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4 Continents |
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North America, Europe, Asia,
and Africa |
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16 Countries |
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Canada, United Kingdom (including England, Wales, Scotland),
France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Greece (including
Rhodes and Corfu), Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, Turkey,
Egypt, Croatia, Italy, the Vatican and Monaco |
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Transportation |
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Planes, cars, boats and trains and a camel
(for Kathryn) |
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| Guest Map:
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Map |
Site Map:
click here for an index
of all pages |
Last Updated:
14 June 2007
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In the Beginning
Kathryn
and Ken are
recently retired teachers who live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Kathryn had taught in Germany for three years and traveled
throughout much of Europe. Ken was a poor flatlander from
Saskatchewan who had never crossed the Atlantic. Back in
November of 2005, our friends Arlene and Al MacDonald emailed us
about a Black Sea cruise that they were taking at the end of
September 2006. We had cruised with them in the Caribbean and
always had a good time. Two other couples, the Lunns and
Russells had also signed up. Ken had been waiting for a
knee surgery date and finally found out that the surgery would be
done in April.
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We decided that having
money in the bank was over-rated and off we went on a 57 day tour of
Great Britain, Germany, Italy and France including the 12-day cruise
in the middle. Kathryn then literally spent hundreds of hours
on the internet searching for the best deals on hotels, ferries,
trains and car rentals
This website chronicles our travels
on this fabulous journey. We saw such beautiful scenery
almost every day on our trip but there never seemed to be any place
to pull over and take it all in or snap a photo. This
two-month journey also is going to lead to about two years worth of
reading as we explore the history and culture of the places we
visited. We will also probably re-watch some old movies that were
based in places we visited.
Day 0: Monday, September 4, 2006 Calgary,
Alberta, Canada
We flew from Calgary to London on
September 4. Kathryn is just a little bit obsessive about
being late so my nephew Jeff (with Avery and Miller
in tow) dropped us off at Calgary International airport at 6:45 pm.
Our fight didn't leave until 10:00 pm and the security check-in
didn't even open until 8:00 pm but at least we weren't late.
Kathryn always bugs me that I always run into someone I know no
matter where we go. Sure enough, while we were waiting in the
boarding area, in walks a retired art teacher who I (and Kathryn)
had taught with for many years at Dr. E. P. Scarlett high school.
Our flight lasted just over 9 hours. The plane was not very
full, so Kathryn sat in the middle of a group of 3 seats and then
switched with me once we were airborne so that I could lie down.
The flight attendants made me connect seat belts from adjoining
seats but I managed to get about 4 hours of sleep.
Some general observations from our
trip:
- it is almost impossible to buy
ice cubes anywhere in Europe
the Underground is absolutely the best way to get around
London
the dotted lines on the roads
are just to break monotony and not to indicate driving lanes
Europeans like their dogs but
they do not "pick-up" after them
the second floor is really the third floor because the first
floor is the second floor
almost everyone has ham, salami,
cheese and yogurt for breakfast
being a pedestrian is a
dangerous sport in Europe
you can park a Smart car just about anywhere
elevators come in all shapes and
sizes
roundabouts are the best way to get around in traffic once you
get used to them
most people are really
friendly
Week 1
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