Here's the last journals from our Europe trip. I know they're not the best, that there's not literary purpose, and that there's errors and gaps. I don't really care about that. The reason I wrote the journals was to chronicle what I went through and to record my thoughts on events that happened while we were in Europe. In any case, here's journals 16 on. I hope you enjoy reading them.

God Bless.

Journal 15

Having so much fun over here! We went into Amsterdam today and spent most of it wandering around. I bought a Netherlands flag, but only a small one because I didn't have the 40 some euros for the full size. We wandered past some sketchy shops, the t-shirts were hilarious. Take the McDonalds golden 'm' and turn it into a pair of spread legs and add "I'm loving it." Just ridiculous. Then there was "Good boys go to heaven, bad girls go to Amsterdam." These people, I tell you. We had lunch at an American style restaurant, and took a boat tour of the canals. I would highly recommend one to any who want to visit Amsterdam. You see a lot and learn some interesting stuff too. As we headed back to the train station, we passed through part of the Red Light District. It was getting dark, so some places were open for business. It was insane the stuff you could see and purchase there. Apparently (according to a booklet I was given by a fellow Canadian) the basic package of about 1/2 an hour starts at about 50 euro. I think it contains a few minutes of fore-play along with intercourse, and the condoms are free. Prices go up from there. And the stories I've been told about mirrors and children, were either not true or didn't apply to that neighborhood. Curtis saw everything I did. Anyway, we leave for a different part of the Netherlands tomorrow. I have to remember that Holland is actually a province, not the country. And the Gelderland from the movie "A Knight's Tale" is another province. Pretty sweet!

Journal 14

First night in Holland was pretty good. Uncle Andre and Aunt Denise arrived today, after a little mix up. They came in at one part of the train station, and since they couldn't find me and Dad, they took a taxi to our campsite. Meanwhile, Dad and I are thinking they should have been here by now, so we talked to the people at information and asked them to send a message to the station by the airport and page Uncle Andre and Aunt Denise. Then we were going to take the train to the airport to look for them in case they hadn't gotten any of our messages. Dad and I were outside checking the van for a parking ticket, when Uncle Andre pulls up in a car. Anywho, we got back and everyone was where they were supposed to be. After lunch, Mom and Aunt Denise went grocery shopping, while Dad and my brothers and I went swimming, with Uncle Andre tagging along, though he didn't want to swim, he didn't want to sleep yet. Even though he'd been awake for nearly 24 hours. The pool was warm, something you rarely find back home, though it was fairly shallow. We fooled around for a bit, playing tag and wrestling in the water. There was this one girl who kept making eye contact with me, but I didn't think she spoke English and she seemed young, so I didn't make any advances. A few minutes before we left though, one of my brothers was 'it' and was chasing me so I was dodging underwater and swimming near a couple people. The girl happened to be one of them, and I saw she was doing barrel rolls underwater, so I swam close, but avoided being hit. I managed to dodge my brother, and the girl's sister told her how close she had come to hitting me. This was apparently uproarously funny to them. Anyway, long story short, she and I made some kind of contact, but I don't think I'll ever see her again or that anything will come of it. Not sure where she was from anyway. Uncle Andre and Aunt Denise went to bed early, and Mom quickly followed. The rest of us stayed up and watched District 9, which none of us had seen before. It was a rather graphic movie, but I thought it was really good. Interesting story that I haven't seen or heard too many times before. Some familiar themes though, which helped me relate to the film. Anywho, it is Saturday night, and we leave for another part of the Netherlands on Monday. If anyone reads this, I hope you are having a good season, and God bless you.

Journal Update

I haven't posted my journals in a while. Not every place we stay at has wifi so I have to save the entry on in a Word document and then load it later. I've really enjoyed Europe and for those of you who have me on Facebook or know me personally I will upload the pictures so you can view them, or I can bring my laptop along sometime and show you then. So, here's the link to my journals 4-13. Enjoy reading!

Day 2: Bike tour and a long walk home.

Getting up today was one of those slow, lazy mornings. We had a bike tour booked to go to, but despite the fact that we had an hour to find where-ever it was, we didn't hurry. We were close, but managed to find the place on time. Stacy, our tour guide, ran us through some basic things like staying together and if one gets lost, stay put.

The bike tour was awesome, definatly recommend it to people who want to see a whole lot of Berlin in style. We went from plaza to plaza. Or, platz, as they call them here. We saw the Fathers of Communisim, Humboldt University, and a great number of churches and cathedrals. We saw the zoo, ate excellent food at the zoo's restaurant, and visited Museum Island.

After the bike tour, we walked along some of the route we had biked, looking over things again.
There was one cathedral that I can't remember the name of, but I simply couldn't stop taking pictures of it. We wanted to go in and look around, but 1. We would've had to pay 2. The guy at the desk only spoke German, no English. Honestly, you work aorund tourists and expect to get away without speaking English? 3. Because of 2, we had great difficulty figuring out the price to go in. 4. When we eventually did figure it out, we decided it was too late and moved on. We saw lots and lots of carvings. You simply don't see them at home, it's so dull. We went to the Memorial for the Murdered European Jews. It looks really dull at first, but when you think about it, it seems to fit. The museum under the memorial was a sobering visit. I'm certain they desgined the entrance to feel like walking into a mausoleum. They had photos of families that had been totally destroyed, bits and pieces of letters from the camps, stories of survivors of the forced labour camps and the "cleansings". Some of the terminology that the Nazi command used is chilling. "Cleansing" has and obvious meaning: kill/wipe out. "Relocating" was used to talk about moving Jewish prisoners from one place to another. Scary, eh?

Day 1: Berlin & Bremen, Germany or Plane, Passport, Scissors

Going to the Toronto airport wasn't so bad, but getting on the plane and finding a seat took a fair amount of effort. The flight was pretty good. Minor turbulence with a side of stomach rolling went well with the meals. The food was suprisingly good, and in the time we flew from Toronto to Amsterdam, I managed to watch Clash of the Titans and Law-Abiding citizen. Two movies I have been meaning to watch for a long time.

Oh, for those of you wondering about the scissor comments between us and Ben, I'll explain. Our brilliant brother apparently forgot to empty his school backpack of school supplies before loading his travelling gear. Result: Toronto's airport security went through his bag until they found the scissors that this witty terrorist had hidden so cunningly inside.

Anywho, we arrived in Amsterdam without many mishaps, and then took a short cityhopper flight to Bremen, where I am writing this journal. We aquired a vehicle after my parents sorted out a misunderstanding where the rental company believed we were showing up on July 4, not July 5. So naturally, they gave the vehivle away and we had to get a different one. Our ride is a cool, shadow blue, VW Caddy Maxi. Small, but nice. Took Dad a few wrong turns to figure out the directions, but we got on our way to Berlin fairly quickly. However, the ride was a nightmare. For some reason, jet lag combined with my difficulty of sleeping during the day to create an irritating conundrum. I would start to fall asleep, but just as I was about to drift off, each time my body would do one of those weird jerky feelings and I would be wrenched back from the gates to Lala Land.

A few breaks later, where we streched and tried to wake ourselves up for the next leg of the journey, we arrived in Berlin. Berlin is awesome. That is the best way to describe this city. It's like walking into America's past and making everybody speak German. The architecture is incredibly similar, as is the art style and the fashion sense. I believe the current style of dress in this area is that of the lower-middle class, tattered clothing and converse. Classy, in it's own sort of way. I know a ocuple of people that would love it here. The restaurant we went to for supper was fantastic, even though the wait time was like emerg back home.

The weather is hot and sticky and muggy, but everybody is friendly and patient with our lack of German speaking skills. Lucky for us someone decided to encourage English as the major business language of the world, so most people in the stores know some, at least enough to understand us and help us out.

I think we only spend another day or so in Berlin. I'm looking forward to the bike tour.