http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/kirsterellie/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from kirsterellie en-us Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:39:09 BST Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:39:09 BST So I ended up in Toronto or Tronno to the locals early because my plans for Washington DC and Boston kinda fell through. Irsquove booked three nights in one hostel and two in another because thatrsquos all I could get. When everything is this busy Irsquom taking what I can getWhat I didnrsquot realise until I got here was that my Greyhound pass ends on the day that I had originally pl http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Toronto/blog-313310.html Bus ride was long another 24 hours.. but I had my own seat for most of it only had to share for a few hours so that was awesome. I was last in line for border security Irsquom usually one of the last to get off the bus every time it stops because I have to reorganise my carry on luggage all the time. So border security seemed to take a while for a few people but seemed the longest for me. T http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Illinois/Chicago/blog-311806.html So the last place I updated about was Halifax which I actually visited before Quebes City. The rest of Quebec City I pretty much stayed in a shitty mood I couldnrsquot shake it. I guess that happens sometimes. Nothing really impressed me and it kept raining. Itrsquos a shame because everyone else who goes there absolutely loves it. Maybe I should go there again in my two years here. After http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Quebec/Montreal/blog-311798.html Dramas on bus Got off at Montreal to find the BIGGEST most unorganised line ever. People everywhere. I lined up but it looked like the bus was going to overfill and me and a couple of guys I was talking to in the line were hoping it would so that we could all get seats to ourselves and stretch out. I get to the front of the line and am told that I have to go back to the information booth b http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Nova-Scotia/Halifax/blog-307095.html The bus ride from Halifax to Quebec City was the worst yet. The first leg was alright I got a seat to myself so managed to stretch out and get about an hour of sleep. Score. From there it got worse though. There were kids on there with their electronic toys. I understand that they need to be entertained but really do the rest of us need to hear their DVDs and computer games Eff off and let me http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Quebec/Quebec-City/blog-306775.html Ugh. Not having a good day today. I arrived very early this morning and the guy at the front desk was a bit of a dick but eventually he was OK. Then this morning another receptionist was a dick too apparently they're all rude to the English speakers. Effers. I didn't get much sleep so I think that's the reason for how I'm feeling. I'm on the verge of tears as I write this ugh. I'm kinda sick of http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Quebec/Quebec-City/blog-306432.html Lame joke no I thought of it on the bus and thought I may as well put it in.So after the short 2 hr 40 minute bus ride from Montreal I was in Ottawa Canadarsquos capital I caught a taxi from the Greyhound station to my hostel which is actually in the old jail I saw that there were tours of the jail every night so signed up for one straight away. The jail tour was pretty cool we were sho http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Ottawa/blog-305939.html So we arrived in Montreal at 1030 on Monday. We were going to attempt to catch the train to the hostel but with my massive suitcase shoulder bag laptop bag handbag and Vanessarsquos TWO massive suitcases we didnrsquot like our chances. We thought a taxi might be the best way to go. Only the taxis didnrsquot want to take us either so we had to get a taxi each. My taxi driver was alri http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Quebec/Montreal/blog-302716.html So the dreaded 2 day 9 hour Greyhound trip from Calgary to Montreal. At times I wanted to shoot myself at other times it wasnrsquot so bad. Overall Irsquod say I would do it again as long as I wasnrsquot by myself. Highlights includeLowlights include Nothing to see through Alberta Saskatchewan and Manitoba. A stupid mole of a lady sitting on my legs while I was sleeping instead http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/blog-301530.html So I left Calgary and gave Tom a break for two days while I went to Edmonton. The bus ride took about 4 hours and Irsquom pretty sure I slept through most of it. I did manage to get a few photos along the way but everything was so flat not a mountain in sight after we got out of Calgary Still pretty in itrsquos own way though. Once I got to Edmonton I got on another bus to my hostel only http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Edmonton/blog-299665.html So Lake Louise was gorgeousI hardly got any sleep that night the room was the hottest I've ever tried to sleep in. The power ended up being out until 10am the next morning so obviously there was no aircon and I was lucky enough to have the highest hottest bed in the room. I ended up braving the super steep stairs in the dark and sleeping for an hour or so on a couch in the common room. I lef http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-299654.html So the travel blog finally begins again.. Irsquom on the Greyhound about to leave for Lake LouiseI had the worst nightrsquos sleep last night. It was 30 degrees yesterday and last night seemed about the same so so hot in the hostel room. We had the air con on but I think once there are three people sleeping in a small room therersquos not much you can do to keep the heat at bay. I do http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Lake-Louise/blog-294068.html So today is my first day in semiretirement for the second time. I was actually a little sad yesterday when I was leaving Yellow Pages for the last time. As much as I bitched about some of the tasks they had me doing putting thousands of text boxes into documents and photocopying newspapers.. vomit the reality is that I've been in Vancouver for 3 months and worked there for 11 weeks.. It's ta http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/blog-292132.html Am writing this from work.. Such a model employeeI got my haircut the other day and it was a disaster. I hate not having my regular hairdresser I have to explain what I want and they never quite get it. Mum tell Kelly I miss her So I wanted to keep my hair the same length but add some more layers in. I got layers boy did I get layers When she showed me how short they are up to the top of m http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/blog-289721.html Last week was another normal week at work.. Nothing exciting happened really. I had a few sightings of HMG though I still havenrsquot talked to him and fell in love with a few boys over the phone. In particular someone named Christian.. Mmmmm. My boss asked if I could stay on until OctoberNovember but I had to turn her down because of all the traveling Irsquoll be doing over the next few http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Whistler/blog-287895.html The weekend just gone was a goodieThursday night we went back to the Beaver to reform Fireball Whiskey and reclaim our title as Trivia champions I was at the bar first cos I finished work at 430 and therersquos no point in going home to then go into the city an hour or so later. MaryAnne came shortly after but I started on the long islands before she got there. We met two nice English back http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/blog-286018.html I spent last weekend alone. What a loser you say. Yoursquore probably rightFriday night I convinced Erin Vanessa to do the Cambie again even just for a few drinks. It was a good night not overly eventful but still better than doing nothing We hardly had to pay for anything all night. One guy Sheldon took a liking to Erin and told us that it was customary he was First Nation Indian fo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/blog-286006.html So over the weekend we went to Vancouver Island.. Yaaay new stuff to see You might remember that on my flight from LA to Vancouver I met an old man who told me that Vancouver Island was the same size as Australia. Silencio old man.. you are so wrongLast week was a pretty normal week with work etc. Thursday night we played Trivia and had a few drinks at the Beaver. Our team was called Fireball http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/blog-278515.html Sooooo helloThis last week has had ups and downs. An up is that Erin and I along with the young British guy got extended at work. It was only the three of us out of seven and Irsquom not entirely sure how they chose. Happy days though. There were a few times there that we thought we might get fired due to excessive facebook and texting but now theyrsquove blocked facebook so itrsquos ju http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/blog-276024.html HiSo last Friday ended up being a flop unfortunately. We went to go to the Blarnee Stone but there was a line that just wasnrsquot moving. Not a huge fan of waiting in queues really We then thought wersquod try the Cambie but it was the same story. Vanessa and MaryAnne went home and Erin I went to Doolinrsquos. We paid 8 to get in seriously you have to pay to get in EVERYWHERE her http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/blog-272502.html