20, 21, 22, 23

I recently traveled on a 10-day European cruise with my Mom, step-Dad and Aunt. It was great to see some family again, after being away for 6 months. Plus, I racked my country-count up to 23. In a word: fabulous!

Awww...

Dover & Canterbury: Before the cruise left, we spent one day in each of these English cities. I'd never been to Dover, and had wanted to visit the castle and the famous "white cliffs" since I got here, so it was nice to check that off my list. Learning all about Operation Dynamo, when thousands of Allied troops were rescued from the nearby French shores during WWII was also really interesting - another example of history becoming so much more interesting when I'm actually in the place where it happened. I'd been to Canterbury before, so I wasn't really expecting much from it (other than it being amazing again!) but it turned out I had missed several sections of the grounds on my first visit! So that was great too.

I pretty much did this with every statue

Amsterdam: Overall, Amsterdam was my favourite city. The Anne Frank house (something I've always wanted to see), was simply something else. Walking through the house, being able to picture the Frank family living and hiding there was... almost indescribable. All I can tell you is that I felt a physical heaviness in my heart as I walked through the bedrooms and saw the height chart for Anne and Margot, and Anne's posters stuck to the wall. This isn't just any other museum. This is a space in the world that has been preserved, where a tragic moment in history actually took place. I've always been fascinated by the holocaust, so being able to visit this place was something I've wanted to do for some time.

The other aspects of Amsterdam were equally as touching for me. I found the city so vibrant and dynamic. So many different facets of the city are present in such close proximity to each other. Of course, there were literally thousands of bicycles around, and beautiful canals to walk along. We went through the red light district, which was... well... unlike anything I've ever seen before, that's for sure! But just strolling along the squares and waterways was quite fun for me - four hours was just NOT enough time to explore! Wish I had a week there!

The Brandenburg Gate -
marking the neutral ground between East & West Berlin

Berlin: While Mom and Alan explored Hamburg, my Auntie Carol and I took a bus into Berlin. The city itself was... we'll say... not one I'd visit again in a hurry. The architecture seemed quite sterile and cold. Very straight lines and not a lot of character. But the historical sights we visited (the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, and the remaining bit of the Berlin Wall) made the visit worth it (and worth the 4-hour each way bus drive!)
 



Copenhagen: Copenhagen was beautiful. We couldn't walk five steps without finding something (be it a building, an alley or a monument) that was picture-worthy (and being with my very camera-happy Mom made this even more apparent! Just how many "money shots" with "foliage" did we get, Mom?) We saw the big attractions, of course, (the Little Mermaid, the Stroget, the Amalienbourg Palace, Hans Christian Anderson's house and statue, the Nyhaven, etc.) along our meandering stroll through the city.






The nice thing about Copenhagen was that we had enough time to really get a sense of the city, and to see everything we wanted to without having to rush. Oh, and my favourite thing is that everything is decorated with cute little hearts - including their money and the little huts that their guards stand in! Not very menacing, I have to say...





Kristiansand: Our next scheduled stop was Oslo... but we were literally en route there when the Norway massacre happened! It was quite unnerving to find out about it while we were planning our day there... to think that if it had happened just 24 hours later we would have been there was more than a little scary.

Apparently I had an amused audience for this one!

So they diverted us to Kristiansand instead, another little town in Norway. Had it not been for the rain and cold (and for the fact that yours truly managed to slip on the gangway while walking off the ship and had soaking wet pants all day long), we would have enjoyed our day here quite a bit. It was a cute town with lovely architecture and a nice little train that took us all around. NOT cheap, though... we're talking £9 for a pint!! Yikes!!

Inverness: Having just visited Loch Ness at Easter, I wasn't really interested in the ship's tours there; plus, Carol and Mom have been there before too, and it's really just a lake, after all (apologies to the Nessie fans out there...). So we just caught a bus (mind you, a very long and very packed bus - wouldn't you say, Alan??) into Inverness. We really just wandered around and checked out the castle and its surrounding streets. We also stumbled upon an old graveyard that was quite cool.

 

Rouen: We split up again when we got to France; while Mom and Alan had their own little romantic get-away in Paris (which is really as romantic as I let them get, without playing the "daughter card"), Carol and I visited the quaint little town of Rouen. It is most famous for being the site of Joan of Arc's burning at the stake, as well as Le Gros-Horloge, a large clock showing the current hour, day and phase of the moon - and it ran for 5,000,000 hours without "skipping a beat" as it were! Pretty impressive for something built in the 16th century! We both loved this little town that was just so wonderfully French! As a bonus, I managed to find both a crepe and a raspberry tartlette - my two favourite foods from my previous visit to France!


London: After the cruise, I entertained Mom and Alan for a few days while A.Carol went on her own adventure visiting some other family. We did the "must-sees" in London, of course, but mostly it was nice to show them "my" London - the places I go and my house and that sort of thing. Plus, they were great visitors; they wanted to sleep in every day (no complaints here!) and then when we got out and about, they were keen to see as much as possible! Excellent!


All-in-all, a lovely vacation, and so so SO great to have my family with me here in Europe! I'm so glad we got it together to have them come and visit before I leave!

Our dinner waiters, who brought us way too many desserts,
made us fun things out of napkins and
spoke with fabulous Indian accents  ("whoop, whoop, whoop, very fast")

Our "wee" Scottish family

Thailand: The Return Journey

After our 10 days in Vietnam, it was time for Joseph and I to venture back out on our own and leave our new friends. I was unexpectedly quite sad to leave them! I guess I hadn't really considered that I would make some true friends on this trip. So to our "Back Of The Bus Brigade" (Aimee, Buckles, Casey, Moby and Allan), along with our new London friends (Nathalie and Jarlath) and our always fabulous Kiwi girls (Jenna and Emma), I just want to say that I do miss you and hope that our paths cross again! You will always have a couch to crash on whenever you choose to visit!

But enough with the sappy stuff...

On our way back to London, Joe and I had 3 flights and a long layover in Bangkok. So of course, this was a recipe for more adventure and even more mishap!

It started at the airport in Hanoi. After going through Passport Control, we were standing in the security line when a guard approached me, asked for my passport...

...and then ran away.

Yes. You read that correctly. He ran away with my passport!! After a stunned moment, I gave chase! He was absolutely NOT getting my passport out of my sight! I followed him to two different secure areas where I was clearly not allowed to be standing, but I didn't care. Without much English, no one was really able to tell me what the problem was. I could see (since I stood behind them as they entered information into their computers) that my details were producing some kind of error message. After about 10minutes (and what FELT like an hour!) they just handed it back to me and sent me on my way. They should really make it a part of border guard training that it is inadvisable to seize innocent passengers' passports and then run away. Someone should really tell them that doing so is likely to induce mild panic. I would even be willing to provide a first-hand account, proving this, if they'd like. Really. I wouldn't mind.

Once we got back to Bangkok, we decided to make our way into the city, mostly for a way to kill our nine free hours. On the subway, we met and started chatting with a man who told me he was 65 years old and still travels all the time and moves from city to city every few years when he gets restless. I love this. I hope that when I'm 65 I still have the energy and love for travel that I do now. I guess I always assumed that I'd have to give up my own tendency to get bored with a city after a few years. But maybe not...

The thing we noticed most about being back in Bangkok was that the system of bartering is much different from that in Vietnam. The shop owners just seem much less interested in bringing down their asking price. In Vietnam, we were getting things for half or even a third of the original price, once we got used to playing the game. But in Thailand, low-balling and walking away just didn't have the same effect.

We have a few personal theories to explain this (none of which are based on anything resembling research or fact, mind you): it could be that this city, and the Khao San area in particular, are frequented by more tourists, so shop owners are less motivated to do business with each one. It could also be that this influx of tourists has accepted higher prices, and over time the average or accepted price has been driven ever higher. We also postulated that it could have something to do with the initial mark-up; if it's lower here than in Vietnam, then it could be that the selling price needs to be nearer the first offer in order to maintain a profit. And finally, we wondered if it could be related to the standard of living here; perhaps the people of Bangkok require a higher sales level to afford the same necessities as their Vietnamese counterparts.

~~~~~

Overall, the two weeks I spent in Southeast Asia were absolutely amazing. This trip, as I've mentioned, was completely unlike any other I've been on.

I learned a few things about myself too. For one, I am absolute rubbish at bartering. Mind you, I did get a little better after practicing so much, but I'm still not very good. I just can't get past the fact that the amount we're haggling over is so insignificant to me, and would be so valued by the shop owner! I also saw in myself a certain hesitancy to take advantage of opportunities. Most of the time this was driven by funding issues (either not being able to afford the activity or not having regular access to my money due to the credit card problems I had). But I kind of wish I was more of the type of person who just did things, without really thinking about it. I want to be able to come home thinking that I took advantage of every opportunity. An area for growth, I guess.

I also learned some things about Joe... spending every minute with someone for two solid weeks will do that! I think the most enlightening fact is that Joe can literally sleep anywhere at any time!! He would say to me, "I think I'm going to fall asleep for a bit..." and then BAM! he was asleep, just like that. I took to calling him "Captain Narcolepsy", a nickname that has actually kind of stuck! (he referred to himself as such just this past weekend, and we got back nearly a month ago!)

Vietnam: Same, Same, but Different

"Same same, but different" - it's a phrase often used to explain things in Vietnam. It's usually set up as a comparison between something we'd be familiar with and the particular item being described. But it also became somewhat of a mantra for us throughout the trip, and many of us even bought the t-shirt.

And, as it turned out, our last few days in 'Nam were just that: "same, same, but different." Same beautiful scenery, same busy schedule, but different adventures.

Our stories-to-be-told from Hanoi began the moment we stepped off the bus. One of the women we'd seen lugging baskets draped from poles accosted Jenna as we stepped out at our hotel. Since Jenna didn't want to buy her pineapples, the woman just hefted her pole onto Jenna's shoulder. The idea here, of course, was that someone would take Jenna's photo, and then the woman would charge her for that picture. Well, when a different woman tried it with ME a few minutes later, I decided to play a bit of a trick myself. At Joe's suggestion, when she refused to take the pole and baskets back from me, I just turned and started walking down the street! Completely ignoring her protests, I walked about a half a block down the street before she started getting a bit panicked and heaved on the basket to stop me. Needless to say, she didn't bother asking me for any money!!

On our way to the Temple of Literature that afternoon, our local guide, Friday (thanks for the Rebecca Black interlude there, Joseph...) told us a bit about the city. Since we were back in the land of crazy traffic, he told us that there is actually a scooter for every two people in the city, and that 70% of the population travels this way. No wonder we were seeing them everywhere and avoiding about a million of them every time we tried to cross the street!

I found the gates to the Temple (which was later converted to a University) the most fascinating part. The characters at the top of it read "heart" and they've inscribed "intelligence" over the exit door. The idea is that the university looked for people to admit who had integrity and a good spirit, THEN trained them to be knowledgeable while they were there.

~~~~~

The final stop on our tour was an overnight junk boat to Halong Bay. This is a collection of nearly 2000 islands, which made for an absolutely stunning view as we sailed along. We visited a beautiful cave system as well as going kayaking through a bit of a cave and next to some beautiful cliffs. This was, of course, a huge highlight for ocean-loving me!

photo credit: Joseph Liu

While on the boat, we were fed the most amazing seafood feasts - crabcakes baked in a crabshell, giant prawns, heaps of clams, fish prepared in a variety of ways. Lunch and dinner were great! Breakfast, however, was a little weird... It was almost like they tried to give us breakfast AND lunch at the same time, but in the wrong order. We were served the following, in this order:
  1. Fries
  2. Chicken
  3. Calamari 
  4. Eggs
  5. Veggies
  6. Fish
  7. Rice
Keep in mind that we got one dish at a time, never knowing what was coming next, and sharing the dishes with everyone at the table. So by the time we got that rice, we were all full and had already finished eating the fish. Pretty ridiculous meal, all around. But, that's okay. It was more than made up for by the awesomeness of the overnight stay in beautiful Halong Bay!

Vietnam: Weather Forecast: 35; feels like: 45

45? That's ridiculously hot.

Hoi An. Definitely my favourite stop on the tour. I loved the less-hectic atmosphere, the shop mentality (rather than the stores of Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi) and the near-empty streets. It still had the authenticity of a Vietnamese village, but without the major hustle and bustle of the major centres. It was possible to wander down a street and be the only one in sight. The buildings were a soft orange colour which made it all seem quite mellow. It was to Vietnam what Victoria is to Vancouver: a city, but one where everything just relaxes slightly and your physical reaction to it is a bit like a big sigh.

I also had my favourite "moment" of the trip. I've been asked quite a few times now what the best thing I did was, and it was this: renting bicycles. After picking them up, all 32 of us set out into the traffic. Thank goodness we did this in Hoi An, as I think half of us might have died if we'd tried to integrate into the traffic of Ho Chi Minh. Finding myself suddenly immersed in the insane world of driving in Asia, I was a little overwhelmed! The rules of the road seem to be as follows:
- the lines on the road (if there are any) are merely suggestions
- if you're driving something (car, tuk tuk, scooter, bicycle, whatever), just honk continuously so that everyone else will get out of your way
- when approaching an intersection, don't bother stopping or even slowing down; again, just honk
- if your horn is broken, or you don't have one, just shout "honk, honk" repeatedly instead
- if you're a pedestrian and you want to cross a street, just put your head down and walk slowly and predictably; assume everyone will weave around you

Yes, I'm serious about this. And yes, there ARE an inordinate number of traffic accidents and vehicle-related deaths every year.

But nonetheless, we dove in. Surprisingly, we all survived (although one guy on the tour later rented a motorized scooter and crashed it into a wall...). The cities in Vietnam aren't very big, so it didn't take us long to get out into the countryside. Here we meandered through rice paddies and stopped to watch a man till his land with a water buffalo and a two-by-four with stakes driven into it.

This is what I love. This is the REAL Vietnam. And this is what it looks like to the locals. Seeing the country this way was infinitely better than viewing it from the air on a plane, or even from the elevated tour buses we drove around in. It's a different perspective and a different experience to get down to ground level and do something the way the locals do. And that's always my favourite part of traveling.

The next morning, we drove out to see the Temple remains at My Son ("mee sawn") On the way, our local guide offered a few tidbits of knowledge. Did you know, for instance, that the local people refer to the highly corrupt police force as "yellow dogs" (so named for the colour of their uniforms)? Or that the rice paddy labourers make about $5 a day? Fascinating stuff!

The temple was quite interesting too. We walked through what's left of these buildings, which were bombed during the war because the Americans believed the area to be a VietCong base. And we learned the male/female duality of Shiva and saw evidence of carvings dedicated as such. We also saw a large number of headless statues - the head is the easiest part of the statue to steal and would have been worth its weight in gold at one time. It's unfortunate that it was so, so, so, so, so HOT that day - all we could really focus on was finding the next bit of shade!

~~~~~

Our next stop on the tour: Hue. Here we got to ride around in cyclos, which was pretty sweet. Basically, we each sat in a little carriage, and a man sat behind us cycling us around the city. A bit like a kabuki cab (for those of you in Victoria), except you're sitting in the front. My driver also pointed out all of the highlights of the city: most notably the pool hall, the preschool and the cinema. Awesome.

At the citadel...well, let's be honest... I got a little bored. So I wandered away from the tour and ended up going on a little mini-adventure with my new friend Jenna. The whole story accompanies the photos on Facebook, but the short version is that we tried to go to as many places we weren't supposed to, tried things on and took pictures we were supposed to pay for, and became pseudo-celebrities while on a mission for international high-fives! Pretty epic.

The costumes we were meant to pay for,

the photo we were meant to pay for,

the place we weren't meant to be,

and the celebrities we were destined to become!

Vietnam: Not what I expected, and nothing like anything I've ever done before!

The first of 6 cities on our 10-day Contiki tour was Ho Chi Minh City (you might know it as Saigon). Here, we met our Tour Leader, Cameron, and the other 29 people who would be traveling with us. About half of those had already been together, and Joe and I were among those to join the group for the last leg of the journey.

On that first night, Cam gave us a bit of an orientation to the culture. The majority of citizens are Buddhist, and as such, there are certain cultural nuances to be aware of. For one, Buddhists consider the head to be the most important part of the body; it's thus really inappropriate to touch anyone's head (which I thought was a weird thing to tell us, until he mentioned kids... oh yes, I see how it would be tempting to rustle a cute little Vietnamese kid's hair). Also, the feet are considered dirty and thus the lowliest part of the body; as such, it is inappropriate to step over someone. The people here are more inclined to wake someone up who is lying in their way, rather than put their feet over them. Part of the reason for this is that it is highly inappropriate to put your feet towards or over an image of Buddha - and you never know, that person you want to step over could have a little Buddha in their pocket.

The Buddhist people also believe in karma, and will do just about anything to please you, especially if you've shown kindness to them. While I'm not a believer in karma myself, I do try and live by the Golden Rule and I can appreciate a culture that values reciprocity of good deeds. The people here are also very concerned with losing face, and will avoid a public confrontation at all costs. Cam told us that if a waitress spills a drink, she will just laugh and laugh and try to make it a joke to avoid the embarrassment of making a mistake so publicly (and yes, we did see this happen a couple of times!).

We really didn't have much time in Ho Chi Min at all, and just did a cursory walk through a Night Market, the Reunification Palace (constructed to celebrate the reunion of North and South Vietnam) and the War Remnants Museum (which was built after the Vietnam War, was incredibly biased, and should really be named the "We Hate the USA" Museum).

But my favourite thing about Ho Chi Min was the kid in the bar who worked his "I'm a cute kid" shtick beautifully. He was entertaining (employing such sales tactics as rock-paper-scissors, bartering for dance moves, and feigned shock at our outrageously low offers for his bracelets). I've got the whole story (brilliantly re-told by Joe and I) on film, so I won't re-tell it here.

What I didn't realize at the time, is that these kids actually have a heartbreaking story. They have bosses to report to, who beat them or turn them back out onto the street if they haven't sold enough or made enough money. The "cute kid" quality is exploited endlessly. This is no life for a child. So I'm torn between not wanting to support this system as a whole, and wanting to prevent this one little Michael Jackson-loving kid from meeting a nasty end at the close of the day. The fact was, I did buy a bracelet. We negotiated and made a deal. And I honoured it when I lost our epic-best-of-five rock-paper-scissors match. But now that I know he had to hand over my money to his boss...I don't know. I haven't yet worked out how I feel about this. All I know is that when I picture him in my head... well, it's the spontaneous "kid" moments I remember - the way his face lit up when I mentioned Michael Jackson, the absent-minded way he played with the money I gave him. Exploitation or not, this was a cute kid with a massive personality.

As for the men on the trip, I'm pretty sure the highlight was the spa massages which offered a "happy ending" - I'll let you work that one out on your own...

~~~~~

The next stop on the tour: Nha Trang. Our day here was spent on a boat, sailing the beautiful coast of Vietnam. Highlight of the day was definitely snorkeling in the clear blue water. I'd forgotten just how much I love to swim - so being able to do this was just amazing for me. It's so peaceful to just dip your head under the water and block out all sound. Just breathe and focus on the fantastically bright fish and coral around you. Joe asked me if I enjoyed it once we got back on the boat... And all I could say was a hearty "YES!" Everything about that experience sums up what I love: being near the water, seeing things from a different perspective, and doing things that are "other than normal."

Another highlight would definitely have to be the "Boy Band" experience. This was talked up all day, so when it was finally time for it to begin, I turned to Cam and told him I was expecting something "epic" ... And EPIC it was!! The crew from our boat (and another) stood up in front of us and got out their instruments (plus their token "lady-boy" vocalist with the coconut bra) and played their hearts out. It. Was. Awesome. After they assured us we were going to see them soon "on MTV", they played their set, which was awesome in a "wow...is this really happening? It is both amazing and hilariously ridiculous at the same time" kind of way. Next, they asked where we were all from, and then proceeded to invite people up to sing a song representing their country. And they could do ANY country... Including the New Zealand Haka and something from Israel!

Next up was the water sports. A few of our new friends (our "Back of the Bus Brigade") and I decided to have a go at the Banana Boat. I'd never even heard of this before, and had certainly never seen it, but I seemed to be the only person who could claim this. For the other uninformed souls like me out there, it's basically a tube that's been stretched out into the shape of a banana; 5 people hold on for dear life (or try to) while being dragged behind a speed boat. It actually ended up being loads of fun (and so was cursing Buckles for continuously trying to flip us).

photo credit: Joseph Liu

photo credit: Joseph Liu

At the end of a long day, we figured there was no better way to relax than by chillin' in the mud baths. Ahhhh....mud. It was lovely, and made our skin feel oh-so-smooth! Finding mud in my ears for days afterwards was decidedly LESS lovely...

photo credit: Allan Wirtz

On our way back, I peppered Cam with questions. He talked about the face masks worn by so many of the locals here, which are donned for a variety of reasons. Given the memory of SARS, I assumed it had something to do with infection, but it's actually got more to do with pollution. People don't want to breathe it in, and women also don't want it to affect the colour and composition of their make-up! They also wear hoodies with long sleeves in the crazy-hot weather because they hate tanned skin - dark skin is associated with the labouring class, who spend all day outdoors in the blazing sun. It's much more desirable to have fair skin, which could mean you're well enough off to work in an office somewhere.

I also asked about the children I saw everywhere running around, late at night. Apparently it's related to the make-up of their homes. There are tons of shops everywhere in these big cities, and the family who owns and runs each one has their house behind or above the store. There's no common living spaces in these small dwellings, so people congregate in the shops or on the streets. That's where the kids play too.

Thailand: Anyone looking for a couple of suckers? You found us.

Our one night and day in Bangkok turned out to be busy and HOT. We're talking step-outside-and-your-skin-is-slick-with-sweat-in-about-10-seconds kind of heat. So after wandering around through a couple of market streets we decided to beat the heat by taking a river cruise. This had been recomended to us, and it sounded pretty great, so we paid a slightly-pricey fare (though lower than his original offer - he thought we were bartering when we started walking away, when we really just needed an ATM!). After following the guy through a maze of market stalls, we found ourselves on a dock out the back of a tiny noodle bar. When our boat pulled up we realized we were to be the ONLY people on it, even though its capacity must have been closer to 20. At this point we were more than a little leery about the sketchy-ness of this whole event, but, like good little tourists, we put aside our likely unfounded fears and stepped on the boat. For the next hour, we were driven past houses (all of which were built on stilts due to the seasonal flooding of the river and most of which were about ready to collapse into the water below) and temples (of which there were MANY). I LOVED it. It was great to see how the locals live, and fun to explore the little "alleys" of this part of the city. I think, if this had happened at the end of our 2 weeks in Asia, we wouldn't even be phased by this, but it was pretty shocking when our boat inexplicably slowed to a stop and a woman selling cheap items rowed up to the side and tried to get us to buy something! Welcome to Asia, I guess!! And, as it turned out, it's quite normal to have just 2 people in the boat - there were loads of others that looked just like ours and carried only 2 or 3 people.

After the boat cruise, we decided to check out the Grand Palace. I'd never heard of it before, but it was the biggest thing on the map we got, and had been recommended to us by two different friends, so we figured we'd better go. When we got to the Palace, a man claiming to work there told us it was just closing for prayer and would re-open at 3:30. He helpfully found a tuk tuk driver to take us to a couple of other sites in the city (both of which had free entry) and then bring us back. Great!

...And that's how we got suckered. The driver first took us to a lesser temple (of which there are hundreds) and which WAS, in fact, free. However, as soon as we arrived, we were ushered to a side building and were told to sit in the indicated chairs, in front of a small-size model of what I assumed was the temple grounds. All the while, a pretty fast-talking Thai guy was chatting us up. I was thinking, "if this guy offers us a timeshare, I'm OUTTA HERE!!" In fact, though, he told us some fairly interesting information and then let us wander around and take photos.

When we got back to the tuk tuk, the driver mumbled something about taking us to two places before the Golden Mountain - which is where we were supposed to be taken next. We tried to insist that we just wanted to go to the Mountain, but the language barrier and our inherent Canadian politeness prevented us from being very firm. When he stopped and told us to go into a shop, I tried again to refuse. But he said something about staying only 5 minutes, so we obliged him. Until we walked into the shop. I took one step in (Joe hadn't even had time to follow me through the door yet), saw that it was a massive tourist-trap-jewellery shop, and turned straight back around again.

Needless to say, the driver was NOT pleased. He tried to tell us that he gets petrol coupons if we stay for 5 minutes, so when he pulled up in front of the SECOND unscheduled stop, we tried to just pay him off so we could keep driving. But he claimed we'd have to give him 200 Thai baht (keeping in mind this whole roundabout journey was costing 40), we resigned ourselves to spending a very unhappy 5 minutes inside the tailors.

Which we did.

And then Joe bought something.

Haha... I couldn't believe it! Oh well, it was cheap!

When the driver tried to drive us to a THIRD place, I was sick of being taken advantage of and swindled. So I put my foot down and demanded he take us to the Golden Mountain. I was ready for some free sightseeing with no strings attached, darn it!! So he finally gave in and drove us straight there.

Are you ready for this?

It was by donation. And the collectors were standing there, guarding the entrance... so you couldn't really not pay something.

Are you freakin' KIDDING me?

We were tired and fed up. Straight back down the mountain and into the tuk tuk. It was dang near enough 3:30 so we insisted he take us back to the Grand Palace.

When we got there, it was time to pay. "40?" I confirmed (this was clearly what we agreed to at the outset - it was even WRITTEN on our map. "50." Dude. You're seriously going to try and negotiate this? So not happening. "40." [Insert stern-Ms.Chorney-you-are-not-getting-away-with-anything voice here] I'm sorry, what's that? You don't have change for a 50. Of course you don't. Yeah, yeah, we'll take all your little change and call it good enough. Good grief.

So, exhausted and frustrated and mostly just amused ('cause how could you NOT be after all that?), we finally approached the Grand Palace, donned our extra clothes (it's respectful and thus necessary to wear long pants and sleeves), and approached the ticket counter.

only to find out that... Not only was it NOT closed in the afternoon, but it was actually CLOSING at 4:30!! We'd been swindled from the start...

The Grand Palace is, without contest, the most ostentatiously decorated collection of buildings I've ever seen. Every surface of every wall and ceiling has been attacked by some ruler with a serious bedazzled addiction. There was gold everywhere. Everything was over-sized and over-sparkled. Crazy. As someone else mentioned, you could take the jewels off one wall and feed the country for a year (or fix a couple of those about-to-collapse houses we'd seen on the river cruise).

Leaving the Grand Palace and wandering around the streets again, we decided we were far too hot and exhausted by this point to spend the afternoon checking out cookie-cutter temples (besides, after the Palace, what could be impressive anymore?). So we headed back to the Hostel for a little siesta; on the way, I experienced my first "welcome to Thailand..." moment - I got hit by a scooter! It was just a little brush of his mirror on my arm (don't worry, Mom! no major injuries!), but it was still quite shocking and, I suppose, bound to happen at some point. Driving in SE Asia is insane. While Joe slept, I reflected on the day and what we'd seen. This is a country with an entirely different way of life from ours. Everything they do is affected by the climate and the social environment - the way they dress, travel, eat and act. I find it fascinating how all of these things are connected.

We couldn't leave Bangkok without having a few more "when we were in Thailand" moments, so we headed back to Khao San Road in the evening. The most amusing part of the night was definitely the live music at the bar we chose for a drink. I picked that particular bar because there was a dude playing a guitar; what I didn't realize (and didn't even hear until it was pointed out to me) was that, even though he was singing English rock/pop songs, he'd clearly learned them phonetically. So he was singing most of the correct consonants... but when you really listened to it, it was mostly jibberish. As Joe commented, it was just like how all English people sing "La Bamba" - no one actually knows the words, but we all just make things up that kind of sound like they could be right!

We also enjoyed a nice little (and ridiculously cheap) Thai massage, a fish pedicure (Joe had one that night, and I did it on our last day) and....let's see... anything else? Oh, that's right.

We ate crickets.

They were very crunchy, mostly just tasted like the spices they'd been cooked with, and the little legs and antennae got stuck in your teeth. But you know what? They weren't bad. Not bad at all.

Got nothing to do today? Hey Joe, feel like hopping on a plane and heading to Thailand & Vietnam??

My standard joke. I know, I know... I really need some new material...

I actually couldn't believe we were leaving already. My life had been really busy for the previous month, and the 2-week trip to Thailand and Vietnam had really snuck up on me. For the previous few days I'd been rushing around London picking up an extra memory card for my camera, a jacket and various "just-in-case" drugs. I packed the day we left.

But, as things do, it all came together and Joe and I were off on our adventure! I have to admit, I was a little nervous. I was conscious of being in an entirely new part of the world for me, I was hoping we'd have a good group, and I was REALLY hoping the foreign food wouldn't make my system freak out. but I tried to just sit back and relax and let it all happen. As it turned out, being in a new part of the world was AMAZING, we did have a great group of people on our tour... And my stomach DID freak out. Every single day. And that's enough detail about that.

It took us 14 hours of flying (including a couple of hours in the Delhi airport) to reach Thailand. Our Contiki tour didn't start until a couple of days later in Vietnam, so we had a night and a day to explore Bangkok on our own. Airports always equals good people-watching (I'll NEVER understand how women can travel wearing heels... my feet swell so much from all that sitting I refuse to travel in anything but flip flops!), and we started off the trip with a few adventures of our own.

For one, Joe had a habit of not being given things (that should have been given, and that I received). Like a fork at the airport restaurant. Or a meal on the plane. Or a tomato on his salad. All of which he got eventually (either by asking for them or stealing them from me), but it was still rather comical.

We were also quite amused by the various levels of security in the multiple airports we visited. At Heathrow, the security guard half-heartedly waved me through the metal detector, then got distracted and didn't even look at me (or the detector) as I walked through. I don't think my passport was ever checked in London either. But in Delhi, every single passenger's passport was checked no less than FOUR times; clearly, this airport is a model of efficiency... But the best part was being "disinfected" - as the plane began its descent, flight attendants walked up each aisle spraying something out of tiny aerosol cans that was supposed to purify the air and the passengers. Yikes. Not sure how I feel about having to breathe that in...

By the time we touched down in Bangkok, I was pretty excited. It still didn't really feel REAL (and I didn't really hit "vacation mode" for another few days), but it WAS exciting to BE THERE. A taxi took us into the city, which was an experience in itself. First off, we had pre-paid for the cab at the airport. But then we went through a toll booth and had to hand over more money to pay for it. And then another one. We were getting a little concerned we might be getting seriously scammed at this point, but the driver assured us that had been the last one. Whew!

Looking out the windows at the darkening city, I was surprised (and excited) to see a school bus full of kids with all of the windows open and heads and arms waving out into the night (that's how HOT it was at NIGHT - and no air con on the bus, apparently). I also saw a taxi with its trunk filled with suitcases - and tied down with bungee cords! Classy. I think, though, that my favourite thing about the drive was that the driver kindly found an English radio station for us to listen to... too bad the talk-radio program was all about eye cataracts and skin damage caused by UV rays! Not gonna lie... kind of a buzz kill.

Khao San Road - the busy market street (for tourists).
Get your "Little Miss Jihad" t-shirt, your cheap Thai massage and fish pedicure,
and eat some delicious street pad thai
- all in one place!

I have so many stories to tell from this trip. It was, as Joe likes to call it, "the trip of a lifetime." I have never done anything like this, been on a trip like this before, or seen a country like this before. It was amazing. Vietnam is so green and lush and beautiful - I don't really know what I had pictured, but it certainly wasn't this. And Bangkok was so ... alive! So much happening, so many things moving at the same time. It was a rush just to be a part of it. So much so that we went back into the city on our way home (to kill the 9-hour layover). We didn't even really do anything new; we just figured if we had a chance to be a part of that again... why not?

There will be several (probably 4) more posts about this trip... there's just so much to tell! Stay tuned for the first one (mostly about how we got big-time SCAMMED in Bangkok!)!!

Deep Scottish Love

Ahhh... Scotland. Land of haggis and fantastic accents (sidenote: my favourite word for the Scots to say is "ridiculous" - it just sounds ridiculously sexy to me!)

The very next day after Anna and I returned from Spain, I was off on a 3-day guided bus tour of the Scottish Highlands with Joe. After an EPIC game of Squares and sleeping (or trying to) on an overnight bus, we arrived in Edinburgh in the wee hours of the morning. As we wandered from the bus station towards the tour group's office, I started to recognize the sights. I traveled to Edinburgh with Monica and Ernie on my first trip to Europe. And after 9 years, my mental map of the city was surprisingly accurate! After noticing just 2 landmarks (the Walter Scott Monument and the river), I was able to point in the general direction of several others. Well done, brain!!

After meeting our tour guide, Leo (favourite quote: "people will believe anything - you'd be surprised!"), and his guide-in-training, Steve, along with the other 25ish people in our group, we were off!

First stop: the William Wallace (of Mel Gibson and Braveheart fame) Monument. Actually, there was a bit of a running theme all weekend to inform all of us about how grossly inaccurate that film was (for example, the Braveheart nickname was in reality attributed to someone else. They didn't even get the TITLE right!). In any case, the monument is impressively large, and is actually the largest one built for a non-religious figure in the world. So, well done, William.

Back on the bus, we passed through the town of Callander. Probably my favourite random story of the trip was of the gay couple who purchased a hotel in this sleepy little town of traditional and grumpy Scottish folk. They painted it pink and pointedly built the entrance at the rear; needless to say, the locals were NOT impressed. But I sure was!! Callander also boasts a hardware store named "Screw It", which I also find fabulous!

While groovin' to the tunes by "Folkin' Hell" on the bus, Leo took us through a few little historical and/or interesting locations. Like the valley in Glen Lyon where Pontius Pilate was supposedly born. And the property formerly owned by Ian Fleming (the James Bond creator) who ended up selling it to none-other-than Sean Connery! And then there's Loch Garry (the very same name as the only Scottish person I know), which is shaped a bit like the country itself.

We also saw a few cairns, which really just look like a bunch of rocks heaped on top of each other. But they're actually much more interesting than that. Historically, when soldiers went off to battle, each one would pick up a stone and place it in the pile. When they came back from the war, they'd take one off and toss it away. This served as a handy way to count the casualties of the war, while simultaneously creating a little memorial to those who lost their lives.

Finally, we reached Loch Ness. This was actually the realization of a dream for both Joe and I. He'd been to Scotland twice before and hadn't made it to see Nessie, and I came with Monica, but... well let's just say we didn't really see it. Our whole group went out on a boat cruise of the Loch, which was quite fun. Very much a "we made it!!" moment for Joe and I. About halfway through the cruise, we were invited downstairs so the boat's owner and captain could give us a little more information about the Monster. This guy was born and has lived on Loch Ness his whole life. He goes out kayaking searching for the Monster on a regular basis. And he's got crazy sonar scanning equipment on the boat so he can take readings of her. This guy is intense. I have to say, some of the evidence is compelling. And he's got photos of sonar readings that do seem to show SOMETHING pretty massive and fast. But let's be honest, he's also a bit of a nutter. In any case, it was fascinating to hear him speak with such passion about the existence of something so contested. Oh, and he also claims to have a photo that he's been offered $1million for... Right.

The next day of the tour was spent on the Isle of Skye. I'd never been there before, nor had I ever really had any particular intention to visit it, but it was actually quite nice. Rolling hills, gorgeous scenery, and a little fairy magic.

We also stopped beside a stream that is rumoured to make anyone who dips their face in it for 7 seconds wildly beautiful with unfading good looks. Don't believe me? Just check out the magic it did on Joe:

The last day of our trek took us to the Culloden battlefield. While this was admittedly quite sobering, it falls under the category of "interesting history" (which I define as learning about something right where it actually happened). Here, the Jacobites fought not only for their freedom, but also for the preservation of their way of life. Led by the bonny Prince Charlie, these Highlanders went up against George I of England. George intended to completely wipe them out, and pretty much succeeded. Prince Charlie, who had been in exile for quite some time, was unfamiiar with the Jacobite war tactics; as a result, they were unorganized on the battlefield. They were also ridiculously outnumbered. The Highlanders were decimated in about 45min. Custom at the time allowed the wounded to be collected and tended to by the tribe's women; however, George was serious about stamping these people out. He closed the battlefield and the entire Jacobean army perished. There are stones embedded in the wall of the centre on-site to commemorate all the dead; 40 are for the government soldiers and 1600 are for the Highlanders.

This battle is actually quite significant in terms of history. Of course, the failure of the Highlanders at Culloden completely changed their way of life. The rebellion was stamped out and they were forced to adhere to George I and his laws. But also, George and his successors were power-hungry and conscious of the lands they possessed. He advanced England dramatically in terms of its empire and presence in Europe. Prince Charlie, on the other hand, was much less focused on building an empire. Had he been successful at Culloden and overtaken George I, England would very likely have been a much weaker force in Europe. In fact, you'd probably even be reading this in French!

All in all, it was a pretty great way to spend Easter weekend. Having said that, I didn't like not being able to attend a church service on Easter Sunday and I don't think I'd plan to be away on that weekend again. But the guided tour part (and the traveling with Joe part) were a bit of a test for the upcoming trip to Vietnam. And both items definitely passed the test! In fact, the bar has now been set pretty high!

Road Trip! ...Costa-Brava-style

On our last day in Spain, we rented a car and drove around exploring the Costa Brava area. To start off with, the day wasn't looking very promising. Basically, every single thing the guy told us when we reserved the car a few days earlier was wrong. The price was higher to add a second driver. We were going to have to drop off the car within working hours, which meant we had an unforeseen deadline on the day. Our hotel Room Number (the only contact information the company had for us) had been written down incorrectly. There were also a couple of things that COULD have been disastrous when we got started. The car was a Standard (which I can't drive... good bloody thing Anna can!). We couldn't figure out how to unlock the gas cap (and the fuel tank was empty when we picked up the car). But, in the end, we got it all sorted and were soon on our way!!

One of the biggest motivators for the road trip (for me, anyway) was the Salvador Dali museum in Figueres. I've always been a fan of his work, and I was excited to see the city he had lived and worked in. Plus, I had read that the museum was designed by him, and that it was called the Teatre-Museu Dali because he wanted it to feel like a theater, in which the audience is a part of the experience and everything is open to interpretation. That's also why there are very few titles or captions on the pieces. You're supposed to decide what it is and what it means. I like that :) I also really enjoyed seeing the vast (and I do mean enormous) range Dali had. He was most famous for his surrealist pieces, but his work includes statue, metalwork, and carving. There are pieces that can only be properly seen when viewed through a mirror, and others that require the translation of a metallic bottle. His pieces that address the human body are varied and stunning. Yep, I'm even MORE of a fan now that I've been there!

After the museum, we wandered around the city of Figueres a bit, and found the building Dali was born in and the hotel he frequented, then headed back to the Parkade to pick up our car. And oh, what an adventure we had there! When we had arrived at the Parkade, which was conveniently located just behind the museum, we thought it was going to be perfect. And the driver in the car ahead of us appeared to just push a button and have a ticket thrust out at him, so we thought it was going to be easy.

Not so much.

When WE got up to the ticket machine, Anna pushed the button...and nothing happened. Well, I should clarify: nothing happened in English. A bunch of Spanish and Catalonian words scrolled across the screen...not helpful. So Anna started jamming every type of payment we could come up with into the slot, to no avail. By this time there were several cars backed up behind us, and we were feeling more than a little stressed. Finally, between the teenaged girl in the car behind us and the parking attendant who came to investigate what the heck was taking us so long, and with the help of a lot of very broken English and a tiny bit of broken Spanish, we determined the problem: the carpark was full!! Good grief. Eventually a space opened up, Anna pushed the button again, and it WAS that easy...

Until later, when we tried to leave and the machine didn't take cash. After trying all of the cards we had between us that SHOULD have worked, we threw my "only works with a PIN" credit card (which thus SHOULDN'T have worked) in as a last-ditch effort...and it worked! Hooray! Off we go!

Our next (and even more disastrous) stop was Girona. Just thinking about trying to navigate through that city brings back feelings of frustration. After driving around for what felt like days trying to find what we wanted to see, and a parking space once we finally found the right area, we were both absolutely DONE with Girona. So we parked the car temporarily (in a handi spot...), got out to snap a few photos (I do have to admit that what we saw was beautiful) and got the heck out of dodge.

At that point, we'd pretty much seen all we wanted to, so as a bonus we drove out to Empuries, an ancient Greek trading post on the coast. It was beautiful! We went for a nice walk along the water, and ended up discovering an adorable little cluster of streets. Actually, one of my favourite parts of the trip were these moments - when Anna made me put my map away and we just wandered and discovered (having said that, I will be ever-grateful for my travel books and maps - we would have been lost without them on more than a few occasions, and we learned a lot of interesting tidbits from them too). I think the best thing Anna and I brought to each other and to the trip was our ability to balance each other in this way.

A few things I noticed about driving in another country:

- Road signs: there are a whole series of signs with black diagonal stripes across them. After 2 days of seeing these and trying to work out what they mean, we decided that they were permitting you to do something, maybe, if you felt like it. And then we saw one that was plain white (with the diagonal stripes). Pardon my language... but...wtf? Does this mean you can do whatever you want, maybe, if you feel like it? Yes, I think so.

- Directional signs: on highways, they give the name of the CITY you're headed towards, not the street or area. I think this is because the cities are so much smaller and quite spread out. So as long as you know the name of the town, you can probably find what you're looking for fairly easily (unless you're in Girona).

- Addresses: when they're written down, the street name is given before the number. Which is actually quite logical. The information appears in the order you'll need it!

- Scenery: it looks completely different when travelling in the opposite direction!! Well no, not really. But that's what our guide book told us, and we thought it was pretty funny!

All in all, Spain was a fabulous trip!! Thanks for coming with me, Anna!

Bustrip to Barcelona!

In the interest of seeing as much of the surrounding area as possible, Anna and I took a bus from Lloret de Mar down to Barcelona and stayed for two days.

The first thing we saw? The Arc de Triomf. Yes, really. It was even shaped the way the original one in Paris is. And, admittedly, I know nothing about the significance of this particular version. But come on, Spain! Get your own tourist attractions! What was the thought behind this one? "Well, France has one, so we want one too!" Likely.

Luckily for us, the rest of Barcelona's sights were much more impressive and interesting. We hit up all the famous spots:

• La Rambla, where you can buy a parrot and a sketched picture of Justin Bieber while watching the tourists get pick-pocketed without even leaving the main strip; 
• La Mercat de la Boqueria, filled with all the sights, smells and colours of a good (and used-by-locals) market, complete with calling of orders and prices and a little orchestra of three; 
• Sagrada Familia, designed by the late, great Gaudi and absolutely stunning to behold; 
• Park Guell, also designed and intricately decorated by Gaudi.

One of the major draws for us (especially for Anna) was the beach, with its palm trees borrowed from Hawaii, sand imported from Egypt (which was, incidentally, thrilled to pieces that someone wanted to BUY it) and nude sunbathers. Calls of "Hola, masahay? ['massage']" over and over again assaulted our ears, punctuated by the guys offering "Cervesa, Cola, Agua!! ['beer, cola, water']," interrupted our relaxing waterside siesta, but I suppose it's all part of the atmosphere. Another required "on the beach in Spain" side effect: the sunburn I got. Good thing I bought that bottle of sunscreen in Lloret de Mar when it WASN'T sunny enough to be necessary and then FORGOT to bring it to Barcelona with me for the HOT weather...

I have to say, the absolute most priceless beach moment happened when Anna left to get some refreshments. Which is unfortunate, because she missed it, but being alone contributed to it being funny... Anyway, I was lying there minding my own business when a woman walked up to me and said, in English but heavily accented, "Hey, where you from, ladieS?" Um...what? Even though she was standing right in front of me, and even though she was looking right AT me, I still took a swift look around to make sure she was talking to me. I mean, I know I've got a few extra pounds on me these days, but... really? I'm big enough right now to be taking up the space of multiple people? Nah...even MY self-esteem isn't that low...must be a language barrier thing. Anyway, in the space of about 20sec she determined that she was not going to be successful recruiting me to the club she was promoting and moved on... To the group of teenaged boys next to me. Let's just say they were MUCH more receptive to her offer. Especially when her partner came over and described the club as a "strip club...you know...titty bar. We have everything. You like girls? It's okay. You like men? It's okay too. Good club. Good music." (Of course, as every second-language speaker can understand, there were actions to accompany the description, you know, to make sure the boys understood). They were pretty much hooked at that point... Oh, except they were young. "How young?" The promoter asked. "17? 16?" "Yeah, we're all 17 or 16." "No problem, no problem, you all come together with your ID, I get you in. Good deal." "Oh...but a few of us are 15." "15? Okay, okay, no problem. You all come together, you look for me and my partner, we get you in. Get you good deal. Alcohol too. No problem, no problem." Awesome. So these 15-year-old kids have pretty much just gone on the BEST sports-tourney trip of their lives. Alcohol served. "Titty bar." Yep, a night to remember. I was laughing hysterically as it all unfolded before my eyes... It's really too bad Anna missed the whole thing!

The hostel we stayed in was quite nice, with a free card worth 20min of internet usage for every guest and a free breakfast. Oh, that's right... We forgot to bring something else: bedding of any kind. Looks like that thin little bedsheet is going to serve as a blanket! While we were there we met a couple of Canadians travelling through Spain - they were on a break too, from studying business at a school in Nice (just like my sister Jennifer was doing a year ago!). They were quite nice (...looking...), so we willingly gave up our "let's just get a book full of Sudoku puzzles and stay at the hostel" evening to hang out and have a few beers with them. Sadly, one if the guys revealed himself to be a Flames fan, but Iginla IS his neighbour and Fleury DID throw him a game puck once. So...all right, I'll let it pass.

Unfortunately, we were joined by a Hostel employee whose job it is to recruit people like us to the nightly pub crawl. He was a bit of a git. And asked Anna if she was "allergic to smiling", which put us both off. He was a bit cocky, too, and informed us derisively that he was NOT learning to speak the local Catalonian language, but was living in Barcelona to practice Spanish. Too bad Barcelona is the worst place in Spain to learn Spanish, since it's everyone's second language!

Lastly, we happened to be in Barcelona on Palm Sunday, and the palm branches we saw people carrying around were incredibly intricate and beautiful. Some were fashioned into mini-bird cage shapes, others had decorative elements attached, and still others had candy hanging from them, no doubt for the children to enjoy after the services. A far cry from the simple palm-crosses I am used to seeing back in Canada!

A Lolli Holi-Day

After following a friend's tip and getting an unbelievably good deal (really... If I told you how much we paid for it you might not believe me), my friend Anna and I spent a week in Spain. The best part about teaching in London is the week-long school breaks, which happen much more often than they do in Canada. This is also a little irritating, since there are 9 possible working (and thus paid) days in April for supply teachers. But since we had the time off, we decided to take advantage of it and head to Spain.

I really think the awesomeness of Spain started the moment we touched down. And I mean that literally. As soon as we'd made our safe landing, a bugle call sounded over the intercom. Um...what? Yep, a bugle call. Is that supposed to be some kind of "Hooray! We got here alive!" thing? Or a "You're on vacation! It's time to celebrate!" thing? I don't really know. I just know it was awesome.

From the plane we were ushered into waiting buses that we were told would take us to the airport terminal. I've flown a lot, and this isn't unusual when the plane stops far away from the building, so no worries. After waiting about 5min for everyone to squeeze into the buses, we were off.

And then we were there.

Just like that. We honestly traveled for about 45sec on the bus. MUCH less time than it took for us to load and about the same amount of time it would have taken us to walk. Awesome. The best part about it was that NO ONE else seemed phased by this! Anna and I were in hysterics about how ridiculous it was, but everyone else just filed off like this happens every day!

The area we explored is called the Costa Brava and we stayed in a little resort town called Lloret de Mar. We were in a prime location, just a few blocks up from 2 different beaches and near the main strip.

The primary clientele base for our hotel? Well... They were a little PAST their prime. We're talking purple hair and dancing the two-step. The party's breaking up at 9 because half the audience is ready to take their teeth out and hit the sack.

But that's okay... We got a skookum deal, so we're not complaining about the oldies crampin' our style. And speaking of the deal we got, somebody somewhere down the translation line got mixed up, and they were expecting 4 people to be in our room. Nope, just the two of us. Which means our own beds in our own rooms and extra towels galore. Score!

We settled into our room quite nicely, and also into the Spanish tradition of taking siestas. The first couple of days of our trip were filled with lazy sleep-ins, ambling walks through the city and then mid-afternoon naps. It was lovely :)

One thing we had a harder time adjusting to was the number of times we received a firm NO to our requests. Honestly, it got a little ridiculous! We were at a restaurant on our second night and asked our waiter to take our picture. Without even taking a pause he said "no" and walked away! We thought he must have been kidding, but he didn't turn back around! It wasn't until the next time he came to our table that he (sort of) explained he was waiting for us to have food for the photo. Okay, that's fine and thoughtful...but carried out in a really awkward way! Another night Anna asked for mushrooms on her sausage, and the waiter told her she couldn't. He then explained that mine had mushrooms because they were INSIDE the sausage, not on top of it, but he said NO so emphatically and paused long enough that we were a little taken aback. Machines even said No to us! Our hostel in Barcelona had a drink-ordering machine, and next to a few of the choices were stickers with NO written in capital letters. All right, all right, we get the hint... We'll stop asking for things!! Sheesh!

Hands down, though, the best question of the trip was one not asked of us. As we headed back to our hotel one night, a Spanish dude tried to pick us up, using the absolute BEST pick-up line on the planet. Are you ready for this? Because it's epic:

"Hey sexy ladies... Wanna burn some calories?"

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I wonder if that's ever actually WORKED for him!!

And last but not least: the best random moment of the trip:

We came home one night and found this on our deck. The basic reaction from us: What the hell IS this and what is it doing on our deck? Of course, we immediately grabbed a camera and photo-documented all of the possible uses we could come up with. Unfortunately for you, a small minority of them are appropriate for public viewing... Plus, Anna would kill me if I made her photo ideas public :)

After exploring the options for a few minutes, we heard a little voice calling us from the deck. At this point we started wondering WHO the hell was on our deck! Turned out the kid with the adjoining one was out there, and he was looking for his lost...object. Before handing it back to him, we made him tell us what it was. We then had this conversation (and picture this with a child's English accent):

Me: "What is it?"

Kid:"It's a giant Lolli."

Me: "I don't get it..."

Kid: "Well it's a large container. And it looks like a giant lolli and it's filled with stuff."

Me: "Okay, how did it get on our deck?"
Anna: "Are you hiding it from someone?"

Kid: "Well, I hit someone with it and the top just flew off!"

 ... Can I just point out that this description does NOT account for how the BOTTOM of it ended up on our deck?

Anyway, lollis became a bit of a theme during the trip, as you'll see in the subsequent posts... There will be one for our trip down to Barcelona and another for our rad road trip... Check back in a couple of days to read them!

- - - - - 

And, because I think it's awesome that Anna's Mom reads this blog...and because I know she'll read THIS post because her daughter features so prominently, a little SHOUT OUT to Shelley!!

You won! I what? I WON? Really? AAAHHHHH!!!!

You have 1 new email.

You won! Contiki competition at TNT travel show!

Okay, yes, I did enter a contest when I went to the travel show. But that was long enough ago that I barely remember entering. And I've never won ANYTHING that wasn't merit-based EVER. So clearly, this is some kind of consolation prize. A keychain or water bottle. Something I'm likely not even going to want, so why have they bothered to send me an email announcing it?

Oh well, I'll open it up and just have a look.

Angela Chorney, you have won your choice of any 10 day Contiki tour worldwide for 2 people!

Um, excuse me? I won WHAT? Anywhere in the WORLD?

Reaction: AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Okay, breathe. Breathe. Scream a little. Breathe!!

Call someone. Joe.

Me: "Omg, omg, omg! Remember the travel show we went to? (Of course you do). Remember the draw we entered for a free 10-day trip with Contiki? (Of course you do). Well... I WON!!!!"

Joe: "You won?"

Me: "YES!! I WON!!" (There was much screaming and shocking disbelief at this point)

Unbelievable. Un-freakin-believable!! I'm in so much shock at this point that I cannot carry on a conversation. I manage to throw out a few words to Joe to tell him that he is coming on this trip with me, but when he tries to ask me questions about where I want to go, I am so worked up I can barely think, let alone start planning. There is really only one thing I AM capable of right now:

Posting the news on Facebook.

A couple of days later, Joe and I have made our decision. The choice was determined by a few factors:


Contiki's conditions:
- any trip they offer, for up to 10 days
- we just have to pay for our flight to the starting destination, and the optional excursions we choose to add
- everything else (transfers, accommodations, about half of the meals) are covered


Our conditions:
- it MUST be somewhere we wouldn't normally go, somewhere kind of random and beyond the scope of reason
- it must depart during the one remaining half-term break that I have left

And so, after much discussion and research over the past few days, it is decided.

We are going to Vietnam!! (with a little side trip to Bangkok on the way)


To answer your questions:
1. Yes, really.
2. Because... Why NOT?
3. We leave May 27th.

If you're interested in seeing exactly where I'll be and what I'll be doing, you can check out the trip itinerary here: http://contiki.co.uk/tours/217-vietnam-highlights/itinerary

Canterbury

After a morning of trudging through a battlefield, I was off to explore a more literary town: Canterbury. Of course, this is something that I HAVE been looking forward to since high school, ever since Ms.Robinson introduced us all to the Canterbury Tales and we dressed up like the pilgrims for our Lit Challenge and someone made a sign that said "Canterbury or BUST!"  It was also the scene of one of the closing events in the book I just reread, Pillars of the Earth, Archbishop Thomas Becket's murder. All in all, I was quite excited to visit.

My overall impression of Canterbury is that it's lovely. I immediately fell in love with the atmosphere, lulled into a happy state of just enjoying the moment. The High Street (the main thoroughfare that crosses the city) is technically a traffic street, but pedestrians meander along the cobblestones at will.  I love the ebb and flow of tourists wandering aimlessly in and through High Street, parting gracefully for the vehicles that patiently move with, rather than against, the traffic of pedestrians, then coming together again naturally to fill the vacant space once the cars have moved past. I am wrapped up in the crowd; we are some kind of living, breathing organism, connected by a common purpose and collectively drawn into an alternate way of existing. It's almost as if the town breathes a sense of pilgrimage into all of us, and we are all affected, together. It's serene, it's beautiful in its naturalness.

After finding my guest house and shedding my overnight bag, I set off to explore the city at night. I was jazzed by the fact that I could see the top of the Cathedral from my window, so I headed there first. I felt like I was being a bit sneaky, but I followed some people past the gated entrance and found myself staring up at the beautifully lit architectural masterpiece. I was absolutely stunned. I took a few pictures, wandered around a bit more. I soon discovered that I wasn't being that sneaky - other people were filtering through the same entrance I used and no one was stopping or questioning them either. Turns out there was a choral concert happening in the crypt that night! YES! That is just the kind of random event I would like to go to! I grabbed a quick coffee and muffin, called that dinner, and headed back to the Crypt in time for the concert. It was hauntingly striking to be in the crypt after dark, I can tell you that much. After the concert (okay, just half of it... the choir wasn't very good and I felt I had soaked up all the culture this was offering me) I wandered around the city and found...

The Canterbury Tales Pub! SCORE! I popped in for a pint, expecting tacky touristy crap on the walls, perhaps an audio version of the Tales repeating endlessly. At the very least the barmaids would be dressed as characters from Chaucer's great work? No? Wait, I'm sorry... this is a local spot? 90% of the people in here are just the bartender's friends? And there's two different sets of people on a date here? Seriously? Well, that works for me too. Pour me a pint and I'll sit back and relax. Oh, and this is what I'll listen to through the sound system instead recordings of the Tales:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_IKcMl_a9A

The next day I did the tourist stuff. I went back to the Cathedral and took a moment to appreciate the Thomas Becket memorial.  I visited the Canterbury Tales tourist attraction and heard Chaucer's Tales told while watching creepy mannequins being lit and unlit dramatically. Ah, Lit geekiness. How I cherish you.

My own pilgrimage was admittedly less than purely pious, so I shouldn't be one to judge. But I have to say I was a bit disappointed by the Starbucks and Pret locations dotting the High Street. Really? Even the little town of Canterbury isn't safe from touristy influence? Guess not. Oh well. I did need the coffee...

And, of course, it wouldn't be an Angela excursion without finding some kind of protest (akin to the one I've discovered with Monica in Greece and the random New Zealand Days with Anna a few weeks ago). I don't even know what these people were shouting, but it was in unison and it was loud. Good grief.