Merry Christmas

We headed north to spend Christmas with my family. The first picture was taken at my parents' house the last morning that we were home.


There was no shortage of snow for our annual Christmas Eve sleigh ride out at the MacMillan Ranch. Uncle Duncan took us through the fields in the late afternoon which was lovely for viewing, but just as cold as it looks! We could have gone out earlier, but like true MacMillans we were distracted by Aunite Jean's delicious goodies and an opportunity to visit.



On Boxing Day about 2/3 of the MacMillan clan gathered for more eating, and in the evening some of them followed us home for a night of board games and laughter.

We even managed to get our whole family (including the dogs) in one picture which should make Aunt Rose happy!

October Blur

I covered a lot of kilometres in the fall, travelling to Vermilion, Oregon and Winnipeg. Here are some pictures from the trip to Oregon to my cousin, Katie's, wedding.Me & "little" brother Steve
My whole family was there except my sister Melissa, so we substituted little cousin Melissa and Erica joined in too.
The Canadian Snelgrove Division. And Jesse. :)

When we arrived, we discovered that we were the immigrant labour crew. We prepared a lot of food, then transported it.
What an efficient team!
Mom, Dad, & littlest brother Kellen
Steve & Katie doing a victory lap around the reception.
Sorry about the sideways pic; thought I had straightened it out earlier! The centre pieces were real and had a very lovely smell. We Canadians, not able to sneak them back home, treated our hotel to our share of the decorations afterwards.

I should have posted these before the Halloween ones, but hey, shouldn't you be happy that I am blogging at all?

Pumpkin Carving Night

The annual pumpkin carving event was a blast. Another injury-free year, even though power tools and spirits are involved. We did have a paramedic on site in case you're wondering.

Teachers' Scotch Cream Whiskey Here I Come!

Well, its been awhile since I posted anything and Jenn mentioned tonight that John B. sent a message complaining that we are not blogging anymore so here it goes.

My new teaching job at Wilson Middle School in Lethbridge is going swimmingly however this weekend and week are quite stressful. Today I logged a 14 hour day as I taught all day followed by a two hour meeting for the ATA. At 7pm we had our Meet the Teachers evening at the school afterwhich I had to go to a Lethbridge Symphony rehearsal to get my music. I finally stumbled home at 9.20. I have two beginner band clinics tomorrow evening and Thursday from 6.30-8.30 and by the time Friday comes around I will be ready for some Teacher's Scotch Cream Whiskey. Yes, that's correct. TEACHERS' Scotch Cream Whiskey. We picked it up in London, UK on the cheap. Its been made for a long time by Teacher and Sons of Glasgow and to me, the name just implies that it will be an excellent addition to a Friday afternoon on a week like this.

On a possibly exciting note, a rep from my local A.T.A. Economics Committee (the Alberta Teachers' union for all you anti-union buffs out there) has decided that she thinks I should receive my five years experience increment from Immanuel Christian, even though it was pre-degree. If they are successful in winning this for me, I get a very large raise, well, basically overnight. Guess what we're hoping and praying for?! Now that's why a union is a good thing!

Enough of my rant. School's been busy but really positive. I teach five bands, two choirs, six general music 6 class (twice each per week) and two periods of E.S.L. each week. We have a new (and according to the students a way more strict) administration and things are really feeling positive at the school. I'm quite excited as by the end of the week I should be up and running rehearsals and making kids practice. Wilson will have its challenges however, as it is in a more economically challenged neighborhood and has a poorer demographic than the other middle schools in the city. However I have never been one to believe the line that poorer families automatically equal less expectation. I believe in situations like that we should all work the harder to get ourselves out of such predicaments and succeed. When I took the job at Wilson a lot of people responded with "Oohh, you're going to Wilson." As many amazing music programs are currently being fostered in U.S. inner-city schools in particular, I don't think WMS is anywhere close to the family and social problems in those schools south of the border. If they can do it, then by the grace of God so can I. After all, that's one of the reasons I feel called to teach in the public school system. Though it may sound like a cliche, I really do believe that even one inspired child is worth all the effort.

So I begin each day reading a Psalm and saying a prayer in my office and band room. Why? Because where else would I go, and to whom else would I turn? To all my friends out there, I ask for your prayers for me and my music room, that it may be a place of refuge for those who are hurting. That it be a place where they can channel their joys, sorrows and frustrations into making beautiful music. And that in all things the Lord will be glorified by everything I do and say therein! Soli Deo Gloria.

And yes John, I will try to do a better job of making posts to keep everyone astride of what Jenn and I are doing.

Where has summer gone?

Since returning home we've kept busy with a variety of activities- some more exciting than others. We made a quick trip to Vermilion to visit the family as well as share stories and pictures. The weekend also marked my parents' anniversary so we decided something special was in order. There is nowhere really nice to eat out in Vermilion, and definitely no place which offers fare better than my mother's house (probably a factor regarding the number of people who drop in for meals). My siblings and I finally settled on cooking a unique meal featuring seafood, not something easy to come by on the prairies. We had no idea what we were doing, but our guiding principle was that "anything worth doing is worth overdoing" so Kellen and I made a field trip to Lloydminster.

We did find the live lobsters and crabs easily enough, though we debated how many to get since we had also purchased shrimp and bacon wrapped scallops. Needless to say, the cart was full as we headed out in search of an implement to crack open shells once they were cooked. With the price of lobster, I really feel the crackers should be thrown in for free, but alas they were not. They did not even have any in the store so we went on a bit of a scavenger hunt until Canadian Tire finally came through for us.

Returning home, Melissa, Kellen & I now had to figure out how we were going to cook everything. Have I mentioned that we had no idea whatsoever what we were doing? Thank goodness for the internet and the fact that Keith had taken my parents golfing for the afternoon. In the end, we used both parts of the double oven, all four range burners & the "warming center" and the very large barbecue on the deck. The entire feast consisted of all the seafood mentioned so far as well as fresh buns, rice, Caesar salad, asparagus, large quantities of melted butter and a couple bottles of wine. It was a bit messy with only Dad really knowing how to extract the meat without squirting his neighbour, but a good time was had by all.

I Admit, I Have Already Been Cruising Travel Sites!

Top: Keith at the Prime Meridian

Bottom: My watch set exactly to Greenwich Mean Time.

Its amazing how wonderful it is to be home again but also a little, well, boring. Boring can be good though. I finished two books since our return home, the last of which was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I echo the Brits and say "Brilliant!" Lots of twists and turn up to the last couple pages. Crazy. I finished it at 4.45 this morning. Could not put it down. John, do not block my stuff. I promise I will not tell you how it ends!

Anyways, there are a few souvenirs Jenn left off the list that are worth pointing out:

• Two ridiculously priced beach towels from Rome. #$%! Romans!


• Hand stitched table runner from Hungary.


• One Communist coffee mug reading "Wake up! Drink coffee! Work for the state!" To be used at my new public school teaching job only.


• One hand carved wooden box from Poland.


• 1 beautiful set of hand-painted liquor glasses. Now we drink in style.


• 5 sets of necklaces and earings from Italy and Poland. (Okay, only 2 belong to Jenn! Others are gifts or orders.)


• 1 toe ring to replace the one Jenn had ripped off in a current pool in Budapest.


• 3 soccer jerseys because they're crazy cheap in Eastern Europe.


• 750 ml. of Hungarian Palinka (to be nursed over time).


• 2 x 350 ml. of Teacher's Scotch Whiskey (seriously, how could we resist that!)


• Several books (Us? Buy books? Noooo!)


• Various pencils and bookmarks that Jenn can use at school to make the kids dream (we hope).


• Cool shopping bags from all over Europe.


• Amazing memories to last a lifetime.

I have had a few complaints about too much reading and not enough pictures. Well, to that I echo Jenn's statement that if you think you can upload pictures in Polish better than us, go right bloody ahead. Its amazing the difference in computers everywhere. Also, computer keyboards are different in every country. And, by the way, some of you should have left picture books behind long ago!

So we can't decide what we want to do next year? Hot, sunny, beach, and surf somewhere tropical for once where we simply relax all day or go walk 10 to 15 km per day somewhere new. Either way, it should be exciting whatever it is. And yes, I promise to try blog a bit about our regular boring lives throughout the year too!

By the Numbers...

Here is the "by the numbers" breakdown of our trip:

33 days
5 countries
7 cities
numerous small towns
12 stamps in each of our passports
1882 pictures (crazy, I know... you're probably wondering why more weren't on the
blog. Well, you try uploading pictures in Polish and see how it works out for you.)
5 books read by Jenn
1.5 books read by Keith
70 pages of journal writing (Jenn)
30kg of luggage on the way home (up about 4kg from when we left)
0.5kg Hungarian paprika
? other souvenirs
?? money spent
-------------------------
0 regrets


Picture: Standing on the Prime Meridian, Greenwich

From London to Home

After Hungary, we spent a little more than 36 hours in London before flying/driving home the Lethbridge. Our cat is quite happy to see us and we are quite glad to be in our own space and to stop living out of a suitcase. Not that we didn't enjoy ourselves immensely, but there is something about being home.

While in London we managed to take in the London Eye, Millenium Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, & Liecester Square the first late afternoon & evening. Yesterday we spent quite a bit of time at Buckingham Palace seeing the Queen's Gallery, Royal Mews, gardens and summer opening of the State Rooms (only open to the public in August and September). Just before that we popped into Westminster Cathedral for a look, and afterwards we headed for The Orangerie at Kensington Palace for afternoon tea. To round out the day we took the subway & daily light rail to Greenwich to walk the Prime Meridian before ending our London adventures back at the Duke of Wellington Pub near Victoria Station.

I am not sure who all is out there in cyber space reading the blog, but if you want to know about something we've neglected to blog about then by all means leave a comment or email. I am not sure what to do with this blog next, I suppose that will be decided some time in the next week when I get over my jet lag. :)

My attempt to post pictures has somehow failed this post. I am way too tired to figure it out tonight- look for the last pics tomorrow or so.

More pictures from Hungary

Lake Balaton at dusk from the pier at Badascony.

The thermal lake at Heviz where the water was naturally 32 degrees Celsius.

Jenn on a boblsed at the Balatoni Bob.

Keith very confused about receiving a ticket and a rock from the cashier. When he gave the rock to the ticket controller, the guy looked at him like he was an idiot.

Random Photos

Here are a few more of the riduculous amount of pictures that we have taken. I pity the fool who asks to see them all.

In order:

Stephansdom Cathedral at night, Vienna. You can see that parts of the church have been cleaned up, but much is still blackened from pollution and WWII.

When we stepped out of the elevator which took us up to the top of the bell tower, we stepped onto not a regular floor, but a very see through grate. It was a little unnerving to look down at the platz from such a height, especially with no warning!

Jenn up near the rooftop of Stephansdom Cathedral, Vienna.

Keith and Istvan in one of the deliciously cold cave that we were in a week ago.

Keith going up the 96 stairs into the Hungarian Parliment building. 4o kg of gold leaf used throughout this building which was built in 1896 to celebrate 1000 years of the Magyar (Hungarian) people having a country here. The had an architectural contest to come up with a design for the building. They were so impressed with the quality of designs that were received that they also built the 2nd and 3rd place finishers across the street- now home to the Museum of Ethnology and the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Great Synagogue, Budapest. Our guide let us know that 45 kg of gold leaf was used in here!

The Weeping Willow Monument to Holocaust survivors located in the garden behing the Great Synagogue in Budapest.

I almost called my mother...

Yup, that is how sick I was last week. Thankfully, it only ended up lasting about a day, but what a day it was. Marta and Istvan think that I may have picked up a virus while at one of the baths; no more saunas for me! So we lost most of a day in sight-seeing (I tried to get through the first half pretending to be healthier than I was) and got to see the inside of a Hungarian clinic. Well, the waiting room part anyway. The emphasis is certainly on the waiting. Early on in the waiting I used the WC for some unpleasant backwards digestion, and then, as my mother always maintained that a person would, I began to slowly feel better. After quite a bit more waiting we decided tracking down some ginger ale and rice cakes seemed like a better use of our time so we left without ever getting past the waiting room area (though I should mention that we went to three separate buildings before finding one to treat a foreigner). Can you believe that they sell Canada Dry in Hungary? What a happy surprise!

Moving on to more pleasant subjects...

On Wednesday we rented a car and drove ourselves to Lake Balaton. It is about 100km southwest of Budapest and the largest freshwater lake in Europe I beleive. Last time we stayed in Balatonalmadi near the NE end of the lake, but this time we drove the length of the lake (70km) and stayed closer to the NW end. We chose the Badascony (Ba-da-choin) area and decided to try to stay right in the town of Badascony. We stopped at the tourist info to ask about room availability, but they told us we weere out of luck and should go to the next town. Instead we went to another Tour Inform place and in the end stayed two doors down from the first tourist info place!

Our bed & breakfast was clean, roomy, air conditioned, and at an excellent location for 10500 Forints a night (about $60 CDN). We could walk about a block to the main street and within 4 minutes be at the beach. We were also well situated for driving to other interesting things to see. The first afternoon was a bit cooler (27°C) so we drove to the spa lake town of Heviz (HAY-vees). This small but deep lake has a spring coming up through its peat bottom which heats the entire lake to about 32°C and infuses the water with minerals. Soaking in here is supposed to give a person relief from all kinds of pains and problems, but to do that you need to rent a tube because it is far too deep to lounge around the edges like a regular lake. Even though it is filled with minerals the water is very clear and we felt exceptionally bouyant while in there.

The next morning we went to explore a castle which we had spotted on our way to Heviz. We first drove to the town of Szigliget and then hiked up to its castle ruins. It was quite a view and we took a lot of pictures to be posted later. In the afternoon we lounged at the Badascony beach. The next moring we drove just up behind our town to the Natinal park area at the top of the hill. There was a hiking trail which took us up to a ˝panoramic view˝ tower which the surrounding trees had grown taller than! Thankfully there were better viewpoints along the way and it was a lovely walk through the woods. In the afternoon, once again, we lounged by the lake. This morning, we headed back to Budapest detouring down the Tihany Peninsula and shaking our heads at the bumper to bumper traffic headed to Lake Balaton for the weekend. So glad we went during the week!

Boiled Watermelons

Tonight on the news they showed how watermelons in the field had boiled their own insides in this heat. It is that hot. Thankfully even though there are not many places with air conditioning there are a few ways to beat the heat, at least for a couple of hours.

First of all, Keith and I have decided to organize our own ˝Baths of Budapest Tour˝ and go to a new one every afternoon. There are over 2 dozen in the city, so it seems that we will not get to each, but we will do our level best. These Turkish-style baths all have a variety of pools for sitting or swimming in. The Thermal Baths section consist of several pools of mineral water heated to different temperatures and you are expected not to swim or spash around but sit and relax. Commonly there are pools of 34, 36, and 38 degrees in succession followed by a steam room of sauna which can be anywhere from 40-80 degrees (the doors are labelled- I went in a 60°one today, but I can´t handle anything higher). After the steam room there is a cold water bath which might be anywhere from 8-18°C (our favourite ones right now). There are also non-mineral baths or pools which are 25, 30, or 38 degrees Celsius and are for swimming or lounging at the sides. The thermal baths are all indoors while the other pools might be inside outside or a combination. The baths also all seem to offer a variety of health treatments such as massage or physiotherapy. Locals view these baths as a very important part of a healthy lifestyle and part of treatment, for stress related ailments especially, can be going on a regular basis. I could get used to that!

Another way to beat the heat is to go on a cave tour. Our friends took us to two different caves and translated important or interesting bits of what the tour guide said for us. It gets down to about 10 or 12 degrees Celsius in the cave so it was very refreshing. The guide was very concerned about me in my sleeveless shirt and insisted that I take a fleece jacket along! Apparently, ˝But I´m a Canadian˝ doesn´t cut it for an excuse to brave cold temperatures when all the locals are bundling up.

We are falling into a pattern of resting in the early evening then going out for a walk & drink after 9pm when it is a bit cooler. I should go take a nap now so that I can keep up with the late night!

You know it's hot when the asphalt is melting

Pictures: The summer cottage of the Hapsburgs,

Jenn helps make Apple Strudel,

Looking from the platform in the middle of the Maze towards the fountain,

One of the great things to play with in the playground is based on Archimedes Screw,

View from atop the Gloriette looking towards the backside of the palace,

Giant Panda having a great afternoon.












For those of you who don't know it, Central and Eastern Europe is experiencing a massive heat wave right now with no apparent end in sight. Yup, that's where we are right now. It is currently 39 °C IN THE SHADE which means it is even hotter in the sunshine. The news this afternoon said we should stay inside, but there is a lack of air conditioning here in Vienna so that doesn't really seem like such a great idea. Besides, we have lots of sites to see!

We spent a glorious 6 hours on an air conditioned train yesterday as we traveled from Krakow to Vienna (or Wien). Our passports we stamped a few times as we journeyed through Poland, Czech Republic, and into Austria. We had no idea until we stepped out of the train and a wall of heat almost knocked us over what wew were in for here. It was hot in Krakow too, but this is getting a little ridiculous. And tomorrow we head to Budapest which is even hotter and built on top of massive undergound hot springs to boot. I digress...

We are enjoying our quick stopover in Vienna. Yesterday we toured the Vienna Opera House, ate sacher torte and enjoyed an unexpected concert. The Opera tour was neat, even taking us backstage to see the lifts, etc, that make possible all the quick scene changes. After supper we wandered over to the Music House "Museum" which seems to be like the sound experience thing in Seattle, but we never actually went to the museum part. A girl intercepted us in the foyer to ask, "Are you here for the concert?" and we had to nod dumbly that we had no idea that there was to be a concert. Being that it was free and invloved a couple choirs, we decided that we wouls check it out and leave if it was no good. We stayed the whole 2 hours. The headlining choir was touring here from Holland (University of Utrecht) where they deservingly won some big contest. So we will try to go to the museum tonight; they're open till 10 so we still have time to go to the real Sacher Cafe and eat authentic Sacher Torte. Mmmmm.

Today, we got an early start, might as well when it is too hot to sleep, and headed to the Schönbrunn Palace. I was very disappointed 3 years ago when we came to Vienna and did not have time to go here, but now I am so glad that we waited until we had time to do it properly (8:30am-3pm). The Schönbrunn Palace was established first as a hunting lodge, but soon after as the summer residence of the Hapsburg Royals. Not only did leaving the city bring them to slightly cooler temperatures, but, more importantly, it kept them away from the germy masses during the least sanitary time of the year. Now, the city has grown around the palace grounds, but they are so massive that you still feel separate from the rest of the world. We toured the State Rooms and Living quarters, watched a Strudel making demo (actually, I got to participate and earned a funky little baker's hat and a certificate for it), strolled the Privy Garden, went through the Hedge Maze, played on the coolest playground ever, walked though the sprinklers (did I mention it was hot?), hiked to the Glorietta, took the stairs to the top of the Panoramic Terrace, and went to the zoo all without leaving the property. The zoo is the world's oldest, built by Emperess Maria Theresa & her husband Emperor Franz Joseph in the mid 1700s for the education and entertainment of the court. These two had 16 children (11 who lived into adulthood) so it was probably cheaper to build a zoo than pay admission.

Krakow: A Sobering History

Top Picture: the marshaling yards at Birkenau where Dr. Mengele seperated families and sent people to there deaths.

2nd: The 'shower' room gas chamber at Aushwitz 1

3rd: The crematorium at Aushwitz 1

4th: Keith eating Polish food (I'm not sure how the picture order comes up)

5th: The train tracks and main gate - Aushwitz 2/Birkenau

Bottom: The main gate at Aushwitz 1 - Work Will Set You Free - the great Nazi lie.

I probably would have gained a lot of weight in Krakow had it not been for the suddenly warm temperatures they experienced beginning the day we got there. The food came in vast quantities and was just tremendous. On our last night there we ate at a restaurant that we had visited earlier for pirogies and had a pork tenderloin brought out to us roasting over fire and spitted on a sabre by a monk. Okay, the server was dressed like the monk, but it sure was cool! If I could upload a video of it you all could see it. Unfortunately, I don't know how to do that yet and I am paying for the internet so you'll all just have to wait.

On Monday we went and visited the most sobering place I've ever seen: the concentration/death camp of Aushwitz-Birkenau. We began early in the morning and took a very hot one-and-a-half hour bus ride from Krakow's main bus terminal to Ocwiecim (the actual Polish name of the town the camp is located at) and got off at the museum. We signed up for a 2 hour English tour to orient ourselves and this was excellent. Having both studied this period of history immensely, we knew a lot about the camps and the Holocaust but actually seeing the place where 1.5 million people (an estimated 980,000 Jews) were murdered by the demons of the S.S. was overwhelming.

Walking through the main gate under the sign the reads "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work Sets You Free) was in many senses very erie as one thought of the millions of people who walked under that sign never to return to the outside world. A number of the block houses have been left as they were but many have been turned into museum displays about Jewish history in Poland, the Holocaust, Polish WW II history, and other country's WW II displays. Others displaz relics from the camps. Entire rooms full of shoes, others of clothes, and another with human hair. The enormity of the evil that occured there is indescribable and we often found our emotions running between intense sadness and then anger.

We took a shuttle bus 3 km to the Birkenau site. This camp was built for one purpose only: extermination. The sheer vastness of Birkenau is incredible. It is awful in both senses of the word. While the smaller women's side of the camp that also housed Gypsy families and some Jewish families has brick buildings with most intact, the far larger side of the tracks for the men has only one remaining row of wooden horse stables on concrete slabs. The rest were all demolished after the war except for the chimneys which stretch into the horizon. We walked down the tracks to the marshaling yards where Dr. Mengele, the Angel of Death, seperated people into two columns when they exited the boxcars. A motion of his hand to the left meant that you were deemed good enough to work. A right hand motion meant zou were off to one of the five gas chamber crematorium complexes. We came to the end of the tracks where two of the cremetorium ruins lie. We then walked through the forest down a road through trees where women and children undressed before entering the gas chambers. One of the bath houses (gas chambers) has been turned into a memorial there. We walked back down the tracks and caught the bus back to Aushwity 1 and toured ourselves around.

The experience was sobering, sorrowful, horrifying, and I'd have to say a little life altering. One realizes the dangerous time we live in could easily lead again to such horror. One hopes not, but one's faith in people's ability to resist such evil is shaken when you see such places and sense the enormous loss of life that occured where you are walking now. And above all, one is struck by the need for the grace of God to save humankind from itself. May we never forget what happened there.

Tuesday we toured the Jewish Ghetto and the Oskar Schindler factory in Krakow which helped raise our spirits. We also climbed the bell tower to meet and listen to Krakow's trumpeter play the bugle calls from the tower. It was a lighter day in which we did things to lighten our spirits.

But I will never forget what I have seen on Monday. Go and see such places. Those who remember history will help insure such things never happen again.

Krakow Rocks!

We are having such a great time in this city. First of all, its beautiful in an Eastern European way. Simple yet elegant. The main Market Square is very colorful and the Cloth Hall is a huge marketplace. St. Mary's Church is awe-inspiring. We walked in last evening and there was a beautiful choir concert going on with choirs from all over France. We sat and listened for over an hour.

On one of the towers of the church a trumpeter plays a partial bugle call every hour of every day year after year! The legend goes like this: when the Turks invaded Krakow about 500 years ago, a trumpeter on the tower saw them coming and played what is a beautiful trumpet call to warn the citizens within the walls of the city (walls that still stand today). Suddenly, in the middle of the trumpet call, a Turkish bowman shot an arrow up over the walls (which are about 200 meters away), up through the window of the tower and shot the trumpeter through the throat. This is why each hour the trumpeter (one of the fire brigade now) only partially plays the call. It seriously sounds like someone kills him each time.

So on another note, Keith the veteran traveler feels a little like an amateur. As we were going through security in Italy to fly to Krakow, my backpack gets pulled aside and searched. What comes out? My Swiss Army Knife that I always carry traveling - usually in my suitcase when getting on planes! Did I ever feel like an idiot. Needless to say, they gave me the option of going back to the check-in, packing it up, and putting it through that way or ... they throw it out. I didn't need the hassle of that so I agreed they should throw it out. My beautiful, engraved Swiss Army knife is now in an Italian dump. :( I still feel stupid!

As Jenn has already written I am sure, all my single male friends need to come to Krakow. There seems to be an incredibly high proportion of single, beautiful women here. I get to say this because Jenn said it first! The average age of the city of Krakow is apparently only about 35 or so which makes it one of the lowest in Europe. This would truly be a single man's paradise. So seriously, Steven and Kellen, get over here.

As for food, after eating small portions for very high prices in Italy, we are currently eating very large portions of Polish food (much more hearty affairs) for much smaller prices. A $2.50 half-litre of beer is considered expensive here. Our main dish on a dinner for two mixed perogie (yes, the Poles have them too) dish was less than twelve dollars. The beer and the mead put it over the top.

Great country but get here before the Yanks do! Mass quantities of them seem to spoil everything. Pictures to come in the following days. Tomorrow we are going on a more solemn tour - the Aushwitz-Birkenau concentration camps.

The bells are ringing on the Town Hall Tower. This means the trumpeter is going to play soon. Must go!

O brothers where art thou?

I am completely enchanted with Krakow right now. We are staying at a place called the Globetroter Inn (I know it is spelled wrong; I don't think that they do) which is about a block from the Main Market Square. We arrived here yesterday in time for a late supper (amazing) and some time to wander around the main drag. Krakow is about the same latitude as Edmonton, so it stays light quite late this time of year, and the long evenings are full of street performers of all sorts. We couldn't believe how alive the square was last night, and it is filled and exciting tonight as well.

Apparently, this year marks Krakow's 750th birthday so there are even more events than usual. Last night in our strolling we went into St. Mary's Church on the aquare and stumbled into a performance of choirs from France who are here for an International Choir Festival. It was incredible so hear such beautiful singing in such an equally impressive setting. There were also various plays happening. Main Market Square is divided in two halves by Cloth Hall ("the oldest shopping mall in the world" contains booths selling area specialties: amber, woodworking and wicker). Tonight while we were eating supper we noticed an interesting assortment of characters heading in one direction. We found them assembling at the Barbican Gate (entrance to the Old Town) and then got ahead of them in time to watch their very lively and colourful parade. I still have no idea what it was about, but it was sure fun to listen to and watch!

The food here is divine. The lovely girl at our inn recommended a few places to eat as well as areas we should be sure not to miss. So far she is 5 for 5! Last night we dined on chicken kebabs, potatoes with butter, bacon & onion, and spinach. This morning we ate a veritable feast at Del Papa and we plan on going back for more of the same tomorrow and the next day. Tea, bread, rolls, eggs scrambled with something I haven't entirely identified yet (delicious whatever it was), honey, jam, butter, cottage cheese with radishes, and I can't remember what else all for 14 Polish Zloty; that is about $5-6 Cdn. This evening we went to "Miod i Wino" which translates to "Honey and Wine." Wow. While devouring our mixed pierogi platter (various fillings included spinch, meat, sourkraut & mushroom, and, of course, potato & cheese), we witnessed another table having a roast duck brought to their table and then chopped into four with a very large cleaver. Later the lights went out and they wheeled out a table with fire and grilled kebabs on a sword; we may need to go back and try one of those! I also tried mead fo rthe first time; it seems to be a much stronger relative of Hudderite wine. A little on the sweet side for me, but I am not sure that I am ready for the straight wodka yet.

Thankfully, we have also been walking so much that we can eat all these heavy meals with no negative consequences! We walked the Royal Way today; the route taken by the king when returning to what was the capital of Poland until 400 years ago. It is only a little over a mile, but with all the side roads to be explored and historical points of interest it took us from about 10am till 12:30pm. We explored Wawal Castle and cathedral before leaving the Royal Way to search for an English book store that we had heard of. I have gotten through both books that I brought along and Keith is reluctant to part with The Agony and the Ecstacy so that I can re-read it. I bought a novel set around Krakow which looks quite interesting.

Overall, Krakow is a bustling city filled with young people, exciting nightlife, and incredible food. My siblings should have come here with me!

More Pictures from Italy

Murano - the island of special glass - Venice.

San Marco at dawn - Venice.

San Giorggio Maggiore at dawn and from the Campanile (bell tower) in early evening - Venice.

Sad to Leave Venice But Excited for Krakow

St. Mark's Basilica in Venice.

The Roman Forum - I couldn't help but think at I viewed this site that Empires will pass but the Kingdom of Christ will never diminish! As a Christian, I see it this way: Roman Empire? 500 years. Christianity? 2000 and counting!

Venice has been a wonderful break from the business of London and the craziness of Rome. Staying at the north end of the Carnarreggio district of Venice was a brilliant move. Its amazing how once you've walked 5-10 minutes away from Rialto and San Marco how quiet and local Venice becomes. Our hotel was wonderful! And relatively cheap for Venice. They also had this wonderful, old Hotel cat whom we befriended named Pontevecchio (Vecchio Bridge). He was 17 and sunned himself every morning in the grass of the breakfast garden. Felt a little like home that way - with the cat I mean. We don't have a breakfast garden. Mores the pity!

Yesterday morning I awoke very early and, leaving Jenn asleep, walked to Rialto and San Marco square. There were only about 15 people in the square and all the way to the water front. About 10 were street sweepers and cleaners while the other five of us were armed with cameras. It was beautiful! No one around with the sun rising on San Giorggio Maggiore across the water. Oh yeah, there were the pigeons. Always the blasted pigeons. Oh well, what do you do? Did you know that the city of Venice has a pigeon culling program run by a few men? Seriously, they do it early in the morning when no one is around. If they didn't, the city would be overrun with pigeons and covered in pigeon dung.

Today we managed to send some postcard early and then make our way to the vapporeto 5 minutes away. This took us to the bus station where we caught a bus to the small Treviso airport where we are bloggin right now. The busses only leave every couple of hours to go to Treviso and we are not leaving for about four hours, if the Sky Europe flight is on time. Budget flights are cheap but not always predictable. Either way, we hope to be in Krakow by 5.10 pm today. We get to fly over the Alps, the Czech Republic and finally land in Krakow.

Arrivederci, Venice! Until next time.