Hello world!
March 14th, 2006Tis the first post to see if this works.
Second post test
July 21st, 2007Really
Testing
July 22nd, 2007So two sleeps until we leave and we are testing to see if we can use this to share all our trip with you… not that all of you want to see it….but for those of you who do…please check us out!
Photos?
July 22nd, 2007See the other site for photos
http://ironboundar.com/Gallery/
My Garden 2 weeks ago
Arrived!! in Paris France
July 25th, 2007Je’ma’pelle Ronnie……..hahahahaha
Hey there, just a note to say we’ve arrived. They made enough noise on the plane to keep Kim awake for most of the flight. They dropped us off on the tarmac, then picked us up by bus. then we took a mostly underground train to the hotel.
Kim is sleeping now since it is 7pm here and you have 2 pm. Guess we have to get up at 6am to catch the train to geneva.
So I’m Sitting here in a little cafe’ drinking the stongest coffee ever! Just walked around the city today, saw the Notre Dame and some other really old buildings. We know our way around now.
Day 1
Kim woke me up this morning at around 9am and I didn’t really want to get up. The Zoom stewardess just turned on a movie, “the last Mimzy”. We finished packing and getting the dogs ready for their vacation with Tibert resort in the mountains of Mount Uniacke. I have not taken many photos yet, once on a plane, it all seems the same. This time someone was in our seat and we figured they over booked. First class for us which includes free water and headphones and some extra leg space. Only 12:18 and Kim is trying to nap but I keep moving around and the lights are on.
We said goodbye to the neighbors and made our way to town. Fist stop was a hair cut and boy did I get shaved! Dave set me up with a computer and a Rogers phone to keep me in the loop and “emergency” cell service. Kim’s Mom feed us a Turkey dinner, which was sweet! Mom and Dad come up for tea, which was a really nice ending to the day. I dropped the kids off at the tree for Dad to get. (I hope they are good!)
747 take off was really smooth and the Halifax harbor lights were geometrical and sparkly.The Moon is on the right side of the plane and reflecting off the clouds and illuminating the wing. Well we are over the Atlantic ocean and what looked like Sidney, cape Breton is fading. I think a see a ferry, but aaah the altitude is working me.1:50 am, and the sky is starting to light up. Out the window everything seems blue. Blue ocean, blue clouds, blue engine. The classical music from the movie adds flaver to this blog as well, (usu you imagination) with the theme of blue. Kim is still trying to sleep but no real luck though. I think I’ve seen this movie as well, Sandra bullock etc. husband dies then she goes back a day our something..
1:57am We are traveling in rough spot right now, but the plane seems to bend, and slow shake. I’m curious about the flight path we are taking, since they mentioned coming over the tip of England then over the English channel. Seems northerly and I can feel how much colder it is in hear now.
3:14amSun is up over the atlantic ocean. I can see iceburgs below throught the openings of the clouds. I wonder how big they really are? I remember the first time I flew to Ottawa for an adventure race. In amazement, it felt like the world got a little smaller that day. I wonder if that will happen today. Wow, I see a few big boats in the ocean ( 5 boats in line)
Bye till tomorrow or next service!
PS: Rogers phone not working (trying to fix it via email)
Day 2
July 28th, 2007Day 2
We’ve been on the train since 8:40 and its 11: 15 now. This train goes really fast and I cannot hear the tracks and wheels clacking. Quiet and the ride are soft. I managed to take a quick nap till now. The train is going so fast that villages are quick and it seems the backs are high. Fist going off out of Paris, I could see fields and farms and it was really flat. Now, I just saw my first mountain and the rock looks different. See if I can get a sample. The homes in this region look difference and look similar to the war videos that you see sometimes. (I wonder if some of those are staged). We stepped off the train just in time to wonder through all the shops of Zermatt. Kim was really amazed! Hikes heaven here! Climbers were everywhere getting ready for their big climbs. The colors of all the ropes and the huge backpacks, ice axes and gortex pants were plenty full. We found our hotel, checked in and dropped all our heavy things in our room. To top the day off we attempted our first European geocache. Only 125m, however it was straight up. A local trail and a short cut through someone’s yard started us on a 2 hour journey of switchbacks and big climbs. The cache was at a local mountain cross. The trail looped around and took us through a steep section of the city. It was getting dark and we got a sight of local small deer and the marmot. The trail exited into a loud busy party street that was alive with excitement. Tired and thirsty we danced through the crowds to our hotel. Kim used up the entire internet again, pretty good since she complained most about me carrying a computer and other electronics. Everything is expensive, but no more than the regular tourist traps in PEI. You almost need to set aside $100 per day for food and souvenirs. We haven’t bought anything yet. (We have photos though) I got the “money shot” of the Matterhorn, and the town shots. Some climbers were heading to the mountains to stay there overnight, this was intriguing to me!
Day 3
July 28th, 2007Day 3
We missed the giant goats running through town this morning but the included breakfast was fantastic. I’m finally getting used to the thick strong coffee. In France I didn’t see anything I could eat, so that country will be a weight loss program. Last night we had a Swiss spaghetti meal with the local breads. (Great meal!) Back on the train, except this one is the glacier Express. It’s going to take most of the day and the highest peak will be 2033 meters. There are many cultures and languages to listen to. The train has just taken us through a mountain and out onto a bridge over a canyon/crevasse. Peoples wine and water is splashing everywhere right now because of the angle of the mountain and the sharp corners.
About noon here and The tunnel we are traveling through is rumored to be 15km long through a mountain. It’s dark in here and an led is lighting our table. The seating is not as comfortable as the train from Paris, but it is modern. We all have earphones to listen to the commentary during the way. Kim is napping on our way to Andermatt on the renowned Glacier express. I guess that is why the seats are not made to sleep in. Service is good, they come every few mini5ts.
The houses are either wood stain brown or taupe stucco and the older ones are on stilts. A lot of mountains to see and notablby the farmers are growing grapes on the side of the mountains to supply there wine industry.
12:30 and we have just passed throught the highest peek, Oberalppass at 2045 meters. Local wine is Aiggle, “Le Murailles”
Finally arrived at St. Mortz and the Hotel Radolins staff just picked us up. A long way from the city or about 5mins drive. Our hotel in situated another 500 meters up, to 2010+, and it’s like living on the top of Mt Washington. The views out our room window are amazing. We are waiting to get “raped” for supper at $35 frances or $40-45 bucks! We going to give Saltimbocca vom Schwein a try. Not beef but swiss deer? Everwhere is a hill to climb.
Day 2 From Kim
July 28th, 2007Good afternoon! Well here I sit in Andermatt, Switzerland (somewhere in the Alps)….we have been on the train for about three hours and I (of Course) have slept through much of them. It seems such a shame to pay to sleep in public places. Ronnie has stopped even saying anything mostly because he knows that I can’t help it….to some degree it keeps me from having motion sickness. One of us has to travel backwards so that gets to be me. If I am going to sleep anyway.
The train is a paranormic view. It is incredible. Right now we are over looking a little village from high up on a cliff. There are par gliders in the air above the village. Lunch is being served in our seats but they forgot to take our order. I think we are too late now. Oh well… we have Swiss chocolate with us.
The streets are all hairpin turns which are really quite something to see. Better others to drive on. The couple in the seats behind us is very chatty and they are all we can hear through the train. They have the smartest children in the world. They travel all the time. Etc. etc. etc. Want to guess which country they are from?
We are climbing a mountain right now and zigzagging up. There is a sky lift right next to us. They are so many hikers and bikers around. Ronnie is wishing he brought his bike, leki poles and perhaps someone who would not die trying to do all those things!! He wishes we had made this trip while we were still dating as I may have tried one of those activities! This morning we saw signs for “Mule Trekking” …we thought that may have been neat, but we must move on to a new town. Zermatt (where we stayed last night) is definitely worth another visit when we are old and gray!! Or win the lottery.
Some of this looks so like Norway….yet very different all at the same time.
So…Ronnie has sat as long as he can sit and now is making friends with all the people on the train. At the last stop he got off to take pictures, when the train left I was not even sure he was on board! The car was starting to worry about him. A couple of people in the car are Canadian from Ontario, but half Swiss. They have helped us with a few things we may need to know….like apparently we spent way too much for train tickets. They got 3 times the amount of time as us for a fifth of the price! They are missing Tim Horton’s too!
Saturday I think
July 28th, 2007So it’s Saturday, I think and I never got to finish my train story from yesterday let alone tell about today. By the time we left the train yesterday Ronnie had made friends with everyone even the French Swiss man sitting next to us. He had little use for the people in front of us so he pretended to not speak English most of the trip until his wife ratted him out. She spoke very little English but wanted him in on the conversation so she knew what was going on. He refused but did talk to Ronnie and help us learn a lot about Switzerland. Their minimum wage is about 23 francs an hour ($20) not bad …that explains the price of food. He worked for Nestle and knew his food well. Like did you know that the Toblerone bar was made by Kraft?
We left all our new friends at the station and got a ride to our hotel. It was in the middle of nowhere over 2000m above sea level. It was a neat place….but remote. We could hear the cattle in the fields all night.
This morning we embarked on our latest travel with a train ride down the Alps. The train wasn’t cogged so it snaked it’s way through the mountains. It was very beautiful. I only slept through a bit of it…. Hard time with the motion! Hikers were everywhere. Ronnie would love to return and hike some of it….perhaps someday …it would be a good week away for the boys!!
At the end of the ride we were in Italy. It was hot!!! We had to take a bus to Laguno where we are now. The bus was 3 hours on the most narrow roads you have ever seen. Some were only one lane and through mountains. We had the horn blowing the whole time so people would know we were there before the hit us! Nice eh? The driver would not let food on the bus, nor big bags….we had to put all our stuff under the bus and hope no one got our bags before we did. All we had with us was a passport and visa. Thanks MOM for insisting that we not carry purses like the other…..everyone! We would have had something with us. Thankfully we arrived and got everything. We took a taxi – Mercedes- to our hotel. It is so hot and no air conditioning. It is small…hardly room for our bags in the room and two single beds….nice! They do have a pool …it cooled us off before supper. Now we are just relaxing before bed, maybe go for a walk….Ronnie has found a tv and CNN so we look forward to listening to English. No one speaks English… in Switzerland they speak French, Italian or German. The friends we made at breakfast were German - it is quite amazing that the country does not seem to have an official language.
Off for today…. Enjoy! We miss you at home. Hope that Mom and Dad’s company arrived safely and that all is well with my children (dogs)!!!
Kim