Cameron - Ice Climbing

I thought you said Goat - Mountain Goat

Cam has been ice climbing in Banff. He is back in Canmore since they have had some major snowfalls and he can not continue to climb until the snow pack stabilized. He got these pictures one of the days on his ice climbs.

Wapta Ice Fields

Cam has spent the last week ski mountaineering on the Wapta ice fields on the Columbia Glacier. According to him, they use a type of ski where the binding can lock and unlock the heal. This way you can cross country ski and downhill on the same skis. When they are ascending, skins are placed on the base of the skis from tip to tail, this grips the snow and the ski acts like a snowshoe. Temperature on the glacier dropped to -30 c. Ouch!!! They got to warm up each night at the sleeping huts along the trail. This week he is ice climbing with crampons and ice axes - and then off for some avalanche training. Dec 8 he comes home. We really miss him. The picture is from one of the huts. Hey where is the hot tub!! Not!

Sicily 2012 - Friday Sept 28, return Sunday Oct. 7

Based on a group of 6.

 

Return Flights  - $1,169 (pp, taxes included) Air Atalia.  Fly out Friday Sept 28, return Sunday Oct. 7

 

Accoms           -  $250 (pp, not sure if taxes are included, i have an email out to a company).  there are many villas, apt's, homes to choose from.

                         -  We could pay up a bit more for a property on the ocean with spectacular views

                         -  As a starting point, I did a search for properties in the Messina region - about 1 1/2 hour drive from Etna. 

                         -  http://www.sicilyrentals.com/accommodation_sicily.htm

 

Auto Rental     -  $340 (pp, taxes etc, inlcuded) This is a van similar to our van in Spain.

 

Trail Guide      -  http://www.wikiloc.com/trails/hiking/italy/sicily

 

Total - $1,759

 

Let's begin thinking about this......

 

Great to see all you guys last night.   We'll need a 'planning dicussion/meeting' before xmass perhaps!

 

Jack

England - Great Expectations ... And beyond!

Yes its Anglo- centric ....but England surpassed all my expectations. I am not sure what I was really expecting, maybe people dressed like Austin Powers and all they ate was fish and chips. The reality was my impressions must have been influenced from my trip 25 years ago. What I remember is bad food, cranky hotel owners and a general sense of annoyance. Was it me and my Europe on $10 a day. Who knows but my impressions are completely different. The people we met at inns and restaurants were friendly and polite. The Cambridge country side was beautiful. Maybe it was the weather, usually higher temperatures for November 18-19c and virtually no rain. But the countryside was truly beautiful with a sustainable feel to the farms and villages. Cambridge is a dream town. Quaint but very cosmopolitan with it's pedestrian downtown and spectacular university buildings, shops and numerous restaurants. Our boat ride on the Cam river was one of the highlights of our trip passing colleges once occupied by Sir Isaac Newton and Rodger Waters of Pink Floyd.
The trains were on time and we headed into London. London continues to be a crazy paced city but with it's parks and continental cafes it was easy to get away from the busy work day bustle. There are plans to return in the spring and maybe even a guys trip to Scotland or Wales.

London - Nov 4&5

Arriving in London we emerged out of the train station to find Big Ben looking down on us in the rain. We found the hotel after a few tries. It looked down on Victoria Train station with easy access to subway and walking distance to the major sites in London.
That evening we visited a posh bar called the Library and sampled £20 cashew as we drank scotch and martinis. A jazz piano played in the corner with the pianist winking at the patrons as he played. We walk pass Buckingham Palace and headed to a pub.
The next day we had an English breakfast in a quaint sidewalk cafe before heading to the V&A museum. This museum housed a collection of British art and artifacts.
After we headed to Hyde Park and walk beside the Serpentine Pond. We head to Ford & Mason winded pass the palace and Green and St. James Park. The parks in the centre of the city add a relative calm to the fanatic pace of London. The streets are very busy as people rush to work and remember to look left when crossing the street or the taxi driver will surely run you over.
We walked along the river to the Millennium Bridge, St. Paul's then Fleet Street.
We then popped (as they say) onto the Tube (subway) and headed to Soho where we met David (Carol's stepbrother) and Helen for a wonderful Lebanese food.
We have had a fantastic trip and can only say the time went by to quickly.

Ely Cathedral - Nov 3

In the morning we checked out the church in Wilburton. A very beautiful parish church of St. Peters. It looked very old but well used with it's parishioners personal kneeling cushions.
Later we headed to the cathedral at Ely built 1000 years ago and in fabulous restored condition. We took a tour to one of the highest towers then lunched in a terrific restaurant call The Fire Hall.
We then hopped onto the train and found our hotel. Were planning to head out to dine and see some sites.

A Day in Cambridge - Nov 2

We spent a wonderful day wandering the streets of Cambridge. My feeling about a city is not whether there are 20 museums or 50 cathedrals but whether it is a pleasant city to walk in. Cambridge delivers. We walked the streets past all the different colleges each with it's claim to fame. Cambridge has the largest number of Nobel prizes with famous students like sir Isaac Newton, Gandi, Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) and Prince Charles.
We ate Dim Sum at Charlie Chans and the Carol and I went punting on the Cam. Punting is a type of boat where a person poles the boat down the river along the different colleges. We finished of the day with some shopping where I bought myself a new hat. Check it out!!

Cambridge - The Scott Polar Museum

Nov 1st saw us visited the Polar Museum in Cambridge. There was a Roald Amundsen exhibit from Norway on display. Amundsen was Scott's arch rival, so to speak, for he beating Scott to the south pole. The sign-in book was somewhat foreboding, It read "really boring" and by the hand writing obviously written from a young boy more interested in playing football, than spending the day in a stuffy museum. None the Less I enjoyed the museum it was well organized with short concise exhibits. Carol and Granny Joan seemed to enjoy although I'm not sure they were just being stoic. Cambridge is a wonderful "college" town with many shops and bookstores. It would be wonderful to come and study here.