We're finally home!!

Hi everyone! Home at last. I tried blogging when we were in London but the computer I was on crashed and I didn't have time to start all over again. We got off to a rocky start in London.  On the first morning we got up early to head off for the British museum and just as we were getting ready to have breakfast the pipes under the kitchen sink burst. Water was pouring everywhere. Ian was screaming, Linda was screaming, it was chaos! We couldn't find the shut-off valve. Of course it wasn't under the sink. I went tearing around the building in search of someone to help. The only person I found was a young school teacher who was just getting ready to head out for work. She didn't know where the valve was either but she kindly stayed with us until she found a plumber that would come. You wouldn't believe how many would not come for one reason or another. Anyway we had to bail water for three and a half hours until finally the plumber arrived. Once he fixed the pipe and we cleaned up as best we could we headed off to the pub for a well-deserved drink. It was too late in the day to do anything else. The rest of the week went pretty well. The sun shone every day, it was warm and we saw lots of things. We also met up with Jimmy and Grace at Victoria station for a drink. It was nice to see them again and catch up on the news. Had to  get up on Thursday morning at 4:30 to catch the underground and then the train to get to Gatwick airport. The transportation system there is amazing. It was a 9 and a half hour flight home so we were zonked by the time we arrived in Canada. We are so happy to be here I can't tell you. We are staying with David and Chiyoko in Vancouver until Tuesday and then flying home to Kelowna. Hopefully I will see some of you on the golf course Tuesday afternoon. Cheers!

Two Days in Chester

Hi everyone. Arrived in Chester yesterday about 3:00 in the afternoon. Pouring rain most of the way down from Carlisle but was dry by the time we got here. First stop of course was the pub next door( the Town Crier). Didn't stay there too long as they opened up all the doors and just let the wind blow through. I don't know why they do that here because the cost of electricity is so high. Anyway there is no shortage of pubs so we soon found another. Probably the best pub food we've ever had. And we have tried a few! Got back to our hotel room about 10:00 and off to bed. Our hotel (the Westminster Best Western) is really lovely and just a few minutes walk to the downtown pedestrian shopping district. Reminds us a lot of York. We got up fairly early to get ready for a day of shopping but discovered that we had no hot water. Apparently it went off in the middle of the night. Many apologies from the front desk and assurances that it would soon be working.  Well it is now almost 4:00 in the afternoon and apparently the workman had to travel up north to get some parts. Sorry-- should be working soon! I guess I'm getting cranky in my old age but just now I could kill some one. Anyway apart from that we had a good day in old Chester. Ian got a couple of really nice sweaters quite a bit cheaper than he could at home. I didn't have any luck but we still have London. We just got an e-mail from Mike Warner and he working in Istanbul until March 25th so I guess we'll miss him. Anyway, that's about it for now. Will try to post again from London.

Last day with the two Leslies.

Well, we had a great day yesterday in Edinburgh. The train trip took about an hour. There was snow most of the way, but by the time we got into Waverly station it was raining. Really cold too. The wind was just biting so what could we do while waiting for Pam but hit the pub. Pam arrived about a half hour after us and then we headed for the Dome which was well worth the trip. The Dome is in the building that used to be the Royal Bank of Scotland. Beautiful stained glass windows, lots of marble archways, fabulous food and waiters in tuxedos! Our waiter was from Prince Edward Island!! After stuffing ourselves we did a pub crawl  along Rose street (lots of really neat pubs). Before heading back to the train station Pam and Leslie junior located the Oxford pub for me where we had a couple of drinks. The Oxford is the pub  frequented by John Rebus in books and T.V. series written by Ian Rankin. In real life Ian Rankin does go to this pub and apparently holds all his interviews there. The bartender was kind enough to give us some postcards. We had our final nightcap at the pub in the train station where we said goodbye to Pam and then caught the 9:00 train home. Funnily enough I fell asleep on the way home. Today Ian and I are going into St. Andrews for a final tour around and then tomorrow we head off to see Pam in Carlyle. The plan of the moment is to go to Chester, which is on the border between England and Wales, on Tuesday. According to Pam it's as nice or nicer than York and I love York. Thursday we begin our stay in London. Really looking forward to that. While there we intend on seeing Mike Warner. It will be good to see him. That's it for now. Talk soon!

Looks Like Christmas in Scotland!

Hello again. The last three days we have woken up to sunshine, lots of wind and pretty cold temperatures but this morning I took a look out the window and it was snowing. Spring seems a long way away. Yesterday Leslie, Ian and I drove into Dundee to shop, have lunch and pay a visit to a place that sells Tom Tom navigational systems. The other day Ian ordered the map of the U.K from Tom Tom but could not get it downloaded. Both he and Leslie worked on it for two days. Unfortunately there is no way to communicate with them if you have a problem. No phone number and no response to e-mails. So the salesman was able to provide Ian with a help number and finally last night he got it downloaded. We are driving down to London next week and just couldn't face the prospect of it without the aid of GPS. Little (not so little) Leslie arrived yesterday evening from Glasgow where he is attending the university. The four of us took a taxi into Cupar for a wonderful Indian dinner. Afterwards we finished the evening off with a nightcap at the Dairsie pub. Feels quite like home to Ian and I. This morning we are taking the train into Edinburgh to meet up with Pam for a day of browsing around and lunch at a place called the Dome. Leslie won't tell us much about it but it is supposed to be something quite unique. I'm looking forward to it and will tell you all about it when we get back. Talk to you later.

Back in Bonnie Scotland!!

Hello again! Well, so much for all the internet cafes in Paris. Although there is internet available everywhere they seem to expect you to have your own computer. And when they heard we didn't even have a cell phone!! I think they thought we were from another era. Oh yeah, I guess we are. Anyway, I can't say enough about Paris. From the minute the plane landed we felt that we were back in a civilized country. Ian said that he felt as if he just had a shower. The airport was clean, the bus was clean, the highways were clean, the sun was shining and people were friendly and polite. We got to our studio apartment and met with Jannick (our landlady). She was very friendly and full of advice, She had a book in the apartment that had information on everything that you could possibly want to know. There was a bus stop right in front of the apt., a ticket office half a block away, pubs, restaurants, metro and a wonderful outdoor market just around the corner. Our first afternoon we took a walk up to the Arc de Triomphe for some pictures and then through the market. Of course, our very first stop was a lovely pub just up the street. Ian was just dying for a pint. He ordered 2 pints and then the bartender pointed to a free table and tolds us to sit down and they would bring us our beer. When he put the beer in front of us the bill was there as well. Ian looked at the bill and said "6 euros--that's not so bad." He didn't have his glasses on. Unfortunately the bill was 16 euros. I wish I had the camera on his face when he heard that. It turns out that it's somewhat cheaper if you drink standing at the bar. The bartender nicknamed Ian Mr. Bigga Bigga. I thought it was pretty rude but after Ian got over his shock he found it quite funny. However we did not go back to that pub. The next pub we tried was much better. We made lots of new friends there and funnily enough the bill got to be less each time we went. I guess the locals get a better rate. We have always heard how expensive Paris is--and it is, but it can be done fairly reasonably. We took a page out of Ruth and Vince's book and stayed in the same place and used the market to feed ourselves most of the time. The fresh baguettes that everyone eats are delicious and reasonably priced. We went out for dinner twice for a treat. Our week in Paris was very full. We walked the Champs Elysee, which was amazing, went to the Eiffel Tower, also amazing, Invalides, where Napolean's tomb is , visited Luxembourgh and Tuilleries gardens, Notre Dame, the Grand and Petite Palaces , Sacre Coeur and so many other places. We walked our feet off. We also used the Metro which is so easy and efficient. Our last couple of days were some what slower because, for one thing, we were getting tired and for another we found we were getting overloaded. You can only take in so much. Anyway, I think Paris is somewhere everyone should visit if they can. In one week we only scratched the surface. We hope that we can go again some day. We will have lots of stories to tell when we get home. Paris is full of wonderful sights, interesting people as well as beggars, gypsies, pickpockets and scam artists. We met a few (hence a few stories). Although we had blue skies and sunshine every day that we were in Paris it was very cold. Everyone wore winter coats, hats, gloves and boots. I envied those women who could afford fur coats. Anyway we survived and had a wonderful time. And wouldn't you know, on our last day the temperature peaked at a lovely 22 degrees! On Tuesday, the 8th, we flew to Edinburgh, Scotland. Our flight arrived at about 9:40. It was dark, raining and blowing a gale. We knew that we were back in Scotland. We have never flown into Edinburgh before and we did not have a map so it was an interesting drive to Leslie's. But we finally made it and were happy to see Leslie again. It felt like coming home. Yesterday we reaquainted ourselves with St. Andrews again--ie. shopping at Tescos and a pint at the Central pub. We went for dinner last night at the Dairsie pub (fish and chips of course) with Les. Tomorrow night Leslie's son Leslie junior is arriving from Glasgow to spend the weekend with us. We'll start with Indian dinner in Cupar and then maybe ?? a day in Edinburgh. Anyway, I'm happy to be in touch again and will post regularly. Talk soon. Linda