Picture Highlights of our European Vacation!

In order of appearance....the Coliseum in Rome, Ivan hiking up a glacier in Austria, the Ancient Roman Forum, Ivan and I in Switzerland after a 3 hour hike up the side of the mountain, Ivan in the Alps.

Home Sweet Home!

We are home safe and sound! The last few days of our trip we spent in Hooghalen with aunts, uncles and cousins. We had a great time! Thank you! We felt right at home and picked up a little bit (kleinebeitchen) of Nederlands. We had a chance to visit the birthplaces of mom and dad Sikkema, we visited Oma Timmerman and we were able to see Opa Timmerman's grave. After a whirlwind day and a half of visiting, we left again from Hooghalen to begin the trek home. I call it a trek because it involved large distances, different types of transportation, five countries (Netherlands, Belgium, France, England, Canada) and many hours! We began in our car and travelled first to Hulst, a town in the province of Zeeland that was the ancestral home of the Hulst family from the very early days - beginning approximately in the 12th century. There is an old fortress/castle there from the 12th century so we did a lot of exploring and inventing stories about my ancestors. From there we continued on to Paris through Belgium. Once we were in Paris we took a flight to London Luton Airport. From there we took a train to Gatwick Airport and then a shuttle to our hotel....by then it was 3:00 am. Three and a half hours of sleep later, we were back at the airport for our flight to Toronto...then to Fergus to pick up our car and finally in Cambridge at 6:00, Ontario time (which is 12:00 Paris time...which our bodies are still on!) A trek....40 hours of travelling, 3 1/2 hours of sleep, 5 countries...now SLEEP...zzzzz..

Mountain Expedition

Yesterday we travelled through and up the Swiss Alps on foot. Yes, on foot! We thought we'd head out on a hike to see a glacier. Our first destination was a glacier canyon. We walked about 900 stairs up the mountain side to view it. Then about 900 steps down...then we decided to do a mountain hike. We ended up 3 hours higher at 2338 m :) It was a crazy "path" up the mountains with many, many very steep areas. Our muscles are screaming in pain today! The view of the glacier at the top was incredible. We also witnessed an emergency rescue of some mountain climbers by the Swiss Paramedics via a helicopter. It was quite an interesting experience. We are in Amsterdam now. What an interesting place ;). We head to Groningen tomorrow afternoon.

Mountains, mountains, mountains!

We are in Innsbruck, Austria right now, packing up and getting ready to head to the Top of Tyrol! Tyrol is the region here, and the mountain summit is at approx 3120 m. (I can´t remember exactly and Ivan, who would know, is packing up the tent :) ) We will drive to Eisgrat and then hike up the rest of the way which will only take about an hour and a half. Last night we toured around the aldstat (old town). It was beautiful! The aldstat is picture perfect and surrounded by the alps. Again the computer I am on is not equipped to upload pictures. You will have to wait! Tonight we plan to be near Neuschwanstein so that we can visit Mad King Ludwig´s castle tomorrow morning. We have also added Switzerland to our itinerary because there were some mountain peaks that were calling to us. We left Italy a day and a half early - the constant heat was getting to us. I am able to wear a t-shirt for the first time since England this morning (as apposed to a tank top). As a side note - every country has a different keyboard, so it is always somewhat of a challenge to type. The letters are all in different places. The French keyboard was the worst, this one is the best so far.

Europe

Ivan and I are in Rome today. We have visited many sites and have taken many pictures, but the computer I am on today does not allow me to insert my memory card. :( All the places we have visited have required a lot of walking and there are many, many STAIRS!!! We are getting a very good work out. It is very cool to see many of the ancient buildings, walls, monuments, etc. There are so many that they are actually becoming commonplace. We felt a little weird, as we walked in Rome, when we realized that Roman columns were popping up everywhere and we were just taking it in as normal scenery! We are not quite halfway through our trip. We have finished in France and are heading to Venice tomorrow. After that...Austria, Germany, Holland and Belgium! We are tired. It is certainly a whirlwind vacation. Or shall I say marathon experience ;).

July 4 - London's Calling...

We are off to Europe tonight! Our flight leaves at 9:55 pm. We will be landing in London, England and visiting Salisbury, Stonehenge, and Warwick Castle and then touring the major sites of London. We fly to Paris on Thursday night, spend a day there and then head down to Southern France. From there we go to Italy - hitting Rome and Venice and other spots in between. After fun in the sun at the Mediterranean and the Adriatic Sea :) we go to Innsbruck, Austria and play in the Alps. Then it's off to Germany - Munich, Dachau, Neuschanwstein, and Heidelberg will be our main stops. Then we plan to go to Amsterdam, Volendam, and to see some of Ivan's relatives in Groningen. We drive back to Paris through Belgium and fly to London and then back home. We return on July 25th. Hopefully we will have a chance to post some pictures and updates throughout the trip!

July 1, 2006 - Rockclimbing!!

Happy Canada Day! Ivan and I went rock climbing with Alex and Rachel at Buffalo Crag in Rattlesnake Point, Milton. We set up our rope at a good location - I could climb to the top! Then we met some other people and we shared ropes with them, so we had three different locations to climb. I was able to make one of the climbs to the top, and did not attempt the others - they were a little too difficult for me. Hopefully we take the opportunity to go climbing more often and then I can hone my skills!