Dance

SORRY FOR NOT FINISHING THIS THING

2008-03-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO FINISH THIS BLOG FOR A LONG WHILE NOW. I WILL EVENTUALLY, BUT UNTIL THEN, YOU CAN BROWSE THROUGH MORE PICS AT facebook.com. here is the direct link. you may have to sign up to view them. if that doesn't work, try to search for my profile. in search on facebook.com, type "tysonhall@hotmail.com" or " tyson hall"

here is the link to the photos. they are not all on yet as it is a work in progress:

http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=714630870

Some visuals: Rome to Lisbon, Portugal

2007-12-21T04:22:00.000-08:00

I WILL BE WORKING ON THIS POSTING TO MAKE IT BETTER. IE: ADDING COMMENTARY TO THE PHOTOS AND JUST ADDING MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS.

The computer at our hotel stopped working halfway through putting these picks up so i will have to finish later.
I also don't have time to add commentary to these photos but hopefully most of them speak for themself. There is a text summary below this photo post that explains many of these photos if you didn't catch that a couple days ago.
I will add some more videos when i finish putting up pictures next time, too.

I wrote and started this post in Barcelona about 2 weeks ago. I am going to either add to it or finish it with another seperate posting but I thought that i would at least put our what i have now just so something is up on the site. I am going to put some really cool videoS of the Liverpool / Marseille game back on December 11th.

Hope all you fine people are just great.
Have to go now but I will finish this travel blog properly later. Bye for now.

THIS IS A GREAT 'PIC' OF THE INSIDE OF THE ALHAMRA IN GRANADA, SPAIN
IF THIS VIDEO DOESN'T WORK I WILL BE SURE TO INCLUDE IT IN THE NEXT POST, PART 2 OF THIS POSTING.

Summary (text) from Sicily to Spain/Portugal

2007-12-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

we are in barcelona, spain...again.

liverpool just lost to my most unfavorite, chelsea football club. however, i write, though, am not impressed.

where i left you last time: we had such a mind blowing time in sicily and went from there on an overnight train to rome, where we had a rockin' day of ruin-seeing and stuff. after that we decided to take another overnight train back to the southeast, where we caught a train to amalfi. from the amalfi coast in italy we zipped as fast as possible to marseille, where we were fortunate enough to get tickets to the liverpool match (i bought mine for a 'fair' street price and ailsa's were given to her by a few scousers that were about to enter the match and a had a few $150 tickets handy). the amalfi coast was beautiful but we couldn't find fair accomodations for the night and, honestly, we were ready to leave italy.
italy is a beautiful country and there isn't anyone in the world that could convince me otherwise...however, like 11 years ago when i visited, i felt this country is far too intense. wherever you go, there are speakers blarring something in an accent that makes you go mad. they are so loud! to me, every rail ticket agent seemed to wish i would just die on the spot, or be anywhere but in front of them. all in all, it was worth the beauty of the place, but, man, they are intense...and, overall, just very rude (with a few sicilian exceptions...see previous post).
so, marseille was fantastic. we got into the game of a lifetime in liverpool vs marseille and screemed like little girls (well, i did). i found it kinda hard to focus in the beginnning of the match because the liverpool fans were a bit rowdy and i found myself acting as a shield for the (more pregnant by the day) wife. liverpool absolutely dominated the match and it was more than i could ask for. i met more than a few scousers, who were very pleasant and fed my wife chocolate, which was nice. i was not able to capture the match on my camera as i wished. the reason, i have demised, is due to me plainly losing my head. i just freaked out. it actually took all my effort to just focus my eyes on the match in front of me let alone take pictures of it. some of you understand my affection for liverpool f.c. and so understand how i could enter into such a state of emotionalism. others will just have to take my word for it, i was all a glorious mess.
after marseille, we were VERY anxious to get to spain. spain is a country that i have, since the teen years, always wished to visit. however, when i lived a couple years here in europe (england) i never had the funds or the time to make it that far south. so, naturally, i was so very excited to cross this particular border. our intention was to get into barcelona in time to attend the footy match between barcelona and stuttgardt. however, because of an unfortunate accident, our train was delayed and we missed the match by 1/2 an hour. we thouroughly enjoyed our time in barca, however, though we only spent one night and two days there. from there we took an overnight train south to granada. granada was excellent...especially the hostel we stayed at. we happened to catch them on one of the four nights where they cooked fabulous ethnic meals for their guests. the night we arrived was 'spanish' night and we had the most delicious roasted red pepper soup, potatoes (YES!!!) and all the sea-food paella we could eat. there was a japanese lad at the hosel that ate (no exaggeration) 4 heaping plates of it. i only managed a meager two.
after a night and two days there, we decided to head west instead of south to the coast, and made our way to portugal, via an overnight train (of course). once we arrived in lisbon, we made it our main objective to find an english/irish pub that would be showing the liverpool/man utd. and arsenal/chelsea matches. once that objective was accomplished, we left our bags with a jolly irishman and explored the city of lisbon. our original intention was to head to the south coast of portugal after the liverpool match, but after watching one match and filling our bellies with a few chips we decided to stay in lisbon a bit longer, miss the train to the south and catch the arsenal/chelsea match. after a dissapointing loss for liverpool to the much despised manchester united, and having realized that there were no other trains to the south of portugal, we caught a train west to the little town of sintra. in sintra, we found little castles dotted all over the landscape and also found our beds, for which we were grateful to snuggle into. the next morning, after a bit of sightseeing, me and the wife had a chat. this came about because we both had a look at a calender and were shocked by the reality of just how close we were to the end of our two month train adventure. in our eyes, we had two options. either we headed towards south portugal and found some place to rest for the last 5 days of our trip or we went to our favorite spot yet for 5 days to rest. the decision was easy. we immediately set off again for barcelona, spain. we both fell in love with barcelona the moment we set foot upon it. the people and culture made a connection with us that none of the, however many, cities had done yet, and it just felt right to go back. granada was excellent, but barcelona was just grand and romantic. portugal was wonderful but we realized there that it was time to stop and rest and so it will have to wait to be thouroughly checked some other time.
and so, we are back in barcelona. we have booked our first hotel, for three fabulous nights and we are doing nothing but sleeping in, eating our free breakfast, shopping for christmas presents throughout this WONDERFUL city, watching footy at night and eating TAPAS consistenly.
we have realized, just in the last day, that we have been like machines these last 2 months. we have seen so much. however, while we have most assuredly 'kicked europe's arse', we have yet to just relax in one place together for more than three days at a time. we feel priveledged to do this here in barcelona. it is indeed a proper finish to our adventure.
we love it so much here, in fact, that i have already gone to one of the TESL (teaching english as a second language) schools here and inquired about employment. it would serve as (at least) one decent winter of work and an opportunity to finish learning spanish. i obtained my TESL certificate in college as a minor and have always wished to use it. barcelona is perfect. we ablsolutely love it here. when i post pictures in the next post i will put one of the local market here. the colors are so vivid with fruit and veg that they look as if they are water-colors. the peopel are...NICE. the city is buzzing. there is sure to be quality football to play (if i can ever get back into shape) and to watch (barcelona's messi and ronaldinho!!) the food is incredible and i am sure there is, somewhere, a quality group of lads for myself and women for my misses to be found. but, i digress. i, am of course, just buzzing from my travels and can't say enough, in particular, about barcelona. we will leave here in two days, where we will catch an overnighter to paris and then go on to london for a much anticipated christmas with ailsa's english family.
we are already feeling both sad and excited about what is next. sad, because it means an end to one of the most wonderful experiences of our lives and excited because it means we are another day closer to seeing our families again and sharing the birth or our little boy or girl with them. we conclude our three months in europe on january 10. we will be flying to halifax and spending almost two weeks with our family in new brunswick before heading to seattle, hanging with our pals ray and jessica, pav and danielle and my cousin colby and his girlfriend, heather (we may even see seth and amy...maybe X), picking up our weiner of a dog and then heading to spokane, washington so my wife can nest away until the baby comes. she is HUGE, by the way (that pic will be included in the 'pic-post' to come). after that, all will be normal. well, as normal as child rearing can be.

the next post (quite possibly tomorrow or the next, since i have computer access) will have a thourough display of pictorial thumbnails (& relevant commentary) for your browsing bemusement. in fact, i will most likely feel compelled to include pictures from switzerland to where we are now so be prepared.

love to you all,

ty and ailsa

A Sicilian adventour and other tidbits

2007-12-13T00:55:00.000-08:00

i am always about a week late in my postings. ailsa is in charge of our written journal and is also a week late with that. when you enter a new place every few days it begins to get a bit overwhelming. i kind of feel like i should write about what has happened since greece but i do not feel i could do it properly without more time on a computer. so, i will have to play catch up later and give you a quick summary.

the day we got back from greece and back into bari, in the south-east of italy, we took a night train to milan and made our way to cinque terre on the somewhat north-west coast of italy. wonderful couple of days there, hiking and eating. 'have to move on...i will write more about that extrodinary place when i put pics of it up. i want to post our time in sicily first while is is still somewhat fresh. my apologies ahead of time if i get a little too detailed and then panic finish with out telling you the whole story.

from cinque terre we took a night train to sicily, where we had our most suprising experience yet. when we got into messina, we had to decide where in sicily to go first. palermo was too big so that was out for now. we liked the sound of syracuse but wanted to take care of our urge to see the eolie islands first since they were so close to messina anyway. so, we made our way to milazzo to catch our boat to lipari the main island in the group. while waiting for the bus to the port we met this sicilian man who was running around intently, searching for means to the docks. well, he found a car and yelled at me to come get in. i usually am very suspicious of anything and anyone who offers me anything when i am traveling as there is always a catch...however, when i asked the man how much he replied with the phrase that we would soon learn was his mantra, "don't worry, beee happy!!". so we got in the car.

at the ferry, i offered to chip in for the car but he again said, "don't worry, be happy!". i said, "ok". we offered our sincere thanks for his kindness and made our way in search of tickets to the islands. well, to make a long story a little shorter, we soon learned that tickets to the islands were more than twice what we read they were supposed to be. a bit dejected, we made our way to the nearest cafe/pub and began to reformulate our plans for sicily. as we were about to leave for the train station, this man said, "hello again!". it was mr. happy. when i stepped out to get some money, he learned that i was from alaska. this fact seemed to make him even more excited and we learned in short order that the island of lipari is one of his homes and that he wished to buy our tickets to lipari. again deflating my arguments with his mantra, i gave in and we made our way to the islands. marco, as we learned, is a direct decendant of the first family to come to these islands. i was happy to be marco's show and tell doll for the first couple days in lipari. he would often just look at me, give a huge sigh and say, very slowly and passionately, "aaahlaskaaa. you are from...ahlaaaska". alaska is somewhere that marco has wished to visit for a very long time and we hope he comes and takes up the role of the honored guest he made us feel like while on his island. marco put us in a hotel for two nights, treated us to the most wonderful meals every day of pastas, cheeses and fiorentine steaks and - the most beautiful experience yet - after the biggest bowl of mussels and clams i have seen, marco told the waiter to bring out a bottle of wine. he poured it into this massive decanter, set it on the table next to us and we began to stare and talk about it for the 45 minutes it breathed. though i have had my fair share and have tried the wines of quite a few other countries, i know that i am no wine connoisseur, so this is not the most shocking statement, but that wine was, without a doubt, the best i have ever tasted. instant chocolate, finishing with thick, skull filling, fruity aromas that demand to linger inside your top half before giving way to the next dose. when i told him that i had to buy a bottle and take it home he looked aghast, and said, "no,no,no,no,no, that is no good tyyyyson." apparently, even shaking the wine in the bottle will alter the beautiful taste, nullifying its wonderful qualities. it was far too expensive anyway...
i have gone off enough on this story. there is more to say but i just do not of the time. we thoroughly enjoyed our experiences in sicily and will be going back. this computer will not allow me to post pics so i will have to play catch up with that as well.
when i write again, i will catch up on our remaining time in italy, including rome, a quick visit to the amalfi coast, camping and hiking along the villages - literally made from the mountains - on the border of italy and france and our loaned, fine dinning experience. finally, i will have to dedicate sufficient time - which, sadly, i don't have at the moment - to the most recent miracle, the night we saw liverpool play. and play they did!!
we have felt so overwhelmed, so blessed and so thankful for the doors that have been opened and the protection we have felt over us and the growing baby during these last two months. we attribute all of this to the One who watches and loves on us where ever we are in life and with all of his beautiful creation.
and so we are in spain right now. this is my first time here, a country i have wished to visit my entire life but could never quite reach. i already have the lurking feeling that i did not set aside enough time for here and portugal but you won't hear me complaining.
this is one of our rare hostel visits and that is why i am able to write. before this trip ends i will but up a menagerie of photos and their explanations.

the map to the upper right of this page is also updated.

talk with ya later.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK -
context: ailsa and ty getting up from bed after another sleeper train... AILSA, AS SHE SITS UP OUT OF BED: "ooo, ouch!!" TYSON, WITH A PANIC LOOK ON HIS FACE: "what! what is it!?" AILSA'S SLEEPY FACE COMES BACK ON AND SHE SEEMS FINE: "oh, nothing...just another kick to the uterus".
THE 'NORMAL' LIFE OF A WORLD TRAVELING PREGNANT WOMAN. MY HERO AND LOVE!!! SHE IS TRULY ONE UNBELIEVABLE WOMAN. ALONG WITH OUR BABY, SHE HAS CARRIED ME THROUGH MANY OF OUR MORE CHALLENGING EVENTS DURING THIS ADVENTURE.

VIDEO THAT DIDN'T WORK IN BELOW POST

2007-12-04T16:21:00.001-08:00

I JUST POSTED SOMETHING BELOW THIS BUT THIS IS THE OTHER VIDEO I WANTED TO POST THAT DID NOT WORK BELOW. I LOVE THIS ONE. I WAS VERY TIRED WHEN I MADE THIS BUT VERY HAPPY. I HAVE CONCENTRATED ON MAKING MANY MORE VIDEOS ON THE SECOND HALF OF THIS TRIP AND I WILL TRY TO POST THEM WHEN POSSIBLE. CIAO, A SORETA.

Quick pics of Greece

2007-12-04T09:39:00.000-08:00

WE ARE IN SICILY HAVING -I THINK, YES- THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF OUR TRIP SO FAR. I CAN NOT WRITE TOO MUCH NOW BUT CAN ONLY PUT A FEW PICS AND MAYBE SOME VIDEOS IF THEY WORK. I REALLY WANT TO SHARE OUR TIME IN GREECE, CINQUE E TERRRE AND ESPECIALLY SICILY WITH YOU SO I WILL REALLY TRY TO WRITE MORE SOON. ALL IS WELL AND THE BABY IS GASTRO-DANCING. MI AMORE, TY AND AILSA

We had a lovely time here, waking up to the best breakfast we have had thus far.

quick post from Nafplion, Greece - wowzy wowow

2007-11-26T01:49:00.000-08:00

i am going to have to write very fast as i only have 30 minutes on this computer..

we have entered a new world on the second month of this trip, leaving the snow of switzerland and entering the perfect temperatures of greece (when we went out last night, i was in my t-shirt the whole time!). since leipzig, we did two days of scenic trains in switzerland, which blew our minds. we camped in in the mountains in interlaken, watched england blow it in the croatia footy match.
we cruised down to venice and taken many megabits of photos and spent the day exploring there. we have taken an overnight train from venice to bari, on the heal of italy, and explored that town before catching an overnight ferry to patras, greece. we got in to nafplion yesterday and found our campsite on the beach. it is heavenly here. we woke up to the sun and came down to the white stone old town for a very nicely priced breakfast.
we are enjoying for the moment the warm temperatures and cheaper prices and have decided to stay on the beach until we are ready to make our way to the greek islands. after writing this, we will be hiking up a mountain to an ancient fortress that overlooks the mediteranian and this stunning city.
because we took our time enjoying germany and are now deciding to take our time here in greece we have decided to forfeit our planned trip to istanbul. i have a feeling this last month will take on its own shape and ignore any structure i attempted to put into it with all my research and scheduling. in truth, that is what we expected and we are excited to see what happens next.

12 minutes later...

was only able to do a couple pics.... more later

love you all and hope all is well.

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

2007-11-19T14:47:00.001-08:00

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.

a short hello

2007-11-18T16:56:00.000-08:00

hello again. we are in leipzig, germany and, since talking to ya last, have been down to vienna, austria / budapest, hungary / berlin, germany(via munich) in that order. we are with our friend luzie at her family's house. i am writing to say that all night tonight i have been trying to get to this computer but have gotten caught up in so many discussions on my way here and now find it to be 2 am and i am beat. so, i have to write tomorrow because we leave soon after and i don't know when i will be at a computer again after.

also wanted to add that i have updated the map to the right, which does have a few comments. the next post will have many pictures as i feel way behind in that department.

Pictures

2007-11-07T17:27:00.001-08:00

i have more pics to put up but here are a few. I fell asleep and could't finish.

pics of Stockholm, our favorite city thus far

This was one of the coolest restaraunts we've ever been into in Stockholm, Sweden
One of the coolest travellers we have run into so far, this is Seyeon from South Korea, who has the same two month train pass as us. We met her in Oslo and then later in Bergen. Hope we can meet again.
Old alley in Bergen, Norway Norweigen Macdonalds at 3 in the morning. The Viking comes out in these people during the weekends. They absolutely destroyed this Macdonalds Up in the mountains near Bergen, Norway
Here is a video clip of the family in Norway saying hi to the family in America

At those giant's causewayZ Had good laughs with our friends, Bry and Bre. Hope we can have a good season, the all of us hangin' someday.

In Norge, playing catch up

2007-11-06T17:10:00.000-08:00

ACHTUNG!!: THIS IS A LONG POST. SO EITHER STRAP ON YO' SEAT BELT AND GIVE YOURSELF SOME TIME OR TAKE IT IN CHUNKS THROUGHOUT YOUR WEEK. or just enjoy the perty pictures right now.

Here is a pic of the fish and chip shop we resorted to on our fourth wedding anniversary. The food was great but the owner was a ultra loyal Man. United fan, which was too bad for him. Don't worry, we more than made up for it with an amazing meal in Stockholm. Although this was quite a dissapointing meal for an anniversary, we had to laugh together as we have had four very unique anniversaries in a row now...

well, we have really enjoyed this time in Scandinavia. Right now, we are on thê south coast of norway visiting my old room-mate, Shaggy as well as his wife, Mona and their children, Lisa and Mathias. Tonight, i PROMISED myself that i would update the blog. i think i found a way to get pics on again so i'll do that in this post, too....(UPDATED LATER: AFTER WRITING THIS POST, IT IS QUITE LATE AND I HAVE NO ENERGY LEFT TO PUT A BUNCH OF PHOTOS ON IT. SO, INSTEAD, I WILL DO A PHOTO ONLY POSTING TOMORROW BEFORE WE LEAVE THIS FREE INTERNET ACCESS.)

Ailsa will be writing of our trip from her opinion tomorrow, but i wanted to put in a little time and talk a bit about our lovely visit with my distant family in the region of Lunner, Norway and in the SALTSYREDALEN (saltacid valley...). Back in 1997 i made a phone call to Kari Broten, a distant cousin of my Grandma Doris' and asked if i could spend Christmas with her and my 'long, lost family'. well, being a bit naive and just a bit of a git, i succeded in of course scaring her, as she didn't speak english as well as now and was just confused as to what i was about and who i was. they did, after contacting my grandma, figure out who i was and wrote me a nice letter of formal invitation to Christmas but i had already made christmas plans in Denmark, so was unable to make it. Needless to say, i was overjoyed to see that hear back from them in a much more positive way when i contacted them this time. The man who i first made the contact with this time 'round is Viggo Brothen, a gotee wearin', drum playin', very funny fellow, who has unfortunately contracted VEÅSJUKEN (the wood sickness), a disease that causes fits of uncontrollable wood chopping. When he picked us up from the train station i had only given him an hour, if that, notice that we were actually on our way (we found ourselves a bit ahead of schedule). It was so great of them to come get us at the early hour of 9 AM! and it was his day off too!! it was lovely to be finally be greeted by family i have heard so much about in the last decade or so. My uncle Doug, Aunt Vickie, Grandma Doris went to visit this family back in '88, so it had been a while since they had seen a Hall. It takes a bit of time to recover, after all.
Before i talk of some of the wonderful day we had there i will give you a quick background. You see, my grandma, probably one of the most determined and sweetest people in the world tracked this family down in Norway after 14 years of looking. She has just recently written a book on the subject, which i am now quite eager to read after seeing the family myself. In a nutshell (tell me if i get this wrong Grandma), my Grandma's father, Sigvart Marius Wilhelmsen left Norway when he was only 17 for reasons still unknown. There he later met his Swedish wife and had a handfull of children, one being my awesome grandma. Well, Sigvart decided to change his last name to Burch and hide the fact that he came from Norway. He never told his children and possibly even his wife that he had come from Norway or that his real last name was Wilhelmsen. In fact, when his children asked where their grandparents were he took them to a grave site that had the two last names 'Burch' on the tombstones and said they lay there. It was only many years after her father passed on that Grandman Doris found her father's old bible and the name Sigvart Marius WILHELMSEN written on the inside cover. This got our grandma a bit curious and she tracked down her dad's name in a list of people that had taken a boat across the atlantic into New York. She then spent many years trying to write and unearth the location of Mr. Wilhelmsen's real family. Well, she did. They live in the small village of Lunner, about an hour or so north of Oslo. What an amazing piece of effort from grandma. Even though she doesn't have all of the answers, such as to the mystery of why her father would not talk of Norway, she has found family in Norway!! Hopefully the rest will be discovered in time...
So, after being introduced to Viggo, Kari and Viggo's great girlfriend, Åsta, we sat down to a lovely Norweigen breakfast of BRUNDST (brown cheese), fresh bread, meats, juice and amazing, strong, black coffee. We were blown away by the hospitality!! They took us around the little town, we got to see a school burn down and the highlight of the day, we went to the ruins of SIGVART'S home in FURUSET where he grew up. I stood there on top of the crumbled, moss covered, rock walls of a little cottage where, essentially, i was concieved. We all did. It was quite a huge moment for me and i don't think i was able to take it all in.
After climbing the fences back to the car (Kari, who is in her seventies, was so impressive, hopping over fences like she was 15 years old!) we went back to the house and had a great chat over some coffee and then went to fiest at Kari and Alf's home. WE HAD SOOOO MUCH GOOD FOOD!! I was humming and ahhing like i was standing in front of the Taj Mahal the food was so good. Kari is an amazing cook and i could really get used to that Norweigen food. We had pork meatballs, POTATOES, sauteed mushrooms, some of the best brocoli i've ever had and a nice Danish beer to wash it all down. For desert (the first of two) we had _____________ berries (i forgot the name!!) with whipped cream. So nice! Unbeknownst to myself we were to soon find ourselves in front of another desert of special Norweigen cake, and the creamiest ice cream ever with, again, wonderfully strong, black coffee. As full as i was (and i was bursting) i couldn't stop eating. :)
We finished the evenning chatting over a beer and talking about the many differences in our countries and cultures. Viggo and Åsta stayed up until 2 am when they took us to the train station to catch our overnight train to the south coast. They all were so nice and hospitable to us and if you are reading this, my family, then i will reiterate that you must come to Alaska so we can attempt to return your gift of hospitality. The hot-tub is waiting for you!!
HERE ARE A COUPLE PHOTOS OF THAT TIME:
This is the family tree that Viggo has been working on. I am able to zoom in on it and see my name next to Chad, Colby, Kristin and the rest of us cousins. Whoa.
Here, we are holding pieces of the actual frame of the cottage where my great, great grandma and grandpa lived.
Here is a picture of the next generation the great, great, great grandchild of the owners of this once fine cottage. I am holding a piece of rock from the foundation and a piece of brick from the wall, which i hope to mix into the actual foundation of our future home in homer alaska or wherever it may be. :)

I can't say enough good things about the food...'stupendous', 'super-great'...'ultra-deliciouso'...

LAST GOODBYES

There is my trip highlight for you. What a wonderful time it was.
This whole endevour has been such a relaxing and pleasant journey together. i have been driving Ailsa crazy as i've been taking mass amounts of pictures. It's just that every city, little town or bits of nature we visit have so many beautiful little pieces to capture. The last time i wrote, we were just above Goteborg, Sweden in a little village called Restenas visiting a friend of mine and his family. Well, after a nice rest and visit there we trained to Stockholm for the purpose of catching an overnight ferry to Helsinki. The nice thing about buying the Eurail pass is that most of the travel occurs during the night, which means your accomidation if taken care of and you spend your evennings getting to the places you wish to see. This has enabled us to see a whole heck of a lot in short periods of time. The ferry to Helsinki takes about 11 hours or so. We were given a cabin with a shower and bed to share, which was a very nice change from sleeping on trains...a bit of a gentler rock to sleep. The ferry had all the cheezy, finnish and russian entertainment you could want, as well as loads of food, a movie theater, free video games, a waterslide and sauna. The nice thing about international waters is the tax free shopping you can do. And because all of Scandinavia puts a whopping 25% tax on all goods sold, this is where were able to see some somewhat reasonable pricing. Beer was finally an option again, but since we only have one hiking backpack now and it's on my shoulders i opted to get the essential ingredient for irish coffee for those cold fall evennings: a little bottle of Jamison. This has proved to be just the ticket when we stumble in to the many cozy coffee shops that have been found all throughout Scandinavia.
I'll let Ailsa talk about the details of all the places we've seen so far but i have to share a few of those details from my viewpoint. Again, i go to beer, an object that has helped me measure how expensive it really is here in Scaninavia. Skipping ahead a bit, just a few days ago, we were walking through a city in Western Norway and we noticed a menu outside of a recognizable chain, T.G.I. Fridays. Upon closer inspection we noticed that they served a beer of very ill repute among myself and fellow beer snobbs, Budweiser. 'Bud', as it's called even here now, has become much more popular since my last visit throughout Europe, something that i am very disheartened about. Back to the point. Bud in Bergen, Norway costs 61 Norweigen Krones. There are 5.39 Krones in 1 American dollar. This means, are you ready for this, that one bottle of ugly, stinky, similar-to-urine-looking 'Bud' costs $11.3172542!!!!!!!!!!!!! Truly shocking. I still keep thinking i have done that math wrong somehow...have i? No, i haven't...it's just the brutal truth. A few more facts about beautiful Norway: Nachos at TGI Fridays: $30 (with meat, $35). A milkshake: $15. The most expensive countries in Scandinavia in descending order: Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden.
So, how are we surviving, you are most likely muttering to yourselves... We buy wonderful bread, meats, cheeses, yoghurt and muesli at grocery stores for a much more reasonable price. We have learned (from our friends and family in Scandinavia) that most people here never go out for dinner but bring their food home. Ailsa's vegitables are taken in powder form in her drinks and she has a regimine of three different vitimins she takes daily.
So, in our opinion, we eat very well and sleep just fine...but i'm sure our way of traveling may not be everyone's cup of tea. Many people we have talked to about this particular trip told us to prepare to allot mass amounts of money for our two months of wondering around expensive Europe. While we have budgeted a generous amount for our spending (in our opinion) it is nothing close to what we were told to save. Of course, it really matters how you wish to see Europe, or any place you travel for that matter. I used to travel quite a bit about a decade or more now and i find that i have again adopted a very similar, but pregnancy version of traveling Europe. In my, probably over-simplified opinion, i think there are two types of travelers. If you are the more touristy type that must see and eat at every place that the guide books talk about, then prepare to break the bank...and i agree, you will have a blast doing so. But if you are able to fully experience a new environment, wherever it may be, by people watching, waiting for those chance encounters with the locals that always come or sitting at some eclectic caffe that looks like it grew out of the ancient stone street it sits on with an espresso, maybe a rolly and your journal, i think you will be suprised by how little money you will need to save for your adventure. i hope you understand that i'm not saying that our methods of traveling (being the latter) are any better anyone else's, including the person who must see it all and doesn't care about the cost. In fact, we often chat about just how much fun we would have with an unlimited budget (i think we would spend it all on the copious amounts of beatiful food we have seen!!). It's just that we find with traveling, just as with ordinary life (but on a much bigger scale), you can't buy your hapiness, even if you can have a lot more fun. Though that sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, i'm just saying that it's all relative and a matter of perspective. We are having the time of our lives and really spending not much at all. We have also found that, when we splurge, (which we have now on one occasion so far, on a fancy dinner out in our fav city of Stockholm) we appreciate it soooo very much, because these events are few and far between. Everyone is different, i just wanted to make some different comments on this thing other than the normal day to day journal layout i've stuck to so far.
so, all that to say we are enjoying norway still and have arrived in the smaller city of Arendale Sunday night. It is now Tuesday morning at 13.00 hours and i have yet to step out of this home of my friends. We have loved just eating, chatting and resting with our friends. Tomorrow we may do a bit of sightseeing and then after some norweigen board games pack to catch a train to copenhagen or a ferry to the north coast of Denmark, we haven't decided. We go on from there to begin our experience of mainland Europe, including but not limited to, Germany, Cech Rep., Austria, Switz., Italy, Greece, Turkey, S. France, Spain and finally Portugal. Depending on how we feel and if we totally fall in love with a particular place, the list of countries above may reduce or expand or be replaced with countries like Hungary, Croatia and Slovania. We have four more friends to visit and then we are all on our lonesome. So far we have been priviledged enough to be taken in by five sets of gracious friends and hosts. Thank you so much, Bry and Bre, Marieke, Rob and Veronica, my lovely family in Norway and our present hosts, Shaggy and Mona for openning your homes and your fridges to two stinky travellers. We had a blast and hope we can return the favor in our humble abode up north, north west sometime.

That's it for this post. In order to record this trip properly and for those who like details, we will be doing the personal journal format soon, covering the details of our trip in Scandinavia. bye.

Ø Æ Å µ € ¤ ~ the curious keys on a scandinavian keyboard

In the Norse land

2007-11-02T04:04:00.000-07:00

At this moment, I am on my distant cousin, Viggo's computer in Norway writing this. I can not talk much now because i have to get back to the conversation. I will write more about this wonderful time later....

loving it like the big mac

Holland to Sweden

2007-10-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

Sorry this has taken so long. In Holland, we never seemed to have a moment to spare. I've been meaning to update this thing for more than a few days now. Before you read any further you may want to know that I slipped, fell and slammed our camera down on a rock and can therefore not produce pictures for you in this particular posting. However, because Cannon makes a particularly stout camera it still takes pictures, despite the pummeling I gave it...it just doesn't connect to the computer anymore. The way around this is going to have to be a card reader, which I will purchase as soon as possible. Pictures next post but this one will just be for the readers.
Bear with me if I seem to go on a bit; this blog has served to be more of a travel journal for me than my actual paper journal, so it may get a bit boring...I just like details.
Where do i start? Where I left off, I suppose... Northern Ireland, was fantastic. When I wrote you last we were just about to head off for the northern coast to stay in a little cottage owned by some friends of Bryan and Bre Chud. We had a fantastic couple of nights there, relaxing, watching footy down the pubs and even got to go out for dinner at a fantastic restaurant that served some of the best penne pasta if ever had. Our anniversary night on the 19th was a bit anti-climactic, however. We started off with good intentions, walking down to a nice restaurant in downtown Dungannon but ended up at a chippy, splitting some (though very tasty) cod and chips. We had a nice chat with the owner, who happened to be an avid United fan. He scoffed at my love for Liverpool and I his adoration for one of my favorite arch nemesis', Manchester United Football Club. We are going to make up for that dinner with something a bit more special in Italy.
I had the chance to go see my buddy from college, Matt Walton, play a game for the Dungannon Swifts, which was a treat. After a couple more nights of some Strongbow and hilarious B-movies (which I purchased at Target for Bryan before heading overseas) Ailsa and I hopped on a plane and flew to Amsterdam. There we caught a train to Arnhem, a middle sized city in Holland where our good friend, Marieke lives. We had a fabulous 4 days there, which included waking up every morning to fresh squeezed orange juice, croissants, very strong coffee(yes!!!), fresh bread and wonderful cheeses. Thank you Marie!! We met some of Marieke's close friends, Spif and Nini, who were a blast. Spif ended up taking me out for a night on the town. First, we stopped by the Dutch version of an English "chippy" and introduced me to some very unhealthy, but amazing, fried food. After the fill-up, we met up with his brother and a few of his mates. Then we all road these Dutch bikes (man, i wish i could show you the pics) to the football stadium, where we caught an Eredivisia premier league match. What an atmosphere that was. I even have some video clips i will try to put on when i get the card reader. We ended that particular evening making home-made beer bread and playing a 5 Euro game of poker. Great lads, all of them...All five of them took their losses very graciously.
After a couple more days there, we caught the first official train on our two month trip: Kobenhavn to Denmark. This was an overnight train that got us into Copenhagen at around 10 am the next day. Copenhagen was beautiful. Mom, we saw so many buildings whose colors I think you would love. Many of them had similar treatments to what you do with Val. Again, wish I could post the pics. After loads of sightseeing and people watching we were able to catch the Liverpool v Arsenal match at a pub downtown. The game was great, though we were lucky to get out of it with a tie (they're looking hot, Dad). One to One was the final score. (again, sorry for all this detail for any who happen to be even reading this) Wasn't able to partake of the local brew, however, as, one it was just lagers like Carlsberg and the like, and two, A PINT OF LAGER COSTS ALMOST 10 DOLLARS! YES, I SAID ONE PINT COSTS BETWEEN 9 AND 10 DOLLARS!!! sickening. We were just in Portland, Maine were we had a pint of Guinness for $2.50!!! We found ourselves in a decent hostel, sleeping with about 10 other travelers in a dorm room. Ailsa said my snoring was extra quality.
After Copenhagen, we caught a four hour train to Gutenberg and then another hour long train to Restenas, where an old friend of mine from YWAM, Rob Darby lives. It's where we are now, actually. It's been lovely to meet Rob's wife and their great little two year old. We aren't actually sure as to what we are doing tomorrow. We may "zip" over to Stockholm or just spend the day in Gutenberg and then another night here in Restenas, as they have been so great as to offer it to us.
The trip has been amazing so far. We are loving all we are getting to see, but really loving it because we are seeing it all together for the fist time. Though I had been to the previous places we have visited so far, this is my first time to Sweden. It's really beautiful and I look forward to seeing more of it with Ailsa in the following week.
I will make up for the pics I didn't put on this time and be sure I have them working for my next posting.
Oh yes, one more thing. I was able to contact my very distant family in Norway and it looks like we'll be visiting them for a day or two whilst in Norway. I tried to contact them when I was living in England in '97 but I think scared them when I called with my harsh American accent and invited myself for Christmas. I was a bit more prudent this time and I think they're going to give me a chance. Grandma, I've heard quite a bit about Kari, but this Viggo fella seams like quite the character...
Love you all,
bye for now

How the baby grows . . .

2007-10-25T04:10:00.000-07:00

So enough about the trivialities of travel and on to more important matters. This is Ailsa taking control of the blog now just long enough to give an update on the wee human in my belly. The baby is now 21 weeks and is really starting to kick. Ty felt a strong kick last night for the first time which was fun. Sometimes I can actually see him kicking so that it looks like there is popcorn slowly popping in my belly. I'm so excited to finally meet the little one and see what he/she looks like!!!!

It's been pretty great travelling with quiet and content little bundle in my tummy. Like a little kangaroo in pouch, no maintenance required . . . except for some better eating on my part, which I am happy to suffer. I guess we better enjoy this low maintenance baby stage now . . . it won't last long. My little kangaroo is now 10 & 1/2 inches long and has fully formed eyebrows now! A perfect little human in miniature. By next week it would even have a chance of surviving outside of the womb . . . but lets pray that it stays just where it is until it is ready to be born!

We are in Holland at the moment visiting with our dear friend Marieke in Arnhem. I woke up to a symphony of church bells this morning, which was a pretty romantic way to open my eyes. It has been a really special trip so far connecting with so many of the people and places that hold such special memories for us . . . taking us back to when we first met 12 years ago now. There is sometimes a sort of melancholy that you feel going back to those sacred places knowing that even in revisiting them, that time in life is gone forever and can never be brought back. There is none of that for me this time. Revisiting those places from the past,that have for so long been stored safely in my heart, with Ty at my side and our child quietly growing inside my tummy, I am overwhelmed with only gratitude for the events of the past which have brought us to this place of perfect contentment in the present. There's simply no room for melancholy. For someone who tends to frequently live in a nostalgia for the past, this is a great place to be. I feel less of an Eeore these days and more of a Pooh Bear. Life seems quite simple, peaceful, and generally sweet as a pot of honey. My brain feels about as simple as Pooh Bear's as well though, which I am less than thrilled about. An unfortunate side effect of pregnancy, I am told. Poor Ty. Less stimulating conversation, less input when it comes to decision making, but then on the other hand there are fewer arguments and less drama in general, so I suppose he's happier for it in the end. :)

Well, that's all for me for now. Ty will soon be updating the blog and will be adding some of our more recent photos!

London and N. Ireland

2007-10-19T07:02:00.000-07:00

Hiya all,
just kicking it in the north of the ireland with pals bry, bre chud and matt walton. we had a great time in england. gareth, my littlest brother and i performed an all-nighter in london-town, where we saw the sights in the dark and were jolly the whole time.
With over 9 hours of hanging out to spare we did a lot of people watching
We had a nice jaunt 'round the palace as well. This shot's on the palace steps.
We also went to burger king and had "angry woppers", which sent gareth over the edge with fury. As i said in the last post, it was wonderful to see him at Holmsted. He is really having a great time there and has some great co-students with him. we also had the chance to go to camden market and eat some wonderful food for cheap (a rare thing in london) and go for some nice walkin along the canal.

After saying goodbye to gareth, we moved on to our visit with Ailsa's sister, hilary and her boyfriend, quinten for a few days. we had a wonderful time there. They suprised Ailsa and I for both of our 30th b-days with dinner and theater in downtown london. we had a wonderful meal and afterward attended a play called, "swimming with sharks" starring christian slater. it was very impressive. i think the theater is something i would have to frequent often if lived in a city like london. We were able to meet up with karen and rod, who were on vacation from halifax, which was also sweet. Ailsa and i spent a day browsing and the victoria and albert museum with aurence, ailsa's cousin. after a few hours of art we made our way to a pub that had a 2 for 1 pizza night, plus 2 pound beers (unfortunately not what they weigh but what they cost). we had a nice night there, chatting over 2 pints of tetley's and 8 mini, wonderful pizzas.

the next morning, we took off for london victoria where we caught a bus to london stansted and flew to belfast. we were picked up by bry and bre and arrived just in time to catch england lose to russia in footy and then drive to another pub, where we watched a couple other matches. can i just say that i am so glad to be back in the land of football, where games in wonderful public houses are plentiful. bry and i caught up over a pint of guiness and the girls caught up over a happy meal. we've been here two nights now. last night i followed our old college mate, matt walton to his training with the dungannon swifts, not before shooting around a bit with him first. what fun that was. i haven't gotten over a ball for such a long time and it was nice to hit a couple. matt is doing well in the irish premier league playing with a team that look quite impressive, at least on the training pitch. after his practice, we were off to the pub to watch some traditional irish music and have a pint. i video recorded a song that was sung by a man, acapella. it was done beautifully. i wasn't able to get on the irish drum as those already playing were very good and there was really no room for an amatuer.

so, tonight we look ahead to a nice evenning out for the wifey and i as it is our FOURTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!!! CHEERS!!! will will dress up in our finest hiking gear and have a bite to eat somewheres that compliments the budget we must remain within. afterwards, we'll be heading up to the north coast of ireland for two nights, staying in bry and bre's friend's cottage.
tomorrow is the liverpool derby and that will be watched at a wonder pub...LIVE!! for those who don't know, back in '96, '97, '98, watching footy at the pub here in the UK was the event that cultivated my current love for english football and i feel blessed to be back here with the chance to do it again. family, i miss you and i so wish we could be together during times like these. we will have our time.
{for those doing fantasy footy with me, here is my current line up that is definately subject to change (just for fun) : torres (hope he plays), rooney, fabregas, petrov, ronaldo, koumas, dempsey, bale, moekena, corluka, kirkland. GOOD LUCK, ALL!!}

it looks like, with my computer broken, i will only be able to post once a week, but that should work out fine as i am not good at doing little posts often. sorry these are so long for those who enjoy the shorties. of course you probably aren't still with us by this point now, are you?

take care all. much love. i imagine i'll be chatting to you next right before leaving for amsterdam. look forward to seeing you marieke!

ps. ailsa's belly is betting bigger all the time and we felt our first kicks just a week ago. thrilling stuff!

will do a proper post soon

2007-10-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

We flew in to Belfast today. Had a wonderful week in London. I want to write all about it but i want to include pics. unfortunately, the computer i'm on doesn't have any USB ports so i am unable to put pics on this post. i'll write and post pics...hopefully tomorrow.
man, i wish i had my computer back.

Busted computer, first bump along the way

2007-10-12T17:13:00.000-07:00

Pics of our last days in canada. here are some more pics of our beautiful nephew and niece:

hey again.
sorry this has taken so long to get out but our computer broke. i've lost a huge posting that i wrote on the plane over to england. also, all our music and photos are stuck inside that blasted thing. stinky. i'll have to do all my postings from internet cafes now. less convenience vs lighter backpack... up in the air after yesterday's hike...
what i wrote about on the plane over was how great of a time we had in canada and how excited we were to be going to england and the home where i lived for almost two years. i also mentioned that we were able to not only spend time with ailsa'a wonderful family, but we saw Jen and Rich and Joel and Annie as well. Very, very nice to see them all.
well, we are in england now. got here yesterday and then slept for 20 hours. i've been pulling quite a few all nighters since starting this little vaca so it was nice to catch up. we got into london heathrow at about 9:30 am and then made our way to see gareth at holmsted right off. we are only able to see him here in england for four nights so it was important to get here as soon as possible. well, we took the train into haywards heath and then we walked to holmsted. turned out the trek was a bit longer than i remember it. so, two hours and a bit later we arrived at holmsted's driveway. the walk was beautiful and well worth the effort. quite nice training for what's to come. the first thing we see when coming into the driveway was the footy pitch and someone mowing the lawn on the big ol' tractor mower. i stopped and stared hard until i was sure and then, when i saw the "alaska grown" sweatshirt i knew it was gareth. we both walked across the pitch to him and were just able to see the expression on his face when he realized who the two backpackers coming towards him were. it was a very cool hug as he wasn't even sure when we were coming to visit him and was pretty suprised.
it so nice to be at holmsted, but it's even nicer to see gareth enjoying himself so much here. ailsa and i did our tour of the place , stopping first at the spot of our first kiss ever and acted out our 23,014th. we went down to our favorite bridge (we call it "our bridge" as many do, i'm sure) but it was collapsed, sadly. the grounds are as beautiful as ever. it was especially nice to see the trees i had a hand in planting all grown up. it has been such a trip to be here with ailsa after all these years. for those of you who don't know, ailsa, my wife, and i met here at holmsted manor in January of 1996. that's almost 12 years ago now! chad, my brother, also met his future wife here when he did his dts. now, it's gareth's turn...for whatever may come his way. gareth has a great group of people on his school here and they all seem to getting along very well. he is doing a discipleship training school with YWAM, which is youth with a mission, a non-denominational, christian missionary school. i don't know all the details, and i don't think he would mind me sharing this, but it looks as if gareth is going to argentina to work at an orphanage or something in December for the outreach phase of the school. i really can't get over seeing my littlest brother here in this place. we got to walk down to "the vic" for a pint tonight but went instead to another pub as it was a bit to "stuffy" in the other (it's not the same as before). a pint costs around 3pounds!!! that's over 6 bucks!!! insane. anyways, us americans are liable to lose our money fast if we don't watch it.
we are hoping to do a bit of a hiking/camping trip together tomorrow, but we'll see. 'would like to catch the england v estonia footy match first.
anyways, don't mean to wander. the computer i'm typing on right now takes about 5 minutes to upload each photo, so i'll only be able to put a few on this post, as it's around 3:30 am and i need to try to adapt to my new time zone somewhat.
we had a great trip over here to england. we stopped in portland, maine for a night and had a "riot". we revisited many of our favorite places of rest during our nearly two year stint in that city. some quick facts: the havanna cheese steak at the "old port tavern" is hands down the best you'll ever eat. Geary's brewery makes the best beer in new england. brian boru is the best pub in north america, save for maybe the george and dragon in freemont. don't buy REI hiking pants as you may get the zipper stuck shut with your wallet and hotel room key inside the pocket. i know this. the leatherman was a fine purchase however and cut that pocket right open. no more zipping action though.
we have confirmed flights to belfast for the 17th and will spend a few days visiting our pals bryan and bre chud just west of there. from there we do some southern irish backpacking and then once we catch a ferry to france our 60 days of train travel begins. i have almost the whole thing planned out, to the minute. as i am sure this will end up resembling not exactly what occurs, it will give us a good idea of when to be where and how we can stay, etc... more of that when the time comes.
i promise to get some more pics on here once i can get on a real computer/faster connection.
blessing to all,
tyson, ailsa and _____________ or Adeline, Oliver, Huxley, Sophia, Bobby, Lamp, Chair, Pantsnow!, Chubby, Jack (S/he is a whole six inches long and weighs 6-8 ounces!!!)

ADDED PICS AND VIDEO OF FAMILY IN CANADA

2007-10-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

LITTLE VIDEO CLIP OF OUR NIECE, MYLA DESCRIBING A RECENT NIGHTMARE. I WILL ADD ONE OF LITTLE MAVERICK SOON.

SISTER-IN-LAW, MARGOT: SUPER MOM, PASTA QUEEN
MUM MACLEAN: FORMER PROFESSIONAL BALET DANCER, ASSUMING POSITION ONE.

DADIO MACLEAN, BODYBUILDER AT 63, SIPPIN' ON SOME GRAPE JUICE

BROTHER BAS: MOVIE, MUSCLE AND BUSINESS MAN

ANOTHER PIC OF MUM

HEY, BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE NEW POST BELOW.
I'LL BE SURE TO GET A CLIP OF LITTLE MAVERICK. WHAT A BOY HE IS.

SO COOL!! TYSON AND AILSA IN NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA

2007-10-02T17:03:00.000-07:00

Hey there. We took off from Spokane and travelled to Seattle where we visited briefly with Renata and Tim before staying a night with Pavel and Danielle and then a night with Ray, Jessica, Julia and Noel. We had a great time. It was great to see all the improvements Pav and Danielle have made to there house in Bellevue. Great signiture bathrooms. Ray and Jessica's girls have boomed in size and character and we had a great time catching up.
In Spokane, I had the chance to go out for a boys night with Ray a good buddy of his, Nick and an old buddy from highschool, Matt Monigold. We haven't seen Matt for about 14 years or so and entertained ourselves with many, quite embarrassing, stories from the mid-teens.
After a couple nights in Seattle, we flew to Boston and caught a bus up to Canada (New Brunswick) to visit with the Maclean household. We are there currently and are loving it. There is a possibility that we are eating too much, which is taking away from the glory of Ailsa's belly, please see pic.

We said goodbye to our wonderful weiner, Spencer the permapup (wardrobe provided by HillyMaclean's Fashion for weiners). We Spent the day in Boston before catching our bus, going to Quincey Market for breakfast and coffee. A wonderful morning. I wrote a giant post that morning and lost it all to the wireless internet monster.
We are travelling light for this trip, which took some strategic sorting. We want to be able to go on foot to many places and store our stuff in lockers in many of the major cities, so a pack each was the maximum load. We each have a few t-shirts, a couple pairs of hiking pants, a good base layer, the appropriate socks, undergarments and hygiene equipment. One sweet down sleeping bag each, coupled with a thermarest each. I am also stuffing a computer and the tent in my bag, putting it over the desirable weight limit but I need the excercise. Still, we did quite well with the packing:

We are already beginning to enjoy the little places that pop in front of us, such as coffee shops, parks and shops. We are great "browsers" who have to be selective in what we buy with uber-expensive countries like England, Switzerland and the whole of Scandinavia ahead of us. Canada has recently proved to be more expensive than ever with the American dollar deflating in front of us; I don't even want to think about the U.K. Beer is expensive here (and there is not such a grand selection, either).

Our tenants move in tomorrow, starting their 7 month lease. We have learned that moving, be it for only months or forever, is quite the hassle. There's the "trustworthy" tenants to find, who wish to only rent for the winter. There's the money needed for broken appliances, for in case the tenants wish to leave and we must reassume the mortgage (a nightmare), the transferring of all the bills (utilities), long-distance hot-tub maintainance, management of all inquiries for next summer's vacation renting, planning the itinerary for this trip, money for tickets and for three months of ballihoo. We also have to decide where we are having the baby (or the wifey does). Well, it's almost all taken care of. However, I still need some idea of what our itinerary will look like. Suggestions are welcome. Time for a movie. This one's called, "The Invisible".

I'll post this and then add some pics from our stay here, so far.

Bye for now

लोस्त बिग lost a big post फ्रेअकिन सुक्क्स

2007-10-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

We are in Canada land and have been for 24 hours. I wrote a beautiful post at Quincey Market in Boston on their wireless there and lost it all. What pics! Words! Sentences!
It's all gone.
I am going to write again tomorrow to make up for it, plus I'll have more pics and stuff.

2007-09-30T06:02:00.001-07:00

First baby pics and more confirmed travel plans

2007-09-27T03:06:00.000-07:00

Today, we got to see the kiddo for the first time. It was unbelievable, really. And I did cry. It's nice to see that s/he is getting that sucking reflex on and that we aren't having sextuplits.

We leave tomorrow for Seattle and are only there for two days. This visit with the family went way too fast and we had such a great time. My apologies to those I didn't see whilst in Spokane. We will be back in January and plan to stay for a little longer then so some coffee and/or some mongolian (Eric) would be nice.

The other big news of the day is that we finally made another decision regarding the journey ahead. We purchased a Eurail pass that will allow us unlimited travel in 18 countries throughout mainland Europe. As you can see on this map (click on map, newbs :>) some pretty cool countries aren't included for the pass, so we may have to make other arrangements to get to Prague and so on.

I have spent countless hours in the last two weeks researching for this trip, coming up with several options for our itinerary. One of the cooler options we looked at: plane from Athens to Cairo and a bus to Jerusalem, which would've been a three week trip and then a flight to London from Tele Viv. However, at the end of the day, it just didn't feel right for this trip (a little too ambitious for the wallet) and we decided to add that time to just focus on Europe so that we could do it proper.

All in all, we'll be gone three months and this is the TENATIVE itinerary: Oct 11-16th at Holmsted Manor to visit the place where A and I met, as well as my little brother. Oct 16-18th in London to visit my sister-in-law, Hilary, possibly catching some theater. Oct18th-23rd possibly travelling up to Northern Ireland to visit our friends, Bryan and Breanna Chud (not confirmed and we may just do a hike in Cornwall, along the southwest coastline of England if the former doesn't work out). Oct 23rd-Dec 23rd we will ferry from Ireland to France where our mainland adventure will began. This is where I could use some help. I have been doing my research but can't seem to make up my mind on the best route for this two-month period. It would be grand if YOU could offers some suggestions (please see map-link above and put a rough itinerary together). Please do. Dec 23rd-Beginning of Jan we will spend Christmas with Hilary and the rest of Ailsa's family in London (also, not confirmed). Beginning of Jan to Jan. 10th we will either do the Cornwall hike, train to Scotland to browse or just get out the footy-ball and juggle for a week, frequenting the local public house at my discretion.

I didn't mention this in the Oct18-23rd leg, but I found dream tickets to a Everton v Liverpool match at Goodison Park. For the non-footy savy, this is a big deal. Everton F.C. and Liverpool F.C are two professional English soccer clubs that are located in the same city (Liverpool). These types of games are called "local derbys" and are almost always quite the matchup. I have been an avid supporter of Liverpool since I was a spry 18 year old living in England. This game is an away game for Liverpool and the tickets are in the Liverpool fan section. I couldn't justify a game at Anfield as Liverpool home tickets are even more expensive. If I can (in some way) pull off getting this ticket, and if anyone wishes to attend with me (um...bry), let me know and I'll give you the ticket prices and such.

Sooooo, it's almost 4am and I just finished finally packing and getting all my music on my new media player (Had to do it...I can't carry all the cd's I want to bring with me...too many).

Pavel, Danielle, Renata, Tim, Ray and Jessica, we'll be seeing you tomorrow. Seth, Amy, the likes of Nate, Daniel and the Arena Sport's clan, call Pavel, maybe a hand of cards...is in the cards. With that joke, I leave you.

I've been enthralled by chidllins lately.

We say "cya" for a while

2007-09-23T00:44:00.000-07:00

We left Homer about a week ago, arriving on Ailsa's 30th birthday (SHE'S GETTING MORE AWESOME BY THE YEAR!) and we are now off for some silly adventures. We are currently in Spokompton, WA visiting my parents, have been for a week and will be for a few more days. We will then drive to Seattle where we will catch a flight to Boston, visit our old home of Portland, ME, drive up to Fredericton, NB to visit with Ailsa's lovely fam and then come back to Boston so that we can catch an aeroplane to London.

That's all we have confirmed as of now so I won't speak of all my outlandish plans for this trip. We will be off N. America for exactly three months, coming home on January 10 for some good old fashion nesting. The baby is due March 7th.

We've really just been partying with the folks and little brother since being here. The fishing was....well, let's just say it was very nice. Littlest brewthar got the biggest this time. By the way, he just left for Holmsted Manor in England for a 6 month or so DTS. Now, if he manages to find his wife there like Chad and I did, I vote that we have the wedding at Holmsted.

Oh, and for you international buddies, one other confirmed date for us is Holmsted on like October 11-17th or so.

These are some pics of the trip thus far. We are loving it all.

Let us know if we are going to cross your path as we disclose/discover where we are going exactly and we will try and bug you. Until my next blather, cya.

Picture of Homer

2006-08-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

This is our new backyard. It's so cool.

We don't have a computer of our own as of yet so I won't be able to post much. However, I am in search of a machine that would change all that.

If anyone knows how to add people to your group or add people as "friends" could you please let me know? 'Would be great. Cheers.

TANDA

well, hello

2006-08-01T15:13:00.000-07:00

Unwanted hooligans, taste my typing.