Tag: Travel

  • January 24, 2024

    Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.

    I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never been to New York City. For most of my adult life, I’ve lived close enough to take a train or short-haul flight. Once, I took a road trip to upstate New York, but still didn’t make it to NYC. I don’t know what’s stopping me from going.

    I’ve been told that I’d like the city, that it’d suit me. I don’t know what that means exactly, though, because I would think that a city as big as New York would be quite diverse. There must be pockets for every type of person and a podium for every interest. Toronto manages to that pretty well and New York has about three times as many people.

     The only way to know if I like it is to go and visit. I want to walk around New York, take the subway, eat a slice of pizza, and go to a jazz club. I also want to hear the real, true New York accent. There seem to be a lot of convenience stores in the city, too. Maybe I’ll need milk late at night.

    It wouldn’t take much for me to get there. I’m sure Hannah would love to visit again. In fact, she could probably show me a few things. It’s just a matter of getting it done.

  • August 17, 2023

    August 17, 2023

    A “hard launch,” I’m told, is when you post a picture of you and your partner on Instagram after having kept it a secret. A “soft launch” is when you post a picture of you and your partner on Instagram at the end of a gallery of related photos after having kept it a secret. Hannah posted a picture of us on her Instagram Stories today while we were waiting to board at the airport.

    (more…)
  • August 16, 2023

    August 16, 2023

    Some days are slower than others. Today, we took a pedal boat around the lagoon at Bowness Park. We were never moving too fast. For an hour, without any gusto, we pedalled.

    (more…)
  • August 15, 2023

    August 15, 2023

    Despite growing up only a couple of hours away, I’ve never been to the tea house at the end of the hike around Lake Louise. Today we made the hike.

    (more…)
  • August 14, 2023

    August 14, 2023

    In PEI, we went to the original Cows Creamery. We waited in line to get ice cream twice. It was good. I usually get a fruit flavour, which I did on the first occasion, but I branched out and got one maple flavoured scoop and one scoop of a caramel flavour the second time. That’s what makes vacations nice — they get you out of your routine.

    (more…)
  • August 11, 2023

    August 11, 2023

    On the plane, I asked Hannah if I was going home or to my hometown. She said that it’d be my hometown because it’s the place where I grew up. Where I live now, Toronto, is my home. She then asked me if Toronto feels like home. I said that it doesn’t quite, partly because we’re renting.

    (more…)
  • August 10, 2023

    August 10, 2023

    Waiting is busy at the airport. Standing in lines, repacking at security, sitting at the gate. Remaining aware keeps you busy.

    (more…)
  • August 9, 2023

    August 9, 2023

    I woke up on the couch at 4:00 am and made my way to bed. At 7:00 the cats wanted breakfast. I tried going back to sleep. I almost started missing the days when I would sleep clean through the morning and into the middle of the afternoon.

    (more…)
  • August 1, 2023

    August 1, 2023

    I swam in the Atlantic Ocean today for the first time. Yesterday, we dipped our feet in but today we went all in. It’s quite salty.

    (more…)
  • July 31, 2023

    July 31, 2023

    We went to a beach today. It seemed like the thing to do given that we’re taking a vacation on an island. It was stunning. I wore jeans.

    (more…)
  • July 30 (31), 2023

    July 30 (31), 2023

    What a difference a day makes. We woke up in the hotel all right. I suggested that we get breakfast before showering and packing up so we did. We had a lost-in-translation moment: the receptionist told us that they have a “small” breakfast in the mornings but we understood that to mean a “short” breakfast because of the way that “petite” can be used in French. It was, in fact, a small breakfast.

    At the coffee machine, I punched in a French Vanilla. I got a cup full of hot French vanilla coffee-mate. The option I should have chosen was Café French Vanilla. Again, another small lost-in-translation moment. Ordering a coffee and breakfast sandwich at the first Tim Horton’s we saw on the highway proved to be a complicated experience, too.

    After we sorted that out, got some coffee in us, and ate a bit, we drove out of Quebec and into New Brunswick. Almost immediately we felt better. That artificial border changes people. During the entire drive, the sun was shining and the clouds floated gently in the sky. Our conversations were vibrant and our stops were pleasant. As the sun was setting we arrived at the Confederation Bridge, an engineering marvel that I’m in awe of.

    After getting lost on the roads of PEI and driving down a bulldozer lane way, we found our way to our resting place for the week. We were welcomed with open arms, given a drink, and took a couple of hours to chat. Now, it’s time for bed.

  • July 29, 2023

    July 29, 2023

    After a nine-hour drive, we have ended up in a hotel room that feels like something out of Fawlty Towers, without the superfluous little staircase, but complete with the ‘70s vibe. The carpets are patterned with alternating strips of two different shades of red separated by alternating strips of two different shades of grey. The widths alternate, too, between thick (~5 cm), medium (~2-3 cm), and thin (~0.5-1 cm).

    (more…)