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!

What Good Luck, What Bad Luck

I remember a story book I had as a child by the above title. It basically ran through the turn of events of a guy that gets to go on an airplane (good luck), the airplane is going to crash (bad luck), luckily there is a parachute (good), hole in the chute (bad), falling toward a hay stack (good), pitch fork in the hay... anyway, you get the idea.

Well today was the bad luck portion of the trip so far (luckily we have not had it alternating like in my childhood story book). We had left this morning from Talknafjordur on our way to a 3 hour ferry that would take us to Snaefellsnes. "Good Luck" all the way up to and on the ferry - easy peasy... until. Until just as we drove onto the ferry and I was gathering my belongings did I remember my coat. Or should I say remember the coat I forgot ... hanging on the hook in the cookhouse (bad luck), an hour away (bad luck), with my wallet in the pocket (bad luck), and my credit cards in my wallet (bad luck) and cars already loaded in tight behind me (bad).

So luckily the Icelanders operating the vessel know English and I quickly explained the pickle I was in. They found the drivers of the cars behind us and moved those cars out of the way so I could drive off, Karen shoved a credit card at me in case mine were gone while she grabbed a few things she thought she and the kids might need. We loosely arranged plans to meet at the destination about 10 hours later (there is another ferry at 7:00 pm) while the boat pulled away.

A speedy trip back to the campsite and my jacket was right where I left it. After considering myself lucky I am now realizing that bone headed gaps may not be considered bad luck, but my jacket being exactly as I left it likely is considered good luck. So I guess the good luck continues!!

Karen and the kids should be at the destination as I write this and I have been for a run, hotspring bath, and composing this blog entry on some remaining time of internet (from our campsite from last night). As my mother always says, "If this is the worse thing to happen to you, then you are lucky." I guess I am - no pitch fork.

Fire, Ice, Waterfalls, Puffins and ... Moby Dick?

Amidst the adventure of traveling there is always the quirkiness that is mixed in and Iceland is no exception. We popped into a remote farm restaurant on our way back from the bird viewing cliffs on the far western fjord. We were cold and wind weary and looking forward to something hot but more importantly something Icelandic. Alas, the only things on the menu were sandwiches or burgers and "France" fries. Even in the campgrounds we have been staying where it has been mostly Icelanders there is the unmistakable smell of weiners and burgers around dinner time. Am I the only one who likes pickled herring here? Well, at least I can find that.

Speaking of quirky, hope this doesn't get a rise out of too many of you, but here is a museum we passed in Husavik - the whale watching capital of Europe. No - I wasn't to keen on going in, Karen seemed uninterested, Mattias laughed and Mima ran in the other direction.