Russia!!!

We've just got back from a fabulous trip around the Baltic - more photos to follow but here are some of a great trip to St. Petersburg. We loved it - so interesting.

 St. Issac's cathedral

Inside the fabulous Hermitage and Winter Palace - crammed full of works of art and gold and luxury and ...

The amazing Grand Staircase

 Inside one of the palace rooms with gold decoration

 One of the beautiful corridors - based on the Vatican

 Enjoying a Russian lunch - including shots of Russian vodka

 On a tour of the Peter and Paul fortress, Evan ended up leading the group for a few minutes when our guide disappeared

 Inside the cathedral at the fortress - here are buried many of the famous kings and queens of |Russia, including Catherine the Great. In a separate room are the remains of Nicholas II and his family, executed during the Russian Revolution. A somber moment

 The fantastic Church of the Spilled Blood, built on the sight of the assassination of Alexander II

 One of the canals around St Petersburg

Sitting on an island in the middle of the River Neva with the Peter and Paul fortress and cathedral in the background

Midnight in Russia - during the summer the sun doesn't really set and Russians celebrate during this season - they call in 'White Nights'.

We'll get some more photos posted soon from some other places we visited recently - but Russia was a definite favorite for both of us - Fantastic!!!

UK May 2013

Here are some of our latest pics from our month traveling and chilling in the UK.

 Newcastle with Uncle Alf and Aunt Sheila at our favorite pub carvery!

 Evan outside the house where Shakespeare was (supposedly) born in Stratford upon Avon.

 Stratford upon Avon - literally - the river Avon and Stratford is on it (or very close beside it ... 'Stratford very close to Avon' doesn't have the same ring though ...)

Walking in the Essex countryside - near the town of Maldon

The estuary town of Maldon

Canal walking near Pagglesham

With Stephen and Sharon along the canal, enjoying a Capri Sun!

Essex countryside - on a walk

Spring in the country ....

All is well - off for some more Europe based travels now - photos to follow (and still not working ... :> )

Malta

Had a great couple of weeks in Malta. Here are some pics.

The town we stayed in - Mellieha

Malta has significant history from World War 2 - one famous story is the bomb that fell through the roof of a church in Mosta during a service and didn't explode - it rolled across the floor to this spot

Malta also has Biblical history - we visited St. Paul's catacombs - an underground Christian burial site from the 4th Century. According to The Bible, St. Paul landed on Malta on the way to his execution in Rome.

In the ancient walled city of Mdina - beautiful and atmospheric. A great place to wander.

Here we are in the capital city of Valetta

The Grand Harbor in Valetta - built by the Knights of St John and the scene of the Great Siege of Valetta when the Knights fought the Turks in a long and bloody battle.

There are many prehistoric temple ruins in Malta, including these at Mnajdra and Hagar Qim - built between 3600 and 2500 BC they are older than the Pyramids and Stonehenge and are the oldest free standing buildings in the world!

Malta has a beautiful and dramatic coastline - this is one famous view called the Blue Grotto

We also went to Gozo, another of the Maltese islands. Here, we visited the old prison - used from the 16th century and saw 16th century wall carvings inside the prison cells

This is the harbor at Gozo - a town called Mgarr

Another stunning area of coastline - on Gozo - the Azure Window

Back on Malta, we visited a picturesque fishing village called Marsaxlokk, with a harbor full of colorful, traditional fishing boats

In another city called Vittoriosa, which is on the opposite side of the Grand Harbor, there is the Inquisitor's Palace (according to the guide book, it is the only one of its type in the world which is open to the public). This was the tribunal and prison of the Inquisition from the 1570s. This is the tribunal room, where those suspected of 'heresy' against the Church were tried and sentenced.

A street in Vittoriosa

We did many fantastic hikes on Malta - here we are on cliffs around the north of Malta

We were in Malta when the spring wildflowers were at their peak

Another interesting place to visit in Malta is this area of prehistoric 'cart ruts' - caused by Stone Age settlers dragging carts across softer rock

 Cooling off during another hike

We also visited Ghar Dalam - an Ice Age cave, complete with Ice Age animal bones and remains of 7,000 year old settlers

Now we are back in the UK - and working on plans for what is next ...

UK update ... and our final China photos

Been a while, eh...?

We've been in the UK for the last four weeks - initially taking some time to relax and plan, and more recently to start applications and planning for our next adventure. Despite really wanting to walk the Camino de Santiago (Santiago Trail), we've decided to hold off because of the cost and time commitment. Instead, we are going to Malta! In a few days! Oh well .... the trail maybe next time.

We've been filling in, emailing and following up on our next job and have some interviews set up now. We really hoped to find jobs in Turkey or Morocco, but our timing is a little off - most hiring for these countries is in August or September, so we've looked at some more interesting alternatives - so we have interviews set up for Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Here are a few more photos we wanted to post of our last few days in China.