Yumi and Thomas

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

New Forest

Another trip, yet short and much closer to civilisation than usual...Not that we were not prepared anyway! :)

We knew it would be wet. It always is when we travel with Justin and Kasia :)

Being close to civilisation (i.e. pub) is a perfect opportunity to pack light. No worries, we'll be fine even if we forget something. We barely had spare clothing and took a summer sleeping bag (Thomas didn't learn from Dartmoor last year, when he froze his French ass in a hammock). It helped reducing our backpacks' weight considerably. Ideal for our RTW trip!

We arrived in Brockenhurst on Friday night and headed straight to the campsite (for once!). it was crazy, there were hot water and showers! We are not used to such luxury when we travel.

It was good fun as we built a shelter in the forest. The funny funny thing is that it was pissing rain when we built it, and it all stopped when we finished it. So we ate...next to our shelter. :)

We walked "off the track" as much as possible, but in the New Forest, you are never far from a track (or a massive pile of poo...).

It was a chilled out weekend, no need to rush, so more time to look around, and Yumi is now motivated to go to the forest and learn which trees/plants/mushrooms are good for you.

Interestiiiiing...

Friday, April 9, 2010

US Road trip 2011 - Premiere !!

THAT'S IT !

We've drawn the first ish-route for our American road trip, which will be the 5th country (after Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador) we'll cross for our "Round The World Visit 2011"

If you know any nice place to trek in or visit, let us know! Thanks!

New York - Boston - Chicago - Saint Louis - Salt Lake City - Portland - San Francisco - Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Monument Valley - Los Angeles.

6,222 miles.
Ish.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Scotland ! Easter Break

A few weeks ago, Yumi and I were thinking about were to go for the Easter break. Yumi came up with a great idea: Let's ask Cédric and Audrey if we can go to THEIR place in Edinburgh.
20 minutes later it was sorted. We were going to Scotland for Easter! :)

Above near the "Scots Monument" in downtown Edinburgh

We left London on Thursday April 1st by train and visited Edinburgh on Friday. We packed our bags (light) and headed to Fort William, some 3h North West of "Auld Reekie -or "Old Smoky" in Scottish-.
Edinburgh was nicknamed "Old Smoky" because many years ago, when the buildings were heated by coal and wood fires, the chimneys would spew thick columns of smoke into the air. Oh, and Edinburgh is twinned with Nice in France. Waow, who feels more clever now?

We walked in the Highlands and saw a few abandoned castles. It was good to breath some fresh air, and on top of that, the weather was great. No Seriously. The sky was mostly blue.

Scottish Moo-moos or "Highland Cows"

Hike in the "Lost Valley".

The Lost Valley was where the Macdonalds were supposed to hide the cattle they had rustled from their neighbours, (or perhaps, where they hid their cattle to stop them being rustled by their neighbours, who the heck knows!?)

The cool part is that the geologists tell us that the lost valley was formed by the weight of ice that could not escape from the valley as the huge ice cap flowed down to the sea through the pass of Glencoe from off Rannoch Moor. The size of the valley still comes as a complete surprise the first time it is viewed.

Thomas got to kickass (himself) too

- Got crampons?

- Nope

- Doh!

After the "Lost Valley", we went back to "home" but couldn't help taking some stunning pics from "Les Hautes-Terres D'Ecosse", which -let's be honest- sounds much better to be written in French.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Last day in St Louis

Allo, Allo,

The program of the day was a short visit to the local Anheuser-Bush Brewery (Home of Budweiser and a few other brands, which equals 50% of the national consumption of alcohol. Crazy). The visit of the brewery was quick and fun...and we had a free sample. Yay!

The plan was to go to the ice rink in Forrest Park in the afternoon. Forest Park is one of the largest urban parks in the world, exceeding Central Park in New York City. The weather was great, it was a first try to Meli while Yumi, Tiff and Carlos hadn't ice skated in 15 years. Nobody fell and apart from sore feet and shins, everybody was all smiles.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

SLU basketball game

Brandy, Tiff's friend and a St. Louis native, came over and made us a feast of ribs, potato salad and baked macaroni and cheese. The mac and cheese almost didn't happen as the boys forgot to buy the pasta.

While the girls had a night in, Thomas and Carlos became "Billikens" for a night. "Billiken" is the name of St Louis college teams.

Tonight was SLU vs. Rhode Island. The Americans are crazy about sports. There was the national anthem -as usual- sung by a 8,000 strong crowd. For a College Basketball game! Even our best basketball or volleyball teams don't get that in France (I won't even mention the UK here...) ! They also have a shop in the arena where you can buy the team's merchandising, caps, shirts, fleece, just like a pro team!

The Billikens were really bad in the first half, trailing RH by 10 points at the intermission, but came back and played some great basketball to claim the game by 7. The atmosphere was amazing.

It was a really good experience...

Interesting fact about the Billiken:

The Billiken is a charm doll created by an art teacher and illustrator from St. Louis, Missouri. It is an elf-like creature with pointed ears, a mischievous smile and a tuft of hair on his pointed head. To buy a Billiken gives the purchaser luck, but to have one given to you is better luck. The Billiken was one of the first copyrighted dolls and the first likenesses of the Billiken, banks and statues, were produced in 1909. After a few brief years of popularity, like many other fad toys, the Billiken faded into obscurity.

Today, the Billiken is the official mascot of Saint Louis University and St. Louis University High, both located in Saint Louis, Missouri.

St Louis city museum...

It's some weird cross between an amusement park, a warehouse and some antique shop. We went to play outside in some tubular, fencing like bridges. We had some concerns about the security of these "bridges" but it was fun.