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!