thegrassisaalwaysgreener

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

Our First Cruise

            Every other year, we get to spend March Break with Henrik. Naturally, we thought we would do a big trip with him. I have to say, travelling during March break is not my cup of tea but it is what it is. We had planned to go on a cruise with my parents so spent many hours sorting out which cruise line and where we wanted to go. My parents had been on several cruises before and had enjoyed them. We decided on the Norwegian Dawn as it was a happy medium for us all. The price was decent, the stops had something for all of us and the dates worked with when we wanted to travel.

            We surprised Henrik with the cruise cleverly as a Christmas gift. He was SO excited. He couldn’t stop talking about it. The cruise left from Fort Lauderdale on Saturday March 12, 2023. The weather in Hamilton/Toronto had been super dodgey and mum was worried we wouldn’t be able to fly out. She almost drove down to Florida! Luckily, we were able to fly out on an early morning flight out of Pearson. We did however, feel very nervous about getting to the cruise terminal on time. Luckily, we had booked everything through Norwegian, so they had to ensure we made it onto the cruise. We took Norwegian bus to the terminal and waited in the very long line to check into the boat. I had no idea what a production this was!!

Since we were so late to board, we were unable to go to our room before the safety briefing (which may have been the most useless thing I have ever heard). Having everyone at a muster point outside where you can’t hear any of the safety announcements seemed silly. We were finally able to make it to our joining rooms and check them out. We booked windowed rooms since it was Henrik, Mikes and my first cruise and I was worried about getting seasick. The room was quite small but big enough for the 3 of us. Henrik had a twin bed that folded down over top of our bed and he just loved it!

            Once we checked out our room, we made our way to the main pool deck to see what there was to eat. Unfortunately, there was no food available, which was not ideal since we hadn’t eaten since the morning and it was about 4 pm. Burgers and fries came out eventually so we enjoyed them along with a beverage while we explored the ship a bit. I had no idea how big the ships were!

            We explored the ship, swam in the pool, signed Henrik up for the kid’s club (thank goodness they had this!!) and enjoyed some bevvies before our first dinner. Since you had to book several of the restaurants in advance, we had dinner at the buffet that was surprisingly better than I thought. We had prime rib, veggies and potatoes.  

March 13, 2023- Sea Day

            Since our first day on board was a ship day, we enjoyed a bit of a sleep in before we took a lap or two around the deck before our breakfast. The breakfast at the main dining room was quite good! We had eggs and smoked salmon along with fruit and pastries. Henrik was just in his glory ordering whatever he wanted! Since we had an at sea day, we made sure Henrik got into the kid’s club for the day which he was nervous about at first and then was obsessed. The kid’s club was open during the day and then closed during mealtimes. While Henrik was at the kid’s club (with a fanny pack with an airtag in it just to be sure), Mike and I wandered around the boat and hung out by the pool and on the loungers with my parents.  We picked Henrik up after kid’s club and enjoyed ice cream and hung out by the pool. It was such a lovely afternoon. We all had dinner together before dropping Henrik off at the kid’s club again for another couple of hours. Mum and Kelly went to bed while Mike and I went to the karaoke show (which was hilarious).  We picked Henrik up 2 hours after his bedtime (What a party animal) to get a good night’s sleep before a big day in Cozumel.

March 14, 2023- Cozumel

            We tried to book as many excursions as we could ahead of time (which I highly suggest as the customer service desk has bizarre hours and is difficult). Kelly was going on a tour of Chichén Itzá. While Mike, Henrik, Mum and I were going to a beach front water park resort in Cozumel. The resort was called Playa Mia Grand Beach Park. t had an amazing inflatable waterpark along with waterslides and pools. It was approx. $80 per adult and $40 per child. We all had a blast playing on the beach, jumping around the inflatable water activities/obstacle courses and enjoying traditional Mexican food (which even mum enjoyed!). The water slides weren’t very busy which was extra fun for us. We spent the whole day at the beach and headed back to the port.

            We all freshened up after our long day and caught up with Kelly who had a less than fab day of history. Unfortunately, he did not get to enjoy the history of Chichén Itzá.  long enough due to the distance they had to travel and those on the trip with limited mobility. We all had dinner together (pasta, fish and dessert of course) before dropping Henrik off at the kid’s club. Mike and I enjoyed some drinks at Gatsby’s champagne bar while Kelly hung out in the cigar lounge before heading to the other wine bar. The wine bar was having some sort of singles event that was fun to people watch at. Mike and I went to the 90s night at the “club” for a little bit before picking up a very sweaty Henrik at 11 pm!! He had the best time at kid’s club which was amazing to hear.

March 15, 2023- Roatan

            Buffet breakfast are what dreams are made of when you have kiddos. It is so great to a) not have to cook anything and b) that there is always something they will eat! Luckily, Henrik’s taste buds are maturing so he is quite agreeable to trying lots of new things. We had booked a private tour of Roatan for the day which we were all really excited for. We would be learning about chocolate, going to a sanctuary and the beach as well.

Roatan is an island of the northern coast of Honduras and is the largest of the Bay Islands. It approximately 77 km long and 8 km wide with a population of 110, 000. It is known for its barrier reef (the 2nd largest in the world) along with conservation and institute for Marine Science.

Once we disembarked from the boat, we had a hard time finding the pick-up spot for our driver, but we managed to make it work. Our driver/tour guide Charlotte was a woman born and raised in Roatan (which was super surprising as she had such an interesting accent). She gave us a history lesson on the island. Our first stop was AJ’s Monkeys and Sloths where we got to take turns snuggling guinea pigs, sloths and beautiful birds. The sloths were just so precious! We each got to hug them and they were so sweet and cuddly. After hanging out with the birds (and even holding them so bravely!), we went into an enclosure with sweet white-faced monkeys. They jumped all around us and played with us- it was so fun. Henrik was very brave and enjoyed playing/seeing all of the animals.

            After our time was up at AJs, we made our way into town, we visited the The Roatan Chocolate Factory where we learned how to make chocolate. It was such a neat process! I had not idea how many cocoa beans were in one cocoa plant and how much was needed to make chocolate. We enjoyed many taste tests which we all loved. Charlotte brought us near the more touristy west end of the island which was a bit nicer but far busier. She dropped us off at a restaurant that allowed us to use their beach if we ate which was something we had already planned to do. Many of the other beaches were far more expensive so we were happy to enjoy lunch in a covered little bar area and still have access to the beautiful Roatan beach. The water was so crystal-clear blue- it was so crazy! We all enjoyed various tacos and burgers along with the fun beach bar vibe.

            Once our time was up, Charlotte took us back to the cruise terminal where we played some card games before our dinner. We booked our a la carte dinner for today (teppanyaki) which we were very excited about. While it was a bit pricey (that is the one thing about cruise ships, lots of hidden fees I have found), it was delicious! We shared the table with a lovely family from the states (the mum was also a nurse!). Henrik loved watching the chefs cook our food and the show they put on.

            Henrik got to head back to kids club after dinner while Mike and I people watched the big dance party and enjoyed a beautiful evening outside.

March 16, 2023- Belize

            After another delicious breaky (mimosas, eggs bene, fruit and pancakes for Henrik), we headed to the amazing poolside loungers that Kelly had gone and prepped for us ahead of time. We were on Harvest Caye, Belize which was owned by the Norwegian Cruise line. The island was well maintained but we had to pay for anything we ate or drank which was kind of annoying. Since it was a full beach/pool day, we wore our matching bathing suits which the boys just LOVED (haha!). We spent the whole day swimming in the pool, going into the ocean and wandering around the small island. We ended up going back to the ship for the buffet lunch since the menu at the resort was less than appealing.

            There was a little trolley from the cruise ship to the main entrance to the island so we took that back after lunch and continued to enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and hot weather. We took photos in front of the ‘Belize’ sign (as was a tradition at each stop) before Henrik and I enjoyed a fresh coconut. While we enjoyed our time in "Belize" it would've been great to be in another part of the country in order to really get an idea of the culture and people. Guess that just means we will have to visit again!

            There were so many fun activities to do so in the evening, we played shuffleboard after our dinner at the irish pub- O’Sheehan’s. Henrik loved the done up hot dog and desserts before his nightly trip to kid’s club. As a side note, we ended up going in line for kid’s club 30 mins (minimum) before it opened as there were only a certain amount of spot and we didn’t want a sourfaced munchkin. Once Henrik was at Kids club, Mum, Mike, Kelly and I went to the comedy show which was highly inappropriate but so funny. The comedian’s name has escaped me (and my notes apparently) but he was ridiculously funny. Mike and I enjoyed a few more bevvys at the bar while watching another show before picking Henrik up and heading to bed.

March 17, 2023- Costa Maya

            Our last stop on the cruise was Costa Maya Mexico. There weren’t a ton of activities or excursions that we thought we would like at this spot so we decided to stay close to the cruise ship and enjoy a beach day. While the sand wasn’t nearly as nice as the sand in Roatan, the area had a swim up bar, restaurant and dolphins in the area. We hung out drinking fancy slurpee drinks (for mum and Henrik) along with some beers for the rest of us. Henrik, Mike and I went on a bit of a mission to explore the rest of the area which was FILLED with tourists. We saw some flamingoes and bought some souvenirs at the shops before taking our photo outside of the ‘Costa Maya’ sign and heading back to our room to read and chill. The boys went out to enjoy some games while I walked some laps and had a green beer at O’Sheehans in celebration of St. Pattys Day

            Henrik had his dinner at the buffet with Mum and Kelly and Mike and I enjoyed a steak dinner once we dropped him off at kid’s club. We checked out the casino and then met our parents at the theater for the Cirque show (which was amazing). The parents headed to bed, and we went up to the mojito bar on the upper level and watched/danced with everyone at the white party. It was super fun and was basically like a club in the middle of the ocean under the beautiful sky.

March 18, 2023-Sea Day

            Sadly, it was our last full day on the cruise but it was a beautiful sea day. We spent the day swimming, playing games and enjoying numerous bevvies (mainly Aperol spritz for me and ice cream/smoothies for Henrik). We got lots of shopping done (including a new stuffy for Henrik) before heading to the buffet for a delicious surf and turf dinner. Sadly, the kids club was full when we arrived so Henrik hung out with us as we wandered around the casino and checked out the final show  of the trip. After putting Henrik to bed, Mike and I went out for one last adventure finding the “secret” hot tub which was in an area that super windy and crazy but fun.

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

Peru- Part 2

Tuesday October 1st, 2019        Since we were leaving bright and early for our flight to Cusco, Hotel Santa Cruz gave us to go breakfast bags- so nice of them! We were picked up by the tour company and brought to the airport. Our guide brought us through check in and all the way to the security area, which was very kind of him (and made me feel a bit like a child). Our flight from Lima to Cusco was about an hour and a half and the scenery as we were descending was super interesting. The area was very mountainous and rocky appearing. We were greeted at the airport by another guide from Tucan Travel who’s name I have forgotten (I thought I had everyone’s name written down but can’t seem to find them). This guide was awesome and told us all about the city en route to the accomodations. After we checked in to our hotel (Anden Inca), he took us on a walking tour of the main square (Plaza de Armas) and showed us some great spots to check out to visit, eat at and of course, where to shop.        After being left by the guide, we wanted to hang out and decide what activities in Cusco we really wanted to do and when. We were planning to pick up the “big ticket” that was $130 soles each but got you into a multitude of activities in the Cusco region including museums, the Sacred Valley of the Incas and Saqsaywaman. The cost of Saqsaywaman was 70 soles each anyways and we would be reimbursed for our Sacred Valley of the Inca tour, so it was a no brainer. We wandered around the town for a while, checking out the alpaca wool stores, main square and various markets. We had a delicious lunch of alpaca skewers/stir fry with veggies, salad and potatoes at Caja before grabbing our “big ticket” and getting more money out of the ATM. We walked back to the hotel to grab warmer clothes (aka a jacket and scarf since that is all we really packed). Since we were feeling mildly short of breath at rest, we took a cab (10 soles) up to one of the points of the city to check out Saqsaywaman (which sounds funny and can be spelt tons of different ways). This Pre-Incan, walled complex is built from large (up to 200 tones) stones that were carefully cut to fit together without mortar. This complex was believed to have been used for ceremonies but its exact use is unknown. This complex is massive and there are lots of local guides who are willing to take you on a tour for a small fee. Since neither Jill nor I are huge into exact history, we were happy to wander around ourselves and enjoy the intricate stonework and great views of the city. One of the coolest things we saw from this vantage point was a large stadium down in the city that was painted rainbow colours and stood out amongst the stone of the surrounding area.       After seeing the majority of Saqsaywaman, we walked down the road to check out “Christo Blanco” (White Jesus). This 26 foot tall statue of Jesus was a gift from Arabic Palestinians, who sought refuge in Cusco after the Second World War This status of Jesus is similar to that of Rio’s Christ the Redeemer but on a smaller scale. There were many people selling souvenirs at the base of Christo Blanco and many tour buses came and went. We managed to find a cab to take us back down the hill to our hotel, where we took a bit of a break after a long day. I had been at altitude before, but being at 3400 m, all of a sudden, for a long period of time was different. We started taking our Diamox (which is supposed to help with altitude sickness) and stayed well hydrated but let me tell you, the SOBOE was real.        After relaxing for a bit, Jill and I met up with our group in the breakfast room of our hotel to meet our tour leaders - Raoul and Richard. We were debriefed on the next few days and what we could expect. We were also given our small duffle bags that were to be brought with us for our trek. Some of us had to rent sleeping bags, extra air mattress and poles, so that was sorted out at this time as well. We were told our duffels had to be less than 5 kg (for the porters who would be carrying it all) and our sleeping bags weighed 2.2kg. This was going to be interesting to say the least. For anyone that knows me, knows I am not the best packer and like having many options when I travel. There would be no extra options on this trek. There was some information in our packages about the tour and about weight limits, but I didn’t recall it stating the exact size and was shocked that 5kg was all we could bring. After all, we were going for 4 days to hike into the Andes Mountains en route to Machu Picchu. When we did Kili, we had way more stuff- then again that was 4 more days of hiking. In any case, we were all quite stressed about what we would be bringing with us and what we would have to cut out (or put in our day packs).      Once the meeting was finished, Jill and I went and did a rough pack, which was so sad. There were so many things we had to cut out of our packing due to weight. We had the bare minimum packed and ready to go (including many layers since it would be quite cold at night at- around 0-5 degrees). We headed down the road to the Aztec Inca Restaurant. This spot had just about any cuisine you could ask for-American, Mexican, Italian, Peruvian etc.  We were two of the only patrons in the restaurant that was run by an older woman and her son. We each had a Mexican inspired dish (tacos and enchiladas) before wandering around in search of this cool dessert spot we had read about that had ice cream rolls. Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t find said spot (and later found out it had been closed a month prior to our visit) and enjoyed checking out the stone streets and busy bars/restaurants of Cusco. I was even offered cocaine from a random on the street, which was a first. As a side note, we had been told that drugs were super common in Peru and that we could “get whatever we wanted”. Now, neither Jill nor I were looking for anything more than a glass of wine, but we learned in Mancora that men were solicited far more for drugs than women were. We didn’t believe that drugs were so readily available until we went around with Daniel and he was stopped every other block and offered drugs. End of story about drugs and back to dessert. We stopped at Qucharitas for our sweet tooth fix, which ended up being a fab dessert choice. Qucharitas had cold stone ice cream, crepes and all sorts of other delicious treats. Jill had a fruit crepe while I settled for coconut and chocolate ice cream with a churro cone. Both desserts were amazing and were probably the last desserts we would be having for a while. We headed back the hotel for a good nights sleep before our next big adventure!

Wednesday October 2, 2019       The Anden Inca hotel had a great continental breakfast, which we enjoyed before putting the majority of our belongings into the hotels’ storage room and hopping on the bus. We were heading towards the Sacred Valley of the Incas- a valley/river combo in between beautiful mountains that featured many Incan structures, temples and of course Machu Picchu. We would be travelling from Cusco through the Sacred Valley en route to our starting point for our trek. Our tour guides spoke to us about the valley, the Incas and all the history around the area. While I took many notes (on seemingly everything), I won’t bore you with too many details.        Our first stop of the day was at Awana Kancha, where we learned the difference between Alpacas and Llamas and saw several different types of alpacas. We saw how they made the wool, used various herbs and spices to dye it and watched women weave beautiful clothing items. This “living museum of the Andes” also featured many different types of corn and quinoa, which are abundant in the Andes. While the history and information was really neat and helpful, I was most excited about feeding and petting the alpacas (well and taking selfies of course).      After shopping and washroom breaks at Awana Kancha, we hopped back in the bus for another 35 minutes or so before arriving at the Pisaq Archeaological Park. Our guides explained that we would be driving through many different Incan cities that were all special in their own way with fabulous lookout points and views. Pisaq was very neat and had an urban centre, cemetery and ceremonial space in it. We got to walk through the ruins and learn about what kinds of activities were done in which parts of the ruins. We also saw some beautiful landscapes and the various levels of terraces that grew different types of crops. Despite the rain and cold, we had a great time exploring the ruins and learned a lot.       Next stop the town of Pisac to check out the market. I was super excited about this because so far, all of the markets we had seen had been awesome with tons of great art, clothing and souvenirs. Most of the people still spoke Kechewa (or Quechua) which is an ancient language of the Incans. We had about 30 minutes to wander the market and were told to meet our group at a designated spot. After walking up and down the market and checking out many stalls (and losing 50 soles out of my pocket) we decided not to buy anything since we didn’t have any extra weight left in our bags.  Half-hour later, the group was not in the designated meeting spot and we were mildly concerned about how we would find them as the market seemed like a maze and our Spanish was still dismal at best. After a bit more searching, we found them and laughed as they changed the meeting spot but didn’t tell everyone.      We spent another 40 minutes in the bus before getting out in Urubamba for lunch at InkaLicious. The buffet was 35 soles a person and had many great salads, meats and veggies. The dessert options were pretty good too (of course). We were all stuffed and happy with our day and meal so far. Back in the bus we went for the short drive from Hullyamba (Or Urubamba) into Ollyantambo. Many of the names of the towns (as you can gather) are still in their original Incan name, which is super neat. Ollantaytambo meant “Resting Spot” as this is the last town before the Inca trail begins towards Machu Picchu. This town is nestled in between the Urubumba River and the large snow capped mountains. This town is known for its large archeological site that was home to many religious and military spots as well as rich agriculture. We explored these ancient ruins and learned all about its history. Many of the large (80 tonne) stones were brought from the other side of the valley over 9km away, in the Incan times. We visited the various temples (Sun, Earth, Wind, Fire) and learned about each of their significance. At the top of the ruin, the views of the town below and mountains around us were incredible. It is crazy to think that all of this was created hundreds of years ago by the Incans/PreIncans and all of the work they put into creating their homes/ceremonial spots. I definitely wouldn’t have been cut out to be an Incan back then.     We were given our bags and directions on how to get to our hotel, as our bus wouldn’t fit well down the narrow, stone roads of the town. We stayed at the Tika Wasi Hotel which was very cute with nice comfortable rooms but poor acoustics (as we were realizing was a theme in Peruvian hotels). Jill and I hung out and enjoyed some down time before we met our group at Café Corozones for dinner. We sat at a table with some really cool people and learned a lot about them and their neat jobs (e.g working on American millionaires’ yachts). The altitude was definitely affecting my appetite so I had some chicken noodle soup before we wandered back to the hotel for our last comfy sleep for a few days.

Thursday October 3rd ,2019        Today was the first day of our Inca Trail Trek! We were up relatively late around 730 and had breakfast before leaving the hotel at 0815. We walked over to the main square and were picked up by a large coach bus. The bus seemed to go off-roading (along a railroad track and over a small river) through a small town where we would pick up the majority of our team and supplies. We met our whole group (which included the 12 of us trekkers, 2 guides, 1 chef and 14 Porters) and took a group photo before checking in and walking through the gate to the start of the trek. The Inca trail is three overlapping trails that all terminate at Machu Picchu. The trail itself is approx. 80 km from Ollantaytambo but the hike is around 40 km total. The highest elevation of the hike is the “Deadwomans pass” at 4200 meters. While we had a general overview of the trek, each day we would get briefed on what would happen the following day at dinner. Since this trail is very popular and sacred, there is a max of 500 people allowed on the trail each day, which includes the 300 or so porters/staff.        The start of the trail begins just outside of Ollantaytambo/Chilca area along the Urubamba River. We snapped some great photos in front of the Inca Trail signs and with our welcoming crew of llamas. As we walked along the river, our guides taught us things about the trees we were walking past (munia, peach, avocado) as well as all the “cochinilla” (parasite on the cactus) that are used as die for alpaca wool along with pointing out the various mountains, glaciers and special spots. Today would be the only day that we would see donkeys/horses as porters along the way and was said to be very scenic. I was surprised to learn that there would be many rest stops with places to purchases snacks and water. Not that I had much hiking experience, but when we did Kili, it was basically just hikers and staff the whole time with nowhere to buy anything or anyone living in the small towns.         Today we would be hiking for about 1.5 hours at a time. We were told this was an “Easy” day but I gave it a 6/10. There were lots of small hills that were not super challenging, but challenging enough at 2,600m. The weather was just perfect for hiking, warm-ish, sunny with a slight breeze. Each 1.5 hours or so we would stop for water and a snack if needed. The washrooms so far were similar to those we had seen in our travels- toilets without toilet seats. They were better than holes in the ground, which I was used to on my last trek.  Of course, the porters were ahead of us and they would be at the lunch spot/camping spot with everything ready for us before we got there. Our lunch today was at 1400 and was delicious. We had soup, rice, veggies and chicken. Lunchtime was about an hour and it rained throughout our lunch. We found some free toilets (most were 1 sole to use) and we used them before heading out for the last part of our trek.          We only had about 2 hours left and we stopped a few times for breaks, washrooms and shopping. I felt pretty short of breath today and was walking slow and steady (which may be the theme of my trek haha). I got to know a few of my fellow trekkers and really enjoyed this part of the day. To me, travelling is good for the soul because you not only get to see amazing things but meet awesome people you might not otherwise have had the opportunity to meet. We made it to camp at 1640 and happily saw that the porters had everything all set up already- these guys were amazing! Our campsite was called at Huayllabamba and was at 3000 meters. There were some ruins in our area so Jill, Tony and I walked up there. I guess I forgot to mention our amazing hiking friends! Jill and I were joined with some fabulous people. Tony, Rehka and Deepak were from England and were definitely the parents of the group. They are some of the loveliest people and I was excited to get to know them more. Emily was also from the UK and was there travelling alone but was bunking with Katherine from the island of Guernsey (closer to France but considered an island of the UK). Malcolm and Caroline were also from the UK and were big into tennis and hiking at home. The final duo in our group was Jess and Tom, the cutest young couple from Australia who were travelling for several weeks together all through South America. The group seemed awesome and I was really excited to finish the trek with them! Anyways, back to the ruins! We walked up to the ruins, which only took about 10 mins and had a neat view of the campsite and area around us. Despite being tired and sore I was super happy we made this small extra trek and enjoyed a different display of the area.       By the time we got back, it was time to get to know our crew. We learned each of their names along with how long they had been a porter for and if they had any kids. Most of them did not speak English or Spanish but their native language of Ketachaw. The porters were anywhere from 22 to 60 years old which I thought was insane. These men were just amazingly tough and strong to do this weekly. They often leave their families for weeks at a time, as it is pricey and long to get home for days away. Many of them live in small towns around the town of Ollantaytambo and the Cusco area. We had some free time before dinner so I had a $10 soles “hot shower”, which would be the last of the trek. It wasn’t warm at all but nice to shower in the middle of nowhere on a trek after a long first day.       After the shower, tea and hot chocolate were ready along with crackers/cookies. We all chatted and got to know one another before dinner. Dinner was extensive- soup with rice, pasta, stuffed chicken, a beef stew and pumpkin squash puree for dessert. This chef was awesome and definitely was accommodating as we had a few dietary restrictions on this trip. Raoul briefed us on the next day including our wake up time (0545 eek!) for our 0730 departure and what the hiking would consist of.  The first day of the trek was great! We hiked just over 12 km in 6.5 hours, which included lunch and multiple breaks. Day two was going to be the most challenging day and we were excited to get to it!

Friday October 4, 2019      0545 definitely came early! I didn’t want to get up and out of my sleeping bag as it seemed freezing outside (it was a low of about 5 overnight) and my sleep wasn’t the best. The sleeping bags that we had were the mummy type and we had used our sleeping bag liners that made it even harder to move around in. I also didn’t realize we had a tube-like fleece blanket that went into the sleeping bag. I wish I had figured this out as it would’ve been nice in the cool night air. Sleeping in wool base layers with the multiple layers of the sleeping bag kept me comfy until I had to go to the washroom at 2130 (so annoying). We also had extra air mattress each which was pretty slippery. While the first night sleep wasn’t the best, I was excited to get the day started. We got our stuff packed up and we were ready to go for breakfast soon after wake up. Breakfast was a weird but yummy porridge, toast, eggs and fried rice. I made sure to pick up some extra water from the lady who was selling water ($10 soles for 1.5 litres which would be 1/3-1/2 the price in the city).        We were out hiking with our poles at 0730 and knew that today might be a bit of a challenge, as we would be going over our first and highest pass of the trip. The first ¼ of the hike wasn’t too bad. There were many steady inclines with lots of flat spots. I did the majority of this first part alone in about 55 minutes or so which was kind of nice. I have been listening to a lot of podcasts and doing some mindfulness and found this to be super helpful while hiking (thanks Ben Bergeron). The quickest time for this ¼ was 40 mins and the longest was about 1:05 mins so I was happy to be in the middle. Our snack at this time were apples and a bounty bar which I saved for later. I’ve found that while I am hiking, I don’t get very hungry (probably because of the altitude) so keeping hydrated is key for me.       The 2nd quarter of the trek I did with Emily and we kept a good pace. We stopped lots to takes short breaks and enjoy the view. Jill was a speedy gazelle and way ahead of us. After the 2nd quarter, we stopped for lunch where it was cool, breezy and rainy. Our lunch was a delicious mushroom soup with pasta, veggies, avocado and some sort of chicken and bean concoction. As with our previous meals- it was all great and sustaining.      The last two hours towards the summit were pretty tricky but we stopped often for quick breaks, which helped a lot. It took us just under two hours to get to the top and of course it started raining when we got there. Alpacas/llamas greeted us at the top which was very welcomed. We climbed to the peak and took tons of photos before it really stared to pour. Those of us who were at the top made our way down and stopped for a quick toilet break just after the Dead Woman’s Pass (at 4200 m).  It was quite slippery on the way down which made me super nervous with my clumsiness and knee surgery less than a year before. We enjoyed the scenery, conversation and watched the fog roll over the camp site and the rest of the area while we hiked. It took us just under 2 hours to get to camp and boy was I glad to be there!      When we got to camp around 1645, we noticed that our site was in the middle of the camping area, which was slightly annoying. To get to either bathroom, you had to either climb up or down- super challenging when your legs are already exhausted and shaky from almost 2 hours of declines. The rest of the group came in on their own, a couple at a time and were greeted with cheers and high fives. We had our afternoon snack of tea, hot chocolate and crackers before enjoying some time in the tent relaxing. It was quite chilly out and I did not want to get out of the tent for supper (even though I knew it was a must). After another delicious dinner we were briefed on the plan for tomorrow. We had hiked a total of about 11 km in 8 hours and were all excited for a good nights sleep.

Saturday October 5, 2019      Today was going to be the “scenic” day of our trek. It was also going to be the longest so we were woken at about 0500.  We were out by 0630 after a yummy breakfast of eggs, toast, coffee/hot chocolate and a type of sugar puff cereal (think Sugar Crisp but less sweet).       We set off on the first part of the day, which was a steep pass that was going to take us about 2 hours. The 40 min or so walk up the stair-like stones was mildly challenging after a large breakfast, before we made a stop at the Runkurakay complex. I decided to be stubborn and chose to hike in my t-shirt (because my hot pink rain jacket bled onto my skin when it rained). Despite it being cool out, I figured I would be sweating really soon. I regretted my decision about 30 mins into the hike when I was already soaked and cold but chose to be stubborn and waited until the top of our last pass (almost 2 hours later) to throw on my light rain jacket. We waited for the group shivering and huddled together and then made our way down towards our camp spot. We stopped for a quick snack and bathroom break before walking the 1:00-1:30 mins to lunch (1h if you’re Jill, 1:15 or so if you’re me).     As always tea was ready for us when we arrived at Phuyupatamarca (or the town in the clouds) and we enjoyed a great meal of soup, potatoes, pork chops, pasta and salad. We learned more about the ruins we were around as well as some of the significance of the culture and area. After lunch, we were given the option of a shorter route and a longer route that had another beautiful set of ruins to see. The longer route was about an hour longer but would be well worth it. Naturally, we decided on the longer route and enjoyed the shade and reprieve of some of the trees on the route towards our camping spot. The ruins that we visited were called Intipata and are very impressive. These ruins are often missed because you can’t see them fully from the path and are not the most common route but they are way bigger and expansive that you would think. They are home to many llamas (or alpacas, I still get them confused) as well as many different plant sources of nutrition and over 200 kinds of orchids (which is the most famous plant on the Inca Trail). After many photos and selfies with the llamas, we made our way to our campsite that seemed close but took us almost an hour to get to. There were many steps along the way and every time we thought we had found our campsite, we learned it was another groups. While today was our longest day, it was also the most relaxed (minus the cold and rain). Our knees and legs were pretty sore but the 17.5 or so km we managed to hike didn’t seem so bad. Since there was only the one steeper incline, it was mostly downhill/flat which I personally liked a lot better.       Our tents in Winay-Wayna were set up quite close to the top edge of some rock levels which was a bit unnerving. People had to walk past us to get to one of the washroom as well but after the first few people, I stopped noticing. The bathrooms at this campsite were some of the worst (and smelliest) that we had seen. Throughout the hike, the bathrooms were mostly stalls with toilets without toilet seats on them or holes in the ground. We were getting an extra leg workout in by all of the squats we were doing. Dinner was delicious (as always it seemed) with quinoa soup, lomo saltado (traditional Peruvian beef dish), rice, noodles and veggies. At the end of the meal, we were given a delicious cake! It’s crazy that the chef had time (and the resources) to make a cake in the middle of the Inca Trail! Our crew came in for our last goodbyes- which were a bit awkward but cute nonetheless. We gave out our tip envelopes as a group (also awks) before being briefed on our last day of the trek.

Sunday October 6, 2019      Today was THE day. Or should I say, the morning. We were woken up rather early at 0330 so we could be up and out of our tents at 0350 to get in line at the check point. Groups were lined up earlier than we were but we still managed to hang out under the wood awning until the booth opened at 0530. We had been given breakfast bags to go with sandwiches, juice, fruit and a bar that we could munch on before we started our final hike. It was almost like a race when people got past the check point- which I think is kind of funny. It was barely daylight when we started the hike but thankfully, we didn’t have to use our headlamps because that would’ve added an extra level of danger for clumsy kids like me. The hike to the Sungate was about an hour and very pretty. It was quite undulating at times and involved some legit monkey steps about 10 mins before the Sungate. These steps required most people to use their hands and feet to climb up. There were about 30 in total and I was next level cranky after that. We made it to the Sungate at about 0635 to see that surprise, surprise, it was foggy.  We couldn’t see Machu Picchu in the distance, making the whole thing mildly anti climactic (I was having dejavu from Kilimanjaro). Our group came together at the top to take some photos and enjoy a snack before hiking that last 45 mins or so towards Machu Picchu.      Peruvians (and especially those in the MachuPicchu/Cusco Region) really believe in and respect the theory of the three “Gods”. These gods are the Condor, Puma and the Snake that represent Heaven, Present and the underworld. Half way between the Sungate and Machu Picchu, we found three levels of an altar that represented these Gods and had some great background history/folklore around them. This was considered the last stop before the city of Machu Picchu.      Before we arrive at Machu Picchu (“Old Mountain”), it is probably important to make note of what it is and why it is so special. Machu Picchu is the most renowned Incan citadel/city that was initially built in the 15th century, high up in the Andes and then abandoned (due to the Spanish invasion). It was built in the Incan fashion of precisely shaped dry stonewalls that are held together without mortar. While its exact use back in Incan times is unknown, there are many different ceremonial spots along with terraces that may have been used by the ancient emperor Pacachuti. While this “Lost City of the Incas” had existed for thousands of years, it did not come to be known as the amazing place it is until the early 1900s. Hiram Bingham of the USA, discovered this ancient city with the help of an 11 year old Ketchwa boy, who he paid to show him up the Urubamba River to these amazing ruins. Initially, this beautiful Incan ruin was a jungle covered with bushes and trees. He had many people come to help clean it up to see what was really underneath. Many of the details of what was found are hearsay, as he wasn’t known as the most honest and truthful man (allegedly). Gold and silver were among some of the more valuable resources that were found once excavation began (among many skeletons of woman and children who were sacrificed in the name of tradition and culture). Machu Picchu is also considered a Unesco World Heritage site which means it attracts thousands of visitors per day. While they do limit permits on the trail, over 2500 people visit Machu Picchu every day, making this dangerous for long term survival of the beautiful site. It was not meant for the weight and foot traffic that it has attracted which makes it so much more important for everyone to do their job and abide by the restrictions set out. The Peruvian government does it’s best to help with the sustainability of this historic site but it is said that only 8% of the revenue from Machu Picchu goes back to the community, the rest going to Lima (not a confirmed fact, just tour guide hersay)        We arrived at our first sight of Machu Picchu around 8 am and it was already pretty busy! Our group met up at the main entrance after taking some amazing photos en route (and a minor altercation with some large German men). We were able to get our passports stamped with the signature Machu Picchu Stamp (which is way cooler than I thought it would be). We got in the line for the washrooms and bag drop that was not super well organized or laid out and dropped off our bags. Visitors are only allowed to bring fanny packs/small back packs into the site. Our guides took us all around these beautiful, ancient ruins. We learned much more about its history and learned about each of the areas that we visited. While I loved being at this amazing spot, I have to say I was exhausted and wasn’t enjoying it as much as if I had slept more than a few hours the night before. After a few group photos and tons of photos from literally every angle we could, we were done our tour/visit. It started to get super busy around 1030 and so we made our way back the entrance to grab our stuff and hop on the bus.       Our guides clearly have been around the block before- we made it to the line for the buses just as everyone else seemed to as well. They didn’t have it very well organized and the line for the bus wrapped around the whole entrance way into the entrance line. We were given our 12 soles tickets for the bus and made our way from Machu Picchu into the town of Aguas Calientes (coolest name ever). The bus ride was about 25 mins and we were dropped off in the centre of town around noon. We didn’t have to catch our train until 1445 so we headed to our lunch spot called Munaycha. Emily and I shared ��nachos” and pizza along with some fresh cold beers and pisco sours. It was so nice to relax and sit on proper chairs and enjoy the company. After a few beers and pisco sours, we made our way through the town towards the train station, mildly intoxicated. Thank goodness Raoul knew the streets like the back of his hand, or else it wouldn’t have gone well. We rushed to the train, grabbed our tickets and found our seats on the nicest train I’d ever been on. The seats reclined and had tables in front of them and was super clean. Tony ordered us another round of beers and we laughed (a bit too loud at times and were shushed) and enjoyed the 1.5 hour train ride. In Ollantaytambo, we said goodbye to Richard before jumping on another bus that would take us into Cusco. We knew we had about a 2 hour drive so we made a pit stop at a store to grab water and more beer. The drive felt long but was pleasant with beautiful sights, great company and awesome music.       By the time we made it back into Cusco, my tipsy feeling had worn off and now I was just exhausted. We said our goodbyes to Raoul, thanking him and giving him my hiking poles (that I vowed to never use again).The Anden Inca staff were amazing and already had our bags in our rooms. Our room for the next two nights was even better than the last one, with a nicer bathroom, cute ceilings and tons of extra room. After a much needed shower, we got ready to meet the group and go for dinner. Dinner was at the Aztec Inka place Jill and I had been to before as we had some picky eaters in the group and knew this place had a bit of everything. After burritos and water, I was super tired and headed home to bed early around 2130 after saying goodbye to the half of our group that would be leaving in the am.

Monday October 7, 2019      Today was definitely a sleep in day! Well for me at least (sorry Jildo). We had breakfast at the hotel and met with our jungle group (Catherine, Deepak, Rehka, Jill and myself). We were briefed on how the next few days would go including wake ups, airport transport times etc. After our breakfast meeting, Jill and I walked into town and checked out the Cathedral Basilica. The town was celebrating Santa Rosa day but then we found out the parade was actually for Our Lady of the Rosary day. We enjoyed the parade a bit before paying the $25 soles each to enter the beautiful church. I have to admit, I was most excited to see two things- 1. The last supper painting with the meal being a guinea pig and 2. Black Jesus. While photos were not allowed to be taken, I really enjoyed seeing these two interesting pieces and learning about them.       After the Cathedral, we visited the Inca Museum (10 soles) which was way bigger and more interesting than I had anticipated. We saw awesome pre Incan artifacts and drawings along with many relics from the Incan times and even mummies. Jill and I had talked about getting massages, so we ended up finding one of the many people in the square selling them. Similar to many other massage places we had been to, we were lead down random hallways to get to the small massage room. We had to wait a while to get started- we think the lady had to find someone else to massage one of us. Our massages were decent (especially for 50 soles) and made me feel more relaxed and less sore for sure. Jill and I still needed to pick up some souvenirs so we headed back to the hotel to grab our backpacks to contain all of our goodies. We stopped at Las Frescas that served delicious poke bowls. They were massive, healthy and exactly what we were looking for. We sauntered around the main square, popping into various alpaca stores. We found an amazing market to browse and barter for scarves, blankets and other little souvenirs. I love a good market and barter sesh so we had a good afternoon and picked up some great stuff.     We realized it was later on in the day than we had thought and had to pick up our laundry before the lady went home from the day. We packed up our stuff for the amazon and got everything organized. We were both so tired and not feeling so great so we bailed on dinner and picked up a few snacks (that ended up being totally unnecessary) for the Amazon before going to bed early.

Tuesday October 8, 2019       Today we were leaving Cusco (sadly). Jill and I both agreed that this was probably our favourite town of the trip with its neat landscapes, beautiful buildings and great culture. After breakfast and check out, we were met by our guide Paul from Tucan Travel who would take us through traffic (thanks to another Peruvian Holiday) to the airport. Paul gave us all the info we would need for the day and we were checked into the Latam flight in about 25 mins. We made sure to get out some more soles as there would be no other opportunities to get money out for the cash only Amazon EcoLodge. Most ATMS cost about 13-20 soles to get money out so make sure to take this into account if you’re short on cash in Peru. Security and boarding went well and soon we were on our delayed flight to Puerto Maldonado but safe and sound.      The flight from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado is only an hour but the temperature difference when we got off the plane was evident. We were warned that the Amazon and surrounding area was very hot and humid but that because of El Niño (I think), the temperature can change drastically and quickly. We were told to make sure to only bring what we needed (in duffle bags of course) and to pack long pants for our walks as there was lots of bugs and plants that might cause issues in shorts.  I definitely was feeling the heat the moment we got off the plane and wasn’t feeling well at all. We waited for our bags before hopping into the open air bus that would take us to the Eco Amazonia’s headquarters in Puerto. Puerto Maldanado has a population of about 80,000 is mostly a tourist place with one main square and is a port to many Amazonian trip. It is on the Madre de Dios River in the Madre de Dios region / Amazon basin. We were given 15 mins or so to get our stuff organized into our duffle bags for the trip before heading towards the port. We saw their version of the Golden Gate Bridge called Puente Billinghurst which is also the longest bridge in Peru at 750 meters long.         We took a 1 hour speed canoe ride on the Madre de Dios River. We learned that we weren’t actually on the Amazon River (Duh) but on a tributary of the river that is over 1500 km from the actual Amazon River.  We were staying at one of the many eco lodges in the area called Eco Amazonia. We were already told that there were restrictions on electricity (only really on from 1700-0700) and that there was no cell services/wifi among many other small details. None of these things would be an issue for the short time we were here- we would embrace the quiet and relaxation. We had a great buffet lunch after being briefed on the strict timeline of the next 36 hours. After our yummy meal, we were showed to our individual huts. This place was magical! It was quiet and serene, rustic and charming, all wrapped into one. Each of the huts were for 2-3 people and super cute. They had a small “mud” room with seats to leave your muddy stuff before entering the room. There were three twin beds in our room with a bathroom. The shower was a bit strange as it was open to the room in a way but was cute and just what we needed. The tops of the room were screens only so we could hear all of the fun nature noises.     We got ready for our afternoon hike to Caiman Lake. The hike is really a short walk (1 km to the lake) but we stopped to learn about some of the types of trees, animals and birds in the area. Julio was our guide and carried a knife for safety reasons, which made him look extra bad ass. We saw many “Iron trees” en route to cocha caiman (caiman Lake) which was a bit smaller than I had anticipated. We learned about the caimans (similar to an alligator) and several of the 70 subtypes. Caimans can vary in length but some can grow up to 4+ meters. They are mostly nocturnal but do enjoy the sun and fish. They are shy by nature but can be aggressive when needed. We saw many of them in the water and even saw a few come up onto the land thanks to Julios baiting skills. We heard the boiler birds and saw some beautiful macaws flying around.     After our walk back, we hung out and checked out the hammocks, pool and quiet areas of the lodge. Happy hour ended around 1800 and the deal was, as usual, 2 drinks for $20 soles (a steal since the drinks were 16-28 a piece). While the bartenders tried real hard, they were busy doing other jobs at the lodge and didn’t have a ton to offer in terms of alcohol and mixer. We were really sad they ran out of tonic, vodka and sparkling water but realized where we were and were thankful that they even had a bar. What was neat about this lodge, is that the staff play many roles. The tour guides would help in the kitchen and dining room as well as in the bar. It is a small staff who get some amazing things done each day. The manager Mauricio was amazing and very welcoming.     After our happy hour drinks, we grabbed our long sleeves before heading to the entrance for our late night canoe ride. We were going with the group and Julio to check out some more caimans. It was significantly cooler and less buggy than we had anticipated. Jupiter, Saturn and Scorpio were out in full force which was super cool to see. Julio used his “caiman call” and laser sharp vision to point out many caimans on the way. Our boat ride was very relaxing and enjoyable. After the boat ride, dinner was ready in the dining room. We were served a quinoa soup with fried yuka, chicken, veggies and a lemon tart for dessert. We made sure to top up our water bottles as water and hot drinks were only available during meal times (0530-0730, 1330-1500 and 1900-1800). If you didn’t have water at other times, you had to buy it at the bar.      We enjoyed some more drinks and chatted after our great dinner. We noticed that there were very few people enjoying the common area at this time. There had been many people hanging out playing pool and foosball before dinner but it was a ghost town after. We played pool and foosball until just before 2200. The main lights go off at 2200 so we made our way home for showers and bed.

Wednesday October 9, 2019       Despite going to bed early, we both slept until our wake up call at 0600 by Julio. We made it to breakfast for 0630 which was great! The options were extensive including omelets, cheese, fruit, homemade bread, ham and cakes along with a variety of juices. We ate quickly since we had to be ready for our long walk at 0700. We got our backpacks ready with water, sunscreen and bug spray and met the group. The first cool thing we saw on our stroll was the trumpeter bird who sang to us. We grabbed a photo with Tony and the trumpeter since he was staying in the bungalow named after this fun bird. On the walk, we stopped every 100 m or so to learn about various plants, bugs and animals in the area. There are 6 different types of monkeys on the nature reserve and we managed to see 3 of them on our walk (howler monkeys, brown capuchin and squirrel monkeys). We saw some cool non human friends like the amazon crested toad (with two fake eyes), a gross millipede, cute sloth and one large Goliath tarantula. Julio taught us about many of the different trees and plants, several of which have healing and medicinal properties.       After about 3 hours, we made it to Largo Apuvictor which was our main destination. There was a lookout point which had a beautiful view of the brownish/murky water  (we had come to realize was what all the water in this area looked like) and the vast jungle around us. We had snacks while waiting for our canoe ride. The canoe ride was lovely but we sadly didn’t see an anaconda (which was the ONLY reason I went on this walk). We saw some nice birds and a turtle while on our canoe ride. Some members of our large group had many questions and walked super slow, so we got ahead and walked a big quicker back to the lodge.  We hopped in the “indoor” pool and cooled off before planning our afternoon. We were supposed to take another boat ride to Monkey Island, but our group decided to skip it and enjoy some R&R at the lodge. While the lodge was amazing, the strict schedule wasn’t exactly what we were looking for on vacation, especially after do the Inca Trail. We spent the afternoon drinking and lying in the hammocks. Mauricio personally delivered a round or two of drinks to us out by the hammocks that overlooked the river. We were served a yummy lunch (not that I can exactly remember what it was…) before enjoying more time out by the water in the hammocks. I swear, I could’ve lived in the hammocks. We played a bit more table tennis and foosball before our yummy meal of rice, meat, veggies, soup and a delicious chocolate cake. After dinner, we had some more drinks, including one of the grossest wines I’ve ever had and some members of the group indulged in tequila shots. As always, we had great conversation and so many laughs before showering and heading to bed for our last sleep in the amazon. The rooms were way cooler overnight especially with the marvelous fan that worked wonders.

Thursday October 10, 2019      The howler monkeys woke us up before our 0600 wake up call, which was actually welcome. The sound of all the birds, crickets and monkeys was magical to wake up to. We had a nice final breakfast before settling our fairly large tab (thanks to all of our bevvies). We tried to fill up our water bottles but the lodge had run out of water (uhoh for the next people arriving) so put our tip in the tip box, finished our packing before saying goodbye to Mauricio. Our last group photo in the Amazon was taken before we hopped on the speed canoe back to town. I soaked up some rays and had a bit of a snooze on the 1:45 min long boat ride. The staff brought us back to the office in the open air bus and then right back to the airport. I was pretty happy to be off the open area bus as the drivers in this area were pretty crazy and didn’t abide by any specific rules of the road.        The airport check in was easy and we were happy to find air-conditioning on the other side of security. The small restaurant in the terminal didn’t have much to offer and the small convenience cart was very picky about their money being “clean”. Thankfully, we managed to get some water before our Latam flight back to Lima.       We landed in Lima 1.5 hours later and were picked up again by a Tucan travel staff member. They dropped us off at the Hotel Santa Cruz about an hour later. As usual, the weather in Lima was dismally grey and cooler. After unpacking our stuff, we grabbed some delicious sandwiches and coffee across the street at Caffeteria. Kat and I decided to take an Uber to the local Indian/Inka market to pick up a few last minute souvenirs. I was very impressed with this market and of course, picked up more souvenirs that were probably unnecessary and may or may not fit in my bag. Our Uber got us back to the hotel for 1700, giving me plenty of time to shower and get ready for our evening activities.       As a group, we decided to go to the Park of the Reserve halfway between where we were in Miraflores and downtown Lima to check out the Magic Water Circuit show. There were two different show times and we opted for the earlier one so we could go for a nice dinner after. This water show did not disappoint! There were several different fountains with various coloured lights and fun effects. The show itself was about 15 mins and was pretty neat. We made sure to have a great vantage point so we could see all of the fountains.      We managed to find a taxi to take us back towards the hotel area. The hotel had made us a reservation at El Senorio de Sulco, near the water in Miraflores however when we arrived, they didn’t have a table for us. Our group was not happy about this but the restaurant made it all better by feeding us two pisco sours while we waited. We enjoyed several bottles of wine and a delicious meal before finishing off our night with some night caps at the hotel bar (our English friends were not good influences on our livers!)

Friday October 11, 2019      It was officially our last day of our trip! In so many ways, it had seemed as though we had been away forever but then in other ways, it flew by! We enjoyed our last buffet breakfast at Hotel Santa Cruz, before saying our “see you laters” to our new friends with the promise of a reunion in England. Jill and I had a few more places in Lima that we wanted to check out so we made sure we were packed and ready to go. The hotel was kind enough to let us leave our stuff there while we went to explore for our final day. We had been told that Huaca Pucllana (or Huaca Juliana) was a must see by a few people so we headed over there first thing in the am. This adobe (mud brick) pyramid was made out of 7 staggered platforms around 200-500 AD and was used as a ceremonial centre by the PreIncans, Wari people. While the pyramids were neat to see, I was over it about 15 mins into the 90 minute or so tour. You had to be on a guided tour, which was a bit annoying, especially since our tour guide was very difficult to understand. The copious amounts of booze we had the night before didn’t help either. One of the best parts of this visit were the alpacas and guinea pigs we got to see.      After the ceremonial/playground adventure, we grabbed coffees while we wandered around downtown Miraflores before hopping into a cab to the Frias market in Baranco. Baranco is known as the hip/art district of Lima and we were excited to explore this area. The market was filled with cool stalls with different clothes, food, art and jewelry. They often have live music in the evenings as well but we were a bit early for that. We were also starving so we checked out a Peruvian/Chinese fusion restaurant for lunch and ordered WAY too much food for the two of us. The rice, noodles and wontons were all amazing and cheap (which was the best part!)       Since we had enjoyed the Lima by Walking tours so much, we decided to check out the Barranco walking tour. We were to meet the group leader in the central square by the beautifully painted library at 1610. Starbucks was in the area, so we grabbed coffees and waited for the group. The center of Barranco was super cute with many pastel coloured buildings, beautiful gardens and flowers. It was a beautifully sunny and warm-ish day (shocking for Lima) so we were extra excited to spend our last afternoon outside in the nice weather. Barranco is known as the “bohemian” part of the city and is home to about 30,000 people. It is one of the 43 districts in Lima. People from Miraflores and the historical centre moved to this area or have a “summer house” in Barranco because of its artsy, eclectic and relaxed vibe along with its access to the ocean which is lacking along the coast of Lima. We learned a ton about the history of the area (that is interesting but I won’t bore anyone else with it) while wandering around, checking out the views of the ocean and beautiful graffiti. We saw the famous and romantic bridge of “sighs” where you make a wish and hold your breath while you cross. Legends say you only get this wish once in a lifetime so it’s important to make it a good one. The city was initially mostly Spanish with Andean and Incan influence for many years. At the end of the 19th century, many people from China and Japan emigrated to the area, so there is a neat mix of all the cultures. This is evident in the art, food and design of the homes. We made several stops for great photos and loved the views we had.      The tour ended at the Dedalo gallery that was filled with several rooms of clothing, jewelry, toys and art. Most of the artists were local which was really neat to see. Jill and I decided to walk to Larcomar since it looked pretty close on the map. Famous last words! The walkway along the coast is anything but direct and both our bum ankles were feeling it by the time we made it to Larcomar. Despite being a bit sore, the views along the coast were amazing and I was glad we did the walk. Larcomar is a cool mall that was built into the cliffs of the Lima coast. It was several floors tall and had a beautiful view of the coast and water. The stores were mostly higher end but we enjoyed wandering around nonetheless. We were finally having a Paletta bar and so excited! The Paletta bar was basically a stuffed ice cream bar that we had seen all throughout the country. I got one with Nutella on the inside wrapped in Kinder surprise flavoured ice cream, dipped in chocolate and Jill got one with a form of blueberry jam inside and cheesecake flavoured ice cream. They were bomb and definitely worth the wait.       After a bit of a mishap finding our Uber, we managed to make our way back to the hotel where we took up the lobby and sprawled out on the couches for a few hours. It was nice to have a place to hang out and get organized before our flight. We ate our last Peruvian meal at the hotel (which was gross wings and average nachos) and some beers before taking our final Uber to the airport. We left the hotel at 2330 and made it to airport at 0005 since it was late and there was no traffic. Check in and bag drop was super easy and we spent some time enjoying duty free and buying our last minute souvenirs (thanks to Jill, we had an extra checked duffle that we threw some stuff in). 

Saturday October 12, 2019       Our AC Rouge flight was very uneventful- I slept the majority of the trip thanks to Gravol and went through the thousands of photos on my phone. I tried to enjoy the gross egg breakfast but was just so excited to be headed home.  While I LOVE travelling, I was so happy to land at YYZ. Customs and security was a breeze and we made it through around 11 am. Jill and I said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I am so lucky and thankful to have such an amazing travel buddy with whom I mesh so well with. We always have a great time together, regardless what continent we are on and this trip was no different. While there are so many places in Peru we didn’t get to, we had a jammed packed 3 week adventure that I won’t soon forget!

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

Peru- Part 1

              Turning 30 can be quite daunting to some. While I wasn’t totally terrified, I did want to hit one more continent before the big 3-0. My initial goal was all 7 continents by 30, but that darn Antarctica is quite pricey. I “settled” for six and had planned a magical trip to Peru with my fave travel buddy Jill. Since we had planned on trekking the Inca Trail, we had booked the tour part of our trip almost a year in advance. We had done tons of research (mostly Jill to be honest) and we had decided to go with Tucan Travel for their tour. They had great reviews and had tons of options for duration and location of tours. We decided on the 4 day Inca trail along with an amazon jungle trip at the end. We were planning to be away for just under 3 weeks and wanted to pack as much into this trip as possible.           Most people who hear Peru think Machu Picchu, but this country has so much to offer! I have decided to split the blog up into two since writing 3 jam packed weeks all out (and reading it!) is a bit exhausting in one go. This first blog will be all about our trip before Machu Picchu and the second one will be all about our amazing trek in the Valley of the Incas.

Sunday September 22, 2019         Thanks to Air Canada breaking a suitcase of mine, I was able to use a discount to purchase our tickets. We paid around 600$ round trip for the tickets- which was a steal. The price was a steal until I realized the day before our trip that we were flying AC Rouge. Surprisingly, our 8-hour flight was pretty decent. We were in a two seat row and received a hot dinner and snack before landing at about 0100 Peru Time (0200 Toronto time). Monday September 23, 2019         We had booked a flight north to the beach town of Mancora, but that wasn’t leaving until mid-morning. Jill found a great B&B that was only a few kms away from the airport and boasted 24 hour check in with free breakfast. After an extensive customs assessment with fingerprints and photos, we hopped into an Uber and paid about $7.00 to get the B&B Cusing Wasi .The B&B was easy to miss as there were no signs and seemed to be just another gated home in a not so desirable area. Once we confirmed the address and saw some lights turn on, the owner of the B&B greeted us around 0210. The kind faced, Spanish-speaking owner led us to our room that had three beds and a bathroom. While the B&B hallways were fairly busy with people coming and going, it was great to put our feet up and sleep for a few hours.        Breakfast was included and the owners’ wife made us fresh eggs with toast, lunch meat and fruit. After thanking our lovely guests and clearing up our $50 bill, we got back into an Uber to the airport. Our flights with Viva Air from Lima to Mancora had been fairly inexpensive at about $160 each return (more to come about Viva Air…) including “fast lane access” and our checked bags. We made it through security and our check-in in just over an hour. We thought we had plenty of time before boarding, but apparently they start boarding much earlier than at home. We hopped on the bus to the plane and enjoyed our emergency row seats to ourselves for the 2.5 hour flight.        We arrived in Talara mid-morning and grabbed our bags en route to picking the best taxi offer. As with most airports, there were tons of people offering to take us wherever we needed to go. The prices ranged from 100-150 soles (50-60$ can). We paid just over 50 to be driven the hour or so long trip from Talara Airport into Mancora. After the mildly stressful drive, we finally found our street at the very end of the beach strip. The owner of the AirBnb Gilberto, met us at the front gate and escorted us to our beach house. Gilberto lived on the property with his two dogs (Max and Willow) in the largest of the 3 homes. He had two similarly styled set up Airbnbs along with a cute lounge area outside with a swing, some beach chairs and couches. Each of the beach homes had a small sitting area, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom with a deck out front with beautiful ocean views.        We dropped off our stuff in the small sitting area before checking out the rest of the place. The Airbnb was pretty cute and similar to the description. The bedroom had two twin beds with a towel and sheet on it and the bathroom was just what you would need. We changed out of our travel clothes and headed down to the beach for a wander. The beach was quiet and beautiful. We walked along the water towards town, checking out the many hotels/hostels and restaurants on the way. We stopped at La Tranka for our first lunch. La Tranka is one of many restaurants on Mancoras busy main strip. The town of Mancora has a population of just over 10,000 and is a popular beach destination for Peruvians and other South Americans thanks to its beautiful beaches and great surfing. The majority of people that we saw were locals visiting the area for some R&R. We realized at lunch how important Google translate was going to be on this trip as the menu was only in Spanish. We ordered our first Peruvian drinks (that were pretty cheap ranging from 15-20 soles or 5-8$ Canadian) before settling on the “tortillas with shrimp” for Jill and the ceviche and “chicharron” mix for me. After all of the cooking shows I’d watched, I thought I was in for a pork treat with the chicharron. When our meals arrived, we were both very surprised. Jill had ordered a shrimp omelet (not a tortilla) and I had ordered an assortment of fried fish. While both of our meals were delicious, we learned a valuable lesson about translation. My ceviche was huge and filled with white fish, shrimp and squid. The portions were massive and we definitely didn’t finish all of our first true Peruvian meal.       After lunch, we wandered around the town and checked out the market. This market was rather interesting as it was multiple small stalls of individual vendors selling similar things such as fruit, eggs and vegetables along with packaged food. Since we didn’t really need much in terms of food to bring home (and most of it did not look all that appetizing unfortunately), we wandered in and out of the shops and started walking back towards the Airbnb during low tide, checking out all of the happy hour deals. During low tide, we could walk all the way from our Airbnb to the town without any issues on the beach. High tide (about 10 am and 11pm) would prove to be a different issue.       Since it was getting quite cold (way colder than we thought it would get), we grabbed sweaters and scarves to make our way to the Point Hostel who had 2 for 20 soles cocktails and grabbed our first Pisco sour of the trip. Pisco is an Peruvian drink (which we learned so much more about in our Pisco tour) mixed with some sort of citrus juice, sweetner and egg white while watching the beautiful sunset. After our drinks, we walked back home for a good nights rest!

Tuesday September 24, 2019       Gosh it was nice waking up to the sound of the ocean! Since it was high tide, we hopped in a TukTuk type cab to get into town (3-4 soles). We had a lovely breakfast of crepes with coffee and juice for $13 soles a piece at Bananas café before heading over to the Inka Warrior Surf School. We decided to get a surf lesson, as we both are poor surfers and wanted to try again. There are several surf schools in the area and all charge about the same (70 soles each) for a one-hour lesson, wet suit and full day access to the boards. Henry was Jill’s instructor and I had Barrone who were both excellent. We practiced on the sand first before heading into the water around 10 am with many other surfers (or learners). The guys were amazing at telling us when to stand up and made us feel like we could actually surf- spoiler alert, we can’t surf without help.       After our lesson, we were super exhausted, so we hung out for a bit before heading to a local spot for lunch that was suggested to us by our instructors. While it took us a while, we were not disappointed by the ceviche that we had at Logan Furia. This hole in the wall was owned and operated by someone’s Abuela and was clearly a local hang out. Our ceviche was a huge portion of various fish with plantain chips to dip. At 20 soles, we were more than full and headed back to the beach to relax before we gave surfing another shot. We didn’t realized (or at least I didn’t) how much work the instructors actually did for us. While we tried really hard, getting up on the boards was way more challenging than we thought and the waves were getting further and further apart with more choppy waters. Jill called it quits but I was determined to get up. I ended up sitting on my board for longer than I tried to get up and made a new friend in the process. Daniel is an artist from the UK and was travelling around, painting and drawing while exploring South America. We chatted while drifting basically all the way down the beach before realizing we should probably just head in. Jill and I met him for a drink at a hostel/bar on the beach before heading home.       We had planned to head to the lighthouse for sunset so rushed home to shower and dress in warmer clothes. We met Daniel back in town and picked up some wine for our stroll up to the top of the hill where the lighthouse is. The lighthouse has one of the best views (if not the best views) of the town. Jill and I have a pattern of chasing sunsets at lighthouses and did not stray from this pattern. We got a bit lost trying to find the trail and ended up in a lovely gentleman’s back yard. He had no idea what we were looking for (thanks to the language barrier and a poor game of charades) but somehow managed to help us find the proper trail. The sunset at the top of the lighthouse was amazing! We could see the whole town and the ocean looked magical. We enjoyed our wine before walking back down (very carefully as I had already taken one sweet wipe out) into town. Dinner was burgers on the beach at the same spot we had beers at. The server ended up getting our food from other vendors and overcharging us but we enjoyed our time nonetheless.       After dinner we headed to the Wild Rover Hostel, which was part of a chain of “party hostels” in several South American countries. We played some drinking games and enjoyed 2 for 20 soles cocktails for a very extended happy hour. The staff were probably the most intoxicated people there but we had a blast playing drinking games and making new friends. The hostel closed early (at 0100) so with the help of our surf instructors and other new friends, we managed to buy some beers to have on the beach before making our way back home.

Wednesday September 25, 2019         Already it was our last full day in Mancora! We started the day with a delicious, hung over breakfast overlooking the water at Green Eggs and Ham. The weather was just perfect! Since we had already done most of our shopping and town adventuring, we decided to enjoy the beach and lounge around for the day. I laid out on the beach cots with the pups and a random cat and caught up on my reading. That evening, we met some of our new friends for dinner at Tokuyo. This was the most popular sushi restaurant in the town and it did not disappoint. Since we had to be up early, we called it a night and headed home to pack and sleep the rest of our hangovers off. Thursday September 26, 2019           Sadly, we were saying goodbye to our mini beach vacay and our pup friends Willow and Max. After taking a photo in front of the cute Mancora sign, our taxi driver drove us back to the Talara Airport. When we arrived there, we were surprised to notice that it was very quiet. The security guard was confused on why we were there. I attempted to explain that we had a noon Viva Air flight and were there to check in. She explained that there was no such flight and I went into full on panic mode. A word to the wise, if you are ever booking flights in another language, make sure to translate it properly and re-read it multiple times. Viva Air had emailed me a few times asking to change the time of our flight. What I hadn’t realized was that they were also changing the date. I did not read the emails well enough and didn’t realize that they had changed our flight from the 26 to the 27th (the next day). They had given us the option to have our money back at the time of the change but if we agreed to the change, there was nothing they could do. My heart sank when I realized my mistake. We were told that the airport staff would be in at noon and we could speak to them then. This was 2 hours away! We couldn’t do much other than to sit and wait in the airport and read. Jill had used her roam like home (since the wifi at the Airbnb was subpar to say the least) so she was able to see that there were two Latam flights that day back into Lima. Normally, we would’ve just stayed in Talara for a day but we had booked a tour that was leaving early the next morning out of Lima and didn’t want to miss it. The airport staff didn’t arrive until well after 12 but we were able to get on the 1720 Latam flight for about $250 each. While this wasn’t the end of the world, I was super frustrated with myself for not realizing the change and being more organized with this flight (since being organized and anal attentive is one of my strengths in life).       Since we had plenty of time before our flight, we took a 4 soles tuk tuk into the town and went to a locally popular buffet call La Terraza. For $34 soles each, we enjoyed many different dishes including meats, rice noodles and a bizzare potatoe and tuna layered appetizer that we thought was a dessert. This place had great wifi so I was able to contact VivaAir who was not helpful in the slightest and wouldn’t do anything for us. Since there wasn’t much in the area, we went back to the airport and waited for our flight.        The Talara airport is really new, clean and well cooled. There is nowhere to buy anything to eat or drink other than a small cart and there is no wifi. This wasn’t a big deal for us but we had read reviews that there were places to eat and even a lounge (hard no). Our flight back to Lima was breezy, despite never being offered to buy food or water. Latam is a nicer airline than VivaAir with slightly more room in the seats and appeared cleaner.         By the time we got back to Lima, it was just before 7 and we grabbed an Uber from the airport to our hotel- Hotel Las Palmas. We grabbed our free pisco sours (which were horrific) and the only item on the menu at the time- burgers before going to bed early for our next adventure.

Friday September 27, 2019         Peru Hop is one of the smartest tour companies I have ever heard of. It was created by 3 guys who wanted to make travelling safe, cheap and fun throughout Peru/Bolivia. They have so many different packages and options- the possibilities are truly endless. They pick passengers up at a whole bunch of hotels in the big cities and take you to various towns throughout the country in nice coach buses. The tour guides speak a multitude of languages and are very knowledgeable. The tours often stop at not as well-known places and hidden gems. You can choose the length of the tour and when you get on and off if you’d like. We decided, since we didn’t have a ton of time, to do a 3 day planned trip south of Lima to a couple of neat towns. The cost of the trip was about $180 Canadian each, which covered the bus, some of the adventures we did and our shared accommodations.        We were picked up at Hotel Las Palmas bright and early @ 0700 after we had a nice continental breakfast at the hotel. We drove about 2 hours to Mirasur Resort. This was an interesting place that we could great breakfast at, as well as a delicious taste of a Peruvian drink called Emoliente. Emoliente is a sweet infused warm tea and was just the best after the bus ride. We explored the resort that had lots of guinea pigs (which we came to realize are not pets but food) along with some strange kids toys, open areas to do activities and various trees and plants including plantain trees. Jill and I had missed the explanation of the group activity but the basis of it was, whoever’s numbered mini house the guinea pig ran into, won a prize. Somehow, I had ended up with the winning number and won a shot of Pisco… at like 10 am. I felt peer pressured into taking it and almost vomited after but it was all in the name of fun right?! Once everyone had finished their breakfast and bathroom breaks (FYI, in Peru, you cannot put toilet paper down the toilet due to the inability of the plumbing to handle it) we got back on the bus and headed to Chincha. Chincha is a mix of Peruvian and African cultures as there were a large amount of slaves that had been brought over from Africa. We visited the Hacienda San Jose that housed many slaves over the years that slavery was occurring in Peru (a fact I had no idea about and was quite shocked to learn about). While the history of the plantations’ use was quite awful, the grounds were beautiful. We were shown the secret slave tunnels that had been used to hide undocumented slaves and for punishment. They were pretty eerie and made me feel sad about the thousands of slaves who suffered in the small, cramped, damp tunnels. Once out of the tunnels, we had a bit more time to explore the church and beautiful grounds.             We got back into the bus and enjoyed the interesting desert landscapes and beautiful homes with brightly coloured bricks on our way to Paracas. Paracas is a small beach town with a cute boardwalk filled with shops and restaurants. We were staying at Freyles in a 6 person dorm room. This dorm was great with a nice pool area, lots of lounge space and private washrooms in each room.  The only dorm mate that was there was Ryan from Canberra. We reminisced about our time in Australia before wandering around the town.  Jill and I had lunch at one of the spots on the boardwalk that was pretty delicious. Paracas was a bit pricier than Mancora, which is the only place we had really been that we could compare to. I had fish kebabs and fries with a delicious Cusquena beer for 49 soles (still way cheaper than anything at home). We fell upon a big parade that was happening on the main street and wandered around to the Paracas sign (of course). We met back up with Ryan after grabbing some warmer clothes at the hostel and enjoyed a nice sunset overlooking the water and happy hour. While the happy hour deal nor the sunset could compete with Mancora, we enjoyed our evening and wandered around to the party hostel in the town called Kokopelli. There wasn’t much going on at the hostel so we grabbed some beers from the convenience store and played cards on our hostel balcony before bed.

Saturday September 28 , 2019         The continental breakfast at the hostel was similar to most- bread, cereal, meat and cheese- which I was totally ok with. Part of our PeruHop tour included a morning boat ride to the “poor man’s Galapagos” islands called the Ballestas islands. The open-air boat was pretty neat and we learned a lot about the area and the wildlife along with some of the history. We saw TONS of sea lions and penguins but sadly no dolphins. The boat cruise was just over an hour long and we had a little bit of time when we got back to Paracas to grab a smoothie from Fruzion before hopping on the bus.        En route to Huachachina, we stopped at the Paracas National Reserve to take some great photos and enjoy some of the beautiful wildlife, desert and ocean views. We also saw the Pre-Incan desert textiles and learned of their history. The drive from Paracas to Huachachina is about an hour and a half. On the way, Melanie our tour guide gave us some important history and culture about the area. I was most excited about this oasis town because we had heard great things about it and the photos looked amazing.         As we approached the town, we were all floored at how much it looked like the photos. This town was legitimately a desert oasis (hence the nickname-duh). The sand dunes all around the town are massive and the Huachachina Lagoon in the middle, with palm trees all on its borders is spectacular.  We drove into town and learned a bit more about how this desert oasis came to be. The bus dropped us off just outside of the town (2 min walk from the main strip). We were staying at the Wild Rover (same chain as in Mancora), which was the party hostel of the town. The Wild Rover is probably the most interesting hostel we had ever stayed in, and that is saying a lot since we have frequented our fair share of hostels in our travels. It was pretty big with rooms all round a pool/bar area. Our room was right off the main pool area, which I had mild concerns about, especially since the rooms were not to be locked. The room we were in was a 3 bunk bed room with small storage boxes below each bed and a washroom. The wood storage box was long, thin and did not fit our backpacks. We ended up leaving our backpacks in the corner and putting our important stuff in the boxes on the floor (which was super annoying to get to). We each had a wristband with our name and room number on it that acted as our “room keys” and allowed us in and out of the hostel and to charge meals/drinks to our room.        After unpacking, we were headed out and about in the town before the best part of the day- dune buggies and sand boarding! We were meeting the larger group up the road to check in to our tour. The tour groups and leaders were mildly disorganized but the fact that they have so many tours running at the same time and get everyone where they need to be is very impressive. The dune buggies were way cooler than I thought they were going to be! Jill and I had sweet front seats, which allowed us to see the scary twists and steep hills we were going down slightly earlier than everyone else. Our driver drove around the dunes with speed and clear knowledge of them. You could see hilly dunes and buggies in all directions. Our driver stopped 4-5 times so we could sand board down some of the steepest dunes I had ever seen. Jill was far more proficient in standing on the board than I was so I opted to lie down each time, which was almost as terrifying. On our last sand board run of the day- Jill and “Maria” collided due to Maria’s inability to steer. Thankfully, Jill ended up with only a sprained ankle (better than Maria’s broken arm) and a few scrapes. We finished the night off with a beautiful sunset and tons of photos with the dune buggies.        We headed back to the meeting spot, which was halfway up the dunes surrounding the town, and stopped for some more amazing photos. The town looked so neat, nestled in the sand. After hobbling back to the hostel and showers, we met up with some people on our tour and had some dinner and drinks. The hostel was throwing a “full moon party” so we partied all night with our roommates- who ended up being weirdly similar to us (only several years younger). The party was definitely reminiscent of our time in Thailand especially with our buckets filled with booze. I crashed much earlier than the rest of the group but still had a blast.

Sunday September 29,2019       Wild Rover definitely knew how to through a party! We were both feeling less than great in the morning and had to be up slightly early for our pisco tasting and tour. We had a small breakfast before packing up the majority of our things. The group was picked up at the hostel to go just outside of town to El Catador- one of the oldest pisco vineyards in the country. We were taken on a tour of the vineyard and given the history of pisco and how to make it. Pisco is made from grapes in a similar process to wine but after the grapes are fermented, it goes through a distilling process (similar to many other alcohols). Despite being moderately hung over, we sampled pretty well each of the pisco’s El Catador made from the super sweet ones, to the more bitter ones and everything in between. They had a great line of cream piscos that were similar to Bailey’s but with tons of different added flavours such as chocolate and coconut.       After the pisco tour, we hopped back on the bus to Huachachina for the afternoon. Fortunately, we were able to leave most of our stuff at the hostel, as that is where we were being picked up later in the day for our drive back to Lima. Since the town strip was rather small and Jill’s ankle was pretty sore, we found an amazing hostel (Bananas Hostel) to hang out at all afternoon. We had our phones and books and lounged in their hammocks and on their couches that were just off the main path but hidden in trees, flowers and gardens. It was a beautiful spot and a perfect way to end a busy weekend.       The PeruHop Tour was picking us up from the hostel in the early evening but I hadn’t had a chance to get my magnet yet (I collect magnets from each city I travel to) so I walked around the whole town and to the outskirts to find the perfect one and the best fanny pack I could find. I hadn’t brought a purse and was carrying around my backpack most places when a fanny pack would do, so I was stoked to have found the perfect one with a black base and fun colours throughout. The bus back to Lima was about 4 hours without traffic. The tour guide was super sweet and brought bags of popcorn for each of us and put on a classic- Mrs. Doubtfire. We snoozed on and off and were at our hotel in Lima around 2200 that night. We checked into the Hotel Santa Cruz and were thankful to have a quiet private room  (albeit a bit muggy) to get a good night’s rest.

Monday, September 30, 2019         The Hotel Santa Cruz is located in one of the more touristy and nice parts of Lima called Miraflores. It is a short walk to the road that runs along the ocean and is filled with bars, restaurants and shops. I had decided to check out a local Crossfit gym in the area so hopped in an Uber (3.5$) to Latido Crossfit for an 0800 class. I was one of only two people in our class, which was kind of fun. The workout didn’t involve a barbell which made me sad, but I was super excited to get a good workout in and do something I loved doing. Crossfit is such a neat sport and even though I didn’t understand most what the instructor said, I was still able to grasp what we were doing. Movement is universal and I even did some assisted handstand walking for the first time.                                                   After the class, I paid the $20 USD drop in fee and grabbed an Uber back to the hotel. Jill had made her way down for breakfast and we enjoyed the continental breakfast while I ran her through my workout. We got ready for the day and dropped off our laundry to the Laundromat across the street. This was the first time we had really done laundry in the week we were away and were super excited that it was only 6 soles a kg.       Today, we were going to explore downtown Lima. Lima is Peru’s capitol city and is home to over 9 million people. Fun fact- it is the largest city in the dessert after Cairo. I won’t bore you with details of the city’s history (as this blog is already long enough), but there have been many civil and political issues in this city over its centuries since being founded in 1535. Lima has also seen its share of natural disasters including several damaging earthquakes. Our Uber driver told us that many of the streets downtown were closed due to some sort of political issue. We were a bit worried about this since we had been hearing stuff on the news about the President trying to disassemble congress. This wasn’t going to deter us from going to explore Lima’s downtown.         Since Lima is a coastal city with warm air temperatures, the city always seems to have a fog over it, even though it only usually rains about once a month.  Today was no exception. The temperature was mild but the sky was grey and sad (which we would come to associate with Lima). Somehow, we hooked up with a “Lima by Walking” Tour and met our tour Leader Jose at the Plaza Des Armes downtown. He took us on a walking tour of the Plaza Des Armes that included seeing the Changing of the Guard, City Hall, Cathedral, historic fountain and explained what the other important buildings in the square were. We learned a lot about Peru’s political history, especially about many of the issues Lima has had over the years. Jose told us that Lima is considered to be the Food Capitol of South America (this might not be actual fact but Peruvians believe it) due to its vast array of cultural influences for food. Lately, there have been a lot more Asian influences and Chinese/Peruvian fusion restaurants called “Chifas” that are all the rage.      Jose took us around most of the downtown core and taught us about the various areas in Lima. Lima city has 43 districts, each having its own mayor which I thought was kind of interesting. We got to see the Rimac River, which runs through the city but is now empty as it is the dry season. He pointed out a few important places and a main street that we shouldn’t go to as it is more “working class” and have lots of crime including mugging. We enjoyed some chicha (which can be alcohol and non) and is made from grape juice with lime, sugar and a touch of cinnamon. It was pretty tasty but quite sugary for me. Jose said it was almost as sweet as Inca Kola, which is known as the flavor of Peru and is seen being drunk by almost everyone in the country. Allegedly, diabetes and obesity are high in the countries as well (as per Jose).        We finished our tour with some pisco (obviously) after having learned so much about Lima/Peru’s history and all of the politics that have been going on lately. I was really impressed with this tour and would recommend it to anyone. They had several other tours and we were planning to check one of them out when we returned to Lima. Since we had a bit more time in downtown, we took the classic photo in front of the Lima sign and grabbed the most amazing chocolate/caramel stuffed churros of life. We were going to check out the Catacombs and Cathedral but realized they were 10-15 soles per person each to get in. We were also history-ed out by this point. I had also seen the catacombs in Paris and I feel as though once you’ve seen one tunnel of old skulls, you’ve seen them all.      Our Uber back to Miraflores took a bit longer as it was rush hour in Lima- it seemed to always been rush hour though. We grabbed a late lunch at Barra Mar around the corner from our hotel. We share the stuffed avocado and causa (which is the potato and tuna or other fish layered dish) and I had a delicious ceviche bowl. The restaurant was small and everything was written in Spanish but the service and food was great. Our laundry was done by the time we got back, so we paid for it and got ready to start our packing, as we were leaving for Cusco in the am. We met a rep for Tucan Travel in the lobby at 6pm and he went over basic info about the flights and such with us. We were being picked up at the hotel in the am and being brought to the airport for our flight to Cusco and the start of our Inca trail adventure. It was an early to bed after we finalized our packing since 0500 starts to the day are no joke. 

*Below are some of my fave photos from our first week or so in Peru (in no specific order as usual because Tumblr is annoying)

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

VanCity

          Travelling is definitely one of my passions and I have thoroughly enjoyed my experiences thus far. Unfortunately, I haven’t explored as much of our beautiful country as I would have liked. One of my goals is to do a small, more local trip each year. I decided to head to the West Coast (aka best coast if you ask anyone who’s been there) to visit my good friend Shera. Shera and I met while we both lived and worked in Toronto several years ago. While we don’t get to see each other that often, she is such a strong, positive and inspiring person that I am so lucky to have in my life. I was really excited that she had some time in May for me to come visit. Many of my friends and family have been to and loved BC, so I was super excited about this trip. I decided to use some of my hard earned Aeroplan points to book my flights and was heading to BC for an extra long weekend.

Thursday, May 9th, 2019          I decided to take the bus from the Hamilton GO station to the airport. It takes just over an hour and drops you off at Terminal 1 (perfect for my AC flight). It is also super cost effective at about $12 each way and really easy if you packed light (which shockingly, I did). My flight was easy and I landed mid morning in Vancouver. Shera is currently teaching at BCIT, which has several campuses in the city. She works out of the Burnaby Campus, in the east part of the city. She picked me up and brought me towards here work where I could catch the Expo line into the city. Since I had so much that I wanted to do, I mapped out a bit of downtown to check out, starting with Downtown and Gastown. I wandered around downtown and hit up the Gas Town Steam Clock and a few things around that area. I love libraries, so I made sure to visit the Central Library, which had great views and a cool promenade at its base. I meandered along the majority of “downtown Vancouver” and the business district.                                                                                                                             I made my way down towards Stanley Park and rented a bike for about $30. I biked all the way around Stanley Park, which was way better than I had anticipated. Stanley Park borders Burrard Inlet and English Bay and is over 1000 acres in size. It was one of the first places to be discovered in the city and offers so much!  The park was amazing! I did enjoy many of its beautiful sights while biking along the 1000-year-old seawall.  I managed to get myself a bit lost while trying to find the famous “hollow tree. Let me tell you, the 27 km of hiking paths in Stanley Park are no fun with a bike (not that I explored even ¼ of that). After getting sufficiently lost and seeing the majority of the park including the Lions Gate bridge, Iron Workers Memorial Bridge and totem poles, I wandered around English bay for a bit. Seeing as it was getting quite late and Shera was expecting me at the ferry, I grabbed a snack (ice cream of course), dropped my bike off and hopped on the bus to the Horseshoebay Ferry terminal which took about 30 mins on the bus.                                                                                              Once I arrived at the ferry terminal, I met back up with Shera and grabbed my stuff out of the car so we could take the ferry home. We had some time to kill before the ferry arrived so we grabbed dinner and drinks at Trolls (I think) and caught up a bit. It had been 5 months since we had last seen each other and had a lot to catch up on!                                                                                          The ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Gibsons leaves at random intervals thorough the day (the schedule is confusing and doesn’t seem to be super consistent) and takes about 40 minutes to get to Gibsons (Langdale Ferry Terminal). Gibsons is technically part of the mainland but is really only accessible via ferry. Tons of people commute into the city each day from Gibsons and beyond- and here I complain sometimes about my 20 min commute.                                                                                                                       Once arriving at the terminal, we hopped into Shera’s baby (her new but older Ford Escape} and made the 10 or so minute drive over to her place. She has a lovely place in “Lower Gibsons” with beautiful views of the town and water. I was exhausted so went straight to bed after a long and enjoyable day.

Friday May 10th, 2019         Shera had to work quite early in the am so we took the first ferry over (about 5/6 am). The ferry is actually a lot more fun than I had expected. We met up with one of her friends on the ferry and enjoyed coffee and toast. The ferry is such a great place to get work done and hang out. If I had to commute, I would much prefer to do it on a boat where I could work, eat or sleep. Once we got off the ferry, I hopped in Kate’s car as she worked closer to the main part of the city than Shera. Kate dropped me off near the Vancouver General and I moseyed around for an hour or so before things opened. I grabbed a coffee and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the South Granville/East? part of the city. I walked down towards Granville Island and enjoyed the shops and the market. I had a second breakfast there and enjoyed some quiet time people watching. Granville market had some super cute spots but the entrance and Kids Market looked like the most fun part. Sadly, it wasn’t open, or I would have totally gone in.         After Granville Island, I hopped on the bus and headed out to the UBC campus where my partner Mike went to school and suggested. After a few glitches (aka my getting lost MULTIPLE times in the huge campus) I managed to find the treetop walk and the botanical gardens I had been looking for. The treetop walk was pretty neat although definitely not as exciting as I had thought. I was there with a big school group and managed to avoid them at all costs. I headed over to Nitobe gardens, which is considered to be on the most authentic Japanese gardens in the world with its cherry blossoms, irises, Japanese pruned trees and a koi pond. I think I hit 20,000 steps before 2 pm, which might be a record for me! I hopped back on the bus and got off just before Kitsilano. I was a bit hungry so grabbed some snacks at Whole Foods before enjoying some R&R on the beach. Shera came down from work and met me at Local Kitsilano, where we grabbed beers before heading to the ferry back home.         Shera was having some girls over the next day as a belated birthday celebration so we scooted over to the grocery and liquor stores before going home to get ready for dinner. Sadly, the oyster restaurant was still closed for the season so we settled for the delicious Mexican fare at Lonitas. We enjoyed some chips and guac along with delicious tacos. Shera took me on a little walking tour of Gibsons, despite being super full and tired. The town is so cute and quaint! Being so close to Van but with the perks of a small town are so amazing- I get why she loves it there so much. After our stroll and tour, we headed home for a good nights sleep before another jam-packed day.

Saturday May 11th, 2019        While I may be a Crossfit enthusiast, I am all for any and all forms of exercise and will try anything at least once! Shera has recently become involved in kickboxing and was excited to take me with her. While my spatial sense and hand eye coordination could use some work, I really enjoyed the class. My favourite part was the “elevator” at the end that included jabs and burpees. After a great sweat sesh, we grabbed some much needed coffees and showers in preparation for our afternoon.       Shera was having an intuitive come to the house to “read” us if you will. Now, I wouldn’t call myself a full on skeptic but I did have my reservations. I am happy to say, Joanne the intuitive was amazing. She was very personable, relatable and kind. We each had about 30 minutes with her, in which she took time reading our energies, answering questions and guiding us through what she was feeling. I really enjoyed my time with her and took a number of things away from the experience. She was pretty spot on with many of her thoughts and readings, despite my “skepticism”. I would definitely see someone like her again and highly recommend it for anyone who is interested.        After Joanne left, we continued to enjoy our snacks and sangria before making our way to down to the dock to meet Scotty. Scotty owns “Scotty’s scooters” and is a friend of Sheras. He kindly brought us on his boat to a spot near them off of Keats Island. This is where locals dock their boats, cook, drink and enjoy the outdoors. The weather was just perfect and I love a good boat ride! We met a few other people and enjoyed drinks, homemade sausages and freshly caught prawns. The prawns were the best I had ever tasted- they were so fresh and didn’t even need the melted butter that accompanied them. After enjoying our drinks and dinner, we hopped back on the boat home. The night was still young so we headed over to Kate’s house to hang out for a bit. They have one of the most beautiful designed homes I have ever seen. It was farmhouse meets industrial chic, all wrapped into one! I hung out with their adorable and precocious munchkins for a bit before we all enjoyed some more bevvys by the fire.

Sunday May 12, 2019         Yay for a bit of a sleep in! We didn’t have a strict itinerary today so we enjoyed a bit of a sleep in before brunch at the Gum boot. The Gum boot is a delicious and popular restaurant in Roberts Creek. Shera and I waited a bit to get seated but my meal did not disappoint. Since it was mother’s day, we enjoyed MUMosas overlooking the nice grass area. Shera had a game of baseball to get to so I hung out and enjoyed that. Her teammates were all super friendly and were pretty decent players. After the game, we hiked around Smugglers Cove and enjoyed the lush greenery, arbutus trees and the views of the Georgia Strait. Since the Raptors were playing (this was the infamous Kawai shot night), we headed over to the lighthouse in Sechelt for dinner and beers to enjoy during the game. Shera’s baseball team had another game so we went and cheered them on for that before heading home to watch an amazing sunset on the beach amongst the driftwood. Sunset is my favourite time of the day and the BC sunset did not disappoint!

Monday May 13th, 2019         Since I love my sleep, Shera went into the city before I did on my second last morning in BC. I lounged around Gibsons and enjoyed coffee at the Beachcomber. I took the bus over to the ferry and met Shera at the ferry Terminal. Today we were going to be proper tourists and check out the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain (which we were supposed to do on Friday but thank goodness we didn’t as my legs wouldn’t have made it). The Capilano Suspension bridge is one of Vancouver’s most popular tourist attractions. At over 130 years old from its inception the “Kia’palano” (meaning beautiful river) bridge was named after a great Squamish Chief who lived in the area in the early 1800s. While the bridge has had many improvements and enlargements over the years, the 70 meter high and 140 meter long suspension bridge has magical views over the Capilano River. The park also has a learning centre, treetop walk and a cliffwalk, all surrounded by lush, beautiful forest. While it was very cool and beautiful, it was super touristy and a bit pricey ($54 a person) for what it all is. I would still highly recommend it (or the cheaper/free suspension bridge called Lynn Canyon.          Next stop- Grouse Mountain! Grouse Mountain is just a short drive from the Bridge. We made sure to check our bags and waterbottles before our hike so we would be prepared. Grouse Mountain is considered the Peak of Vancouver at 1200 meters high.  It is a popular ski destination for those in the area during the winter but is probably even more popular in the summer. Nicknamed “Mother Nature’s Stairmaster” the over 2800 steps leading the way up over 800 meters  (about 2.9 km) to the top are no easy feat. Every year, there are thousands who come do the “Grouse Grind”. There is even a contest to see who can climb it the most in 24 hours. I am not the most avid hiker (fake it till you make it) but am probably more experienced than the average person (cough Kilimanjaro, cough). Despite my previous experience, I suffered supremely on this “hike”. I would call this more of steep steps. Being 5”2, I am very disadvantaged when it comes to high steps and had a hard time keeping up with Sheras long, gazelle-like legs. I think it ended up taking us almost an hour and a half to do the whole thing, which was longer than I had anticipated. I mean, I wasn’t in the best shape of my life but didn’t think it would be so hard! For reference, the top time of the day was around 25 minutes… I definitely suggest doing the Grouse Grind but make sure you are prepared both physically and mentally- and have lots of water and snacks!          Once atop the 2830, steps, we ate our snacks and grabbed a coffee before paying the $15 to take the gondola back down. You can’t actually climb back down-which is probably for the best. The gondola is beautiful and well worth the climb. The sights of the city and area are amazing. After our hike, we headed to the ferry Terminal and back to Gibsons. We were the only patrons at Drift Restaurant in town and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It’s too bad the weather wasn’t cooperating because their patio was awesome and had great views of the water. After full tummies, we headed home for a good nights sleep.

Tuesday May 14th 2019          Sadly, it was my last day in BC. Shera and I hopped on the 0830 ferry and picked up Shera’s car that was being looked at in North Van. She dropped me off in downtown after saying our sad but so happy and grateful goodbyes. She had a busy day at work as the new school semester had just started. Since I had my suitcase, I found a post office that stored bags for the day and paid to have my suitcase and large backpack stored. It is an ingenious idea and worth every penny, especially since it was raining and I did not want to be carting my stuff all around town.       After dropping my stuff off, I made my way back over towards Stanley Park and walked in a different way to the Aquarium. Since it was pouring rain, I figured the aquarium was a great place to visit. I was the only adult above the age of 21 there without a child but still had a great time. I learned a lot about sealions during their live show and checked out the many different eco systems they have set up at the Aquarium.        Once I had seen all of the sea creatures, it dawned on me that I hadn’t had much seafood yet this trip, which is sacrilegious when visiting any coastal city. I wandered around downtown and settled on Fanny’s Oysters, which ended up being a fabulous choice! I had several different types of oysters and some that was almost as good as the oysters. Anyone that knows me, knows I can eat my weight in Oysters but I limited myself to a dozen and kept on my downtown stroll. I stopped into Steamworks for a beer in Gastown before grabbing my stuff at the post office and jumping on the train to the airport. The train ride was about 30 mins and seamless. The airport seems so much smaller in comparison to Pearson so getting around it made more sense. I had a lounge pass and was super excited to use it! I enjoyed dinner, drinks and a nice hot shower before getting ready for my redeye back home. I managed to sleep well on my flight home and took a morning bus back into Hamilton.         While there are many places I would still like to see in BC, I really think I did a good job of hitting a bunch of important spots on the trip. Most importantly, I got to spend some quality time with my girl Shera and get a glimpse into the amazing life she has built for herself on the west coast. I see many more visits to come and cannot wait for them!

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

Bienvenidos A Miami

           Will Smith’s “Miami”, was forever in my head for this 5 night, 6 day trip to Miami, Florida. My friend Lafonda, who I had met at my previous Crossfit gym, had mentioned she was probably going to Wodapalooza (more details on the event coming up) in January and asked if I was interested. At this time, it was November and we had already had a huge snowstorm and I was on my first of 2 weeks up north and itching for a vacation. She was planning on going with a few others from the gym to hang out and support one of their coaches. I was all on board and booked my flights almost immediately (thanks Aeroplan☺). We were heading out two days before the actual event started and staying an extra day to see what the city had to offer. While I was a bit nervous, as I had just had knee surgery in the beginning of December, I had applied to volunteer to save on admission costs but was wait listed. Lafonda and I lucked out and scored a pair of free tickets for the weekend (which saved a few bucks). We were set to fly with Air Canada to Miami to stay in a sweet Airbnb on the water on the 16th, returning home to the cold winter late on the 21st.

Wednesday January 16, 2019 (Woah! Haven’t typed 2019 much and it looks funny)            Lafonda and I had booked early morning flights so that we could have a full day to enjoy Miami. Our flight was just after 0700 so we left bright and early to drop off the car and have plenty of time at security. We ended up meeting up with Andrea, Craig and Des who also go to the gym and would be some of our roomies for the weekend. They seemed super lovely and we chatted until it was time to board. The flight from Toronto to Miami is about 3.5 hours and was relatively smooth. We all grabbed our bags and hopped in a cab just after 11 to our Air bnb- which cost about $30 American. We were staying on Brickell in the residences attached to the W hotel. Thankfully, the hotel was able to store our luggage so that we could explore sans suitcases. We headed out and wandered around the downtown core. Since most of us had never been to Miami, it was fun to just mosey around – once we had coffee of course. We made our way to the Bayside Marketplace on the water that was filled with shops, restaurants and bars. It was really neat to look around and enjoy the nice weather. We grabbed some lunch at various restaurants in the food court (which made me feel like I was in a foreign country or somewhere, where everyone was trying to get us to buy their food). Other than the birds that flocked us, we enjoyed our lunches before making our way back towards Brickell to check into our Airbnb.           The airbnb was part of a larger organization who rented out “residences” attached the W hotel. We called our contact for the Airbnb and she let us into a beautiful apartment overlooking the water with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. There was plenty of room for everyone and there were even extra couches we could have slept on which was great. We started to get all settled when we realized that the wifi password and room number did not match up with what we had in our confirmation emails. After some back and forth with our contact, we realized we were actually in the wrong apartment! We gathered up all our stuff and headed down the hall to our actual apartment. Our apartment was just as nice, however a bit smaller. There were two bedrooms with a futon couch that doubled as Lafonda and mine’s bed. We rested and hung out while waiting for Nancy and Nikki to arrive.          Once they arrived, we all decided on heading out for a yummy dinner down the street in the Brickell City Centre. It was an outdoor-esque mall with some very high-end stores, boutiques and restaurants. We settled on Tacology, which was a great choice! The menu was on the ipad (similar to AYCE Sushi restaurants) and took us a while to figure out. The open-air feeling of the mall and restaurant was really fun. The ambience, decorations and general atmosphere were great. We mixed and matched tacos, salsas and guacamole until we were all full. My favourite part of the meal was definitely the ceviche that Lafonda ordered. It was spicy, fresh and delicious. After paying the bill and getting our geographical bearings, we headed up the street to Publix to grab groceries. The Airbnb only provided a limited amount of toilet paper and paper towels so we grabbed the essentials, along with breakfast foods and snacks of course.          By the time we made it home, we were all pretty tired so we figured we would start setting up for bed including inflating the air mattress for Andrea to sleep on. Sadly, both of the mattresses that were brought seemed to have holes in them. The girls headed out to Target to grab a new one while Craig and I watched videos on weightlifters and the copious amounts of calories they eat in one day. Once the girls returned, we all headed to bed after a very long, but fun and exciting day.

Thursday January 17, 2019          It was a bright, sunny, gorgeous day in Miami! We were all really excited about today as we were heading to Bayfront Park for Nikki to check in and then wander vendor village before heading to South Beach. We also had to keep our eyes peeled for all of the Crossfit “celebs” we would be seeing. It was really neat to just roam around and see so many fit people (including many we follow on social media haha). The highlight of the morning was meeting the beautiful and kind Sara Sigmunsdottir. She is smaller but somehow more jacked in person than she appears on social media and was more than happy to pose for a photo with us.           We hopped in an Uber to take the 15 or so minute ride from Downtown Miami into South Beach. South beach is known for its beaches, nightlife, celebrity chef eateries and of course the shopping. Our first stop was… Duh, the beach! Since it was pretty cold at home, we were all excited to enjoy the sand and water. After making a pit stop at the art deco clock on Ocean Drive (mostly to use the washroom), we checked out the workout areas and beach for a bit. Some of the exercises people were doing were really funny to watch but it was nice to see people out and enjoying the nice weather. The water was definitely chillier than I had anticipated… I was decked out in my bather and was hoping to go in the water. It was a hard pass for me but I did enjoy the sand and water on my feet. After countless selfies, we walked along the path in between the water and Ocean Drive before realizing we were pretty hungry. After wandering up and down Ocean Dr., enjoying the cool art deco facades of the hotels and shops, we settled on one of the standard restaurants for lunch.              Our meal at Majestic was less than stellar but it did the trick and we continued on our wander of South Beach. As a group, we had decided on a few places that we had wanted to check out (the gelato store from Jersey Shore, the Tattoo Parlour from Miami ink and the Lincoln Road Mall). En route, to these places (sadly the gelato store is now a really neat looking hostel), we went into an innumerable amount of Surf Shops to check out all of the fun 80s gear they had. It seemed as though the theme for WZA (and all of South Beach) was bright neon pinks and blues. Our “tour” of South Beach continued down to the “Love Hate Tattoo Studio” and then down towards the Lincoln Road Mall. Since we missed out on the gelato at the Jersey Shore Gelato place, we grabbed some on our tour of Espanola Way. This street was probably my second favourite part of the day (second to being on the beach of course) as it had a great vibe filled with lots of cute shops and restaurants. The gelato we grabbed at Gelato-Go was delicious and satisfied my sweet tooth. We wandered around towards Lincoln Road and enjoyed the shops and a coffee while catching up on our social media and checking for any WZA updates for Nikki’s exciting first day.             Since Nikki had to be back for athlete briefing, we ordered an Uber to head back towards downtown and our Airbnb. Our Uber arrived and it was hands down, the best one I had ever been in. Neyla, or Rose as she preferred to be called drove a Chevrolet Suburban that was decked out with a disco ball, mardi gras beads and fun party headbands. She had little signs that said things like “need a charger?” or “let me know what kind of music you like”. Rose was the best and even played my request of “Miami” as we rolled into our Airbnb. We grabbed her number so that we could utilize her awesome ride throughout the trip. After relaxing and putting on an extra layer, we headed back over to Bayfront Park to get some shopping done before the briefing. We wandered around the vendor village and met some of my fave athletes including David Hippensteel and got a signed copy of Jason Khalipa’s book AMRAP mentality (and a cheeky photo). While we were there, Nancy had received a message from a friend who was volunteering on the medical team stating that they needed additional volunteers. I, was of course, totally down to volunteer and headed over to meet the gentleman that was heading up the team. After asking me a few questions (like what my credentials were and if I could start in the am), I was in and was to be there bright and early.           Once the briefing was over (and so many amazing athletes had walked past us including Jess Griffith, Alec Smith and the buff BKG), we headed to the Whole Foods down the street to grab dinner and some snacks. Whole Foods was SO busy and was filled with so many fit people. It was actually funny until we noticed there was barely any food to chose from. In any case, we grabbed food and enjoyed our dinner at home while planning for an exciting  day of competition (for Nikki), volunteering for me and spectating for the rest of the crew.

Friday January 18, 2019           Day 1 and go! The majority of the crew was up and out early to watch Nikki and the rest of the athletes do a Run, Swim, Run over at Crandon Park. Lafonda was a bit under the weather so she headed to a walk in clinic and I headed over to the park to meet the rest of the medical crew.           I should probably give a bit of an explanation of what WZA (or Wodapalooza) is. WZA is one of the biggest fitness festivals in the world. It started in 2012 with only 145 athletes and 500 spectators for the one day event. Since then, it has been become the premier Functional Fitness Festival (it could not call itself a Crossfit event until this year when it became a Crossfit Sanctioned event). Now it is a 4-day event involving over 1500 athletes, 30,000 spectators and 500 volunteers. It started off with the Gauntlet this year, that allowed anyone and everyone to throw down on the same courts as the best of the best followed by a Weightlifting Faceoff and then the 3 day Crossfit competition. This event is not just for the Elite athletes but hosts over 30 divisions including Scaled, RX, Intermediate, Teams, Masters and Adaptive athletes. Its vendor village is second to none with tons of big names in the Crossfit world including RomWod, RPM, Reebok, Zevia, CBD Medic, Born Primitive and so many more. One of the best parts about volunteering/competing is all of the free swag you get at many of the vendors.           Ok, back to the fun! While Nikki and the crew enjoyed the morning at Crandon Park, I was getting to know my medical team. I met Josh (the Medical Lead) and he showed me to the volunteer tent where I could check in and received my swag (which included new black Nano 8.0s). I grabbed my breakfast (individually packaged meals by Fia’s Fresh Meals, that had to be put in the microwave and were made up of eggs, a form of breakfast meat and sweet potatoes). Once I was fed and all set, I met up with the rest of my team to figure out where and when we were starting. The medical team at previous WZA events has not always been the best and didn’t have much in terms of policies. Since the Crossfit Games format has changed, so have the legal implications of volunteering as a medical staff. From what I was told, many people were skeptical about volunteering as a medical staff due to these issues. Our main role was decontamination (decon for short) and handing out band-aids. As a Canadian RN, I was only to assist in life threatening times (e.g CPR) and encourage any other injuries to be seen either in clinic or by the EMTs that were on standby. Not that this was much different from my previous Regional experience, but not having the coverage in terms of liability and insurance was definitely something to consider. The athlete medical tent was located in the middle of Athlete village on the other side of the security fence that was manned by a guard. It was much quieter (for the most part) in athlete village as the only people back there were the athletes, their coaches, volunteers and those working in the CBD Medical Tent. Of course, there were washrooms (that were pretty digusting by noon each day), hammocks, seating areas and volunteer services that housed our check in stuff, shirts and food.                                After we finished our tour of the area and had our roles, our team headed out to Flagler, which was the largest and main stage. Our head, Slab was still away at the Run, Swim, Run event so he would meet up with us soon. We grabbed our gear buckets (filled with disinfectant spray, towels, gloves and band-aids) and took our spots. For the most part, we would just stand, watch and wait. If there was an issue on the field, the plan was that the primary judge would flag down the head judge who would then flag us down. In between heats, we would check the equipment for blood or bodily fluids and give them a clean. During the heats, we would hang out and enjoy the amazing show of athletics.         During the day, we would spell each other off for breaks. Unlike Regionals, there wasn’t a specific rotation or anything, which made things easier in some ways and trickier in others. I was able to get out a few times during the day to get some shopping done and hang out with the crew. Since meals were provided for us (the pulled pork and yuka fries were definitely my fave meal of the weekend), we would have to wait in the huge line to warm them up (3 microwaves for hundreds of people) before heading out to enjoy the time with friends or the action. Each team (Flagler, The Deck and Bayside) stayed at their location for the whole day despite talk of rotating the groups throughout the day. Flagler field was probably one of the most fun places to be as you got to see a bit of everything from the scaled athletes to elite and teams.          The crew had decided to go to Wolfgang’s Steakhouse for dinner which I sadly missed since I didn’t finished “work” until just after 2000. I grabbed dinner at the park and headed over to pick up the key from everyone at dinner. One of the downsides of the Airbnb was that we only had 1 key fob for all of us, so we had to keep in touch and figure out who needed the key and when. I was exhausted, sweaty and wanted to shower so I started heading back to the Airbnb for the night. We enjoyed a chill evening, catching up on our days before bed (Lafonda sleeping on the air mattress to spare me from getting her gross cold- thanks;)

Saturday January 19th, 2019            Day two of competition was on! I had to be at the park bright and early (7am) so I tried my best to be a quiet mouse and head out without waking anyone else. I was scheduled to be at the Deck (smallest stage, newest and in the middle of the park) with my team however, the first event wasn’t until later in the morning so I headed to Bayside to help out. The first event of the morning was another swim event (apparently the run, swim, run was more of a wade and this swim was going to be a lot more challenging than the day before). After the swim, athletes ran back onto the “field” and took on the ski erg and heavy double unders. The amount of swimmers that needed help was scary. There were 4 fire/rescue staff out on the water for the dozens of swimmers that were out each heat, which made me, as a former lifeguard very uncomfortable. Despite my discomfort and concern for the swimmers, we had a good crew (the Scaled Canadian Broads/Baysite B*tches) and the sun was shining. It was going to be a glorious day and I even had a few moments to relax, bayside in the hammocks. Once more staff arrived and the events started on the Deck, I was back over there to help out and ensure safety there. Our team was a bit short staffed as two members of the team were dealing with a medical issue.                I was sad that I was going to be missing out on the Christmas Abbott meet and greet (Christmas is a Crossfit athlete and author of the Bad Ass Body Diet as well as Big Brother Contestant). Thank goodness for Lafonda who was able to stand in line and meet her and even get an autographed poster! After watching some amazing scaled athletes and teens, it was time for me to grab some lunch (C4 Xtend BCAAs are not considered meals despite drinking 20 a day it seemed). I grabbed my lunch and caught up with the group, who had just finished watching Nikki’s morning event and were wandering around. Funny enough, we ended up running into Christmas Abbott! She is just the sweetest! I was so happy that we met her and were even able to sneak in a photo and a selfie that she posted to her insta(twice;)). After my break, I headed back to the Deck to watch some amazing intermediate/RX athletes and some masters compete. The Deck events were finished around 6 pm and so I joined the rest of the crew at Flagler to cheer Nikki on in her last event of the day. It felt good to be up in the stands, cheering others on (and resting my very sore feet and legs). After Nikki’s event, I went to Bayside to help out with the final events. The last heat of the final event of the day was the first of the Adaptive competitors that I had seen and was in awe. They divided the athletes into groups of standing and wheelchair along with scaled and RXed. Each Athlete had an “aid” of some sort to help them either hold their wheelchair so they could lean forward to pick things up or just for support. This event involved the ski erg and skipping which was amazing to watch. To me, this is what the whole event is really about, being inclusive of all ages, stages and abilities. I was really inspired after an amazing 2nd day and was reflecting on my own abilities post knee surgery (which pales in comparison to having lifelong limitations in many ways).             Once I was finally done for the day (around 2000), I headed over to meet the group at Farfalle for an Italian dinner. I had anticipated that they would be inside, seated already, however we ended up waiting 30 mins after our reservation This was not ideal for a large group of hungry people. The service was subpar and the food was average but it was nice to be all together to catch up on the day’s activities. Niki (1K as opposed to 2 Ks;)) had flown in earlier in the morning and I hadn’t spent much time with her, so it was very nice to catch up. After figuring out how to split the bill (or attempting to do so), we grabbed our take out cannoli and walked the 10 mins back to the Airbnb. Once again, we had a bit of a hang out before heading to bed for a final day of competition, volunteering and spectating.

Sunday January 20, 2019           Today was the last day of competition- So bittersweet! The forecast had called for some rain this morning so I was anxious to get over to Bayfront before the torrential downpours started. And boy did it ever! It poured rain for quite some time and bouts of lightening were seen and thunder was heard all throughout the park. We had to go into the Emergency Action Plan and anyone that was at the park had to head across the street to the Intercontinental Hotel. Luckily, it was still early, so most of the athletes and spectators weren’t there yet. After sweeping the park and telling people that they had to leave, we made our way across the street for some shelter and coffee. It was quite the sight to see- so many people just sprawled out on the floor of the lobby with huge lines for the Starbucks (of course) and the restaurants. We waited in the 30 min or so line at Starbucks for treats and coffee before sitting down to wait out the storm. The time for us to return kept changing but we had planned to be back for about 10am. The hope was that the rain would stop and we could get everything cleaned up and ready for the 11 am start. I had told the crew at the Frat House that the morning event was cancelled (which meant so was Nikki’s first event) so they headed to do some shopping in South Beach before coming back for the final event. One of the head Medical team members and I walked back around 10 am and were almost told we couldn’t go back in. He smoothed talked his way in and we hung out in the medical tent, reorganizing and cleaning up while enjoying Lesser Evils Paleo Puffs (The non cheese, cheesy ones are bomb if you haven’t tried them). Around 1045, everyone else was allowed back in, which meant the events would not realistically start by 11. Not that I am an event planner, but I thought it was interesting the events they decided to run and which ones they cancelled. To me, it would’ve made the most sense to cancel the whole first event and continue on with the 2nd event and ensure the Elite, Masters and Teens got to compete as they were the ones who were competing for Games spots. In any case, the event restarted around 1145 and I was stationed Bayside. Once the rain clouds left, it ended up being a lovely day and I was glad to be near the water.              I caught up with the group for a quick photo by the spectator workout area and Reebok sign before grabbing a sushi burrito from Wasabi Juan’s (which was underwhelming but still better than eating the provided food I had eaten for 3 days). I headed back to Bayside to enjoy the rest of the afternoon watching some amazing athletes. The final group to take the Bayside court were the adaptive individuals who again, were amazing. Once the final heat was done, there were group photos and even an emotional proposal in front of everyone that made us all tear up. While we were gathering up our stuff, I noticed that Ben Bergeron was on the court with one of his younger adaptive athletes (who kicked butt). I was so excited to meet him as I listen to his podcasts and have read his book and think the way he trains his athletes, is a family man and maintains a well-established box is amazing. Of course, I could barely speak while we were chatting but it was awesome to meet him and take a selfie with him and his daughter Harley.            After kicking myself for not saying more to Ben, I wandered around picking up a few more things (mostly things from Reebok that went on sale) before heading to Flagler to watch the Elite teams. I found the Elite Teams amazing to watch, especially because a lot of my faves were on the field kicking butt. I ended up at the end of the field watching from the sidelines, nice and close to Crossfit Mayhem Independence and the 4 time Fittest Man on Earth, Rich Froning. It was incredible to watch them all in the final event that involved the assault bike, muscle ups, the barbell and of course, the worm. Once the teams were finished, it seemed as though tons of spectators left so I managed to cut through and join my friends in the stands (after stepping in a huge mud puddle). It was super fun and exciting to watch the final event for both the elite male and females. Obviously, we were super stoked to watch Pat Vellner kill it but also excited to see some of the other athletes hyped up for the last event. The ladies race was also super exciting as Sara and Tia were both doing super well and were almost tied until Sara was no repped on a clean which opened the margin for Tia to take the event and then take the ticket to Madison (which was already hers due to a 90 some-odd point lead). I really enjoyed the final events and all of the energy at Flagler but was super disappointed in a lot of the fans that didn’t stay to finish watching the event. There were still plenty of great athletes (even some games athletes), on the field competing and tons of people were leaving. Not only were they leaving, but they were blocking the way for those that wanted to watch. I sat and stayed until the timer went off out of respect and interest to see who would come in under the time cap. I ended up getting lost from the group but managed to find Lafonda and grab all my stuff from the medical tent and say my goodbyes. We caught up with the rest of the crew at the Intercontinental and ended up having dinner there at Toro Toro. There were tons of people watching the football game and cheering on the Pats (cough Ben Bergeron). We had a lovely final dinner together of burgers and beers (for some) before heading back to the Airbnb for our last night.            Lafonda and I spent a while organizing all my sweet swag (including a workhorse and media WZA shirt) and attempting to make it all fit into our bags (thank goodness her’s had tons of room in it). We started to clean up and organize the main areas as Lafonda and I would be leaving early in the morning for a tour of the Everglades and Nikki and Nancy had a mid morning flight. We finished our packing and organizing before enjoying our last night with the beautiful views from our Airbnb.

Monday January 21st, 2019            Sadly, it was our last day in beautiful Miami. Thank goodness it was a picture perfect morning! We were up and ready for our exciting day around 8 ish. We had some breakfast before cleaning up and finalizing the packing. We said our goodbyes and made our way down to the W to give them our suitcases for our day trip. As a confession- I LOVE CSI Miami and in particular, Horatio Caine (which Craig did a great job of mimicking for my benefit). I had always wanted to check out the Everglades, especially on one of the airboats featured in the opening credits of CSI. I had gotten us a Groupon (tour with 305 Miami) so we had cheap tours of the Everglades including a gator show that I was looking forward to. Lafonda was a good sport and came with me. We made our way back to Bayside, where we were being picked up and checked in. Since we were a bit early, Starbucks was a must visit (until I was told I couldn’t bring my coffee onto the bus). The drive was about an hour towards the Everglade National park. During the drive, we learned random facts like the Miami International airport sees 1000 flights a day and there is an estimated 2 million gators in the area. Apparently, more people die of vending machine accidents than gator accidents per year (Not sure what that says about ‘Muricans, but I digress). Once we arrived, we went to watch the Gator show with Chris (Who was super cute, smart and I think single;)). We learned many fun facts about the gators like that they can hold their breath for 6 hours but don’t breathe under water, that in Florida there are both crocs and gators but that gators are different in their shape, snout and often colouring. Gators have 80 teeth at one time and go through many hundreds throughout their lifetime. They can bite down with the force of about 2 tones, which is pretty crazy. During the show, Chris spent time up close and personal with the gators and showed us their teeth, how hard they can chomp (the sound is scary) and some other neat physical characteristics of the gator.            After the show, we wandered around and checked out the other small animals in the area (including some raccoons, a pig and a goat), before getting in line to hop on our airboat. If you don’t know what an airboat is, it is basically a flat-bottomed watercraft that is propelled by an aircraft-type propeller. It is powered by either an aircraft or car engine and is typically made out of aluminum.  They are WAY louder than I had thought but also smoother than anticipated and can go about 60 mph. Our tour guide for the boat tour was Dylan and he was super funny with a quirky personality. He made some really great dad jokes and was very knowledgeable about the Everglades. The Everglades are roughly 4000 square miles of a large ecosystem with many smaller interdependent ecosystems. Most people think the Everglades are just a big swamp when it is actually a slow moving river. It is an endless river of grass, mainly Cattail grass that helps with filtration by absorbing the impurities from the water, which is pretty cool. We saw many different types of wildlife including American black vultures, turkey vultures, a few other birds and of course the gators! We learned a bit more about the gators including the fact that they have lateral vision, eat most fish and small animals. Dylan also taught us about the spatterdock, heart shaped lily pad looking plants that can grow up to 6 feet tall and are a good indicator of how deep the water is. We learned how to tell if there was a caterpillar living in the plant  (called a bonnet worm which Dylan pretended he was going to eat). Dylan also showed us how to make a gauze type band-aid from the cattail grass , which was super neat and helpful. The 2nd grass that is found in the Everglades and is called saw grass which can be very sharp if you rub down the grass. If you take a closer look, you can see the saws that can cut you. If you rub up the grass, it feels like a normal piece of grass. The whole boat tour was about and hour in total before we made our way back to the meeting spot.               We hopped back on the bus for the 45 min drive back into the city. Unfortunately, about 10 minutes into the drive, there was an issue with the bus’ engine. There was a bit of delayed communication from the driver so we ended up sitting around waiting to find out what was wrong for a good 15 minutes. Apparently a belt had come loose and we were unable to continue the drive in our bus. I decided to take a snooze for a bit, since we were told it was going to be a 20-30 min wait for another bus to get to us. I managed to nap while Lafonda chatted with the lovely mother-son duo from New Zealand on our tour. Once I woke up, I joined them and got to know that he had actually come in 7th in the Teen division at Wodapalooza. It was nice to hear about his experiences in not only the comp but also in the states. We discussed some spots in NZ that I had been to and a bit about their hometown of Christchurch. They were super lovely and made the long wait for a new bus more bearable. Finally, after about an hour and a half of waiting, a new bus arrived to take us back into Downtown.            We managed to make it back downtown before rush hour to meet up with Craig and Des who were chilling near Bayfront after a few delicious mojitos. We made a few last minute stops before heading towards the Brickell Centre. We grabbed coffee and enjoyed some chill time before grabbing our stuff at the hotel. Of course, Neyla was our driver to the airport and we enjoyed some great tunes and an updated decor (she had swapped the pink decorations for blue). We were a bit worried about the airport due to the TSA agents being on strike, so we went to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Somehow, we were through security in less than 15 minutes- even quicker than Lafonda and her VIP line. We had known that our flight was delayed so we found a nice spot near our gate to hang out and drop our stuff. Unfortunately, most of the vendors and restaurants closed around 9 so we had less of variety to choose from for dinner. I had a delicious Cuban sandwich from Earl of Sandwiches that was way better than expected. We boarded our flight around 10pm or so. I napped and listened to a podcast for the 3ish hour flight back home. We were all super tired and very glad to make it home just before 1 am. Security was a breeze as was grabbing out bags. Lafonda and I waited a few minutes for my car to be dropped off before heading home on the sketchy roads (thanks to the huge snow storm the GTHA got).           While I didn’t have the typical “Miami” experience, I had a great trip. I always like a trip that involves fitness, good food, weather and some learning. I would definitely go back to Miami for a more relaxing vacay and to spend a bit more time chilling on the beach. Until next time Miami!

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

“Par-Iceland”

          Since both my significant other and I both really enjoy travelling, we decided to plan a trip to Europe (I mean why not?). While I don’t love certain parts of Europe in the winter, he has a family friend with a home in Paris that we were fortunate enough to be invited to stay at, so we took advantage of that. We had planned this trip a few months in advance but didn’t do a ton of actual planning until days before (shocking for me as I like to have every detail planned). We were spending 4/5 days in Paris and 2 days in Iceland on the way home. I was super excited about both places as I had never been to Iceland and had not been to Paris since I was a teenager. Alex had never been to Paris so I was excited to re-do all of the typical touristy stuff.

Sunday February 25th, 2018/Monday February 26th, 2018

            We were leaving on a Sunday evening (also my Mum’s Birthday) on an Icelandair flight from Toronto to Reykjavik and then on to Paris. Just before I arrived at the airport (Alex had been there for a few hours since he flew in from Calgary a bit early) we learned that our original flight would be very delayed and that we would now be taking an Air Canada flight. Now, anyone that knows me knows that I hate change. I was not pleased to hear about this change however it really did work out in the end. When I met Alex at the airport, we were able to check-in using the Air Canada Priority check in (Thanks for that perk hunny) which was stress free and way better than normal check in. The staff were a lot friendlier and more helpful. Security was a breeze thanks to our Nexus cards (if you don’t have one yet, you should invest the $50 in one because it is well worth it). We made our way to the Maple leaf lounge and hunkered down for our 4 or so hour wait. I do have to say, I am a huge fan of the lounges now. Even if you have to pay for it, it is well worth the price.  It is nice to have a more quiet area to hang out in that has all kinds of snacks, drinks and things to read. Of course, the open bar and showers help too. Just before midnight, we boarded our 6.5 hour-long flight to Heathrow. We were served a decent hot meal, along with wine before snoozing away. I slept the majority of the plane ride (I had slept about 3 hours in the previous 48 so I was super tired). We arrived in Heathrow with 2 or so hours before our next flight, which we spent wandering around and planning out our first few hours in Paris. Our British Airways flight from Heathrow to Paris was about 2 hours gate-to-gate and seamless (except for the crying infant which hurt Alex’s head and my heart)

              When we arrived at Charles De Gaulle, we were through security with no questions asked and got our luggage promptly (which was nice after such a long day of travelling). We grabbed tickets to city, which cost 10.30 euro per person and jumped on the Regional train into the city. The train took us about an hour and we got off at Chatelet-Les Halles to get on the 1 train into the city. We got off at the Place de La Concord, which was right around the corner from our accommodations. We were staying on Quai Anatole France about 50 meters from the Musee D’Orsay in the First Arrendissement. Little did we know, we would be within walking distance of all the best tourist attractions. By the time we got off the train, the sun had set and the amazing Tour Eiffel was lit up and sparkling. As the clumsy, child I am, I went running to take a better look and grab some photos of the Tour and almost fell face first onto the cobblestones. Needless to say, Alex was not impressed and I worked on looking where I was going for the rest of the trip. The walk to our apartment was about 10 minutes from the station. We met Thierry, who is the “superintendent” of sorts of the building. He showed us to our building and let us into the older building. The first neat thing we found was the antique elevator that was super small and was on an old school pulley system with a cage around it and everything. I was very excited to see the apartment as the building was very Parisian and had some amazing features already. I was blow away when we finally got inside- it was huge! Having visited and lived in several big cities, we were surprised at the size of the apartment. The apartment boasted 4 bedrooms and two bathrooms with a great size kitchen and living room. The trim and ceilings were very beautiful filled with fine details. Our bedroom had a beautiful chandelier with lovely pink and green accents. Many of the rooms had fireplaces with beautiful mantels, which added to the Parisian feel. 

           After unpacking a bit and taking a few minutes to relax, we headed down the street for dinner as it was getting late (around 2000). We had dinner at Le Solferino. I was a bit worried at first as there were only a couple patrons in the restaurant but we had read that this was a place that Alex’s family friend had frequented so we decided to give it a shot. We had an excellent meal of charcuterie, chicken and crème brule. The service was excellent and we never had an empty wine or water glass. We headed back to our apartment to enjoy a night cap (of red wine of course) and head to bed to rest up for a busy day.

Tuesday February 27th, 2018

               Waking up in Paris is so much better than waking up at home! It has just a different feel to it- or maybe it’s just my imagination. As a bit of history (since I can’t miss this part of any blog) Paris is one of Europe’s most populous cities at 2.2 million people and is a major European centre for commerce, fashion, art, and music. It is 105 square kilometres and was listed as the 2nd most expensive city to live in, in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit (behind Singapore). It boasts many famous landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame (just to name a few). It is also known as the City of lights due to its leading role in the Age of Enlightment but also because it was one of the first European cities to use gas street lighting. Paris sees over 23 million visitors per year and we were very excited to be two of them! 

                Back to our first day in the city of Lights (or love depending on your opinion)! It was quite chilly out (as it was going to be for the few days that were going to be in the city) so we bundled up and headed out for an exciting day of sight seeing. We started our day by wandering up towards the Place de la Concorde, which is essentially the start of the Champs Elysees.  The Champs Elysees is Paris’ most iconic street that starts at the Place de la Concorde and ends at the Arc de Triomphe at Place Charles de Gaulle. It is almost 2 km long and about 70 meters wide and is home to shops, restaurants and parks. As we wandered up the iconic street, we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the city. We stopped at La Duree for breakfast (which I was super excited about). While planning this trip, we had discussed loosely what we would do and where we would eat and I just had to have macarons from La Duree. I also planned to eat “tous les macaron” that I could in the week as I love them and think they are as French as you can get. We waited about 20 mins or so to be seated in La Duree. We started off by ordering coffees and then pastries basically for our meal. I thought I had ordered the sampler of pastries when in fact I ordered the breadbasket. Clearly my 18 years of French did me no favours (nor did my French speaking boyfriend help this time). In any case, the breadbasket came with a great selection of jams and purees which were amazing. Alex got a selection of croissants, which I tested and they were delicious. Of course, we finished our meal with les macarons (instead of discussing all of the macarons we ate in the blog, I have added a list of all the places we tried and my rating of each macarons).

            After brunch, we continued to walk down the Champs Elysee and stopped in a few classic stores (Longchamps of course!). We made our way to the Arc de Triomphe and took some amazing photos while we watched the multiple lanes of traffic drive around the Arc. After our insta-worthy photos, we paid the 8-euro each to head up to the top of this famous monument. For a little history, the Arc was built between 1806 and 1836 as requested by Napoleon and inaugurated by King Louis-Philippe in dedication to the armies of both the Revolution and the Empire who fought for France. The Arc stands 162 ft tall, 150 feet wide and 72 feet deep and has the names of the generals and wars fought at the top of the arch. The Arc is a very patriotic and symbolic site and was incredible to explore. I had never been to the top and was very excited about the view. It was a 360 degree view of the whole city and of the 12 avenues that branch out from the arc. While it was chilly and windy at the top, the views were well worth it. We pointed out many other important sights that we would be seeing later on such as the Tour Eiffle, Sacre Coeur etc. 

             After the Arc De Triomphe, we took one of the 12 avenues (Avenue Marceau) towards the Tour Eiffel. On our way, we stopped at a cute store called Josephine, which sold coffee, pastries and delicious looking sandwiches. We grabbed coffee and (surprise, surprise) macarons before continuing on our way. We came across the Yves St. Laurent Museum, which we thought would be really neat (and warm!) so we headed on in. The museum is actually the home to Yves St. Laurent’s Atelier and was opened in October 2017 after it had been closed for 15 years since Yves retirement in 2002. The 10-euro cost of each ticket was well worth the experience. There was a 20-minute movie showcasing his life and various eras of style. The museum itself was beautiful and flowed really well from section to section (e.g early years, his life with Pierre Bergee, Yves signature fashions, the Haute Couture House and much more). The best part was Yves’ office, which was in the same spot as his actual office and was basically a re-creation with some of his actual drawings and fabrics. While this was an unexpected stop in our day, I really enjoyed the experience and highly suggest it.

             Since we were nice and warm from being in the museum, we made our way towards our final tourist destination of the day- the Tour Eiffel. The Eiffel Tower is probably THE most iconic structure in Paris and possibly even all of Europe. It is a 1,063 ft tall (same height as an 81 storey building) wrought iron, lattice tower named after Gustave Eiffel, the engineer who built and designed it. Construction started in 1887 and terminated in 1889 as the tower was the entrance to the World’s Fair in that same year. It is the tallest structure in Paris and was the tallest man-made structure for over 40 years. The tower sees over 6 million visitors a year and is the most visited, paid monument in the world. There are three levels that you can visit, each view with a slightly different perspective. We decided, go big (or tall) or go home so we bought the tickets to the top, which were about 25 Euro each. I forgot how cool the lift was! It goes up on an angle, which is really neat to me. We stopped at all levels before enjoying some time at the observation deck at 906 feet of the ground. The views were amazing! We grabbed a bunch of photos (with frozen fingers) before heading back down.

          Post Tour experience, we walked across the Pont de L’Ena towards the Place de Trocadero where we grabbed some more photos of the Tower. We had happy hour wine and charcuterie at Le Malakoff (which was delicious of course). We slowly wandered back towards the Tour Eiffel and took the Rue de L’Universite home (Which was as special as Alex’s parents had said it was!). We stopped at a grocery store to get more meat, cheeses and a baguette that we enjoyed at home with a nice glass of wine.

Wednesday February 28th, 2018

            Today we had a lovely sleep in before heading across the Seine to wander around the Jardin des Tuleries and Rue De Rivoli. Since it was pretty well noon, we stopped for lunch at Imperial and basically ordered one of everything on the menu. We had our first “Croque Monsieur/Madam” which is basically a ham and cheese sandwich baked with cheese and a fried egg on top (if you’re a madam of course) and was amazing. If you’ve never had one, it is mostly fat and very delicious. The coffee and crepes were equally amazing. I had noticed the day before and it was even more evident that the majority of wait staff and those that worked in the restaurants were male. Not that it made a difference; I just thought it was an interesting observation since it is quite the opposite in North America. So far, all of the staff we had met were very lovely and did not appear to dislike “Americans” in the slightest. After lunch, we wandered around the area, stopping at Pierre Herme (as Alex’s mom’s suggestion) for some macarons (for later of course since we were stuffed!). We wandered around towards Moulin Rouge, up Rue Blanche wandering past the Opera House, and many cute, quaint streets. When we made it to Moulin Rouge, it was very neat to see but was definitely a lot older and not as fancy as I had thought. After marvelling at the difference in the streets, stores and scenery in this area, we headed to Place Des Abesses to check out the Wall of love. This popular meeting spot has “I love you” painted on the wall in hundreds of languages. There were a lot of tourists there but I snuck in for a great photo. We walked up the several flights of stairs to Sacre Coeur, which is at summit of Butte Montmartre and is the highest point of the city. You can also take a funicular to the top (which I would’ve loved since I think they are super cool) but we figured we could use all the extra steps we could get! This was one of the beautiful spots I had only seen at night on my previous trip to Paris so I was excited to see it during the day. The church really is beautiful! Sacre Coeur is a Roman Catholic Church and a minor Basilica dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The basilica’s construction started in 1875 and was completed in 1914. The basilica was consecrated in 1919 at the end of WW1 and is not only a political but also a cultural monument. The views of the church were amazing as were the views looking down at the city. I love churches, especially old ones! I lit a candle (as I do at every church I go to for my Nonna) and we headed back down towards the city, stopping to take photos looking up at the church and of the amazing carousel below Sacre Coeur in the Square Louise Michel. 

               We hopped on the subway back towards the city (RER B) and got off at Saint Michel/ Notre Dame stop to wander over to Notre Dame. Notre Dame was less busy than Sacre Coeur but still a noticeably popular tourist attraction. It was lovely to look at the rich history and learn a bit more about the beautiful church. Notre Dames construction was initially started in 1163 but wasn’t finished until centuries later in 1345. It is 226 feet tall and is a medieval Catholic Cathedral on the Isle de la Cite. It is considered one of the first examples of French Gothic architecture and is one of the best-known and largest churches in the world. Since it is on the island, it boasts amazing views of the city and the Seine. We enjoyed both of these views from the Pont Saint Michel and wandered along the river crossing many famous ponts en route to the Louvre. While the weather was a bit cool and dreary, we enjoyed the 1.5 km walk over towards the Louvre while checking out many famous bridges and landmarks. Since we had reservations at the Louvre for the evening, we  wanted to grab some photos and a snack (typical) before our museum adventure. Before grabbing something to eat, we wanted to check out the Louvre exterior area, which did not disappoint.  The Louvre and the pyramids are even more spectacular than I had imagined! The details in the building itself and the architecture are magical. We were FREEZING, so we headed over to Café Brasserie Ragueneau for some red wine and a charcuterie board. The service was average at best for the location, which was a bit disappointing but the meat and cheeses were awesome! The atmosphere was neat- good mix of age groups and social backgrounds, which is nice to see. It definitely satisfied our need for warmth, wine and snacks. 

               The Louvre is the worlds most visited Museum and is also the largest in the world measuring almost 800,000 square feet with 38,000 objects from prehistoric pieces to pieces from the 21st century. It was originally built as a castle, finished in the 13th Century that was converted into the main residence of the French kings in the 1500s. The main building has been extended many times over the years but does still have remnants of the previous fortress in the basement. Since Louis XIV lived in Versailles, the Louvre was left to display the royal collection, which then housed various other collections through the years before it was named a museum. The National Assembly decided that the Louvre should display France’s masterpieces during the French Revolution and the museum was initially opened in 1793. Throughout the years, the museum has appropriated many different pieces and is now home to 8 curatorial departments including Egyptian Antiquities, Greek, Sculpture, Paintings. 

             We bought our tickets online ahead of time, which was fairly uncomplicated. We paid 17 euro a ticket, which was for a specific time and date. After entering through the main pyramid (which is super cool), we marvelled at the map and magnitude of the museum. We wished we had more time to enjoy the huge place but had picked out a few specific things that we had really wanted to see. Since neither of us were big into history per say, we just enjoyed the sights and exhibits as we went. Obviously Venus and the Mona Lisa were top on our list. If you are planning to do the Louvre (and are actually interested into art and history), I would make sure to spend at least 4-5 hours there. We enjoyed checking out Aphrodite (Venus De Milo) in the Greek , Etruscan and Roman Antiquities Section. We wandered around this exhibit in the Sully wing for a while before heading to the Denon wing to check out some paintings. Wandering around the Louvre was quite fun, despite not having any idea about art or history. Some of the exhibits were under constructions/closed but we were able to enjoy many of them. We were wandering around some of the paintings and started to notice lots of people coming in and out of a small room, which meant we were close to the famed Mona Lisa. While the Mona Lisa is magical, it is definitely smaller than I had thought and imagined. I am glad we saw it (and took a selfie with it) before wandering around the rest of the Louvre. My other favourite exhibit was the Department of Decorative arts that showcased jewels, ceramics, silverware and much more from the Middle Ages until the middle of the 19th. Seeing Louis XV’s crown and jewels was pretty cool and they were much more elaborate than I had thought.

         After about 3 hours at the magnificent Louvre, we walked home to enjoy some more wine and cheese before heading to bed for another exciting, busy Parisian day.

Thursday March 1st, 2018

             I was pretty excited for today’s activities- despite the awful rainy weather. I had been to the Chateau of Versailles when I was 13 or so in the summer and really enjoyed the history, interior and of course the gardens. While I figured the gardens wouldn’t be as luscious and lovely as it was in the summer, I was still excited to experience the castle again and probably learn more than I did when I was younger. Since we were so close to the subway station (Musee D’Orsay), we had a bit of a sleep in before having an awesome breakfast at the Royal Orsay and taking the 50 or so minute train ride on the RER C to Versaille. We followed the crowds of tourists from the train station to the castle, which was only a few minute walk from the station. We had pre-bought our tickets again (so smart) and so we got to skip a decent line before going through a metal detector (or two). We grabbed our headsets (which were not very good and kind of grossed me out) before heading on our way. The castle was beautiful! The palace of Versailles was the main royal residence under Louis XIV until the beginning of the French Revolution. The Palace is one of the most visited places in France as it now a historical monument and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Some of its more popular rooms are the Hall of Mirrors (which is definitely spectacular), the Royal Opera  and the Kings Grand Apartments. While much of the palace and its furnishings were removed during the French Revolution, many pieces have been returned and much of the castle is set up how it was in the past. We wandered around with all the other tourists, enjoying the décor, grandeur and history. My favourite rooms were the Hall of Mirrors, Louis’ chambers (I want a canopy bed like his) along with the Queens Apartment. I really enjoyed all the details in the décor and the richness of the history. Once we were done the tour of the castle. We had a snack at Angeline (macaron of course!) and coffee before heading outside to enjoy the chilly gardens. We took a bunch of photos (and laughed at others taking even cornier photos then we were.). I really enjoyed the main fountain (Fountain of Latona) that leads to the grand canals.   We headed toward the end of the gardens and enjoyed the rest of the canals. While we were there, we saw someone fall into the pond, which was pretty funny. I did feel a bit bad for him because it was cold out but, it was funny and I hope he learned a lesson on how to take selfies safely. We hopped on the train, which took us around much of the grounds where we saw the Grand and Petit Trianons while marvelling at the amount of land and upkeep this palace must be. The train ended up bringing us back to the top where we realized we were supposed to pay for it…. I had really wanted to go inside the Trianons and wander around the grounds a bit more but was not down for the long walk back down and around. We grabbed coffees and macaron to go (I think we are at macaron 35 of the week now) before hopping back on the train back home. 

              We had our date night planned for tonight so we were both really excited to go out and enjoy a nice meal. Alex’s parents have been to Paris many times and they (along with their friend Diana) had given us a ton of great suggestions on where to eat. There was a restaurant called La Fregate, which wasn’t far from our apartment that we were eager to try. After getting all dolled up (aka putting make-up on) with some wine and essential oils diffusing, we wandered down to La Fregate for an amazing dinner. The Fregate is on Quai Anatole France right at Pont Royal, which had great views of the main road on the seine. We decided to have a “typical” Parisian meal that I was super excited about. After consulting the delicious menu (and the wait staff of course), we decided on a few appys and mains. We chose escargot in sauce (basically butter) with garlic and foies gras for appys, which were amazing. I didn’t think I’d had proper escargot or foies gras ever and boy was I impressed. While the fois gras was super rich, it was delicious. Alex settled on the veal with mashed potatoes for his meal (which were super yummy). I decided to keep it more Parisian with duck confit and potatoes. Alex and I enjoyed each other’s company and even got to know a couple of professors that were sitting beside us from the Twin Cities. They were super lovely and it was actually really nice to chat with other adults for a bit. We finished our meal and wine with an amazing dessert of crème brule- that was probably the best we had both ever had. With full tummies and hearts, we headed back home to bed.

Friday March 2nd, 2018

           Today was our last full day in Paris and I was super sad! I was excited to continue on with our trip but was so, so, so in love with Paris and didn’t want to leave. Since we had been so productive for our first couple of days in Paris, we got to hang out a bit and wander around more aimlessly. Alex was very pleased about that since he is a bit more of a “go with the flow” and wanderer type and I am anal and like to have our days planned so we don’t miss out on anything. Surprisingly, it usually works out pretty well and we find a good balance of both when travelling. It was another dreary morning in Paris but we were excited to just wander and see what the day brought. We headed towards the Pont Alexandre because I really wanted to take a photo of Alex in front of it (he was super stoked about- not).  We enjoyed the sights of the Grand Palais (which had some Fashion week stuff around it which was kind of cool) as well as Place de la Concord that had even more set up for some Fashion week. After plenty of photos, we took the Rue de Rivoli towards the Louvre. Since we needed to pick up a few souvenirs, we grabbed those and some lunch on our way to the Louvre. We had the most delicious baguette sandwiches with prosciutto. We decided to hang out around the Louvre to relax and people watch. There were a few people feeding seagulls, which did not make me very happy in the slightest since this meant that there were birds flocking around us. I am not a fan of birds, especially close to me. Alex, trying to be a good boyfriend was shooing them away persistently, which I was appreciative of, until he accidently kicked one into my bad knee, which made me a little more than angry. Luckily, both the bird and I were ok and we finished out sandwiches without the birds bugging us (probably because they were scared of Alex). 

              We headed out of the Louvre complex towards the Pont Des Art and took a ton of photos (of course). The subway station wasn’t far from the Pont des Art and we hopped on the metro from Saint-Germain-des -pres towards the Catacombs. The train was about 20 mins or so. We were really excited about the Catacombs as these are a very historic part of the city. We had tried to book tickets online but the website wasn’t very user friendly and when we tried to call them a few days before, there was no answer. We ended up waiting in line for about 2 hours, which felt shorter since it wasn’t super cold out. We enjoyed coffees, people watching and each other’s company before paying the 13 euro each to get in.

            The Catacombs are defined as a man made, below ground burial place or any passageway for religious practice. While there are many catacombs throughout the world, those in Paris are quite well known. The catacombs were not used for religious purposes but as an ossuary to hold the many bones cleared from graveyards after the plague and the overflowing cemeteries.  There are remains of over 6 million people in these catacombs that are over 1 km long, They only allow a certain amount of people in at time (due to size of course) which is why the line took so long. There were great walls of information and history about the catacombs which I enjoyed reading. At first, I wasn’t overly impressed until we started going through the tunnels. The tunnels were insane! They were about 7 feet tall (shorter in some areas) and about 5 feet wide with millions of skulls and bones. The tunnels then seemed to go on forever. It was almost surreal. I felt a bit emotional and eerie at the same time. It was a very neat experience and I am glad that we visited the catacombs. 

            The catacomb experience was about 4 hours in total and once we were finished checking out the gift shop, we jumped on the train back towards the city. We got off the train at Place de la Concorde as the sun was starting to set. I LOVE sunset and had the genius idea to ride the ferris wheel. Alex, of course, was on board as he knows how much I love both sunsets and ferris wheels. The  “Roue de Paris” was originally built in 2000 for the millennium celebrations but has been featured in many places around the world. It can be erected in 72 hours and dismantled in 60 hours and transported anywhere in the world. It weighs 365 tonnes and is secured by 40 tonnes of water at its base. There are 42 gondolas that can hold 8 people at a time. We barely waited in line for our turn in our private gondola. The Roue is in what seems like the middle of the city and overlooks all of the sights we had seen in the past 3 days and then some. The sunset on the wheel was just amazing. I loved it so much. The views of the Champs Elysee were just unreal. I took so many photos and enjoyed the views and our time on the wheel. 

            At the base of the wheel, there were several little shops and food carts so of course, we grabbed our last macarons of the trip. We visited the grocery store near us to grab dinner (meat, cheese and baguette of course) before heading home to clean up and do laundry. Our last night in Paris was perfect! After packing and cleaning up, we enjoyed our dinner with wine and my favourite essential oils while cuddling on the couch having some life chats.

Saturday March 3rd, 2018

        Au Revoir! We were leaving Paris en route to Iceland today and were kind of bummed about it. We finished up our laundry and cleaning before walking over through the Tulleries to the concord train station. We took the C train back to Chatletes et Halles and then the RER B to CDG. The whole thing took about 25 minutes, which is super impressive, especially for a bit metropolitan city. Check in at CDG was actually a bit of a nightmare. The line was super long and check in didn’t start until almost 11 (our flight was around 1pm). Once we had checked my bag and gotten our boarding passes, we headed through security, which was far less painful than check in.  Since we hadn’t had breaky, we grabbed some sandwiches and final pastries with coffee at La Brioche. I was super excited because the Icelandair plane we were taking had the northern lights depicted on the outside, which I loved. When we made it on to the plane, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the northern light theme continued on the inside! The top lights in the plane glowed in various colours of the northern lights and changed periodically. I was super excited about this! Our flight to Iceland was about 3.5 hours and pretty breezy. We had the row to ourselves so we set up a macaron and coffee picnic in between us and enjoyed the last of our treats from the macaron of Montmatre (while watching Passport to Paris).

We landed in Iceland around 1430 and were really excited to get our car and get on the road. The airport was pretty neat in terms of its designs and art pieces. We had some issues getting our car at the Budget counter (they are scammers and had me pay double insurance basically) that took much longer than it should have. Alex grabbed us some very expensive coffees and muffins at Joe and the Juice (his favourite) that cost about $26 Canadian (I thought the price was a joke) before we headed out to our standard car. While the coffee was super expensive, it was mighty good!

            As a back story, it seems as though everyone on social media is going to Iceland. Part of it is the fact that, everyone ELSE on social media is going to Iceland but also because Icelandair allows you to stopover for up to 7 days for free. I think Iceland is quite the interesting place because of its proximity to the artic circle, its diverse landscapes and of course because some of the fittest women on earth are from there (the Dottirs for those who are not Crossfit fanatics). Iceland is the most northwestern country in Europe and is approximately 100 sqaure km. It is home to about 350,000 people, 2/3 of which live in its capital city of Reykjavik. Iceland can be found on both the Eurasian and North American plates and is an island country in the middle of the Greeland and North Atlantic oceans. Its sparsely populated area is home to many natural wonders as it is still geologically and volcanically active. There are many mountains, lava fields and glaciers throughout the country. While it is just outside the Arctic Circle, the gulf stream keeps the country temperate and bearable even in the winter. The country has a Nordic social welfare system with universal health care and is almost entirely run on renewable energy (so cool). While the country has had its share of financial issues, it is now flourishing, in part to its increase in tourists. The majority of people speak Icelandic, which is similar to north German and Norwegian dialects. There are many folklores around the country that involve elves and Vikings as the country has a large Scandinavian background. Woah, that was a lot of history on this tiny country (thanks google and Wiki). Back to the fun stuff!

               Our drive from Keflavik (where the airport is) to Reykjavik was about 50 minutes and uneventful. The majority of the landscape in Iceland was said to be volcanic rock so it looked very primitive. We drove around the large bay, mainly with the coast in view into town. By the time we made it into Reykjavik, it was about 1700 and we were excited to find a parking spot and head to our Airbnb. Alex managed to find us a cute Airbnb right in the heart of the city. It cost us $350 for the two nights (cheap compared to the hotels in the area).  We realized quickly that the Airbnb was on a very busy street with minimal parking so we looped back around and parked about 5 minutes from the house. I was super excited (not) to drag my suitcase up the small hill and through the cobblestone roads of the town but was really impressed with the beauty of all the buildings so far. Our Airbnb was very cosy. There was a lock pad at the back door that allowed us to get the key to enter the suite. The house was probably a triplex of some sorts and was on a busy main street with tons of activity and restaurants. The room itself was very small but had everything we needed- bathroom, bed and towels. There was also a small kitchen with a small table and the basic amenities. I was a bit taken aback by how small it was but then was reminded that it was Europe and we were spoiled with our apartment in Paris. It also didn’t really matter how small the apartment was since we had a busy couple days planned. 

            After ditching our bags (and putting on another layer!), we headed out to explore the city a bit. We walked to the Lutheran church called Hallgrimskirkja, that is the tallest church in Iceland at almost 75 meters tall. The church and the views around it were amazing. We had wanted to go in but it seemed to be closed so we settled for exterior photos. The temperature was only about -2 but it still felt pretty cold, especially when we walked towards the waterfront. Reykjavik is on a beautiful bay off of the ocean and has an amazin waterfront! There are mountains/glaciers everywhere you look and is truly spectacular. After taking a bunch of photos, we went into the Opera (Harpa) to take a look at this super interesting building and to warm up of course. The Opera is home to a large conference centre and concert hall that boasts some really neat architecture. The stores inside were also pretty cute and there was a bar as well on the main floor for those looking for a drink with a cool vibe. We continued our walk down the water and checked out the Sun Voyageur that is important to Iceland. The Sun Voyageur is sculpture that was created in 1990 by Jon Gunnar Arnason as an ode to the sun. Jon’s vision for the Sun Voyageur was to convey the dream of hope, progress and freedom as part of the commemoration of Iceland’s 200th anniversary. This was Alex’s second trip to Iceland and he was being a great our guide! He even showed me the really neat hostel he stayed in (Kex Hostel I believe) the last time he was there, which had a really neat lobby, bar and restaurant. The vibe was great and seemed like an awesome place to stay.

           My personal tour guide wanted to take me to the great Icelandic restaurant he went to on his last visit so I was excited to try some traditional food. The restaurant was called Prir Frakkar and was amazing! We had a bottle of Villa Puccini Pinot Grigio, which was light and delicious along with two amazing apps that we shared. We had whale sashimi with a yummy caviar along with smoked puffin and a creamy mustard on top. Both were savoury and had amazing flavour. Alex is a huge lamb man so had that as his main, which he enjoyed but I found it tasted more like pork and didn’t love it. My main was a type of animal tenderloin (I will leave the type of animal out as some people may find it offensive) that was served with potatoes, mushrooms and béarnaise sauce. The whole meal had amazing flavour and texture. While I don’t particularly like trying certain types of animals, I do believe in experiencing as much of a countries traditions and customs as possible. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and the company along with the great service. We knew that this was going to be a pricey meal (almost $300) hence why we were planning to have hotdogs for dinner the next night (no joke and they were amazing!)

         With full tummies, we wandered home, checking out some of the awesome graffiti on the walls and the neat stores/bars. We were both super tired so after some reading/youtube video watching, we hit the hay in anticipation of another fun, jam packed day.

Sunday March 4th, 2018

             As much as we wanted to sleep in, we were up and out the door at a decent time for all of the fun things we wanted to see today. We grabbed some more photos of the amazing waterfront and glaciers before grabbing some coffees and a smoothie at Joe and the Juice (1700 Krone which is about $20 CAD). Since I prefer to eat my food rather than drink it in a smoothie, we headed down the street to a cute spot called Durum for salmon sandwiches to have as breakfast for the road, along with treats for later. 3800 Krone later, we made our way to the car and out of the city to drive out towards the Geysir. The drive to the Geysir was about an hour and a half and boasted the similar interesting rocky terrain we had seen yesterday. It was a beautiful sunny day with temps of about 3 degrees. We had some sweet dance parties on the way to the Geysir and enjoyed the views. We hung out at the geyser for a while and saw it erupt 3 times, which was pretty cool. The Great Geysir is said to have been the first to be described and can go years without erupting.  When it does erupt, it can launch boiling water up to 200 feet in the air. There is a small geyser near by called Strokkur that erupts every 6-10 minutes. After enjoying some time outdoors watching the Geysirs, we headed inside to the gift shop. As always, the gift shop was filled with tourists and ridiculously overpriced souvenirs and wools. I didn’t need any souvenirs, just the bathroom and a coffee so we grabbed those and headed about 10 mins up the road to Gullfoss, which was amazing. It was super chilly and windy but the views were unreal. Gullfoss is a beautiful waterfall found in the canyon of the Hvita River. It stands 32 meters tall with the highest drop being 21 m. While it is not its height that makes it magical, but its shape and speed at which water rushes through it. As we were leaving Gullfoss, we realized we had started our tour of the Golden circle in the opposite direction that we had wanted to. We had planned on hitting up each part of the golden circle (including the Geysir, waterfalls and national park) however since we went the wrong way, we decided to head back the way we came and visit another beautiful waterfall before heading back to the city for our date at the Blue Lagoon. 

              We headed back the way we came en route to Skogafoss. We saw some cute “Elves homes” Or what I thought were Elf homes. The history of the Huldofolk is quite interesting. These homes are basically buildings to protect the elves (or hidden people) from rocks and people. While these homes are traditional Icelandic/Farose folklore, I thought they were super special and enjoyed seeing/learning about them.  We stopped to pet some Icelandic horses that were more pony sized. They were super fuzy and sweet. I really wanted to take one home but Alex didn’t think that was the best idea. We made it to Skogafoss around 1600 after about a 2 hour drive. The drive was well worth it! These falls were very tall and beautiful. We had wanted to climb to the top to check out the view overtop of the falls but realized that time was a bit short and that we would put that on the list for next time. There were beautiful rainbows in the waterfall and the suns positioning was just perfect. I was very glad (despite being cranky that we hadn’t done everything how we had planned) that we had checked out theses falls. Sometimes (often) Alex has some great ideas.

           As we drove back towards the city, we stopped several times to get out and take photos, which is the biggest perk of having your own car. While tours are great, it doesn’t allow the flexibility to change the plan or to take photos wherever you wanted. We saw the Faxi falls (near Vid Faxa) that were smaller than all the others but still very beautiful and not very tourist-y which I liked. We found that there was volcanic rock, mini waterfalls, streams and Icelandic ponies everywhere. The views all around where amazing of both glaciers and the ocean. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable drive- especially since there was barely any other cars on the road and of course Alex did all the driving.

         Our evening was taking us to the Blue Lagoon, which is about halfway between Rejkavki and the airport. It is a VERY popular tourist attraction. A lot of tour companies will book people in to the lagoon on the way to or from the airport so it is super busy. We were actually told (and this could be a rumour) that they increased the price of the lagoon because it was too busy and they were always full. The price of the lagoon was about $75 pp for the basic package which included as long as you wanted (until close) at the lagoon, an alcoholic drink, towel and silica mask. The line was massive to get in just before 1900. It was only about a 20-minute wait as the process is quite efficient. Each patron is presented with a wristband that you wear that has some sort of inner chip card that acts as a payment method and lock for the locker- so smart. It makes losing things virtually impossible and ordering drinks/snacks super easy (maybe not the best thing for the wallet). I was mildly weirded out when I had to take my bathing suit off to shower before going into the lagoon but such is to keep it clean and as germ free as possible I suppose. We enjoyed about two hours in the lagoon. It was amazing! The water was so warm and silky. We enjoyed our silica masks after having our beer/prosecco. I have to say, I felt pretty badass drinking prosecco under the beautiful sky in an amazing lagoon. The lagoon was recently renovated to increase its size add several special features. There are several bars, private water massage areas, waterfalls in the lagoon as well as a spa, hotel and restaurant. The waterfall was probably one of my favourite parts, despite it smelly super strongly of sulphur. There were also a few saunas and steam rooms which I checked out. I think going at night made the whole experience a bit more romantic and neat. As a side note for some history (of course) the Blue Lagoon is a man made geothermic lake (basically) that is filled with minerals and is about 102 degrees year round. The water renews itself every 48 hours and is milky/blue and is a beautiful contrast to the dark lava field that surround it.

            Once we had had enough of the warm water and views (which I don’t think I could ever get sick of the night sky!), we headed into the locker rooms to shower and get ready. Alex had picked up some snacks for us (such a good man making sure I don’t get too hangry) including a small cheese and meat tray that cost him almost $30 (probably like $8 at Starbucks). Once we had finished our snack, we headed back to the car for the 45 or so minute drive back into Reykjavik. The city looks very lovely at night as you are driving into it and we saw several signs stating that we were heading into the Town of both Elves and Vikings. Our dinner tonight was going to be very fancy- hot dogs! Now, these hot dogs were not your run of the mill hot dogs. I am not sure what kind of meat they were (I didn’t dare ask after seeing the various animals on the menu at the restaurant the night before) but they are well known to be the best hot dogs in Iceland, if not anywhere! The stand is called Baejarins Beztu Pylsur (which translates into Best Hot Dogs in Town) and is right down by the water. We each had two (which I could’ve probably had a dozen) with all the toppings on it. The special toppings included a few sauces, a remoulade, spicy mustard and crispy onions. I am usually a ketchup and maybe hot pepper only fan for hot dogs but loved all the special toppings on these hot dogs. Feeling satiated, we headed back to our Airbnb to enjoy a glass of wine and our last night together for a while.

Monday March 5th, 2018

             Sadly, it was our last day of our trip! We packed up our stuff and heade out for breakfast at Café Loki which was right near the beautiful church. The café served traditional Icelandic food and was quite busy with good reviews so I had wanted to try it. We each had a coffee with a different Icelandic plate. I am not a picky eater by any means (Alex says differently) but I was mildly worried about the fish hash that was on my bread but I tried it anyways and it was delicious! Alex’s plate came with shark which I tried and was not a fan of. It tasted a bit like how Windex smells. We also enjoyed their rye bread ice cream that was amazing. After paying our almost $100 Canadian breakfast bill, we headed back out and enjoyed a bit more of the town and sunshine while grabbing our souvenirs. 

           We hopped into the car and stopped at Crossfit Reykjavik which I was super excited about. I was actually planning on doing one of the Crossfit Open work-outs there but had some issues with timing as well as injury. I was surprised at how big the facility was! I was also surprised at how unfriendly the staff was. I understand that they have hundreds of people dropping in each week (learned more about this box though a podcast with Annie Thorisdottir) but I still had expected a bit more of a welcome. In any case, I am glad I got to see where some of the most famous Dottirs of Crossfit train when they are in the country and the gym that two time Games Champion owns. We made our way back to the airport after putting around 600 km on the car. We managed to get over 450 on just Sunday alone! That is a lot of driving but it was well worth it! Our gas cost us almost $100 as well, which again, was well worth it. Once we had made it through security and check in we grabbed our last Joe and the Juice of the trip and some smoked salmon open-faced sandwiches for the plane. We had to pick up some Brennivin (Icelandics signature distilled beverage and is basically unsweetened schnapps) and some Icelandic snacks for the plane ride home. Our flight home was relaxing and uneventful- just how we like it. We landed in Pearson in the evening and cleared customs quickly- thanks Nexus☺. Alex had to catch his flight back to Calgary and I had to grabbed my car and head home so we said our long, drawn out goodbyes and headed our separate ways.

           I am so glad that Alex had the great idea to take this trip. I really enjoyed Paris as an adult and would love to spend more time there. As for Iceland, I don’t think our 2 days did it justice but I still really enjoyed the country. As always, travelling is amazing and enriching but tends to lead to a desire to return to see more. Luckily, we both love travelling and experiencing new things so I am sure this won’t be our last Eurotrip!

               **PS Sorry about the randomness of the photos. The internet in the north where I am posting this is very spotty. 

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

Travel Nursing-Pikangikum 2018

        I have been on a few nursing contracts now and have really enjoyed each one in their own way. After Christmas, I was supposed to be headed back to a community that I had been to before and really enjoyed. About a week before I was to leave, I found out I was being changed to a different community, one that I have been dreading going to since I started doing northern nursing. I am part of a group of all northern nursing who discuss what different communities are like, the good and the bad and this one had some mixed reviews. I have never been one to stray away from a bit of a challenge due to fear so I was ready to go!        Pikangikum (which yes, does sound like a pokemon) is a community about 100 km north of Red Lake and about 650 km NW of Thunder Bay. The population is estimated to be around 4000 with a census in 2011 confirming 2400 inhabitants. During the winter, many people use the winter road to go from Red Lake to Pik to get some supplies or to just get out of the community for a bit. This community, similar to many have a unemployment rate (around 90%) and has many issues with mental health and substance abuse. The community has had a lot of challenges with alcohol abuse and suicides but has been working diligently to provide more support for mental health along with various “ride” programs that help stop alcohol from being brought into the communities. (The Ride programs are a partnership with the OPP and peacekeepers in the community).  In my research before hand, I had heard that Pik is often a very busy unit with many challenges. Since I am still quite new to northern nursing, I prefer the “quieter”, slower paced communities. I was ready for the challenge, especially knowing that I would have plenty of support and guidance.           My flight out was fairly early in the am from Toronto into Winnipeg (so weird that you fly out of the province to fly back into it). Since I hate rush hour, I left extra early for the airport and enjoyed breakfast and a book into the Maple Leaf lounge. I was in Winnipeg by midday and took a cab over to the Perimeter hanger/airport just down the road from the main airport. I didn’t have to wait long for my plane to board and was surprised that there was actually security at this airport to check bags (normally you just walk on through a special terminal in Thunder bay and Siox Lookout. This plane was small but WAY nicer than some of the planes I have taken  (this one was a Dash 8-100 for any plane enthusiasts). I was even served coffee and cookies en route to our first stop which was Sandy Lake. A lot of the smaller planes that head up north make multiple stops (aka the Milk run). I was pleasantly surprised that this flight was only making one stop before landing in Pik which made the flight time just under 2 hours. Once in Pik, the attendant at the aiport called the nursing station for me and the driver was on his way to pick me up (often times with delayed flights they aren’t always there to get you right when you land which isn’t a huge deal)          Once I arrived, I met the nurse in charge and was given a brief tour of the facility before being giving the passcard to head over to the housing. There are 5 apartments attached to the nursing station along with a few trailers and duplexes out back for the staff to stay in. I was fortunate enough to be staying in the apartments attached to the nursing station which meant I wouldn’t have to go outside if I didn’t want to (which is always a plus). The accommodations, similar to the nursing station were old but fairly well kept. My apartment was a 3 bedroom with a good size living room and galley kitchen. My roommates were very lovely and I was already invited to play volleyball at the school and check out the Northern before I’d even unpacked.           We headed to the Northern (the grocery store in the north) and I was pleasantly surprised at how large it is. There was even a small Tim Horton’s and KFC inside. The prices were, of course more expensive than home but were a lot better than I had thought. After wandering around the store, we headed back to the nursing station to get ready for volleyball. One of the staff’s partners worked at the school and had a key to get into the gym so we were heading over to play some pick-up volleyball (wait, is that even a thing). The school is absolutely beautiful! It is just over a year old or so and holds grades jk through 12. There are 3-4 classes in each of the elementary school ages and then the numbers drop off a bit after grade 9. We had a great time playing volleyball and with some of the other fun equipment that I hadn’t played with since I was in elementary school (think scoops and scooters). Since I already had meal prepped and cooked all the food for the week, dinner was super easy and I was ready for bed early.           Friday was a total blur for the most part. While the clinic wasn’t super busy, I am not overly proficient in some of my primary health care assessments (e.g ear assessments) and it also seemed to take me forever to find things. Despite being given a fairly extensive tour, the rooms and hallways kind of looked the same, especially when I walked around endlessly for things that weren’t actually stocked. Much of the nursing stations are set up in similar ways and a lot of the basic skills are very transferrable (e.g lab stuff, basic assessment, med rooms etc). Each clinic is run a bit differently and the population is always a bit different, so finding your way and how things work at each clinic can take time. Usually I need two –three full days of clinic to feel like I know where things are and how things work. Since I only do one week contracts, by the time you have everything figured out, it’s time to leave! Ah well, that is the beauty, and part of the fun of agency work and travelling to new places.           Most of the clinics are run similarly with varying amounts of staff. Pik is a 8-9 nurse station which is fairly big and might be one of the largest in the north In terms of work days, everyone except the person on call works 830-1700 and the person on call works 8-1600. Typically on call during the week is 1800-0800 and you can be called at any time during that time frame. There is a second person who is on call for back up and is often called until about midnight. The person who was on call overnight can come in between 10 and 12 depending on how late they were working. The weekends are a bit different as call is in 8 hour blocks. I was lucky enough to be the first on call on Saturday, which kept me steadily busy and learning new things. The weekends, especially during the winter can be very challenging as it is very cold and there isn’t much to do so being on call is perfect. I decided on the Sunday to go for a little stroll outside… It was only -20 or so with the windchill so I figured it was a good day to go out and get some fresh air. -20 up there is way better than even -5 down south. The dry cold is so much more tolerable than the damn cold. However, it is a lot easier to get frost bite in the dry cold (or at least I think) because you don’t realize how cold it is until after the fact. In any case, I took my base layers, parka and walking stick for a little stroll towards the lake. It is not very common to see people walking around outdoors in these communities, especially in the winter. I should’ve realized my lack of intelligence in walking alone in the winter, without cell reception when I got several funny looks from passing trucks. It really became apparent that maybe I hadn’t made the best decision when I heard a bunch of dogs start barking and then make their way towards me. Luckily, they all seemed very friendly and were more interested in each other than me.  Plus, my magical walking stick kept them entertained/humoured while I continued on my walk. I walked up the towards the store along the lake which looked beautiful in the sun. I was hoping that the store would be open so I could grab a Timmies coffee for the rest of my walk but sadly, it was not open. On my way back, I thought it would be wise to avoid the homes that I recalled having multiple dogs at them which ended up being a bad idea. I walked up a residential street that had one of the scariest dogs I have ever seen on it who had a very fierce bark… Thankfully, he was on a leash of some sort and I was pretty sure he wasn’t getting loose. I made it back to the clinic in record time and did a small workout in the basement before making dinner. Some communities have exercise areas which I really appreciate. This one was in a bit of a creepy basement work room but it had some basics and I was thankful for the weights and space.             The rest of the week was fairly uneventful but rather enjoyable. We went to the gym both Monday and Wednesday nights which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was nice to move after a busy day in the clinic and awesome to just laugh and goof around. Tuesday was taco and wing night (my coworkers were awesome) along with homemade pie night. I was on call sadly but they still made sure I had more than enough to eat. I was really fortunate this week to work with a great group of nurses. I learned a lot not only about the north and primary health but about nursing in general, travelling and life. I also lucked out as the clinic was considerably more quiet than it had been in weeks prior which made me happy and breathe a bit easier than my mildly slow skills woulnd’t hold everything up too much.            Attempting to get home was quite the mission. I worked the full day on Thursday and called the airline multiple times to check the flight times. A lot of the northing flights and companies aren’t the most reliable and can’t always fly due to weather so it is super important to double check the flight times and the flight status’. I was told that my flight into Winterpeg was going to be delayed by 2 hours so I figured going to the one restaurant (if you can call it that) in town was appropriate. One of the other nurses drove me over in the truck and it was quite the experience. The place is called Kwans (or the Pikagikum Restaurant) and is a very non-descript room in a random building near the OPP office. There are basic tables and chairs to sit at and no only can you buy chinese/American/comfort food, you can get your essentials such as treats, cereal, toilet paper etc. It was quite the experience but for it being a fly in only community, I was very surprised and impressed that there was a store at all. The prices were relative  (10-15$ for a meal) and the food wasn’t too bad. I got the chicken fried rice which was tasty but lacking a bit in vegetables (which is about par for the course in the north). I am very glad that I had a huge bowl of rice especially after I waited over an hour at the chilly airport for a plane that never actually left the Sioux. I was told AFTER my flight was supposed to land that the plane had never left Sioux due to the fuel truck being frozen and unable to refuel the plan enough to get it to Pik. I was extremely frustrated about this since I was going to miss my morning flight from Winnipeg to Toronto and not get into Toronto until much later in the day. The perimeter staff was kind and gave me a one way from Pik to Winnipeg free (not too sure when I will use that but it’s the thought that counts right!). I was able to head back to the clinic and gave the girls the low down on the evening. After chatting and enjoying the rest of our evening, I headed to bed to wake up and try to make it home again.             After some additional miscommunication about flight delays, I made my way from Pik into Winnipeg and over to the Winnipeg Maple Leaf lounge. I spent the majority of my day enjoy some snacks, bevvys and my book (The Couple Next door-definitely worth the read). My flight home from Winterpeg wasn’t until just after 1600 so I had plenty of time to kill. The Maple leaf Lound in Winterpeg is definitely smaller than the rest I have been in, but is still very nice with all the necessary amenities. Sadly, after several delays, including the closure of the Toronto landing strips, my flight didn’t leave until many hours later. On the plus side, I did finish a book and did avoid rush hour traffic on my way home from the airport.            While my travel home was less than ideal, I had a great time in Pik and am really glad I went. I met some really cool people (patients and staff) and learned a ton! Plus, it made a community that I was very nervous to go, way less scary and I will be happy to go back the next time the opportunity presents itself. That is all about the north for now… Hopefully I will be out on another contract in March or April and I am sure it will still be just as cold as it is now!

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

Viva Las Vegas 2017

**I didn’t realize that I hadn’t posted my blog from Vegas in Oct when I posted the Palm Springs one!

Oops!

Viva Las Vegas! I was super excited to head to Vegas for the first time. I was not as stoked to be going for a work conference but hey, a trip is a trip right! I had applied for some funding to head to the Pediatric Critical Care Conference put on by name and was approved! I was getting a bit of money for work to cover some of the expenses of the trip and was excited to use this as an excuse to head to “Sin City”.  I have plenty of travel points so figured I would save some money and book my flight on points (25,000 + 70$ in taxes) which worked out well. I would be flying with Air Canada which would get me more points and was a fairly decent airline.  The conference was 2.5 days long and I had decided to stay an extra day and a half to explore the city a bit more. I was pretty excited because my boyfriend Alex  was meeting me there for the last two days of the trip which would make it that much better! While I won’t go into too many boring details of the unimportant parts of the trip (like the conference.. kidding!) I will write a bit about the more fun events (Britney Spears DUH) and some of the must do/must see things if you haven’t been before!

Tuesday October 31st, 2017          I had a super hard time getting this shift off as many of my coworkers have kids and obviously wanted to take their kids out of Halloween but I managed to get the night off and was heading to Vegas on an evening flight. I found great prices on airport parking (airportreservations.com) where you get dropped off at the airline entrance and then you call when you land and they pick you up in your own car which is key. I as excited to use this service as I travel often for work and am always looking for the best/easies/most cost effective way to park at the airport. I was on an AC Rouge flight that had average service but was fine for the 4 or so hour flight. I landed in Vegas around 2200 or so and grabbed a Lyft to my hotel. The conference was at the Tropicana which is towards the end of the strip about a km away from the “Welcome to Vegas sign” and across from Excalibur. On the way there, I was immiediately entranced by all of the lights of the city. The driver was super kind and helpful and gave me some insider tips. The hotel was nice enough. The bottom levels were filled with people smoking, drinking and gambling, which is so bizarre to see inside. I did a bit of people watching before heading up to my room. . By the time I checked into the hotel and got unpacked, it was almost midnight and I was pooped! The room was quite spacious with a large bathroom and sitting area. I settled in and rested up before day 1 of the conference.

Wednesday November 1st, 2017            Like I previously mentioned, I won’t go into details about the conference since most people that would read this (if any one does) could care less about advances in Pediatric Critical Care. It is neat to note that a coworker of mine who works mostly in London was also at the conference with her coworkers. It was nice to have a familiar face to hang out with. We had a lengthy lunch break where I did some errands up the strip and met them for lunch at the food court in the MGM.  The afternoon of the conference went by super slowly. Or at least that’s how it felt because I was super excited to be seeing Britney spears in the evening. An ex-coworker of mine from Sinai had moved to Vegas a few years ago and was a huge Britney Fan! I told him I was heading down for the conference and we made plans to go see Britney. I was meeting him a bit before the concert but had a few hours to kill before then. I wandered up the strip taking in all the sights. I enjoyed a bevy (on the street which is so weird to me!) while watching the Bellagio fountains which are as magical as I was told. I met up with Liam just outside of Planet Hollywood where Britney has her residency. We grabbed a drink and caught up before the show- happy hour is even more magical in Vegas with $5 glasses of red. We were in the very front for the concert,  which I was super excited about. I have loved Britney since Hit me baby One more time was a hit. I had never seen her in concert when I was young so I was super pumped about having my younger year dreams come true. Before the concert, we looked at some of her old costumes that are on display in the theatre hall. It was really cool to see these famous outfits (and how tiny they are!) During the show, we made some friends and enjoyed some drinks in collector cups right in front of the stage while dancing and singing along.  While it is evident that she isn’t in her early 20s anymore, her show was amazing! She entertained us (as I doubt she actually sings any of the songs) to many of her songs from all of her albums. Her costumes were very elaborate and all of her dancers were very talented. After the show, I bid Liam adieu, grabbed some dinner and headed back to my hotel room.

Thursday November 2nd, 2017             Day 2 of the conference! Today we did some break out sessions which was neat because we got to choose the topics we learned about. The best lecture I went to was by ¬¬¬Scott DeBoer and was a jeopardy game about perils and pearls of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. For lunch, we jumped on the bus and went to a Ocean One Bar and Grille that had 4.99 lunch specials! IT was crazy. You could get pretty well anything you could think of for 4.99. We enjoyed our lunches while catching up on what sessions we went to in the am and such. Similar to the day before, the afternoon seemed to take forever. This was probably because I was super excited that Alex would be in the hotel by the time the conference was done for the day. After catching up, we headed out to enjoy Vegas at night before enjoying an AMAZING sushi dinner at Kabuto. It was a traditional meal that included hand made sushi that you ate the moment the chef was done rolling it. We had an an appetizer and sake along with a variety of sashimi and sushi pieces that were chosen by the sushi chef based on our preferences. We ate a lot of tuna. The meal was delicious and worth every penny.             We grabbed a Lyft back towards the main strip and enjoyed wandering around a few of the hotels. My favourites were the painted ceilings of the Venetian along with the beautiful flower displays in the Wynn. Alex loves the Aria complex and we spent a while enjoying the complex. We both love NYC (as evident in one of my last posts) so we spent quite some time wandering around New York New York before heading back to the hotel for the night.  On our way up to our room, we grabbed our fresh, warm  (and free!) cookies that are provided to each guest before Alex tried his luck on some slots. While I am not a bigger gambler, it is pretty neat to watch others gamble. I wish I knew how to play the card games better so I would enjoy it more.

Friday November 3rd, 2017           Today was the last day of the conference! Alex did some exploring and errand running while I spent the morning in the Conference. Of course it was the best breakfast (breakfast burritos) and they ran out by the time I got there! There wasn’t a ton of new learning this morning but it was still a great experience. I made my way to the Cosmo where we were having lunch. We had heard about the amazing buffet with bottomless drinks at the Wicked Spoon and were really looking forward to it. For  $50 each, we had 2 hours at the buffet with unlimited Mimosas, Bloody Marys and beers. The food was absolutely amazing. There were some very “gourmet” choices along with a wide variety of breakfast and lunch foods. We definitely ate way too much but were very glad we checked it out.          After being sufficiently stuffed, we wandered down the strip and checked out some of the hotels we hadn’t yet. We visited the Flamingoes at Flamingo and enjoyed the Bellagio Fountains again. I loved the botanical conservatory in the Bellagio! It was so beautiful! We wandered around the Park promenade before heading back to New York New York for the Zumanity Show! We knew we wanted to see a Cirque show but couldn’t decide which one. The gentleman said that while O! is super popular, his favourite was Zuamnity. We are pretty breezy and so though, hey why not! The show did not disappoint! It was pretty bizarre and almost raunchy at times but we both really enjoyed it. There was some awesome acrobatics and hilarious costumes.                                     If there is a sky wheel in a city, I HAVE to ride it! I love seeing cities from all different vantage points. I prefer to see the city at sunset or later since the lights usually make the city look that much more magical.  The High Roller is the largest observation wheel with 28 pods that can hold 40 passengers each. It is 550 feet tall. Alex and I were lucky enough to have the whole pod to ourselves which was super fun. The 30-minute or so ride was awesome and gave us the best view of the city. I took tons of photos (shocking!) of all of the amazing lights and colours of the city.  After the Wheel, we stopped and sat at one of the smaller fountains in the area and grabbed some pizza at Flour and Barley and a beer. 

Since we were heading home after our day trip tomorrow, we made sure to pack up and get prepped for a busy last day (and a very early morning!)

Saturday November 4th, 2017           After about 4 hours of sleep (so much to do, so little time), we were up bright and early to get picked up for our guided tour of the Grand Canyon. We were being picked up around 0600 en route to the Grand Canyon. We took a big tour bus filled with tourists ont his adventure because we figured it was easier than renting our own car. I think this is definitely something that can be done on your own and it allows for different stops along the way. We are glad we took the bus, since neither one of us felt much like driving several hours each way into the desert.          Our  tour guide took us onto Highway 93 and discussed info about the three main cities in the Valley and about the mountains all around us. Sadly, I slept the majority of the drive so didn’t really get a great deal of learning in . I did learn that a lot of the land in the desert (especially the Mojave) used to be ranches. We drove through Boulder City and over the Hoover Dam. We got a quick look of Lake Mead as well.  We also saw a few Joshua trees on the route which are pretty cool.           We took Route 66 and learned about Seligman (town that was the inspiration for the movie Cars) before stopping at the Rodeo Restaurant in William, Ariona. This was the home of the Grand Canyon Train. We enjoyed a decent buffet lunch. After a bit of stretching (sitting for hours on end in a bus is challenging!) We headed back into the bus for the final bit of driving before entering the Grand Canyon National Park.           As a bit of history, the Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon that is carved by the Colorado River. It is about at an elevation of about 800 m and is 446 km long, 29 km wide and 1,857 meters deep. It has been formed over millions of years from the  cutting down of the small branches of the Colorado river and the retreatment of the cliffs. The canyon sees about 5 million visitors per year with the majority seeing the South Rim (Which is what we did).  While we didn’t see much, there is a vast ecosystem in the Canyon and surrounding area. There are 5 of the 7 different life zones found in the Grand Canyon National park. The Park is home to many about 80 different mammals (most rodents and bats), 48 bird species and 41 reptile species. We did some birds but sadly, that was it.            When we arrived at the Grand Canyon, we took the typical photo in front of the sign before making our way on the 2.1 mile walk. I was really taken aback at how big and beautiful the canyon was! Photos and videos do not do it justice. It truly is breath taking. I think we (lets be real, I) took 300 photos that all looked the same! The different rock colours and layers are super neat! We caught a few glimpses of the Colorado river wayyy down below. We learned more about the history and geology of the park and the rocks. We spent a couple hours at the Canyon, wandering around the path. We checked out one of the hotels and its gift shop (of course) and grabbed our necessary magnets. We saw an ice cream store, so we grabbed a scoop and enjoyed the view. We hopped back on the bus a bit before sunset. We had quite the drive back but it was a beautiful one! We saw the sunset over the desert, which was just amazing! Dinner was tacos at this random (but delicious) stop on the way beside a gas station called _ We headed back towards the city which was an enjoyable ride. We didn’t stop at the Hoover Dam (which I was slightly disappointed about) but, we did get to see it and it was definitely way bigger than had thought.           We arrived back into the city in the late evening. Since we were dropped off at the hotel, we jumped in a Lyft to the airport. Both Alex and I were exhausted and I was less than thrilled with the security staff at the airport. I am not a new traveller but felt like I was being spoken to like a child, which is not something I enjoy (especially when I am tired and a bit cranky). After a rather lengthy security line, we made our way to the Maple Leaf lounge for some pre “Red Eye” showers, snacks and bevvys. Our flight home was uneventful (especially considering we both snoozed the majority of the way home).          My first trip to Vegas was definitely memorable! I think that we got a lot accomplished and saw the majority of the things that I wanted to see. There were still a few shows and hotels that I would like to check out the next time and would love to just have a hang-out by the pool day. All is all, I definitely see the allure of Vegas. I think if you are big into drinking/partying and gambling, it is the place for you however there is TONS to do for everyone. I think I could’ve walked up and down the strip for the days, checking out different hotel lobbies and attractions. The next time, I would ideally prefer to stay more in the middle of the strip but do think that the Tropicana was fine for how much time I spent in the hotel.

*again, photos are not in any specific order, not too sure how to fix that :(

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

Palm Springs 2017!

               This year for Christmas, I was fortunate enough to be invited to spend the holidays down south in Palm Springs, CA with Alex and his family. I was super excited (and nervous of course) about this trip! I was looking forward to a few days of warm weather and meeting Alex’s family. Since the majority of the trip was spent lounging, I am just going to highlight a few of the great things that we did and suggestions for future travellers to the Palm Springs/Palm Desert region.              First off, Palm SPRINGS is in California and Palm BEACH is in Florida. Many people asked where exactly Palm Springs was and to be honest, I wasn’t totally sure. I knew it was in the desert somewhere in Cali, but beyond that, who knows! While we flew into Palm Springs, we were staying in Palm Desert, which is one in the same almost. Palm Springs is actually older and is in the Coachella Valley while Palm Desert is more of the resort area. While doing some research, I learned that Palm Springs is in the Sonoran Desert, surrounded by several mountain ranges including The Bernardino Mountains, San Jacinto Mountains and the Santa Rosa Mountains. While the population of the area is only about 50,000, this number is exponentially bigger (try well over a million) when taking into account all of the visitors. The area boasts many amazing landscapes including not only the desert and the mountains but also tons of great hiking ad biking paths and lots of resort- type activities to get involved in. It’s close proximity to LA (172 km), San Diego (198 km) and Phoenix (431 km), make it a great central tourist area. While the thought of driving to LA was very tempting, I was very excited to spend some time relaxing in the sun and lounging around doing not much of anything.

December 23rd, 2017               Since Alex lives across the country (as does the majority of his family), we were all on separate flights and arriving at separate times. Alex flew in earlier on the 23rd than I did and grabbed our rental car which was very handy. I was flying from Toronto, over to Vancouver and then down to Palm Springs. I was very glad to be getting out of Southern Ontario as we were having one of the worst storms of the season (at least up until that point) and the weather was just terrible. I made it to the airport with plenty of time to relax before my long-ish travel day. The flight to Vancouver was fairly uneventful (which is how it should be). I didn’t have a ton of time to hang out and explore YVR unfortunately. The flight to Palm Springs was just under 3 hours from Vancouver and I was excited to get there! Even though I was flying in at night, I was still super excited to be escaping the cold weather.               I was super impressed with neat airport at PSP! It was basically an open-air area with various little shops off the main corridors. There was the Bono Terminal (hot tip, Sonny was the mayor of Palm Springs when I was born from 1988-1992) along with some really cute outdoor sitting areas. I guess I have only really seen these open area airports in tropical countries and was pleasantly surprised. Alex picked me up (along with snacks because he is a good man) and we headed to the Hotel. We were staying at the Marriott Palm Desert Villas, which were beautiful! We had a suite adjacent to his parents and sister, which was pretty big with a lovely balcony overlooking the golf course. Since I had gotten in so late, I didn’t get the chance to meet his family yet. We unpacked (because I am anal and like to be neat and organized) before heading to bed.

December 24th, 2017            Waking up to sunshine is so much better than waking up to darkness or rain/snow/clouds! Alex and I had a few errands to run today but we started the morning off with coffees on the balcony. I could literally sit and read outside all day- it was just so peaceful! Since we had slept in a bit (oops!) Alex’s parents and sisters were at a cooking class so we missed them again. After having breakfast and enjoying some quiet time, we headed out into town to pick up a few last minute things for a gift basket I was making for Alex’s parents as a Christmas/thank-you –for-inviting-me-on-your-family-holiday gift.  We visited a few stores to grab the supplies before stopping at Whole Foods and spending what seemed like the whole afternoon there (Alex lovessss it there). It was midafternoon by the time we made it back to the hotel and I was itching to stop by the pool. We finally managed to run into the rest of Alex’s family that was there. It was awesome to meet his lovely parents Brigitte and Daniel along with his younger sisters Gabrielle and Catherine. We sat around the main living area chatting and getting to know each other before heading for some sunshine by the pool. The resort had several pools but the one closest to us seemed to be the least busy one in the area. It had a hot tub along with a play area for kids, which was nice. After enjoying a bit of time by the pool, (without actually going into it because it was too cold for that) we wandered around to the main area of the resort and checked out the beautiful Christmas tree and display in the lobby. There was a super cute fire pit overlooking the mountains and the pool which was absolutely amazing. The mountains were something else in Palm Springs. I’ve seen many mountains, but none quite like these. They seemed to go on forever! It was also super bizarre to see so much desert area surrounding all the ranges.            We spent the evening chatting and getting to know one other over a delicious dinner followed by wine and the infamous Halo Top Ice cream.  I hadn’t watched many Christmas movies yet, so Alex was kind enough to oblige to watch one with me in between my Facetime dates with my family back home. Christmas is my favourite holiday and while I was super excited to be spending time with Alex and his family, it was hard to be away from my family. We had celebrated Christmas the weekend before with my family  but it was still nice to Facetime with my extended family in the evening and then to be part of tradition of reading “The Night before Christmas” with the whole family.

December 25th, 2017           Merry Christmas!!! This was my second time waking up to sun and t-shirt weather on Christmas morning. I have to say, it is something I could get used to for sure! Alex and I had left one small gift for each of us to open on Christmas morning, which made it that much more special. Again, because I am a child, I face timed with my family while they opened their gifts. We headed out into the main living area and had breakfast with the rest of the family.  The majority of the day was spent wandering around the resort and lying by the pool. I did manage to get a workout in before the gym got too crowded. Alex and I snacked on the best guac and pico, I had had on this side of the Mexican border (from Whole Foods of course) while enjoying the view from the Balcony. We had another great dinner with the family before watching one more Christmas movie before bed (home Alone of course!)

December 26th, 2017             This was going to be our earliest morning! Alex and I had really wanted to go to the Aerial Tramway and had read that it gets super busy mid morning. We managed to get there for 10ish in the morning (which is a feat for us) before the lines were too crazy. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is the worlds largest rotating tram car. It travels over two miles up the cliffs of the Chino Canyon into the Mt. San Jacinto State Park. The tram is relatively inexpensive at  $26 a person and provides an amazing experience. The tram takes about 10 minutes to get from the bottom to the top and is run on a type of pulley system. As you go up the side of the cliffs, overlooking the Coachella Valley, the tram car rotates which is super neat. Everyone has great views of the area so no one is scrambling around to get the best photos The Mountain station is at 8,516 feet and is home to a beautiful observation deck, museum, restaurants and the gateway to over 50 miles of hiking trails. We did a short loop around the peaks and got amazing photos and views of the valley below.             After our short hike, we grabbed coffees before making our way down the mountain. We were pleasantly surprised to see that we came at a great time, as the line to get in was about 10 times the size it was when we waited in line. We headed back to the Marriott for a bit of pool time before getting ready for dinner.            Alex’s brother Ben and his wife Sarah had flown in so it was nice to meet them and hear about their Christmas activities and travel down from Edmonton. Once we were all ready, we made our way back into Palm Springs to a school friend of Daniels. He went to university with Jean Marc at McGill. Jean Marc and Don moved to Palm Spings within the past few years and had a beautiful home. It was very modern with an amazing backyard filled with a sitting area, pool, BBQ area and the prettiest citrus trees. We sat outside enjoying the views of the mountains before enjoying an amazing Mexican inspired lasagna that Don made. The meal and company were both amazing as was the buche de noel we had for dessert. After a few more Mexican inspired Margaritas, we made our way back to the Marriot with full tummies.

December 27th, 2017           Today was our last full day in Palm Springs! We had a fun filled day planned! Alex and I were heading over to the spa for a couples massage. The spa at the Mariott is just amazing! They have multiple lounge areas (female only, male and coed) with comfy seats, magazines and spa music. We enjoyed the lounge area while waiting for our massages. I had never had a couples massage before and wasn’t sure what to expect. To be honest, it was really just a regular massage with another person in the room. I was very pleased with my RMT and the massage. Once we were all relaxed, we enjoyed some time in the hottub and saunas before heading out to catch some rays by the pool. The weather was perfect and it was a great way to spend the morning and relax.            After some photos of the other side of the resort and some lunch, we waited for our ride at the lobby of the hotel to go on our Hummer tour of the Joshua Tree National Park. I was super excited about this, as was everyone else! We met our great tour guide (who’s name is escaping me which is terrible and I apologize) who explained the plan of the day. We were going to head out to the 1000 Palm Springs on our way through the Smith area, over the San Andreas Fault until we arrived at the Joshua Tree national Park. 

           Our first stop- the 1000 Palms Oasis Preserve was just amazing! This area can be found in the Coachella Valley and is an 80-acre area filled with amazing palm trees. The area leads to several hiking routes and is well worth the visit. While at the Oasis, we learned about the trees along with the Cahuilla Indian history, which was quite interesting.  I love palm trees so really enjoyed our time in the oasis.           Once we got back in the car, we learned a bit of history about the area, the wildlife, the fault etc. We stopped at a coffee shop to grab drinks and switch cars into our huge Hummer! I had never been in a Hummer before and was super excited about our off-roading-esque trip into Joshua Tree.  The Joshua Tree National park is where The Mojave and Colorado Desert come together in almost 800,000 acres that are protected land. The area is home to much different varieties of plants and animals and has been inhabited for over 5000 years. It wasn’t officially made into a monument until 1936 due to the hard work of Minerva Hoyt who was very fond of plants and was concerned about the removal of the amazing plants in the area. Now, Joshua Tree National Park is home to 813 plant species, 40 reptile species, 41 mammal species and 240 bird specials.  Anyways back to our fun in the hummer! I sat in the very back of the hummer, which was super exciting but very breezy. Thankfully, our guide had tons of blankets for us to cuddle up with. By the time we made our way into the national park, we were chasing the sun! The sun was starting to set and our guide was masterfully driving as quickly as possibly through the park while stopping to show us some neat plants and explain to us the history of the park. We made it to practically the highest point of the park with only minutes to spare before sunset. The views (and harsh winds caused but our fast speed to make it there to make it on time) were worth it! The sunset was just amazing over the area especially with all of the fun Joshua trees in the background. (FYI if you don’t know what a Joshua tree is, Google it because they are super fun and quirky looking!) After a bit of time enjoying the views, we headed back into the Hummer and back down out of the park. The ride out was significantly cooler as the sun had set. I definitely was feeling the cold and was thankful for my 6’foot something significant other beside me. By the time we got back to the resort, we were all wind-burnt and super tired. We ordered in pizza before hitting the hay.

December 28th, 2017            Sadly, Alex and I were both leaving the desert today. He was heading off to South Africa and I was heading back to work☹. We enjoyed some final family time and the weather before heading over to the airport. Again, I enjoyed the open-air airport and even saw a few birds flying through. We enjoyed our coffees and said our “see you soons” before I headed onto my direct flight back to Toronto.            I am so thankful and lucky that I was able to spend the holidays with someone who is super important to me and meet the others that are important in his life. While it wasn’t the traditional Christmas holiday, it was an awesome time and made me appreciate change a little more. A huge thank you to the Evoy’s who welcomed me with open arms! We had a great time in Palm Springs/Desert and would love to go back again.

**PS The photos are in NO specific order:)

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

NYC, September 2017

I love NYC! I was very excited to hear that my boyfriend had never been to NYC and had planned to go in the fall. I decided to join him on this trip. We had been experiencing one of the hottest Septembers I could remember so I was excited to have nice weather but also a bit sad that there wouldn’t be tons of beautiful fall colours. Thursday September 21st, 2017           I decided to try the GO bus from Hamilton to the airport for the first time. It is pretty cost effective (~$12 each way) and is fairly efficient (1 hour and 15 minutes door to door). It is great when you are travelling light with just carry on. Alex and I were flying with Air Canada (he just loves them) so we met in the international side after customs before heading over to the maple leaf lounge. Since he often flies with AC, he had some extra lounge passes. I had only been in a lounge one other time and was very excited to return. Lounges make the flying experience that much better and way less stressful. They are typically way less busy than the rest of the terminal and much quieter. They have comfy seats, decent food and snacks and of course, all the booze! We each enjoyed some wine and pizza in the lounge before heading over to the gate for our short flight into NYC. We sat in the premium seats at the front of the plane, which I really enjoyed and took (so lame) our first selfie after I had had a glass or two of wine on the plane.            When we landed, we made our way to the special area of the parking/transportation zone where Ubers could pick passengers up.  I think it is smart for airport to do that to help with congestion however it is a bit annoying as a passenger to have to navigate the busy and somewhat confusing airport terminal to find the ride share area. In any case, we hopped in our Uber that took us to our humble abode on Knickerbocker Ave. in Brooklyn.  The AirBnB that were staying in was awesome! IT was a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment with a decent size living space to share. Barry, our host, was not there at the time that arrived but would be there later on. We were both super excited to have arrived and ready for dinner. We wandered around our area for a bit, taking in the sights of the city before deciding to have dinner and drinks at Sea Wolf. It claims to be “The best of land and sea” and we were looking forward to seeing if this was true. The atmosphere was super cool- the windows were all open and there was a large garage door open as well that lead out to more seating overlooking the skyline. We enjoyed several beers along with buck a shuck oysters during happy hour. We had some wings (which were also featured in the happy hour menu and were delicious) along with a fish dip that I didn’t love and some charred octopus. After being contently satiated, we made our way back to Barry’s where we enjoyed some wine with him and getting to know him a bit better. While this was not my first Air BnB experience, it was the first one that the owners were there during our stay. I have to say, it was a bit weird but didn’t bother us all that much. We weren’t planning on spending much time in the apartment anyways. Friday September 22nd, 2017           After a slight sleep in (we were out of the apartment by 9) we grabbed coffees and pastries (Alex is a bad influence on my breakfast choices and waistline) for breakfast. We had the most decadent Nutella croissant and cannoli donut. The L train was super close and we took that over to Chelsea. Chelsea is probably one of my fave areas of NYC and since it was a beautiful day, I thought it was the perfect time to wander around and enjoy the weather. We stopped in at the Chelsea market for some souvenirs and to pick up lunch from the Davidovichbakery. Obviously, we grabbed a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon for our lunch. We enjoyed our coffees while walking the Highline. We took lots of photos and walked to the end of the Highline around 34th street. 34th street is a great one to wander around since it has so much to see and do. We admired Madison Square garden before heading down towards the flat iron building and Eataly. I was super excited to check out Bierria which is on top of Eataly but was disappointed by the lack of view. We split some pasta and enjoyed an exceptionally over priced Peroni while enjoying the weather and good vibe of the place. We took lots of photos of the  Flat iron building (so iconic) before heading down Broadway. One of Alex’s fave youtuber/vloggers (Casey Neistat) has an office just down broadway before Madison Square Park so we checked that out before enjoying the fountain and arch in the park.            We saw Canal street and all the madness that can ensue there. I was not in the shopping or haggling mood but did grab some sunglasses since I was missing mine. We came across a carnival at Grand and mulberry called “The feast of San German” which was pretty neat and seemed very busy. We wandered around both Little Italy and China town before crossing the Manhattan bridge. I didn’t realize how long the bridge was! Its almost 2 km in length and offers some great views of the city. We hopped on a bus into Williamsburg (Bedford and 11th) to visit the Wythe hotel. This hotel boasts one of the best views of the city for cocktail hour. It was $20 to get in and then about 16-30$ per drink which is pretty pricey. The view is definitely worth it though. There was a good mix of after work and Friday night crowds. We enjoyed our drinks before wandering around the rest of the area which had some really neat hotels and restaurants. We stopped at Pokeh restaurant for dinner. We both love Pokeh and were excited try a new place (Pokeh Hamilton is still my fave ;)). We hopped on the train and made it back to our airbnb in about 20 mins. We stopped in a the dollar store next door to the airbnb building to grab some necessities and found that it was super sketchy and looked ransacked. We were glad to put our feet up and enjoy some wine while watching a movie before bed.

Saturday September 23rd, 2017              Today was a nice sleep sleep in day! Alex and I both lead very busy lives normally so lazy mornings are the best! We grabbed coffee and snacks at Circos again before jumping on the J train to Fulton Street. The plan was to explore the bottom half of the island including One World Trade and surrounding area.             We wandered around the World Trade area enjoying the Occulus which I had never seen before. I am not sure how I missed it during my last trip to NYC but really enjoyed it. We grabbed Joe and the Juice coffees (Alex is the biggest fan that I’ve met) and wandered around the memorials and pools. Since I loved the observatory at One World Trade and had raved about it, we made our way up. The video they play right before you get to see the view still gives me chills because it is so magical. After taking all of the touristy photos at the top, we headed back down to grab more coffees and make our way towards the New York Stock Exchange. This was another new place for me as I hadn’t checked it out on my last visit. Alex checks the stock market at least 10 times a day so this was a pretty neat stop for him. Since we were right in the Financial District, we joined the crowds taking photos at the Charging bull and wandering down Wall Street. We enjoyed our prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches from Eataly outside of the Museum of Indian Culture (Look up actual name) before walking around Battery Park. The last time I was in Battery Park, it was a) a lot  warmer out and b) had a lot more artsy things to look at. There had been many large globes of the world decorated by various artists in different neat colours and designs which I had been super excited to show to Alex but was disasppointed that they were no longer there. We saw all the kids on the Carosel before getting in the large lines for the Staten Island Ferry. The last time I was in NYC, I paid for a boat cruise that takes you on a tour of the harbour and gets you close to the Statue of Liberty. Word to the wise, just take the State Island ferry! While it is much busier, it is free and there are super cheap beers in the station. We grabbed a few 6$ tall boys for the voyage across the Hudson? And sat out side to enjoy the views.             The Staten Island Ferry took about 1-1.5 hours round trip. The weather was perfect and it was a nice place to relax after a long morning of walking. After getting off the ferry, we made our way towards the Brooklyn Bridge (my fave spot in the city) but came across a super cool market. On Fulton street, there was a festival with lots of food trucks along with a self pour! IT was called the Clinton self pour and was a super neat concept. You bought a card with whatever denomination of money you wanted and you would go up to this stand in the middle of the street and put your card into the reader. You would then pour your beer and watch the amount on the card decrease the more full you made your cup. We had a few different beers (Heinkens and local Brooklyn Brewery IPA which was not my fave) at a decent price (about $40 the cards and a couple pints each). We made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge where we enjoyed an AMAZING sunset with hundreds of other tourists. I also made Alex take a ton of photos which he was super thrilled about. He did see the allure of the bridge, especially at sunset.               We finally made it across the bridge (took us well over an hour) and headed to the Almar Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. We had an amazing dinner of cured meats, cheeses, burrata, meat balls and of course wine. We grabbed a few pints of Halo top (my fave ice cream because it is low cal and high protein) before grabbing an Uber back to our AirBnB and settling in for the night. Sunday September 24th,2017             Today we had a pretty decent tourist day planned. I wanted to make sure he got to see all of the best parts of NYC. We jumped on the L Train (If I recall correctly) to Union square where we wandered up to another fave part of the city- Grand Central Station. I am a huge Gossip Girl Fan and Grand Central was always featured in the show which I loved. It lived up to every expectation that I had when I first saw it. The large cavernous roof with the big windows and old school train schedule are just so fun. We hadn’t had breaky so we enjoyed chicken burgers, fries and split a decadent milk shake at the Shake Shack. Since Alex had also never had Magnolia bakery, we grabbed a treat for later on. We made our way across 42nd towards the UN which sadly didn’t have any tours on (as it was Sunday) . It was still pretty cool to see the building and all of the information outside along with the security measures outside. We chatted about definitely doing a guided tour on our next visit.             After the UN, we wandered across 48th to Rockefeller to check out the area and take all the usual tourist photos (the flags, Prometheus etc.)We enjoyed a coffee and some people watching in Bryant Park which was lovely. The last time I was in Bryant Park, there was a huge Christmas market along with a massive tree and skating rink. This time, there was a cute Library along with snack stands and tons of people just out enjoying the nice weather. After stopping at Whole Foods (another one of my fancy boyfriends faves), we headed to check out Times Square and all the madness that is the area. After a bit of shopping and souvenir buying, we saw Radio City Music Hall as well as the NBC building and such around that area. We wanted to check out his fave vloggers’ wife’s store (Billy) on 5th but it wasn’t open sadly (next time for sure!). 5th Ave is such a fun place in the city filled with ritzy hotels and shops. When I last visited the city, Trump had just become president and was still residing at Trump Tower so there was police and barricades everywhere. This time, we were able to go into Trump Tower ( to see how gaudy it is) along with THE Tiffany’s. After Tiffany’s, we headed to check out all the stores in the Plaza along with the lobby of the Met before wandering around Central park for a while. We soaked up some rays in Sheeps Meadow and watched a group of people roller skate which was pretty neat. We had dinner on Madison at a great restaurant called Serafina. We enjoyed some beers and thin crusted pizza before heading to St Patrick’s to light a candle (tradition for my Catholic grandparents). We had already explored Times Square during the day but as I explained to Alex, it is something else at night. It is really special and so we hung out in Times Square for a little bit and did some people watching (and selfie taking of course). Since we had a busy travel day the next day, we headed back to the AirBnB to get packed and a good nights sleep. Monday September 25th, 2017          We were sadly leaving today☹. We had a mini sleep in before tidying up Barry’s place and heading down the street to Barcy’s for breakfast. Alex and I both love brunch so we were excited to try this place out. We wandered over and had a yummy breakfast of coffee (obviously) and chicken and waffles for myself and a breakfast sandwich for him. This restaurant had a bit of an Asian vibe to some of their menu options and the chicken I had was different than regular fried chicken. It tasted more like the chicken skewers you get at AYCE sushi restaurants and was DELICIOUS. We leisurely enjoyed our breakfast before making our way back to the AirBnB to grab our stuff and get an Uber to Laguardia. We made our way quickly through security and enjoyed another coffee and some coffee flavoured chocolate while waiting for our flight back to Toronto. We had our comfy  premium seats at the front of the plane and enjoyed our last few hours together for a month or so. I think I speak for both Alex and myself when I say that we had an awesome time in NYC. We were both very surprised at the weather (it was a heat wave the ENTIRE trip with temps in the high 20s and low 30s) It felt like summer which was very nice when we weren’t in super crowded, tourist-y areas. Any trip with a new friend or partner can be challenging and a learning opportunity (which is definitely was) but, I think we had a great time regardless and I can’t wait for our next trip together ☺

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

My Whole 30 Experience

Like many others, I have struggled with weight and the concept of “healthy eating”. While I do love sweets and “cheat meals”, I have always truly enjoyed fruits, vegetables and home cooked meals. Growing up, we ate pretty healthy but desserts were a fairly regular thing which probably doesn’t help me as an adult. While dabbling in various sports and activities, I did not find the true sport of “fitness” until I tried Crossfit. Now, everyone has their perceptions and opinions of Crossfit (many of which I have heard), however I have never found an activity that truly challenges me both mentally and physically in a way that I enjoy so much. The community, camaraderie, successes and failures, are all part of the process. I digress but, the moral of the this rant is, I have always strived to be healthy and active but have not always been the most successful in feeling the best I could be. My significant other has heard a lot about the “Whole 30” and bought me the book which I was only mildly offended by  (kidding). I was super interested in it as I have had a lot of success with lower carb and macro (protein/fat/carb) lifestyles and thought this would be a great adventure. I didn’t have a ton of time to read the book before starting as I had a goal. We were heading to Europe at the end of February and I wanted to be done the whole 30 before then. The day after he left, I was going to embark on this mission. Several friends\family members were surprised and some even had their doubts about it “being too hard”. While I am always up for a challenge, I did have my concerns about this lifestyle as it seemed a bit extreme at first with many steep learning curves along the way.            I haven’t even really explained what the Whole 30 ® is. This program has been tried and tested my millions of people since its inception in about 2009. Now, I am not in any way shape or form endorsing a diet or lifestyle change that does not appeal to you or that has not been approved by your md, but this one seemed pretty legit. The premise is to eat all whole foods for 30 days- seems simple enough. Many people who chronic health issues including IBS, allergies, skin issues, arthritis and a whole range of emotional concerns have found that when they cut out many of the irritants (e.g gluten, sugar, dairy, legumes etc), they have a resolution or at least improvement in their symptoms. While I do not suffer any chronic health conditions, I do have some MSK pain along with some mood swings (probably from hormones or sugar) and thought I would give this lifestyle adjustment a chance.            Since this was such a challenging, amazing experience, I thought I would document it and share. Of course, I am well aware that everyone will have their own opinion and input (heck, that is if anyone reads this!) but I figured it would be nice to share the tips and tricks that I have learned in this roller-coaster month. Week 1 (Jan 21-27):            Since I didn’t have a ton of time to read the book from cover to cover like I would have wanted to prep, I did my best to read the “what not to eat list” before prepping for my first few days at work. The Whole 30 ® book is super helpful with a step by step guide on basically what it is that I would be embarking on, tips, meal plans, recipes, Q&A and so much more. The website is even more helpful! Once I started taking a look at what the website had, I had a lot more confidence in the process. They had tons of FAQs regarding lots of different foods and help with various topics such as going out to eat, substitutes for basic stuff etc. In terms of meal prepping, this is one of my fave things to do to prepare for the work week so I didn’t see this as much of a challenge. While I won’t go into detail about each day or anything, I will mention each a few successes as well as a few struggles for each week along with some suggestions or learning points that I found helpful. Successes: meal prepping and getting right into it, decrease appetite at times while maintaining the sense of feeling full longer.  Having meals prepped is key. Improved energy around day 7

Struggles: cravings- the sugar detox on about day 5 was not nice. Super foggy, headache, lethargic etc.  new bowel habits . That sulphites are literally in everything (vinegars, nuts, dried fruit etc.).

Suggestions: While dried fruit are yummy and good for you in small amounts, make sure you truly portion it out. They are pretty high in calories as well as sugar and shouldn’t really be used a substitue for other unhealthy choices. I usually paired my fruit with nuts as a snack when at work or if I didn’t have time have a proper meal.                    

-make your house or a cupboard of your stuff in your kitchen The Whole 30® friendly. This is especially important if you live with others who may not be embarking on the same mission you are

-PLAN AHEAD. I had a few get togethers planned for the first week, which I was excited about, but also nervous about. I knew I would be bringing my own food and wasn’t sure how that was going to be perceived. Most of my friends/coworkers were pretty accepting and positive about this challenge which made bringing my own snacks and food a lot easier.

Week 2 (Jan 28-Feb 3): Successes: drinking only one coffee a day (since sugar and all milks are off limits) I made bulletproof coffee which was a life saver. If you haven’t heard of this, please google it. It is basically coffee made with butter. Since on the Whole 30 ®, you cannot have butter, I substiitued the butter with ghee and made sure to blend it using my magic bullet. It made “black” coffee bearable and even tasty. The ghee cut the bitterness and made the coffee super creamy and yummy. Definitely give this one a try!

Struggles: The 2-4 pm slump on a day shift (well and sometimes days that I was off as well). I am not sure what exactly the cause was as sometimes it was before lunch, others it was after but this is the time of the day where I felt utterly exhausted most of the time. Not to say that I didn’t feel this way prior to the whole 30 but I didn’t always keep track. -I had signed myself up for a study to measure brown adipost tissue and part of the study was taking place during this second week of the Whole 30 ® . The study included a lot of data including blood pressure, height, weight etc. One of the more interesting parts was a dexa scan. This is basically a large machine that detects fat and figures out percentages of fat for each part of your body. I had a very hard time with this. I found the results super disheartening and depressing to see your body fat percentages. I mean there is no where to go but up I suppose so this was a great learning point and helped to turn my perspective around. -This is also the time of the Whole 30 ®  where you might feel more bloated and such (as explained in the book) and I truly did. I also accidently saw my weight during the study and not seeing a drastic difference made me pretty upset. Then I remembered this was only the second week and things don’t happen overnight.

Suggestions: while The Whole 30 ® does not condone snacking, I personal have a hard time with this when I am working a 12 hour shift. Instead of not snacking, I made a conscious effort to snack more purposefully. Instead of just grabbing a bar (Lara coconut cream bars were my friend), I would think about whether or not I was hungry for salad or veggies. If I was, then I would have that (which I almost always had on hand) and if I wasn’t, then I wasn’t actually hungry. While this doesn’t totally support The Whole 30 ®, I found for the most part it worked and if I were to do this again and continue with it, I would make sure to have healthy choices and make sure I was eating because I was truly hungry and not just because I was bored/tired/stressed/sad/insert your own reason for unnecessary eating here. The reasoning around the not snacking is to not only change what we put in our mouths, but also the why we eat. If you are going to continue with the same late night snacking or stress eating that you were doing before (only with healthier options) than you haven’t really learned how to deal with the issue and are just making a substitute (yes a healthier one but still maybe not t he best choice).

Week 3 (Feb 4-Feb 10): Success: feeling a bit slimmer in some of my every day clothes. Also feeling a bit stronger at the gym, improved skin (which is a plus). I started seeing an osteo around week 3 and my knee pain was significantly improved with the manipulation s well as (hopefully) the anti-inflammatory properties of the clean eating.

Struggles: Emotions – while at first I thought I was way less moody than before, I did have a few days here and there where my emotions seemed to get the best of me. I can’t say that this was all because of eating -this was the first time I really had cravings for the food around me. Normally at work, there are tons of snacks and treats and for the first two weeks, this didn’t bother me. For some reason, in the middle of the week at my emerg job, I wanted the sweet treats so bad. I typically crave sweet way more than salty and love almost any sweet in front of me. Thankfully, I had a lunch packed full of Whole 30 ® approved food and just ignored the temptation. It didn’t last long, especially thinking about how far I had come.

Suggestions: eating out can be tricky, Make sure that if you are going to eat out during The Whole 30 ®, that you do your research before hand. Check the menu ahead of time to see if there are some options that you can enjoy. At first, I felt guilty being “picky” about my choices but in the end, it was never really a big deal and I just made sure to tip accordingly. You can’t really go wrong with a protein and salad (with lemon and olive oil on the side) which most restaurants have. There are certain oils that you should stay away from on The Whole 30 ® and others that you can have once in a while if eating out. I tried not use the word “allergy” to avoid certain food groups because I feel as though it is taking away from those who actually have allergies. On one occasion though, there was a bit of a mix up and I ended up having cheese on my salad which I kindly explained I could not have due to an intolerance (which isn’t necessarily a lie, just not a proven fact yet). -variety is important. I was trying to play it safe and make sure all my meals were Whole 30 ® approved which meant that I would eat the same things. I LOVE keto slaw (cabbage with ground beef and hot sauce basically) but did get really bored of the cabbage slaw I would sautee and make with many of my proteins. -While variety is key, keep it consistent. I tried to make sure I made one new recipe each which without stressing too much about it. Knowing what is Whole 30 ® approved and sticking to it helps when life gets busy. I am not saying you need to eat the same things every day to stay consistent, but remembering the basics and keeping things simple can go a long way. I found that there were a lot of great recipes in the book, however most of them weren’t overly appealing to me.

Week 4 (Feb 11- Feb 18): Success: Sleeping HAD improved significantly over the past few weeks however the last couple days of the Whole 30 ® seemed to not be my best sleeping days. I did flip flop from days to nights a few times which didn’t help and other factors including stress probably also played a role. I will consider the improved sleep a success seeing as my sleep drastically improved more than it deteriorated. (for anyone that knows me well, knows that while I love sleep, I have struggled with eating in the middle of the night and not being able to sleep through the night so improved sleep is a major win) -clearer skin, once again. I had never really had bad skin growing up until I was about 25 and became a lot more prone to hormonal acne. I have tried lots of basic run of the mill creams and plans but the Whole 30 ® really seemed to clear it up. A few of my coworkers at work and family members even noticed which is always nice and good pick me up when you might not be feeling your best. -Being at the finish line! I was getting more and more proud of myself and this small accomplishment with each passing day. I had a calendary that I used for meal prepping as well as on that I used for marking off the days that I had been successful. It was nice to have that visual reminder. I also kept track of how I felt each day which was not only for the purpose of the Whole 30 ®, but helped track moods and such. I am not a great journaler so keeping track of how things were going each day (or couple days when I would forget and have to back track) was a huge success and I am glad that I did it. - Whole 30 ® approved prosciutto! It made my life. While I am well aware of why proscuittiy is bad for you, it is something that I truly love and was super excited to find one without any preservatives. It did come with a heafty price tage ($8 or so for the package) but was a welcome treat for a couple lunches. Most lunch  meats are filled with preservatives including sugar and nitrates. I don’t love lunch meats but do often use them as “sandwiches” (peppers as the bread) with cheese for a work day.

Struggles: NO MORE EGGs. I made an egg casserole bake for two weeks that was delicious and chocked full of veggies and my fave nutitrional yeast (much to my co workers dismay and disgust) However eating eggs pretty well each day for breaky is not fun. Breakfast recipes were far and few between and I actually found a few great ones towards the end of the Whole 30 ® that I will incorporate into my next cycle. -Having to explain what and why the Whole 30 ®. I am a pretty open person and love teaching people new things, especially things that can be beneficial to their health/fitness/life but sometimes It got to be a little much explaining it to everyone and having to almost justify it. I believe everyone should be able to eat and drink whatever they want without having to justify it. I get that all of these “fad diets” are silly and/or intriguing to people so I do see why people have their apprehensions and questions.

Suggestions: TRY NEW THINGS. Combine textures and flavours! This week I had burgers but normally I love cheese on my burgers. Instead, I made some delicious guac and put that on my burger which made it super yummy and more filling! -Embrace the change. Embrace new things. I made a new recipe each week either from the book or from pinterest (which is so addictive it’s insane). When I worked 4 on 5 off a few years ago, I would strive to make something new each set off and I really missed making new things. I am super fortunate to live at home and have an amazing mum who helps/encourages healthy eating. She often makes new, healthy alternatives to our fave meals which was very helpful during this month. (Some faves are zucchini pastas, cauliflower rice, spaghetti squash etc)

Next Steps: Once the Whole 30 ® is over, there are two ways you can reintroduce all of the food groups and “trigger” foods you have been avoiding. I chose to do an accelerated version of the 10 day program because a week after finishing the Whole 30 ®, I was headed to Paris, France with my boyfriend and didn’t want to miss out on all the yummy cheeses and wines. I started initially encorporating non gluten grains (which I accidently added in legumes and soy at gthe same meal) to see how I would tolerate that. The premise is to add one of the food groups every 3 days while eating Whole 30 ® approved foods the rest of the time. For an example, on day 31, you would add a bit of milk to your coffee, cheese on your salad at lunch and some yogurt after your dinner. On days 32 and 33, you would eat Whole 30 ® approved meals again and see how you felt on those days. Monitoring things such as moods, energy, bloating, sleep etc are super important. I did pretty well until leaving for Paris when it all went downhill form there. I did exactly what you aren’t supposed to do- add everything (and anything!) you weren’t supposed to eat during the Whole 30 ® almost all at once. At least I had already slowly reintroduced a few of the food groups that aren’t Whole 30 ® approved before leaving.

Once in Paris, I have to say I felt pretty crummy with all of the foods I was eating. Don’t get me wrong, I had the best time and wouldn’t really change much but I did noticed a HUGE difference. I was far more bloated with a lot more digestive issues and issues with fatigue. I slept well however did have more “sugar crashes” along with snappy periods of moods (just ask Alex, poor guy). I may have overindulged for a week (macarons each day, wine and cheese for dinner etc) but enjoyed it and have to live with those decisions. Being back home, I thoroughly missed all of the amazing whole foods I was eating and the way I felt both mentally and physically. While I have not decided if I will redo the Whole 30 ® right away or just incorporate the most important parts (like no added sugar and minimal dairy), I am excited to get back to healthy eating and feeling better than yesterday!

This blog was pretty eye opening to write (just as the experience was) and I appreciate anyone (if anyone) who has taken the time to read it. This blog has been more personal to write as the topic is something that is quite personal and individual. I hope that I have at least prompted a thought about what kinds of things others might be putting into their bodies and how they are affecting them either physically or mentally.

PS. Thought I would add a small part on my basic meal prep. I developed a weekly meal prep guide that was super helpful for me. For anyone that knows me well, knows that I am super OCD and anal with organizing things and love having lists/plans/etc. My personal calendar is colour coded by event, job and other activities which causes a lot of jokes at work when left open unattended.. The meal prep sheet had room for each meal along with shopping list area and a spot for other info e.g what needed to be prepped when etc. I am happy to share any and all prep plans (I have a monthly one that is an easy basic prep one along with the more helpful weekly one that helps with grocery shopping and planning).

Basic meal prep: Breakfast: Bullet proof coffee (ghee, MCT oil and coffee in a magic bullet for 15 or so seconds), Lara bar with fruit or egg variations. I recently saw a lot of sweet potato toast recipes along with easy pancakes using eggs and bananas (which I do not like so have not tried myself) Lunch: Salad filled with veggies or tuna with homemade mayo (word to the wise, make sure you don’t put too much lemon in it). I also love cut up veggies with hard boiled eggs on the side. I love snacks for lunch and typically this works well at work when you don’t always have time to have a proper meal. Dinner: chicken/pork/fish with veggies. I used a lot of frozen veggies as they are often super easy to prep last minute and keep a bit better than fresh stuff sometimes. I typically use Mrs. Dash’ spices or other Whole 30 ® approved spices (there are tons online if you google them). I made a few great chilis and “taco” mixes that I enjoyed Snacks: nut mix (no peanuts) with sulphite free dates or apricots, kombucha, sparkling water, fruit, apple sauce, veggies etc. I LOVE sparkling water. I have never been the biggest pop drinker but do love sparking water and always buy cases of it when it goes on sale. This is not the most economically or earth friendly option so I do try and use our SodaStream as often as possible (they are well worth the investment).

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

This time for Africa

Since we were headed all the way to a new continent, we figured we would check out a few other things. This blog will go through all the fun things we did after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro along with our SAFARIIIII☺

Tuesday September 5th, 2017                Since we had not only made our way down the mountain, but also from planet lodge to the Arusha Lodge, where we were staying for the next few days, we were tired! Today was going to be a nice relaxing day by the pool. We had a sleep in (well I did until almost 9) before meeting the other girls for our breakfast buffet. While the buffet wasn’t as good as Planet lodge (or the mountain!), we could order  items off of the menu which was neat. The buffet was a selection of cereals, yogurts, breads, pastries etc. The menu options were all yummy and included eggs and French toast. After breakfast and several cups of coffee, we all headed to the empty pool. The staff of the hotel said there were a few other guests that would be coming and going but we rarely saw anyone. I think we were the only ones there for more of our stay which was lovely. The pool was right off our other room and was well maintained. When we first arrived, I had asked the staff about doing laundry (the language barrier didn’t help much) since my clothes and all my mountain belongings were beginning to smell. The one staff showed me where the laundry machine was (washing only, everything gets hung to dry which is eco-friendly and all but WAY more time consuming) and I got to work on my laundry before hitting the pool              We enjoyed the afternoon by the pool and decided to go out to the Cultural centre and do some shopping. The cultural centre was very beautiful and educational.  There was historical information about the 120 tribes of the country along with various masks from the ages/areas, crafts, souvenirs, clothing, tanzanite etc. The mask exhibit was my favourite part along with the beautiful art museum. We wandered around for about two hours before heading to a local spot for dinner. Emmanual took us to Uwiano Sahihi, which was a local BBQ place. The meals were fresh and delicious! I enjoyed a full (seemed like it!) chicken while a couple of the other girls had a full fish (I am not into things that still have the eyes/heads on them..) After enjoying our dinner, we made our way back to the lodge for a good nights sleep.

Wednesday September 6th, 2017              After our yummy breakfast (French toast and eggs of course with fresh pineapple and watermelon), Emmanuel picked us up to head to the Bethlehem Centre for children which is a small orphanage in Arusha. The orphanage is actually right around the corner from the Planet Lodge.  The lodge was started in 2007 by Mrs. Tumaini Munisi who is an amazing woman. Her personal reasons for starting the orphanage are remarkable and came from her own illness and the strength, compassion and kindness shown to her by her own neighbouring kids. When she started the orphanage, there were 8 children in total. Now, ten years later, there are 15 children living there and 5-10 more that come for day care services. She has several helpers that  cook, clean, care for and play with the kids. The orphanage was an amazing experience. We spent some time in the main room of the building learning about the background of the orphanage while the kids played and gave us the best snuggles. After the kids (and I) started to get restless, we all headed outside to have some candy treats and get a tour of the rest of the orphanage. There were two bigger rooms that served as bedrooms with bunk beds for the kids. The kitchen and bathrooms were small but adequate. The kids loved watching the chickens and roosters in their coop. The school room was probably my favourite room of the orphanage. The walls were painted in fun, bright colours, English words and cute desks. We played and cuddled with all the kids which was great. While we had a great time, it was hard to leave (without any of the kids of course). I know that there are people of all ages that need love, clothing, food and housing all over the world (Canada included of course) but seeing the look in some of the kids eyes as we left was heart breaking. Cathrin was smart enough to pick up some school supplies and such to bring with us which was nice and we discussed the possibility doing some sort of fundraising/donations to the orphanage.  If you are interested in learning more about this particular orphanage and/or the cute kids that live there, here is the link to the online site: http://becechi.wixsite.com/2013/meetthechildren.              After the cuddles at the orphanage, we headed to the Curior market in Arusha. I was surprised at how little tourists there were. Similar to many other markets that I have been to, there were rows and rows of stalls and vendors. Many were very lovely and encouraged us to check out their unique things. Some vendors were a little more pushy and aggressive but I just ignore them☺. Each of the streets in the curio were named with beautiful painted signs, which I loved. They were named after the national parks and deserts in and around the area that we would actually be going to soon enough on safari (Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Manyara etc.). I had a list of a few things I wanted to pick up and so did the other girls. Mostly just trinkets and souvenirs for others. We spent an hour or so at the market bartering and haggling the vendors down, which to be honest is one of my favourite things about markets. Some of the wooden art work and utensils were just amazing! We definitely got the majority of our souvenirs (and then some). After the Curio market, we made our way to the Arusha Central market. I have to say, this was definitely one of the most interesting markets I have been to. Our driver dropped us off right across from the market which was not a particularly tourist-y market. I typically usually really like the more local markets because you get a better sense of the cultural and how the people live and operate. This market was very much a local market with local people buying and selling. We were immediately bombarded by a group of young men who wanted to take us on a tour of the market. I was near the front of the group and continuously explained that we did not need any assistance. They insisted on coming with us and showing us the various sections of the market. Some of the girls were really interested in getting some fresh spices so we made our way through the fresh fruit and vegetable section up some stairs to several amazing stands of spices. We learned about the differences between the women and men’s markets and saw a wide variety of things to buy such as produce, meat, fish, textiles, gadgets and clothes. We spent about an hour (but seemed like an eternity) wandering the market with our “guides” before we wanted to head back to the car because we felt a bit uncomfortable. When we got back to the car, all of the men were asking for tip money which made things quite ackward. I tried to explain to the five of them that we had not asked for the assistance, and in fact had asked them to leave us alone and they wouldn’t listen. We all made it into the car and gave a few of them a few dollars in hopes that they would leave us alone. It took us several minutes to get out of the parking spot/street as it was a very narrow street and there were cars coming from all over. A few of the men were shouting at us into the van which did not make any of us feel very good. Thankfully, our awesome guide got us out of the market area and back onto the main street where he explained a few land marks of Arusha (some schools, medical centres and the centre of town clock tower). We headed back to the lodge where we enjoyed a nice dinner, drinks and chatted on the outdoor couches (which I loved to read on).

Thursday September 7th, 2017             Today was our last day before we headed out on Safari we enjoyed hanging out by the pool! I was finally starting to feel better and wasn’t coughing up a lung all of the time. We knew we would have long days in the jeep so we soaked up as much sun as possible before packing up our things for safari and to head home after safari.

Friday September 8th, 2017             We met our safari guide Prosper on this rainy morning! We put all of our stuff in the back of our awesome jeep before climbing in. We had an almost 3 hour drive toward our first safari stop from the Ahadi Lodge. Prosper spoke to us about some of his favourite things about being a guide along with some of the challenges. Most guides work during the dry season (May to October ish) when the safari areas are favourable for driving and such. The guides typically work 5-6 months of the year and then are unemployed for the rest of the time or they get other types of jobs in the city. In terms of our destination for the day, it was a bit up in the air when we started. Depending on the weather conditions, the guides decide if we start in the Manyara National Park or the Tarangire. Prosper decided that we would skip the Manyara as the weather wasn’t favourable for lots of animal sightings. We passed many various Maasai lands which we learned a lot of about. Prosper explained that they were having some issues with the Maasai people and their driving the donkeys and cattles into the farmers land. The Maasai people have been around for over 200 years and take up the largest area for a tribe. The Secuma is the biggest tribe at 9 million people, then the Chaga who are near Kili and in third the Maasai people. They use a lot of traditional medicine and live off of the land. They have some very interesting practices in terms of adult hood and such that you are free to google at your convenience☺             We made it into the Tarangire national park early afternoon after enjoying our boxed lunch (obvs my fave part haha).  We learned about the Baobab trees which are a type of Adansonia tree. They can live anywhere from 1500-3000 years and can store 600 litres of water. They look like an upside tree and are the epitome of “Africa”. We saw so many animals including: impalas, dikdiks, mongoose, zebras, ostriches, griaffes, monkeys, elephants, wildbeast etc. We saw a huge amount of elephants (which I now love) and learned a lot about them.  They drink daily and can drink 100-200 litres per day. They also easy about 200-300 kg of food per day and poop most of it out because they don’t have great digestive systems. After seeing tons of up close and personal elephants, we headed to our first camp site which was fairly nice. Emmanual (our driver) and Ossman (our chef) had already set up our big canvas tents. The tents were way bigger than I had anticipated and had cots and sleeping bags with pillows and toilet paper all set up for us.              We enjoyed warm tea and popcorn before our delicious dinner of soup, veggies and meat. Ossman was a great cook and we were thankful to have something warm to drink as it did get a bit cool at night (not as cold as the mountain of course). Since it gets dark early and we had to be up early, we got cleaned up in the washrooms, which were not the nicest but did have proper toilets and even some showers. We hit the hay after reading/watching some shows on the ipad.

Saturday September 9th, 2017- Happy Birthday Auntie Lynn!!              There was no knock, knock on our tent  to wake us up with fresh coffee at 0630 sadly (I really did miss the mountain!). We made our way to breakfast for 0715 after packing up our stuff and getting ready for the day. Our breakfast was very thorough and included plenty of coffee, toast, eggs, crepes and sausage with fruit. We made our way towards the Serengeti around 0800. We drove through the rest of the Manyara region and saw some beautiful scenery. We entered the Ngorongoro Conservation area (which took me forever to learn how to pronounce) which is a big conservation area (duh) where the Maasai and the animals live in peace and harmony. There at about 110,000 Maasai that live there in about 8300 square km which is twice the size of the Tarangire park. Ngorongoro has 3 craters- two are smaller and there is one large one that is famous for visiting and its wildlife.             We went through a few small towns including one called “Mosquito Town” which had lots of beautiful colours and rice fields. It is a busier town with many lodges and stores because of tourists. This is where we stopped for a nice lookout of the Manyara which was beautiful.  There is a different tribe from about the Manyara until the Ngorongoro Conservation area called the Mbulu who came from Ethiopia some 1500 years ago. The Mbulu people are very different from the Maasai as they are farmers and they stay put wherever they are and don’t move around unlike the Maasai people. The Mbulu have lots of food all year round and they also go to school unlike the Maasai. Of course, there was a lovely souvenir shop for a some coffee before hopping back in the jeep towards the Ngorongoro (which is a national heritage site). We drove though the busy town of Karatu, which was super busy and full of construction. Prosper gave us some history of the crater (the largest one). The beginning part  of the crater is very lush and green because of all the wind from Indian Ocean. The other side of the crater is all desert and barren. The crater was a volcano that collapsed and was not created from meteors which is how many of them are formed. The other side of the rim (the more barren area) is the way towards the Serengeti. You basically have to drive around the whole perimeter of the crater to get to the road to the Serengeti. It was pretty beautiful but was also slightly windy which wasn’t great for my tummy.                                           On our way into the Serengeti, we visited a Maasai village that had been there for about 5 years. We each paid $20 American which goes towards their water as it is very expensive (100$ a day for the tribe). We were welcomed with a traditional song and dance by the people of the tribe. A few of us were even invited into dance with them. We separated into different groups and watched how they make fire (without a lighter!), along with visiting their homes. There was about 25 huts housing 120 people. The huts were made out of dung, bark, bamboo and wood and were quite cosy. We saw where in the huts they cooked (a small hole for the light and the smoke) and slept (on cow hide). We learned about some of their traditions which were very interested. Some of the men have 5-6 wives and woman are the ones who make the huts and speak minimal English. The girls don’t usually go back to school after primary school and if anyone leaves, they are typically not allowed to go back or are subject to corporal punishment which is quite scary. On our way out, we visited the school room and listened to the kids tell us their ABC’s and their numbers. They seemed very sweet and kind. While they may make it seem different for the tourists, I enjoyed my visit to the Maasai village.                                                                We continued on our way towards the Serengeti. The Serengeti means vast land in Maasai. It is almost 15000 square km (which is larger than Denmark) and is the third largest National Park in Tanzania. The Serengeti is known for its large migration of wildebeest and zebras (1.5 million wildebeest and 250,000 zebras). En we saw some camels that are used from transportation from Kenya through the park towards the Serengeti along with many dust devils (which are huge!). It took us almost 5 hours to go through the park towards the central Serengeti. It rained a lot on the trip but we did see lot of amazing animals. We had stopped for some great group shots a few times. We saw the gorgeous sunset on our drive and made it to the campsite just after sunset. Our tents were already set up, including our “Happy 50th Birthday” banner for Lynn! We were super excited to celebrate Lynn’s birthday in the desert. We enjoyed a snack of popcorn and tea before dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce with zucchini soup. We had the most amazing avocado/cucumber and pepper salad as well! The avos in Tanzania are just magical! We enjoyed some wine before heading back to the tents. On our way to the tents, we saw a hyena! He was pretty cute, we were glad he was minding his own business. We had been told to make sure we flash our lights from side to side to ensure we can see any animals in our path. The bathrooms and showers were quite nice and kept relatively clean, which is always a plus. We knew would be at this campsite for two nights so we unpacked and got settled in before 2100.

Sunday September 10, 2017

              We enjoyed our breakfast before heading back out into the Serengeti for a longer day.  We had a similar plan each day- see as many animals as possible! Since we were seeing many of the same animals, Prosper spent a lot of time teaching us about all of the animals we were seeing. We learned a lot about their lifestyles (e.g how the buffalos become part of a bachelors club around age 15 or so since they are too large to mate). We learned about the differences between each of the various types of gazelles (so many different types, my faves were the Tomson gazelles). we saw many of the same animals. The animals that we spent the most amount of time watching were the lions. They are such interesting creatures. We saw prides along with many couples of lions on the hunt. We learned all about the lion mating rituals (very interesting- google it if you are interested) along with the animals’ hierarchy and how the women are typically the ones who hunt. It was very neat to see lions on the prowl and then we also saw them post hunt resting under the tree panting with their large, full bellies. I found the lions to be so beautiful, scary but very beautiful. I do see how they are the “king of the jungle”. All of the other animals would scurry any time the lions approached them. There were many other animals who cohabitated without this fear (hartibeasts, gazelles, guinea fowls etc.). We spoke of “the big 5” and how we wouldn’t see them all on this trip sadly. We would see 4/5 (elephant, lion, leopard and Buffalo) if we were lucky but not the rhinos. In the Serengeti area, there are only about 10 rhinos left after poachers. It is also fairly common to miss the leopards in the wild as they are usually found up in trees and blend in with their surroundings. We did see one up in the tree and learned that their cubs have higher survival rates than lions since they can climb up tress. Their average lifespan is about 20 years and they spend much of this life in solitude.              Prosper took us up and around one of the many rock formations that the lions hung out on and we enjoyed our lunch there.  These rock formations were formed from volcanoes many, many years ago and are granite. Around the rock formation, ee were surprised to see a lot of smaller animals and insects including agama lizards (which came in a wide variety of colours including a vibrant red and beautiful purple) and a bunch of large birds. The largest bird we saw was the Cori bustardge . It weighs about 14-18 kg and is the biggest flying bird in Africa.  Our lunch was chips, chocolate, with a yummy meatball type thing, carrot sandwich, crepe and juice. We hung out with a group of lioness’ on the rocks while their cubs fed off them. It was pretty neat. After lunch, we spotted some more lions (including the cutest pride with a bunch of sweet cubs playing) including two that were on the prowl for zebras. We didn’t see them catch anything but the whole hunting experience was neat to watch. Sometimes they must hunt for 4- 6 hours before they catch anything.  Imagine waiting that long to eat! I would be super hangry if that was me. Another cool animal we watched for a while were the hippos. They were hard to spot at first as they typically looked more like mud or murky.  They spend the majority of their day in the water as they don’t have sweat glands so they can’t regulate their body temps. They graze in the evenings when the hot sun isn’t blazing on them. They do live similar “bachelor” lifestyles to the buffalo as they are also large animals who have minimal use after the mating age. They aren’t the cutest animal by far and they smell pretty bad but do have this weird appeal to them.  We headed to the sergenti visitors centre which has a nice path for us to walk around to learn about the history of the area. We saw many hyrax (super cute squirrely type animals) around the area. It was great to stretch our legs after a long day in the jeep.              Our camp spot was called Ngchuro (mongoose) which was on the east part of the park. We had driven about 60-70 km from west to east over the span of the 9 or so hour day. Dinner was delicious and on the 10th we enjoyed a cake made from scratch without the use of an oven by our amazing cook. He knew it had been Lynn’s birthday the day before and decided to make her a cake, which was super sweet. The cake was a vanilla cake with icing and everything! He made it on a coal fire which was super impressive. We enjoyed the meal (as always) as well as each others company before turning in early- who knew sitting in a jeep all day could be so tiring!

Tuesday September 11th, 2017- Last full day of Safari☹              Propser suggested that we get up extra early to see the beautiful sunrise along with maybe some more active animals since the hot sun wasn’t out yet. IN the morning ride out into the desert, we saw a ton of animals including topis (type of gazelle), warthogs, hyenas, vultures, zebras and giraffes.  Later on in the morning, we saw a pair of cheetahs which are often challenging to spot. Cheetahs used to be one of my fave animals due to their speed and agility. We learned that they hunt during the day, every 3-4 days but if they have cubs with them, they will hunt daily. Their success rate in hunting is about 75% whereas the lion is about 50 %. Unfortunately, the cheetah cubs have a higher mortality rate because they often get lost and then eaten by leopards, lions or heynas. We saw to adult cheetahs cross the road for a drink of water from a puddle and then sit atop a mound and overlook the desert. They really are graceful, beautiful animals. Prosper pointed out two lioness’ that looked very full and we wondered if they were the same ones we had seen the day before. We enjoyed my favorite lunch of safari: yummy salad with corn cucumbers peppers, avocado and tomatoes along with a frittata type pizza, lentil balls and fries back at the camp site. Once we were done, we packed up the cars and headed out of the Serengeti and back towards the Ngorongoro Park. The bathroom was always the last stop  before getting onto the jeep as going to the washroom in the middle of the game reserve was always a gamble. Prosper would look around and make sure he didn’t see any imminent threats. We would then have to go to the washroom on the road right behind the truck which was a lot harder than I thought and then run back into the truck. Prosper was always on the lookout for moving grass and animals. I usually held my bladder all day which is unheard of for me but I was a bit nervous about peeing in the while. Prosper also mentioned that the grasses during the wet season are significantly higher which makes visibility a lot more challenging.  We did see the usual animals including a large group of elephants including a few super cute, little babies heading for the water.  We asked if there were any crocodiles in the Serengeti and were happily told that they are only usually found in the western and northern Serengeti (and we had explored the Southern and Central Serengeti.             We drove out of the Serengeti and about 2 hours up a dusty desert road with lots of “dust devils” towards the Serena Lodge. This lodge was were we would be stopping for a drink and rest stop.  About an hour before we arrived at the lodge, the scenery changed significantly. There appeared to be many little mountains along with winding roads, Maasai villages and trees that would be beautiful in the rainy season. It was crazy to go from complete desert to mountains with trees in such a short period of time.                                                        The Serena lodge is a beautiful resort area on the crater. It is a beautiful building with a rock façade. We sat in the restaurant beside large windows overlooking the whole crater. The views were fabulous. We each enjoyed a beer and some AC while taking in the views and taking tons of photos. We paid $23 for the 5 beers and found out it was about $300 a person including food which was a bit more expensive then our camping safari experience. We spent about an hour at the lodge before taking the short trip over to Simba A, our final camp site. This camp site was just amazing! It overlooked the crater and had some amazing views. We got to get upclose and personal with some zebras who would be walking around our tents later on in the night, graxing along with some elephants. We got lots of photos with the animals, including a video of one of the largest elephants staring one of the girls down. I was a bit nervous at that point that it would come after us but we were safe thank goodness. Dinner was delicious  as always in a large room with many other groups.  We enjoyed cucumber soup which was super salty with pasta noodles, beef stew and coleslaw with banana fritters for dessert. We were given the warmest hot waterbottle to go to bed with which was just heavenly!

Tuesday September 12th, 2017             Safari was coming to an end☹. While we woke up at the gorgeous camp site (With tons of zebra poop to avoid), we headed into the dining building for our last breaky. We had an earlier start since we wanted to see as my many animals as possible in the crater. We were heading down the steep road into the Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is basically a large volcanic calder within the area. It is in fact, the largest inactive, intact volcano in the world. About half a million people visit the 100 square mile area each year. It is 2000 feet deep  and is at 5,900 feet above sea level. It has been recently voted one of the Seven Natural Wonders in Africa. It is home to over 25,000 large animals including many that we had already seen. Sadly, we missed some of the migration times so we didn’t get to see all of the animals that the crater has to offer. While the drive in and out of the crater was terrifying, the driving around was super peaceful. One of the best parts of the morning was when we stopped for a washroom break at a real bathroom near a large-ish lake. Inside the lake were tons of hippos floating/swimming. If you looked quickly, it appeared to be a normal lake. However, if you looked closely, you could see the hippos coming up every now and then. We were all at little nervous at first but Prosper assured us that we were safe as the hippos only came out in the night time to graze. We got some great photos near the lake and jumped back in the truck to head out of the crater. We had a lovely driver back into Arusha including a pit stop for some local veggies on the side of the road which was pretty neat to see (similar to our fruit stands in more rural areas). We made in back to the Planet Lodge for an hour or so of sunlight by the pool. We thanked Propser for all of his amazing knowledge and excellent driving skills. We all took some time to get things ready for leaving and relax in our own ways (mine was with a Safari beer and a book). Dinner was later on in the evening before a night cap and our last night in Africa.

Wednesday September 13th,  2017            Sadly, it was our last day in Africa! We woke up early (because I couldn’t sleep in any longer sadly) and had a great, delicious buffet breakfast at Planet Lodge. A few of us packed before heading to the pool to enjoy the last few hours of sun we had. We accidentally checked out late (oops) and waited in the lobby for our driver to pick us up. Cathrin and I enjoyed some yummy samosas and spring rolls while we The driver picked us up and we headed to the airport which took about 1-130 hours We stopped at the same convenience store as on our way in to Arusha to get last minute booze.           The airport was quite the experience to say the least. Before even entering the airport, all of your stuff had to go through a security scanner which took quite some time. We managed to finally check in after a long wait and make our way to the security and customs lines. We had our finger prints taken before wandering around the little shops before our 2 ish hour flight to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian airport is probably one of my least favourites of all time. It is very muggy and crowded with not enough amenities or places to sit. We wandered around for a bit checking out the duty free shops and such before being called to go through security. It was mildly frustrating as we were called to go through security almost 2 hours early an there were no shops or restaurants on the other side. We even got in trouble for not bringing out boarding passes to the bathroom at one point. In any case, w made it onto our flight and I enjoyed a glass of wine and a gravol before sleeping a good 7 hours on the flight. We stopped in Dublin for an hour to refuel before continuing on. Our meals were the same as the evening dinner (I tried to go for the vegetarian option but that wasn’t an option sadly… I mean, beggars can’t be choosers right) and I caught up on a few documentaries before we landed in Toronto. Customs was a lot easier than I had anticipated as well as bag retrieval. We said our “see you soons” and all went our separate ways back home.             This was a trip of a lifetime! I am so happy and proud of all of our accomplishments. Tanzania is a beautiful country filled with beautiful people, animals and scenery. It was a privilege to get to experience all that we did. I am truly grateful for the four girls and all of the people that we met on this trip. The trip wouldn’t have been the same without them. I am looking forward to visiting the African continent again in the future! 

Shawhili Basics: *I may have spelt things wrong but this is all written on the go Jambo- hello Mambo/ how are you Boa- fine Assante/ thank you Caribou- your welcome Pole pole- slow slow Sawa sawa- ok Rafiki- friend Dada-sister Jamba- fart Toto-baby Pole-sorry Chaklula kitamu- the food is delicious Sana- very much Assante sana- thank you very much Kaka-brother Baba-father Maji-water Moto-fire Joto (yoto)- hot Comme –like Booboo-someone  who doesn’t speak Wonga- light Mizungu- white person Muongo- liar Uko sawa- are you ok Uko poa are yo fine Uko vzurir- are you ok Nessie- nurse Kwaheri- goodbye Tuta Onan tena- See you again Usiku- mwemwa- good night Lala salama- sleep well

Animals: Fisi- hyena tambo- elephant Twiga- giraffe Duma- cheetah Tumbili - monkey Chui-leopard Kiboko- hippo Punda milia- zebra Punda- donkey Ngombe- cow Busi- goat Kondoo-sheep Kukoo- chicken Guroway- pig Ngongu- porqupine Simba- lion Mbwa-dog Packa- cat Nyati-buffalo

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

Jambo from Mount Kilimanjaro

        About a year or so ago, I was at work chatting with a few coworkers when one said that a few of them from work were headed to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Since I love to travel and climbing a mountain was on my bucket list (who’s list isn’t it on…) I asked if I could join and of course, they said yes! Over the course of the next 9 months, we planned, shopped and packed for this exciting, 3week trip to Africa.

         Africa (for those who can’t Wikipedia it) is the 2nd largest and first most populous continent in the world. It is located south of Europe with many bodies of water surrounding it including the Mediterranean Sea, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. It has a population of approximately 1.6 billion, which comprises 16% of the world’s population. While Africa is abundant in natural resources, it is one of the most underdeveloped and poorest continents with many issues arising from corrupt governments, illness and illiteracy. Africa is well known for there amazing culture and spirit with many sports teams and traditional dances.  Even though we were only going to one country, I was really looking forward to visiting this amazing continent that is so different than anywhere else I have been.           In order to get ready for the trip, I had a lot of packing and planning to do. I didn’t realize the magnitude of the different things I would need from clothes to equipment to immunizations. A few of us went to the Travel and Immunization Clinic off of Harvester in Burlington for our immunizations. The travel doc there was very efficient. I received 3 immunizations (yellow fever, Hep A and Typhoid) along with all of the necessary medications for the trip. Being a nurse and super anal, I over packed on all medications and first aid supplies but was happy to have the majority of the travel supplies. We were given anti-malarial meds, antibiotics, Diamox (to decrease the risk of altitude sickness) and steroids in case things got real bad. I have to say other than the steroids (thank goodness), all of the medications were used. In addition to vaccines (which set the uninsured me back over $700), I made sure to follow the packing lists to a T, which meant picking up some hiking supplies.  I felt real silly buying a camelback along with hiking poles but boy was I happy to have them. In addition to the poles and camel back, I made sure to have a few buffs, good base layers (that still didn’t cut it on the coldest days), hats, mitts and worn in boots. Having first aid supplies especially duoderm or blister pads were key as, despite wearing in my boots, I still had some areas of redness and potential breakdown from the friction of the boot. By the time all was said and done, I had packed a medium checked suitcase along with my large 60 L hiking backpack for the trip along with my small day pack which sufficed with plenty of room.

August 26th & 27th, 2017            Today was the day we were heading to a new continent! After triple checking my packing, I headed to meet the girls at the airport. I was travelling with 4 coworkers- Lynn and Cathrin are both nurses at Mac with me, Cathy is a Respiratory Therapist that we work with at Mac and Chris used to work at Mac before leaving to work in the north. I was excited (and a little nervous) to travel with a new set of friends. Travelling is one of my favourite things to do and finding great people to do it with is half the battle. We all met at the airport and were checked in and through security in no time. Our flights were with Ethiopian Air, which we had heard mixed reviews about but chose to go with them since the times worked best for us. We had a long trip ahead of us starting with our flight from Toronto to Ethiopia (14 or so hours) which I didn’t mind as I had downloaded a ton of shows and movies to my IPad (Technology these days is fantastic).  Plus, I love sleeping on planes so I wasn’t too worried. We endured the longer leg of the light with minimal issues (at least from my perspective minimal issues as I thoroughly enjoyed my meals, wine and movies. We arrived in Ethiopia around 7 am local time, which thinking about it now, is funny since we all cracked open a beer while we waited for our connecting flight. I mean, it was late at night at home and noon somewhere in the world right? The Ethiopian airport has some decent duty free stuff (including watches, which I had to buy since mine broke during check in) however it was not the cleanest place I have been, nor was it air-conditioned which was a bit tricky. It was fine for what we needed. We took off around 10 am for our final and shortest leg of the flight (ADD to JRO).            This flight was short, at 2 and a bit hours and not as busy as the previous. They even served us a hot meal on the flight! When we arrived, there was quite a long line to get the visa needed to enter the country. The visitor visa was $50 American and valid for 3 months.  We could've gotten it ahead of time however; most resources said it was easier to get it at the airport. Thinking back on that line, it might've been easier to get the visa ahead of time. The arrivals section was under construction and had wires hanging from the ceiling and was not air-conditioned which made it very, very warm (first world problems, I know). The airport was hard to navigate due to the construction and had minimal signage due. Once you made it to the front of the line, it was easy to get the visa and immigration was fairly easy with fingerprinting, photography and a battery of questions. Luckily, our driver Emmanuel was ready at the entrance to pick us up and take us to Arusha, a city in northern Tanzania. On our way, we stopped at a convenience store and picked up a few snacks and beers just outside the city of Kikatiti.              On the 45 or so minute drive to Arusha, Emmanuel answered our many questions about the area, country and customs. He also told us about his job at Good Earth Tours and a little bit about the town of Arusha and the Maasai people we were driving by. I will talk about the Maasai people in greater detail in the next blog from when we went on safari. We learned a lot about the schools, which we were told are both private and public and is now free since the new government has taken over. This new president is very, very well liked but has increased taxes, which has made some people unhappy. He has been able to provide a lot more social services with the tax money so most people understand and are agreeable to the tax increase. The main industries in Tanzania are trades in terms of mining, brickmaking, tourism and agriculture. They do mine for Tanzanite, a rare and expensive blue stone that is said to be extinct within the next 10 years. During the drive, we saw Mount Meru in the distance which is just outside of Arusha and is the second largest mountain in Tanzania. There is lots of farming and agriculture noted as we were driving along with many small shops of people selling things on the side of the road.  We did chat  a bit more about the country and area itself and learned more neat facts. They're over 120 different tribes in Tanzania with many different languages however the majority of people do speak Swahili (don’t worry, there will be many Swahili words used in the next blog along with a list of what we learned to come). It is very interesting to see the different ways people dressed; some people were dressed in very western clothing that were either bought or given to them by tourist and others were dressed in beautiful traditional dresses, headwraps and scarves. I really enjoyed the traditional dress as it was very different from home and showed that they still believed and lived their cultural views.

          After the car ride and some great learning, we arrived at our first of many destinations. We were staying at Planet Lodge for the first and final few days of the trip as per the Good Earth tours company. The Planet Lodge was beautiful! It was in a gated community (as many of the hotels and resorts are). We were in a three-bedroom room that was fairly spacious and very clean. The lodge had a nice pool along with several outdoor areas to sit down in. There was a lobby where we had dinners and other meals along with some Internet access and computers. Since we arrived mid day or so, we decided to hang out by the pool and just relax and unpack before getting ready for the next few days of excitement. We did do a buffet dinner which was delicious and included many different traditional meals such as curry, rice, meats flatbreads and of course a variety of desserts. We went to bed fairly early as jet lag was starting to kick in and we wanted to try to conquer it.

August 28th, 2017             The next morning we woke up and had a great continental breakfast that had an omelette station, waffles, pancakes, toast and fruit - the works really. We then met with Rose and Dismas from Good Earth Tours. Rose worked in the office and did much of the organizing and coordinating while Dismas was going to be our main guide on the climb. They gave us a run down of the next few days along with packing tips. It was really exciting to chat with them about the next few days but also a bit nerve-wracking. We also got to meet Scott who was going to be joining our group of girls. Scott lives in Washington state and is an avid hiker who has climbed to Everest Base Camp. He seemed super nice and as if he would fit it well with our group.

          After our meeting, we hung out by the pool and got ready for the climb, which involved lots of beer of course. My favourite was the Kilimanjaro beer while the other girls seemed to really enjoy the Tusker beer. We packed up our stuff according to what Dismas said, which seemed a lot easier ahead of time. It was very hard to make sure you had everything packed and that you weren’t missing anything (or maybe that was because of the beer). I think I checked my bag and list three times to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. After we were all fairly happy that we hadn’t forgotten much, we headed to the lobby for dinner, which was more western than the previous night. We had avocado salad with cilantro that was absolutely amazing and fresh (and unreplicable as a few of us have realized back home) despite being told by one of our infectious disease docs not to eat anything that wasn’t cooked or properly washed (sorry Dr. Fulford, it was well worth it!) Among the salads were a wide variety of foods including pasta, cheese, soup, chicken, beef and mixed desserts. Since we had a very early and exciting day, we decided to call it a night early in anticipation of Day 1 of the climb.

August 29th, 2017           Today was the day we were starting to climb Mount Kilimanjaro! For those of you who haven’t googled it yet, Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest freestanding mountain in the world and is the tallest mountain in Africa. It has an elevation of 5,895 meters above sea level and is a dormant volcano with three volcanic cones called Kibo, Shira and Mwenzi. It is approximately 3 million years old and last erupted between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago. Some 25,000 people attempt to climb the mountain each year and approximately 66% are successful.  Ok, now back to our trek! We were picked up at 8 o'clock after a traditional breakfast of everything under the sun: eggs, waffles, pancakes and fruit. I was definitely a little taken aback by how many people were there to support us. I knew it was going to be a large group but I don’t think I really understood until they were all there greeting us. We had a large tour bus with racks on the top that were already pretty full of food and equipment by the time we were picked up. We had to stop on the way to pick up some more porters but in total there would be 6 of us climbing, 17 porters, 3 guides, a chef, waiter and a partridge in a pair tree- WOW! We got a brief introduction to the guides- Dismas was our main guide and then Richard and Moses were our assistant guides. Dismas has been a guide for his entire adult life basically and has summited Mount Kilimanjaro over 200 times. Moses and Richard had been working for 4-6 with the company and were also very experienced. We all hopped into the van (that even had pull out seats in the aisle) for the drive from Arusha to Moshe to pick up more porters and some last minute supplies (aka candy).           Mount Kilimanjaro has 4 different climate zones and we drove through the first zone- the cultivation zone on our way up to the gates. This zone is mainly coffee plantation but does house other types of crops such as carrots, which is what we saw many people picking. We had to check in and get everything weighed at the Londorosi Gate, which was a half hour or so drive to the Lemosho Gate where we were starting. While the porters and guides checked in and did their thing, we had our very first boxed lunch! It was full with yummy stuff such as : carrot sandwich (of course), hard boiled egg, chicken, chips, chocolate, cookies, pancake (that was similar to a crepe at home but so yummy), fruit and juice. The chicken was and is still my favourite thing from those boxes. After we enjoyed our lunch, we wandered around and met some other climbers. We met a couple of nice guys- one from Brazil and one from Aus who we chit chatted with until we left for the Lemosho Gate. Once we arrived at the Lemosho gate (2100m), we took our photos in front of the signs (which would become a daily tradition) and then started our first hike towards MTI Mkubma Camp approximately 7 km away. This initial climb was fairly easy and we completed it in less than the estimated 4 hours. The terrain was Forest like (as we were in the 2nd climate zone) and had many lush trees and plants. The guides were great and chatted to us as we walked, always checking in and making sure we were doing ok.           When we arrived at MTI Mkubwa Campt (2650 m) after approximately 16, 750 steps (thanks FitBit), we were immediately greeted by the porters, who had hiked way ahead of us to get everything set up and prepared. Our tents were already set up and all we had to do was put our bags in! I was bunking with Cathrin in the Ze-bra tent. We were floored by the hospitality already as “snack” and warm wash bowls were ready for us. After washing up, we went into the dining tent (which most other groups didn’t have) and hot water was prepared with delicious popcorn. We had our choice of various hot drinks and sat and enjoyed each other’s company. After snack, we unpacked for the night and wandered around the campsite. Dinner was served around 6pm and was a 3-course ordeal (which we would learn would be customary each night). We started out with a cucumber soup, followed by crusted and fried Tilapia (Lynn’s favourite), potatoes, pasta, sauce, veggies and fruit. We were all so impressed by the amount and taste of the food- I think we even had seconds! We enjoyed some more chatter before heading to our cosy tents and resting our heads on our mattresses and comfy sleeping bags.

August 30th, 2017            Today was day two of the climb and we were pretty excited to get going- minus the fact that we were up at 0630. We were woken by one of the crew members named Pascal, who would say “Knock Knock” on our tent to wake us and then say “Can I unzip” and offer us tea or coffee including milk and sugar. I mean, I am not a morning person but this made my morning! We spent the next 15 or so minutes getting dressed and enjoying our coffee in the tent before being told to “Wash, Wash”, which meant that our warm wash bowls were ready for us. After washing up and packing , we  would head to have breakfast in the dining tent. Breakfast was pretty much the same (delicious though) selection each morning that started with oats, followed by omelet styled eggs, sausage (that looked like mini hot dogs), toast, pancakes and fruit along with tea, coffee and hot chocolate.  After stuffing our faces full of yummy food, we were given a snack bag and our water bottles to pack up. Our snack bag was more of a lunch bag and had chocolate, nuts, chips, juice and a muffin in it! We were packed and ready to go! Of course the porters had already starting taking out tents down while we were eating and some of them had already left to hike to our lunch or nighttime spot.            Our guides had given us the great suggestion of changing the route a little bit. Instead of having a super long hiking day, on the day we summited, they suggested that today (our 2nd day) be a longer one, with 2 four hour hikes instead of just one. We happily obliged, knowing we would want more rest time the day we summited. They did warn us that the first of the hikes would be pretty steep- and they weren’t lying. I think that while I am not the fittest person around (or in the group), that I wouldn’t have had such a hard time but man, that first few hours were so challenging. We spent the greater part of 3 hours climbing up hill and I had the hardest time controlling my breathing for some reason. The climb was not a steep incline but was still challenging with the various rocks and steps in the warm weather and more humid “forest-y” climate. I definitely struggled and was very relieved when we made it to our break spot. There were even tears of joy (or pain, I am not too sure still).  We spent about 20 mins enjoying the views and each others company, and of course, catching our breaths. I was very thankful already for my camel back (which allowed me to take small sips without completely losing my inability to breathe) and my walking poles (which I always made fun people for using and could not fathom doing a hike without them now).           After our break, we hiked for about another hour- on mostly flat terrain (which was a relief) to Shira 1. This was supposed to be our original camping spot for the night but instead we were just stopping for lunch. Our chef, Pascal and a few porters were there and they welcomed us and took our bags immediately. They were so sweet and so accommodating. Shira 1 is at 3610 meters and is a common camping spot for those on the Lemosho route. It is relatively flat with not the best views of anything. I was glad we were only stopping there for lunch. Lunch was mushroom soup (which was for sure my favourite of the trip), pasta with sauce and veggies. We spent about an hour total at Shira 1 before continuing on with our 2nd hike of the day. We had about 10km to go which sounded a lot easier and less time consuming than it was. The terrain was less forest/jungle than earlier as we had moved into the 3rd climate zone of Heather and Moorland. This area still had some vegetation (large heathers and tall grass) but was far less dense and more open with higher winds and less rain than the Forest climate. The temperatures in this climate area could soar to 40 degrees in the day and below 0 at night. In many areas, we would be above the clouds and which would mean a lot more views of the mountain and the amazing stars.  I also asked about the various flowers we may see along with what kind of wild life can be found on the mountain. Moses explained that various trees/flowers we would see but the main ones I remembered and enjoyed were the everlasting flowers and giant senacio pants which are only found on Kili. In terms of wildlife, there isn’t a whole lot found near the top other than vultures and birds however there are lots of other birds, some small rodents and even monkeys in the lower climates such as the Moorland and Forest.  The 10 km between Shira 1 and Shira 2 took us about 3 hours and we arrived at Shira 2 (3850m) just before 5 pm. I was shocked at how cool it was! The guides said it was about 10 degrees which, for a Canadian doesn’t seem that cold, but after hiking in 20-30 degree weather, it is definitely a shock. After cleaning up with our warm wash cloths- which was necessary since my legs were covered in the dust that surrounds this climate zone) and checking out the bathrooms (which actually had a toilet seat that made me very happy), we changed into our campsite clothes (wool tights, a long sleeve and sweater for me) before heading into the dining tent for popcorn and warm drinks. This was the best view (thus far of course) of the mountain! The sky was so blue and the mountain looked pristine with its amazing glaciers. I was definitely impressed and a bit scared that we would be at the top of the mountain in only a few days.  Since it was so cold, Cathrin and I headed back to our tent to “read” which totally turned into a snooze for me. I was so warm and cozy in my sleeping bag that I didn’t even want to go to dinner! Me, not want dinner- crazy! Looking back, I think this was partly because I was cold and partly the altitude starting to affect my appetite. Cathrin reminded me who was boss (her) and told me that I had to go to dinner to make sure I kept up my energy. I was very glad I got up for dinner! We had butternut squash soup with toast, rice with beef and veggies and oranges. I was very impressed (as were the rest of the group) with the flavours, variety and caliber of food we were enjoying. Good thing we were burning tons of calories hiking each day (32, 450 steps logged)! After dinner, we made our final trip out to the cold washroom before cuddling into our tents and reading before bed.

August 31st, 2017         Knock, Knock, can I unzip? It still makes me smile thinking about Pascal and his sweet demeanor stuck with the job of waking us up each morning. At least he brought coffee, so we were always happy to see him. 0630 was our wake up time again and we continued with our usual morning regime- coffee in tent, dressing/packing, cleaning up and then breakfast with the group. This morning we were headed to the Lava Tower as our halfway point, which would be the highest altitude we would reach thus far. This hike was going to take us about 4 hours and was approximately 6km away. The temperature was definitely cooler than the previous days but the hiking was a lot less steep with more gradual inclines. Today’s hike, despite being cooler, was more enjoyable than the previous mornings. I was able to chat, and not concentrate as much on breathing as I was the day before. We enjoyed little anecdotal stories about each other and just got to learn new things about one another which was neat. We arrived at the Lava Tower (4600 m) around lunchtime and I was definitely feeling the altitude. After visiting the travel clinic a few months ago, I had done some research and our guides had said that regardless of physical fitness and training, anyone could get sick from the altitude. The guides reminded us of the basic things to remember: Fluids (3L at least while hiking, 5L /day total), fuel (eating well), rest and pole pole (slow, slow). I made sure to listen to the guides and their guidelines but still, at 4600 m, I felt fairly crappy. I had a headache (2-3/10 but there) and wasn’t super hungry with some accompanied nausea. We spent about 45 mins at the Lava tower in total, resting and having a good meal. I felt a bit better after eating and some Advil cold + Sinus (since the pressure is the main issue and cause of the headache in altitude) and was ready to head down to our camp site (Hike high, sleep low is a common theme in the hiking world). We started the hike down by steeply climbing from the Lava tower at which time I was very thankful for my poles since I am one of the clumsiest people I have ever met. The way down was neat and we saw lots of random flowers, fun rocks and even a beautiful waterfall.            Barranco camp is at 3940 m tall and a pretty cool site. We arrived really early in comparison to other sites (about 1400) and after a mere 23,000 steps. The porters, as usual met us to take our poles and bags from us – as a side note, before you feel sorry for us carrying our “bags”, each day we only carried our day packs that had 3L of water, snacks, rain stuff and misc things (mine for instance had first aid stuff, a buff, hand sani and plenty of toilet paper). Anyways, we settled into our already set up tents and had a little lie down before snack time. The popcorn kept getting better and better each day it seemed and today, we had cookies, which I loved with my hot chocolate. We noticed that we were at a higher altitude when Scott went to open up a new hot chocolate tin and he opened the foil seal and the powder exploded everywhere. It was super funny and made us all laugh hysterically. After snack, we had another rest time for a bit, which involved me reading (and or napping) and Cathrin snoring (sorry Cathrin) that I barely noticed by this point. We made a trip to the washroom before dinner which was probably the most smelly and gross thus far. See, at Barranco camp, two routes (Lemosho and Machame) join so there are more people that  we noted previously on the trip. I was getting really good at the squat-hole toilets and thanked Crossfit for helping me develop a decent bottom position in the squat. All right, enough of the potty talk, after rest hour it was time for washing and dinner, which was fabulous, as usual. Dinner was a delicious beef, potato and veggie stew with toast. My appetite was almost back but I enjoyed a few too many candies during rest hour- Oops! We spent dinner discussing the importance and meaning of job satisfaction along with a Swahili lesson and finished the meal with a discussion of the plan for the day  (which was really how we ended each meal). After another trip to the bathroom, we headed to bed to read, journal and sleep!

September 1st, 2017           Yay for sleep ins! Today we didn’t have coffee until 0700 and breaky until 0800 which felt amazing. After our delicious breakfast, the porters sang us the amazing Kilimanjaro song, which made my day.  We got a full introduction to each of them (some of their names I knew, some I had no idea!) after their amazing 5 minutes song and dance.  All of the porters had been so kind, encouraging and hardworking so far and I loved having them with us. We headed out towards the Baranco wall, which I was pretty excited about. This was the day when we would be doing a little bit more “climbing” than hiking. There were some parts of the wall that you had to actually almost scale and be careful where you put your hands and feet. I had a hard time making sure my feet landed where they were supposed to with just my daypack, let alone the 30kg the porters carried on their heads. They are truly amazing at what they do and I am so grateful to have had them on our climb. After making our way over the “Great Barranco”, we had a quick break at the top, which was freezing and foggy but still super cool before making our way down again into the Karanga Valley. On the way to our camp, we listened to music and had a bit of Justin Bieber dance party. Much of the hike was downhill but involved some very slippery rocks. Since I was the youngest in the group, I had been given the nickname “Toto” which means baby. One of the guides always seemed to be near me and making sure I was ok. I am not sure if this was because I was the youngest or the clumsiest, but in any case, I didn’t mind because it was nice to have someone around and to answer my questions about the mountain, wildlife and country. We did have one final steep climb up to the Karanga camp but still made great time (approx. 4 hours, 6 km and 15,000 steps).             Karanga camp is located at approximately 4100 m and is the last camp before Barafu Base Camp. Since we arrived so early, we got to have a good rest session before lunch. Of course our tents were already set up and bags were already in our tents ready for rest. Lunch was probably Cathy’s favourite of the trip and involved leek soup, chicken (which I loved of course), French fries and coleslaw. We were all blown away that we were having French fries (good ones at that!) in the middle of a mountain. Since we had gotten to camp so early, we decided that after lunch, we would go for a short hike along the ridge. The ridge, clouds and views were awesome and even though I wasn’t overly excited to do extra hiking, I really enjoyed it.  We got in some great group photos and had lots of laughs. Popcorn and warm water for drinks awaited us when we got back. We stayed up for a bit and chatted before catching up on our reading and journaling before dinner. This was another one of those days that I had a hard time getting out of my tent. I didn’t believe mama Cathrin when she said that it was below 0 at night but Dismas confirmed that she was in fact correct (as usual, which I hate to admit) and that most of the nights that we camped in the Heather/Moorland and Alpine Desert zones were below zero. The Alpine Desert region was from about 4000m to 5000 m and was comprised of large volcanic rock stretches, boulders, fierce sun, below zero temps and of course minimal rain. Anyways, enough of a science lesson, back to dinner! As usual, we had a yummy soup (cucumber) with a great dinner of brown rice, beef and vegetables with oranges for dessert. Because of the cool temperatures, we didn’t spend much time chatting after dinner and after the briefing for the next day. We headed back into the tent and I put on an extra pair of pants to try and keep myself warm. By this point, I was sleeping in the same long sleeve and sweater each night, with my fave lulu hat and refrained from leaving my tent to do anything (including spit my toothpaste out which grossed Cathrin out) at night.

September 2nd, 2017             Today was going to be one long day! Thank goodness we were shift workers! We were headed to Barafu Base camp and then later on to summit the mountain! I was still feeling pretty crappy with a headache and decreased appetite along with now what seemed like a chest infection. At first I figured it was all the dust we ate in the first couple days of the climb but the cough wasn’t going away. I decided to take the antibiotics I had been given by the travel doctor because they couldn’t really hurt at this point and I wanted to give myself the best shot possible to summit. Cathy and Scott weren’t feeling so hot either this morning but we all sat down and ate a bit of breakfast before getting to base camp about 4km away. Since we had the longer day on Day 2, we just had to hike the 4km uphill to base camp and then we got to rest the duration of the day. Unfortunately, during our hike, Scott wasn’t feeling so well and required some assistance. The rest of us trekked along while Dismas and Richard stayed behind to support Scott up to camp. We made it to base camp in just under 4 hours. Barafu camp is 4,645 meters high which explained some of our symptoms (Scott’s illness, my headache, the shortness of breath on exertion etc). For the most part, the rest of the girls were doing ok with some minor headaches, nausea and appetite loss. Once we arrived at camp (11,450 steps later) we all had lunch together which was leek soup, chicken and veggie sandwiches. After lunch, we all rested, including Scott who was having increasing issues. To combat my headache, I drank 1 litre of h20 and took some Advil and Tylenol before resting. I was so upset and anxious that my headache wouldn’t go away and that I wouldn’t be able to get up and summit with the group. I willed myself to rest and get better and when I woke up from my nap, my headache was about a 2/10, which was a significant improvement. I checked on Scott on my way to the washroom and he wasn’t doing well and was going to head down the mountain with Richard and two porters. We were sad to see him leave, but knew it was for his health and safety. We all couldn’t believe how short of breath we were even walking to the bathroom! If we were short of breath walking 100 feet to the bathroom, how would we be walking up to the summit!            Dinner was a bit early tonight so that we could eat and rest before waking up to summit. We had butternut squash soup with pasta and veggies. The whole meal looked great but again, my appetite just wasn’t there. I had some plain pasta with butter and had a hard enough time with that. The guides (Dismas and Moses since Richard was on his way down with Scott) explained the plan for tonight and what to wear. After we were briefed, we headed back into the tents to rest until 2300 when we would be woken for the great ascent!

September 3rd, 2017             Knock, knock, Can I unzip was a bit earlier (or later depending on how you look at it) than the other days. We were awoken at 2300 to get ready and eat for the summit. I drank a full litre of water and had a bit of breakfast (biscuits and porridge) to help with the headache that was still there but relatively mild. Around Midnight on the 3rd, we started our ascent to the summit. As a recap, base camp is 4,645 m high and the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro is 5,895 meters high with a distance of about 6 km and approximate 1.2 km incline. To say that I was nervous was an understatement. It was pretty cool to be out in the dark with our headlamps, warm and cosy in our coats, hiking up a steep incline with a bunch of other like-minded individuals. When you looked up, all you could see was darkness and the sky with some head lamps and then when you looked down below you, you saw all those with headlamps who were just behind you. As we were walking, our guide Moses along with some other guides from different groups were singing various songs in Swahili to not only keep us awake, but to entertain us and keep our spirits up. I definitely just kept singing “put one foot in front of the other” to myself along with “just keep swimming”. We walked very slowly up the mountain in a zig-zag fashion so that it wasn’t so steep. I am actually very glad that we walked up towards the summit, it was dark and zig zag-y because had it been light out, I don’t know how I would’ve fared.               We stopped a few times to a) catch our breaths, b) have some water (that may or may not have been frozen despite attempts at keeping it warm with socks and such) and c) to have a snack. I have to admit, I was not a good listener on the climb up because I had such a hard time eating. Cathrin’s nag kept ringing in my head to just get a bar out and have a small bites but I just couldn’t do it. I had an energy gel about half the way up because that was really all I could tolerate. We made it to Stella’s point around 6ish am (the other girls a bit ahead of Chris and I of course) where we took a few minutes to drink some tea (which was delicious and hot) and pop on another layer. Putting another layer on top of the 4 that we were already wearing was pretty tricky. I felt like a 2 year old being helped get dress as everything was hard to do and a bit foggy (maybe because my blood sugar was crap and my brain was a bit mushy but who knows). We continued on our trek from Stella’s point through the snowy, windy path. It was about a 600 m walk and took almost an hour. I don’t think I have ever walked so slow in my life. It was very encouraging seeing people on their descent cheering you on. I did my best to smile and thank them but even mustering up that energy seemed challenging. We made it to the summit around 0700. I had been pretty excited since this was finally the moment we had been working towards and I have to say, it was very anti-climactic. It was very cold, windy and foggy/snowy at the top. There wasn’t much of a view of anything, which was super unfortunate. I think I thought I would feel as though I was on top of the world when I reached the summit. I would be lying if I told you I felt that way. There wasn’t even that sense of accomplishment yet at this point. We had some more tea, a pee and took a few photos- a total of less than 15 minutes at the top before heading down. Chris and I were at the back of the group and were happy that the others went ahead. On the way back to Stella’s point, I did get some great glimpses of the glacier as the fog was lifting and the sun was starting to shine bright. That was pretty magical! I hiked down again with Moses who was just the most positive, reassuring guide imaginable. Once we were past Stellas point, it began to get steeper and more sandy. We started “Skiing” down the mountain- using our poles to run/glide down the mountain. It was pretty fun until you would get short of breath and have to take a break. While the ascent took almost 7 hours, the descent was supposed to take us around 2. We made our way down the hill, slowly de-layering as the sun came out and became more and more fierce. There were two moments during the descent that I actually started crying and was just done. My headache was raging and the porter who had my bag was with Chris somehow which of course had all my Tylenol and Advil in it. I felt as though I had the flu almost, just tired, weak and achy. Moses was such a positive influence and I would probably still be near the top of that mountain as I write this had it not been for him. As we were walking down, our camp in the distance became closer and closer. The final 500 m were some of the hardest as there were lots of steep rocks and challenging angles to descend. I made it back to camp in about 2 and a half hours just before 10 am. While it was amazing being greeted by the hugs and smiling faces of congratulations from all the porters, I just wanted my bed. I took off my boots and curled up in the tent and started crying. I felt just terrible. Thank goodness for Mama Cathrin who got her hands on some Advil for me to start helping with the headache. I drank a bunch of water and then took a nap in my sleeping bag (because I was freezing).             I woke up about an hour later when it was time for lunch. Chris was back and not doing so hot, which made us a bit worried. She perked up a bit after lunch (as did I) and we were ready to tackle the afternoon, well sort of. The guides told us initially that we were going to be hiking about 4 hours today after lunch (around 1300) to low camp. They made the decision that we would only be hiking to high camp today, which was about 2 hours away to ensure that we got some rest and were in good shape for the hike down tomorrow. We were all in agreement. We packed up and headed out just before noon or so. Our walk to high camp was pole pole to say the least. As we went lower and lower, I started to feel better and better (shocking I know!) We saw some interesting things on our walk down such as stretcher type contraptions used to get people who were injured off the mountain. We were making our way back into the moorland climate it seemed and we were seeing more and more low shrubs.  

         We made it to high camp just before 1400. This was one awesome camp site! To me, it looked exactly like what I pictured “Africa” to look like for some reason. It had the wide, even branched trees everywhere with a view of the mountain. There was some fog but you could still make out that we were above the clouds, which looked super cool. We had our standard snack of popcorn and hot chocolate before having a bit of a siesta. I was so grateful for this time! I was also so grateful for my strong legs that, despite all my discomforts on the trip, had not bothered me at all and had been the strong things they are. Before dinner, Cathrin and I figured out the tipping stuff (which was harder than we thought it would be) and then got washed up for our last dinner on the mountain. Dinner was leek soup along with rice and veggies, which I was actually mildly excited to eat. After discussing the plan, we all got ready for bed after a long (39,399 steps!) day. I was glad to be feeling more like myself (minus the gross cough) but alas, we can’t have it all!

September 4th, 2017           Today was rather bittersweet. It was the last time that we would hear “Knock Knock” on our tent and be served coffee in bed. However, we were also heading back to a lovely hotel to have showers (yay) and sleep on something other than the ground (not that I minded, I can sleep almost anywhere). After we had coffee, packed and cleaned up, we headed into the dining tent. Breakfast was delicious as always. We came out of the tent and the sun was just rising and the porters sang and danced for us- this was one of the best times of the trip. I have posted a video of it on my Facebook page if you haven’t seen it- it is rather long but it is wonderful. The views of the mountain in the background are incredible. After the song and dance (literally haha) we gave out the tips (which felt really weird and like they were coming in for a job interview), packed our daypacks and headed for our final descent. We were told that this descent would be fairly tricky as there were lots of rocks that would be pretty slippery along with some steeper areas. The first 3 km were super steep and we took a break at high camp to grab a snack and washroom break. The next 2 or so hours were quite painful- physically and mentally. Me being the clumsy person I am, slipped and rolled my ankle, which sucked. The pain wasn’t terrible, more annoying. The other girls went up ahead (which I still bug them about) and I hung back with Moses. We chatted about various things; differences in our countries, 5 year career plans and listened to music which was nice. I only slipped onto my butt once more during the hike down (which of course lead to a mini meltdown). As we got closer to the gate, we saw more and more kids who lived in the neighbouring villages along with more hikers finishing up there climb. Moses and I made it to the Mkweke gate around noon. The girls were just finishing the sign out process while I took my final photos at the gate before jumping on the bus.          Smelly, hot and tired, we made our way towards Arusha. Moshi was our first stop to drop off some of the amazing porters and have some lunch at Pub Alberto. We all had American food (cheese burgers and fries), which were pretty delicious. My appetite still wasn’t totally back but the fries were pretty darn good. We made another stop in Moshi at the Blue Zebra. The Blue Zebra (or Ze-bra) was one of the better retailers of Tanzanite. It was a weird strip mall sort of vibe but most of the lights were off to conserve energy and resources I assume. We went into the money exchange place, which looked closed due to the lack of light. The lady there exchanged our money (we still don’t know to this day if it was right or wrong) in the dark. I was definitely quick to get out of there. We did some perusing of the stores and all of the fun souvenirs. I, of course wanted to buy all of them but was taking the time to really look at what was there and what I actually needed vs. wanted (wants vs needs right mom). After our little shopping trip, we were dropped off at Planet Lodge where we had left our luggage. We each received our certificate of completion (of climbing the mountain of course) before saying goodbye to our amazing team. Immanuel, our driver picked us up a bit later to take us to the Ahadi Lodge where we would be relaxing and recuperating for the next three days.

       We arrived at the Ahadi Lodge around 5 pm which similar to Planet lodge, in that it was a fenced in lodge. The check in process was easy peasy and we were settled into our rooms. Lynn and I were sharing the double room while the other girls had the pool side room. The rooms were, neat and clean. Unfortunately, within an hour of arriving, we realized our shower didn’t work. The staff were great and moved us very quickly so we could get all cleaned up- they could probably smell us, hence why they were so prompt. It was nice to just relax and be clean. Cathrin and I had some snacks and beers at the bar and chatted with the lovely staff (the only one working other than the security guard). The lodge was small- about 10 rooms in total and we were the only ones there, which was pretty cool.  I think I have bored you enough with this 12 page day by day of our first 10 days in Tanzania. Stay tuned (if you dare) for the rest of our trip to Tanzania including our trips to the orphanage, market and SAFARIIIIII!

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

Deer Lake

          I had been interested in doing some travel nursing for some time and started the process a few months before my first contract.  I signed up with an agency just outside of Hamilton that helps nurses find contracts in northern communities. The majority of the nurses in the north work for FHNIB (First Nations and Inuit Health) through Health Canada. When they have a need for additional nurses, they find nurses to come up for short-term contracts- usually 1-2 weeks through other agencies. The agency that I started with had a very extensive training program, which was great (other than that fact that it was not paid). We did about 25 hours of online training where we reviewed basically a head to toe of both adults and children. We learned a lot of primary health skills as most of us in the training did not have a lot of experience in primary health. We reviewed stuff like immunizations, growth and development, mental health and chronic illness care. Once we finished the online training, we spent two days at the agency doing hands on learning. Those two days were jam-packed and exhausting. We learned suturing, casting, head to toe exams and so much more. It was definitely information overload for sure- my already spinning head was going crazy! Luckily, all of the Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) that we would need to use in our day to day care in the north were downloadable and in each of the nursing stations.  

            The agency had been contacting me off and on since I finished the training in March or so to go on my first contract. Since I had already signed up for a weekly volunteering commitment, I had to be selective about when I went. I was finally able to pick up a short, four day contact at the end of May/beginning of June. I was heading off to Deer Lake, which is in northwest Ontario, about an hour flight from Winnipeg with a population of approximately 1500 residents. The agency would arrange my transportation including flights and transfer from the Winnipeg International Airport to St. Andrews Airport where the smaller planes took off and landed from to go to many of the fly-in communities. I was set to head out early on a Wednesday morning for Winnipeg. I was super excited but also a bit nervous about not only the job itself but my luggage! Since the north doesn’t have a grocery store (some barely have a store at all), it is typical that the nurses bring up their pre-packed/precooked food for the time they are up there. Since I had practiced this in Thompson (what a joke as there was several grocery stores up there) and had lots of advice, I was confident that I would not starve with my 30lb bag of food/toiletries along with my 4 sets of work clothes. The first flight to Winnipeg was pretty uneventful and I waited in the airport for the Northway van to pick me up. The gentleman that picked me up was very lovely and explained many of the landmarks and such that we passed in Winnipeg as we picked up the other passengers from their hotels etc. We got to St. Andrew’s Airport just before noon to “check in” for the flight. This was one of the most relaxed check in’s I’d ever experienced. The staff already knew my name when I walked up to the desk and proceeded to take all of my bags (including my large purse) as the rules for the small planes are different than the large of course. I waited around for the flight to take off and when the pilot was ready, he called us over to the very small, 6 seater plane. I had been in small planes before with my uncle, but this one was scarier since he wasn’t driving it! There was four of us on the plane along with a ton of cargo. These planes make 1-2 trips a day to many of the communities to drop off people, supplies and other random things (including car parts and boat rudders). Luckily the flight from Winnipeg to Deer Lake was only about an hour as I was nauseous the whole time (typical). When we landed on the dirt strip road, I soon realized I was not in Kansas anymore. Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication and no one at the nursing station was expecting me so there was no on there to pick me up. Luckily there was a kind gentleman there picking up some cargo who was able to call the station for me and have someone come pick me up. 

         When I arrived at the clinic, I was pleasantly surprised about how neat and big it was. I am not sure what I was really expecting but I was pleasantly surprised in any case. I met the four nurses who were working at the time along with the nurse in charge (NIC) who again, was not expecting me at all. I got settled in the “transient” accommodation, which was just down the hall from the main clinic (unlocked by a pass card of course). The accommodations were actually really spacious and nice. I was sharing the 3 bedroom apartment with a nurse who was leaving the next day. There was a small kitchen, living room, laundry and bathroom along with the three rooms. I unpacked and got myself settled in before heading back over to the clinic to learn the schedule and what not. Typically there are 4 nurses on and each nurse has an assessment room that basically looks like a room at a doctor’s office. Most of the rooms have computers as well, which is handy. The day typically started at 830/9 and went until 5 with an hour lunch break- so dreamy! Some clinics have certain types of appointments booked during the week like well baby/well woman one morning a week and well men another day. There is also a half day one day a week for administrative work like stocking, ordering supplies etc. For the most part, from what I saw, we typically saw walk ins or people who were coming back for reassessment of a wound, blood pressure or something of that nature. The majority of the care provided is preventative and primary health care, which is super interesting to me coming from an acute/critical care background. In the clinic, there is an emergency room that has all the equipment you would have in a trauma room including an OTN machine. This is a super cool program that I have used before at Joe Brant that allows the doctor on call to basically have a video chat with the nurses and patient in the emergency room. They log on from their phone or computer and are able to move the camera to zoom in as they see fit and assess the patient themselves, which is pretty cool. I didn’t have to use this in Deer Lake (thank goodness) but it was still neat to see. The majority of people I saw were there for infections and pain management. When someone comes in, you do a full set of vitals and assess the system above and below the system they are complaining about. I would then consult the CPGS (and usually the other nurses at first to make sure I was doing everything right) to come up with a plan based on the diagnosis. Many patients came in looking for antibiotics for their infections or cough. The nurses in the north can prescribe certain medications based on clinical findings and assessment, which is pretty neat. If there was ever a concern or the CPG listed a medication that the nurse could not prescribe, there is always a doctor on call who can give advice and phone orders. Sometimes there is a doc up in the clinic as well which is nice for those who need to see a doctor but don’t necessarily have to go out to Winnipeg/Thunder Bay/Sioux Lookout. 

         Like I previously mentioned, most of the stuff that comes into the clinic is primary health stuff. There are though, from time to time, emergencies that come in as well. The majority of them are traumas/assaults, chest pain, seizures and pediatric emergencies. If there are any emergencies during the clinic hours, then that is easier to manage as all of the nurses are around. Afterhours (6pm to 0800) there is always one nurse on first call and another on second call. At this clinic, the nurse that is on first call usually forwards the main phone to her room from 6pm to 9pm when security arrives. Once security arrives, they answer all of the phone calls and send them to the nurse wherever she may be. The nurse on call does not have to stay in the clinic but does have to be accessible via phone. For the most part, the other nurses seemed to get called until about 9pm or so, maybe the odd call around midnight but that is usually it. Sometimes you can telephone triage and treat the patients on the phone if it is not an urgent matter that can wait for clinic to open in the morning. If the first nurse on call gets too busy with calls, she could call her second on to come in and help out. Typically, nurses get one first on call and one second on call a week. Since I was only up for a few days, I got one first on call. I ended up having to work the whole on call shift as we had been waiting for a patient to be medevac’d out but ORNGE could not fly due to weather issues ( which is apparently quite common in the north). Since I had planned to be on call the majority of the night, I brought snacks, my computer and plenty of coffee. The security guard I worked with was amazing and I ended up seeing a few other people while on call.  Being on call is when you make the most money as it is considered time and a half so I really didn’t mind being on call and got to catch up on Regionals (Crossfit of course).

        Since the job is mostly a 9-5,there is plenty of free time up in the north. I brought a book and lots of shows to catch up on which I didn’t even finish! The girls I met were awesome and full of knowledge and experience. For my first day or so I would hang out in the clinic in the evening when I wasn’t working so I could learn more and gain a better understanding of how it all worked.  We ended up having some great learning opportunities that made me more comfortable working on my own. Since I had already precooked most of my meals as well, dinnertime was a breeze and I was left with plenty of time to walk around the community. One beautiful evening, another nurse and I went for a stroll around the majority (or what we thought was the majority) of the community. We didn’t realize that the main road up to the airport also lead towards another part of town where the school, teachers and police were. I guess I will have to go back to wander around that part! During our walk, ee made some dog friends along the way and took some amazing photos. The lake is actually massive and so beautiful. We checked out the Northern, which is the main store in the community. I was shocked at the prices! I mean, I knew things would be pricey but $18.00 for a frozen pizza and $10.00 for a head of broccoli is crazy! It is no wonder why the diet is generally so poor up there and that most of the food gets flown in by the crate or brought in on the winter roads when it is cold enough. The rest of my spare time was spent enjoying being outside (when it wasn’t pouring rain!) and catching up on my TV shows/lounging.

        I headed home 4 days after I had arrived and had one of the worst plane rides of my life! I hadn’t been feeling so well (maybe I drank the water??) when we left an hour late from Deer Lake so when we arrived at St. Andrews Airport, I was feeling worse! I am not sure if it was my stomach or because of the stress of potentially missing my flight. The company that drives people from St. Andrews Airport to their hotels or the airport stated that the airport was the last stop along the line (at least 45 minutes) even though we had landed an hour late and my flight was due to board in less than an hour. The driver was fairly apologetic but I was not impressed (shocking, I know right). I called for a cab which was to take over 35 minutes to get there (the international airport is already 30 or so minutes away from St. Andrews).  So here I am, stuck in the middle of nowhere basically, with all my stuff, a stomach ache and less than an hour until my boarding. One woman had overheard my struggles and suggested that a family who was there to bring their son to the airport bring me too. They were happy to help me out which was definitely a lifesaver. I ended up making it to check my bag with 5 minutes to spare. Goes to show that there are still lovely people out there! I was so pleased to not have to spend the night in Winnipeg, however my tummy issues did not let up even once I had boarded the flight home making it a very uncomfortable flight The Westjet staff were absolutely amazing and did everything they could to make me feel more comfortable. Thank goodness I have the best siblings around and they were able to meet me at the airport to drive my car home and me to visit my friends at JBH. After a quick visit to my amazing friends in the emerg, I was feeling much better and ready to go home to sleep!

     All things considered (being left at the airport, hitchhiking and a stomach bug), I had a great first “northern” experience. The people in Deer Lake were super friendly and welcoming. I got to experience not only a bit of a different culture and way of life (and yummy Bannock Dogs) but a different way of nursing. While I do love critical care and emergency nursing, there is something really cool about primary health. I am looking forward to heading out on my next contract and learning even more about primary health and the different groups of people I will meet along the way!

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

Dreamlift 2017

            I recently had the privilege of being a volunteer for the 62nd Annual Sunshine Dreamlift. This program is through the Sunshine Foundation of Canada and allows children living with life threatening illnesses or severe physical disabilities to go on a magical, whirlwind trip to the “Happiest Place on Earth” Disney World! Everything that the Sunshine Foundation does is magical but this program in particular is extra special. It allows kids to be kids and to have a day of “YES”, away from their parents. Often times this is the children’ first plane ride, first long day away from their parents and probably their first time at Disney!. Volunteers accompany the children from many different walks of life that are there to help the kids have the best day possible. There is a dedicated medical team that accompanies the group to support them and manage any medical issues that may arise. I will speak more to the volunteers and the sheer number of people involved in this magical day later in this post.  

              Dreamlift allows kids with severe physical disabilities or life-threatening illnesses to be taken on a magical adventure starting bright and early (4am!!) from the Hamilton Airport. We had a meeting the night before in Brantford where we got to meet our kids and do some safety stuff before getting to bed (or attempting to) as early as possible for the early morning. My partner for the day was Luke who is a Peds Resident at Mac that I have worked with before. He is a big kid himself and is super fun and kind. Luke and I met up with the boys right away at the airport and sailed through check in before grabbing seats, juice and coffee!. The boys were so excited about the plane, the day and all the fun we were going to have. We spent some time looking at our Disney Character books (that we were hoping to get lots of signatures from but alas, did not) and picking nicknames for everyone (I was Minnie thanks to the bow in my hair). We finally started to board around 0630, which was exciting. The boys (I mean all the boys) got blankets and earphones to take with them on the plane. The three of them got to have some boy time while I was assigned a seat a few rows back. When we got to our seats, we had mini breakfast bags with cookies and juice and other snacks, which was great since we were starving. The staff of the charter were absolutely amazing for the most part and were super accommodating. Boarding took some time as many of the kiddies were in wheelchairs and had to be lifted on by the amazing police, fire and paramedic volunteers. Once we took off, the plane was a buzz with excitement and we all settled in to watch the movie (a Disney one of course). The flight was about 2 hours and change and fairly seamless. We had a great hot breakfast (eggs or pancakes) and the boys enjoyed the movie and chatting Star Wars with Luke.

            When we arrived in Orlando, we were greeted by a huge group of volunteers outside of the airport. There were police officers, firemen, paramedics and other kind people there to greet us and help get the kids out of the plane and into the Disney buses. Before disembarking the plane, two customs officers came onto the plane and checked all of our passports, which was pretty cool- if only customs in the states could always be that easy! We all made our way into the fun Disney buses and headed in the pouring rain to Disney. Not only did we have tons of first responders there to help out, we got police escort ALL the way to Disney! The other people on the highway were definitely not impressed. We made it to Disney around 1230 (halfway through our day somehow!) and we grabbed wheelchairs before jumping on the ferry to Magic Kingdom. We met our DEA Police officers (Frank and Brian) on the bus to Disney. Brian was a Disney pro and had been on Dreamlift many times. Frank was newer to the force and was super excited about this great opportunity. Everyone seemed to be super excited and meshed well which was great. On the ferry, the boys were pretty down as it was POURING rain. It wasn’t just a trickle but a torrential downpour for a good hour and a half. Luke and I were super upbeat about it and told the boys that this is what happens in Florida and that it will be sunny before we knew it. I thankfully had a rain jacket or I might’ve needed some fairy dust myself. Since Brian had done Dreamlift many times, he was the boss! He suggested we jump on the train and take it to the back of the part and start there, as it wouldn’t be as busy. We were all game and made our way into FantasyLand. The boys were all super into Star wars (which is unfortunately not in Magic Kingdom) but were also super pumped to go on the rides. Since we had fast passes as well as Genie passes (which allowed us to jump to the front of the fast pass line- amazing!), we just flew threw the lines and onto the rides. We went on the new and popular Seven Dwarfs Mine Train which was actually super cute. The boys loved the Mad Tea party ride and were pretty set on making me sick by spinning the cup wayyy faster than I would’ve liked. Our favourite ride was definitely Space Mountain, which we rode twice in a row. It really is a sweet ride and thrilling for kids and adults. The boys had ice cream as snack before heading on Big Thunder and the Tomorrowland Speedway. We stopped for a quick bite (burgers and fries of course) before heading from Frontierland to Adventureland to go on the Jungle Cruise and Pirate of the Caribbean ride (which was underwhelming in my opinion).

          Since we had to be back for the group photo at 1830, we headed back to Main Street and caught a glimpse of the awesome parade. We headed down Main Street checking out the stores so the boys could pick out some souvenirs (with the souvenir money they were given by Sunshine which is awesome). I definitely thought we wouldn’t need more than 30 mins for two teenage boys (plus Luke and I haha) to choose souvenirs but it definitely took longer than that! The selection was similar at all of the stores but was so overwhelming! The boys looked so lost! It didn’t help that they were exhausted by this point either. We managed to find some great souvenirs (Minnie ears, chip mug, t shirts and star wars figurines of course) before grabbing snacks (necessary) and pretty well missing the group photo. We ended up getting an awesome group shot of our group in front of beautiful Mickey garden. We headed back onto the ferry where the boys went to the top and enjoyed the views. The bus ride back to the airport seemed way longer (since we didn’t have police escort sadly) but it gave me a chance to learn more about policing in the states and in the Florida area (like how Frank and Brian felt naked without their guns on their trip since they carry them with them at all times otherwise). I even asked if it was like CSI: Miami (which similar to Grey’s anatomy being lifelike, it is not for the most part).

          When we got back to the Orlando airport, we were went through a security line, which was basically a table with staff set up to look through your stuff. It was so neat how relaxed and easy it was. Of course the kiddies in wheelchairs got lifted on first and the boys and I settled into our seats. Once again we had a little snack bag ready for us with carrots, dip, cheese crackers and a cookie (basically my favourite things) which was great because the boys were hungry! Take off was smooth and around 2100 or so. We watched another movie and had a yummy pasta dinner around 2200. The boys refused to nap and the one boy and I were in a contest. I was really hoping he would fall asleep like Luke and the other boy so I could get a small nap in but alas, he was stubborn! We landed back in Hamilton at about 2330. We flew threw customs (thank goodness since I brought a few too many souvenirs back) and were greeted by tons of family, volunteers and of course the big RBC Bear. Each of the boys got a cute stuffy and tons of hugs from their parents. They looked so happy and exhausted! The parents were all thrilled we brought their boys back safe and sound and that we had had an amazing day! We exchanged e-mails so we could share photos and we said our goodbyes.

          Dreamlift was such an amazing opportunity for not only the kids but for myself and the other volunteers. Many of us work in hospitals and are surrounded by kids and families at their worst. We don’t often get to hang out and just be kids with our patients. Dreamlift allowed us to hang out with kids and allow to them to just be kids! I am so grateful for the awesome opportunity and cannot wait for next year!

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

NYC 2016

              I have a VERY long bucket  list (as most people do I am sure)! One of the more easily attainable list items was to see New York City at Christmas time. I had a friend who had gone years ago around the holidays and I was so jealous of all the amazing photos. Being a shift worker with many shift worker friends, it is often hard to decide on dates especially with those who can be non-committal with plans. I decided to book the trip and go on my own, which ended up being an awesome decision!

Friday December 2nd, 2016:             I decided to go at the beginning on December when the weather wasn’t too cold yet, but the Christmas festivities would be in full swing. I booked a cheap flight from Buffalo ($170 return) and flew down on a Friday night. After a few delays, I made it to JFK airport in the evening and followed the well-labeled signs to the Sky Train. The sky train is very easy to use (much like most of NYCs transit) and fast. I made it to the subway station in about 25 minutes and hopped off at Jamaica Station. From there I knew what line I needed to take and easily found it. The subway was super clean (way cleaner than the TTC) and an enjoyable ride. There were many performers on the subway- a dancing duo and a singing duo that serenaded the cabin with Neyo. The dancers were very impressive flipping all around the bars of the subway. I was floored by how fun and entertaining the subway could be.  I had booked a hostel close to the subway for this trip and was pleasantly surprised at how clean and cool it was. It was called the Local and was found in Queens, about 5 minutes away from the subway station. The room was very small but clean with its own shower and toilet. There was a bar/small restaurant at the front of the hostel and then lots of lounge areas and computers to use. The best part about the hostel was the view from the rooftop patio. It overlooked the NYC skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge and was just magical. I ran over to the 24-hour grocery store for some dinner and to get snacks for the next couple days. I enjoyed my dinner while people watching at the hostel before bed

Saturday December 3rd, 2016:             After a quick breaky at the hostel, I headed into the city (about 4- 6 subway stops to downtown Manhattan, depending on where you wanted to go) to wander around and to get my hop on hop off pass for the day.  I had been to NYC once before with my family and loved the hop on hop off pass more so for its ideas of what to do and all of the information. It also helps that its “free” transportation if you use it wisely. Before grabbing my pass, I did stop by Times Square and take some great photos of the billboards and lights as well as my first taste of the Macy’s display.  I grabbed my pass and jumped on the bus that headed downtown to reacquaint myself with the city. I had tons of stuff planned but had also left some wiggle room to see other things that may have come up or that were suggested to me. I took the bus around pass the FlatIron Building, Soho, Canal street and the Financial district where I go off just around the 911 Memorial. I wandered around there for a while and checked out the City Hall Park along with the Brooklyn Bridge (tons of vendors on the side and tourists taking selfies like me) before getting in line for the One World Trade Observatory. This is the tallest building in the North American at 541 m. It was build in 2014 and goes up 107 floors in 60 seconds. It is also one of the most secure buildings in all of the city with many security check points. While it was a pricy admission and long line ups- it was worth the wait. While you waited inside, there were many videos, photos and diagrams to capture your interest and teach you about the building, how it was constructed and the area. Just before the top, there was a neat 3-D video that showed the building of the Tower and at the end the screen opened up to the amazing view. The view from the top was truly magical! I loved being able to see the whole city from so high up (without having to be in a plane of course) as well as all of the great landmarks they had set out to see. After wandering around the 911 area and paying respect at the Tower Pools, I walked over to Battery park and meandered around there for a while before grabbing a Philly cheesesteak (wrong city, I know) and hoping on my bus to the guided tour of the Statue of Liberty.             I was so excited to see Lady Liberty up close and personal! Unfortunately, it was rather cold and we had to wait over an hour to board our boat. While it was freezing, it ended up working in our favour as the sights were so much better as the sun was setting.  The city was all lit up and looked extra magical. We learned some history about Battery Park, the Statue of Liberty and Staten Island. We all took tons and tons of photos before heading back to the port and getting the bus back into the city. After warming up on the bus, I wandered around Time square and took in some of the amazing holiday displays. They truly are stunning! There were tons of people still skating at Rockefeller Centre. All of the lights and festivities were super fun and got me into the Christmas Spirit! I grabbed a yummy treat from the original Magnolia Bakery (think Sex and the City) before heading back to Queens (with my wind burned face) for a good nights sleep.

Sunday December 4th, 2016:          I had read about a ton of cool holiday markets that I would’ve loved to check out, but I really want to spend the morning in Chelsea. I hopped on the Subway for the 15 or so minute ride over to Chelsea where I stopped in at the Chelsea Market. I am a huge fan of all types of markets (food and shopping- sign me up!) so I was pretty excited to see what this one had to offer. There were tons of great little boutique-y shops with great eclectic stuff and great coffee!! After the market, I headed over to the highline and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the weather! The highline is a linear park built on a raised section of an old New York Central Railroad (called the West Side Line). The views of the Hudson and the city are great! There are some small market type booths sets up but it is mostly just a great place to get out, get some exercise and just be. Once I had successfully walked the full highline, I walked back up the city to check out the Holiday windows in better detail. I checked out the amazing story at the Macy’s display before heading down to Eataly to enjoy an amazing lunch. The various ares of Eataly were awesome! You could get just about anything that was remotely Italian there (except for goodlooking men… kidding). I grabbed myself a fresh mozzarella and prosciutto sandwich and had lunch outside in front of the Flatiron building with the Empire State building behind me. I wandered around Madison Square park before heading uptown once again to enjoy some more holiday windows and of course Bryant Park. Everyone always suggests skating at Rockefeller but I think the view at Bryant Park is just as good and there are way more things to do and see. There was an amazing outdoor Christmas market set up on the outsides of the skating rink with various shops and treats. I spent some time browsing (and taking photos in front of the amazing tree) before heading over to Central Park.

           The iconic Central Park- you could spend days wandering around this place. I managed to check out the places I really wanted to see on this quick visit through. I also attempted to go inside the Plaza hotel (which you cannot go into sadly), but instead checked out the Market place beneath the hotel. As a side note- the FAO Schwartz Toy store is no longer beside Apple across from Central park- so sad and disappointed I couldn’t go play with the toys and the magical keyboard. Anyways, I digress, back to Central Park. I got the classic photos of the amazing park but missed the Pigeon lady! She wasn’t where she normally hangs out which was upsetting. I wandered around, checked out the skating rink and of course rode the Carousel (yes I am a child at heart). I slowly made my way around the park – stopping by the closed Sheep Meadow (All the GG Fans, you know what I am talking about) en route to the Lincoln Centre for my evening showing of the Nutcracker.

             While I am not the biggest ballet fan, I knew I just had to see the iconic Nutcracker by the NYC Ballet. I had great, centre seats and had a delish glass of red before settling into my seat beside a chatty, adorable Aussie boy. The choreography and the actual performance was amazing but the Nutcracker is a bit confusing as a story line… or maybe it was just me! In any case, I really enjoyed the show but I think I am nutcrackered out for a few years! After a walk around Columbus Circle, I had planned to go to a well-known Italian restaurant for dinner (Patsy’s). I should’ve known that it would’ve been packed- even on a Sunday! I ended up walking down the street and finding a great little spot called Joe Gs that had great food, great service and an awesome happy hour deal. I made friends with a few middle aged couples over some wine and then chatted with some Americans about politics and baseball (two subjects I really shouldn’t be discussing with any confidence haha). After biding adieu to my new friends, I stopped to take even more photos of the amazing holiday windows and displays before heading over to Penn station (without even realizing it was Penn Station) where everyone was out and about getting snacks and drinks before heading back to Queens via the E train!

Monday December 5th, 2016:            Today was a mishmash sort of day! I was excited to do a bunch of random things. I started the day off by taking the train to Grand Central and wandering around with a coffee. It was so fun to people watch- and see how stressed people can be when they are rushing about in a busy train station (we all know the pain). Grand Central doesn’t get enough credit in my opinion- it is so beautifully detailed with amazing old school touches. I could’ve sat in there for hours people watching but I knew there were so many other things that I wanted to see. I made my way to the Upper East Side to get into my Blair Waldorf zone and sit and have breakfast on the steps of the Met. I am a HUGE Gossip Girl Fan so many landmarks from my trip were taken from the books/show. I enjoyed my breaky on the steps (people watching of course) before heading inside to take a look around. I really wanted to go into the museum but knew I couldn’t spent enough time in there to really appreciate all of the exhibits. I left with a magnet (of course to add to the collection) and wandered into Central Park. Central park (as I already mentioned) is really huge and amazing. There is tons to do! I just wandered around and enjoyed the beautiful day while checking out the views around the Resevoir, the Pool and Turtle Pond near Belevedere Castle.  I circled back to the Upper West Side where I checked out the Museum of Natural history (which again I didn’t have enough time to truly appreciate so will put that on the list of next time) en route to Macy’s. The last time I was in NYC, we spent forever in the 11 level flagship store. This time, I had one goal- to meet Santa! It is tradition for us to get our picture taken with Santa and mom would not let me back in the house if I did not see the original “Miracle of 34th Street” Santa. I looked real funny in line waiting to see santa for about 40 minutes with a slew of toddlers. In any case, it was worth it! Santa’s workshop was pretty magical! The way they have it set up is that you walk through the various scenes and parts of the workshop and winter displays. I ended up chatting up some parents and getting my photo taken with the big old Jolly Fella. 

            By the time I made my way out of Macy’s, it was quite dark so I figured it was a good time to check out the Empire State Building Observation deck. I thought since I had seen the city from the tallest building in the city during the day, I should enjoy it at night as well. Similar to the One World Trade Observatory, the line ups and security were insane! It really is like FortKnox trying to get into those places. While you wait, they do have information cards and various audio visual scenes for you to learn about the Empire State building and its production. The wait was definitely worth it! I took so many photos!! I also just spent time outside enjoying the view, people watching as I do. The city is so busy, bright and vibrant- probably why it’s called the city that never sleeps.  I tried to use the view finder thing like Kevin did in Home Alone 2 but it was too dark! Ah well! Next time. After my lovely time at the top of the Empire state building (which I sang Empire State of Mind in my head the whole time), I meandered over the Radio City Music Hall for the Rockets show! I was sooooo excited about this show! I had heard such great things and read great reviews on it. The dancing, the singing, the audio/visuals, the atmosphere was just amazing! I was on the edge of my seat, totally entertained the whole time. It is definitely worth seeing if you are able to! I knew that I was going to have an early morning, so I headed back towards Queens from the 5th Ave station!

Tuesday December 6th, 2016:           Sigh! It was my last day in the Big Apple! I was excited about all of the amazing stuff had done (and still had to do!) but was sad that my solo trip was coming to an end. Thanks to some girls at work, they suggested I try and get tickets to a viewing of one of the morning talk shows. I ended up getting tickets to the View (which I never watch but do love Whoopi so…). They have very specific rules and regulations about going in, where to sit, what to wear etc. I made my way to the ABC studios on the Upper West Side for 8 am or so. We waited in line and then went through a serious security check (almost as crazy as the airport) before taking our assigned seats. We were briefed on how the show would work, when to stand, when to clap, etc and then brought into the studio. We weren’t allowed to take photos (sadly) but it was still a super cool experience. The guest stars were Queen Latifah (so so so good) and Andy Cohen (so so so funny!) It was super odd experience but really made me want to be a talk show host! I think I would do a darn good job of sitting around, chatting about current events with hilarious celebrities and drinking coffee. Alas, if only it was that easy haha. The whole thing was about 3 hours long and we ended up getting a copy of Andy Cohen’s book (which I started reading in Mexico and got slightly distracted and haven’t finished it). We were lead out of the studios out a random back door, which again, was super odd but all added to the experience! I only had a few more hours before I needed to head back to the airport but I really wanted to check out the largest Crossfit gym in the World (obvs). I headed over there after the View but sadly, didn’t have enough time for a WOD. I did get a tour of the place (which is actually massive and two levels). I will for sure hit up a class the next time I am there. There were a few other random things I wanted to check out before leaving, such as Kleinfeld and one of the popular pokeh restaurants (obviously). After grabbing lunch and wandering around Midtown, I mad my way back to the hostel to pick up my carry-on (and a last minute festive cocktail) and head to the airport for the short flight back home.          

          I have to say (and I probably already did), this was one of my fave trips in a very long time. I have done quite a bit of travelling (not as much as I would like but, I mean, the bills have to get paid) but for some reason this trip was extra special. I am not sure if it was because I did it by myself, or if it was because it was a trip I had wanted to take for a long time. Regardless, I had the best time enjoying the city, experiencing things I may not have had I been with others and just spending time with my number one- me. I was also able to do a lot of self reflection which I personally don’t do often enough. I hope to head back to NYC –with or without some fun friends in the spring/summertime to have another amazing experience!

[thegrassisaalwaysgreener]

EuroTrip 2016

Friday March 11, 2016:

         Yay for trips! I was pretty pumped about this trip as I had only been to Europe once and that was over ten years ago. For this trip, I was teaming up with my aunt who is a retired teacher and had been  going on trips with EF Tours for years. Accompanying us was one of her ex students’ siblings who was excited to head to Europe with us. I decided that it was much easier to just park and fly my car (which is magical). I flew and met them in Montreal before boarding the longer flight to Frankfurt. I am all about sleeping on planes normally, however this plane ride was not the best as I was sitting beside someone who thought that sharing my seat was ok. Even with the squish-y ness and turbulence, it was a decent flight and we arrived first things on Saturday Morning.

Saturday March 12, 2016            It took us a while to find our lovely guide Nik. He was to be our guide for the whole trip however, he had to wait around the airport for the group joining us from Vancouver. We hopped in a bus and got on with the 2 ish hour drive to Rothenberg. Of course we got to drive a bit on the Autobahn (which in a van wasn’t nearly as cool as I had thought) and through lights that went from red to yellow and then green which I found so strange. We arrive in the quant town of Gattsattal where we were staying for the night. We unpacked our bags and headed into town to see the historical, medieval town. Rothenberg is known as Germany’s Fairy Tale Dream town and is located on a plateau just over the Tauber river. We checked out many of the picturesque sites including the Gallos Gate, Town Wall (which is elevated around the city and has a walkway almost the whole way around the town), St. James Church, The Christmas Museum (which was magical), Historical Vaults of the 30 years war and of course Plonlein. Plonlein is the classic photo of Rotherberg and is seen in many books and post cards. We really enjoyed wandering around the small, adorable town. We enjoyed greek food (random) at the Taverna Marathon and Schnaeballen- which is a delicious dessert along with coffee before making our way back to our hotel. We met up with the group from Vancouver and had an amazing traditional German dinner of Spätzle and beef. We were all super tired and jet lagged so we went to bed early to get ready for Munich!

Sunday March 13th, 2016             Rise and shine was early this am! We grabbed a very European breakfast of buns, meat and cheese before hoping on the bus for the 2ish hour drive , south to Dachau. Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp in Germany. It was said to be a “work camp” originally where political prisoners were to be housed as early as 1933. It is believed that over 25,000 prisoners died from illness or suicide and over 32,000 were killed. The camp saw as many as 200,000 prisoners. We did a walking tour of the property which was very challenging to see. There was also a 20 minute video in the museum that was very graphic. The museum houses memorials, barracks as well as the old gas chamber and crematorium. The various religious memorials are visited by thousands of people each year as well.            After the enlightening visit to Dachau, we made our way to Munich.  Munich is the third most populous city in Germany (behind Berlin and Hamburg of course) and is know for its beautiful, century old buildings and of course Octoberfest. We started our day in Munich by wandering around the stunning English Gardens. The first thing we saw were people surfing on an arm of the Isar River at one of the entrances of the Gardens. It was magical! It was so cold but they have one area where the river makes a 1 metre wave that many locals come and surf  on. I was freezing just watching them! As we wandered around the English Garden, we learned more about it’s history (how it used to be hunting ground for the royal family until the late 18th century when it was opened to the public).  We visited the Theatiner Church where there was a large pre St. Patrick’s day Festival going on. We caught a glimps of City Hall as well as the Cathedral Church of our Lady (Frauenkirche). This Cathedral is a landmark in the city and is known as the symbol of the Bavarian Capitol. It stands at 99m tall which makes it the tallest building in the city centre and has the infamous “Devil’s Footstep”. We wandered around the city square (Middlespaz) and had a small lunch as we wandered. Unfortunately, much of the shops and more touristy things were closed as it was Sunday.  One super cool thing that we did see in the Marienplatz was the Glockenspiel (google it, it’s cool). We did manage to check out the three known “Tours” as well as the magical Hopfbrauhaus. While we didn’t stop in for a beer, we did enjoy all of the excitement and festivities inside.  We had a lovely dinner at franziskaner in der au, just outside the city centre of sauerkraut type salad, pork and pasta before heading back to the econtel for the night.

Monday March 14th, 2016              I was super excited about the plan for today! We were driving to Neuschwanstein Castle! Neuschwanstein is a nineteenth-century Romanesque Revival palace approx. 1.6 km walk uphill in the village of Hohenschwangau. The castle was designed by King ludwig the second. He had designed it and lived in another castle (Holschwangow) on the property while it was being built (for almost 13 years). King Ludwig was a complex man who enjoyed Wagner (which was listened to Valkyrie on the way to the castle), literature and fine woodwork. There are various stories of his bizarre behaviour, “different” interests (homosexual tendencies which were not accepted at that time) among other things. He was declared insane and admitted to a hospital where he was found dead in the river only 2 days after admission. He had gone for a walk with his doctor and was found in knee deep water, with no water in his lungs. His death was rather mysterious and unfortunate, as he never go to see his masterpiece of a castle fully built. The castle itself sees 1.5 million visitors a day. It is massive and magical- especially the Throne room with its 2000 lb chandelier made out of fake gem stones and 1.5 million stone floor that illustrates plant and animal life. The walls and ceilings are also very interesting with paintings of Jesus and 6 canonized kings. The tour itself wasn’t anything to write home about and was not overly informative. It was definitely a magical place to visit and the views in and around the castle were worth the steep hike.

             After the castle, we watched Sophie School (great movie) as we headed back into Munich for a guided bus tour of the city by our guide Barbara. She gave us the background of the city (which I won’t bore you with but is quite interesting as Munich is considered a “young” city for Europe and much of it was destroyed in WW2 and rebuilt). We drove past many important/interesting landmarks including the House of Kunz Art (german art that Hilter built), many universities (which are free in Germany) including the one that Sophie School went to, the Olympic Park (of the 1972 Olympics) and many other iconic streets/parks. Munich is a very fast growing city becauose of its high quality of living. There are many parks, lakes and mountains in the area along with lots of jobs which means the cost of living is increasing by approx. 5-10% each year. It is much cheaper to rent than to buy in the city and there are many young families living in 900 sq. feet and paying approx. 1500-2000 euro a month (crazy!). We stopped at one of my favourite places of the trip and that was the Nyphenburg Palace. Again, I won’t bore you with the details but it was the summer residence of the former rulers of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach. It is now a series of museums and has beautiful grounds to wander and explore. We had dinner at a former monastery turned Brewery called the Augustine. We had a very traditional dinner of beet, bratwurst and potato salad with their home made apple fritter for dessert. We continued the tour of Munich after dinner by seeing the Hofbrauhaus at night along with the Opera House that was one of the first in the 17th Century. The Opera House has been rebuilt multiple times after varies fires/wars and features approximately 300 shows per year.   We headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep before another exciting day!

Tuesday March 15th, 2016            Today we would be driving through 3 different countries! We left Germany and passed through the Town of Garmish. Garmish is small town, much older than Munich on the trade route known for its ski hills and Winter Games. We headed through Germany and made our way into Austria. We learned that there are not borders in Europe which is pretty neat. Everyone in the EU may come and go as they please and may live/work whenever they would like.  We were heading into Innsbruck for the afternoon. Austria itself, is known for its delicious meat. Austria is home to approximately 8.4 million people and its main industry is tourism (24 million a year approximately) but its scenery is like none other. 60% of the country is covered in mountains who’s peaks are almost 4000m high. The biggest palace in Europe can also be found in Austria- in Innsbruck and was home to the Royal Family (who’s monarchy ended in 1918). We spent a few hours exploring Innsbruck. We visited much of the old town (which is quite small) and saw some tourist landmarks such as the Golden Roof House built by Maximilian, The Innsbruck city tower, and of course, the Swarovski Flag Ship Store. We saw many old, medieval type buildings along with some beautiful churches. Other than the beautiful mountains, St. Jacob’s church was my favourite building- it had a beautiful marble alter with large lit up cross and massive black organ. We hopped back in the bus and took the Brenner Pass through the amazing alps. The Brenner pas was originally used by the tribes men many years ago and is still known as an important trade route between Austria and Italy. It was a magical drive through the mountains with many old castles and places to stay. We made our way south to our hotel which was just outside of Venice near Treviso. The hotel (Park hotel villa fiorita) was so tacky and Italian- I just loved it!! We got settled into our rooms (where we would be staying for two nights) and then made our way down to the dining room for a traditional dinner. The dining room was very Roman inspired with beautiful (but strange) paintings all over the walls. Our dinner of pasta, turkey, veggies and apple crumble was delicious! I was super excited to hit the hay this night as Venice was one of the cities I was most excited to visit.

Wednesday March 16th, 2016            As always, breakfast was early (but delicious with the classic euro spread along with pancakes and croissants for the carbs lovers out there) but worth it to hop on the bus to head down to Venice. Nik gave us a brief history lesson on the country (including The Kingdom of Italy being found in 1861, the end of the Monarchy in 1919 along with the Black Chapter that was Moussilini’s take over in the 1922). I really do enjoy learning about all of the history- I make all of these half ass attempts at typing it all out as he is talking and then make short forms that a year later, I don’t understand. Ah well! That is what google is for isn’t it? ANYWAYS. Venice! So exciting. Venice is a unesco World Heritage site but has seen its fair share of destruction and sadness, including floods and plagues (also the starting point of mask where and carnival somehow). Venice is actually made up of 117 small islands  that are separated by many canals and linked by bridges. They are located in the Venetian lagoon which is an enclosed bay that is found between the Po and Piave Rivers. There are approximately 265,000 people that live in Venice, 55,000 who live in the historical city part.  Once we arrived at the port, we took a 20 min boat ride over where we watched a glass blowing demonstration- which is super Venetian. There are about 35 companies in Venice that make glass but only a handful that do it by hand. The glass (Moreno) is beautiful, made out of sand, salt and colours that are created by other minerals.             After the glass blowing demonstration and some shopping (of course), we had a walking tour with our guide Alysio. He explained much more of the cities history and pointed out a few beautiful landmarks. He also took us on a tour of the Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale) which was very beautiful. It was originally build in the 1300s and then rebuilt in the 1500s. There is a massive, golden staircase because, more was always better in the Venetian world. Each wall had something on it- gold, paint, murals, mosaics etc- no wall caould be empty.  We came out of the Palace in St. Marc’s Square (Piazza San Marco) which is a landmark in the city. It has many restaurants, shops and famous places within the square. We visited St. Marc’s Basilica which is said to actually house the remains of St Marc below the alter. The  Basilica is quite dark but still very beautiful with many old features. We wandered around the city of Venice- getting lost in all the small walkways, canals and bridges. It was magical! We hopped on a gondola as well and took a beautiful ride in and around the city through the canals. We checked out many of the high end shops (all of the designers were found in Piazza San Marco) and also did some bartering for souvenirs and such. The Rialto bridge was sadly under construction, but we still managed to get a few great photos and see some of the stores that can be found on and around the bridge. We stopped for some traditional food (the most amazing pizza, cannoli AND gelati) before grabbing some vino on route to the boat back to the bus.  Dinner was back at the hotel – pasta of course with some veggies, beef and of course rum cake for dessert. My aunt and I wandered around the hotel- they had an interesting Hemingway exhibition and bar in the basemen which was rather odd in my opinion.  The mix of the music/bar seen with the hemingway info lead to some pretty bizarre dreams that night that’s for sure!

Thursday, March 17th, 2017            This morning we headed on the Brenner Pass to Verona- which funny enough cost about $35 since all of the highways in Italy are toll routes. The highways are privately, not state owned so the rate per highway can change which is neat. In Germany, the highways are free, in Switzerland, you pay for a pass each year and in Austria, you can pay for a week, month or year (similar to the 407). I was very excited today because it was 15 degrees and sunny!! We were headed 2 hours from Treviso to Verona which is a very old city, approx. 100 years BC. Verona is heavily fortified, especially around the river and is also a Heritage UNESCO site due to its Roman Empire/Medieval/Renaissance architecture and preserved monuments and squares. One of our first stops was the Arena of Verona (their version of the Coliseum) which is about 80 years older than the Coliseum. (making it almost 1186 years old!!!) At this time, there is only one wing left of it as an earthquake ruined ¾ of it in 1117. We stopped to visit Romeo and Juliet’s house (sadly not the real one) as well as Juliet’s Balcony (which is very popular place to visit). I was very impressed with Verona- it has beautiful landscapes of not only greenery and a beautiful river, but amazing mountains and old, maintained architecture.  We stopped by the market which had amazing fresh fruit, vegetables and sandwiches near the Ponte Pietra. We checked out the Cathedral Di Verona before hopping on the bus to drive from Verona to Switzerland.

        Our drive through the alps was magical! We drove through  Como which is an amazing area (George Clooney has a house there which we saw!) along with Lugano which is very Swiss meets Mediterrean. Of course, Nik gave us our daily history lesson on Switzerland and including some interesting facts. Switzerland, is one of the safest places in the world. All of the entrances can be closed (literally with a bomb to close it physically) if there was any concern for the Swiss’ safety. Since Switzerland is a very “neutral” place, politically, I don’t think they would have many issues.  We heard many interesting folklores and fables about the country during our drive (which I won’t bore you with). We made it to the town of Giswil(population 300) which is just outside of Lucerne. Dinner was soup, salad and a meatloaf-esque burger with traditional fries and gravy (haha) It was an early to bed tonight – other than my early morning wake up call to facetime with the lovely Jess so I wouldn’t miss the Open announcement!

Friday March 18, 2016:          My aunt and I decided to get up a bit early to wander around the quaint town. It was a bit chilly but we enjoyed the rolling hills of the area and the beautiful fresh air. After showers and a basic European breakfast (meat, cheese and bread of course), we hopped on the bus for Lucerne. The first stop with the famous Lion Monument which was created for the Swiss guard who died in 1792 in defence of King Louis XVI, his fine Marie Antoinette and their kids. The Swiss guard is known for their loyalty and this monument is a sign of strength, power and loyalty. The monument is actually much cooler than I had anticipated as it is carved into a larger rock/mountain side. We had plenty of time to wander around the magical mountain city and check out Lake Lucerne which can be seen from almost everywhere in the city. We saw the glacier gardens, Friti Fountain, Chapel Bridge, Water tower and did some hiking on the fortification wall to check out the view from a higher vantage point.  We enjoyed some delicious (and expensive!) Swiss Chocolate and learned about the various historical events that had taken place in the city. We met up with the grup at the Schwanplatz (city centre) and headed back to the hotel for dinner (salad with random curry chicken and ice cream) before settling in for our last day of the tour.

Saturday March 19, 2016:            Today we were going to visit the largest waterfalls in Europe!! I was pretty stoked about this since I expected them to be similar to Niagara Falls. While the Rhine Falls are beautiful (they truly are) they are nothing in Comparison to Niagara Falls. The Rhine Falls go back to the last ice age about 2000 years ago and are 23 meters tall and 150 meters wide and found in the town of Schwafassen. We got some great photos before heading back on the bus to take the drive through the Black Forest. The Black forest got its name from the narrow trees that make is very very dark and brings out lots of legends and myths. The Grimm brothers wrote all of their stories based on the Black Forest and there are many stories about trolls, dwarfs and other mythical creatures. We made our way to the Hofgut Sternen – a family run shop where they make cuckoo-clocks which was actually a lot more interesting than I had thought. We saw one of (if not the) largest cuckoo clocks and then saw an informative demonstration about how the clocks worked. The cuckoo is made out of wood and cotton and is basically the music box, mechanism (from Switzerland) and the cuckoo. They are all the same here in Black Forest except for the design in which there are 120 different types of clocks that all tell a story. I didn’t realize how intricate and different they could all be! We enjoyed some delicious Black Forest Cake before jumping back on the bus to head north to Heidelberg.             Heidelberg is the oldest university town in Germany and the second oldest in all of Europe. It is known for its literature and philosophy along with its castle- Schloss Heidelberg. We went and saw the castle ruins (and saw a random fox on a leash..) while enjoying some pretzels and checking out the worlds largest wine barrel (heaven!). The town was super cute and was filled with old buildings, small streets and even the longest pedestrian walkway in Germany.  Nik told us a lot about the extensive history of the city (the good and the bad) and we stopped into a few other small museums and stores. The one thing I didn’t get to do that I would’ve loved to have tried in the city was the Furnicular (basically a gondola) but the line was super long and we wanted to explore more- ah well! There is always next time!             We made it to the hotel Exelsior around 7 and wandered around it for while. It was very modern from the outside but had many touches of its old charm. The lobby was super cute and inviting. The bathrooms were super retro but really big and fitting for the hotel. We had an amazing buffet dinner of zucchini boats, rice. wedges and schnitzel which was all delicious along with fruit and pudding for dessert. We ended the evening as a big group talking about our favourite part of the trip and then singing Oh Canada which was pretty special. Everyone hugged good bye (and exchanged social media accounts of course) before heading to bed for the flights home.

Sunday March 20th, 2016           Sadly, I was the first one to leave in the am as my flight was the earliest. Originally the company wanted all of us (meaning the three of us) going to Ontario to go to the airport at the same time but that sounded just silly! Nik called me a cab at 0600 and had a great spread for breakfast to go ready for me. The drive to the Frankfurt airport was about 45 with little traffic and I managed to learn a bit more about the area from the cab driver. My flight home was just under 8 hours and was average with plenty of movie options and snacks. All in all, this was a great mini EuroTrip. While I have many other places I would like to visit (and maybe even return to) it gave me a taste of the continent and made me eager to see more! Until next time!