Holiday Inn Plaza La Chaudiere Gatineau-Ottawa

... After much messing around with a map, we started to realise that everything around us was purely in French, instead of bilingual like the part of Ottawa we passed through was. We stopped at a McDonalds for lunch [classy, eh?] where I asked the guy behind the counter "Umm.. What province are we in?" "Quebec." Oh, well that explains a lot..<br><br>Apparently the museum we were visiting in Ottawa is actually in the French side, Gatineau. Of course ...

... hot springs and relaxing massages to Stoyan and he seemed game for it also. That would be sweet!! Ben and Stoyan desperately want to stay in a capsule hotel and I really need to see a large Torii gate in Kyoto. We want to get funny Engrish t-shirts and make a video (with sound!) of our crazy adventure. I think 3 friends together will make this trip hilarious due to the extreme cultural change we're about to encounter. Can't wait! Josee

... sucker to take us! We will keep you informed of those escapades as I thought ice skating was hard. At least I have had one area hardened up... that is my poor backside from a few slips on the ice (my favourite was when I was on my way home and fell on the path, a nice man came over to help me up but he slipped on the same patch of ice I did, so we were both down on the pavement!) but it should ready me for the shock of skiing. I am just hoping that they let me on the kiddies slope! -A

Long trip home but not alone. 33 hours of transit mixed with sleep, tunes, reading about evolution and trying to stay on top of an ever changing flight schedule. Some developed habits of sleeping with carry on unprotected. But then again it's Japan so no need to worry, except about doing this bad habit in a place where the universe might not be so kind. Met a friend at customs in Vancouver; he traveling from Tokyo to Ottawa the same as I. We ...

... je me suis senti interpellé, je ne sais pas ce qui m'attend ni à quoi m'attendre... On verra bien... Venez marcher avec moi (par l'entremise de mon blogue, bien sûr). Je ne sais pas à quelle fréquence je pourrai mettre ce blog à jour mais vos commentaires et encouragements m'aideront à trouver la force pour poursuivre ma route jusqu'à St-Jacques de Compostelle. Évidemment, je ne suis pas encore parti: Le départ sera le 24 octobre.

... bus, but again I got off way too early, which really irked me, because it was getting dark. As the title suggests, the Green Belt is this huge stretch of trees, feilds and grass around the city. And Ottawians (I think!) are fanatically about keeping it alive, and not budging to the population growth and its needed development. I guess its little victories like that that will help keep the planet alive in the long run. The big ...

... s how the year off came about and both our employers have been wonderful and accommodating in granting us a leave of absence. It has been 4 years in the planning so there were no surprises. And yes, we will be coming back to Ottawa, Canada in August 2009 back to our jobs......however, let's not go there just yet. So where to go for the 12 months. Surprisingly there wasn't a whole lot of debate on where to go but a bit more back ...

Sophie and I left Cobden at noon. My mother was driving us to meet my Grandparents who would then drive us to Montreal. We stopped at Wendy's to get what will be our last Wendy's for at least a year. Sophie and I both prefer Wendy's as a secret pleasure over McDonalds or Burger King. We had some good omens for the trip when our meal was given to us for free due to the debit card machine crashing when we tried to pay. We would have happily payed some ...

... t want to miss out on being a teenager, and goofing off for four years and going to prom. But is my fucher worth some good memories and laughs? Can i reach and get to where I want to go by staying here with my marks? My dad was born and raised in Egpty, so I have family their, my grandmother, anut's uncle, exstended famillie and number one my cousine Ammar who I am exstreamly close to ...