Hello All,

So, i just wanted to drop a line for no other reason than i have got some extra time on the computer. Mom, Aunt Kim, Grandma and Grandpa have traveled to the USA for their annual christmas shopping trip. Have not hear yet how they did. They go down to the Waterloo Shopping Centre (near were Shelley is going to school - Seneca Falls) for a few days.

Just talked to Dad. He was getting the motors fixed for the winter season.

Was talking to Kat, and Salina. Both aree keeping me up on the local news. They also are talking about when they are coming for a visit!!!! Can't wait.

Heading down to the German Markets in a bit. Meeting some friends. We are going to stuff ourselves with sausages and wine (two things that the markets are known for). They are held every christmas season and they go on everynight. Lights, music, food, drink, and shopping - what else could you ask for!!!

Miss you all and will talk to you all soon. Miss you, and may you be well

Love M.

Hey,

So i went hiking with Jac, Rach and Dave this past weekend. Travelled by car to a place about 1/2 from Wales. Had a great time, and the chance to walk through some farm land. Check out these fat happy cows Aunt Kim!!!!



Here is Rach and Dave.



At the top of the mountain there was an old hill fort. We had the chance to get in and get dirty by climbing through it. Can you spot Jac?



Got to run.

Hope all is well. Miss you and talk to you soon. M.

So Oban...one word RAIN!!!! All it did was rain.

We took a ferry ride over to he isle of Mull. Did some walking, took a bus ride 45 minutes to have a bowl of soup and a cup of not so hot hot chocolate. Also met one of the hotest men in the world!!!! We again had some transport "issues" (ferry was cancelled becasue the waves were to rough on the ocean to dock the ferry). We had to wait at the local pub, drinking beer, with the hottest man in the world. It was a hardship i would volunteer for again!

Finally we made it back to the main land later that day. Still raining. Being wet sucks!!!!

Here are a few pictures from the area.

One the way to Oban. Remember this was daylight hours. Infact this was about 8:30 in the morning. Talk about dark!



Here i am walking in the woods.



This town is the biggest on the island and it is called Tobemorey.



Spent some time in Glasgow as well. Here is a picture from the highest point in the city. As this was the end of a very long week we were running out of steam. Late nights and early mornings will do that to you. Glasgow had a really nice feeling about it. Somewhere that i plan to go back to.



Hope you have enjoyed a few picts, not to worry i have LOTS more!!!!
Miss you all, LOve M.

Hello Again,

Sorry that it has taken me so long to add in another chapter. Life here hase been surprisingly busy. School has been good. I have been asked to say on until Easter, so at least they must think i am doing some what of a good job.

I loved coming home today. I got some fantastic mail, Monica sent a picture of baby Claire and i also received a Will Warren original piece of artwork. I have been showing these two treasures off to everyone. Claire now has the honour of being the most beautiful baby in Canada and Great Britain!!!

To give you a bit more of Scotland here are a few more pictures.

Stirling, the home of William Wallace (the original as opposed to the man we had our picture with), and King of Scotland Robert the Bruce (watch Mel's Braveheart for an update on the history. Stirling Castle was by far better than Edinburgh Castle and well worth the trip. The surrounding area was a beautiful view.

Here is a memorial of Robert the Bruce, if you look closely you will also see the William Wallace Monument in the back ground (bottom right corner).




This is called Stirling Bridge. Ange has a thing for bridges, and i must say, i proved how much i value our friendship in order to get this shot - having wet feet sucks!!!!!! The bridge was very cool and built in the 15 hundreds, cobbled stones, and full of history. I loved it.



Also took a quick trip to Alva Glen to climb a mountain to see some water falls. As you can see the fog rolled in and it was thick.






After Stirling we traveled to Glasgow. Now, we were to go by train, but there was a transit distruption, so in desperation we caught a bus in the hopes that we would be able to make our train connection in Glasgow north to Oban. Trafis was not on our side. We missed our train and had to spend the night in Glasgow. It ended up that we shared a hostel room with an olympic champion. This woman had the destinction of being able to perform unique breathing technique while asleep. If put up against Dad she would win HANDS DOWN. i have never heard such snoring in my life!!!! I did not sleep.

Finally we got to Oban, and the rain found us there!!!!! Please stay tuned for the next installment. Hope all is well. Miss ya,

Martha

Hello my friends,

Oh, let me tell you, i have so much to show and tell. Scotland was fantastic! Headed up there on Saturday the 21 of October with Ange and Jacquie (the two ausies i am always talking about). Rach, my fellow Canadian and the last member in our regular travelling troop is saving Scotland for April when her brother comes for a visit. She was sorely missed.

So, anyway, back to the trip...took a 5 hour train ride from Birmingham to Edinburgh and arrived early afternoon. Train ride was long but we were so pumped about being on vacation!!!!

Dumped our stuff off and explored the city on foot. Let me tell you, the history is very cool and very bloody!!! Check out this photo. The rather gothic like structure is a memorial for Sir Walter Scot,(novelist and very influencial in rebuilding a sense of native scotish identity).



Of course you can not go to Edinburgh without a visit to the castle. It cost a fortune!!! But i sucked it up and payed. Very pretty, and very touristy. I did enjoy the historical significance though. I also got to see the scotish crown jewels. They are something to see (sorry we were not allowed to take pictures). Useless jem of information (pardon the pun): no insurance company in the world will insure the crown jewels! You should have seen the security!!!



Not only did we get to explore an interesting castle, we also had the pleasure of meeting Braveheart himself!! Check this out!!



Also had the chance to climb an extinct volcano that over looks Edinburgh. It is called Arthur's seat, and it has the best view of the city.



Got to run...More to come, this was only Part One of a four part instalment!!!

Hello All,

So just to give you a bit of an update. Tomorrow morning (21st of October) i will be heading north via virgin trains to Scotland. Going with two lovely Aussies (Jac and Ange) and will be staying in Edinborgh for 2 nights, Stirling 1 night, Oban (on the west coast across from the isle of Mull) for 1 maybe 2 nights depending on the weather and if we find some great hiking areas, and Glosgow for 2 nights. Should prove to be a fun week off. Will up date you on the travels as we go.

Hope all is well. Miss and Love you all,

Martha

Okay, so here are a few pictures from the Roman Baths. It is quite a place. To think that these were built so long ago and they still work! I wonder who their plumbers were? They also had a great museum to boot.

Top View:





First Floor View:


While we were there we had the chance to have a taste test of this special Roman Bath water. It was...warm, and kinda gross. Oh well, you know the saying, when in Rome,...i mean in Bath...I mean, when in the Roman Baths!Whatever.

This girl served us our warm bath water.Yum. It was a once in a lifetime experience. Once was enough, especially since we were told that this H2O was nicly aged. Red Wine has nothing on this stuff. The water we drank is estimated to be 10,000 years old. I thought it smelled a little off.



Now, Bath is not "just" the Roman Baths. Across the Square is the Bath Abbey. It is yet another beautiful church in Britain. This one is rather interesting to me as it has two rather distinct sculptures carved on either side of the entry way. There are two ladders that start at the street and reach all the way to the top. On these ladders are angels climbing toward god. They are gorgeous.


This brings a whole new meaning to "Stair way to Heaven". I wonder...did anyone from Led Zeplin spend time in Bath.





And last but certainly not least nothing says funny like two acrobates performing outside the posh roman baths in nothing but g strings. I know this is not a very G rated picture but i had to include it. These guys were just...wow. If you tried this in Ontario you would have the OPP going crazy.You would never get away with this!!!

Hello All,

So i spent the weekend in Bath, Salibury, and stonehenge. FANTASTIC!!!!!! But before we get into that i wanted to show you this picture. What can i say, you can't go to the UK and not have your picture taken in one of these!!!



Saturday spent some time in Salibury checking out the cathedral. What a sight. It is the largest church in Britain. There was a gorgeous court yard and a small building called the Chapter house(13th century). What a beauty of a building. The glass, the sculpture. What clever people built that structure. In this building is a document called the Magna Carta (1215). It is an original agreement made between King John and the Barons. Why is this important you may ask? It is this document that is noted as the foundation of democracy and provides the basis for many Consetutions (including the Declaration of Independence for the United States). It established freedom of the church,trial by jury,etc. Okay now that i have spilled some historical facts down your throuts i can move onto the fun stuff - pictures.

Jaquie, Ange, and Rach taking a bit of a break in the courtyard.



From inside the Cathedral...could you image walking down that isle Sherri!!!



Then we were off to see the Ruins. Stonehenge is impressive in its sear size and the detail. It is to bad that you can't get very close. (Little known fact - the stones at stonehenge are set in concrete. In the late 70's another stone had fallen. To prevent further damage all of the stone were set in contrete. Kinda ruined the experience (parden the pun). Still pretty cool view.



Then off to see the Avebury ruins which were kind of cool because you can get close to them and walk around them.

Returned to Bath for an evening of well...public relations between common wealth countries, aka drinking and relaxation. Will post more picts of the Roman Baths and the city of Bath on another edition of Martha's Travels. Please stay tuned and have your pets spayed or neutered.

Love to all,

Martha.

Hey,
So this weekend stayed close to home. Travelled by train for 1/2 hour to Warwick to see yet another castle. This was rather interesting as it had been restored with appropriate furnishings throughout the different eras. One section of the castle illustrated the original atmosphere of the 11th century, another section was an more "modern" as it showed how the Warwick family lived in the 18th/ 19th centuries. This castle is interesting as it is one that the Earl of Warwick and his family has lived in over the centuries. It was amazing as you can see. The caslte also had some wax figures that were so life like. Had a good time. Also saw St. Mary's Cathedral which is fantastic. At this church one of the Earls of Warwick (Richard)is buried and had the distinction of overseeing the trial and excecution of Joan of Arc. Cool eh!!!

Will have to post the pictures later, sorry, just not working right now.

Sunday spent at home cleaning and doing some marking. Rained.

TTYL

Martha

Hello All,

So another week has gone by. Time flies as i find it hard to believe that i have now been in Birmingham for over a month and a bit. You can tell that it is fall, or autumn as they call it here. It is much like home as it gets dark earlier everynight, there is just more rain here.

To become more interesting i have joined a salsa class on Thursday nights. Two of the girls that live down the street from me (both timeplan teachers - Rachel and Jacqui)are trecking along with me and last night was our first lesson. I do have to say that it was a great work out and laughter was the main feature of the evening. I am terrible, but can't wait to go back next week.

Things are well from what i hear back home. Bill and Monica Warren had a healthy baby girl born September 27, 2006 (Happy Birthday to Cindy by the way!!!). She was a healthy and heavy 9 pounds plus. Way to go Monica!!! Feel better.

Got to run. This weekend not sure what i am up to. May hit the Cadbury Chocolate factory.

Be well, Love

Martha

So, here is a photo, finally of the wedding. I must say that they all looked fantastic!!!



My weekend, was...interesting. First the good stuff. As i mentioned previously i climbed a castle and here it is!



After enjoying an afternoon tea in Caernarfon, looking at this wonderful sight, Jacq, Rachel, Ange and myself traveled to Llenberis, which was a small town at the base of the Snowdonian Mountains. It is known for its slate, as it was once a mine. Now it is known for the view.




After we flagged down a bus we travelled back to Llandudno and ate proper fish and chips by the ocean. Sunday the four of us climbed what is called the Great Orme - it is a very very very large rock.It has mountain like qualities so i am just saying that i climbed a mountain! Here are a few views from the top. (It even had wild goats and sheep wondering around)

This is the view of Llandudno west coastline:




Of course i did have that "little" problem with the bag on the train but i did get it back (went missing not once but twice). The train staff must all think that i am crazy, but i don't care it must have worked because i got it back!!!

Things are good . Work has been busy. Went to a football game on Saturday. Next weekend not sure what is up, but the Cadbury factory might be one desination!!! Few weeks from now we are planning a trip to Stonehendge. That should be interesting. Miss you all and will keep you updated.

Love Martha

Hello Again,

So Murray and Sherri have finally made it legal. Congrats!!!!

I had a great weekend for the most part. Went to Northern Wales. Took the train out on Friday night (09/15/06) and arrived in Llandudno at about 10:00 pm. We stayed in the best hostel in the entire world. It was like a very nice bed and breakfast. You have to see it to believe.




Once settled in we took a trip down to see the ocean at night!!! Fantasitic view, and the water really does taste very salty. It is also interesting to see how the tide works - the difference between high and low is quite stricking.



Saturday the girls and I headed out by bus to see the country side. Took a trip to Caernarfon (which is on the North West coast of wales) and spent the morning there. Explored a Castle (below are some shots of this castle which was built in the 13th century, and is also the birth place of the title Prince of Wales. Charles was granted this title here in 69 at the age of 18). Now, i called Grandma McFaul from the top of one of these towers to wished her a happy 82nd birthday. What a view, but i have to say that those stairs were death traps. Small, steap, rough, and very high!!!!More pictures to come!!!!

Hope all is well. Will contact soon,

Love always, Martha

Hello All,

So i will be marking the end of my first week of full time teaching this Friday. And i am glad to have that at least done. It has been interesting and challenging, but i am glad that i am here. The kids are fun, if not a bit ...naughty at times. Sometimes i just wished that i did not have to talk because so many of the kids go into fits of laughter because they are not used to it.It will get better i am sure.

This weekend also will mark the marriage of Murray and Sherri. I am sorry that i am unable to fly home for the weekend (i did look into it and it would have cost about $2000.00 canadian in i would have been on canadian soil for the total of 15 hours). I hope that you enjoy your wedding! Send pictures!! As a celebration of your day, i am going to Wales for the weekend. Leaving Friday night and home Sunday. Will be posting pictures early next week. Much love to all,
Martha

Now, i have a bit of catching up to do...below is a bit of a mix as i will explain. (All are pictures of the Birmingham area)

This i found interesting. Keep in mind that this is the same HMV music store that we have back home. Yes boys and girls these are real live records of current music. As you can see below you too can purchase the Pirates of the Carribean record to use in your own home!!!!

I have met some fantastic people as well. Below is a picture of Rachel and i ham'n it up in a local museum. These things in reality were rather creepy.

I have spent some time in the Botanical Gardens, and they are FANTASTIC! They have interesting plants, trees, and wild life. Below in a few photos illustrating my point, (and i got a few rather good shots if i say so myself - this new camera is a treat. Thanks again Murray and Sherri. It is being well used. And Em - so glad that your "little" gift is not so little. I holds a lot of info. It is also convenent as it just pops into the side of the computer! Got to love technology).





Yes, those are really big leaves. The plant kind of look like a really, really big pumpkin plant. Had the same type of texture as well.



While some people may tell you that Birmingham does not have grass, i am here to prove them wrong. See, for the price of 6 pounds approx $13.00 Canadian (or 3.50 for those of us lucky enought to have isic cards)any person in Birmingham can enjoy this beautiful, and rare sight. Grass has been known to cause minor accidents as people who have not seen it before stop to stare.



Hope all is well, and that you have enjoyed this edition of Martha's trip around Birmingham. More to come. (This weekend is a local arts festival that sounds pretty good).

So, i promised some pictures of both old and new Birmingham, so here goes.

This is what is called the Bullring. Now, Kathy would call this Heaven. It is an increadibly large shopping mall with stores ranging from the gap to Gucci. Clothing, computers (they have a Mac Store!!!), shoes, shoes, and shoes, everthing isat your finger tips.


















This is the ferris wheel at Centenary Square. Just to let you know this is going to be a rare sight as it was sold yesterday to an Australia company. Moving on to bigger and better places our little ferris wheel is. Kinda glad as now i don't have to make up excuses as to why i should NOT go up in it.


















Now, Birmingham is missing one major thing in my opinion. It lacks cafes. Salina, you would make a fortune here!! Get that machine of yours ready!!!! BUT, i do have to give this city credit as it does have one very cool cafe. If is on a boat. It floats down the canals, and i have been told it makes good coffee to boot. (useless jem of information: Birmingham has more canals than even Venice)

Hello All!!!

I have now been in the UK for approx. 3 weeks. Birmingham is an interesting city. It is a blend of both old and new. More pictures to come regarding that.

I have found a home as some of you may know. Here are a few pictures. I am sharing a flat with two british men and a polish girl. All seem very nice. Got to run. TTY soon, martha