A week at the cottage with the family ... relaxation and bliss are truly the only words that come to mind. This is a cottage that we have now rented for the past four years but for me it was my second time there (I was travelling the other years!). It was definitely great to be back there and the week seemed to have flown by. There were tons of photo ops which always keeps me busy for a bit. I managed to finish two mystery novels (I can't remember the last time I was actually focused enough to finish one ... that's a problem and I need to solve that little issue!). Out of curiosty (I really needed to know if there were pieces missing) I managed, with some help from dad, to finish a ... read more

Last year I had the chance to go to New York City with my mom for the very first time. It was something that we had both wanted to do for a very long time so it was truly a thrill to be there ... albeit an exhausting thrill. While we were there I think that we both quietly thought about the possibility of this becoming an annual pilgrimage. It is close enough to Ottawa that spending a short time there is very feasible. So it should come as no surprise that eventhough I had the incredible opportunity to travel through France, Italy, Spain and Portugal for three months this summer that it was always part of the master plan for this year to squeeze in another four days in New York City ... the big ... read more

There is usually not much time that passes between the time that I've experienced what it is that I have experienced and the time that I write these blog entries. First, it's alot easier to write because it is so fresh in my mind and the excitement of the day is still very much present. So the fact that my netbook gave out on me on my last day in Cordoba means that the rest of these entries were going to have to be written once I got home. I normally take notes here and there throughout the day but this meant that I would have to be a little bit better at it. I guess I could have just skipped writing about the last three weeks of this trip entirely but I just thought that ... read more

Sorry about the lame title ... I am clearly running out of ideas for them! But really ... meandering is what I did. This is a great little town where getting lost in the streets and just poking in and out of museums is a really nice way to spend the day. Oh and disregard the comments on some of the photos ... for some reason my problem with uploading photos is back ... comments don't match the photo that I uploaded. I was a little worse for wear today ... stomach not good. I have been eating raw ham and carpaccio and chorizo and all kinds of crap ... no problem. A lovely little gazpacho ... and yes that's what tips me over the edge. It's tomatoes for the love of God! My body is ... read more

So again a blog entry that is going to cover the three days that I spent in Malaga. And again, this is not a sign that Malaga was not interesting ... not at all. It was kind of part of the plan that I would do a little sightseeing in Malaga but mainly it was added as part of the itinerary because of the fact that there were beaches. Ironically, I spent maybe an hour or two at the beach and made most of my new freckles by the pool at the hotel. I didn't even know that the hotel had a pool until I walked down the hallway towards my room and caught a glimpse of it. I was already doing a dance of joy simply based on the fact that my room had a ... read more