René Sloos

Last night we scouted the best way to the station, and with all the construction going on in Prague, we figured that the metro is our best bet. We leave the apartment at 7:00, to be at the station at 8:00 AM. Our train to Berlin will leave at 8:30. We make sure not to lock ourselves in the hallway, we need a key to get out of the apartment, and the little parade with bags is on it’s way. After taking two metro’s we get to the station about 20 minutes early. The signage doesn’t even have the assigned platform number yet. We hang for a little bit in the hall, and try to finish our Czech petoties, by buying shaving cream, three bags of Haribo Happy Cola and a few buns.

We have no reservations for this train and hope we can sit together. Luckily for us there aren’t many passengers in the first class compartments, and we have a choice where we want to sit. Later the staff advises us to move to a different section of the train, as the air-conditioning in this section isn’t working. This is not a hi-speed line, but the trip is only just shy of five hours. The boys work on their journal, and play some card games, and before we know it we are in Berlin Haubt Bahnhoff. This is the most elaborate train station I have ever seen! Tracks cross each other at the station, and are located on different levels. You can also connect to the S-bahn and the U-bahn. Lots of rail tracks come together at this location..

We get tickets for the S-bahn, which is a metro that runs above ground, and at the Alexander Platz we need to transfer to a Metro. Once we are of the S-bahn train Ellen asks me where the grocery/lunch back is, and I relize that I left it behind in the train. Bummer, damage three bags happy cola, a couple of nectarines, shaving cream, a knive, jam and Nutella, coffee, sweetener etc. Oh well, between watching my backpack, my big bag, and three kids with their luggage it is just the cost of doing business. The U-bahn stops one station before our intended destination, and we are asked to transfer to buses, as they are working on the metro lines. The weather is clouded, but luckily it is dry. We get our heavy bags in the bus and a short walk brings us to the apartment in the former East Berlin area of Prentzlauerberg, an area with the highest birth rates in all of Germany, most likely because of it’s hip vibe, lots of young people and about 30 different pubs and restaurants to try out (we did try a few of them, but not all).

Our hostess Marine, who we called when we arrived in Berlin, is already waiting for us. She says that there is no elevator, which we knew when we booked the place which is located on the fourth floor, or in North American standards it would be called the fifth floor. I can tell you that going up four floors in a building where the apartments have high ceilings is quite an undertaking! Huffing and puffing we arrive on our floor. We certainly have developed calfs  of steel, we did carry our bags upstairs quite a bit this trip! There is a large living room, with an open kitchen, and two bedrooms. One bedroom has a queen sized bed and extra bed for the boys and we have our own bedroom. All in all a well equipped and lovely apartment with a new kitchen and bathroom and beautiful wooden floors.

Marine is very helpful and has all her information together. She tells us that there is a flea market just a couple of streets away. After we get installed we head of to the flea market which is still in full swing, even though the afternoon is getting to an end. We see vinyl records repurposed as fruit bowls, Soviet/DDR style military hats, used clothes and many other items, on this really busy market. Obviously it has rained earlier in the day as the puddles prove, but it is not until we are on our way home that it really starts to rain. We take shelter in a pizza place as this is also a good time to have supper. We have some among pizzas and pasta dishes, and Ellen says that her pizza is even better than the one Rome!

Back at the apartment we have some trouble in getting the Internet to work, it does work but is unreliable. A reset of the modem does seem to fix the issue for a little while. The next morning we walk to the Berlin Wall monument. There is lots of information on panels along the street, and you get a real feel for what it must have been like to live in a divided city. Houses were dismantled and churches blown up to create the buffer zone between east and west. You can still see a double cobblestone line throughout the city, where the wall used to be, if there are no new buildings build on top of it. The boys are really patient, and let us read the explanations.

We walk to Under Den  Linden, the tree lined road which leads to the Brandenburger Tor. On our way we rest and try out one of Berlin’s specialities curry wurst. At the Brandenburger Tor we find street performers, and the family is memorized by a guy doing a very cool dance act. When you walk from the Tor and follow Under Den Linden you walk in former East Berlin, and there are many beautiful buildings. We walk all the way to the Alexander Platz, where is also a lot of street performances going on. Once we get back to the apartment and stopped for some groceries along the way, we have dinner at a kebab place.

For Tuesday we purchased a public transit day pass, as we want to explore a little further and Berlin does not a have a compact city centre like most of the other places we visited. We take the tram and metro to the Brandenburger Tor, and see the monument from the west side. We then continue our walk to the Holocaust Memorial. Over 2700 concrete blocks are placed in a grid pattern, which can be walked through from all sides,  with a visitors centre underneath it serve as a platform for the memorial. After a short wait and a security check we get in to the visitors centre. Ellen stays with Marc, as not all stories and pictures are suited for a nine yore old. A tour around pictures and text in German and English reinforce what happened during the Holocaust. Stories from specific families deported from all over Europe really make you ask yourself the question how this could happen!

From the memorial site we continue to the Potsdamer Platz, where we find a hyper modern Sony Store, and we also wanted to check out the store at the Legoland Discovery Centre. This turns out to be a really tiny store, and the boys are heavily disappointed. Checkpoint Charlie is next. We literally follow the markings of the wall to get to it. This check point was rebuild as a tourist attraction. It is a very messy area, with all kinds of traffic trying to squeeze through. After snapping a few pictures we take the U-bahn to the Kurfurstendam, the premier shopping street of former West Berlin. Ellen ends up buying a couple of fancy boots and Eldon and Mark get slippers in the shape of dinosaur paws.       

This is also the site where you can find the Gedachtniskirche,  a church which was bombed in the second world war by the British air force and left in that state to as a reminder of the destructions of war. There is still a small part you can go in and visit, and you still see the impressive mosaic on the ceiling. A new clock tower is build right next to it and a new church is build on the other side of the monument. We continue our stroll on the Kurfurstendam and find a Hardrock Cafe. The boys really want to have dinner here and we check out if the there is a lineup. Within  a few minutes we are shown to our table and to our surprise we end up with a waiter from Toronto, Canada, named Bob. The boys love this guy, as he is obviously having a lot of fun in what he does. We have a mix of dishes like a nachos platter, BBQ Ribs, BBQ pulled pork, BBQ Chicken and pasta dishes. The boys look at all the memorabilia in the restaurant like the white leather belt of Elvis Presley, which is in a display case right on the wall at our table. A metro ride back concludes our visit to West Berlin.

It is Wednesday, August 18, and at 7 AM we have our bags downstairs, ready to get to the tram line across the street. We meet Marine for the last time to hand the keys back and receive our security deposit back and we are on our way. We arrive at the Haubtbahnhoff way to early for our last long train trip of about seven hours, so we take a seat at the platform and check out which coffee places are open for business at this hour. Once in the train, we ended up having our own private compartment which is nice, the boys work on their journals, which takes Marc almost the entire trip due to a lack of inspiration. At the end station Amsterdam Schiphol airport, we transfer to a train and at 4 PM a delegation is picking us up from the train station in Voorschoten. My parents, sister Marjolein, her husband Fred and their daughter Indy are welcoming us back.

Fred, Ellen and myself drive to the Holiday Inn hotel in Leiden to check-in and drop off our luggage, while my parents take the boys to their place. Ellen and I met each other at this hotel years ago, as she used to work there as a receptionist and I used to work at the bowling bar. So it was very funny when the receptionist asked us if we had been in the hotel before. We explained her, that we both used to work and met each other in the hotel, but that we were certain that a lot had changed over the last 15 years! We got two rooms with connecting doors on the third floor. Quickly we dumped our luggage on our rooms and went back to my parents place. Mom had cooked one of our favorite dishes: Babi Ketjap and we had dinner with the whole family.

When we got back to the hotel, later that evening,  we wanted to explore a little. The boys thought it was a  great hotel, it has a large indoor garden, an indoor swimming pool, and playrooms for the kids. One of the rooms had one of those bouncy houses, and since the boys hadn’t had a chance to release their energy today, they ran in, with a relentless energy as pinballs through the bouncy house. Ellen and I strolled to the racket centre and to our surprise we run in to one of our favorite ex-colleagues Louis Petit-Jean, who used to be my supervisor at my time at the bowling bar. It was actually at his birthday party, more than 20 years ago, where I was sitting next to Ellen and developed a crush on her. What a great coincidence to be able catch up with Louis, who was of course quite surprised to see us there!

The next morning I get up early to work out in the small fitness room and after having some sandwiches in our room we are on our way to pickup my mom and sister Marjolein. Today we are visiting Sail Amsterdam 2010, the sail in of the tall ships. Although we are expecting delays, due to the high amounts of visitors attending this event, which is held once every 5 years, we amazingly avoid the the traffic jams and are able to park for free in the northern part of Amsterdam. The little Ferry will bring us to the other side of “Het IJ”. We walk and find a spot on an abandoned dock close to the central station. We are definitely not alone, but it is not crazy busy either. The weather is sunny and pleasant, and everyone is in a good mood. The long wait of almost three hours is rewarded with an amazing view of all boats passing by in close proximity. The tall ships are enormous, there are 4 masters and 3 masters, clippers, you name it and it is there, hundreds of boats. We are all mesmerized.

After the bulk of the parade is over we get in to Amsterdam for a drink and some last minute souvenir shopping. We even manage to stop at an “automatiek”, which is a fast food place where the snacks are in little windows in the wall. You insert cash in the column of the snack of your preference and open the little window to take your snack out. The boys really wanted to experience to “eat out of the wall”, which we have not seen anywhere else in the world. We make it back to the grounds, where the tall ships in the mean time are docked and get an even closer look at these mighty ships. Ellen and myself get ourselves a Sail Amsterdam edition Gaastra shirt, which is one of the sponsors of this hugely popular event. The Dutch have centuries of sailing and exploring history, and with a little bit of imagination, you can see how they conquered all the worlds seas.  I had experienced Sail in 1980, when I ended my rowing camp with a tour along all these ships. This was really an event that was on the top of my list to show the boys. We cap of our night with a Pita Shoarma, with lots of garlic sauce, one of the other treats that was still on the wish list, before heading back to Voorschoten and Leiden.

On Friday we sleep in to 10 AM, and Eldon and Marc go for swim in the hotel pool, while I go for another workout, trying to limit the unavoidable weight increase during this vacation. Around lunch time we head to Voorschoten, to walk across the market, and we run in to my sister Marjolein, the joys of a village. We have a fishy lunch, Ellen gets a “lekkerbekje”, the boys get “kibbeling” and I stay with my favorite, salted herring. To say goodbye to my sister Astrid and her boyfriend Eelco, we head to Leidschenhage for the last time,  she owns a hair salon there. We have an opportunity to give them the souvenirs we brought from Venice for Astrid and Dewi. Then it’s back to moms place for our farewell dinner “bietjes met speklappen”! At night Ellen and I visit the jewelry store of acquaintances of my parents and I get a to pick a golden necklace from my lovely wife for my birthday, which was a few weeks ago. Back at the hotel I make another attempt to fix my bag again, if it only can last on the way back to Calgary…. We will have a ceremonial fire so that we can never use it again, what a piece of ….. 

Today is Saturday and I am typing this final piece of our travel report in the plane ride back to Calgary. We can look back on six weeks of seeing a wealth of famous landmarks, being lazy on the beach and spending time with our family back in Holland. I believe that we shown our kids how to travel in Europe without using a vehicle. All the accommodations we booked through various Internet sites worked out well, and the using the train, tram, bus, metro lines and ferries (although we will most likely not book with Superfast ferries again) also worked out as planned. We return back home satisfied from our travels and we will compile the video and photos in the next couple weeks so that we preserve the memories of trip.

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Tonight we will travel from Venice to Vienna by night train, in an attempt to teach the kids about different ways to travel in europe. We have to check out at 10 in the morning but luckily we can leave our luggage at the foyer of the apartment, so that we can pick it before we have to board our train tonight at  nine. After having walked from the railway station to our apartment, and crossing many bridges with our luggage, it seems like a good idea to travel over the water instead.

Venice has an elaborate system of water buses, and if we buy a pass for the day, we can use it to see Venice from the waterfront during the day, and go to station at night. Although there are no discounts for children or families, we decide that it might not be a bad idea to spend the €80 anyway. After getting our bags down, which is easier then going up, we were on the 3rd floor without an elevator, we are ready for our excursion. After getting our tickets at the local souvenir shop, we hop on the water bus, which will also pass the train station, so that we have an idea how long it will take to get there. We continue our trip through the Grand Canal, and pass under the Rialto Bridge this time. Venice has some great sights, from the water.

We get off the  water bus, close to the St. Marco Square (after Ellen makes the snapshot she’s been waiting for) and quickly find our favorite gelaterie, just to find out that the grapefruit flavor is now sold out, sigh…. Of course there are many other delicious flavors, but that was the reason to go to his specific store in the first place. Venice actually consists of a number of islands. One of the is Murano, where the famous glass art is made that is sold all over Italy. A lengthy ride with the water bus takes us via the Cemetery Island to Murano. We see a demonstration of glass blowing, have our sandwich in a quiet spot, and walk along the little boulevard lined with little glass souvenir stores. It is a lovely little island, still a bit touristic, but not crowded with groups of people, like the main island.

We buy a few souvenirs, while Eldon and Tim are getting better at catching little crabs from the water edge. A water bus drops us back off again at the north side of the main island. According to our guide “Europe on a budget” there is a reasonable priced restaurant in this area that we want to try. As we have checked out from the apartment we cannot prepare our own meal anymore. After some searching we find the restaurant, but unfortunately for us, it seems to be closed on Sundays. We continue our search and find an Irish pub, and since it is getting close to beer time, we decide to have a drink, and use the washrooms. Did I mention yet that public washrooms in Venice cost € 1.50!!! This makes for some reasonable priced drinks if you take that in consideration.

We discover a McDonald’s restaurant just around the corner, and since we are spooked about the prices in restaurants in Venice, we decide that should be a safe bet. About €40 later we discover that even the Mc is expensive in Venice… We head back to our apartment to pickup our luggage and then use the water bus to go to train station. We arrive with plenty of time on our hand and checkout our sleeping cabin, also called couchette, a cabin with three bunk beds on either side. Since the train is fully booked, we have a guest in our cabin, Bettina from Austria. Ellen is excited that she has another female to talk to and she starts practicing her German right away.

Our large bags also have to be stored on our cabin as there is no additional storage space. It takes two people to get the heaviest bags at the end of the top bunks. After making our beds, which just have a double sheet and a little pillow, and based on our previous experience on the ferry, we have turned the climate control to the coldest setting possible. Later we find out that the climate control in the train is more effective than the one in a ferry. In other words, at night we freeze our behinds off, and have adjust the thermostat to a higher temperature. The night is restless, and while the boys get some sleep, Ellen and I feel that we hardly had any sleep. The train moves way more direct than the ferry did, duh, but sometimes we felt like we had to hold on for dear life, not falling out of the bunks. When we rare getting close to Vienna, our purser brings a cup of coffee with a kaiser bun and some jam, which was a nice touch.
Our cabin friend Bettina had already left the train at 5.45am, as she would drive the last part home.

Monday morning August 9, 8:25 AM we are at the Vienna West Bahnhoff. Our helpful host had told us to get a public transport card for a week. For only €14 for everyone of 15 years and older for all public transport, including U-bahn (metro), trams and busses. (To bad Tim 
just turned 15 last week…, just kidding, but he, we’re Dutch!),  We use the U-bahn to travel to our destination, and when we emerge with the elevator from the platform, we are right in front of the apartment. On the ground floor there is a cafe-restaurant,  owned by the same family. We are allowed to leave our luggage here as our apartment is not quite ready yet for check-in. We take the opportunity to have some more breakfast as prices for food seem really reasonable.

As we have a few hours to kill, we hop on the tram, which also stops close to the apartment. The tram takes us through the old city centre of Vienna, with al the beautiful parks and buildings. When we finally get to the end station, the driver is surprised that we are not getting off. These trams are quite old, and the driver needs to lift a few seats to add sand, which is used for the breaks. We get of at a location where we saw a little market, with produce and other stuff. The boys find a vendor that sells some older Yu-Gi-Oh card decks and after a lengthy process of elimination Marc and Eldon are the happy owners of deck. We continue our walk through very clean parks, before we see the impressive winter palace of the Habsbourger Royal family. As we are still tired from our lack of sleep on the train, we head back to our apartment for an afternoon nap.

We actually have two apartments with connecting doors, and looks awesome. We have a dinner table which fit all of us, a bedroom for Ellen and myself, the boys sleep in the living room of the other apartment. We even have two kitchens and two bathrooms. One of the bathrooms has a rain shower while the other one has body sprays! After our nap we raid the supermarket across the street, the Hoffer, a discount Aldi style store where we get a bag of frozen wiener schnitzels, frozen veggies and a bag of frozen potato squares. I prepare dinner, using the stove for the schnitzels, the microwave for the veggies and the oven for the potatoes. I feel like a real kitchen princess! 

After a much better sleep, we decided to take it easy for a bit, before heading to the Vienna zoo. We have heard from a number people how nice the zoo is and they even have panda’s! When Ellen asks me where the public transport tickets are, I draw a blank. What was I wearing yesterday again? I was so tired yesterday! Ellen retrieves the tickets out of my washed shirt… Are they still readable I ask? Once ironed out the tickets are in a reasonable shape, and we figure that we can still use them. The U-Bahn brings us to the Schoenbrunn Tiergarten, the oldest zoo in the world, opened to the public in 1752, after the reigning kaiser had received a giraffe, a present from Egypt.

It is indeed a beautiful zoo, but the Panda’s are sleeping and just show us their furry behind. We have more luck seeing the lions eat parts of sheep, having a close encounter with a black panther and enjoying the sea lions making noise and splashing around. They also have a great collection of penguins and the tropical hall and aquariums are very impressive. To my joy there is also a bier garden right opposite of the lion enclosure. We try the pizza bread that everyone seems to be eating in the zoo, but are not very fond of it. On our way our we walk past the summer palace Shoenbrunn, this is the summer residence to the famous royals, the Habsburgers, who reigned in Austria and Hungary in the last century ( including kaiserin Sissi and her beloved Franz Jozef). The buildings and gardens are truly exquisite, and we find lots of other tourists wandering around. 

A tram brings us to the West Bahnhoff, where we walk through one of the shopping streets. We stop at an Apple reseller, who has a special going on for brightly colored head phones. Tim likes the design and want to see some reviews on line before deciding to purchase them. Back at the apartment we visit the spar supermarket because Tim wants make nacho’s for dinner. We hope that creme fraiche will substitute for sour cream. At night we watch a few DVD’s from my camcorder to see the stuff we did in Brussels and Paris.

The next morning we walk to the city centre, stopping at an Italian Gelateria along the way and roam the down town shopping area of Vienna. It is another nice and sunny day, we have been so lucky with the weather during this trip. Tim and Eldon find a store that carries English Magic cards, which will keep them busy for the next little while. We also visit the the Stephansdom, a beautiful church, which is under renevations. We see the hause of Sacher, the disputed birthplace of the famous Sacher Torte, and Ellen admires all the crystal objects in the windows.  We stop at another bier garden, a beautiful secluded square with big trees for shade, they have plenty of those in Vienna, where they do not carry cola… That’s kind of weird, but the beer is excellent!

Tim has done his homework on researching the brand of the headphones, and we make our way to the Apple reseller, to buy the headphones he saw yesterday. Tim becomes the proud owner of the turquoise edition of the foldable Urbanears, Plattan manufactured in Sweden. The sky is getting darker and it definitely looks like we are going to get some rain. We use the U-bahn to get to Prater where you can find the famous ferris wheel of Vienna. This ferris wheel was even used in a James Bond movie, I believe “the living Daylights” with Timothy Dalton. While we are getting in line for the attraction it really starts to rain heavily, and the loudest thunder bang I ever heard scares the hebi jebis out of everyone. Is it a wise idea to go up a (metal) ferris wheel while there is a thunder storm going on? This ferris wheel is over one hundred years old, it should probably survive another couple of days…

By the time we get on the attraction, the rain has eased off and we get a wonderful view of Vienna. Back at home we eat at the restaurant under our apartment. Ellen and I have a mixed grill which is absolutely awesome, Eldon and Tim enjoy another Wiener schnitzel and Marc has some sort of sausage. During our dinner Marc gets a nosebleed. The waitress is very helpful with providing a napkin with some ice, to stop the bleeding. So we have a dinner and a show! A great way to conclude our stay in Vienna. Now just pack our stuff to be ready to leave early tomorrow morning for Prague.  

As of today we have no more reservations for the train, so we are a little flexible in selecting our trains. We decide to take a later train then originally planned. We have to leave the Vienna  Simmering station at 9:45 AM. We use our (washed) public transport tickets for the last time and use the U-bahn to get to Simmering. When we get to the station, it seems really small compared to the other stations, but everything seems to be according to plan. When the train arrives we need to run to get to opposite side where the first class is located.the train is busier than expected, and we cannot find enough space to sit together. Ellen sits with the boys in one compartment while I sit with some other folks in the next compartment. This is a good time for me to work on my journal. After a few hours of work, I try to separate the story in to the different weeks, and for reasons still unclear to me, I touch the wrong part on my iPad screen and lose a few hours of typing…. Sigh!

We get in to Prague Hlava Nadrazi station early in the afternoon, Ellen stops at the Change office, where they again charge a ridiculous rate to exchange some Euros to Czech Korunas (we call them petoties, like any other foreign currencies). I need to make a quick adjustment to the wooden support brace in my bag, as the right wheel starts to malfunction again. It is more difficult to read the signs here, as Czech is a Slavic language, and the seem to use the Russian alphabet. We get a few tram tickets and hop on the tram. We have just got new travel instructions emailed to us, because there is construction going on in town, and some tram lines are rerouted. After transferring to another tram we finally get to our apartment. Since we are a little later than anticipated we have to call our host Zeki. After we call him, he shows up within a few minutes. The apartment is absolutely huge, Eldon has his own queen sized bed, Marc and Tim share a room, but both have their owned and Ellen and I have the master bedroom with a king sized bed.

The weather is clouded and we have some rain while stocking up at the supermarket. To get the Prague feeling we walk to and over the Charles Bridge, a medieval bridge from the 14th century, one of the big attractions. There are street performers, cartoonists and there is a beautiful, view of the castle, on the other side of the river. We walk back via the town square with the ridiculous big clock tower, which turns out to be the famous astronomical clocks.  Lots of medieval towers, churches and other sights are still in tact and give a very distinct character to the city. We check every souvenir store as we have promised our friend Robbie to look for a rhinestone necklace. Earlier in the supermarket we found prepared red beets, one of my favorite vegetables, combined with potatoes and a pork chop creates an easy and a healthy meal.      

On Friday morning we start by checking out some of the stores, but once we figure out how to calculate from Kroner to Euros (25 Kroner equals roughly 1 Euro) we are disappointed to discover that Prague is not as cheap as we thought it would be. The only thing that is really cheap is beer! The Czech Republic has the highest beer consumption per capita in the world, now we know why! We enjoy the summer market on the central square, and have a sjaslick (a meat skewer) from the wood burning barbecue, it doesn’t get any better then that! As the weather deteriorates further we decide to take the metro to the new “mega mall” just north east of the city in Letnany. It might be a large mall in their books, but if you have visited the malls in Calgary and Edmonton, you would agree that Cinook Centre and Market Mall are probably bigger!

As my bag has now a tear in it where the handle attaches to the bag, we go on a quest to find safety pins and duct tape in the Tesco, in the mall. But how do you ask for safety pins in Czech? We finally find some hairpins which are hold together by safety pins, that’s a good starting point! We have dinner at the food court, a huge pile of tasty noodles, almost a meal and a half. Back at home I practice my do-it-yourself skills again by patching my bag with safety pins and duct tape.

Our second and last full day in Prague use the bridge to get to the other side of the river (which is the primary purpose of a bridge Tim!) and make our way to the castle. On our way we stop for coffee and the famous apfelstrudel. The castle is actually a whole set of very interesting buildings. Our walk up the hill is also rewarded with a beautiful view of Prague. We walk back again through the old town to if there are any stores we missed on our previous strolls.

The “Europe on a budget” book recommended a nice restaurant, on the river, a stone throw away from our apartment, called “Kavarna Slavia”. Although the boys complain about the fact that people smoke there, it is indeed a beautiful location. It is even mentioned that President Havel frequently vistas the place swell,and there is a photo with Hillary Clinton visiting the place on the wall. Tim has the roasted duck, while Eldon had pasta with salmon, Marc selected a Wiener Schnitzel and we had an unbelievable goulash. Eldon has an amazing pear ice-cream that almost rivals my grapefruit ice-cream. A great way to end our experience in Prague. Back home we get ready for our trip to Berlin tomorrow.

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It is Sunday, the beginning of a new month, and the beginning of few days of R&R, rest and relaxation. After a few weeks of having to go here, and having to see this and that, we will have a few days of nothing, a nice change of pace.

The boys hang out on the beach, doing some snorkeling, with the snorkels we picked up yesterday, catching hermit crabs, finding little pieces of colored ceramic and little shells. I am finally starting to work on my blogs, while Ellen reads some books and magazines. At night we have dinner at the restaurant “the Greek Way”, which has a fantastic view over the bay. Here we introduce the boys to Pitta Gyros, pita bread with roasted lambs meat, tatziki, onions, tomato, cucumber and fries all wrapped together. The rest of the week there is no more discussion on what to eat tonight, as the boys go to the restaurant every night to pickup these delicious Greek treats. When I ask Tim if it doesn’t bore him to eat the same thing every night he replies that you need to focus on another item within the sandwich every time…

On Monday we catch the bus to Kerkyra, also called Corfu town. We stroll over a little local market, before we get in to the narrow streets of the old city centre. There are two fords which you can visit, but the boys are tired of viewing old stuff again. We just look at the different shops, with boat loads of other tourists. There are about three large cruise ships in the harbor that afternoon. We have lunch at a small place and order a plate with a mix of items, as we are not all that hungry. The waiter tries to convince that it will not be enough for the five of us, but we want to try it anyway. As it turns out it was plenty of food for all of us. Prices in Kerkyra are definitely higher then in Paleokastritsa.

On Tuesday we just take it easy, pick the lemons from the lemon tree, and make our own lemonade. Wednesday we rent a boat, a little dingy with a 15 horsepower motor. The boys really enjoy the boat ride, especially when they get an opportunity to steer the boat. Tim looks like a real captain with his white polo shirt, and his new white sun glasses. He has a smile from ear to ear. We anchor at one of the paradise beaches, and have lunch under the umbrella. The anchor gets stuck, and I have a heck of time to try to get the anchor back out again. When we are ready to head back, the wind has picked up and we are riding the waves, which throws the guys in the front up and down, which occasionally proving a refreshing splash of water! After a while though, we are all soaking wet! Ellen has swallowed quite a bit of salt water by now (it reminds her of the times we go catamaran sailing whenever we are in Mexico) and we back to the harbor. That night we go back to our favorite restaurant for our last chance to enjoy a pita Gyros, greek salad, calamari and watermelon, and to celebrate Tim’s birthday, which will be the next day.

August 5th today, Tim’s  birthday! We almost forget to congratulate him, as we are busy packing our bags. The bus we need to take leaves just after 11:45, so we have some time to have breakfast pack and cleanup. The bus ride seems almost familiar, and we are lucky that the bus driver wants to stop right in front of the ferry terminal. This saves us a 10 minute walk over sometimes non existing sidewalks. It seems that the ticket window, with a sign that says 3 PM,  is still closed. No problem as we still have plenty of time. We find a nearby patio, so that we can keep an eye on the ticket window. Tim get an ice cream that practically dissolves in his hand, we have the photos to prove it!

After keeping an eye on the ticket window and the clock, it is now 2:45 PM and the window still, seems to be closed, we decide just to go to the ferry instead. While we try to rush over there, Tim almost get hit by a car! The cop regulating traffic stops the driver in the car, as he had obviously ignored the officer, and has some words with him. When we make it to the ferry with a few minutes to spare, we are told that we need to pickup our boarding pass at the ticket office, apparently one window beside the one we have been watching… I run to the office while Ellen waits with the boys, get the boarding cards, and return just in time to the ferry, phew that was close!

Two hours later we are in Igoumenitsa, and yes, the boys are still chuckling. While walking from the domestic ferry terminal to the international ferry terminal, we stop at a nice looking patio, park the family while Tim and I will check us in to the Superfast ferry to Ancona. While this check-in was very stressful last time, there is hardly anybody at the ticket counter now. The lady needs to see all passwords, oh shi.., these are still on the patio. Tim runs back and forth to collect everyones passport. Cool, that worked out fine, we are all set to go to Ancona, and still have some time for dinner on the patio! Tim and I walk back to the rest of the family, and we grab our last chance to get some real authentic Greek food. Although it is not busy at all, the service is pretty lousy. Ellen’s food appears when the rest of us are done (really, they have took COOK the salad?) we are lucky that we are not in a hurry.

We are on the exact same Superfast ferry as the one we took to Igoumentisa. Even some of staff is the same. This time we share our dorm with two French guys. As we cannot find a spot on deck we spend some time in the lounge, playing cards, eating chips and drinking a few beverages. I ask the reception desk what time we are supposed to be in Ancona, and we seem to be an hour behind schedule, arriving at 11:30, instead of 10:30 AM. Our train will be leaving at 12:30, which does not give us a lot of transfer time. We start to get worried if will be able to make it. I buy access to the Internet, €3 is pretty cheap, considering the fact that you can be connected to the Internet, while sailing on the Adriatic sea! I start looking at the different options to get from the ferry terminal to the train station.

After a restless night, we get up, I get the boys in the shower and after have located mom, we decide to wait at the exit door, to be one of the first passengers to get of the ship. We grab our luggage and around 10:30 we start waiting close to the reception area. Around 11:30 we do feel that the ship is starting to turn around, but it is almost noon before we get of the boat, which means our train will be leaving in exactly 25 minutes! Luckily a few taxis are waiting outside, and we are able to grab the first two after confirming the price. A few minutes later we are at the station, we made it… I can honestly say that most stress during vacation has been caused by Superfast Ferries, and I will try to avoid this company in the future.

Ellen quickly grabs a few sandwiches for lunch, orders 5, but when we are in the train to Bologna, we find only 4… Anyway, we are too happy that we made the train, this won’t break our day. In Bologna we have almost an hour before we need to board our train to Venice. As we like to grab an ice-cream, we want to go to the main station hall. Unfortunately there is construction going on, and if you want to use the elevator someone needs to escort you. Before we know it we stand with an unfriendly Italian lady with a burning cigarette dangling down the corner of her mouth in the elevator. The boys look in disgust as they have tried to avoid cigarette smoke where ever possible… After getting our ice-cream, we luckily we have a friendlier non-smoking host this time.

Riding in to the city of Venice by train is a great experience, first you go across a long bridge, before getting to the station, and when you get out of the staton building, the water ways are right there. Beautiful water taxis, water buses, gondolas and other boats crowd the narrow canals. The downside of this picturesque setting is that there are also a lot of bridges. Bridges with stairs that is,  and we didn’t really count on this with our luggage on “useless” wheels. When we get to our apartment, Ai Carmini, we learn that our suite is on the third floor, the current floor is zero and unfortunately for us, no elevator… Another one of those moments where I wished that I brought less luggage, but he, good exercise to burn off some calories!

We park our stuff, check on the Internet for supermarket locations and are off to find one. Although we don find one on the pinpointed location, we do find one after asking one of the locals. We get some ingredients for a simple macaroni supper, and Marc and mister Peroni helps me with the preparation. Still tired from our travel adventures over the last two days we decide to hit the sack early.

It is Saturday August 7 and we are ready to decipher the labyrinth of cris cross alleys and bridges in Venice! After some trial and error we find one of the bridges across the Grand Canal, that we lead us to one of the main attractions, the famous St. Marco Square. On our way we buy a sandwich at one of the takeout windows, and eat on one of the stone stair cases at the water front. The boys are fascinated by the fishes and crabs they can see moving around. When we finally reach the St. Marco Square Ellen asks herself where the water is, as she remembers photos taken from the water. We find it just around the corner where there are also pillars with lions with wings, which line the aforementioned photos.
(A few days later, while riding the water bus ourselves, Ellen manages to snap the photo she was waiting to make, of the square, seen from the water, postcard worthy!)

There are plenty of pigeons on the square, trying to compete for the food distributed by the many tourists. A number of patios line the edge of the square. One patio has a small group of musicians playing classical music, attributing to the overall relaxed atmosphere. We have been told to avoid these patios as the cost of drinks tends to be super expensive. We wander on along the water and cris crossing different alleys. We find an ice-cream store that carries grapefruit flavored ice cream, definitely my favorite flavor!

We decide to head back in time so that we can have some dinner and a nap at the apartment and see the world famous square by night. Although my expectations were quite low about Venice, I imagined a tourist trap with smelling water, it is actually really pretty and reasonably clean. Yes there are definitely many tourists, but we didn’t experience any crazy lineups anywhere. The square looks even more beautiful at night and the pigeons must be sleeping as they are nowhere to be found. We were so impressed with the ice creams today that we decide to try to find the same place again. When we get there, after some trial and error, the shop just closed 5 minutes ago! Disappointed we head back to our apartment and call it a day.

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It is Sunday July 25, it is hard to believe that we are already traveling for two full weeks. We get up early as we need to catch the TGV to Basel leaving at 8:30 am, from Gare de l’Est. We use the freaky elevator one more time to get our bags down. We check the apartment one more time, as we do not want to leave new slippers behind again, as Ellen did in Brussels. In the mean time we contacted the landlord and they have shipped them back to my parents place, talking about great service!  Funny anecdote here, Ellen forgot that Rene’s mom has the same shoe-size as her, and thought we had sent her a present! Anyway, they are back and we had a good laugh about the whole incident.  It is quiet on the streets of Paris this early on a Sunday morning, only the street cleaners are up spraying the sidewalks clean. The French are not very clean, and leave a lot of rubbish in the streets. We arrive 45 minutes before our scheduled departure, so there is still some time to hit the washroom in the station. When entering the facilities, we are called back as apparently you need pay before you go in, we completely forgot. It makes me laugh, as I frequently hear from other Canadians, that they are amazed that they have to pay to do their thing in Europe! I guess we have taken the clean and free bathrooms in Canada for granted.

The TGV will take us across France to Basel, where we only have 5 minutes to transfer to a train to Bern. We pray that the train will be on time and that 5 minutes will be enough to catch our next train. Luckily for us the train arrives according to schedule and the connecting train is just on the other side of the same  platform. As the train arrives we find out that our coach number is at the other side of the train. We rush with our luggage across the platform, dodging other passengers, to get to our coach, and get the whole family in before the train departs. An hour later we are in Bern!

The youth hostel is just a short walk away, although there is a steep descent to the river. Since we are only staying one night, we have not opted for an apartment but also want to show our boys what it like to stay at a hostel. The reception is closed until 2 PM and we hang out on the patio until it opens. We have our own room with two bunk beds and a single bed. The room is quite small but it will suit our purpose. As a family, we have access to our own private bathroom too, which is right next door. As Bern is trying to promote green initiatives, it is possible to rent a bike, and get the first couple of hours free, my favorite price to pay! We explore the small historic city centre of Bern and go across a few bridges. This is probably the first time that the guys bike without a helmet. We run in to an area that is crowded with tourists, and find out that there are a few Grizzly bears with cubs, in a display close to the river Aare. A nearby snack car sells fries and fried fish. A portion of fries is 6 Swiss Francs, which equates to approximate 6 Canadian Dollars. Switzerland must be a very expensive place to live!

Back at the Hostel we join for the what we were told was going to be a Pasta dinner. However the dinner consists of mashed potato’s and your choice of meat or sausages, a salad, a cup of soup and a choice deserts. At least the meal was reasonably priced and filling. We are lucky that our guys are not very picky eaters. After dinner we play cards and try out the ping pong table. Eldon and Tim obviously need more practice as we spend more time looking for our ping pong balls then hitting them across the table. We also hook up with a few traveling teens around the piano, we talk about their travels and Eldon tries his best to play some piano. Since we have to get up early to catch our train to Milano we will be leaving the hostel before breakfast. The staff offers to prepare a packed breakfast for us, which will do great for now.

The next morning we quickly wash up and get dressed to get on to our way to the station. We now use the little gondola that carries you up the hill, as it would be quite a hassle to lug our bags up this steep incline. At the train station we get rid of our spare franks by being a few extra buns, and in the train we use these combined with the pre packed food to have our breakfast. In Milano we transfer to a train to Rome. In the train they distribute complementary drinks, this almost feels like a plane ride! Before we know it we arrive in station Rome Termini. In our ongoing effort to teach the kids how to travel we make Tim go to the Tourist Information to get a map, and directions to our apartment. A short walks brings us to the apartment where Vadim, our representative, is already waiting for us. This is also a very old apartment building with a little elevator, which looks like a cage, but is helpful to get our stuff to the second floor. The inside of the apartment is very nice with some African decor. Marc will be sleeping on the hide a bed in the living room while Eldon and Tim share the only room with a working air conditioner, and a computer which is connected to the Internet.
The guys are quite happy to be able to check in to their Facebook accounts, on a regular basis here.

Although it is already later in the afternoon we decide to stroll to the Colosseum to get right away in the Rome mindset. During our walk we stop at a Gelateria for some world famous ice cream, and we are not disappointed. Tim even expresses his pleasure for Italian ice-cream later that night in his Facebook status. The  Colosseum is exactly what you imagine it to be, a massive building surrounded by lots and lots of history. On our way back we stop by the supermarket and get some ingredients for macaroni. Since the boys missed the promised pasta meal yesterday in Berne, this might make up for it. Beer comes in large bottles, just over 600 ml, from a local brand called Peroni, and is very reasonably priced. The boys are still hooked on the Orangina.

The next day we take it easy, just to recover from the last two days of travel. Once we get ready to move, we walk to the Spanish steps which offers some pretty views and is a place where a lot of tourists hang out. At the bottom of the stairs, you find the stores from the designer labels. We continue our way to the central park of Rome, Villa Borghese. This is the place where people hang out to chill at the fountains. The boys find a nice pond where people are feeding the ducks and turtles.  You can even see large fish in the pond. A gentlemen is so kind to share his bread with the boys, so that they can engage as well.

On our way back to our apartment we walk past the Trevi fountain, which is another tourist hangout. The story goes that if you throw a coin over your left shoulder in the fountain you will come back to this spot. Ellen has been here before and threw a coin, so it is obviously working! Another gellato puts a crown on this day, with melon being the flavor of the day, and mango and lemon being a close second.

During our first glimpse of the Colosseum, we noticed the huge line up to enter the monument. After our research on the Internet we decide to visit early. We get there the next morning at 8:35 AM, and there is hardly any line up. Again, the kids are free as long as they are residents of the European Union. We just have to show one of our Dutch passports and we are ready to go. There is a great exposition with replica costumes of the gladiators, this gives you a really good impression on what things must have looked like almost 2000 years ago. It is getting busier, and warmer, by the minute and we praise ourselves lucky for getting up early and getting some great views of this impressive monument. Next we visit Palentine Hill which is included with the same ticket to take a look at the remains of the home of Emperor Augustus.      

We have had our dose of cultural buildings and do some some more strolling through Rome. It is unfortunate that Rome does not really have a shopping area, al the shops are sprinkled through town and everywhere you go you need to be aware for the traffic. The traffic is even more scary than Paris, people drive like absolute maniacs here! We walk past the Trevi Fountain again, which makes the boys believe that the coin is actually working and eventually end up at Villa Borghese again where we are looking for tram line number 3, as this line is supposed to take scenic route through the city. Unfortunately we conclude that the tram line now has been replace by a bus, which is a far less romantic ride, we end up at different parts of the bus and fail to get of at the right stop. Darn, now we need to walk back. At the supermarket Tim, with mam’s help, selects the ingredients for Tortelinni Seafood Alfredo, and although I am not a big fan of Pasta, it ends up to be a very tasty meal.

It is Thursday July 27, our last day in Rome, before we move on to Corfu in Greece. We decided to get up early to visit Vatican city. At this point everyone gets a little bit moody, for having to get up early again. When we get to the metro station close to the apartment there are lots of people getting out of the station. We get and stamp our tickets to find out that for some reason the metro is not going. We decide to walk to the next station at the main train station, but also there metro line A is not going anywhere. A quick look at the bus stops reveals that lots of people are making alternate arrangements to get to their destination, and trying to get on a bus with five people seems next to impossible. We walk, again (sigh), to the Vatican. Along the way we buy a quick drink and finally arrive at the bridge in front of castel ‘d Angelo, which provides a beautiful sight. From there it is a short walk to the impressive Saint Peter’s Square where the famous Saint Peter’s Cathedral is located.

We join the relatively short lineup, and see signs that pocket knives are not allowed. I have my Leathermen multi tool in my backpack, and have no way to put it elsewhere. Fortunately the security scanner does not raise an issue about it and we are on our way to the Cathedral. One more checkpoint for appropriate attire, shorts and tank tops are not allowed, and they are pretty serious about that. Our first tour is in the basement of the cathedral where the former popes are laid to rest. Then we have an opportunity to see the cathedral on the inside, there are really no words to describe the interior of the building. One jaw dropping piece of art after the other. Paintings, statues, altars and so on. It is very crowded with tourists, but the short wait was certainly worth it!

We enjoy our sandwich on the square, which looks like an ants nest with all the people crawling around. Luckily the weather gets a little clouded, which allows the temperature to cool down a little. We stroll through Rome for the last time, passing the Trevi Fountain again (the coin thing is really working), to get to the next metro station. I talk to the staff to explain that we have not been able to use our stamped tickets this morning, and after some convincing, they let us go in for free. Back in the apartment we take an afternoon nap. We call our rep Vadim, to arrange a time to retrieve our deposit as we are scheduled to leave early the next morning. To cap off our Rome experience we go to the little restaurant on the corner of our street and enjoy a simple menu, with bruchetta, a fried rice and cheese roll and the best thin crust pizza we have ever had!

Friday July 30, 5:45 AM, the alarm clock wakes after a short and restless night of sleep. We need to leave our apartment at 6:30, to be at the station at 7. Our train to Ancona is scheduled to leave at 7:35… We use the antique lift for the last time and pray that nobody gets stuck. We board our train on time, and experience some rain while we are traveling from the west coast of Italy to the east cost. We almost get out at the wrong station, as the train is running a few minutes behind, but finally get of a Ancona. A bus takes us to the ferry check-in office which has some huge line-ups, that just will not move very fast. People are budging in line and when someone tries to say something about it some verbal fights break out. I must admit that this is our worst experience so far. The staff of “Superfast Ferries” is definitely not fast at checking in their passengers. They could have easily  prevented the disorganization at the ticket counters, but when the departure time of the boat is getting close, they all of a sudden open the ticket sale counters for check-in, which creates more confusion and aggravation.

After a few hours, a little bus and a passport control, where we didn’t even have to open our passports (security check the Italian way), we are on a huge escalator that brings us to deck number 7 of this huge ferry. A little lift brings us to deck 9, where the dormitories are. Ellen will sleep in the female dormitory, while the boys will sleep on the male side. Our beds are so tiny, that a coffin probably has more room. I am not sure as I have never tried to sleep in one. The small room has three bunk beds on each side, you better not have a bad dream and want to sit up straight as you are certain to whack your head! All other passengers on the boat, without a cabin or dormitory spot, are trying to find a place to sleep. Small tents are pitched on the decks, air mattresses pop up every where, from the decks to the hallways. We do manage to find a table on deck that is not been occupied yet, next to some very loud people from Limburg in the Netherlands. We have make our lunch, enjoy a few drinks, play some cards, explore the different decks and the boys enjoy their Gameboys.

When the self service restaurant opens for service, we are the first customers, and get Spaghetti for Eldon and Marc, Salmon for Tim and chicken for Ellen and myself. Although it is still early we head for our sleeping quarters, have a quick shower and go of to bed. Since the beds close off with little curtains, it gets pretty warm, and we all have a very restless night of sleep. The next morning the intercom announces that we are getting close to our destination, and shortly there after a steward comes through the dormitories shouting with a sharp voice Igoumenitsa, Igoumenitsa! The guys keep imitating the steward over the next couple of days as it sounded so funny to them. We get our stuff together and catch up with Ellen and wait to get off the ship. Luckily for us they have reversed the escalator so that we don’t have to haul our heavy bags down the stairs.

Back on shore we we find out that we have to walk for about 1500 meters to get to the ferry to Kerkyra, also called Corfoe city. Luckily no lineup for the ferry this time, and we find out that the next ferry will leave in an hour. Ellen and the boys visit the bakery across the street to get some breakfast, while I watch our bags. This is a much smaller ferry, we can leave our bags in a little compartment at the front, and go to the deck. Soon the boys find out that they can feed the little fish by throwing some old bread in the water. This keeps them busy until it is time to sail. A short boat ride of only an hour and a half brings us to Kerkyra, where we have to find the green bus line, which will bring us to Paleokastritsa. Although we originally walk slightly in the wrong direction we still manage to find the bus station although we just missed the 11 AM bus. Next one at noon… No problem as there is little patio right outside the bus station. A bus ride of 30 minutes brings us across the the island, and Ellen recognizes where we need to get off, based on the 360 degree view on the Internet, very impressive! We are welcomed by our host Kostas, who shows us the beautiful apartment, with two sleeping rooms, a kitchen and two bathrooms. There is even a small semi private beach, just 90 meters away! The rest of the afternoon is spend on this little beach, and at night we just open a cowpoke of cans of soup, with bread. We get to bed early as we are tired from our trip. Over the next couple of days we are definitely going to take it easy.

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It is Sunday morning and we are up early so that we can finish cleaning Irma’s place and get on the train for our roundtrip of Europe. My parents pick us up and drop us off at station Laan van Nieuw Oost Indie, because that is easier to reach then the Leiden train station, which almost impossible to reach by car.

We hop on to the first train to den Haag Holland Spoor to wait for the intercity to Brussels. When the intercity arrives it will be the first time we quickly have to board the train with five heavy bags. While I still try to shoot some video of the train that has just arrived, Ellen tries to open a door that is apparently broken, a little panic sets in, as we scramble for another door. It is not too handy that I have one hand occupied with with my camcorder! We manage to get in ok and head for our first class seats.

Five is definitely an awkward number as the seats are arranged by two or foursomes. I end up sitting across the aisle from the family. Straight across from me sits a guy, by the looks of it somewhere from the Arab Emirates, who is singing while listing to his MP3 player… He asks me if I know if this train also goes to Paris. After showing me a piece of paper with a scribbled itinerary I explain to him that he needs to change trains in Antwerp. He also wants to know if you can buy a puppy in Paris, which he want to bring home for kids. Although that seems a weird question to me, I say that they probably sell dogs in Paris… Why would you want to buy a dog in Paris, and then take back on an airplane? The boys start working on their journal, so that they will have some lasting memories about this extraordinary trip.

I sincerely enjoy traveling by train, it brings back memories when I was a teenager, and travelled the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) by train with my buddy, with nothing more then a backpack and a little tent! Good times when we had to learn how to cook. I vividly remember how my plastic fork melted right in to the frying pan, while trying to flip my burger! That is how you learn how to not to cook! Although the train is running late, it does not effect us, as we have no connecting train that day. We arrive in Brussels central station, which is an underground station. Once manage to find our way out we realize that we have no instructions on how to get to the accommodations rental office to pick up the key. We have the address,  but where is it? We make our way to  the tourist office, near the central market. It is Sunday and it is crowded with Tourists in downtown Brussels, and we seem slightly out of place, five people pulling big bags on wheels behind them on the cobble stone streets.

The tourist office explains where to go and we continue our walk. We look like Walt Disney’s duck family with Huey, Dewey and Louie in the middle. My bag reveals it’s true quality, as the wheels are giving way, and I end up trying to repack my bag three times. After a while I give up, and Ellen takes Tim’s bag, while Tim and I carry mine. We get the key and have to get back to the other side of the station to get to our apartment. We decide to take the bus, so that we don’t have to carry my bag all the way.

The apartment is a very old building near the Royal Palace,  and it is on the third floor without an elevator. This provides a good workout to carry our heavy bags up three flights of stairs, sigh… The interior is very nice, and it has all the amenities we need, to serve as a base to explore Brussels. Eldon will sleep on the hide bed in the living room, while Marc and Tim share a bedroom. After dropping off our stuff we head back in to the city centre. The Central Place, or Grote Markt, is still as breath taking as I remember it to be, with all the old buildings. History radiates from every corner of this place. There is some sort of game going on, and it is extremely busy. We make our way to one of the local attractions Manneke Pis, a bronze statue of a pissing dude. The boys cannot believe it, he is even dressed up with a little cape.
He became famous, as the story goes, by peeing out a fire that was burning in the old city hall, ending up saving the building!

Since it is Sunday, most shops are closed, and we have a hard time finding a supermarket to buy some stuff. We end up finding a convenience store, where we buy some waffles and drinks to get us started. For dinner we have a traditional bag of Flemish fries, of course with mayonnaise! After this it is back to our apartment to get some well deserved rest.   

On Monday Ellen heads first to the supermarket, to get some breakfast. It is great to have all the facilities in the apartment to prepare your own meals. This way we don’t have to eat out three times a day! We use the metro to go to the Atomium, a structure build in 1958 for the world expo in Brussels. It looks like an unit cell of an iron atom,  magnified 165 billion times. It is a gorgeous day with a blue sky and the structure looks very impressive against this backdrop. After a short wait in line an elevator takes us to the top of the structure, for some amazing views of Brussels. After the same elevator takes you back down again, you can use the escalators to visit some of the other spheres, where there are a number of different expositions. One is about the multi cultural society in Belgium and being tolerant in a society of multiple ethnic backgrounds. The metro takes us back to the city core where we stroll around the shopping area, where Eldon buys a yoyo for Tim’s upcoming birthday and we have a drink on the patio on the “plein der Martelaren”.

It is Tuesday, time flies when you are having fun, we head to the flea market. We use a little lift to get to the lower part of town and look around to all the neatly displayed junk. Tim finds an old fashioned lighter and asks “How much?” Five Euros answers the guy. Then he asks “How much do you want to give for it?” Three Euros Tim replies… How about four? Tim nods no… Ok, three it is! Tim just got his first lesson in market place bargaining! We stroll through a street lined with antique shops, they have everything from medieval swords and harnesses to statues and large old station clocks. The boys are very interested in the weaponry. We pass Manneken Pis again, who is now dressed in a Scout uniform. Now that we think about it, we have seen a ton of different Scouts today. It turns out that there is a European Scout conference going on in Brussels!

We make our way over to the Comic Book museum, which is housed in an old fabric selling place. It is a very interesting building from an architectural perspective, with lots of glass. But since it is really warm, the temperature inside the building is at least to say bloody hot! It is great to learn that there is much more to creating a comic book, then first meets the eye, but because some of the examples are in French, it is only modestly interesting for the boys. On our way home, we walk past a dumpster of a home under reconstruction. I manage to find a small peace of wood, with a couple of screws and nails still in it. This piece will be perfect to repair my malfunctioning bag, to provide the sturdiness to keep the wheels straight. Back at the apartment we have a simple meal with soup and bread, i manage to fix my bag using my Leatherman multi tool, before we hit the sack for the day. If the women don’t find you handsome they should at least find you handy!           

Wednesday is travel day to Paris, we get up on time, pack, clean up and are on our way to the metro station, which will bring us to the Brussels Midi station. This is our first reserved train trip on a TGV, Train Grand Vitesse, or in other words high speed train.  One thing about train travel is that you want to be on time, or the train will leave without you! We find our reserved seats and are in for a real treat. Let me tell you, this is the way to travel Europe!!! The chairs are comfortable, can be reclined like an airplane seat, and there is even a power outlet! The boys work on their journals again while the train transports us with speeds reaching over 200 KM per hour! It doesn’t take long before we arrive in Gare Charles de Gaule, where we need to get on local train to Gare du Nord. In order to get on the platform for the local train, we need tickets. After a long wait in a lineup, and flashing our Eurail pass we get free tickets so that we can continue our journey.

In Gare du Nord, we check the cost to store our bags at the station, but find that it really adds up with five bags, as the big lockers are 9.50 euros each. We decide instead, to go to the rental office, which is about a twenty minute walk. Now that I have repaired my bag, it should work fine. This rental office is run by a bunch of collective owners, and has an interesting concept. We have a secret code to get in to the office that has no staff. Inside are a bunch of lockers that have the names of the various apartments on it. We use our secret code for our apartment locker and leave the money for the rent. Now we have a few hours to explore Paris. We leave our luggage in the assigned area in the office, which is monitored by a camera. During our stay in Paris, we will never meet anyone from the office.

We walk to the Seine, Ellen and I have been in Paris on multiple locations and it is one of our favorite destinations. The sight of the Seine brings back memories of a distant life before kids. We continue to give the boys a quick glimpse of the Notre Dame, perhaps we can find a way to transfer our love for Paris to them. When we get back to the office, we find the key to the apartment in our locker. We get our luggage and are on our way again, single file, dad in front and mom in the back. It must be a funny sight to us walk like this, with our bags on wheels. The apartment is a very old building, and probably a good representation on how thousands of people still live in Paris every day.

There is a really creepy old elevator, the ones you see in old movies. To our surprise we learn that these things still exist and are being used. You better do not have a claustrophobic nature, if you want to use the elevator. It is great to be able to get our bags to the second floor without having to use the stairs. The inside of the apartment is small but nice, it really gives you the feeling that you are living like the locals. There is a small (Ikea) kitchen, which is so small, that we keep bumping in to the the button that turns on the oven. Tim has own room while Eldon and Marc sleep on the pull out bed in the living room. The shower has no curtain and you stand in the bad tub. When Ellen takes a shower and by accident takes a step back, we hear a big scream while she lands on her behind. That will be black and blue, we all have to laugh. The washer also functions as a dryer, I guess when you are housed this small you need to become creative with your space. The supermarket across the street provides us with a frozen Paella, and Tim suggest to add some large shrimps to the mix. This provides an easy and tasty dinner, eating Spanish food in Paris.  

Our apartment is very noisy, and we can hear the other inhabitants of the building go to work in the morning, doors slam, conversations take place, a child yells for her mom… We try to sleep in a little as much as possible ignoring the noises. The nice thing about Paris is, that there are small supermarkets and bakeries everywhere. I walk to the bakery around the corner to pickup some fresh baquettes, which are wrapped in a small piece of paper, just large enough to hold them. Nothing beats the taste of fresh bread straight from the bakery.

The apartment is close to the Sacre Coeur, so that we be our first destination. The moment we walk in to the park at the bottom of the Basilique, we walk straight in to a tourist trap. Three guys walk up to our boys, say Hakuna Matata and start  wrapping bracelets around their wrists. Of course they have no idea what happens to them, and I decide to let it go, it will be a great learning opportunity. Of course the guys now want to be rewarded for their bracelets, and decide to give them €1 each. One of tries to raise the price to €2 each, but I think what we offering is probably already to much for a few pieces of string, that we didn’t ask for. Our guys are stunned on how quickly this happened, and in subsequent events they will now certainly decline any such approaches.

After admiring the inside of the basilique, and strolling over the Mont Martre, where painters try are creating caricatures, we take the metro to the Place de la Concorde. This square has an obelisk which was given to France by Egypt and is a great start to walk across the most famous road in Paris, the Avenue des Champs-Elysees. The bleacher seats are being constructed for the final day of the Tour de France, this upcoming Sunday. We walk past the stores of famous brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton, all the way to the Arc de Triomphe, an impressive structure, honoring the French soldiers, fallen in different wars. Twelve roads connect to a roundabout around the Arc, traffic is crazy!

After a short rest we continue our walk to the Trocadero, as this is the most magnificent route to approach the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately the fountains are not working, but is still an impressive sight. We ignore the sales people trying to sell Eiffel Tower trinkets, and enjoy the sight of the tower with the river the Seine in front. We decide that after all this walking we deserve a refreshment and walk back to the Trocadero, and select patio with a view of the tower. €37 later we have to conclude that having a drink in Paris can be a pricey proposition!  We continue our walk and head to the Louvre where we find an Apple store in the underground shopping centre. This allows us to connect to their free WiFi, to quickly check our email. We cap off the day with a meal at McDonalds as we are recovering from the drinks price earlier in the day. A meal for five including drinks, €21.50! We take the metro back and pickup a few bottles of Orangina, the new favorite drink of the boys, on our way. Today we walked more than 10 KM and our guys didn’t complain at all, we are very impressed.

It is Friday morning July 23, and we take it easy this morning, as we want to get on the Eiffel Tower when it turns dark, which will be around 9 PM at night. We leave after lunch and first head to the Louvre, the place where we ended our tour last night. Kids under 18 have free entry, so we only need 2 tickets for Ellen and myself. We first he’d down to see the Mona Lisa, and to say that we are not the only visitors who want to see this masterpiece, is an understatement. Well, at least we can now all say that we have seen this work by Leonardo da Vinci. The Louvre has a large collection of Greek and Egyptian artifacts, and lots of rooms have beautiful fresco’s. After a while it just becomes too much, I think you can be lost in the Louvre for weeks, and still discover new stuff.

Ellen and I want to head to lesser known treasure in Paris, the rooftop patio of the department store, la Samaritaine, with a beautiful view of Paris and the river Seine from their restaurant patio on the 9th floor. However, unfortunately we find out that the store is out of business. We head on to Les Halles instead, and look at some of the shops. As it is getting close to diner time, we go to Quartier Latin, an area with little restaurants where we find a place with a special deal on mussels. We manage to have dinner for only €50, not bad considering our drink adventure yesterday. It is a little clouded and a few drops of rain fall, but we manage to walk all the way to the Eiffel Tower without getting wet.

Ellen and I have been on the Eiffel Tower a few times, never been on it during nighttime, and we have always used the elevator. We find out that it is also possible to climb the structure using the stairs. This seems like a good challenge to tire the boys out and after a short wait we are up on our way using the stairs! The parents are getting pretty tired treading all these steps, but the boys seem like Energizer bunnies, and keep going. As we are going up the flashlights start going off and a big cheer erupts from the crowd below, what an experience! The views are amazing as it quickly turning dark. Paris is definitely THE city of lights. The metro takes us back and we get home past midnight, this means that it is my birthday, and the boys sing the “Turtle Crush Dude” version of happy birthday for me. This day we also walked more then 10 KM without any complaints from the boys!

It is our last day in Paris, and since we came home after midnight, everyone stays in bed a little longer. Because it is Saturday it is pretty quiet in the building as well, which is a nice. When we get ourselves together we walk (again) to Les Puces, the largest flea market in Paris, just on the other side of the Peripherique, the Paris ring road. There are lots of antique dealers and also some a colorful market of all kinds of stuff. We find a shop with a few old pinball machines, and the boys are allowed to try them out. When we get back to the metro station Porte de Clignancourt, Tim figures out which metro we need to take to get to the Notre Dame. The lineup is huge to get inside this beautiful church, but it is moving quite fast. Inside we see amazing works of art and stunning windows. Marc gets to light a candle. On our way back we stop at some of the souvenir shops to buy some postcards and have a last look at the Place Georges Pompidou, the weird looking building with all the ducts on the outside. We have a few crepes with Nutella before we take the Metro to pickup a grilled chicken for dinner. Now we need to get ready for our departure tomorrow to  the capital of Switzerland, Berne.

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Uncategorized Sloos family vacation Europe 2010

It is Friday july 9, parade day in Calgary, and we are finishing packing as our plane will leave later that afternoon. In the mean time we are also still wrapping up the latest items for work. The guy who came to view our trailer last night has decided to buy it, but can’t get the money as the banks are closed because of parade day until noon! Luckily we can arrange for a credit card payment facilitated by our company. This does mean that we have to fill the gas tanks and find a time slot to hand over the keys, during this hectic day!

We manage to leave in time for the airport. After going through security we are asking ourselves where Marc is. He is just admiring the flying dinosaurs which are hung from the ceiling. We impress upon him that he needs to stay with program this vacation, as we do not have eyes in the back of our heads. Our flight is on time and fairly uneventful, which is a good thing. Everyone has some trouble to get to sleep. Marc falls asleep an hour before we have to land. His gameboy has kept him busy for the entire flight, and he is quite cranky when we try to wake him for breakfast.

My mom and sister Marjolein with her daughter Indy, pick us up at Schiphol. We take the train to Voorschoten where my dad and brother in law Fred help us to transport is and our luggage to my parents home. After we were served a lunch we are dropped of in Leiden, where we have the luxury of using a house of an old friend of mine, Irma. She has a townhouse, right in the city centre of Leiden. When we drop of our luggage we even have an opportunity to quickly stroll across the local a market, before they wrap up for the day. This is the best time for good deals, as the market folks do not want to take their stuff back home. We pickup 2 boxes of strawberries for only €1!

Dinner is provided by some local favorite snack food, “frikandel speciaal”and fries with peanut sauce. When Tim makes a trip to the toilet (WC), he comes back all upset, this toilet is freaky he exclaims, first “your dump” gets on a sort of platform , and looks like a doggie do, and then when you flush, the whole thing is taken away by a big wave! He has obviously never seen something we call an old-fashioned “schotel toilet”. At night I am sitting on the patio listening to my favorite Dutch radio show, with a beer in my hand. When Eldon comes to say goodnight, he finds me asleep, with the beer bottle tightly held in my hand! I guess I didn’t get much sleep on the plane either…

This is Sunday where the Dutch soccer team will play in finals against Spain for the world cup in South Africa, and finally can give us a first place, as we have lost the finals twice, and never won the world cup. We are lucky to be able to use my dad’s car, although it is small, my family does (barely) fit in it. Once we see the price of the gasoline, we understand why people are driving small cars in Europe! On our way to a Feline’s birthday party, a daughter of Ellen’s longtime friend Patricia, we stop at a local mall, to visit a flea market. It is great to see the people from all different nationalities, within a whole bunch of junk. But as the saying goes “One persons junk is someone else’s treasure”. We find a guy selling shoes from the back of his car, orange with red, white and blue stripes. As the final soccer match is that night, the guy obviously wants to rid of them. We find a pair that fits Eldon, and for only €8 you cannot walk bare foot.

Before we get to the birthday party we also manage to stop by the house where Ellen used to live as a child and where we spend a few years as well early in our relationship. We walk across the main street of Rijswijk and have some memories of our youth percolate in our brain. FInally we get to the De Vries residence where it is great to reconnect with old friends. It is also good to hear that Ivy, Feline’s sister is doing better after being submitted to hospital last week for head pains. We talk about their plans to visit Canada next year, and have a lovely afternoon in a sunny backyard.

At dinnertime my mom got the entire family together to her favorite restaurant to eat spare ribs. We are sitting outside in the Dorpsstraat and witness the neighboring cafe prepare for the soccer final. After dinner the entire party moves to Marjolein’s backyard where her husband Fred has created an outdoor movie theater. Everyone and everything is dolled up in orange, and we are all ready to cheer our team to the world cup. The play of the Dutch team is uncoordinated and disappointing. Spain wins the match and gets the title, leaving the Dutch team in second place for the third time!

On Monday we have plans to rent a little boat to cruise around Leiden, but a weather warning spoils these plans. We decide to drive to the sea shore at Katwijk, but by the time we get there it starts to rain.  Disappointed we head back home and decide to catch up on some sleep working away our jet lag. At night we are invited for dinner at Astrid’s place, we are enjoying sate from the BBQ. Marc also enjoys the backyard jacuzzi, with his nieces Dewi and Indy. 

Marc continues to have trouble breathing, and after monitoring it for a few days, we decide that it might be better to see a doctor. On Tuesday morning we contact Astrid’s doctor and are able to make an appointment right away. We hurry to the car, which is parked just outside the city core, about a 10 minute walk, and are on our way to see the doctor. As we are navigating through the little streets Eldon says “I think that I need to throw up!”. The mother instinct of Ellen does not fail, and she rips the last sandwich out of a zip lock back (how do people survive without those?) and passes it back to Eldon. This all happens so fast that Tim is not even aware that it happens!

Doctor Geels prescribes a puffer for Marc, which helps him to breathe more easily in the humid climate. Since we are up early anyway, we visit aunt Astrid’s hair salon, where Tim and Eldon get a quick trim. We take Dewi and Nino to go to Scheveningen by tram, and we walk on the promenade and beach. Although the weather is so so, kids are having a blast collecting shells and poking washed up jelly fishes with a stick. In the distance we see a number of helicopters which are transporting the Dutch soccer team from the Hague to Amsterdam, for their appreciation tour to reach the second place in the world cup finals.

When we have walked all the way to the south end of Scheveningen, we take another tram to the city centre of the Hague, and are able to show the working palace of the Dutch queen, the working place of the Dutch parliament, “het Binnenhof”, and the place where prisoners were tortured in the middle ages, “de gevangenpoort”. After some fries with “frikandellen” we head back home with a bunch of tired kids! At one point we need to wait for an open bridge, and the guys are asking themselves “how did the road got in an upright position?” It is hard to believe that they have never seen an opened bridge, but we don’t have those back home in Calgary. When we get back to our place we hear that my dad is submitted to the hospital with breathing difficulties. He has lung emphyzema, and carries an oxygen tank with him. I offer to drive mom to the hospital in the Hague so that she does not have to take public transport. On our way back we stop by Fred for a quick drink as it is his birthday today. All in all it ends up to be a long and tiring day.

Wednesday we chill, still tired from our travels and consequent activities. We sleep in, watch a little bit tv on the animal planet channel, and the boys play their gameboys. In the afternoon we visit the “Museum van Oudheden” in Leiden, and even walking over there we enjoy the sight of old buildings and churches. The museum has areas from ancient Egypt and Greece, which speaks to the imagination of the boys. One of my uncles, Jan Sloos who used to work in the museum, appears in one of the video’s. At night we a have a simple meal, bread with ragout, and in the evening Irma and her friend Peter come over to meet our family. It is funny that Irma is a guest in her own house! Of course we are very grateful for the opportunity to use her house. It is a perfect place for our stay, exept for the loud loud neighbors across the yard, who have no consideration for anyone else.

Back in Calgary I had purchased a copy of Anne Frank’s diary for both Eldon and Tim. While Eldon has finished the book and Tim is still working on it, we head off to Amsterdam. We park on the north side of “het IJ” and as per Peter’s recommendation we take the free ferry to the central station. From here it is a short walk to the Anne Frank house. It is already busy, and have to stand in line for about 45 minutes, but it certainly worth it to see such a historic place. Even when we lived in Holland we had never taken an opportunity to go there. After our visit we stroll through the Kalverstraat, and do some shopping. The ferry shuttles us conveniently back to the car. Ellen recognizes the neighborhood as the place where she was born, and where her grandparents used to live. After a little bit of driving around we find the place and take a picture, to show to her mom.

Thursday night we are told that my brother in law Fred is submitted to the hospital with a collapsed lung. This prompts us to walk to the hospital on Friday to pay him a visit. Considering the circumstances he is doing ok, and is even considering quitting smoking, go figure! In the hospital we run in to his Fred’s dad, and his wife Ria, which are also the folks who used to look after Tim, when he was a baby, and Ellen was still working part time. That night I also assisted my mom picking up my dad from the other hospital, I have had my portion of hospitals for the day.

On Saturday my mom is hosting a get together, with Ellen’s family from Assen. Ellen’s mom, brother Robert-Jan with wife Marjan and daughter Ilse arrive in the morning. We have a full house with  Marjolein and Indy joining us as well and we spend some time walking in the park and strolling through the main street of Voorschoten. Late in the day we hear that Fred is allowed to leave the hospital which is great news! Back at our place we start to pack, and clean up, for our departure the next day to Brussels.

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Uncategorized Sloos family vacation Europe 2010

This summer I am privileged to be able to take 6 weeks off, to take my family on a round trip to Europe. I feel that because of my hectic schedule over the last almost 14 years in Canadaa, my family did not always get the attention they deserved. It is very difficult to manage a proper work life balance if you are leading a growing successful company. Since the merger of CompuConsult with Bulletproof, I feel blessed to be part of a great team of people. This has allowed me to take this extended vacation, knowing that the team will take care of business.

The plan is to fly in to Amsterdam, spend a week with the family and then go on a Eurail tour visiting the capitals of Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic and Germany. We will also visit the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam, the Vatican in Rome and make a quick hop to Corfu in Greece. One of the purposes of the trip is to show the boys how to travel Europe using only public transport.

Six weeks before the planned departure date we firm up our airline reservations, the price has come down to an acceptable level, and since we need 5 seats, we cannot risk a last minute fare. Now we need to firm up our accommodations. We have decided to use apartments for rent by owners, to live like the locals, this way we won’t need 2 hotel rooms and are able to prepare our own food, to keep everything within our budget.

Ellen does a wonderful job researching and selecting the accommodations, while Rene focusses on the logistics of the trip. After some creative manipulation to line up the accommodations with the trips, the following itinerary is set:

July 9 - fly from Calgary to Amsterdam
July 10 - arrive in Amsterdam
July 18 - train from the Hague to Brussels
July 21 - train from Brussels to Paris
July 25 - train from Paris to Bern, via Basel
July 24 - train from Bern to Rome, via Milan and Bologna
July 30 - train from Rome to Ancona, overnight ferry from Ancona to Igoumenitsa 
July 31 - arrive in IIgoumenitsa, ferry from Igoumenitsa to Kerkyra (Corfu town), bus from Kerkyra to Paleokastritsa
August 5 - bus from Paleokastritsa to Kerkyra, ferry from Kerkyra to Igoumenitsa, overnight ferry from Igoumenitsa to Ancona
August 6 - arrive in Ancona, train from Ancona to Venice via Bologna
August 8 - overnight train from Venice to Vienna
August 12 - train from Vienna to Prague
August 15 - train from Prague to Berlin
August 18 - train from Berlin to Leiden
August 21 - fly from Amsterdam to Calgary

We are happy to have found a friend to use our house while we are traveling. Rene determines which electronic devices have to accompany us during our trip, a video camera, an iPad and iPhone for Rene, an iPod Touch and camera for Ellen, an iPod Touch for Eldon, an iPod Nano for Tim, MP3 player for Marc and 3 Gameboys! (No, we do not own any Apple stocks!!!) Of course we also need ensure we have the right plug-in’s to charge all these devices. It feels like running an electronics store…

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Uncategorized Sloos family vacation 2010

In the last three days, I have been traveling and attending meetings to help our distribution partner, Ingram Micro. In my role of Small and Medium Business Alliance (SMBA) council member, I help Ingram to validate and improve their programs for our market segment.

Shouldn’t you just decide who to buy from, pay them for their products and/or services, and finish the transaction? If the vendor doesn’t meet your expectations you have a fight and select another vendor, right? I don’t think so. In the complex field of Small and Medium business technology products it is all about building relationships!

Ingram Micro plays a critical role in our success to deliver state of the art IT solutions to small and medium sized businesses in the Calgary and Red Deer area. It matters that the computer systems in a business are always up and running. More and more of clients are requesting redundant Internet connections, because they can’t afford any down time. A quick disaster recovery strategy allows our clients to recover quickly from a server malfunction.

In most small businesses today, no information technology means no business! The Ingram SMBA program helps us to select and support the right technologies for our clients. The same robust products that the enterprise clients use, but for an affordable small business budget. Once a year Ingram hosts a North America wide conference event. Last year this event was in Charlotte, and it was a great opportunity for us to meet a number of manufacturers, who use use Ingram Micro as their distribution channel.

The result of my visit to this event was that we started a relationship with Meraki Wireless Networks, a manufacturer of innovative wireless solutions. As a direct result of this event we have acquired $25,000 of net new sales by selling a Meraki wireless solution to a college in central Alberta and we will also be providing wireless services for an event in May in the Calgary Convention Centre. This shows that an investment in building relationship with vendor partners and the distribution channel can definitely pay off!

In our meetings in the Buffalo location of Ingram we had tour of the impressive Solution Centre and also had an opportunity to educate vendors HP, Cisco and AVG about dealing with the SMB Channel. I am already looking forward to attending the SMBA conference at the end of August this year in Orlando! Thanks to al the folks at Ingram to facilitate the SMBA council members and give us the opportunity to provide feedback. Listening to determine how they can help us better is a great first step, to act and implement improvements will be the next step.

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Uncategorized Alberta, Bulletproof InfoTech, Calgary, computer help, Ingram Micro, Red Deer, Small Business Technology

It is amazing how many small professional services companies in Calgary and Red Deer are finally catching on to the “Paperless Office”. The irony is that since the invention of the term, “Paperless Office”, the paper industry has sold more paper then ever! Going paperless is not a technology it’s a mindset!

In the last couple of months, we have had discussions with a number of professional services firms about the benefits of electronic client records. In this blog we will discuss the benefits of going paperless for a Legal Practice.

The Calgary Courthouse is finally starting to book trials in an electronic way. Think about it, how to align the calendars of judges, lawyers, accused, witnesses and so on is not a trivial task. In a recent visit to a local legal firm I was baffelled to learn that one of the partners did not have a computer in his room. I am not sure about you, but that is not the guy representing me! A legal firm can save a tremendous amount of money by giving the lawyers the ability to have electronic access to their client’s information while in the courtroom. In this scenario it is imperative that the information can be accessed in a safe and secure manner.

At Bulletproof InfoTech we utilize our good friends at Scorpion Software, who have created a product called AuthAnvil to ensure secure remote access on a small business budget. A law firm should also considering investing in a speech to text solution, like Dragon Naturally Speaking for the legal industry, which will drastically cut down on the time it takes to transcribe a live or recorded conversation. The legal profession is finally coming to the realization that Information Technology can actually be an asset instead of a cost to their business model.

In my opinion law firms should partner with an IT Service provider who is aware of the applications that make billing and accounting easy like LexisNexis PC Law, or case management software like Abacus Law 2010 legal software, and then get help with implementing software for speech recognition, and other productivity enhancements like Exchange Server email and full integration with iPhones or BlackBerry devices.

If you run a professional services company and want to discuss the benefits of going paperless, please contact Bulletproof InfoTech, (403) 206-2233 or info@bulletproofit.ca for a free consultation.

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Uncategorized Abacus Law, Alberta, Authanvil, Bulletproof InfoTech, Calgary, Dragon Naturally Speaking, Legal, Legal industry, Legal Infomation Technology, Legal profession, LexisNexis, Nuance, PC Law, Red Deer, Scorpion Software

When someone asked me a year and a half ago if I would consider becoming a Dell reseller, my response was not very favorable. “Are they not cutting us out as the middleman?”. A year ago we went through a merger, and the other party was a loyal Dell Partner, while we were a loyal partner of another (two letter) company, whose name shall remain anonymous.

One of the decisions we had to make moving forward, was to decide who was going to be our leading vendor? We created a list of pro’s an con’s of each vendor, and hands down Dell came out as the clear winner! A year after our merger, my opinion about Dell has changed 180 degrees. They really want your business, they are genuinely interested to help your business succeed and they don’t seem to have traded price for quality. We consistently have had quality issues with the other brand, and really lost valuable business relationships because of it!

As an added bonus, as a reseller you can actually make a margin selling their systems. Bulletproof InfoTech is an IT service provider for the Red Deer and Calgary area in Alberta. Our clients are businesses in the Exploration and Production (E&P) Oil & Gas area, Accounting and bookkeeping firms and other small to medium sized businesses. Fixed fee IT support allows our clients to predict their expenditure on IT and Dell Partner Direct helps us to deliver quality systems and services to our clients.

Yesterday night the team from DELL Partner Direct was in Calgary informing the partners about improvements to the product line and the Dell Direct program. It was a great event and helped me position these new offerings for our clients. It was particularly interesting to see and touch the new Latitude E6400 XFR a rugged laptop that is ready for filed duty. Way to go, keep up the good work, and it is great to have someone to talk to who knows what is going on versus an organization where the left arm does not know what the right arm is doing. Give Dell a chance to impress you.

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Uncategorized Alberta, Bulletproof InfoTech, Calgary, Dell Computers, Dell Partner Direct, Latitude E6400, Red Deer