Today we ventured into Utrecht which involved taking public transit! What a great system. We parked just on the edge of the city and got parking plus 4 two-way bus passes for 4 euro dollars (about $5 CDN)! We would have had to pay 28 euros to park in the city! I've attached one picture of bikes by the central station. There were thousands. I've never seen so many bikes. They were literally stacked two high in racks! And up and down every street! Well, we were on foot this time and headed to the Dutch Railway Museum. After awhile I had to stop Nigel from taking pictures of every canal we passed over; but they were quaint. It was fun for the kids (movie and a train adventure ride) and interesting for the adults. We ... read more

Well, we made it! Flights were uneventful which was good although the flight was quicker/shorter by 1/2 hour which you might think was good but personally I would have preferred another 1/2 hour of sleep...Anyways, the logistics all worked out perfectly, with the car and directions, etc. There was TONS of orange around the airport and lots of crazy hats and wigs. We did take a short nap in the middle of the day. And the rest of the day was spent almost entirely on our bikes! You always hear about it and read about it, but until you get here and see it, you just don't get it. Bike riding here is a way of life and a true mode of transportation. At home, we ride bikes for fun and to exercise. Here, you ride ... read more

Well, if you were thinking we'd had enough chocolate this trip, you were probably right. However, we took Uncle Paul's advice and went to Cadbury World in Bournville just south of Birmingham. This is the original Cadbury manufacturing plant and is still operating. We had an amazing time and a sort of Willy Wonka tour including more samples! Nobody fell into the chocolate lake but we did get to write our names in chocolate! After the tour, there was another building near the kids play area that had another couple of brief movies to watch followed by a warm cup of melted chocolate with whatever candy you wanted! Soooooooooooo yummy! When we got home, Nigel and Lori both strangely felt the need to squeeze a run in.....Which was then cancelled out very quickly by a final ... read more

Well, today was back into Nottingham for the Riverside Festival. We arrived around lunchtime and the weather was not looking great. But we ventured off and first took in the Grand Organs from the early 1900s. There were about 10 of them, they are kind of hard to describe but each of them plays its own music and seemed to be powered by its own steam engine. They were really cool anyways. Then on to the Children's Festival within the larger festival. It was really well done! There were about 8 different large areas (crafts, story time, octopus centre - games, etc, Pokeman Village which Russell loved, drumming centre, yoga/tai chi centre, clay sculpture area, giant connect 4 game!, dance performances, and more! Sadly it started to rain but this didn't stop the festivities! The kids ... read more

Added a couple pics from yesterday at Space Centre. Today was off to Warwick Castle on the recommendation of our friend, Harry, who claims to know a thing or two about this part of the world! It was a lovely day (apart from the two brief showers but we were prepared with our brellie!). The kids loved the jester show, the joust, birds of prey show and all the walking tours around the castle including the torture chambers. They also enjoyed the medieval park which we stopped by 3 different times! The grounds were beautiful and the shows were all very entertaining and the views spectacular! Once again Lori was reminded of how much she really hates heights.....All in all, a great day! The drive home was interesting, as usual. We took a self-imposed traffic diversion ... read more