To Travel is To Live

Lately we haven't been visiting too many exciting restaurants; we are trying to save money, and sure, Vietnamese food is really yummy, but this has meant a reduction in our regular dining out habit.  As a holistic nutritionist , I know this is better for both my health and my waistline so I am not complaining too much. However, my fiancé recently passed his PMP certification so I figured this meant a celebration was in order.  Since I went through the studying and process of getting my CISSP a few years ago, I completely understood how exhausting and stressful writing a 4+ hour exam can be. And he got it first try!  I'm so proud of him.  I use Open Table a lot to check out what's new and to book reservations for restaurants.  I have been using this app for a few years and I was 100 points away from my 10,000 point goal so luckily River Cafe was one of the many delicious options we could choose from for his celebration.  River Cafe is one ...

Well, 4 days ago the 4 month countdown to our wedding in Mexico began!  October still seems so far away but, looking through the checklist provided by the resort, I realized we are slightly behind a typical planning schedule. I don't have any exciting travel experiences to share today (we are, after all, having a wedding soon) but I hope that some our trials may be helpful to others.   Bryan and I are traveling to Puerto Morelos in October and we are getting married at the NOW Sapphire Riviera Cancun Resort and Spa.   The resort looks beautiful and belongs to the same family as chains like Dreams and Secrets, both of which are always gorgeous and well managed.  With decent reviews on Trip Advisor , including positive comments about food and wedding planning, the NOW seemed like a great choice (we shall see in October). Obviously, this is my first time planning a wedding, destination or domestic, so I was naturally quite uncertain about the whole process....

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 d...

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 we...

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...

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 in...

[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 hap...