers (happy Canada Day!), so we’ll probably check that out, and then we have reservations at the fancy steakhouse on board, and then there’s a Broadway-type show in the lounge that I’d like to see if I can stay awake that long. Wish me luck.

And now on to our last stop: Belgium…

From Sea to Sea

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Location: Kiel Canal, Germany

Scenic drives usually leave me cold, but even I can appreciate the beauty around us today. The ship is going through the Kiel Canal, an artificial waterway in north central Germany that connects the North Sea with the Baltic Sea. Without it, we’d have to go up around northern Denmark, in an area known for rough seas. (And actually, most cruise lines do have to go around, as their ships are too big to fit through the canal — ha!)

The canal was built between 1887 and 1895 so the German navy could link its bases in the Baltic and North Sea without sailing around Denmark. It was internationalized in 1919, although Germany still administered it. Hitler closed it to other nations in 1936, but free navigation was reinstated after World War II, and today the canal is a major passage for shipping in the Baltic region.

I knew most of that before we got here. What I didn’t realize was how beautiful the trip would be. We’re surrounded by gorgeous countryside, quaint little towns, and plenty of wildlife in and around the water: swans, ducks, deer, cows…wow. I was up uber early this morning, so I hit the gym (which offers amazing views) and then went out on deck to get pictures. Nice.

Next up: Amsterdam…

Hitting Our Limit

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Location: Warnemunde, Germany

It seems even I can suffer from castle fatigue. The brochure made today’s tour sound so good: a scenic lake cruise followed by a tour of one of Germany’s most picturesque castles and some free time in the city of Schwerin. But it rained during the cruise, the guide ran late so there was no free time, and we’ve already seen so many famous castles that it was hard to care about this relatively unknown one.

Nevertheless, we tried to look interested. Originally built in 1160 but modified many times in the centuries since, Schwerin Castle was once the residence of the grand dukes of Mecklenburg. Today most of the castle is occupied by the state parliament, but 20 rooms in the old ducal residence are open to the public. We walked through most of them in a daze, but I did perk up for the Throne Hall, which was pretty cool. But we’re just so done with castles. Thankfully that was the last one.

Tomorrow is a day at sea, although technically we’re transiting the Kiel Canal, which has Chris all excited. Maybe we’ll finally get a chance to try the pool.

Stay tuned…

Our Day in Denmark

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Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

I’ve long been fascinated by Denmark: home of the Vikings, Lego, Hans Christian Andersen and the world’s oldest monarchy. None of the ship’s tours covered everything I wanted to see, so we opted to wander around on our own. The up side is that we got to see everything. The down side is that we had to walk for miles and miles and miles to do it (oh, my feet…)

After snapping the obligatory photo of the Little Mermaid statue, we made our way to Amalienborg Palace, the winter home of the Danish royal family, where we just happened to catch the changing of the guard (nice timing!) On the ground floor of the palace is a museum depicting the living quarters of former Danish kings, complete with family pictures and memorabilia. It also had a special exhibit of royal gowns and uniforms, which was pretty cool.

We also saw the royal theatre, the Danish parliament, the colorful Nyhavn harborfront, and Tivoli Gardens (the amusement park built in 1843 that inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland).

The real highlight of the day came just after lunch: Rosenborg Castle. What began as a country residence for Christian IV in the early 1600s is now a museum that houses a wealth of royal treasures, including the Danish crown jewels. It’s the first royal treasury I’ve ever been to that allows you to take photos — awesome.

Tomorrow: Germany…

Poland: Plenty to See

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Location: Gdansk, Poland

I could get used to these private tours. It’s just amazing to zip around in our own private Mercedes with a guy (a hot young Polish guy, in this case) who knows everything about everything and who can take us right to the front of the line.

I booked a private deal for this port because none of the ship’s tours went where I wanted to go: Malbork Castle. The world’s largest brick castle, Malbork was built by the Teutonic Knights in the 14th century as the headquarters of their grand master. We saw the kitchen, dining hall, living quarters (Copernicus lived here for a while) and chapel, along with a couple of interesting exhibits on amber (a huge industry in this area) and medieval armor. Pretty cool.

That’s all we’d paid to see, but since it was still early, our guide offered to give us a city tour of Gdansk at a discounted rate. Founded in 997 AD, Gdansk celebrated its 1,000th birthday just a few years ago. About 90 percent of the city was reduced to rubble in World War II, but the historic center has been carefully restored, and it’s magnificent. We thought it was much more impressive than Tallinn. I can’t believe we almost didn’t see it.

We also drove by the famous shipyard with the monument to the workers who were killed by security forces during a 1970 strike. The Solidarity movement began here, and in 1989, Poland became the first country to peacefully overthrow the communist regime. We’ve heard many stories of what life was like in Soviet times — to have a peaceful revolution after all that is nothing short of a miracle.

And now we’re off to Copenhagen…