Montreal

Left Gander yesterday with our backpacks in tow very much looking forward to our adventure...

We arrived in Montreal to a really hot day and made our way to our accommodation Hotel l'Institute on Rue St Denis, We chose this part of Montreal as all reports say that it is more French than the west section of downtown near Crescent, an area in which we always stay.
St.Denis is in the Latin Quarter with great streets to stroll, parks to sit in and lots of outdoor bars and cafes.Sitting outside to eat and drink is always one of our great pleasures wherever we go.It is such a treat to be able to do this since we don't get much opportunity at home.
Monday night we walked just up the street to Cafe Cherrier which is a local bistro.I had a wonderful glass of rose wine and a spinach salad with smoked trout.Don opted for a beer and a ham and cheese sandwich!

Rue St Denis

Hotel lobby

Our first of many drinks this trip!

Today was another hot day 40 with the humidex.We were up early to a great breakfast at the hotel ( poached eggs on smoked salmon) and then we took the subway to Little Italy and a visit to Jean Talon Market.This market has been in existence since 1934 and is the largest outdoor market in Quebec. Lots of great fruits and vegetables and so cheap! Only wished that Sobeys and Dominion had the same suppliers!!

Lots of beautiful fresh produce and flowers

Don making his way through the crowds at the market.

Tommorrow we leave for an overnight flight to Vienna.Will connect again from there...

The day of departure is almost here!!

Well we are leaving in the morning  for the first leg of our trip from Gander to Montreal for a couple of days. The backpacks are packed  but are still a little too heavy for my liking.I tried editing 4 times and it is down to this though I am not opposed to throwing out as I go!!

I am enclosing a map of our trip through Eastern Europe so everyone can see where this trip will take us. I am starting to get a few butterflies that I always get before a big trip, a liitle excitement as well as apprehension as to what lies ahead and what adventures are in store.

I will connect again from Montreal...

Name Change

Seems as if we now have some younger followers so our blog title had been tamed a bit for less than mature audiences. We are on the countdown now just a week before we leave. Euros are bought, papers are in order and now we still have to fiqure out our backpacks. I have repacked mine three times.Don leaves his until the last moment!!
I am trying to fiqure out the weather in Eastern Europe and Turkey for the next two months. Right now it is 24 in Vienna so that calls for cool clothing but what do I need to wear to visit a mountain top monastery in Slovakia later in the month??
I guess it is all about layers!!

What's in a name?

Hope no one is offended with the title of our blog.( Where the f***k are we now?)It is meant to be a take on Don's usual commentary as we end up in many strange places! The title came from a brain storming session when the girls were home. I am tagging Anne Marie as the author, whether she admits it or not!!

Packing

Now that the girls and their families have returned home and the house is quiet again, it is time to turn our minds to packing for our trip. This requires some planning as we will be gone for two months and we can only carry what fits into our small backpacks. We need clothes that are multipurpose, wears and washes well and can roll up to very little. A limited color palette helps...what about brown, black and white with a little green and blue thrown in for color?? ( you can click on any of the pics to make them bigger )

Now how to fit it all in???


 

First Post

This is our first post for our new blog about our upcoming travels.In the past we have attempted to keep a travel diary with little success so we thought a blog might be the answer.
We are going to Europe in the fall of 2010 and will use this blog to keep track of our travels.
We hope you enjoy our stories and photos.
Debbie and Don