Day three in Madeira

We're off to another beautiful day here in Madeira. Our morning run was quite nice although Erik is getting too fast to run with his Mother so I "chased" after him for 6 km.

Dieter enjoyed his first yoga class last night and proved that age is the reason for the lack of flexibility. He easily folded himself into a pretzel without grimacing at all. With all the aquatic activity Dieter decided to get a short haircut. I think it will be easier for him and he really likes it.

Georg and Erik signed up for their scuba lessons and will begin on Friday. Georg will recertify and Erik will get his junior C card. I guess it's a three-day class. Dieter and I will snorkel in the area shown in the photos above. We have been told there are no jellyfish here.

We have a cooking class at 3:00 pm today with the chef from France. I guess this will be a cooking lesson and a French lesson at the same time. Should be fun!

Day two of Boot Camp?

We started the day with a trip to the nature reserve area for Nordic Trekking (walking with poles). It was definitely a worthwhile experience and everyone is willing to do it again on Thursday. Three mornings the group runs and two mornings are reserved for the pole walking.

This experience bears some ressemblance to the four-month military training I undertook when I was a student needing a summer job. At the time the idea of getting paid to get into physical condition seemed like a good idea, although I now refer to the whole experience as "boot camp" (maybe because of all the time and effort spent on "spit" polishing those ugly black boots).

We're experiencing a similar pace as boot camp because the kids are so excited to do everything and anything NOW (not later). Yesterday we ran, walked, swam, played squash, pumped weights and took an aquafit class. Today the list includes waterpolo, yoga, and circuit training.

This is, however, a SPA and as such there are opportunities to soak and relax. Personally, I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to the European spa attitude where everyone walks around nude in the saunas, turkish baths and lounge area. So the question is "Where are you supposed to look?" and "Is it more rude to stop and freeze with mouth open or back out of the room?" I'm not sure what to do really, but MY swimsuit is on the body, not over the shoulder.

We've been told that the tourist population is 90% German which would explain why the menus are in German. And since we speak more German than Portuguese, we're now in German immersion. Erik is able to understand most of what is said, but Dieter is having more difficulty. It's been a long time since I studied German at University and I'm not impressing anyone with my French accent, but folks are quite helpful. Of course Georg is in his element and HE knows how to ask for CREAM in his coffee. (I'll never live down the sour cream in the coffee episode in France).

So we expect to keep moving for the next two weeks. Personally, I'm thrilled that football is over, although we're now pursuing hockey highlights online with TSN. (I wonder if this is why I was given that shirt "We interrupt this marriage to bring you the football season" and Diane suggested we use velcro to change the sports with the season.) Everyone is elated with the Roughriders' victory and we'll be talking about this for a long time yet, but at least we don't have to watch it anymore.

We just found out "we" get to play shinny in the gym tomorrow. The guys are getting excited but they miss the old shinny games in the bay.

Madeira Portugal

We arrived in Madeira Portugal late in the day so we really weren't able to see much of the island until morning, November 26. Using Booking.com we have been able to scout out accommodations suitable for families with active children. We've added FREE INTERNET and BREAKFAST included to our list of priorities.


So this hotel seems to fit, except we think we should add LAUNDRY facilities to the list next time.

The Sport Hotel Galosol (Ondamar) is part of a group of facilities that include a fitness facility, several restaurants, three swimming pools, and a spa. We're quite excited to be here and were pleasantly surprised to learn about all the fitness programs available to us here as part of our stay. This morning I joined a running group at 7:30 a.m. We boarded a van and drove to a nature park about 15 minutes away from here. The view together with the scent of the Eucalyptus trees were inspiring as we ran along a narrow path through a nature area. Tomorrow the rest of the family will join me (they promised). Other activities available today include: Aquafit classes (2 of them), aerobics, basketball, squash, turkish bath for ladies, abs of steel, body blast, body sculpting and hiking. There are also free times for lane swimming and weights, treadmills, step machines etc. Tomorrow there is even a kid's swim session for two hours! Dieter (the child with gills) is pretty excited about that.

Georg and Erik are watching the football game online. I'm keeping the results a secret until they finish watching.

We are looking forward to our two-week stay here on this beautiful island.

I'll post some pictures when I'm back on the Mac.

We don't recognize these people either

We've been travelling for a week since the cruise- wearing the same jeans and t-shirts day after day. Looking back at the cruise pictures, we're not sure who these people are anymore. We certainly don't look anything like this anymore!

Oh we'll sure be glad to get settled in for a longer stay in Madiera!

En route to Lisbon

We enjoyed our day in Chamonix France and have vowed to return one day to ski in the Alps. Our plan was to stop in Geneva to meet Martin and Doris, but we had to change our plans when we learned they were forcasting snow for the area. Our timing just hasn't been good - no snow when we wanted it and snow when we didn't want it. We stopped in Geneva long enough to call Martin (Georg was able to speak a little German) and continued our way on towards Lisbon. We were happy to have a chance to get to know Martin well enough to learn that his son is studying in REGINA SASKATCHEWAN. We hope we'll meet again one day.

Pushing on towards Lisbon with no particular destination for each day, we took time to enjoy the scenery and notice the many land uses along the way.

By 8:00 p.m. we arrived in Tulle where we stayed in a modest "room" for the night. We were grateful to find the hotel because our efforts to stay in Clermont failed when all rooms were booked at every hotel. In the morning we toured around this quaint little French community, sampling croissants and pastries and visiting the market.

The next day we drove to Bayonne France. This is a region rich with wineries (it's near Bordeaux) so we decided we needed to sample the wine and soak up the scenery during our one-night stay.

After a long day of travelling we arrived in Castelo Branco Portugal. I guess we were somewhat affected by the "highway incident" in October so we didn't really want to spend any extra time in Spain and opted for a long day of travelling to reach Portugal. The countryside is so diverse and, although we tried to take pictures, we realize the photos don't do justice to the life-size views.

Once in Portugal we found accommodations at the TRYP COLINA DO CASTELO. I've managed to figure out alot of Spanish and Italian but I'm finding Portuguese is a little more difficult. I can tell you that "Colina" means "Hill" and this hotel is, in fact, on a hill overlooking the city. The sunset was very impressive and this morning's sunshine has provided us with a tremendous view of the valley below. The trees are golden and the weather is about October-ish type weather in Saskatchewan. Chilly but not cold.

Today we will drive another 2 hours to Lisbon and catch our flight to London. Tomorrow we fly from London to Madeira.

Chamonix Mont-Blanc France

We left Venice and began our travel towards Lisbon: DESTINATION Geneva. We got off to a rough start, experiencing our first real traffic jam > we travelled less than 10 km in 2 hours! We managed to amuse ourselves listening to the radio in Italian and translating and singing along in our very limited (creative) Italian. Also, we had a nice picnic in the car and a couple of impatient Italian drivers provided additional entertainment for us.


We drove for about 5 hours before we arrived in Chamonix Mont-Blanc France. You wouldn't believe the excitement at the sight of SNOW in the mountains! We decided to bunk in the mountains and settled in to the Best Western for the night. After much discussion we agreed we should go skiing here, but alas the slopes don't open for another week.

Erik is extremely disappointed to be here in the French Alps sans skiis!


We have been in touch with Martin from Geneva and have an offer to stay there this evening. Thank you Wes for introducing us.

Rome how could we forget to post Rome?

We travelled from the French Riviera to a small hamlet 15km north of Rome called Tarquinia. Our hotel sat perched atop a hill providing a commanding view of the farmland and sea. What community wouldn't have a 13th century castle? This was one of those ancient "gated communities" complete with a huge stone wall. We don't appreciate the yawns from the boys "Oh yeah, another castle uh huh, seen a few of those already Mom and Dad."

We took the train into Rome (wow fast and very inexpensive) and once we arrived we hopped the metro over to the collesium. We stepped out of the metro and there it was! This prompted discussions of gladiators and we now need to see the movie again.

The sites/sights of Rome are permanently etched in our minds. It was a day to remember for sure.

Not much more to say other than WOW!

Venice Italy

We arrived in Venice on November 18th. The weather is fairly chilly (about 14 degrees) today but that didn't deter us from touring around this amazing city of canals and gondolas.

The internet connection is S L O W so the pictures will have to be added later.

We're heading for Geneva and on through Bordeaux and back to Lisbon in the next week. On November 24th we'll fly to London and on through to Madiera, a small island near the Canary Islands. We plan to spend two weeks there, enjoying the fitness facilities and nice weather before heading on to Hawaii.

We had a last minute thought to go to the Serengetti on a safari but after consulting with my Director at Sask Health, we've learned that this might be a health risk as we didn't have our shots for Yellow Fever. Thank you Mary for your help on this one.

Naples and Mount Vesuvius

We spent a day in Naples - chilly day - note the snow on Mount Vesuvius!

Georg and I walked for three hours exploring Naples. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera on the ship so we have no photos here.

This was the final day of the cruise. Next stop: Venice.

Athens

November 15 -We spent a day touring Athens. The Acropolis provided a great "teaching moment" - an opportunity to talk about democracy and input in the governmental process.

Built in the 5th century BC this archetypical image of Western Culture attracts over 3 million tourists a year. Athens is the capital of Greece. It has been inhabited continuously for over 7000 years and has been one of the most important and influencial cities in the western world.

An absolute must: A visit to the Acropolis!

Egypt and the camel caravan in the sand

We arrived early in Alexandria and boarded a coach for our unforgetable 13 hours in Egypt. There are 65 million people living in Egypt and those who live in the country (the peasants) still maintain a traditional lifestyle. They wear tunics and we were told the most valuable asset is a donkey or an ox. The population is predominately muslim. During our 2 1/2 hour bus trip we traveled through the desert, noticing the green patches of cultivated areas back to back with desert. We can't believe we actually saw one of the remaining 7 wonders of the ancient world: The pyramids at Giza. We also saw Cephrens Pyramid, the Sphinx, and the Valley of the Temple. At the Sakkara Country Club we traveled in 4x4 vehicles across the desert to our camel caravan ride. Erik and Dieter were thrilled to race up and down the sand dunes - as far as they were concerned the faster the better! When we arrived at the area where we were to get on the camels, we were worried Georg might have trouble with his allergies but he seemed to survive with loads of antihistamine drugs. The camel caravan only lasted about 30 minutes but it was the highlight of the trip!

Dieter's camel, Martha, had an "attitude" and my camel "Moses" was quite a contented creature. This amused us and we are still talking about Martha and Moses.

We went on to Sakkara, Egypt's ancient cemetary and the Step Pyramid of King Zoser.

I'll post the website for the pictures later, but here are a few.

Many people were eager to have their photos taken with us > then they would ask then demand money. It was a challenge to avoid any eye contact and I seemed to have more trouble than everyone else with this problem. Dieter kept telling me not to smile at anyone.

I'm attaching a picture of our friends Chris, Brad and their amazing children Kelly (Erik's buddy), Tommy (Dieter's pal) and the lovely miss Nicky. We had the priviledge of meeting this Canadian family who have been travelling since August. They will be back in Ottawa the end of August so they're gone for an entire year!

Rhodes Greece and life onboard

The Captain decided we would stay an additional day in Rhodes because yesterday when we were supposed to set sail the Mediterranean Sea wasn't too friendly (50 knot winds and 10 meter waves). Rhodes is rich in history and legend as are all the Greek Islands. At 1400 square kilometers, Rhodes is the fourth largest Greek Island. It is thought that the Greeks erected the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven wonders of the ancient world, in the town's old harbour.

Today we walked around the ancient city and toured "The Palace of the Grand Master." Apparently it was built at the end of the 7th century AD. Today the castle is used as a museum.

We haven't seen much of our children since we boarded the Royal Caribbean Cruiseship "The Legend of the Seas" because they've made friends in their kids clubs and they're just too busy! Most of the kids activities begin as early as 8:00 am and wrap up at 10:00 p.m. AND these activities include dining with fellow kid cruisers.













It seems the boys have missed just hanging out with kids their own age so they're catching up now. We will generally see them at night but they're no where to be seen all day. We will take them with us on excursions, much to their dismay.


Erik seems to be taking another growth spurt so Georg is considering "platforms" and we're hoping they come back in style. We also need to buy the boy bigger shoes as his feet are growing to try to keep up with the rest of his body!

Somehow we managed to get a deluxe family suite on this ship which means that we have two bedrooms, a living room, a foyer and two bathrooms as well as a large deck off the main bedroom and also the living room. Living in a suite has also given us priviledges such as membership in the concierge club (special brunches, snacks, cocktails and hors d'ouervres) daily. We won't know how to make our beds or pour a cup of coffee after this experience!

So, needless to say, we're having a wonderful time relaxing and enjoying life onboard. We've made good friends with some wonderful people and are learning so much about their country and life as they know it.

Tomorrow we will set sail for Alexandria. We won't be going to Limassol, Cypress.