Help us choose a destination!

We had been wanting to visit Algeria in March or April. They don't get many visitors, but every report we have read from people who have been there has been positive. It's a Muslim country, and they have an old bureaucratic Soviet style visa system, so most Westerners simply avoid the place.

But we're not most Westerners.

So I did the research into getting the visa. The first obstacle was that we had to apply from our home country.

Interview on the radio this morning

So, we were up before 6:00am this morning, and walked about 15 minutes from our son's apartment to the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) headquarters in downtown Ottawa, Canada. We had slept at our son's apartment to avoid having to drive into the city with possible rush hour traffic problems. We sure do not miss that headache!

We had been told to arrive at 6:30am, and we would be ushered right in for our 6:40am interview.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Woke up to a very Christmas like snowfall this morning. They had been calling for 2-3 cms (an inch) overnight, but we've got more than that now and it's still coming down.

It's all very pretty though. And there's no wind, and the temperature is right around freezing, so it's not really that cold. We can put up with this, especially knowing that it's only for a short time.

One of our goals for our upcoming Spain trip...

My father spent about six months touring around Europe way back in 1954. He was an avid photographer, and he took a lot of slide photographs on that trip. Ruth had scanned and digitized all of his old slides and we now have them all saved on our laptops.

He spent quite a lot of time in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Coincidentally, we will also be spending quite a lot of time in those countries over the next three months.

How we avoid jet lag!

Flying across time zones can be hard on your system. We've done it a lot of times over the past four years, and I think we've learned how best to minimize the effects of jet lag.

They say that going east is harder on your system because your internal body clock has to be advanced, which is more difficult for the majority of people than delaying it. However on this most recent trip, we thought that the reverse was true!

5 Reasons To Bring A Motorcycle Along For Your Next RV Trip

When it comes to taking a vacation, there is nothing that is quite as exhilarating as a road trip. If you want to make your journey much more comfortable (and cheaper), you might decide to get an RV and see the countryside without having to worry about expensive hotel rooms or rates.

While going on an RV trip is rewarding in its own right, one of the best ways that you can maximize your adventure is to bring a motorcycle (or two) along for the ride. Here are five reasons why bringing your motorcycles on your RV trip can transform a great time into an unforgettable one.

The entertainment budget is blown for the month!

Prior to us taking on this lifestyle of travel almost 10 years ago, we had a Christmas tradition with my (Kevin's) side of the family. Many years ago, we used to exchange gifts like most other people. But it got to  the point where everybody already had what they needed, and gift certificates were becoming the go to gift. I didn't see the point.

So we all decided that there would be no more Christmas gift giving. Instead, we would all get together at a good restaurant, and just have a really nice meal and spend some time together.

Trip costs...6 weeks in Romania and Moldova

Well, the numbers are in.

This trip was definitely more expensive than our previous trips. And most of it comes down to the time of year that we were visiting. We kind of compared this trip to when we did Czech Republic and Slovakia back in 2012. It was approximately the same length of time. But we had done that trip in the summer...and this one was in November and December.

We were gone for 45 days, and we spent a total of $4,953 CAD ($3,800 USD) including airfare.

Poor Sherman!

Made it on to our Montreal to Ottawa flight at 7:00am, scheduled for take off at 7:10am. It's just a little twin engine propeller plane seating 24 people. They fired up the first engine, but the outside temperature was -24C (-11F) and they had to warm up a battery in order to start the second engine. This took time, and then when that was done we had to go to the de-icing stall.

So, it was about 7:50am by the time we took off. I can't quite figure why they didn't start doing this earlier...they would have known about the deicing. In the meantime, the interior of the plane was also quite cold. Everyone kept their coats and hats on!

An unexpected hotel stay...

When we left you last, we were in Bucharest airport waiting for our flight to Munich. We're flying with Lufthansa for the first time ever, and it won't be the last. Excellent service from start to finish.

Landed in Munich right on time and found our connecting gate to Montreal. We only had an hour until the flight was expected to board, so we didn't have time to go into the city and explore, like we did in Zurich on the way over.

We don't like cutting things that close!

We had a few hours to kill yesterday,  and our AirBnb host Gloria asked if we wanted to go see the Military Moldova History Museum. Sure. We figured it would be a one hour deal and we would head back home. We probably shouldn't have though. We were still a little tired and wouldn't likely get much sleep on the train.

Anyhow, we left our bags at her place and the three of us hopped on the Chisinau city bus downtown.

A great end to our Moldova visit

It's hard to believe that we will be on the train late this afternoon heading back to Bucharest. And that tomorrow evening we will arrive back in Ottawa, Canada! Our six week trip is coming to an end.

Yesterday we did the drive back from Soroca to Chisinua. There were a few things we wanted to see along the way, so we left the hotel around 9:30am.

Exploring Soroca, Moldova

For breakfast, we went back to the same restaurant here in the Central Hotel. Marcel was off duty, and a woman who didn't speak any English looked after us. No problem, we can order breakfast in Romanian! Sort of!

Anyhow, we each had a cup of tea, and a plain omelette with cheese and salami on the side. Total with the tip was 90 lei ($6.30 CAD, $4.75 USD) for the two of us.

Back in Moldova!

Although technically, we never left. The country of Transistria doesn't really exist, and is still "officially" part of Moldova. But, when you have to go through border checkpoints, getting inspected, and showing your passport, and getting permission to enter...it sure feels like we were in a different country.

So yesterday morning we had to get out of Transnistria. I had read reports where exiting Transnistira can be more difficult that entering!

A country drive in Transnistria

Transistria is actually a fairly long country, at about 200 kms (120 miles) from north to south. But it's only a few kms wide.

Most people who visit only see the city of Tiraspol. But we are not most people, so yesterday morning we hopped in the rental car and went for a drive.