Archive for: Travel

Tragic news from the UK

On Wednesday 7th April we received the worst news possible: that Chris’s daughter Samantha (Sam) who lives in the UK had died suddenly, she was only 25. No parent expects to outlive their children which makes this type of loss so much worse. The fact that we are in Canada just accentuates the whole thing. I cannot put into words the pain and loss we feel, particularly Chris of course. We are trying to get on with life, because that’s what you have to do, but it is so hard. This is when emigrating half way round the world seems like such a bad idea.

I feel so bloody useless. I am trying to offer as much support as I can to Chris whilst coping with my own feelings, neither of which I appear to be doing very well. Neither of us knows really how we feel or how we should be coping. This is so different to loosing a parent or grandparent and it seems so senseless. One minute you feel reasonably okay, then bam it hits you all over again.

The autopsy did not reveal a cause of death and so far it is looking like she simply went to sleep and never woke up. The best possible way for anyone to leave this world, but all the more devastating to those left behind as we cannot see a reason for it. A few more tests are going to be carried out which might shed some light, but who knows.

It is at times like this though when friends and family really show their true colours and ours have been wonderful. We have had so many people expressing their sympathy and support  in many different ways. It doesn’t make anything better but it certainly helps.

There have been lots and lots of phone calls to and from the UK and to make everything worse a volcano erupted in Iceland spewing out volcanic ash and grounding all air traffic to and from the UK, so we cannot get there at all. More than anything we want to be able to give support to Stacey, Chris’s other daughter who is suffering badly. Hopefully she will be able to come over to us for a couple of weeks in the future. She is being amazingly strong for her mum and we are very proud of her and love her to bits. All in all this is a really bad time for us all.

A weekend in Ottawa

Last weekend we decided at the last minute to have a couple of days in Ottawa. We really like Ottawa and for us it is extremely easy to get to and much much less hassle and stress than driving into Toronto. We usually take the scenic route via Highway 7 rather than the 401 which makes for very pleasant drive. The drive was especially nice as the tree are turning now and the colours, although not at their best were lovely.

We stopped off at Perth for the obligatory Tim’s and on route we stopped off at an outdoor shopping area, visited an outlet centre and had dinner. We then drove to our hotel which was the Hampton Inn where we have stayed a few times before. This hotel is very nice and although not in the centre of the city there is a bus which stops just along the road which takes you straight into town in about 20 mins. The fare is $3 each person each way which is cheaper than paying for all day parking in the city – and easier to navigate.

Here is a quick snap of the hotel room I took with my little pocket camera.

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We stayed at the hotel that evening and didn’t really do much at all. The following day after a nice free breakfast we got the bus into town and spent the day wandering round the mall, the street and of course around the Parliament area. We also wandered around the locks and took a nice walk alongside the water. Eventually we had dinner in town and then went back to the hotel with very sore feet, then chilled.

The next morning after breakfast we made our way back home via Ikea. All in all a very nice weekend. The weather stayed lovely. It was warm and dry and since our visit we have had cold, wet weather, so good timing.

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