COMING SOON: Big City Blues...

STAY TUNED!!!

SAO PAULO 02MAR10: Sao Paulo Update - we have been in Sao Paulo for a couple of weeks now, and it is cool here... sweater and jeans weather!

We have already had a great music session with some local musicians, celtic-bluegrass... well, anything goes, actually. We will get together again on March 13th. And then St Paddy's Day... we'll do something for sure!

Tonight, Ella is doing her 13th consecutive show here in SP... the other singer has been having throat problems. Good job Ella.

And also tonight, Lauree has gone to see Coldplay... we won a free ticket to see them, and also to see Guns And Roses next week (but I suspect Lauree bartered that ticket off!)

And last but not least, congratulations Canada!

RIO DE JANEIRO 07FEB10: Rocinha Favela Tour - We went on a tour of the Rocinha favela, the largest in Rio... apparently it was featured in the film "City Of God". Most tourists stay out of favelas... they are typically where the poor live, large families living in shelters built on top of each other in a maze of alley ways. And most favelas are ruled by drug gangs... the police stay out!

It was an interesting tour, one worth taking.

Someone was up to her old tricks, however... we were walking down an alley way, and Lauree began snapping photographs of a group of local-types hanging out on the corner. Our tour guide anxiously told Lauree to put her camera away...

"They are drug dealers!"

RIO DE JANEIRO 06FEB10: Lauree flies - Today, Lauree finally got her chance to go hang gliding! Tessa couldn't go... unfortunately, she was too young. Lauree wore a harness strapped alongside the hang-glider "pilot", and then, a one-two-three-go, and they ran in step with each other, three-legged race style, right off the cliff. The trick was not to jump, but instead, run straight out into mid-air, like Wile E Coyote.

Lauree says it was amazing. She was surprised how little wind she felt, although once in a while, they would hit a pocket of turbulence and quickly drop several feet. Noentheless, they managed to soar and circle for a full 30 minutes, before landing gracefully (on their feet) on the beach.

And temperatures hit 40C today...

RIO DE JANEIRO 04FEB10: Brazilian Soccer - Candace and Mark treated us to a soccer game (thank you so much!) at Rio's famous Maracana Stadium, which can accommodate more than 100,000 spectators... the place is huge! The match we attended was between home team Flamengo and visitors Olaria.

Out-of-towners Olaria are from a lower division than Flamengo, so local fans didn't bother coming out, only around 5,000, who sat across the stadium, completely separate and apart, from the only 50-or-so Olaria fans who were able to follow their team to Rio. Both groups were equally boisterous, recognizable by their respective team jerseys, waving flags and banners, and each side with their own rhythm section, banging drums BAM! BOOM! BAM! BOOM! and blowing snarkblatts non-stop throughout the game, which managed to keep fans in a constant state of frenzy. Flamengo had a small horn section too, blaring out "When the Saints Go Marching In" whenever Flamengo did something clever. Olaria gave Flamengo a run-for-their money, however... and Rio fans were not shy to express their frustration, yelling, gesturing, waving arms in the air whenever their players screwed up, or if a ref was blind to an obvious infraction by Olaria... it was very amusing to watch! In the end, it was a 3-3 tie, which delighted the Olaria fans and disgusted the Flamengo fans.

Maracana Stadium

RIO DE JANEIRO 02FEB10: Santa Teresa - Santa Teresa is a once-luxurious neighbourhood of Rio, situated on a mountain, and with many stately mansions and a few streets interesting for their boutiques and restaurants.

We went first with Benoit & Louise, exploring the nighbourhood on a trolley car that tourists like to ride, although it still serves as public transportation for the Santa Teresa community... and what a bargain at 60. cents one end of the route to the other. We got off the trolley car at one point, checked out the ground of a ruined belle-epoque mansion that the city has turned into a park, then wandered the back-alleys down the mountain, past the Santa Teresa Convento and ending up in familiar territory at the Lapa Irish Pub.

We next went with the girls and Cousin Brian's sister Candace and her husband Mark, in Rio on a week's vacation. We took the trolley, checked out the boutiques, had a drink at a nice-enough bistro... and then jumped on the trolley to travel to the top and then head back down the mountain. That's when trouble began...

Mark gave the trolley conductor 20 Reais to cover the 3.60 it should have cost the six us, but the conductor only gave him back 2 reais change. I called the conductor back to point out the obvious error, the conductor (who looked like a Brazilian Richard Pryor) explained in Portugueses that it was for both ways (that should have cost 7.20), I said no way, and the conductor shrugged and gave Mark 4 more reais.

Then to add insult to injury, when the trolley reached the top end of the trip, the conductor came around again to collect, this time from me, and also from Lauree, who was sitting a few seats back. I handed over another 3.60 (which didn't seem enough to please the conductor) and told him in English, that we would complain to the authorities back at the terminus.

When we got back down to the terminus at the bottom of the mountain, Lauree sprung into action, (bringing to mind her Shanghai Fabric Market days!)... she went to a officious-looking person, one who seemed to be in charge, told him we were overcharged and demanded 10 reais back, pointing at our conductor and accosting him in a very loud voice "BANDITO!". The conductor sheepishly tried to explain his side of the story to the official, didn't seem to impress him much, tried handing Lauree a couple of 2's for her trouble... but Lauree kept demanding "10 REAIS, BANDITO!"

needless to say, we got our 10 reais, and beat it out of there!

We made one more trip back to Santa Teresa (actually two, but that's another story), to a fabulous jungle restaurant, no walls, built off of the side of a cliff amidst huge trees, and with a spectacular view of the city... we were seated in the "tree-house", and it was a tree house. The food excellent, the staff marvelous... we want to go back again for our last night out in Rio, and bring our camera with us!

But that isn't going to happen, as it turns out... but, I tell you, it is almost worth flying down to Rio just to go to this restaurant (the chocolate Petit Gateau was to die for!).

RIO DE JANEIRO 31JAN10: Samba Schools - We had been lucky enough to watch the local neighbourhod Samba School rehearsing for a couple of times now... rehearsing for Carnival!

The Samba Schools seem to involve the whole neighbourhood, in this case, the favela known as Rocinha... last week they rehearsed out on the street in front of our hotel. Drummers on an assortment of drums, tambourine sized to huge 24" side drums, each one playing a simple rhythm, often with a single stick... but when everyone is playing, a surprisingly intricate dance rhythm is produced. There are also a few ukelele sized electric guitars in the mix, and a few singers... the song they sing is an anthem about their neighbourhood Rocinha. Quite a catchy tune!

There are also flag bearers and dancers... dancers of all ages, shapes and size. And the whole neighbour comes out for the rehearsal, young and old, and they all dance and sing along too! It is like rehearsing a street party!

Then last night, the party (I mean, rehearsal) was moved to a local community centre, which serves as home to the Samba School. the drummers banged, the guitarists strummed, the singers sang, and everyone danced. We drank beer, snapped pictures and watched in amazement! Forget about whatever song of the moment is topping the charts, this neighbourhood anthem, played over and over again, had the whole joint, samba schoolers and locals, in a dance-frenzy!

Unfortunately, we had to leave around 1:30 am (it only started at midnight!) because of a rather busy day today... unfortunately, because it was only shortly after we left that the school dancers did a costume change, and came out in their full Carnaval regalia.

Apparently, it was really something to see!

RIO DE JANEIRO 26JAN10: Paraty and beyond - We took a two-day trip with Louise & Benoit to Paraty, a colonial town that has associations with gold, sugarcane and pirates in its colourful history. We walked the stone streets, explored its white single-story colonial buildings with their brightly-coloured doorways, tapped our feet in time with local samba drummers readying themselves for Mardi-gras and enjoyed pizza, acai and gelato at the local eateries.

We took a side-trip to the beaches at Trindade, a forty-minute bus ride through the coastal rain-forest jungle where bushes of Impatience (a plant we grow as an annual in our gardens back home) grows wild among huge majestic trees in full bloom, some mauve (just like those in downtown Lisboa), some deep purple, some bright yellow, some white... the beaches were wild and crowded with tourists like ourselves, anxious to get away from the hustle and bustle of the Rio beaches.

The highlight of the trip (for me, anyway) was walking back to one the the featured beaches with Ella, after visiting a naturally formed swimming pool, waist high sea-water encircled by a sheltering ring of huge boulders. We took a path through the jungle, and made some wrong turns along the way... one wrong turn ended us up on a narrow muddy footpath through dense jungle with the result of any misstep being a 30 foot nearly vertical drop to the sea. Another wrong turn resulted in our having to scale rocks towering above crashing waves... during one stretch, we had to crawl on all-fours through the horizontal butt-crack of two huge garbage truck-sized boulders. At the end of each of these wrong turns was a sign warning people to keep off the path, risk of injury or death... but we had fun staring death in the face!

Saw an interesting thing waiting for the bus back to Rio... a large stray "Francis"-type mule nosing through a garbage bin, pulling out a plastic bag full of garbage, shaking it in its jaws until the bag ripped open, then nibbling on some of the contents. Ella made a good guess that maybe it was after apple cores or some kind of fruit rinds.

It was weird, though... like something a dog would do!

So, in Trindade: stray mules, in Olinda: stray goats, in Fortaleza: stray burros, and nearly everywhere (that we have seen) in Brazil: stray dogs.

RIO DE JANIERO 22JAN10: Amicable Mugger - One of our colleagues was strolling alone on the beach at Ipanema the other evening - it was only around 7:00, and there were still many people crowding the beach - when a stranger approached him. The stranger stepped on his foot (pinning it to the ground), pulled out a knife and demanded cash.

"No credit cards!"

Our colleague handed over his cash, and then (rather brashly I would say!) asked the mugger if he could at least give him back enough money to get "home"!

And the mugger did! Two reals and a short time later, our colleague was headed back to the hotel on the shuttle for locals, taking comfort in the fact that a., he wasn't hurt, and b., the mugger wasn't interested in his expensive camera!

RIO DE JANEIRO 20JAN10: Busy day - First of all, Lauree and Tessa made plans to try some tandem hang-gliding in the morning. They would each get a turn at being strapped to a professional hang-glider and then taking a running leap off of a cliff... a cliff on the mountain we see out our hotel window. Unfortunately, wind conditions were not favourable, and the experience had to be postponed until the afternoon.

On this same day, Benoit, Louise, Ella and I were having lunch on a yacht... the owner of the land that the circus site is set up on extended the invitation to all of the Quidam community. We certainly enjoyed the lunch, a hot and cold buffet attended by white-uniformed stewards. And in high style, we spent the not-too-hot windless afternoon slipping across the sea, totally mesmerized by the beauty of Rio! We felt sorry that Lauree and Tessa had to miss it, they having stayed behind at the hotel in hopes of a gust of wind or two. As it turned out, the wind never happened, so they missed out on the yacht for nothing.

And that night, we enjoyed a very rewarding session at The Irish Pub in Ipanema with some new musical friends who collectively call themselves Café Irlanda. The night was hot, the beer was cold, the tunes were challenging and the pub was jam-packed... everyone had a terrific time!

RIO DE JANEIRO 15JAN10: Half-Mast - On our way past the War Memorial, Lauree noticed the flag was at half-mast. With some concern, she asked fellow-passenger David (one of the Quidam school teachers, and who happens to speak Portuguese very well) to speak to the shuttle driver and find out what the nation was mourning.

After some back and forth with the driver in Portuguese, David turned back to Lauree and said "It's the flag, it keeps slipping down the pole."

Ahhh, Brazil...

Davi from Belo Horizonte tells me, however, that Brazil announced three days of mourning for Haiti... well, that is probably the reason, don't you think?

RIO DE JANEIRO 14JAN10: Local Transit - A few evenings ago, after an after-dinner stroll along the beach boardwalk at Copacabana and Ipanema, we managed to catch a ride back to the hotel on a shuttle-van for locals that ran along the length of Atlantic Avenue. It was a beat-up looking van with a sweat-infused interior, but we were happy to take the last of the avaliable seats.

Lauree, Tessa and I were in the back row with a non-descript person in the corner... the back legs of the seats were not bolted to the floor, so the whole row tilted forward whenever the van driver braked.

We felt sorry for taking up space in the van when it pulled up to a stop where three tired passengers were hoping to get on. Standing room only? No problem!They got on and stood hunched over other passengers sitting in seats.

Our ride back to the hotel ended up costing 2 reals per person (1.20 CDN).

RIO DE JANEIRO 12JAN10: Cristo Redemptor and Sugarloaf - We all looked forward to our first day off since premiere in Rio, especially Ella, who performed in every show during the first week, having to stand in for Dalyane, who was unable to sing, having caught something nasty in her throat while she was home for the holidays. It was also our first opportunity to spend some time with Louise and Benoit, although they had been having no difficulty filling their days with things to do.

It was bright, hot and sunny... and it seemed like a perfect day to check out the biggest attractions (aside from the beach, bikinis and bossa nova) here in Rio: Cristo Redemptor on Corcovado, and Sugarloaf.

It was already very crowded when we arrived at the Cristo Redemptor monument (one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World)... many, many people on the platform high atop Corcovado, striking the Redemptor's benevolent pose for their kodak moment in the 35 degree C heat of midday. Talk about roasting...

Then, off to the Pao de Açucar, "Sugarloaf", a bald, smooth-sided mountain of rock jutting out of the bay. It was a little cooler there, but not much to do but snap a few photos once the time was spent traversing the two individual teleferic "cable-car" systems to get to the top. We hit a snag on our way back down, however... something was wrong with the cable-car's gear mechanism on the lower half of the teleferic, which resulted in a 2 hour wait, standing in the late afternoon sun (down to about 30C by this time). People lined up so they could stand in the shadow cast by the people in line ahead of them... it was very natural for them to do so, and very interesting for us to observe.

Needless to say, we survived the ordeal.

RIO DE JANEIRO 10JAN10: First Time Food - BBQ Chicken Hearts, about eight of them on a skewer... I thought they were nuggets of beef or something. Tessa ate one, I ate maybe four of them... neither of us could really get into them.

RIO DE JANEIRO 08JAN10: Rio De Janeiro Premiere - Ella did the premiere last night to a full, enthusiastic house. The "Who's Who" of the Brazilian television and movie scene were out in force, so many celebrities that tickets were hard to get a hold of. We personally did not recognize any names of the illustrious lot, but there was talk that Versace's daughter was in attendance, and at one point, it was falsely rumoured that LADY GAGA would make an appearance.

Lady Gaga or not, the audience was charged, and it exploded in excitement once the show started... after a delay of more than 15 minutes! The celebrity VIPs wouldn't take their seats! They kept mulling about in the stands, sippiing their champagne and being seen!

Also attending the show was Louise and Benoit, who came all the way from Montreal... it was very special having them here, as they had played such an important part in realizing this dream of being on tour with Cirque du Soleil. If they had not kindly opened their home to Ella during her training in Montreal, I am not sure we could have managed it. As it turned out, it was a dear and unforgettable time for both them and Ella, despite Ella's need for some math tutoring (thanks Benoit), and ongoing encouragement with her singing... so many times they patiently endured her warbling away in the shower, learning her parts for the show.

For them finally to be able to see Ella perform in the show... well, it was a sweet, emotional time for all of us.

They also got to witness an after show Premiere Party... champagne, whiskey, cerveja, hors d'oeuvres, dance music, flashing lights... under the stars on a 28 degree C Rio de Janeiro evening!

Last shuttle from the party back to the hotel was at 4:30 AM... and party animal Lauree was the last one on it!

RIO DE JANEIRO 05JAN10: Flying Down To Rio - We had a memorable stay with Nana, Tim, Debbie, Bob & Chelsea... although we did catch some of that Olympic Fever that is going around. We might have to bring it with us to Brazil!

Leaving was a bit of a fiasco, as a result of the enhanced security measures at Vancouver International Airport (Bloody Underwear Bomber... I hope you get crotch-rot!).

First of all, there was no carry-on baggage allowed on the airplane... women were allowed purses IF the purses were no larger than an 8 x 11 sheet of paper, and computers were allowed, but no computer bags. People were boarding clutching laptops under their arm, cables dangling and diskettes falling all over the place. Fortunately, the girls were able to board with their violins in the cases, although there were several raised eyebrows and looks of annoyance from other passengers, who weren't so lucky getting their stuff past the check-in counter.

Then, getting through security was an ordeal. Both Tessa and Ella were "patted down", violin cases were opened and carefully inspected, computer swabbed for detection of trace elements of explosives... and every passenger was subjected to this, so you can imagine the line ups!

Our connections all worked out great, though... Vancouver to LA, LA to Miami, Miami to Rio.

When unpacking the next day, however, we discovered that one of our suitcases had its backing material shredded at both the top and bottom seam, and we found that a ceramic bowl Lauree purchased in Russia had become broken inside the suitcase (and I had taken such care to pack it carefully!). We then found a card in the suitcase notifying us that the suitcase had been physically searched by USA Homeland Security, whom were not liable for damage (Way to go Homeland Security).

Now, my question is, if all these security measures are now necessary, why were they not necessary before? Will we forever be not allowed bring carry-on luggage on the airplane? (I noticed the pilots and stewardesses were still allowed to bring theirs!).

What happens if a terrorist manages to blow up a plane with checked baggage? Will we no longer be allowed any checked baggage on an airplane?

That is scary...

VANCOUVER 31DEC09: New Year's Eve - The girls and I are celebrating New Year's Eve in the Sunshine Hills neighbourhod of Delta, British Columbia in the warm company of Nana, Tim, Debbie, Bob, Chelsea and her friend Andrew, enjoying good food and drink (wings, perogies, beer and more). We will work on the family puzzle (Beatles Abbey Road) and then get into a game of Rummoli until midnight.

Lauree will spend it with Cirque friends, watching the firework display of Rio de Janeiro from a boat in the Atlantic just off Copacabana beach.

Happy New Year everyone!

VANCOUVER 26DEC09: What a city! - We are having a wonderful time in Vancouver... we have shopped Robson St, enjoyed the lights at Van Deusen Gardens, survived Christmas, rocked out with The Beatles RockBand, strolled along the sea wall at Stanley Park (Lauree got to run it with Sean!)... and we continue to eat, drink and be merry.

Tonight Bob & Chelsea brought Tessa & Ella (Judy & Sean) to an NHL game, Canucks vs Oilers... Tessa has become a die-hard Canucks hockey fan (Nana is proud!).

VANCOUVER 25DEC09: Merry Christmas from Canada's west coast! - We are thrilled to be spending this Christmas in Vancouver, British Columbia with family... Nana, Tim & Debbie, Bob, Chelsea, Judy & Sean (wish you could have made it out too, Steve, Tracey & kids).

We wish everyone a very happy holiday with family and friends.

CURITIBA 20DEC09: Our last days are spent... - Lauree returned safely from Moscow Wednesday night, and Ella and I were so happy to have her back! She did not have any time to see the sights of Curitiba though... there were only four more days of shows before a Christmas break. Ella performed the last show on Sunday afternoon, and we flew out Monday.

Saw an interesting thing on our way to the airport... a brown furry lump on the side of the highway, large like a sack of cement... turned out to be a dead wild pig! We thought it was strange to see it, but I guess it is like someone seeing a dead deer on the side of the highway in Canada... not that uncommon.

MOSCOW 12DEC08: Lauree scraps at the market! - Lauree had an altercation with a couple of Chechen thugs at a market in Moscow the other day....

As Lauree puts it: "So, it was bad. I had just arrived at the Russian Market in Luzhniki Park with some of my Varekai colleagues (IT Frank, Irina, Rena & Stephanie), to shop for snow pants for tear down on Sunday. This is a very, very strange market, like nothing I've seen before - buses drive for days to get here from all over Russia so shop owners can buy goods from these vendors to take back to their store for resell. Most of the market is outside - hundreds and hundreds of stalls, people selling everything from purses to coats to jeans to boots to shoes to hats. EVERYTHING you can think of is there. And anyone can shop there, prices are low and you can still bargain... but it is more for locals, definitely not a market for tourists.

As we were entering the market, I took out my camera, snapped a picture of my colleagues walking ahead of me, then continued on, slightly behind everyone else. All of a sudden, two men came charging toward me... they each grabbed me by the arm and started shaking and pushing me and yelling in my face. I immediately cried out for Irina, who came running back, speaking to them in Russian, trying to get them to stop hurting me. She yelled for Frank, and he came running back and was trying to separate the four of us, of course pushing and shoving and yelling right back at them... and Irina trying to translate! Oh my gawd, it was chaos. A fist fight was mere seconds away!

As it turns out, these two men (from Chechnya working illegally selling fake diplomas and identification!) saw me taking the picture when we entered the market, and they thought I was taking a picture of them carrying out their black-market activities.

When things calmed down a bit, and I mean "a bit" - Frank had to be pulled off one guy, and Rena and Stephanie were trying to grab me and get me out of there (one guy held my arm so tight I have bruises) - Irina assured the Chechens I wasn't talking pictures of them and that if they happen to be in the picture, I would delete it. We quickly continued on our way to shop for snow pants, me with a few bruises, a few tears and a bad case of the shakes!

I'm just lucky they didn't take the camera.

And yes, they are in the picture. and no I didn't delete it!"

Now THAT'S a story! And with that, I think Lauree has pretty much accomplished everything on her list of things to do in Moscow!

MOSCOW 08DEC09: Tessa flies solo... - Tessa left Moscow this morning for Vancouver Canada, where we all will be spending Christmas with family.

According to Lauree... "we had a stressful morning - we almost didn't make her flight! If it wasn't for Dimitry (Cirque's driver) calling our room at 4:30 am wondering where we were, we would still be sleeping. And in our haste, we forgot to grab Tessa's violin on the way out... 10 minutes down the road we had to go back to the hotel and get it! We left the hotel at 5:20 am and should have left at 4:30 am, arrived 15 minutes before boarding closed.

PHEW! This is what happens when the Christmas party is the night before departure... and we made the mistake of going to bed when we got home, and we shouldn't have.

Didn't help that we had a HUGE snow storm yesterday and the roads were/are still in bad shape this morning.

But Tessa is on her way, wearing a bright yellow lanyard 'UNACCOMPANIED MINOR' which she absolutely hated!"

She made it to Vancouver, however, safe & sound (and completely exhausted!)

CURITIBA 28NOV09: 2012 (The Movie) - Last weekend, Ella and I went to see the "end of the world" flick 2012, starring John Cusack. We had seen Vicky Christina Barcelona in Spain, and since this film features Rio de Janiero (the movie poster shows the giant statue of Christ toppling over onto a panic-stricken mob), we thought it reason enough to check 2012 out while we were in Brazil.

As it happens, the film DOES NOT feature Rio at all... it is mostly about events that take place in the USA. The Rio Christ toppling scene lasted for about 10 seconds... and was in the film to show the "global" impact of the disaster.

Oh well, it was fun, and the special effects were amazing, so I don't mind being manipulated by the promo... what better way to get the population of Brazil out to see the movie!

CURITIBA 24NOV09: Some thoughts... - In Brazil, private property is protected from the public by way of 8-10 foot high walls... there are industrial properties with wrought-iron fences crowned with coiled razor wire, commercial properties with concrete walls topped with barbed-wire and residential properties with stone walls capped with sharp iron tacks or shards of glass strategically placed on end.

I suppose the wall-concept is a throw-back to the class system... walls separated the poor from the middle-class and the rich, the rabble from the elite.

And the street-side of the residential walls can be very deceiving - they can look decrepit, crumbling or scarred with graffiti, but the residence in behind the wall can well be a palace. We always peer through open doorways in the walls when we get the chance, and we are usually very impressed with what we see... lush greenery and gardens, cobble-stoned courtyards, ornate wood-work, beautiful homes.

Of course, walls and high fences are not unique to Brazil... they are everywhere in Mexico, and even in many parts of Europe. In London, we went to a health clinic that was surrounded by a high metal fence topped with razor-wire. It made me wonder if the wall was pro-active or reactive... and what was it protecting? Drugs? Staff? It certainly did not reflect highly on the community (or the society), in my mind at least.

Friends of ours back home in Ottawa recently purchased a beautiful condominium in a secure gated complex - guards at the gate, guards in the lobby. Is this the new reality for someone wanting to lead a comfortable and secure middle-class existence in Canada?

On a lighter note, the bananas in Brazil are fabulous, especially the stubby three-sided variety... seedless, with a firm texture, a little tart, not too sweet.

And on the way into Curitiba from the airport, Ella saw a banana tree growing in the wild.

There was a barbed-wire fence around it, I have no doubt.

BELO HORIZONTE 15NOV09: Don't you just hate it when... - you step in freshly-chewed gum! And in the 32C heat of BH, this wad of gum was extremely sticky... ever-stretching strands connected the bottom of my sandal to the mother-load on the pavement. Before I knew it, several wisps of the gum were wrapped around my bare heel... I tried pulling it off my foot, but the gum just kept stretching, and then it was all over my fingers and hand.

It was a real mess!

BELO HORIZONTE 15NOV09: Our last day is spent - lunching in the comfortable company of new friends Davi and Daniela. They brought us to a traditional Brazilian restaurant called Xapuri, housed at a one-time ranch house... there is still a horse stable operating at the premises. We ate outside (is there even an inside?) at one of several dozen rustic wooden plank tables with matching benches, in a large rough-hewn beamed open-sided structure with a thatched roof.

Our meal was self-served from platters brought to the table... pork sausage hammered flat and grilled, pão de queijo (cheese puff pastry), and some fried cheese sticks in batter, washed down with a round of Guarana (a Brazilian soda-pop). It was a slow, easy meal, and we barely managed to finish it off when the main course arrived.

A platter of tender filet-mignon-sized beef steaks with roasted potatoes, carrots, broccoli and banana, a pan of scrambled eggs coated in bread-crumbs, a huge salad, leaf lettuce, shredded carrot, apple slices, sun-dried tomatoes in seasoned oil, baked beans, rice, and other stuff... there was so much food on the table, I couldn't keep track of it!

At one point, the owner of the restaurant stopped by the table to make sure our meal was okay... and it was fabulous!

After lunch, we motored up to the heights of Praça do Papa for a spectacular view of Belo Horizonte.

Our only regret for the day was not meeting up with Davi and Dani on our first day in BH, instead of our last! Thanks folks for a memorable afternoon.

RATS ENCOUNTERED ON TOUR (4-LEGGED VARIETY):

BARCELONA - In broad daylight, while walking through a heavily travelled alley way. The rat was staggering around as if blinded by the light, impervious of anything or anyone around it... until a busboy went after it with a broom!

LONDON - At an underground metro station, nosing around the tracks.

RECIFE - In late afternoon... I was sitting outside, practising guitar in behind the kitchen tent, when I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a large rat steadily coming toward me as if I wasn't even there. I jumped up, startling the rat, who scurried back under the kitchen tent.

BRASILIA - Again, in late afternoon... I was sitting outside, practising guitar in behind the kitchen tent, when a rat passed by within three feet of me, walking along the bottom of the chain-link fence I was facing. It didn't seem to take any notice of me... but I sure noticed it!

MOSCOW 06NOV09: Meanwhile... - Lauree and Tessa are freezing as the Russian winter closes in... don't forget, Varekai performs under the Grand Chapiteau... the big-top... a tent!!!

And Tessa is sick as a dog... Lauree seriously thinks she has the H1N1 Swine Flu.

Poor things, having to deal with the cold, rain and snow... the 10-day Moscow forecast calls for rain and snow showers every day with high temperatures between 32 and 38C. Meanwhile, Ella and I are looking at clear sunny days for the next week-plus, with temperatures between 78 and 80C.

It just doesn't seem right...

BELO HORIZONTE 05NOV09: Our time in Ouro Preto - The promoter organized a day trip to Ouro Preto (meaning "Black Gold"), a two hour bus ride from Belo Horizonte. Ouro Preto is a former gold mining town and was the state capital in colonial times... Belo Horizonte became state capital a little over one hundred years ago, and was built specifically for this purpose.

Ouro Preto is truly a charming town, one that has preserved its colonial buildings and heritage. The town is laid out over a series of steep hills... a work-out for anyone determined to cover all there is to see in an afternoon.... but the cobble-stoned streets are clean and well-maintained.

We had about 5 hours to spend there... Ella uncharacteristically wore her watch, and was a very punctual time-keeper, reporting the time pretty much every hour on the hour.

We started at the 16th Century Church, Igreja de Santa Efigenia dos Pretos (there's that word "black" again), built by and for the slaves of the town of the time. Then a short walk around the corner and it was a brownie & hot chololate breakfast at a fabulous chocolateria... just bring me a bowl of that chocolate syrup! It was the high-light of an all-round pretty good day.

We then shopped at the surprisingly affordable artesan boutiques - arts & crafts, jewellery, knick-knacks, bric-a-brac, give the dog a bone... Lauree had asked us to keep an eye out for "amber" jewellery, but she must have meant agata (which is a pretty ugly stone). We checked out some agata at a few places, but favoured another local gem... topaz imperial. We found a place with reasonable prices, looked at their stones, hemmed, hawed, then decided "what the heck, we only live once, and when are we ever going to get back to Ouro Preto in this lifetime"... so we purchased a couple of topaz imperial gems and had them set in a pair of silver-stud earrings. This order would take the jeweller a couple of hours, until around 4:15, to complete... and that was cutting it pretty close, as our bus was to leave at 5:00.

According to Ella's watch, we had about an hour and a half to kill before picking up the topaz earrings. We walked around a bit more, then decided to grab a bite to eat at a pizza place, just a few stores down from the jeweller. We ordered a large calabrese pizza to split between us.

Time check: 3:20. Lots of time...

And then... we waited... and waited... and waited.

Time check: 4:00... and still no pizza!

It did seem to be taking an awfully long time... I checked my own watch: 4:40!!!Ella had the wrong time!!! We only had 20 minutes to catch the bus at 5:00!!! And we still had to pick up those stupid earrings!!!

We dashed out, telling the waitress on the way to cancel our order... it was taking too long anyway! We hurried to the jeweller, paid for and picked up the earrings, stuffed them in my knap-sack, grabbed a cab, raced to the bus... and made just in the nick of time!

Phee-ew!

Two stress-free hours later, we were back in BH... Ella was having a sleep-over at Brigitte's, so she got off at the hotel with her plastic grocery over-night bag, leaving me with day-trip stuff. I arrived back at the apartments and unpacked all our loot from Ouro Preto.

And that is when I noticed - the topaz imperial silver-stud earrings that we had taken such care in buying, and that had ultimately, if only momentarily, caused us so much stress... were MISSING!!!





It's okay, take a deep breath...




Next morning, Ella arrives back at the apartment from her night away - "Dad... why did you put these topaz earrings in my sleep-over bag?"

BELO HORIZONTE 02NOV09: Our Brazilian Hallowe'en in Brazil - It began last night after the shows... we were shuttled just out of town to a place called Freud's Bar, which prides itself as being "the world's hardest bar to find". It was in the middle of nowhere (nowhere being Vila de Serra, Nova Lima), deep in the bush, at the end of several off-shooting ridiculously-steep-hilled red dirt roads. The drivers kept getting lost, and at the end of the night coming home, rain had made the red mud so slick that vehicle, including the shuttles, had great difficulty climbing up the steep hills... the sound of whizzing spinning tires reminded me of our Canadian winters.

The party was a hoot, though... a great excuse for many of the gents to dress in drag. Ella was a Rocker Chick, in a costume put together with the help of friends (thanks Meg & Jamieson!).

Then today we marked the Dia de Finados) by visiting the Cemiterios Parque da Colina with an obliging new friend named Gustavo, his girl friend, and his chauffeuring father. It was a busy place... most of the graves (with flat rather than upright grave stones), families and friends were leaving flowers, sometimes paper prayers sheets, and lit candles on the flat-lying grave markers. I was surprised... the mood was much more sombre and respectful than the social family event we experienced in Mexico, where the Dia de los muertos was "celebrated" with live music, sugar skulls and coca-cola.

Gustavo's Dad then drove us through the neighbouring favela, where the back-streets were the narow lanes are the main streets... he stopped several times to call out to people he obvously knew... men sitting on door steps, women working the street. He then he asked if we wanted to walk around in the favela.

Assuring us that there was no danger, Gustavo, his friend and Dad took us through a short maze of alley-ways arriving, surprisingly to Ella and me, at the tiny home of Gustavo's grandma! Of course, we stopped in to say hello... she appears to be a warm, gracious woman. Ella mentioned to me afterward that it was the high-light of her day out and about (mine too!)

We were home early enough to have the diabolo girls over for munchies and a movie, Sofie's Revenge, which, judging by their frequent giggling, is a pretty entertaining chick-flick (it was in Chinese without subtitles!).

BELO HORIZONTE 24OCT09: Ella's MTV Interview - Today, Ella, Jamieson (the male vocalist) and Mando-Jim were interviewed by MTV. I assume it was MTV Brazil, which compares with MuchMusic in Canada... and Ella did mention that the girl interviewing her did not speak much English.

She asked Ella the usual questions - how'd she get into Cirque, what's it like being on tour with an international community, what kind of neat circusy-things has she learned in the artistic tent - and they filmed her vocal warm-up and on-stage sound check.

All in a day's work...

BELO HORIZONTE 21OCT09: Don't you just hate it when... - This tends to happen to me quite a bit: I set my half cup of coffee down for a moment and next thing I know, the cup is gone... Lauree, in the process of tidying up, has taken it, poured the coffee down the drain and washed out the cup.

Today I went to refill my cup of coffee from the two-cupper pot I made just before house-keeping showed up at the apartment door... the coffee is all gone and the washed out pot is drying by the sink.

Lauree must be in league with the house-keeper!

BELO HORIZONTE 20OCT09: Don't you just hate it when... - Found an nice supermarket around the corner from our apartment here in BH... well-stocked, organized, clean. I picked up a few items and cheerfully waited in line at one of the three busy cashes.

After a few minutes, I noticed that the cashier for my line I had a nasty cough - she was hacking all over everything that she passed through her cash. So I gave up my spot and went to the end of the line at the next cash.

Several minutes went by, and I was just about at the end of the cash counter when the cashier motioned to me that she was closing up her cash, finishing with the lady in front of me.

Off I went to the last of the three cashes... a lady got in line behind me with an armfull of groceries and a kid, who kept wandering off all cute with her little tray of mini-gos, and the "mom" had to keep pleading in Portuguese baby-talk for her to come back to the line. Several more minutes pass, and then I am finally about to unload my grocery items on the cash conveyor when a manager-type comes up and tells the cashier to let the annoying lady and her uncontrollable kid go through the cash ahead of me...

Okay... so now I was no longer in a cheerful mood - in fact, my inner-thoughts were expletively vowing never to return to that supermarket again, no matter how well-stocked, organized or clean it is.

I have had much more enjoyable experiences grocery shopping in Brasilia, where there were size-large cockroaches scurrying around on the floor of the produce area...

BRASILIA 07OCT09: Lobby Bar Jam - Monday night we jammed in the lobby bar... Jim, Ella and I. Afterward, Ella confessed to me that it was the first time she has jammed without having Tessa there to carry the load.

We played a solid two-hour set... and Ella played like a champion.

Great job Ella... I knew you could do it!

BRASILIA 04OCT09: Work And Dignity - We observed it in Mexico, and we are observing it here in Brazil... people employing themselves in any way possible.

Anyone with enough money to invest in a flat of chewing gum or a box of potato chips, a pallet of bottled water or a case of Coke... can become self-employed, staked out at busy intersections or roaming the streets, peddling their commodity. In Fortaleza, we saw crooked backs on several men, mis-shapened from hauling coolers of pop and beer up and down the beach for a living. I saw a young man here in Brasilia with more than a dozen 1.5 litre bottles of water tied on a string around his waist... a walking Costco.

And some provide good-samaritan services... like those who stake out a stretch of street and make it their business to guide drivers into public parking spots, or the fellows with umbrellas on rainy days, happy to share their umbrella with you as they escort you to wherever you are going. On a stretch of sidewalk beside our hotel here in Brasilia, a fellow arrives every evening with half-a-dozen plastic deck chairs, a couple of collapsable tables and a hibachi... and within a few minutes he is a restauranteur, selling grilled chicken and beef on a stick... and he has patrons, lots of them! There is always a crowd at his set-up (it reminds me of my favourite hot-dog guy (Gary) at the corner of Bank & Laurier!)

It seems to me that on any given day I have encountered more beggars in downtown Ottawa than in Mexico City or anywhere here in Brazil... that is, fully-capable people asking for money and giving absolutely nothing in return. It is as if the dignity of the people in Mexico and Brazil is such that they would rather do any manner of menial job than beg. And there are some, I must admit, who would rather rob you than beg.

Nighttime is a different story altogether - even in Brasilia, walking to the corner convenience store after dark can be an adventure, with local riff-raff trudging out of the dark like zombies, mumbling with an outstretched hand...

HAMBURG 29SEP09: Tessa reports on... Berlin! - "Berlin was great! We did the bus tour twice... we went around the first time to get an idea of what there was to see and do, and then we went around again to hop off and hop on at the sights we thought would be interesting. We went to see what was left of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, Bellevue Castle (where the president lives, or lived??!!), Haus der Kulteren der Welt aka The Pregnant Oyster (some sort of theater), Siegessaule aka Chick on a Stick (haha!!!), KaDeWe Mall (biggest mall in Europe, bigger than Harrods... we ate lunch there today!!!), the Holocaust Mahnmal (holocaust memorial) and Alexanderplatz (pretty much all the touristy stuff... )

There aren't really any stories... sorry.

We did LOTS of shopping!!! The streets are FILLED with stores like Zara, H&M, Mango, Ecco, Karstadt (a sports store like MEC), lots of shopping... I got a jean skirt and some jeans, mom got a new pair of Merrells and a winter coat (black of course, haha)

We stayed overnight in a small hotel... we made reservations at the train station so we didn't know what kind of place it was... unfortunately, we were staying there the same night a group of students were staying there, so we didn't get much sleep... the courtyard was right outside our room, which was right by the staircase, so it really echoed. The students were making lots of noise and screaming and singing until about 11 pm and then started up again at 6 am... of course mom complained at the front desk this morning.

We didn't get to go on the bike tour as planned because yesterday we were too late, and today they said the bike tour was cancelled because there was not enough people and the weather was not nice... (it rained).

I ate italian food all day yesterday... they have the best mini pizzas here in Hamburg at the train station. they come in a little box and they are warm!... it was pizza in a box!!! (that was my breakfast) then for lunch, I had another pizza in a box, but it wasn't as good as the first, and then for supper, I had pasta and mom had pizza!!!

Sorry we don't have any stories for you... hope you can do something with all of this!"

Thanks Tessa - good job reporting! All I can say is... what the heck is "Chick on a Stick"?!!!

BRASILIA 27SEP09: A little about Brasilia - Brasilia didn't exist before the sixties... it is a completely modern city, built in the shape of an airplane, and very much designed for automobiles - boulevards are six lanes in each direction, with traffic circles everywhere and few traffic lights. And there are huge service stations every few blocks, with gas pump access for 32 cars at a time!

Everything is very spread out - the buildings are in clusters, and the clusters are separated by large areas of green space. There are no neighbourhoods, per say... they are "zones", and the zones and the streets have no names... only letters and numbers. There is no central downtown core, but there are several large shopping complexes in every zone - we have three or four within walking distance of our hotel.

That is about all I can tell you about Brasilia... except maybe that it is a government town. Enough said.

BRASILIA 25SEP09: Baby Don't Go! - Lauree & Tessa left for Europe this afternoon. Parting was a lot more difficult than I think any one of us imagined it would be... (we miss you already!).

On the brighter side... Ella finished Grade 6 today! Now the big question is ... how will she spend her 4-day summer vacation?

BRASILIA 19SEP09: The bigger they are, the harder they fall! - Our big show in Brasilia was a big bust.

Despite the fantastic energy and efficiency of our Canadian Embassy patron Marilia, the show began deteriorating even before we arrived here. First, Ella and Jim became "not available" to do the show, for contractual reasons... but that still left Tessa and I. With a little help from our new friends, some wonderful step dancers from the Tribos das Artes, and a harmonicat named Engels Espiritos, we put together what I felt would be quite an entertaining package. Then, at the eleventh hour (the day before the really big shew), an overly zealous publicist with the theatre placed an ad in the newspaper to promote the show... an ad that made a couple too many references to our main employer. That was the last nail in the coffin... we had no choice but to bail.

It also cost us our fund-raiser show at the Canadian Embassy... I feel ill thinking about it! It all could have been soooo good.

BRASILIA 10SEP09: Vova's Birthday Bash - Tessa's buddy Vova celebrated his 15th birthday last evening, and as the two are very close, our family was invited to his party.

Vova's parents Natalia and Sasha put together a very impressive spread of traditional Russian dishes... a beet mixture with a grated cheese, mayonnaise and egg-white topping, gargantuan cabbage rolls, a salad of cubed ham, carrots, potato and peas, chocolate, coca-cola and plenty of vodka!

Highlights of the evening included several rounds of Twister, and a party game in which the adults sat in a circle and passed a playing card from one pair of suctioning lips to another. Anyone dropping the card was excluded from the circle after downing a shot of vodka.

There were several different techniques... some went for a full-lipped sucker, others counted on gravity by tilting their heads upward once they received the card, and one saucy fellow kept locking-lips in a mock embrace! I spent the entire game trying to come up with a way of going out graciously, and failing to do so, ended up winning the game! In the very last round, I was up against the all-time champ, a burly Russian gentleman with hands the size of catcher's mitts.

I really don't know how I did it... I get the feeling they let me win!

BRASILIA 09SEP09: Canada's Fiddling Ambassadors - While we were still in Salvador, I contacted the Canadian Consulate in Brasilia to see if there might be any chance of Tessa, Ella, Jim and I performing some Canadian Old-Time fiddling and stepdancing at the consulate. We received a response from Marilia Serra, Assessora de Imprensa, Cultura e Diplomacia Pública, who has come up with several wonderful opportunities for us, including a live radio broadcast, a dance workshop, a function at the consulate, and a showcase at a local theatre.

Unfortunately, there have been a few bureaucratic misunderstandings and miscommunications, resulting in Ella and Jim being unavailable to participate in some of the venues due to a perceived conflict of interest (Drogas!).

In spite of all of this, Tessa is doing a terrific job promoting Canadian culture in the form of old-time fiddling and step-dancing! Well done Tessa!

SALVADOR 01SEP09: Tessa takes the plunge! - Tessa and Lauree's work-buddy Brigitte have had many early mornings over the past week and a bit, working on their certification for scuba diving... but it all paid off today - they completed their training, made two open water dives and received their certificates!

Lauree went along for moral support and reports that they both did very well!

Congratulations to you both!

SALVADOR 28AUG09: Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main... - Well, not quite sailing... but on Thursday morning, we set out to the open sea on a large wooden vessel with masts and a motor, and sixty or so of our Cirque colleagues. It was a gray day with a drizzle of rain, and the ocean was choppy, but the warmth of our pleasant company soon took the chill off (or maybe it was the caipirinhas!).

We visited a couple of islands, Ilha do Frade and Ihla de Mara, where we met many of the locals trying to earn a buck selling jewellery, shells & enormous starfish, beach-wraps, wooden trinkets or Kodak moments on the backs of ponies or with an iguana.

Beach-combing was free... and there were plenty of stranded urchins to be found, and a starfish. It was fun.

SALVADOR 22AUG09: Un-break My Heart! - The promoter that brought Quidam to Brazil had also set up several concert dates for our long-time favourite songstress, Toni Braxton, in several of the cities on our schedule. We had a very good chance of getting VIP tickets to see her perform, and maybe even back-stage passes... but, for whatever reason, all her Brazil dates have been cancelled.

Maybe next time...

NOT KNOWING PORTUGUESE DRAWBACK No. 01: We just discovered that ever since arriving here in Brazil, more than 12 weeks ago... we have been using fabric softener instead of laundry detergent to wash all our dirty clothes!

Oops...

SALVADOR 17AUG09: Premiere Party Salvador - We attended the premiere party last night at the Cafe Bahia Aflitos where we experienced some of the best musical entertainment Salvador has to offer... Bahian drummers, some very impressive capoeira and special musical guests, Timbalada, featuring the legendary Carlinhos Brown. Timbalada played fabulous, funky hip-hop! It was just like seeing Sly and the Family Stone (except no one fell off the stage stoned out of their head!).

Great party...

SALVADOR 14AUG09: Salvador Premiere - Ella did the Salvador premiere last night, a big night with plenty of Brazilian stars making an appearance, including (apparently) singers Marisa Monte (Brazil's answer to Celine Dion, but I think better liked), and Margareth Menezes... but we did not get the opportunity to hob-nob with any of them.

The premiere party has been post-poned to Sunday night... that gives everyone all of Monday to recover!

SALVADOR 13AUG09: Big news! - And the big news is... Lauree is going to Russia!!! For around 10 weeks starting sometime in September!!! And she's bringing Tessa with her!!!

Lauree will be going to Moscow to temporarily fill in for a counterpart on the Cirque du Soleil show Varekai.

Wow!

SALVADOR 07AUG09: The Bahia experience - Salvador, capital city of Brazil from 1549 to 1763, once the second most important city of the Portuguese empire, being the major commercial hub for sugar cane, tobacco and slaves.

We took a bus tour yesterday to get the lay of the land, along with a couple of Quidam friends, Brigitte & Adrian. We saw a few of the major sights - the Farol de Barra (a fortified 16th -century lighthouse), the Igreja do Bonfim and the Lacerda elevator down to the Mercado Modelo - but most of our on-foot time was spent wandering through the Pelourinho, the historical centre of the city. It is an area of beautiful but age-weary colonial architecture on hills of winding narrow cobble-stoned streets, with plenty of local colour - young children with gooey, tear-stained eyes asking for food and rubbing their belly, young men aggressively trying to "gift" you a "wishing" ribbon, robust afro-women in petticoated 18th-century-style dresses soliciting snapshots...

I unwittingly gave a tiny hand-thrust-out-from-nowhere a bit of change, and the charismatic little cherub became my shadow, chatting at me, pointing out points of interest, posing for photos I wouldn't take... until he found another better-paying prospect.

And at one point, we were watching some capoeira dancers put on a very impressive display from the relative safety of the upper-deck of our tour bus, and a little stick-flipping tyke started yelling up at us demanding change. When he received only sympathy instead of cash, a local on-looker (quite possibly his father and business partner) began berating us all for being so cheap, for not giving the poor kid a couple of measly Reals!

What can you do but take it all in stride...

We ended the tour-day decadently getting ourselves ice-cream cones at the famous Sorveteria de Ribiera, with plenty of choices difficult to chose from... we did not know what half the flavours were. And it was there that Ella and I shared a sort of "Gift of the Magi" moment.

Ella wanted strawberry & lemon, but she somehow received strawberry & mango... and she dislikes mango. Seeing her disappointment, I gladly took the unwanted cone and told her to re-order, giving up on the peanut & banana cone she knew I was going to order. In the 30 degree Brazilian heat, ice-cream does not stay frozen for very long, so I had to make quick work of Ella's cone. I was through the strawberry and into the mango by the time Ella came to join me with her new order - a peanut and banana!

Poor kid - she felt terribly guilty about me not getting my original choice, so she got it for me... I thought I was doing her a favour, she thought she was doing me a favour. In the end, the peanut & banana cone was too much for her to handle, and despite our best efforts, most of it melted-away in our sticky hands!

SALVADOR 03AUG09: First impression of Salvador... - was one the freeeway from the airport to the hotel. Traffic slowed, a single police car blocking off one lane, a clear plastic sheet covering the body of a dead middle-aged male, head in a pool of blood, police or news photographer snapping pictures. No sign of a crashed vehicle, or motorcycle... the fellow must have been hit by a car.

The hotel where we are staying is beautiful, perched right on the ocean, mighty waves crashing on the rocks below us... I could throw a beer bottle into the sea from our balcony. A little sandy beach cove just down the drive.

And no sharks in sight...

RECIFE 01AUG09: Our last week is spent... A day trip to the beach at Maracaipe, Tessa attending a capoeira workshop, Ella going on a school trip to see the work of local painter/sculptor Francisco Brennand... and we were done with Recife.

RECIFE 18JUL09: Porto de Galinhas - Yesterday, we went on an outing with a bunch from Cirque to a beautiful beach (considered the most beautiful in Brazil) at Porto de Galinhas (Port of Chickens), approximately 40 minutes by bus from Recife. Apparently, it got its name during the last half of the 19th Century - whenever "black ships" illegally transporting slaves from Africa to Brazil would arrive in the bay, word around the village was that "there are new chickens in the port".

We started our day there getting on a jangadas, a flat and narrow six-seater sailboat that ferried us a short distance out to Porto de Galinhas' famous "piscinas naturais" - tide pools carved out of the shelf of coral reef, backyard-pool-sized basins approximately 4 feet deep, full of tropical fish and a couple of dozen bathers, including the girls and I. Lauree decided against going in - she didn't feel like getting wet... then fell butt-first into a foot and a half of water getting off the jangadas back at shore... boy, did we laugh! We were then invited to go along with some of our Russian friends to a remote beach, fifteen minutes away by dune buggy. The girls loved riding in the dune buggy, perched on the back hood and holding on to the roll-bar, chanting "RAPIDO, RAPIDO"... there were no seat belts and the driver was a maniac... I was terrified for them! We were finally dropped off, and after cutting through (what I believe to be) a mango grove - a spectacular inter-weaving of branches and roots in a stagnant pool - we arrived at the beach.

Tide pools at Porto de Galinhas

It was more of a lagoon, with no waves, but still salty water... and the best caipiroskas we have had since arriving in Brazil - they were too good!

And there our afternoon was spent... except for a brief excursion (on little narrow boats similar to the jangadas, except with beach umbrellas replacing the sail, and propelled by the boatman using a 12 foot pole) around the bend of the lagoon to a spot where sea horses could be found... they were caught in glass jars by the boatmen and passed around for all to see, reddish ones, gray ones... there was also some frog-looking creature, except it hardly had any front legs, and it had a lizard tail!

Now that is how to spend a day off in Brazil!

RECIFE 16JUL09: Run Day Recife - Lauree ran 8K this morning in a run organized by the gym where she has been participating in running classes - like spinning classes, with loud pumping music, but instead of stationary bicycles, everyone is on a treadmill. Apparently, you run at your own pace, but speed up, slow down, go on an incline, etc, at the direction of a pace leader... Lauree enjopys it immensely - enough to be going to the 7:00 morning class!

The run was small, about 30 people total, running on the brick boardwalk along the beach - it reminded her of the several Law-Day runs she has participated. However, there was no redirected traffic, no crowds to cheering the runners on, no pace-bunnies... just runners trying to avoid walkers, strollers, beachchair-laden trailers, and opposing pedestrian traffic!

Lauree ran with Danielle, who does physio with Quidam... the weather was slightly overcast, with a sprinkle of rain - perfect conditions for Lauree!

They then celebrated the race finish with a small tub each of açai na tigela (like a smoothie) at the cabana across the street from the hotel. Açai are small berries that have more anti-oxidants than blueberries (great for runners), and the locals make attractive bracelets and necklaces from them.

RECIFE 09JUL09: A new tent is christened! - Last night was premiere here in Recife. Ella had the night off, but we stayed on site long enough to participate in a tent christening!

A procession of maracatu musicians and dancers were brought in for the occasion, dressed in colourful attire, all feathers, glitter and skindainty-figured ladies in whirling petticoated gowns and feather headresses, strutting men carrying large feathered beach-umbrella-type contraptions, huge muscular brazilian fellows banging out rhythms on side drums (like the ones in Olinda!), a few horn players, and LOTS of enthusiasm!. This traditional procession, once carried out by slaves, dates back hundreds of years, and apparently imitates the dress and mannerisms of the Portuguese royal court of the Baroque period.

They dance-marched around the lot for a good 30 minutes to the loud hypnotic rhythm. One interesting thing was to see the reaction of the pirhana, the local staff hired to usher, work the ticket office and concessions... they instinctively clapped and danced along, completely absorbed by the music, just like the carnaval troupe.

They all belong to the same Church of Rhythm!

The christening ceremony included a shower of vodka shots for the new tent... then it was back to the carnaval parade! The dancers, the drummers, the horn players, the strutters... everyone was having a such a blast! I cannot get over the intense passion and pleasure of these amazing people!

RECIFE 07JUL09: Lovely Olinda - We spent the day in a lovely little colonial town only a ten minute cab ride from site... Olinda. The town seems filled with 16th Century churches, monastaries, convents, and assorted other Catholic edifices. There are also many, many artesan shops which sell unique quality wood carvings, paintings, blankets, jewellry, bric-a-brac... we were invited into the home of an artist whom Lauree had sought to seek out - he "finger" paints! He demonstrated his technique by painting a (picture of a ) fish for us... he paints lots of fish!

A wonderful memory-in-the-making in Olinda... a "drum club" was rehearsing in a park... a group of about 20 girls/young women, several drumming sophisticated rhythms on large booming side drums, some shaking shakers, others dancing, everyone chanting (I recognized a Santana tune!)...

The pleasure in watching them was seeing the pleasure these girls so obviously got out of doing what they were doing!

RECIFE 05JUL09: Welcome to Recife - We have long since settled into our digs in Recife. We can walk around in relative safety here... the massive mall (2nd largest in Brazil!), the supermarket, restaurants, the beach... the only thing is, we are none of us too keen about splashing in the waves here.

The reason for this is... SHARKS! There are signs posted all over the beach warning of the increased risk of shark attack in these waters.

No problem - so we beachcomb!

FORTALEZA 25JUN09: Our last days are spent... - The girls spent the better-part of a day last week with a local fellow who showed them (and the other school kids) how to weave various things out of palm leaves - hats, grasshoppers, roses... amazing stuff.

On Sunday night last, Quidam celebrated its 4500 show with another party on the beach. Before going, we engaged in some vodkafication with our Russian friends, where I was dubbed "bobba-yup" (apparently a vulgar expression, but it's the thought that counts).

The 80's themed party was fun... some outrageous wigs (mullets) were worn, and the dance floor was absolutely packed. Strange the music people attribute to the 80's... I recognized very few tunes that I can remember. I brought Ella home around 3:00 in the morning, Lauree and Tessa staggered in at 4:30, completely worn out from dancing. Some revellers stayed out long enough to swim in the sea at daybreak, then catch breakfast back at the hotel.

We also had a triple dark this week - three days off with nothing to do but relax... sleeping in, walking the beach, (the girls) playing in the pool, Lauree & the girls) getting manicures and pedicures ($15 CDN for both/person), (Tessa) jamming AC/DC songs with Quidam guitarist Rudy & Jim, just taking it easy.

Then last night, a quiet celebration of Lauree's birthday, followed by an evening of well-wishes and several caipiroskas (the national cocktail of Brazil, caipirinhas, but made with vodka instead of cachaça) at the pool bar. Sweet.

FORTALEZA 21JUN09: Beach Park - On one of our Mondays off, we went as a group to a local water-park called Beach Park. It was a perfect day, slight cloud cover, not too hot, and we had a great time - there were no line-ups (being a Monday, I suppose), so we were able to try every slide at our leisure, as many times as we wished. And what a treat is was, to be at a water-park where the water is the temperature of bath-water (instead of ice-water (Mount Cascade!).

The most memerable slide of the day was the Insano, which we all went down more than once (crazy Ella went down 4 times!). It is described by the following exerpt taken from the Beach Park website:

"The Insano is the highest water slide in the world at 41 meters high, a record listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Its height is equivalent to that of a 14-storey building. As a consequence of its height and slope, this water slide provides an extremely rapid descent - taking between four and five seconds - at a speed of 105 km/h. Because of these characteristics, the Insano is considered the most extreme of this type of equipment on the planet."

We all had bruised bottoms the next day!

FORTALEZA 20JUN09: It's just the way it is - A couple of lads juggling pins for change in front of three lanes of cars stopped at an intersection... a woman digging through each can-load of trash dumped into the compacter of a garbage truck in hopes of finding bottles or cans that can be returned for the deposit. Enterprising ways of dealing with financial diffulties.

Then there was the fellow who crossed the street with a gun pointed at the head of one of our front of house colleagues, making off with his wallet... right in front of our hotel... at 2 O'Clock in the afternoon!

Another colleague was followed to site by a group of young school girls asking for money, who proceeded to pat him down when he claimed to not have anything to give them.

We are quickly learning to keep our eyes, ears and minds open...

One tour veteran, RR, plans to keep his cash in his undershorts when he ventures out... but any mugger demanding he hand over "his valuables" will get quite a surprise when RR obliges by reaching down into the front of his trousers!

FORTALEZA 17JUN09: One for the record books! - Yesterday Cirque du Soleil celebrated its 25th anniversary... and one of the events planned to take place all over the globe was a bid to claim the Guinness Book of Records title for the most people walking on stilts. Tessa, Ella and I took part - the stilts were only a foot off the ground, so it didn't take too much time to get the hang of it - and walked the regulation distance marked out around the big top, en mass with the other artists, technicians, teachers and school kids. Many of the cirquadors (called "pirhana" here in Brazil) participated as well... we all had a lot of fun.

Another gimmick that apparently took place... audience members for the evening show were given flashing red noses to wear during the performance... and when the cast took its final bow, they all wore the flashing red noses too!

And then a cake was brought out and... well, you get the idea.

We were all back at the hotel during these latter celebrations - we had the night off Cirque Du Soleil 25th Anniversary Event!

AND DID YOU KNOW: It may be obvious to some, and common knowledge to others, but the Guinness Book Of Records was created by the Guinness Brewery, as a resource for answering numerous "fastest, longest, largest" type questions debated nightly in pubs in Britain and Ireland!

I did not know that...

FORTALEZA 12JUN09: Premiere Fortaleza - an exciting couple of days...

The dress rehearsal was on Wednesday night, and the big top was filled to capacity, mostly with middle to high school-age school kids, some travelling as long as ten hours on a bus to come and see the show. From the moment Jon (Mark) first appeared on stage to "animate" the audience until the casts' final bows, the kids clapped, cheered, hooted, hollered and laughed! It brought back fond memories of our last show in Barcelona!

Then an experience Ella will not soon forget... most of the artists did a quick change and then came out to the stage once the lights came on to greet the kids, several hundred of them, and pose with them for pictures, hug them, and share a very special moment with them.

Then last night, the premiere... another wild and enthusiastic crowd, including some twenty-odd kids who we have met on the beach in front of the hotel, surfing the waves on broken and discarded styrofoam boards. Cory (Sylvester - German Wheel) was good enough to make arrangements for them to come and see the show. They loved it, and posed for pictures with some of the artists backstage after the performance. They were thrilled, we were thrilled - another nice moment...

The premiere party was held on the beach across from our hotel... open bar, servers with trays of munchy stuff, live traditional music (accordian, drum, triangle, guitar, bass & singer), and many, many party people dancing and having a terrific time. It was inspiring!

Lauree and the girls got in at 4:30... the old man had already been asleep for several hours!

FORTALEZA 03JUN09: Saturday at the beach - The beach is crowded and the atmosphere is festive. For ten Brazilian reals ($5 CDN) a beach broker will find you a perfect spot and set you up with wooden deck chairs and an umbrella... peddlers stroll by with their wares - bikinis, cover-ups, caps, sun-screen, ice cream, coconuts, cooked crabs, shrimp & lobsters, jewellry, arts & crafts, kites... a trio of "forro" musicians stroll by - triangle, brazilian fife & drum... when you get tired of sitting, you can go into the very warm sea and get battered around by huge waves that come in rapid-fire succession, or go horse-back riding (10 reals for forty minutes), take surfing lessons or get a massage.

The beach day is over by late afternoon - the sun sets at 5:30 pm. Apparently, daytime at the equator is ~12 hours long, all year round... and that leaves 12 hours to enjoy the night-life!

FORTALEZA 01JUN09: Creepy Critters - Tessa & Ella have recently had rather exciting episodes with creepy critters.

In Hurghada, both girls were in the bathroom, freshening up for dinner after their long day out and about under the Egyptian sun. Suddenly something dropped unto Ella's bare shoulder. Her initial reaction was non-chalent indifference, thinking that "Dad" was up to his tricks, and had somehow flung an elastic on her... but when "the elastic" began to grope at her skin with little suction cup fingers, she glanced at her shoulder in alarm, only to find herself face to face with a lizard! She screamed. Tessa in the adjoining powder room screamed, and both started hollering for Dad to come quick! By the time I had arrived, Ella was huddled nervously in the corner, Tessa was crouched up on the toilet seat, and the terrified lizard had scurried under the vanity. I easily caught it in the folds of a towel, and set it free in the open-air hallway outside our suite door.

Cornered lizard!

Then this week in Fortaleza, Tessa was down in the business centre doing on-line schooling when out of the corner of her eye she saw something drop from the ceiling vent, followed by a clickitty sound, like someone drumming long nails on a hard surface. She took a look in the direction of the sound, and discovered a crab on the floor of the business centre, scuttling sideways along the wall! Tessa quick-wittedly grabbed her camera and snapped a couple of photos before dashing out to notify a resort worker of the situation. Lauree happened by, and a worker with a broom was soon on the scene, poking the crab toward the door of the business center. Lauree had the job of holding the door open, and would yelp in mock-panic whenever the crab scuttled in her direction. Finally, the terrified crab was freed from the business center and making its way to the relative safety of the resort grounds surrounding the pool area. Its freedom may have been short-lived, however... only a few hours later, it was "all-you-can-eat" crab night at the resort restaurant!

Cornered crab!

FORTALEZA 28MAY09: First impressions - We arrived here a few days ago, and already we do not know what day of the week it is. We do know that it is winter here, because that is what we have been told. It is hot, in the high twenties every day, and very muggy... but our hotel is situated right on the beach, and the Atlantic Ocean here is even warmer than the pool at Hurghada in Egypt, so we are quite fine with it.

A couple of things we have noticed:

Flies... they are everywhere. You know how sometimes you get a pesky fly that will not leave you alone? Well, here at any given moment, there are 8 to 10 pesky, aggressive flies that will not leave you alone. In addition to the two or three that are buzzing around your face, there is one on your plate, one on your fork, one on the lip of your glass (one even on the end of your straw!), and a couple crawling all over the food you are trying to eat. And Tessa informs me that every time a fly lands, it immediately vomits. Nice to know.

The other thing we were quick to notice... the poverty surrounding us. The resort hotel in which we are staying is borders on a favela, a Brazilian shanty town, a conglomeration of crammed-in tumble-down shacks, each not much bigger than a couple of office cubicles. And people are living in them...

We have been advised not to venture out on foot... alone or otherwise. Take a cab where you want to go, do whatever you went to do, then take a cab back to the hotel. It is not that the people in this town are bad or dangerous... they are just desperately poor.

Ella and I walked a couple of blocks down the road to a corner store to buy water and couple of pair of the Brazilian-made Havaianas (flip-flops) that are so popular. The people in the dimly-lit, dank hole-in-the-wall corner store, customers and workers alike, seemed to all be very nice, friendly folk.

And they seemed very poor... so we are not minding the flies so much.

OTTAWA 21MAY09: Home for a holiday - Landed in Montreal to visit family there, spend a very nice few days with Louise, Benoit, Anne-Marie, Mike, Pascale, Ronald and little cousins Margot and Gael.

Had the chance to see the new Cirque Du Soleil show OVO - it was brilliant! Saw many friends now with that show - Sebastien "La Cucaracha" Savard, Patrick Burke, David Shultz and Paul Teichgraber.

Home to Ottawa for doctor & dental appointments, catching up with work colleagues, friends and family, Derek (thanks for putting us up!), Jayne & Krish, John, Tami & Patrick, Steve, Tracey, Rylee and the twins, Paisley & Parker. Managed to get in a performance in Burlington, Vermont, and an all-nighter with fiddle friends at the Richmond contest. Good times...

Then up at Lake Clear, outside of Eganville, to spend the week with Dallas (thanks for everything) and visit with other family & friends in and around Pembroke.

Then it was time to go... but not before spending a wonderful few hours enjoying the hospitality of Lil, Derek and daughter Kathleen (thank you!).

HURGHADA 05MAY09: The Deep Blue Red Sea - We headed out on a boat and went snorkling in the Red Sea... it was the clearest and bluest water we have ever seen, the colour of Windshield Washer Anti-Freeze! We stopped a couple of times to splash about... the coral reef was spectacular, and the fish... all shapes and sizes (up to about a foot long) and in every colour-combination imaginable... pinks, yellows, purples, blues!

There were quite a few Russian tourists in our group of snorklers... one of them was a young butter-face woman in her early twenties. I should have guessed she would be trouble by her bathing suit... a thong bikini (who wears a thong bikini to go snorkling!). Sure enough, as soon as we were in the water for our first snorkle, she had a problem with her mask and needed the snorkle leader, a young Egyptian fellow, to help her with it.

With our masks, we could see everything happening underwater, so while he adjusted the mask on her above water, below the surface, she was busy coiling her legs around him like an octopus. Her invitation was blatantly obvious... so off they swam, clutching and groping each other. They were like mer-people desperate to find a secluded reef where they could spawn. The funny thing is, no matter where they swam, there were a dozen other eager snorklers following closely on their heels (flippers), usually with Tessa & Ella leading the pack. There was no getting away for them! Strangely enough, once we were back on the boat, the girl showed absolutely no interest in the snorkle leader, nor him in her. I guess there is a time and place for everything...

Later, after a great on-board lunch prepared and served prison-style by the crew, we were dropped off on a desert island for a couple of hours relaxation... a true "desert island" - no plants, trees, only sand... and quite a few tourists!

LUXOR 03MAY09: Beasts of Burden - Donkeys, pale grey and white in colour, are everywhere you look, in city, town and country, with over-sized owners on their back or pulling two-wheel carts loaded with sacks or spilling over with some form of greenery, with the driver perched on top. It was poignant to see a donkey hauling an overloaded cart with her baby trotting happily by her side. And donkeys not engaged in work stand droopingly untethered on the spot where their owners leave them, seemingly grateful for the break.

Not to say the people don't work like beasts of burden themselves... it must be harvest time... the fields are busy with men, women and children toiling through the heat of the day manually cutting and bailing the golden hay. A contrast to the desperately vile camel flies that swarm the tourists at every attraction and market.

LUXOR 02MAY09: The River Nile - After touring around the Valley of the Kings and the Hatshepsut Temple on the West Bank, we set out in a felucca, a traditional Egyptian sailing vessel, and sailed down the River Nile from Thebes back to our hotel in Luxor. It was incredible to be out on the cool peaceful water... along the shore, palm trees interspersed with occasional mud-brick buildings, lots of birds, storks, kingfishers, the odd off-duty donkey or solitary cow grazing on the lush grasses... a flat-bottomed boat in the reeds with boys fishing by slapping the surface of the water with a cane, a small barge filled with garbage bags from cruise ships (the bags are loaded onto carts to be taken into the desert and burned.

CAIRO 29APR09: Laashokran! - "Laashokran" is "No thank you" in Arabic... a valuable phrase to know, because we were besieged by camel flies everywhere we went... and we had to be careful, because everyone, no matter how young or old, was on the take:

A young boy of 8 or 9 years bullied the camera out of my hands to take some corny pictures of Tessa and Ella at the Great Pyramid, and then expected some payment. I had none to give except change in which he had no interest.

A middle-aged gentleman put his (arab headdress) on Tessa's head as I was trying to take a photo, then suggested I take a picture of him with the girls, then kindly offered and took a picture of me with the girls... and then asked for payment. I had nothing to give but the aforementioned change, which he begrudgingly took.

We were inside a tomb, and some fellow began bringing the obvious to our attention... for instance, I was looking at stars carved into the stone ceiling, and he pointed and said: "Stars!". As we were leaving the tomb, he insisted that we compensate him. I showed him my admission ticket, explaining that I already paid to see the tomb.

None of these vultures were very happy with me. The most intimidating of the bunch, however, was when one of the Tourist Police invited me to take a photo of the girls with his camel... I declined Laashocran), but snapped a quick photo of the beast at his friendly urging. He then looked me in the eyes and made made the gesture of money (rubbing two of his fingers and his thumb together)... I apologized as politely as I could for not having any money on me and quickly exited... the automatic weapon hanging at his side was making me very nervous!

Then the straw that breaks the camel's back, that instantly turns us from naive tourists to seasoned travellers... at the airport this morning, a fellow at security takes our bags from us to place on the belt for the xray machine.... then makes the money gesture with his fingers. Lauree and I both have the same reaction: "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

ISTANBUL 28APR09: Three Continents in one day! - Today we took a ferry up the Bosphorus River to a village in Asia called Anadolu Kavagi, at the mouth of the Black Sea. From this village we made the 25 minute hike up Caferbaba Sokagi to the ruins of Anadolu Kavagi Kalesi, a medieval castle built by the Byzantines, very picturesque, with sheep and goats grazing the around it on the hillside. From its strategic location, we could look out toward the Black Sea, and see Europe on the left side of the Bosphorus and Asia on the right.

We left Anadolu Kavagi (in Asia) in the late afternoon and returned to Istanbul (in Europe), and then took an evening flight to our next destination, Cairo, Egypt (in Africa).

We were in three continents in one day

ISTANBUL 27APR09: Whirling Dervishes - We went to see a whirling dervishes show tonight, and it left us a bit confused. Three men making themselves dizzy by spinning around in circles didn't seem very entertaining... maybe it is some kind of religious ceremony.

We just didn't get it...

There was limited seating at the venue, but our assigned seats for the show had a lot of potential... Tessa & Ella were in the first row, and Lauree and I each had an aisle seat in the rows immediately behind them. However, as the lights dimmed for the show to start, a chair appeared in the aisle beside Lauree and a man sat down. This was a little annoying... we would have preferred to sit together if we had known it was a possiblility. In fact, apart from Lauree and now the stranger beside her, none of the seats in their row of six-now-seven seats were filled.... except soon a photographer, apparently from the press, was taking advantage of the empty seats to take photos of the performance... she was practically on Lauree's lap for a few of the shots she was taking.

Then the stranger beside Lauree made a call on his cell-phone, despite the usual requests to refrain from doing so common at most performances. Lauree gave him her nasty look but he simply turned his body away from her with his hand up at his face to deflect the glare. When he finally finished his call, Lauree was "in his face" and snapped "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

I was unaware any of this was happening, but Tessa & Ella were able to fill me in with every detail... they found these events more entertaining than the Whirling Dervishes on the stage!

ISTANBUL 26APR09: Topkapi & Turkish Baths - Today's highlight would have been our tour of the Topkapi Palace, with its harem, treasury, and well-groomed grounds... or possibly the Basilica Cistern, a strange-but-beautiful magical place built underground in the 6th century... but in truth, it was neither. The highlight was our afternoon at a 300-year-old Turkish Bath called Cagaloglu Hamami (we couldn't find the 500-year-old Turkish Bath!).

I will give you my accounting of the experience (Lauree and the girls went off to the women's bath once we were through the doors)... I stripped down, and with a towel wrapped around my loins I was led into the men's bath, a large chamber with small marble basins lining the marble walls and in the center of it all, a large flat marble slab of a table. The only sounds I could hear as I sat on the slab (alone but for one other gentleman in the room) were echoing murmurs from remote reaches of the bath house, and the plink of drops of condensed water falling from the domed ceiling high above me.

A few more men came in, then some bath attendants... a tag team was assigned to work me over. First of all, I lay face-down on the slab while one fellow with rather strong body odour groped me from head to toe, and tried to crack my back. That didn't work, so he instructed me to roll over and then he groped me some more (mercifully avoiding the more delicate areas of my anatomy).

Then I was sent over to one of the small marble basins where another fellow who smelled of tobacco (called "The Doctor") was ready to take over. He rasped the skin of my body with a rough wash cloth, then doused me with several pans of hot water before sudsing me up firmly and most thoroughly... it was a bit of a challenge maintaining the integrity of my towel placement! After a good rinse down, off I went packing to the peace and serenity of a small marble hot room for a lengthy soak-in-my-own-sweat.

After a couple of self-serve splash-downs at the basins, I was done like dinner, so I toweled off, got dressed and enjoyed a cup of Turkish Tea while I waited (quite some time) for Lauree, Tessa & Ella to emerge from the women's side.

It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, different from our experience at the Arabic Bath in Granada, but just as good (Lauree says even better!).

ISTANBUL 25APR09: Turkish Delights! - I will not bore you with the tourist stuff we have done since arriving here... searching for treasures at the Grand Bazaar but avoiding any bantering, wandering the maze of back streets cramped with locals, experiencing the sights and smells of the Spice Market, sampling some very tasty Turkish Delight, eating kebaps, BBQ corn-on-the-cob and drinking apple tea... but I must tell you of one amazing thing we experienced yesterday: prayer time at the mosque.

We followed the throngs answering to the call to prayer - a chanting loudspeaker in each neighbourhood - removed our shoes at the entrance to the mosque and sat ourselves down as inconspicuously as we could in an area set aside for tourists at the back of the vast domed chamber. Men clambered into shoulder-to-shoulder rows parallel to the front of the mosque - ten, fifteen, maybe twenty rows deep - groups of men leaving their row to fill gaps in rows in front of them (like defragging)... the women were segregated in a screen-in section at the back of the room, behind even the area for tourists.

The imam began chanting and the rows of men standing in their socks or in bare feet (many washed their feet outside the mosque before entering) went through a cycle of varying positions (kneeling, bowing down face to the floor, or standing) until the ritual was completed. Then it was over as quickly as it started. Some people began to socialize, but most went back to whatever daily business the were doing before they came to prayers.

This ritual is repeated five times a day... I am not certain if everyone must attend all five sessions though.

PRAGUE 24APR09: Czech (Republic) Please! - We have spent the past four days holidaying in and around Prague... it has been our first experience in an eastern-European country, and we are very impressed. Prague is beautiful, cobbled streets, narrow lanes, shops, restaurants, bars, and very busy with tourists.

Lauree did a great job finding a place for us to stay... it is the top floor loft of the Hotel U Tri Bubnu (The Three Drums), built in the 14th century and just half a block from the old town square. From this perfect location, we have been easily able to do most of the must-do things on foot... the medieval astrological clock, the castle, the cathedral, Charles Bridge, the Jewish Quarter and Cemetery, Golden Lane and the house where writer Franz Kaftka resided. And Prague is full of shops selling hand-made wooden toys and marionettes... Tessa & Ella can spend hours trying out the different characters.

As a special treat, we went to see Mozart's Don Giovanni last night... performed by marionettes! Mozart debuted that particular opera here in Prague, and he personally conducted the orchestra for the performance!

We also had time to take a day-trip to Ceský Krumlov, an historic Bohemian town a couple of hours from Prague, where we had a tour of the town's 13th century castle, visited the gothic Church of St. Vitus, and enjoyed typical Czech lunch at a restaurant operating out of what used to be the town's medieval jail. Our tour guide was a bit snippy... when Lauree realized that she had eaten lunch at a table by herself and expressed that it was too bad she didn't sit with the group, the tour guide snapped back: "Madame, I am entitled to spend my lunch hour on my own!"

We have thoroughly enjoyed our few days here in Prague... one word of advice, though - the residents of Prague seem annoyed when you mistakenly use their former country name, as in "Are these marionettes made here in Czechoslovakia?"

It is now called Czech Republic, please!

GLASGOW 20APR09: Our week is spent... - Ella performed at the Glasgow premiere, and the End-of-the-UK-tour party was held the next night. Cousin Sharon and her daughter Emily arrived from Toronto to visit for a few days and then cousin Brian came for the weekend to take in all the sights around Glasgow... the Tenement House of Miss Agnes Toward, George Square, Buchanon Street, the Cathedral, the Necropolis... They watched the show Saturday night (Ella's final UK appearance), and then on Sunday, we all took the train on a day-trip to Edinburgh (except for Lauree, who had to work).

Edinburgh was fabulous... we explored the shops, toured the castle, walked The Royal Mile, hiked up the side of Arthur's Seat... a full, memorable day.

GLASGOW 13APR09: The Godfather of Glasgow Fiddle - Upon arriving in Glasgow, we looked up fiddler Brendan McHugh at the suggestion of Mr Alan O'Leary at the Kilkenny Pub session in London. Brendan is a great guy and a great player from a fiddle family... his father Jimmy McHugh was a well-respected fiddler.

We did a session with him at Sharkey's Bar, and he came out and made introductions for us at The Ben Nevis. We are in pretty good hands here in Glasgow! We plan to make more music with him and his son Patrick before the week is done.

SHEFFIELD 12APR09: Going, going gone! - We have been in Sheffield for 6 days, and tomorrow we pack up and leave. And that is pretty much all there is to say about it.

We went to a large mall, and we have attended a few music sessions, met some nice people (Claire, Brian & co.), but that is it... I think we are still recovering from Dublin.

Today we went for a day trip to York, about one hour away by train. Beautiful place, lots of history, lots of interesting shops & outdoor markets. Explored The Shambles (a famous medieval street like something out of Harry Potter), climbed to the top of Clifford's Tower for a great view of the city, spent 20 minutes watching fudge set, Ella accidently upset some toys in a window display... just a regular family outing.

THINGS I DID NOT KNOW:

Curry is as British as fish and chips!

AND

Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo and became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom... was an Irishman born in Dublin!

How about that!

DUBLIN 06APR09: Our last days are spent... - going from one traditional session to another! On Saturday night after Ella performed her last Dublin show (to more than 6,000 enthusiastic people!), we headed over to join a session at O'Donoghue's, a well-known pub that dates back to 1789. It was standing room only, but luckily the girls where able to squeeze into the session circle. I was able to enjoy a pint of Guinness before I finally found myself seated in the session. We got kicked out only at closing time, but not before receiving a warm invitation to come back for the early Sunday evening session.

The girls slept in until 1:30 in the afternoon on Sunday, but within an hour we were playing away at the Sunday session at The Brazen Head (oldest pub in Ireland, established 1198). We had waited all week to attend this particular session... they had sessions every night at 9:30, but the girls were not allowed in after 9:00. The session was very good, a wonderful fiddler (John Quinn?) and some amazing bawdy balladeers. One would start each song with a quip, like the one about a spendthrift woman who sent her son to the butcher to pick up a sheep's head for their Sunday dinner with instructions to tell the butcher to "cut as close to the arse as possible!" Or the woman who was scandalously taking "the pill", only to find years later that it was only aspirin... she ended up having 12 kids in 12 years, but did not once get a headache during that whole time. There were several songs were about falling in love with a beautiful woman who once in the bedroom turns out to be bald with false teeth, implants and a wooden leg. Entertaining stuff!

We then scooted back over to O'Donoghue's... there was a young lad playing banjo when we arrived. It seems the way for a banjo player in Dublin (or maybe even all of Ireland... or maybe even all of the UK!) to make a name for himself (herself implied) is to play Mason's Apron as fast as his fingers can fly. In fact, this is the schtick of the banjo player at Gogarty's (fiddler's do the same thing back home with Devil's Dream). Anyway, the kid (Graham?) was good... but then he left. In sessions, players tend to come and go...

The session at O'Donoghue's was quite fun, though. A talented gypsy-fellow playing a double-necked "mando-guitar" brought along a sweet German girl to do some Irish dancing (shuffle one, shuffle two, shuffle three step step). And then two gorgeous Swedish girls sat in, all blonde and blue-eyed, and played a rousing set of Swedish fiddle tunes (they sounded kind of French-Canadian!). Unfortunately, we had to leave while O'Donoghue's in still in full swing... we had had special request to perform one last time at Gogarty's.

Gogarty's was fun enough... the violin player had lent Tessa his pick-up so that she could compete with the amplified regular players. Ella could now use the microphone that on previous occasions they had to share. And the girls got to step-dance on a good, solid wooden dance floor (the German girl back at O'Donoghue's danced on a stone floor!). The full-house was well entertained, our hosts were happy we could make it. Then there was a musical shift change, and The Ice Queen showed up... and the party's was over for the girls!

And it was... we left shortly afterward, worn out from our long day of sessions, but feeling content that we made the most of our time in Dublin!

DUBLIN 06APR09: Some traditional session politics - Most, if not all, of the sessions in Dublin are hosted, and tourist-driven sessions can have many different hosts and players over the course of an evening, like shift-work. Some hosts welcome anyone to join in, while other hosts seem to prefer to put on more of a show-based session with their regular established players. Gogarty's has several different hosts, or same hosts with different line ups... in fact, I think we were lucky to be extended an invitation to play there.

The Cobblestone too seems to have different shifts of session players throughout its hours of operation. We were enjoying the Sunday session at The Cobblestones with a welcoming group of players, when a fixture fiddler known (by some) locally as The Ice Queen arrived and announced that anyone wishing to play in her session would have to tune down a semi-tone, because her flute-player buddy only brought his E-flat flute! Of course, all the players left (you may recall that we headed over with one to the session at McNeil's). And there may be some justification in her AKA - on our first meeting with her (the night before at The Cobblestone), we got the distinct impression that she was not too thrilled with us being there... whenever Tessa started to play along with a song she was not familiar with, The Ice Queen would glare at her! She would occasionally "glare" in my direction too, but I thought she was just making eyes at me!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for The Ice Queen!

DUBLIN 04APR09: Road trip across Ireland - Cousin Brian is visiting us once again, and this time Marlene (Shillingford) came along with him. Yesterday we set out on a road trip across the isle, heading west across counties Kildare, Offaly and Galway to County Clare, with its picturesque patches of green pasture bordered by an intricate network of stone fences. These pastures lay scattered amid virgin fields of rocks... we could appreciate the generations of Irish toil it would have taken to clear a field for farming. We also saw the Burren, a barren landscape of rippling lava-lke rock, looking like a river turned to stone. Oliver Cromwell famously described the Burren as:

"Not enough wood to hang a man, not enough water to drown a man and not enough soil to bury a man."

Next stop was Blarney Castle, several counties away. The castle is a beautiful ruin, and the grounds around it are like something out of a Gainsborough landscape painting. We were all very impressed with it, and it was wonderful to be able to go inside it and climb up the various levels to the top of the turret, where the famous Blarney Stone forms part of the outer wall. We each kissed it, but the procedure was a little bizarre... lying on your back,then sliding down head-first into a small crevice to plant your lips on the cold stone outer wall. Having an "official" photographer there to capture the moment made it a little too commercial for our liking...

We then raced to Waterford, to get to the Waterford Crystal factory before it closed... we didn't make it.

So, off we motored to the lovely town of Kilkenny for a pint of Kilkenny and a very nice meal at The Marble City Bar & Restaurant, an eatery well-recommended by more than one local we asked.

A full-day's outing, and back home by midnight!

DUBLIN 01APR09: Dublin Premiere - Quidam opened in Dublin last night to a full house - a record-breaking 5,885+/- people, the largest single audience Quidam has performed in front of to date. The night was memorable... Ella did her usual splendid job, and the audience was incredibly enthusiastic and one-hundred percent into it right from the get-go... it felt like the audience on Quidam's last night in Barcelona. And when the artists came out to take their bows in the finale, the whole arena was flickering like lightning with the flashes of hundreds of cameras (even though photos are not allowed!).

The night will also be memorable for two other reasons... first of all, it was albino Veronica (Ronnie) Gravelin's farewell performance with Quidam. She is a marvelous acrobat, and such a lovely girl in every respect... she will be terribly missed by all of us.

And the other reason... (and this is no joke!)

Lauree and Tessa were passing through an area restricted to Cirque personnel and there were all these strange kids running around... she gave the security guy a "what the... " look, and he sort of winked and explained that the kids "belonged to the guitar player from U2!".

Lauree immediately sought out "The Edge", who was just standing there with his wife. She asked if he would like to come back stage and meet some of the cast members, but he replied that he was just on his way out. His wife then spoke up, however, saying that their young daughter would very much like to meet the little girl in the show... ELLA!

So Lauree dispatched Tessa to fetch Ella, and engaged in idle banter with The Edge, whom Lauree found to be a very polite and humble person, considering he is like Irish royalty! For instance, she asked if all the kids (there were five of them) were his, and he discretely replied that 2 belonged to Bono (Lauree said "Who?", but claims she didn't hear him properly with his soft-spoken manner!)

Ella came down (with a dozen other anxious artists), was introduced to the daughter, and was able to exchange a few words with The Edge, who told her she has an excellent voice and did a fantastic job. He was surprised, upon hearing her age, that she has been doing the role for almost two years already.

Photos were graciously taken by Sasha Pestov (Vova's dad, a catcher in Banquin, and a brilliant photographer!) of Lauree with The Edge, Ella with The Edge, Tessa, Ella (and late-arriver PR person MJ) with The Edge, and several other artists with the Edge... he was very nice to be so obliging to us all!

DUBLIN 31MAR09: Fiddler's Dream - Five Irish sessions in three days... and counting!

Around 8:30 Saturday night (after going for a tour of the Guinness Brewery, where I enjoyed the best glass of Guinness in my life!), we headed out to join a session at The Cobblestone, but upon arriving, there was a large notice on the front door stating "NO MINORS ALLOWED ON THE PREMISES AFTER 8:00". I went in to see if there was any possibility at all for Tessa and Ella to come in and join the session, leaving them waiting outside the pub. The barmaid was sympathetic and agreed to talk to the owner about it, but she was not overly-optimistic. No sooner had this exchange taken place, than the owner (a huge burly bouncer-of-a-man) come through the front door like a proud mother hen with Tessa and Ella under his wing.

"They were looking so forlorn out there on the sidewalk... " he explained, and made room for them in the session circle. Once they had played a few sets, he came over and extended the invitation to play there anytime we wish over the week.

We went back to The Cobblestone again on Sunday for the afternoon session, and then when it ended, we headed over to McNeil's at the invitation of one of the players we had just met. Once again, it was the royal treatment for the girls, Jim and myself. Such nice people... we'll make it back to McNeil's for sure.

On Sunday night, we went to The Oliver St John Gogarty Bar, in the heart of Temple Bar, a popular area with the tourists, where we sat in with a group of players who had a regular gig at the bar. Many cirque folk came out to enjoy the "craic", and a great time was had by all... enough so, that we were invited back to put in a repeat performance with the regular act on the Monday night!

So, three days in Dublin, and all we have really seen has been a brewery and the inside of several pubs... but what we have experienced so far has been worth a pot of gold!

MANCHESTER 27MAR09: The Jolly Angler Session - We headed over to The Jolly Angler late, around 11:00 pm, after Ella's second show at the MEN Arena. By the time we arrived, there were already some 20 musicians in the session... and the pub is very small, so we weren't convinced we would find seats. It wasn't long, however, before a couple of players called it a night, and a patron kindly gave up her chair, and eventually we were all around the session table, although not sitting together.

We had heard from our friend Tyrone that the Riverdance gang were planning to do some jamming at a pub this same evening, and The Jolly Angler was the only place I knew of that had anything going on, so we were hopeful they might show up here at the session. Before long, the Riverdance gang started arriving, those we immediately recognized, Eamonn the piper (the only Riverdance player to join in on the jam) , Niamh the fiddler, Guy the drummer, David, the front of house manager... and a multitude of dancers, male and female.

Tessa and Ella were busy playing tunes, but desperately wanted to dance... they had been itching to do so since watching the show the night before. Soon enough, floor space was made and then it was Jenny's Chickens time.... heads turned, impressions were made, and the ice was broken. Tessa and Ella traded off reels with the guys from Riverdance... one dancer (Alan Kenefick?) borrowed Tessa shoes to do some steps that must have left scorch marks on the dance floor. And it must have been a first when two of the fellows did some Riverdance Irish high-stepping with the girls and Jim backing them up with a rousing version of Reel de la main blanche!

Alena, Canadian dancer from Ontario, recognized Tessa and Ella's dance style immediately... she had danced in a show with several people we know from the stepdance community - Stephanie Cadman, Tiffany Fewster, Dan Stacey...

It was a terrific way to spend the wee hours of the morning on our second-last evening in Manchester. I am fairly certain, however, that it was not your typical session at The Jolly Angler.

MANCHESTER 26MAR09: Riverdance - One of the newer faces on tour, a fellow by the name of Tyrone, worked extensively with the show Riverdance before coming to Quidam, and as both shows are currently running in Manchester, he managed to get us some tickets (thanks Tyrone!)

After a pre-show backstage tour given by David, the Stage Manager, we took our front (6th row!) and centre seats and thoroughly enjoyed the show. The dancing was splendid, the music was inspiring, and the drummer was absolutely awesome!

It had always been a dream of ours that Tessa & Ella might someday be part of a Riverdance production - in fact we know a young woman, Alexis McIsaac, who plays fiddle with the show - but that happening now seems not very likely. The Riverdance we watched last night is sadly on its "farewell" tour.

We cabbed it straight from the show out to the burbs of Manchester to join an Irish session at the Union Inn... unfortunately, the girls were not allowed to set foot in the pub, so it was back to the apartment for an early night. We should be able to get our musical fix tonight at The Jolly Angler (a session highly recommended by our Irish Centre friends in Liverpool, and Patsy from Birmingham), and then it's cheers to Manchester... we fly to Dublin Saturday.

BIRMINGHAM 22MAR09: Goodbye Birmingham - Before we knew it, we were sitting on the bus on our way to Manchester. Birmingham was okay, and the area we stayed in has undergone massive urban renewal over the past few years... beautiful modern squares, a picturesque canal system (complete with Canada Geese, Mallards and sight-seeing barges), museums, shopping malls, restaurants and night clubs, all built around a splattering of heritage municiple buildings. We spent an afternoon wandering around at The Bull Ring, a huge North American-style shopping mall with Starbucks, La Senza, The Gap... felt like home, but without the urge to buy.

As it happens, just as we were leaving Birmingham, we passed an amazing-looking terra-cotta- coloured church... it would have been nice to check out!

BIRMINGHAM 17MAR09: St Patrick's Day - We met some lads at a session at The Spotted Dog on Monday night, who invited us to come out and perform a St Paddy's Day set at The Ceol Castle, a well-known Irish establishment here in Birmingham. We did the set, a mix of Canadian and Irish tunes, to an appreciative crowd (the night was still young). We headed out while the going was good... to celebrate St Paddy's back at the apartment in a more cosmopolitan fashion: with Indian take-away!

BIRMINGHAM 15MAR09: Birthday girl! - It was during a blizzard, some twelve years ago... I was shovelling out the driveway, and Lauree, nine months pregnant, poked her head out the door to say that she had begun having contractions, and that we should soon think about getting to the hospital. Our neighbour and good friends Rob & Diane McCullough, had offered to mind Tessa during the birthing, so I headed over to let them know the big moment had arrived. They asked how Lauree was doing.

"Fine," I answered; "She just put in a load of laundry in order to have some clean underwear for the hospital"

A few hours later, out popped Ella-boo... happy birthday darling!

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE 14MAR09: Highlights of the week - Newcastle-Upon-Tyne is the site on the River Tyne where a new castle was built in the early 11th Century by William the Conqueror. The area has an important history, being where the railway locomotive was first conceived, as well as the electric light bulb. The locals call themselves "Geordie's"... the most famous Geordie of late is Sting.

Started off the week with a visit to the Life Science Centre, where we watched the Diet Coke and Mentos demonstration - the Mentos cause a physical reaction creating great gushers of cola - the presenters got soaked!

Next day, an afternoon trip out to Tynemouth, a nice little town at the mouth of the Tyne... picturesque, with the ruins of a priory and castle, and an English beach. Had fish and chips at Marshall's... Lauree asked for water and the waitress brought us "wa'er".

Walked around downtown Newcastle, Cathedral of St Nicholas, The Black Gate, Castle Keep, the numerous bridges on the Tyne...

Did an Irish session at The Cumberland Arms with Jim and the girls. Drank a glass of "mead", an old anglo-saxon alcoholic beverage made from honey... it is mentioned in Beowulf, and tastes something like a sweet white wine. The other interesting thing to come out of the session was that the accordian player and a crazy talented harmonica player knew Beatrice Reel... apparently it is a famous standard around Donegal. And Fiddler Joe knew of a Canadian fiddle tune... St Anne's Reel! The session was a good one... it really hopped!

That session led to another... two others, in fact. Last night Tessa and I dropped in at the Tyneside Irish Centre session (kindly gentlemen drinking Guinness and playing flutes, irish pipes, whistles, bouzouki and bodhrans), then joined up with Jim & Ella at the Egypt Cottage (insane session with maniac flddlers, accordianists and our crazy talented harmonica player playing everything at lightning speed!). We didn't spend too much time at this session, only about an hour... Tessa & Ella were soon found out, and asked to leave (no minors allowed).

A fun week thus far...

BELFAST 08MAR09: A Musical Moment - We ended up participating in three different sessions on Saturday, our last day in Belfast. Before noon, we brought Ella to the Odyssey Arena (where Quidam was being performed) and got her going there, then headed over to a 3:00 afternoon session at McHugh's. It was an intimate session, with extremely talented (and personable) players... Kevin (on fiddle), Hazlett (bouzouki & 1934 Martin four-string tenor guitar), Sean (on bohdran) and a fellow with carney experience whose name I didn't catch (pipes, penny whistles & flute).

Then at 6:00, we made our way to the early session at The John Hewitt (thanks Gerry!). The session was large and friendly... several flutes, a violin, two tenor banjos, accordian, anglo concertina and bohdran... and the pints were on the house. By the time Jim (Bevan), Lauree & Ella arrived after the show, it was standing room only... the place was jam-packed.

Every once in a while, we experience a "musical moment", a moment when the music is happening, and everything is right with the world. We had one such moment with our friends at O'Gillins in Lisbon, and we had another Saturday night at The John Hewitt. We were playing a lively set at break-neck speed, and all of a sudden, in the middle of The Mountain Road, there it was. Every last one of us felt it... the seasoned Irish players around the table, Jim picking away on his mandolin and the two talented (and fortunate!) Canadian girls. It felt magical, and it felt so good we didn't want it to end...

The John Hewitt early session finally broke up two hours later than usual, around 11:00. We made a dash for our last session at The Hercules, which was well underway. We joined in for awhile, but the long day was starting to catch up with us (or was it the pints!). We called it a night around 1:00 and cabbed it back to the apartment.

We are so fortunate to have had this experience... it seems that every session we have attended, from our first at the Royal Oak in Ottawa just before heading off on tour through to Lisbon, Barcelona, London and Liverpool... was simply a lead up to that moment at The John Hewitt on Saturday night, a moment I will certainly cherish for the rest of my life.

And Lauree experienced her first (of a few) Guinness Saturday night... fresh and on tap, she says it tasted great!

BELFAST 06MAR09: Traditional Sessions - You can't swing a cat in Belfast without hitting a bar that hosts a traditional (Irish) session... the challenge is to find one that will allow in minors. I contacted several places ahead of time, and the kind manager at The Garrick welcomed the girls to sit in on any of the three sessions they hold during the week (Thanks Colm!). We went, along with Jim, on Wednesday night... the players were terrific, and allowed the girls to sit in, with some initial suspicion. It did not take long, however, for the girls (and Jim) to pass the credibility test, and later when the time came for us to leave, every session player stood up and shook our hand, genuinely thanking us all for coming out.

Two last sessions tomorrow... we are hoping for the best!

LIVERPOOL 01MAR09: Magical Mystery Tour - Tessa, Ella and I set out yesterday on our own Beatle tour. We took the bus to the suburbs where The Fab Four spent their childhood. Our first stop was Penny Lane (which took us a good hour to find!), and it was a bit of a disappointment. The charming little lane where the barber shaves another customer, the children laugh at the banker behind his back, the fireman keeps his fire engine clean and the nurse sells poppies from a tray... appears to have been solely a product of Paul McCartney's imagination.

The lane is, in reality, mostly residential, with only one short stretch of no more than six shops toward one end. We picked up sandwiches for lunch at Penny Lane Cakes (they had no fish and finger pies... I asked!), and ate them across from the shop, against a brick wall with vulgar words scratched into it. And every single Penny Lane street sign has been vandalized with spray paint. I don't understand it.

But Tessa did find a lucky penny... and on Penny Lane!

We walked for more than half an hour along Menlove Avenue to see Aunt Mimi's house (No. 251), where John Lennon lived from 1945 to 1963. Pretty nice neighbourhood, pretty nice houses... certainly more middle-class than working-class... I was surprised.

Last stop was the orphanage made immortal in John's song "Strawberry Fields Forever". Well, not quite forever... the only thing left of "Strawberry Field" is the front gate, covered in graffit and the signatures of decades of Beatles fans who have made the pilgrimage, as we have, to this Beatle shrine. It would have been wonderful if someone (like Paul, or John's estate) had purchased the orphanage before its demolition, and turned it into a Beatle Museum or something.

The Cavern Club (which we visited a few days earlier) suffered a similar fate. The original location was demolished for a shopping mall... but the business was moved to a new location. It seems to me that it would be the locale, the dark cavernous basement club, and not the operation itself, that Beatle fans would be interested in seeing.

Still, Liverpool seems to be proud of its famous sons... and that is good.

LIVERPOOL 27FEB09: First impressions... - One of the first things Tessa and I saw upon arriving in Liverpool was a well-fed rat... creeping nonchalently along the sidewalk before disappearing through the bars of a sewer grate. The walk from the train station to our apartment took us down street after street of dilapidated boarded-up buildings. And Lauree and Ella had already warned us about the apartment (they arrived earlier in the day)... it was not the Ritz (but it sure rhymed with it!). We were not impressed. After nearly a week in Liverpool, however, we have changed our view somewhat (and the accommodations aren't that bad either!).

Wandering around on our first few days here, I had wondered what Liverpool would be like if it were not for the Beatles... their commerical presence is everywhere - Beatle stores, Beatle tours, a Beatle Museum, Beatle-themed pubs & restaurants, Beatle childhood homes, even Beatle graffiti.

We have since discovered pre-Beatle Liverpool... wonderful old buildings, churches, monuments and parks, a fabulous dockside with unique shops, and an amazing history that includes slave trading. This city also has the largest population of Irish outside of Ireland... it opened its arms to welcome more than a million Irish immigrants during the devastating potato famine of the mid-1900's.

Downtown Liverpool also features several blocks of ultra-modern pedestrian shopping, with every shop you could imagine, or at least, need. And talk about night-life... Liverpool is a happening place! Although most of the pubs are strictly age 21 or over, we did manage to find ourselves an Irish session Friday night, at St Michael's Irish Centre... Tessa and I attended, and had a wonderful time (thanks for the lift home Vincent!).

LONDON 22FEB09: London Fiddle Convention - Brian headed back to Cermany, Lauree and Ella got on a bus to Liverpool, and Tessa and I headed off to the London Fiddle Convention.

Tessa participated unnoticed in a couple of the workshops offered - Texas Swing, (during which the tutor spoke with much authority and conviction about the North American contest circuit, stating Texas Swing was the style to master for any success at those contests) & Ukranian Folk Fiddling. She sat through the tutors' concert, then jammed with the rest in a half-hour jam session (featuring such classics as Soldier's Joy & Mary's Wedding). Then came Tessa's moment of truth... the fiddle contest.

The contest was very low key, with only two classes... Under 18 and Over 18. The first prize for Under 18 was a Fiddler's Fake Book. The first prize for the Over 18 was a Fiddler's Fake Book PLUS an appearance in the evening concert program.

Tessa was the first to register and consequently, the first to perform. Her demeanor was confident, her tone was rich and her intonation was flawless. Her waltz flowed, her jig lilted and her reel jumped.

She took first place in the Under 18 class. The organizers invited her to perform again during the evening concert, but we had an 8 o'clock train to catch to Liverpool.

The Texas Swing tutor came over and spoke with us, exclaiming that Tessa's playing style was exactly what he was referring to in his workshop. He asked if she had done any contests back home.

"A few... " she replied.

LONDON 21FEB09: Salisbury, Stonehedge & Bath - After spending Thursday racing Brian around London to the must-see sights, we took advantage of Brian's offer to drive to go on a road trip into the English countryside.

First stop was the city of Salisbury, where we strolled down many of its charming streets and a tour of the cathedral. On our way out of town, we caught a glimpse of Salisbury Hill, the more ancient site of the city, made famous in pop-music-culture by Peter Gabriel.

Made our way to Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain. Impressive primitive structure in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by meadows of grazing sheep. We could get near enough to touch it, or dance naked or anything... but well worth the trip, nonetheless.

Last stop on our outing was the Roman city of Bath. Night fell as we sat in a traffic jam on main street Bath. Our skin was well wrinkled by the time we managed to escape the grid-lock, find a place to park and set out on foot. What we saw of the city was beautiful... but we did not see much, unfortunately.

Saturday was another day in London, showing Brian last minute sights, including a visit the to Church of St Clements, of "Oranges and Lemons" fame. The church was of particular interest to Brian, as it was adopted by the RAF and restored with their funding after WWII.

The day ended doing high tea at The Orangery at Kensington Palace.

LONDON 21FEB09: A last days are spent... - Tomorrow we leave for Liverpool, but we have not wasted a moment of our time since Ella finished the final shows of Quidam last Sunday at the Royal Albert Hall.

MONDAY: At the crack of dawn, Lauree left on a plane for Dublin on a reconnaissance mission for Tour Services, while the girls and I hung around London. While Tessa worked frantically on her schooling, Ella and I shopped downtown for penny whistles (Hobgoblin Music!) and searched high and low for a store called Diesel, where Ella wished to purchase a pair of fingerless mitts gloves. We didn't find the store, which apparently has several branches around London.

During the evening, the three of us rushed to the outskirts of North London for an Irish session at The Duke of York in High Barnet. After almost an hour and a half on the tube (including a considerable delay when we got off at the wrong stop and wandered for a bit!) plus a twenty minute power-walk at the end of the line, we finally staggered up to the darkened pub... the sign on the door read "temporarily closed, under new management"!

We returned home, ate pizza and watched two episodes of "Scrubs", one episode of "My Name Is Earl", and then went to bed.

TUESDAY: Lauree was now in Belfast. While Tessa worked frantically on her schooling, Ella and I resumed our search for Diesel with a few street name locations to assist us... still no luck in finding one though!

During the evening, the three of us rushed to the outskirts of South London for an Irish session at The Kilkenny Tavern in South Wimbledon. We arrived without any misadventure around 8:30, only to be told that although there would indeed be a session, it would not begin until around 10:00. It was well worth the wait, an incredible session with interesting tunes (some we knew some we didn't) and more than a dozen friendly welcoming musicians on fiddles, flutes, accordians, concertinas, pipes, bodhran and guitars. We regretted that we had not found this session back in December!

After the session, we returned home, ate pizza and watched two episodes of "Scrubs", one episode of "My Name Is Earl", and then went to bed.

WEDNESDAY: Lauree was now in Glasgow, on the final leg of her trip. Meanwhile, back in London, We were packing and tidying up the apartment in preparation of a visit from cousin Brian (Burchart). p>

LONDON 14FEB09: 250th performance - Ella has been working hard this week, doing her own shows every second day, plus covering for the other girl who shares the role (Dalyane), who is off with a knee injury.

Tonight, Ella put in her 250th performance in the role of Zo�E

We're proud of you, darling!

LONDON 13FEB09: I Don't Like... Fridays (the 13th) - No bad luck on this day... Sir Bob Geldolf was in the audience for tonight's performance. None of the artists got to meet him, however - the QUIDAM PR person kept him all to herself...

How nice is that!

LONDON 11FEB09: Attack of the Motorized Wheel Chair! - It was memories of Barcelona all over again for Tessa on the "Tube" the other day. It was rush hour, and a gentleman was having great difficulty maneouvering his heavy motorized wheel chair out of the jam-packed car - one of the wheels kept rolling over an obstruction... Tessa's foot!

Ouch!

LONDON 09FEB09: The Perseverance Set - Played a Canadian fiddle set at The Perseverance pub (Jim. Tessa, Ella & I) with special guest Elke Sullivan on piano. Our upbeat energetic set really stood out from the other performances there... all singer-songwriters lamenting about love lost.

Still haven't found an authentic Irish session here...

LONDON 08FEB09: London Premiere Celebrities - We had no idea the London premiere was attended by many celebrities... and we certainly didn't get to meet any of them!

The list includes actresses Naomie Harris (the voodoo witch in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies), Jaime Winstone (actress in movies Kidulthood & Donkey Punch), Sarah Harding (singer for Girls Aloud), Liz Fuller (Brit TV personality/model), Elizabeth Emanuel (fashion designer for Lady Diana), Mariella Frostrup (journalist/sexiest voice-over in British TV), Amanda Lamb (model/Brit TV personality), Mikyla Dodd (Brit soap actress/author), Gethin Jones (Brit TV actor Blue Peter/Dr Who), Dan Hipgrave (indie-band Toploader guitarist), Nicholas Parsons (Benny Hill regular), Arlene Phillips (choreographer/"Strictly Come Dancing" judge), Esther Rantzen (journalist/TV personality "That's Life"), Tamer Hassan (actor "Batman Begins"), Natasha Kaplinsky (BBC newsreader/"Strickly Come Dancing" judge), Tamara Ecclestone (model), Kirsten O'Brien (Brit TV personality), Alfie Owen-Allen (actor "Elizabeth"/singer Lily Allen's brother), Don Warrington (Brit TV actor "Rising Damp"), David Van Day (Brit reality show personality), Karen Hardy (ballroom dancing World Champion), Jeremy Edwards (Brit TV actor), Penny Smith (Brit TV personality) and Gabby Logan (Brit Sport TV personality).

Naomi Harris

A veritable who's who (who?) of British celebrity.

LONDON 06FEB09: "a little alehouse on bankside" - We had dinner the other night at a quaint little pub in the Borough, called The Anchor. This pub has a lot in common with many other pubs in London... it reeks of history!

Shakespeare was known to drop in for a pint now and again (his Globe Theatre was just a short walk away), and Samuel Pepys took refuge in The Anchor ("a little alehouse on bankside") while witnessing the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Apparently, Tom Cruise drinks a pint outside this pub in 'Mission Impossible'.

Today we had lunch at an early 19th Century pub called The Shakespeare, near Victoria Station. Dog fights used to be held in the cellar, and visitors and employees frequently see the ghost of a woman roaming the premises.

While on the topic of pubs... I would like to take the opportunity to list the British beers I have been enjoying here in the UK (in no particular order): Fuller's London Pride, The Bishops Finger Kentish Strong Ale and Spitfire Kentish Ale from Shepherd Neame, Theakston's Old Peculiar, Morland Old Speckled Hen, Greene King IPA, John Smith's Bitter Ale, Timothy Taylor Ale, Abbott Ale, Badger Original, Fursty Ferret, Golden Glory, Golden Champion & Tanglefoot, Marston's Pedigree, Newcastle Brown Ale, Young's Bitter, Boddingtons Draught Bitter, Murphy's Irish Stout, Wells Bombardier, Titanic White Star, Black Sheep Ale, Mann's Brown Ale, Wood's Shropshire Lad Spring Bitter, Thwaites Lancaster Bomber, Historic Royal Palaces Real Ale and Guinness Original.

LONDON 06FEB09: Standing Room Only! - Today, Judy, Tessa and I spent the afternoon at Westminster Abbey... the whole gang was there, everyone from Kings & Queens (Edward I, III, V, VI, Richard II, Henry III, V, VII, James I, Charles II, William III, George II, Anne, Bloody Mary, Mary II, Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots) to politicians & heroes (Disraeli, Gladstone, Wolfe) to musicians & actors (Haendel, Olivier) to writers & poets (Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Tennyson, Robert Browning, Kipling, Hardy)... and these are just some of the names I recognized... the place is jam-packed with the bones of the English rich and famous!

Cousin Judy returns to Canada tomorrow after a busy week of visiting and sight-seeing. All the must-sees were pretty much covered... Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Downing Street, St Paul's Cathedral, Quidam at the Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, the Borough Market, Westminster Abbey and much, much more.

Smart girl... she took the bus tour AND the Thames boat tour.

LONDON 02FEB09: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow - Cousin Judy Foran has arrived, and brought some Canadian winter along with her! London awoke this morning under a thick blanket of snow, the heaviest snowfall in 18 years. The city is at a standstill... no buses, tube, trains, and airports, schools and offices closed. The London urchins are out in force, however, enjoying their winter wonderland.

We wonder what will come of our plans for the day... a tour of the 3D labs at Pinewood Studios, where the special effects for such well-known films as the Lord Of The Ring and Harry Potter series were created.

(Update: The studio was closed down for the day... no tour.)

LONDON 27JAN09: English & Indian - We had lunch at The Horniman At Hays... and the rule of the day was that everyone had to order something typically English. We must have hit the place on an off day, because it has the reputation for being the worst pub in London... and it wasn't at all bad.

The Toad in the Hole was different from what we expected to see... a square plate-sized Yorkshire Pudding shell with a coiled sausage sitting in the middle of it, looking exactly like a dog had just done its business. Apparently it tasted fine... Debbie, Tessa and Robert finished theirs off with no trouble. The Bangers and Mash I washed down with a barely-chilled Timothy Taylor Ale was enjoyable, and we certainly heard no complaints from Bobby, who had the Steak and Timothy Taylor Ale Pie.

Dinner was Indian food at one of several dozen restaurants that cram the historic Brick Lane in Whitechapel. Barkers pleaded to us outside every restaurant we passed as we tried to decide which one to eat at... we were offered amazing discounts, free rounds of drinks and each told of the many culinary awards bestowed on their particular establishment.

We finally settled on one at the urging of a modest barker, with only one round of free drinks to sway us. When asked what the house specialty was, he answered "the food". In the end, the Kingfisher and Cobra beers were well-chilled, the naan came freshly-baked from the "authentic" tandori oven, the chicken was buttery and whatever the dish was Bobby and I ordered brought on a sweat... very good, very good!

LONDON 25JAN09: The Queen's Box - We ordered tickets for Debbie, Tim and the gang to see Quidam at the Royal Albert Hall, and we were initially told that they could get the box immediately above the Queen's box, which is on permanent reserve for the Queen. Then we were told that we might be able to get tickets for right in the Queen's box itself... THAT was pretty exciting! In the end, they enjoyed the show from very good seats two boxes to the left of the Queen's box.

LONDON 24JAN09: Debbie, Tim & co - We bade farewell to Derek last weekend (he got in one more West End show with Tessa - Zorro!), and hello to my sister Debbie, her husband Tim, and their two grown kids Bobby and Chelsea. Also along for the ride is Bobby's good friend and partner in crime, Robert.

They have been fairly self-reliant in their outings... they have 7-day passes for the underground, so they can come and go as they please. They are also making good use of "The London Pass" which gets them into numerous sights free or at a discounted price.

Yesterday was a typical day... started off at Abbey Road for a family photo at the famous cross-walk, then Bob & Robert split to tour the Tower of London, while Debbie, Tim, Chelsea and I headed off to Buckingham Palace, a walk through Kensington Gardens where we saw some Great Tits (they're cute little birds... oh behave!) the Royal Horse Guards, 10 Downing Street. We stopped at The Red Lion for a pint, then headed over to Westminster, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. We had lunch at St Stephen's Tavern, then Debbie, Tim & Chelsea went off on their own to take a spin on the London Eye.

We re-grouped back at the apartment for a late supper, and after some tom-foolery with fiddles and diabolos, that day was done.

Other outings have included Wimbledon, Hampton Court Palace, Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hinde, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the Prison Museum on Clink Street (which created the phrase "thrown in the clink!"), The Borough Market, shopping at Harrods, High Tea at Kensington Palace's The Orangery, the London Dungeon and We Will Rock You, a West End show featuring the music of Queen.

And they're not done yet!

LONDON 19JAN09: Fiddle Family Ties - We met a lovely couple for the first time at Saturday afternoon's performance of Quidam, a couple so comfortable to be with that we felt we had known them for many years: Elke Sullivan (Mark's sis!) and her fianc�ESimon, who were lucky enough to receive tickets for the show from mother Emily. What a great gift idea!

We had a wonderful time chatting with them before and after the show... they even got to meet Cory (Sylvester), who had stuck his head around the stage door staircase corner to see what we were up to... "Any friend of the Bangs family is okay by me!".

We hope to get together again with them during our stay in London, and Elke mentioned that she plays piano, so you never know... there might well be an old-time fiddle jam in the forecast!

LONDON 15JAN09: Rowan Atkinson - Sometimes you stumble blindly into a good thing... which was the case with Oliver!

We had made a list of the shows we each wanted to see in London, and Oliver! was not on it. It made it to the top of the list, however, once we discovered Rowan Atkinson was in it. Tessa has become a big fan of the Blackadder series over the past year, and of course both she and Ella are well acquainted with Mr Bean. So on Monday night, we were standing outside the Royal Theatre on Drury Lane with tickets in hand, anxiously looking forward to being entertained, by jove.

We had plenty of time before the show to grab a coffee... we found an establishment around the corner from the theatre called Charles Dickens Coffee House, and thought it to be perfectly apropos (considering the show we were about to see was based on the novel Oliver Twist, written by Charles Dickens). There was all sorts of Dickens memorabilia inside the coffee house, so I ventured to ask the gent behind the counter what the deal was with all the Dickens stuff.

“He used to live here�Ehe answered dryly.

Only in London...

We were soon back at the theatre for two plus hours of top notch entertainment... we enjoyed the show immensely. Rowan Atkinson was hilarious, and the kid playing the artful dodger was simply amazing... “Consida yoursewf - at howm...�Elt;/i>

After the show, we waited at the stage door with a crowd of about 20 people, and eventually Rowan showed up to patiently sign autographs and pose for photos. What a night!

What we didn’t realize at the time is that the show we attended was a preview show. Oliver! has since had its opening night, and it is a smash hit, completely sold old for weeks!

If we hadn’t gone when we did, we would probably not have been able to get tickets, and surely would not have had the opportunity to meet him in person, which would have been a shame... ‘e wuz a reow gen’oman, ‘e wuz.

LONDON 15JAN09: Derek's first half-week - Derek arrived Saturday, and has had a full half-week absorbing the sights around Londontown... the secrets of the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, the original Hard Rock Cafe, Abbey Road Studio, Quidam at the Royal Albert Hall (sitting front and centre at the sound console with Head Sound Technician... thanks Peter!), Piccadilly, the Museum of Natural History (Darwin Exhibit), the Science Museum, and a multitude of West End shows - Grease, Hairspray, Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap and Oliver!

Today he is off seeing a full-scale replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship Golden Hinde, and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, just around the corner from our apartment... and tonight he will retrace the steps of Jack the Ripper in Whitechapel!

LONDON 08JAN09: Billy Elliot - The day after premiere was quiet, a day for sleeping in, working on our Christmas puzzle and general poking about. We headed out in the late afternoon, however, to pick up Tessa’s laptop, which was in the shop getting a new screen (the old one got damaged in transit from Belgium) and maybe catch a movie.

We were already outside a cinema in Leicester Square before it dawned on us - we are in London, a few blocks from the theatre district... why not take in another play!

So we did. Billy Elliot.

It was great.. powerful imagery, impressive stage automation, passionate no-holds-barred dialogue and an extremely talented singing-dancing-acting kid in the lead.

Some truly imaginative moments... the second half opens with two characters talking directly with the audience, who have inadvertently become part of the cast, playing the role of the audience attending the local Christmas pageant!

Another must-see...

LONDON 07JAN09: Ella's London Premiere - Ella performed last night in Quidam's premiere at the Royal Albert Hall (pronounced "hole" by the locals). It was actually her second performance at the Royal Albert (RAH)... full dress rehearsal (media attended) was on the 3rd of January. I was fortunate enough to play that show as well. I have since been put back on the bench (a story for the "tell-all" version).
Ella did another terrific job and really milked the hall's superb acoustics to her full advantage. We heard through the after-show buzz that one gentleman (a well-respected conductor from a London orchestra) commented that Ella's voice is "amazingly haunting".

We were told by a reliable RAH source that there was a good chance the Queen would have attended the premiere... had someone from Cirque bothered to invite her! Plan B is in the works...

There were cocktails after the show in the VIP lounge at the hall, and then we partied it up at a rooftop London discotheque. Lauree, Tessa & Ella cut grooves the dance floor looking fabulously chic in outfits they purchased specifically for the occasion.

I have to make special mention that Tessa has become a very nice dancer... an absolute pleasure to watch. Without prejudice, I would say she was among the best on the floor.

01JAN09: Another New Year - This New Year's Eve did not involve climbing an extinct volcano alongside its smoking twin. During the day, Tessa and Ella had school and Lauree worked. Like any self-respecting musician on New Year's Eve, I played in the early part of the evening, but in the form of a two hour sound check at the Royal Albert Hall.

At the stroke of midnight, however, we were standing together in the middle of the Tower Bridge with a thousand Britons (and not a few tourists), hoping to catch a glimpse of the stupendous fireworks display up-river at Westminster Bridge. We didn't see much... only ten minutes of wildly-flickering sky behind the massive building complexes that blocked our view. Our fellow revelers did not seem to mind, however, releasing balloons, throwing confetti & rose petals, cheering, drinking champagne from the bottle.

We returned to our apartment building and made an appearance at the impromptu penthouse party where some of our colleagues were seeing in the new year. It turns out that they had had a wonderful view of the fireworks.

Oh well, these things happen... Happy New Year!

LONDON 26DEC08: Wicked! - One of the gifts Santa left under the tree was four tickets to see the musical Wicked at the Apollo Theatre. Lauree charted out a course for getting there on foot, and in late afternoon, off we went.

We crossed London Bridge, continued past St Paul's, walked down Fleet Street and in under an hour, we were at Trafalgar Square. We then took a short detour to check out Oxford Street, popular for shopping. Everything was going exactly as planned when we arrived at the Apollo with an hour to spare. Strangely enough, the theater was advertising a musical called Well rather than Wicked. A nervous enquiry confirmed that we were at the wrong theatre... we wanted the Apollo Victoria, on the far side of St James' Park!

No worries... we took the 38 bus past Piccadilly Circus to Victoria Station and arrived in plenty of time.

Our walk home started with twenty minutes of walking around in circles, but we were soon on track, passing by Westminster Cathedral, Big Ben at the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye before crossing over the Thames on the Westminster Bridge. Forty five minutes later we were home-sweet-home.

Oh yes - Wicked was great... very entertaining!

LONDON 25DEC08: Merry Christmas! - We are spending a quiet, simple day in our new London home... Lauree has cooked a turkey with all the trimmings, Tessa & Ella are pre-occupied with new books, puzzles, etc., and I am finally doing catch-up on our blog.

We are happy, healthy and hopeful for another great year ahead. We wish we could give such a gift to all our dear family and friends.

LONDON 24DEC08: First impressions of Londontown - Fantastic... simply fantastic!

Even on the bus from Heathrow to our apartment, it was Buckingham Palace here, Big Ben over there, the London Eye beyond that, St Paul's Cathedral, the Borough Market, London Bridge, the Tower Bridge... and all within a half hour's walk from our apartment, in a Victorian building that once housed a brewery.

And every one speaks English, albeit with a strong British accent! We are not accustomed to this, being able to communicate in English with house-keepers, repairmen, grocery store clerks, etc. We have also discovered that we need to be a little more discreet with our off-the-cuff commentary of passers-by in the street and other public places, something we were not so concerned about in the Spanish-speaking countries we have toured in! Comments like "Uh-oh, fashion faux-pas!" or "That fellow has really big ears!".

Another concern, quickly learned... traffic travels in the opposite direction here. At every intersection, it is written on the road "Look Right" or "Look Left" accordingly. And it is amazing how much one relies on automatic behaviour when looking out for oncoming cars. For example, I wanted to snap a picture best taken out in the middle of the road... I automatically looked to my left, no cars coming, walked out into the street, and then, just as I was framing the shot, noticed that traffic had ground to a halt on my right... all because of some lunatic tourist with a camera (me!).

Last night, Christmas Eve, we went to an incredible midnight service at St Paul's Cathedral (where Charles & Diana married)... the organist was a musical-maniac, serving out complicated Bach cantata's like finger food, and the choir (boys & men only) filled the vaulted ceilings and the dome with a heavenly chorus unmatched with anything I have ever heard at a church service. The Bishop and all the deacons spoke with deep sonorous British voices (just like Aslan - CS Lewis)... you couldn't help but believe every word that came out of their mouth! Such drama and theatrics... sensational!

BRUSSELS 22DEC08: Our last days are spent... - Brian drove us back to Brussels on Wednesday... we dropped Ella off at school, Lauree headed off to work, and Brian, Tessa & I paid a visit to the Royal Military Museum, walking distance from our apartment. Brian was evidently very impressed with the place, the aircraft, and the First World War tanks. We were happy to be able to come along and benefit from his knowledge of the century's-worth of airplanes exhibited there.

Through the week, we managed to get downtown a couple more times... to enjoy the Weihnachtmarkt, the light show at the Grote Markt and get one last look at the amazing carousels. We took a ride on the giant ferris wheel for an interesting bird's eye view of the Weihnachtmarkt. We also managed to check out the Atomium, a must-see recommended by our Brussel's friend Dieter.

Then it was luggage day, our final show, and next thing we knew, we were on the plane to London England.

BRUSSELS 15DEC08: Double Dark in Germany - On Day One of our double dark, we took the one-and-a-half-hour train ride into Germany, where we met up with cousin Brian in Aachen.

Aachen is famous for being the city of Charlemagne, King of the Franks. We saw all things Charlemagne, from the brass seals embedded in the sidewalks throughout the city, to his jewel- studded royal regalia to his marble burial crypt to his final resting place in the Kaiserdom, Aachen's medieval cathedral. All very interesting.

We strolled Aachen Weihnachtmarkt, bought enough printen (Aachen's famous gingerbread) to get us through Christmas, drank gluhwein & chocolat chaud, stuffed ourselves with frits au pommes & bavarian sausage dogs, and enjoyed life.

Next stop was a step back in time to Monschau, a picture-book German town with an impressive hilltop castle and valley full of half-timbered houses and narrow streets that have remained virtually unchanged for 300 years. It is exactly how we imagined Germany would look... we almost expected Heidi herself to walk around the corner! The highlight of main street (for us) was a small shop that sells a dozen-plus varieties of home-made mustard in clay jars.

Back to Brian's place near Geilenkirchen, where friends were already waiting to prepare a birthday surprise for Gerry (Macumber). In anticipation of our visit, she had led a work crew of friends to give Brian's bachelor pad a complete make-over... tidying, tossing, even painting and hanging drapes! What a terrific job they did... it really did feel like a home (something we did not realize we had been missing for some time). Anyway, after all that hard work, Gerry certainly deserved some recognition, which took the form of a party dedicated to her birthday!

We spent the evening in this wonderful company... and we couldn't have asked for a better time. There is something special about Canadians...

Day Two started with a visit to the NATO store, where we loaded up with supplies from home... twizzlers (red & black), chocolate bars (peanut-butter cups, coffee crisp) KD, Quacker Instant Porridge, PC Pancake Mix, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes (which is crazy... we have found this everywhere we have been, under different names... Zucaritas, Frosties), Ritz Crackers...

We were happy that Marlene (Shillingford) was able to accompany us on our day's outing... she is a very nice young woman who happens to have a Canadian Snowbirds connection (not the Florida variety). She was the first female crew chief to work with the Snowbirds... way to go Marlene!

We then headed off to Cologne (or Koln as it is known in German).

Koln was all about the massive Gothic cathedral (largest in Europe) and the Weihnachtmarkts, several of them, all equally interesting, and each with its own customized gluhwein mug (forget the styrofoam!). We walked & browsed the market craft stalls, nursing our gluhwein and enjoying local favourites - the piping-hot mushrooms in sour-cream were amazing... even Tessa & Ella couldn't get enough! Tessa snapped dozens of pictures of the trolls that dotted the stall-tops in one of the markets... and we got to watch a medieval play acted out in the medieval market, complete with blacksmiths, wicker-weavers, gothic fabrics and more gluhwein.

By the time we boarded the train back to Geilenkirchen, we were all worn out. Tessa & Ella barely had the energy to split the Big Mac Marlene had been craving all day (but they managed!).

BRUSSELS 12DEC08: And the drummer is... where? - I should not be telling you this...

Tonight, during the intermission of my 55th show drumming for Quidam, I was doing double duty, finalizing the desktop publishing of the Quidam tourbook for London with Lauree in her office.

"Oh my god, what time is it?"

"Oh-oh," replied Lauree, "It's already after nine!"

As I raced through the yard to the artistic tent, I could hear that the show had already started up again. The artistic tent was shockingly deserted - all the artists were back on stage... I dashed in the dressing room, grabbed my stage jacket and ran like a bat out of hell into the darkness of the backstage area where someone was directing me to the drum booth with a flash light (bless you whoever you were). I climbed into the drum booth, threw on the headphones, grabbed my drum sticks and almost immediately began playing, just in time for my cue, a dramatic drum fill.

I played out the remainder of the show annoyed with myself. No one mentioned anything about it on the talk-back but they must have felt that I had almost let them down.

After the show, I felt compelled to approach the band leader, good buddy Jim, and apologize.

"Hey Jim, I hope you didn't hold up the second half on my account."

"Whaddya mean?"

"You knew I wasn't in the drum booth, right?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"Well, I wasn't... but, forget that I even mentioned it."

Lesson learned.

BRUSSELS 10DEC08: Quidam Christmas Party 2008 - The party this year was, in some people's minds, the best ever. It was held at the Belgian Centre of Comic Strip Art, a comic strip museum located in the beautiful turn of the century Waucquez Warehouses, considered to be one of the masterpieces of the famous Belgian Art Nouveau architect, Victor Horta.

We were free to roam the gallery, which is filled with hundreds of inked comic strip panels featuring the work of a century of mainly European comic strip artists. Belgium's most famous contribution to comic strip art is, of course, Tintin, by Herge. The works represents nearly every genre of comic strip art, from classic to contemporary, from fantasy to satire, from mainstream to the erotic.

The venue was fabulous, the food was delicious (the waffles for dessert were exquisite) and then Santa showed up with presents for all the children. What more could anyone want? Forty-ouncers of vodka on every table?

BRUSSELS 08DEC08: A Very Special Christmas Jam - I am happy to say that our Christmas Jam at O'Farrell's was a total success.

The jam had a bit of a late start. After the second show Sunday, the entire community was invited to a film preview in the kitchen at site... the kids at Quidam school put together a half-hour film about protecting the environment... an important message, with lots of laughs thrown in for good measure. Well done kids!

By the time we arrived at O'Farrell's, around 11:00 pm, the place was already packed with people... artists, technicians, cirquadors, school kids, parents and others. The core group of musicians included Jim, Sébastien, Steve Sharpe, the girls & I, along with special guests Attila Simon (Quidam's new violinist), Hilde Van Reeth (Waredrobe/bodhran), Stephen Scharmin (usher/percussion) and two Russian musician friends of Sergei's, on accordian and on contra bass balalaika. Lisa Ragatz (wife of juggler Steve) kindly led the sing-along, doing a great job controlling the "Quidam Chaotic Choir".

The school kids opened the program by performing Angels We Have Heard On High on their violins, led by Sébastien. Sébastien's wife Mélanie then joined her husband for a couple of French carols on violin. We then kept the house hopping, running through carol after carol, with our audience gaily singing along. The highlight for me was The 12 days of Christmas, with Lisa swaying her fingers up in the air to indicate what verse we were at in the song... what a hoot!

At one point, new violinist Atilla and Sébastien teamed up to treat us with sizzling performance of Csardaz. Among the special guests who performed during the evening - Cristian Zabala (Target) delivered a touching rendition of Dona Nobis Pacem on violin with T&E, and Patrick Burke (sound-tech) performed his signature swan-song I Will Survive with Sébastien Thériault (guitarist), along with a frenzied impromtu performance of that perennial holiday favourite, Killing In The Name Of, by Rage Against The Machine.

Everyone had a great time... the only dark cloud was that Sasha Pestov had arranged to do a photo shot after the jam, but the mob kept the jam going and going and going, until it was too late for the shoot. My sincerest apologies to Sasha and everyone who put in the time and effort for nought.

02DEC08 BRUSSELS: Bob & Lauree's Big Night Out! - Last night, Lauree's workmate and friend Brigitte offered to take Tessa & Ella overnight for a slumber party. The kids were naturally excited about their evening away from us (for a change), but also strangely excited about the evening Lauree and I would spend together (I was instructed to "be fun" by both of them!).

So, we dropped the girls off and off we went on our own to the Weihnachtsmarkt, where I committed myself to being fun.

I have to say, the Grote Markt was something to see, the square all glittered up, the enormous 30 foot Christmas tree (a once-living spruce) lit to the nines, the centuries-old buildings soaked in whirling, coloured patterns of light, like the dance floor of a disco. Lauree kept us well-fortified with gluwein... pretty good stuff to take off the chill of the night! We bought some freshly-roasted honey-glazed peanuts (still warm) to munch on, then some ginger-breads. Food is sooo good here! Also set up for the festive season is a skating rink, and two carousels... one particularly bizarre one with all kinds of weird, wonderful working contraptions on it, like something out of "a series of unfortunate events" (or Tim Burton film - Steve Ragatz). I would have been more than pleased as punch to ride on any one of the fantastic choices... a giant locust, a pterodactyl skeleton, a stuffed ostrich, a flying machine, inside a bull fiddle while a mechanical bowing arm saws away at the strings... I plan to bring the girls to see it and take pictures! We also saw an ice sculpture that reminded us of being at home in Ottawa during Winterlude. It was just a misshapen lump... all the fine features had melted away beyond recognition!

We wandered around, then made our way to Delirium for a pint of Grimberger. Outside the Delirium is the female equivalent of the Mannekin-Pis... the squatting Jeanneke-Pis, which oddly enough is caged off behind a set of rusty old bars (I guess this is what happens to "naughty" Belgian girls!). The Mannekin-Pis, meanwhile, is proudly doing his thing all decked out in some kind of festive little suit!

We came back to the Leopold Quarter for dinner at an Italian restaurant. We had heard the service was not great but the food was good... well, even the food was not that good. By chance, jack-of-all-trades-technician Luc and promo-girl MJ were there at the restaurant too, so we arranged to meet up later at a live jazz club a few blocks away. By the time we arrived though, MJ had flown, but we did enjoy a couple of Maes listening to very-decently played Miles Davis and John Coltrane covers... gave me a hankering to play, like in the old days jazz-gigging with Pete & (Steve/Tom/Martin/???)

Finally our big night out drew to an end... we were all funned out!

30NOV08 BRUSSELS: Wait, there's more... - Then on Sunday, cousin Brian brought 150 of his Canadian Armed Forces friends from Germany to see Quidam in Brussels. Ella performed, I drummed and there was a special Q&A session in the big top after the show. It was there that we met up with a former acquaintance from Forest Valley Day Care, Karen Hunt. It brought back some fond memories of our time with that after-school care facility - Rob, Cynthia, Hermina, Joey... ah yes, those were fun times. Hey you, how are you all doing?!!!

Well, now the bar has been set. Wellington Ward Day Care, who are you going to send over to visit with us?

BRUSSELS 29NOV08: New friends are made! - Cousin Brian came to visit with a dozen of his friends from Germany; Bob & Gerry (Macumber), Bill & Terri with daughter Aysia, Petra (Cohnen), Marlene (Shillingford), Barry & Nathalie (Wright) with daughters Genevieve & Gabrielle, and Mike Constantineau & Sylvie Roy with kids Jessica & Dylan. All fellow Canadians (more or less) associated in some capacity with the Canadian Forces in Germany, they came to us bearing many wonderful gifts, including flowers, Canadian maple syrup, Kraft peanut butter, Kraft (macaroni & cheese) Dinner, Oreo cookies, Lifesavers, Fruit Roll-ups, AFNorth Lions sweat pants for the girls (thanks Aysia!), Crown Royal Canadian Whisky... and enough wine and beer to keep several kitchen parties raging until dawn! Brian brought a large case of fabulous Czech lager called Budweiser Budvar... it's now on the top ten favourite list!

They all came to site, ate dinner in the kitchen with the artists, watched the show (Ella performed... me too!), came backstage to the artistic tent, met a few artists and took a few pictures. Artist Cory Sylvester was nice enough to give a number of them a spin on the German wheel... several even managed to hang in for a 360 degree rotation!

Then some had to leave for home (for various Saturday morning lessons/practices - how well we know!). Bob, Gerry, Bill, Terri, Aysia, Petra, Marlene & Brian came back to our apartment for a few hours of good food, good drink and great conversation (with a few laughs, of course!). We could easily see why Brian placed so much value in his friendship with these wonderful people.

After Saturday morning breakfast at Tout Bon, the bunch headed down to the Brussels Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) with Lauree (Ella & Tessa had school, and I did the show)... booths set up in and about the Grote Markt selling all kinds of wonderful craft works, meats, cheeses and Christmas stuff. It is the custom, (Lauree tells me), to sip on a hot cup of Gl�Ewein (mulled wine) while you meander through the market, which they wholeheartedly did... several cups, actually. They eventualy ended up at the Delirium for (several?) pints of beer.

Lauree thoroughly enjoyed the time they spent together... so much so that plans are now underfoot to visit them all in Germany in a few weeks time! Yahoo!

BRUSSELS 26NOV08: Bob and the girls running loose in Amsterdam! - Lauree was up and out by 5:something to catch her train. She arrived at the central train station, where it was announced that the 6:00 train to Brussels would be leaving from a different station... Lauree and a number of other passengers were at a loss as to what to do! They were trying to figure out how to get to the other station when a man who had earlier overheard their plight came running up saying "The Brussels train is leaving this station in five minutes from Gate 13a!" Dashing through the train station, they made it to the gate, just in time... moments later the train had pulled out. Who knows what the previous message was all about!

The rest of us checked out of the hotel around 9:30... the girls were in charge of reading the map. I promised them that we could lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe IF they could get us there. First stop, however, was the Rijksmuseum, which they did a great job finding.

We spent a good hour at the Rijksmuseum, full of Van Dyks, Rembrandts, Vermeers... all the Dutch masters. In fact, I swear one painting we saw there was straight from the Dutch Masters cigar box! We were genuinely impressed with the work of Rembrandt (including several self-portraits) and Vermeer (including his "Milkmaid"). There were many well-known paintings at the museum, and I was sorely tempted to take some photographs, but that was strictly verbotten. Rembrandt's most famous painting, "The Night Watch" hung in the very last room of the museum. It was my last chance, so I politely asked the security guard for permission to snap a quick photo. "No photo!". Ella insists it was her dramatic look of extreme disappointment that caused the guard to beckon me over. "Okay, take one photo, but don't let anyone see you, especially the security guard by the door!" I took a discreet photo, up from below, around waist-level. I looked over to the guard - he was motioning for me to take a photo from eye level! I snapped another at eye-level, then glanced back at the guard at the door, who, of course, noticed me taking the second photo!

Vermeer's "Milkmaid" (1658-1660)

"Okay, let's go girls!", and out we went, avoiding the annoyed doorman's glare as we hurried by him. Check out the eye-level photo in the photo gallery... I should also mention that another popular exhibit at the museum is a diamond encrusted platinum skull designed by Damien Hirst...

Lunch was at the Hard Rock... the girls managed to get us there.

Then off to catch the 3:00 train, and back to Brussels... where three hours later Lauree was waiting for us at the metro station with an urgent verbal message for me... "YOU'RE DOING THE SHOW TONIGHT!"

I really must learn to check my phone messages!

BRUSSELS 25NOV08: Amsterdam in two days (more or less) - We had Monday and Tuesday off (or so we thought!), so we made plans to go to Amsterdam, two and a half hours away by train.

We arrived and immediately took a one-hour boat tour of the city, down its centuries-old extensive canal system, a good way to get the "lay of the land", so to speak. We were very impressed with the neighbourhoods of 17th Century warehouses and homes lining both sides of every canal we went down... the city as Rembrandt and Vermeer knew it (and everyone since).

After our tour, we had a more-than-satisfying lunch of tomato soup and ham & cheese sandwiches at an ordinary corner shop. The food we have had in Northern Europe (Brussels, Paris, Bruge, Amsterdam, Diksmuide, anywhere... makes no difference!)) has been absolutely fantastic, fresh and flavourful.

We wandered around until we found ourselves at our day's must-see - the Anne Frank Museum, adjacent to the Frank's jam factory/warehouse where she and her family were hidden from the Nazis during the Second World War. The museum was simple but excellent, and the tour of the warehouse really hit home the fear and frustration the doomed family would have felt being prisoners in their own home.

Walking the streets of Amsterdam was an interesting experience... Tessa & Ella will not have any trouble recognizing the smell of dope from now on! Cafes and shops itemize their selection of dope and magic mushrooms in the front window, like a menu at a fancy restaurant. And then the Red Light District... rows of young women in Frederick's of Hollywood wear posed behind their neon-framed full-frontal pane of glass, some pre-occupied behind a closed curtain.

We headed to our accommodations around 5:30... it was already starting to get dark. We checked in, then went out for dinner at a nearby Indonesian restaurant (Amsterdam-native and Quidam chef Pim recommended we go Indonesian while we were here). We finished our evening off with a nightcap at a cozy corner bar, then went back to our hotel room and called it an early night... Lauree had to get up at 5:00 the next morning to make it back to Brussels in time for a pre-scheduled meeting she had remembered about.

BRUSSELS 23NOV08: A not-so-normal day in the life! - It was crazy today in Brussels... I should have read the signs when I got on the metro to go and pick up the kids from school!

There were a dozen or so hot-house tomatoes rolling around on the floor of the metro car. At some point, a woman came over, placed a plastic grocery bag on the floor, and began to collect up the tomatoes and put them in the bag. She had just about filled the bag, and then stood up with it in her hand... the stubborn tomatoes remained in a pile on the floor, because her plastic grocery bag had a huge hole in the bottom of it. She then tried holding the hole closed, but the tomatoes she put in kept rolling out from all sides of the bag... and the momentum of the metro did not help matters. It was an exercise in futility!

Also, it snowed today in Brussels... the city was a mess! The tram I transferred to got about half way to where I needed to get off, then stopped dead in traffic. A bus had become stuck, or broken down or something on the tram track ahead. After sitting here about 15 minutes, the tram backed up for three blocks, and then the driver instructed all the passengers to transfer over to a tram waiting on the opposite-direction track. We did so, and then proceeded on our journey, with this tram driving on the opposite-direction track into on-coming traffic. Fortunately, the on-coming car drivers seemed to know enough to get out of the way, and I finally made it to my stop near the Cirque Du Soleil site.

Meanwhile at site, everyone was pumped because of the snow, and an enormous snow ball fight had taken place... artists, school kids, administrators, ushers, technicians, all battling each other in a free for all! One of the artists, Australian Ronnie, had never experienced snow before... she marvelled at its texture and learned first hand what is meant by the snowball effect, when the kids showed her how to roll a tiny snowball to make a snowman! It was all fun and games until one of the technicians (Eduardo) fell from the top of a tent he was clearing snow off of (Lauree had to take him to the hospital to get checked over, but he is okay!).

All the excitement was over by the time I arrived... and it turned out I was not able to bring the kids back home as originally intended. Daniel the drummer was out of commission again with his mystery arm affliction, so I got to fill in for him and perform the Sunday night show!

A crazy day indeed!

DID YOU KNOW?: Instead of using sugar cane, Europe refines its sugar from the sugar beet! We saw heaps of them piled high in farmers fields during our tour of Flanders.

BRUSSELS 19NOV08: In Bruges - A film called "In Bruges" was released recently with Colin Farrell in the lead role; well, over the past couple of days, we too were "In Bruges.

Bruges (or Brugge, as it appears to call itself) is a lovely little Flemish city one hour from Brussels by train. Picturesque, plenty of sights, great boutiques, lace shops, pubs and restaurants, and enough chocolate & candy shops to satisfy any sweet tooth.

Bruges is very easily explored on foot... and within our first half hour there, we must have walked by most of the famous sights of this medieval canaled city without even being fully aware of it... the Church Of Our Lady (home to Michelangelo's Madonna and Child), the Grote Markt, the 13th Century Belfry, the Burg square, the Sint-Salvator Cathedral, the Beguinage.

Our day's plan, however, was to go on a tour of the Huisbrouwerij de Halve Maan (Half Moon Brewery), the last operating brewery in Bruges, and then later, go to the Chocolate Museum. We did the brewery tour, drank our complimentary glass of Brugse Zot, then set off for the Chocolate Museum, arriving to late to be admitted. We made the decision to sleep over, located a very pleasant Lonely Planet recommended B& B, and arranged a room for the night. We then we went on a horse and buggy tour of the city centre, wrapped in a blanket with hot chocolate and waffles. Then it was dinner, and early to bed.

Twelve hours later, we took a tour of the Chocolate Museum, which was well-worth seeing. It tied in our experiences in Mexico, displaying many Aztec artifacts dealing with chocolate, the food of the gods (especially when mixed with blood!).

Next, we visited the Romanesque 12th Century Church Of Our Lady (Eglise De Notre Dame/Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk) to see Michelangelo's Madonna and Child, known locally as the Madonna of Bruges. It was the only one of Michelangelo's pieces to leave Italy during his lifetime.

Then it was time to leave... Lauree had to work and Ella had a show.

BRUSSELS 11NOV08: The Last Post - We joined up with the crowd at the Menin Gate Memorial, where people had already been assembling two hours before the Remembrance Day evening ceremonies were to begin. We had a pretty good spot, but there was an old European woman beside us who seemed to be continually trying to muscle her way into our space... she reminded me of Estelle Getty (Sophia, from "The Golden Girls").

There was a parade leading to the Memorial... drumlines, veterans, pipers, a marching band, a group of about 20 elderly British women singing a rousing rendition of "Tipperary" (reminded me of our Auntie Faith). Then, we were overcome with a profound sense of pride (to be Canadian) when a contingent of Canadian servicemen marched by, and the multitudes on both sides of the street began applauding in respectful gratitude.

As it happens, one of the marchers lost a poppy... it lay on the cobblestones just a few feet on the other side of the barrier that we were standing at. It was quite nice, different from our Canadian ones, and Ella longed for it. We noticed that the old European woman beside us was interested in it as well... she kept motioning to a security officer standing by to fetch it for her. There was no doubt in our minds that if anyone would get it, she would... aggressive witch! Sure enough, the security officer eventually buckled, came over, picked up the poppy and gave it to the old woman... who immediately offered it to Ella, saying "English? A souvenir for you!". Such a nice lady...

National anthems were sung, including "God Save The Queen" (never before had we heard it song by Brits... quite moving), and "Oh Canada" (we did our best!). Hymns & marches were played, wreaths were laid, and then there was silence, and an emotional rendering of "The Last Post" performed by a couple of buglers from the Ypres Fire Brigade.

We pulled ourselves together over a pint of Belgian Primus and steak & frits (Lauree, Brian & Ella had pasta), at a delightful restaurant overlooking the cobbled square of Ypres' Grand'Place.

It was a Remembrance Day we will never forget.

BRUSSELS 11NOV08: Lest we forget... - We headed out first thing this cold, dark and gray morning for the Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial just outside of the town of Waregem, in the Flanders region of Belgium. It is the only American World War 1 cemetery in Belgium, with around 400 graves.

Our next stop could not have been more timely nor appropriate. At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, we were standing in a cold, drizzling rain at the Essex Farm (dressing station) Cemetery, where Canadian surgeon John McCrae wrote his famous war poem "In Flanders Fields".

Of the 1,199 British graves in the cemetery, only 1,100 are identified. Also buried here is Rifleman Valentine Joe Strudwick, of 8th Battalion The Rifle Brigade, who was aged 15 when he died on 14 January 1916. He is one of the youngest British casualties of the Great War.

Apparently the dressing station, and cemetery was constantly under fire from the German artillery. According to a soldier of the time, Harry Kendall (1st King Edward's Horse - Third Ypres):

"Fritz had a bad habit of sending shells over and ploughing up the graves. For many weeks there was little peace at that end of Essex Farm road - even for the 'glorious' dead. Often a dozen a day ere smothered over with mud from the graves torn by Fritz's exhuming shells ... Possibly the worst phase of this post by number four bridge was the eternal review of dead men before one's tiring eyes. Slaughtered men lying about in all shapes and forms around this unholy post of ours."

Next, Brian brought us to the Ypres Reservoir Cemetery just outside of Ypres, where 2,700 First World War soldiers from all over the Commonwealth are buried - soldiers from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Newfoundland, India... and many more countries. There are also the graves of three men who were "shot at dawn" for being cowards. It is now widely believed that these men would most likely have been suffering from shell shock/battle fatigue, rather than cowardice.

It was humbling to walk among the graves of these brave souls, noting their tragically young ages, reading the short poignant inscriptions on their gravestones, like a personal and intimate whisper from the past... 'A loving son, a brother kind, a beautiful memory left behind', 'To live in the heart we leave behind is not to die', and so, so many 'Known unto God'.

One heart-wrenching gravestone read:

'Thy will be done. Our darling Daddy, gone from our home, but never forgotten'

We then went into Ypres (yet another beautiful Belgian city) to the Cloth Hall Museum, which was jam-packed with people (Remembrance Day!). We crossed it off the itinerary, and headed to our next stop: The Trench Of Death.

Just outside the town of Diksmuide is the Trench Of Death, where regiment after regiment of the Belgian army struggled under unbearably harsh conditions to prevent the German advance toward France. For four long years this sinister trench was the theatre of incessant and murderous combats - artillery and mortar shells, incessant alerts, heavy gunfire, unexpected grenades or sudden attacks. The Belgians and Germans held siege within several yards of each other, separated by a flooded no man's land.

The trenches are situated on the Flemish Polders, approximately 1.5 meters below sea level. Instead of digging to create the trenches, which would have immediately flooded, the Belgians built the trenches up with sandbags and earth. Even our attempts to navigate the trench system were abandoned by flooding from the day's intermittent down-pours.

One macabre feature at the far end of the Belgian trenches is "De Muizenval" (the Mouse Trap). Every so often the Belgians would pull back, luring the German’s into their trench. The Germans would jump into the "trap", where a couple of Belgian snipers, safely sheltered behind a thick concrete wall could simply pick them off through slots in the barrier.

Lunch was interesting, at a family-run three-table tractor stop on the Diksmuide road. Communication was difficult - neither English nor French seemed to make much of an impression with our Flemish-speaking host. We finally stumbled upon something he understood - our old stand-by from Spain, ham & cheese. Within a few moments, lunch was on our table: we were each given a plate with three slices of fresh bread, some lettuce and tomato. Then, on a platter in the center of the table, a dozen-or-so slices of ham and as many slices of gouda cheese. A do-it-yourselfer! But, as you might have guessed, everything was fresh and delicious.

After lunch, we set out for the Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Vladslo (German Soldiers' Cemetery) ) near the village of Vladslo. It is virtually a mass grave, with the remains of more than 25,644 German soldiers buried here. Under a cool canopy in a wooded park are row upon row of flat square grave markers, each one with the names, rank and date of death of twenty soldiers. At the far end of the cemetery, across from the entrance, is a sculpture of a grieving man and woman, called "The Parents", created by the mother of one of the young germans buried in the cemetery.

A short drive brought us to Houthulst Forest Belgium Military Cemetery, and the graves of 1704 Belgian soldiers, a few French soldiers, and several Italian POW, most of whom were killed in 1918 during the final push to liberate Belgium. Sadly, many of the graves were flooded, under 6 inches of water. Evidently,the ground is more or less pure clay with little or no topsoil and water is unable to drain away. During the war, this turned the ground to a porridge-like mush which spread its putrid slime across the polluted landscape, mingling with the gas vapours and corpses to give off a terrible, nauseating stench.

Next, the Langemark German military cemetery, situated to the north of Langemark village. Langemark is a collection cemetery - bodies of german soldiers were exhumed from all over Flanders - Westroosbeke, Passchendaele, Moorslede, Zonnebeke, Poelkapelle, Zillebeke - and re-buried at Langemark, bringing the total number of soldiers buried or commemorated here to 44,234, including 24,917 unidentified German soldiers interred in the Kameraden Grab �Ea 'Comrades Grave'. No wonder they call these cemeteries "Silent Cities".

You must now be feeling like Tessa & Ella were feeling... completely overwhelmed! But only a few more stops to go!

The Canadian Memorial at Vancouver Corners, outside of St Juliaan, with the "Brooding Soldier"... that was next.

Then, the Poelkapelle British Cemetery, where "Their name liveth for evermore" is inscribed in a large block memorial at the front of the grounds. Most of the graves date from the last five months of 1917 and in particular October (the 3rd Battle of Ypres). Of the 7,478 Commonwealth servicemen buried or commemorated here, 6,321 of the burials are unidentified. The Poelkapelle British Cemetery also contains the grave of the youngest soldier to die in Flanders - Private John Condon, 6322, 2nd Royal Irish Regiment, who died on 24th May 1915 at the age of only 14.

We were surprised, and perhaps a little apprehensive when we pulled into a farm yard. Lauree had been asking Brian if the local farmers ever find anything in the fields when plowing or digging for any reason. Brian now indicated that she would find the answer to her question! The farm belonged to people who ran a B&B that Brian has stayed at in the past. With their permission (I suppose), he brought us out back of the buildings where heaps of rusted-out artillery casings, blasting caps, detonators, unexploded shells (rendered-harmless duds), assorted mechanical bits and pieces and twisted scraps of metal covered an area of at least 10 square feet. The 2008 iron harvest. Apparently even to this day, the farmers are dredging up reminders of the Great War from their fields, and bomb disposal events take place on a regular basis. The woman of the farm has even created a museum in one of the barns, with pieces they have cleaned up and made presentable, everything from shells, rifles and a machine gun to cutlery, whistles, and ceramic jugs. It was also here that we encountered something we have expected to see since arriving in Belgium... brussel sprouts!

We then stopped at the Canadian Memorial at Crest Farm, near Passchendaele. Fifteen thousand Canadian men were killed, wounded or reported missing in the fierce fighting at Passchendaele between October and November 1917.

 
Passchendaele before and after...

Night was falling, so we made our last stop at Tyne Cott Cemetery, the largest British military cemetery in the world... and the final resting place for nearly 12,000 soldiers of the commonwealth.

That was it for our two-day Western Front tour (many thanks Brian). It may sound like we covered every "silent city" in Flanders, but we did not... far from it. Riddled throughout the countryside are cemeteries, large (where battles took place) and small (were skirmishes left men dead). It seems that men were often buried where they fell.

Back in Ypres, we stood and waited for the Remembrance Day evening ceremonies to begin...

BRUSSELS 10NOV08: Known unto God - Today was the first of our two-day Great War tour... we were lucky to have as our guide, Lauree's cousin Brian (Burchart). Brian drove in from Germany to show us around the must-see Western Front sites of the First World War.

For our first stop on Day One, Brian drove us all the way to France! Our approximately one-and-a-half hour journey brought us to a serene little cemetery in the Artois region of France called St Symphorian, which contains the graves of 229 Commonwealth servicemen and 284 German soldiers of the First World War. Buried here are John Parr and George Lawrence Price, who are thought to be respectively the first and last Allied soldiers to be killed in action during the First World War. Poor George Lawrence Price, a Canadian lad of 26 years, was killed on November 11, 1918. There are many graves with bodies that could not be identified... their grave markers read simply "Known unto God", or sometimes "An unknown soldier of the Great War". Very sad.

Our next stop was Vimy Ridge. We explored the grounds, and marveled at how even after 90 years, the landscape was still terribly scarred by the barrage of large artillery shells. We walked through the short stretch of allied trenches preserved by the Canadian government. Brian even managed to parley our way into a tour of the underground tunnel system (the case of 24 Labatt's Blue he gifted the staff certainly helped his cause). After a windy walk around the Canadian Memorial, we hopped back into the car and left for the Newfoundland Memorial in Beaumont-Hamel.

The weather provided the perfect ambience for our tour - cold with an off-and-on-again drizzle that chilled us to the bone. The wind was so strong at the Vimy Ridge memorial that I had a difficult time keeping the camera steady when taking photos. We could truly appreciate how miserable it must have been to be living in the trenches, totally exposed to the elements, knowing that every minute could be your last.

The Newfoundland Memorial at Beaumont-Hamel is simple and touching. It is situated on the site where on July 1st, 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, the 1st Newfoundland Regiment fought its first engagement in France, its costliest of the whole war. Of the tragedy that befell the Newfoundlanders, Private F H Cameron, 1st Kings Own Scottish Borderers is quoted in Martin Middlebrook, The First Day on the Somme, London, 1977, p.189 as saying:

"On came the Newfoundlanders, a great body of men, but the fire intensified and they were wiped out in front of my eyes. I cursed the generals for their useless slaughter, they seemed to have no idea what was going on."

Commenting on their effort, Major-General Sir Beauvoir de Lisle, Commander of the British 29th Division stated:

"It was a magnificent display of trained and disciplined valour, and its assault only failed of success because dead men can advance no further."

Our last stop on our itinerary for this day was at Thiepval. Unfortunately, night was quickly closing in around us, so we were unable to pay our respects at the Ulster Tower, an Irish memorial where, at the end of the first day of the battle of the Somme, more than 5,000 men of the 36th Ulster division were either killed, wounded or missing. Some units were hit especially hard - the 13th Battalion Royal Irish rifles (County Down Volunteers) had lost 595 men, well over half the battalion. According to Philip Orr The Road to the Somme, Belfast, 1987, p.191, one officer described the post–battle roll call:

"Not a few of the men cried and I cried. A hell of an hysterical exhibition it was. It is a very small company now. I took 115 other ranks and 4 officers (including myself) into action. I am the only officer and only 34 other ranks are with me now."

We did stop and walk about the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, which is the biggest British battle memorial in the world. The names of over 72,000 British and South African men who were killed in the battle of the Somme, but have no known grave, are carved into the stone of the massive memorial.

It was now dark, so we drove into the town of Arras to its beautiful and bustling Grand Place, with cobble-stoned square and cookie-cutter buildings, all with gaily-lit facades silhouetted against the night sky. We ate dinner with a surprising relish (not the pickled variety) and reflected on the things we had seen throughout the day.

As we headed home, Brian was kind enough to do a drive-by of the Vimy Ridge Memorial glowing like a specter against the blackened sky. It is a hauntingly beautiful image that will be forever burned into our memory.

BRUSSELS 07NOV08: About Brrr...ussels - It is chilly here this time of year! The girls are not complaining though... they each have a new fall coat, boots and mittens on account of it.

Another thing we have noticed is that Brussels is a very polite society. Drivers actually stop at crosswalks, and urge the pedestrians to cross. The pedestrians do not jaywalk, they obey the traffic signals... and they keep to their own side of the sidewalk. Numerous times I have heard "Merci Monsieur" after holding open a door, or making room so someone can squeeze through on the tram.

It appears that the Brussels police service helps to enforce this politeness... on the back of their jackets is written "Police Politie".

"I am sorry Sir, but you failed to thank your server when she brought you your coffee. I am going to have to write you up on that!"

Polite and conservative... that is what the people of Brussels are. Artists have commented on being on stage and looking out over a wash of darkly-dressed bundled-up people sitting quietly in the stands. It is a huge contrast from the bright and colourful flamboyancy of the expressive Barcelona audience!

Another difference between Barcelona and Brussels... in Barcelona, there were always people strolling around in the streets, talking, laughing, taking their time to get wherever they are going. In Brussels, the people you see walking in the street are very intently going to, or coming home from... WORK.

A very different mindset for sure.

BRUSSELS 04NOV08: Mussels in Brussels - Yesterday we went on a "grub crawl" of Brussels.

We started off at the Tout Bon, a small cafe around the corner from our apartment in the Leopold Quarter, where we enjoyed some really outstanding coffee and hot chocolate. Then, on a small street leading to the Grand'Place, Belgian waffles from The Waffle Hut. Ella and I split a cinnamon sugar waffle (think beavertail!), while Lauree and Tessa went for a strawberry, banana and chocolate-topped masterpiece.

We caught sight of the original (and diminutive) Manneken-Pis enroute to Fritland, supposedly the best place in Brussels for french fries (which apparently originated in Brussels). We had our fill, then headed off for the Gallerie St Hubert for some exquisite Belgian chocolates, which we ate on the steps of the cathedral.

Now that we had worked up an appetite, we went for dinner at Leon's, established 1893, an historic Brussels eatery, where we washed down a bucket of moules et frits with Leon's own brew.

We then further wet our whistles at the Delirium Cafe, whose claim to fame is a selection of more than 2000 varieties of beer... I had an amber Grimbergen (a Belgian abbey beer first brewed in 1128), while Lauree went for a Delirium Tremens, complete with Pink Elephants on the label. We ended our grub crawl with a nightcap at Fabian O'Farrell's, where I had a Stella Artois (Belgian!), and Lauree savoured a cherry-flavoured Kriek. What did the kids have, you ask?

Kids? What kids???

BRUSSELS 03NOV08: Fabian O'Farrell's Jam - We (being Jim, Sebastien, Tessa, Ella & I) jammed last night after the show at Fabian O'Farrell's, a pub in Place Luxembourg, the square around the corner from our apartments. The owner, a Texan named Bo, kindly allowed us to jam there, and several artists, technicians, directors, admin & support folk and cirquadors came out to join the fun! Thanks for that!

We plan to make it a weekly event during our stay here.

See you next week, same time, same place... everyone is welcome!

BRUSSELS 31OCT08: Quidam Masquarade Party - There is not much to say about the premiere party, which had a masquerade theme (in keeping with Hallowe'en). We left at midnight, only an hour after it started... couldn't risk our coach turning into a pumpkin!

PARIS 23OCT08: The City Of Light (Day Two) - After a light breakfast of croissants and expresso coffee, we took the metro to the Louvre... or tried to! We got as far as the station at Champ Elysee, where we had to catch a connecting train. On the platform, a wall of commuters seven rows deep lunged en mass toward every train that stopped. Every over-stuffed train had difficulty leaving the station because the over-flow of frustrated passengers prevented the doors from closing properly! We gave up... and set out on foot. Fortunately, it was a beautiful (but chilly) day, and we were not far from the Louvre (at the Place de la Concorde), so an easy fifteen minute walk soon got us to the front doors of the famous museum.

We left the Louvre, and went straight to the Cathedrale Notre Dame De Paris, where we had to stand in line for half-an-hour before getting to go up into the bell tower. It was well worth the wait. First of all, there are the gargoyles, and secondly, the view! It is amazing how white Paris is! And how large and congested!

We headed through the Latin quarter to the Pantheon, the final resting place of several famous French people. In the crypt, we passed by vaults containing the remains of Louis Braille, Marie Curie, Voltaire and countless politicians. I was personally interested in locating Victor Hugo, and I found him, sharing a small, simple bunker with Alexander Dumas and Emile Zola. It was roped off, but you could still look in... a bit of a let down, though. I was expecting something like the tomb of Christopher Columbus!

We went for fallafels in the Jewish quarter, then walked through many neighbourhoods, some interesting, others not so, until we got to the Père Lachaise cemetery, established by Napoleon in 1804. Dozens of famous people are buried here, and we only had an hour before closing time (and we did not want to get locked in for the night!). We soon found what we were looking for... the grave of Oscar Wilde, whose tombstone is covered in lip-stick kisses, a gay tradition of late. We also located Jim Morrison's lack-lustre (and caved-in!) grave, wedged in between other larger but less famous head stones. We chanced upon Moliere... we followed some one being led there by a cemetery tour guide-type fellow.

Evening fell, and we headed back downtown for a drink. We found Harry's Bar, where personalities like Ernest Hemingway used to hang out, but the prices were a little steep. We ate right next door, at Le Sherwood, equally famous, no doubt! (I think Hemingway went in to use the bathroom there at least once). We then headed to the Gare Nord train station, grabbed a bite at an eatery across the street, hopped on our train and were back home in Brussels by 11:30 pm.

PARIS 22OCT08: The City Of Light (Day One) - We arrived at Gare Nord in Paris after a short one hour twenty minute ride on a fast non-stopping train. From there, we caught a metro to the neighbourhood of Montmartre, where we spent the better part of the morning.

We found the Eiffel Tower with little difficulty... what an imposing structure, visible from most parts of the city. It is hard to believe that there were plans to tear it down in the years immediately after the World's Fair of 1889, for which it was constructed! We went to the top, took a look around, then set out for more sights on our "must-see" list.

Our next stop was the Arc de Triomphe, a massive structure, much larger than I expected it to be. We then headed down the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, stopping now and then when the attraction of a boutique was too strong for Lauree and the girls to resist. Along the way, we also indulged in some fine pastries at the patisserie Paul, of which we became big fans in Shanghai. We became slightly disoriented in the glut of magnificant buildings at the Place de la Concorde, at end of the avenue. "Well kids, that's the Louvre!", "No, that's the Louvre", when in reality none were the Louvre. Every building looked like a palace to me!

Forging ahead through a park of statues and fountains, we finally found the Louvre, with the huge glass pyramid (of Da Vinci Code fame) at its entrance way. We did not stop long... exploring the Louvre was on our list for first thing tomorrow morning, in order to beat the crowds.

From there, we walked along the tranquil Seine and crossed over the medieval Pont-Neuf bridge to get to our next destination, the gothic Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris. Our inital plan was to climb the bell tower, but we arrived too late (that experience would have to wait until tomorrow), so instead we rested our weary feet and took in some of the seven o'clock mass.

After a bit, we left the cathedral and set off for our overnight accommodations. We checked into the hotel, and found a delightful French cuisine restaurant where we had a delicious dinner (pasta poulet, filet mignon et potates roti). We went to bed tired, but with full bellies, and thrilled with everything we had seen during the day.

BRUSSELS 21OCT08: Welcome to Brussels! - Arrived in Brussels this Wednesday evening and checked into our apartment, which is on the top floor of a tidy five story apartment hotel block. Hastily packed overnight bags, because first thing tomorrow morning we are heading off to Paris!

BARCELONA 20OCT08: Our last days are spent... - Our last week in Barcelona flew by very quickly. I can hardly recall what we did!

On Wednesday night, the owner of the restaurant La Luna, Robbie Dunne, came with his wife to see Quidam. He is the ex-patriot Irishman who helped us to find a place to eat on our first venture into downtown Barcelona. We had subsequently tried out his restaurant (La Luna), but he was out, so Lauree left her Cirque Du Soleil business card with the bartender, asking him to get Robbie to give her a call.

Apparently, Robbie, who was unfamiliar with Cirque Du Soleil, thought it was just some circus in town, and no big deal. He did not bother calling, and days later when his wife found out about the missed opportunity, she flipped. Fortunately, we went back to the restaurant with Derek, met up with Robbie again, and this time he wasted no time in accepting our invitation to see the show.

So they came out Wednesday night, and, needless to say, he was flabberghasted!

Another big event during the week was a Russian party thrown to celebrate Lauree's friend and co-worker Irina's birthday. A Russian party is a formal drinking event, and the booze of choice this time was the Crown Royal Derek brought for us to give to Irina. A dozen people sat closely around a couple of coffee tables filled with food (Russian salads, chicken, meatballs, sliced fruit, crusty bread sticks, etc), and toasted, drank, munched, chatted, re-poured, toasted, drank, munched, chatted, re-poured, toasted, drank, etc. When it was time to stagger home, we had to have one more for the road... so we re-poured, toasted, drank, munched, chatted, re-poured, toasted, drank... you get the picture. You really have to pace yourself, but we were thrilled to have been part of this private inner-circle celebration.

We ventured downtown a couple more times through the week... what a vibrant and beautiful city. One trip was to our final Irish session at Michael Collins pub. Although we were happy to have had the opportunity to play and learn some new tunes, we never did feel overly welcome by the regulars. It happens...

On Sunday evening, Ella performed in the final show for Barcelona, a show which all the artists agree was something extraordinary. The audience was exceptionally enthusiastic, with thunderous applause after (and sometimes, during) every act. At the end of the show, the cast was called back to the stage three times... the ushers were crying, the audience was crying, applauding, stomping their feet, chanting "Oh-way, oh-way-oh-way-oh-ho..." There was even a continuous wave, side to side, and then front to back and then back to front again! It was extremely emotional, and it was a wonderful way to end the city.

BARCELONA 14OCT08: Ant Wars! - We woke Monday morning to an ant invasion in our apartment. They had established some sort of trade route from our kitchen doorway to an unknown destination - unknown because as soon as Lauree discovered their enterprise, she began a mass antocide, squishing them indiscriminately and shuffling everthing around (shoes, backpacks, recycle), so by the time I arrived at the scene, the ants were in a state of complete disarray, scrambling around in every direction.

By evening, ant activity was focused mainly in the girls' room, even though we could not find anything that could have been of interest to them there - no empty yoghurt containers, spilt juice, food stuffs of any kind - so we figured they would lose interest sooner or later, and left the matter at that.

Bedtime... Lauree was, as usual, the first to hit the sack. She wanted the girls to get a good night sleep, as we planned to spend the better part of the next day wandering around downtown Barcelona, but I had sort of promised them a movie before bed. We compromised on a half-hour television show, and after it was over, we set off for bed. Unfortunately, I stumbled over something in the darkness of the bedroom and woke Lauree from her fresh sleep. Lauree then struggled unsuccessfully to get back to sleep before I dozed off, because, apparently, I snore.

Meanwhile, a battle raged behind the closed door of girls' room. Tessa & Ella were fearful of ants crawling on them while they slept, so, armed (or footed?) with flip-flops, they launched a full-scale attack, busily stomping on scores of ants in their room. However, as soon as they would get rid of one wave of ants, another would appear. They decided to place damp towels around the inside perimeter of the room to block off potential entry points for the ants.

They turned off thier light, opened their door and quietly crept into the bathroom across the hall for towels.

"WHO'S UP?!!!"

They froze in the dark, and remained as silent and motionless as statues for several minutes, to allow Lauree to fall back asleep. They then grabbed some soiled towels and slunk back into their room. They closed their door, and turned on the light.

Suddenly, the door was opened, and Lauree was at them like a hawk... "WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP?!!! IT'S FOUR IN THE MORNING!!!" ...how time flies when you are in the pitch of battle!

They tried to explain, but it all sounded kind of silly. Lauree fumed the girls into their beds. The ant battle would have to be fought another day.

This story was light-heartedly relayed to me the following morning, over breakfast. I had missed it, having snoozed (snored) through the whole episode.

On one final and terrifying note - come morning, Ella discovered an ant in her bed, mere inches from where she lay!

BARCELONA OCT 11, 2008: It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings! - On Derek's last evening in town, I took Derek to see a show called Opera y Flamenco at the Palau de la Musica.

The show was fabulous... a small ensemble (piano, classical guitar, two violins and a cello) along with a traditional flamenco group called El Duende (flamenco guitar, singer (Cantaora), percussionist (Cajon) accompanied a male and female dancer (bailaor y bailaora) and a male and female operatic singer through a variety of numbers loosely assembled to tell the story of a courtship.

Derek was terribly impressed by the virtuosity of the flamenco guitarist, and the allure of the female dancer (duh!). I was in awe of the performance of the size extra-large female singer (the fat lady), who strutted, batted her eyes, played coy and swooned from the vocal attentions of her male counterpart.

We saw Derek off this morning... hasta la vista amigo!

BARCELONA 10OCT08: Derek Jeffrey Barcelona - Sunday afternoon Derek arrived, experienced Quidam from backstage, then came with us to a after-hours "Russian Party" to celebrate Natalia & Sasha's birthday. Derek refused to drink any vodka, despite being taunted and teased by Lauree's Russian friend and co-worker Irina... "You are not beink a man!"

Monday was a visit to Park Guell and the Barri Gotic, After dinner at the Hard Rock, we finished the evening off jamming at our weekly Irish session.

On Tuesday, Lauree brought Derek on a Gaudi tour, with stops at the Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo and La Pedrara. They then went down to Port Vell, where Derek was impressed with the Palau de Mar, the 19th Century warehouse now housing the Museu d'Historia de Catalunya. They climbed to the top of the Monument a Colom, the 60 metre high tower built on the site where Christopher Columbus arrived in 1493 to tell King Fernando and Queen Isabella of his discovery of America. After refreshments back at the Placa de Catalunya, Derek came to site and watched Quidam in the big top.

Wednesday... Derek, Tessa and I took a leisurely stroll through the Parc de la Ciutadella, wandered aimlessly through the Barri Gotic, and explored the narrow medieval streets east of La Rambla, culminating (or so we thought) at the oldest church in Barcelona, the Romanesque (and crumbling!) Sant Pau Del Camp, built by the Benedictines in the 10th century. We then set out in a north-easternly direction, thinking we were heading south-west, and became, for a while, hopelessly lost. Even when we finally found our location on the map, we were still completely turned around, and proceeded to head further out of our way. It was Tessa who managed to find her bearings lead us to the nearest metro stop leading to Placa de Catalunya, where we collected our wits over a Subway "Eat Fresh" sandwich.

Thursday, we three were back at it, checking out the Arc de Triomf, the Palau de la Musica and an antiques (interesting junk) market in the square in front of the Catedral Gotic. Then it was back to site for dinner, and Derek watched the show in the Big Top with Tessa, who almost jumped out of her seat when there was a bit of a fumble during Corde Lisse at the same moment in the act which only last week sent one of the girls flying Wallenda-style!

Friday, Derek set out on his own to do the bus tour around Barcelona. Tessa and I caught up with him at Juame I, and headed to the Museu d'Historia de la Ciuat, where we planned to take in the Roman ruins under the Placa Del Rei (the gothic heart of the Barri Gotic). Unfortunately, the museum was no longer on summer hours, and consequently, we arrived too late to see the exhibit. We wandered the Barri Gotic for awhile (always an interesting pastime), then met up with Lauree and Ella at our favourite Barcelona restaurant, La Luna.

Saturday, Derek's last full day in Barcelona, was spent walking the length of the boardwalk from site to the furthest end of La Barceloneta and then back again. Then, dinner on site, and Derek watched Quidam one more time from backstage. And that was it for Derek Jeffrey Barcelona... almost!

BARCELONA 30SEP08: Gaudi's Park Guell - We had a late start on our second day off, but we eventually made our way to Gaudi's magical Park Guell for a walk-about.

The park, situated on a hilltop in Barcelona, is like something from a fairy tale - life-size gingerbread houses, an immense curving bench decorated with colourful bits of ceramic tile surrounding the raised esplanade, a roadway supported by stone palm tree-shaped pillars winding up the hill, the little pink house where Gaudi lived for twenty years, all in perfect harmony with the trees and natural shrubbery of the park. At the top of the park is a stone platform which gives you a wonderful panoramic view of all of Barcelona, spreading out to the mountains to the north, and the sea to the south.

After the park, the girls engaged in a little shopping, and then we went out for dinner at a delightful restaurant in the Barri Gotic called La Luna. This restaurant is owned by the Irish ex-patriot that helped us find a place to eat on our first night into town. The inside of the restaurant was a maze of beautiful old stone arches... it reminded us of the arabic bath house in Sevilla. The decor was invitin