A little bit of a Summary....

Well I have a few moments as I am waiting for my tour to begin to Volendam, Marken and a windmill village. I decided that a day out of the city would be a nice change so I am looking forward to it. The day is sunny but from the heat of 47 degrees in Barcelona to the brisk 23 degrees in Amsterdam, I am packing a sweater for the first time in almost 5 weeks.

You know when I look back on all of my posts there is so much that I have not said. It was always the toss up between getting back out there and walking or talking or touring and updating my blog. I hope that when I get back I will sit down and go through each of my days and try to remember what I did and who I met and write it down with words so that I can one day look back on this blog with a smile of rememberance.

I expect that when I return to the "real world" I will not have time to blog (or at least not make the time). I have had fleeting thoughts of what my life will look like over the next 4 months and I realize the busyness...but...those thoughts have been very fleeting I must admit. Who knew that I could live without a blackberry, an IPOD, a watch, or constant access to a computer. But this trip has been good for me. I have never taken a month off in my working adult life before. Even for my son's wedding last year in england I took journals and put in a couple of hours a day. However, I haven't looked at work emails and every day has been just about "experience". It is funny because you would think that days would drag when you rise in the wee hours and go to bed in the wee hours but there is just not enough hours in the day.

It is funny, this moring the guy at the hostel desk commented that he figured I was Canadian. One is that I am traveling by myself without a "boyfriend" were his words. Apparently Canadian women are more likely to travel alone. In addition, I get up earlier than anyone in the hostel and go for a walk and he says Canadian women do this...lol.

This hostel I have been staying at has been wonderful. It is certainly not the nicest room of my trip but it is very clean, great breakfast included, great price, and I love the people. Everytime I walk in the owner of the hotel calls out, "Hey, Canada" and the guys I am sharing a room with are fantastic. All of us are so different but we are thrown into this intimate situation. I actually thought they were a bit thrown too when they arrived in the room to discover that they had a female roomate. I actually think the owner of my hotel (the one that calls me "Canada" did this on purpose. I am sure there are other dorms with single females in them (although I must admit the ratio of men to women here is about 3 to 1). I told the owner that I have told all my friends in canada that I am sharing a room with four guys and one who I have yet to talk to, but I know his speedo tan lines intimately...he thought this was hilarious.

My Roomate Mark....30 years old...condo owner in Calgary...computer tech...threw it all in to come to Europe to get stoned and find the meaning of life. Shoulder length black curly hair, tall, great body...nice eyes if they weren't slitted most of the time...lol. Has no idea when he is going home...

My Roomate JP...24 years...masters student in Chemistry at McGill. On a round the world trip (which I am pretty sure his parents are paying for). socially awkward but the first night I got to the hostel he was the only one in the room and once he found out I was at a university (and we had a few drinks) he loosened up. The other guys said he hadn't talked to them in the two days he had been there. So it seems I am living up to my reputation and I have the four of us having a bit of a "relationship"of sorts. Now the four of us go for breakfast each morning and at night we laugh until we turn out the lights, teasing each other about our days. Ok, mine was when I couldn't figure out how to open the door to our room and Marty had to help me...the three glasses of wine did not help...lol.

My Roomate Marty...35 ish....From Austrailia (Canberra)...right in Allison's neck of the woods. He is shy but has a great sense of humour when you get to know him. He and I are the two most likely to do the sightseeing stuff so we hung out yesterday and then went for a nice dinner last night. He is on a 6 month travel to see if he wants to come to work in the US or ?. He is a web designer. Probably the most conservative of the three guys (plays golf, hangs out with his friends at the pub and drinks beer, and works). At a crossroads in his life (by his admission and wants to make sure he doesn't settle into a rut). Not really into the coffee houses like the other two. We went to the Heiniken brew pub yesterday and did a bike tour and had a blast.

Ok...my bus tour calls but I wanted to write a bit down for my future reference while it was fresh in my mind.

Hopefull I will get a couple more posts in but alas Canada is calling...sigh.

j:)