Part Two: Alderley Edge..the search for anscestors.

Part two!

We left the house at the crack of dawn on the 7th to head off to Alderely Edge! Alderley Edge is around 2 hours away from London by train. It's 12 miles away from Manchester and around an hour away from Liverpool.

We got onto the overground train around 9 with nothing but a few packs of smokes, a pepsi, and a small back pack each of clothes. (You know, the things you NEED to stay alive, basic survival really) We were all very excited for the adventure to begin! We rolled into Alderley Edge and found a small gas station to ask for directions about how to get to the hotel. We sent dad to get them, and he lead us on this adventure like you wouldn't believe. We walked over hills, under hills, through hills, across hills when FINALLY we stumbled across our hotel. Out of breath, we walked into the hotel ready to check in and get on finding our family. We enter the hotel and say that we are here to check in for two nights. The lady looked at me like I was speaking another language when I said that all three of us were staying in one room. I got frustrated with her explaining that I had called the hotel and they said that a "cot" was not a problem and that three people could stay in one room. Again, she looked at me dumbfounded and said.."well is it you three that are staying." Now I was really getting angry, like come on woman, ALL THREE OF US ARE STAYING THERE IS NO ONE ELSE HERE BUT US. Finally, the hero of the day stumbles out of the office clearly hung over and asked what the issue was! Slowly a smile crept onto his face which made me even MORE annoyed. And the words that came out of his mouth were sweet sweet melody. He said, "a cot means a different thing in America." Dad said, well yeah, a cot is a small bed that you roll out into a hotel room to fit another person. But the local hero said, well HERE a cot is a bed for a baby. I felt my face turn red and started to shake my head. I can't help but to smile. Joke is on me today! Finally, the local hero says, just to give me a room because it is their mistake. He also proceeds to ask if I, being a baby, will be ok to sleep on my own without my mom and dad and if they need to supply me with nappies and a dummy! I DID get a FREE room for two nights, and it was beautiful! I have never slept on a bed so amazing. Thank You Premier Inn, Alderely Edge Branch! I think this event was perhaps one of the funniest on the whole trip. I bet right now as mom and dad are reading this they are in desperate NEED of a nappy!

So, after I got settled into my free room and mom got settled into theirs we decided to head out and explore the town. Me and mom had already spent the majority of the afternoon joking about the town saying that things are probably only open two or three days a week. We went to the library, because that is the only place people said would have a map of the town. Also, the library would be a good start to start tracking down James Ward's. I said on the way that the library probably isn't open because it is Wednesday. Wouldn't you look, the library actually WAS closed! Then, we walked into every little shop looking for a map of the town to find the one cemetary but no luck, commmee onn..even preeceville has a detailed map! Finally, after walking past the oldest church in the town and seeing that it too was closed because it was Wednesday, we decided that today was a right off for family hunting. Instead, we decided to walk up to the Edge...of Alderley!

The Edge was let's just say nothing short of an adventure! As you can probably assume, the edge IS high hill. This time assuming didn't make an ass-outof-u-and-me because you are right..it is a hill. We started to walk up this street that didn't seem TOO steep and we were trucking right along. However, our luck soon changed as we found our toes digging into the pavement trying to reach the top. Me and mom had to stop about 18 times for a rest because it is so steep. I think dad's pepsi is laced with super hero powers because he didn't seem to have the same problem. The walk was well worth it, as we reached the top to look over Alderley it was absolutely breathtaking. (see pictures on facebook) We took a lot of pictures and continued to stroll around the top. Let's face it, there was no way I was going to walk up the hill again, so we had to see the whole thing NOW! We wondered around and realized that there was a place to get a MAP of different walks that you could take. So we ventured to this so called place and of course it was closed..Wednesday! We did manage to find a map. Mom saw this "flower gardens" and decided she HAD to see these flowers at bunny hill..or mole hill..or was it rabbit hole? Man I don't remember, I just remember that the name had nothing to do with anything. We started walking down this winding path and eventually I found myself gasping for air as my toes were protruding out of my shoes trying to catch some solid ground.I looked down and all I could see was this MASSIVE hill! Finally, the Pepsi superhero powers subdued and dad said that there was no way we were walking to see this damn flower patch. Thank Gosh! We made the trek back up and just continued walking around. There was alot of old mine shafts because back in the day the town was a mining community. Now however, they have filled most of them in because little punks keep vandilizing them! Finally we strolled back down the edge, got some supper and then settled into an evening of cards!

I woke up fully refreshed from sleeping like a baby..minus the cot and the nappies and dummy. We had a nice breakfast and once again set off to this old church to FINALLY find out questions about my family.

Things I want to know about my family:

1. Why is my dad bald?
2. Why is my dad addicted to Pepsi..did it come from the time in Alderley Edge?
3. Why can't I roll my tongue.
4. Why am I not a red head (I think it would be coool)
5. Why am I the way that I am?

We rolled into the church, legs still tingling from the walk on the edge. Of course, the church was open but no one was around. We wondered around the outside and low and behold, like any other small town, there was an older gentleman on his lawn tractor..not cutting grass but using as a mode of transportation. When he got off his machine we wondered over to him and he sent us on our merry way to the cemetery where we would find our answers! We got toa the cemetery and began our hunt. We probably walked through it about 80 times before we found someone to ask about a book of the grave sites. Within 30 seconds the dude found the location of my great great grandparents graves. I have to admit it was pretty cool to see their graves. They are SO old! The writing is getting very hard to read and in a couple years it will probably be impossible so I am glad we got to see them now. Unfortunately, it wasn't dig a grave day, so I couldn't find out why I can't roll my tongue. We also found a ton more Ward's in the cemetery, some/most I am sure are relatives of mine. So much history!
Next we went to the Library (it was FINALLY opened) and looked through some old archives and maps about the area. Unfortunately we did not find any useful information to help fill the family tree. I wish that we would have known some of the family that still lives there that we could have visited!

Overall, Alderley Edge was absolutely beautiful. It's hard to believe that my ancestors moved from ta place of beauty to risk trying something totally different. The Edge is beautiful and I am so glad I got to TRULY walk on the edge! I came up with a brilliant t-shirt idea for the town, but again, the town hall was closed because it was Wednesday. I thought a t-shirt that said.."I Walked on the Edge - Alderley Edge 2010" with a cool picture would be the perfect t-shirt! This place is definitely a hidden gem that I would recommend people to visit. The homes there are a bit pricey (3 million pound mark) but if Victoria and David Beckham can afford it, I'm sure I could too!

LIVERPOOL!
We arrived at Liverpool early in the morning and couldn't check into our hotel until late so we left our bags at the train station in some luggage thing. Our one main thing to see in Liverpool was the Beatles Museum. This was probably one of the best museum's I've ever been too! You basically walk through the life of the Beatle's from the start when they weren't even a band, until today.It was SO amazing! Let's face it, I don't know much about the Beatle's just that they are damn famous. Now, I can say I know a lot. There was so much to see and do! My favourite part of the whole museum was the very last part. It was painted all white with the lyrics to Imagine written in black. In the centre was John Lennon's guitar and his piano. It was so simple but just so enchanting! There is also a 4d experience at the museum and once again...stellar! This time we sat down and the chairs moved! I think mom might have again peed her pants! For the rest of show mom's fingers were white from holding onto the chair!!!
We also went on a bus tour of Liverpool to see the sights. Nothing to spectacular but really neat to see! We saw the Cavern where the Beatles played over 280 times before they were famous! After the bus tour, we made our way to the hotel because we had to be up by 4:00 am to catch our flight to Dublin!

Stay tuned for the final leg of this adventure and the process of getting to the airport on time...can we doo it?? will we make it!!

First Leg of Parental Trip!

Ok. I am REALLY forcing myself to do this, it's like trying to squeeze orange juice from a banana..just isn't happening! But alas, here I am! I certainly have a TON to write about but I just have been super lazy. I am going to split the trip into three blogs for your pure entertainment and enjoyment! Hang on and enjoy the ride!


My parents arrived on Thursday April 1 along with Drew's mom Brenda. They arrived at Gatwick at 7 in the morning meaning once again I found myself looking like a shaggy homeless person on the tube. People were actually tried to toss me a few coins and let's talk about it, I wasn't about to shut them down..money is money!
We picked them up and dad be-lined to the outdoor area for a smoke..then to a shop for a pepsi. I guess some things DON'T change! We then decided that that evening we were going to go to the musical Grease. I DID let them sleep for a bit, since they were complaining they were tired...(I don't know WHY..hahah)Perhaps one of my most favourite memories of the WHOLE trip was the first time that mom and dad stepped onto the tube. I trotted on as per usual, found a seat and avoided eye contact with any person/thing. When the tube started moving I didn't know WHAT mom was going to do! They say to do one thing a day that scares you, this was clearly mom's one thing of the day!
After the nap, we met up with the Lubiniecki's for supper, at pizza hut as per usual. Then headed off to Grease! Let me tell you, grease IS the word! Another solid musical. The singing was great, the acting was great and the set was spot on to how i would imagine it to be. I can't wait to see the United Church players production next year because Drew and dad are pretty sure they can whip up there own version of Grease. I can't wait to see Joe Poulton as Danny and Vi and Avalon as the Pink Ladies!

Day #2
We decided not to waste any time in London so we went on the walking tour at 11. This was my THIRD time, so you can just IMAGINE the excitement in my eyes and heart for it. None the less, I put on my runners and off we went. It's really neat because now I know the way the tour walks and pretty much a word for word explanation of each stop along the way. I am thinking about applying for a job as tour guide for the company except their tour guides are clearly all jacked up on mountain dew and personally I'm more of a Dr. Pepper kinda girl. That morning we had a lengthy discussion before leaving the house about the prospect of rain. I being the Londoner decided naaawwww..it's NOT going to rain. Well, jokes on me. Mid way through the tour it poured. It was literally RAINING cats and dogs...I wish it was men, but no luck. We got through half the tour and the weather wasn't by any means a Mexican Holiday but it at least wasn't raining but then BOOM it started absolutely pouring! We had plans to continue walking around after the walking tour but instead made a direct trip home and stayed there for the rest of the day.

Day #3
We woke up on day three to a bright and sunny day and decided that we would head of to check out the Imperial War Museum. Again, I've been here before but I still found it very enjoyable! The only issue was that mom almost got kicked out for trying to climb on all the tanks and stuff. I guess she really wanted the whole experience! Me and dad had to rescue her and lucky I have charm and wit or mom would still be in jail or something.
After the museum it was surprisingly still sunny so we decided to walk around central London and check out all that we did the day before but this time minus the rain.
We started walking and checking things out and by the end of the day my shoes were smoking and there was the strange scent of rubber burning.

Things we saw along our walk:
1. naked men statues in parks.
2. naked men that weren't statues.
3. pigeons.
4. tourists
5. London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham..you know..the classic "london things"
6. Ice cream
7. Best of all, an old man living the dream in the park feeding the pigeons peanuts out of his hand. I see this and immediately decide that I gotta do this too. So, I hopped over to the man, he put some nuts in my hands and the pigeons literally went nuts! It was mayhem but perhaps the bitter sweet ending to this story is that they did NOT poop on me! WEO!

Day #4
We were putting it off for days so we decided that while the sun shone we'd better get on that London Eye. Mom didn't want to go but I told her if she didn't I would shave her head in the middle of the night. She said she'd go, guess she wasn't sure if she could rock the bald look.
First we went on a River Cruise down the river thames. Went on a big boat/ship/thing which took us through a bunch of the bridges and to see a lot of the sights from the water. It was really really really cool. Learned a lot and saw a lot. Perhaps one of my more favourite stories from the shoreline is the fact that there is a tower that clearly says "oxo." I'd seen it before and I'd always wondered what it was for. Turns out, it is where they used to make Oxo, you know, the chicken flavouring stuff. Back in the day they weren't allowed to advertise on the river, but OXO got away with it claiming that they simply put up a tower that coincidentally looked like the word Oxo.
We also went under the London Bridge and thankfully it didn't fall. Straight up, London bridge is LAME. It's just a bridge like we'd see crossing the Assiniboine River. For such hoopla and fame you'd think the London Bridge would be amazing. The tower bridge on the other hand is a sight to see!
After our Boat tour we got into the day long line up to get into the London Eye. We got onto the London Eye and up up up we went! We really could see forever! It was really neat to see everything from such a distance. I think I actually spotted Preeceville but I can't be sure. The flight takes about half an hour and it's not scary at all! You can apparently rent your own thingy for like 300 pounds and have a romantic date or even a wedding. I think on my next flight I'll take the wedding deal.
After the London Eye we went on the "London Eye 4D adventure." This was definitely the highlight of my day. You get these super stylish 3d glasses which sort of resemble the one's my mom had in the 70's. They lead you into this mini movie theatre where you stand and watch a show. I got spit at by a dragon, bubbles flew into my face, and a seagull tried to smack me with it's wings. It was amazing. It was about the story of the London Eye. Apparently this little girl couldn't enjoy all the sights of London because she was too small. Then she saw a seagull and thought that it would be amazing to be a bird to see london. Hence the London eye you get a "birds eye view." Pretty neat!

Day #5
This is the day before we headed off to Alderely edge, liverpool and ireland so we decided that we should just hang low and maybe do some shopping. Dad was absolutely thrilled to be shopping with us.
things dad would have rather done...
1. pulled a calf.
2. picked square bales.
3. watched every episode of One tree hill instead of wrestling.
4. listened to rap music.

Me and mom did find a few good things which was great!!!

Overall, our time in London was a blast. The weather held up for the most part apart from torrential down pours once a day!

Things mom and dad noticed about London...

1. People are crazy and will do anything for money. (street performers near the London eye)
2. The pepsi "tastes" different.
3. The eggs are as big as ostrich eggs.
4. The tube is an interesting place with interesting people.
5. Fish and chips are good.
6. There are about 39203480384038 different types of flowers and trees here.


stay tuned for part two: Alderely Edge, the Search for Ancestors.

Alright, so it's been a while! I'm SOOORRRYY! Thanks to Katelyn, Carrie and Jessica who keep me on top of writing!

Not a whole lot has been happening here in the life of Crystal Ward, just the regular working and such.

Highlights of the past week(s)...

Drew arrived here last Sunday at 7 am into gatwick. I left the house at a painful 4:30 am in order to get to the airport in time. In my sleep, I took the wrong bus and blah blah blah. Long story short I literally made it to the Easy Bus at 6:25....and the bus left at 6:25. Baby jesus was on my side that day, as the Easy Bus showed up late! I made it to the airport at my correct time, picked up drew and off we went. Because of weekend tube interruptions, it took 8 million hours to get home. I left at 4:30 and got home at 11:30.

Things I could do in 7 hours
1. drive back and forth from Preeceville to Regina 2.5 times.
2. Read every book that Robert Munsch has written twice.
3. write 3 incredibly funny blogs.
4. Watch paint dry.
5. prepare 420 batches of minute rice.

After, me and Marlee prepared the normal Sunday roast, but this time with stuffing AND perogies! SCORE! Since Drew got here, we've been busy doing some sight seeing and socializing.

One highlight of drew's tour was the attendance to "We Will Rock You." We will rock you is a musical with music by Queen. It was great! It was the first musical that I went to that I hadn't seen the movie or heard anything about. At first, I thought I would be disappointed with it, because of it's weird story line. I don't really like "sci-fi" and the beginning is weird like that. However, by the end I was IN LOVE. There is something about a musical that I love. I could go every night of the week and not get sick of them!

Also, on Sunday me, marlee, drew, kristin, simon, brenden and Kelly, Steve and Claire (Marlee works with Kelly) all went to our first Rugby game. It was the London Irish playing Sale Sharks! Because it was the special St. Patrick's Day game, there was lots of festivities before the game started. We left our house at 9:30 even though the game didn't commence until 3 in the afternoon. In proper game fashion, we cracked our first beer at 9:30! hehe, we got our face painted, got awesome London Irish flags and enjoyed some Irish music. At 3, we had an absolute ball watching rugby! I was VERY thankful for Simon there to explain the rules of rugby to me! I think I understand, but if you've ever been to a rider game with me, you know that I enjoy the socializing/ cheering when everyone else does rather than the actual game! I was quite disappointed with the sideline entertainment because there was no Gainer, no cheerleaders and no security guards who used to work at walmart! Also, I was missing my brother for entertainment!

We have a full house now as Marlee's family arrived here yesterday! Welcome Kelly Shawn and Kristen! We are so thrilled to have them here, and have air mattresses blown up on every surface possible. It is certainly cozy here and it is SO nice to have family here. They've been busy enjoying the rainy London weather. the weather certainly wasn't on their side! Thankfully, they've got a lot more time for the weather to turn around!

NOW, I am desperately waiting for the arrival of my parents. Even just writing this gives me happy shivers! They get here on Thursday morning at 7, so once again it will be an early day! I am on holidays for the WHOLE duration so that's great!


Tube News (as requested by Katelyn Haskell)
Since I've arrived I have perfected the "tube stare." For most Canadians, the "tube stare" is skill that would be equivalent to the appendix in the body, it's there but really serves no purpose. Now you are thinking....what IS the tube stare? Well, look no further..
On public transport in London, it is an unspoken rule, do not make eye contact, do not smile and certainly do not even CONSIDER making casual conversation with the handsome chap to your left. At first, I though that this was completely and utterly stupid and annoying. However, as time has gone on, I find myself avoiding eye contact, NEVER smiling and certainly not talking about the local happenings or local drunks. After careful research and observation I have compiled a list of things to do to avoid all human contact in the tube.

1. Ipod - This is God's gift to the tube. I see anywhere from 78 year old grandmothers jamming out to their Ipod to babytot's jamming out. I often chuckle to myself imagining exactly what they are listening to but none the less, great idea. Some times, I have my Ipod ear phones in to give the illusion that I am listening, but really, no music is flowing - anything to avoid conversation..right?

2. The Metro or Evening Standard - London tube line's offer free newspapers in the morning and in the evening to keep people from communicating on the tube. I find myself enjoying the Metro in the morning and especially enjoying the "dirty pleasures" section. I know what you are thinking.."London--- you guys are sick..porn section in your paper." Well, to this you are wrong, it just happens to be the name of all the celebrity gossip. Today had a nice article about Ricky Martin being gay! Even if you cannot read I would suggest you get a paper to pretend you can read. Also, grab your own, there is nothing more annoying then someone reading it over your shoulder!

3. Napping - I have definitely perfected this "tube stare." The concept is simple, close your eyes and fall asleep. I wouldn't suggest you sleep for short journey's but for longer journey's it's great. It's really NOT so great when you sleep past your stop and end up in Timbuktu which can easily be avoided by setting an alarm on your mobile.

4. Mobile phones - A lot of the underground is indeed underground and the mobile "tube stare" does not apply. However, it is handy to have a mobile phone to reread boring texts, change your phone settings, delete contacts and the list goes on.

5. All of the above - have your Ipod in, newspaper in hand while sleeping. It looks hilarious but believe me, people will be too scared to talk to you OR make eye contact. It's a sure fire!






Alright, I shall write a blog when my mom and dad leave! I will be busy galavanting London, England and Ireland!
Peace be with all of you!!!

Wow..I think I almost forget how to write one of these it's been so long!
Alright....soooo back track like three weeks and we'll get to my last blog. Not much has gone on since the last one I wrote, maybe that is the reason I haven't felt compelled to write. I'd hate to bore all my readers!

First of all, we had a blast with Amanda and Kerri who were visiting us for a week. Turned out the week that they were here, i didn't work much, so i got to enjoy doing all the touristy things once again. I really have not gotten sick of seeing the big sights such as Buckingham Palace and Big Ben and I STILL enjoy the walking tour. We'll see how I feel after doing it for a third time when my parents are here! I also enjoy anticipating the questions the tour guide asks especially when he is thinking that there is NO ONE on the tour that would know. Jokes on him - sorry to the tour guide for ruining his fun. The girls definitely got the huge crash course on London and for the most part i think they got to really experience the culture and people of London. Me and Marlee had a blast teaching them all the lingo and the do's and dont's of London. It's hard to believe that just 5 months ago we were learning everything for ourselves. It's nice to be able to share what we know with our nearest and dearest now. I think back now and I remember thinking and writing that there is NO WAY i'll ever know how to get around London, I'll never know their Lingo and I certainly will NEVER like the popular "prawn cocktail" flavoured chips. Well, truth is I CAN get around London, I'm beginning NOT to tell kids to pull up their pants, AND I am infact IN LOVE with prawn cocktail chips!


One of the highlights over the past month was watching the Gold Medal hockey game! Let's talk about amazing! The girls (Amanda and Kerri) were out galavanting so me and Marlee headed over to a pub with some of our other Canadian friends and had a great time cheering on Canada. On our way home from the game, the streets of London were erupting with excitement. Every tube stop there was cheering, I can't even IMAGINE what it was like to be in Canada for that game! amazing! Throughout the Olympics I was SO proud to be canadian, especially when my beau won gold in curling. During the Olympics we met many people from Britan that were cheering for Canada. Actually scratch that, I'm not sure if they were CHEERING for Canada or just really hoping the Americans didn't win.

I've been doing a lot of teaching anywhere and everywhere. I am absolutely loving just doing supply work again, which is a clear sign that my previous gig was not right for me. I am also enjoying waking up a decent hour and the fact that my free time is my free time again. I've been going to a lot of schools that I have been to in the past, which is nice to see familiar faces. Some days I still have to travel a long way, but all in all, it's been pretty close. Last week I taught at the school that Marlee is teaching in. I felt like a little child on their first day of school or an excited puppy who finally got to go on an outing. I sat on the bus ever so proud beside Marlee. I had a great two days in her school and think that it would be pretty stellar to be able to go to work with her everyday! Her school really is amazing and the staff is absolutely lovely!


That is all that has been really happening in the life of Crystal Ward - not so exciting! I am now anticipating the arrival of my parents. I am in the process of booking all of our little trips while they are here. I am excited to see them and to show them all I know about the city. We are going to do things such as a free walking tour, visit the Imperial War Museum, take in a musical, get them some fish and chips, a trip on the London Eye and whatever else we can fit in! We are also planning a trip to Alderley Edge to do some family research, Liverpool to meet the Beatles, and Ireland to kiss the Blarney Stone! I am excited to see their interpretation of the life in london!

Weekly Garbage Update....

Mr. Fox is STILL eating garbage. In fact, about a week ago, two young Canadian girls had a chicken that had gone bad in their fridge. They got rid of it by tossing it into a black garbage bag and setting it on the side of the road for garbage disposal. Mr. Fox after smelling the sweet sweet smell of saminila, drug the tasty chicken across the road. Passerbyers were able to spot a whole chicken on the side of the road for 24 hours. No charges have been pressed and the investigation continues.

I was thinking about writing a blog just talking about general life in England (from my view) What are some questions that people have? maybe the next blog will be devoted to YOUUU...

Until Next time...peace!

MOM.....MAKE SURE YOU SCROLL DOWN, THIS IS THE LAST DAYS OF THE TRIP.....I HAVE FAITH IN YOU, I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!


I'm probably going to squeeze all of Berlin into this one blog because I can't find the ambition to write it in two. ha. ha. ha.

So we rolled into Berlin around 8:30 or so and figured out how to get on the train to get to our hostel. Since this is the last place we booked, we were too lazy and bored or booking things to actually get good directions on how to get there and thought we'd just wing it. Bad decision. We got off at the station that matched the street that we needed to go. We didn't have a map, we didn't have clue, and most of all we didn't have any German language in our repertoire of knowledge. We quickly learned that no one spoke English. We looked like stupid lost tourists and pointed out the address then shrugged our arms as if we were saying..."where the hell is this place?!" Some people tried to help us, each sending us in the wrong direction, finally we turned around and walked the way we thought. We were right! We got to our hostel at like 11:30 because of this issue. We dumped off the backpacks and off we went to central Berlin to go on a free walking tour.

The free walking tour was definitely a highlight of the tour. It started out in front of the Brendenburg gate, which is the main gate that people got into Berlin back in the day. Today, it is one of the most visited tourist spots in the world. Also, in this town square is the hotel where my good old friend Michael Jackson dangled a babe. I wanted to live in the moment and experience exactly what this iconic hero was feeling, but I couldn't find a baby quick enough and Marlee wouldn't pretend to be one. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Next, on the tour we walked to places such as the Reichstag and the huge Holocaust memorial. Along the way our tour guide filled us in on other important events that happened at various places. The whole feeling of Berlin is something that I can not describe. You walk around and you just don't feel like you should be taking pictures. So many horrible things happened here and I think that the city really still hasn't fully recovered. We walked past the part of the Berlin wall that is still standing as well as the place where Hitler's bunker was, which is also in the end where he committed suicide. It is so bizarre to be standing on the same ground where these things happened. I remember learning about events such as the world wars and the Holocaust in Social and History but this really made the events clear in my mind. I think that Dodge and Boyda should team up and take the kids to Berlin for history! hehe. I'm not going to get into tooo many more details, but check out my pictures on facebook, I've included lots of writing in them!

Next, we decided that we would like to eat something good, hearty and German. We walked around for an hour trying to comprehend a menu in any restaurant but honestly we gave up. We ended up settling for Chinese Food, only because there were pictures of the food to order. Might I add that this was amazing Chinese food! Yum! We then went back to our hostel because we were pooped out from our early morning and once again hit the sheets by 9.

We woke up nice and early to explore on our last day of our adventure. On the plate today we planned to go to a concentration camp. Since the day before we had spend 6,50 euro's and no one even checked our tickets, we decided to pass on the train ticket for that day. We met our tour at the Brendenburg Gate and we all went together on the train to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. All was fine and dandy and our tour guide asked us twice.."do you have train tickets..do you have train tickets." Of course we said, YES! Well, we got onto the train, and wouldn't you know these creepy looking men dressed in normal clothing suddenly pop up, with badges and start asking people for their tickets. We casually pull ours out hoping he doesn't see the "friday" written all over them. And he says something in German, innocent us, say sorry we dont' speak german. He then starts speaking in English, asks for our passports and starts writing us some sort of ticket. I ask if we can just buy a ticket when we get off because we thought that the tickets were good for 24 hours. Didn't work, there was no charming this creep. So anyways, this guy makes us GET OFF THE TRAIN, (where the rest of our tour group is on..and our tour guide made it pretty clear that we just had to ride the train straight there without switching.) By this time, we were a little bit worried but mostly freaked out by these dudes. So off the train we get and the creep asks for my address, so I give it to him and I can see that he is typing it totally wrong because he is stupid. He gets everything mixed up like 67 instead of 76 and on and on. So finally they rip us off this ticket and tell us we have two weeks to pay this 40 euro's and he gives us a ticket that is included in this 40 euro's. Fine and dandy, not sure why he couldn't do that on our train so we didn't have to get off but whatever. So we are now not on the same train as the group and we are angry as ever. Finally, we get to our station and we are now about 20 minutes behind we boogy down to the concentration camp thinking we will NEVER catch up to our group..BUT..we did thankfully! So we finally made it to the concentration camp.... minor delays..ugh!

Things I could have done with 40 euro's

1. Bought a plane ticket to another country.

2. Bought 6.15 train tickets in Berlin.

3. Paid for German lessons.

4. Eaten a fine German Meal.

5. Stayed for another 3 nights in our hostel.

6. Bought 35 more post cards.

7. Paid for someone to punch out the creepy guys who gave us the ticket.

Ultimately, jokes on me.


Anyways, this concentration camp was one of the first camps and was a working camp rather than a death camp. People were sent here for various reasons and not just because they were Jewish. Walking into the camp I have never felt so uneasy. We first walked through Tower A, where everyone would pass through on their way into the camp. Just before this people were stripped of their identity by removing their clothes and shaving their heads. They were also given a triangle which stated why they were in there. (ie..one colour for gays, one for jewish people...) We walked through and had a look at the security system which didn't allow any one to get out alive. whew. We looked at the prisoner's living quarters as well as means of torture. In the living quarters which were SO tiny, there would be about 300 people living in there. There were single bunk beds, three high and 9 men would be expected to sleep in each level. Call me crazy, but a single bed and nine people..impossible! They were only allowed to use the toilets in the morning and at night, so there was literally a stampede to the toilets and people would get trampled. I would recommend you visit this link to check out more information and see more pictures of this camp. (it's an interesting read....awful..but interesting.) or http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

After the concentration camp, we have to get back to our hostel, eat something then head out to the airport to catch our plane back to England. We get onto the plane with no problems and were back in the land of English speaking people! weo! Our plane landed at 10:35 and we finally walked into our house at 4:30 in the morning! What a travel!

Things I learned about Berlin

1. Speaking German is an asset in Germany.

2. German--it would be good to know...in Germany.

3. Paying 6,50 euro's is peanuts rather than getting made fun of by three creepy germans.

4. German really isn't a "romantic, flow off your tongue, seduce me" kinda language.

5. Berlin loves graffiti, it's everywhere.

6. The Berlin wall DID fall.. (in case you haven't read the headlines.)


And now, it's already Thursday of the following week! I got a call when I got home on Sunday that I was no longer needed at the school I was at for 6 weeks, so I got to enjoy two extra days of holidays because there was simply no work for me! wah wah wah! I did work today however in a lovely school withing walking distance to my house! bow chicka wow wow! Now, we are preparing for the arrival of Amanda Jakubowski and kerri Rathegaber, both of Sturgis who are here for a week! I love company, I wish we had some every single week!

Alright, peace out hommie's.
love you all :)

Alright here goes some more of the trip.
Now where did I leave off...I'm pretty sure that I had JUST explained the results of watching tv with non-canadians!

Day numba tree

Me and Marlee rolled out of bed fairly early - partly not by choice. We both got the worst sleep of life because of some room mates. I mean, we WERE in a hostel where basically people leave and come and any and every time of the day, but really common sense is always appreciated.

I have compiled a list of ways to make sleeping room mates angry, I have tested each of these ideas, three times.

1. Turn on ALL the lights at 4:23 in the morning. The beds are equipped with ikea's finest night lights but please, don't use them because you really do need the brightest light to crawl into bed.

2. Jump around on the top bunk trying to make your bed. It creates an amazing squeeking sound that the person on the bottom is SURE to enjoy.

3. Talk on your cell phone in another crazy language and laugh..a lot. There is nothing that people like to hear more..it's like hearing a beginner on the clarinet.

4. undo, then do, then undo, then do, then undo, then do up every zipper on your back pack..JUST to make sure they are all in good working order. Hell if you are really feeling it even start doing this to other room mates back packs.


So day three started out to be a very tired morning (mostly because I was up testing all the above methods!) But, being the true adventurists that we are, we wanted to head over to the Old part of Stockholm, called "old town." Fitting, I know. We first of all, couldn't find it for the life of us, because I thought my "internal gps" was better than it was. We had walked to the old town the first night there, so I was using landmarks to get us back. Marlee didn't appreciate my internal gps and the fact that I had a map in my hand, but was disregarding it! I swear that I could have got us there, but as I told her, due to the lateness of the summer solstice the sun was out of position. We FINALLY got to the palace and by this time my feet were as dry as a log sitting at the bottom of the ocean for 333 years. I might add that it was colder than a witches heart and windier than the backside of my uncles after christmas dinner. So yes, you get the drift, cold and windy, and snowy. BUT we were determined to check out the palace. So, we strolled in there and watched the changing of the guard, which really is just a joke. The guys who work there were just chilling and hanging out rather than looking too serious. After that, we got some tickets to check out some of the buildings in the palace. Our first tour was of the crown jewels, it was in english, but the guy who was doing it, clearly wasn't the best choice. Yeah, it was bad. Then we went to see where the big rollers slept, we checked out a few rooms, got tired, and left. whoops.

By this time, it was frrrreeezzing, and it was already 6pm so we grabbed some supper and honestly were in bed by 8 because we had to be up at 2 in order to get to the airport to get to Berlin! This time, being the smarty pants that we are purchased ear plugs for the low cost of 5pence. I slept like a baby, but my counterparts apparently was watching some Olympics in the middle of the night.


Two Thirty AM ----- We got up, got dressed and were out the door by 3 to get to the station to catch the bus to the airport. At 3:40 we were boarded our first mode of transportation for the day, and made it to the john Deere shop of an airport and were on our plane (which was cold and frosty, they had to scrape the windows) and off we were the world of Germany....stay tuned for more...

Things I learned about Sweden

1. You know how people overcompensate when trying to impersonate different accents? I believe that the way people talk like they are from "sveedeeen yaaa" is true. They really do talk like that.

2. The "I'm helpless" look that you give people when you really just don't want to figure it out yourself works wonders in Sweden. People will always stop and ask if you need help.

3. Kex bars are delicious. I don't actually know if this statement has to do with anything, but these chocolate bars were everywhere so I assume they are kind of a big deal there.

4. It's cooolllddd in Sweden.

Stay tuned for the invasion of Berlin Germany where the two innocent girls get in trouble with the law. bah bah bah....total cliff hanger..

Hey there! Just got home from another crazy adventure throughout Europe. This time Me and Marlee hit up both Stockholm Sweden and Berlin Germany! I am going to break these up like I did with our Scotland trip, so you will have LOTS to read.:)Just bear with me, my brain is frozen from the trip, don't expect humour in this one!

Day numero uno.

Our trip started bright and early on Tuesday morning as we headed out to Stansted airport for a 11:40 flight. My first impression of Sweden while landing in the plane was..."wait a second, did we land in a field near Endeavour Saskatchewan?!" Holy, no lies, we landed in the middle of no where with only snow and cold air around us. The building which was the "main terminal" looked sort of a quonset and I thought at any second dad would walk through with greasy hands and a belt or a part of a tractor in hand. Regardless, since we left our house at 6:30am we were not willing to argue about our whereabouts. We finally DID get into Stockholm and rolled into our hostel at around 4:30 in the afternoon. That's a long day of traveling seeing it was only a two hour flight!
We settled in and then decided to find some supper at a grocery store. Marlee's personal mission is to try the 5cent candies in every country and sometimes I have a hard time keeping her on track. I did manage to tear her away from the candies to get some sandwiches at least, still if I would have let her, she would have sat down in the store and tried every candy. After some eats we hit up the town with Greg. (A fellow teacher that we know who is from Ontario) We walked around Stockholm for about 234209384308 hours just checking out sites. A highlight of this walk about was the "Vampire Bar" that Greg said was a MUST see while in Stockholm. You see the name "vampire bar" and think oh la la, i'm going to see a vampire..or at least some spooky kinda atmosphere. Wrong. wrong and wrong. We walked into bar and it smelt like 30 grade 5 boys after a morning of gym class. I have never smelt nasty sweaty body odor like this. We walked down the stairs to be terrified alright. There were about 4 creepy people in there so we walked down, turned around and walked out. Vampire bar - let down. We also came across this like secret look out point where you had an amazing overlook on a lot of the city. It was a very pleasant and calm night and after 4 hours of walking around we were cold and sleepy!

Day two.

Day two started out bright and early again as we wanted to make sure that we saw absolutely everything that Stockholm had to offer. We got all bundled up because it was snowing like crazy and set off to see a museum of national antiques. It said it was all about vikings. Viking power yaaa.. We stepped out of our hostel and were carefully looking at a map when a nice old gentleman came up and asked if we needed help. He pointed us in the right direction, the people of Stockholm are SO friendly. When we found the museum it wasn't even open for the day yet! ugh! Plan B: Ship museum. At this point, we were not sure if the ship was IN a museum OR if the museum was IN the ship. :)This ship really was something to see, it was probably my most favourite museum I've EVER been to, which is pretty impressive since I have experienced the Preeceville Heritage Museum.
[prepare for long historical explanation, written by memory since my pamphlet is missing....stretch..shake it out..ok and read..]
The Vasa, was a ship that was built in the 1600's by King Gustav. He built the ship to send it off to Poland to basically shoot at them. He had lots of cannons as well as had the boat made with two floors so that more men could shoot at once. The boat only took two years to build which was pretty amazing in that day. A year into the making, and a year to the completion the creator died so he never got to see this "masterpiece" even float. Alright, so the boat is a BIT overdone. The King has all these massive statues basically saying..look at me..I'm the king..I'm a sexy king i'm going to put up lions and statues of me so everyone knows. So the King gets all of the kings horses and all the kings men..and instead of putting humpty together again he throws them onto this boat. Within twenty minutes the boat ultimately tips over because it is top heavy and BOOM sinks to the bottom of the harbour. 333 years later they finally locate it, dig it up and sail it into the museum. They have restored it and now it sits, 95% original. Pretty impressive I think. The museum is seven stories tall and you can check out the ship from every angle. They have this one part where the actual bones of the people who died on the ship are, as well as information that they gathered about them as in what they did, what they looked like and everything!
Ok, so thats my explanation of the ship, I'm sorry if I have wasted 5.23 minutes of your life, but I was SO excited about it that I had to write it all!
After the vasa we met up with greg lee again and went to the national museum of antiques. It was good, checked out some viking power. We then had some supper and went to our hostel where we watched the olympics for a very long time.


Things I learned about Canada while watching tv with non-canadians,

1. We have polar bears running around everywhere and at any second, on the ski slope where thousands of people are, a polar bear MAY jump out and grab the skiier so be prepared.

2. Moose. Don't mess with the moose, again, they may show up on the ski slope at any second.

3. If the polar bear and moose is not a big enough scare for you, the trees, in BC, may start leaking maple syrup flooding everyone out.

4. Curling is not a sport and is only for people who cannot play ice hockey. (believe you me, i argued this one for a good 30 minutes...grrr)

5. People watching the Vancouver olympics at the venues should dress warmer. Canada is cold.


And I shall end this blog at this point...stay tuned for day three of Sveeedeeenn yaa..and berlin!

Peace out homies!

Hey Everyone!

I hope that Mushers weekend was great! I see that it's pretty cold there today! whew! It was FREEZING cold here today. I think it was down to 1...but I was actually very cold! Does that mean that I've been in London for too long if I am finding 1 cold?!

Sorry I didn't write one last night but I was way to sleepy to even blink never mind write something that I wanted people to understand! I would like to thank Chlorisa for the reminder!

Last week was a good busy week, the days are just flying by! Seems like I am just dreading Monday morning and before I know it, I'm leaving work on Friday evening! The days are also getting longer so it is less depressing leaving work.

Thursday night me and Marlee went to the Lion King with our friends Phoebe and Charmine. I only have one word...WOW. First of all, the set was just amazing. Every time i go to a musical I sit there in awe the whole time. Within the first two minutes I had shivers throughout my body and tears in my eyes. I don't know what I was expecting, but I certainly was not expecting what I saw. For the opening and the Circle of Life song, all the animals came onto the stage. There were elephants, and gazelle's, and zebras and elephants and my favourite the giraffes. I would recommend you try to youtube it to try and watch a video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPAo389cQ4U I've attached one there but i'm just not sure if it will work- youtube might disable it. Regardless, try it out.

This weekend me and Marlee decided to head to Bristol. Bristol is in the south western part of England and is about 2 1/2 hours out of London. We went by bus as it was cheapest..only 12 pounds there and back! Apparently on MegaBus if you book early enough in advance the trips are like a pound each! We stayed at Heather and Keisha's (they are both from Moose Jaw and went to the UofR too) So that was a ton of fun, and I'm sure they had a blast being our tour guides. On the way to Bristol, it was nice to see the landscape of London, believe it or not, we have not really been outside London besides on our way to Scotland. I had a extreme case of Deja Vu on the way because we drove through this thick forest with lots of spruce trees. Reminded me a lot of the drive to Hudson Bay. Also, on the way I saw many a cow and TONS of green green grass! Lucky! Also, en route I noticed about a million and a half sheep. hey mom--remember that time you hit those sheep? People don't forget! hahaha

Anyways, we rolled into Bristol and Heather picked us up from the bus stop and we went to her house to drop off our bags and use the facilities. After that, we hit the town for some exploring. First we went to the Clifton Bridge which is what Bristol is famous for. The bridge, similar to one that crosses the massive Assiniboine river has been standing since the 1800's. Now that's built to last. This bridge just isn't your normal everyday bridge...this one..LINKS two pieces of land with a river underneath it. mind blowing..i know! heheehe. The bridge was very pretty and the mountainous terrain on the side was also very pretty. Check out my facebook for pictures!

Then, while near the bridge, we went down through this cave to stand on this totally random balcony on the side of the mountain. The cave, I'm not going to lie was scary as hell. It was so stuffy and small. Some parts I even had to mind my head! Can you imagine someone like my brother going through there! whew! After the bridge we headed back downtown Bristol for some eats. We went to this place called the "ostrich inn" I will give you one guess as to what they serve. YUP- ostrich. I had an ostrich burger. Ok, that's a lie, but this burger was a massive piece of work. If you took 23.5 mcdonalds burgers and piled them onto each other you may be getting close to the size of the burger we had here! After lunch, we tried to go on a boat in Bristol's floating harbour, but we had no luck. I think that the chances of me going on a boat that actually MOVES in the UK are slim to none.

We then decided that it would be a good idea to TRULY get the feel of Bristol by staring at the walls of a dance club for the rest of the night. I normally choose to leave out trips to the bar in this blog, but this bar could NOT be left unmentioned. I've never seen such a place in my life, nor have I seen such a variety of people. Now, all you people who know the popular nightclub, "JD's" in Regina, now the true shadiness of it. Well this place made JD's look like the classiest night club in the whole world! There were people above 70 dressed like they were 20, there were people above 20 dressed like they were 70, there were people dressed in nothing at all, there were people dressed as if I never got the memo and Halloween came early in Bristol! There were however some pretty normal people, and we had a TON of fun!

Finally, we arrived home on Sunday to make our annual Sunday Roast. I think it really is impossible to get SICK of eating a chicken dinner. yum!

Currently, me and Marlee are busy booking our tickets and looking up things to do in Stockholm Sweden and Berlin Germany, where we will be heading next week for half term break!! It's supposed to be like -9 though, so it's going to be chilly! Then, back to work and only 6 weeks till my mother and father show face in london! WeO!

Weekly garbage update...

Fox/cat 1 Crystal 0

jokes on me. The creature got into my shanti and KNOCKED IT OVER!
stay tuned for more local updates.


Talk to everyone soon! Don't be a stranger, send a message or a call or anyting!

Hey everyone! Hope everyone had an amazing week and weekend! I see that it's pretty chilly there today.

My week was..QUICK. It seems like time just flies by. One day I'm hating that it's Sunday evening and before I can even BLINK it's already Friday evening. I think that time really does goes quicker the older you get. I can't imagine it flying any faster but I guess time will tell.

I had a good week at my school and I'm really starting to love every moment. I'm not going to lie, sometimes I think it would be easier to work closer, but overall I am really grateful to have a classroom of kids who know me. This week we were learning all about the Olympics still and about birds. It's been fun! I've changed around my classroom a bit, so I'm curious as to how the kids will respond. I'm finally getting into a groove of assessment but still find it wayyy overwhelming. One day I showed the kids pictures that momma had sent to me of the snow you guys got! HOLY jumping joseph you guys got a ton! I wish I would have had a video camera when they saw them. There reactions were "WOOOOOOOOWWWW" They could not believe it. It was really super cute. I showed all my staff and they too were in complete shock and pondered..."how do you live in that much snow" I told them that we all live in our igloo's and are quite happy driving our electric cars. They didn't get that I was joking, so I guess the jokes on them.

This weekend we went to a Canadian Teachers Drink night at the Maple Leaf. I really do enjoy that bar and it's nice to hear an accent we recognize. There were a ton of teachers there, but unfortunatly for us there was a hockey game playing so the pub was full. We all ended up sitting at different tables around the pub. Me and marlee sat a table with some new people. They turned out to be awesome fun, so hopefully we'll get to party with them again very soon.

So here's the deal. We've been having a problem with a feline in our backyard tearing into our garbage. Ok, so we're unsure that it's ACTUALLY a kitty because it could be the fox we see lingering around our streets. Either way, some four legged creature has been jumping the fence and tearing into our garbage..which I am NOT ok with. Unless he/she starts paying some of the grocery bill. Today me and Marlee stepped out the door to pick up the garbage. I ended up making a garbage shanti out of scrap wood and bricks in our backyard. I think the shanti will come in handy because when my mom and dad come they will have a home away from home. A home really made out of love and basically looks like something out of a magazine. Pure lovely. Then, after we made the shanti, we proceeded to clean out our backyard! You'll never believe this, BUT there are TULIPS coming up already! Yup, January 31st and tulips are coming up. Then, after the gardening was complete, we made our annual Sunday Roast. Every weekend now me and marlee cook up a chicken with mashed potatoes and vegtables and gravy and on and on and on. Yummy!

things i've learned this week.....

We are smarter than you're average feline...

Hey there!
This weekend I am NOT disappointing, hence, a blog ON Sunday! In fact, I just got up and am still laying in bed writing this. I can't believe it is only 9 and I think I slept in SO LONG! whew, I guess an extra four hours of sleep from the weekly alarm at 5:30 am IS a sleep in! I don't know how my father gets up at that hour everyday. Gross- my question to this is: is it the Pepsi?

My week was good! Hard to believe that in only three weeks we have mid term break already. School is STILL cool for me. This week I took the kids from my class on a field trip to check out the 2012 Olympic site. It was very successful for my first field trip EVER! I could only take 12 of the 20 so it was nice and easy but FAR from relaxing!This lady who was sent to go with me had not a clue about young children's needs I think she thought they were grown adults. We basically ran to the tube stop, threw the kids on the escalator (AHHHHH!!!) then threw them on the tube. It's kind of nerve racking making sure all the kids get on the tube. When we got to stratford (it's very very very close to my school) we got to go up into this viewing gallery on a 29th floor to have a big look of everything. It was far over the kids head, but I thought it was interesting. The Olympic site is costing 9 billion pounds! It was really cool to see how everything was already coming together.
Because we were learning about the olympics I thought it was the PERFECT time to teach them all about Canada! I hear them in the home corner playing house talking about going on a trip to Canada. ah hah, SUCCESS! We played on the Vancouver 2010 website on the SMART board all week. Any chance I get to throw in a CANADA fact I do!

On Thursday night my agency had a drink night in central London so we hit that up. Not only was it FREE drinks but also FREE appy's. You really can't go wrong in a situation such as this. We walked into the pub and the guy at the door knew all of us, how awesomely creepy is that?! He apparently "recognized" us from our pictures at the office. "Oh Crystal Ward" "Oh Marlee Hough" SMART sends out this picture of us when we are booked into a school. This picture was taken when we FIRST got here and we were living in a hostel without a blow dryer OR straightener so you can just IMAGINE what that looks like. The schools probably think that SMART is sending them some sort of hobo. eeesshh. There was this gentleman from London there and me and Marlee got talking to him and basically making fun out of eachothers accents as per usual. We were talking about different words for different things. We taught him that we call our underwear, gotch and panties. I think my new mission is to spread the word gotch around London. Anyways, the drink night was really fun and of course we met some more Canadians and some more Australians.


News as Marlee Hough Sees It

I think I better give an update on the life of Marlee Anne Monica Hough since I know that a lot of her fans are reading this blog!

Marlee is currently under quarenteen for her obssession with 5 cent candies. She is under careful watch by the Bristish Government and CCTV (closed curcuit television) She recently had a melt down when she realized that they are not "5 cents" here but rather 5p candy. She is now locked in her room and I am in charge of leaving food at her door in the morning and night. She is going through a withdraw and has cold sweats.
We all wish her a speedy recovery.

Also in the world of Marlee:
Marlee got a job this week at a school VERY close to our house. It's basically the dream job as she is team teaching in reception. She gets classroom duties as well as she is in charge of teaching the EAL kids English. She has 23234028340 or so kids in her class so it's great that she has another teacher in there with her.
She wakes up around 6:20 when I am in the bathroom brushing my teeth on my way out of the house. To that I say - "I hate you marlee hough"
But - I'm glad that she now has a job that she loves as well. It's nice to be able to talk about what we are doing and what not since we are now both teaching reception. (for those that forget - reception ISN'T the front desk of the school OR the event that takes place after the church service at a wedding but rather kindergarten!)

and that's how marlee sees it.

The weekend was VERY low key which is exactly what the doctor ordered. Friday night we went for groceries and watched LOST all night. Then Saturday I babysat and had a blast as per usual. Then I FINALLY got a hair cut, first one since I got here. I think my hair looked like a man from the 80's who had shoulder length hair and always ran his hair through it. Since I AM a female living in 2010 I thought I'd better deal with that!


Alright, well thats all for now! I hope everyone has an amazing time at home in all the snow. I miss the feeling of a big snow fall. Seeing everyone shoveling and plowing and helping eachother and rosy cheeks and the thought that there is no way you can make it back to the city.

Love you All!!

Ps. Happy Birthday for Monday January 25th daddio!

Hey everyone!

So much for that "Sunday night blog night"-- my bad. Truth be told I was far too tired come Sunday evening to even think about sitting down and tapping away. I promised myself i’d do it Monday evening..then Tuesday..and NOW it’s already hump day and I’m far behind!!

New in my life...new in my life—nothing! I am really starting to get the hang of my job and really starting to enjoy the kid’s personalities. Man do I love funny kids. It is great that there are only 20 of them so I feel like I can really get to know each and every one. It also makes easy for classroom management, which I'd NEVER complain about! The other day one of the little boys were talking to another teacher and said to her, “miss, miss. Ward lives in High School Musical!” Hahaha, First I laughed, then in proper musical fashion I broke into song. I sang a rendition from High School Musical. I always loved the thought of living in a musical where everyone and any moment breaks into song. What a dream life that would be. Unfortunately, the commute is NOT getting easier OR quicker. Even with the extra hour of sleep I never have enough energy. The other day while sleeping on the tube, I was holding my phone and it dropped out of my hand and onto the floor!

Come Friday night, I was totally played out and me and Marlee went to the candy shop, bought some treats and watched 4 episodes of Lost. A long time ago, i discovered a small shop a block away from our house, but never did venture into it. On Friday, we walked on over and boy were we pleased at what we found. In this store was Marlee's weakness, FIVE CENT CANDIES! We loaded up and made our way back home. Upon eating these candies, we were MORE than pleased with what we had found. The sour soothers tasted like heaven. Usually, the candies taste a lot more gooey and a lot less sour, which overall leaves you unsatisfied. The particular sour soothers we found are the amazing, sour, eat until your tongue is sore soothers. Yum!

Anyways, enough about the damn candy. On Saturday morning I babysat bright and early at 9. Me and Giaan had the time of our lives once again. He is just so darn funny and fun. It's nice to hang out with a three year old since I'm starting to miss all my favourite kids at home! We played store, we played puzzles, we played with cars, we read some books, we built a tower, we cooked lunch and we watched some Peppa Pig. Overall, it was tiring! lol.

I came home from babysitting and got ready for the next big event of the day. Me, Marlee, Kristin and Kristin's sister (Anna) and friend (Cheryl) hit up the streets of London on a pub crawl. It was a blast as per usual and we all managed to make it home alive! On Sunday, when I should have been at home planning, the girls twisted my arm and convinced me to head to Camden with them. I`ve been to Camden a couple of times now BUT, every time I go I discover a piece that I`ve never seen before. There really are probably 999 different little shops selling different little trinkets and outfits and bongs and whatever else you can imagine. There was this one place with really nice pictures of London that I want to go back and pick up a few as decorations for a future house.

Things I've learned....

1) American Cherry Cola is amazing. The girls at work are constantly raging about how lucky I am to be able to get it whenever I want back home.

To that I say: Do people even really DRINK c-c-cherry cola? I have tasted it here in England and it really is flat.

2) McDonald's in America is better for one reason. What is that reason you may be wondering..well let me tell you. It is because we have DR. PEPPER on tap. I really don't think it is called "on tap" but you know the stuff that isn't in a bottle, comes out of the machine...

To that i say... Do a lot of people bend over backwards to order a "dr. pepper" with their Big Mac meal? I


That's really all I have for last week. I'm sorry!! Please don't stop reading!

Love you all, miss you all, yada yada yada.

Hey Everyone!
Time to get back onto the "Sunday Evening Blog Writing" schedule again!
I hope everyone is settling back into work after the holidays and are all still managing with their new years resolutions!

As far as it goes for me- all is well. Finally got some rest this weekend after a super busy holiday. We saw so many things and tried so many new things that it was amazing. Had to go back to work to get some rest!

On Monday, I did not have to work so me, Marlee, Carrie and Jerid hit the town nice and early and headed down to the Queen's house to watch the Changing of the Guard. This event happens every other day in the winter at 11:30AM. We got there right around 11 and whew for people. There were more people there than there is at Monday night BINGO in preeceville. Everyone wants to see the guards change apparently. We did manage to find a spot where we could see into the gates of the palace. We watched the dudes march by, the marching band play, as well as a horse guard go by. All in all, it was indeed pretty neat to see. Is it worth however to stand and be pushed by someone twice your body weight? That's a question to ask Marlee however. You could ask me what it is like to have someone about 4'10 speaking another language trying to push you aside to see what's going on. She thought she had me, but i planted my feet and there was no way I was budging! My question to HER is-- are you even part of the commonwealth? After the changing of the guard we walked through St. James' park and came across a quaint little hot dog stand. This hot dog was better than the one in Bath, but the search for the amazing hot dog continues. After the hot dog eating, we walked to Leicester Square to buy some discounted musical tickets. Then we went to Camdentown Market which was amazing fun. Before me and Marlee had went on a Sunday afternoon which was indeed a mistake. Going on a Monday afternoon allowed us to actually look at things in the market as well as watch Carrie talk people into giving her a lower price-which turned out to be quite entertaining. Finally, we headed back to Leicester Square and had some Pizza Hut for supper...(yuuummmmmm...)

I seriously had the time of my life at Dirty Dancing. WOw. Wow. Wow. As I'm sure everyone has watched Mr. Swayze dance a time or two you'll know the complexity of the set in Dirty Dancing. One second they are in a car, the next they are in the kitchen, the next they are in the staff quarters and so on and so forth. The broadway version was exactly the same, the sets were always magically transforming in front of our eyes. Blew my mind away. The dancing was nothing less than perfect, Baby was cast as the perfect Baby and Johnny was beautiful. My favourite part was when Johnny came running through the audience at the end (you know..when he says NObody puts Baby in a corner) It seriously put tears in my eyes! SO amazing!

We didn't get home until around 11:30 and I had to be up and attempt by 5:30 the next morning. I was seriously dead to the world on Tuesday for my first day of work. As I think I've written in previous blogs, I've finally captured a long term teaching position! I'm teaching in a reception class and have 20 students, three of which are autistic. The school has a high importance on assessment and if after this job I don't know how to assess, I mid as well quit being a teacher. If we are caught without a sticky note pad for taking down observations we get into trouble! The school has a computer program which tracks every child. It's an electronic portfolio, I'm going to put the program on my computer so I'll be able to share with all my teaching buddies when I get home! The only problem with this job is that it is 4325029834934 hours away. It takes me an hour and a half to get to the school each morning. I am getting very familiar with the "head bob on the tube" and manage to catch about an hour of extra sleep on my way to school. I am going to miss my stop someday soon I'm sure of it! I am NOT complaining though as I am so grateful to go to the same place everyday and get work everyday.

As all of you are aware London was hit with a BIG winter storm this past week. I know that all the news coverage in Canada was showing it. I think that the fact that Canada was showing it is absolutely HILARIOUS! Most schools were shut down two days and there was disruptions on the tube and there were people stranded and there were people stuck and people dead and blah blah blah. Truth was, on Tuesday when I left my school i was shocked as to the amount of snow that was falling. Even in Canada I would have called it a blizzard. The snow was really heavy and really wet causing everything to be really slippery. Aside from Tuesday, the winter storm really wasn't a winter storm by Canadian definition though. In the paper on Tuesday morning I read this HUGE article about how everyone in England was out in the grocery store stocking up on things such as milk and bread to last them through the winter storm. PREPAREEE FOR THE ICE AGE! Also, perhaps more amusing, it was noted that the sales of thermal underwear jumped 150%. Now there really is only snow in some places but there IS ice. I think they used all the salt to early. Walking outside on the side walk is basically giving yourself the threat of death. It's more icy than a skating rink, no lies. I am glad that in 80 years I will be able to tell my grandchildren that I, their grandmother survived the worst winter storm in England in the last 30 years. Yup- i was there. Yup- I survived.

We sent of Jerid to South Africa Tuesday evening. :( sad! He made it there and is doing amazing already! It was sooo great to have him here as he lights up any room he walks into. Carrie was scheduled to leave Wednesday morning at 11 AM. However, with the big storm, her flight was delayed. Then her flight was canceled. The poor girl had to spend the night in the airport. I'm sure she got out her knitting and knitted away for hours. I bet airports really are amazingly comfy to hang out in for 30 hours. She finally got away on Thursday morning. whew! I again was sad to see her go as we had so many great laughs! I can't wait for my next company!!

Things I've learned this week....

1)Don't leave your luggage unattended. These dummies decided that it would be ok to leave their luggage on the side of the street while they watched the changing of the guards. A police officer didn't think it was the best idea and threatened the people to take it. ha ha ha. People are stupid - guess they've never heard of BOMB BOMB BOMB. Maybe leaving a mysterious suitcase beside the Queen's house ISN'T the best idea. I still wanna try it so that good looking cops can threaten me ;)

Talk to you soon!

Hey there!
Sorry this took so damn long to get up. However, here it goes...Stonehenge and Bath.

On Sunday January 3 me, Marlee, Kristin, Carrie and Jerid set off to conquer the ever famous Stonehenge and perhaps have the chance to bath..in Bath. Our trip started bright and early. Perhaps TO early for most of us, as I can honestly say I didn't see any of the trip to Stonehenge. The warmth of the bus made it pretty much impossible not to sleep. If you want to know what the country side looks like you'll have to ask Carrie!

It took about an hour and a bit to drive to Stonehenge. You could actually see Stonehenge before you got to it and my first thought was "wow, this is real life" Before this, Stonehenge was always just a picture in a book, something that I couldn't really comprehend, and something I for sure would never see. But here I was..at Stonehenge. We got there and we got these little audio guides to follow as we walked around the stones. We all particularly enjoyed the one where they talked about other explanations about Stonehenge. Some think that giants created the huge stone structure and some people even think it was the devil's doing. Whatever you may believe, I'm going to go with the realistic approach and assume that some humans made it.

I never realized how complex the actual grounds would be. Apparently it was built in three parts. All around the rocks there is a huge bank It was dug out using antlers and animal bone picks. I think that from now on I will start using deer antlers in the garden to dig rather than hang them up on the wall. Next, they found remnants of a timber posts circling the structure that they think were used as burial points. Next, the rocks. Whew, if I remember correctly the blue stone weighs something stupid like 25 tons each. Thinking about it now, I think that if I worked out for a couple weeks it would be no problem for me to build my own Stonehenge. I always think that Preeceville needs something cool. I mean Sturgis has that beautiful horse, Canora has the beautiful baba-Preeceville NEEDS something. Hence, I'll build a Stonehenge. If you want to volunteer please leave your name and number at the bottom. Great thanks.

ANYWAYS, some people are disappointed when they see this amazing structure because they think it's going to be bigger. I can't say that I was in the least bit disappointed but rather marveled in it's beauty. We took about 8082343284 pictures so check for them on facebook. we got to check it out for about 45 minutes even though you can't actually touch Stonehenge and can't even get that close to it at all. However, back in the day, you could touch Stonehenge, play on it, heck you could even buy a chisel at the gift shop and take a piece home with you. Now, it's a natural heritage site and the only time you can touch it or be close to it is summer and winter solstice.

We got back to the bus with rosy cheeks and frozen legs. Guess what we did.....YUP-we made a sandwich! Yum! Next we were off to Bath. Bath is a national heritage city with about 83,000 people living in it. Being a national heritage city, you can not alter the outside of the buildings and perhaps even better, if you build a new building, it has to match the existing architecture. Also, all over the city there are buildings with the windows blocked over using bricks. Back in the day, there was a window tax and you had to pay according to how many windows you had therefore, some people bricked up their windows. Another interesting fact about bath is that it is where Jane Austen grew up. There is a museum there that we went into before being shooed out for not paying! whoops! We went by Johnny Depp's apartment but I didn't catch a glimpse of him in his underwear from his bedroom window-maybe next time.

Interesting fact of how Bath was discovered: Back in the day, there was a Kings son. The Kings son who will now be called "Martin" from now on(hahaha sorry i forget his name) Anyways, Martin was shunned from his country because he had leprosy, he moved into the Bath area and did odd jobs just to keep himself living. He was mostly a pig herder and even his pigs were the lower class pigs and had nasty skin diseases too. One day, the pigs were rolling in this mud and after a few days, their skin diseases were improving. He then decided to jump into the mud too, and low and behold, his leprosy was cured by the water! AND voila! Bath was discovered. Martin went back to his dad, and later became King and created the town. And the rest is history...

The main point about going to Bath is to check out the ancient roman ruins. We walked into this building and sort of smelt like stale water. They gave us our mini cell phone audio guide again and off we went! We first walked into the biggest pool of water. The water is kind of a green nasty-ness with a steam rising. The architecture all around the water is something amazing. People back then were damn clever. It's hard to believe that something built so long ago is still standing. Anyways, at this main pool, they think that important Roman leaders would meet and make critical decisions. I think that the Canadian government should also try this technique. What would be better than sitting naked beside Stephan Harper discussing global warming- NOTHING. You then walk throughout the building and get a good idea of how the natural spring worked. One thing I found particularly interesting is looking at the stone. At the main door of the bath you can see the stone step is eroded from the millions of people who walked through the doors. Also, there is a display of items that they have since found in the drainage. Items such as combs, money, jewelery and other things they believed were given as offerings. Finally, at the end you get to walk around the lower level of the pool. There are signs everywhere that say you can't touch it, so of course me and Marlee touched it. You can't put up signs like that and expect people to head them- DON'T tempt me I say. The water was luke warm and indeed felt like "bath" water. Sorry, this really is a horrible attempt at trying to explain it. It was really just SOO complex that I am doing no justice to it! eeessh!

After checking out the roman Bath's we had a few hours to explore the city. First of all, Marlee has been having these extreme cravings for hot dogs. She talked about it so much that I too wanted an Olympic Hot Dog with ketchup and mustard cooked on the BBQ. I don't think they sell Olympic hot dogs, or even harvest..but rather large breakfast sausages that they call a hot dog. None the less, we still wanted one. While eating it, I put my arm in pigeon poop. yum. After eating our satisfying hot dog we went for a walk just to check out Bath. It's such a beautiful place. We went into the Abbey. It's a really really old amazing church and covering the walls and the floor are plaque's of dedications to people. I'll put some pictures of this on facebook as well.

Overall, the day was amazing. I am so glad that we got to check out both of these places. Again I learned so much in one day and saw so many things that I'd never seen!

I'm sorry that this blog is so full of small details and facts about both Stonehenge and Bath. I like to write what I remember and occasionally I like to do a bit of research myself! I hope you enjoy the small facts too and that I've saved you some time from looking it up yourself!

Thing's I learned today....

1) The pigs here are HUGE! We drove past this huge pig farm and I accidentally mistook the pigs as horses. I don't know how they breed them here, but I bet you could get A LOT of bacon off of one. (Me Kristin and Marlee once again found ourselves wondering what a group of pigs is called..it's a herd)

2) Pigeon poop doesn't ruin my mood or my will to eat a hot dog.

Until next time....

Happy New Year Everyone!!

I hope that everyone had an amazing New Years Eve full of excitement and fun! BUT...before I get to my London New Years events I have some other stuff to share!

On the 27th one of my dearest friends from University, Carrie, flew into Gatwick! Me and Marlee were both VERY excited to welcome her to London, even if it was only 7 in the morning. We left our house at 6 and finally rolled into the airport at 8...what a feat! Carrie was sitting there ever so patiently waiting for us. We got home that day and basically lived the dream while Carrie slept for 20 hours straight..jet leg much? Once Carrie FINALLY woke up, we have done some shopping and some sight seeing.

THEN, if ONE visitor is not exciting on the 30th, my curling buddy Jerid flew into Heathrow at 9 in the evening. To Heathrow it only takes around 30 minutes to get from our house to the tube and to the airport. lovely. Jerid wasn't hit by the jet leg like Carrie, but instead sleeps weird hours of the day even now.

The 31st..aka New Years Eve was a blast here in London! Me, Marlee, Jerid and Carrie headed over to Kristin's for some drinks and good cheer before heading to see the fireworks. We got there and decided it would be best to start out walking around. Apparently the thing to do here is to in fact just wander around on the streets drinking. It is so weird to walk past a cop holding a beer and NOT getting into any trouble at all! Blows my mind! Anyways, we walked through the crowds to Trafalgar Square. Once at Trafalgar Square we did our best to meet as many people from every country on the planet. I also did my very best at wishing people a Happy New Year--from Canada! Finally, the clock aka Big Ben struck twelve and the crowd erupted and fireworks went off! It was seriously surreal, at one point I think I had tears in my eyes! Hearing Big Ben and seeing the fireworks as well as watching the crowd it was pretty amazing! We had some fun after and finally rolled into home around 4:30 in the morning.

Being the go getter's that we are we got up and hit up the famous London New Years parade in central London. The parade was so fun! There were tons of people everywhere watching, thank goodness I'm so tall and tower over people that I could see everything! HA! Eventually, people got cold and left and I finally got a prime seat up front to watch the excitement. There was funky bikes, hot rods, clowns and of course marching bands. I don't think that London has any marching bands because there were 90234089348 bands from the states in the parade. The bands were definitely my favourite part of the parade. After three hours of parade and the fact that we couldn't feel any part of our body, we decided it was time to come home!

The next day, (Jan.2) we went on a walking tour by Sandeman's London Tours. The website sums up the tour best: "Walk in the footsteps of the rich and powerful on our Royal London Tour. We’ll introduce you to the personalities who ruled Great Britain, from Edward the Confessor to Winston Churchill. We’ll also take you to the buildings where they lived, worked and played, as well as where many are entombed today. This tour winds its way through the city of Westminster, home of the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey." Overall, our tour guide was amazing and had some funny stories about each location such as a story of a drunken Irish man who managed to break into Buckingham palace and to the queen's bedroom without getting caught. The tour guide was very animated and really loved his job which made it most interesting. Overall we saw, Hyde Park Corner
• Buckingham Palace
• Churchill’s War Cabinet Bunker
• The Houses of Parliament
• St. Martin-in-the-Fields
• Westminster Abbey
• Trafalgar Square


• Nelson’s Column
• Wellington Arch
• St. James’s Park
• 10 Downing St.
• Horseguards
• Whitehall
• Big Ben

Thing's I've Learned....

1) New Years is CRAZY here. There I said it.

2)On the tour I learned...One of the Mayor of London's election promises was to rid of the pigeons all over the city. To do so, he gave people little bags of bread to feed the pigeons BUT the bread wasn't just your regular everyday wonder bread..no..not for London..they put contraceptives in it! YES, the pigeons in the city ARE on birth control!

Stay tuned for a blog about Stonehenge and Bath.....

***********ATTENTION: MOM and other fan's. This is the LAST day of the trip, you need to scroll down and find the blog about the first day and work your way back....you can DOOOO it Mom!. If they don't show up below this one, click on the blogs on the right hand side of this page." *******************************



Day numba five

We got to start our day a little bit later which was lovely because we hadn't slept past seven on the whole vacation. We woke up had some breakfast and decided to check out Glasgow until we left at 3.

For some reason Kristin decided we should check out the train station to confirm what time we left. Upon arriving, Kristin talked to a person working and this nice lady told us that it would be smart for us to get on the next train. The weather was apparently bad and was causing delays all over the place. We then had to hike back to the hostel to get our bags. We got on the train to Edinburgh around 12 o'clock expecting it only to take the normal 50 minutes. We rolled into Edinburgh at 3 o'clock, there were in fact delays. At one point we were stopped in the middle of no where for 50 minutes while we waited for the train ahead of us to get towed. We made the best of it and made a sandwich.

Once we got into Edinburgh we jumped on the first train to London. We got onto the train we left Edinburgh and within three minutes THIS train was now stopped. Apparently the driver had to do some safety inspection. UGH! We played some cards, laughed and yes you guessed it-made a sandwich.

We rolled into London around 8 o'clock and finally made it back home.

Overall, our trip was absolutely amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better trio to travel with. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard for so long in my life. There wasn't a moment where we were annoyed with each other or anything. We had so much fun and every moment was indeed a new adventure. I can't even capture the trip throughout these blogs but I hope that I have given everyone a good idea of what we all saw and did.




Once we got home we went to midnight mass. Midnight mass was very good and I'm glad we did manage to go to Church on Christmas Eve. The carols were sung different and it was hard for us to follow. It was definitely less entertaining the normal lisoway-ward Christmas eve rendezvous. There was no one choking on bread and no one singing funny. Quiet really!

Christmas day was also very good. I sort of thought that I would be a huge sad sack for the whole day but instead I had a lovely day. I was surrounded by good people and we had many good laughs. I got to open a present from ma and pa and it was a Craven Ticket! YAY! I think it was mom's way of making sure I come home! We made this HUGE Christmas dinner complete with chicken, potatoes, veggies, gravy, dressing and wine. We then enjoyed a few games of cards and had a nice evening! I got to talk on the phone to mom and dad, grandma John, Aunty fern & family and to my surprise William :)

Now that the trip is done, I am getting very excited for the arrival of Carrie and Jerid!

Thing's I've Learned....

1. Christmas is celebrated by everyone very differently. To me Christmas means lots of snow and good cheer. However, to people that I have met from Australia it means sitting on the beach for a nice BBQ. This year, even though I was so far away from home with no snow, it still felt like Christmas because of the people I surrounded myself with :)

2. Train delay's suck. Between Glasgow and Edinburgh the train was stuffed. We managed to get two seats so all three of us were sitting on these two seats. ugh!

3. Haggis, neeps and tatties are a tasty treat even if you just get a "wee" taste"


Alright, well that is all for now! I hope you enjoy the million new blogs i have written today. I decided that it would best to write one for each day because I did not want to miss a moment!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Day four!

Day four started out brighter and earlier than any of the days thus far. We left Edinburgh at 6am to get back to Glasgow for 8AM which is when our day trip left. We talked outside to a winter wonderland. It snowed SO much. (If you look on facebook you will see a picture of me and Marlee after our walk to the train.) We started the day off once again frozen to the bone.

We arrived in Glasgow and were ready to go on an adventure in hopes of seeing Nessie. We went on a day tour by Rabbie's tours, they basically have a sixteen passenger bus and a tour guide who drives the bus. Our tour guide's name was John and he was full of knowledge and an accent we could understand! While other tours were canceling, John decided to trek through the storm for us to experience the highlands.

Our first stop was at Loch Lomond. For a second I thought I was back home and we were going to go ice fishing, but I was wrong! I forgot I was in SCOTLAND, silly me!!! Loch Lomond is the largest fresh water lake in Scotland and is over 600 feet deep in some areas. I can't even comprehend that depth. We stopped at a small village called Luss and got to walk around for a bit to explore the place. Loch Lomond is a very popular Loch in Scotland and there is an old song written about it-John played it for us and it is indeed very lovely.

Next along the road we got to see things such as the oldest pub in Scotland. It was built in the 17th century and John told us that if we were ever to stay in there that we should avoid room number 6 because it does not heat up and there are ghosts in there. (Good advice I reckon) We also got to see Ben Nevis. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Scotland and the most popular mountain to climb. John told us that he has seen a lot of people getting air lifted off of it since he started working with Rabbies. We traveled through Glen Coe, while traveling through you can see mountains on both sides. It's very majestic. Along the road we saw many stags. The stags (aka deer) were everywhere! At one look out point people had left carrots for the stag's to eat.

We stopped at the Invernochy Castle near Fort William. The castle is sited on the south bank of the River Lochy, at the strategically important entrance to the Great Glen, a key passage through the Scottish Highlands. We got to do some major climbing in this castle. At one point we were standing on top of the old castle - of course we were careful without travel insurance and all!

FINALLY, after stopped at all these small places and look out points we reached our destination, Loch Ness. Here our search began for the monster-we were CERTAIN to find her! Loch Ness was beautiful even though Nessie was too shy to make an appearance. We are pretty certain we saw a ripple in the water which was her greetings to us. There was a boat there that you can take onto the loch, but we didn't have time. Besides, we were unwilling to pay to get onto a boat! come on now!

On the way back we stopped at places such as look out places, war memorials and a small town called pitlochry. Pitlochry was a nice little resort village where we stopped to have some supper.

Overall, I would strongly recommend people to take a day tour by bus. The tour guide (John) was amazing. He knew so many different stories about the heritage and history of the highlands. He had a head set that he wore while driving and was able to tell us popular things to check out alongside the road. He is also a saint in our eyes because he introduced us to "Celtic Thunder" which translates in English as "Music sung by Angels." You should download some Celtic Thunder - our favorites are called Caledonia, Brothers In Arms and Castles in the Air. You could also Youtube them to see them perform. As soon as we got home we downloaded it all and now we can't get enough! It's beautiful!

After the big day trip (12 hours in total) we were hungry! We hit up a local establishment to try Haggis! An online dictionary defines Haggis as:" n.
A Scottish dish consisting of a mixture of the minced heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep or calf mixed with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings and boiled in the stomach of the slaughtered animal." Yup- sounds awful. We decided just to try a "wee" taste. I'm happy to report that is tasted great! It tasted very similar to a sausage before you case it. Momma used to fry up a piece of sausage without casing on it and I would compare this to Haggis. It is served with mash potatoes (tatties) and turnips (neeps) along with a gravy made out of scotch. Yummy! I would strongly recommend it for everyone!

We got back to our hostel so tired from all the traveling only to find a complete psycho path in there! We were in a hostel with 12 beds and for the most part all the people are always very normal and friendly. This woman was the exception to any and every rule there has ever been. Apparently her husband was cheating on her and left her and blah blah blah. She was drunk and staying in this hostel making phone calls which ended up with her yelling and screaming and crying. Finally we told her to pipe down and get out if she couldn't. She then went outside to have smoke and we locked up all of our stuff in the lockers. I guess one psycho in 4 months isn't too bad.

Things I've Learned....

1. "Wee" - wee can be substituted in any instance where you would use the word small or little. You can have a "wee loch" or a "wee taste" or a "wee break." John used it in every sentence. Kristin was so intrigued by this word that she too used it in every sentence that followed our tour.

2. "Loch" Loch means lake. In Scotland, there are a whole chain of Loch's that are connected by the Caledonian canal.

3. It's cold in Scotland. I can't stress that enough I'm sorry!

DAY trois!

We had to get up at 7AM again to make it to our train on time. We had a bit of a hard start due to the previous nights rendezvous. We climbed onto the train and it temperature felt as though we were in the Arctic Tundra rather than a train in Scotland. We bundled up and tried to get a few moments of shut eye on our way to Edinburgh.

We stepped off Edinburgh to the coldest weather yet. We bundled up sporting three pairs of pants and three shirts- EACH. Still, we were chilled. I'm not sure the temperature but it was indeed cold. It's not the cold Saskatchewan winter that I have experienced in my life- this is a cold, chill through my bones sort of cold. We didn't want to waste a day in Scotland so we sucked it up and out we went. First we went to the Edinburgh Castle. Again- a risky decision without travel insurance. It's another long climb to the top on the ice covered sidewalks. We rolled in just in time for a free tour to begin so we really got to learn all about the castle. The dude doing the tour (in a kilt) was possibly the funniest person I've ever seen. Most would find his jokes more than corny, but I thought it was just the funniest! Edinburgh Castle is old, some of the buildings have been there since the 12th century. The Castle is full of cool stuff. There is a church called St. Margret's Church that is the oldest building built in the 12th century. People still get married there and it can only fit 25 people. There is also a war memorial building where all the soldiers from Scotland who have died in any war is written in a book. There is also a prisoner's corridors which they had a real life reenactment of what it would have been like to be a prisoner. Let's face it, it would have sucked the big one! eeesh! Also, in another building is where the Jewel's of Scotland are. I have nicer jewelery in my jewelery box then these crown jewel's but whatever I guess.

After the castle we had some eats and set out for a Ghost Walking Tour throughout the city. We saw some of the "supernatural" and "unexplainable" events that happen in Edinburgh. We saw a freaky bridge, a cemetery with creepy stuff then we climbed King Arthur's seat a place where there are apparently some freaky fairies. It was really good!

We then made our way back to the hostel to defrost. Holy cats, I don't think we unfroze until the wee hours of the night.

Things I learned...

1. Edinburgh is pronounced "Edinbrraaaaa" I find if you say is if you are a gangsta and wave your hands as if you were rapping you can truly get the correct feel for the word. I find myself doing it quite often.
I love that everyone JUST tried it!

2. Sheep - Everyone has sheep. Mom you would really be in heaven in Scotland AND you would be helpful in sheep population control.

Day numero two.

We woke up all nice and rested up, threw on some clothes and out the door we went to get some yummy continental breakfast. The Hostel put on a very nice breaky with cereal and toast and coffee. The night before we had made this excellent time schedule so that we wouldn't miss our train. HOWEVER, we pulled into the station at the last second only to find out that we were at the wrong station! With exactly 7 minutes we had to run to the other station which is about 15 minute walk on a good day. Could we do it? Would we make it? The pressure was on! I felt like we were on the Amazing Race running through the city centre trying to make it to the destination in time. After this run however I realized that the Amazing Race is NOT for this duck. We ran to the station making it at exactly 8:07. We ran through the terminal, ran to the train, ran to a seat and FINALLY remembered to breathe. We were SO proud of ourselves that we failed to notice the calmness of other people boarding the train. The train didn't leave until 8:28! All along we had in fact had acres of time! After this run we were definitely ready for the day and our hearts didn't slow down until an hour or so into the journey. None the less, we settled into the train to play some cards, checked out the million sheep, and again had some great sandwiches. We decided to save money we would just pick some items to make sandwiches, so for the low cost of 4 pounds we all were treated to delicious sandwiches. Sandwiches are beautiful, sandwiches are fun, i like sandwiches i eat them all the time......... whoopss..sorry that I jumped into song right there.

We got into the small town Oban around 11:30. We stepped off the train and were amazed at it's beauty and the warm weather they were having. I bought a book about Scotland and this is what it says about Oban: "Translating from Scottish Gaelic as "little bay", Oban is now a very busy port, ferrying thousands of visitors annually to Mull, Colonsay, Coll, Linsmore and other small islands. It's no coincidence that it is regarded as the "gateway to the Highlands." Oban is much more than just a stopover when travelling further afield. it has been a popular holiday destination since Victorian times".. Needless to say, it is B-E-A-U-TIFUL! The instructions to get to our hostel from the train were as follows: "Keeping the sea on your left side, walk around the bay for 12-15 minutes from town centre. Hostel is on the seafront." How great is that? Yup- it's great! It was the first time I'd ever seen the ocean so I was pretty much memorized. We checked into our perfect little hostel and all had showers and were ready to go exploring in 45 minutes. First we decided to check out the Atlantic Ocean and take some pictures. We had fun collecting some sea shells and what not and so forth. We then made our way along the bay and Kirstin came up with the brilliant idea that we should partake in boat ride. We found a sign that said there was a boat trip for one hour. Kristin called up the number to inquire only to find out that someone had painted that on the sign as a joke. We moved along the bay and found another sign, this one didn't run this time of year. After about an hour of trying we gave up the dream of riding on a boat on the Atlantic Ocean. Next stop: Oban Distillery. Doing some research before we went to Oban it was our "must see." It is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland and apparently the whiskey is something special. We made our way over to the distillery which is situated in the town centre. We went in totally excited for our tour to find out that the distillery was NOT doing tours that day due to maintenance! UGH! We tried to sweet talk them, but no such luck. So by this time Oban was becoming a bit of a let down.
We decided to make the best of our day in this beautiful town. We then made the trek up to McCaig's Tower. McCaigs tower was built by John Stewart McCaig. McCaig's intention was to provide a lasting monument to his family, and provide work for the local stonemasons during the winter months. McCaig was an admirer of Roman and Greek architecture, and had planned for an elaborate structure, based on the Colosseum in Rome. His plans allowed for a museum and art gallery with a central tower to be incorporated. Inside the central tower he planned to commission statues of himself, his siblings and their parents. His death brought an end to construction with only the outer walls completed. (yes- I just got that from Wikipedia) It is really nice, we had to be extremely careful climbing the winding road because of ice and the fact that we had no travelers insurance. The view from the top is pretty remarkable.
After this year long climb up we decided to then check out a castle near the town. The castle which was called Dunollie Castle is just a short walk out of the town. In order to get to the castle however you need to put your life at risk. Even though we didn't have travel insurance, we still played with fate. To get there you have to walk along this highway that is very narrow. On one side you can take an emergency plunge into the rocks and ocean on the other side you can choose to get hit by a car. We made it to the castle unharmed and climbed the cow path up to the castle. It was very nice inside even though it is in rough shape. It was built in the 13th century so it's pretty darn old!
After the castle we hit up some supper at a local establishment that overlooked the sea. We then went on the search for some locals to drink with. We went to a quaint pub called "Tartan Tavern" only to find drunk old men locals who were very interested in the fact that there were females in the building. It was pretty funny at first, but got old very fast. We had a beer there then decided to book it to another place. After a survey of the next pub we decided that this would be a better fit for us. We enjoyed a few beverages before meeting some people. The three guys we met turned out to work on a ferry that ran in Oban. We later learned that one of them was the CAPTAIN and one was the co-captain. We didn't pay for another drink all night, and we got a complimentary visit to their ferry! The charm of Kristin struck again. :)
Since our party lasted until the wee hours of the night we were sleepy for the next days early train ride. Overall, Oban was probably one of the most beautiful places I've been to in my life. The people were all friendly, the sights were sights to see and I think we truly got to experience true Scottish life.

Things I learned today...

1. Real Scottish people are hard to understand. This one old man we were talking to I couldn't understand a word he said. I told him to talk slower...he told me to listen faster.

2. There is the Scottish pound and the British Pound. They are worth the same amount just look different- I'm unsure about the reasoning of this.

stay tuned for day 3.......