Monday, January 23. 2006
Home Sweet Home
We have been back in Victoria for two weeks now and things are going well. We are house sitting and cat sitting for Marion and Vince Howlett for a couple of months while they do some traveling in Australia and New Zealand. It is such a perfect arrangement for us as it will give us time to get readjusted to new jobs. When they return we will probably find a rental property somewhere. I have found a job working for a local company, called Applocation. Applocation specializes in wireless location applications. The dot on a map kinda thing. Travis has been keeping busy working on personal contracts.
Both of us have been playing plenty of World of Warcraft in our spare time. For those interested few, we managed to level our two newest characters to 60 and we have joined a new guild on the Frostmane server. The new guild is Shar Hellven where a few of our friends in town play. It is pretty small, but lots of fun. Will our addiction ever end? At this point, it doesn't look like it but I am sure that we will eventually get bored and move on. However, blizzard knows how to build seriously addicting games and add content to them to make them even more addicting, so maybe we will play it forever.
Both of us have been playing plenty of World of Warcraft in our spare time. For those interested few, we managed to level our two newest characters to 60 and we have joined a new guild on the Frostmane server. The new guild is Shar Hellven where a few of our friends in town play. It is pretty small, but lots of fun. Will our addiction ever end? At this point, it doesn't look like it but I am sure that we will eventually get bored and move on. However, blizzard knows how to build seriously addicting games and add content to them to make them even more addicting, so maybe we will play it forever.
Sunday, January 1. 2006
Happy New Year!
We are officially back in North America! Last night we arrived at my Brother and Sister in-law's house just outside of Boston. We are visiting with Bob, Lauren and little Jake and Makena until next Friday when we fly back to Vancouver.
Our last few days with Josh were spent trying to fit all of the things we still wanted to do in with two Millwall games. Trav and I went into London one day where we visited the Natural History Museum and tried to do some shopping but we kept running into closed stores. I guess the day after boxing day wasn't a good day to try to shop. The other free day, Josh had off, so we headed down to our favorite mall to see King Kong. We all really liked King Kong. It was good because Trav, Josh and I have had a really good record for picking trashy movies to see in the theatre. Leaving London was bitter-sweet. Trav and I were really ready to come home and see our family and friends, but we had a good time with Josh and will miss his company a lot.
The trip over from London was long. In total, we were traveling for 35 hours. YUK! The flight from London to Toronto was uneventful and went quite fast. For the second part of the trip, we were taking a bus from Toronto to Boston. From the airport in Toronto, we took a bus to the bus terminal where we got on a bus bound to Boston. Now, when we booked these bus tickets, we were in this little naive world that we would get on one bus, fall asleep and then wake up in Boston. How wrong we were.
At midnight, after driving for about 2 hours, we reached the border crossing and we didn't drive away from the border until 3 am! It was the most awful border experience I have ever had. First, the bus had to park for a little less than 2 hours waiting its turn. Then, when it was our turn, we all lined up to go through customs. One would think that in a place as cold as Niagra Falls that they would have a waiting room. But, no. The whole bus had to line up outside. It was -7 C! We froze in line as we watched the border crossing guards take a coffee break. The line didn't start moving for maybe a half an hour! It was awful. I can't believe how they treat people on the bus. When it was our turn, we flew through. But I think they looked through every suit case of every other person on the bus. It was horrible.
After the border, we had to make two horrible changes to other buses. The busses were so packed and for one section of the ride Trav and I couldn't even sit together. Anyway, our lesson has been learned and we will never take a bus to save a few bucks again.
When we finally arrived in Boston, we found out that Bob and Lauren had been stuck in a snow storm and missed their flight the day before from Utah. So, we took a cab to their house in Norwell. When we got here, we were exhausted. We tried to search for some hockey on TV, but nothing was on, so we just went to sleep. We didn't even make it to midnight!
That's it for our adventure. We are quite glad to be back in North America. This morning we woke up to two or three inches of fresh snow. It is so pretty!
Our last few days with Josh were spent trying to fit all of the things we still wanted to do in with two Millwall games. Trav and I went into London one day where we visited the Natural History Museum and tried to do some shopping but we kept running into closed stores. I guess the day after boxing day wasn't a good day to try to shop. The other free day, Josh had off, so we headed down to our favorite mall to see King Kong. We all really liked King Kong. It was good because Trav, Josh and I have had a really good record for picking trashy movies to see in the theatre. Leaving London was bitter-sweet. Trav and I were really ready to come home and see our family and friends, but we had a good time with Josh and will miss his company a lot.
The trip over from London was long. In total, we were traveling for 35 hours. YUK! The flight from London to Toronto was uneventful and went quite fast. For the second part of the trip, we were taking a bus from Toronto to Boston. From the airport in Toronto, we took a bus to the bus terminal where we got on a bus bound to Boston. Now, when we booked these bus tickets, we were in this little naive world that we would get on one bus, fall asleep and then wake up in Boston. How wrong we were.
At midnight, after driving for about 2 hours, we reached the border crossing and we didn't drive away from the border until 3 am! It was the most awful border experience I have ever had. First, the bus had to park for a little less than 2 hours waiting its turn. Then, when it was our turn, we all lined up to go through customs. One would think that in a place as cold as Niagra Falls that they would have a waiting room. But, no. The whole bus had to line up outside. It was -7 C! We froze in line as we watched the border crossing guards take a coffee break. The line didn't start moving for maybe a half an hour! It was awful. I can't believe how they treat people on the bus. When it was our turn, we flew through. But I think they looked through every suit case of every other person on the bus. It was horrible.
After the border, we had to make two horrible changes to other buses. The busses were so packed and for one section of the ride Trav and I couldn't even sit together. Anyway, our lesson has been learned and we will never take a bus to save a few bucks again.
When we finally arrived in Boston, we found out that Bob and Lauren had been stuck in a snow storm and missed their flight the day before from Utah. So, we took a cab to their house in Norwell. When we got here, we were exhausted. We tried to search for some hockey on TV, but nothing was on, so we just went to sleep. We didn't even make it to midnight!
That's it for our adventure. We are quite glad to be back in North America. This morning we woke up to two or three inches of fresh snow. It is so pretty!
Sunday, December 25. 2005
Great Britain Road Trip
With us only being here in England for a little while longer, we decided to rent a car and see a bit more of Great Britain. Leaving London on Monday (December 19th) we headed for York, England. We spent a night there which included a dinner of giant Yorkshire puddings! Well, they were giant, but not nearly as good as Marion's! After our dinner, we walked around town which ranges from normal english streets to tiny streets where it feels like the buildings are falling in on you.
After sleeping in one of the nicest hostels we have seen in our travels, we drove to the coast of England then headed for Scotland! Arriving in Edinburgh late afternoon, we drove around town looking for a hostel... This driving around included entering a "Taxi and Bus ONLY" zone. It was like a little nerd wandering down Bully Lane. We found our way out of that zone and eventually found a hostel. Well, we went from the great hostel in York to one of the worst we have seen in Edinburgh. It even included a 60 year old deaf South African who enjoyed yelling stories at 11pm (I am sure the people in the other rooms were really impressed). But we found an awesome seafood restaurant, enjoyed some crayfish, crab and mussels!
Wednesday was a fun driving day, we drove from Edinburgh to Glasgow then after a quick drive around Glasgow we headed south, England's lake district calling. The lake district was beautiful, tiny (and I do mean tiny) windy roads through hills and lakes. After a hour and a half, we came across Windermere, a tourism town. I don't think I have ever been to a town where almost every house there has a B&B.
Thursday was to be our long haul, we needed to go from North Western England to Bath (just east of London) and see Wales in there too. It ended up being an awesome day that included a tour of a really neat Castle (in Wales), a pretty good BLT, and lots of open road. Our day started at 8am and we arrived in Bath at 7pm. It was quite the drive, but it is always entertaining when you are driving on the wrong side of the road. We were pretty tired, so we found a hostel, had some dinner and called it an early night.
We woke up at about 7:30 (car was parked in free parking until 8am), had breakfast, checked out and bought a parking pass for a few hours. Then we went to where Bath gets it's name, the Roman Baths. We then climbed back in the car and headed for the Stonehenge! I am not really sure how to explain them... rocks? After checking that out, we headed for Oxford - our last stop on our trip. We spent a few hours walking around... Enjoyed some sub sandwiches and one of the most amazing (and expensive) chocolate chip cookies we have ever had. If you ever go to Oxford, check out Ben's Cookies, I think it is quite popular, as I saw a girl wearing a Ben's Cookies shirt.
Now for the fun journey through London, Chrissy enjoyed driving in London... Probably the most stressful driving she has ever endured. She did awesome.
It was a fun trip, very neat to see all the places we went. We both really liked York and Oxford. Edinburgh was FREEZING, the wind was crazy. Bath was neat, but I'll stick to my own personal Bath, or a jacuzzi tub some day!
Wales was very beautiful, the only country we have been to where there are castles everywhere... It was quite neat.
Check out the recent additions to our photo album for pictures from this trip!
After sleeping in one of the nicest hostels we have seen in our travels, we drove to the coast of England then headed for Scotland! Arriving in Edinburgh late afternoon, we drove around town looking for a hostel... This driving around included entering a "Taxi and Bus ONLY" zone. It was like a little nerd wandering down Bully Lane. We found our way out of that zone and eventually found a hostel. Well, we went from the great hostel in York to one of the worst we have seen in Edinburgh. It even included a 60 year old deaf South African who enjoyed yelling stories at 11pm (I am sure the people in the other rooms were really impressed). But we found an awesome seafood restaurant, enjoyed some crayfish, crab and mussels!
Wednesday was a fun driving day, we drove from Edinburgh to Glasgow then after a quick drive around Glasgow we headed south, England's lake district calling. The lake district was beautiful, tiny (and I do mean tiny) windy roads through hills and lakes. After a hour and a half, we came across Windermere, a tourism town. I don't think I have ever been to a town where almost every house there has a B&B.
Thursday was to be our long haul, we needed to go from North Western England to Bath (just east of London) and see Wales in there too. It ended up being an awesome day that included a tour of a really neat Castle (in Wales), a pretty good BLT, and lots of open road. Our day started at 8am and we arrived in Bath at 7pm. It was quite the drive, but it is always entertaining when you are driving on the wrong side of the road. We were pretty tired, so we found a hostel, had some dinner and called it an early night.
We woke up at about 7:30 (car was parked in free parking until 8am), had breakfast, checked out and bought a parking pass for a few hours. Then we went to where Bath gets it's name, the Roman Baths. We then climbed back in the car and headed for the Stonehenge! I am not really sure how to explain them... rocks? After checking that out, we headed for Oxford - our last stop on our trip. We spent a few hours walking around... Enjoyed some sub sandwiches and one of the most amazing (and expensive) chocolate chip cookies we have ever had. If you ever go to Oxford, check out Ben's Cookies, I think it is quite popular, as I saw a girl wearing a Ben's Cookies shirt.
Now for the fun journey through London, Chrissy enjoyed driving in London... Probably the most stressful driving she has ever endured. She did awesome.
It was a fun trip, very neat to see all the places we went. We both really liked York and Oxford. Edinburgh was FREEZING, the wind was crazy. Bath was neat, but I'll stick to my own personal Bath, or a jacuzzi tub some day!
Wales was very beautiful, the only country we have been to where there are castles everywhere... It was quite neat.Check out the recent additions to our photo album for pictures from this trip!
Wednesday, November 30. 2005
Jordi's Visit
Wow, so it has nearly been a month since our last post! Time flies! What have we been up to? Well Jordi (Trav's younger brother) has been over visiting for the last two weeks, and we have had quite a busy Millwall Schedule. We also found the local library so we have been reading some books. I just finished reading Oliver Twist. It seemed fitting, being in London and all. And I have started in on the Left Behind Series. Almost pounded through the first one. Trav has read a lot of the Left Behind Series already so, he has been reading one. Maybe the 8th or 9th book, but I am not really sure. The 16th was Chrissy's Birthday (happy 26th to me). A couple of days after my birthday, as is customary, we went to see Harry Potter in the theater here. I thought it was the best Harry Potter movie yet! Even though, I thought it was the poorest of all the books.
With Jordi, we went out to see the London sights and we were able to see a few things with him that we hadn't seen ourselves yet. We had dinner in the original Hard Rock Cafe which was pretty fun. We also toured the British Museum and saw the Rosetta Stone which was really cool. And, we made a trip out to Abbey Road to walk the famous crosswalk on the Abbey Road Album Cover. Last but definitely not the least important, we went to Harrods and had THE FINEST, I repeat, THE FINEST chocolate of all chocolate, hot chocolate and chocolate fudge brownie with chocolate sauce at the Harrods chocolate bar. Is that enough chocolates for you? hahahahaha... I have never seen a menu consisting of only chocolate, it was great! Jill, where ever you are, I was thinking of you Babe!!! I would go as far to say that it ranks the highest on my London experiences. Even though it was 25 pounds (around $50 CDN now go go Canadian Dollar!) for four hot chocolates and one brownie, I WOULD DO IT AGAIN IN A SECOND!!!
Check out the new photos from Jordi's stay.
Saturday is probably the biggest Millwall game of the season. They are playing their rivals, Crystal Palace. It is away at Crystal Palace and should be an interesting game. One of those games with what seems one to one cop to attendee ratio. So, expect to hear from us after that!
With Jordi, we went out to see the London sights and we were able to see a few things with him that we hadn't seen ourselves yet. We had dinner in the original Hard Rock Cafe which was pretty fun. We also toured the British Museum and saw the Rosetta Stone which was really cool. And, we made a trip out to Abbey Road to walk the famous crosswalk on the Abbey Road Album Cover. Last but definitely not the least important, we went to Harrods and had THE FINEST, I repeat, THE FINEST chocolate of all chocolate, hot chocolate and chocolate fudge brownie with chocolate sauce at the Harrods chocolate bar. Is that enough chocolates for you? hahahahaha... I have never seen a menu consisting of only chocolate, it was great! Jill, where ever you are, I was thinking of you Babe!!! I would go as far to say that it ranks the highest on my London experiences. Even though it was 25 pounds (around $50 CDN now go go Canadian Dollar!) for four hot chocolates and one brownie, I WOULD DO IT AGAIN IN A SECOND!!!
Check out the new photos from Jordi's stay.
Saturday is probably the biggest Millwall game of the season. They are playing their rivals, Crystal Palace. It is away at Crystal Palace and should be an interesting game. One of those games with what seems one to one cop to attendee ratio. So, expect to hear from us after that!
Wednesday, October 19. 2005
We Made It.
After a seriously long day, we made it home to Josh's at 2 am last night. The flight was pretty good. We still can't believe that it only cost $10. We were waiting for someone to tell us that we had to pay some extra fee or something. But, nothing... The train ride from the airport was long and expensive. A big welcome back to the pound. Our train ride from North London to South London was about 3 times the cost of our flight from Switzerland. hehe...
Today has been very relaxing. Before we left Switzerland we spent almost every last penny (we had only .05 SF left) on butterzopf and this morning we devoured all of it. All day we have been cruising around on the net and watching movies. Soooo Lovin it!
I am going to get the rest of the pics up on the site in the next couple of mins so take a look at the end of the Zurich album.
Today has been very relaxing. Before we left Switzerland we spent almost every last penny (we had only .05 SF left) on butterzopf and this morning we devoured all of it. All day we have been cruising around on the net and watching movies. Soooo Lovin it!
I am going to get the rest of the pics up on the site in the next couple of mins so take a look at the end of the Zurich album.
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