1. Soft Toilet Paper - most European toilet paper was like our Bounty paper towel, cut in thirds. It was good for wiping the floor, but not your bottom.
2. Tim Hortons Coffee - it fills a cup and does not require equal parts milk to make it drinkable
3. The National Post - It was hard to find English print newspapers, and never any with Canadian content.
4. Lloyd Robertson - Canadian news was non-existent. Any news in English on TV was European.
5. "Eh" - We haven't heard a good Canadian "Eh" in over 3 weeks.
6. Loonies and Toonies - and spending money without trying to convert to Canadian currency.
7. Reasonable Prices - everything is very expensive in Scandinavia and Europe.
8. Blue Jays (not the Baseball ones!) and other recognizable birds.
9.Barbecues, Microwaves and familiar cooking techniques.
10.Current English Language TV - We watched a number of 10 year old episodes of Friends. I never new that Jennifer Aniston once had brown hair.
11. Quiet Emergency Vehicles. European police and ambulances blare at supersonic decibels. In Geneva it seemed like there was an emergency of some sort many times a day and night.
12 Signs You Can Understand. Finding your way around can get tricky, but locals will eagerly help.
13. Justin Bieber (jutin' kiddin')
14. Large Elevators - ones that a designed to handle more than 2 people.
15. Seeing The Canadian Flag - When away from home your inner pride wants to get out!
16. Parliamentary Debates - It's hard to find good farce in serious Europe.
17. Toilet Bowl Capacity - few European toilet bowls contain enough water to 'do the job'
18. Friends and Family - Yeah, we missed ya' ( but the Andersons were superb hosts!!!)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Le blog finale - The Final Blog
To our many blog followers, we hope you enjoyed sharing our adventures as we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary by cruising and travelling around Europe. To those of you that have not been following our blog, you obviously are not reading this, so I have nothing to say to you!
We started our vacation wandering the streets of Copenhagen, and ended it wandering the streets of Geneva. We have been happy wanderers (imagine the sound of music from the song The Happy Wanderer - those of you old enough to recall the song.) We have visited chateaux, castles, and palaces. We have walked ancient cobblestone roads that were dressed in brightly blooming flowers, as if linking the ghosts of a distant past with life from the 21st century. We have travelled on a magnificent cruise ship one day, and a diminutive canal boat the next - each with its own special charm. We have dined like royalty one day and sipped lattes in a sidewalk cafe the next. We have been entertained by dancers, jugglers, magicians, cirque de soleil, and Russian opera singers. We have enjoyed fine French and Swiss wine and chugged a shot of Russian vodka. We have experienced the warm hospitality of Denmark, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, France and Switzerland, travelling by trains, planes and automobiles, plus busses, streetcars and, of course, our own private mode of transportation - our feet. We have had excellent weather, especially in Switzerland where it has been almost tropical! To say that we had a great time would be an understatement, ......but, hey, WE HAD A GREAT TIME! We are packed and ready to return to Canada and look forward to sharing even more stories with all of you. We return, September 14th. Au Revoir,
We started our vacation wandering the streets of Copenhagen, and ended it wandering the streets of Geneva. We have been happy wanderers (imagine the sound of music from the song The Happy Wanderer - those of you old enough to recall the song.) We have visited chateaux, castles, and palaces. We have walked ancient cobblestone roads that were dressed in brightly blooming flowers, as if linking the ghosts of a distant past with life from the 21st century. We have travelled on a magnificent cruise ship one day, and a diminutive canal boat the next - each with its own special charm. We have dined like royalty one day and sipped lattes in a sidewalk cafe the next. We have been entertained by dancers, jugglers, magicians, cirque de soleil, and Russian opera singers. We have enjoyed fine French and Swiss wine and chugged a shot of Russian vodka. We have experienced the warm hospitality of Denmark, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, France and Switzerland, travelling by trains, planes and automobiles, plus busses, streetcars and, of course, our own private mode of transportation - our feet. We have had excellent weather, especially in Switzerland where it has been almost tropical! To say that we had a great time would be an understatement, ......but, hey, WE HAD A GREAT TIME! We are packed and ready to return to Canada and look forward to sharing even more stories with all of you. We return, September 14th. Au Revoir,
Sunday, September 12, 2010
A Swiss Chateau With French Heritage
French Street Market & A Swiss Chateau
We spent the morning today shopping in France at an amazing street market in the town of Divonne. Hundreds of people wondered the streets where artisans and purveyors of various goods had set up their stalls. Karen was in seventh heaven with so many and such varied shopping options all in one place. Today's pictures will show a couple of shots of the town, including one of the fountains, and a couple of pictures of the market area and a sample of the wares. Of course we ended the morning with a cafe-au-lait at an outdoor cafe.
In the afternoon we visited a Swiss chateau in the town of Coppet and had a tour of portions of the chateau that were open to the public. A slight problem because the tour guide spoke only in French, so with a recall of my high school French located deep within my cerebrum I managed to pick up enough of the story to figure out what it was all about. There was certainly a lot of French history tied up in this Swiss chateau. The pictures show the exterior of the chateau, a shot of the courtyard, and an interior shot of one of the dining rooms were guests were entertained. I was impressed with the chandelier which can be seen in the picture.
Tomorrow will be our last full day in Switzerland and we plan to relax, do a little final shopping, and of course pack. I plan to do one final post tomorrow, sans photos - sort of a wrap-up of our Swiss adventures.
In the afternoon we visited a Swiss chateau in the town of Coppet and had a tour of portions of the chateau that were open to the public. A slight problem because the tour guide spoke only in French, so with a recall of my high school French located deep within my cerebrum I managed to pick up enough of the story to figure out what it was all about. There was certainly a lot of French history tied up in this Swiss chateau. The pictures show the exterior of the chateau, a shot of the courtyard, and an interior shot of one of the dining rooms were guests were entertained. I was impressed with the chandelier which can be seen in the picture.
Tomorrow will be our last full day in Switzerland and we plan to relax, do a little final shopping, and of course pack. I plan to do one final post tomorrow, sans photos - sort of a wrap-up of our Swiss adventures.
Friday, September 10, 2010
The United Nations Bldg.- Geneva
Dracula's Castle
Thw most interesting place we visited today was Chateau Chillon, or Chillon Castle, near Montreux, Switzerland, considered to be the inspiration for the Count Dracula stories. When you visit this place you can certainly see why the count would be comfortable here! The picture leaves little to the imagination when one is familiar with Dracula's escapades. The castle has gone through several stages of growth since the early 12th century and today is so clean and well preserved that any of the Savoy counts or dukes could show up at any minute and feel right at home. It took almost 2 hours to explore the castle from its dungeons where prisoners were chained to the walls and pillars, to the top of the castle keep where one can see for miles in any dirrection. Today's pictures show the exterior of the castle and some of the beautiful Swiss scenery at this site.
At the end of this day we were treated to a wonderful 2 star Michelin dinner at a restaurant in the French Alps. A great end to a great day. Au revoir.
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