Venice

One of the best parts about travelling Europe was not having a cell phone.  Phones are beginning to resemble electronic leashes in recent years, and it's only when you retire yours completely that you can experience a sense of freedom that has long been forgotten.

They dull you of your sense to plan and coordinate, and cease the mild rush of adrenaline acquired from not knowing anything with 100% certainty.  A prime example of this was attempting to reunite with Catherine in Venice.  This entailed spending 5 Euro to log onto Facebook at an internet café, sending Catherine a message to meet us in the lobby of a random hotel in 3 days time, and praying that she logs on to check her messages before that day.

We rolled up to the hotel later than expected due to minor train delays and my heart was in my throat as we approached the hotel entrance.  Quickly I scanned the lobby in vain, for it was empty. No sign of her anywhere.

 Is she okay?  Did she just not get the message?  Is she waiting for us in a different hotel here?

A million questions were racing through my mind but Chanelle interrupted them with a level-headed assumption; "Maybe she's already in the room."

We quickly approached reception with our query and sure enough she had checked in 30 minutes ago.  A wide-eyed Catherine opened the door to our room.  We were so excited to all be together again, and to take on the city of Venice.

 

 



Farmers Markets take place on Boats

 



Catherine, Myself and Chanelle Taking a Water Taxi



 

 

Venice is Notorious for its Glass Making



Love Boats



 

Sister Love

 

                  

Hanging Around Barcelona

After Southern France, the logical next step was Northern Spain.  I'm disappointed when I reflect on our decision making that we skipped San Sebastian, but we were anxious to make it to Barcelona to have a few days to unwind.  We planned for 3 days of  sitting on the beach, and exploring the famous nightlife - so that's exactly what we did.

 

 

 

I believe Chanelle and I had more fun on this jungle gym than the little kids!

It's such a unique bonding experience to travel with someone, especially your sister.  Chanelle and I had the opportunity to get to know each other in a whole new light, which is rare for siblings at our age.  Chanelle and I proved to be exceptional travel companions.  She had the laid-back personality that would force me to slow down my fast-pace way of living so I could take in my surroundings with meticulous attention.  In return, I offered her a little motivation to get up and moving in order to optimize time to see the absurd amount there was to be seen in every city. 


We both agreed that the "Feet Up" hostel we stayed in in Barcelona was our favorite.  We met the friendliest most out-going people there, which was perfect because going out on the town is much better in a large group.  The evenings were spent over a few beers in the common room playing card games and chess before venturing out to explore the night life in the sleepless city...



Chanelle and I at Feet Up Hostel



Christmas Came Early

Chanelle's second host family, Patrick and Celine, were the most unique people I had encountered thus far in my life.  If Santa Clause and Mrs. Clause actually existed, I'd imagine they would take form in these two.  Their 24/7 jolliness was unfathomable.

I could not imagine a house more fitting for Southern France

Partick is a retired banker that owns a 200 year old mansion on property so large it contains it's own forest.  It's comical actually, for when we rolled up for dinner one evening the local girl scouts had asked him if they could do their annual camping retreat in his backyard.  We were greeted by 60 Cub Scouts with their 30 tents sprawled across the forest of his backyard, having bonfires and roasting S'mores. 





The Hot Tub Room!

Alongside his forest, he has a dance patio (his philosophy is that 30 minutes of dancing a day keeps all bad moods away), a separate hot tub facility (which would be more likely to keep my bad moods away), 5 donkeys, and 2 ponies.  It was a zoo. 

Celine slaved away in the kitchen but not in vain.  The food she concocted would put any master chef to shame.  The whole evening she would randomly shout out:

"Lenai! You are so happy, and I am so happy, we are all just so happy!" with more genuine enthusiasm I knew the human body was capable of.   I want to create a miniature version of this lady, so I can pull her out of my pocket every time I need a moment of encouragement. 

She told me that they throw parties in their 5 star resort of a home almost every weekend. 

"Oh, we just LOVE parties! My favorites are weddings. When you get married, you come here, and I'll play ze wedding song on the piano for you! I LOVE to play that song on the piano! Yes, you must come back!"

You don't have to ask me twice Celine. I will gladly get married in your magical forest of a backyard and ride donkeys off into the sunset. 




Patrick and his Ponies



Catch Me If You Can



The Mouse Fairy in Southern France

Chanelle with her host mother Nadine

After Paris,  we headed down to southern France to visit the area Chanelle lived while apart of Rotary Club, a student exchange program, during her junior year of high school.  We were picked up from the train station by her host mother.  Nadine stands at 6 feet tall, and radiates happiness out of every inch of her.  She owns a large farm in the rural town of Orx, a city in the province of Aquitaine.  The landscape looked like an excerpt from the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale.

She has a dog named Milou but I gave him the nickname Mad Dog for that's exactly what he is: insane.  He spends 23 hours of the day attacking nearby corn stalks. He runs up to them, pounces, tears them up at the root, and shakes them vigorously in his mouth until he is certain that they wont come back to life. 

While we were there, her cousin popped by for a visit along with her 2 children.  One morning, the youngest Nicholas (4 years old), was playing with Mad Dog.  As he was throwing the ball, Mad Dog became so impatient that he jumped up and hit Nicholas in the face, knocking him to the ground and causing an already loose tooth to fall out.  Nicholas was screaming out of shock more than pain, and I tried to calm him down by reminding him that at least he will get a visit from the Tooth Fairy.
 
"Quoi?"  he asks.  


It turns out that they don't have a tooth fairy in France.  When you loose a tooth, you put it underneath a cup and a Petit Souris (little mouse) comes during the night and replaces it with money. 


Mad Dog

You learn something new everyday, or 200 new things a day seems more fitting for Europe.

The next morning I came downstairs to find little Nicholas trying to climb into Mad Dog's bed basket.  Mad Dog was not liking that and started growling.  

"Fait attention!  Quest ce que tu fais la?" (get away from there, what do you think you're doing?) I ask him. 

"Mais Lenai! Ca me rendre avec des sous!" (But Lenai, look at all the money I get this way!) he replies. 

Haha, kids!

One day we ventured into the coastal cities of Hossegor and Biarritz.  Hossegor is well known in Europe for it's surfing community, while Biarritz is simply stunning. I'll let you guys take a look for yourselves, but for now all I can say is that from day one I was in love with everything in southern France.  I hardly spoke a word of English, I was eating foods I didn't even know existed, and was meeting the most incredible animated people that just could not get enough of life.  One thing is unmistakably clear: they know how to live the good life in France.

 



Biarritz

 



Biarritz

Chanelle, Myself and Marie

Hang 10 in Hossegor



Hossegor Boardwalk

Paris Je T'aime:)

Paris je t'aime. 

In the battle of quality vs. quantity the French prove that quality trumps all, no questions asked.  From their architecture, to their food, to their conversation; attention to detail makes this country what it is: spectacular.

The Best Candy Shops in the World



 

The Opera House

We stayed in a small flat belonging to Antoine, a friend Catherine played waterpolo with in Vancouver.  Paris also marked the location I was to finally meet up with my sister Chanelle.

I've heard mixed reviews about travelling Paris as a tourist.  Luckily, Chanelle and I attended a French immersion elementary school growing up in Winnipeg, so we were both conversational in French and didn't have communication issues.  Catherine also knew French, and come to think of it, I'm not quite sure how as she attended an English speaking school in Winnipeg.  Upon further thought, this fact did not faze me in the slightest because Catherine is also the smartest person in the world. 

By fluke it happened to be Bastille Day (France's national holiday) the night we arrived.  What seemed like all of France had also journeyed to Paris that evening, so we crowded beneath the sparkling Eiffel tower alongside the half a million other people to watch the awe-striking fireworks display.  What an introduction to the city of love!

Getting onto the metro home was more like the 8 a.m. business rush in Tokyo.  We were crammed so tightly that there were a couple of times my feet weren't even touching the ground, and I think the doors closed on Catherine at one point (fortunately no serious injuries).



 

The Metro that Evening

 

Catherine, Chanelle, Tiffany and I with a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower in the background

The next morning we visited the park were Amelie was filmed, ate Nutella crepes, and visited Le Louvre! Mon Dieu, the museum was the best part of the entire Euro Trip.  You're blown off your feet from the get-go as the building itself is architectural genius.  Never mind day passes, they need to sell 2 week passes in order for you to get a true feel of all Le Louvre has to offer.



Tiff and I outside the Louvre



After we had our fill of history, Chanelle, Catherine, Tiffany and I bought a bottle of red wine, a baguette, and some incredibly delicious cheese for a picnic in the park.  It was a truly magical day.



Picnic in the Park



Love Paris

Wouldn't have travelled it any other way.  Love these ladies.

Running for the Hills

The most refreshing way to begin my day is with a morning jog.  One fine day in Scotland I decided to do just that.

I was running down a footpath towards the coast, getting lost in the beauty of my surroundings, when suddenly I looked up to realize I had no idea where I was.  Typical as I more often than not I get lost while running.  I'm going to pitch a tracking device idea to Nike, one you can put in your shoe and always be found when lost.

I vaguely remembered running beside a large green open area that had the potential to be a soccer field, so decided to ask the next person I saw if they knew in what direction it was. 

"Large green field?"  the next gentlemen I saw repeated to me with a confused expression on his face,  "Yea, ye'r just go down' de trail, take a left dhere, go up de hill, and you'll come righ' out on' it."

"Sweet, thank," I repled before bouncing down the trail.

Ten minutes later I was still running up the hill, which I'm realizing now is more of a mountain, and  something doesn't feel right.

Blonde moment of the day; all of Scotland is rolling green field! 

I have never seen this field in particular before, and I'm not even sure I'm still in Edinburgh, just lost near Arthur's Seat. 




Arthur's Seat

I use the rising sun as a bearing, and start heading in the direction I'd assume the city is in.  Unfortunately there is a gigantic mountain between us.
But Alas! A hiker coming over the mountain towards me!  I run up to him.

"Excuse me, but can you tell me how to get to the Edinburgh castle from here?"

This elderly man looks at me and starts laughing hysterically, "De Castle? From Here?!?"

Did I stutter?

"Yes the castle," I replied coolly.

"Oh well, its quite far. Are ya runnin' there?"

No, I left my horse at the bottom of the mountain.

"Yes I'm running there."

"Ha well alrighty then, it's just over this mountain and about 4 miles straight ahead! Oh wait- have ye'r got any money with ya?"

What's the deal! I'm not paying you to tell me to run over a mountain! 

"No I'm sorry I don't have any on me," I said sharply, my aggravation rising.

" Oh well that's a shame, you'll probably get mighty hungry on the way back! Ha ha ha!"

Thanks for nothing crazy old Scottish man, glad I could brighten your day.

I start down the trail, and I'm quite exhausted at this point as I've been running for 2 hours already and have yet to climb another mountain.   Not to mention, Catherine is probably worried sick because we were supposed to have left to tour Sterling Castle an hour ago.  I'm never running again.  Well probably tomorrow, but I'm definitely not running again tonight.

It turns out Catherine was only a little upset.  I think the sight of me about to pass our alleviated her anger to some extent.  Onwards then to Sterling Castle...


Rome Sweet Rome

 

Since the moment Chanelle and I pulled into this city, I wasn't able to shake the lyrics from Pink Floyd's Time out of my head:  "When I come home cold and tired, its good to warm my bones beside the fire."

As we were already one month deep into our Euro trip, being in a new city everyday was becoming both a mentally and physically exhausting feat.  Arriving into Rome Chanelle and I decided right off the bat that we were not going anywhere for a least 3 nights. 

Rome sweet Rome

Rome served as a better home away from home than I could have asked for.  It had this overpowering sense of security about it. Most people have a character in their life that they feel completely at ease around; someone that produces this contagious relaxing aura that you just can't get enough of, and you feel the weight of the world melt in their presence. 

This was the feeling Rome gave me.  I have never felt more poised and at harmony with the world in my entire being.

We booked a hostel last minute and it ended up costing us way more than we hoped to spend, but it was located right in the heart of the city so we agreed.  Walking into the hostel, there were two Indian gentlemen at the reception.  I chatted to them for a while recounting the parts of India I had visited. 

"No way!"  he kept saying.

"You are friend," he said to me in broken English.

 Then he turns to Chanelle and says, "And you will be my sister today! Yes you will be my sister..."            

That was a strange statement for the both of us and I gathered he was slightly intoxicated, but he was entertaining so we listened to him rant for a while.  He went on and on about how upset he was to see our corrupted youth this day and age, and how all our morals have gone to hell, and then he continued with stories about the wild days he had in his youth.  At the end of his spiel he turns to us and said,
 "But I can tell that you are good girls, so I'm giving you 50 euros off your price, because you are my family today".   

 Score!

To top it all off he offered us a free bottle of wine.  As if I couldn't love Rome anymore already.



The lads at reception



There might have been Vodka in that watermelon

He really liked Chanelle

The next morning Chanelle and I visited the Coliseum, one of the seven man made wonders of the world.  What an incredibly eerie place.  It was hard to believe that we were trailing in the same footsteps dating back to 80 A.D.

I couldn't fathom an idea of what the earth was like back then, but walking through the ancient walls you could almost feel it.   You could sense the history and power of the place coursing through your body with every step you took.  The only time I have been so moved by a building in my entire life was when I visited the Taj Mahal in Agra.  It was a very spiritual experience.








Still time for a little gladiator reenactment