Sunday, August 7th, 2016 Day 5: Delta, British Columbia - Where is this picnic? I was sent an email months in advance to hold today's date for a picnic with the extended family. However, my family was not given the specific location of where the picnic was. We were told that it would be at Boundary Bay, which is an enormous area in Delta, BC. When we finally learned the exact location of the picnic, Centennial beach, it was approaching late afternoon. My parents decided there was no point in going. However, since we were not doing anything, a few of us decided to go anyway. When we arrived most of the food was gone so we ate the leftovers. It was too cold to go in the water at the beach, so Renata and I ... read more

Friday, August 5th, 2016 Day 3: Vancouver, British Columbia: Finding a friend, glamorous gardens, and fresh fish! Today, Renata and I are incredibly excited to meet our friend Stephanie in downtown, Vancouver. It has been over 15 years since we've last seen each other. To get to Vancouver from our accommodation in Surrey, we needed to drive 10-minute to Surrey Central station plus take a 45 min train ride. Our accommodation was definitely not in an ideal location! We met Steph for lunch at a sushi restaurant in the mall near her workplace. We decided to eat outside, which was probably not a good idea because we were swarmed by bees. It's so weird! There is a bee shortage in Toronto but it seemed like there were more than enough bees to annoy us in Vancouver. ... read more

Day 1: Toronto, Ontario to Vancouver, British Columbia- The Adventure begins! The day has final arrived. After a year of planning my cousin, Ryan and his fiancé, Petrina, are getting married! My whole family is flying to Vancouver to celebrate the upcoming nuptials. Following the wedding, my family and a few relatives are heading on a weeklong cruise to the land of the midnight sun, Alaska. I can't wait! We arrived in Vancouver late Wednesday evening and took a taxi to our AirBnB accommodation in Surrey, BC. Although incredibly spacious, our accommodation was inconveniently located. Therefore, tomorrow, my family is going to rent a car to take us around.... read more

Today, was an interesting and chaotic travel day as we head back home to Toronto. Early in the morning we took the train from Atocha Station to the Madrid Airport. However, when we reached the airport, we did not realize our flight Terminal was located a fair distance away from the airport train station. We had to take an airport transfer bus that took almost 20 minutes to get to our terminal. It even had to take the highway to get there. We were starting to freak out a bit but we did leave 3 hours early to account for unexpected challenges. We finally arrived at the right terminal where we proceeded to the long queue to check in our luggage. When our luggage was checked in we found out that Renata was randomly chosen to ... read more

Today marked the official end of our Contiki tour to Spain, Morocco and Portugal. We said goodbye to our fellow travelers at breakfast as Renata and I set off for our Segovia and Avila tour with Julia Travel. We arrived at the Julia Travel agency only to discover that the agency had moved to another location in Madrid. Luckily, we found two Julia Travel representatives whom connected us to our bus going to Segovia and Avila. We arrived in Avila first, known for its amazing castle-like walls surrounding the city. We visited the basilica of San Vicente where the interior houses a beautiful altarpiece and tomb. We also visited the convent and museum of Teresa de Jesus. It is here where you can find many relics including the room where St. Teresa slept and the finger ... read more