The Last Sit

Carlisle
Our final Sit brought us to Carlisle, England and in some ways it was the perfect conclusion to the first part of our adventure. We arrived by train and our host, Peter, picked us up and drove us 10 minutes to their home providing an informative narrative. Peter and Lindsey had an immaculate and comfortable home tastefully decorated and they had a friendly cat name Fliss.

Fliss

The bus stop was minutes from their door making visits to Carlisle convenient. Carlisle has a population of about 70,000 with comfortable shops and restaurants and ample energy. Lindsey prepared a delicious dinner. Afterward we talked while drinking wine. Their home was as comfortable as any place we stayed during our six months and Fliss perfectly behaved. Upon their return from holiday, we shared some coffee and tea and they told us about their holiday of dancing and we conveyed our pleasure of living in their home, experiencing Carlisle and caring for Fliss. We all hugged while they thanked us for taking care of their home and Fliss, while we encouraged them to visit us if they ever come to the States.






Some thoughts on the Sits.
 What a wonderful way to see the world! As the Sit part of our journey has ended, it's nice to reflect back on those Sits.

John: 

Our Adventure began as an idea to live outside of the US and evolved into taking care of homes and pets in Western Europe for six months, travel back to the States for a wedding and rent an apartment in Eastern Europe and travel Eastern and Central Europe until our tenants’ lease expired on May 1^st. We were excited to see places in Europe, place ourselves in situations we had never been and meet some wonderful people.

The Pet Sitting process involves buying a subscription to websites where pet owners post opportunities to stay in their home to take care of their pets while they are on holiday or away for business. The Sits can be for a few days to a few months. Some are posted days in advance of their departure while others are months in the future. Barb was able to reserve about 45 days of the 180 available before our flight to London. Our intention was to have Sits for as many of the days as possible to minimize hotel costs but learned quickly to allow adequate time between Sits for travel. Getting from our second Sit in Ward End England to meet with our Edinburgh host taught us a lesson. The time constraints were too tight traveling from Ward End, England with a departure time of 3:30AM flying to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet our host by noon, the same day.

France

While we were well prepared for the eight hours on a sleepless flight from Orlando, FL to London we had some difficulties moving from city to city using multiple forms of mass transit on average every four to five days over the course of six months. But we made commitments to our hosts and knew the end date was November 29^th, the date of our flight back for the wedding, so we persevered and the experiences in the cities and towns and the meeting of our hosts will be remembered for a very long time, especially our hosts. By the time we reached our final Sit in Carlyisle, Barb had secured Sits for 147 days of the 180, on average we traveled every 4 to 5 days, we had been to a dozen cities with populations from 4,300 to 8.8 million, we were entrusted to mostly cats but almost a dozen dogs and two chickens. Two of our Sits were in homes over 400 years old and one was a new, modern condo. 

We learned we preferred traveling by train over flying. The train stations were busy places during the day ranging from futuristic type malls to waiting rooms with small shops and vending machines. But each had display boards of the schedule of trains for the next several hours. The infrequent travelers all seemed to gather around the displays gazing or giving periodic glances to find their connection location and details. We almost always had time before boarding our next connection and enjoyed buying sandwiches and snacks for the next section of the trip and share a meal or a coffee with my lovely partner. Only once was there a security check to board a train. This greatly reduced the hassles of traveling by train compared to flying.

Bus travel is usually the least expensive and as comfortable as trains and with none of the flying hassles. The downside of bus travel is because of traffic, travel time is at risk of being extended. The other negative is some of the destinations are bus stops as opposed to stations. Think about the sometimes random places you see a bus stop sign and imagine not speaking the language, hungry and needing to get to a hotel or make another connection. One of our bus stops in Biarritz, France was in a housing development with only a pizza place and houses. We asked a pizza worker for a taxi company number, preferably English speaking. We didn’t have to travel far but there was a minimum $15 charge to get in the vehicle, so it cost about $30 to travel a few miles. But if you don’t encounter traffic delays and you end at a bus station, as opposed to a stop, the seats are comfortable and the views from the bus are the best.

Bakewell UK

While still in the states, after securing our first Sit, during the interview with our host, we agreed to come the day before their departure. We would have dinner together and stay overnight in their spare bedroom. After the interview, while discussing what we each understood, we both expressed hesitation and some angst about accepting the kindness of strangers before ever doing anything to earn it. We both agreed we would approach it as a learning experience. While it was mildly uncomfortable, our lovely hosts, Michaela and David, were warm, friendly and so genuine we were both at ease instantly and glad to be spending time with them. For the next 12 or so Sits, that approach was, by far, the preferred process and, as it turns out, allowed us to meet some wonderful people with delightful interactions that will be some of our fondest memories. While I usually felt slight angst planning to meet our next hosts, I was able to reassure myself recollecting prior meetings and the moment I started talking to our new host I was enjoying myself. I noticed how I felt just prior to our first Sits compared to the disappointment when our London Sit arrangements did not allow us to meet our host. 

Barb: When I first read about pet sitting, I thought "Yeah, sure. It's one of those things that you read about but very few people actually get do it. It sounds too good to be true." A little research told me it was doable. Do your homework, prepare and go after it. There are legit websites and real people that would love for you to come and pet sit for them.

Bear in Munich

13 Sits. So many wonderful memories. Sure there were issues from time to time but the majority of our time was wonderful. Amazing countries, amazing homes but the best part were our hosts. As we previously said in our blog post "New Friends" we have been lucky to meet some really fantastic people. They were welcoming, accommodating and respectful. They loved their pets and only wanted someone to care and love them while they were away. They were open minded enough to open their home to strangers and trust that we were everything we said we were.

The Sits got us to Europe. We have learned so much since landing in London back in May. If we decided to do it again, there are some things we would tweak but I think we did really well our first time out. 83% of our time for our first 6 months was spent doing Sits. When our journey ends in April, we want to look at pet sitting in the States. It's a wonderful way to see the world!


(If anyone would like more information on pet sitting, please message us privately and we would be glad to share what we know)

Cheers!
Barb and John

Ireland

Greystones

Leaving London, we flew into Dublin for our Sit in Greystones Ireland. Greystones is a coastal town just south of Dublin. Our host Beatrice showed us around her home and introduced us to our "housemates" Pandy and Pearl. Pandy and Pearl are Siamese cats, Pandy the older one and Pearl, a teenager, full of mischief, personality and love. We were also in charge of 2 chickens who liked to sneak into the house.

After a wonderful meal the night we arrived, we settled into our room early that night and the next evening Beatrice left for her holiday. Throughout the week we cared for the chickens who in turn provided us with fresh eggs, visited the town of Greystones and spent time with Pandy and Pearl.

Pandy

 Pandy was content most days to sleep on the coach and every once in a awhile pay us some attention. She and Pearl were not great friends and she would occasionally hiss at Pearl if Pearl got too close to her.

Pearl

Pearl didn't seem to care much and she appeared very interested in us. She would sit on the floor watching us with eyes that looked barely open and one front paw in the air. She would do this for minutes at a time. She loved to play as well as seek out our company. She was a character and so easy to love.








Greystones was a charming, walkable town. Several restaurants, pubs and a very cute coffee shop that we liked to frequent. We would take the bus in and back home. Cute novelty stores and a view of the sea. We found the people very friendly which we found out was not unique to Greystones....

Dublin

We took a train into Dublin from Greystones on a Sunday morning. After a mishap with the bus we finally made it to our hotel in the afternoon. Being seasoned travelers now 😊 we feel we can figure out most public transport systems. Dublin's was confusing. Plenty of buses but somehow it always seemed a struggle to get the right bus. Luckily, the people of Dublin were helpful and yes, very friendly. Anyway, we settled in and decided to see what the neighborhood had to offer.

We had a great pub across the street, The Ivy House were we found the bartenders the friendliest of our journey. I found a very interesting beer, Cute Hoor, and found the brewery's glass pretty cute. Asking if I could buy the glass, the bartender got a clean one, wrapped it up and gave it to me, no charge. We watched the Irish soccer team lose to the Danish team and lose the chance to qualify for the World Cup surrounded by many, many college chaps, ate some great food and even had a patron approached us at the bar one night after overhearing our American accent. She was curious of our political views and our new President. It was a fun conversation.

Dublin was full of life and beautiful. We took a tour one day and ended up getting a very personable lad who had a passion for Dublin and an even bigger passion for Irish soccer. The day we took the tour was also the day the team would be playing that night in Dublin to qualify for the World Cup. He pretty much begged all of us to pray to the Lord that the Irish win over the Danish. It didn't work.

He told us great stories of Dublin. We spent the afternoon on the tour and ended the afternoon with a couple of pints in a cute Dublin pub before heading back to our side of Dublin.

We were sad to leave Dublin, the friendliest city we had encountered but we were looking forward to flying back to England for what would be our last Sit of this incredible journey.









You can see more of my photos of Dublin here.


Cheers!
Barb


 

A Storm in London

We left the perfect little English town of Wincanton for our next sit in the big city of London!

This would be our first sit where we would not meet our hosts, at all. Our host and her husband would be leaving for overseas before we arrived and returning after we left their flat. It was odd for us. At the beginning of our journey we would have been relieved, the introverts that we are. But here we were now, after many sits and many wonderful hosts who made us feel at ease, welcomed in their home and became our friends, we wanted to meet Lianne and her husband. My how we have changed!

Artwork in lobby.

We took "the tube" to Islington, a neighborhood in London. Lianne had said the subway station was next door to the apartment building. She was right, literally next door which made getting around London very easy for us. Sometimes at night we could hear the tube underneath us even though we were 7 floors up. The building was ultra modern with keyless entry, a concierge and some very cool artwork in the lobby. The apartment was also modern and the views of London Town were fantastic!

Our "roommate" was Storm. She is a beautiful black and white kitty. She was extremely well behaved and a little shy. She loved sleeping on the heated floors in the bathroom. She was easy to be around and loved rubs and attention. She tolerated us well and liked us to get her toys and play with her.

She loved to sit by the window and take in all the activity down on the streets. I don't blame her, it was fun to just people watch and see the happenings in the neighborhood. One morning we caught a glimpse of an elaborate funeral procession, quite impressive I must say.

The neighborhood had everything we could want including 2 restaurants that we really enjoyed not just for the food but for the service. Both were run by Middle Eastern families that have nailed down customer service. Two doors down from our building was an Italian restaurant. The owner waited on us our first time in. He and his staff were friendly and attentive, making small talk with us and making us feel welcomed. The second time we came in, a few days later, he not only remembered us but also what brand of beer we drank. He engaged us in conversation about where we were from, provided us with great food and again made us feel so welcomed.

The other restaurant was just down the street and featured Middle Eastern cuisine (soon becoming my favorite cuisine!) Our first night we were waited on by the wife and co owner. She was very pleasant and after we ordered she provided us with a complimentary appetizer. She also talked with us about where we were from, how long we were staying and what we liked to do in London. Our food that night was incredible! Two days later we decided to go back. She remembered us, asked what we had done since we were last in and again gave us another complimentary appetizer. Her service was outstanding, we didn't lack for anything. When we get back to London, we will make it back to both these restaurants!

Borough Market.

We explored London outside the neighborhood. We went to Borough Market, our niece Dena said we would love it and we did. We were lucky enough to get to spend an evening with Dena in London during one of her layovers. Dena knows so much about Europe and has been a great resource for us.We met her at a pub and sat drinking pints, laughing and catching up with her before we all caught our trains and tube back "home".

Lobby of the theatre.

We caught a play in a small theatre. We have always liked going to the small theatres. When my mother lived with us, the three of us would attend shows all around south Florida and then in Asheville after we moved to North Carolina. This theatre held around 70 people. It was a great little comedy and afterwards we strolled through the neighborhood and stopped for a late night coffee. A perfect evening in London!

We were in London for Guy Fawkes night. Our host Lianne said we should go up to the rooftop terrace and catch the fireworks. We had no idea who Guy Fawkes was and why he gets fireworks on his day. Turns out, Guy Fawkes is the inspiration for the masks and logo of the activist group Anonymous. Long story short, Guy Fawkes was a member of a group who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. Fawkes was in charge of guarding the explosives placed under the House of Lords. He was found, arrested, tortured and hung. Fawkes became synonymous with the Gunpowder Plot, the failure of which has been commemorated in Britain since November 5, 1605.  There ya go, he's kinda of a big deal in Britain. A great reason to shoot off fireworks not just on November 5 but the entire weekend! We did go to the rooftop, where we met several of the neighbors, all very nice, successful, young and from many different countries. Beer, wine and appetizers were served and everyone seemed to really enjoy the fireworks. The rest of the weekend we could watch fireworks from the livingroom of the flat. Pretty impressive!

We hated leaving London but our next stop was Ireland so we weren't too broken up!

Cheers!
Barb 

Wincanton, England

As we near the end of each of our Sits we prepare mentally and physically to leave for the next destination. What will be our situation, would we have cats or dogs, how many, would we be in rural or urban setting, would we get to spend time with our hosts, if so where and when, and other such details. Barb reviewed the welcome packet provided by our host, Sara, in Wincanton . We would be caring for two terriers, sisters, Martha and Bella, and an outside cat named Mrs. Brown, a curious name. Wincanton is a small town with a population of 5,272 in South West England a couple of hours from London. The town was small and there was only a limited bus system so we’d have to settle for what was available or take a coach to Stonehenge, a 30 minute drive or visit some other attraction. We typically prefer bigger cities because there are more activities, restaurants and bars to frequent. Also, in the bigger cities we depend on mass transit to take us to places further away so we can do whatever we feel like since we don’t have access to a vehicle.

This Sit was going to be about a week and since it was a small town we assumed we would be able to get to a store for groceries and prepare our meals at the house. Barb went into Google maps and it did indicate a couple of restaurants and a bar so we were hopeful, but our grocery store plan would easily get us through the week. We did notice we would only be about a half hour from Stonehenge and there was a coach to take us to London so, we could get Martha and Bella set up for the day and we could pass the time by going to those places. In the welcome guide we also found out Steven, our host, would meet us at the train station. We would recognize him because he resembled Superman, his wife Sara said. I wasn’t sure if he would be in red and blue spandex with a long cape or lite colored business suit under a matching fedora. Sara, had graciously offered to take us to the grocery store so the bus service was no longer a concern. The next day we took the train for the short ride from Swindon to Westbury.

As we climbed out of the wagon I noticed a tall man with glasses who did in fact resemble a casually dressed Clark Kent, without either outfit I imagined. He introduced himself and his son Archie, and lead us to his car. The car quickly left the town of Westbury behind and we were treated to the view of an occasional house and beautiful scenic vistas for the 30 minute drive to Wincanton. Steven gave us a narrative of the views with information about their 450 year old home. For another Sit we stayed in a home built around 1650 and were amazed, we were on our way to a home predating it.

We entered Wincanton and a few seconds later drove into a church parking lot. As we stepped onto the sidewalk preparing to cross the street Steven pointed out the “Nog Inn” free house, Archie’s employer and immediately beside it was “Summer Palace”, a Chinese restaurant, our hosts living next to them. I thought having a couple of pints and going ordering some Chinese takeaway within 25 feet of our Sit was fantastic. He said “We’re going to number 6.” I saw the door with a big silver door knob in the middle with a picture window display flanking each side filled with inflated balloons with the words “Big Up The Party” in a fun font.

Martha

As soon as we put our things down inside we met Martha, a two tone brown and black small Terrier, and Bella, all black. Bella was on the couch in between a couple of pillows looking up at us. Martha was bouncing around seemingly very curious about the new arrivals.

Bella

Sara welcomed us with a big smile and we went on a tour of their home. We met their daughter Amelia and we walked through the house admiring the the coziness and style. Sara runs a business, Sara Kirkby Event Style. Sara does wonderful window displays, party planning and pop up dinners in her home. As we got a tour of her beautiful kitchen, Sara pointed out a loaf of bread she bought for us from the local baker and some banana bread type treats she and Amelia made, they were delicious!

Mrs. Brown

Outside the house was a narrow patio with a tall wall to the left, adjoining the “Summer Palace”, Chinese restaurant, decorated with beautiful plants and flowers. At the back of the patio area was another door which led to Mrs. Brown’s domain. Above the door was a tiny patio with a small opening into the Lilliputian size hide-away complete with a small opening inside and a balcony.

Sara and Steve explained the instructions for caring for Martha, Bella and Mrs. Brown then some of the places immediately outside their door and other attractions a coach ride away. It turns out that there is an Indian restaurant, with an all you can eat buffet on Sunday nights, two pubs, a Chinese restaurant one door down, a Kebab and Pizza place, a delicious bakery owned by Phil, a wine shop run by Jenny, and another restaurant with Cambodian cuisine on Thursdays and Vietnamese cuisine on another night. Later we talked about google map inadequacies. Although, it could be a plot from the townspeople of Wincanton to dissuade tourists from finding out about the attractiveness of this place, brilliant!

Our hosts were driving to France that evening but before they left Steve gave us a bottle of wine to enjoy. He suggested a cozy night in front of the fireplace with the bottle of wine. We decided that was a great idea and did just that. We exchanged well wishes and reassurances and they were on their way.

That evening before the wine, we ate at the Indian restaurant buffet and had a pleasant meeting with Mrs. Brown while she ate dinner. Each afternoon we walked to the park with the twins so Martha could run back and forth with a tennis ball in her mouth and Bella would participate in a proper exercise of fetch. There were always dogs and people in the park and each day we talked with someone. A couple of nights we went to Archie’s Pub, actually called the Nog Inn, for a couple of pints and ate dinner there once. We went to the Summer Palace twice and received a good neighbor discount because our hosts must be nice people. We had coffee and dessert or a savory item at the wonderful bakery several times. Sara and Steve’s good friend Maura invited us over for coffee and conversation. We all walked to the bakery after coffee to enjoy lunch together.

The week passed quickly and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and hoped our hosts would request some additional days for their trip. Unfortunately that didn’t happen but we did get to greet them on their return and hear about their trip and the next morning we enjoyed French croissants and coffee and talking to them one last time.

During one of our conversations with Sara and Steve they mentioned Wincanton was thought of as the least desirable of the three towns in the area, the other two being Bath and Somerset and the butt end of jokes. As Barb and I mentioned several times while we were there and since leaving, to have a tiny town of nice people, good pubs, unusually good restaurants and a picturesque downtown is a very rare treat. If I lived there I would create some of my own derogatory jokes about Wincanton to keep people out so it stays just the way it is.

Four Lads and Three Cats

Liverpool UK

We had a couple of days after our Berlin Sit so we decided to spend them in the Home of the Beatles, Liverpool. We stayed at the Hotel Ibis Style, close to the train station and the bar the Beatles played their first show.

We arrived late by cab getting dropped off directly in front of the hotel. The doors opened to a colorful lobby presented with colorful acoustical panels hanging straight down from the ceiling, there were white curvy framed chairs with brightly colored cushions to the left. On the wall behind the seats is a mural with iconic Beatles references on the wall, walrus, a strawberry, tea shades style glasses and others.

Our room was a narrow room with a white rounded door to the left. Just past that door was a queen size bed with two nightstands, one with a full sized sequined high heeled shoe on top. . The white door gave us access to our bathroom. The bathroom had white walls, white ceiling, white flooring and a white vanity. The only color was our reflection in the large square mirror. Without the shower it had slightly more room than a portable bathroom. From the shower I could reach my arm out straight and drop my shampoo bottle and it would land in the middle of the sink while continuing to rinse off. Except for barely adequate space for our toiletries it had everything. There was a plaque on the wall outside the bathroom, “Abbey Road NW8, City of Westminster”. Abbey Road Studio is where the Beatles recorded their last studio album. Their iconic album cover of the fab four crossing the street over the zebra cross walk is directly in front of that studio. The ceiling was painted white in the center with wide black undulating stripes on two sides ending at the wall. But the room had everything we needed and was comfortable the few nights we were there. That night we talked about going to the bar for a drink but we were both overtired and crashed for the night.

We did some research on the Beatles related sites in the city and we decided The Cavern Club was a must. The Cavern Club has been a popular venue for musicians for over 60 years opening in 1957 and the Beatles played lunchtime gigs there, met their manager, Brian Epstein, and it is where they were first filmed playing during one of those shows. The Beatles were loyal to The Cavern throughout their association with them returning many times. The Cavern now has a coffee shop, gift shop and restaurant above the original music venue.

The floors, walls, curved pillars and curved ceiling is all red brick. Almost every brick has been written on with the names of people, dates and sayings from the many people visiting the bar through the years.The Cavern Club is underground. Immediately after descending from the last step you see a full bar and just beyond the bar are display cases of Beatles memorabilia. The room is divided into three sections of arced brick ceiling and separated by brick pillars flaring out as they reach the ceiling. The center section has the stage in the back and the remaining space is dedicated to chairs around tables. The walls have display cases and photos of the many performers that have played and visited there.

Our favorite photo is beside the bar of the Fab Four, late in the band’s career, standing side by side in front of that very bar. The bar looks the same as today, with taps, similar bar top with the same sign, “The Cavern Liverpool”. At the bottom of the frame is a ribbon plague, “Local Group”.

The night we were there the performer played all Beatles tunes much to the delight of the full house of patrons. The crowd was decidedly older but there were many young people. Irrespective of the age it seems almost everyone knew the words to the songs. We stayed for all three sets and decided it was the best attraction we could have seen in Liverpool.

(Barb: With all the amazing museums, monuments, castles and attractions in Europe, I have to say that being in The Cavern Club was one of the highlights of our adventure!)






Woodlesford UK

After leaving Liverpool, we took a train to Woodlesford which is just outside of Leeds. We were met at the train station by Clivia, our host, and we took a short walk to her home where we met her husband Alan and their 3 kitties, Toni, Penny and Lewis.

Clivia and Alan had prepared a wonderful English meal of Bubble and Squeak. The beer and wine flowed throughout the night as did the conversation. We had a wonderful time!

The next morning Clivia and Alan departed for their holiday.

We spent a wonderful week with our 3 roommates. Clivia and Alan fenced in their patio for the kitties who loved being outside. They made no bones about when they wanted out and we got our exercise letting them in and out! We explored Woodlesford and spent a day in the city of Leeds. We could walk to pubs, grocery stores and restaurants in Woodlesford and the train station was a short walk from the house.

We were lucky to see Alan and Clivia before we left for our next sit in Wincanton. More new friends along this incredible journey!

Berlin

John-The Meeting:

We were looking forward to our Berlin Sit because our hosts have two cats, Oskar and Lucy, and our host, Ellie, seemed very nice during the Skype interview and in all communications. We did spend a night in Berlin while traveling from Gdansk to Munich. While we only saw the train station and our hotel, it was all impressive and Ellie said their home was in the “cool” section.

Lucy

We flew into the Berlin Schonefeld Airport in the afternoon and walked out into a beautiful sunny day. The signage indicated the train we needed was close, just down a pathway. We passed the “Mama Burrito” food truck and stopped for a beer at a beer garden. The train took us to the tram that dropped us off just in front of our hotel Ellie had suggested. Barb told Ellie we arrived and the hotel was nice. Ellie said she and Ben would meet us in front of the hotel at 7 for a short walking tour of their neighborhood and back to their home for a review of our responsibilities and to meet Oskar and Lucy.

At about 10 minutes to seven we went down to the lobby. It was busy with guests checking in and out and waiting for the remaining members of their group to go out to see Berlin. After a few minutes I went outside to look for our hosts. I was entertaining myself by balancing on the curb looking for a car with two young people thinking they should recognize me because I was certain to look just like the person Barb would be married to. Across the street from the trams and further down our street toward Alexanderplatz I saw people, sitting, standing and walking through and around the chairs and tables in the lights from the businesses and street lamps. If I didn’t have plans I would have ventured to either street to see what the people were doing. Within minutes I noticed two people approaching slowly and felt they were looking at me. My first thought was, “Don’t make eye contact for fear of provoking an altercation!” so I avoided eye contact, it is a city of over 3.5 million. Luckily, they had more sense than me because the woman asked if I was John and then I realized it was Ellie and Ben. Not a good first impression on my part. I partially regrouped, greeted them both with only a handshake and said, “I will get Barb.”

Barb came out with her huge warm smile and outstretched arms providing each of our hosts with a comforting hug. Ben and Ellie must have been relieved Barb was accompanying me. They walked us across the street explaining their home was on the other side of the busy street divided by the Tram tracks. The street we were walking on was wide with trees and people enjoying the gorgeous night. Ben and Ellie explained they didn’t frequent this side because there are so many places to enjoy in the area around their home. The roads were not busy with cars as I’d expected in an area at the heart of a city of that size but we saw later that the trams, trains and buses were very popular. Berlin is also been ranked tenth most friendly bike city in the world, another reason for the noticeable absence of vehicles. Ellie had just explained the distinction of bike lane paths from the pedestrian walkways as we started walking toward the street. I looked at the sidewalk and saw the bike lanes were red pavers, a clear demarcation from the sidewalk. At that moment I felt a polite tug on my arm prompting me to move quickly in that direction. It was Ellie directing me out of the path of an oncoming cyclist. Slick second impression, oblivious.

Great neighborhood food!

After crossing the street, we walked up and down several blocks with Ellie and Ben pointing out places of interest. The streets were wide with tall trees toward the street and tall clean buildings with attractive architecture and some color differentiating one from the other. There were restaurants, bars, late night convenient stores, grocery stores, pharmacies, a cake decorating shop, “Cake Ville -- Bake, Rattle and Roll”, with ample people and good energy. At one point, Ben said he hoped we will enjoy our stay in Berlin. At that moment Ben motioned toward a wine shop. He talked to the clerk and they selected a bottle of wine.



We then thought it was a good time to meet Oskar and Lucy. They live in a two story home. Both cats were friendly and playful. We knew they were going to be good hosts while Ben and Ellie were on holiday. I say hosts because we knew if we abided by Oskar and Lucy’s rules everything would go smoothly. Ben and Ellie showed us their place pointing out the automatic cat food feeder and watering bowl, along with other items to make our stay more pleasant. Since none of us had eaten Ellie had a Nepalese restaurant deliver some food. We said they could order anything because we will eat any food. We talked over a glass of wine about Berlin, politics, cats and we coaxed Ben to show us the video he made of their year of house sitting in and around Australia. He said when they returned home many people asked them what they did for a year so they thought it would be easiest to describe it through a video. They paused the video when the food was delivered. There was antipasto, a calzone type food, and two small pizza like foods with a light airy crust with cheese, sauce and, one had whole olives. I enjoyed it all but loved the antipasto probably because I had seen that on menus all my life and never knew what it was. After watching the video, Barb and I were ready to look for Sit opportunities in Australia.

The conversation tripped and flowed from subject to subject while drinking a couple additional glasses of wine. Barb and I wanted to open the next bottle of wine but, begrudgingly, suggested we go because we expected they had to prepare for their trip. I have been told it is a good practice to leave the dinner table slightly hungry. I suppose that allows you to feel you’ve earned the right to your next meal. Well, we left that night wanting to spend more time with our hosts and maybe we will see them before we leave Berlin or during another adventure we may be on.
My response to Ben’s hope we enjoyed our stay should have been, “I don’t see how we couldn’t!”, because we loved it!

Barb – The Stay:

Ben and Ellie’s neighborhood was great! We found great restaurants, a nice pub, a grocery store nearby as well as the tram being very convenient.

We took a tour of the city one day by taking 2 different public buses that pretty much circled the city.

We went to the Berlin Wall. There are many areas of the Wall left and we choose the East Side Gallery area. Many artists have left their mark on the wall and this section spans about a mile.

You can see more of my photos of the Berlin Wall. Just CLICK HERE.

Ben and Ellie had an amazing Espresso machine and John took full advantage of it (with a little help from Lucy)

Ellie had told us about the Festival of Lights that would be happening during our stay. It sounded nice but we had no idea how amazing it would be! Every year, Berlin turns into a world full of light art. International artists present glowing light projections, 3D video mappings and light installations, transporting their messages, themes and contents. These artistic projections on landmarks, monuments, buildings, streets and neighborhoods. We had never seen anything like it! Live music accompanied some of the light shows and I captured part of one.

You can view the video of the light show. CLICK HERE.

You can see more photos from the light show. Just CLICK HERE.

Oskar

And of course there was Lucy and Oskar, our “hosts”. They were entertaining, adorable and loads of fun! It was a great Sit and we were so happy to be able to have lunch with Ben and Ellie when they returned home.








If you would like to see more of my photos of Berlin, just CLICK HERE.

Cheers!
Barb and John

Brasov Romania

"So we have 5 days before we have to be in Berlin. What do you wanna do?" This is how the conversations start when we have a gap between Sits. When the gap is more than a day or 2, we look for somewhere cool and cheap to visit. In Europe they have what is called the Schengen Area. There are 26 European countries that have abolished their internal borders so people can move about freely without going through customs. Sounds great doesn't it? Well for Americans, we get a whole 90 days (in a 180 day period) to stay in the Schengen Area. 90 days for 26 countries. When you are in Europe for an extended period of time like we are, it becomes tricky. We have to keep track of our days in the Schengen Area. Luckily, the UK, Ireland and several eastern European countries are not in the Schengen Area so we can break up our time by leaving the Schengen Area and going to these countries. The UK has provided us with the most Sits so its worked out well.

When we were looking at what to do before Berlin, we realized we are running low on Schengen days and wanted to save some for the end of November before we temporary leave Europe. Our first thought was to go to the UK. I started looking at flights and hotels and costs. Since we were in Amsterdam we thought why not look at some of the eastern European countries. Coincidentally I had been messaging a friend in Asheville who stated we should check out Brasov Romania. So we did. So we went.


Romania is a country known for Dracula.  I myself had no idea what Romania was all about and other than knowing they produce some pretty incredible gymnasts had never given Romania a thought. Well Romania is much more than Dracula and gymnasts. It is beautiful!  The people are friendly and a lot speak English. The mountains, the architecture, the countryside is breathtaking.

Brasov is in the Transylvania region of Romania. Bran Castle, commonly known as Dracula's Castle, is right outside Brasov. We did not encounter any vampires during our stay. 😊 I did get to sit with a lovely lady who saw me watching her as she fed the pigeons. She happily gave me bread to feed them and would "converse" with me through hand signals and hugs. It was the highlight of my day.

Above Brasov is a Hollywood type sign stating that you are indeed in Brasov.

We took a tram up the mountain one day to get a view of Brasov from above. The tram goes up right by the "Brasov" sign.

Mostly what John and I did in Brasov is what we do in most cities. Find local establishments and just hang out to get a feel for the city. We found a little bar down the street from our hotel with good beer and friendly staff. A great coffee shop that also served some amazing cocktails. Good restaurants with plenty of Romanian food.
By the way, Romania is also an inexpensive country by European standards. John and I ordered a dish our last night in Brasov that consisted of 3 types of sausages, potatoes and a salad. We also had soup and 2 draft beers. The total came to $16.00 and we took half of it "home" with us!

We loved Romania and it's people. In deciding on what we wanted to do on the second half of this adventure, we decided to return to Europe. I LOVE EUROPE! The cultures, the people, the places.  It is just so exciting. We have rented an apartment in Oradea Romania for 3 months starting in mid December. We are excited about being able to "nest" in a new city and really be able to take in the local culture. After that we haven't decided but we are looking at some of the other eastern European countries as Romania has been so impressive. We'll have approximately 45 days left before we head back home so all of Europe is open to us!

To see more of my pictures of Brasov, you can just CLICK HERE.

Cheers!
Barb