ontario

we are in canada!

oh, canada, our home and native land! 

it is so good to be back, but weird that our travels are completed. for me (monique) i am home, and it is great. the weather is not great, lots of rain, but it was really good to see my parents and my sister. tonight my brother (who recently moved out of the house) is coming over for dinner. the others still have more traveling to do, but for me i am home, with more selection of clothes, clean clothes, and a kitchen full of food. i am excited to be home for a while, but also excited to see what my future holds. i cannot hide from reality forever, sometime i have to grow up and get a career and make it on my own. but until that day comes, i will enjoy enjoy the comforts of being at home and spending time with my family. 

the others are still asleep, but i heard my sisters alarm clock this morning and now am awake! the others might have more to write, i don't know, but for me this will be the last time that i am writing in this blog because i am done traveling for now. 

i would like to publically apologize for the laziness that we had enquired concerning the blog. we are sorry, but we have many great stories and have so many great pictures, so you will just have to visit us to get the full effect of the trip. 

thank you for reading. from monique. 

So close to home...

written on the evening of November 27, 2009
As I write this, wanda is laughing hysterically and erin is enjoying the music selections of our current ICE train…sounds likes a little opera or perhaps it was jazz…it’s difficult to tell through the ear phones. Mo is sleeping once again; how I have envied her ability to fall asleep anywhere on this trip…such a wonderful skill. I am saying good-bye to Germany …we have just stopped at the last German station and are now moving into French territory once again. I know that I do not need to state the obvious but alas, still I will…we are heading west…WEST! This would indicate that perhaps we are making our way home and it is indeed true. Thus, it is a mix of emotions that accompanies me on this late night journey. I have enjoyed and experienced more than I could expect on this trip and I am sad to leave the continent that has been the site for so much learning, fun, growth, and stuff I can’t really even explain. I am sad to say goodbye to the wonderful people we have met …there are still such kind people in this world and I am thankful , so thankful for that. If I haven’t said it before, I will say it now, this trip has taught me what it is to be truly hospitable. Something I do not take lightly. Yet, as I reflect on the wonderful things that these last three months have been I cannot help but feel crazy excitement for if it truly has been three months then that means that so soon will I be home!!! HOME!!!! I have always had a deep love for my family but I have never appreciated and missed them as much as I have over these last three months. There is a reason why God gave us family. I am sooo thrilled to see them again; to be there in body, not just in spirit. I am also so excited to find my way back into a community once again. As much as I have enjoyed wandering wherever the train takes us, I will admit that I am actually looking forward to being in one place for an extended amount of time. A place where I can continue in friendships that will last longer than most of our two day hostel stays. All this awaits us but there is much we have to say goodbye to as well. Just a bit of what is running through my mind tonight. We are heading to Paris, but this trip will be much quicker than our last. We are just stopping there to sleep and we will be off tomorrow morning to the port which will take us back to the UK. This is where we will once again visit some of the sweetest people: John and Sue (we can’t wait to see you again!!) We hope to visit London once more before we fly away…see it in a different light…these being Christmas lights! Pardon the pun, Erin and Wanda are rubbing off on me. So, I will now return to the company of my great friends (Wanda is teaching Erin a little sign language…we’re all about education here) So soon will we be in Canada once again and I can tell you that all four of us are very excited to see our great land , perhaps covered in a bit of snow. See you soon!!!
Mel

Its been a long, long time...

Okay, so what to write… for me (Monique) this is the first time writing, and we have less than two weeks left, weird, and sad.
We have not written in a long time, but yet have done so much; I hate to bore you with all the details, so here is just a little catch-up blog to inform our followers what we have recently, or not so recently, encountered.
So what I know is that we have last blogged on the 20th of October in which we were in Madrid. Sorry if some details are vague, but remember that this is to just give you a general idea of where we have been, to know more details, you have to talk to us personally. So starting on October 20th, in which we traveled to Barcelona, after spending time in Madrid. Barcelona has a beautiful beach, but the weather was not accommodating to our desire to be sunburned. Instead it rained, or yet, poured. It rained so hard that there was a river in the middle of the road, yet we were still out there wandering the streets looking for the sights to see.
After Barcelona we crossed the border into France again, to the town of Nice, which is very nice. Nothing to exciting happened here, we went to church, went to the beach, swam, walked around, about the usual activities that we embark on a daily basis.

Next on the list of countries was Italy. We based ourselves out of Pisa, where the leaning tower is, and took day trips to Florence (Firenze) and Cinque Terre. Italy is a so beautiful, the colours and the scenery is so nice and beautiful. Anyone ever planning on going make sure you take the time to do Cinque Terre, it is beautiful and worth the 6 hours of hiking. Before leaving Italy we had to make sure that we got to the ‘sinking’ city, Venice. Venice’s main mode of transportation is by boat and by foot. It is made up of over 400 canals and 114 bridges. It is beautiful city as well and was very intriguing to walk around and get lost. When in Italy you cannot forget about Rome, which is the next city in which was on our agenda. Here there is a lot of historic activities to embark on. We conquered the Coliseum, Palintino Hill, Tervi Fountain, Pantheon, and Vatican City. Things we have eaten a lot of here are pizza, pasta, and gelato! (SO GOOD)

In Rome we had rain, so next was a spot where sun would be more prominent: GREECE! Traveling from Rome to Athens was a good thirty hours of travel where we took all modes of transportation: bus, boat, and train. Athens is a pretty dingy city and not to exciting, but we had a great time here yet. We walked the streets where the markets were on and that became dangerous fast. After doubling our pack sizes we thought we should leave Athens, but not after visiting Korinth, if you want to know, ask us about it. One thing to add before I end in Athens is that we got CHEAP calling cards and got to call people from home and school which was SOOO fun and exciting! Foods we have enjoyed cheaply are: Greek salad, souvlaki pitas, and half-eaten sandwich we found in the garbage

Island hopping is more conducive to the summer, but we thought we would try it anyway. We started with going to Crete, where we swam and went to the beach. Then we went to Santorini in which we did not go swimming but we did rent ATV’s and ripped around the island for a day. We went from tip to tip and had a roaring time! We then headed back to the mainland to continue our journeys.

We then flew to the cheapest spot we could find, which turned out to be…..








VIANNA (WEIN)

Wow, this is where we are leaving from as I write this, crazy. Vienna was good to us, upon arrival we decided to walk toward the centre of the city where we found the Christmas market. Christmas was in the air as we were here. Again we based ourselves here, so we spent 5 nights here, but only one actual day in Vienna. Our day trips included: Budapest, Hungary; Salzburg, Austria; and Prague, Chez Republic. We have spent a lot of time on the train lately, traveling to and from these places, but the scenery is great and we see so much in a day. We have become the people that get up at 5:00 am to see the sights.

As I write we are traveling to Zurich, Switzerland in which we will see the Alps, and then off to Germany after that again. Out time is coming to an end, which is sad, but it will be good not to smell all the time.

There are so many little details, but this is just a general update on where we have been the past month and what we have been up to. Sorry that it has taken so long to update this, but it gets put to the back-burner and then forgotten sometimes. You can take it as a good sign because we have been enjoying ourselves with the adventures we have been having! Thanks for reading!

PS. just remember that I am not good at english and i am sorry it is written in horrible english, but it is how i write and think... SORRY.

A Warm Welcome

As I write this it is just after midnight in a brightly coloured hostel lobby and Michael Jackson is just singing away over the speakers. We just arrived back from a delightful birthday dinner...we took the opportunity to splurge on a real meal out at a nice restaurant for my birthday today. (This is Mel, p.s.). Anyway, we arrived in Madrid this morning at 9 AM after traveling many hours in a sleeper car from Lisbon, Portugal. So I truly rang in my birthday with style...some Mars bars, a bag of chips and some peach iced tea (which they still make in Portugal!) in our private little sleeper car. It was a good time for sure. We were in Porto and Lisbon, Portugal before heading to Madrid. I have to say that Portugal was my favourite country thus far...I know I say that about every country, but I really mean it this time. The people are soooo kind and hospitable, the weather is warm all the time, every city seems close to a nice beach. It was a fantastic place to be and I would definitly like to see myself making it back that way. When we arrived in Porto, Portugal, we were suprised by our accomodation. For 50 euros a night we stayed in a great guesthouse with two bathrooms, a huge kitchen, two bedrooms, right in the heart of the city, a 5 minute walk from the port. It was fantastic...if anyone is ever heading to Porto, stay at the Taipas guesthouse. Fantastic! and the kindest people will welcome you. We spent a day at the beach, swimming in the Atlantic ocean which was still completely bearable. It was absolutely amazing to be swimming in ocean waves again. I loved it!! From Porto, we took the train to Lisbon, where we explored their slick cobblestone streets and the beach which is just a mere 30 minutes from the hostel we were staying at. We went to church Sunday morning which was quite the experience. According to the website, the 11:30 service was supposed to be in english but we got there and everything was most definitly in portugese. I guess this was a special service, we found out after. The pastor came and talked to us early in the service, finding out we were from Canada and knew absolutely no portugese...he proceeded to announce our arrival to the rest of the congregation. Almost immediately two people from the congregation that knew some english came, sat with us and helped translate the service for us. Such kind, sweet people. That was true hospitable worship. They sent us out with blessings and promises of prayers and many invitations to return. I might just have to take them up on that:) After church, we spent the day wandering around in plus 29 degree weather until our train left for Madrid at 10:30 PM. So that's a bit of what we have been up to over here in the south. Hope all is well with you...whoever it may be that is reading this...

A Whirlwind Tour

It has come to our attention that our last post on this blessed forum was way back at the A&O hostel in Dusseldorf; Oh how we have fallen behind. So then, I (Mel) would just like to let you in on a bit of the adventure that has been our last twoish weeks....We left Dusseldorf and traveled north to Amsterdam, where we proceeded to find that half of King's had followed us there. Seriously, it felt like a school reunion....playing a sort of dutch bingo with everyone we saw. We left the city as soon as we got there to find our campground outside the city limits. We found it and loved it! We stayed in the coolest (in the most literal sense of the word) cabin. Great times were had. After this stay we headed back into Amsterdam and spent a little time in the city over the weekend. Also, some good times. From Amsterdam we trekked (actually we took the train) south to Middleburg where we stayed with some of the sweetest people in the world. Johann and Elly, relatives of Monique's, took us around the city, did our laundry, fed us, gave us beds to sleep in, taught us a little dutch. They were fantastic! While there, we visited Belgium via this great little tunnel that went right underneath the canals and the North Sea. Very cool. After staying there for a few rainy days, we decided that it was time to say our goodbyes and move on. Never an easy thing to leave such wonderful company. We took a train, once again, down the beautiful city of Paris which had much to offer us. We thought about tackling Paris in a day but soon realized that was completely unrealistic. I have to say that Paris has been one of my favorite cities so far. There is sooooo much to do, so much history and it's absolutely beautiful. It would help if I could speak a little french though. Oh man, so many stories to tell from paris...maybe I'll let wanda grace you with those. So many adventures in just three days. We went to the Eiffel Tower 3 times, did the Louvre, Chateau de Versailles, Arc de Triomphe, Jewish history museum, Museum of Modern Art, Museum of the Middle Ages, Notre Dame...saw a lot, have A LOT of stories to tell from Paris...ask us sometime. I have to say this...finding your way into any of the museums is a feat in itself in this great city. You can ask us about that too. We left Paris this morning and are now staying in a quaint little hotel in Caen. Tomorrow we are going to Juno beach. We've studied up on the events of D-Day and are ready to pay tribute to our great Canadian troops. It should be a good day. Well, I'm going to leave you now but be sure to stay tuned for some great stories. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to tell them all here...wanda does a much better job and so I'll leave it to her. HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you all...I'll have you know, we had a most delicious thanksgiving meal brought to us entirely by McDonalds. Our extravagant purchase of the day. So, HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND ENJOY YOUR TURKEY AND PUMPKIN PIE, CANADA....so lucky!

and now, it is time for a silly story with wanda...

the part of the blog where wanda comes out and regales you with a silly story.

A HEAVY YOLK

once upon a true time, which happened to be last week wednesday, a miss erin luth, a miss melanie fehr, a miss monique wielemaker and a miss wanda thiessen made their way to the edinburgh airport. from there, they had made arrangements to fly into frankfurt, germany. seeing that they would be travelling all day without easy access to inexpensive food, and, being the thrifty and somewhat cheap women that they all are, they had decided to pack a lunch previous to their departure. part of this lunch included a dozen hardboiled eggs. after these four young women checked in, and checked their baggage, they continued on to the security check point.

SECURITY LADY : ma'am, do you have any liquids in your bag?
WANDA (who was carrying the dozen hardboiled eggs in her pack) : no. that being said, i do have a bit of an odd question to ask you. there is no restriction against hardboiled eggs going through security, is there? because i have a dozen of them in my pack.
SECURITY LADY : *laughs* no, i guess not. if they were raw, then i guess they would technically be liquid. but you said they were boiled, right?
WANDA and MELANIE : oh yes!
SECURITY LADY : *again, laughs* then i guess you're fine! now, just out of curiosity, why on earth do you have a dozen hardboiled eggs in your pack?
WANDA : well, you see, we are travelling all day and decided to pack a lunch because it's cheaper and we just all had a giant hankering for eggs!
SECURITY LADY (to the screen scanner man) : *still laughing!* hey! this pack i'm about to send through...don't be alarmed if you see 12 eggs on the security screen!
SCREEN SCANNER MAN : *laughs*

and so, with laughter still escaping the mouths of the security lady and the screen scanner man, the four young women were cleared through security, their dozen hardboiled eggs safely in tow, jetset for frankfurt.

this concludes the silly story with wanda. stay tuned for next time, because you just never know what sort of silly story wanda will regale you with then!

Guten Tag, Meine Freunde

Wanda is reading her book, Erin is sitting on the windowsill overlooking a main Frankfurt street, and Mo is reading by the window as well. This is how we are spending a Thursday evening in Frankfurt. Some man is singing in a language I don't understand over the speaker as I watch life go by outside our hostel windows. I apologize for how long it has taken me to let you in on the adventures which have made up the last week or so...I honestly don't remember the last thing we wrote about on here so forgive me if I repeat. We flew into Frankfurt from Edinburgh yesterday afternoon. Let me say this, we stayed in Scotland longer than we expected because we absolutely loved it. When we first arrived in Scotland we made our way to Aberdeen where we stayed with friends of mine (Mel), Wes and Nicole. That was absolutely fantastic!! What a beautiful city, what wonderful company, how brilliant to be staying in a home once again. It was a great 5 days. We walked down to the North Sea and spent an afternoon there, spent some time wandering through shops. We did laundry. Overall, a very relaxing and beautiful few days. We then made our way to Edinburgh where we found the most incredible Starbucks ever!! The staff knew us by the time we left 5 days later...yup, embarrassing. Edinburgh is the craziest city ever, with a castle on a cliff in the city center and another ridge cliff face thing that we climbed also in the city center. You should most definitly check it out sometime. We met some fantastic people along the way as well. My description of the last 2 weeks is not nearly sufficient but I'm sure the other girls will drop in with their views of the last little bit. Just a note from me...something that's been running around in my head and I thought I would just put it out there...Saturday evenings we usually pick a random church to visit the next morning in whatever city we are inhabiting at the time. We have only been gone for three Sundays but I will say this, Sunday morning is one of my favorite times. It is incredible to me how we are half way around the world but on a Sunday morning we can gather with our brothers and sisters and it really feels as though we are family. When I walk into a church it is as though I can breathe a sigh of relief for it feels safe and warm and , for the most part, friendly. When the music starts, whether the words are familiar or not, the songs bring to life a deeper song within me. There is life in those songs, in the scripture that is read, and in the fellowship after the service (I have never appreciated people reaching out more). The church is a treasure. This has been made so incredibly clear to me in the last bit. I am so grateful that God has called us to be the church, to be family to each other. This is a gift. There is more to say but that's just a bit of what I have realized. One day, maybe I can say more. I hope that this post finds you doing well. From the beautiful streets of Germany, Aufwedersehen.