2008: Week 44

I don't have much time to write this week, but I did manage to post some photographs from the three major excursions of the week, a bike ride to Haarlem, and train journeys to Utrecht and Antwerp. Hope you enjoy them!

Tonight we're off to Zurich - internet access is likely to be rather sporadic for the next few weeks, but my Canadian phone is still working if you need to get in touch.

Bridge in Haarlem

Canal in Utrecht

Antwerp Station

Best of the week
- A bike ride to Haarlem, a beautiful town just 20km from Amsterdam.
- Catching up with Kerry for the first time in a year.
- Canals below street level, and the view from the Domtoren (112m above the street) in Utrecht.
- Drinking multiple flavours of lambic in some great beer cafes.
- Sint-Pauluskerk in Antwerp, a magnificent church which still houses artworks made for it by van Dyck and Rubens.

Worst of the week
- A late train from Belgium, missing the last tram, and the 40 minute walk home on a rather chilly night.
- Getting ready to leave Amsterdam; selling my bike, posting things home, trying to use up all the food we bought.

2008: Weeks 25 & 26

Did I mention that June was going to be busy? After my French exam on the 16th it was time to start preparing for the next adventure, a very brief trip home to Sydney. It was my first visit in 18 months, so I was very excited, but also trying to keep things low key and avoid over-scheduling.

I flew a different route to usual. Air Canada have recently started flying direct from Vancouver to Sydney, so I decided to try them out, and I'm pleased I did. The 777s flying the route are brand new, and the personal TV screens certainly made the trip less boring. Avoiding US customs was great, but Vancouver airport is in rather a mess as they expand for the Olympics.

The time at home flew by as always. I opted to spend a lot of time with my parents and grandparents, and I had a number of bits and pieces to take care of, so there wasn't as much time to catch up with friends as on other visits. I'm planning a longer visit soon, so hopefully I can catch up with more friends then.

This morning I arrived back in Calgary to a heat wave - it was 28C in the house, and about the same outside. Fortunately an afternoon thunderstorm cooled things down a little. Now I just have to finish unpacking, recover from jetlag, and steel myself to go back to work on Wednesday.

Best of the week(s)
- The first glimpse of land out the plane window, then flying over Sydney Harbour.
- Spending (way too little) time with friends and family.
- Passionfruit, haloumi cheese, lamb cutlets, and the red wine I've been storing for years.
- Good coffee. Everywhere!
- Feeling confident after my french exam!

Worst of the week(s)
- Sydney airport and the last glimpse of land out the plane window.
- Too many friends, not enough time.
- Leaving Matt behind in Calgary.

2008: Week 22

Most of the last week was spent preparing for a trip east to attend the wedding of my good friends Elysa and Patrick. We flew to Ottawa on Friday evening, then drove to New Jersey on Saturday. Luckily the wedding was at a very civilised 7pm, so we had plenty of time to make the 7 hour drive and relax a little before the ceremony.

The wedding itself was lovely - my first American wedding, and my first Jewish wedding. The ceremony had a good mix of traditional elements and plenty of focus on what Elysa and Patrick were promising to each other. The reception was quite the party, with beautiful food (perfectly cooked steak for 100 or so people is quite impressive), amazing flowers, and a fabulous band. I'll post some photos once we get home (I forgot to bring the right cable).

Best of the week
- Elysa and Patrick's wedding - Congratulations!
- Finding the perfect outfit for the wedding
- Flying far far away from work

Worst of the week
- A rather bad cold :(
- Driving past Ithaca

London again

We caught the bus back to London (a much longer trip in the early afternoon) and had just enough time before dinner to do part 1 of our Beatles tour - a visit to Abbey Rd. Stay tuned for part 2.

Dinner was with the lovely Katrina, and we decided to go to the Walkabout, one of a chain of Aussie pubs in London. Not too bad really - I had the kangaroo burger and a Crown Lager! And it was great to catch up. Even though Kat and I both make it home fairly regularly, the last time we'd actually seen each other was Christmas 2003 when she visited Ithaca!