Exploring the Unknown

August 2019 - March 2020
A 212-day adventure by Sophie
  • 76footprints
  • 16countries
  • 212days
  • 595photos
  • 0videos
  • 38.5kkilometers
  • 31.9kkilometers
  • Day 2

    Setting off...

    September 1, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    August 31, 2019, marked our first day of our deferred leave. This was 4 and a half years in the making. We will be travelling for 9 months and are thoroughly looking forward to being able to spend more time with Sophie and Neve without having the constraints of work. These girls are growing up so fast that both David and I knew we needed more time with them.

    We are hoping to be as active as possible during this year, filling out time with climbing, running, hiking and walking (ok, and let's be honest, I'm looking forward to reading lots of books). Lastly, we want to learn about new cultures, meet new people, and learn how other people live and do things in their countries. We hope Neve and Sophie's blog will inspire you to travel and make your own adventures. After all, of all the books in the world, the pages found in your passport, tell the best stories.

    Clarinda
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  • Day 2

    Day trip to Canmore

    September 1, 2019 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    After landing in Calgary, we stayed in a hotel overnight and then drove 1h to Canmore. My mom wanted to go on a hike before having to sit in an airplane for 8 hours, so we did the Grassi lake hike through the mountains. Although it was foggy and wet out, there were lots of clear blue lakes and caves to look around in on the way up and even some people doing rock climbing. In the afternoon, we drove back to Calgary and went to the airport to catch a long 8 hour flight to Paris.

    Sophie
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    Après avoir arrivé à Calgary, et passer la nuit dans un hotel, on a conduit 1h pour arriver à Canmore. Ma mère voulait faire une randonnée avant qu'on reste assis dans un avion pour 8h, alors on a fait la randonnée Grassi lake dans les montagnes. Malgré le brouillard et l'humidité, il y avait beaucoup de beaux lacs bleus et des cavernes pour explorer sur le chemin. Il y avait même des gens qui faisait l'escalade. Dana l'après-midi, on a retourné à Calgary et allé à l'aéroport pour attrapper un long vol de 8 heures.

    Sophie
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  • Day 4

    First full day in paris

    September 3, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Today we went on a four hour bike tour, it was leisurely and fun. Our tour guide stopped at some sites and told us some interesting facts about them. Did you know that around 1889 you had to pay 1 month of an average persons salary to climb the Eiffel tower and at the bottom of the tower you could buy replicas of the eiffel tower. We learned that souvenirs were not new to Paris as 90 years earlier, during the French Revolution, you could buy a handkerchief dipped in the blood of royals that had their heads cut off. We also had lunch at a garden that was 500 years old it was so pretty.

    Written by Neve
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    Aujourd'hui on est allé sur un tour de vélo qui était 4h long c'etait amusant. Des fois notre guide a arrêté à des sites il nous a dit des choses intéressants appropo du site. Est-ce que tu savait que dans 1889 si tu voulait aller sur la tour Eiffel tu aura besion de payer 1 mois du salaire moyenne. Au bout du tour Eiffel tu pourait acheter un repleca du tour Eiffel. Les souvenir n'ete pas nouveau en Paris, 90 annes aven que la tour Eiffel ete constuit tu pourer acheter un mouchoir qui était tranché dans le sang des royales qui têtes éte coupes. On a aussi mangé notre dinner dans un jardain qui est 500 annés.
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  • Day 6

    Day of the Dead

    September 5, 2019 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Yesterday, we had the chance to explore the Saint-Germaine area where we're staying. There are lots of little souvenir shops with mini Eiffel towers and macarons. We saw the love lock bridge, a bridge covered in locks. People can buy a lock and couples or families sign their names on it, lock it on the bridge and throw the key into the water. The tradition started when a hungarian woman lost her boyfriend. She began locking locks on all the bridges where they had been together. Couples liked the idea and began to do the same thing, eventually the french saw the Italians doing it, and decided to do it too.

    Today, we got to try crepes filled with chocolate, caramel or other toppings. We went to visit the Montparnasse cemetery where Simone de Beauvoir, a prominent feminist from the 50s was buried. Afterwards, we went 20m under Paris to visit the Catacombes. We walked through 2km of of skulls and bones with an audio guide giving us the history and facts about the Catacombes. In the early 1800s, there were mass graves in Paris that began to cave in and collapse. Some people's cellars would become flooded with dead bodies. There was also another problem in Paris: some of the buildings were built on top of empty limestone quarries, so the buildings were also collapsing. The government decided on a solution for both problems, they filled the quarries with the bones of the dead from some of the cemeteries. Eventually, the catacombes opened for the public, but it it believed that the are 200km of tunnels under the city that are closed to the public.

    Trivia question: Which costs more? A fresh baguette filled with goat cheese, prosciuto and lettuce or a cup of earl grey tea?
    Put your answers in the comments below and we will reveal the answer next week.

    Sophie
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    Hier, on a eu la chance d'explorer la région Saint-Germaine oû nous restons. Il y a beaucoup de petits boutiques de souvenirs avec des petits tours d'Eiffels et des macarons. On a marché sur le love lock bridge, un pont couvert de cadenas. Les gens peuvent acheter un cadenas et les familles ou les couples peuvent mettre leur nom dessus, le verrouiller sur le pont et lancer la clé dans l'eau.

    Aujourd'hui, on a mangé des crêpes remplis de chocolat, caramel ou des autres choses. On a visité la cimitière Montparnasse oû Simone de Beauvoir, une féministe des années 1950s a été enterré. Après, on a allé 20m sous Paris pour visité les Catacombes. On a marché à travers les oses et les cranes avec un guide audio qui nous donnait l'histoire des Catacombes et des faits intéressants. Au début des 1800s, il y avait des charniers qui commencait à s'effondrer. Les sous-sols de quelques personnes devenait remplis avec les corps des personnes morts. Il y avait aussi une autre problème: il y avait des batiments qui étaits construits sur les carrières de calcères vides et les batiments éffondait. Le gouvernement a trouvé un solution pour les deux problèmes, ils ont mis les oses des cimitières dans les carrières. Éventuellement, les catacombes ont ouvert pour le publique, mais des personnes pensent qu'il y a 200km de tunnels sous la ville.

    Question de trivia: Lequel a couté plus? Une baguette fraiche avec du fromage de chèvre, du laittue et du prosciutto, ou une tasse de thé earl grey? Mets ta réponse dans les commentaires et on va dire la réponse la semaine prochaine.
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  • Day 7

    Louvre

    September 6, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Today we went to the Louvre and saw some incredible pieces of art like the Mona Lisa and the Bather. A lot of paintings were of naked people. There were some really big paintings that wouldn't fit in your house. We also saw a display of statues and and a display of fancy objects that would be found in your house. After we went to the Louvre we went to the Seine to have a picnic lunch. Then we started to walk to the air b and b and on the way we stopped to listen to a street performer.Then we went to go get ice cream at Bertillon. I had one scoop of cherry ice cream and one scoop of hazelnut ice cream. Hazelnut was my favorite.
    Neve
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  • Day 8

    Eiffel tower at night

    September 7, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    This morning, we had fresh almond croissants for breakfast and then decided to go visit one of Paris's many markets. There's a bylaw here that each of the 20 districts must have at least 2 fruit markets every week. The market had lots of cheese, meat, fresh fruit and more and we ended up by getting some meat and veggies. The food here is always fresh, freshly baked bread and fresh fruit so most of the locals go grocery shopping once a day so all of their food is fresh. In the afternoon, we took the metro to the Eiffel tower and had a picnic dinner. While we were leaving the metro two eight year old girls snuck into the metro and we heard one of them say "Hurry up! My mom's going to ground me!" Then, we went on a bateau mouche, an hour long boat tour of Paris along the Seine. We saw Notre dame, the Louvre and musée d'orsée and on the way back we got to see the Eiffel tower in the dark with all the lights on it. It was glowing and there were also sparkly silver lights that were moving around. It was really cool with all the lights. There were also mice running around that had probably been fed by tourists because they were so big.

    Sophie
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    Ce matin, on a mangé des croissants d’amandes d’un patisserie. Après, on a visité un marché, il y a un règlement ici que chaque district dois avoir au moins 2 marchés de fruit chaque semaine. La marché avait beaucoup de viande, fromage et fruits. On a acheté un eu de viande et des légumes. Dans l’après midi, on a pris le metro au Tour Eiffel pour mangé un souper pique nique. Il y avait beaucoup de personnes qui vendait des petits tours Eiffel et des souvenirs. Chaque 10 pieds, il y avait quelqu’un qui vendait quelque chose. On a pris un bateau mouche, c’est un tour de Paris sur la Seine de une heure. Ona vue Notre dame, le Louvre et musée d’orsée. À la fin, quand c’était noire dehors, on a vue la tour Eiffel avec tous les lumières, ca brillait or et il y avait des lumières scintillants qui bougeait. C’était très belle. Il y avait aussi des petits souris qui courrait.
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  • Day 10

    Travel by train

    September 9, 2019 in Germany ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    Today we had to wake up at 5: 15 a.m to catch our train to Stuttgart but first we had to to take the metro to the train station. The train we had to take in Paris was really easy to find but when we got to Stuttgart all the announcements were in German and our train changed track numbers. Once we were on the train to Zurich everything was fine. Until there was an announcement that said that trains final stop was going to be Singen even though we were still 40 minutes away from Zurich. So we and some of the passengers got on another train from a different train company in the end we got to Zurich.

    When we got to Zurich, we went to the oldest candy shop in Zurich and we bought some chocolate. The candy store has been open since 1836. Then we walked around a bit and saw around 30-40 swans and we saw 8 swans, some pigeons and seagulls just siting on a thing near the water.

    Next we went to Grossmunster church, which is 900 years old. The church was built in 1130 and was finished in 1230. Then we climbed a tower that had 187 narrow steps and some very low ceilings. When we got to the top of the tower there were 4 little balconies that gave us a different view and perspective of Zurich. We climbed down again and went back to the oldest candy shop. Attached to the candy shop was a restaurant where we got hot chocolate that wasn't too sweet, but still very good. The hot chocolate came with a mini plate of whipping cream and there were shavings of chocolate on both the whipping cream and hot chocolate. After finishing our hot chocolate we bought some groceries for dinner and had a relaxing evening in our appartement.
    Neve
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    Aujourd’hui hui on a lever a 5h15 pour nous rendre au gare de train pour prendre un train à Stuttgart. Le train train a Stuttgart été faciles à trouver mais quand on st arriver en Allemagne aucun des annonces été en anglais et notre train a changer de raille. Quand on été sur le train tous été bon.Sauf que notre train est arrêter dans Singen alleux e Zurich alors on est aller sur un train d’un different compagnie et puis finalement nous some arriver en Zurich.

    Puis on est aller acheter du chocolat et du chocolat et du chocolat chaud mais avent qu’on a acheter du chocolaté chaut on a aller dans tour que tu peut voir tous de Zurich dans.
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  • Day 11

    Felsenegg- Uetliberg

    September 10, 2019 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    This morning, we woke up early, walked to the train station and took a train to Adliswil. From there, we walked up a small hill and then took a gondola to Felsenegg. We walked 6 km through really tall trees and a view of the Alps to Uetliberg. On the way, we saw cows with their calves and sheep. There were lots of cyclists too and runners.
    At the top of a small hill, there was a restaurant where we stopped to have tea and coffee. There were lots of wasps hovering around and landing on our drinks and food. By then, it was 17 degrees out, but it felt like 50 degrees. There were people in jackets and sweaters and we were sitting there in t-shirts dying of heat.

    Then, we walked up 10 flights of steep stairs to get to Uetliberg. At the top, we had yummy sandwiches with fresh bread for lunch and enjoyed the view. Then, we walked 600m to the train tracks.
    While waiting for the train, me and Neve went to the park and then we took the train back to our apartment.

    Later in the afternoon, we went window shopping and saw 83,000$ rollexs and 20,000$ earrings. We bought some mini swiss macarons, which were delicious.
    After window shopping, we went to the grocery store, got groceries and finally found some peanut butter! I thought that I was going to have to live without it, but I found a small jar.

    Sophie
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    Ce matin, on a reveillé tot et marché au station de train. On pris un train à Adliswil, puis on a pris un gondole à Felsenegg. On a marché 6km à travers des grands arbres avec un vue des Apls pour arriver à Uetliberg. On a vue beaucoup de vaches, moutons et des personnes sur des vélos.
    En haut d'une grande colline, il y avait un restaurant oû on a arrêté pour de thé et du café. C'était 17 dégrées dehors, mais c'était comme c'était 50 dégréés. Il y avait des personnes dans des hoodies, mais on était dans des t-shirts et c'était très chaud. Après, on a monté environ 10 volées d'escaliers pour arriver à Uetliberg. En haut, on a mangé des sanwichs pour diner et regardé les montagnes dans la distance.

    On a marché 600m au train et pendant qu'on attendait pour le prochain train, moi et Neve ont allé au parc et on a pris le train à notre apartement.

    Dans l'après-midi, on a allé regerder les magasins, on a vu des rollexs pour 83,000$ et des boucles d'oreilles pour 20,000$. On a acheté des macarons Suisses qui étaient très bons et allé à l'épicerie oû on a finalement trouver du beurre d'arachide. On ne pouvait pas le trouver en Paris, mais j'ai finalement trouvé un petit contenant!
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  • Day 12

    The Bernina Express...Zurich to Venizia

    September 11, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Today we woke up at 6:00 and walked to the train station. In the train station we got some tea and coffee and got on our 1 train it was 2h. On the train we ate breakfast and enjoyed the scenery. Then we got on our 2 train this one was 4 hours long but we got to see some beautiful things. The train had a 15 minute stop so we got off, there was a big hole in the ground down below. In the hole there was a lake and 2 helicopters were carrying metal buckets in and out of the hole.There was also a pulley system to carry stuff up to the restaurant that was there. The view was amazing on the train ride.

    Then we got to Milan we had 2h in Milan so we went to a grocery store then we went to get gelato. It was delicious!! One of the flavors tasted like a ferrero rocher. Our train to Milan was twenty minutes behind schedule. Because of this, we missed our train to Venizia by one minute. We saw the train pull out of the station as we were running for it. However, we got some help and the next train was leaving in 15 minutes. I was happy because we got upgraded to first class. The seats were so comfortable and the car was quiet. We also got some chips and drinks, including free wine. When we got to Venizia, I was very tired, but we still had to walk to our Air BnB with our bags.

    Neve
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  • Day 13

    Venice + answer to trivia question

    September 12, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    This morning we slept in a bit, had breakfast and then took the bus to Venice. We walked around looking at the different shops with masks and little souvenirs and looked at the gondolas. The gondola drivers had the black and white striped shirts and the hats with ribbon around it just like in movies. There were canals everywhere and there were lots of tourists around. Some houses had doors that if you walked through them, you'd fall into the water. We just walked around getting lost taking photos for the whole day. We found a park to have lunch and took a break from walking, and later in the afternoon, we bought some giant meringues to share. We also stopped in a chocolate shop that had a chocolate fountain and lots of delicious chocolate and cookie samples that the employees encouraged us to taste. It was super hot out, 27 degrees so we tried to walk in the shade near the canals. There were also lots of glass shops because there's an island that specializes in glass making.

    Answer to trivia question from last week: The earl grey tea was more expensive, it was 6,4 euros and the baguette was only 3,95 euros

    New trivia question: How many fountains are there in Zurich? a)50 b)210 c)800 d)1200

    Sophie
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    Ce matin, on a mangé le déjeuner et après on a pris l'autobus à Venice. On a marché pour toute la journée. On a regardé les magasins avec des masques et des souvenirs, on a aussi vue beaucoup de bateaux et de gondoles. Les personnes qui conduisait les gondoles portait des chandails avec des bandes noirs et blancs et des chapeaux avec le ruban bleu autour comme dans les filmes. On marché à travers Venice pour tout le jour, il y avait beaucoup de touristes et on a pris beaucoup de photos. À midi, on a trouvé un arc et on a mangé le diner, dans l'après-midi, on a acheté des grands meringues qui étaient délicieuses. On a ausi arrêté dans un magasin de chocolat, il y avait un fontaine de chocolat et beaucoup de petits chocolats et biscuits pour gouter. Il y avait aussi beaucoup de verre, il y a un ile qui spésialize dans le verre. C'était aussi très chaud dehors, 27 dégrées.

    Réponse pour question du semaine passée: Le thé earl grey est plus cher, c'était 6,4 euros et la baguette était 3,95 euros.

    Question pour cette semaine: Combien de fontaines est-ce qu'il y a dans Zurich? a)50 b)210 c)800 d)1200
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