Brugge

Made our trip uneventfully from PDX to BRU, arriving a little early,
despite the FAA having some sort of computer glitch which was

slowing take off and landings at airports all over the east coast
of the USA. We then caught the train to Brugge and then Taxi
to Hotel. Room was ready at the Crown Plaza at 10:30am,
(a nice surprise), and an upgrade (due to David's Platinum status
with Holiday Inn) We showered and then hit the streets and
have walked around a fair bit.

We enjoyed the local farmers market

We also did a city  tour by bus for
45 minutes, to get the lay of the city. LOTS of tourists here,
the hotel gave us a complimentary box of chocolates....
yummy...there are as many chocolate shops here as coffee
shops in the Pacific Northwest.

Saw this whilst walking around, obviously warning about Pick Pockets!

I am sitting in the hotel room typing this, listening to the horse
drawn tourist carriages, clop on by.Back from dinner, an
overpriced but enjoyable meal.
When the US $ is weak, everything in Europe seems expensive!

Brugge

Rainy Day

An unusually rainy day in Summer, was the recipe for yesterday's dog show. Forecast was for rain by noon, but it held off until 2pm. Very small entry of Beagles (4) Bob was Winners dog (for 1 point, now has 13) and Herbie was BOV. By the time the group came around, the rain was pouring down, fortunately there was good tenting, but everyone was still wet. Good day though, Herbie won the group. See Carrie' blog for some more details.

Its now another day for packing, as we leave for Europe tomorrow. Bruges, Copenhagen and Brussels are on the agenda. I am judging a Newfoundland Specialty in Vordingborg, just South of Copenhagen. I am sure that we may also see some beagles, when we visit some dog friends.

Home

Well after about 20 hours of travelling (it was 8598 miles) with stops in Sao Paulo and Chicago I got home at 11am this morning...and guess what is raining here! However its not nearly as wet (and much warmer) than it was in Chile.
Monday in Chile was supposed to be a day of sightseeing, but this did not happen, so all the judges ended up going to the home of the President of the Kennel Club for Lunch(now lunch in Chile, has a different time schedule to what I was thinking, the food hit the table around 4:30pm) I have included pictures of the Presidents home, it was very unusual, with an eclectic mix of furnishings and decorations. (Also included is a picture of Max Magder, wearing a fox skin and overcoat, in the house) Heating of the homes did not seem to be a priority in Chile and so we all had another cold day.

After lunch we returned to our hotel at 7PM and my ring Steward arranged to take us out to dinner at a lovely Seafood restaurant(reservation was for 9:30PM) we finally got back to the hotel at 12:30AM

I dont have a marked catalog, so am not able to tell you who won in Beagles, other than I know my BOB winner was Ch Lanbur Riordan Motor City. The entry was mostly of American beagles in the first generation, with a couple of English sires present also. Due to Scheduling changes, I did not judge the Hound group - the Beagle did win one of the Hound Groups (but to be honest Group 6 in FCI is not strong in Chile - only 3 breeds in the group - Basset(1 entered), Dalmation (2 entered) Beagles (32 entries) The sighthound group was also a poor entry - 11 Afghans, 3 Whipets and 1 Italian Greyhound - Afghan was Group 1 and BIS.

Chilly in Chile

Due to the excess rain, the club decided to delay the start of judging by 2 hours (to 11am)-well of course a late start, means a late finish (9.30pm) We were on a basketball court, with carpet underfoot, the building had a roof and sides to about 10 feet then an 8 foot gap to the roof, to let the breeze in...
Although we had been warned it would be cold and told to dress appropriately we were all still cold. I was happy to have taken disposable handwarmers with me. All the judges said they felt like the TinMan in the Wizard of Oz, due to all the layers of clothes we had on!!

The judging system is FCI, but with no critiques, except for Specialty shows. The other difference was that there were 2 shows on the one day for 1/2 the groups and the other groups had 2 shows the next day, with only Saturday's winners having to come back for BIS. This is not a bad idea, but did present some scheduling challenges.
I had 32 beagles in the specialty and hope to have some pictures of the winners soon to share.

Today I had h0ped to go sightseeing, but the plans keep changing,r along with the gloomy weather. I think Chile would be nice at a different time of the year - winter is not the best time to be here unless you enjoy skiing.

Santiago, Chile

Arrived here today to rain, and lots of it - 2 inches so far, and the day is not done yet...not sure yet whether the show tomorrow is outside under cover, outside (no cover) or inside - I hope the latter, a it's predicted to rain again tomorrow and to be around freezing in the morning.

Report on the Caipirinha cocktail last night, not quite to my taste, but interesting to try. I do have to say the coffee in Brasil is great.

The kennel club is looking after us well (judges are Max Magder, Ed Bivin and myself) we tried another local cocktail for lunch - a Pisco Sour, a close relative of last nights cocktail but with the addition of egg whites, liked this one better.

Sao Paulo

The trip here was uneventful, both flights were on time! It was a 10+ hour flight from Chicago, we left at 10pm which meant it was daylight as we flew over the Amazon Rainforest (which from the air looks remote and untouched) and then south into Brasil. Weather here is in 70's (it's winter).
I am staying at the Marriott at the airport (on points), as I just have a 20 hour layover, before flying onto Santiago, Chile, (on Swiss Air, my other flights were on United) hope to get a good nights sleep before getting up at 4am to get to the airport to catch my early flight.
The hotel is just OK, its undergoing renovation, the towels are "wimpy" more like what I expect to get at a motel 6, not a top hotel. Still I do have a coupon for a free cocktail - a local specialty - Caipirinha, so will have to try it.
Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça, sugar and lime. Cachaça is Brazil's most common distilled alcoholic beverage. Like rum, it is made from sugarcane.
Electricity here is 110 volts with US plugs, so all electronics work easily. Except new laptop decided to have problems with Internet explorer which i could not resolve, so I have removed IE and am now using Firefox, and life is good

I'm off

Suitcase packed and South America, here I come. Today I fly to Chicago, then onto Sao Paulo (where I have a 20 hour layover - I have a hotel reserved) and then on to Santiago on Friday.

Sunday

Having tried my first blogging experience last night, I decided I did not like my former host and have changed to this location. Its easier to move when you have just started and I like the ability to be able to embed the Picasa photo albums - Thanks Janet!

Its a lazy Sunday here, with not much going on. Just thinking about the preparations for my upcoming trip to Santiago, Chile - I leave on Wednesday. I am judging a Beagle Specialty and all breeds shows there. I hope to be able to keep the blog going while away - I just have to fine tune being able to handle all the electronics I carry (iPod Touch,new mini computer - Asus Eee, and cell phone - which I have decided takes pretty good photos) and still have just all carry on baggage.

Hello World

Several friends have started Blogs, and I thought it was about time I did one of my own. This year I am doing a lot of travelling, both for leisure and judging, so this Blog will take you all around the world….

Last weekend David & I were in Bismarck, North Dakota judging and had a great time, met some nice people, enjoyed very warm weather (but the show was in an air-conditioned building) and saw some great dogs.

We went sightseeing and visited some Lewis & Clark sites (they were the explorers who went from the East coast to the West coast in 1805) see the pictures below. We were supposed to go on the Paddlewheeler for a dinner cruise, but it was booked out….