To Travel is To Live

Canmore really was lovely this past weekend.  I feel so relaxed after only 2 days away from home, away from my usual distractions, and, I hate to say it, away from my wonderful pets who keep me up half the night!  Between Walker biting my chin and flopping across my face, Zeta purring up a storm and causing me to overheat when she lays across my neck, and Tia deciding it's a good time to scratch like it's going out of style at 3AM, there hasn't been a lot of sleep for me since, well, October! Anyway, Saturday night, after a couple of hours of vegging out in the condo, Bryan and I went to Tapas for dinner.  So many people have raved about this place and I really wanted to try it.  I was so excited that it was a Spanish-style, small sharing plate restaurant because that would mean we could try a lot of different dishes!  Right?  Well, we tapped out after only 3...I guess we weren't that hungry even after a good day of walking around.   What we did eat was very delicio

Bryan and I needed a weekend away from Calgary so here we are in Canmore for the weekend.  The weather is quite lovely for December and so far we have been able to walk everywhere quite easily.  The sun was out earlier today but it seems to set early (mountains are in the way).   We attempted to get a deal on a place to stay here in Canmore.  I spent many hours looking for a room here for a weekend away in the summer but most nights were around $200 each, which was a bit too much.  So, I was quite happy to receive a Groupon deal for the Lodges at Canmore for $99 / night.  I purchased the Groupon and picked this weekend...and then saw the actual charge on my bill.  Stupid Groupon is all in US dollars when you pay, but listed in Canadian on their site.  Very deceptive!  And, with exchange and other charges, we still ended up paying over $200 / night for this place.   Anyway, what can you do?  We are renting a condo for the weekend, rather than staying in a hotel.  This smallish 1-bed

Well, Halloween is over for another year.  As I took down my decorations yesterday, I had many mixed feelings plus a few ideas for what I'd like to do in my year next year.  I am that person who puts up her decorations the first weekend of October so I did get to enjoy the horror for a few weeks! While not exactly an annual tradition, I would say that I try to get to ScreamFest at least every second year.  However, I believe I have missed quite a few years since I first discovered the small yet frightening haunted house event that pops up in the city each October.   My first ScreamFest took place in some large warehouse lot that seemed to be off MacLeod Trail, with a few games, some snacks and one large haunted house exhibit.  I vaguely remember the exhibit taking 10 or so minutes to walk through with a bunch of ghouls walking around, severed limbs hanging from the ceiling, and robotics popping up at the last minute to scare you.  What lingers with me, though, is the final walk

So, again, an incredibly bad Internet connection in our guest house prevented me from uploading pictures and posting to the blog last night so here I am, bright and early, at Schiphol trying to catch up!  I do have a 4 hour layover so I need sometime to keep me occupied...although, and don't judge, I did find the wonderful Dutch black liquorice candies in the gift shop that I am now enjoying at 10:00am!  Of course, I have been up since 2:45 am so I figure that's okay.   Yesterday was our last day in Dublin and of our trip.  We didn't really plan for much but woke up, went to for breakfast and decided to see if there were any half-day trips out of the city.  We did find one, a 4 1/2 hour tour of the immediate vicinity to the Malahide Castle and to Howth, a lovely seaside town, along the Irish coast.   I have been quietly lamenting the fact that, while the castles we see and tour are neat, they haven't really been giving me insight into how people lived inside them.

[Unable to post this on Sunday, September 27th, due to poor Internet connectivity!] Yesterday we spent a couple of hours in Belfast at the Botanical Gardens and Ulster Museum before taking the bus to Dublin.  The museum gave a great historical story of the people and species of Northern Ireland, including the crystal, silverware, clothing, dinosaurs, fossils, and other important elements that have shaped the country since the beginning of time.   Rose in the Belfast Botanical Garden Our bus coach took about 2 1/2 hours to reach Dublin so we arrived at our guest house, Abbott Lodge, around 3pm.  This place is so much better than the hostel in Belfast - we have some room to move around in the room, our own bathroom, and there aren't people partying and yelling all through the night!  While it's a bit odd that we have to leave the key with front desk each and every time we leave, and the Wifi only seems to work in the little 'living room', we are both much happie

Today we began with an attempt at the free hostel breakfast, only to decide quickly that we should just go elsewhere.  The people at the hostel table seemed to be happy enough but we weren't really sure where the food was or what protocols to follow to eat, clean up and share.  We booked a day trip to the Giant's Causeway with Paddywagon Tours and had to meet up at 10:00 near the bus station, so we headed in that direction and had a quick coffee and fruit breakfast at one of the many Cafe Neros. Our bus tour guide was awesome - he was funny, telling stories (many of which, I'm sure, were just lies or tales to keep us entertained), and getting us efficiently and safely to where we needed to be.  Our tour up to the Giant's Causeway included a quick stop at the Dark Hedges , where beech trees were planted about 250 years ago to line one homestead's lane.  These trees are now used in some parts of the Game of Thrones series, but since I've never seen that show,

We arrived in Northern Ireland this afternoon.  Most of the day was spent either on the road or waiting at the airport (although I did get up in the cold morning air for a quick run and some Insanity in a Kilmarnock park).  The car had to be back at Thrifty by 10:00am so we dropped it off and decided to head into Glasgow for a couple of hours before our flight. Glasgow was just as many people had described - very modern and industrial, with a lot of newer skyscraper buildings and tons of downtown-like traffic.  We hopped off the bus and spent about an hour and a half wandering around.  Downtown Glasgow has many high-end stores, but nothing different from what we'd see at home.  It was still quite chilly outside so we found Starbucks, grabbed a coffee and walked up and down a few streets.  I don't think there is much to talk about for Glasgow, though... Glasgow City Commerce Building George's Square in Glasgow A Cafe Nero (like Starbucks - one on every corner)

Today we awoke to a wonderful breakfast of porridge, eggs, fresh fruit and coffee at the Woolly Rock bed and breakfast.  Our hostess, Sue, was very friendly and helpful and I would highly recommend her guesthouse to anyone in the Ballachulish area.  She offered us advice and ideas for getting around on foot and for meals, which is always appreciated, too. We set out on our journey towards Kilmarnock after breakfast.  The road was again very windy, narrow and at times pretty crowded with other cars, large tour buses and trucks.  We stopped at the Glencoe Visitor's Centre to check out what was there and found a couple of trails that were set up for walking through the hills.  The landscape was so gorgeous - lush, green and serene. The walk promised us a glimpse of roe deer and Highland cattle but unfortunately the cows were not out (we did see one deer hopping through the grass).   On from the Visitor's Centre we decided to stop along Loch Lamond, another huge and enticing Sc