PIC-POST: A quick overview so far of our trip from Ireland on

There are so many pics that i will have to leave out in this post for time's sake but here are a few of each place we have seen from Ireland on.


After our time in Ireland, we flew to Holland and spent four or so wonderfull days with our old and dear friend Marieke. We met up with a few of her friends as well. I got on great with the dutch boys and was treated to a match in the top division while there. They were all such great guys and even after only four days there, it was easy to see myself enjoying many more someday. Ailsa and I loved our Holland experience.



We rode these Dutch bikes (or old people bikes as we call them) to the Eredivisie match, stopping at the dutch equivelent of a "chippy" in england or "fast food joint" in america.






A few pics from Copenhagen
Bottom left is a typical bakery in denmark. soooooo tempting...all the time.














FINLAND

In Finland there are little tents where you can find yourself some of the strongest coffee in the world as well as traditional meat pastries.

here is a pic of a McMenu in finland. the coffee looking drink on the right is great. fins make wonderful coffee, even at macdonalds, and then put ice cream in it. taking that back with me, baby.





Pics of our ferry experience from Stockholm, Sweden to Helskinki, Finland and back. We got our own cabin with a shower that was free with our Eurail pass, which we loved.

The russian acrobats above were impressive but i couldn`t leave out the Finnish entertainer who, along with his russian counterparts, gave us all the cheesy entertainment we would need.


Pics of Stockholm. Not impressed with the swedish hotdog.

This is the typical building in Old Stockholm. I could not get enough of the colors and textures they used.

You really had to see the guy below to believe him. He was awesome. I think he was either very drunk or on a field trip from the mental hospital. I will try to post a video of it at the bottom but it may not work as they have been acting up recently...


From stockholm we went to see my norge family. I included that whole story with pictures and all a few postings down if you missed it. However, this is right after that on the west coast of Norway. This is another pic of Bergen, Norway. I really should have bought the coolest hat i have ever seen here, but i didn't. Interesting fact.
The train up near the fjords in Norway. This is the little mountain town of Myrdal. From here we went to visit some more friends.



My good buddy and old roommate in south africa, shaggy. we are posing in the traditional norge way here. i overdid it a bit. This was our last night in wonderful norway. Thank you Andreas and Mona for taking us in. We had a fabulous time and can't wait to see you again.TRAINS. Next, after our generous host and old friend of mine, Rachel put us up in her pad in Copenhagen, we made a last minute decision to do a night train all the way from Copenhagen to Vienna so that we could have some time with our good friend, Luzie in Austria before she left for Eastern Germany (where we would later meet her as well). These train tickets are great. Because they give you the option of sleeping while you journey somewhere, it makes more sense to jump long distances and arrive in new counties early in the morning for a full day to see all you want. The pic below is of one of our favorite first class coaches yet - we had our own silent room with all the peanuts and coffee you want. However, after the ferry ride from Denmark to Germany, Ailsa got on the train but i did not. I had to literally run after it and catch it about 200 meters from the ferry dock.
My first Bavarian beer, Hefeweizen or Wies Bier. We have been playing a lot of cards. So far, though more talented in truth, i am losing by one match to my wife.
beautiful fake tree in the train station in frankfurt
our night train to vienna. the seats are like hidabeds and fold out into cool mattresses. forgot to take a pic of that but have a video clip i show you later.

Wien, Austria with our dear friend, Luzie. I love taking night shots.



The weekly baby pic.

Next, we made a last minute decision to see Budapest and were so glad that we did. The below pic is of Ailsa's sister office, Remax of Budapest.



KILLER TURKISH STYLE BATHS

We had an afternoon in Munich and found a great beer garten there. It looked like Santa' house from the outside. The wies bier was out of this world.
I only included a couple pictures of our three days in Berlin. I took poor photos there. This one below is a recently built holocaust memorial right in the middle of Berlin.

We had a very relaxing time with our friend Luzie's family in Leipzig. Thank you so much.




This is a video of the crazy busker i have a pic of way up above. This was in stockholm...he was making a fair bit of money for his effort. I hope this video works...


WE HAVE BEEN SLEEPING, EATING AND LEARNING DEUTSCH THESE LAST FOUR DAYS IN LEIPZIG. WE WERE BLESSED WITH A FREE ULTRA-SOUND FROM A RELATIVE OF LUZIE'S TODAY AND THE BABY IS STILL DOING BEAUTIFULLY. LUZIE AND HER FAMILY HAVE REALLY BLOWN US AWAY WITH THEIR HOSPITALITY. AMAZING.

AILSA RECENTLY GOT A 24 HOUR FLU BUG AND IS RECOVERING FROM THAT AS WELL. WE HAVE CHANGED PLANS AGAIN AND MUST LEAVE PRAGUE BEHIND AS THE GERMAN TRAIN WORKERS WENT ON STRIKE AND HAVE FOILED OUR PLANS. HOWEVER, WE ARE EXCITED FOR THE NEXT STAGE OF OUR JOURNEY: THE MEDDITERANIAN VIA SWITZERLAND. SO, TOMORROW WE CATCH A SLEEPER TRAIN TO ZURICH. I CAN NOT WAIT TO SEE SWITZERLAND AGAIN. GOD HAS CREATED SUCH A BREATHTAKING WORLD AND HE IS FOUND IN HIS CREATION. I LIKE TO THINK OF ALL THESE VARYING LANDSCAPES BETWEEN ALASKA AND GERMANY AS LITTLE GLIMMERS INTO HIS PERSONALITY.

FYI, THOUGH MOST MAY KNOW BY NOW, THE MAP TO THE RIGHT OF THESE POSTS CAN BE ENLARGED AND YOU CAN CLICK ON EVERY LINE AND FLAG TO SEE TINY DETAILS REGARDING EACH LEG OF THE TRIP. THIS WILL BE SOMETHING THAT I WILL TRY TO KEEP MORE UP TO DATE.

take care everyone.