Barrie 27th Nov-27th Dec

In Canada we spent the majority of our time in Barrie, Ontario with our friends Shannon and Hugh. We stayed with them on and off for a month and had some of our best times there (thanks guys!) The first weekend we stayed there they took us out to the Simcoe to sing some drunken karaoke (not Jen though- she danced) and we all had a blast despite being at least 20 years younger than the rest of the folk in the bar - there were cowboys hats and handle bar moustaches aplenty!

They also taught us the joys of Canadian fine dining (Wendy's, Red Lobster, baumsteaders etc) Oooh and the joys of Tim Hortons coffee!
Closer to Christmas Shannon and Hugh had some time off work and we got to do some pretty cool stuff: Shannon gor the recipe for home made Baileys so we made 3 litres of the stuff! A good substitution for milk in every cup of coffee!

Snow tubing was another highlight- sliding down an ice slope clinging for dear life to big rubber ring, even better when we joined them all together for maximum speed!

We were there for Christmas and were invited along with Shannon, Hugh and their flatmate Michelle to Shannons aunts of Christmas eve and her brothers on Christmas day. It was ace and we got to try cool Canadian food like hashbrown casserole and pumpkin pie!
On Christmas day we watched THE YULE LOG on TV. This last for 6 hours and is, quite simply, a log burning on the TV for 6 hours. Ace! (??!!) The day aftre boxing day we said our goodbyes to Michelle, Shannon and Hugh (who we won't see til September when they get married in Scotland!) and headed back to New York City.

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