Time is running out in Vancouver. Elysia and I are packing our bags, and in fact all of our belongings. We are going to start our new trip in the Netherlands before moving on to Africa. We will be travelling through Egypt and Jordan in search of adventure. Returning to ... not Vancouver ... but Toronto, to start the next big adventure in our lives.... read more

Today the weather has cleared up a bit (it is still windy but the rain stopped) so we decided to venture to the top of the city and see the Acropolis in Athens. Acropolis is very close to our hotel, so it was an easy walk through the city. We got a pleasant surprise when we got there: admission was free. Acropolis is quite amazing. All of the marble was cut from a mountain far from here and hauled to the site. Ancient cranes were used to lift the marble blocks to the top of Acropolis where it was assembled into the buildings which still stand today. After touring Acropolis we walked through the local markets where people were trying to flog everything imaginable, from pirated DVDs to shoes to jewelery to mock roman helmets. Jet ... read more

Today we arrived in Athens, and Jay and Alex met us at the airport. It was so great to see their faces on the other side of the customs gate! It even offset the fact that our bags didn't arrive with us! After waiting for our bags for 45 minutes or so, it was clear that they wouldn't show up (this seems to be a common theme in my travelling history!). We filed our report with the airline and they told us our bags should be delivered tomorrow - to our hotel. It isn't really a surprise that our bags got lost considering we had to transfer three times: at Seattle, Amsterdam and Paris. So after we filed our report with the airline we caught the metro with Jay and Alex to downtown Athens. The metro ... read more

Well, I made it to Paraguay after an exhausting plane ride. Just finishing up my second full day here, I think I have mostly caught up on my sleep from the trip! To get here, I had to leave our apartment in Vancouver at 9am on Sunday, July 20th. I finally arrived in Asuncion, Paraguay at about 6:30pm on Monday, July 21st! That is one long journey. I tell you, I didn't quite realize how far Paraguay was before actually making the journey myself! Not a lot has happened since getting here. Things seem to run slow here - except the pedestrians. Slow pedestrians = dead pedestrians. If you ever come to Paraguay, know that the cars most definitely have the right of way! Things seem to work by size here! Today we rode across the ... read more