From rubbish to cubby holes to nappys

Cheers from Ireland -- the beautiful land of the drinkers!
Woweee... I'm sitting in a internet cafe in Ennis (a place where we were only planning to make a transfer... but hopefully more on that later). Man, there is sooooo much to tell! We have been in Ireland for 31/2 days now and it has been tiring, incredible, wearisome, unbelievable and always an adventure. Well, I'll see how much I can write in the 50 minutes I have left.
We had our first roadblock about an hour before we left for the airport to fly to England. Trish went to call our second hostel (it was the first one we were staying in, in Ireland -- for 2 nights) and she found out that they had given our beds away because we didn't confirm eariler... when she had told us to call the day before!!!!!! Man, I had choice words for that lady. So we had nowhere to sleep and we hadn't even got to Ireland yet! And as you might have guessed it.. yes, I had my first breakdown. :) Ah.. emotional me. But we can rejoice in God's faithful hand because both nights we managed to find a place to sleep for fairly good prices! Hallelujah! And we got to see some things we otherwise wouldn't have seen.
So yeah, after that emotional little ride, we managed to make it to England even though we had another scare because our plane was delayed. But we made it to our hostel by 1 in the morning so we were relatively happy! Then it was up again at 6 to make the train to Ireland. Yeah, no sleep. We took a ferry ride across the chanel inbetween ireland and england. Let me tell you... it was the WORST ferry ride I have EVER taken. There were people throwing up, yes VOMITING, to the left, right, front and back... and everyone else had barf bags in hand! Thankfully I had taken some gravol (yeah for gravol!) and I learned how to breathe with the roll of the rather large waves so I didn't throw up at all... The only good thing about the trip (other than either of us actually throwing up) was the breathtaking Welsh coast and the fact that we saw live dolphins!!!! Yeah, it was sooo cool! They weren't really close to the boat but we definately saw fins!
We also had our run in with our first troup of noisy, drinking, rowdy, but friendly Irish boys.. er men. They were on the ferry and surrounded us on the connecting bus. They were alot of fun though and really fun to talk to. Man those accents!!! I could melt.
Anyways, we have now spent two days touring the beautiful Ireland. My cousin once told me that he has never seen so many shades of green in his life in Ireland. I couldn't agree with him more. Ireland is all mountains, rolling hills of patches of different shades of green, surrounded by trees, with grazing sheep and cows. It is sooo beautiful here it takes your breath away.
In the past two days we have done so much! -- We went to our first castles (Castle of Cahir, Rock of Cashel and Ross Castle) all of which were soooo impressive. The Rock of Cashel was up on a hill so it stood as a huge fortress over all the city.. AMAZING. The other two castles were equally as wonderful -- Cahir castle was just kind of plopped in the middle of Cahir, and ross Castle we had a tour through old rooms and stuff -- really fascinating. We also went to an Irish Music fesitval which was very very fun! People filled the streets, celtic music was everywhere, there was an area where everyone was doing traditional dancing (an old man on the bus told me that if he saw me he would ask me for a dance... what is with me and old men??? But it was cute and no, I never saw him..) and there were vendors selling all kinds of Irish things. We also took a biking trip in Killarney. We biked through the paths in Killarney National Park -- Mountains all around and ruins and waterfalls and open water. It was indescribable. It was worth it, no matter how sore our rear ends were the next day (and after about 4 hours of biking.. they were SORE).
Today has been our first real let down day. We had planned to go to the Cliffs of Moher today and then travel to Dublin tonight. Well, we're still traveling to Dublin tonight but we're not seeing the Cliffs of Moher. We traveled on the train alll day today and got to Ennis (which is where I am writing right now). Ennis is a really nice town and it's kind of nice just to relax and walk around the town, but it would have been nicer to go to the cliffs. What happened was that when we got to Ennis, we found out that the bus from the cliffs wouldn't be back to Ennis until 7 and by that time we would have missed the train to Dublin. We also realized that we could have used our student cards for the bus system -- which we used all day Saturday, spending about 70 Euros -- and saved some of our money. So we had two big frustrations in one day. Not good for emotional Steph who is on lack of sleep. And so we kind of rode the trian all the way out to Ennis for nothing and now we have about 3 hours before the next one comes. Thank goodness we found this cafe so we could make good use of our time! I could have cried. Poor Trish has to deal with me right now.. not pretty. I can be kind of testy when put in these kind of situations on sleep deprivation, as some of you well know. But we will get through it and tomorow will be a better day! It's not a too big of a loss because heck, we're still in Ireland of all things and we're healthy and safe and there's lots to do in Ennis. But the student prices thing is a real real shame. It makes me really mad to think of it, but there's nothing we can do now so oh well.
Well, we're off now to go shopping. :)
Tomorow it's time to hit Dublin -- it will be nice to stay put in a city for a little bit.. we have been traveling every day so far. It wears you down after a little bit.
Anyways --- I could gush on and on and on about the wonderful and beautiful sites I'm seeing here (if you ever get the chance -- go to IRELAND!!!!) but we should be going.. I still have 18 minutes left and we want to do some other things..
Cheers
Steph (with imput from Trish, who sits here beside me)
PS. Go to my friend Joel's concert on the 10th of Sept. at Waterloo stage theatre!! www.joelg.ca (we'll be there so you can talk to us about our trip! there's incentive for ya...)

There and back again

Hello again! I am writing from my aunt and uncle’s house again… hopefully this will go through. :) It’s been two days since I last wrote. I have been all over Holland in those two days! Not being a very big country, that’s not hard to do. Let me try to sum up… Yesterday we went to Freisland which is where my father grew up. Freisland is a Dutch province but it has its own language that, to me, sounds exactly like Dutch, but Mom tells me it is not at all the same. I got to see where my father grew up, where he was born, where he went to school etc etc. It was soo fascinating. We also went to this graveyard in Schraad where all my Elgersma ancestors are buried.. Man, I’ve never seen so many dead Elgersma’s in one place! I have a new reason to love Holland… this country is full of wandering cats! They are everywhere!!!! We walked through a little fishing town today called Markem and I saw at least 4 or 5.. most of which were friendly. Yesterday too I made friends with many a cat. And if there are no cats then there are sheep, chickens, horses or cows! I love it! My family was joking that while they’re here to see the sights.. I’m here to see the animals! :) Today we headed back to my aunt and uncle’s house but we took most of the day to get there. We stopped in a World War Two museum that had 7 bunkers from World War Two. You could walk through them and stuff.. It was soo incredible! I managed to smack my head on one of the entrances – yeah, that one smarted – that was hard cement. I don’t know how I managed to do these things. While at the museum, my dad ran into people that knew his family.. we talked to all the volunteers there.. each for about 10 minutes.. what friendly people! Too bad I can’t understand their language. One of the men knew my dad’s uncle .. and then when we were watching the video in the museum, my dad’s aunt was one of the 5 people who was interviewed in the movie!! She lived across the Iiselmeer (big lake) from the bunkers. You could see her house from the top of the bunkers (she’s no longer living so we didn’t visit her). So that was really neat… it made me proud to be an Elgersma! Other than that we have been relaxing. Tomorrow Trish and I leave for England. I’m a little nervous because we won’t be getting much sleep… by the time we get to our hostel it will be about 1:00 and then we have to leave again around 6:30… Oh well, we can sleep in the train. So I don’t know if I’ll be able to write for a couple days.. I believe our first hostel does not have internet access and we will be there for 2 nights. I’ll have to fill you all in when we get to Killarney. Holland is such a wonderful country, but a little wet right now. For the most part, the weather has been good, but we have hit rain more than once. Today at the bunker museum, we left to go to the car and it started to pour buckets… and since we were on a dike it hit us hard! :) We had to cross a bridge and walk a little bit to get to the car so by the time we got there we were absolutely drenched!!!! I hate sitting in the car in wet clothes. We stopped at the first gas station we could find and changed in the bathroom… they gave us some weird looks! Speaking of bathrooms, it’s kind of a game here to figure out how the different toilets here work. For the most part, they have a button on the top that you push, but my aunt’s house has a cord and other ones have been different too… nothing like in Canada.Anyways… I have been enjoying all the time spent here.. Trish and I slept in the loft yesterday which was pretty fun.. We watched a lightening storm from the top of the house. I actually finished a book which surprised me – Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. A very good read I might add. Well, time to go watch the Olympics.. in Dutch. We have found out that Canada now has 6 medals! PROPS -- Way to go! Although we’re still not beating this tiny country over here… But we still don’t know what the medals were for.. if someone wants to email me with some info I won’t mind. Alright – talk to you later… doeg

Rainy days

Hello again! Goet morning! It is 12 at night again here in Holland, I don’t know how I manage to do this so late when I should be sleeping. It will cost me I’m sure. You might have noticed some problems with the last blog.. blame that on computer troubles. What a headache! But that is all over. : ) Well, I feel like it is the first time I can sit at ease and chat away about my trip! I have done this once before but we lost the whole thing so the next one was short and sweet. But I’m writing this up in Word so if I loose it it won’t be such a big loss. I love Holland! We have left my aunt and Uncle’s house for 3 days. We are now in the Dutch province of Drente, where my mother was born. The past weekend was spent in serene relaxation with my aunt and uncle. I saw some of my cousins (one of which I had never met) and we took a walk out to a windmill. We had coffee and coffee and coffee and coffee … etc outside all day and the weather was beautiful! The cows were out grazing in the fields and came and checked us out a number of times. Man if I had a loonie everytime someone offered me coffee I would be stinking rich! I am so stuffed full of food and drink I don’t think I will eat again for days. But I will. Because it will be offered. Again and again and again.So yah, today we left for Drente in the morning. We rented a really cool car (the cars here are sooo small!! I love them! Joel, we saw a really great Volk’s wagon… it was a sweet little car!) and travelled most of the morning. We stopped in a little fishing town called Urk. I wish you guys could have seen it. The houses here were all connected and they had no lawns – all brick. The streets kind of bend around the houses and are so narrow they look like large sidewalks! It’s amazing. We went out the dike too but it was raining out so we didn’t stay too long. From there we went to my Oom Harm and Tante Reike’s house. I don’t recall the name of the town but it’s near Assen. They are my mom’s aunt and uncle. With them we travelled all around the area and they showed us where my mother lived (or where my mother would have lived – the house was levelled a long while ago) and different significant places that had to do with my Opa in the war. It was soooo fascinating. But yah, then we went back, filled ourselves with supper and coffee and visited my Oom Hank and Tante Iitje in Assen. There we got a tour from my Oom Harm’s grandsons (who were, unfortunately, 12 and15). It was a little difficult with the language barrier but we managed. Now we are back at the house in Drente and planning to leave tomorrow for Friesland, where my father grew up. We’ll see if we can write. I wish I could speak more Dutch, it’s proving to be quite the hinderence and annoyance, but hey, that’s why I have my parents along! Hope you’re all doing well Steph
Hey Everyone!
This is Steph's lovely sister Trish. Yesterday we lost my message so I thought I'd say hi here. I'm enjoying Holland very much, although I think that if I eat one more piece of food I will burst. They never stop here. Although it helps that I have started drinking coffee (AHH!) so I don't have to worry about falling asleep into my food. Before I never thought I would marry a Dutchman, but if I stay here much longer I just might! There is something very attractive about a tall, blond, blue-eyed Dutchman riding a bike and speaking Dutch. Although our tour guides today were a bit young for me! Well, love you all and hope you're enjoying the monotony of everyday life in Canada or elsewhere :)
Trish

Exactly what time is it???

Hello from Holland!
It is currently 12:30 Am on August 23.. so that means it’s about 6:00 in the afternoon in Ontario…. Supper time! That explains why I was mowing down on the chips!
Well, I got through my first airplane ride.. It was beautiful! I love flying! It is the craziest feeling in the world .. I can’t even begin to describe it. One minute you’re on the ground going crazy speeds.. the next you’re off the ground and looking at all the scenery. I never knew Toronto had so many trees! This can’t be too long because my mom wants to go to bed and the computer is in her room. Blech. What can I say about Holland??? It is soo beautiful! I love it here.. I’m staying with my aunt and uncle … they live in a adorable little house – both yards are covered in flowers and shrubs and beside the house is a sloten (that is what it is called in Dutch I believe – it is a canal of sorts) and on the other side are cows grazing on an open field – no more than two feet away! It’s amazing… It is soo peaceful and serene.
Tomorrow (or I guess today) we are leaving for Drente and Friesland which are the places where my parents were born. I don’t know how much blogging I’ll be able to do. So far internet access has been difficult because my aunt and uncle don’t have cable and the internet has been very frustrating. Jet lag wasn’t too bad.. I slept a lot yesterday  We’ve done a lot of walking and it’s so wonderful!
Anyways I must be going.. We wrote a much longer blog two hours ago but it didn’t make it through. FRUSTRATING. We love it here and I hope I can write more later.
I saw my first windmill today! Very cool!
Love you all
Steph

And we're off!

Good Morning! This is my blog.. yes... I've finally joined the ranks of blog users...Anyways, the purpose of this blog is so that people can check in with me on my big excursion to Europe! I'll try to post as often as I can seeing as most of our hostels have internet access … but we don't have a ton of time for sitting at a computer.. there’s too much of the world to see!Ahh.. and maybe you're wondering about the title? Well, most literary types will have no difficulty figuring out where that one came from... but for those of you who may not be so literary (I don't hold it against you.. but you are kind of missing out) the Eagle and Child is a pub in Oxford, England (also, incidently, a place where I will be visiting) where the Inklings (C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and co) met to discuss all sorts of things... And since I love both of those authors and I will be visiting this quaint little place – it is my title.So yeah, follow me as I take you on a magical journey to far away lands, castles and every colour of green you've ever imagined. Oh yeah.