Times to Remember

Niki and I made it through Canadian security with a smile from the customs officer and a "welcome home." Our journey through Spain, Italy and Germany has been a memorable one.

The pilgrimage to Santiago was full of friendly people, spectacular scenery and cheap everything. It was a good way to relax from a busy year. Our only task and distraction was walking on average 26km a day, and for Kari, Niki and Nathan this meant either bad knees or sore feet, but overall it was a great holiday.

If Spain was a good holiday, then Italy was a good study tour. We camped out in Roma most of the time seeing many of the sites such as the Forum, the Collosseum, the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's and St. Paul's Bassillicas. We also took a day tour to Pompei and Napoli.

Germany for me was a place like home. The woodwork, the flower pots and the cute decor reminded us of many Mennonite homes. I enjoyed looking at German board games in the shop and visiting Michael Sattler's old monastary in the hills of the Blackforest.

While we were in Germany we visited Rina and Alan, teammembers from Corrymeela, and stayed with Rina's family. It is always good to see people in their own contexts after getting to know them.

Finally we took a flight through England making a quick visit with Rachel Woods who we got to know at Camp Valaqua and then back on a 9 hour flight to Calgary.

In Calgary we have been reconnecting with people and sorting out our next detours in life while relaxing at the same time. We still plan to move to Winnipeg in January and be in Saskatchewan for about a month before that.