the dish files

Santiago, Chile

2011-09-06T03:42:00.000-04:00

This is my new best friend for the night, 80's one hit wonder, Miguel "El Negro" Pinēra! Did i happen to mention he's also the brother of the newly elected Chilean President Sebastian Pinēra? That's just how i roll when i'm away from home.

London Lovers

2011-09-04T18:50:00.004-04:00

Busy London

2011-08-19T12:19:00.000-04:00

It was a very busy morning in London when i arrived. No wonder Heathrow is notorious for delays!! Off to Primark!

Elvis lives....in West Queen West?!?

2011-08-18T01:36:00.003-04:00

This was happening as i awaited my taxi at my local supermarket

Today's post is brought to you by the letter S

2011-02-21T08:37:00.005-05:00

S is for Saturday, Sorrento and SUN!!!

Good morning sunshine! Let's hope you last all day long. I took the scenic route to Sorrento's port, which took me just under an hour to walk, along the mediterranean at times. It was beautiful and i arrived just in time to catch the 11:45 ferry to la Isola di Capri!

What a gorgeous day, and the view from the base of the island is magnificent, so many things to take in. The lemon groves, the villas, the funicular and windy streets. Unfortunately, the funicular that transports one up to the top of Capri does not operate in the off season, but that's ok, i was planning on walking up (and then rewarding myself with some much deserved pasta!!) It is a hike, but i recommend it (otherwise there is a bus that will take you for 1.40 euros). Once at the top, the "centro" is comprised of two restaurants (it is the off season) that are packed with tourists. I decide to take a look down some of the side streets in hopes of a smaller, quieter cafe in which to accept my prized pasta. I think i could have walked all the way to Anacapri (the other side of the island) and still not have found a one.

I opted to take the bus to Anacapri, in hopes of going to the famed Blue Grotto before attempting to find another place to eat my meal. Closed. High tide. Bright side: found a 3rd restaurant in which i was able to sit on the patio and partake in a caprese salad and pasta di caprese....when in Caprese, right?

Listening: Excuses - The Morning Benders
Drinking: A wine that starts with S to be sure

Buon compleanno a ME!

2011-02-20T17:09:00.017-05:00

Yay it's Birthday! Yay french toast! Yay Verona!

What a lovely way to start the day, waking up late and lazily enjoying home made french toast and then setting off for the fair city of Verona. As soon as you turn the corner and view La Porta Nueva di Verona, you can see why Shakespeare chose to write about this beautiful little city. I'm sure many things have changed, but some things are still standing. There is a castle and moat; a smaller version if the colosseum (which still holds concerts!) ans so many intricate little streets to lose oneself.

The sole purpose of today's trip was to visit the Juliet's "balcony" - which i belive was constructed for the purpose of tourism in 1936. However, there really were two families by the names of Capulets (Capello/Capuleti) and Montagues (Montecchi), however neither of them had children named Romeo and Juliet. The house that resides on Via Capello is indeed the family residence and now has a balcony and statue in Juliet's honour. Also, there is the Club of Juliet, made famous by the film, Letter's to Juliet. This club was founded in 1972 and began answering letters that had been written to Juliet and left near the house. It is not as romantic as the film, there is no stone wall with letters place into tiny crevases, but simply you can leave your letter on the writing table inside the house (6 euros entry to the house) or actually walk up to the Club's 2nd level office and place it in a little post box. I opted for the latter, and glad i did. I was able to meet on of Juliet's "secretaries".

A very short distance from the house is located a beautiful square, Piazza delle Erbe, with a small market of venetian masks and other wares. It was starting to rain (again) so we walked back to the train station and onwards to Bologna and my birthday bash at Cafe Paris!

more pics to come

2011-02-19T13:38:00.011-05:00

Monday is for Modena, ParMa and Milano

You think i would learn. Especially after yesterday. My alarm didn't go off, so i had a late start on Monday but off i went to Modena (yum balsalmic vinegar!). By the time i walked into the center of town, and found the tourist bureau for a map, the one thing i wanted to see, Borso d'este's Bible - believed to be the most decorated book in the world- at the Biblioteca Estence, was closed. The Duomo, a 12th century UNESCO world heritage site, was covered for restoration. Monday bloody Monday

Off to Parma! Parmasian cheese! Parma-ham! Parma's Duomo has some frescoes by Correggio that i wanted to see. Silly me, it's siesta time and everything is closed for the next 2 hours. Perfect. If i wasn't meeting Maxime in Milan for our V-day dinner, i might have stayed, but i think i finally learned. It just wasn't meant to be today, give into it already and just go to Milan.

The Duomo in Milan is one of the largest Gothic Cathedrals ever built. To the left of the Duomo is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. A glass domed gallery filled with restaurants, cafes, and high-end shopping. The designer of the dome, Giuseppe Mengoni, fell from the roof just days before completion in 1877.

Dinner was my first taste of pizza! It was great, i chose the parma-ham ('tis the region) and fungi which was really good. Can't wait to taste some more!

Listening to: Next Girl - The Black Keys
Drinking:Water
Reading: Italian at a Glance

PISA et environs

2011-02-18T18:20:00.011-05:00

Sunday is for sighseeing.
Sunday is for rain and cloudy weather.
Sunday is the worst day ever.

I need to stick to my instincts more. Do you ever ignore the signs and just keep forging ahead, and in the end it's a terrible outcome, and you knew you should have known better? I ignored four. Possibly more.

#1. As I walk toward the stazione centrale, i see a sign (a literal one) that is pointing left to the station. I pause, reflect, well if it's posted it must be right, no? NO. Just took an extra trip around the block - which made me miss the train i originally wanted to take (#2) and so now the next train, leaving soon thankfully, is unfortunately more expensive.

#3. The train i'm on, posts a delay; 30mins, look again, 60 mins....(and now there is a funny scene of a very angry Italian woman with no patience who wants off to catch the other train, which is leaving in less then 5 mins. However, the train official on board is unable to open the doors - they lock them once the train is to leave. I follow suit, along with another gentleman. I speak English - he speaks English and German - and our triumphant anger ball speaks German and Italian. Priceless. Finally, we get off and rush for the other train, regarless that our ticket is not valid for it nor do we have seats....once we're on, doors are locked, right? So what can they do? )

#4. When i arrive in Florence to transfer trains to Pisa, it is raining. Pouring with rain. Do you bring an umbrella when you travel? One should never ignore the signs to a bad start - or at least try to realize that they are indeed signs.

Once i arrive in Pisa, the rain is just dropping like kiddy pools of water crashing down. Thankfully there are these super annoying gents selling umbrellas to the folks who don't check the weather repotrs- moi (in my defense, even when i do check, it never seems to be right). I haggle with him, and find the information centre, where the clerk is super helpful, not only with directions to the leaning tower, but also with finding information on how to get to Vinci.

I continue on my path towards the leaning tower (maybe a 20min walk from the train station). It is Sunday, so most shops are all closed up, and in smaller towns, not a lot of restaurants or cafes are open either. Right at the bridge there is a market with vendors of olives, nuts, cheese, which i partake in a few samples.

The first sight of the tower, i am struck by how white it really is (the due torri in Bologna are nothing to look at really except that they are extremely high). It is highly decorated and expertly sculpted. From far away it really does look like it's toppling over almost. However once you are closer, it doesn't seem to lean quite as much as one would have thought - all about perspective. I get my picture ( i look like a giant climbing the tower and about to squash all the little tourists) and get out of Pisa- it's cold, my feet are soaked (i did not bring rain boots) and i want to go to Vinci. The gentleman from information centre has informedfound out for me that there is a bus from Empoli (Pisa - Empoli by train) that will take me to Vinci at 14:45, however there is only one returning at 19:45. Perfect, i'm sure there are other things to see in the town apart from the museum dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci (da where do you think he was from?). I was wrong. There is nothing else to do in this tiny, tiny, tiny hill top town. (#5?)

The small town of Vinci has a castle and church built up on high, and this is where Il Museo Leonardiano di Vinci is situated. For 6 euros, you can meander through the main floor of the museum, and also trek through the castle to view other works based upon the drawings of da Vinci from his Codex Atlanticus ( a very large book (there are 12 volumes) of all his drawings and thoughts, which is house in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan).

I still have 3hrs to kill before the bus comes round again. I get the brillian idea that i can walk it back to Empoli. I am an idiot. It is still raining, and halfway there, it gets dark ( i didn't think this through odviously) so i wait; in the dark, in the rain, on the side of the road (that has no shoulder) for 2hrs at the bus stop, jumping into the bush to avoid the crazy speeding cars, and finally, finally 19:55 rolls around and the blue light of the bus comes into view. I am an idot. (#6?)

You think i would learn.

Listening to: Under Pressure - David Bowie ft. Queen
Drinking: Blackcurrant, Vanilla & Ginseng -Twinnings
Reading: Pompeii walking tour

O sole mio.....

2011-02-18T13:38:00.022-05:00

Buon Giornio d'Italia! Off on another adventure, it's been awhile. I think maybe after seeing the film Roman Holiday (my first Audrey Hepburn film {and hers too}). I've always wanted to visit Rome, place my hand in the Mouth of Truth, ride a vespa while holding onto a handsome stranger, and eat some gelato on the Spanish steps (and how i will!) Maybe it was the romance and innocence of the film, of the character Princess Ann, but it seemed like such a magical place. Fast forward to university, where I studied Art History and Photography. Now Italy, the whole of the country not just Rome, turned into my Mecca - my place of worship. There is so much history, art and culture squished into this little boot (not to mention the great boots here too!) I like to go away for my birthday, it's my little gift to myself. Dubai, Shanghai, and now Bologna! hahaha It's a start. I have a friend, Maxime Richard, who is doing his Masters in Bologna. Did you know that the University of Bologna was the first university established?

I arrived in Bologna on a beautiful sunny warm afternoon - remember i was coming from Toronto, Canada and a bit over dressed for such weather. I was lucky to have 3 seats to myself onboard the Air Canada flight to Frankfurt, however i was so engrossed with Lisbeth Salander and her final kick that i did not take advantage of my space, and barely slept by the time i landed at 7:20am and had a 5hr wait until my connecting flight to Bologna at 12:35 - but i got on, and for someone who travels standby, that's all that really matters. Got the shuttle bus from the airport to the central station, where my friend lives nearby at Piazza dei Martiri. Maxime also had another friend, Andrew Thompson, visiting from the UK. He was in town for a job fair/recruitment, but had taken the day off to enjoy the city and the weather (i soon found out that the sun is rare, rain, rain, rain is more of the daily variety).

We had a great first day, went for drinks and pasta - tagliatelle bolognese: the sauce is so light, it just coats the pasta - bellissimo! Then we went to an aperitivo. I love this concept, and it happens in every little bar/lounge here. Between the hours of 6-8, every bar sets up a buffet of snacks that are all free for the patrons of the establishment (of course they assume you'll drink, and drink more because you have some food). It's wonderful! The bite size snacks range from little samples of pasta, cous-cous, mozarella wrapped prochuto, chicken curry, fries, chips, crudite and dip....it's always good, and each place is different.

Saturday was another beautiful day, i was really beginning to like this place! Maxime wasn't feeling well, so i left him in bed and went walking around his town. Bologna isn't a terribly large city, so it's pretty easy to orient yourself, and cover the city in an hour or two. Piazza dei Martiri is about a 10min walk from Piazza Maggiore, which is the centre of town, where the Fountain of Neptune stands, and the city's Duomo, which is under construction. I love how they've undertaken construction of the historical sites. Instead of simply covering the buildings, the cover shows the facade of the edifice that you are wanting to see. It's the Italian off season, so they try to do as much restoration as they can under cover for the throngs of tourist that will pour into every city come June. It's quite a neat little idea, albeit not as good as seeing the actual structure itself, but at least one is able to see what it should look like (the UNESCO world heritage site of the Duomo in Modena was also covered for restoration).

North of the Piazza, is Via Clavature, which is a series of small streets spinkled with markets (fruit, fish, meat, cheese, flowers) and cafes. Even hidden in one of these little side streets is a great bar, Nu Lounge. On the corner of Via Ugo Bassi and the Piazza one can find some roasted chestnuts (it's my new snack of choice - so yummy!)

Continue walking north on Via Ugo Bassi and you reach the Due Torri (the Two Towers), one of which is leaning - it seems to have been perpetual problem with the construction of towers in this country at one point in time. It's not as ornate as Pisa, but they are a lot higher. It cost 3 euros to climb the tower (Torre Asinelli), and probably more then 15mins to make it to the top (everytime you think you've reached the final plateau, there's more). The views of the city are pretty spectacular.

To the left of the two towers is Via Zamboni which is where the main campus of the university is located, as well as Piazza Rossini, Piazza Verdi (where the Teatro is situated) and el museo di Palazzo Poggi (Via Zamboni 33) where there is a frescoe painted by Tibaldi. It is said that he was influence by Michelangelo, and so when historians begin restoration on the colours of the Sistine chapel, they use the colours in Tibaldi's frescoe to match. Little bit of trivia for ya.

Listening: Rolling in the Deep - Adele
Drinking: Beauty Green - Stegrate Green Tea
Reading: The End of the Road - John Barth

London calling

2010-08-25T12:56:00.008-04:00

2010-08-08T00:02:00.003-04:00

I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together - marilyn monroe

Listening: Howl - Florence + The Machine
Drinking: Strawberry and Mango (Twinnings)
Reading: Kant After Duchamp - Thierry de Duve

Jolie matin!!!!!!

2010-08-04T08:48:00.005-04:00

All-nighters are no fun. This is the only good part: sunrise!! Off to bed, hope you all have a great day!

2010-07-31T00:52:00.006-04:00

Ahhhh, i don't mind going into work, and even early at that, when the destination is Santiago, Chile( for a 3 day layover no less!) I visited Chile in late 2007, when it was just starting to turn to summer; now i am in the middle of their winter - hopefully not as chilling as my canadian counterpart. The flight from Toronto is about 10hrs 30mins, and when you arrive, as a canadian you have to pay a $130 landing fee (however it is good for up to 5 yrs, or when your passport expires) It's good to be crew, all fees are waived!! Upon my arrival through the sliding doors towards my charriot ( a mini bus that will hold 9...uncomfortably) yes, i see it. I see my breath. It is cold here. Yes, i'm going to write it. It's chilly in Chile!!!

To be honest, i didn't do much more then eat steak and drink wine (it seems to be the South American way). The location of the hotel is very far from the downtown core of the city, and unfortunately stuck in tourista-ville. I prefer to be in the heart of a city, where you can see the beats in the people walking by, the small shops and cafes as opposed to the mega malls and chain restaurants. Below are some pictures from my previous trip (at the start of summer, hence the sunlight!) Santiago is a very beautiful city, with some amazing museums. One of them is one of Pablo Neruda's homes, La Chascona (one of three homes/museums in Chile). He was a Chilean poet and this is where his nobel peace prize is kept on display. This museum is found at the bottom of a huge mountain where a statue of Mary sits atop, overlooking the city. There is a funicular rail system (like a trolley) that brings one to the top of the mountain and across is as well.

2010-04-01T11:21:00.007-04:00

MAIL! I love getting mail (really who doesnt't?!!?) Better yet is getting mail from Japan-land! Thanks Ian for my b-day mail! Love the cherry blossom bowl and the card.

Listening: Television - Disposable Heroes of Hipoprisy
Drinking: Japanese Treasure (Green tea, Steeps)
Reading: Another Bullshit Night in Suck City - Nick Flynn

2010-03-23T19:33:00.007-04:00

Being sick does have it's benefits: it allows one to catch up on old hobbies (case in point this blog). I wanted to print off some photos to hang in my apartment; usually I use Costco online, however this time it was a negative that I wanted to enlarge so I drove to the store and walked up to the photo centre and asked for a 5x7 - how difficult is that you ask? Seems that they no longer have the facilities to make prints from negatives, not since September. I was crestfallen. Are negatives really that old school? Albeit I don't use film as much as I used to, but to completely remove it from a photo shop?!? Wouldn't you want to enlarge this if you had it?

Listening: What's a Girl To Do - Bat for Lashes
Drinking: Silver Cloud (White tea, Steeps)
Reading: American Gods- Neil Gaiman

2010-03-19T10:46:00.012-04:00

What better to do when you're sick but to write about how you became so. I have no one to blame except myself, and of course BA (Buenos Aires, Argentina).

Friday night I was supposed to meet up with a friend and check out an art gallery opening, however I received a phone call at 7pm that changed my evening plans. I did go to the art opening, but instead of bar hoping around the city, I went to BA for work instead (a much better deal I believe). At Gallery 47 (47 Milky Way Ave.), Jaclyn Quaresma's Of Many show was having its debut. Quaresma laid over the floor her own man-made white tiles with the intention of the audience to break the tiles as they trod over them during the length of the exhibit (one month). It was an odd mixture of emotion; at once you feel like a child, been given free reign to play, dance and step anywhere to make something happen, however once you do in fact break one of the tiles, you almost feel ashamed, like yikes, i just cracked your floor dude, sorry. It reminded me at once of Nijo castle in Kyoto and its nightingale floors, with just the lightest step one could hear an enemy approaching. The same technique seemed to work on these tiles, the lighter you tread, the easier to break, and once they did start moving away from one another, it started to take on a landscape of passing icebergs.

Ok, so I left my friend at a bar , and off to BA for me! We arrived in the afternoon and what better way to wind down from a full nights' work = malbec at an outdoor cafe of course! My friend Paulette took us for dinner to a carne restaurant named El Establo ( Paraguay 489), which served a delicious assortment of CARNE, CARNE, CARNE, and of course more malbec (there's nothing wrong with that). Afterwards I took everyone to Club Bahrein (Lavalle 345) which I had frequented in the past and enjoyed. It hadn't changed much! Three levels, top being a low key lounge, main floor a 80s-90s throwback and the basement is where it's at with house and electronica. There was a little something for all the different age groups in the crew. However, Argentinians don't typically eat dinner until well after 9pm and start going to the clubs 'round 1am. We were there at midnight (2 for 1 drinks end at 24:00 in the upstairs Yellow Bar). The music started to get really good a little after 3am, and my friend Elmo and I stayed until 4:30 (reason #2 of why i became sick this week = out too late...oh reason #1: worked an all night flight, did not rest upon landing).

Got to sleep 'round 5am and woke up at 10am to get ready for work (a Santiago, Chile turn; where we had some time on the ground to play around some).

We got in fairly late but were still hungry, unfortunately most kitchens were closing 'round 1am. We found one open until 2am, but i will refrain from mentioning it, it was not very good. I had promised Elmo to go to a mix club (gay/straight) so off to Amerika (Gascon 1040) we went! Cover was $40 pesos, with one free drink from a set menu (which mostly consisted of either vodka or gin with banana - it was awful!) The club itself was pretty cool, 3 different levels open to one another-in order to check out everyone. A drink that is pretty popular in BA is Champagne + Speed (which turns out to be their version of Red Bull) and it's delicious!

Again I made it home for 5am and woke up at 10am (reason #3 = no sleep) to make the most of my last day. A few haunts on my own that i wanted to check out. Tealosophy (Av. Alvear 1883, Galleria Promenade) which is a little shop i discovered on my previous trip, and 2 years later it's just as good! Unfortunately they only had 2 of the 4 teas I desired, but beggars can't be choosers. Ines Breton, the women who makes the teas has served the King and Queen of Spain along with the Dalai Lama. I recommend Green Geisha, Green Berries and Calm. From here I walkeded on the outskirts of Recoleta cemetery to Tea Connection (Uriburu 1597) for a great salad and of course some tea! Walked along the footpath shopping street Florida to check out the home goods at Falabella.

I enjoy working overseas, however it usually involves pulling a few all nighters in a row and when you get home you're on a wacky sleep schedule, and that can lead to a head cold, which is where i'm at. Boo.

Listening: Smoke Without Fire - Duffy
Drinking: Tea a l'opera (Green Tea, Mariage Freres)
Reading: L'elegance du herisson - Muriel Barbery

2010-03-18T16:26:00.010-04:00

My friend Ian, who resides currently in Osaka Japan, posted not too long ago a few pictures and tales of the beautiful cherry blossoms he was witnessing. This in turn made me jealous, because I am not experiencing this sight residing in Toronto. However, with my vocation, I was the lucky traveller to Victoria, BC at the beginning of march, and TA DA = Cherry Blossoms!! Hahaha Ian, we got 'em too!

From Victoria, I flew to Los Angeles, and upon my walk back to the hotel from an early morning Trader Joe's shopping spree, I saw my first ever Humming bird. It literally stopped me in my tracks. I think I just stood on the sidewalk for a good 10 minutes watching this beautiful creature flit and fleet. It was mesmerizing. I had never seen one before, and never realized how much work it must be for that tiny bird to maintain itself, it's wings are moving at 50 beats per second! The smaller they are the faster they beat. Did you know that they are the only type of bird that can fly backwards? I am ever so grateful to have spied it's movement. My apologies for the pictures, this little guy is fast!

Listening: Dogs Days are Over - Florence + The Machine
Drinking: Cherry Blossom Tea (White Tea from Steeps)
Reading: L'elegance du herisson - Muriel Barbery

November = VACATION!!!

2008-02-03T15:23:00.001-05:00

Finally vacation time! Where to go? Where else, South America! First stop Lima; on to Argentina to visit Ian and Urara, then the three of us fly over to Chile for a week o' fun!

LIMA! I was going to Lima by myself for two days (the direct flights to BA, Argentina were all over sold on AC). I reserved a room and a taxi from a hostel near the Plaza de Armas. Unfortunately, my flight was late arriving in Lima (4am ish instead of 1am) I had to scramble to find a taxi driver and get to my hostel. We arrive downtown, about 2 blocks from the plaza (4 blocks away from my reserved hostel) and what do we see? There is a four block radius surrounding the Plaza de Armas that is blocked off, there is NO WAY to get to my hostel, unless i want to walk through the streets of Lima at 4:30 am followed by my two suitcases which equal a big sparkling sign, please come mug me. My cabbie turns around and says: "what you do?" Eventually he informs me he knows a hostel around the corner that can take me, and I really have no choice.

The next day I try and figure out why there is a blockade surrounding the plaza, but to no avail, I can't even go into the center until mid afternoon when they start allowing certain people to enter the Plaza. I saw a protest going on and there were police with full riot gear everywhere, the Plaza had tanks, there were police on horses, it was crazy.....but nothing seemed dangerous to me. For the first day I just walked around, went to a few museums (the Spanish Inquisition) and cathedrals. That night i went for dinner at a French convent in Lima. It was a really good home cooked three course meal (cheap too, and the wine was quite tasty). It was nice to be able to communicate with someone! I was able to speak French and find out what the riot was about! It had to do with train workers and better wages. The second day I went to Miraflores (the coastal area of Lima) because I wanted to go parasailing!! And I did!! It was the best 15mins ever!!!! At night I went to the airport to hop on a flight from LAN peru to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

October

2007-11-25T21:43:00.002-05:00

October started off wonderfully! My first flight of the month: Tel Aviv!! I love it there! I decided to go to Jerusalem, because I didn't go last time. Unbeknownst to me it was a holiday, so no buses, no trains, only Shirooks (a transport van with 10 seats). It was amazing to walk around the old walled city of Jerusalem; to see the Weeping Wall, the room of the Last Supper, the winding stone laid streets; Solomon's tomb and the Mount of Olives. It was a mesmerizing day.

When I returned home, I had a great turkey dinner with the family, and off to work again. Or not. I was in a car accident (I was not a fault) I only suffered severe whiplash, but for my faithful Jimmy, it was his last drive; my car was a write off. It was a sad day to say goodbye to such a great car!!! I know, it sounds silly, but it was a good car to me. So i took two weeks off from work, in which either the pain or the boredom were killing me. I finally went back to work just so that I could see the sunrise over the Pink Ladies in San Francisco (they are the famous line of Victorian homes painted in various bright colours - you can see them in the opening segments of Full House).

September

2007-11-25T21:42:00.001-05:00

September wasn't the best month for work. I had wanted to start Japanese lessons and arranged my schedule accordingly. However, there were not enough students signed up for the night I wanted, the class was cancelled and I was stuck with the not so great flying schedule. There were a few redeeming factors: I climbed Signal Hill in St John's; I went to Victoria, BC for the first time on a beautiful sunny afternoon; I was able to go for dinner and drinks (and more drinks) with Kat in Van city and I had dinner with an old friend while in London.

I sent my friend Katherine an email to see if she would be able to meet me while I was in London. She is living in London, and working as a playwright (she had just signed herself an agent!) and as luck would have it her apartment is quite close to my hotel. I had not seen Katherine since she left Osaka, so it was nice to hear back from her, inviting me for dinner. She told me of a great place to go for a walk in the morning, just follow the canal near my hotel and it will lead me to Camden Lock, a huge outdoor market area....and it did! It was such a lovely morning, and I didn't have to leave for my flight for a few hours, so I walked along the canal until I hit the market.

August

2007-11-25T20:51:00.001-05:00

August was another good month for flying, did some LAs, Montreal where I got to spend time with friends, a Narita (Tokyo airport) and went to Tokyo for a few days to visit some friends at the end of the month.

Narita was really cool; very different from Tokyo even though they are in such close proximity to each other--worlds apart in terms of architecture and modernity. Even when I lived in Osaka, I had never really ventured to Tokyo, I went for one night to pick up my brother John from the airport when he came to visit, but we didn't stay for too long. Kasumi came with us and showed us the Mori tower in Roppongi with the the view of the city and across the river, over the Rainbow bridge to some beach. Tokyo is all modern, cutting edge, loud and bright whereas Narita, maybe an hour by train ( where the airport for Tokyo is located) is a quiet traditional village with a temple dedicated to the God of Fire. It does have one bar dedicated to flight crews, The Jet Lag Club, which has paraphernalia from over 50 different airlines, and you can find crews from just as many drinking late into the night (or at least until the last hotel shuttle is scheduled for pick up!)

I went to Tokyo a week later to meet up with Kasumi and Pieta, an Aussie who now works at S&D (Sam and Dave - a bar i used to work at while living in Osaka). Together the three of us explored, ate and partied it up in Shibuya for 3 days. Pieta and I spent one fruitless morning attempting to view Tokyo palace, but they have that castle so well hidden!! You can only walk a portion of the grounds (the castle and main garden is open to the public once a year, so says the guide book).

July

2007-10-28T12:49:00.001-04:00

July was a great month. I started the month off in Vancouver welcoming home my good friend Ian and his fiancee Ulala, who returned to Canada (via vancouver) for three months before they were to set off for Argentina. We spent the night just hanging out, had a few drinks and then came back to my hotel room and watched, of all things, the Goonies. After Van city, I went to LA, San Francisco, and London.

LA was great, took the free hotel trolley down to Manhattan Beach, rented a bike everytime and just rode along the boardwalk.

It was my first time in San Francisco, and it was a city I had always wanted to visit, so I would make the most of my layovers, even if they were a little short. I would wake up early at 6am, and take the BART train into the city from the airport. It was great! I got off at Powell St. where the trolleys start and ride it all the way to Fisherman's Wharf. It was really beautiful in the morning, even with the fog still rolling in. The sun eventually came out 'round 11am, but I had to catch the noon train back to the airport. The next time I went, I visited Coit tower, named after it's benefactor, Lillie Hitchcock Coit, and it is in the shape of a fire hose (apparently Ms. Coit appreciated firemen!!). Unfortunately, because it was still fairly early in the morning, 10am, it was closed and I could not climb up the tower for it's scenic view of the city. That's alright, more too see, just keep walking. From Coit tower, we ( I was with a girl from my crew, Marcie Trudeau) made our way down the street and back up again to Lombard St. a.k.a. the zig zag street. That was cool; it was pretty neat to see cars driving down it.

London was great. My frist time in London was back in February, but I didn't get out much for photos or sightseeing, so this time I thought let's see it all. I spent the whole day ( from 1pm-10pm) walking about the city. It was a long day, but I'm glad I did it, now I know my way around a little better.

June I went to St. John's and Ottawa.....exciting I know

2007-10-17T23:47:00.001-04:00

Actually, it was my first time to Newfoundland, and it was a little foggy, so it lived up to it's reputation!!

By contrast, Ottawa was such a gorgeous sunny day that I had to go outside for a walk. Unfortunately I arrived in the evening, so all the galleries were closed (the National closes at 5pm, a little early! and the Can Contemp Photogs has been under construction the whole summer!!!).

OSAKA 007

2007-10-17T23:17:00.002-04:00

Here are a few more pics of my vacation in Osaka

HELLO AGAIN!

2007-10-16T21:22:00.001-04:00

It's been awhile; and I apologize. I stopped posting pics, because, well, for awhile there I didn't have any to post! Then came the summer and I was too busy travelling around. Now I will recap the past few months and start anew. Hope you like!

After visiting my friends in Montreal mid-January I did three months of turns, which meant no layovers and no photos! One of my first layovers came at the end of April, I got to go to Chi-town!! It was great, I took a l-o-n-g train ride into the city, but it was worth it just to walk around, have pizza and catch some jazz!

My luckiest trip came in May, a few days before my vacation to Osaka. I got the call, "can you make it in 10 min?". For 48hrs in Shanghai, I can make it in 5! Shanghai was great, the crew were awesome; the regular route ladies took us newbies around and showed us where to get the pearls, the bags, the foot massage and the tailored jackets. I found a great tea shop near the hotel where everytime I bought tea, the owner would sit me down, pour me a glass and give me a few freebies too! It was a great 2 days!

After Shanghai (literally after, less then 24 hrs later!) I was on a plane to Osaka for my vacation! I was lucky enough to have Ian and Urara put me up for the week that I was there, and my friend Kasumi Tooyama was nice enough to meet with me daily for shopping, cafes and just wandering about the city like we used to do! Please excuse me, I've just travelled over 20hours on a plane and traverse through space and time.....Urara looks great, she always does!

MORE TO COME!!

2007-01-18T23:36:00.001-05:00

Yay!! I finally get a layover in Montreal! I have to thank my friends, Camille, Julie and Jarvie for coming out and going for dinner and drinks! It really makes the layovers if I can spend time with friends! Now if only they'd send me to Edmonton, Dubai, Paris, Osaka and Seoul!!! Not to worry, all in good time!

Monday, January 15th was Toronto's first real snow storm, and we were not ready for it. I left for work 1h30mins before my duty time (8:45, departure was at 9:45) I made my flight at 9:44am, one minute before departure. The Captain wasn't even on board yet, and my crew were all on this flight by reassignment, which meant that they missed their earlier flights or that they were cancelled......c'etait la folie a l'aerogard!!! It took me two and a half hours to get to work, a drive which normally takes me 30 mins!!! We weren't going more then 30km/h for most of the drive......I guess this is what's it's like to work winter at an airport.

Happy Birthday Kasumi!!!

2007-01-10T00:34:00.001-05:00

I hope you have a great celebration for your birthday!

Viva Cuba! Viva la revolucion!!

2007-01-07T23:39:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!!! I hope everyone had a great night celebrating, and here's hoping for a great 2007! Well, I went to Cuba on the 31st, to Habana....very warm, very nice, and perfect timing for a Cuban new year's party!! Had a great time celebrating with friends over the holidays, even sober.

Off to DC on the 1st, which wasn't bad at all. I rather enjoyed my time in the capitol city. It was raining when I arrived, but by the time I got off the train at the Federal Triangle, it had stopped. Got myself a pretzel from the street vendor, walked around an old stabile by Calder, and started my trek towards the Washington Monument. The downtown area reminded me a little of Paris, old buildings, monuments, bridges and phallic symbols (Place de la Concorde = Washington Monument) What is with the fascination of a tall erect stone entity as a tribute?

Sauntered over to the Lincoln memorial, I had never been, it is quite striking. A large pool of water leading up to massive steps and inside a lone figure, solemn and seated. Outside there are numerous little stands selling pins and badges of Vietnam, and the Airforce. To the right of Lincoln there is a three figure statue to represent the Vietnam war, and to the left there is a small field of figures to represent a memorial of the Korean fight. Unfortunately, I missed the Iwo Jima monument (the one where the guys are pushing the flag up, you know....that's how I described it to the information man, I'm positive it was the first time anyone had so clearly described it to him, with actions included) Now at least I know where it is and will go visit it next time.

BraZil!!

2006-12-29T10:49:00.001-05:00

Work gave me a nice little holiday gift, they sent me to BraZil!!! It's about a 10hr flight, not too bad, and incredibly warm there! (it's their summer right now) The layover was 34hrs + (that's long by AC standards, trust me) so lots of time to relax and explore. I was warned by passengers and colleagues alike to be careful, not wear any jewellery and just be on guard....gee that's a great way to start off a (mini) vacation. Needless to say, the exploring was kept to a minimum. I was watching the news last night on the tele, and they showed Sao Paolo, this is where I went, and it showed gangs retaliating against the police drug crack down by going on buses, robbing everyone, and then setting the bus on fire, with everyone in it. So in hindsight, I'm glad I didn't go adventuring on my own like I normally do!

Sao Paolo, it's not the nicest city in the world, but it is the 3rd largest. It's kind of dingy and run down. On the bus ride to the hotel, we pass through the slums, cardboard homes run along the whole length of the highway underpass. Even within the city itself, everything looks unkempt. Although, they take Christmas very seriously, with decorations every 200 meters (and police too).

When in Brazil......camparinhas and brazillians....preferably in that order!! It was a fun little layover; went to the art museum, saw some photo work and some Degas dancing sculptures, a huge Amazon like jungle park, fresh fruits and some good shopping.

2006-12-15T23:50:00.001-05:00

Kat looks cute! That jacket (the one the sales girl yelled at us for taking a photo of) looks cute on you!!!

For awhile there I was getting a lot of Vancouver layovers, then I was lucky and got to go to NYC for a day! I wasn't able to connect with my old friend Kasumi, but I made the most of my time. I woke up so early, 6am took the shuttle to the airport, the bus to Harlem and the subway (on the 6, thanks J.Lo) to Canal St. for some bargain Christmas shopping before heading up to Saks and Rockafella Centa to see the Christmas tree and skating rink (did you know there's one on 42nd St near Broadway at Bryant Park too?). Got to see Atlas holding the world, and Cartier all wrapped up for the holidays. Side note, it was FREEZING COLD in Manhattan that day!!! The girl I was with had to buy herself a hat and scarf it was so cold! And yet off to Calgary the next day, and I barely needed a scarf!

Right now I'm off for a week, done my Christmas shopping, yay me! However the stress is building, trying to find a decent, affordable cat friendly apt downtown.It's harder then I thought.

Van City revisited

2006-11-21T19:44:00.001-05:00

My first flight back with Air Canada is to go to Vancouver with a 26 hr layover! Not a bad way to start work! Vancouver is always a good destination to fly to because I get to see Kat & Tang, if they don't already have plans! Monday night Kat had off, so we got togerher for a meal and drinks. It was good to see some friends.

After that, I flew to San Francisco and then Los Angeles. However, I only had a 15hr layover in each, so that means airport hotel. There really isn't too much near airport hotels, except other airport hotels, not even a convenience store! At least in San Fran the hotel was along the bay, so I took a nice walk in the morning, and in LA I caught the local bus and went to Target to do a little shopping!

It was the Riots, I had to leave

2006-11-07T22:58:00.001-05:00

Thursday and Friday were pretty uneventful, apart from being my last two days in Paris. Yep. I decided to leave Paris, return to Toronto and work for Air Canada.

Thursday night, we went out with Joey and Nathan, met some crazy French gay guy named Pierre, who was actually married to a woman in NY- for greencard purposes, who had a boyfriend back at his place but cheated on him every chance he could get. Yeah, he seemed nice.

Friday I took my last walk around my cute little apartment in the Marais (Jess, the paparazzi were there that morning!) and walked over to Ile Saint-Louis, then to the Notre-Dame to see when the Crown of Thorns was to be out and where. I went back at 3pm to check it out. They have three religious relics that come out once a month, on the first Friday at 3pm: the Crown of Thorns, a nail from the cross and a piece of the actual cross. These are protected by two knights of Jerusalem (however, seriously? I could have taken them out). It was interesting to see, and be there for the ceremony and I tried as best I could to take a photo ('cause I'm obsessed with photo taking). Then I moved into the hotel that Joey and Nathan were staying in so that we could all leave early in the AM for the airport.

We went back to the Louvre, it was free on Friday night for 26 and under. FINALLY!!! Something free for me!!!! That was good because we didn't get to see everything when we went on Wednesday last.

On the flight, Nathan and I were lucky enough to get the three middle seats to ourselves and lots of wine to start off the flight! So, that's it folks, at least for Paris. I start work with Air Canada this Thursday, here's hoping for a Paris layover!! Just kidding....only a little. I'll be keeping the files up and running with all the exotic locales, Winnipeg, Calgary.....here's hoping for a few Asian flights and South American too! They have longer layovers, plus it's HOT!

The Tourist Day

2006-11-03T19:30:00.001-05:00

Wednesday our plan was to hit the Louvre: A) it's open late (until 9:45pm) and B) we wanted as much time as we could get to spend walking around in the museum. Unbeknowst to us, they celebrate All Saints Day (Nov. 1st) but I checked online and there was nothing mentioned about an early closing, or being closed for that matter. When I awoke, it was a beautiful day, which has been a rareity lately, so I yelled down from my mezzanine bed to Jessica, and I said: Get up, guess what we're doing today? We're going to the top of the Eiffel tower!!! And that we did. However, we dressed for the weather we saw, not for the month that is and we were COLD!!! Thank God for the hot chocolate on the first floor of the tower, hockey arena hot chocolate, i love it!!! The view was spectacular, and after 4 hrs (waiting in line for tickets, waiting in line for the lift to the second level, waiting in line for the lift to the top level, waiting in line to go down, and finally walking down from the first level, oh and then there was an army barricade, and a loud blast and something blew up but no one would explain why the section of the road was blocked off so we had to go around to find a metro), after 4hrs we went to the Louvre. We were able to see most of it, and all the things we really wanted to see, the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, the Victory of Samothrace (my fav!), the mideviel Louvre, and were about to check out Napoleon's room when they kicked up out at 6pm....yep they closed early for the holiday. That's ok, we had some friends from Air Canada visiting, Nathan and Joey so we hung out with Nathan for a bit with plans to meet up the follwing day.

C'est l' Hallowe'en!!!!!

2006-10-31T13:49:00.001-05:00

YAY!!!! Hallowe'en!!!!! We had some devilish fun.....WE WENT TO THE CATACOMBS ON HALLOWE'EN!!! Super erie, super COOL. For some reason I thought it would be a mass pile up of carnage; it is not. It makes it even creepier when ALL the bones and skull heads are neatly arranged in rows, and little designs. Someon actually took the time and effort to sort through all of these remains.

We're off to have some pumpkin soup!

HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY JAMES!!!!!!!!!

2006-10-30T09:12:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the quarter century club Cuz!! I hope you have a great time celebrating your 25 years!

Feelin' It

2006-10-29T08:15:00.001-05:00

Jessica and I had a good Saturday night. The type you feel in the morning; Jess is still sleeping it off in my new apartment. I have fabulous little apt. in the Marais, a great little neighbourhood quite central and about a 15mins walk to the Louvre, straight down the street. I love this apt, if I could I would live here forever!! Since I now have my own place Jessica is able to crash at it; and therefore we went out last night for some good girly mischief; and mischief we had! However since my parents read this not too many details will be revealed, but photos will one day be put up. The one downside to my great lil' apt: no internet.

Let's see.....Friday I spent moving from the hotel to my new apt (literally around the corner) then getting the rest of my things from Shefali's place and catching a cab to the new place with all of my things.....I have too many things.

Saturday I went to Le Musée Marmottan Monet. Sorry no pics from here, they don't allow it and they were watching you in every room! This place was great. It not only stored many of Monet's works, but it also carried an extensive illuminated manuscript section as well as a large collection of Berthe Morrisot's works; the sole female painter to intergrate herself into the Rat Pack of impressionists back in the day (it helped that her sister was married to Manet).

After that, Jess and I went shopping and got ready for a night on the town. We got a little lost at one point; and stumbled upon a bar: The Great Canadian Pub....a sign? We had to...um, relieve ourselves, is that a lady like way to describe the situation? Plus we wanted a drink, so why not take a chance. Again, all the boys were surrounding Jessica, she had tons of friends that night; and lots of free alcamahol (which is always nice when you're low on cash). I had one guy all to myself, I didn't mind my odds. The only drawback.....THEY WERE ALL HOCKEY PLAYERS!!!! I thought I had left the hockey driven fanatic boys in Canada. It was fun regardless, and on top of it; the Leafs kicked Montréal's derrière!

Thursday Trivia

2006-10-26T19:51:00.001-04:00

Guess if you can what I did with my Thursday in Paris. My photo will be my only hint. I'll write more tomorrow!

I went to GIVERNY. The country house Monet lived in, the town where the impressionists hung out in, and where everyone went to paint! It is a beautiful little town. Even though it is flooded with tourists, they really haven't done too much to up keep the town (Monet's house and water lily garden yes). Even taking the train, from St Lazare station in Paris, to Vernon: blink and you will miss the faded sign that points you to Giverny. You have to cross under the tracks, and through the station to either get to the bus (3 euros round trip, just keep your ticket) or taxis, or rent a bike, at the bar across the street (10-12 euros, depending on who you ask, and who you are....hahaha) I had wanted to rent the bicycle for the day, that would have been cool, but I was a little confused, I thought you take the train to Vernon, then the bus to Giverny then rent a bike to his house.....nope the bus takes you directly to the town and his house really isn't that far. Next time, I will go on a beautiful spring/summer morning, and have all day if not two to spend there. I went mid afternoon and had to be back for the evening to meet some friends, plus it's the end of October, and it wasn't that bright and sunny, but it was warm enough to walk around and wander.

The town is very rustic and very much still alive and thriving, there's an elementary school, and tons of little art galleries everywhere you turn. Plus there's also the American Impressionist museum (where they were nice enough to let me in at a student fee, plus give me the headphones so that I could listen to the commentary on some of the works!)

Giverny is beautiful. The garden, the water lily pond, the Japanese inspired bridges.....it's all amazing to walk around in. Everyone must go. The house too is pretty fantastic to walk through, and even though they said no photos, I couldn't help myself, especially when no one is around to say no! I encourage everyone to go to Giverny at least once in their lifetime!

The town has a lot to offer, however be careful, the prices in the cafes are steep, they know they have the tourists trapped there. I went to the old hotel, which has been converted into a restaurant. They had pumpkin soup for only 6 euros, so A) it was the cheapest place to eat in all of Giverny, and B) I love pumpkin soup here and wanted something to warm me up! If you eat at the restaurant they allow you to go in thye back and check out the gardens. I LOVE THIS GARDEN. It used to be the hot spot for the painters to hang out in back in the day; there once was a tennis court and little ateliers, now it's just this overrun raw jungle! In the summer, they have beautiful rose bushes, but in October, it was a maze of branches, weeds and cobblesontes. I just kept walking up the steps, that then lead me to a dirt path, over a fallen log, down a little rock mountain and back to some steps leading me to the garden once again. It's worth the price for lunch just to play around in their backyard!

I moved out ( finally!)

2006-10-25T18:39:00.001-04:00

I know I know, I should have been out of Shefali's place A LONG TIME AGO. Nevertheless, I'm out now. I have a room at the Hotel Rivoli, it coast me 40 euros a night, and at least the toilet is on the same floor. If I want to shower, IF, I have to ask for the key on the 1st floor, go to the 2nd floor, return it to the 1st when I'm done and return to my room on the 3rd....oh without elevators. You'd think that after living in Montmartre and having to climb the stairs there plus three more sets of steps in Shefali's apt one would get used to climbing, and yet I am still exasperated just at the last stair climb, gets you every time!

Today was a loner day for me, Jessica had to work. After booking my hotel, I went to the train station to go to Reims. I had gone here in '97 while on my exchange trip back at AHS (Aurora High School for those of you NOT in the know). I had taken one of my favourite pictures here, of a spiral staircase leading up into the sky. Maybe one shouldn't revisit, maybe memories are all that's needed.

The place wasn't the same. When I was 17, I thought it was this little country village. Compared to Paris, sure it is, however compare it to all the other little towns the train passes by, no it's a little metropolis. The building where my staircase used to be, yeah it's been torn down. The Joan of Arc statue is still standing tall, in the midst of construction. It ruined my memory of a great, beautiful place. Even the gift shops have changed, there more touristy. I found some really great things when I was there last, a beautiful bracelet, some goblets for my parents, now they sell the same gimmicky things that I can find anywhere else in Paris.

Came back, moved into my beautiful palace and had to go in search of shower shoes, and fast! It was close to 18:30 and most places close at 19h, plus where I am there's no cheap little shops, I have to go BACK to the Montmartre area to get shower shoes. Luckily I discovered the "semaine" metro pass. I found a cute pair (pink no less, for 2.50 euros (good, all I had on me was 3 euros! I needed to find a bank too!). It was a pretty interesting night to walk around, there was a flame thrower at Notre Dame, and the U2 singing man was at it again...Haha Jess ya missed it! There's this guy who was singing a U2 song one night when we came out of a metro stop; this is now Jessica's favourite area, Metro St Michel.
The Defender of Time

Yay Mom! You're retired!! Now what?

2006-10-25T18:23:00.001-04:00

My mom IS in this pic!

I hope your last day at work was a good one, nice and easy and that you enjoyed the little sending off party. What did they get you? What did they get you?!?!!?

Now sit back, relax and watch some movies!

Thrifty Tuesday

2006-10-24T18:35:00.001-04:00

Honestly we have no money to be always eating out! Jessica counted out her change purse today and our budget was whatever she could find: 13 euros (after a long search). We were hungry and hungry for something warm because it was cold outside, so we went back to Chez Clement, our lovely restaurant at the St. Michel metro stop, and had ourselves some pumpkin (potiron) soup in the blue room. It was exactly what we needed to warm our bellies, plus a Pepsi (no cokes! Yay!)and off we went to find free (preferably indoors) things to do. We might wait a whole week before going back there though because Jessica found that she had heaps of cents she hadn't counted before so we tried to leave our bill with the most amount of change imaginable (although not 2000 worth of pennies + tip). This meant we had 9 euros left for the day!

Musee Carnavalet is the museum on the history of Paris, the rise, the fall and the rise again. It has a beautiful courtyard with carved out shrubbury (can't you just see Alice running from the Queen of Hearts in this lawn?) The musee once used to be the Hotel Carnavalet, and it now houses numerous paintings of Paris through the ages. It had some great rooms, all the furniture set up to represent what it once was like.

Jessica felt very at home here in these rooms and hallways.
My favourite room was the Art Nouveau.

We then walked to the Bastille, and following the Bastille Opera continued along the Viaduct des Arts. This used to be a train line, now the street level area has been converted into shops, ateliers, selling furniture, flowers, and art.

Our budget allowed us some 2 scoops of ice cream and then off to Jessica's family's house for a free home cooked meal!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!!

2006-10-23T19:27:00.001-04:00

I hope you have a wonderful wonderful day

Alone in the rain on a Monday.....is that the start to a bad week??

2006-10-23T16:28:00.001-04:00

My day stared looking for the Picasso Museum. I found it.

It's was ok, more expensive than my guide book lead me to believe, but interesting, lots of different rooms, underground caverns, and upper levels, it was a mini maze of Picasso pieces. I was a little disappointed because I really wanted to see "Ma Jolie" it's my favourite Picasso piece, I remember seeing it somewhere in France last time I was here, almost 10 years ago. It's now at the MOMA in NYC so I'll just have to go there! When I was in NYC with Kasumi in 2004, the MOMA was in Queens, because it's current location was under construction so I never got to see it. Yes, yet another reason to go to NYC!!

After the Picasso museum, I walked towards Bastille, and took the metro to go to the Pantheon. The Pantheon used to be a church, Sainte Genevieve, converted into the resting ground for some of the famous revolutionaries of Paris: inventors, philosophers, men/women of science, political figures. I didn't know everyone, but I did recognize Voltaire, Curie, Hugo, Dumas, and Zola. It was a crazy time to go to the Pantheon, they had an exhibition on inside, which I enjoyed, because it's a large space, and had there not been these dangling forms from the ceiling, it would have been yet another big church. It was by Ernesto Neto/ Levianthan Thot.

The basement of the Pantheon is where the crypts are kept, and it too was a beautiful limestone maze.

I walked around the city for a bit, then decided I will go to my new favourite book store, Galignani (where I applied for a job as the fine arts specialist!) for two reasons, 1) I love to peruse through the books there and 2) to check if the position is still open and introduce myself. Lucky for me, right next door is Angelina's tea room, so a great hot chocolate, and raspberry tart for me! And all indoors to avoid the downpour for an hour.

Slow Starting Sunday...or the last of cemeteries

2006-10-23T06:27:00.001-04:00

Sunday was much of the same as Saturday, we just weren't hungover, only tired. We wanted to do things that were cheap, that was our goal of the day. Bought a crepe, 4.50euros, bought a map of Cimitiere Pere Lachaise, 2euros (all the other cemeteries the maps had been free!) and went forward in search of Bizet (Carmen musical), Balzac (writer), Modigliani (artist), Delacroix (artist), Wilde (writer), Moliere (French playwrite), Chopin (composer) Sarah Bernhardt (French actress), our girl EP (Edith Piaf) and Jim Morrison - he has is own security guard! Again like the past two cemeteries I've been to, the more elaborate ones are by the anonymous.

After the cemetery, we went in search of Victor Hugo's house. He wrote Les Miserables and Jessica was once in a production of Les Mis and loves it. So off to the Bastille/Marais area to find it. We got lost, and so close to it too!! As we're sitting down against a fence, I get a phone call, not entirely sure who it is, they ask me where I am, and I respond that I have no idea, we're a little lost. The voice on the other end says well aren't you sitting down against a fence across from a little cafe? This is exactly where I am!! It turns out to be a friend of Shefali's, named Guillaume with a friend that I met at a party a few weeks ago, Laurent. So we joined them for a cafe (or in our case a glass of Orange juice, no cokes) and chatted for a bit with them then continued on with our search of Hugo's House. I know where we went wrong and just needed to backtrack. I like serendipidious days like this.

Yay! We found it, and Yay! It's still open (30 mins to go) and the biggest YAY, it's free!

Saw some guy installing the last of his work in an enclosed garden and some street performers, it was a fun day.

Slow Starting Saturday

2006-10-23T04:32:00.001-04:00

Well it's understandable that when we finally did rise from our slumber of 4 hours, we were a little groggy, and to say the least hungover. We decided to do nothing.

I dropped Jessica off at the Montparnasse station so she could go home and take care of the kiddies, and since I was in the nieghbourhood, I decided to go see Sartre and Beauvoir, amongst others at the Cimitiere Montparnasse. It was a beautiful day, I didn't want to completely write it off! Buried here are the existentialists, Jean-Paul Sartre with Simone de Beauvoir, Charles Baudelaire, my favourite absurdist playwright Samuel Beckett and the sculptural artist, Brancusi. It's funny, the "famous" tombs are quite plain whereas the more elaborate tombs are for people I've never heard of. One with the lions, it's for the "Prince of Archery" I couldn't read the name for all the moss in the way.

Bought some groceries and had a quiet night in, chatting on MSN with Camille.....sorry about that sweetie!

Friday Night's alright for fighting!!

2006-10-23T04:26:00.001-04:00

The rest of the story on Friday night.

Let's just say that we were very popular with the French boys, and I found most of them to be to young, and told them so, so off they went after Jessica. At one point, they were two guys who were going to fight over her, it was actually quite funny to watch. So we danced a little more, until about 5:30am, then walked home, stopping at the base of the stairs to remove our boots....our feet were killing!! Not only do they hurt on normal days wearing flats, but after a night of walking and dancing, we could not make it up those damned famous stairs!

One by one we'll knock you out

2006-10-21T16:21:00.002-04:00

Jessica was a great prop!!

Friday.....Jessica had a great Friday, very eventful to say the least. Don't worry I'll say the most!!

What did we start out with? Right, we met at Shefali's apartment (she's gone to London for the Indian New Year this weekend) and walked around Montmartre, trying to avoid the staircases (at least in the upwards direction). We found ourselves hungry as usual and stopped for lunch, then around the corner to the Dali museum, where the girl was nice enough to cut me a student discount deal....these museums are getting expensive for me! Jessica either gets in cheaper by being a student or by being under 25....that's why people don't like to age, everything costs more until you reach 60! The Dali museum was small, but cool, it had a lot of works by Picasso, drawings and ceramics, plus they had on display couture dresses inspired by Dali, so that was neat, it would be great if someone, somewhere, someday wrote a Daliesque play and used some of these gowns.

Next we tried to tackle the Opera house, however the auditorium was closed to the public due to rehearsals, so we didn't want to pay full price and NOT see it! Some window shopping led us back to our favorite haunt, thanks to Francia, back to Angelina's for some fabulous raspberry, mango and caramel glaces....delicious!!! We still had time enough to hit the George Pompidou Centre (it closes at 21h - 9pm). When we arrived, we were treated to a spectacle for the 120th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship Franco-Korean. It was neat; we caught the end performance of the Opening dance by the four young monks, then the Eight Buddhist Monks and the finale of the Lion Dance. It was really fun to watch.

We entered the centre and went to the lower level (it's free). IT WAS COOL. It's contemporary work, crazy -make you think work. I can't describe everything, the exhibition is called Les Yeux Ouverts (Eyes Open) and really the work is to make you realize some of the things happening in the world. Some of the major works were done by "leading organizations" as their campaign. Some were from United Colours of Benetton on poverty and mal nutrition in Africa; Reporters without Borders, on the deaths of reporters simply exercising freedom of speech and attempting to bring the truth of corruption or "plots" to the masses.
flip book
There was a fun staircase that plays piano notes when you walked on them (think Big, with Tom Hanks, but running up and down a staircase!) and there was a drawing station where one could make a flipbook (and political messages of U2 & TV....silly Jessica!).
Onwards and upwards! To the gallery, to the exhibitions! They were having a cinema exhibition. It was interesting, there was one short flick of all the Hollywood Female leading actresses of the 40s, 50s, 60s (Bacall, Kelly, Gidget, Hedren and even Audrey Hepburn) of all similar scenes from their films put together as an assemblage, exampl: all of them start in the bedroom, hear a noise or a knock on the door and get up to answer it, open it, fright in their eyes, running away from whatever they opened the door to and locking themselves in another room.......they all had similar scenes in their respective films and this artist put them together to create a mini movie. There was also the pink room, I liked this one best. It was strangely calming, even though there was a giant red shoe (I like shoes, I like red, it's all good). This work was housed in a large room and on either side of the room, there was a sheet draped across blowing in the wind; three circles with bulbs around blinking, lay on the floor leading the eye to the giant red shoe and some very nice lounge/trance music playing. Jessica and I just sat there for a little bit, it was good. We thought we'd like to have a giant red shoe in our home one day, could make it into a slide or put steps in it to create a small staircase....fun fun

We went back to Chez Clement, a restaurant we ate at, only 3 days ago! We had the steak and potatoes (fries) and loved it and wanted it again, plus it's quite cozy and has a great decor. This time we tried the pumpkin soup as well as the steak. It was DELICIOUS......mmm.......and of course we meet more Americans on vacation, or here to work and offer them some tips on what to see and where to find it.....and hey, why not join us for a drink down the street. Honestly, I think I should just start my own tourist sightseeing company, Wanna Party in Paris? We'll take you out. So two girls from Kansas (one is studying in Ireland, Jessica, how jealous are you?) and an older gentleman here on business from LA. We take them for a drink at my new favourite night cap, Cafe Jade (cute waiters), then for some great desserts, Cafe Mabillon, up the street where we devour the moelleux au chocolat (like a chocolate souffle) with the famous Berthillon ice cream, made next to the Notre Dame on the island.
Now this is our first night to go out in Paris all night long, Jessica doesn't need to be back in the morning to babysit, so we want to have fun, so after one drink at an Irish pub the Kansas girls wanted to check out, we say our goodbyes and head up to Montmartre on the last train. We go to a bar near Shefali's apt, and when I return from ordering drinks inside for us, I come out to find Jessica swarmed by a pack of Frenchmen!!! There are about 10 of them outside!!! The picture doesn't do it justice. They are coming back in a few minutes then off to a club nearby and if we want to go with them, the more the merrier. Off we go to our first Paris Club, Elysee Montmartre. These guys seem nice, and they caught on to our 90210 joke. Now once we're at the club, one offered to pay for me, but not Jessica, so we just paid for ourselves, but then after we paid they had left us there.....French guys are weird, they didn't wait for us to pay, like 1 minute out of their lives......it was bizarre. We go in, get drinks, and look out at the dance floor. It's a fairly large space, and most of it is for dancing, this makes me happy, I love to dance.

more to come on the night......right now tired, need sleep

2006-10-20T04:07:00.002-04:00

I spent the last two days hanging out with California Carrie. Wednesday we got off to a slow start, but we made it to the Concergerie, the old palace converted into a prison during the revolution and where Marie Antoninette was kept before her execution at La Place de Concorde. It was interesting, nothing exceptional. Then on to Sainte Chapelle (joint ticket) where I thought was housed religious artifacts, and most importantly the Crown of Thorns ( had read somewhere that it was there in one of my travel books). Well either I read the book wrong, or it's EXTREMELY outdated, because the Crown of Thorns is at Notre Dame, it has been since after the revolution....good to know. The Sainte Chapelle is nice, but really all there is to see are beautiful stained glass windows, and they're too high to really investigate.....so on to Notre Dame on the quest for the Crown! It only comes out for one hour, on the first Friday of every month at 3pm. So if I'm still here on November 3rd, I'll wait in line and try to get a glimpse.
We were hungry, to the point of starving, so we went for dinner and found a nice place, Cafe Jade, and a cute waiter! David was a great waiter, so we came back after dessert at another place to meet Carrie's friend's friend, Courtney who is from Texas but has been living in Paris for the last 5 years, and looking at her, and listening to her, she's more French then anything else!!! It was a good night. Hopefully I'll get the pics that Carrie took on her camera and add them here later.

Thursday I had a job interview (YAY!) for a gift shop.....that turned out to be a money exchange (BOO!) and then I met up with an English girl I met last week, Rosha, at the Palais de Tokyo, a contemporary museum. It was cool, it had some very interesting works on display. Unfortunately a lot of them were of pieces that produce an effect on one day of the year, and well it just wasn't our day! But we did experience a power outtage in the gallery due to a fly entering a work (that was the design of the piece) and little motor bikes attempting to rev their engines in unison. It was a cool place, and I asked around if they were hiring and got shut down, even in the gift shop.

I later met up with Carrie again, she went to the Louvre (I'm waiting to go with Jessica, maybe today - Friday-it's open until 10pm) and we went shopping, or tried to because it was quite late by the time Carrie and I met, and the shops and malls all close at 7, or 7:30 so we didn't really get much done. Off to dinner, a GREAT Itlaian place, the man is from Sicily, all spoke Italian, it was wonderful! Loved it! Then drinks at Cafe Jade again, we liked it there, it's a fun place. Carrie is now off to Milan to visit a lover she met in India, so all the best to her there!!! I'm off to meet up with Jessica...not quite the same allure, is it?

Tuesday Tour Guides

2006-10-20T02:27:00.001-04:00

Tuesday started out like any other day, I was running late (but of course) to meet Jessica, and we had decided to go to the Louvre. However the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays (good to know). We meet and walk, looking for a small cafe to eat some lunch. We're crossing the street and this girl over hears us speaking English and asks us for some help with directions. It turns out it's her first day in Paris, we invite her along for lunch, and she's been with us ever since!! It was fun, we got to play tour guides for Carrie, Montreal born, now living in LA, although the last three months she's spent in India studying yoga (she teaches in LA). Great fun, always good to have more in the group. We walked around for a bit, took her to a few places of interest, but then we had to have "our" day. So we went to the Musee d'Orsay, because Jessica and I had to "do" something new with our day. It was actually a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful museum, it's an old train station that's been converted into a museum housing pre, post and actual impressionists works. I was only disappointed I guess because I've seen other exhibitions that had more of "THE" pieces of the greats. This had their early work, before they were famous, works of artist during the period who weren't so famous, others that were influenced by them, and what came out of it (post). They're were a few key works so that was good. And the building alone is worth a a visit.

After the museum, we took a leisurely cruise along the Seine river. Now I recommend that if this is what you want to do, look into the different boat companies. We jumped on the first one that came by, the jump on/jump off. I suggest only go on a sunny day, or at night. Also, if it's what you really want, maybe splurge and go for a dinner cruise, because honestly you can't see too much from the water with the huge wall on either side of the seine.

Off to the Eiffel tower, where Jess and I declined going up, but would wait for Carrie. 90 mins later........although in the last 30 mins Jess and I had some interesting entertainment! Le Tac-Tac, Boom Boom!! Oh my goodness. .....there are lots of men,mostly Indian immigrants selling little souvenir trinkets to tourists, and we made the mistake of engaging the enemy. One walked by us, and you must understand our state of mind, we've been sitting under the tower for more then an hour and by this time, we were starting to go a little stir crazy. One gentleman walked by us and said : "No tac-tac? Tac-tac? No bebe? No Bebe? No marry? No marry? " We were laughing hysterically. He walked on, but Jessica turns to me and asks, what's tac tac? I say, I figure it's you know, like Boom-boom, mimicking our new friends crazy double words. Two now return and asks us, "why no Tac-tac? Tac-tac tonite, tac-tac you me". We are uncontrollably laughing, we can't handle it, then we get a picture with them, and more come over, for a kiss Jessica gets a rose, and we each are given a little Paris Eiffel tower keychain. Then MORE come over offering their services for an evening of tac-tac! I'm laughing just thinking of all these Indian men propositioning us for some Tac-tac, Boom-Boom under the Eiffel tower....yeah Paris the romantic city.

Happy Birthday Cory!

2006-10-17T04:18:00.001-04:00

I hope you have a great birthday!

2006-10-15T18:31:00.001-04:00

A beautiful Sunday to meander around a beautiful city. Plus Shefali needed some quiet time to do some work, so I needed to make myself scarce for the day. A new game I like to play, let's see how long I can stay away from the apartment and occupy my time with!

I spent the morning getting my resume printed and copied, walked around Montmartre and checked out the artists in the square. Then went off to seek the resting grounds of Emile Zola, Edgar Degas and the man who invented the sax! The Cimetiere Montmartre. The cemeteries here are gorgeous stone works, such detail and some of these tombs, the graves are still being maintained by (I assume) family members, still bringing flowers to adorn them. Degas is one of my favorite painters, so I wanted to see what is tomb resembled.

After the cemetery, I wanted to go to a little canal, Canal St. Martin, from the film Amelie, wherein she skips the stones. What I didn't realize from the film is that this small canal is like the Panama canal, and I arrived at the perfect moment to witness a boat passing through the sections.

Off to l'Arenes de Lutece, an old roman arena from the 2nd century AD; destroyed in 280AD, rediscovered and restored in the 20th century (gotta love travel books, thanks John!) It was neat, to sit in this arena and go through my notes of what else to see in this city. There's an elementary school attached to the arena - how cool is it that these kids get to play here at recess!?!?

I tried to go to a contemporary art gallery, Fondation Cartier (no not the diamonds!) but it was closed until the end of the month, so off to la Maison Europeenne de la Photographie (European House of Photography). There was some great photo work on display, Gabriele Basilico had some amazing pictures of Beirut circa 1991 of destroyed and abandoned city streets and buildings. Also there were other works on display, not just photography; it was a neat place. A lot of the museums/galleries are held in old mansions - it's really quite interesting to walk around them in and of themselves.

Think, Think, Think

2006-10-14T12:44:00.001-04:00

Jessica was not able to join me today she had to baby-sit, the life of an au-pair. I didn't want to waste such a beautiful day in doors, so where better to be then Rodin's garden with the Thinker. It was gorgeous, lots of statues in and around the garden as well as in the Hotel Biron (which is where The Kiss is stored). The Gates of Hell leaves one awestruck; the detail, the figures attempting to escape the frame, it's surreal.

Fun in the City

2006-10-13T20:18:00.001-04:00

Paris, October, Friday the 13th. What a day. First, it was a gorgeous sunny day, for all of you in the snow. Jessica and I met up and had some lunch, served by the rudest waiter EVER!!! Never ask them to hold the olives, that's all I'm saying. Next up, Musee d'Orangerie. Monet, Monet, and Rodin oh my! It's pretty small, so we didn't waste sunlit hours inside!!! It houses works of art from Picasso, Matisee, Renoir, Cezanne, Modigliani and Rodin outside! Afterwards, on to Angelina's Tea Room, for some desserts and hot chocolates. Now, I would suggest not to have both at the same time, and to share the one dessert with someone. However, hindsight is 20/20. We each got a wonderfully tasteful baked good, a mont-blanc and a millefeuille. Equally delicious, plus an ancient hot chocolate, L'Africaine. However, I do warn you service is SLOW, and again rude waiters. So far, we have not encountered any cute waiters, and the only nice ones to us have been the grampa-esque ones. We're keeping our eyes out for those ones now!

Look Ian! Real food, not plastic!!

Being lactose intolerant, Jessica has on her camera, me passed out on a bench trying to get over too much consumed chocolates (those photos are to come). She was fine, a little tummy ache over eating too much, and thought it funny that I was thriving in pain on a park bench seemingly homeless. Good times. The bench time was good, A) I got over the chocolate in my system and B) there were PONIES!!!! We love ponies. We got to pet the ponies.

This weekend in Paris, they are throwing a festival, Performances Urbaines, (Urban Performances) at the Grand Palais, check it out www.rueaugrandpalais.fr . It started at 16h so we went a little after 17h (5-ish). It was awesome!!! There was a ramp with skaters, BMX and rollerblades, there was a dance off, DJs, live opera at night, musical talents b-ball, graffiti artists and so much more!! It was totally fun just to sit back and watch and walk around to the different events! It's on all weekend long so we might go back.

Tomorrow if it's nice and Jessica has the day off from being a "jeune fille au- pair" we will try to get out to Giverny to see the water lilies that Monet painted in his later works.

It's Friday the 13th in October!!! I love it!!!

2006-10-13T03:25:00.000-04:00

This picture is from around where I am staying; it's the Love Wall. An artist stumbled across this wall, where it was written I love you. He then asked tourists (because tourists flock to the Montmartre area) to inscribe on the wall in their own language words of love. It is at Place des Abesses, in rue des Abesses. It's a little gated park that closes at night, who locks it up I have no idea, maybe one night when I am really bored I will do a little espionage and figure it out!

HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY JULIE!!!!!

2006-10-11T16:40:00.001-04:00

So Julie is now 25 years old! Welcome to the Quarter Century club!!! It gets better right? HAPPY B-DAY JULIE!!!

I was lucky enough to meet up with a contact of mine I made at Club Med last year who lives in Paris, Fabrice. We met at the Canadian Embassy (Avenue Montaigne - very flashy address in Paris) and walked over to hang out at his friend's place. His friend is a DJ, Greg Cerrone, just got back from Moscow on Monday and promised to bring some caviar from Russia, so we brought the pancakes. I kid you not, I spent the afternoon feasting on pancakes covered in cream and caviar while sipping on some very nice, fresh vodka. It was good fun, check out Greg's myspace page and listen to his music. Afterwards, Fabrice took me for a ride around Paris and to this cool shoppe, Collette, it has everything, upstairs clothing, main floor music (records too), books, jewellery, skin products and the latest electronics gadgets, and the downstairs is a little water cantina; it has bottled water from everywhere!!

2006-10-11T07:35:00.001-04:00

These are for you mom, sorry but the Hotel Cayre doesn't have too many details or angles to photograph from. It's in a good neighbourhood though, I just continued walking on from there, found a nice little video and book shop, and then it opened onto the Louvre. This photograph underneath is of the Musee D'Orsay in the distance. It's where all the impressionists are stored. I will be going in there, and there will be more photos to come of it!

La Nuit Blanche Paris

2006-10-11T07:00:00.001-04:00

It was actually quite disappointing, partly due to the fact that Jess and I were both in the worst stages of our respective colds, and partly because all Museums had enormous lines of people waiting to get in. But we ventured out into the night to see some exhibits. I mostly wanted to see La Place de la Concorde lit in blue; the Blue Klein Concorde. It was neat, all the statues surrounding the square were also illuminated.

We ate dinner at a cafe, Le Chat Noir, where the nicest waiter advised us to watch out for ourselves and our purses! He was kind. From there we went to see the Eiffel Tower lit up (every hour it sparkles!). We got some cotton candy (Barbe a papa) and rode the merry-go-round (a double decker!) with the tower in the background. Took loads of pictures, then we parted ways (it was getting late and we didn't want to miss the metro) and I continued on to the Klein Blue lighting. I made it, but camera's battery barely did, plus I missed the metro (it closes at 1am) so I found my trusty and recent purchase, Paris by every arrondissement, and found my way back up to the Sacre Coeur; it only took about 45 mins. It was still a good night!

As I walked home alone, I stumbled upon the Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion show.

Day 4&5

2006-10-11T06:18:00.001-04:00

I've put these together, because day 4 was spent much like day three, and well to be honest nothing exciting happened. Friday was day 5, and I met up with Jessica and once again we went walking, in a new area, St-Germain. I wanted to check out the famous Cafe les Deux Magots, where Hemingway spent his time while in Paris. It was a great meal, our first Croque Monsieur au Poulet (chicken) It was tasty! My ancient style hot chocolate was so far the best I've had here in Paris (Tel Aviv's Max Brenner Chocolates was better). Walked in and around the Notre Dame cathedral. It was in procession as we walked inside, the detail given to each stone, each window frame and statue is so intricate and amazing, not to mention the romantic history of Quasimodo and the French Revolution. If you ever get the chance to see the musical, Notre Dame de Paris, I strongly advise you to see it. Unlike musicals like Phantom and Cats, there's no talking bits, it's all singing, and the acrobatics rivaled those of Cirque de Soleil.

Then we walked towards the Centre George Pompidou and saw the outdoor Stravinsky fountain, featured in the 1995 remake of Sabrina (Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond).

Paris Day Three

2006-10-11T05:50:00.001-04:00

Now if we could all be like this, and slide down the stairs instead of huffing and puffing about them!

My 3rd day in Paris, I spent walking around Montmartre area (where my friend Shefali lives) it was a beautiful day for walking around. I found some cute little shops and even an internet place with a crusty old man who kept my card, even though I still had time to use up for a next visit, and I didn't think of this until the next visit when I look for my card and realize he kept it, and my 20 euros!!!! ARGH, the things I'm learning. One must also weight the fruit and affix a sticker before going to the cash register (although I'm happy to report, that I am not the only one who didn't know this!!)

My Brother

2006-10-11T05:49:00.001-04:00

I would not have been able to survive in Paris if it wasn't for my great brother who has the most amazing connections......is that good John? Hahahahaha

Paris Day Two

2006-10-11T05:06:00.001-04:00

Day Two in Paris was really my first official day out and about! I met up with Jessica (the Blonde from an earlier picture and post) and we set out walking, with the Eiffel Tower as our true north. It was a fun day, albeit in the rain. We first went to La Place des Invalides, Napoleon's Tomb. The headless statue is from the gardens. We found our way around, and came upon the Eiffel Tower. From there we stopped into the Kleber Cafe for some snacks, and walked along Kleber ave. to L'Arc de Triomphe. We paid 8euros/5euros respectively (she's a student, taking French lessons) and got an 8 euro stairmaster workout up winding and steep spiral staircase, and then took a rest atop on a bench. We're so out of shape! After the arch, we walked down the famous street, Le Champs d'Elyssee towards Place de la Concorde, which is in front of the Tuilerries garden, in front of the Louvre. It was a good day, and even stopped raining by mid afternoon.

Paris Day One

2006-10-09T09:09:00.001-04:00

Paris Day One

I had a great last supper with the family, they dropped me off at the airport and I took Zoom Airlines, Business class, (because it was cheaper to upgrade then to page overages for the wieght allowance-they are a super cheap airling, but they don't allow you to take anything with you!) I arrived in Paris 'round 13:00, grabbed a taxi, because I have alot of bags, and head to my hotel, Le Fiat. A nice city street, down from The Moulin Rouge. I walk around the first night, go visit Shefali, who lives just down from the Sacre Coeur, and whom i'll be living with starting tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

2006-10-09T07:20:00.006-04:00

There's something to be said for streets that have cafe-restaus speckeled about, not just on every street corner, but litereally every two doors down another cafe! The lifestyle of sitting in a cafe and just ordering cafe after cafe, a croque monsieur (a la poule) or a ceasar salad - which turned out not to be a ceasar salad, spinach with peaches, tomatoes and a slice of ham cut in quarter pieces, very tasty alternative I might add. Jessica and I have derived a plan that enables us to have a little more fun at every cafe/restaurant we go to. We have to complete a little servey of each place we happen to try out that day. First order on the list, cuteness of waiter. Very important, I know. But every girl needs some eye candy, especially if we are to choose which one of these cafes will become our Hemingway haunt. So far though, only Hemingway's actual hangout, Le Cafes les Deux Magots, has the best eye candy, and to be honest the best food and atmosphere (not to mention washrooms! Yes that too is on the list!) Who knows what we'll do with this list, we might just write the best little travel book for women on adventures! Stranger things have happened.

I love the small details of this city. There are no screens on the windows, and they're all long and open to a small iron detailed fence. My friend that I am staying with, Shefali, and I threw a thanksgiving dinner party for all her French and expat friends. It was great, everyone brought wine and champagne, and that's the norm! The one thing that makes me laught, is how serious they are about they're dinner parties and wine and bread. Rose is a summertime wine, and baguettes, there are different ones for different seasons! It makes me laugh.

Paris

2006-10-05T10:26:00.001-04:00

Ahhhh, Paris! C'est magnifique! So I am going to be in great shape! Living in Montmartre (for the time being, Shefali is a Godsent!!!) and being atop of the city is amazing, and the stairs and the up/down streets are great!! Now, lifting my 25kilo suitcase up three flights of stairs, not the workout I was hoping for. So far so good, I'm walking around, finding little cafes, some with wi-fi some without (this one without, so no photos just yet! Desolee!) I got to hang out with my friend Jessica, who came a week before me to be an au-pair. Interesting job choice seeing as she doesn't like kids.....We had a great day walking everywhere in the rain. We'll see each other again tomorrow (Friday) after her first French class!!

Francia: I found the clothing shop you told me about, it's great!! We even bought a few things already! As if my suitcase needs to be heavier, but I couldn't help myself. Thank you so much for the map, the euros and the tickets! They were handy my first day!!

So wish me luck on the job front everyone, and the apt search and I'll keep you updated, hopefully with photos!

One Overseas

2006-10-01T15:08:00.001-04:00

So with this fabulous, glamorous new job flying high in the skies one would expect me to write about all my adventures overseas, instead you get to read about Winnipeg, and wait for it, soon photos of Halifax!! I did get lucky, I did receive one flight overseas....to Tel Aviv!! It was wonderful, they even let me sit in the cockpit for landing in Tel Aviv.

Here are a bunch of photos taken from my 23hr layover. I tried to pack in as much as I could given the time. I really wanted to go to Jerusalem, but had no one to go with, so opted to stick with my tour guide (my Service Director on the flight) and he took me for a scenic walk, to the outdoor market, then they all went back to the hotel.

I continued on, walked along the beach to the old city of Jaffa. It used to be the port city before Tel Aviv became the megacity it is today. Now, Jaffa is the Muslim quarter. It's beautiful, lots of mosques, old structures with great architectural details to them, the old clock tower in the middle of the square. It's really quite a nice journey through the area. I returned to the hotel, walking along the beach to eat a watermelon I had purchased at the market. Afterwards, since I missed the dinner meeting time with everyone else and it was still early, I decided to go for a little walk around the hotel in search of a supermarket. I eventually came across one and serendipitously met everyone from the dinner gang! It was good, a few of us continued on for a little nightcap at a cafe, then returned to the hotel around midnight.

In the hallway to my room, I bumped into another flight attendant, Merav, who was on her way out to the chocolate bar, Max Brenner. I joined and it was great! I have never seen a chocolate - CHOCOLATE - place be the hippest bar in town! It was super cool. We walked back along the beach, everyone smoking their hookahs along the boardwalk. Tel Aviv, it's a beautiful place.

Winnipeg is a Hip, Hip City

2006-08-19T15:38:00.001-04:00

How can a city, with a Pablo Picasso Polar Bear, not be Hip? What's with Canadian cities and animal sculptures? Vancouver has Bears dressed up as super heroes; Winnipeg Polar Bears, Clagary used to have cows (not sure if they still do) Toronto has some remnants of Moose still around.

Winnipeg....well just my luck it was a beautiful day for a GWAR concert. Let me tell ya, everyone in Winnipeg was sketched out on crack. At least Mary was in my front yard wathcing over the hotel.

Van City

2006-08-19T15:12:00.001-04:00

I finally get a layover in a city where I have some friends I haven't seen in awhile. My previous layovers, Calgary and Montreal, things just didn't work out and I couldn't meet up with some of you, c'est la vie, better luck next time!
Yay! I get to meet up with Kat, and marvel upon marvels, Andrew Tang meets me at the bus station.....did y'all know they were back together?!?! News to me, since like March!! We walked around for a bit, ate dinner at The Cactus Club (right?) which has some great, fun art on the walls, one of an obese Mona Lisa....I loved it! Then we took a stroll down by the water and just hung out. It was great seeing some good ol' friends!

Summer Revisited

2006-08-19T15:03:00.001-04:00

Well those who know me well, know that things always change. I did not go to Italy this summer. Something came up.....out of the blue one could say. I applied and got a job working, temporarily for the summer, as a flight attendant!!! Training was great, met some really amazing people, a good carpool buddy literally right around the corner! For some of us during training, a long 7 weeks, reruns of the 90's classic teen hit show, Beverly Hills 90210 became a great stress reliever.....do not mock, it's good stuff!!!

2006-04-18T16:14:00.001-04:00

This blog is for my trip to Italy this summer. I won't start it until I am on the plane ready for take off. I have yet to decide to leave for the month of June or mid-June, it all depends on the job here. So just wait, things will happen sooner than you think!

michelle