There really is nothing better than visiting friends in the field. I am always refreshed – body and soul.
The first morning I woke up to a beautiful display of colour. I think God must live in the area.
Category Archives: Travels
Pictures of PEI trip
I didn’t take nearly so many pictures as in Europe and the weather was not nearly as warm. I did manage to head out into the country on the last day we spent in PEI, rented a car and spent the morning driving north to the St Laurence coast, up to Naufrage (Shipwreck Point)
and then across the island to the south coast which is on the Atlantic.
A set has been made and you are welcome to enjoy the view and the fall colours simply by clicking here.
Wrapping it up – mostly
Today I spent my down time at the office labelling and arranging the photos of the last city we visited in Europe. Barcelona, Spain. This is a place I wanted to visit specifically to experience some of Gaudi’s architecture. It could have justified spending a few more days in Spain but… that’s how it goes. There is never quite enough time to see all the wonders of the world.
So if you want to see some more beautiful architecture, you might want to checkout the latest sets that I have put together on Flikr. La Pedrada and La Sagrada Familia. I would go back to see La Sagrada Familia again. In that place one experiences a sense of awe and wonder and can read some of the story of God in the stones.
For those who love fabulous buildings
You really should visit Cordoba. But maybe visit it in the fall or winter. Unless you enjoy extremely hot temperatures.
You can visit it by pictures here – mostly we saw The Great Mosque since we only had one day there. The Great Mosque is also the Cathedral of Cordoba and a World Heritage Site. Well worth a visit.
Visiting Gibraltar
Over at Flikr I’ve loaded up a set of photos taken on Gibraltar. This is a place we visited because of old family ties that drew us back. I was curious to see this place where my great grandfather and my grandfather served in the British Army. Serving in the British Army was a way to escape the poverty of England and so my great grandfather left England first for India, where my grandfather was born in Karachi, and then other places around the British Empire till when my grandfather was about 16 and could enlist as well, they ended up in Gibraltar.
Some of the photos I’ve taken show the military nature of the Rock. It must have been an arduous place to serve a term. The road we walked down from the summit of the rock was one that the soldiers would have had to walk up many times, I’m sure.
Large rings in the rock were placed there to assist the teams of men who moved heavy guns up and down those same roads. We think sometimes of the enjoyment of the sun. I wonder if the soldiers rejoiced in it or cursed its heat as they were climbing.
It is from Gibraltar that my ancestors emigrated to Canada. I guess they were used to hard work but the introduction to cold must have been a real shock. yet they stayed, laboured again under adverse conditions and helped build Canada. I suspect most of us have gotten soft over the years. We owe much to our forebears.
Leo and I rode the cable car to the top of The Rock and then walked down. It was a long day of walking. We probably did 10 Kms and it was not all downhill. It was a good way to see the place. At the end of the day we had a meal in a place on the waterfront called the Ipanema where they served Brazilian style – endless meats grilled and passed on huge skewers. Wonderful end to a great day.
More photos
I have finally made it to our visit to our friends Maria and Cipriano Almeida’s home, farm and vineyard in a little town near Seia in Portugal. The set can be found here on Flikr. There will be more photos to add later.
Visiting my auntie is taking up much of my spare time. It is well used. I don’t now how much longer we’ll have her to visit. Mostly I just sit with her but last night I found that she still enjoys music so I plugged her ear in to my i-pod and she listened to some classical stuff I have on there. Think I’ll upload some old hymn favourites for her.
Still working on the photos.
I’ve uploaded a bunch more to Flikr so enjoy if you feel so inclined. Here’s one I like from Carn Brea in Cornwall.
We really did make it home
…but it has been a busy couple of days. We spent Sunday in Toronto with Rachelle and Asen celebrating Ronin’s third birthday. It was a party! We crossed over to the island on the ferry and had a picnic in the park, went swimming, ate cake, opened lots and lots of presents, and rode rides.
Then the next day – back to Prince Albert. We still have a bit of catching up from jet lag (as you might be able to tell since I am up at 4 am.) but Leo is already back into the midst of work. I have a few more days off – yipee!
My first day back, I spent most of it at the hospital with Auntie F. She will need to get some pins out of an old hip fracture since she is having quite a lot of pain and there are lots of tests in preparation for this surgery that we had to complete. I was exhausted by the end of the visit. She was totally wiped out!
Today, I acquired a new hairdo (radical change for me) and ran errands. I have also been reinstalling programs on my laptop. I was having a problem using one of my usb ports – everything would shut down – so the operating system was reinstalled. I’ve spent a lot of time putting things back on and retrieving stuff from the back up. It is mostly done now, I think.
Last night I began working on some of our photos and will work some more on that today. The best ones, I’ll post in sets on Flikr. Watch for them.
Now, maybe I should try and get some more sleep.
Filed under grandchildren, Travels
Packing up
We’ve been just relaxing today, visiting, packing our bags. Doing all those last minute exchanging of internet addresses and such and thinking that it sure would be great to do this again in a few years.
This place has become our second home, a place of real welcome and we are going to miss the people here. Even if we re-visit this place in a few years, many of these fathers will no longer be here.
Belgium this week is cool and a relief from the heat of Spain. I think we have begun our climate accommodation for the weather at home. That is OK. Hot weather is nice for a holiday but two weeks has been adequate. I do think I have the best tan I’ve ever had though!
So, this week will bring us back to the realities of life in Prince Albert. There is going to be a lot of pictures to sort through. But that will have to wait. I don’t want to spend all of my last afternoon sitting in front of the computer.
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