Our Adventure

I remember diving along the dual carriageway in Oxford after I’d picked GO from work and we were discussing 40th birthdays and what we wanted.  I wanted a thoughtful surprise, GO didn’t want anything. I said if he was lucky I’d take him to Vegas!  Flash forward ten years and we’re no longer in Oxfordshire or the South even. We’ve moved lock stock and barrel up to the Northernshire, bought a house both have jobs we can stand. We are still child and dog less, for now at least (I want a puppy).  We/I decided to book a proper big holiday, try and add some countries to GO’s list.  All I could think of was Vegas, how to do it so that it was meaningful and not just a boozathon.  We went to Trailfinders had a chat and before we could say “sounds like a plan” we’d booked a flight to Toronto with a few days to explore, another one to Calgary where we hoped to meet up with biglilbro and US sinlaw.  What would follow would be in theory an epic road trip round the Rockies and down to Vegas.  Now blb didn’t seem to keen on Vegas so we booked a hotel there for three nights.  Then he changed his mind and the itinerary so we are now staying two nights with them in Vegas before they drive home.  The only problem is that we have two days after they leave before our swanky hotel booking starts.  We are undecided about what to do Los Angeles or Las Vegas?  We’ve decided to try an old classic hotel in Vegas before the luxury spa so we are staying in the Golden Nugget, let’s see how it goes down. 

Waiting for the outlaws

Second flight of the trip Toronto to Calgary was uneventful, we left a warm and humid Toronto and arrived three and a half hours later in 1992.  The airport looked exactly as it had in 1992, all brown, yellow and tired. 

It turns out that is was only the internal flights area that had been neglected.  The rest of the airport was modern, clean and stylish.

We had booked ourselves into an airport hotel as the outlaws were going to come and pick us up the following day.  There was mention of us finding the new hotel and meeting there but when we heard there was a rooftop hot tub we knew where we would be.

We relaxed in the hot tub, and watched the planes land and take off from the airport.  It was such a nice way to spend an afternoon.  While investigating the roof we noticed that a couple of streets away there was a strip mall with what looked like a Wendy’s diner.  Dinner here we come.

Little did we know that we would spend the whole day at the little strip mall.  We had underestimated how long it would take the outlaws to get to to us from Montana.  We checked out of the hotel at 11am and spent the entire day wandering from eatery to eatery.  Around the car show rooms and down to a lorry fuel station and back again.

We spent almost of the day in Tim Horton’s devouring the Visio today sandwiches and French Vanilla Coffee.  We joined the loyalty scheme and managed to earn enough points for a free donut.

We explored the warehouses, gyms and businesses that were alone the roadside.  Had we known how long it would take we would have taken a bus into Calgary. It was like waiting for a car to be repaired.

Meeting up with the locals (massive dragonfly) and enjoying a burrito bowl at a Tex Mex opposite the “Smoke House”.  Should have gone in there, it would have gobbled up a few hours.  Instead we got slushies.

Brain Freeze and a spot of rain, what better way to spend the evening....

Back to Tim’s before being picked up and taken A&W, which was yucky.

Wonderful Waterfall

Day 3 - Niagara Falls - Niagara-on-The-Lake

When we booked our trip we had a couple hours layover in Toronto before heading for Calgary.  “Have you ever been to Toronto?”  Neither of us had.  Without much persuasion we decided to extend our layover to three nights with a stay at the Chelsea Hotel and a bus tour to Niagara.  We had taken a bus tour of the Highlands in our last visit to Edinburgh and it was great you see the sites, get local inside information and can just relax in the bus.  Early Sunday morning we waited for the coach to arrive.  We saw a guy with the Niagara Airbus logo and presumed he was our driver.  I was very nervous when he stumbled over, could hardly hear us and wasn’t able to find out names because he couldn’t see!  We were on the list, he joked with us about Burnley and Man Utd as he hurried us onto the coach.  I was relieved to find that he wasn’t the driver just the guide.  We had a few other hotels to visit to pick up our fellow travelers among them; a family of Germans, a couple from Bolton, a family from York (who had previously lived in Gibraltar, she didn’t stop talking) and a young Indian girl who was travelling around Canada on her own.  

On arrival at Niagara, Lilbigbro calls it Canada’s Blackpool, I was slightly underwhelmed.  It was a street with neon lights everywhere, a Hersey shop and lots of high rise hotels.   Our guide told us that this is the hotel where we’d been getting our lunch later (was lunch included?  I couldn’t remember) we were going to do a quick tour of Niagara and then we’d head down to the boat. The boat, I’d forgotten about the boat.  We drove down Murray Street (I know, right?) and saw the first glimpses of the falls, they were immense. “These are the American Falls, the aren’t as spectacular as the Canadian falls.” I was in awe of the falls, they looked pretty impressive to me.  Then I saw the horseshoe falls (The Canadian falls) holy moly they really were spectacular.  I had a pinch me moment, these were the Niagara Falls, I was really here.  I took the moment in.  The bus turned and we heard back to where we’d arrived, we all got off the bus and followed the guide. He led us to a kiosk and handed us a ticket, we were told to follow the walkway.  It was a surreal moment as we were handed our red ponchos (red for Canada, blue for America) and we rounded the bend to an almighty whooshing sound as hundreds of little red people boarded the Hornblower on its voyage to the Falls.  GO and I wanted to go upstairs but we were one of the last few to board so we stood downstairs we had a lovely view of the back but the falls are so immense within minutes we could see everything.  I noticed that there was a lot of room upstairs and went to explore. 

The falls envelope you as soon as you step onto the top deck you are in it’s grasp, with the sun beating down and the spray of water on your face it’s pure magic.  I called GO up and we enjoyed the view from the front of the boat.  The tour lasts about forty five minutes, I didn’t think that was long enough but it’s just about the right length.  We disembarked and made our way up to street level.  I think the view of the falls from street level is just as amazing as it is from below.  Time for lunch, I vaguely remembered reading something about lunch being included but wasn’t 100% sure.  As we arrived at the hotel no one was surprised to see us in fact as soon as we arrived the tour guide led us all upstairs to the fourth floor restaurant which turned out to be a buffet.  For $30 guests can eat what they want.  We had an hour and tried to make the most of it but had to fight with a minibus full of Italian tourists on the same tour as us (they followed us to each destination).

After lunch we headed back to the coach and to the Table Top car park where we could get up close and personal with the falls, it was quite hot so after a few amazing happy snaps GO and I made our way to the air conditioned souvenir store.  We didn’t buy anything but made the most of the cold air.  After hopping back on the coach again we drove to the Whirlpool.  A short drive along the Road we stopped at the Whirlpool Aero Park the basin where all of Niagara’s water gathers, as it all makes its way down it creates a whirlpool which you can travel over on a gondola, we didn’t have time unfortunately.

We made yet another pit stop on our way to Niagara-on-The-Lake to see a floral clock.  I didn’t want to get out as it was getting too hot and I’d seen more than my share of floral clocks (Edinburgh and Lytham to name but two) but as I was the only one left on the coach I relented and joined everyone else.  It was a clock made out of flowers.

Our final stop was to Niagara-on-the-Lake, what a cute little town.  It looked like a chocolate box or something from a Hallmark movie.  We arrived just as the Peach Festival (how cute) was finishing and the George Bernard Shaw evening was being set up.  We wandered up the Main Street and then explored the back alleyways.  The cars were enormous, they were so big people couldn’t park them and they barely saw us when we walked by.  I’ve lived in tourist destinations and it’s killer especially in high season but I’d love to live in Niagara-on-the-Lake it’s so pretty.

With the our tour came to an end and we headed back to Toronto.  We grabbed a bite to eat andpacked ready for a very early start the next morning.

On the bus to the falls we drove passed some of Canada’s wineries and they had some cracking names;

Organised Crime Wine

Foreign Affairs Wine

Atlantis Wine

Maple Grove

Megalomaniac

Greenlane

Harbor Estates

13th Street

Creek side 

How to piss off a New Yorker

Well I learned a valuable lesson today, how to piss off a New Yorker in five easy steps.

1. 

New Yorker: is this seat taken?

Me: nope

2.

New Yorker: where are you from?

Me: England

3. Me: are you here for the baseball?

New Yorker: No my wife and I (he thought I was hitting on him) are empty nesters so we’re dating again and have come away for the weekend. (I refrained from asking if it was a dirty weekend)

4. Me: Are you from Toronto?

New Yorker: No, we’re from upstate New York and Toronto is closer then Manhattan.

5. Me: Ah, Toronto is much nicer too!

New Yorker: turned his back and stopped talking to me.

Oops 😬 but it really is!

Toronto

I had a plan for our only day in Toronto, as we’d seen a lot of the downtown and college area of the city the previous evening, we were going to get a TTC (subway) to Union Street, walk to the CN tower and then make our way to the harbour before heading back up to Yonge Street.  After a wonderful breakfast at Fran’s we caught the TTC to Union Street and a wandered over to the CN tower and Toronto Blue Jays home stadium.  On the corners of the building they had caricatures of people watching a game one of whom had his hand held up in a v sign with his fingers held under his nose like a certain Austrian megalomaniac.  After having a look around we knew we weren’t going up the tower, too expensive/lines too long/look how high it is!  

We began walking towards the harbour that was when I saw a train, then a mural of a train and finally a train museum.  Before he could say anything I’d paid the entrances fee, a whopping $5.  It wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen a million times but there was a chance to drive a train, or at least a train simulator.  We waited and waited for GO to have his turn.  When he was in the drivers seat he was instructed in what to do by a young lady who to me anyway, looked like a female GO.  She talked him through the whys and the wherefore’s and he was like a kid in a sweet shop, so happy, smiling and joking away.  Once his shift was over we made our way out of the yard and came across a beer tent.  Then there were two, then three, it looked to us like some sort of beer festival.  We enquired as to the cost, $30 each entrance and then $10 for drinks tabs. We looked at each other and walked away which ich when we saw the line, outside the fence there was a queue of over a hundred people waiting to get inside.  We had somehow managed to gate crash Toronto’s beerfest.  We giggled as we past by beer, cider and gin tents and helped our selves to drinks, okay it was water but it was cold and wet and hit the spot.

We didn’t really know what to expect when we got to the harbour but I knew I was in need of a sit down. We found a huge pub called the Amsterdam Brewery it was heaving and the line went around the building we managed to get in and bypass the crowd by sitting at the bar.  We order a couple of fruity beers as we felt it was too early to be drinking, mine was a Radler and GO had a red berry beer. After spending way too much time at the bar and watching as the place filled to the brim we set off along the water front not really knowing what to do.  It was getting hot, I’d forgotten my hat and damned if I was going to but another one.  We nipped into the Toronto Modern Art Gallery a white space with amazing air con.  There were a few exhibitions on but we only explored two.  The first was a interesting piece about scam emails they artist had videoed people reading the scam emails that we all get and he played over thirty on TV’s it was quite a sensory overload.  The second was a German artist from Dresden who had three different installations the first was a silent disco type of affair, the second was a boat ride across a fjord and finally in the third rooon was a story of how a group of vigilantes in a Supermarkt  in Germany had interfered with a young boy who was suffering with mental health issues and the harassment eventually led to his death.  It was thought provoking stuff.

We carried on along the harbour stopping for a selfie here or there when a lady offered to take one of us, I knew there’d be a catch. Before handing back the phone she told us about her church and how they were looking for more “friends”.  We always find the strange ones.  We had seen pretty much all we wanted to see so I wasn’t sure what there was left to do when I remembered that Toronto had its own flat iron building.  On our way winding through the streets and avenues we had our first (and not our last) Tim Horton’s, it wasn’t great but it was sustenance.  It was getting hotter and hotter with the mercury hitting 30 degrees, we sought some shelter in the shade of a large fountain.  It took me a to notice why everyone smiled and stopped for a selfie, it was a doggy fountain.  All of the water spouts we statures if different dogs. So ridiculously cute.  We were right behind the flat iron building but before getting to it I took a detour, this became something of a habit, into a store with air conditioning and it was bliss.

You can see why TV and movies at filmed in Toronto it looks so much like New York it’s crazy, each building and street looks familiar if it wasn’t for the politeness of everyone you’d believe you were in New York or on a movie set.  Speaking of which on our way back Downtown we literally stumbled onto a film set, I have no idea what was being filmed but I enjoyed watching them shoot a group of people walking down the street again and again before finally the director yelled. “That’s a wrap let’s do the indoor scenes now!”  Just like that everyone was gone.  It was surreal, I wonder what was being filmed, probably just a commercial. 

I decided that I really wanted to visit Chinatown as it kept coming up on the map, we took the TTC to King Street and got off at the nearest station 

Happy Birthday Mamilein

It feels weird to be on a different continent to you on your birthday but after last year you deserve a quiet one.  

Oh, Canada

After all of the planning and excitement, we are in Canada, GO seems as in awe as I am.  After checking into the hotel (brown, boring, ice and clean) we decide to go for a wander to get our bearings and try to get our heads around the city layout.  The hotel was in  downtown Toronto just off Dundas street and surrounded by saloubrious establishments, with the legalisation of Cannabis there were a lot of Smoke houses, cleverly positioned next to or nearby fast food restaurants.  We wandered around looking in the stores and made our first purchase, two large slushees from 7eleven.  They were just what we needed, cold and full of sugar.  We toured the Eaton centre browsing in the shops, I particularly liked Bath and Body Works.  I had an interesting conversation with one of the store assistants about why they don’t sell in Europe and he said it was because the legislation of what can be in products is tighter and so they can’t sell the products.  Good, if a little scary to know.  After watching the entertainment in Yonge Street, every Friday in the summer they have a mini music fest with different genres of music that you can stream online, we grabbed a bite to eat from a disappointing Popeyes and then headed back to the hotel for a well earned rest.

We were booked into the Chelsea hotel on Dundas Street, it was recommended by the travel agent and was a four star establishment, it was also huge and very busy.  There was a baseball game on over the weekend and conferences so the place was heaving.  Check in was a breeze, room 2434 on the 23rd floor, 23rd!!!  The room was fine, I have come to realise that in Canada and the Northern states, hotels are brown, beige and dark with loud air con all as standard.  I’m not good with hotels at the best of times and so have my own  quirky, some may say mental, strategies to get through a hotel stay.  Long sleeves and legged pjs tucked into socks and if I can’t bring my own pillow, which I did, I have a sarong that lies on top. Weird, but I don’t care. I soon came to realise that this would be one of the nicest hotels that we’d be staying in.  In all honesty I would stay there again if/when I return to Toronto.

 

Gingerbread Travels, Part One - Canada Here We Come

I set my alarm for five am to give me sometime to get organised and tidy the house a bit, for the burglars.  All week GO had said he’d drive us to the airport.  His only jobs were to organise his parents to look after the house and sort travel to the airport.  When he finally got round to booking a space he discovered that he had left booking the parking too late and it would cost a fortune £140 to park in our usual place.  Quick call to the local cab company later (thank you, me) and we had booked a taxi for less than half the price of parking.  GO was concerned about the cab driver knowing that our house was empty, so we arranged to be picked up at the train station. “I’ll drop you and the bags off, Park the car at home and then walk back down.” I planned everything around that plan, my outfit was for comfort and not weather dependant, I didn’t need any extras everything was packed in order of use.  I had a Mac in case I needed it in the mountains.  As I sorted and tidied he came down and said “I’m not driving let’s just walk!”  He obviously hadn’t looked out the window, at the torrential rain lashing it down, at the thunder and lightning.  I was too tired to argue so hauled my Mac out of the suitcase leaving a trail of destruction as I went and took off behind him, grumbling the entire way to the station.  By the time we arrived (it’s not a long walk) because of the rain I was as wet as a drowned rat, the Mac (bought a couple of years ago) was much too big and so it gapped a lot and water dribbled down it, down to my underwear.  My Toms, which were hand painted were soaking and all I could think was, he could have driven.  We got to the station, annoyingly, with plenty of time to spare so we just waited and waited and waited for our taxi. When he did arrive the driver tried to make chit chat, GO promptly fell asleep, it felt rude to fall asleep so I chatted.  While chatting somehow or another we got onto the subject of where we were headed.  I didn’t want to say Canada, I didn’t want to rub it in, I suppose. So I said Germany “Oh, I love Germany I lived there for thirty years in a place called Bielefeld.”  I was gob smacked, we talked the rest of the journey about places we knew, where we’d been and what was going on in Germany.  It turned what could have been a looooooong journey into a pleasant catch up. 

I hate getting to airports late, the stress and anxiety I feel is unbelievable so I try to arrive an hour or so before the airline recommends.  Air Canada recommended that we arrive 2 hours before our flight, so we were there 4 hours not before our flight but before check in opened.  We weren’t even sure if we were in the right place as it was the end of the airport, we were surrounded by scaffolding and that. plastic sheeting that you see on building sites.  My shoes were soaking wet, I actually rang the out.  After a forty five minute wait they began to make some sort of movement around the baggage drop area, I sent GO to investigate and confirm that it was where we could drop our bags for the Air Canada Rouge flight to Toronto. The little guy he spoke to confirmed it was and we lined up.  Within seconds the Queue behind us stretched the length of the terminal, maybe it was worth the early arrival. All bags dropped off and a quick hop through security, who am I kidding it’s never that quick or easy, we were flight side. 

I love flight side but Manchester has a poor choice of everything.  They must assume that everyone’s a footballer and minted as there are no food kiosks, or cafes everything is designer label and designer price tag.  We had a breakfast in an American Style Diner/restaurant and it was ridiculously overpriced, to make sure we would have something to eat I bobbed into WHSmith and returned with; puzzle books, water, fruit, chocolates, mints, magazines, crisps and two travel pillows.  All cheaper that the diner meals.

We waited in the terminal for our gate to be announced before heading towards it.  Then waited for boarding to commence, I have flown a lot in my life time and I know that you don’t need to queue up when boarding begins especially if allocated seats but I’m a sheep and I cannot help but join the queue, GO doesn’t. He took the time to put his flight socks, he felt self conscious wearing them and in all honesty I didn’t help by calling him “Prince George for most of the journey.

Once on the plane and settled, I bypassed all of the entertainment I had bought with me and hit the inflight magazine.  They always give you little hints and tips about places to go, things to do and locals tips.  I was flicking through reading all about the buzzing art scene and the new foodie trends in Toronto, when I turned the page to be greeted by The Singing Ringing in Burnley.  It really is a small world. There we were looking for recommendations for Toronto and Canadians travelling to Manchester we advised to visit Burnley. 

A touch of summer

I’m trying to live in the moment more, it’s not easy.  My mind is either in the past reliving/rehashing awful moments and the if only’s, or it’s in the future making up dire situations.  2019 has been full on, both personally and professionally (this is a story for another time) so when I have the opportunity to chill, be mindful, live the hygge life I am grabbing it with both hands.  GO is painfully understanding and his natural state is to go with the flow.  I used to be that way and I want to get back there, so I have made a conscious effort to live my life, to be more chill and bring the fun back.  I don’t want it to become a chore so I am taking it step by step.  I initially tried to be more active, maybe that was the problem, but I quicky realised that I’m just not in the mindset for that yet.  I’m tired and I need to refill that pot first, I have a plan for getting active and will get started once my inner self feels up to it.  How am in filling my well-being pot?  I started with a bit of soul searching, thinking for a times when I felt absolutely happy.  It wasn’t as hard as thought it’d be.  I quickly realised that to be happy I don’t need huge mega things and I have everything I need already.  Being around loved ones (naturally), twinkly lights, good food, fire, snuggling up, great music, bubbles and rocking.  I’ll explain. 

Most of my happiest memories have revolved around summer nights with my family. My parents are the king and queen of gemütlichkeit/huge/chillaxing and from a young age my best times/memories have been outside, toasting marshmallows on an open fire, with good food on the barbecue and great music blaring late in to the night.  This is what I have been trying to recreate my whole adulthood with limited success, I’d hit one or two elements but never the whole package.  

How does this memory walk help my live in the moment? I am making the most of any good weather and getting outside.  Within weeks of moving into the house I bought a fire pit, and a hammock.  When I used to spend the weekend shopping or spending money I’d feel good for a while, the euphoria would last a short time.  Now, if I have a free moment I grab my headphones and the hammock and chill under the tree listening to a podcast/audiobook/music and chill.  I have spent many and hour or two watching the clouds pass us by in the bright blue sky.  I feel content, relaxed and happy and the feeling lasts. Is it having the freedom to do nothing that makes me happy?  Is it the motion of the hammock?  Is it that I’m in my own garden?  Maybe it’s a summer thing, I don’t know but I love it and feel very content.  I think I’ve finally cracked it.  I have spent the whole afternoon in the hammock drinking ice tea, eating watermelon, listening to great music and face timing with my parents.  I may put a fire on later, or might not, we’ll see how I feel later.

Kind Regards Curly x 

Box ticking activity

I am always complaining at work that we are made to do things that are simply a box ticking activity but this weekend I don’t mind ticking things off the list, as longs as it’s the summer bucket list.

Many a time people have commented that I will say things that have no relevance, that have come out of no where or that I must have a list of things to say whether anyone else is interested in listening or not.  Funny, these comments don’t bother me.  There is usually a train of thought and it is often linked to whatever is happening or being said.  This happened this morning GO wanted to go to Blackpool to pick up some kitchen doors that where for sale.  I was up to my neck in reports but had decided to take a break, I excitedly said we should go and take a look.  We quickly realised that the doors were too big for our cupboards, it didn’t take long for us to agree we should go anyway.  “We can have a beach picnic.  It’s in the bucket list!”  I said, GO looked at me puzzled, apparently he doesn’t read the blog as religiously as he should (or ever) and didn’t know that we had a summer bucket list.  Things that I want to do this summer, so I sent him the list.  We were going to have a picnic on the beach.  We followed the signs for Lytham St Anne’s, we got lost.  I love getting lost, you always find new and interesting places.  We drove through little chocolate box award winning villages.  It came out of nowhere, there was a brown sign for a garden centre.  It was glorious there was a farm shop, garden centre, poultry farm, marina, curling hall, I honestly was beside myself with joy.  This is what I had been missing, it was like a Northern Millets Farm, minus the PYO fruit.  We wandered, looked at the plants and flowers, bought some picnic bits and pieces.  On the way out we stopped at the ice cream parlour and ticked off the first bucket list activity of the day.   

Just like Millets Farm, sort of.



For some reason this reminds me of Mamilein 

I love a big stag

Newest addition to the haus 

Not Italian but it’ll do

He always overdoes it