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Glamping on the Island

Glamping on the Island

Urban River Adventures. https://ura-yeg.ca/ This is one of the newest hidden gems you can experience in Edmonton. Book it now. Trust me, you will not be sorry. Their inaugural summer is booked solid and they are already booking into next year.  We met the speedboat at Devon Lions Campground, where we were able to leave the car parked safely and securely. The ride was fun and quick (about 10…

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After a heavenly sleep, I woke to soft knocking at my door. My butler Aditya wished me a cheerful good morning as he set up my breakfast table. I went out to my balcony to survey the port we had just pulled into. Martinique is somewhere I had been curious about for ages. The hot sun was already beaming and it was only 8am! I made a mental note to remember sunscreen and a big floppy hat.

Breakfast was delicious french toast, grilled fruit, real maple syrup, and a healthy green drink. I was impressed that they had delivered me the morning Canadian news. Just one of those extra touches that make one feel special.

After a slow breakfast, I made my way down to the gangway. Even though it was 9am, the area was quiet and void of any other guests. I am so used to lining up and being corralled like cattle to get off and on a cruiseship. In fact that is one of the reasons I sometimes don’t get off! This cruise was completely different. Because there are so few passengers (300) there are never lines for anything. To be able to saunter off whenever without so much as a 10-second wait is luxurious. They even give a chilled water bottle as you walk off so you don’t forget to stay hydrated.

The air was warm and the humidity was thick. I wondered what it would be like at midday if it was already so hot. I promised myself I would be back onboard by then to avoid any kind of heatstroke.

Fort-de-France is a delightful little town with stone shopping streets and lush tropical greenery. Most people here speak French and minimal broken English. In that respect it reminded me of Quebec. There were beautiful and interesting graffiti art on many of the walls and in curious places. It was a nice decoration to what would otherwise be boring ugly dated architecture or alleyways.

The clothing styles and fabric patterns were quite French, loud, bold, and sometimes downright bizarre. I realized after a very short time, I wouldn’t be buying any clothes here. Not to mention everything was really very expensive. Even though they were all advertising Black Friday Sales, the pricing was way off. I mean, I understand it is an island but I couldn’t justify the cost for the glut of low-quality goods. I wondered what the minimum wage is here and how people could afford to live or if this was just a cost inflated tourist zone.

  I came upon a lovely church so I went inside to take some shade. Only a few steps in and my whole self just relaxed. Churches have a way of doing that, especially when they are quiet. Apart from a few tourists and a couple of parishioners, it was empty. I sat down to take a rest and watched a man praying earnestly. I loved how he hung his yellow hat on the post and knelt down slowly. Whatever was on his mind, it seemed heavy. I wondered what he was praying for. I hoped that his prayer would be answered.

    I walked a bit more and discovered a few statues. One in particular had lost her head! I wondered if that was on purpose. I started getting a little tired so I made the decision to head back to the ship. I decided to walk through the little maze of makeshift stalls just on the waterfront. As I had suspected there was just more of the same, overpriced tourist garbage made in china. Sarongs, tee-shirts, fans, little dolls, shells, bottles with sand in them. But then suddenly I was shocked to see something different that I have never seen before. To be honest her stall stuck out like a sore thumb. Her wares were nothing like I had seen anywhere else.

I learned her name was Fatie Madjour and she is an artist. She was sharing her unique and high-quality creations. I had never seen French art deco printed on shoes, sandals, bags, and scarves. It was strange and wonderful and classy and cool. THIS is real French style!! It was the stuff you would expect to see in a little boutique in Paris, not a wooden makeshift stall alongside cheap hawkers. She truly is a hidden gem! The more I talked to her the more charmed I was by her story. She had lost her job as an accountant in France and took the risk to live her dream as an artist creating what she loves in Martinique. She looked so damn happy. I had to hug her because I admire what a brave woman she is. Needless to say, I tried on the shoes and they fit like a glove. I had to have them. So stylish AND comfortable AND affordable AND well made. I was proud of myself for shopping local and supporting a woman of vision. I bought a bunch of her stuff…you can see some of it at Je Prends Mon Pieds Thank you Fatie!! I headed back to the ship with my bag of goodies just in time for lunch. I decided on the perfectly cooked scallops over handmade gnocchi which was truly divine. I could eat that all day. A nice fresh salad rounded off my meal and I was ready for my spa appointment.

Today I am trying the body scrub and massage. I was delighted to hear that I could switch my original Ginger-Lime scrub to the Frangipani recipe. Aka Plumeria which we all know is my favoritest flower in the world. My therapist was a tall Italian named Stan. He had a very gentle and kind demeanor which is quite the opposite that I had experienced from most Italian men. Way to break the mold Stan! The scrub felt wonderful and the scent of the oil the salt was in was intoxicating. When it was time for me to rinse off, I was almost light-headed. After I had rinsed off in the shower which was conveniently right beside the table just two steps away, Stan went on to do a deeper massage really smoothing out those knots I had taken years to build. I was still a little sore from yesterday’s massage so I was grateful he was very attentive to the pressure. Stan is the man!

Feeling completely renewed I dressed for supper and went down to the Hot Rocks Grill. I was really excited to try this out it is so different than any other ship I have been on. You order whatever you want and they bring you your meat raw which you then cook on a hot hot stone. I love this type of dining and the fact that I had complete control over my doneness was awesome. I had steak and prawns and a few different sauces. It was so yummy. They give you a bib before you start cooking and I understood why by the end of it. It can be a little messy with that hot rock! But totally worth it and a must-try if you get the chance. After supper, I decided to go check out the show. It was a world-class clarinet player called Pete Neighbour. I will confess, I was really skeptical because, well…clarinet. I really can’t think of it as anything other than the instrument nobody wanted to play in band class. I actually sat near the back in case I had to quietly escape. But imagine my surprise when I found myself actually bouncing my foot around to the very charismatic musician. He was a really good entertainer and I had no idea the clarinet could sound like that. Wow.

By the end of the night, I was absolutely knackered. It slipped into my cloud of a bed and fell asleep with a smile on my face.

French Art and a Clarinet Rockstar After a heavenly sleep, I woke to soft knocking at my door. My butler Aditya wished me a cheerful good morning as he set up my breakfast table.

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The Cruise Life

On my way to the spa, I decided to pop by tea time. It happens every day at 4pm and usually its a pretty cool experience. The Silversea version didn’t disappoint. I was given a tea menu off which I chose Earl Grey. They brought me a rack of sweets, cakes, cookies and crustless sandwiches. I am sure it is meant for two but I had fun trying. Let me tell you in my experience these little squares and…

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I was surprised to see three other ships in the port alongside mine. I guess it makes sense, this is a popular Caribbean cruise port. Check-in was the easiest it has ever been. In fact it seemed I was the only one boarding. I know I was getting on halfway through a 2 weeker so there must have only been a handful of us. The first thing I noticed was the sophisticated grey leather cardholder they gave me to store my room key in. The young man who took my info was very polite and professional. Another gentleman took my bag and walked me to the gangway. A simple swipe of the card and I was on board. I still hadn’t seen any fellow passengers.

I was invited to lunch in the main dining room where I found that I was the only one there aside from staff. Now it was starting to get creepy. Surely not everyone had gone off the ship to shore for the day? I sat comfortably by the window and deliberated on the toughest question of the day: sparkling or still, madam?

I ordered a Nojito, one of the many virgin cocktails I researched before I left Canada. Turns out there are a lot of fancy drinks I can have…and many don’t have sugar either. I am gonna be an expert of Keto Non-Alcoholic cocktails by the end of this trip. I had a nice rare tuna steak and bright crisp salad for lunch. And my very favorite, Panna Cotta for dessert. I am in heaven. After a beautiful coffee, I made decided to explore the rest of my small ship. I noticed a couple other tables of guests on my way out so there were more people trickling in.

There were many small rooms onboard like the card room which has games and puzzles. There is a rather large library that had books in many languages and even a sizable book exchange. There is an internet cafe and a cigar room. The ship is done in dark wood and light floors. I found it very tasteful and classy. The art was definitely older style and suited more towards the more refined crowd, heavy emphasis on history and culture. It’s a nice change from the loud and sometimes obnoxious art that can be seen on the mega-ships.

I finally made my way up to my room where I was delighted to find such a welcoming space. I have more than enough room and a bathroom fit for a princess. I love all the little details like Bvlgari toiletries including bath tea, a fluffy thirsty bath mat, even a rack that goes across the tub to hold your cool drink or book. The granite and double sinks just give the whole room a feel of luxury. Even the shower was quite large by cruise ship standards. Yup, I am spoiled.

The TV has everything you would ever need to know like info on your next port, a complete schedule of the days events (including ship location, weather), on demand new release movies and classics, entire seasons of popular TV shows, a plethora of live news and sports channels, your room account, and my favorite a current menu (detailed with ingredients of dishes) for each meal in each restaurant. After all, planning my day’s meals is one my my favorite parts of cruising. The whole TV/computerized experience is easy to use, innovative and informative. This is the first time I have seen a cruise line do this right. Bravo! I can say this made my cruise experience at least 20 percent better by just having information I needed at my fingertips.

Perhaps one of the best parts of this trip is the $1000 On Board Credit I have to use up. I plan to get daily massages in the top-rated Spa onboard. Yup, spoiled. Oh in fact, it’s time for my appointment now…

The Embarkation Day I was surprised to see three other ships in the port alongside mine. I guess it makes sense, this is a popular Caribbean cruise port.

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From Land Hotel to Sea Hotel

From Land Hotel to Sea Hotel

I woke up excited to board my 6-star luxury cruise. I had been waiting for this day for months now. There is always a part of me that catastrophizes that I will somehow tragically die before the amazing thing I have been waiting for actually happens. Now there was only a 10 minute cab ride between me and my ship. I took a stretch outside and smelled the tropical flowers next to my patio table. I…

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Barbados Island Life

After an early night, I woke up mostly recovered from jet lag and decided to go exploring. Beach View hotel has a free morning shuttle to Hole Town which is about 15 minutes away. I made my way to the meeting point a couple minutes early only to find they had left without me. I had signed up and everything so I was slightly annoyed. I waited around for 45 minutes for the next trip. In that time…

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I got through the flight’s thanks to some encouraging seatmates who kept me calm when the bumps came. I was so relieved to finally land in Barbados. Part of me couldn’t believe we didn’t crash since I had worried about it so hard for so long. I felt really proud of myself for doing so well and feel hopeful my irrational fear of flying is starting to fade. They opened up the back door so there were two sets of stairs to exit the plane into the humid heat. The tropical sun was a welcome change from the snowy Winterland that had befallen Edmonton yesterday. I felt relief when I saw the blanket of white knowing I was about to head south on my vacay. I do NOT like winter or cold. I couldn’t have timed it better.

Old Carl my cab driver chattered away as he made it way down the twisty turny roads. I understood about half of what he was saying. He kinda mumbled a lot but it seemed to make him happy so I obliged. Every now and then he would honk his horn to alert any cars coming around the bend. He told me he has lived here his whole life, and never left the island once. And he didn’t want to either. I tried to get my head around that.

After a half-hour ride, we pulled up at my hotel called Beach View. It is a lovely property with amazing flowers all over the place. My room is clean, modern, and bright. I even have my own little kitchen area. I turned the air-con off and just used the ceiling fans. I like it warm. It feels so luxurious to just open the doors to my little patio area that overlooks the pool.

I looked up and noticed I have my very own plumeria tree just next to my patio. In fact, they are all over the property. It’s my favorite flower with its pinwheel shape and sweet honey-like scent. It’s also known as Frangipani and I have seen them in Hawaii and Australia too. To me, this epic flower represents everything tropical.

I was feeling pretty tired so I didn’t venture too far. I did, however, pass through the back gate that goes right to the water’s edge. I crossed the road and there I was standing on soft fine sand. The warm water surf slurped at my toes and I watched the sun slowly dissolve into the sea. I exhaled and felt really peaceful.

    Landing in Barbados I got through the flight's thanks to some encouraging seatmates who kept me calm when the bumps came.

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Edmonton Fringe Festival - Family Therapy

Edmonton Fringe Festival – Family Therapy

A few months ago my Mom had mentioned a play that was going to happen at the Fringe this summer. I was surprised because as far as I know, neither of my parents have ever been to a Fringe event or play. But she said it had something to do with a stroke survivor and it might be good for us to go.

Many years ago, my Dad suffered a few strokes. It kinda changed everything for our family. I guess I…

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I have been feeling so down these last few days. Yesterday I had to quit a job that was unhealthy for me. I liked the actual work a lot but the people I had to work with were toxic and abusive. It seems like an obvious decision to anyone in their right mind. I should be celebrating relief at the separation from that miserable situation, right? Wrong.

Today I am feeling sad and angry and frustrated and hopeless and scared and did I mention angry? I am super angry! I am so mad I stuck around in a situation where I was so unsupported. I was sabotaged by a few of the more corrupt people involved when I tried to set healthy boundaries. What’s worse is that the rest of them just watched me get belittled and vilified. No one stood up for me. No one spoke up. No one had my back. I think that is what bothers me the most.

So I guess I am a little shellshocked and am going through the feelings that have been building over the past 6 months. This is hard! I used to drink when I was bombarded with negative feelings but now since that is not an option, I am kind floundering. I called a friend, I went for a 12K walk, I watched some mindless shows, I played with the kittens, I had a bath. I did all the things on the checklist. But I still feel kinda desperate and fearful of the intensity of these emotions.

It doesn’t help that there is a death metal festival going on in the field right next door to my house for the next two days. My least favorite kind of music and it is LOUD. Slayer, Marilyn Manson, Disturbed along with a bunch of other shock and thrash metal is super vexatious to my soul. FML.

I was tempted to order a bunch of chinese food and scarf down some ice cream but I thought better of it. I have stayed at my 125 lb weight loss for a while now and I don’t want to lose that achievement. It’s one thing to lose 30 pounds but entirely another to keep it off. I was even tempted to drink but that went away after a minute. I remembered how unproductive that was. Plus I am half a year sober today. I don’t want to have to start all over again. I thought about locking myself in my dark bedroom and hiding under the covers for a few days. But damn that screaming music.

I asked for some help on Facebook where I got some good advice to practice some serious self-care. I ended up deciding to make my favorite keto cherry cheesecake pie that I am really good at. That kept me busy for a while and I felt like I had accomplished something. Once it’s chilled, it will be a much healthier gobble than those ice cream pints I was eyeing. A good friend pointed me towards some Ted Talks and I watched one that really resonated with me.

Emotional Hygiene

Now I am planning to do some work around the house to get it ready for my new granite countertops that are coming next week. I am going to work on focusing on my exciting renovations and not allowing myself to ruminate on the negative. It’s a bad habit that I can see has caused me great stress in the past. Totally unnecessary. But since it is my default, it takes a bit of doing to retrain my brain. I can do it.

  Emotional FirstAid I have been feeling so down these last few days. Yesterday I had to quit a job that was unhealthy for me.

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Calm after the Storm

Calm after the Storm

After all the stress from the Orange Theory Challenge, it took a while for me to settle down. I had a very disheartening phone call with the arrogant president of OTF Canada (head bully and proud of it) and realized this company was on its way down, not up. I know what goes around comes around, and it won’t be long until their lies and corruption catch up with them. If you are considering giving…

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Red Theory of Orange Theory - From Fitness to Fight Club

Red Theory of Orange Theory – From Fitness to Fight Club

Some names have been changed

Summary:

I joined a gym to win their weight loss challenge which ended up being a Facebook popularity contest. I was winning when a sore loser targeted me with hate speech and cyberbullying…the gym didn’t care to help me because they were getting free publicity at my expense. Good people rallied to stand up against the injustice and I won by a landslide. Now the…

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Where in the world is Carmella?

Where in the world is Carmella?

2018-04-15 I’m heading out to sea! You can follow my real-time location and progress of the Norwegian Breakaway…

and even check out the ship’s bridge webcam, which updates every minute. Right now I’m at the

Manhattan Cruise Terminal, NYC

This is what I saw during my boarding process. I’m happily in the cabin now and will work on a video…

…which I did! Enjoy!

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Heading across the Ocean!

Heading across the Ocean!

<strong>2018-04-15</strong> I’m heading out to sea! You can follow my <a href=”http://www.ncl.com/shipcams/bawaycam/fullsize.jpg”>real-time location and progress</a> of the <em>Norwegian Breakaway</em>…

<a href=”http://whereshegoes.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/20180415_1029_map.png”><img src=”http://whereshegoes.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/20180415_1029_map-300×200.png&#8221; height=”342″…

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Longest Winter

I have been struggling with the cold for, well, most of my life. I despise it. Everyone knows how warm I keep my house. To me, the worst thing in the world is freezing. I guess I grew up with some pretty harsh winters. When I left Canada to travel the world, I made it pretty clear that as soon as it would get cold, I would leave a place. Literally. If I felt the weather turning, I would head…

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Get back on that horse...er...plane

Get back on that horse…er…plane

So I bit the bullet and booked the trip. I have really done any major traveling for about 2 years, aside from that Alaskan cruise last Spring. Even then, I took the train to the coast, then white knuckled it on the 90 min flight home from Victoria. I figured if the plane went down, at least we would all die together. I wouldn’t have to worry about my parents being sad or me missing them. Somehow…

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Fear of Flying

It sounds ridiculous. That someone like me, who has taken about 1000 flights in my life, is suddenly scared to fly. Well, it’s not quite so sudden. It’s more like two years old now. I wasn’t too worried at first. Mostly because I figured it would just go away. But it hasn’t. It’s gotten worse.

It all started when I went with my sister down to Vegas for my birthday. It was a relatively short…

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When you don't want to write...

When you don’t want to write…

I guess that’s when you need to write. Usually for me, when I feel the worst, is when the writing helps the most. Lately, I have realized a few hard things. I guess most of all it’s hard to admit them out loud because it makes it more real. Sometimes, you try at something for a really long time. And in the beginning you are really hopeful. But over time, the roadblocks and failures begin to break…