Los Angeles Adventures

Redondo Pier

Dinner in Santa Monica

View from Afterparty House

Santa Monica Pier

Hollywood Walk of Fame

I have been the worst at blogging the past year. I have been to LA twice in the past year so may as well post something about my wonderful adventures to the land of Hollywood. My first trip was back in September to visit my bestie who is going to school at FIDM downtown. I went with two other friends and we spent the week sightseeing, shopping and drinking. We fell in love with Santa Monica and the epic after parties of Beverly Hills. Since I have not been in that neck of the woods since I was about 10 years old, and only went to see Minnie Mouse at Disneyland, I was very excited to explore the area. We did all the typical touristy things, such as take a celebrity house tour through the hills, go to beaches, try to find celebrities at Bootsy Bellows, 1Oak and Melrose Ave, shop at DASH, eat at Bottega, shop at The Grove, walk down Redondo Beach Pier and walk the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The only 'celeb' we ended up seeing was Ron Jeremy, which I know sounds like we must have been hanging around some greasy strip club but we actually saw him at this after party in the hills. And yes, he was creepy and tried grabbing my butt. Was not surprised and still managed to get a selfie with him but definitely learned my lesson. Apart from that I was pleasantly surprised with the area, although it was dirty it wasn't worse than I expected and actually had very nice people and gorgeous scenery. I almost forgot to mention the fact that we fangirled super hard at a Jesse McCartney concert at the House of Blues on Sunset. Seriously made my year. It was a busy week that ended up being a ton of fun with amazing company. It definitely made me want to return, of which I did in February. 

Let the bookings begin!

To celebrate graduation, I have began to plan and book a trip to Eastern Europe and the United Kingdom. To make things easier for anyone wanting to book a similar trip, I will post links to pages and continue to blog about the trip as it happens. So far, we have decided to fly into London and spend 5 nights there battling jet lag and taking day trips. From London, we are flying to Prague via Ryanair (for $200! Deals on deals) and taking two bus tours offered through Busabout. The two I have discovered are the Classic Rhapsody Trek and Bohemian Trek. So we will be touring through 7 countries in 16 days and seeing sights I've always wanted to see, but have been too intimidated to follow through on. We've decided to go through a tour guide simply because of the language barriers and for security measures. Safety first! From there we are flying back to England and touring through Salisbury, Bath, Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Hexham and then off to Scotland. I cannot wait to embark on this adventure! Any tips would be greatly appreciated, as we would love to save money in any way! Currently trying to debate on train passes and hotels/hostels.

Jasper, Alberta

fireside with a cider

One of my best friends growing up moved to Hinton, Alberta a few years back and I finally decided to do the 8 hour drive to visit her. On the way up I stopped in Red Deer for lunch with my dear friend Halli at State and Main to catch up. This turned into a few hours of talking and drinking, and I was finally on my way again. At this point I thought I was over half way to Hinton, but was actually still 5 hours away. This was the longest part of the drive- through Drayton Valley, Rocky Mountain House and Edson. I finally drove into Hinton just after 8 pm. We spent the night eating sushi and relaxing. The next day Kelly and I drove around for over 4 hours in the beautiful back country. She and her boyfriend are avid hunters and she had countless stories and places to show me. Driving around is my favourite so I had no objection to taking the passenger seat trying to spot wildlife. That night we had planned for a fire so we gathered up all the necessities, invited over a few friends and had a nice night in the yard.

the drive to Jasper

The next morning we set off for Jasper. This is about a 30 minute drive from Hinton (I had no idea she was this close to the mountains! I will definitely visit more now that I know this). It was snowing- in may- which usually would have upset me but it looked so beautiful in the mountains. It reminded me of Christmas so I was a happy girl.

schnitzel

We spent the afternoon shopping, grabbing a quick bite to eat and a drink at the Jasper Brewing House before checking into the hotel. We decide to hot tub before dinner (rooftop hot tubs- so great) and after receiving a wonderful compliment from a charming young man we set off for a delicious dinner at the Raven. Seriously, go to this restaurant people, it was amazing. We started off with mussels in white wine sauce to share then Kelly had a salad and I went for the schnitzel (I hadn't had schnitzel since Austria in 2011). For dessert we shared this phyllo pastry stuffed with almonds and served with whipped cream- simply amazing.

Athabaska Falls

I may have forgot to mention the bacon caesars we drank. This place was great. The next day we drove home after grabbing a coffee and a hitchhiker (we live on the edge) who was on his way to closing day at the hill. We stopped at Athabaska falls before turning back and heading towards Hinton. That night Kelly made me one of my favourite meals- moose roast. It was such a lovely weekend discovering the home and town of one of my dearest friends.
Then Cinco de Mayo was the Monday which is a whole different kind of blog entry..

we go to banff..

Cave and Basin

"So we go to banff and we see the unicorn , I think unicorn so extinct but unicorn live in banff!!" Well that would have been the cherry on top of this wonderful weekend, but unfortunately unicorn sightings are limited to foreign tourists. Towards the end of February Andrew and I went on a weekend getaway to Banff, Alberta, Canada. It is just a four hour drive from where we live so just far enough away for it to feel like a vacation. We were fortunate enough to have had

Lake Minnewanka

our hotel (Mount Royal- right downtown) and one of our main activities paid for (I won a trip through work to Banff- thanks Hudsons!) so the first day we made our drive up, relaxed once we got to the hotel and then went for dinner at the Keg. We both had the blue cheese filet mignon- very good as per usual. We then called it a night and stayed at the hotel for the remainder of the night. The second day we had a full day of activities planned. We went to Melissa's for breakfast in downtown Banff, then ventured off to the beautiful Lake Minnewanka where we walked out onto the ice covered surface.After we got back from our little ice walk we followed some signs to a place called Cave and Basin, where the provincial park originated from. There were natural springs both inside a cave and out on the mountainside. It was really quite a sight to see- and they had just finished redoing the whole tourist space so it was very interactive for people. We found a mini ice castle for kids and naturally had to play on it ourselves. The weekend would not have been complete without a beaver tail, so this is where we went next to get our iconic Canadian pastry. We both couldn't decide what flavour to get so we each got two flavours- Andrew got the oreo and skor while I got maple butter and nutella banana- they were all so so good. For dinner on the Saturday we both got all dressed up and went to Saltik- a more casual place in Banff. Andrew got a salmon dish and I settled on a chicken dish with baby potatoes. We spent a good three hours just eating, drinking and enjoying each others company. Sometimes these nights are just the best- no rush to eat, just pure relaxing while having someone serve you (oh the joys of being a server and being served by someone). By the time we left it felt around -40 degrees outside, so we hurried back to the hotel and decided to warm up by going to the Upper Hot Springs. This was rather nice, it was very warm compared to the air. Here is where we ran into the most of the tourists- there were so many different languages being spoken in that small area- very neat. We left after around a half hour and headed back to the hotel to rest up for our exciting next day.... BECAUSE WE WENT DOG SLEDDING!! With

Puppies

 work I won a dog sledding adventure through Howling Dog Tours, so we were waiting for this moment for around 3 months by this point- so yes we were very excited. This was something that neither of us had done before- so we didn't know what to expect or wear, but it was such an amazing time. Our guide, Cole, was so passionate about the dogs and their wellbeing and had so many stories to keep us entertained with on our two hour adventure. Our sled was a team of 7 dogs, and each and every one of them had their own personalities- some were super shy and quiet- others barked all the time and were hyper- and some just LOVED people and would do anything to be beside someone.

Dog Sledding

They were all so adorable and I could tell they just loved running. It was a rather cold day which was the only downside to the whole adventure, but the sights we saw and the whole experience was amazing. I suggest everyone should do this once in their lifetime. We finished off the trip by meeting up with Andrew's grandma and good family friend in Canmore.

Itchin'

Life update:

This semester I have been taking two classes that have been pushing me to travel more. The past few weeks in my Art History and Museum Studies class we have been looking at Gothic architecture, and every time the professor changes the slide to a new cathedral I have to hold myself back from pulling out the credit card and booking a flight to France. To help with this, I have been collecting the names of all of the cathedrals that we learn about and am going to create a wonderful path throughout France to go and see all of this Gothic architecture. Below I have posted one of the cathedrals that has stood out the most to me- Reims. The symmetrical look is just so stunning. I also love the replacement of the tympanum with rose windows- I just can never get enough of these gorgeous windows. Not to mention the details everywhere on the facade of this cathedral- breathtaking. I cannot wait to see this in person! 

Also, I am taking a class in Later Roman Empire for history, and basically am doing the same thing- recording the names of cities and sites that are of great interest. I will post more about this once I create a more complete list!

Hello 2014

Well it has been almost 3 years since Jess and I went to Europe and I am going through withdrawals. As a history major, all I do is learn about Europe and it's spectacular past and every class I take I realize all the places I missed or all the places I saw and didn't understand. It is quite a shame, although I wouldn't change a thing from our last trip because that is what sparked my true interest in history. Therefore I have decided to start saving money for a trip after I graduate and have decided to blog on my research progress on the same blog which tracked my initial trip to the great continent.
This time I will be genuinely poor though, so I will have to budget a bit better which I feel is doable with a lot of planning ahead.
Anyways, if anyone has any stories or suggestions on where to go in Europe, I would LOVE to hear them. Experienced people always give the best advice and as it stands right now I am mainly interested in travelling through England, Scotland and Wales, with a definitely stop in Paris because Paris is the shit. 

au revoir! 

Paris: The City of Lights and Love Lives Up to Its' Name

Well, it's been over 7 months since Jess and I have been in Europe, and I just checked back in with our blog. I have noticed we got lazy at the end and completely left out one of the most beautiful cities we visited- Paris. So now I shall briefly talk about it to conclude this blog.
The picture to the left is one of the first pictures I took in Paris, it was on the way to finding the location of a free walking tour that we wished we would have utilized more while in Europe- if anyone ever goes it's called New Europe Tours- honestly amazing. We did it in Berlin and Paris, the tour guides only get paid in tips so they are guarenteed to be good. We actually did two in Paris, one on the first day (it's always good to get a feel for the city before venturing out on your own) and one a week later to Versailles. Anyways, this picture was on day one, and wow, from the first to the last impression Paris was absolutely amazing. Walking down the historic banks of the Seine, sneaking a peak of the Eiffel Tower, walking down the Champs Elysees, seeing the luxury of the Louvre (picture on the right), the Opera Garnier, the Tuileries and the six story townhouses all perfectly proved to be exactly what I had invisioned when I had pictured Paris. It is rare to find a city that actually meets the exectations we set out for it- and Paris did it. From the streetlamps to the benches, the trees, the street vendors, the luxury shops, bikes, parks, music, food, the atmosphere of Paris I will never forget.

Opera Garnier at night

The Invalids- Napoleon I

I would say one of the most magical times in Paris would be midnight (aahh yeah I know, I know, it's a movie- but come on, you all have to actually imagine it) no, we did not meet Hemingway or Fitzgerald, but we took strolls on two seperate occasions and everything is completely different. Let me say, first of all, I was surprised to find out that the Eiffel Tower actually sparkles. THIS IS NOT A MYTH. There is a light show every night at 11 pm, and I'm pretty sure me seeing that changed my life (well at least made me A LOT happier). I'm about 100% sure if I were PMSing at that moment I would have started to bawl. It was that magical. One of those 'I'm-in-Paris-at-midnight-and-the-Eiffel-Tower-is-lit-up-I-couldn't-be-happier' moment's in life. I hope there are more. Also, for those of you who haven't stepped outside of North America, in the majority of European cities everything is very centrally located due to the historical context of all the important things. So that night, after we spend probably an hour staring at this iconic structure, we turned around and saw the Hotel Invalids (and if you are like me you are probably thinking- wow France, be more politically correct and don't make a building for invalid people- mean country pointing out peoples' disadvantages) buut no that's just an ignorance on our parts for the French language right there. Anyways, this is also an architectual masterpiece, and lit up at night it is about 100 times more beautiful. So after me freaking out, we have our second encounter with a rat. Apparently Paris (and all of Europe) is completely infested with these disgusting things, but we never seem to notice until it's dark and we start to hear them. So we freak out some more and finally get over ourselves and go for a walk and then our sissy friends decide they are 'tired' and 'done with Paris at night' I WISH I WOULD HAVE YELLED YOLO BUT NO DOM MEZETTI WASN'T A PART OF MY LIFE AT THIS POINT. So Jess and I hesitantly take the subway half way home until I remember my true fate- to sing with the Angel of Music. Our subway trek manages to actually stop at the station under the Opera Garnier house, so obvi we get out (Jess and I the sissies went back to the hostel) and prance around singing some Phantom of the Opera and just staring at the beauty of the building. Well YOLO was right, I cannot even describe the feeling that we had walking around and feeling the history of the place.

Okay our other midnight in Paris adventure was with Nick Jones, a wonderful male we met while touring Versailles, and actually still stay in touch with. After our Versaille adventure we decide there's no better way to stay safe in Europe then in numbers (momma taught us right) so we set out and walk to the Eiffel Tower (who doesn't want to spend another night staring at its glory) and then take a river cruise along the Seine passing by all the famous landmarks. After this we walk back down the streets taking our sweet time and embracing the atmosphere of this splendid city. Okay I'm done reminiscing for the night, I will return sometime to rant on about Paris.
PEACE AND BLESSANGS.

Rob

Bordeaux.

My Sandals on the SAND DUNES

Bordeaux was one of the sketchiest places we had ever stayed. We walked off the train to find our hotel and walk down our street, boasting strip clubs and escort services. The men are appalling- rude, disgusting. And the homeless people created a little slum in the park across our street. Full on slum, stolen cardboard and tin. So initially, Robyn and I are absolutely, thoroughly disgusted. And the constant harassing is making us feel incredibly unsafe. First impression? I hate Bordeaux. Appalling.

A vineyard we visited

And our hotel? Nothing to brag about. Since it was a suite, there was no maid services. By the end of our stay the garbage inside our room was actually starting to pile, and we had run out of toilet paper. We may as well have gone to join the pleasant fellows in the park slum. And probably one of the most disappointing breakfasts- for €7, at that. Coffee made from a machine. Cereal. And the worst jam I have ever tasted (really? How do you mess up jam?).
Second day there we do our usual wander through the city. Down town is actually quite pleasant- lots of cafes and endearing little shops. Some of the most beautiful Catholic churches as well, and many of them! The walk down the river was nice, and there are many families residing in Bordeaux. If it weren't for going back to the place we were staying, this may be a decent place.
The Wednesday we arranged to go to E'cole du Vin, and learn about wine. Bordeaux is incredibly famous for it's wine, on a world scale. I really enjoyed learning about the wine, the process of creating it, and of course sampling some wines from the area. Particularly I enjoyed the Cabernet Sauvignon we tried, as well as the sweet white wine. The rest of the day we wandered- all over the city. By the end of our time in Bordeaux we had probably walked every street in the downtown core 15 times.

Jess having some fun with wine barrels

Thursday Robyn and I decide we would like to spend some time at the beach, so we hop on a train to Arachon, on the Atlantic coast. We had heard from someone that the surrounding area hosts the largest sand dune in Europe. We find our way there, and are utterly amazed. Honestly it felt as if we were in Egypt. Only in this one area can you get a conifer forest, a massive sand dune, and beach all within 10 minutes of walking. We spend the day tanning, swimming, and playing in the sand like little kids. As we had walked down the the beach, however, on our way back at the end of the day we had to walk up the dunes. I understand now why people ride camels. Got a nice tan, both of us. Golden brown (especially out of the ordinary for me- yay!).
Friday we arranged for a vineyard tour. We visited two estates in the area, tasting two sweet white wines and two reds. The first vineyard was very small, and run by a spirited French man who didn't speak any english. This was where the sweet white was made. Learned about the 'noble rot' that it takes to produce a sweet white wine, a certain type of fungus that alters the grapes and actually causes them to rot. This creates a grape, when fully ripened, that is withered and very, very concentrated- which is where the wine gets it's sweetness. The second vineyard was much larger, definitely less intimate. I found the reds to be slightly metallic, and preferred the Cab-Sauv from the previous day. Overall, however, a lovely way to spend a day.

Looks all pretty- Bordeaux

Our vineyard tour guide was an eccentric French woman. She provided us with knowledge about French wine, and how it is so superior in almost every manner. Yes. She is incredibly pretentious- it's almost humorous. Until the very end, when she gave the bus a lecture about the demise of civilization. The cause? Youth. The means? The fact that we're not drinking wine. Shame on us guys. We are screwing up royally. Drink French wine, or we will all fall into hellish anarchy- just saying.
The weekend we spend walking walking walking, around and around. Nothing overly eventful. By this point I'm getting sick of this place and just want to get to Paris.
The walk to the train station this morning at 5:45am was interesting. You know you're in a bad area when you rush to walk to the train station because there are cops outside of your door- extra protection? Nope. Just stopping some kids in a car.
Anyhow, now we are on the train to Paris!

stolen goods market wheu

Only 10 more days left in our trip. Pretty crazy how long it's been. Can't wait for Paris. Or the cleanliness of my environment when I return home.
-Jess

'I didn't know pigeons could fly that high. Good for them.'

After quiet time in Tuscany Robyn and I were quite excited to again be in a large city. It was wonderful to be able to relax in such a beautiful place, but we had become quite restless- and Milano was the perfect remedy for this!
Before we left for Milan we were visiting with the receptionist in Tuscany, and he asked where we were going next. We told him, and his reaction was quite strong. Something like 'Aiyyee, no no Milano!' (or so it goes in my mind). So while on the train we were already quite nervous for what we would find there, seeing as every other large city in Italy has been rather disgusting. Needless to say, we were pleasantly surprised.
Milan was beautiful. I do believe one of the cleanest cities we have been to yet, and people pick up their pets' fecal matter (yay!). The most astonishing feature was how quiet the city was. I really hate loud noises. We find our hotel and are also quite pleased, very clean and with two English channels, BBC and CNN. It is kind of silly how much you miss little things like that, just hearing your own language spoken on a television show. The first night there we wander around the city, have some dinner (nothing special), and head off to bed.
The second day we spend, again, wandering. We find ourselves in the downtown core, where all the designers are. Milan is one of the most amazing places for shopping, seeing as it is a fashion capital of the world. Everywhere you turn there is a Prada, Fendi, or such other beautiful stores. We were in heaven.
One of the best parts of Milan was the people. Well, the men. And just the way they looked really...heheheh. I am a sucker for men in suits, and they were everywhere. So beautiful. I wish I was a man so I could wear suits. Yes Barney Stinson, you are right. Words of wisdom.
The Duomo was yet another church. But honestly absolutely amazing- the outside was so ornate I couldn't believe it. It's incredible the detail work the Catholics put into their cathedrals! We also saw our first gargoyles- yay!
In the centre of downtown there is a street of shops covered by an intricate dome. So it's kind of like an outdoor mall, but with murals on the roof and beautiful detailing. Inside there were expensive little restaurants and more designers. Prada, Louis Vuitton, BMW and...McDonald's? Yes. Right next to Prada was a McDonald's. Good job Milan. Way to keep things classy.
Our last supper in Italy was on Tuesday. Food in Italy had been rather disappointing up to this point, so I wasn't expecting much. But hoping, for my last meal, for something delicious. So I ordered pasta, naturally. Gnocchi in a cream salmon sauce. So good! Finally. Robyn was rather disappointed in her dish- it was quite salty. Oh well. We tried. So we had our last supper in the city that holds da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper. Wheuuu. We left the next day for Aix en Provence, France. One day I will return to Milan, again, when I have more money. And when I am not too intimidated to go into Prada and such because I feel like poor poor scum. One day, one day Jess.
Arrivederci, Italia!

Tuscany

Tuscany: well I cannot even describe the beauty of Tuscany. We've all seen pictures of the vineyards, the olive groves and the rustic buildings, but I only expected to find these things in isolated areas! But this was not the case, I am not sure if it was because we were in the right spot, for we did not travel around the whole Tuscan area, but where we were staying had all the things that I expected to find in Tuscany. The first day we arrived to a very rainy day in Florence and basically everywhere. We had to take a bus to our small town, Pass dei Pecorai, between Florence and Greve in Chianti, which took around 2 hours with traffic. If you have any sort of motion sickness problems, aka tante and mom, I suggest never taking buses anywhere but especially here in Tuscany. It is a rather hilly area, so you can imagine the winding roads up, down and around the hills with the Italian driving, not a great combination. Anyways, from this rainy drive we saw the most gorgeous views. The whole area is like a postcard. Villas on hills, small and large vineyards, olive groves, golf courses, and forests. absolutely no huge resorts in sight, no high rise buildings, no large hotels.
We eventually get to our small hotel after transferring mid drive in the middle of the road to another bus, and find it quite charming. Very laid back, we basically told the man at reception our name and he gave us a key. Simple. We settle in (around 6:30) and start to feel hungry, so Kevin and I go venturing in the town. Well apparently everything is closed on Wednesdays, so we end up having to buy supplies to make dinner at the restaurant connected to the place we are staying. I am pretty sure the entire complex was run by one family so this wasn't a problem.
The next day we discover the major drawback of being backpackers in Tuscany: no car. The bus schedule is a general time, we were given a schedule from the man at the desk, and there was one at the stop, they were both different and neither was ever right so we basically had to wait for an hour or two at a random time and hope that a bus would show up to take us anywhere. The town we were staying in had one general store, one restaurant, and possibly two small hotels. Not much for us to do there. So we eventually catch a bus into Greve in Chianti, and find ourselves in one of the most charming towns I have ever laid my eyes on. Clean, quaint, small and situated in a valley surrounded by vineyards, Greve was the ideal location. All the buildings were either in the Tuscan/slightly Mediterranean villa style, stucco on the walls with colorful shutters (the Italians favored the green shutters we noticed-in France they are mainly blue) and planters hanging off of the balconies, or the stone buildings with cute shutters, archways and terra cotta rooftops. Either way it was the shutters that added the character. We walk around and find a square with local shops, mainly wine, meat, and cheese (heaven!) then venture up a hill that had a magnificent view. We stop by a storefront window advertising houses for sale, and see none under €900,000, so we now know we are in a super nice area of Italy.
That night we decide to take a walk up the road that is directly beside our hotel. Forgetting our cameras we find ourselves with the most amazing view I have ever seen, and might possibly ever see in my life. Vineyards scattered on numerous hills, mixed in with forests and villas. Right at sunset. To make things more amazing, we see a pack of over 30 wild boars in the rows of trees about 40 feet from us. We also see many rabbits and a deer on this walk. Sometimes it is just amazing to see things through your own eyes, and not spend the moment trying to capture it on camera.
Okay I feel like I need to talk about the awesomeness of the man at reception. This man is probably about 40-50, happy Italian, clearly loves his food and wine (if you know what I mean) and is full of information. We discover this on the second day when we inquire about touring a vineyard in the general area. A simple question turns into a half hour speech about wine in the area. he is one of those older men who says 'oi yoi yoi' a lot. Jess and I got a kick out of this. He also taught us to swear in Italian, and told us the same story about Chianti wine twice. His wife/sister/possible other relation had a fascination with me and would stroke my face or back or hair or anything every time she saw me, not creepy but in a motherly way. So you can imagine this place is very homey and open.
We spent a whole day just relaxing and tanning by the pool, well I tanned and Jesska got her burn on (she should be done burning now so hopefully the french sun will treat her well), which was really what we needed after a whole month of sightseeing. The only bad thing about this day was while I was walking to the pool i stepped on a bee/hornet so my foot was not a happy camper for a few days. Speaking of bees. The bugs in Tuscany are huge. We saw at least 5 bees that were (not exaggerating) 5 times bigger than normal bees. Yes we have the big bees back home but these were huge. I almost died a few times.
The room we were staying in had a small kitchen, so we spent the majority of our dinners at home which was a nice change from eating out at restaurants every night (and bad food-come on Italy you did not represent well). We had steaks, pork chops, rice, potatoes, carrots, and cauliflower. All things that we would eat back home. We also saved a lot of money doing this. And I loved just cooking, it's been a while. We were going to take a cooking class while we were there but we ran out of time- all things to add to my travel to do list.
We wanted to go and see Florence, and the day we chose to go was Sunday. I do not know if this was because it was Sunday or the public transportation sucks, but no busses came in the 2 hours we waited. The schedule said that two should have came, but none showed up. So we did not get a chance to see Florence, so I must go back one day.
Anyways to sum up Tuscany: do not go unless you have a car rental. It is gorgeous but extremely frustrating to wait on busses which don't really take you anywhere but major towns. And they do not have wide margins on the roads or paths near the roads so it is also impossible to walk from town to town. I will be returning later in my lifetime for sure, and will probably enjoy it much more!