Vikki, drum roll please... my light bulb has just come on. While in Vancouver on the mainland a trip to the VanDusen Botanical Gardens it's right in the heart of Vancouver might interest you, also the UBC Botanical Gardens and the Nitobe Memorial Garden both close to each other at U.B.C. The Macmillian and Bloedel Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park (tropicals and birds) is nice as well. If you google these you'll find more info on them. Then there is the Sun Yat-Sen Gardens, this too is in downtown Vancouver. Maybe some of these will be of interest to you. Ahhh, brings back some memories of some very fun days out and about with six gal gardening buddies. We use to hire a Limo and along with some liquid refreshment... but that's another story LOL. Annette Here is a link that might be useful: Sun Yat-Sen Gardens

Not familar with Aussie gardens ,but spent last January touring gardens in New Zealand.. They have awesome gardens in almost every little town.. Christchurch is known as the garden city and every where you look are wonderful personal gardens and the botanical garden is lush and filled with all kinds of different types of gardens and the ost magnifcent trees I have ever seen..I feel in love with a New Zealand breed rose called Dublin Bay and as we had spent some time at Dublin Bay on lake Wanaka I had to have tis rose... I now have 2 of them growing in my rose courtyard and no blooms yet,but eagerly awaiting the big velvety roses..

Well, I have to answer this one! Due to the quirks of my childhood, my parents' willingness to allow me to travel alone from age 12 on, and the fact that I have severe idiopathic vertigo and, for the past 30 years have been unable to fly - I have crisscrossed the USA by train, by coach and sleeper car. I've also traveled by train in Canada, England, Israel and Mexico, but those trips were all fairly short. I love Amtrak! Some comments about the linked article. FIrst, he misses the main experience of dining on a train. You meet the most fantastic people! Seating in the dining car is done by filling up each 4-place table, and unless there are three of you, you will sit with strangers. Everyone has a story and almost everyone wants to hear yours. I have dined with people from around the world. Foreign tourists are especially interesting, because they want to have a real American experience and are curious about everything. But our countrymen/women are also fascinating. I could write a book about those I've met on the train. The food is forgettable, except for the salmon and roast chicken, which are delicious. For breakfast I always have the "healthy choice" - fresh fruit, yogurt, and a muffin or croissant, plus orange juice and coffee. The snack bar is a snack bar, but does have fresh fruit. The writer of the article discusses train travel when going by coach. I always traveled by coach when I was a lot younger and didn't require sleep and could tolerate anything. Not that there's anything wrong with coach - it's fine for a 10-15 hour trip, and many people travel that way for a lot longer time. But now that I am older and have aches and pains, I like a really good chair for curling up and reading, and a bed at night. So if it's a longer trip (to see the children and DGS) I take a roomette. Yes, it's expensive - $700 for a round trip between Salinas CA and Eugene OR. I know. But for that you have your own tiny room with two cushy seats that fold into a bed, plus various kinds of lights, electrical outlets, a fan, and good space for hanging up clothes and storing carry-ons. All meals are included, plus all the coffee and fruit juice that one could drink. And the sleeping car attendant, who will do his/her best to make you comfortable, including making up your bed, bringing extra pillows and blankets and sundries you might need, plus bringing you your meal from the dining car if you're not feeling friendly. Attendants also have their own stories to tell, if you just ask! They are unionized and have good lives. For sleeping I take a trazedone, a non-addictive sleeping pill. I turn off the lights, leave the curtains open, and if I wake up, just enjoy the passing scene, homes and farms and ranches with a light on, and the stars and moon in the sky. Very romantic! Yes, to enjoy train travel you have to be flexible and not a germophobe. Trains don't always run on time, and someone may get sick in a public bathroom. I always bring plenty of reading matter, wash my hands frequently and never go barefoot. But I also never worry. Two of the most beautiful trips are the Coast Starlight, from L.A. to Seattle, right out over the ocean north of Santa Barbara, and through the Cascade Mts. in Oregon. We've met many people going between L.A. and Portland or Seattle who fly one way and, just for the experience, Amtrak home. Also there is the Zepher, which rides through the Sierra Nevadas and later, Utah and southern Colorado. The Empire Builder, through Idaho and the northern Rockies, is on our list. He is right about Union Station in Chicago. I remember the old Union Station (as in The Untouchables) from my childhood, a wonderful place. Now it's been remodeled and it is not fun, nor elegant. And good luck finding someone to help with luggage. You are on your own, schlepping everything behind you. Train travel is our one true luxury, and for us, well worth it. We talk it up with our friends but still, nearly everyone prefers to fly. I know this was long, but at least it wasn't as long as the linked "memoir"!

I've been travelling to Europe with my kids for 10 years now. Often by myself without the other parent to share the load to carry. Even before 9/11 I never would have taken things like juice, fruit cups or sandwiches along. The mess they potentially can make if spilled is too much for me to handle during such a flight. It's always been water and like your friend I have never had problems taking an empty water bottle through security and filling it in the washroom behind it. Only problem might be that you happen to be in an airport where all the washrooms dispend nothing but very warm water, yuck (Heathrow is one of them). But even then, flight attendants usually don't mind to refill your water bottle on the plane as it cuts down on the individual refills of little cups they have to serve. For snacks to eat I usually take more solid stuff like granola bars, trail mix, chewing gum, and the absolute favourite: candy blox - they can be played with and are eaten very slowly. I can't comment on formula as that was never an issue for us. My breasts always produced more than 3 oz of milk per feeding but that shouldn't be confiscated :-)))) As to fluids like hair gels and such they are simply placed in the luggage that's checked in. Quite frankly, I have no idea how a parent could manage to pack her on board bag with all the extra snacks, some toys and a few extra clothing items for the kids, diapers, the necessary travel documents for everybody, a camera (I never travel without one and would never check it in) - and still have room for her personal beauty items. Here is a link that might be useful: Candy Blox