Hey everybody. There are a lot of you who we're not going to be able to see this Christmas, so we made a little video of what 2008 meant to us. Hope you enjoy it, and hope you have a wonderful holiday.
Mike and Meredith
P.S. The song featured is called "Let's Make Friends" by Hector Fector.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
We're back!!
Hello all. So, we are back in Canada safe and sound. It's been a crazy few days as we've been reacclimatizing (?) to life here and getting things in order. We just put an offer in for a new condo. Very exciting. We're off to the bank on Tuesday to get our money in order, etc.
Lots of things to do, lots of people to see. It's been a bit of a juggling act to get to everyone, what with jet lag, buying a place, and sorting through 13 months of mail. However, we're slowly getting there.
Well, gotta run. As is the case, busy as bees.
Lots of things to do, lots of people to see. It's been a bit of a juggling act to get to everyone, what with jet lag, buying a place, and sorting through 13 months of mail. However, we're slowly getting there.
Well, gotta run. As is the case, busy as bees.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Last Dash to London
Heya,
So, we' made it through 2007 and into 2008 as consistent and regular bloggers, and then what happens...?
Well, we started having wicked fun here and 'cause someone moved in across the hall the internet connection has been total and absolute crap. Hence the neglect of said blog.
However, you will be able to receive updates live and in the flesh as of the 28th at 6:35pm as that's when we land at Edmonton International.
Whee!
Will see y'all soon, and if anyone is interested, Greg Amundson is playing on Friday the 30th at The Velvet Underground and we'll be there. Hopefully some of you guys can make it as well...
When we're in Edmonton we can be reached for a little bit via my mom's phone on 780 298 0024, until we've gotten ourselves established.
Hugs to you all!
So, we' made it through 2007 and into 2008 as consistent and regular bloggers, and then what happens...?
Well, we started having wicked fun here and 'cause someone moved in across the hall the internet connection has been total and absolute crap. Hence the neglect of said blog.
However, you will be able to receive updates live and in the flesh as of the 28th at 6:35pm as that's when we land at Edmonton International.
Whee!
Will see y'all soon, and if anyone is interested, Greg Amundson is playing on Friday the 30th at The Velvet Underground and we'll be there. Hopefully some of you guys can make it as well...
When we're in Edmonton we can be reached for a little bit via my mom's phone on 780 298 0024, until we've gotten ourselves established.
Hugs to you all!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Dad! Here's our schedule
Hi Dad,
You said you were going to be checking our schedule on the blog to see if we can meet, so I hope you're actually doing it:
3rd (today) Bath
4th Dover
5th Calais/Brugge
6th Brugge
7th Brugge--Jennifer stays and continues on
8th Calais/Dover (ferry back to England and stay in Dover overnight)
9th drop off Karen and Kent in London and head back to Hereford
So, we'll be in France when you are then, which is good, so it looks like we might be able to meet in Dieppe after all.
Call me if you can and we'll arrange it.
07864 975 345--dunno about calling codes from Europe.
Sorry for not posting--it's been busy, busy, busy here. And with only 25 days to go before we head back to Edmonton, time is short.
Anyway, let me know. Brugge isn't that far from Dieppe, and I figure if you made it from Canada, we can make it to you...
--M
You said you were going to be checking our schedule on the blog to see if we can meet, so I hope you're actually doing it:
3rd (today) Bath
4th Dover
5th Calais/Brugge
6th Brugge
7th Brugge--Jennifer stays and continues on
8th Calais/Dover (ferry back to England and stay in Dover overnight)
9th drop off Karen and Kent in London and head back to Hereford
So, we'll be in France when you are then, which is good, so it looks like we might be able to meet in Dieppe after all.
Call me if you can and we'll arrange it.
07864 975 345--dunno about calling codes from Europe.
Sorry for not posting--it's been busy, busy, busy here. And with only 25 days to go before we head back to Edmonton, time is short.
Anyway, let me know. Brugge isn't that far from Dieppe, and I figure if you made it from Canada, we can make it to you...
--M
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Stay classy, Madrid...
Hello everyone. As you have seen in the previous post, we had a wonderful time in Spain and Germany. Meredith covered most of the pictures, but I'm gonna show you stuff from Madrid.
We got into Madrid in the early evening, so just grabbed some food at a Donair shop and chilled. The donair was outstanding by the way. The next day we set out to see the sights. Basically we walked from our hostel to a main street which has all the art galleries, government buildings, and other cultural things.
The first thing we saw was this:
It's the main train station, and is one of the older ones in Spain. Very pretty.
Across the street from that was a large art installation strewn about in a courtyard.
Basically, the artist shaped copper to make these huge faces, lips, and a big old butt. haha.
Actually, the one-wing part kind of reminds me of Final Fantasy 7 (yes, I am a total video game geek).
Our main destination was near these works, the
Prado Museum. The Prado houses a lot of Goya paintings, and is almost entirely made up of religious art. I had to laugh because at first these paintings reminded me of the first thing you see when you go into a Jehovah's witness house. They were however quite beautiful. The thing that got me was that while these were painted over 150 years ago, the colours were just so vivid and alive. Meredith and I know virtually nothing about art and in fact laugh at the pretension surrounding it(i.e. 'this one is a representation of the female body in the post-colonial mosaic'...blah blah blah) but I have to say it was very powerful stuff. Naturally, I didn't take any pictures there because I wasn't sure how to turn off my flash (I know, I know) and I didn't want to be that guy who makes security come over. Anyway, here is a link to its website.
http://www.museodelprado.es/index.php?id=50
When looking at the pictures, bear in mind that most of these are MASSIVE.
So, after the Prado we walked up the street because I found a library on the map. Since I had seen a grand total of zero libraries in all our traveling, I thought I should get on that. Unfortunately, this was the National Library. As you can see, it is an absolutely beautiful building but all we were allowed to see was the lobby. It has a closed collection, and you can only go in if you have permission or are doing some kind of research.
After that we basically went back to the area around our hostel and just kicked back. As for that night, Meredith has already told you about that. Madrid was a pretty nice city. I liked it better than Barcelona, but to be honest Spain really didn't do it for me. Personally, nothing beats Berlin. That city has it all; nightlife, cheap food and beer, nice people, history and culture.
So, it looks like we'll be taking one more trip before we go home. At the beginning of May, Kent, Karen, and Jennifer (one of Meredith's extended families) are visiting and we're going to France. Our tentative plan is to go to Le Havre and Dieppe. I'm looking forward to seeing those places, as they are the sites of some major events in Canadian history. Stay tuned.
We got into Madrid in the early evening, so just grabbed some food at a Donair shop and chilled. The donair was outstanding by the way. The next day we set out to see the sights. Basically we walked from our hostel to a main street which has all the art galleries, government buildings, and other cultural things.
The first thing we saw was this:It's the main train station, and is one of the older ones in Spain. Very pretty.
Across the street from that was a large art installation strewn about in a courtyard.
Basically, the artist shaped copper to make these huge faces, lips, and a big old butt. haha.
Actually, the one-wing part kind of reminds me of Final Fantasy 7 (yes, I am a total video game geek).Our main destination was near these works, the
Prado Museum. The Prado houses a lot of Goya paintings, and is almost entirely made up of religious art. I had to laugh because at first these paintings reminded me of the first thing you see when you go into a Jehovah's witness house. They were however quite beautiful. The thing that got me was that while these were painted over 150 years ago, the colours were just so vivid and alive. Meredith and I know virtually nothing about art and in fact laugh at the pretension surrounding it(i.e. 'this one is a representation of the female body in the post-colonial mosaic'...blah blah blah) but I have to say it was very powerful stuff. Naturally, I didn't take any pictures there because I wasn't sure how to turn off my flash (I know, I know) and I didn't want to be that guy who makes security come over. Anyway, here is a link to its website.http://www.museodelprado.es/index.php?id=50
When looking at the pictures, bear in mind that most of these are MASSIVE.
So, after the Prado we walked up the street because I found a library on the map. Since I had seen a grand total of zero libraries in all our traveling, I thought I should get on that. Unfortunately, this was the National Library. As you can see, it is an absolutely beautiful building but all we were allowed to see was the lobby. It has a closed collection, and you can only go in if you have permission or are doing some kind of research.After that we basically went back to the area around our hostel and just kicked back. As for that night, Meredith has already told you about that. Madrid was a pretty nice city. I liked it better than Barcelona, but to be honest Spain really didn't do it for me. Personally, nothing beats Berlin. That city has it all; nightlife, cheap food and beer, nice people, history and culture.
So, it looks like we'll be taking one more trip before we go home. At the beginning of May, Kent, Karen, and Jennifer (one of Meredith's extended families) are visiting and we're going to France. Our tentative plan is to go to Le Havre and Dieppe. I'm looking forward to seeing those places, as they are the sites of some major events in Canadian history. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Too cute for words
If you would like a 39 second laugh, check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNyLkXcN8yU
It's totally worth it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNyLkXcN8yU
It's totally worth it.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Counting down to May 28th...
Hello all,
Well, the rest of our trip went off without a hitch. While our last night in Madrid was irritating beyond words, the rest of the time was perfect. Mike's the one with all the pictures of Madrid and, really, aside from getting a t-shirt for a 5-er in the men's section of a department store, I found myself underwhelmed by that portion of the trip. The city was cool we saw wicked art and had a great time, but I can give it a miss for the rest of my life. It was busy and loud and frantic, which I liked, but that wasn't what I needed this time around.
Fuerteventura, specifically Corralejo, was an antidote to stress and anxiety. It was like the Vegas or Palm Springs of Europe. Now, of course, that meant that the 20 - 45 demographic was largely missing from the trip, but I was actually set on the idea of not talking to anyone other than myself or Mike for 5 days and it was totally realistic there. The weather was beautiful, there was loads of sun and sand and I read like 9 books in 5 days. Excellent.
We were staying in this big hotel complex with pools and stuff and there were about 10 other people there. Mike will post pics of it as I didn't bother to take any. Actually, I only took cat and coast pictures while we were there. I was sooo not motivated at all. Perfect. Also, Mike made various cat friends. At one point there were 3 on the balcony and others lurking nearby. Cute and a nice animal interlude--as usual we're both really missing the cats.
We then flew from Fuerteventura to Madrid and had to spend 6 indeterminable hours in Madrid airport sleeping on chairs and the floor. We scoped out and scored this spot in the VAT refund booth and it was alright for 2 terribly uncomfortable hours on the hard floor. I think I'm done with that, really. But, it was the only option... We succeeded in looking adequately disheveled for the flight to Berlin as we both managed to score an empty row of seats so we both got to sleep the 2 hours! Well, as much as one is ever able to sleep on a plane.
We arrived in Berlin to a smiling Claire, which was a sight for sore eyes. I totally missed her. Even though I saw her in November, it's been too long, really. We hopped the train back to her place, had breakfast, and when she went to school we had a rest to catch up the 6 hours of sleep we missed out on over the previous 24 hours. That evening, we bought the house some beer and shared it with them--lots of good laughs and talks and arguments and stuff.
The next day Claire was again off to school so Mike and I did 6 hours of touristy stuff. We hit Alexanderplatz where I bought a kickass T-shirt. Then off to Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstadt, Checkpoint Charley and the Jewish Memorial.
That was a very moving exhibit--aboveground is a 'field' of stone slabs and below is a museum dedicated to memorializing all of the Jewish people killed in Europe prior to and during WWII. So, 3 hours later we emerged sufficiently humbled and returned to take Claire out for dinner at a nearby Thai restaurant. She then told us that there has been some controversy about the anti-graffiti paint on the slabs--apparently it was manufactured by Siemens, the same company that manufactured Zyklon-B gas for the concentration camps. (uncomfortable silence...) Like, what do you say to that?!
Anyway, another fab evening of hanging out with Claire and her housemates and we're into Day 3. We didn't even get up until 2pm and then around 4 we headed back to the East Side Gallery and went looking for cool graffiti around town. And, of course, we ate pizza in preparation for the night ahead as we went to Claire's housemate Martin's going-away party as he was leaving the next day for Nicaragua/Costa Rica/Mexico.
Anyway, during the walk past the East Side Gallery and prior to the party, I saw this house that is my new dream residence. Top-right corner of the pic. Right across from Universal Studios Berlin, of course. Sooooooooo coooooooool.
Upon our return to the house we got ready to head out and ended up the the most ABSURD situation. One of the old housemates who has been gone for some time was moving into the place where the party was to be held. So, he decided that a Friday night at 11pm in the pouring rain would be the best possible time for him to move like 200lbs of his crap from Claire's to his new apartment's. Toby (the guy) had mentioned in passing to Mike and I that he would appreciate a hand with 'a couple boxes' when we made our 'short trip' to the party.
Apparently 'a couple boxes' is a euphemism for half a household, and a 'short trip' is a euphemism for a tram, 2 trains and like 2 kilometers of walking in the pouring rain.
Not to mention that upon arrival we're informed the place is on the 5th FREAKIN' FLOOR! Oh, and Berlin doesn't do elevators. The whole thing was totally sneaky and not really a favor so much as a situation this guy Toby engineered so no one felt they could say no.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh, it was so deliciously hilarious. We were glad we didn't speak German when people were pointing and laughing at us on the train. Needless to say Toby spent the whole of the party having to make awkward conversations with people who didn't know him 'cause everyone was really pissed off.
Anyway, the party was alright but kind of awkward because people who didn't know each other didn't speak. But, fun times were had. We made our way back to Claire's at like 3:30 in the morning on the train and then hung out for a couple more hours before retiring. Mike crashed a couple hours earlier than I did.
The next day we made breakfast and said our goodbyes and made our way to the airport. Earlier in the week I had heard there was an earthquake in England in our absence, so I was totally expecting the car to be in a sinkhole or with a boulder through the ceiling or something, but it actually turned out OK. No damage, although I resent the odometer before we left the car and it had 86.5 miles on it when we returned....Hmmmm....Anyway, back to Hereford and nothing was wrong with the house either, which was a nice surprise.
And here we are--a week later. This week at work was really brutal--catching up and cleaning up what happened in my absence has been a whole load of not fun. Plus, I had a training day that I did the for Psychologists from the PCT and Authority--6 hours on Asperger Syndrome on Wednesday. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep between when we returned and the training day. But, it went well and I was glad I did it.
We booked our one-way return flight as a salve to our current low and dark moods. Karen, Kent and Jennifer Phillips are coming from the 29th of April to the 12th of May, which is something to be very excited about, but if that wasn't happening and based on my recent week and mood we might have been looking at an earlier return date...But, having them here will be loads of fun. We're going to head to France for a few days with them so we're just working out plans and itineraries now.
Anyway, we'll be back on the 28th of May right around 3pm. We left it too late so we couldn't get first class seats, which means we only get 20kg of luggage each. 20kg. MAAAAACCCCKKK! Our one bag to go on a 11-day trip was 17 freakin' kilos! I'm coping with this information largely by pretending it's not going to happen or something...
Anyway, yeah, that's where we are. Good travel and good times and a definite return date. Whee! I hope everyone is well, and I'm totally psyched to see you all. Love and hugs all around.
Well, the rest of our trip went off without a hitch. While our last night in Madrid was irritating beyond words, the rest of the time was perfect. Mike's the one with all the pictures of Madrid and, really, aside from getting a t-shirt for a 5-er in the men's section of a department store, I found myself underwhelmed by that portion of the trip. The city was cool we saw wicked art and had a great time, but I can give it a miss for the rest of my life. It was busy and loud and frantic, which I liked, but that wasn't what I needed this time around.
Fuerteventura, specifically Corralejo, was an antidote to stress and anxiety. It was like the Vegas or Palm Springs of Europe. Now, of course, that meant that the 20 - 45 demographic was largely missing from the trip, but I was actually set on the idea of not talking to anyone other than myself or Mike for 5 days and it was totally realistic there. The weather was beautiful, there was loads of sun and sand and I read like 9 books in 5 days. Excellent.
We were staying in this big hotel complex with pools and stuff and there were about 10 other people there. Mike will post pics of it as I didn't bother to take any. Actually, I only took cat and coast pictures while we were there. I was sooo not motivated at all. Perfect. Also, Mike made various cat friends. At one point there were 3 on the balcony and others lurking nearby. Cute and a nice animal interlude--as usual we're both really missing the cats.
We then flew from Fuerteventura to Madrid and had to spend 6 indeterminable hours in Madrid airport sleeping on chairs and the floor. We scoped out and scored this spot in the VAT refund booth and it was alright for 2 terribly uncomfortable hours on the hard floor. I think I'm done with that, really. But, it was the only option... We succeeded in looking adequately disheveled for the flight to Berlin as we both managed to score an empty row of seats so we both got to sleep the 2 hours! Well, as much as one is ever able to sleep on a plane.
We arrived in Berlin to a smiling Claire, which was a sight for sore eyes. I totally missed her. Even though I saw her in November, it's been too long, really. We hopped the train back to her place, had breakfast, and when she went to school we had a rest to catch up the 6 hours of sleep we missed out on over the previous 24 hours. That evening, we bought the house some beer and shared it with them--lots of good laughs and talks and arguments and stuff.
The next day Claire was again off to school so Mike and I did 6 hours of touristy stuff. We hit Alexanderplatz where I bought a kickass T-shirt. Then off to Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstadt, Checkpoint Charley and the Jewish Memorial.
That was a very moving exhibit--aboveground is a 'field' of stone slabs and below is a museum dedicated to memorializing all of the Jewish people killed in Europe prior to and during WWII. So, 3 hours later we emerged sufficiently humbled and returned to take Claire out for dinner at a nearby Thai restaurant. She then told us that there has been some controversy about the anti-graffiti paint on the slabs--apparently it was manufactured by Siemens, the same company that manufactured Zyklon-B gas for the concentration camps. (uncomfortable silence...) Like, what do you say to that?!
Anyway, another fab evening of hanging out with Claire and her housemates and we're into Day 3. We didn't even get up until 2pm and then around 4 we headed back to the East Side Gallery and went looking for cool graffiti around town. And, of course, we ate pizza in preparation for the night ahead as we went to Claire's housemate Martin's going-away party as he was leaving the next day for Nicaragua/Costa Rica/Mexico.
Anyway, during the walk past the East Side Gallery and prior to the party, I saw this house that is my new dream residence. Top-right corner of the pic. Right across from Universal Studios Berlin, of course. Sooooooooo coooooooool.
Upon our return to the house we got ready to head out and ended up the the most ABSURD situation. One of the old housemates who has been gone for some time was moving into the place where the party was to be held. So, he decided that a Friday night at 11pm in the pouring rain would be the best possible time for him to move like 200lbs of his crap from Claire's to his new apartment's. Toby (the guy) had mentioned in passing to Mike and I that he would appreciate a hand with 'a couple boxes' when we made our 'short trip' to the party.
Apparently 'a couple boxes' is a euphemism for half a household, and a 'short trip' is a euphemism for a tram, 2 trains and like 2 kilometers of walking in the pouring rain.
Not to mention that upon arrival we're informed the place is on the 5th FREAKIN' FLOOR! Oh, and Berlin doesn't do elevators. The whole thing was totally sneaky and not really a favor so much as a situation this guy Toby engineered so no one felt they could say no.HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh, it was so deliciously hilarious. We were glad we didn't speak German when people were pointing and laughing at us on the train. Needless to say Toby spent the whole of the party having to make awkward conversations with people who didn't know him 'cause everyone was really pissed off.
Anyway, the party was alright but kind of awkward because people who didn't know each other didn't speak. But, fun times were had. We made our way back to Claire's at like 3:30 in the morning on the train and then hung out for a couple more hours before retiring. Mike crashed a couple hours earlier than I did.
The next day we made breakfast and said our goodbyes and made our way to the airport. Earlier in the week I had heard there was an earthquake in England in our absence, so I was totally expecting the car to be in a sinkhole or with a boulder through the ceiling or something, but it actually turned out OK. No damage, although I resent the odometer before we left the car and it had 86.5 miles on it when we returned....Hmmmm....Anyway, back to Hereford and nothing was wrong with the house either, which was a nice surprise.And here we are--a week later. This week at work was really brutal--catching up and cleaning up what happened in my absence has been a whole load of not fun. Plus, I had a training day that I did the for Psychologists from the PCT and Authority--6 hours on Asperger Syndrome on Wednesday. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep between when we returned and the training day. But, it went well and I was glad I did it.
We booked our one-way return flight as a salve to our current low and dark moods. Karen, Kent and Jennifer Phillips are coming from the 29th of April to the 12th of May, which is something to be very excited about, but if that wasn't happening and based on my recent week and mood we might have been looking at an earlier return date...But, having them here will be loads of fun. We're going to head to France for a few days with them so we're just working out plans and itineraries now.
Anyway, we'll be back on the 28th of May right around 3pm. We left it too late so we couldn't get first class seats, which means we only get 20kg of luggage each. 20kg. MAAAAACCCCKKK! Our one bag to go on a 11-day trip was 17 freakin' kilos! I'm coping with this information largely by pretending it's not going to happen or something...
Anyway, yeah, that's where we are. Good travel and good times and a definite return date. Whee! I hope everyone is well, and I'm totally psyched to see you all. Love and hugs all around.
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