Something you don't expect when you arrive in Argentina is the passport security guy to have a nice conversation with you in Spanish about Alberta, as he had previously worked in Edmonton (nearish Calgary for those non-Canadians reading my blog). However that is what happened. This reminded me that my Spanish isn't that great, and without Julia around we might struggle a bit! After a long taxi to the hotel we arrived and got in a rickety elevator which I was pretty sure might collapse. The hotel was really gorgeous, and it felt like we were living in our own house as we had keys to front door of block, front door of hotel and our room door as well. As it was a boutique hotel each of the 5 rooms had been painted differently and it just felt really awesome and artsy. After dumping bags we walked down the street to a typical Argentinian restaurant and of course ordered steak. Although I ordered mine extra rare it came out more medium rare but was still tasty, and we got a free glass of champagne with the receipt, lovely! Then it was straight to bed before an early start the next day.
First we headed to La Casa Rosada, the pink house where the president does her work, we relaxed in the sunshine and enjoyed the view before trying to get a bus to La Boca to see the colourful streets where tango started. Unfortunately getting a bus in Buenos Aires is easier said than done, not only are there multiple buses and no clear way of finding which buses go where and where they stop but also they only accept coins. Now you wouldn't think this is an issue, except change is famously short in Buenos Aires, shopkeepers will often charge you less so they don't have to give you change, banks don't have change to give and those who do have coins hoard them. This is partly down to the buses and also partly due to the fact that the metal in the coins is worth more than the coins themselves. However, finally we managed to get some change and get on the bus. Once in La Boca we headed for lunch (empanadas) then wandered around the street Caminito which is a street museum full of things related to the tango and brightly coloured houses. While not a patch on Valpairiso it was definitely worth seeing. Then in order to get more change I bought some postcards and demanded change so we could then get the bus back. We had another early night before the early start to get to Iguasu the next day.
At 6:45 in the morning we left the hotel to get the taxi to the airport where we were catching a plane to Iguasu. While waiting for the plane we saw the Boca Juniors football team (VERY exciting). Unfortunately our plane was delayed about half an hour but we did make it to Iguasu where we were greeted and got in a minibus to be taken to our hotel. The roads there are ridiculous, speed bumps ever few feet, and I have to say I was feeling a little unsteady on feet when finally reached hotel. It was a gorgeous hotel, right by the town centre as well so after dumping stuff we went out for lunch then lazed about and watched movies that afternoon. After dinner it was once again an early night for a very early start the next day.
7:15 we were picked up from the hotel and taken to Iguasu national park. As it was Steph's birthday we were hoping for a super awesome day and we weren't let down. We'd been warned it would rain so while there I bought a poncho. This was a wise investment as within 5 minutes of being there it started to rain. It didn't stop all day. Out of the tour of about 25 people, me and Steph were the only English speakers, however this meant that our guide would come over and explain stuff to us. First of all we went to the Devils Throat, while there we realised just how massive the river was, and just how big the waterfalls were. Then we went and did the circuit of the Upper falls, once again marvelling at just how much water there was. By this point we had also absorbed a large amount of water so were grateful for the lunch stop. I decided to be ingenious and use two plastic bags over my arms to try and stop my soggy hoody soaking through to me any more. It was semi effective, but after walking the Lower circuit we got on a boat. This boat not only went up close to the waterfalls, but actually drove through their spray so we got a full on shower by the falls. From there it was a truck through the jungle back to our coach where we all sat very soggily. The shower we had after that was probably the best shower we'd ever had. After dinner we had a phone call saying that our tour for the next day had been cancelled due to rain. Gutted though I was to not be able to go ziplining through the rainforest I was glad of the lie in and glad to just have another relaxed day...travelling really does take it out of you!
After a chilled day we got on the plane back to Buenos Aires. We were staying in another hotel and although it wasn't anywhere near as nice as the first, it was slightly closer to things so that was good. On the Thursday we headed to a free walking tour of Buenos Aires we'd heard about on Trip Advisor, it was run by an expat, Jonathan, and apart from me and Steph there was only another American guy on the tour so we really did get a very exclusive tour. There are no words to describe how highly I recommend this tour. Not only did he explain the bus system to us but also had lots of really great and interesting information about Buenos Aires. First we went to Abasto and looked at the house of Carlos Gardel who is the "father of tango" as he brought tango to be thought of as a classy dance. The streets all seem to be dedicated to him with paintings everywhere. Then we went to first shopping mall in South America before heading to the National Congress building. Next we stopped at a building which was designed solely to mimic Dante's Divine Comedy, for an English geek it was really super cool and exciting. Finally we headed back to the Casa Rosada and the Plaza de Mayo where Jonathan filled us in on all the political goings on which was fascinating, even for someone like me who isn't really into politics. After the tour me and Steph headed to El Ateneo Gran Splendid which is a bookstore built in an old theatre. I'd heard about it on the internet and was so excited to see it. It lived up to my expectations and was absolutely gorgeous! I wish we had one like it in Glasgow as I would spend all my time there for sure! Then we headed back to hotel before going out for dinner. As I'd been a bit underwhelmed by the steaks I had grilled chicken, and I have to say this is something Argentina fully excels at. Yum!
The next day we had a bit of a lie in before heading for a guided tour of the Casa Rosada. While there we made very good friends with one of the Argentinian guards who was from Iguasu. My Spanish was a little bit iffy but when we left he came over to say a cheery goodbye to us as well. New best friend. Then we headed up to the Recoleta Cemetery which was gorgeous! It looked like streets made out of little houses for graves. Morbidly I really enjoyed the time there and could have gone back again and again. After a quick stop at the mall to try and spend the last of our pesos we headed back for yet another early night before a very early start. The 3am alarm was not nice but it got us to our next destination so that was all good! And there we go, that is Argentina!
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Monday, 20 May 2013
Sunday, 7 April 2013
From snow to spring to snow...
I think for once I'm actually going to be writing a blog post where I don't have ridiculous amounts to tell you, in fact you might be able to read this all in one easy sitting! Shocking I know!
So first things first, boring things - it's getting to the end of the semester, term officially ends on the 16th of April, so the amount of assignments and stuff has been building up and I've been doing a lot of work. I finally finished all my midterms on 28th of March (how that is MIDterm I've no idea, but ah well) and now I'm left with 5 assignments, 1 term paper and 3 finals to go. Crazy how in my final few weeks here I'm still doing more than I would be in a whole term back in Glasgow! Although for anyone ever considering a year abroad do NOT let the work put you off. Somehow working doesn't seem anywhere near as bad when you're abroad because you're abroad and you've always got fun things planned too!
Now onto the more exciting things! After my last update, the sun decided to come and warm Calgary...we reached 17 degrees and it was generally lovely! Spent a lot of time lounging about in the sun. On the Wednesday Jeff took me to Moxie's for the awesome brownie (I would recommend it to anyone!) and then we just chilled at mine for a bit. Thursday brought my final midterm (I will NOT miss having midterms when I'm back at Glasgow, yes it takes pressure off for final exam and does help you study, but even so, lots of extra stress!) The Friday was my first taste of dance shows at work...well dance mums are kinda crazy and it's definitely hectic, luckily I'm only working 3 shifts of it so I won't kill anyone or have a mental break down (in theory!)
For Easter Sunday I went to Steph's family's for dinner. It was so lovely to see all her family and meet her parents who were visiting. The food was also good, home cooked meals are lush, and I've been eating leftovers all week! Perfection!
On Wednesday went to Value Village with Jeff and got some gorgeous new heels, Steve Madden, original price tag $125, bargain price of $20! Win at life! Then we got some fantastic dinner, pulled pork is really one of my favourite things to eat! Afterwards we saw Rocky Horror Show at Mount Royal, it was nice to be able to see Mount Royal uni (although Calgary Uni is definitely nicer) and the show was hilarious. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Friday went shopping at Market Mall with Claire and bought a few dresses, as you know summer is well on the way and a girl can never have too many dresses. Then Jeff came over and we just chilled out with a movie. Saturday was going to be a productive day but the trip to change our NHL tickets took a lot longer than expected. At least now, me and Claire have better seats than before and her knee will be comfortable during the match. Then sat and ate a lot of popcorn and watched Iron Man, perfect evening!
Unfortunately it's been snowing all weekend so the short patch of sunshine was perhaps a false alarm and spring may not have really started. But with travelling coming up soon I can at least look forward to some sunshine then! I think that's all the updates for now, the rest of the time has just been assignments, assignments and more assignments unfortunately!
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Snow on the ground but spring in the air.
So once again it's got to the stage where I feel I have enough exciting things to tell you about to merit an update of my blog. This stage also coincides with the ever increasing need to do work and start revising for my midterms.
On Friday 8th it was Scott's birthday so partied it up in Cascade. Got to wear my new Black Milks out for the first time (who doesn't want the map of Rohan and Gondor on their legs?!) Didn't go out after, instead went to Claire's to have chips with lashings of ketchup.
The Sunday held a lot of exciting things. Not only was it Chinese New Year but also had Benjamin Francis Leftwich that evening. For Chinese New Year the sun was shining so we headed downtown to see the celebrations and then get some food. Unfortunately the restaurant which Cooper informed us had the best dim sum ever was (somewhat predictably) packed. After visiting a few more restaurants (I have no shortage of knowledge of where good Chinese restaurants are now) we finally ended up at a little restaurant without too much of a wait. Much of the entertainment came from Lucy's attempts to use chopsticks (she is now a pro) but also we got visited by a Chinese lion who ate some lettuce then spat it back out (some of it landed on Hannah) which apparently gives the restaurant good luck for the coming year.
That evening was the Benjamin Francis Leftwich concert. It was at the Palomino which is a lovely small venue in the basement of a bar which apparently does great food (shall have to return at some point!) We arrived and got a drink just before the first support act came on, Kris Ellstad. He had some great self-deprecating humour and is definitely someone I'd listen to again. Wasn't a fan of the second support so much, mainly because he wasn't that great a singer in my opinion, but also he kept his eyes shut the whole way through songs...too absorbed, not enough interaction! Finally Benjamin Francis Leftwich came on! He was amazing live, was really great and intimate, sang a lot of his songs in front of the microphone and for an encore came and sat down in the crowd to sing Atlas Hands, it was beautiful! Afterwards got to meet him and he signed our tickets and had a chat and photo with us, what a genuinely nice guy, and good chat!
On Wednesday 13th me and Jeff went to go see The Seagull by Antony Chekov. While I've been working multiple shifts of the play I was really keen to go and see it. Although definitely not a play for everyone, we both really enjoyed it and it came in useful when a few days later a patron had to leave at half time and I was required to explain the plot of the second half to her (for anyone who's ever seen it, I'm sure they'll agree it's a bit of a challenge!)
Friday 15th marked the start of reading week for me, while many people choose to go off travelling or something, as I've got such major travel plans in May I couldn't really afford to do much so I've used it as a useful week for catching up no all the textbook reading I need to do. Speaking of travel, last Tuesday I had to go and have multiple injections for my future travels. Not fun but at least I shouldn't contract any nasties when I go abroad now! Luckily my week hasn't all been work work work as I managed to get away on Friday to go skiing. Me and Jeff drove to Sunshine and got there at perfect time in order to park, get ski passes then be on the first lift up. The snow was absolutely fantastic, deepest powder I've ever skied in for sure. It was really nice to explore some more of Sunshine as previously I'd only done greens with Steph. We met up with Steph, Claire and Hannah for a well earnt lunch before taking Claire away to do her first black diamond in Canada - super proud moment! Steph even manage to do a blue before the end of the day so all definitely improving. The one downside of doing blacks for 90% of the day is that it's much more of a workout, and my legs are still aching now, but it was a truly fantastic day.
And that's us pretty much up to date I think :) We've had a lot of sunshine and some gorgeous days which have led to a lot of the snow melting, however I feel it's going to be a long time before proper heat. Been busy planning travels in May so that's all exciting. And as ever I've been doing a lot of work! Will update some time soon!
On Friday 8th it was Scott's birthday so partied it up in Cascade. Got to wear my new Black Milks out for the first time (who doesn't want the map of Rohan and Gondor on their legs?!) Didn't go out after, instead went to Claire's to have chips with lashings of ketchup.
The Sunday held a lot of exciting things. Not only was it Chinese New Year but also had Benjamin Francis Leftwich that evening. For Chinese New Year the sun was shining so we headed downtown to see the celebrations and then get some food. Unfortunately the restaurant which Cooper informed us had the best dim sum ever was (somewhat predictably) packed. After visiting a few more restaurants (I have no shortage of knowledge of where good Chinese restaurants are now) we finally ended up at a little restaurant without too much of a wait. Much of the entertainment came from Lucy's attempts to use chopsticks (she is now a pro) but also we got visited by a Chinese lion who ate some lettuce then spat it back out (some of it landed on Hannah) which apparently gives the restaurant good luck for the coming year.
That evening was the Benjamin Francis Leftwich concert. It was at the Palomino which is a lovely small venue in the basement of a bar which apparently does great food (shall have to return at some point!) We arrived and got a drink just before the first support act came on, Kris Ellstad. He had some great self-deprecating humour and is definitely someone I'd listen to again. Wasn't a fan of the second support so much, mainly because he wasn't that great a singer in my opinion, but also he kept his eyes shut the whole way through songs...too absorbed, not enough interaction! Finally Benjamin Francis Leftwich came on! He was amazing live, was really great and intimate, sang a lot of his songs in front of the microphone and for an encore came and sat down in the crowd to sing Atlas Hands, it was beautiful! Afterwards got to meet him and he signed our tickets and had a chat and photo with us, what a genuinely nice guy, and good chat!
On Wednesday 13th me and Jeff went to go see The Seagull by Antony Chekov. While I've been working multiple shifts of the play I was really keen to go and see it. Although definitely not a play for everyone, we both really enjoyed it and it came in useful when a few days later a patron had to leave at half time and I was required to explain the plot of the second half to her (for anyone who's ever seen it, I'm sure they'll agree it's a bit of a challenge!)
Friday 15th marked the start of reading week for me, while many people choose to go off travelling or something, as I've got such major travel plans in May I couldn't really afford to do much so I've used it as a useful week for catching up no all the textbook reading I need to do. Speaking of travel, last Tuesday I had to go and have multiple injections for my future travels. Not fun but at least I shouldn't contract any nasties when I go abroad now! Luckily my week hasn't all been work work work as I managed to get away on Friday to go skiing. Me and Jeff drove to Sunshine and got there at perfect time in order to park, get ski passes then be on the first lift up. The snow was absolutely fantastic, deepest powder I've ever skied in for sure. It was really nice to explore some more of Sunshine as previously I'd only done greens with Steph. We met up with Steph, Claire and Hannah for a well earnt lunch before taking Claire away to do her first black diamond in Canada - super proud moment! Steph even manage to do a blue before the end of the day so all definitely improving. The one downside of doing blacks for 90% of the day is that it's much more of a workout, and my legs are still aching now, but it was a truly fantastic day.
And that's us pretty much up to date I think :) We've had a lot of sunshine and some gorgeous days which have led to a lot of the snow melting, however I feel it's going to be a long time before proper heat. Been busy planning travels in May so that's all exciting. And as ever I've been doing a lot of work! Will update some time soon!
Look how beautiful those leggings are!
Benjamin Francis Leftwich
Me and Hannah with the man himself!
Gorgeous roof of Chinese Centre of Culture
Lucy; chopstick pro!
Friday, 18 January 2013
It's 2013 - new courses, new job, new blog post!
Sorry for the long gap between updates, things have been busy (as always)!
So when I left you last, we were in the hostel, about to head off skiing the next day! We woke up very early (in fact extra early due to Steph forgetting her phone is set 10 minutes fast), and after a breakfast got on the bus to Sunshine with lots of other sleepy looking powder obsessed people! I think my grin was actually reaching insane levels by the time we arrived at Sunshine. In the queue for our lift passes we got given free hot chocolate - I really do love Canadian hospitality! It was greatly appreciated, but in no time at all we had our lift passes and were in the gondola! When we reached Sunshine base camp, me and Steph had great fun attempting to teach Sarah to ski...however, we were perhaps not as successful as we had envisioned and she ended up booking a lesson for that afternoon which left me and Steph to go off so she could show me her improved ski skills! I have to say I was impressed at just how much better she had got! The runs were lovely, and full of fresh snow! So much fun! While Steph did have a bit of a freak out on one run because she saw mountain edges everywhere (there were no mountain edges anywhere, there were slightly steeper bits of the slope) no one got injured at all, which I count as a highly successful skiing day! Even Sarah got down a green with her instructor!
That evening we had been planning on heading to Banff city centre, but were so sleepy we ate in the hostel and then went to the hostel bar to bring in the New Year. The countdown started two minutes early, but considering we'd said Happy New Year to each other at 5pm (UK midnight) we weren't too fussed. Met some lovely Canadians and spent ages chatting to them (and looking after the slightly drunker member of their group!) The next day we went to the Elk and Oarsmen for brunch, love that restaurant! Ended up eating a lot of food and revelling in the gorgeous sunshine that there was. Then we headed up to sulphur mountain to soak our skiing aches away in the hot springs - it was very different from the last time I was there, the steam basically made it impossible to see anything, but it was truly gorgeous! Unfortunately lack of hair dryer kind of made my hair freeze afterwards, oddest feeling ever. We then went back to the hostel to grab our bags before heading for the greyhound. It was a bit of a military operation with some very well planned bus changes. Then came the waiting for the greyhound. We took shifts going to the nearby Timmies in order to warm up, as typically the shelter was shut and it was -20 something. Not pleasant at all. But it was nice and warm when it arrived and before long we were back in Calgary.
During the rest of Sarah's stay, I attempted to show the best parts of Calgary. Luckily we had a chinook so things were warm, but she still got excited at the sight of snow on the ground! We went up the Calgary tower both during sunset then also after night, and also walked around the Bow River (truly stunning at sunset, especially with the chinook clouds). We also went to Hitment vs Moose Jaw Warriors, and we won! VERY exciting. Plus we had a meal out at the Ship (everyone loves the Ship and Anchor, such good value)! As well as all that we watched a lot of rom coms, ate some great food, and went to the first proper Cascade party of 2013 (which even though term hadn't started got shut down by the CAs, spoil sports! Luckily Brewster CAs seemed much more accommodating so we carried on the party there)!
The room of my floor looked very empty without the mattress which Sarah had been sleeping on but the day after she left was the start of classes so pretty hectic. Unfortunately none of my profs seemed to understand that the first day back should be a gentle introduction, and all gave very long lectures - one of them even over ran! Ridiculous! The course I'm taking this semester are Syntactic Analysis (the higher level of the syntax class I took last semester), Speech Language Pathology (basically speech therapy, very interesting), Second Language Acquisition and Semantics. They all seem to be a lot of work (and the textbooks cost ridiculous amounts) but ah well, such is life! Apart from uni work I've also got a job at the theatre on campus. It's great fun, everyone who I work with is absolutely lovely and we seem to get paid for not doing much which is good!
Having people slowly return to Calgary has been lovely, so nice seeing people again (even though it's sad that some people aren't here). Since people have got back we've watched a few movies, had a few nights out (although not actually made it out, the queue for the Den was just too long) and generally had a lovely time catching up. There has also been about a foot and a half of snow (we laugh at the measly snow which is terrorising England!) Also as per most New Years Resolution-y people I've been hitting the gym with renewed vigour, and today did a brutal zumba class! Last night, Steph, me and Kate went to Original Joes and indulged in a lot of very good food and half price wine, lovely!
I think that's all I need to update you on, I'm probably missing something, but that'll teach me for leaving it so long in between blogs! Sure I will have more to update you on soon!
So when I left you last, we were in the hostel, about to head off skiing the next day! We woke up very early (in fact extra early due to Steph forgetting her phone is set 10 minutes fast), and after a breakfast got on the bus to Sunshine with lots of other sleepy looking powder obsessed people! I think my grin was actually reaching insane levels by the time we arrived at Sunshine. In the queue for our lift passes we got given free hot chocolate - I really do love Canadian hospitality! It was greatly appreciated, but in no time at all we had our lift passes and were in the gondola! When we reached Sunshine base camp, me and Steph had great fun attempting to teach Sarah to ski...however, we were perhaps not as successful as we had envisioned and she ended up booking a lesson for that afternoon which left me and Steph to go off so she could show me her improved ski skills! I have to say I was impressed at just how much better she had got! The runs were lovely, and full of fresh snow! So much fun! While Steph did have a bit of a freak out on one run because she saw mountain edges everywhere (there were no mountain edges anywhere, there were slightly steeper bits of the slope) no one got injured at all, which I count as a highly successful skiing day! Even Sarah got down a green with her instructor!
That evening we had been planning on heading to Banff city centre, but were so sleepy we ate in the hostel and then went to the hostel bar to bring in the New Year. The countdown started two minutes early, but considering we'd said Happy New Year to each other at 5pm (UK midnight) we weren't too fussed. Met some lovely Canadians and spent ages chatting to them (and looking after the slightly drunker member of their group!) The next day we went to the Elk and Oarsmen for brunch, love that restaurant! Ended up eating a lot of food and revelling in the gorgeous sunshine that there was. Then we headed up to sulphur mountain to soak our skiing aches away in the hot springs - it was very different from the last time I was there, the steam basically made it impossible to see anything, but it was truly gorgeous! Unfortunately lack of hair dryer kind of made my hair freeze afterwards, oddest feeling ever. We then went back to the hostel to grab our bags before heading for the greyhound. It was a bit of a military operation with some very well planned bus changes. Then came the waiting for the greyhound. We took shifts going to the nearby Timmies in order to warm up, as typically the shelter was shut and it was -20 something. Not pleasant at all. But it was nice and warm when it arrived and before long we were back in Calgary.
During the rest of Sarah's stay, I attempted to show the best parts of Calgary. Luckily we had a chinook so things were warm, but she still got excited at the sight of snow on the ground! We went up the Calgary tower both during sunset then also after night, and also walked around the Bow River (truly stunning at sunset, especially with the chinook clouds). We also went to Hitment vs Moose Jaw Warriors, and we won! VERY exciting. Plus we had a meal out at the Ship (everyone loves the Ship and Anchor, such good value)! As well as all that we watched a lot of rom coms, ate some great food, and went to the first proper Cascade party of 2013 (which even though term hadn't started got shut down by the CAs, spoil sports! Luckily Brewster CAs seemed much more accommodating so we carried on the party there)!
The room of my floor looked very empty without the mattress which Sarah had been sleeping on but the day after she left was the start of classes so pretty hectic. Unfortunately none of my profs seemed to understand that the first day back should be a gentle introduction, and all gave very long lectures - one of them even over ran! Ridiculous! The course I'm taking this semester are Syntactic Analysis (the higher level of the syntax class I took last semester), Speech Language Pathology (basically speech therapy, very interesting), Second Language Acquisition and Semantics. They all seem to be a lot of work (and the textbooks cost ridiculous amounts) but ah well, such is life! Apart from uni work I've also got a job at the theatre on campus. It's great fun, everyone who I work with is absolutely lovely and we seem to get paid for not doing much which is good!
Having people slowly return to Calgary has been lovely, so nice seeing people again (even though it's sad that some people aren't here). Since people have got back we've watched a few movies, had a few nights out (although not actually made it out, the queue for the Den was just too long) and generally had a lovely time catching up. There has also been about a foot and a half of snow (we laugh at the measly snow which is terrorising England!) Also as per most New Years Resolution-y people I've been hitting the gym with renewed vigour, and today did a brutal zumba class! Last night, Steph, me and Kate went to Original Joes and indulged in a lot of very good food and half price wine, lovely!
I think that's all I need to update you on, I'm probably missing something, but that'll teach me for leaving it so long in between blogs! Sure I will have more to update you on soon!
Skiing Pros
Sunshine in the Rockies
Sunset from Calgary Tower
Hitmen win
Excited to be back to Cascade parties!
Monday, 19 November 2012
Halfway through November already!
So it's mid November...time is truly flying! For those unfortunate enough to be only doing a semester abroad they don't have long left! In fact in a month and a day I'll be flying back to the UK to spend a jetlagged Christmas with the family! But even though finals are approaching super quickly, it's only just now that I've finished my midterms! CRAZY! Still loads of work to do but hopefully will get through it all without too many mental breakdowns! Few minor things to update on then the major thing of the ski trip!!
For actual halloween just went to a flat party at Claire's flat dressed as some kind of creepy dead doll thing. Very good fun, especially as Steph refused to look at me all evening as I creeped her out too much. I now have excessive amounts of fake blood left over so guessing I'll use that up next halloween.
Had a few reading days (they tell you that you have four but really they are lying, it's Saturday, Sunday, Monday (which we would have off for Remembrance Day anyway), and then the Tuesday) but it was still VERY nice to have a bit of down time! The week before had been super hectic with two midterms, plus a presentation and two assignments so I greatly enjoyed the extra sleep. Also went downtown and explored a few more bars so that was lovely. Also made use of cheap Tuesday cinema (that's a thing over here too!) to go see the new James Bond. Very good and all us Brits were very happy to hear some true British sarcasm and hear British accents (not that we're lacking that in our friendship group really!)
Then the major thing: SKI TRIP! As you all know I came to Canada to ski so even though it's always risky this early in the season (only second weekend of Lake Louise being open), I couldn't pass up the chance to go skiing. The trip was from Friday evening till Sunday evening, with two full days skiing. There were 3 buses full of us 162 ski club members keen to hit the slopes! Theme was cowboys, indians and aliens so with feathers in my hair and war paint on we partied away on the bus to Banff where we would be staying. The hotel was quite nice although apparently rated as the worst hotel in Banff.
Now, you'd think nothing too eventful would manage to happen within a few hours of getting off the bus, but once we reached a bar we found out that Anna had possibly had her purse stolen. After a lot of panicked phone calls to her (she'd gone back to the hotel with Matilda) me and Julia headed back to get an early night. Once back we called in to see Anna who being sensible had got in touch with the police, the reception desk and cancelled all her cards. Then came the awkward moment when she walked to the bathroom and found her purse. However, at least this meant she had her purse so me and Julia and Matilda went back to our room to sleep. After some interesting chats and a lot of laughter we got to sleep.
The next morning the alarm went off at 6:30 and we groggily started getting ready. Luckily my excitement to get skiing outweighed the sleepiness I was feeling. After a breakfast at the hotel (and making sandwiches to take with us) we were in the bus at 8. It was a bit of a struggle to get Julia's boots on but I have to admit we all looked pretty professional - even if there were hints of feat in the eyes of some of the girls who'd never skied before. Everyone apart from me, Flis and Cooper had booked lessons that morning (either to get ski legs back after only skiing once or twice or just to see if they could actually ski) so the three of us headed up in the gondola. While at first me and Flis were trying desperately to remember how to ski we soon got into our stride again. It was a little bit icy but we carried on up, getting chair lift to the other side of the mountain. There we encountered some major rocks and (fearing for our hired skis) proceeded down. Once past the rocks the run was super nice though! Got a few really good runs in before meeting the girls for lunch. Unlike the Alps there were no nice bars and cafes on the slope, just back at the bottom, but still that food was much appreciated.
In the afternoon I spent a bit of time on the baby slope trying to get Steph skiing, although this did end in her saying she hated skiing, was going home and never skiing again. Luckily her mood brightened up again. Me and Pete took Claire and Lucy up the shortest run there was. Although it was classified a green I really think it should have been at least a blue. While there were a few dramatic tumbles I felt like a very proud parent when we reached the end without any major injuries and just a few bruises. We headed back to Banff but by now the playlist which had been on every bus journey so far was getting rather boring, especially as the songs were awful and it seemed like there were a maximum of fifteen songs just on a loop. However this was not going to get us down. Once back we booked a table at a nice Mexican, showered, applied liberal amounts of deep heat, watched A Cinderella Story which we found on the TV then headed to eat. Luckily one of the benefits of skiing is you can eat a lot as you've earned is so we fully used that privilege. At that point a few of us were just too sleepy to stay out so headed home, got into pjs then watched some very bizarre TV before retiring to bed.
The next morning we were aching but excited as it was supposed to have snowed some more and as we were driving we could see it getting snowier! Upon arrival there was definitely more snow so me, Cooper, Flis, Phil and Henry got the gondola up and enjoyed the gorgeous ski down in fresh powder. Truly perfect skiing! Then we got a call from some of the girls (who had never skied before) wanting to do a run so we met them at the top of the chair lift. It was a wee bit of a traumatic experience with a lot of tumbles (including Jackie fully wiping me out!) but everyone got down without broken bones so I'm counting that as a success. After a quick lunch we headed out again. Me and Phil went up in the gondola and skied down. It was getting a bit icy again but half way down started to snow so that was lush. We decided not to do the Martini run (topless skiing, in that cold, no thank you) so got the chair lift and did one more run before standing at the bottom to watch the martini runners arrive. They looked very cold (unsurprisingly) but said it had been good. I'll take their word for it.
So, very sleepily we headed back to the buses for the journey back. While most of us wanted to just sleep thecarefully selected dire and awful playlist was on again. I feel we will all be hearing those songs in our dreams. After the walk back to rez carrying all our stuff we were ready to collapse. Me, Lucy and Fay ordered a chinese then I got on with revision for today's midterm. Smothering myself in deep heat before sleep again I was very glad to be in my own bed, although sad that couldn't ski the next day. Woke up this morning very achey and sore but truly excited for the other opportunities to ski and tempted to try and get a few more weekends/day trips in than just the ski club ones.
There it is, a VERY long update on my life. I apologise for the length of it and thanks for sticking to the end (if anyone did!) Just one more wee thing to say because I'm British and haven't mentioned it yet, I think I'm actually becoming adjusted to the weather. Anything above -6 feels quite pleasant, and the fact it's above 0 today means it is positively hot! Just you wait, soon I'll be one of those people who never wears a coat in the UK!
For actual halloween just went to a flat party at Claire's flat dressed as some kind of creepy dead doll thing. Very good fun, especially as Steph refused to look at me all evening as I creeped her out too much. I now have excessive amounts of fake blood left over so guessing I'll use that up next halloween.
Had a few reading days (they tell you that you have four but really they are lying, it's Saturday, Sunday, Monday (which we would have off for Remembrance Day anyway), and then the Tuesday) but it was still VERY nice to have a bit of down time! The week before had been super hectic with two midterms, plus a presentation and two assignments so I greatly enjoyed the extra sleep. Also went downtown and explored a few more bars so that was lovely. Also made use of cheap Tuesday cinema (that's a thing over here too!) to go see the new James Bond. Very good and all us Brits were very happy to hear some true British sarcasm and hear British accents (not that we're lacking that in our friendship group really!)
Then the major thing: SKI TRIP! As you all know I came to Canada to ski so even though it's always risky this early in the season (only second weekend of Lake Louise being open), I couldn't pass up the chance to go skiing. The trip was from Friday evening till Sunday evening, with two full days skiing. There were 3 buses full of us 162 ski club members keen to hit the slopes! Theme was cowboys, indians and aliens so with feathers in my hair and war paint on we partied away on the bus to Banff where we would be staying. The hotel was quite nice although apparently rated as the worst hotel in Banff.
Now, you'd think nothing too eventful would manage to happen within a few hours of getting off the bus, but once we reached a bar we found out that Anna had possibly had her purse stolen. After a lot of panicked phone calls to her (she'd gone back to the hotel with Matilda) me and Julia headed back to get an early night. Once back we called in to see Anna who being sensible had got in touch with the police, the reception desk and cancelled all her cards. Then came the awkward moment when she walked to the bathroom and found her purse. However, at least this meant she had her purse so me and Julia and Matilda went back to our room to sleep. After some interesting chats and a lot of laughter we got to sleep.
The next morning the alarm went off at 6:30 and we groggily started getting ready. Luckily my excitement to get skiing outweighed the sleepiness I was feeling. After a breakfast at the hotel (and making sandwiches to take with us) we were in the bus at 8. It was a bit of a struggle to get Julia's boots on but I have to admit we all looked pretty professional - even if there were hints of feat in the eyes of some of the girls who'd never skied before. Everyone apart from me, Flis and Cooper had booked lessons that morning (either to get ski legs back after only skiing once or twice or just to see if they could actually ski) so the three of us headed up in the gondola. While at first me and Flis were trying desperately to remember how to ski we soon got into our stride again. It was a little bit icy but we carried on up, getting chair lift to the other side of the mountain. There we encountered some major rocks and (fearing for our hired skis) proceeded down. Once past the rocks the run was super nice though! Got a few really good runs in before meeting the girls for lunch. Unlike the Alps there were no nice bars and cafes on the slope, just back at the bottom, but still that food was much appreciated.
In the afternoon I spent a bit of time on the baby slope trying to get Steph skiing, although this did end in her saying she hated skiing, was going home and never skiing again. Luckily her mood brightened up again. Me and Pete took Claire and Lucy up the shortest run there was. Although it was classified a green I really think it should have been at least a blue. While there were a few dramatic tumbles I felt like a very proud parent when we reached the end without any major injuries and just a few bruises. We headed back to Banff but by now the playlist which had been on every bus journey so far was getting rather boring, especially as the songs were awful and it seemed like there were a maximum of fifteen songs just on a loop. However this was not going to get us down. Once back we booked a table at a nice Mexican, showered, applied liberal amounts of deep heat, watched A Cinderella Story which we found on the TV then headed to eat. Luckily one of the benefits of skiing is you can eat a lot as you've earned is so we fully used that privilege. At that point a few of us were just too sleepy to stay out so headed home, got into pjs then watched some very bizarre TV before retiring to bed.
The next morning we were aching but excited as it was supposed to have snowed some more and as we were driving we could see it getting snowier! Upon arrival there was definitely more snow so me, Cooper, Flis, Phil and Henry got the gondola up and enjoyed the gorgeous ski down in fresh powder. Truly perfect skiing! Then we got a call from some of the girls (who had never skied before) wanting to do a run so we met them at the top of the chair lift. It was a wee bit of a traumatic experience with a lot of tumbles (including Jackie fully wiping me out!) but everyone got down without broken bones so I'm counting that as a success. After a quick lunch we headed out again. Me and Phil went up in the gondola and skied down. It was getting a bit icy again but half way down started to snow so that was lush. We decided not to do the Martini run (topless skiing, in that cold, no thank you) so got the chair lift and did one more run before standing at the bottom to watch the martini runners arrive. They looked very cold (unsurprisingly) but said it had been good. I'll take their word for it.
So, very sleepily we headed back to the buses for the journey back. While most of us wanted to just sleep the
There it is, a VERY long update on my life. I apologise for the length of it and thanks for sticking to the end (if anyone did!) Just one more wee thing to say because I'm British and haven't mentioned it yet, I think I'm actually becoming adjusted to the weather. Anything above -6 feels quite pleasant, and the fact it's above 0 today means it is positively hot! Just you wait, soon I'll be one of those people who never wears a coat in the UK!
On the bus
Me and Flis excited to get skiing
Me and Phil at top of Gondola
Saturday, 27 October 2012
A wee update on life in Canada
Okay so it's been a while since I last posted but I've just been so insanely busy with midterms and assignments that actually finding a spare minute to do anything is tricky!
So what have I done since last posting? Went horseback riding which was great, it was an absolutely amazing experience especially as it's just so peaceful and serene and there's literally no-one around you. While my horse was very like me in it's stubbornness which meant it quite often decided to go through bushes and trees rather than around them it was still fantastic, and very different riding Western style rather than British style. Also we were very lucky because it seemed we went on the last weekend on nice weather!
Now being British I'm sure you'll all understand I have to talk about the weather...in fact as you may have noticed from facebook statuses the weather is hot topic (or rather cold topic) of conversation amongst us Brits at the minute! While I've heard that some of you guys have had snow I feel like a true Canadian in judging your snow to not even count as snow! While we had a brief day of snow last week, it snowed again on Tuesday and this looks set to stay! It's been snowing on and off since Tuesday and temperatures have been -8 with windchill making it feel like -16...not exactly the gorgeous mid to high 20s we'd been having at the start! But it's okay because been on shopping spree and am now the proud owner of a hat, gloves, and snow boots (which are Uggs so filled with warm sheepskin!) I've never felt so toasty in my life! The paths are pretty okay now but still certain areas of them are icey death traps. I saw a Canadian run up and slide along on of these patches and just looked oh so casual and cool - I however resemble bambi. There have also been multiple observations of Canadians in shorts. This is not a valid life choice and they should rethink it.
Weather dealt with I can talk about all the other things I've been getting up to! It was Fay (one of the British girls)'s birthday so we went out to a lovely little Thai place called Delicious Thai (and it truly was delicious) then to Molly Malones where we squished more people into a booth than you really should! Booked onto the ski trip which'll be great fun, so excited to get out skiing! Went to see Perks of Being a Wallflower and cried excessively (such a good movie though!)
However, what I've spent a lot of my time doing is sewing my tardis dress. This weekend is halloween weekend so went out last night dressed as a tardis. I'm not going to lie it was an eventful night. First of all me, Hannah and Steph managed to get on the snowboard club party bus rather than the ski club party bus which was taking us to Roadhouse rather than Exchange! Awkward! Luckily the snowboard club people were very nice for boarders and gave us a free ticket which got us a free drink in Roadhouse. After that we got in a taxi to get to Exchange, luckily it was only a few blocks. Got there and reunited with the others. It's true that North America really does go all out on costumes for halloween! Got another halloween party on Wednesday (actual halloween) which'll be great!
I've probably done lots of other little things which I can't think of right now, shall try and update more regularly so no-one worries that I've fallen in the snow and become an ice cube!
So what have I done since last posting? Went horseback riding which was great, it was an absolutely amazing experience especially as it's just so peaceful and serene and there's literally no-one around you. While my horse was very like me in it's stubbornness which meant it quite often decided to go through bushes and trees rather than around them it was still fantastic, and very different riding Western style rather than British style. Also we were very lucky because it seemed we went on the last weekend on nice weather!
Now being British I'm sure you'll all understand I have to talk about the weather...in fact as you may have noticed from facebook statuses the weather is hot topic (or rather cold topic) of conversation amongst us Brits at the minute! While I've heard that some of you guys have had snow I feel like a true Canadian in judging your snow to not even count as snow! While we had a brief day of snow last week, it snowed again on Tuesday and this looks set to stay! It's been snowing on and off since Tuesday and temperatures have been -8 with windchill making it feel like -16...not exactly the gorgeous mid to high 20s we'd been having at the start! But it's okay because been on shopping spree and am now the proud owner of a hat, gloves, and snow boots (which are Uggs so filled with warm sheepskin!) I've never felt so toasty in my life! The paths are pretty okay now but still certain areas of them are icey death traps. I saw a Canadian run up and slide along on of these patches and just looked oh so casual and cool - I however resemble bambi. There have also been multiple observations of Canadians in shorts. This is not a valid life choice and they should rethink it.
Weather dealt with I can talk about all the other things I've been getting up to! It was Fay (one of the British girls)'s birthday so we went out to a lovely little Thai place called Delicious Thai (and it truly was delicious) then to Molly Malones where we squished more people into a booth than you really should! Booked onto the ski trip which'll be great fun, so excited to get out skiing! Went to see Perks of Being a Wallflower and cried excessively (such a good movie though!)
However, what I've spent a lot of my time doing is sewing my tardis dress. This weekend is halloween weekend so went out last night dressed as a tardis. I'm not going to lie it was an eventful night. First of all me, Hannah and Steph managed to get on the snowboard club party bus rather than the ski club party bus which was taking us to Roadhouse rather than Exchange! Awkward! Luckily the snowboard club people were very nice for boarders and gave us a free ticket which got us a free drink in Roadhouse. After that we got in a taxi to get to Exchange, luckily it was only a few blocks. Got there and reunited with the others. It's true that North America really does go all out on costumes for halloween! Got another halloween party on Wednesday (actual halloween) which'll be great!
I've probably done lots of other little things which I can't think of right now, shall try and update more regularly so no-one worries that I've fallen in the snow and become an ice cube!
Horse riding
So much snow!
Squished into a booth!
I wish I could actually travel in time and space!
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