HOTTER THAN A SNAKES ASS IN A WAGON RUT!

It is 42 celcius here and we are sweating in places we did not know we had places. We are in Venice by the way. We have been here 2 nights and apparently it has been 2 of the hottest days in a really long time! Trust us to pick July for a vacation. We have seen a lot though. We went for a cruise down the Grand Canal and a Gondola Ride yesterday. Today we went to the Doges Palace, saw a glass blowing demonstration ( We all bought venetian glass and spent a lot of money!) and then went out to the Island of Burano for a fabulous lunch and more shopping. We were all really glad to get back to the hotel where we could shower and sit in the comfort of air conditioning. We are off to Rome tomorrow where it is supposed to be just as hot if not hotter. 4 more days left and then we are on our way home. Hard to believe it is coming to an end. I am running out of time or would write more. Hopefully once more before we head for Canada. See you all soon.

Hot in Nice

This is going to be a quick blog ad their keyboards are WAY different than ours and I cannot find any of the keys!
We are in Nice right now, it is 2219h and HOT! We travelled from Geneva today and on our way stopped at Cannes. We got our photos taken on the Red Carpet where the film festival is. We actually spent most of the day on the bus, travelling here, which was nice. We were all trying to recover from the long day before. We got to have dinner in a wine cellar in a small town in Switzerland. It was lovely and we all had a great time together.
The people on our bus tour are all pretty great and we get along well.
We get to sleep in tomorrow as we do not have to meet the bus until 1415h. We are all pretty excited about that.
Anyway people are waiting to use the computer, will try to write again soon.

We Are in Europe

Wish I could have written sooner, but it has been a CRAZY week. We made it to London safe and somewhat sound. The flight from Vancouver to London SUCKED, but I will talk about that another day. We managed to see Stone Henge, Avebury, Salisbury Cathedral, Old Sarum. While on this part of our tour, we even managed to see an honest to goodness CROP CIRCLE - Diane has photographic evidence! We also saw Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St. Pauls Cathedral (which Diane and I hiked to the top of), Westminster Abbey and Cathedral and also managed to sneek in a play, the Lion King. By then, we havent even started our tour yet and we were exhausted. We met up with our tour on the Tuesday morning. We had to be up at 5AM! It was a LONG day! We drove to Paris, via Dover and saw the White Cliffs. We took the boat across to Calais - it's an 85 minute crossing - and I didn't get sea sick - even better! We made it to Paris around supper time and checked into our hotel. That night we went on a Boat Cruise of the River Seine, saw the Eiffel Tower light up and went to the Arc de Triumphe. We fell into an exhausted sleep. The next morning we were off again. This time a bus tour of Paris, covering the highlights, with a local guide, Luxembourg Gardens (this wasn't that impressive though - think is was just for the Americans as it had a mini Statue of Liberty in it). Once the bus tour was over, some of us went out the the Palace of Versaille. Amazing is bascially all I can say about it - no wonder there was a revolution! Once done at the palace, we headed back to the hotel, to supposedly rest before our night out. Diane and I, as well as a few others ( mom was too exhausted), headed on the Metro for the Louvre! We didn't want to miss our appointment with Mona. We raced over there and had about 1.5 hours there. We also saw Venus de Milo, Crowning of Napoleon, Le Deluge and some other amazing works. It is said that if you spent 1 mintue at each work of art, 24 hours per day it would take you 3 months to see every work of art in the Museum!Around 6pm our bus picked us outside to head to the evenings entertainment. We were going to a Cabaret. Diane Mom and I were a bit skeptical about the whole thing. Turns out it was a great night out!
We are now in Geneva (here for 2 nights) and have a free evening - thankfully because we are all exhausted. Mom so far has managed to avoid poisoning and I am feeling pretty well most days. Diane is eating all the food we can't and tells us it's amazing. The tour guide is pretty and so far we seem to have a pretty good group to travel with.
HopefullyI'll be updating again soon.

T Minus 6.5 Hours and Counting

This will be the last entry before taking off for Europe. It's 0930 right now and I've been up since 0630h. Partly due to excitement, but mostly due to the fact it was hotter than a snakes ass in a wagon rut last night! Yuck! Anyway, I think I'm packed. I'm going to go over everything once more before I leave. The most important things I need, credit card, money, bank card, passport and ticket. After that if I've forgotten anything, I can just buy it over there.
Mom is already on the road. Sonja and her Mom are meeting her in Red Deer. Mom is going to park her car at Ann and Blairs. Then they are going to pick up Diane around 1015h, take keys back to Ann and Blairs and be on the road. Heidi is picking me up at noon, so I'll be meeting them there around 1230h. It's all so exciting!
Our flight doesn't leave until 1610h to Vancouver and then we have a 4 hour layover before our flight to London. I checked us in last night via the internet. So I already have our boarding passes for both flights.
Sunday morning we have to be up bright and early, as we are doing the Stones and Bones tour that day. We will get to see Old Sarum, Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral and Avebury! Should be a lot of fun and the weather is supposed to cooperate.
The next few days are going to be long and exhausting, but a lot of fun!

T Minus 31 hours

Holy Crap! 31 hours and we'll be in the air. Hard to believe it's actually going to happen. I know I keep saying that, but it's been 3 years in the planning. I don't think I really thought we'd end up going. So I'm really amazed that it's going to happen. Have a few last minute things to pick up at Wal-Mart. Have to make my place look presentable, so I don't have too much to do when I get home. Bathrooms and Kitchen are pretty much ready to go, just have to tidy up the living room. It's basically covered in trip stuff at the moment, so shouldn't take too long.
Mom, Diane and I are meeting at the airport around 12-12:30. We are going to wear our Europe shirts on the plane. I figure if Diane went to all the trouble to buy them, we should at least wear them.
Anyway, it's 0900, I've been up since 0530. Have to head to the store, have a nap, water Dana's plants, do a bit of laundry and pick up the place. Should keep me busy for the rest of the day.

FIVE days left!

I can hardly believe there are only 5 days til we leave. This time next week, we'll have seen Stonehenge, Avebury and Old Sarum! It's SO exciting.

We are all madly trying to pack and think of all those last minute items. Mom and I are trying to pack and get organzied today, as we are driving to Saskatoon on Monday. My mom's Uncle Stu passed away last Wednesday - he was my Great Uncle. So we are heading up for the funeral, which is on Tuesday. I'll have to leave right afterwards or early Wednesday morning, as I have an appointment Wednesday afternoon, that I can't miss. Then all we'll have is Thursday, before we leave. So basically we have to get everything done today. My washing machine is going and my living room is covered in stuff. Diane is in the middle of a move. She got a job in her hometown, so is trying to pack for the move and the trip. I know it'll all get done, but doesn't seem like it right now.

The big day is almost here, after 3 years of talking about it and saving for it! It's hard to believe it's really going to happen.

35 days and counting

It's coming down to the wire. We're trying to finish up our last minute purchases. Still have to get some Euros and Pounds, but will do that in the next couple of weeks I guess. Here is a link to the company we'll be travelling with:http://www.trafalgartours.com/CAN/DisplayTour?TourID=5238&search=yes&TimeID=13&OldID=390&RegionID=/Vacation_Packages/Europe_Tours/4&x=16&CountryID=0&LengthID=3&Keywords=&y=8&SearchPageID=390

We are actually leaving 2 days before the tour really starts, so we'll get a bit more time in England. I still can't believe that it's actually going to happen....