We have made the long drive from Quebec City to Halifax. Now we're at Halifax airport waiting for my parents to show up. Their flight seems to have been delayed about an hour unfortunately. Well, at least we found an internet cafe where we can use the internet as much as we want if we order a beverage.

Our last day in Quebec we drove to a pretty island called I'le de Orleans, which is just to the north of the city. We drove around the island, made some friends at a petting zoo, picked a big thing of strawberries, and visited a cidery. It was a nice trip. At the end of that afternoon we went to the Basilica de Sainte Anne, a large pilgrimage place for Catholics with problems walking. Apparently the church started there with someone whose foot was healed, so now many people come there in wheelchairs and crutches. We did see a lot of people, and I hope that their leg/feet situation improves as a result, even if I am personally doubtful. The worst part about the basilica was that it was hard to find a parking space. It has become a bit of a tourist trap, with a huge 360 degree cyclorama painting of Jerusalem on the day Jesus was crucified. There were lots of gift shops and a museum too. At least visiting the church was free, unlike many in Quebec City we saw.

Our first day of driving was Thursday, and we mostly just drove. It took forever to leave Quebec province. We ended up behind schedule when the major highway stopped moving because of something like construction. Eventually we made our own detour through some small towns and local roads, but I don't know how much time it actually saved us. At least we kept moving. They are making the Transcanada highway two lanes in each direction in that part, so there was a lot of construction on the roads. We stopped at a motel in Fredericton.

Yesterday we only had to drive a couple hours, then we were at the Fundy National Park. We stayed in a campsite there, and it was really nice. The Bay of Fundy has the most dramatic tide in the world, or so it claims. There was a massive difference between low and high tides. I'll try to put up some pictures after the trip, but it was at least a 1/2 mile of beach that was exposed at low tide. The only downside was that our tentsite was rocky, and not that comfortable since we didn't bring pads to sleep on. There were some grassy sites but we didn't get one and we didn't ask to change (we should have!). We did some simple hikes and went into the nearby town of Alma some for food. It was a nice visit to the park, and with better padding it would've been perfect.

Today has mostly been driving (4-5 hours), and waiting at the airport now. Then we'll head to Halifax to spend the next few days, before moving to Cape Breton in the north of Nova Scotia.

We are now in Quebec City, after our long but not too painful trip on a bus and train from Toronto. The train was really plush and nice, and was the best part.

We are staying at a lovely B&B which is amazing and the breakfast is really delicious. Quebec is nice and relaxing, and has a European sort of feel to it. Tomorrow we are renting a car for one day and driving to Ile de Orleans, which is about 10km north of Quebec City. Thursday we will rent another car and drive east to eventually meet my parents in Halifax. It should be a lot of fun seeing more of the country. Not sure how much I'll be able to get online though. Rest assured we are still having a great, relaxing time.

Today we went to the Toronto Islands, which were great. We took a short ferry ride across part of Lake Ontario to get there. On the islands, private cars are not allowed, so we rented bikes and biked from one end to the other. I think it is about 5km in length. There is a disc golf course, children's amusement park, hedge maze, and some nice beaches. There is also a small airport there, so we got to see some planes taking off and landing. There was a small community of houses on the island, and they looked like a cozy place to live. It is probably not so nice in the winter though.

The only difficulty we've been having in Canada is that most cash machines are not accepting our bank card. We have managed to find one or two that will take it, but it has been frustrating, as none of the ones at the airport would give us money. Luckily Victoria had some already and I changed some pounds to dollars.

Walked about 5 miles through Chinatown and Bloor Street (north downtown) today. Went to the Bata Shoe Museum, where I have never seen such an interesting and varied display of footwear. My favorite were the tiger shaped shoes for Chinese babies to wear as a sign of fortune.

We're now safely in Canada. Still feeling a bit jet-lagged on our third day. Yesterday we went to the CN Tower really early, and beat the crowds. It was a bit hazy, but generally we could see ok. As it turns out, today is completely cloudy and rainy, with tomorrow predicted to be cloudy too, so it is a good thing we went yesterday.

The hostel we are staying at is nice, but the air conditioning does not work so great, which has left us a bit hot at night. On Saturday we head up to Quebec in a marathon journey on bus and train (about 10 hours). Not looking forward to it too much, but hopefully should be ok. I wish I could buy the Harry Potter book to read on the journey, but I don't think the stores will be open in time, and I am not anxious to go to the stores at midnight on Thursday with the long lines. I will get to read it later I guess.

Anyway, better get ready as we are going to the Bata Shoe Museum today.

We went to the south of England for a wedding yesterday. It was in the middle of the countryside, with the nearest large cities being Eastbourne and Hastings. Our journey started at 7am when our train left from Sheffield. When we arrived in London, we got a bit annoyed because we had to cross London on the Underground (it turns out the ticket covered that part of the journey, but we didn't know and paid extra). The annoying part was that the one line that went directly from St. Pancras station (north London) to Victoria station in the south (the Victoria line) was completely shut all weekend for maintenance work. Our connecting train from Victoria station was based on the assumption we could get there using this tube line. We ended up taking two different tube lines to get to the same place, which resulted in 11 tube stops (including one transfer) instead of 5 stops with no transfers. We missed out train but this turned out okay as we could take any train we wanted and were planning on being there early. It also gave us time to get some lunch at the station.

We arrived at Polegate station, which was the closest one to the wedding. Victoria got the name of a cab company for the next morning's departure as the hourly bus from Polegate to the wedding apparently doesn't operate on Sundays. We met up with two other wedding goers that Victoria knew while waiting for this bus to the wedding. The bus driver dropped us off in the town of Boreham Street, unfortunately at the wrong end of it, which meant walking back over a mile with all of our stuff in tow. We did eventually find the bride's family's house, which was where the wedding was.

The wedding involved a procession from the town hall to the bride's family's house. We had a little 5-piece band leading us in the procession, and we clogged up the only highway so I think we may have pissed off some cars. It was about a 5-10 minutes walk on the highway.

The ceremony was outdoors, in the back yard of the bride's family's house. It was a nice ceremony, led by a minister whose style seemed quite liberal, and reminded me of what a Unitarian Universalist minister might do. I do not know what faith she was, but the ceremony was not distinctly religious. They had been legally married at the town hall that morning, but I think only family were invited to that part. Luckily the weather was cooperating and it was pretty sunny. We even got a little sunburnt as rain had been forecast so we were not prepared.

After some time hanging out in the sun, we had a procession back to the
village hall, where the reception was. The wedding atmosphere was very relaxed and nice. We had a great time. There were speeches by a bridesmaid, the groom, and the best man. They were all hilarious, and everyone was practically rolling on the floors. After dinner there was barn dancing, which was very fun. Unfortunately Victoria had a headache and couldn't dance very much. We ended up going back to the tent and falling asleep a bit early as we were exhausted from getting up at 6.

This morning we were woken up at 5am by a huge thunderstorm that hovered above us for an hour, making a racket. We ended up taking refuge in a potting shed and then the main house (when we realized it was unlocked) because the lightening was very close and we were on a large ridge, fairly exposed. Victoria arranged taxis for all of the people who were camping, which turned out to be cheaper than the bus when split between us. It was also much faster.

We took an earlier train to London to make sure we had plenty of time to cross London. One girl, Lucy, who was going up north on the train like us suggested that we take a cross-London train instead of the tube since we knew it was still broken. This worked well and saved us a lot of time and hassle. However, we ended up at St. Pancras station over an hour early as a result of leaving early. It did give us time to get some food for the journey though. When we got on the train, it was a bit annoying as they had not put out the seating reservations, so everyone was sitting in the reserved seats. We did manage to get our seats though. Just when everything was going so smoothly on the way back, we had a bit of disaster. There was a delay at the first station, as they said there was an obstacle on the track just in front of the station. I guessed that this was someone who jumped in front of a train, and I found out I was right later. They had to clean up the mess and get the police in, so they said this would cause a delay for at least an hour. It did take exactly one hour, which was of course quite boring for everyone on the train. Everyone made a run on the food as we didn't know how long it would be. The on-train catering services were completely sold out by the end. Eventually the train did go and we passed by the police and a covered up body. This is actually the second time it has happened to me on exactly the same route, near the same station. Seems to be a popular place to commit suicide or something.

Conveniently, the train managed to make up 30 minutes of the lost time which meant we were not home too late. I've got work tomorrow, but Victoria gets the day off. She can take care of last minute business before we leave on Tuesday for Canada.

Tomorrow morning we are going down to the south of England for Will and Alex's wedding. We will be camping in their front yard tomorrow night as the wedding is in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately it just started raining a ton, so it may be a wet night tomorrow too.

Victoria was bored one evening and decided to dress me up in a makeshift toga, complete with "sword" and "shield". It was surprisingly fun being a roman citizen.

This is a picture of my first attempt at homemade pizza. Unfortunately it didn't come out too well, as the crust wasn't baked fully. In my more recent attempts I've pre-baked the crust which seemed to help make it more like real pizza.

Here's a nice self-portrait that Victoria took as well.

Just found some photos of Paris that Victoria took on her camera, which I thought came out particularly well. You may recognize Notre Dame in the background of the first two.

We leave for Canada on Tuesday for a long 4-week holiday.

By the way, things have mostly returned to normal after the floods. Most of the villages have had their water pumped out, and the restoration work has begun. The biggest way it has affected us is that the train to Victoria's new school is still not running. Apparently there was damage to the track and the signalling equipment which they say will take at least 12 weeks to fix. Hopefully it will be done as soon as possible so Victoria does not have to keep getting rides from co-workers.

We're going to a wedding in the south of England this weekend. I'm hoping this continuous rain we have been having for about 3-4 weeks will finally stop, at least for Saturday night when we have to sleep in a tent!

Not too much has been happening recently. Mostly we have been preparing for the trip to Canada next week. It will be great having a whole month off to relax and travel.

I had my yearly appraisal at work on Friday, and it seems like they are pretty happy with what I am doing. I have some stuff to work on for next year, as one always does.

Also, here is another photo from Victoria's Ball that I thought you might enjoy. It was taken by her friend Charlie: