Yet another week has past! We have spent the last week in Lower Normandy at a bed and breakfast called La Vieille Ferme. It is an 18th century farm turned into a small bed and breakfast with 5 rooms for occupation. Absolutely gorgeous. We were there on our second workaway and were nervous at first to meet another new family. They turned out to be awesome!! Su and Pete were super welcoming and the two children (Lily and George) were a blast. Our work consisted of cleaning rooms, ironing, and gardening. We are now masters at changing duvets! haha. They even took us out for one afternoon to Juno Beach and we had a picnic before going into the museum. It was amazing to stand on the beach where history was made. We learned a lot about french culture and even got to see a traditional french market. All the food is super fresh and some of the animals are still alive! You can also buy farm animals.
The biggest highlight was probably the table d'hotes. It is a 5 course dinner they serve starting at 8 and usually ending at 11. We all sit at one big table - "staff" and guests and enjoy an absolutely delicious meal prepared by Pete (dynamite chef/cook). We really cannot rave enough about how good it was. Sam is hooked on his chocolate mousse and ratatouille and Mike is addicted to Apple Creme Brule and pretty much everything else! Mhmm.
Again we were sad to leave since it felt like once we finally had a routine and were comfortable it was time to move on. At least the next destination is PARIS!! We hope that the Steven's family will come visit in Canada one day so that we may meet again.
More to come. xoxox miss you
Friday, August 26, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Towel Thief and the Red Light District
Heyo!
It has been quite a while since we have written a post - but that is because we have been busy travel bees! Berlin was really nice - the eastside gallery and the memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe along with checkpoint charlie and the Topography of Terror were the highlights. The weather was crappy and some a-hole stole one of our towels when it was hanging in the dorm. Mature? That was a ticker but the hostel was sympathetic and gave us free breakfast the following day and one of their towels. The German's seemed to not like speaking English - and since we knew no German - it was quite interesting at times trying to figure out where we were going. Here in Holland everyone is really friendly and it is a very welcoming atmosphere! The friday night that we returned from Berlin there was a birthday bash at the farm for some of the children's birthdays and graduations. It was really fun and the language barrier was not that difficult because Wilma is an amazing translator and some of them spoke english! Sunday Gerard took us to the cheese factory he works at and gave us the grand tour! It is amazing and produces mass amounts of cheese! Something like 4 tons in a couple hours. And the new factory is fully automated so humans are not touching the cheese. One of the neatest components is when the cheese is put in massive crates and lowered into brine by a massive crane. The brine is similar to a massive public swimming pool.
On Monday we headed to The Hague for the day! It was just under a 2.5 hours from Wilma's by train. The weather was gorgeous. After realizing we forgot the battery in the fancy camera we had to use what power was left in the mini camera to take photos for the day. We got to see the Peace Palace and the World Peace Flame. We spent a few hours in Madurodam - which is an attraction full of minature sites of the Netherlands in a 1:25 ratio. They had the big bridges, boats, the airport, train stations and famous historical buildings! Lastly we hit the beach! Wide beach with cool North Sea water and a lovely breeze. We did not want to leave and wandered along enjoying the sun.
Tuesday through Thursday we explored Amsterdam with Will. It is a gorgeous place. The canals are stunning and we spent some time just sitting along the edge. Mike's birthday was on wednesday so there was a night on the town! Good times. Of course we saw the red light district. We rented bikes on the tuesday and "lucky us" we got lost trying to return them and almost missed the closing deadline. It was probably comical for other people to watch - the frantic tourists rushing around crazily on bright red bikes.
The plan was originally to head to Belgium before going to Normandy this weekend where we have a workaway set up. However the train times were not lining up and it was going to be more stressful than enjoyable. So we have stayed an extra night at Wilma's and we head out early tomorrow morning for Normandy, France. We are hoping to be able to do Belguim later on in the trip if timing works out!
Wilma and Gerard have been amazing and we feel at home! We cannot thank them enough for everything in the past 2 weeks! We are incredibly lucky to have yet another amazing place to stay with fabulous people!
xoxoxox miss you all
It has been quite a while since we have written a post - but that is because we have been busy travel bees! Berlin was really nice - the eastside gallery and the memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe along with checkpoint charlie and the Topography of Terror were the highlights. The weather was crappy and some a-hole stole one of our towels when it was hanging in the dorm. Mature? That was a ticker but the hostel was sympathetic and gave us free breakfast the following day and one of their towels. The German's seemed to not like speaking English - and since we knew no German - it was quite interesting at times trying to figure out where we were going. Here in Holland everyone is really friendly and it is a very welcoming atmosphere! The friday night that we returned from Berlin there was a birthday bash at the farm for some of the children's birthdays and graduations. It was really fun and the language barrier was not that difficult because Wilma is an amazing translator and some of them spoke english! Sunday Gerard took us to the cheese factory he works at and gave us the grand tour! It is amazing and produces mass amounts of cheese! Something like 4 tons in a couple hours. And the new factory is fully automated so humans are not touching the cheese. One of the neatest components is when the cheese is put in massive crates and lowered into brine by a massive crane. The brine is similar to a massive public swimming pool.
On Monday we headed to The Hague for the day! It was just under a 2.5 hours from Wilma's by train. The weather was gorgeous. After realizing we forgot the battery in the fancy camera we had to use what power was left in the mini camera to take photos for the day. We got to see the Peace Palace and the World Peace Flame. We spent a few hours in Madurodam - which is an attraction full of minature sites of the Netherlands in a 1:25 ratio. They had the big bridges, boats, the airport, train stations and famous historical buildings! Lastly we hit the beach! Wide beach with cool North Sea water and a lovely breeze. We did not want to leave and wandered along enjoying the sun.
Tuesday through Thursday we explored Amsterdam with Will. It is a gorgeous place. The canals are stunning and we spent some time just sitting along the edge. Mike's birthday was on wednesday so there was a night on the town! Good times. Of course we saw the red light district. We rented bikes on the tuesday and "lucky us" we got lost trying to return them and almost missed the closing deadline. It was probably comical for other people to watch - the frantic tourists rushing around crazily on bright red bikes.
The plan was originally to head to Belgium before going to Normandy this weekend where we have a workaway set up. However the train times were not lining up and it was going to be more stressful than enjoyable. So we have stayed an extra night at Wilma's and we head out early tomorrow morning for Normandy, France. We are hoping to be able to do Belguim later on in the trip if timing works out!
Wilma and Gerard have been amazing and we feel at home! We cannot thank them enough for everything in the past 2 weeks! We are incredibly lucky to have yet another amazing place to stay with fabulous people!
xoxoxox miss you all
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Wooden Shoes
Hallo!
We are now in the Netherlands staying with Wilma and Gerard and having a great time. FINALLY driving is back on the right hand side of the road. We have to admit that this is the coldest weather we have experienced and our sweaters are getting some good use. Wilma has taken us out to the Canadian War Cemetry in Holten to pay our respects and also to the memorial of the concentration camp Westerbork. They were very touching sights and both makes you appreciate the lives we live. Some of the soldiers were under the age we are now! Brave souls.
For dinner tonight we had Dutch "chinese food" it tastes very different than at home but it is delicious. There is a thing called "peanut sauce"which is pretty tasty. After dinner we learned more about farming by watching Gerard and Wilma at work moving the huge bulls from one barn to another and loading a few others that were ready for the butchers.
Tomorrow we are Berlin bound until Friday! Super excited to explore Berlin and see the fallen wall and the beautiful city. We are a little nervous about the language barrier but are hoping we can tough it out!
Anyways time to pack and head to bed
Welterusten
We are now in the Netherlands staying with Wilma and Gerard and having a great time. FINALLY driving is back on the right hand side of the road. We have to admit that this is the coldest weather we have experienced and our sweaters are getting some good use. Wilma has taken us out to the Canadian War Cemetry in Holten to pay our respects and also to the memorial of the concentration camp Westerbork. They were very touching sights and both makes you appreciate the lives we live. Some of the soldiers were under the age we are now! Brave souls.
For dinner tonight we had Dutch "chinese food" it tastes very different than at home but it is delicious. There is a thing called "peanut sauce"which is pretty tasty. After dinner we learned more about farming by watching Gerard and Wilma at work moving the huge bulls from one barn to another and loading a few others that were ready for the butchers.
Tomorrow we are Berlin bound until Friday! Super excited to explore Berlin and see the fallen wall and the beautiful city. We are a little nervous about the language barrier but are hoping we can tough it out!
Anyways time to pack and head to bed
Welterusten
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Climax
It has been a while since we have updated on our adventures! We are currently on a train in the Netherlands bound for Slagharen to visit Wilma. We took a brand new Stena Line ferry across from the UK last night and we stayed in a 2-berth cabin which was really neat.. We are sad to leave Tim and Katie in Edinburgh since we were having such a blast!! Just for Tim we put the title of our blog as "climax" because he claims the trip cannot get any better after being in Scotland. Last Sunday the four of us headed up to St.Andrews for the day and toured the golf courses and ate lunch on the beach. Tim and Mike had a bet in which Mike went into the North Sea river in exchange for a beer. The temperature is estimated between 10-14 C. Brrr. Monday through Wednesday we got to experience the Highlands while touring with Haggis Adventures and it was definitely a success - we met some great people and had a couple really fun nights! It was our first hostel experience and lets just say Sam hates people who snore. The one morning was a little rough due to alcohol consumption but we managed haha. Thursday we trained to Glasgow for the day and ended up spending most of our time in their Science museum which is completely hands on! With a computer generator we had a chance to view what we would "look like" as a monkey, old man/woman, child, opposite sex, cartoon, African american, Asian etc. Of course we took photos which are hilarious. Mike is a good looking African American and Sam looks hilarious as a man. Friday we went into Edinburgh on the Royal Mile to experience the Fringe Festival. The street was packed with performers and people giving away fliers to their shows. We just walked down the mile collecting papers shoved at us - emptied them into the recycling at the end - before turning around and doing it all again. We saw some entertaining acts from the traditional statues, uni-cycles, juggling to the more bizzare including people in morph suits and a man with the Guinness world record number of elastic bands on his face. We ended the night with a bang - delicious dinner and drinks with Tim and Katie! It is almost time to switch trains so off we go! We send our love and miss everyone back home.
OH and we do have a cellphone now - unfortunately we did not get the waterproof one since the shipping took too long. But we are back in business!
OH and we do have a cellphone now - unfortunately we did not get the waterproof one since the shipping took too long. But we are back in business!
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