Rec contr' Amor non es guirens lai on sos poclers, s'autra.

The trip to Peru is really coming together. I've booked a tour that runs from Cuzco to the Nazca Lines then on to Lima. We get to do a fly-over of the lines, to see them properly, which I'm excited about. Plus, this way I don't have to spend 30 hours on a bus, attempting to get back to Lima at the end of my trip.

I've also booked my trek up to Machu Picchu. I'm doing the Salkantay trek - 5 days, 4 nights, and up to 4650 m above sea level. Thankfully, I'm doing my trip backwards to most people - I'm hitting Cuzco and Machu Picchu last, so I'll have had plenty of time to acclimatize by then.

Other than those two things, I haven't booked anything, but they were the two most important things to get done. The rest of the time I'll be visiting cities, so there's nothing to book other than hostels.

One month! Then I'm off for 17 of Peruvian adventures.

A.

I'm alive and soon to make my way back to Ottawa.

My trip has been great - it started off with the usual scenarios - lots of buying of wool, drinking of beer, wandering of streets - but yesterday was utterly fantastic and totally made the trip.

quotation and I headed to his cottage, which is up near Cambridge. It is, in fact, just down the road for the African Lion Safari. We really headed down there to go soaring - I was really excited (if someone apprehensive) of going up in a sail-plane (not glider! sail-plane.) Seeing as I'm both claustrophobic, and scared of heights, I wasn't too sure how well it would go, but it was great! We went up in a Blahnik first, did a quick tour and landed about 21 minutes after being towed up.

We then headed over to the African Lion Safari because every time I come down to TO, I go to the zoo, but that wasn't happening this year. We did the "safari" part - where the car got licked by a ungulaet, pecked by an ostrich, and attacked by baboons. The baboons, in face, were riding the cars. Just jumping up and riding around the hoods. One little baboon jumped up and sat on the mirror on my side of the car, and flashed me his penis. Just sat there, dangling away, eating a branch....

After the safari part, we wandered around the grounds, and I got to ride on an elephant! A real life elephant! So now I've ridden on a horse, a camel, and an elephant. I'm running out of large quadrupeds to sit on safely....

After that excited (oh, and beig attacked by goats that desperately wanted to knock me over), we headed back to the gliding club for another trip up. This time we were in the Puchhez - which is newer and has better visibility (if you ask me, but I don't know much about these things.) We were up for about the same length of time - not a lot of thermals - but there were more adventurous maneuvers, now that quotation knew that I wasn't going to freak out.

After landing, we stuck around for a beer, chatted with the other pilots, then headed back to TO to meet up with a friend of mine.

So great day - soaring and elephants! Bet you didn't think they were related at all.

A.

Last week, I booked nearly two full weeks off at Coles. I felt a little nervous about it – I very rarely book more than a day or two off, and we have a new manager – so I was wondering how well it would go over. As it is, I only work once (maybe twice) a week, and only for 4.5 hours. I don’t really know the new manager, and I wasn’t sure if she was going to shake things up – the whole “you don’t have a lot of availability, and we are short of hours, so we’re going to have to let you go.” I didn’t know if booking off 2 weeks, in July, would be ok, or the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Turns out, it’s all ok. I talked to the new manager today, to let her know about the two weeks, and what it was for (Bluesfest), and I mentioned that I wasn’t planning on taking a vacation this year, that this was pretty much it. And it’s no problem! She said the staff was large enough that there won’t be any problems with me getting the time off.

I’m so used to working at smaller stores, where there’s little to no over-lap of availability. Taking any time off was always a hassle. I’m really excited about Bluesfest now – I don’t any lingering doubts about booking the time off at Coles, which is fantastic. Bring on Bluesfest! Bring on Van Morrison!

Having said all that, I still want to go to Montreal for Eddie Izzards show, and for the Body Works exhibit at the science museum in the Old Port.

As for Toronto – again, much confusion. I figured next weekend would be perfect – I have May 31 and June 1 off (as well as the weekend) BUT, the Sens first home game is on June 2. I kind of want to see all that excitement – especially if they’re ahead in the play-offs. Elgin Street is going to be a mad crush, and I don’t know when I’ll get to experience anything this again – not just the excitement part, but the ‘hometown team’ part too.

Last but not least, is the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Oh. My. I really do have to go and see a game. I can’t believe that Canada is hosting this year! Usually, for the proper World Cup, I’m in Europe, and get to sit in a bar and drink and celebrate with all the hooligans, but this is just so much better. Who cares that it’s the Under-20? There’s still going to be some damn fine footie!

I hoping to do this in August, but we'll see how feasible that is.

Via Rail has a "Canada Pass" type thing - like Eurorail. It's just over $800, is good for 30 days, and 12 trips.

My whole idea is to take the train out to BC to visit my brother. I'd stop off in Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Vancouver, and finally Vernon (where my brother is), then do it all over again on the way home...maybe. I might just ride the train back to Ottawa, or stop off in different cities on the way back.

I'd probably take 3 weeks off work to do all this - spend a couple of days in each city. It takes just under 4 days to get to Vancouver by train, so I'd have just enough time, but nothing extra.

We'll see, I'm still in the planning stages.

A.

I'm home. I'm alive, no thanks to those good-for-nothing-niks on the 401, nor thanks to the snowstorm that swept through. Or those gods-forsaken seagulls that shit all over the sleeve of my turtleneck.

But thanks do go to the parking attendant at the MTCC who gave us directions out of downtown Toronto, and towards the DVP, or DVD as my mother likes to call it. Oh, and the people at Headwater Wool , who were selling some very lovely wool for only $5 a skein at the Creativ Festival. Let's not talk about how much I bought, k?

Also, I think I've grown a few ulcers since I left yesterday.

A.

Woohoo!

My mom and I bought our Creativ Festival tickets today. It looks like we'll be heading down on Friday October 20th, in the afternoon, staying in a hotel, then going to the festival on the Saturday.

I'm hoping to find some interesting bits of yarn -- maybe something in alpaca, or merino. Something different at any rate.

A.

And no that's not spelled wrong.

It currently looks like my mom and I will be in Toronto around October 20/21 for the Fiber/Sewing Festival (known as "Creativ Festival")

Her choice for this year's "mother-daughter bonding" experience. Side note: I think she might be over the mid-life crisis. She didn't pick tattoos, travelling to Europe, white water rafting or hot air ballooning - all activities that she has picked in the past

It's a ways a-way, I know, but thought I'd share my joy of FIBER. YARN. MORE YARN.

A.

So I was supposed to go to Toronto this past weekend, which of course I didn't.

First, I managed to break my watch, which necessitated buying a new one ($34.99).

Second, a dryer shrunk a shirt - a shirt that has been washed and dried many a time I might add. Said dryer also ate a pair of my pants. Also, a pair of my capris had faded to an unsightly grey, so I spent $107 buying several new shirts, two new skirts, and a pair of capris.

Third, and the most expensive, my eyes. While they are pretty to look at, they are highly expensive organs. I went and got my eyes checked ($120, for the eye exam, and the contact check) and had to order new contacts ($245). Everything is so expensive because my eyes have very limited abilities to see -- my prescriptions is -13 in my left eye, -14 in my right. And no, I didn't type those numbers wrong. (Average is, I think, around the -3 to -5 range.) My eye exam is not covered by OHIP, even though if I couldn't afford glasses and/or contacts, I'd be on disability. I haven't had new contacts for two years -- which is an absolute no-no at my prescription. Most contacts last about a year -- I shouldn't try wearing mine for over 9 months (although I do, and my eye doctor lets me get away with it.)

So that's $507 in a matter of about a week.

Not that I mind buying new clothes, or new watch, or even for that matter new contacts! All of it was "necessary" (I could have gotten a cheaper watch, true, or not bought as many clothes, and yes, I could wear glsses instead of contacts, although that is another story.) It's just that to not whine about money, I have to be careful where I spend it, and I just couldn't swing a trip to Toronto in the same month as all of that.

A.

Years ago, I made a list of things I wanted to do before age 25. One of those things was to read War and Peace. It took me three years, but finally I finished the damn thing.

I took it travelling with me, and everytime that book and I hit a new city, I'd write the city name in the cover of the book. The thing went *everywhere* with me - Frankfurt, Dublin, Rome, Prague, Charlottetown, among others - and finally I finished it on the train between Prague and Vienna.

When I finally arrive in Vienna, at the end of a tour through Central and Eastern Europe, I left that book at a book exchange in my hostel. I figured that book might just keep travelling, and that someone else might write new cities in the cover, until it finally fell apart in some foreign port.

I mentioned all this to a girl I had met in several cities that summer. She had just finished A Handmaid's Tale, and loved the idea of a book travelling through other cities, and having those cities marked like a talisman inside. So she took out a pen, and wrote all the cities that she had been through with the book, and handed it over to me.

The next day I left for Zurich, and dutifully scribed the new city inside the cover. I finished that book on the plane, but one moment resonated with me, and I have no idea why. Upon reaching the phrase "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum" I pulled out my journal (I have several journals, filled with stories of my travels. I always carry one with me when I go on a trip) and copied down the phrase. I remember looking out the window at the ground far below, not really thinking, just looking and feeling.

It's funny what stays with you and what you forget after years pass by. Little moments with no connection to anything seem crystal clear, while huge momentous occasions go fuzzy and foggy.

A.

So I'm alive and in Toronto. So far I've met up with thatthingido, quotation and thereisnodog. thatthingido was nice enough to meet me at the bus station, and find a place for dinner and beer. I'm currently shacked up at quotation's watching "Orgasmo" and drinking beer. Maybe later we'll watch porn. $2 porn. Best kind. Totally.

Tomorrow it's off to the zoo, then to meet up with J. at Yorkdale Mall *shudder* around 5 or 6. Then it's off to a birthday party, somewhere, with people I don't know. So it's not that different from my life back in Ottawa.

I have no idea what's going on on Sunday, other than possibly a brunch with people. I hope a brunch with people. I want to make sure that I see people while I'm here. If not, I figure I've seen thereisnodog so that makes up for everything.

I'll blog the bus ride down later.

A.

travelling by bus kind of freaks me out.

I'm used to getting to the airport 2 hours early, to get through secruity and all that nonsense, and here it is 10:15, my bus leaves at 11:30, and I'm lounging around. I'm actually kind of panicking over this -- I feel like I'm going to be so late that I'm going to miss my bus. At least at the airport there are various and sundry things to keep you occupied, but the bus station -- zero, nada, zip.

What am I going to do for lunch? I have a half assed sandwich (mmm.....ass) and a granola bar. I really need to start planning these things better, sheesh.

Ok ok ok calm down. It's all good. It's fine. Breath. You're not leaving the country.

I freak out less when I *do* leave the country. That's easy, there's no stress, I'm fine with that. But this whole staying the province business? Freaking.me.the.fuck.out.

A.

Anyone in Ottawa have a backpack I can borrow for next weekend? I have one, but it's kind of small. I know I don't need to bring much, but I think it's still too small.

So.....anyone? Bueller? Backpack?

A.

I've had a week of social outings, so tonight I'm determined to stay home. Classes start up tomorrow, and I'm a little nervous, so some time spent reviewing what I want to go over during the first class should help to eliviate that.

My schedule right now has no days off. I've got two weeks straight of work, at either Stats or Coles. Thankfully, so far Coles doesn't feel like work, so I'm not drained at the end of the day, which is helping with the no days off. I'm still going to talk to the manager about getting a Sunday or Saturday off here or there. Right now things are a little wonky, what with the seasonal staff all leaving, so I'll wait until things smooth out somewhat.

Coles is working out good. I'm enjoying the work, and it's not difficult. I've always said that I like to work retail -- there's a sameness to it that makes it easy to do, you can go on auto-pilot almost, but at the same time, each day is different, and you meet new people (sometimes this isn't good) and the tasks, which while the same, involve different things.

plastikgyrl has been feeding my addiction to yarn. She bought me a gorgeous ball of purple wool, which will be used on a felting project I have in mind. I'm currently halfway through a vest that I started ages ago. And after that, I have plans for a turtleneck sweater, with a plaid design on the front.

I hoping to get to Toronto next month. We'll see how things shape up. I won't have a lot of money, so I'll be relying on the kindness of my friends for a place to stay. Not that I think that will be hard, I've got some wonderful friends in TO.

On that note, I'm going to go get ready for work.

A.

While the temperature isn't expected to reach the "normal" temperature for today, it's not the coldest it's ever been, either. That would be -2.2C, back in 1950. Yikes! I was wondering if it's now fall -- last Tuesday was really warm, maybe that was summer.

I'm thinking about heading down to Toronto near the end of June to see people. I got all nostalgic last night, thinking about handing out red and white carnations on Canada Days past, with thereisnodog,  and theatre stuff with thatthingido.  This is a heads up.  I get one weekend off a month, so I think my weekend in June, I'll take a bus down, get a hostel room, and annoy everyone, including the two above, but also Ryestar, who I won't bother linking to.

I'm getting Green Day tickets today.  Hooray!  I saw them play at the Civic Centre eons ago -- back in their Dookie days.  I think that's the concert that a friend of mine (*cough*simon*cough*) got kicked out of for throwing a hacky sack.  At least, I think it was a hacky sack.


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I've been back in Canada for almost a year now. *checking passport* 15 days to go. Took me a while to find that stamp, heh.

This is the longest I've spent in one country in, well, at least six years. I'm going stir crazy. I just got an email from Travelocity, saying that flights to Oslo, Norway (which is on my fare watchers alert list) just went down to $724, from $1240. That's a huge difference, especially now, so close to high season.

Yeah, no one cares, but I do! I'm all restless -- I'm finding it really hard to go from the pick-up-and-leave/travel lifestyle -- think hostels and grubby bathrooms, not hotels and champagne -- to this sedentary lifestyle of......this. Yeah, I went to Halifx, which rocked, but it's not the same. I can remember, the first time I was in Vienna, I met a girl who went with me to Bratislava, Slovakia, just cause. And this guy in Budapest, who agreed to go to Kosice, Slovakia with me, if I'd go to Chesky Krumlov, Czech Republic, with him. You don't get that here. You can't just hope on a train and go to some random town -- trains don't stop in random towns around here, and if they did, you'd have a hell of a time getting there and back on the weekend. I don't want to miss it all by flying -- what's the point?

I miss waiting in airport lobbies, I miss buckling into the seat on the plane, the turbulence, the passport check. I miss the buses and trains -- how the farther East you went, the rattier they got, with more graffiti. I miss living out of a backpack, trying to cram more things in there, please please please! Going through what I had, because it wasn't all going to fit and I had to leave something behind, or tie it to the outside of the bag. Somewhere in Europe is a bath towel, a bathing suit, a bedsheet, and several books. I miss the "ok, how does this toilite flush, then?" And wondering if I was going to have a hot or cold shower.

I.Am.Going.Stir.Crazy.

Thankfully, this whole non-smoking thing is going nicely, and I can put away the $10 to $20 I spent a week on smokes, towards a trip to Bali, so I can learn to surf and be a beach babe. Everything has a silver lining, if you look for it.

A.

Everyone told me "you're only going for four days, yeah, you won't need an extra pair of pants."

So I didn't bring them. In fact, the night before I left, I reefed through my "luggage" and undid my "packing" to grab out those extra pair of jeans. Then I set the alarm clock.

I did not, however, turn it on.

So instead of waking up at 4:30 am, having plural coffees, finish packing, and saunter out to the bus, I woke up at 5:45 with 15 minutes before the bus arrived, a block away. Amazingly, I was calm, and managed to get everything together, have a coffee, grab a granola bar for breakie, get my shoes on -- after undoing the knot, and get out the door, and onto said bus, in those 15 minutes.

The flight was uneventful.

Upon arriving in Halifax, and being picked up at the airport by one lovelyquotation</b></span>, I was whisked away to his apartment to deposit my "luggage."  It was time for lunch at this point, which resulted in the first, of what would become many, disasters.  I spilled garlic sauce from my donair onto my pants.

The only pair I had.

Afterwards, it was a quick tour of the city, followed by a beer, a tour of the Keith's Brewery (which involved two beers), dinner and a beer, well, you get the point.  What were we drinking, you ask?  Keith's of course!

The next day, we headed out to Peggy's Cove, and Lunenburg, where we saw the tackiest wedding party ever.  The groom was driving the bride around in the cab from a semi.  No trailer behind it, just the cab, but it had a sign - in the shape of a heart- that said "Just Married."  Holy tack, Batman!  A quick tour of Lunenburg revealed Bluenose II as well.  It was then back to Halifax for a quick shower, before heading out to The Lower Deck, a bar near the waterfront, for a few pints, then onto a friend of Rob's for a blue lagoon.  After that it was to a club that was very swank, but filled with skank, for drinks and dancing.  During all this, I got coffee and dirt (from scrabbling round the rocks at Peggy's Cove) on my jeans.

Sometime around 4 we wandered home.

The next day we woke up late, had brunch, then headed out to the Annapolis valley.  We toured a winery, saw the "bay" of Fundy, which was not there.  It was low tide, so the water was not evident at all.  Only the mudflats left behind.  We lunched at "The Anvil" in Wolfville, where I stole a glass (which broke in my "luggage" on the way home), before we headed to Hall's Harbour, to walk on the rocky beach, and head up to a lookout for a better view of the Bay.  It was still low tide, but you could see the water this time.  We headed back to Halifax for a BBQ, and a night in, where I spilled 7-UP on my pants.

Monday we headed out for a few last sights -- trying to climb the "tongue" by the waterfront, a postcard, and a visit to the steps of Keith's Hall, and Keith's Monument/Grave, before I was taken to the airport for my ride home.  At lunch, I got mustard on my pants.

All in all, it was a fantastic time.  quotation is an excellent host, who kept me fed and in coffee.  As well, he is one rockin' and knowledgable guide.  I advise everyone to go!  And go NOW!  Ok, maybe not now, but soon.

A.
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More details to follow, for now, visit here, to see what it's all about.

A.

That's when I leave for Halifax. 

I knew I needed a vacation.

What do I need? I have a, erm, "thanks for letting me crash and showing me around, bitch" gift for [Unknown LJ tag] My brother thought it was good, and if it impressed him.....
ah, crap. Rob's going to hate it.

Phone charger....I'll make a huge sign and stick it to my laptop. Also, I will stick signs to the TV, front door knob, alarm clock, and forehead. toothbrush.....packed contact stuff and glasses......packed, and will pack Friday morning clothes......still have to do that, will hopefully get to it tonight. Otherwise, I'll be naked. Much as Rob might enjoy that, I think I'd be arrested, so clothes are essential. book to read on the plane.....must decide which one. cds......I'll just grab a bunch. girlie stuff such as makeup......while I can travel without it, I don't to, so I don't. < crap. I used to be good at this. I'm only good for packing to foreign countries, not my own.
A

I'm reading a book, Long Way Round, by Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor (yes, that Ewan McGregor), about their motorcycle trip from London to New York, via Europe, Russia, etc.  Hence the title "Long Way Round."  Obviously, there was a train ride (the Chunnel) and flight (across the Bering Sea) involved, but for the most part, it's them and their bikes.

Anyway, right now, I'm reading about the stop they made at the Ossuary at Sedlec, near Kutna Hora.  Otherwise known as the "Bone Church" -- where I went a few years ago.  It's so cool reading about a place that I've been!  It's interesting reading their impressions of the place -- basically the same feelings that I had, cool but kind of creepy.  It's also really informative.  When you visit the church, you're given a sheet of paper (in the language of your choice, so long as it's one of the major ones -- ie English, French, German, Czech, Russian, Spanish, Italian, and possibly a few Asian languages as well, I just can't remember), that tells you the history of the Church, and how it came to be decorated with bones.  I remember the basics of it, but not the whole story.  They've included a brief history in the book, giving some of the details that I've forgotten.  They visited a year after I'd been there (I think they went in 2003, I was there in 2002, the year of the insane flooding in Europe) but everything was (apparently) still the same in the church, as the details they give (placement of the bones and the decorations) are the same.  How very cool.

A.

BTW, this is what I'm getting.

Finally.

After the rigamoral I had to go through, calling VISA, calling TigerDirect, getting TigerDirect to call VISA.  One said the payment was authorized (VISA) and one said it wasn't (TigerDirect), and I just wanted them to ship out the damn thing, and only charge me once.

But, she is sorted out now, and soon I will be surfing in style.

I still have to move to Bali for real surfing, however.

A. -- off to buy a plane ticket now.

EDIT: the ticket, she is bought as well. Quotation, I'll be seeing you April 15!