Cruising With Grandma

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

America 2015 Book 1

This is the book I made dad for Father's Day. The book for us is still in the works.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Photo Book Tip: Create an adventurous travel photo album at Shutterfly.com.

Someone turned 30!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create your own personalized photo books at Shutterfly.com.

Prague-1st Full Day

Add caption

So many beautiful sights! Our plan for the first day was to use our hop-on-hop-off pass to see as much as we could. It worked out well. We went to all the 'far' places with the bus, including the river boat ride that was included.

 

Babymoon-Prague

Hubby decided we needed to go away early for our 5th anniversary. I thought it could also count as a babymoon.  I am never opposed to going away. We just have a small, wild, 2 year-old detail that we need to consider. Do we force him 8 hours in the car to miss out on sleep and fight over new food? Or let him stay with his favorite cousins? Sounds like an easy decision, right? Did I mention you can't let him out of your sight for more than a minute and he requires a lot of sleep? However, we decided it is easier to find a babysitter NOW than in a few months for TWO kids. Once we got the sitter issue settle, the rest was easy.

We have wanted to go to Prague for a while. We planned to drive there. To some that is strange, but as I have mentioned before, we have an international fuel card from hubby's work, so it only makes sense to drive.

We left Saturday morning, drove about 5 hours and stayed 2 nights with hubby's aunt in Germany.

Monday morning left to drive the remaining 3.5 hours. Our first stop in the Czech Republic was Pilsen.  Here was not close enough to Prague for the locals to speak English. Thankfully there was an English menu (if you can call tons of misspelled words, French or German words used as English and funny descriptions a menu). Our first cultural experience was that you order the meat from one list and the side from another. I found this rather annoying, because normally restaurants serve what they think fit best together, but it is the Czech way to let you decide for yourself.  I took Chicken and Potatoes. They had a sauce and were delicious!

Here are some photos from the trip so far.

Rothenburg

Tons of Coocoo clocks



They have bread bowls in Germany and Czech Republic. Why not in Belgium?

Israel 2012

Click here to view this photo book larger

Start your own Shutterfly Photo Book today.

Say NO! To Auto

I saw this book had great reviews, so my sister gave it for Christmas. I have to say it is pretty wimpy looking. It is a very, small book (in size and content), BUT very easy to understand! I read it once and it seems that what I remember is that half of it is text and the other half are photo examples.

It is 18-4×6 pages with picture examples and settings of those images to help you in any lighting situation you may find yourself.

I am trying to get away from using all the auto settings on my camera and learn what the camera is actually doing, so I can manipulate it to get better shots.

The book recommends practicing with a stuffed animal in different settings, so you don't get frustrated with a moving object, but I didn't get around to that yet. I practiced on my favorite subject, Mateo! I figured out what buttons to adjust and adjusted them lots of different ways, so I had lots of ugly photos, but was happy with both of these. They are both taken indoors with not much light.

Trying on daddy's snowsuit, that was WAY too small.

Playing with his friend in Germany. I love this one because he had just banged her head with the xylophone.

Wolky

I decided I need GOOD walking shoes for Israel. First I decided I needed sandals, so I bought those, but the hubby said I need shoes. I agree. I consulted a few sources. I found many styles, but buying online seemed too scary.

My neighbor had some beautiful WOLKYs. It is a Dutch brand. She said she walked on hers for hours in Prague and had no issues, so I was willing to give them a try. I found some 2nd hand online, but still wasn't convinced.

After poking around in Belgium, I decided I needed to go shopping in the Netherlands. I wanted something that was good for walking, but still looked nice and well with a skirt. If I were to pay alot of money, I wanted to wear them more than just in Israel.

The first stores I looked at had junk, the other one had only SUPER expensive, stylish shoes. THEN we passed one that had hiking shoes in the window. I thought that looked about right.

At first glance, the store looks chaotic. Not your typical design with stacks of boxes. HANGING on the wall were the shoes, separated by size.

I spied a pair I was interested in just as a woman came to help. I told her what I was looking for and she brought me that exact pair. I saw they were Wolkys and it seemed that it was a sign. I had basically already decided I was taking them. A Blink moment. My size, color, style, brand, price, oh, wait, nope.

They fit and the lady understood what I was looking for. They were pricey for me, but I decided since I had driven that far with the intent to buy shoes and had found them, price didn't matter. Plus, I sold 30 euros worth of valuable items at our garage sale.

I know they are probably not most people's style, but I am so pleased with them. I have tested them and true to claims after a few hours I had NO foot, leg or back pain.

http://www.wolkyshop.com/nld/winter/dames/pumps/7806_onyx/458 I have them in Toupe, but they look more like this photo of the gray.

Murten

The little medieval town of Murten on the south-east bank of the lake of the same name has preserved its original appearance, with the picturesque alleyways of the Old Town and the pleasant shady arcades. Situated on the language border between French and German, the town has a lovely lakeside promenade and offers a wide range of water sports, cultural activities and other excursions.

Murten lake is one of three of the lakes in what is known as the Lake District in the area we were. We were fortunate enough to visit ALL three lakes this trip. Lake Murten, Lake Neuchatel and Lake Biel.

Interlaken

I would love a panoramic setting on my camera-Lake Breinz

Interlaken

Interlaken

 

 

My brave, adorable son

Since we were only less an an hour away, I knew I wanted to visit Interlaken (meaning 'between lakes'). Not only because of the rave reviews from friends, but because it was where Tasha was held captive in A Name Not A Number (AIO).

It was truly a beautiful city, surrounded by mountains. Extremely touristy and overpriced, but that is Switzerland for you.

We drove up to get a good view of Thun lake, then since the hubby was determined to swim this trip, we stopped at this lake. BRRRRRrrr...I took photos and advised. My son was braver than I was. He love splashing around and throwing stones out of the water.

Creux du Van

My brother and sister-in-law were visiting her family in Switzerland the same time we were there, so we met up for a day. She had a beautiful hometown! I expected it to be nice, but not as nice as what I saw...

We first visited Creux du Van. A sort canyon. After we went to the city of Neuchatel. Creux was breathtaking (and a little scary). To get up to see the end we had to walk between cows and their pies. Mateo loved seeing the animals.

He was braver than I was. Only from the side do you see the 2nd ledge that should catch you if you trip.

I like our blue skirts in this! They look matching, but she actually MADE hers. It is cuter than mine...

The boys were matching their dads!

Mateo made a friend

Bern

We stayed in an apartment on the outskirts of Bern, the capital of Switzerland. We were 13 minutes from the center. It was hard to believe this was the capital, because it was pretty easy to drive in, find parking, felt safe, was clean. What's not to love about Switzerland?

We roamed around the old city the first day and saw a lovely bridge to jump off, but couldn't figure how to access it. My friend and I went shopping a day and our last day my hubby was determined to find that bridge. With the help of 2 GPSes and two ladies we found it! He jumped 5x into the Aar.

Colmar

We stopped at the beautiful city of Colmar on our way back from Switzerland. We hoped to stop on our way down, but time was short. Our time was still limited, but it was worth the stop! Not only did we get to see a Lady Liberty, but we were able to enjoy some French baked goodies.

It was 33 degrees. A tad warm, especially for me who, for once in her life, brought just about 1 t-shirt too little, so I was in a sweater.

We stopped at this cemetery for the 3 AMERICANS on board.

Calais

For Pentecost Monday we headed south...it was a perfect day.

Doesburg

Last Thursday (Hemelvaart/Ascension) we visited the hubby's aunt who lives in Arnhem, NL. We visited almost 3 years ago and promised to come soon, but, YIKES, it took a while. We took my inlaws with.

We wanted to go visit the village of Doesburg to see where they were born and grew up. It was perfect weather, so it was nice to just stroll around together. Unfortunately (for me) since it was a holiday, all the stores were closed.

The 1 room house we are looking at is where my FIL and his sister were born.

Now it is a bed and breakfast.

Their street view of the church that was destroyed during the war.

Add caption

Vimy Ridge

I have had my Canadian war history for the year. Last week I had a Canadian visitor and we went to Ieper. Little did we know that this week was a major week for Canadian history. It was the 95th anniversary of some important battles from WWI. When we were in Ieper, we saw TONS (I estimated a few hundred) of kids with jackets with maples leaves and "Vimy 2012" on them. Later we found out there were 1,000 of them there that day. If we had stayed a bit longer, we could have experienced this.

Monday our first visitor left and our 'surprise' arrived. We knew he was planning to come, but were not sure if it would work out. Nice that it did! Wednesday he woke up with the idea "Where is Vimy Ridge?" After a little research he decided to go visit. However, I decided that it was probably already too late in the day for him to go and that I would not mind joining. We invited some of my cousins who are on spring break.
I so clearly remember the first time I heard the words "Vimy Ridge." We were having a discussion of American patriotism vs Canadian patriotism (is that an oxymoron?). Our Canadian friend brought up this topic and informed us that this particular battle was a turning point of WWII. She said that to the wrong person: my father, the WWII buff.

Later we looked it up (I think this was pre-wiki days) and discovered it was indeed not from WWII, but WWI. Later I saw Anne of Green Gables 3 and that was my reference for the battle.

I am glad I had the opportunity to go visit this memorial area. It was also a nice time to spend with family and friends. Unfortunately the hubby was unable to take the time off to go with us :( But we can go again sometime!

I was very impressed with the memorial park. Everything was very well kept and the FREE public washroom was probably the nicest I have seen in Europe. I mean, it had WARM water. People don't even have that in their home toilets.

What also was great was that the tour, the trenches, parking, memorial, cemeteries and tunnels were all FREE.

The only 'downside' was that I planned to eat sometime, but there was nothing around. Thankfully we all had some snacks, but tip for travelers is to bring your own food or expect to drive 20 minutes to find something.

There are more pics on FB or I can email if you are that anxious to see more. What they want you to leave with is that this battle was important for Canada because it was the first time they 'stood alone.'

To Canadians it is very important, same as the In Flanders' Fields poem. Most Belgians (or none that I know) really know about these things and I only know about them from my Canadian friends. Are you ready for this? I am gonna defend Belgians :P My theory is that they have so much more history and learn so much more about other places, that there is not a big focus on one battle or poem, where as Canada is a much younger country, so they have more time to focus on things like that. OR as I am sure with every country, you focus first on your country, rather than others.

NYC Photos

I see I have a few unpublished posts. Here are 2 photos from NYC. The first one is taken from my cousin's balcony. He told us that he lived next to the Empire State Building, but we didn't know what that meant. It MEANT that we could throw a rock from his balcony through one of these windows if we wanted! He said it was only probably the 3rd time they were on their balcony (on top of the apartment building) that has an amazing view of the city.

Hubby finally got down his skyline shot! Looks good! We took a free ferry to Staten Island to see the Statue of Liberty and the city from this view.

5 Generations

The main reason we went on this trip was to introduce Mateo to his great-great-grandma. She told me when I was 18 that I needed to have a baby, so she could see her 5th generation. I told her she needed to start praying :P I am the oldest great-grandchild and the only one married. She lives about an hour and a half away from where we were staying. Next door to her is mom's aunt and uncle. They had all of their kids (plus spouses and kids) over so we could meet them. Of that group, I had only met my great-grandma and one of mom's cousins before. Of course Mateo just absorbed the attention. We stayed the night and then on our way back from DC the next week, we stopped again for a day and a half.

NYC

Above: The slightly anticlimatic Rockefeller Christmas Tree

Below: In a cold, dark, grey, smelly Central Park-we decided it would be better to see it in the summer.

Since my great-uncle lived only '20 minutes' from NYC, we knew we had to take this chance to visit it. We were not up to traffic or finding parking and if we found parking, paying the high prices, so we checked out the train and took it from a neighboring town. In total the travel time was about an hour and cost $6.50/directly/person, so it was ok.

Hubby and my sister went the day after we arrived. My sister was meeting friends from school and hubby was exploring. I am glad I did not go, because I was tired from travelling and they got home around midnight.

My mom arrived at 6:30 am, so we went home, rested, then thought that maybe we would go back in and not do downtown, but more Brooklyn. We took mom and the baby with us. Those pictures are still on a memory stick at hubby's work. I had planned to go for a few hours and again we were out from around noon till after midnight.

We did the Brookyn Bridge, Wall Street, took a ferry to Staten Island, then we could see the Statue of Liberty, we saw lots of cops standing around the Occupy Wall Street area, did a little shopping. I know I am forgetting things, but one of the coolest things we experienced was the 9/11 memorial. We went to it only to find out you had to get free tickets, so we got them and had to come back a few hours later. To go into the memorial area is security like at an airport. It was very amazing! We ended the eveing in Times Square eating at Bubba Gumps.

I have to say that Mateo was such a trooper! No, he wasn't cold for anyone worried, he was in a fleece snowsuit, with a hat, blankets and plastic over the stroller. I was glad mom and my sister were there, because they helpeed carry the stroller up/down many flights of stairs, because not all the metro stops had elevators.

Above: We met mom's cousin and his wife and they said they lived downtown, next to the Empire state building. No joking! This is from their balcony. There is one little building between them.

Below: Taken from the ferry. The tallest, colorful building you see (on the left) is the new Trade Center Building

Mom watched Mateo for a day and we made a long day out of it. It was the longest he has been left and he was great. On this day we did Central Park, Central Terminal, LOTS of walking to see lots of areas and buildings, Chelsea Market (super cool!), Highline park (even cooler!) and we ended the evening by visiting our cousins and having yummy Chinese food.

The next day just hubby and I went in the evening to a Brooklyn Tabernacle Christmas presentation. I enjoyed it, but would like to go again to something else. A concert, service, or who knows what. Their quality was great, but I was disappointed, because they were singing to a recording, so it sounded like a huge choir, but you only saw like 20 people. PLUS, they were singing the whole Christmas CD that I have, I would have like to hear something new, but it was still a great experience and they have a beautiful building!