England

We're headed back to Sheffield, England. Just waiting in Newcastle to catch the megabus. The ferry ride back was pretty uneventful. Just chilling in a park now doing some stretching.

So as long as we have a place to stay, we start our hardcore training regime tomorrow.

Amsterdam was fun. We went out for a really nice dinner and stayed at a pretty sweet hotel. We are both missing the car already though. We sure don't travel light.

My goals for the next month are to get a bunch of podcasts and cds completed and to create a book on intro to acro. I've got a huge list of training goals as well, including taking dance classes, tumbling classes, getting back into aerials and building strength.

Stephen's excited to get back to working on music.

That's all the news for today, folks.

xo Erin

PS New fb pics here

Amsterdam for 24 Hours

We're on a ship right now heading back to Amsterdam. It's a 16 hour ferry! It's a much better ship than the last one and the water is much calmer. The sunset was beautiful and we could see the almost full moon at the same time. This will be both of our first times sleeping at sea.

So we went in to Europcar in Sheffield to see if we could return our rental in England but we were told that it would cost 3000 pounds so we took this route. we'll be in Amsterdam for just over 24 hours and then we're heading back to Sheffield.

We're hoping to rent a room for a minimum of one month to do some serious training. The people that we have met so far in Sheffield are AWESOME.

If things go well, we may end up using it as a home base while we take some shorter trips around the rest of Europe.

That's all for now.
xo
Erin

Sheffield

We arrived in Sheffield two days ago and it's been a blast. A friend that we met at Southern Lights graciously said that we could stay with him and his two flatmates for a few days. The first night we just chilled and had some good conversations. Yesterday we went with a group of people to a place outside of Sheffield called Slippery Stones. It was absolutely incredible. The drive to get there was quite nice and then as we got closer, there were sheep all over the place. We went swimming and just hung out in the sun all day.
We had the perfect end to a perfect day when we were invited to a campfire in the backyard of some of the people that came with us.

Today we slept in because we stayed by the fire until the sun came up. We went downtown and stuck our feet in the water at a park and then played in the fountains (though I didn't go in). We also did some training and I got to try walking on a globe. One of the guys that we are staying with is really good, he can walk on it and juggle three balls at the same time.

Tonight Stephen's cooking up a big pot of vegan chili. It smells amazing.

We are really enjoying ourselves here and we're thinking about trying to stay for a while longer.

That's all I've got for now.

Love to you all,
Erin xo

New fb pics here.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!!!
Love you Dad and Gilles.
Hope you got everything on time :)

So we are still in Edinburgh. We decided to spend two nights in a hostel because my back needed a break from the hard ground and we needed to charge our computers, get online, do laundry, etc.
It's actually right across the street from the campground and it overlooks the beach.

We may be heading in a new direction soon. Lots to think about right now. More info to come.

Miss everyone.
xo
Erin

PS Thanks so much Shannon for your donation!!!

Edinburgh, Part 2

We're still in Edinburgh and it still completely amazes me everyday. I wonder if people who live here still notice how awesome it is. Each day we discover new areas that are more incredible than the last. The beach, the architecture, the culture (mind you, I haven't been all that impressed with the food...a little on the bland side), etc.

Yesterday we spent the day at the campsite, chillin and training. It's so great to feel our acro improving and we're coming up with new things all of the time. I've been pretty inspired with hooping too since the festival, just making up stuff all over the place.

This morning we got up and went for a run on the beach. What a great way to start the day. We're still taking it easy and not pushing my body or Stephen's knees but even with the little bit that we have done, we can see improvements. Today was the first day for both of us that we didn't feel completely drained afterward.
While Stephen showered, I did a yoga practice. Savasana (relaxation pose) in the sun, so great.

We went downtown and found a new area this afternoon where we sat on a patio and people-watched then did some shopping for necessities. We are at the campground for one more night and then off to England.
I'm hoping there will be time tomorrow before we take off to go to the Surgeon's Museum, it looks really interesting.

Guess that's all for now, folks.

Beaucoup d'amour,
Erin

Scotland

I am feeling a little discouraged about blogging right now but I'm going to do it anyway because I want a record of our travels.

Edinburgh is incredibly beautiful. The architecture is amazing, I feel like I want to take pictures of everything, and at the same time it's so green. I would consider living here except that the constant on-the-verge-of-rain weather is giving me migraines. I think I am most suited to a climate where I can eat fresh mangoes, coconut and avocados :)

We made it here just in time to meet Prim yesterday for the photos and video. It was great to see a familiar face (and thanks a million, can't wait to see how they turn out)!
We stayed in a hotel again last night because we couldn't get online to find camping. This morning we trained in a park and then found a campground. There was supposed to be internet access here but it's being repaired at the moment.

So our plan has changed a bit. We are staying in the campground in Edinburgh for two nights and then heading to Sheffield for 3 days to stay with a friend that we met at Southern Lights. After that we are going back to Amsterdam and going to see about renting an apartment for a week or two then getting our new car and heading to La Boule, France for an aerial dance festival. We're planning to do two classes a day for week, flexibility and single point trapeze, on top of the usual acro and hooping (thanks for the info Zoey!). After that we are going to Berlin for a week or so and then to Hungary for more acro training with an instructor that we met at the Dutch Acro fest. Of course it could all change again but for now that's the plan.

I guess that's about all that's new for now.

Peace out,
Erin
PS. New fb pics here and video below.

Southern Lights Festival

What an awesome weekend! The location for the festival was amazing. It was in Southern England, near Wareham and we were camped on a hill with a view of the sea at the bottom. There was a hill behind us with a ton of sheep. It was really cool to wake up to the sound of sheep.
There were quite a few people from all over. The people were also awesome. There were some good workshops, awesome performances and great conversations (you rock, Russ). I would definitely like to come back next year, depending where I am.
I will post one short video now from the fire show and the rest later. Unfortunately I don't know the performers names or where they are from. Here are new fb pics.

The weather was great. It got pretty hot during the day and cold at night though. We didn't get any rain until Sunday night.

So we're off now to Edinburgh, Scotland for the photo and video shoot. We'll see what happens there. We got a lot of good busking ideas over the weekend and we're anxious to try them out. After Scotland we are heading to Sheffield, England to take some tumbling classes and check out the hoop and poi jams. After that it's back to Amsterdam to return the car and hopefully get another one. Then it's on to Germany!

xo Erin and Steph