Family - Far and Wide

Ahhh - there is something to be said for family in far away places that meet you with open arms and where the hugs are held just a little bit longer.

We have been lucky since leaving Iceland to first spend time with Grandpa B and Granny Bird, a great dinner with Bruce and Mona (Grandpa B's cousin),

soon followed by Michael, Jackie and Josh in France (some connection Karen has tried to explain but I really need the family tree for reference), sister Chris (no - not a nun) and HW from Germany who drove days and many kilometers to meet us in Portugal, and Paddy (again need the family tree), Raquel, and Tiego who taught us the finer details about Portuguese cuisine. Our adventures become that much richer when we are able to share it with family directly as we travel (and indirectly through this blog). Looking forward to seeing the nephews in Trier and catching up with the Hofmann and Vaverka clans in Austria. After Austria it will be longer spell before we see friends and family again so we are being thankful for it now. Always great to get emails and comments on the blog for those of you on some other part of the world.

Being with family and friends seems to make events that much more memorable as well. Perhaps it is because we can fill in details for each other when our memory fails us, but I think there is more to it than that. Those extra connections made during the experience seem to heighten our awareness of them. Little tidbits of history or background help make things more solid. Sometimes it is the smiles and the laughter that set the event stronger in our minds. Whatever the case, it is great when we can connect with family and happy we have each other when we just have the four of us.

Sun's Hot

Today we went into a castle. It was very very neat to see. There were a bunch of different rooms in it. The one I liked the best was the Royal Throne Room and the dining hall. The dining hall had lots of chairs that were covered in red velvet. In the throne room the part you sat on had a cushion that was red velvet and for the back rest it was red velvet too. In the Throne Room there were only two chairs and at the top that you didn't touch there were spikes (I don't know why). There were rooms with armour in it. I liked the one with the royal horsie in it. The Royal Horsie wore a red velvet cape. At the edges of the cape were golden tassles. We think the royal horsie was fed juicy apples every day ( not the ones that went to war). The horsie's that went to war wore lots of armour to protect them because the soldiers cared for them. I also like the ball room because the floor was shiny with polished stone and the roof was gold with a beautiful design on it.

The sun today was soo sosooo sososososo hot! After the castle we went to the campground pool. It was so nice ( my hair is still wet).

Pictures coming soon....

Adios Amigo (bye friend)
Emilia

Real Madrid

Too bad that Real Madrid are in the south of Spain, while we are close enough to go to a game! Serious disappointment for Mattias, but.... hard to complain after three nights in a Hotel and one in a bungalow while we got in a great visit with Auntie Chris and Uncle Hans 'banana'. The Good times with them were fun while learning more about the pilgrimages, St James, and the significance of the scallop shell to Santiago de Compostela, visiting Nat'l parks in northern Portugal while the forest fires are burning, but it is raining hard out.... Getting to see an amazing archaeological site that is partially 3000 years old... And the best part, drinking port wine at the Sandman Port Wine Lodge in Porto.

Then we got in a great beach day with Paddy and Tiago in some wicked waves. Apparently the first day in awhile with sun and a green flag for swimming. Paddy treated us to a Portuguese feast of squid and sardines and then a surprise visit the next day for yet another feast out. I am not sure if he is trying to out do the French cuisine, but if he is...well, it was really good and so was the French food - but far too different to compare.

Picos de Europa

As I sit in the early morning at the European style campground (big, pools, games, restautaraunts....) and look up at the vast and rugged peaks of the Picos, I reflect on how much we have already done in our few weeks so far. The two weeks in Iceland with the dramatic scenes and geology, connecintg with family and relaxing while the kids crabbed and played at the beach in England, meeting long lost family and discovering castles, pastries, medieval villages, churches and excellent wines in France and now in Spain discovering the less crowded beaches with their fascinating flycss rock formations and into the Picos for some hiking.

We struggle daily with how much time to spend in one place, with where to find soccer fields for Mattias, swimming for Emilia and considering dates and what we really want to get in before heading back to Londond mid Sept.

So far the traveling has been easy - but we have had our own car. We go and do what we want when we want. Very much ke a fabulous summer vacation. For now we will take it, come Mid Sept our travel will change. It will be interesting to see what is to come.

For now, the stunning peaks of the Picos await.

Happy rest of the summer to those of you at home.

Lots of stuff...

1. Puy Du Fou: We went to a theme park called Puy Du Fou. We saw 5 shows. One of them was called birds of Prey. They trained birds to catch food out of the air. they brought birds very very high up in a hot air balloon and then the birds came down and landed on some trainers arms. There were two bald eagles and one Golden Eagle that were in the balloon. They even had vultures and four types of owls.
There was another one called Gladiators.The Gladiators were very nasty people. They were like soldiers from the queen, except in the olden days there were emperors not kings and queens. The gladiators were nasty to the people they had captured. The gladiators captured random people. They made them fight against stronger and better at fighting people. They made huge stadiums just for show and they made some so big they battled ships in them. The gladiators fed the people they captured just enough to survive. They would have parades come through the stadium with other captured people from different countries all chained up. The gladiators would also put the people in cages and then stick their swords in the holes.
We watched the newest show about the French conquest over Spain.they were doing really crazy tricks on horses. They would make the horse gallop at top speed and then the rider would hang upside down and pick up a scarf. One person rode standing up on two horses hike they were galloping at top speed. They even did jousting and it looked like they hit the other rider. On one they were going top speed and the rider threw a spear that hit exactly the centre of a target.

2. Fishes and Dishes - a day in Spain.
We went on a hike to a beach. Some of the rocks and shells looked like dishes. Speaking of dishes, we had a huge lunch, and a yummy one too. We went to a restaurant in village from medieval times. On the lunch we saw lots and lots of crabbies. Back to the beach...at the beach we saw a dead jelly fish and we checked out some huge caves we saw from a telescope on the highway. Daddy almost got trapped because the tide came in so fast. We caught a fish that was about two inches long. It would suck on the ground so it was hard to pick up off the rock. It was very very colorful with brown spots on it and red fins. We were hiking back up to our campsite....it was very muddy and we were attacked by some goats. They were actually coming just to check us out, they were shy.lol. Once we were back at the campsite, we had some crazy weather, first it tinkled, then it got sunny and then it poured. We ran for shelter, so did mom and dad.

Written by everyone's friends- Mattias and Emilia

On Eating France

We are in Spain now and the French must be happy about that. Like many before us, we soon were determined to devour France and even had the appetite to do it. Our objectives were innocent enough to begin with - enjoy the scenery, visit the odd church, try some French language.., but we soon followed the lead of Michael, Jackie, and Josh and when in France do as the French do (in this case do as the Brits living in France do).

Mattias and Emila were to corner and conquer the Pan au Chocolat market while Karen and I focused on the sea food, particularly the mussels. Who can say "non" to all of the good food? Gallettes and crepes became part of regular take even when back into camping mode. Great cheeses and nice wine were staple food items and sooo easy on the budget.

One often hears that the French take their food very seriously and we would have to concur. The dent we made into the food supply should have them worried and though they may be happy about us leaving, we will be back soon as we swing back through France on our way to the Weisskircher enclave near Trier. We will be back and we will be bringing our appetites with us again. The Spanish are trying their best to fix that, but when it comes to food - my money is on the French. Of course, we have only been in Spain a couple of days, and are happy to prove ourselves wrong.

A great night's sleep

Yesterday all the campsites were full and we couldn't find anywhere to sleep. Finally we decided to stay in a cheap hostel and stay in a room with all the other people who were staying at it. There were three-deckered bunks and me and Mattias each slept on the top of one. The beds were so warm and comfy I couldn't stand it - compared to my therm-a-rest.

Today we went to the beach and had a great time. Me and Mattias would get wet and then roll in the sand and after that we would wash off by playing in the waves and Daddy threw us into the salt water. Me and Mattias also dug holes and would be covered in sand. We pretended were dead heads lying on the beach.

While we were driving to the campsite we are now at - non hostel- Mattias thought that there would be an interesting view point -so we pulled off and it was a beautiful view and we saw two caves that were formed into the rock at the bottom of the cliffs.

We are in Spain now, and guess what is really, really funny? Dad couldn't find rice in the store - so he bought tiny pasta balls that Mattias and I loved with an egg cooked into it when we were babies.

Through the year I am going to learn a new language - it will be a surprise when I get back - I am not telling until then!

Lots To Do!

Better (okay) news for the monkey club: good climbing trees in France and England but no time to climb!!! We were at the beach today and we found lug worms - we had to dig for them. Then my dad and Michael caught a whopper of a Wrasse (ugly fish) at a different beach, Trestel beach. That type of fish is a female for the first eight years and some of them turn male WEIRD.

We made two booby traps and don't know if anyone fell into them.

We are staying with my third cousin, Joshua and he is a lot of fun. We bounce on his trampoline a lot and play footie together.

Sails up!

In England we went out for dinner and "it feels like Hawaii in England"! See photo below.

A few days ago we went sailing on the ocean. It was rocky and Mattias got sea sick! Some of the waves were from the floor to the roof. I was attached to the boat with a rope and a clip. It was windy..

We are in France now and today we went to the beach. I walked around all day in bare foot. I liked that. At the first beach we found some crabs and made a very sturdy sand castle. It looked more like a hump of sand. The second beach we dug a huge hole that could hold a bobcat in it. In it we made a bed, two chairs, a counter and stairs.

We are staying with some people (relatives of Mom's) but we are camping in their yard. A few minutes ago we watched a really good movie called Honey I Shrunk The Kids.

Salcombe - childhood memories!

Here we are, day 3 in Salcombe, a beautiful town that in southern England that I came to every summer as a young child. It is so fun to do the things that we  used to do as kids with our own kids - eat jelly donuts, devonshire icecreams each day,and now as adults to drink yummy beer and real cider (you can guess this is not the place to lose weight) and to spend real quality time with family.  The kids have loved the crabbing off the quay, hiking the cliffs along the Devon coast and today we had a spectacular morning of sailing in some high winds and 4m swells.  For those of you who are Rosslanders reading this, I equate Salcombe to the summer version of Rossland - quaint, hilly, and a great little known spot to hang out a while - in the summer months.

It has been nice to spend time in a home - catching up with family from Canada and Germany on the phone - eating lovely home cooked food, sitting around chatting in the evenings out of the wind, and generally taking over Grandpa B and Granny Bird's home for a few days... not to mention make off with their car to the continent for 6 weeks!

With mixed emotion, sad to leave family and Salcombe yet excited to see France, we leave in the am to head to the ferry for Brittany, France where we embark on the next set of adventures.

Good bye for now!