Testing Live Writer

Hello there!  This is Kristine testing the use of Windows Live Writer - it's suppose to help me make my travel blog look pretty - and possibly (I don't know yet) more interesting for my readers. 

www.cbcnews.ca

Well, hello there Jackson - there are lots a neat features I can use with photos.

 

 

 

This is where we are staying.

Our itinerary

What's our itinerary? We don't really have one - we have an idea of what we were we want to go, but it's very loose. That's on purpose. We want to be able to be spontaneous and we don't want any timelines that must be followed.

This is what we do know. We fly to Paris on Sep 1st. We are spending a week in Paris where we are staying in an apartment in the 4th district (Marais) which, apparently, is right downtown and close to all the touristy things to do. We then pick up our car lease and then we'll head down to Portugal following the Loire valley and then heading to the Atlantic coast in western Spain. Not sure how long it will take us to get to Portugal, but once we are there we think we'll spend about 2 weeks exploring that country, ending up in the Algarve. From there we will drive east along the Mediterranean coast through the Costa del Sol in Spain, the south of France, Italy and onwards. We like to think that we'll get to the Slovania and Croatia as well. At Christmas we'll head up to Munich to spend time with Marcus' family there. And then after the new year we will head to Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam. After that we are not sure, but we suspect we'll want to continues exploring south east Asia.

Stick shift!

This is the car we will be driving the 4 months we are in Europe. It's a standard, so Kristine is going to have to learn a new skill. It's a Renault Mégane.

P.S. I am going to have to figure out how to do an e accent aigu on this keyboard! Thanks Oliver for helping me figure this out!

Check this out!

Going travelling is just an excuse to buy things. Here is our new mini-laptop. I captured it with a Frommer's travel book to give you an idea of it's size. It's tiny and it weights only 2.5 lbs. I am not sure how Marcus is going to type on it which his big fingers!

Researching Portugal

Tonight we are sitting on our neighbours porch (in Toronto) eating sushi, drinking wine and watching the rain storm. What on earth does this have to do with our road trek? We are talking all about Portugal, Lucia being an expert, and figuring out where to go when we are there. Lucia would have us spend 3 months in Portugal, but we figure we'll probably spend about 2 weeks. A few sites we aim to visit include Tomar where the Knights of Templar made their headquarters, the Palacio National in Queluz which apparently is modelled on Versailles and has beautiful outdoor parks where the walls, pools and staircases are covered in painted porcelain. In Lisbon, the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, which apparently is just down the street from the first bakery to make the famous portugal custards (pasteis de nata). The town of Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where there is a famous castle on the top of a mountain that overlooks the town and Obidos is a fortified town. We better plan on doing a lot of walking because I plan on eating a lot of custard!

Where will Hayley be?

Many of you are asking what we are doing with Hayley while we are gone. We had several offers - not sure how many were sincere - and I decided to take advantage of my friend June's offer. She does not have any other pets, and as you know Hayley is not very well socialized, so she is best when she gets all the attention. She'll be spoiled no doubt! She's in a nice condo in Whitby with a lots of floor length windows she can peer out of. She's been to visit twice already and has staked out her favourite spots.

19 more days and counting down...

We have not yet left, but I wanted to figure out how this blog works, so here's my first post. I also think a few close family members are anxious to know that they'll be able to stay in touch so - here you go - you can start reading and connecting before we even leave.

Our first stop is Paris for one week. Thank you to those who recommended what to see there. Our top 5 sites are: Versaille, Louvre, Sacre-Coeur, Catacombs, Rodin Gallery, Musee D'Orsay... oops... top 6. Oh, and a boat tour on the Seine at night to view the illuminated bridges. We'll probably never make it out of the first cafe we stumble into... and that would not be such a bad thing!