*********** Pictures Since We Have Been Back***********
June 3rd- Present * * * We are adjusting to life back at home quite well. We got a nice greeting at the airport when we arrived back in Edmonton (by all our friends and family). Alan greeted me with open arms and the dream I had of reuniting with him became reality at last. Him along with everyone look so good. I couldn't believe how much Samuel had grown. He came to me no problem and even said my name which made my day. It is hard to believe that my travelling year has now came to a stand still. I will now try and find a job so I can start planning my next trip to Australia. I only want to go for a month or so but for the mean-time I will try to find a way to go. Stay tuned for the sequel to... Tales From the Happy Travellers :) Love Lindsie- and Jess
May 29th-June 3rd * * * Jess and I had a memorable week with Jess, Kirsten and Christian before we left to return back to Canada. The girls took us to York for the day which was really fun. Christian and Jess went to the York Dungeon to get a quick history lesson on the morbid past of York. The girls and I had already been there so we went for coffee while they took their haunted tour. Then on the Mon before we left to come back home my friend Jimmy took us to Whitby, Scarborough and Robin Hood's Bay. He also treated us to some fish and chips which were low fat (hardly) and delicious. Lugging all my things on the tube/train to come back home was a comedy act for Jess and I. Somehow in the end we managed to lug 2 suitcases, 2 big backpacks and 1-38kg hockey bag back home. I still laugh when I think about how we managed that. The flight back home was good and it went by really fast.
*****************Some Pictures From Hull************
May 29th *** So Jess and I are back in Hull. We had a great time in Greece and just enjoyed what life was like on that side of the world. It was different from any other place we had been to on our travels. It had the best of both worlds. It had some beautiful scentic places with white sand and clear, baby blue water as well as the night life in the heart of Leganas resort. Even when it rained we could enjoy ourselves by watching a new release movie while chatting with eachother in a nice cafe/restaurant. Jess and I had a great time. The train ride wasn't so bad as we didn't have fat smelly men laying next to us with their shoes off. Jess and I took it easy last night and watched Feris Bueller's Day Off. We were pretty tired and needed a relaxing evening. Tonight we may go out with my friend Jimmy or we may just have another movie night. We are looking forward to hanging out with Kirsten, Jess and Christian again. They get back to Hull tomorrow. Hopefully they will be in the mood for a boot sale and I don't mean shoes-hee,hee. My friend Jimmy is taking us to an England football (soccer) game on Mon night before we leave (if Jess and Kirsten are in). I don't really care what we do though as long as we spend our last night together. I will email more when I return home. I can't wait to put some great pictures on of our travels. You won't believe some of the views we have seen. Life has definetly been good for us. Love The Happy Travellers xoxo
May 25th**** Jess, Kirsten and Kirsten's brother have arrived here in Zakynthos, Greece. Unfortunetly they brought the rain and bad weather with them. It has rained off and on for 3 days now and they are getting a little discouraged. It isn't so bad for Jess and I because we have been here for a week but I feel for them. The good thing is that every cafe and pub in this resort has big TV's that play all the new movies daily. So far we have seen How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Phone Booth, Old School, Dreamcatcher and Johny English. We have also been drinking much coffee and doing a lot of chatting. We looked at the forecast and it is supposed to be nice tomorrow- thank God. We are going on our boat cruise on Tuesday then Jess and I head back to Hull on Wednesday. I am getting homesick now and I am just wanting to go home. Jess and I are having a great time though and we are enjoying every minute! I will write more later. :)
********** Pictures of Us in Zakynthos **************
May 14-21*** Greece is very very hot!!!! It has been around 40 degrees everyday. Jess and I have been spending a lot of time by the pool. The beach isn't what I expected as it is mostly hard compacted sand. We have been told though that there are many nice beaches on other parts of Zakynthos. We are going to go on a boat cruise of the island when Jess and Kirsten join us on the 23rd. Until they get here Jess and I are just going to keep relaxing and taking it easy by the pool. Our resort (hotel) is very nice. The room is basic and we don't have a shower curtain (which is odd) but that is just how things are in Greece. The pool is great though and the pool bar is convienient! The people here are nice and we get along with all them well. All the girls go topless which was a bit weird for Jess at first but after about an hour it was nothing. Everyone does it and because of that it seems normal. I never thought I would say it but it is almost too hot when we are not in the pool. I love it though!!!!
May 11-14th*** Jess and I are very very lucky once again. It turned out that something was going on in Rome for the week we had arrived because all the museums were free. Everything was free for the week before we came actually but we still had one day to get all the sight-seeing in we could in for free. To top it off it turns out that Paul McCartney had gave a small private conert inside the colleseum on the 10th and on the 11th (the day we got there) he was giving a FREE concert outside the collaseum. We couldn't believe our luck. So on the 11th Jess and I went to the Colleseum (in and out) as well as we toured around and saw some great sights (Pantheon, Foreum, Piaza Veniza ect). Then that night we went with some friends we met at our hostel to the concert (along with 4 million other people). It was the most amazing thing to be standing outside the colleseum listening to Paul McCarntey sing all my favourite Beatle songs. I was thinking of you Dad and how you would have loved it. Then on the 12 and 13th we toured the rest of Rome and managed to get most of the sights in. Vatican city was unreal and just as amazing the second time. Jess loved the Sistine chapel and we even managed to sneak in some picture taking (it isn't allowed but we were sneaky). St P's basilica was wonderful as well!
May 11 *** We finally moved onto Rome- Italy. Jess and I had a terrible experience on the train ride to Rome from Nice. It started out good when we had an entire cabin to ourselves but our parade was rained on when 2 fat, smelly Italians moved in. They got on the train after we had been on it for a couple hours and made themselves comfortable as they removed their smelly shoes and completely stunk up the area. I nearly died. To make matters worse they didn't speak English. It was seriouly the longest 7 hours Jess and I ever went through. We were extremely happy to finally be in Rome!!!!!
May 10th *** Jess and I are having such a great time in Nice!!! We went to the film festival yesterday in Cannes and saw some neat things. The actual festival doesn't start until the 14th but we saw many directors and producers setting up. The cars we saw were unreal. We had a great time checking out all the sights as well as soaking up the sun on the beach. We have decided to head to Italy tonight on the train. We are going to be riding the train all night in which after 10 hours we will get to Rome. We then have 2 nights and 3 days in Rome before we head back to London to fly out to Greece. Life is hard! Today we are going to the beach for a bit to once again soak up the sun. We know this place to go cliff diving so we are going to go with some backpackers we met at our hotel. I will email as soon as I can from Rome. Love THT's xoxo
* * * * PICTURES OF Jess and I In St. Tropez * * *
May 8th **** The Monte Carlo casino was soooooo amazing. The cars parked in that place blew me and Jess away. Our chaufer (the owner of our hotel) took a friend from our hotel (as well as Jess and I) gambling then to a fancy night club called JimmyZ. He even gave us money to gamble with. After Dan won some major money gambling while Jess and I were filling up on salmon with toast and champagne, we went to JimmyZ. You won't believe me though when I tell you they opened the night club just for us. Usually they do that only for the stars. Dan though has major money so that does the trick as well. The place was unbelievable!!!! It had a Japanese garden lit up in green flourecent lights which was breath takingly beautiful. Jess snuck a look at the bill and for 4 drinks it was just under 100 euros (and one drink was a water). This was at 2am and we were extremely buzzed off of champagne. It was a dream night in which Jess and I felt like movie stars as we cruised back to Nice in Dan's Audi convertable down the road that they are using for the Grand Prix (that is being held at the end of the month). More tales to come so stay tuned... Love THT's xoxo
* * * PICTURES OF THE MONTE CARLO CASINO * * *
May 6th*** Nice is very beautiful. You will have to forgive the typing as all the letters are in different places here. So Jess and I have lucked out once again as the owners of the hotel we are staying at absolutely love us. They have a yaught and are taking us fishing to Monaco for the day and then to the Monte Carlo casino later. They are also giving us free food/drinks which helps us because it is very expensive here. We drank wine with them the hotel last night along with some really nice Canadian girls we met. They are from Saskachewan and we have been hanging around with them. The water here in the Med is amazing. The beaches are not so good though as they are pebble beaches and not white sand. We are not sure if we are still going to head to Italy on the 8th as we love it so much here. We definetly still are going but perhaps just a few days later. Gotta run. Lots of love _The Happy Travellers :) XOXO
***The Price To Pay When You Save On Accomodations ***
May 5, 2003*** Well this has definetly been one of our longer days as it is 4am in the morning and we are at the airport waiting for our flights to Nice, France. Jess is sleeping in the middle of the airport floor. I wish you could all see how funny it looks. We spent a really good day in London in which we did a whirl wind tour. We did some shopping, some sight seeing and we even had a drink the the origonal Sherlock Holmes pub. The weather was really nice as well which made things even better. We miss Portugal but we know many other great experiences are around the corner.
*********Pictures From the Algarve, Portugal**********
May 1st- We went on a jeep safari that took us into the mountains in the Algarve (Portugal) and we were able to see the olive groves, the orange, lemon and cork trees as well as we saw almost every type of herb growing naturally in the bushes. We also stopped for a Portugese ethnic lunch with wine-not the best idea when you are standing in a jeep with no seat belts. The entire day was really great. A couple of times Jess nearly fell out because the driver was a maniac-fun, but just a little crazy. It was a really fun time!
***************** Us in Saville, Spain ***************
May 2- We drove to Saville and saw some of the best architecxture I have ever seen. We lucked out because we made it for their huge spring festival which was absolutley incredible! Everyone was dressed up in traditional spanish clothes and everyone was gathered in together dancing, singing, drinking and eating. There were thousands of tents in which families would gather together and celebrate. It was too hot and Jess and I both got a touch of sun sroke but we survived. I even convinced Jess to come with me to see a bull fight which makes me feel like a terrible person! I couldn't believe how 20 000 people could gather and all cheer each time a bull was killed. I felt sick to my stomach! That is one bit of culture I could have spared myself of. I hope we can still be friends Chantal- I do truly feel horrible for supporting that. You live and learn though. Well anyways I should go now. I will update again soon. Love Linz and Jess
April 26, 2003*** Jess and I have had some very interesting days. We ended up meetings some police officers and they have been showing us around town. If you want to know the whole story of how we met them ask Alan as you would be here all day reading about it. Anyways these nice guys ended up showing us some really nice beaches that the tourists wouldnt know about. Besides seeing some old folgie ass it was all good. They took us to the old town which was really neat. By coincidence it was a major Portugese holiday yesterday and so we stumbled upon an amazing firework show. The fireworks were the best I have ever seen as they went on for about 45 minutes. At one point it seemed as though they were going to fall on us. One of the cops gave us an extensive history lesson on the background of the holiday. It was very interesting how only 20 years ago Portugal was under a dictatorship. Then on April 25th some reformists started a civil war and the army didnt stop them. From there their current democratic government was formed. Therefore the holiday celebreated yesterday is called freedom/victory day. But enough about that...One of the cops has a crush on Jess. He is really nice and the two of them just graduated from the police academy last year. One of them let Jess hold his gun which was an old world war 2 hand gun. They still use them. They want to hang around with us this week but we decided not too. We dont want anyone getting attached to us. We have places to go. They were very respectible though and made us feel safe.
April 25th * * *We have one more week here which wont be long enough. There are so many things we want to do such as go check out Saville, Granada, Gebraltar as well as the northern part of the country. We will do as much as we can though. We are eating cheap supermarket food and limiting how much we eat out but it is still expensive. We have to make sure we stick to our budget or we will be eating ketchup and water at the end of May. I will send an update as soon as I get a chance. Love and miss all of you- THTs- Jessica and Lindsie XOXO Jess and I had a great time touring around England. From Hull Jess and I went to do some sight-seeing in Liverpool. We went into the Cavern which is where the Beetles made it big. There was a musician that was singing all the old Beetles songs when we were in there and it was really nice. From Liverpool we drove to Conwy, Wales which we entered just as the sun was setting. It was so beautiful. We camped the night then covered all of Wales in a day. Needless to say I was a bit tired of driving! Later that night we lucked out when some really nice people offered for us to stay at there HUGE mansion in Bath. The guest room was enormous and we could hardly believe our luck as they gave us wine/beer and offered us dinner. The next day we woke up bright and early to see the museum and city of Bath. It was just as exciting the second time for me. From Bath we went to Stone Henge, then to Windsor Palace, and then to London where we said farewell to Pete, Jenny, Mark, Phil and Wendy. It was so sad saying good-bye to them!!!! Pete and Jenny were like my adopted parents for the year and I am really thankful for all they did for me and the girls. They even bought me a really nice watch as a going away gift as well as easter cream eggs for Jess and I. They are wonderful!!! Pete and Phil then insisted on driving us to Gatwick airport. There we spent part of the night before taking an early flight to Portugal- Horray!
******Pictures of Our travels Through the UK*******
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