Weather is here, wish you were lovely...

We’re having a great time so far with my grandparents. Thursday I took the afternoon off and we had a stroll round St Albert (after Grandad had watched the Euro 2008 match at lunchtime). We then took them out for a genuine Alberta steak in the evening.

Friday I was also off work and it was a glorious day, so in the morning I took them for a drive around Edmonton, showing them where Richard and I work. We then went on the tourist historic street car which travels across High Level Bridge from Old Strathcona on the south side of the river to downtown on the north side of the river. It was a really nice trip with about 20 minutes of travel at a sedate pace in each direction. Here’s a few of photos.

In the afternoon, while Grandad was watching yet another football match, Grandma and I went shopping for plants for the garden, so that we could put her green fingers to use over the next few days.

Saturday was also beautiful weather. In the morning we took them for an all Canadian breakfast at Socrates Diner in St Albert and then strolled round the farmers market, sampling everything there was to sample. In the evening, Richard had to work, but the three of us went round our neighbours over the road, John and Sonja, for drinks. John comes from a Dutch family, so there was much commiserating/teasing about Holland’s earlier defeat to Russia (in Euro 2008 that is, in case those of you who don’t follow the football are trying to recall when Russia last invaded the Netherlands). Sonja, who is German, remained smug, but that may end later today or on Sunday. I left the grandparents with them and picked Richard up from work at 10pm. Then we went back for more drinks and stayed until 12.30am, sitting out in the garden.

Unfortunately the nice weather didn’t last and Sunday it poured all day, so we didn’t get out and about. However, our next door neighbours, Alf and Nel, came round for a cup of tea in the afternoon and got on well enough with my grandparents to invite them over for coffee yesterday morning.

Monday I was working all day, so Grandma and Grandad took the bus into Edmonton and strolled round downtown. They even got interviewed by a woman from the CBC (the equivalent of the BBC) about the issue of pan handlers. However, at point they hadn’t seen any, which was probably the wrong answer, so I’m not sure if they actually made it into the final cut on TV.

Yesterday evening we went out for an Italian meal to celebrate Grandma and Grandad’s 59th (wow 59 years!) wedding anniversary, and a belated celebration of our paltry two years of marriage (NB, the word paltry refers to the quantity and any implication that it refers to the quality is entirely coincidental).

Today and tomorrow I’m also working, but on Friday, I (and Richard if he can finish early) will be taking them to Jasper to see the Rockies. We’ll stay overnight there and show them round on Saturday. On Sunday, Grandma and Grandad then catch the Rocky Mountaineer Train for a spectacular two day trip through the Rockies to Vancouver. They then stay there three nights before flying back home.