Joyful to be back in Alberta!

There And Back Again.

A Hobbit's Tale By Bradbo and Charo Pottins.

...And we find ourselves back where we started. We arrived back in Calgary on Thursday, at about noon local time, to find our parents waiting for us. My (Brad) mom even made a sign saying "Welcome Home Brad and Char!" Quite excellent to be welcomed home by our fan club and paparazzi. Between 4 parents, there were three camera flashes going off repeatedly. It was awesome, to be on the ground again for one, and to be back in Alberta, to walk out of the airport and not smell cigarette smoke everywhere, to find that there weren't hordes of other tourists pushing past us, and to hear English being spoken with a Canadian accent. Off to Swiss Chalet for lunch and then to my parents farm, where we find ourselves now.

As we went for a drive yesterday (after boosting and washing our car that had been sitting for two months), we realized how blessed we are to live in such a beautiful part of the world. There is something astounding about rural Alberta: seeing the rolling hill, the fields that are just beginning to turn color, and just how green it was! It doesn't get much better than this! A good soul-refreshing sight. For our Lethbridge mates, we're going to be back on Sunday afternoon.

Hmmm, some final thoughts about our trip, you ask? We were so blessed to be able to do this. It was such an eye-opening experience to see other parts of the world, and to experience culture and langauge that we hadn't experienced before. We realize that walking places is a decent form of transportation, but having a car is really quite nice. Knowing a second langauge seems like a very good idea now. Map reading is a good skill to have (one that I am still learning). Going by intuition doesn't always lead you in the right way, but following the horde of tourists usually leads you to a place that is somewhat more crowded. Which may or may not be the place you want to go. Resteraunts that cater to tourists charge you an arm and a leg for sub-par food and drink. The key is to find places that locals go, and you can get a good coffee and a pastry for 2 people for less that 5 Euro, instead of 11 Euro at a touristy place. Metro systems are not near as cool as you think they are. They loose their appeal within 10 minutes of breathing stuffy, stale air and holding onto a pole that thousands of other grubby hands of held on to. (Thank you Paris). The people we met and dealt with are by and large amazing people. The scenery was nice, but the people we met were gracious, tried hard to accomadate us and made our stays very pleasant ones (expect that one guy in La Spezia, that overcharged us like crazy...). Watching Family Matters in french is still funny. I'm sure I'll think of more stuff later as well.

My top three places we visited?

1. Glendalough, Ireland - ruins of an old monastery in the Wicklow Mountains close to Dublin.

2. Cinque Terre, Italy - a National Park in northwest Italy.

3. Venice - cuz it was our anniversary.

My (Char) final thoughts? Language is useful for communication, but is not always necessary. There are many times when even though I didn't understand a word they were saying, I still knew exactly what they were trying to say. Although I do understand now how valuable it can be to know a second language. Also, people are people no matter where you go, and as Brad said most people were nice, and helpful. I also have a greater appreciation for Canada, and it's landscape. Europe is amazing, but there really is nothing like driving through the prairies. Also, how blessed we are that we got to do this trip, but also how blessed we are to have good family and friends to come home to. Thanks to everyone who thought of us and prayed for us on our journey. It is always appreciated. Yup, it is good to be back.

My top three places?

1. National gallery in London. Amazing to see famous paintings in person

2. Strasbourg, beautiful city, and a good hospital

3. Pantheon in Rome. Rome itself was really hot, but seeing the Pantheon was a really cool experience.  

We're about to run a marathon...

A marathon of traveling to get home, that is.

But first, a bit about our stay on Santorini. Uh, it's been amazing! We saw a movie at an outdoor theatre, which was a sweet experience. Transformers 3 = bad. Location = good. We did a day tour of the whole island, and saw a traditional village, the volcano, hiked up a few hundred steps for kebabs, TOOK A DONKEY RIDE!!!, and watched the sunset from Oia. (Can we say that prairie sunsets might be better?) It was a busy but fun day. We rented a quad one day, and buzzed about the island on that. We went to black sand beaches and swam in the crystal clear blue ocean. We had indian curry one night, which was amazing! We're looking forward to making/eating curry when we get back home! And last but not least, we went snorkeling yesterday! An absolutely incredible experience, swimming among some reefs and seeing lots of fishes swimming by. Really amazing. Until we got back to the hotel and realized that our legs where so red and burned that we could've cooked kebabs on them. (At least mine [Brad] were).

A lot of cool stuff, not much time to write about it, as the internet is running out here. This just might be our last post before we get back to Canada. So, please pray for us as we travel. Today, a ferry back to the mainland port of Pireuas, tomorrow, a train to Thessaloniki (that we still need to get tickets for), the next day, a flight from Thessaloniki to London, where we are briefly meeting some friends, and then on Thursday, a flight from London Gatwick to Calgary!
 So, it'll be busy, but we are definitely excited about coming home.
We are dreaming about good food, and Starbucks.
We'll see you all soon,
Brad and Char

That'll do Donkey. That'll do.

When we last saw Char and Brad, they had just enjoyed their anniversary in Venice...
After that, we headed off to Trieste on the advisable the poorly translated
Tourist page. Thankfully, Trieste was pretty good. We saw a really big cave, and it was really big. The name of the cave, when translated, is actually "The Big Cave." It was big and only about 11 degrees inside. That was nice too.
We saw a castle and surrounding gardens there as well, the gardens were the best gardens we've seen this trip.
We got up the next day and started a marathon of traveling to reach our next destination: Piraeus, Greece. Here's the rundown: two hour train ride to back to Venice, a few hours of waiting, then a huge 36 hour ferry ride down the Adriatic to Patras, Greece. We arrived there after two nights of sleeping on the hard deck at about 5 in the morning. Then onto a 3 hour bus ride to Pireaus. Thankfully we found our hotel really easily and were able to check in right away. We made arrangements to get to Santorini the next day on a short 8 hour ferry ride.
Then, I (Brad) went to see if I could book our train tickets from Athens to Thessaloniki for when we get back from Santorini. We hadn't been able to do this yet because we literally couldn't. We tried to make reservations from Rome but were told that the only way to book tickets in Greece was to actually be physically present in the Greek statio. That you were traveling from. So we had to wait. So I made my way into Athens to the main train station and stood in line. I was then told by the clerk that I couldn't book tickets for August because, well I don't really know why. I was just told quite adamantly that I couldn't. So that was that. We're hoping to get tickets the day we travel. There are several trains going every day so we should be able to get something.
Anyways, we are now on Santorini and it is great!

Our hotel offers so many wonderful things like air conditioning, easy bus access, a pool, and pick up service from the port. Let me (Char) tell you there are only a few ways to get to the top and into the city. One way is to walk, which is ok if are ok with walking up some 400 uneven steps, and arriving sweaty at the top. The other way is to take a van, which is pretty good as it is air conditioned and rather comfortable. But I think the best (and Brad would agree with me on this) mode of transportation to the top is by donkey. Yesterday we experienced this first hand. We rOde to the top on donkeys. It was Awesome. My donkey in particular did not want to go, and whereas brad used encouraging words with his, I was attempting the clicking noises to make it go. However once the driver started to yell at it it decided it would go and quickly. Needlesss to say it was really really fun. Hh

Best Anniversary Ever!!!

Well, it's safe to say that the best way to spend the third anniversary with your loved one is to spend a few days in the city of Venice. Let me (Char) tell you about the city of Venice. The first day we arrived we had a wonderful supper in a quaint piazza in the cool of the evening and during the course of the meal were serenaded by an Italian man with a guitar. It was all very Italian. Then yesterday on our Anniversay we took a boat bus to the small island of Burano, which was idylic to say the least. And then headed to the small island of Murano, and purchased some famous glass, which is very beautiful. And since we had a bit of time before supper we thought to ourselves, "hey, let's take our free gondola ride." How is that possible you may be wondering. Well, a few weeks ago we were checking about something on the Eurail website and noticed that as a thank you to their customers they were giving free gondola rides, and it just happened to be for the time we were in Venice. So, we hopped onto a gondola (with a few other people) and enjoyed a quiet view of some of the smaller canals. It's nice to have unexpected but welcome surprises. We enjoyed supper at a local restaurant, and Brad had the best steak of his life, and walked back to our hotel in the rain. Fortunately we didn't wander too far from the hotel and it only took a few minutes.
   Then to top up our visit to Venice, we enjoyed a lot of contemporary art in the Venice Biennalle, a huge contemporary art show that takes place every few years, and has over 83 artist and tons of world pavillions, of which we saw only a few. My favorite work of art was an installation of pigeons. The artist had stuffed hundreds of pigeons and placed them where normal pigeons would be found. So, every time you looked into the rafters you would see pigeons and get annoyed at their presence, only to realise that they weren't real. I thought it was clever.
My (Brad) top picks included the pigeons as well, plus one called "Void". It was a large wooden sculpture of burnt wood, with a hole in the middle. It was a huge piece, put in the middle of a tiny room, which made it very hard to get around the sculpture and put the 'void' in the middle of our attention and you couldn't escape it. Very interesting and thought provoking.
Future plans? Tomorrow we are going to the city of Trieste, which is east of Venice, not far from the Slovenian border. Why go to Trieste? To see a big, huge cave. We had a couple days to kill before our ferry to Greece, and the cave won out. So, hopefully it'll be good and we'll have a good time there.
Our stay in Venice has been absolutely amazing. It's definitely a highlight of the trip.
On to another city!
Ciao,
Char and Brad.

Enough with the flowers, which way to the brothel?

That, I have to say, is the first time I (Brad) have ever asked the previous question. Probably the only time as well.
Two days ago, we took a trip to Pompeii, the city ruined by a volcano in 79 A.D. After extensive archeological digging, they have unearthed a city that is very well preserved. We got to wander around the ruins and see houses, shops, the forum, what must have been magnificent villas, theatres, and last but not least, a brothel. Needless to say, the frescoes on the inside were not the most "tasteful" or "family oriented" but rather pictures of services offered in that type of establishment. 'Nuff said.
All in all, a very interesting trip though. To see and imagine how people lived in that time of the world, and to walk on really old streets was very intriguing.
Yesterday, we dropped in on the Pope. He wasn't available to have tea. But, we did tour the museums and see the Sistine Chapel. With about a million other people. I felt kind of like we were in a herd of cattle, being herded through a corral system. There was only one way to go, and to go the other way would've been impossible. We find that tour groups can be pushy, as they all want to stay close to their tour guide and they are not opposed to using their elbows to get through. So, in turn, I don't feel bad about elbowing them back.
St. Peter's Basillica was truly magnificent as well. After a strict check by the morality police (a VERY strict dress code is enforced for in the basillica) we entered by far the biggest church we've ever been in. Covered in gold, marble and big fat cherubs, it definitely did what the architects wanted it to do: put you in awe of the Creator, and His splendor. Michelangelo's 'Pietà' scultpure was a simple portrayal of Mary's sorrow and pathos for her Son after he had died and had been taken down from the cross.
We found something that I (Brad) found very interesting: a bare cross. As you probably know, the Catholic church usually portrays Jesus still on the cross, and rarely is there a bare cross. But a few times in St. Peter's there were bare crosses. It was interesting.
Along with the theme of early Christian history, we visited the catacombs a few days ago as well, which was nice because it was underground and only about 15 degrees!! Quite nice to have natural air conditioning as we walked around 12 meters underground. We saw how the Christians, before Christianity was legalized, buried their dead in a way to differentiate themselves from pagans and in a way that was hidden from view. You can still see some of the early Christian art that decorated the tombs, such as the fish, the anchor, the dove, and other symbols of faith. I asked the question, "I've heard that Christians lived in the catacombs to escape persecution. Is that true?" After touring the catacombs, we could answer that question for ourselves: there's no way that people could live down there. For one, the constant coolness and dampness would've made it very uncomfortable, and secondly, the tufa rock that it was made out of, gives off sulphur gas, which is unhealthy for the lungs. As well, there was no evidence of habitation down there. So, the guide said conclusively that there was no way that people lived down in the catacombs.

From a few weeks back: Cinque Terre.

The crowds on the way to The Sistine Chapel. Try to find Brad!

So, wearing one piece wrestling suits was not permitted.

Char looking rather angelic.

And Brad poking a cherub in St. Pete's.

Finally, a few pictures from our adventures. Hope you enjoy them. We're off to enjoy the rest of the afternoon in Rome.

Ciao,
Brad and Char

St. Theresa was ecstatic...

For a quick art lesson, check out Bernini's sculpture called "The Ecstacy of St. Theresa". Char showed me yesterday, and it is quite the sculpture (and story) to behold inside a church...

Onto other stuff.
Today, I want to tell you about an experience we had in the "Mamertine Prison". Now, this is the traditional site where it was believed that Peter and Paul were held in prison in Rome. Our guide book was a couple years old, and it said the only admisson fee was "donation expected", so we were expecting to pay maybe 1 Euro each to get in. We get there to find that there has been some updates and some more archeological stuff done and now it costs 10 euro to get in and that includes an audio guided tour. So, I was still wanting to go in, so in we went. We got into the first room and the guide told us to go and check out the prison cell, which was pretty interesting. Small, very short ceilings, and dank and dark. It made sense why people wouldn't want to spend time in an ancient jail. We came up, and the guide started an audio and light show in the first room. Oh yeah, it was just the two of us on this tour. No more tourists were there at that time... So, there was audio, something about water, and how the rocks could talk, and then the lights illuminated certain areas of the walls as they were talked about... I felt that this was a bit cheesy, but no worse that the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London.
We went to the next room, and to another video presentation about different prisoners that were held there, and how Peter baptized the Roman jailer in the cell. (huh)
Another room, another video about how Peter, a simple fisherman became the first pope.
Another room, and yet another video about rocks talking to each other. These rocks were from different time periods of the city of Rome. At this time, both Char and I were in agreement that this was extremely cheesy and not worth the 10 euro we paid each to get in.
BUT, we weren't finished yet. The final multimedia presentation led us into a small chapel, where there was a very ornate crucifix. The audio started and talked about how the vitality of faith kept the Christian beliefs going. At the same time, there was a light show, illuminating different parts of the crucifix. It was at this time that we gave each other the raised eyebrow look.
Let us give you some snippits of the audio that was playing:
"Jesus said, 'I am the jar of good intentions.'"
"Jesus said, 'When my heart stopped beating, everyone else's started beating together.'"
As you might imagine, we were pretty ticked off at this misrepresentation of our Saviour. It also alluded to the belief of Universalism, didn't bring up the point that Jesus rose from the dead, and other things that we audibly gasped at. Needless to say, we were not impressed. A jar of good intentions? What the heck? If Jesus just had good intentions, he would've intended to die for our sins, and then just not have done it. Isn't there a saying, something about the road to hell being paved with good intentions?
And don't get me started on the fact that it was Paul and Silas who were in Phillipi and baptized the Phillipian jailer. No where in the Bible does it say that Peter was in Rome (I don't think...correct me if I'm wrong). Not a very heartwarming and faith inspiring visit. Don't make our mistake.
Now, as I go and calm down, here's Char.

On that note let's talk about something that was inspiring. Yesterday to familiarize ourselves with the city  of Rome, we decided to take our own little walking tour. We started at the Coloseum where we took pictures of the outside (today we went inside the Colloseum, which was cool, but that's another story), from there we walked by the Roman Forum, and down that street and into a big white impressive looking building, which we think was the cultural heritage center or something. We really don't know. From there we wondered to the Piazza Navona,  and looked at a Bernini fountain, and then from there we made our way to the Pantheon. Let me tell you about the Pantheon. The building was first built for the pagan gods of the time, like Venus, and a few others I can't really remember, and then with the rise of christianity the building survived because it was turned into a church and the statues of pagan gods were replaced with saints. But the most amazing thing about the Pantheon is an archutectural wonder because it is circular and you can fit a perfect sphere inside the building. There is also a 9 meter occulus at the very top that allow sun and rain in. The floor is also built on a slight slant so as to drain whatever water comes through the top. When we got there, it was 2 in the afternoon and the beam of light through the occulus was pretty cool. I think, for me, it was one of those "I can't believe I'm here" moments. I remember studying it in art history class and telling myself that one day I wanted to stand in that building and look through the occulus. It's pretty incredible in life when some of the things that you only dream about become a reality, and sometimes waiting for them makes the reality that much more significant. It was definately a high light for me.

I think that's all for now. We are going to rest and nurse our sunburns. 34 can be really really hot when you are on marble and pavement. Until later, Caio