February 16-19, 2007

Chamonix

It just doesn't get any funner than this! I had perfect, warm, bluebird days of skiing. There wasn't a ton of snow, but what was there was great and I have never been happier! Thanks to Brooke, John and all of their amazing friends for making this trip so memorable. If I run away from home, this is where I'm going.

February 15, 2007 - A Night at the Opera

My roommate Erik is an opera singer, and was recently a star (playing the role of 'Death') in the Kaiser from Atlantis. Check out pictures of him (the guy that looks like he is killing the dude in front of him), and the rest of the cast from the show.

February 10, 2007

Koln

So I am going to miss Karnival, but that didn't stop me from having a great time in Koln! Check out the obligitory photos of the cathedral, and some other cool stuff!

February 2-4, 2007

Bremen Take Two!

Second time's a charm! This time I actually get to see Bremen - and not just the walk from the station to Johanna and Bjoern's place. We had an awesome time wandering around the historical bits, watching the Glockenspiel and rubbing various statues (inclding this one). It's great to have such good friends in visiting distance!

December 30, 2006 - January 1, 2007

New Years in Bremen!

Johanna and Bjoen were my gracious hosts for New Years celebrations ringing in 2007. Of course, I was the only one without someone to kiss. But Johanna gave me a big smacker to make sure I didn't feel left out. New Years in Germany is incredible, when at midnight, EVERYONE sets off fireworks for over an hour. Completely wild!

Hamburg

Planned to spend the day in Hamburg, ended up staying considerably longer as an honoured guest in the Hauptbahnhof! That is a funny story, and missing the last train is only sort of my fault. The rest of the fault goes to the dumb holidays. But none of this...inconvenience, affected my appreciation for the city. It is a city of towers, canals and a busy and chaotic port. I love it!

December 2006

This was a busy month, so I am going to collect all of the photos together under one heading. My parents came to visit, so you're going to have to look at quite a few pictures of them! But, we had an excellent time doing things like have

Adventures in the Weihnactsmarkt!

Where my parents were introduced to the joys of Feuerzangen bowles, or "Fire Tong Punch". Just so you know, that is mulled wine, with sugar and rum. Only in Germany! I love it here!

Fun in East Germany (Halle and Leipzig)!

In Halle I learned that the best tour guide, by far, is a historian! Peter Hertner showed us all the goodies here. Too bad I don't remember as much as he does! Despite what many of you might think of the eastern part of Germany, it is a beautiful and very culturally rich part of the world, and definitely worth more exploration.

A trip on the Apfelwein Express!

Crazy tourist thing to do? You bet! Fun little trip around town drinking in a tram? Damn right!

A tour down the Rhein!

Ready to be schlossed right out? Head on over to our pictures of the Rhein valley! It's stunning, even during the low season. With dramatic landscape, picturesque schlosses, and a beautiful day - you really can't beat it.

and, last but not least...
A run in with a Steam Train!

This little number zips through Frankfurt once a month and you can get a ride on it. An old fashioned steam train is bound to get my dad excited, so here it is, in all of it's glory!

November 30 - Norah in Frankfurt

These photos are mostly from the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market). Yes it's a bit early for that, but we weren't complaining!

November 15, 2006 - Barecelona and Montserrat

Barcelona is currently my favoritest place on the planet. It is warm, vibrant, full of life, has an incredible rhythm. It's huge and gritty, but unpredictable and unexpected. Plus it's not winter there, it's on the Mediterranean, and is full of great food and wine! What's not to like?

November 1, 2006 - Glasgow and the Almost Highlands

Last weekend I went to visit Norah in Glasgow and had a really great time. I was extremely lucky that Norah and her running club friends had planned to climb Ben Lomond, which allowed me to get out and see a bit of the countryside. We never ended up climbing it, because of the weather, but had a great day hiking on an island, and getting treated to rainbows (see the picture above, look carefully!), a distellery tour (I might have made a few converts), and a nice view of the outside of Stirling Castle! All in all, it was a great day. But wait, there's more! There are plenty of photos of Glasgow. There are also some completely unanticipated photos of the beach at Prestwick, where I killed a couple of hours due to a, ahem, 'hitch' in my departure schedule. More on that, and the rest of the trip on the travel page coming soon!

October 23, 2006 - Heidelberg

It was a rainy, miserable day, when I went to Heidelberg. But I still got some nice, if not sort of gloomy, pictures. This place is pretty, but not on my list of places you all must see in Germany (unless you are looking for a very touristy experience). I am going to be spending some more time here in the coming months so hopefully I will be able to treat you to some better shots later on.

October 10, 2006 - Marburg (Take one)

Marburg is a lovely old university town (Phillips-Universitat Marburg) an hour north of Frankfurt. Frankfurt is flat, but after awhile, in every direction, the landscape is lumpy. This is one of the lumpy parts - and every hill has either a Burg or a Schloss on it. I will be back in a couple of weeks to visit a friend there - hence the "take one".

September 27, 2006 - Oktoberfest and Munich

Need I say any more?

September 23, 2006 - Frankfurt Week 1

This slide show - a little late in coming, I admit - has some of the highlights of my first week in Frankfurt. For some reason the photos wont obey anything but chronological order, so they are organized a bit differently than I would have liked. But I'll work on it. I really love it here, and hopefully you'll see some of the reasons why!

September 6, 2006 - August Photos

This slide show has evidence of abundant frog life in the pond, some pictures of engaged people, a strange bug that looks like a bird, and some shots of a wind farm near Shelburn ON

August 9, 2006 - Highland Yard Weekend

Pirate treasure hunts, Mojitos, wakeboarding, birthday fun, and an action shot of Mike Jack snoozing/reading on the dock!!

July 16, 2006 - Lavender Farm

These photos are of a lavender farm near Irish Lake ON. Most of them were taken with a positive colours filter, so the hues are closer to what you could see with the naked eye. If you look closely enough, you can see the millions of bees buzzing around and pollenating the crop. Some of this lavender later ended up on our farm terrace!