London Calling

Well today was quite the journey across the pond. We arrived at Pearson early this morning to check into our flight only to be delayed by Air Canada itself! We used the computerized ticket terminals to check in, let them know how many bags we were carrying etc. and we still stood in line about and hour and half before we even managed to get our luggage checked in.

Seeing as we were going to be away from Canada we made our last Timmy Ho's run before we boarded the plane. The flight itself wasn't too bad, Pretty smooth, the usual airplane food, but the service could have been more hospitable. However, the flight entertainment system was pretty good and Sharon and I had lots of movies and shows to watch on the trip over.

Finally arrive in Heathrow and we made it through customs, picked up our bags pretty quick and boarded the express train to central London. After picking up some sandwiches at the airport, we cabbed it to our Hotel. The Hilton Metropole. After waiting another 45 minutes in reception (the Brits do queues really well, however Canada may overtake them soon), we finally got a key to our room.

We get up to our floor and Sharon opened the door to our room to find some man laying in his underwear on the bed. So we went back downstairs, to get ourselves a new room (minus unwanted squatters :) ). Te staff were pretty apologetic and we were upgraded to a full on suite. Which for London is pretty impressive. You'll see the pics below. It has its own separate sitting room and bedroom, and a good size bathroom. Now if we could only get room service to work here... I'll end it here today and post again soon!

Toronto!

We arrived in Toronto yesterday, early on in the afternoon. My little brother owns this nice condo downtown, so he let us crash there during our stay in the big city. Once we had ourselves settled at the apartment, Sharon and I went out in search of food, because both of us were starving by the time we arrived.

BTW if you are travelling out of Edmonton, don't go to Montana's for breakfast. Don't get me wrong, the service was good but the portions were tiny for the price you paid. Total waste anyways! Rest of their menu is usually pretty good!

Kev (my bro) lives pretty close to St. Lawrence Market. This is a huge building filled with various craft and food vendors. We decided to have some crepes when were there and did some walking around the market. Sharon and I really enjoy browsing through venues like this because they are pretty unique.

We then had a tour of Kev's building, which I must say is really quite posh! It has some great facilities in the building for its residents and the terraces on the upper floors provide some great views of downtown, and the lake. After that we needed some down time so we hung out in the apartment for a bit while waiting for our friends Todd, Tanya, and Cale (formerly of Cold Lake) to meet up with for supper at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Kev and Sonja, my brother's girlfriend, joined us a little later. It was great to catch up with Todd and Tanya, I know we miss them back in Cold Lake.

As an added bonus, I was able to visit with Ania and her son Nico, and Helen Siemaszko, both of whom I haven't seen in a while. Tracy Lundstrom McKenna also came into the city for a visit and a drink with Kevin, Sharon and myself. Thanks to everyone who made that special effort to come and see us. Hopefully we will be able to spend more time with everyone in the future.

Finally Departing! Phew!!

So I am finishing up the last of the things on our list to get ready to go when I accidentally locked myself out of the house! Sharon had everything buttoned down pretty tight. I checked all the doors and windows seeing if by chance I or Sharon had left something open so I could sneak back in. No luck to be had there, so I sheepishly went over to the neighbour's house to use the phone.

My neighbour was good enough to give me a ride to the office to pick up our keys so I could get back in. Crisis averted. I figured that this wasn't going to be the best way to begin the trip. Long story short we were able to get everything done! Now we are in Edmonton resting up for the big flight to Toronto! We visited with Chris and Leah and Rose. Here are some pics of everyone below:Sharon and Rose checking each other out!

Leah, our bestest friend and cab driver! Just kidding! You and Chris are awesome!

Cute personified!

Less Than A Week to Go! Yikes!

Well the time keeps on countin down till when we have to go. So much to do, so little time yet here I am typing away. On the flip side, school is done! Yay! Not much left to do there except some small paperwork and cleanup. I still have to pack and Sharon has everything picked out she wants to wear for the trip. As for myself, I haven't really thought much about my wardrobe choices, I guess it'll depend on how much room is left in the bag for me! Just kidding!

Final Countdown has begun!

Well its getting down to the final days of school. The kids are in the midst of doing their provincial exams as well as participating in the last few school events of the year. Sharon and I have both been getting the house ready and just making sure we have everything order before we leave.

We spent all day Sunday doing yard work and Sharon has her plants in the ground. Things are starting to shape up. As for me, I just have the year end field trip for my class. We are off to see the Royal Alberta Museum and Telus World of Science. Class is kinda lukewarm to the idea but they are happy to be going somewhere.

Sharon has our docs ready, and a plan of things she would like to do once we are over in Europe. Ah well, only 14 days left till we board the plane. I haven't been excited about the trip yet but now that the end is in sight I am looking forward to going.

Getting Ready!

Well thanks to the lovely wife (aka trip coordinator), we now have most of our documentation to go to Europe! 

We aren't able to go to Greece like I wanted, but Sharon is treating me out to Bath Spa in England as an alternative. I'll let you know what its like when we get there! 

This is my first blog so I'll end todays post here. If there are any suggestions for places to visit let us know! Cheers!