Movin’ On

Big day today. We’ve left Europe and are on our way to our next continent and adventures in…Africa! We had a late flight out of Rome, via Ethiopia to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. We checked out of our Airbnb in Roma at 10am yesterday and will arrive in Zimbabwe at 12:30pm. With time changes that’s 24.5 hours of travel. The boys have travelled well and are becoming great backpackers. Thankfully, we have a day to catch our breath before our tour begins in Zimbabwe. The kids are looking forward to swimming in the pool at the lodge. Apparently there is a watering hole visible from the hotel so we may just see some animals too! Just so long as we don’t confuse the pool with the watering hole all should be o.k.

This is all new territory for us and we look forward with excitement and a little bit of apprehension. Europe with the kids was easy as we’ve been a few times (without the boys) so we knew the ropes and what to expect, for the most part. Other than realizing travelling with kids is very different, we’ve have no major issues or surprises.

More posts about Africa to follow as our days unfold.

View from Prague Castle

Europe. What can we say. It’s been amazing. We’ve seen so much, learned so much. We have more than a few “oh my gosh I can’t believe we are really here” moments. Our favourite city was probably Prague, Czech Republic; a truly beautiful city. Cesky Krumlov, also in Czech Republic, was like a fairy tale and we’d encourage anyone who has the opportunity to visit. It’s breathtaking.

Szechenyi Thermal Baths, Hungary

Budapest was also wonderful and we especially enjoyed the Szechenyi Thermal Baths. We spent the better part of a day there and loved every minute. Huge, warm, thermal baths to soak and play in on a cold day? Doesn’t get better than that! I think the kids also enjoyed the break from castles and churches.

We’ve had a few people ask if we are home sick. Of course….there’s no place like home (especially when home is Canada)

What do we miss? (besides obviously family and friends)? The kids found Halloween difficult as the traditional “trick or treating” we have in Canada didn’t exist in Nuremberg, where we found ourselves on Oct 31. No costumes to wear or pumpkins to carve. So we made due, bought some candy, went back to our apartment and the kids asked us to hide the candy for them to find. They “invented” a new tradition that they called “Halloweaster”. They say they are also missing “Canadian Kraft Dinner” and their Legos. Living out of a backpack makes buying new toys difficult. The boys know for every thing they buy something has to go as their backpacks are already quite heavy. We’re trying to teach them to trade the “material” for memories.

I’m missing my full size washing machine (actually I’ve been doing a lot of laundry by hand as we often don’t have any washer). When we are lucky enough to have appliances they are small! Just no room in Europe for a big Maytag I guess. I’m also missing Cover Girl mascara (I spent 20 Minutes the other day trying to find something similar to my old faithful). David says he misses good old Canadian maple syrup (although we were able to find some in the UK and at a bed and breakfast we stayed at in Bordeaux, France).

Joking aside, these are all minor “inconveniences” that we gladly exchange for this opportunity to encounter the world. We’ve gained so much and experienced so much as a family in our 14 weeks away. We’ve had times when we realize just how much the boys are experiencing and taking in. On one instance we found ourselves eating dinner at a beach side restaurant in Cinque Terre. While waiting for dinner to arrive the boys were playing on the beach and came running back to tell us that someone had made a mini Stonehenge with rocks in the sand. It occurred to us that until a few months ago this display of rocks wouldn’t have meant anything to them.

When they make levels in Minecraft their creations now include the Eiffel Tower, The Cliffs or Moher, Dunrobbin Castle, The Tower of London and subway stations.

When they answer their IXL English school questions they recognize names like Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, Emperors Hadrian and Caesar. They’ve not only read about or watched a video about these things….they’ve been there. They’ve seen them, walked them, touched them (except Stonehenge, that would be frowned upon 🙂

With Love,

The Travelling Babins

“All that glitters is not gold, and all who wander are not lost” -J.R.R. Tolkien