It's something the glossy brochures don't tell you about (probably because it is rarely caught anywhere displayed within their pages, but I digress). The travel bug. When this sucker bites you, it's nasty, usually will stick with you for years, if not life.
Right now I'm going through a particularly bad attack. It seems as though for me, snow is a trigger. So I sit here and all I can think of is getting away. Not that I don't love Winnipeg of course, but I need sun and humidity, stat. So I find myself trolling the travel websites looking for a fix. I used the online library catalogue to order myself a host of Lonely Planet books to dream over.
Even once (if) I book myself an escape it's not a cure, all it does is intensify the dreaming until departure day. Then it's real, there are things to be planned, I have justification for my behaviour then.
Sigh. Okay, well, back to Expedia...
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Vegas baby, Vegas!
I may have spontaneously booked a trip to Vegas yesterday. Only $310 for two nights from Fargo. It will be a bit of whirlwind trip, but it should be good times nonetheless. Heck, it would cost almost that much just to go to stay in Fargo for the weekend!
I have been to Vegas *ahem* a fair number of times - my normally mild mannered personality undergoes quite the transformation when I'm there. I can't help it, there's something in the air! Ok, maybe there is something in the free drinks.
It will be me and TC again, she is my usual Vegas partner in crime. We are staying at a "new" hotel this time; sadly the structure itself is not new at all - we are staying at almost a classic - Imperial Palace. This was a budgetary decision, old hotel = cheap hotel. Imperial Palace is also pretty centrally located so if we don't hire a car we should be within stumbling distance of a few things.
Gambling you ask? Oh, I've heard that Vegas has that, but I've already decided that I'm winning Lotto Max this Friday - the $50 million - so I'll probably be all gambled out. That being said, after I win I think I'll upgrade our hotel just a smidge....
I have been to Vegas *ahem* a fair number of times - my normally mild mannered personality undergoes quite the transformation when I'm there. I can't help it, there's something in the air! Ok, maybe there is something in the free drinks.
It will be me and TC again, she is my usual Vegas partner in crime. We are staying at a "new" hotel this time; sadly the structure itself is not new at all - we are staying at almost a classic - Imperial Palace. This was a budgetary decision, old hotel = cheap hotel. Imperial Palace is also pretty centrally located so if we don't hire a car we should be within stumbling distance of a few things.
Gambling you ask? Oh, I've heard that Vegas has that, but I've already decided that I'm winning Lotto Max this Friday - the $50 million - so I'll probably be all gambled out. That being said, after I win I think I'll upgrade our hotel just a smidge....
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Back to London town and then north
May I suggest if you are ever going to fly to Kenya, pick a direct flight. Our flight was on Monarch Airlines, an airline one small step above a charter airline, the food was dreadful and you had to pay for anything other than coffee or tea and god forbid you wanted water - haul your ass to the very back of the plane and get it yourself.
Our flight stopped in Switzerland, adding more than two hours to our already delayed flight, so more than 15 hours after we left for the airport, we arrived back in London. Nothing says good times like renting a car to get around, so bad map in hand we headed for our friends place in South London.
After a good nights sleep, me and the TC headed north to Blackpool, the UK version of Las Vegas, or something like that. If nothing else it's where everybody heads for their bachelor and bachelorette parties. As the designated driver (TC is too terrified to drive in the UK) I had decided that the English countryside was too beautiful to miss so I mandated that we would that the "A" roads rather than the main motorway. What I forgot was that they are full of crazy, poorly signposted roundabouts.
We successfully made it up to Blackpool, to visit with family (of sorts) of TC. We even managed to get a rare day of sunshine - apparently the sun hadn't made an appearance in weeks! Blackpool is an interesting place and TC's family is a police officer who had nothing but interesting stories from football games and stag and hen parties. On one hand, Blackpool is supposed to be a family-friendly seaside destination (British people need to expect more of beach weather but that is another story) and the other main reason to come to Blackpool is to get sloshed and for guys to dress in drag to express their masculinity (no idea how that one works) while out on their one last hurrah before tying the knot.
Since we were there in winter, Blackpool was a virtual ghost town, half of the hotels were closed for the season and the days when the sun wasn't shining it looked almost sinister. Add ridiculous roadworks to the mix and it was quite a picnic! Thankfully knowing people makes all the difference.
After Blackpool it was straight back to London to spend one last day before heading home. I bought myself a ridiculously fun suitcase...
I always bring home strange things from my trips, this one being no different. In Kenya, all I bought were two very nice pairs of sandals and then food coloring. Yup. Food colouring. But the powdered kind that is way better but usually expensive. It was only 25 cents there, so I stocked up. I also brought home instant coffee to use in recipes. The only instant coffee I've ever seen here is chunky and this was fine, so it will be way better for baking.
The flight home was mostly uneventful, although I did have very nice staff on the flight, to the point that I asked for a comment card. If any of you have ever flown Air Canada you will know that their air hosts are some of the most surly unionized staff delivering "customer service" anywhere. Well, the cranky folks stayed off that flight so it was fairly enjoyable. I even managed to catch a slightly earlier connecting flight home, although my luggage didn't. It was delivered to my work the next day though, have no fear that my food colouring didn't make it home!
All in all, Kenya is most certainly a place I would visit again and I hope I am lucky enough to get to do so. I will of course visit London again as it feels like home. The trick now is to find a UK husband so I don't have to keep leaving!
Our flight stopped in Switzerland, adding more than two hours to our already delayed flight, so more than 15 hours after we left for the airport, we arrived back in London. Nothing says good times like renting a car to get around, so bad map in hand we headed for our friends place in South London.
After a good nights sleep, me and the TC headed north to Blackpool, the UK version of Las Vegas, or something like that. If nothing else it's where everybody heads for their bachelor and bachelorette parties. As the designated driver (TC is too terrified to drive in the UK) I had decided that the English countryside was too beautiful to miss so I mandated that we would that the "A" roads rather than the main motorway. What I forgot was that they are full of crazy, poorly signposted roundabouts.
We successfully made it up to Blackpool, to visit with family (of sorts) of TC. We even managed to get a rare day of sunshine - apparently the sun hadn't made an appearance in weeks! Blackpool is an interesting place and TC's family is a police officer who had nothing but interesting stories from football games and stag and hen parties. On one hand, Blackpool is supposed to be a family-friendly seaside destination (British people need to expect more of beach weather but that is another story) and the other main reason to come to Blackpool is to get sloshed and for guys to dress in drag to express their masculinity (no idea how that one works) while out on their one last hurrah before tying the knot.
Since we were there in winter, Blackpool was a virtual ghost town, half of the hotels were closed for the season and the days when the sun wasn't shining it looked almost sinister. Add ridiculous roadworks to the mix and it was quite a picnic! Thankfully knowing people makes all the difference.
After Blackpool it was straight back to London to spend one last day before heading home. I bought myself a ridiculously fun suitcase...
I always bring home strange things from my trips, this one being no different. In Kenya, all I bought were two very nice pairs of sandals and then food coloring. Yup. Food colouring. But the powdered kind that is way better but usually expensive. It was only 25 cents there, so I stocked up. I also brought home instant coffee to use in recipes. The only instant coffee I've ever seen here is chunky and this was fine, so it will be way better for baking.
The flight home was mostly uneventful, although I did have very nice staff on the flight, to the point that I asked for a comment card. If any of you have ever flown Air Canada you will know that their air hosts are some of the most surly unionized staff delivering "customer service" anywhere. Well, the cranky folks stayed off that flight so it was fairly enjoyable. I even managed to catch a slightly earlier connecting flight home, although my luggage didn't. It was delivered to my work the next day though, have no fear that my food colouring didn't make it home!
All in all, Kenya is most certainly a place I would visit again and I hope I am lucky enough to get to do so. I will of course visit London again as it feels like home. The trick now is to find a UK husband so I don't have to keep leaving!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Lions and leopards and zebras, oh my!
Well, me and TC managed to successfully go on safari and not get eaten by lions! To be honest, I wasn't all that worried, but multiple people told me to avoid it, so I thought maybe they knew something I didn't!
The safari was excellent, not that I've been on any other ones, but that's besides the point. We saw 4 of the "big 5" (lions, buffalo, leopards and elephants but no rhinos) as well as zebras, dikdiks (I'm not making that up), warthogs, impalas, hippos, hyenas and giraffes.
First we headed to Tsavo West National Park where we spent the night. The hotel had a watering hole, conveniently located just outside the terrace bar, that during our visit was visited by over a half dozen elephants, and a hyena and a creepy looking bird called a Marabou Stork. After an early game drive in Tsavo West including a trip to Mzima Springs, we headed to Tsavo East National Park for some flatter terrain.
Our hotel in Tsavo East was the Voi Wilderness Lodge, a fairly elaborate affair with a watering hole (shocking I know) that attracted an elephant, a lion and a pretty playful hippo. We were lucky to get to see two female lions out in the park the first day and a male out on the prowl the second.
All in all, it was a pretty incredible time.
The safari was excellent, not that I've been on any other ones, but that's besides the point. We saw 4 of the "big 5" (lions, buffalo, leopards and elephants but no rhinos) as well as zebras, dikdiks (I'm not making that up), warthogs, impalas, hippos, hyenas and giraffes.
First we headed to Tsavo West National Park where we spent the night. The hotel had a watering hole, conveniently located just outside the terrace bar, that during our visit was visited by over a half dozen elephants, and a hyena and a creepy looking bird called a Marabou Stork. After an early game drive in Tsavo West including a trip to Mzima Springs, we headed to Tsavo East National Park for some flatter terrain.
Our hotel in Tsavo East was the Voi Wilderness Lodge, a fairly elaborate affair with a watering hole (shocking I know) that attracted an elephant, a lion and a pretty playful hippo. We were lucky to get to see two female lions out in the park the first day and a male out on the prowl the second.
All in all, it was a pretty incredible time.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Kenyan coast
I am a very lucky person. No, I have never won the regular lottery, but a lot of times I think I won at least a mini jackpot in the life lottery. Besides having a knack for finding rockstar parking, I have also had numerous amazing travel lucky things. Kenya seems to be no different.
On the plane on the way here, TC and I were seated next to an Englishman who spends most of his time in Kenya. It turns out he owns a little resort about 25km north of where we are staying. Resort isn't really the right word though, it's more like a small (about 6) group of cottages sitting on top of a cliff, overlooking the sea with winding paths amongst Magnolia trees and coconut palms. They aren't the type of cottages that make it into your average glossy travel brochure - they're a little rustic, but in a beautiful way. It's like a slice of heaven for regular people (by comparison, the stilt villas with private pools, glass floors and private butlers in say, Tahiti, are a slice of heaven for rich people). Some of the furniture is mis-matched and there is no hot water, well, at least not until the sun warms up the holding tanks but it's like being invited to a private cabin at a beautiful lake back home. With tea at 4pm daily.
When the host said we should come visit, we did, thinking that it would make a nice excursion for the day. He insisted we spend the night. We ended up spending the better part of two days there and are headed back tomorrow. It sure beats our generic, huge (but eerily empty) resort with German's in speedos. He also had one of his staff take us for a bike ride - we ended up in our cycling leader's village and shared coconuts with his family. Things like that just aren't in the guidebook and I am very grateful for the opportunity.
We head out on a safari on Monday morning (at 6am!), we ended up booking with the gentleman who owns the cottages, or rather the company that he recommends to his guests. We are paying a bit more than the safaris offered by our generic hotel however we will be staying in much nicer places and we should have a safari van to ourselves rather than being packed in like cattle.
I know TC would be quite happy to go back to the cottages after the safari and not leave until the end of the trip; I am still hoping to head to Mombasa for the day. If nothing else, I'm hoping for an authentic cup of masala chai from one of the numerous Indian restaurants that dot that coastal port.
Again, I'm a very lucky person.
On the plane on the way here, TC and I were seated next to an Englishman who spends most of his time in Kenya. It turns out he owns a little resort about 25km north of where we are staying. Resort isn't really the right word though, it's more like a small (about 6) group of cottages sitting on top of a cliff, overlooking the sea with winding paths amongst Magnolia trees and coconut palms. They aren't the type of cottages that make it into your average glossy travel brochure - they're a little rustic, but in a beautiful way. It's like a slice of heaven for regular people (by comparison, the stilt villas with private pools, glass floors and private butlers in say, Tahiti, are a slice of heaven for rich people). Some of the furniture is mis-matched and there is no hot water, well, at least not until the sun warms up the holding tanks but it's like being invited to a private cabin at a beautiful lake back home. With tea at 4pm daily.
When the host said we should come visit, we did, thinking that it would make a nice excursion for the day. He insisted we spend the night. We ended up spending the better part of two days there and are headed back tomorrow. It sure beats our generic, huge (but eerily empty) resort with German's in speedos. He also had one of his staff take us for a bike ride - we ended up in our cycling leader's village and shared coconuts with his family. Things like that just aren't in the guidebook and I am very grateful for the opportunity.
We head out on a safari on Monday morning (at 6am!), we ended up booking with the gentleman who owns the cottages, or rather the company that he recommends to his guests. We are paying a bit more than the safaris offered by our generic hotel however we will be staying in much nicer places and we should have a safari van to ourselves rather than being packed in like cattle.
I know TC would be quite happy to go back to the cottages after the safari and not leave until the end of the trip; I am still hoping to head to Mombasa for the day. If nothing else, I'm hoping for an authentic cup of masala chai from one of the numerous Indian restaurants that dot that coastal port.
Again, I'm a very lucky person.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Feeling hot hot hot!
Well, we made it.
The flight to Chicago was uneventful and with one eye on the clock we caught the shuttle from one terminal to the other just in time to hear our names being called at our gate. For some bizarre reason my friend and I weren't seated together on the YWG-ORD flight (I like to try to memorize airport codes) and we didn't have seats next to each other for the ORD-LHR flight either, however the lovely lady at the gate changed that for us.
The flight was the emptiest I've ever seen for an overseas flight, which was nice as me and the travelling companion (TC) had a row of three to ourselves (we each could have had our own row if we had've been quicker on the draw). London greeted us with gloomy skies but a balmy +12, it was good to be (other) home.
A quick nap and then up to the high street we went. The high street, for those of you who haven't been is basically the main road through a community and has one of every "major" store on it (the more important the neighbourhood the more shops it's likely to have). The particular neighbourhood we stay in in London has roughly these equivalents: Sobey's, Winners, Suzy Shier, Le Chateau, Rogers, MTS, TD, Royal Bank, Family Foods... you get the idea. It would be like what Charleswood would have, a few key players but you still have to go elsewhere to get ALL of your shopping done.
After re-familiarizing ourselves with the British way of life (saw a fantastic Gucci leather jacket in a secondhand shop, but alas, wrong size), picking up a few favourites we headed back to casa Graceland. Yup, the house has a name, and no, it has nothing to do with Elvis. In the UK you can name your house instead of using numbers - the whole idea freaks me out so I always address packages to both what number it would be and the house name.
Saturday night gave us some well needed rest and after a delicious Sunday Roast we were back off to the airport again, this time to Gatwick (LGW). We were taking a flight that seemed to be a cross between a charter and a regular flight and it only allowed 5kg as carry on (right now, go weigh your empty carry on - it probably weighs almost that much). Thankfully we had possibly the most pleasant airline staff member in the history of time, who quite graciously allowed my TC to move things from her carry on to her checked baggage. He also kept apologizing which was pretty funny as technically we were in the wrong. Perhaps he was so pleasant so that we would be in a good mood when dealing with the horribly rude cabin staff....
I don't think I slept a wink on the 12 hour flight here, and then nearly died of a heart attack once I arrived... you see, a couple years ago, my passport had an unfortunate encounter with a bottle of water whilst in my bag during a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry long bus ride in Peru. This has left it in a fairly wrinkled state. I have travelled several times (US and overseas) since it happened and am usually asked why it looks like it does and then let into the country without further incident. TC suggested that I get a new passport before the trip (she once had issues with a mangled passport while in Bali) and I got the photos taken but never ended up renewing it. Well, TC almost had the biggest "I told you so" moment in the history of our friendship. The nice gentleman at Kenyan customs asked what happened to it (I told him) and then he continued doing what he was doing, handed TC back her passport and told me that I couldn't come in because it was too damaged. Enter beginning of heart attack. After some what I hoped was very nice pleading and "please, is there someone else I could talk to?" he handed it back to me with a big smile and told me to enjoy my trip! He was just messing with me! Although, I imagine had I been really bitchy he really might not have let me in.
Fast forward to today. TC has been sick since we arrived in the UK and basically hasn't left the room, I spent a bit too much time in the sun yesterday so today I took a matatu (mini-van) to the major supermarket up the road for a change of scenery and because I'm not really a resort sort of girl. The way the system works is like magic. You get in one of these mini-vans tell the guy who takes the fare where you want to go and you pay a fare based on far you are going. Assuming you are not some dumbstruck tourist (like myself) when you want to get off you bang on the roof and they let you out. If you are a dumbstruck tourist they just pull over when it's your turn to get out.
We have yet to book our safari, which seems like it will be a daunting task as the quality varies widely and of course everyone tells you what you want to hear so it makes it difficult to sort out truth from fiction. The heat here is incredible, at night it's still warm enough to walk around in a tank top and shorts! I'm in heaven. Let's hope I make it back to the hotel from here (I had help getting on the matatu to get to this supermarket/internet place).
The flight to Chicago was uneventful and with one eye on the clock we caught the shuttle from one terminal to the other just in time to hear our names being called at our gate. For some bizarre reason my friend and I weren't seated together on the YWG-ORD flight (I like to try to memorize airport codes) and we didn't have seats next to each other for the ORD-LHR flight either, however the lovely lady at the gate changed that for us.
The flight was the emptiest I've ever seen for an overseas flight, which was nice as me and the travelling companion (TC) had a row of three to ourselves (we each could have had our own row if we had've been quicker on the draw). London greeted us with gloomy skies but a balmy +12, it was good to be (other) home.
A quick nap and then up to the high street we went. The high street, for those of you who haven't been is basically the main road through a community and has one of every "major" store on it (the more important the neighbourhood the more shops it's likely to have). The particular neighbourhood we stay in in London has roughly these equivalents: Sobey's, Winners, Suzy Shier, Le Chateau, Rogers, MTS, TD, Royal Bank, Family Foods... you get the idea. It would be like what Charleswood would have, a few key players but you still have to go elsewhere to get ALL of your shopping done.
After re-familiarizing ourselves with the British way of life (saw a fantastic Gucci leather jacket in a secondhand shop, but alas, wrong size), picking up a few favourites we headed back to casa Graceland. Yup, the house has a name, and no, it has nothing to do with Elvis. In the UK you can name your house instead of using numbers - the whole idea freaks me out so I always address packages to both what number it would be and the house name.
Saturday night gave us some well needed rest and after a delicious Sunday Roast we were back off to the airport again, this time to Gatwick (LGW). We were taking a flight that seemed to be a cross between a charter and a regular flight and it only allowed 5kg as carry on (right now, go weigh your empty carry on - it probably weighs almost that much). Thankfully we had possibly the most pleasant airline staff member in the history of time, who quite graciously allowed my TC to move things from her carry on to her checked baggage. He also kept apologizing which was pretty funny as technically we were in the wrong. Perhaps he was so pleasant so that we would be in a good mood when dealing with the horribly rude cabin staff....
I don't think I slept a wink on the 12 hour flight here, and then nearly died of a heart attack once I arrived... you see, a couple years ago, my passport had an unfortunate encounter with a bottle of water whilst in my bag during a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry long bus ride in Peru. This has left it in a fairly wrinkled state. I have travelled several times (US and overseas) since it happened and am usually asked why it looks like it does and then let into the country without further incident. TC suggested that I get a new passport before the trip (she once had issues with a mangled passport while in Bali) and I got the photos taken but never ended up renewing it. Well, TC almost had the biggest "I told you so" moment in the history of our friendship. The nice gentleman at Kenyan customs asked what happened to it (I told him) and then he continued doing what he was doing, handed TC back her passport and told me that I couldn't come in because it was too damaged. Enter beginning of heart attack. After some what I hoped was very nice pleading and "please, is there someone else I could talk to?" he handed it back to me with a big smile and told me to enjoy my trip! He was just messing with me! Although, I imagine had I been really bitchy he really might not have let me in.
Fast forward to today. TC has been sick since we arrived in the UK and basically hasn't left the room, I spent a bit too much time in the sun yesterday so today I took a matatu (mini-van) to the major supermarket up the road for a change of scenery and because I'm not really a resort sort of girl. The way the system works is like magic. You get in one of these mini-vans tell the guy who takes the fare where you want to go and you pay a fare based on far you are going. Assuming you are not some dumbstruck tourist (like myself) when you want to get off you bang on the roof and they let you out. If you are a dumbstruck tourist they just pull over when it's your turn to get out.
We have yet to book our safari, which seems like it will be a daunting task as the quality varies widely and of course everyone tells you what you want to hear so it makes it difficult to sort out truth from fiction. The heat here is incredible, at night it's still warm enough to walk around in a tank top and shorts! I'm in heaven. Let's hope I make it back to the hotel from here (I had help getting on the matatu to get to this supermarket/internet place).
Friday, February 4, 2011
London calling...
Well, my first "real" post in this blog will be a fairly short one as I am waiting for my ride to the airport and my laptop still needs to find a spot in my bag...
So,off to London-town I go. London is probably my favourite city in the world, although home sweet home of Winnipeg runs a close second (I'll try to explain one day). I first went to London probably about 7 years ago, and I think I've been about that many times since, possibly more. There is just something about the way the air feels and how the pace of life is that resonates with me. Although, part of the irony in London being my favourite city is the ease (and low price) of getting away from it.
London is only a jumping off point at the start of this trip, Kenya is the real end destination, although there will be a small UK road trip after Kenya. Right now, I'm feeling a bit panicked because of a very tight connection time in Chicago, this was the airlines doing, not mine. I'm a big believer of thinking that although annoying, you almost can never be too early for a flight.
We have a day and a half to get to London and catch our onward flight to Kenya but since we are not booked all the way through (the Kenya trip was booked separately) if we get waylaid on the way we are pretty much buggered if we miss the chartered Kenyan flight.
Cross your fingers for me!
So,off to London-town I go. London is probably my favourite city in the world, although home sweet home of Winnipeg runs a close second (I'll try to explain one day). I first went to London probably about 7 years ago, and I think I've been about that many times since, possibly more. There is just something about the way the air feels and how the pace of life is that resonates with me. Although, part of the irony in London being my favourite city is the ease (and low price) of getting away from it.
London is only a jumping off point at the start of this trip, Kenya is the real end destination, although there will be a small UK road trip after Kenya. Right now, I'm feeling a bit panicked because of a very tight connection time in Chicago, this was the airlines doing, not mine. I'm a big believer of thinking that although annoying, you almost can never be too early for a flight.
We have a day and a half to get to London and catch our onward flight to Kenya but since we are not booked all the way through (the Kenya trip was booked separately) if we get waylaid on the way we are pretty much buggered if we miss the chartered Kenyan flight.
Cross your fingers for me!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
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