The Epiblog - Things We Missed About Canada

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!!!)

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,

A Swiss Chateau With French Heritage

There is more French history to this Swiss chateau than can be covered in this blog,so just enjoy the pictures

Divonne French Street Market Pics

Enjoy the town and market pics

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.

The United Nations Bldg.- Geneva

Today we visited the United Nations building in Geneva, which is the sister to the U.N. in New York, Each building has its own specific responsibilities. Today's pictures show the outside of the building and a couple of interior shots of halls and conference rooms.  We also saw the famous 3 legged chair sculpture honouring the many who have lost limbs due to land mines.  We ended the day as usual with a latte at a sidewalk cafe. This one was called the Vermont Cafe.

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.

A Quick Trip To France

When you are in Switzerland it is only a matter of minutes to visit France which we decided to do on our third day here.  We chose to visit a medeaval French town called Yvoire, that involved a short train ride and a 20 minute boat trip.  The old town is a mix of very old buildings, cobblrstone roads and flowers everywhere, even growing up the walls of the old stone buildings.  Even the boat pier sportrd massive flower pots.  The four pictures shown here illustrate the age and beauty of Yvoire.

Exploring Around Geneva

On our first full day in Switzerland we toured some of the Swiss vineyards. This was a bit of a surprise as I was not aware thar there was a significant wine industry in Switzerland.  Karen's sister Ruth toured us around and we stopped at a nice roadside cafe for an afternoon coffee and croissant. see the picture of the three of us under the shade of the cafe umbrella.
On the second day Karen's nephew, Steve showed us around Geneva.  The pictures show a floral clock in the downtown area that reminded me of the one at Niagara.  There is also a street scene and a picture of a very old church in the area known as the Old Town

Final Farewell to Vision Of Th Seas

Well all good things must come to an end, and so our wonderful Baltic Cruise ended with our return to Copenhagen and a taxi ride to the airport to board a plane to Geneva Switzerland.  We will continue to keep you up to date with our Swiss travels and adventures. The last cruise picture is an over the shoulder farewell of our cruise ship.  Stay tuned for Switzerland

Stockholm, Sweden

We ventured into Stockholm on our own in the morning, and took a tour in the afternoon.  When we got off the shuttle bus we were in a central area surrounded by impressive government buildings.  One is shown in the pictures.  Our first stop was to find a quaint little cafe to have a latte and were lucky enough to find one with a great upper roof level patio where we enjoyed our latte, and tried in vein to connect to a wireless internet source, but they all required a password, so that was a lost cause.  You can see Karen enjoying her latte in one of the pics.  We then toured the old part of the town, shown in one of the photos as a long narrow street.

In the afternoon, our guided tour took us to the royal palace, which was pretty spectacular, with reminders of Versailles, but photos were not allowed inside, and the outside was basically surround with buildings that made exterior photos difficult....also, the sudden rain shower hampered photos.  There is a picture of a large statue near the palace, of St George, slaying the dragon, and as many of you know, the name St George has significance for me, so I could not resist taking a picture

Porvoo Finland

Our first stop in Finland was the very old town of Porvoo, much of which has remained unchanged since the middle ages. It was a quaint town with cobblestone roads and walks, markets and special shops where we sampled and bought some amazing chocolate, and picked up a small piece of Arabia pottery, a very old and famous pottery company in Finland. A great start to our day in a beautiful country.

Finnish Lunch At The Manor

After a cruise up the Porvoo River we arrive at a beautiful manor called villa Haikko where we were served a typical Finnish meal.

The Rock Church

This Lutheran church was carved out of solid rock so the interior walls are all pure rock, but the ceiling is constructed of 15 miles of copper wire.  The two pics show the outside, which does not do it justice, and an inside shot which is a little dark but gives you an idea of the altar.

The Sibelius Monument

This unique monument created to honour Jean Sibelius, a famous Finnish composer is made from 600 steel pipes that sing when the wind blows

The Senate Square in Helsinki

A popular spot in Helsinki is the Senate Square shown in the pictures.  At the north end of the square is the beautiful Lutheran Cathedral, and in the square area there was a unique exhibition of giant painted bears, shown in the pictures. Karen is standing beside Canada's bear.  There is a different bear for each of 146 countries in the United Nations, and each bear is a unique work of art. Coming up are pics of more points of interest in Finland.

Touring Finland

Touring Russia

Here are some shots of our day in Russia.  Our favourite spot of the day was Catherine's Palace.  You will see an outside shot and a couple of inside shots....lots of gold here.  Also a shot of Karen wearing special booties that we all had to  put on. There is also an outside shot of one of the buildings on the palace grounds, also showing lots of gold.  We were treated to a great lunch complete with vodka and Russian entertainment with lots of hand clapping and laughter.  A great show.  The afternoon was spent relaxing on a river cruise.  Bye 4 Now

Some Cruising Photos

Hi faithful followers.  Trying to post to the Internet today hasw been a real frustration with access, but it looks like I have succeeded!  I will do 2 posts today, one with a few shots from the ship and one with some shots from Russia, where we are at the moment. The ship shots I have chosen are, the upper deck swimming pool, Ron and Karen all dressed up, and Ron doing his James Bond impression at the Roulette table.  Enjoy

Cruising With Vision

Hi folks,

We are now cruising the Baltic on Royal Caribbean's Vision of The Seas.  Internet use on board is very slow and also VERY expensive.  As a result, our daily blogs will be reduced to one or two throughout the cruise. Next blog probably in a couple of days with a picture or two.  Having a great time so far.  Bye 4 Now

Summary of Impressions of Coppenhagen And Denmark

We highly recommend a visit to Copenhagen!  The people are incredibly friendly. Total strangers will approach you and offer help without even being asked. It seems that everyone speaks fluent English so the language barrier is not a problem.  The homes and residences are beautiful.  They even have a by-law that no two adjoined houses, or apartment buildings can be painted the same colour, and most of them along the canals are display this rainbow effect.  The architecture is awe inspiring, and buildings centuries old are still standing and in excellent condidtion. They seldom if ever tear down an old buildiing, prefering instead to renovate and preserve.The transportation system is easy to navigate once you get the hang of it, and if you get confused just ask anyone - they will eagerly offer their assistance.  All in all, a great start to our vacation.

Of Kings and Queens

Today we visted Amalienborg, the palace of past kings and queens, and of Queen Margarethe, the current queen of Denmark. Although she was in residence, she would not agree to see us, so we had to be content with watching the changing of her guards.One guard changed his uniform with the guard next to him while several hundred people watched in awe.The posted picture today shows the guards after they had finished changing, and the sergeant had shown his approval by shoutng "Right Dress" There is also a picture of a large statue in the palace square, in honour of a former king, Frederick V, and behind you can see one of several large identical palace residences.  Not content with a separate house for each member of the family, the royals had several palaces in various parts of Denmark. At the end of the street is a magificent church where the queen goes to worship, and which is open to the public.  An exterior picture is included in today's blog.

Tomorrow, we leave Copenhagen and board The Vision of The Seas to start our Baltic Cruise, and as we did yesterday, we will end today with a cabernet!..............Cheers

Roskilde Side Trip

After visiting the Viking museum we walked to the quaint old town of Roskilde, to tour a famous old gothic cathedral.  Before going into the cathedral we participated in a tourism survey and were given a bottle of red wine as a thankyou.- a South Eastern Australia Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon. (GN)  The interior of the cathedral was breathtakingly beautiful. It was commissioned in the 1200s by Bishop Absalon, the founder of Copenhagen, and contains the tombs of most Danish royals from 1536 to the present. There is a picture of the exterior, but the interior pictures will need a little lightening to do them justice.

This day ended with a glass of fine Australian Shiraz/Cabernet!