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WWOOFing: Farm life for the fun of it

I LOVE this idea. Travel around to different organic farms, pick up some new skills, contribute your own skills, and explore a new area of the country or the world. Kind of makes me wish I was a university student again!

WWOOFing: Farm life for the fun of it

Piggybacking on Others' Work

We're back, the European adventure is over, and I have no time to post anything these days.

But I came across this web which I hope to learn a lot from, so if you are interested in backyard chickens, you may like to look at it too:

It's called Tilly's Nest. Enjoy.

Around Amsterdam

Our trip to Amsterdam was already a bit shaky when Aislinn got run over by a bicycle.

We had bolted out of the apartment early that morning to catch the train. No time for breakfast, but that's okay because these wonderful European trains always have a little cafe on them. Ummm, not this train. This almost three-hour train. The kids were not impressed as we doled out meager rations of the ginger cookies I'd tossed in my purse on the way out the door.

The train was slow, and stopped at every location between Brussels and Amsterdam. This was a far cry from our catered, hi-speed train to Paris.

Getting out of the train station, I saw something I had never seen before: thousands and thousands of bicycles. This is not an exaggeration. I wish I had gotten a photo. Picture your elementary school on the first day of spring when everyone excitedly rode their bikes to school after the long winter (this analogy is only useful for my Canadian friends). The bikes stacked practically one on top of each other in the rack, different colours and sizes. And then multiply this hundreds of times, along the sides of streets and bridges, and in multi-level lots specifically for this purpose.

Then picture just as many bikes, but on the street now. There are lanes for cars, lanes for the tram, lanes for bikes, and finally a sidewalk for walkers. I applaud their environmental friendliness, but it adds a whole new level of challenge to walking around.

We avoided the bikes and negotiated the tram system to get to our hotel. After checking in, we got on a tourist boat to see the sights from the canal:

The kids, who could have fun in a paper bag, amused themselves while waiting for the boat:

We got off at the Albert Cuyp Market. There were the standard tourist booths and flea market items, but what interested me were the fabric stores. I loved the thought of buying some great fabric and making a fabulous skirt when we got home, to remind me of the trip. The first two stores had great prices -- 3 and 4 euros per metre -- but nothing caught my eye. The next store had gorgeous fabrics, in stunning colours and patterns. It also had framed magazine pages showing their fabrics on the fashion runway, draped into beautiful dresses on even more beautiful models. At about 75 euros a metre, I couldn't justify my Amsterdam skirt.

Phil wanted to check out The Heineken Experience, which is a self-guided tour of interactive experience on four levels, in the old Heineken Brewery. Here is a photo of everyone standing outside what was not actually the entrance to the Experience.

Here is the actual entrance, about 12 seconds before Aislinn got run over by a bicycle.

In the midst of a discussion on whether it was worth paying a whopping 16 euros each to go in, I crossed the bike lane to take this photo. Picture this. There is the building. Then a sidewalk in front of the building. Then a bike lane. Then the other half of the sidewalk. Yes, the bike lane runs directly down the middle of the sidewalk.

I carefully crossed and told the kids to STAY THERE while I took a photo. Aislinn, always the epitome of parental respect, tried to follow me, and stepped right into the path of a 6-foot-tall cyclist traveling at a good clip. Needless to say, they both went down.

Miraculously, Aislinn had nothing more than a scratch and some grease stains. The cyclist was gracious as he untangled himself and his bicycle from her, and carried on.

At this point, Aislinn was a puddle of blubbering mush, the other kids were cranky and I'd had just about enough of visiting Amsterdam. So Phil's parents went off for another boat tour, and the rest of us walked to Vondelpark for a drink:

Ahhh, now we were feeling much better.

On the walk through the park toward the hotel, we came across an outdoor concert -- a groovy African band, and hemp-burgers (veggie burgers with hemp seeds). Great tunes and delicious food, and our day had completely turned around.

The next day, we checked out the NEMO Children's Science Museum (giant boat-shaped structure):

The kids could have spent the entire weekend there. The biggest hit was a water-treatment activity, where the kids took rainwater to about 9 different stations to clear it of dirt, germs, calcium, etc.

The bubble display was also really fun:

We caught the train back late that afternoon (picking up food for the ride back!) and were happy to get back to Brussels, where you hardly ever see anyone on a bicycle.

A Trip to Bruges

Bruges, in the northwest of Belgium, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its historic centre -- where most of the medieval architecture is still intact.

I don't know what medieval architecture is supposed to look like, but I thought everything we saw was pretty incredible.

Of course, we had to start with lunch:

Beer and waffles. You can tell we are really taking advantage of the local specialities.

Bruges is also renowned for its chocolate and its lace. So we checked out ChocoStory, a chocolate museum where you learn the history of chocolate and chocolate-making (interesting), and then taste samples (even more interesting!)

My two favourite men: my husband and chocolate-man!

One of the lace stores we visited had a display to show the intricate process by which lace is made. Before we left for Bruges, I had learned that if you find an affordable piece of lace, it's probably made in China. For the real, handmade Bruge lace, you have to pay a fortune. Looking at the way it is made, I can understand why.

Bruges is a city of canals, with waterways running through the historical center. It was pretty cool to see.

We'll get to see even more canals and boats when we go to Amsterdam this weekend!

Whirlwind Weekend in Paris

There is only one word to describe Paris: SPECTACULAR.

We were there for less than 36 hours, but we saw more than we could possibly remember.

We took the high-speed train from Brussels to Paris: 320km in 1hour and 20minutes. Now that's the way to travel.

After the peace and comfort of the train, the metro station in Paris was a shock. There were huge masses of people, Phil waited in line for over 30 minutes to buy metro tickets, and there were three massive army men walking around with automatic rifles. The only peaceful place was the bathroom -- once you paid your 70cents to get in and use the facilities.

Phil is a master of transportation, so he got the tickets and ushered us onto the right metro. One stop before our destination, a young couple got on our metro car with a large speaker, turned it on and started rapping with incredible volume and enthusiasm. We were too stunned to do anything but stare at each other. We got off at the next stop, having to squeeze past the huge speaker, and started cracking up. Not what we expected from romantic Paris!

After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we grabbed some complimentary umbrellas (it was pouring) and headed in the direction of the Seine. This is what passes for a beach in Paris:

We had lunch, and while waiting for the bill to come, the kids and I went to the boutique next door: a shop selling small Paris-sized dogs. So cute : )

With only a day and a half to enjoy the city, we hopped on a double-decker tour bus to see as much as we could. And boy, did we see the city! Every typical sight you would imagine in Paris, we saw it, complete with narration. Aislinn said it was "amazing".

At the Eiffel Tower, we tossed around the idea of taking the elevator to the top... until we saw the line up: at least two hours. So we had to be content with looking up instead of looking down.

The gardens around the Eiffel Tower (the Champ de Mars) were beautiful, so green and lush. Everything seemed so romantic:

The next day, we visited the city on foot: The Louvre, le Jardin des Tuileries, les Champs Elysees.

We didn't go into The Louvre (the concierge at the hotel said the kids would be miserable, and thus so would we) but the outside was more than enough:

Walking down the Jardin des Tuileries, you've got a perfect view of the Place de la Concorde (giant needle) and the Arc de Triomphe.

My one wish for Paris has always been to drink a cup of coffee in an outdoor terrasse, and I got my wish:

And if that weren't enough, we stopped for chocolate crepes on the walk back. My life was complete : )

Now if only Phil and I can go back, just the two of us!

Off the Treadmill and Onto the Cobblestones

One thing our time in Europe has taught me is patience.

You want a shower: turn on the water 10 minutes early and wait for it to warm up.

You want to cook on the stove: turn on the element 10 minutes early and wait for it to heat up.

You want clean clothes: wash them a day early and wait for them dry on the drying rack.

You want to visit the nearby yarn store: you wait three weeks for their summer holiday to be over.

Things take patience, and they take advanced planning -- two things I am not good at. I will hopefully come out of this experience a better person. And if not, I will hopefully at least appreciate my North American conveniences a little more. Especially the hot water.