Home Again and Final Thoughts

We flew back to Edmonton via Minneapolis. Due to the connections we had a four hour layover and we spent this time trying to nap as it was 3 am London time (seven hour time differences really can be annoying). We noted that the security at Heathrow and Minneapolis was much tighter than anywhere else we traveled. Mike even got a lecture because he wasn't holding his own passport and boarding card. I was holding it and we were reminded that this was illegal and that both he and Aidan had to hold onto their own passes. After being in twenty other countries where we didn't carry our passports most of the time, Michael just rolled his eyes.

Although our flight back to North America was long and uneventful, it did give us a good opportunity to reflect on the last six months. If we were to summarize our trip in just a few words we would describe it as being an amazing, exhilarating and eye-opening experience. We must also admit that in some places the travel was exhausting and uncomfortable. However, the sites seen and people met make the positives of this trip strongly outweigh any of the negatives.

People keep asking us to name our favourite place or the best thing we did, but it's not that easy. We have a hard time agreeing on our top 10 experiences, let alone the top 5 or 3. No one experience stands out as being somehow far superior to the rest. To many people this will sound like a cop-out, and maybe it is, but hey, it was our adventure and we can summarize it anyway we want. For kids its a little easier. Aidan puts zip-lining in Costa Rica at the front of his list every time.

Mike and I put the following, in no particular order, at the top of our list:

- Climbing in the ruins of Macchu Picchu and the Sacred Valley in Peru;

- Gazing at the marvel that is Angkor Wat;

- The vastness and wildlife of the Serengeti;

- Ballooning over the tower karst in China;

- Enjoying the sun and sand on the beaches in Indonesia and Thailand;

- Seeing the other side of life in the slums of Nairobi; and

- Experiencing the richness of the culture in Marrakesh.

Probably the second most asked question we get is: has the trip changed you? The answer is yes, but not in the way we expected. I think we both went away thinking we would have a spiritual conversion - to drop our old life and take up humanitarian causes in Borneo, or move the family to Singapore. But that didn't happen. What did change was our perspective on life. Going around the world made us realize that we all live in different realities. The reality of our lives in Edmonton and what is deemed "a crisis" here in Canada is not the same as the reality of people in Africa or South America. Most people realize this, but there is a big difference between saying it and experiencing it. For 6 months we got to sample a much bigger world reality - with all its beauty and its failings.

Living out of a backpack also made us realize how little we really need to be happy. A positive attitude, a place to sleep, and a few clothes is all we really needed. Now that we are home, we have decided to stay focused on living more simply, making time for family, and staying healthy. We sincerely feel that we have gained perspective and grown as individuals.

In summary, we will remember this trip as being the most wonderful gift that we have ever given ourselves. We felt very much alive - much more so than at almost any other point in our lives. Are we sad about our adventure being over? Yes. Would we do it again? You bet. We have already started making the list of places to visit for the next trip. Guatemala, Egypt, Turkey, Vietnam, Laos.....

Figuring out how to wrap up our trip journal is tough. So in the interests of ending this on a light note, we offer up the following tongue-in-cheek top 10 list:

10) Best coffee - whether you consider it gross or not, the civet coffee in Indonesia is pretty damm good.

9) Best world wide franchise opportunity - KFC (the world loves fried chicken).

8) Most annoying sound - tie between the Imams call to prayer in Indonesia at 4:00 a.m. and the howler monkeys overhead at 3:00 a.m. in Costa Rica.

7) Worst hostel - the Floating Island hostel in Phnom Penh where you were lucky not to fall through the floor into the lake.

6) Best hostel - tie between the Wildebeest Lodge in Nairobi for the fabulous people and beautiful grounds and the the Riad Pushka in Marrakesh for the sumptuous room.

5) Best cheap food - Pad Thai from the hawker stalls in Bangkok and the Zanzibar pizza in Tanzania was a great deal too.

4) Best airline and most inept airline - the best were Qatar Airways and Cathay Pacific and the most inept prize goes to Royal Air Maroc for losing our luggage on a direct flight from Lisbon, Portugal to Casablanca, Morocco.

3) Worst assumption made about Western tourists at the hostels - they all love Nescafe instant coffee (gaaaaa!)

2) Most dangerous place to eat - buffets at four star resorts because we got food poisoning twice at them on two different continents.

1) Most challenging aspect of world travel - schoolwork (Aidan); getting used to the squat toilets (Susan); falling victim to the touts (Mike).

To all our blog followers: If you would like a private viewing of our 3,000+ pictures, please give us a call. Make sure you have at least 3 free days.

Happy travels everyone, and thanks again for the support and comments during our trip,

Michael, Susan and Aidan If anyone reading this blog would like to talk to us about the trip, feel free to contact us at michael.jay.mcdermott at (substitute the @ sign folks) gmail.com

The End is Near

Hello followers (or any that still might be out there). We are finally back in Edmonton. We have another blog drafted of our final thoughts on the trip, but we haven't got it finalized yet. Soon, soon....

Jolly Old England

We landed in Gatwick after an uneventful flight from Faro on British Airways. A quick call to the B&B from the terminal and 15 minutes later were were ensconced at the Gable End Guest House. If you are ever in Gatwick we would highly recommend staying here. Joseph and Mary (yes, that's their real names) run a wonderful little place with good sized rooms and a 5 star British breakfast - bacon, eggs, toast, sausage, beans and grilled tomatoes.

We walked down to the local pub - Ye Olde Six Bells - for a pint and dinner that night. It was nice to be back in Britain! In the morning after our huge breakfast we jumped on the Southern Train into London. Interestingly, it cost us only 15 pounds for 3 people and took the same amount of time as the Gatwick Express at 1/3 the cost. Go figure.

From Victoria Station we hopped on the tube and made our way to Tottenham Court Road before walking the last little bit to the 'world-headquarters' for Head Communications where Susan's brother Rob works. After coffee, the rest of the day was spent strolling around showing Aidan the sights in London - Hamley's toy store, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. We caught up with Rob again in the evening and made our way on the train to Bletchley. It didn't take us long to settle into Rob and Nikki's town-house.

Saturday was spent talking and relaxing. A fair amount of drinking was involved as well as a fine BBQ. Nikki's mom Di came over to join the festivities. Michael and Rob finished the day sitting out on the deck smoking Cuban cigars and drinking cognac. Unfortunately for Michael, he didn't realize how much he was drinking and ended up getting stupidly drunk and sick to his stomach (first time in a decade). Not too swift, but it was funny to laugh at both of them the next day.

Sunday everyone piled into the car for a picnic at a local farm. It was lambing season and we had the opportunity to watch several lambs being born. Aidan ran around from one area to the next enjoying the petting zoo, jumping castle and pedal carts among other things. It was a very enjoyable way to spend a Spring afternoon in the south of England.

On Monday Rob took the day off work and the four of us went into London to visit the Imperial War Museum. Aidan was in heaven. He ran from exhibit to exhibit dragging one or the other of us along while the others tried to actually read the information. Tanks, rockets, planes, artillery, guns, model battlefields and two interactive displays - the Trench Experience and the Bombing of London Experience. The whole museum is really impressive (and for once is free!), but the two experience displays really stand out. They were realistic enough that the smells, sounds and shaking floor started to frighten Aidan. Of course as soon as we were out in the hallway he wanted to go right back in again.

Tuesday was the last full day of our trip spent in another country. It was low key affair. Both of us felt that the adventurous part of our journey ended when we left Africa, so this was more of an encore farewell. Aidan played most of the morning, after which we took to a bus to Milton Keynes mall. We spent a pleasant afternoon looking through the stores and getting much needed haircuts. We met up with Rob later that evening and had our last overseas dinner at a very nice Indian restaurant.

The next day Nikki's mom Di was nice enough to drive us to Heathrow for our journey home. Visiting Rob, Nikki and Di in Britain was a really nice way to end our trip, and we're glad we got the chance to visit.

How to Know When It's Time to Go

The train ride back to Casablanca was a lot of fun, due mainly to the interesting people with whom we were sharing a cabin.  An American guy and his Moroccan wife had a lot of travel stories to share with us and so we talked for the full three hours back. We had a pleasant and uneventful plane flight and arrived safely back in Lisbon with all of our luggage this time.

A short taxi ride later and we were at the Pension Bom Comforto.  We were welcomed by a nice older woman and shown to our room.  This is not a four star place (or much of a star place), but it was generally clean and the staff were very nice.  The bad news was that we were paying as much as we were at the last place we stayed at in Lisbon, which was much nicer.  The other bad news was that Michael had a bad cold and was miserable. In the morning we slept late and had some toast and coffee while Tanya - the Russian owner - chatted about what to see in Lisbon.

We headed out and caught a streetcar to Castelo de Sao Jorge.  Situated on the highest point in the city, it offers some spectacular views.  Here we enjoyed a coffee and soaked up some sun.  The castle was built in Visigothic times, but took its more modern form about 200 years ago.  We all had fun walking the castle walls and ramparts.  Since we figured we had worked up an appetite, we wandered down the big hill and found a small local restaurant.  Sitting out on the street, we enjoyed wine and local fare (meats, cheese, bread, and some the best salad with tuna I have ever eaten).  Knowing that chilly England was only a few days away, I headed to the shops to find a pair of jeans.  After trying on 15 pairs in 6 different stores, I finally found some that I liked and because they were on half price - I bought two pairs.  Michael made sure he pointed out that I had to fit them in my backpack.

Much later that evening and after a late afternoon rest, we headed out for dinner.  Just down the street was an Indian restaurant and here we had some of the best Indian food we have ever eaten.  Wow two great meals in one day.  Aidan polished off a plate of pakoras and Mike and I enjoyed enourmous glasses of beer with butter chicken and curried vegetables.  We all waddled back to the hotel. If you are ever in Lisbon, we highly recommend the Ghandi restaurant for dinner.

The next morning we took the subway to the bus station to catch a bus to Faro.  We didn't have tickets, but luck was on our side.  We arrived at the bus station at 10:10 and caught the 10:30 bus.  Three hours later we were back on the southern coast.  We checked into our nice hotel called the Residential Sun Algarve and headed out to another local eatery (yes, our travel tales are dictated by our stomach).  The remainder of the afternoon was spent walking through the downtown area and enjoying the nice weather and sunshine.  We also stopped for many more pastel de nadas.  I must look for a Portugese bakery in Edmonton and see if anyone makes these delectable tarts.  Aidan got to pick the dinner restaurant and so we ended up at McDonalds.  It really was okay though because in Portugal you can get draft beer at McDonalds.  It's right up along side the sodas.  Horray for us.

We didn't have much time the next morning before we had to leave for the airport and so we took a quick walk to once again enjoy the sunshine and beautiful warm weather.  Unfortunately, while Aidan was playing in a park, I got shit on by a bird and so we had to head back to the hotel.  I guess this was a sign that it was time to go.

The reality is really starting to sink in for both of us that our trip is nearing an end.  We had a chat last night about our trip really being over.  Mike started to see the end of the trip once we flew to Madrid, but I didn't feel like the trip was ending until we arrived back in Portugal.  Everything is so, well, European and working.  We are being positive about heading back to Canada and our family and friends.  Aidan can hardly wait to get home to his toys, school, and his classmates. However, we are going to miss the adventure, the new experiences, the food, and the freedom of an unplanned day without commitments.  We haven't finished this trip yet and we are already discussing where to go on our next holiday.  Maybe two weeks in Guatemala?? Anyone want to come with us?

Marrakesh - City of Snake Charmers and Mint Tea

We had high expectations for Marrakesh, and I'm happy to report that it exceeded them in every way.The city is an intoxicating blend of sights, sounds, smells and tastes.

Our journey to Marrakesh began with a pleasant 3 hour train ride from Casablanca. We made the decision to shell out the extra $15 to upgrade to first class which provided us with very comfortable seats in a private cabin that held 6 people. As the scenery of Morocco rolled by we caught glimpses of rural life as well as some interesting small towns. The terrain gradually changed from farmland and trees to rolling hills. Ironically it reminded us of the Prairies in Canada, minus palm trees of course.

We arrived in Marrakesh and disembarked into the city's ultra-modern train station where a taxi driver sent by the riad met us. The station is in the new part of the city so we had an interesting drive to the old Medina. New Marrakesh is palm lined streets and modern hotels and condos; old Marrakesh is quite a bit different.

As we drove through the walls surrounding the old Medina, we seemed to step back in time. The road narrowed quickly to the point where we had to get out and walk the rest of the way to Riad Puchka. Traffic turned into a crazy mix of pedestrians, motorbikes and donkeys pulling carts. A few minutes and alleyways later we arrived at our riad where we stepped inside a calm oasis amid the din of the Medina.

If you ever go to Marrakesh we recommend you stay at a riad, which is basically a household surrounding a courtyard. The open centre allows heat to escape during the day and cool air in at night. Riad Puchka, where we stayed, is fantastic, and at 60 Euros a night was probably the best value for accommodations on our trip. The place was fully restored 5 years ago and even has a small swimming pool and hot tub in the centre. We quickly settled in to our luxurious rooms and listened carefully as Mustafa explained how to navigate around the city.

That evening we successfully made our way down to Jemma-el-Fna, which is the very large main square in Marrakesh. How to describe it? Imagine life a few hundred years ago when everyone came down to the central square of their town for entertainment. In one corner you have storytellers entertaining the local audience with tales of arabian nights; in another corner are fortune-tellers and women applying henna; over on the other side are snake charmers and acrobats. In between all this are the food stalls and their intoxicating aroma. Surrounding the square, in mazes of narrow streets, are the souks, selling everything you could possibly want. And everywhere you go, the crush of people going about their business. All your senses go immediately into overload. What a wonderful place!

We were all immediately enthralled. Over the next three days we explored the souks and area around the main square. Mustafa gave us a very good tourist map that had each area of the souks marked by the type of goods being sold. Over the equivalent of about 10 square city blocks you could find the following types of things: wood carvings, ironworks, skins, leather, music instruments, clothing, Moroccan slippers, jewelery, fabrics, lanterns, herborists, wool, shoes, copper, dried fruits, olives, market fruits and vegetables, tailors, pastry shops, and crockery.

We also discovered some amazing coconut cookies that are sold everywhere on the streets and I highly recommend them.  On two occassions we ate dinner at the food stalls in the main square with a thousand others.  It was quite fun and a good cheap meal that typically consisted of bread, olives, and an assortment of kebabs and vegetables.  It filled us all up.  On the way back to the riad each day, Aidan would stop for some popcorn at the popcorn vendor; we became a regular customer during our stay.  We also drank a lot of mint tea while in Marrakesh.  Here it is made with real mint leaves and is sweetened.  Very tasty.  Aidan discovered that he likes kefta and had it on several occasions.  His food tastes have certainly changed over the last six months.

As well as visiting the many shops in the souks, we also went to several significant tourist sites. From the main medina area we could see the Ali ben Youssef Mosque, which is the largest and oldest surviving mosque in the medina and was built in the 12th century.  Alas it is closed to non-Muslims.  One day we walked to the Marrakesh Museum which is housed in a restored 19th century palace, Dar Mnebhi.  Once again the architecture and design in these buildings took our breath away.  We also visted the Ali Ben Youssef Medersa, which is a Muslim religious school with some impressive stucco decoration.

On another day we ventured into the Royal Quarter (Kasbah) and toured the most famous of the city's palaces, the now ruined Palais el-Badi.  It once had the reputation as being the most beautiful palace in the world.  All that is left now are towering pise walls and the staggering scale of the ruins.  We then went to the Palais de la Bahia, which is certainly a beautiful palace and really reminded us of the Alhambra in Spain.  The nicest thing was that most of the colours were still present in the stucco decoration.  From here we walked to the Saadian Tombs, which are the resting places of Saadian princes.  It was a very worthwhile day, despite the 7 odd hours of walking around.  Everyone was very tired and I think Susan's comments were along the lines of "That's it ... I'm done."

A funny thing happended while we were  wandering between these sites.  We ran into Andy from the United Kingdom.  It is funny because we met Andy and his girlfriend Kirsten in Parachy, Brazil in November.  Andy was in Marrakesh with his father for a short holiday.  He came running up to us on the street and said he recognized Aidan.  We are now firmly convinced that it is a small world after all.

We're very glad we visted Marrakesh. It was definately one of the highlights of our trip. We would reccomend it to anyone who wants to experience the warmth of the Arabic people. Our only regret is that we didn't have time to go visit Essaouria or venture into the Sahara desert. We'll definately come back.

What I Have in Common with Humphrey Bogart (Besides Good Looks)

Casablanca of course!  Actually I'm not sure if Humph ever actually made it to the famed city since the movie was filmed in Florida.  

We arrived here on Royal Air Marroc but encountered a few minor but annoying challenges along the way.  After saying goodbye and thank you to my parents we made our way up to Lisbon on the bus and stayed overnight at the Gran Pension Alcobia (50 euro). We heard that Lisbon airport can have some long security lineups, so we arrived extra early, at 6:00 a.m. for our 8:30 flight.  Unfortunately, the check-in counter did not open until 6:30, and when it did open we all found out that the computer system for all TAP flights (with which Royal Air Moroc is affiliated) was down.  So everyone waited for almost an hour until and then it was announced that check-in would proceed by hand.  By this time the line-ups in the whole terminal were huge!  Just when they started doing manual check-in, it was announced the computer system was up and running again.  

When we got up to the counter, the staff person asked if we had our visas for Morocco.  I had checked on the Canadian Foreign Affairs website only days before and knew that we did not need a visa to visit.  However, some horribly worded English on the staff person's screen made it sound like we needed a visa.  We convinced her that this was not true and she let us go ahead.  So off we headed through some frantic security to our gate.  We were supposed to board at 7:50 and by 8:00 we knew something was wrong as we hadn't boarded. I checked the departures board to discover that they had changed the gate and were now on the final boarding call for our flight.  So we, along with two others, ran to the other gate, jumped on an airport bus and were whisked off to our plane.

Luckily the plane did not crumble apart during our flight because it appeared old enough to do so.  The only good thing about the trip was the breakfast.  The yogurt and croissant were yummy, but no coffee.  Boo.  As we landed in Casablanca we thought to ourselves, now nothing else could possibly go wrong.  Sadly we were mistaken.  Our luggage did not come directly to Casablanca with us.  For reasons unknown it was sent to Barcelona, Spain. Seriously.

So we headed into Casablanca on a train as the airport is 30+ km out of town, without our luggage.  From the train station we caught a Petit Taxi to the Central Hotel, which just inside the walls of the old Medina.  The hotel was in an old building that at one time might have been very nice.  Now it is a little worn around the edges and a bit musty smelling.  However, the staff were very nice and the location was good.

After  a quick freshening up, we headed out for a walk down toward the central market. Along the way we stopped at a cafe for some sandwiches and excellent coffee. The architecture in downtown Casablanca is best described as Moorish design meets Art Deco. Its really quite spectacular, however most buildings have been left to decline and are in need of extensive renovation. This is unfortunate given the obvious potential. Making our way back to the hotel we walked through the old Medina, with its maze of souks and narrow streets,   full of interesting sights and smells. We spent the evening catching up on reading and schoolwork and enjoying the mint tea.  

The next morning we went down and had a nice breakfast, which included local breads, apricot jam and some excellent coffee. Our plan was to walk over to visit the Hassan II Mosque in the morning, have a quick lunch, and then head out on a city tour for the afternoon (we made the tour arrangements at the tourist office the previous day). After the tour, we would then go to the airport to collect our wayward luggage, which had finally arrived.

The Hassan II Mosque overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and is the third largest in the world. It was started in 1986 and completed 6 years later to commemorate the 60th birthday of Hassan II, the former king of Morocco. The mosque is really impressive and a wonderful showcase of what can be achieved when modern building techniques are applied to a grand religious structure. The building can hold 25,000 worshippers inside and another 80,000 people outside. The exterior is clad in marble and tile. It even features a retractable roof and a laser that points towards Mecca which was visible from our hotel at night. The inside is breathtaking. Its hard to even describe how beautiful the tile work, marble columns, woodwork and chandeliers are. Suffice to say there were 10,000 artisans involved in the project and 3,000 construction workers, working 24 hours a day in shifts. The mosque was definitely the highlight of our stay in Casablanca. 

Lunch consisted of really yummy sandwiches and fries bought from a small vendor in the old Medina. Total cost for three people - $3. The tour guide (Susan called him "grumpy Bill') joined us as we were eating and we spent the next few hours in an old Mercedes taxi visiting the other sights in Casablanca. The more memorable places included the waterfront, which is being completely redeveloped, the old lighthouse, several gardens and parks, the area where the rich and famous live, and walking around old streets and palaces in the Kasbah (royal quarter). We also visited a spice vendor where we got a lesson in the many spice products produced in Morocco and purhased some saffron and perfume. Along the way we got to see both the new and the old side of Casablanca and breathe a lot of car exhaust. Morocco will be very nice when they put catalytic converters on vehicles.

With our tour complete, we dropped off our guide and made our way back to the airport. The driver agreed to take us for the same rate that the airline would be reimbursing us for. All good so far, except that the traffic was horrible. Had we known it would be so bad, we would have taken the train instead and saved some money in the process. To make a long story short, it took over 3 hours to retrieve our luggage and get back to the old Medina.

Tired but hungry, we had dinner at a place recommended in Lonely Planet guide that was near our hotel. We ate some good traditional food including a nice tangene (meat and vegetable stew cooked slowly in an earthenware dish) and a mezze (five different small salads), but it was very over priced. One juice drink cost more than our entire lunch in the old Media.

After a quick breakfast the next morning we made our way to the Gare des Casa Voyageurs and jumped on the train to Marrakesh. We were glad we stopped in Casablanca for a day, however that's about all the time I think its worth. 

For the Love of My Liver...

For the health of my liver, I must leave the Algarve.  We have had a great deal of fun spending time with Mike's parents - Pat and Paul. They do know how to have good noshies and cocktails before dinner, followed by some fabulous Portuguese reds with dinner.  Oh, and I cannot forget about the sangria in the afternoons. Truthfully, I think Pat and Paul's livers could use a break from us as well.  Hehehe.

Aidan also had his share of fun with Grandma and Grandpa.  He had been counting down the days for several weeks and I don't think he slept much the night prior to seeing them because he was so excited.  His early morning cheerio eating contests with Grandpa resumed and he got all the bacon he could eat from Grandma.

Now all joking aside, the six days we spent in southern Portugal hasn't been all drinkies and nibblies.  We have seen a few things. Pat and Paul have spent the last four winter's in the Algarve and know it very well.  They rent a two bedroom condominium in Sesmarias, which is near Lagoa, which is near Faro.  It is a nice place (if you like everything done in marble - and really who doesn't) near the ocean.  It was here that we were introduced to many other expats who spend their winters in sunny Portugal.  The temperature really was quite nice, around 24 C every day.  Most of the communities were quiet, but we were told that in the summers when the temperatures soar to over 40 C each day, the beaches and towns are crawling with tourists (mainly Brits).   

We were treated to a couple of rituals.  First there was the daily coffee ritual.  This involves driving to Luis' cafe and having two cups of very tasty coffee.  We went on the regular pilgrimage to the chicken lady's for lunch in Silves.  There is a particular restaurant that is owned by the old lady and serves piri-piri chicken.  Actually, that is all they serve.  First they bring out bread, cheese, sardine paste, and olives.  Then comes wine.  Then the old lady comes and fusses over Aidan.  Then out comes platters of salad, piri-piri chicken and fries.  Pat and Paul found out about the place when they spoke to another couple who had stumbled upon it.  They sat at a table and asked the old lady for a menu.  At which point she slammed her hand down on the table and yelled "chicken."  So they had chicken.  We also went to sample the famous Pastel de Nadas (Portuguese custard tarts) at the Pastisserie. Finally, we attended the weekly expat Canadian meeting / Canadiana quiz at Smilers Bar.  It was here under the maple leaf that we helped Paul win the weekly trivia by knowing the answer to a tie breaking question (Q: The name of the movie about beer drinking Doug and Bob Mackenzie; A: Strange Brew).  Yay Paul - a bottle of wine to replace the diminishing collection!

Pat and Paul have a roomy car and therefore we were driven to all the fun sites around the area.  We visited the castle in Silves and the Palace of the Verandas.  This fortress sits on the highest point in Silves and is quite ancient, like before the Romans.  It was the site of the throne of Seville from 1053 onward during the height of the Arab rule.  In the 13th century it was conquered by the Christians. 

We spent another morning combing through the gypsy market and managed to find some replacement running shoes for Aidan and some very large sugary doughnut like things for all. On a different day we packed a picnic lunch and headed to the beach at Praia da Rocha. Wow what a beach.  It was as amazing as any we have seen in our travels, but with no one on it.  It is packed in the summer.  It was a hot day and Aidan had a good time building sand castles with Grandma.  On another day, we ventured to Monshique - both the top of the mountain and the small picturesque town.  Here we marveled at the wind turbines, the view and the hot springs.  We also managed to fit in some shopping in the small towns, where every street is made from marble stones.

Aidan did manage to get into the brand new swimming pool at the condo complex.  It was a fairly chilly day and even he couldn't stay in for very long.  A little too early in the season, but Grandpa and Michael sure enjoyed the show.

We also got some exciting news from home.  Our house renters (actually my cousin Brian and his lovely wife Wendy) informed us that their new home in Leduc is ready three months ahead of schedule!  They are moving in April 1st instead of in June.  Obviously the economy in Alberta has gone down hill a bit when homes are being finished before rather than after the estimated completion date.  What this means is that we are moving back to our whole home again in April instead of just into our basement.  We cannot thank Brian and Wendy enough for taking such good care of the house over the winter. 

All in all, we had a great relaxing time in the Algarve and Portual thanks to Mike's parents. Now back to our African adventure.