From a very young age I have always loved to go on vacation. Originally, it was something I loved because it was the only time when it was just me and my family together for an entire week or two. Eventually, it turned into a love of seeing new places, cultures and of course, getting some relaxation. I hope you enjoy little snippets of my journeys.
It was our last full day here in New York. This morning we slept in a bit and had a more relaxing morning. We packed up all our luggage so itd be ready to go and walked out the front doors of our hotel to explore Times Square. We did a bit of shopping (M&M store, Hersheys store, Broadway Store, etc.) and checked out the massive Toys R Us ferris wheel. While we were there we heard a crazy amount of sirens and saw many police and firestrucks zooming down to the end of the street. We walked over to get a closer look and all that we could see was that they had taped off a subway station entrance. Interesting, but we didnt give it a whole lot of thought. We found out last in ... read more
We woke up this morning eager for another day of exploring. Today was going to be a BIG day and we had alot of ground to cover. We filled up in our free breakfast at the hotel, grabbed some of their cookies to go and headed for the subway station. We took it all the way to the end of Manhatten and walked over to catch the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We bought our tickets in advance thanks to advice from tripadvisor and headed straight through security. Within 15 minutes we were on our way! We opted not to get off at the Statue of Liberty as were Canadians and it wasnt that big of a deal to us. But we did get some fun pictures from the ferry. We ... read more
This morning we hitched a ride into town with Elia on her way to work. We got to see her offices (she works with the UN) and then decided to take the subway over to the MET from there. I was a little apprehensive at figuring out the subway since it had been away 10 years since I did it last, but we picked it up in no time. We walked over to Grand Central to check it out and then we took the subway over to 5th Avenue and walked up the street to the Museum. My mother couldnt believe how big the place was and we quickly decided we would need to choose what we wanted to see most. We decided on the Egyptian section, the Greek and the oil paintings upstairs. First we ... read more
This morning my mother and I caught an early flight from Vancouver to New York to surprise our friend Elia. It was her 50th birthday and this trip had been in the works by her husband for over two years. I had been to New York when I was 16, but this was the first time my mother would be visiting. We arrived around 5:00pm and were picked up by her husband Charlies and daughter Sara and we immediatly left for their home in the Bronx, hoping to get there before she came home from work. We literally walked in the door about 5 minutes before she did! She was beyond shocked to see us! We enjoyed some take out pizza from a local place and called it a night. Tomorrow we will be heading into ... read more
Matt and I have just returned from a wonderfully relaxing (yet very wet) weekend in Whistler. I think we Vancouverites tend to take Whistler for granted. Whenever I'm there, I have to remind myself that people come from all over the world to experience this beautiful place in the middle of the mountains. Unfortunitly, the weather decided not to cooperate with us and it did rain most of the weekend. But its shoulder season in Whistler - which means nice and cheap hotel rooms. In fact, we were able to get a 2 bedroom suite on the top floor of one of the most highly rated hotels in the area - the Pan Pacific. It was in a wonderful location, with a huge pool deck over looking all the comings and goings of the central village. ... read more
Disney studios was probably my least favourite of all the parks we visited that week. Its not that it wasnt fun, but the day we visited this park was the day I was the most sick with my stomach flu. It really puts a damper on your vacation when going on any ride feels like torture (and you usually love rides.) But I told myself I was probably never going to be here again so I HAD to do it. First thing I did that morning? Aerosmiths Rockin RollerCoaster. Blasting off to 65 miles an hour in 4 seconds and going straight into an upside down loop and a corkscrew sounded like a total blast to me. But the moment the pressure of the speed hit my tummy it took everything in me to get through ... read more
On Days 2 and 3 of our Disneyworld adventure, the family and I headed to Epcot. The park is basically split up into two sections; Futureworld which consists of a number of different sections and World Showcase which celebrates different cultures of the world. The first thing you see when you enter the park is a gigantic globe type structure. Inside it was a really cool dark ride (similiar to pirates of the carribean) which shuttles you through time to see how cultures adapted over the years with their communication skills. It starts out in the time of the cave man writing on the walls and goes all the way up to the time when computers were adapted to be a common household item. Everyone in my family really enjoyed this as most of us like ... read more
Disneys Magic Kingdom - the HEART of Disney and where all the 'magic' happens. Now anyone who knows me well, knows im all about the Magic of Disney. Its something I have experienced each and every time I have walked through the front gates of this park and something that I really cant describe. Since I had only ever been to Disneyland before and it was my first time to DisneyWORLD I was a little worried I wouldnt feel it. Things were different from the very beginning. We pulled into probably the biggest parking lot I have ever seen in my life! From there you get onto a tram that take you to a monorail that takes you to the park entrance. I honestly dont understand why they planned it out this way as it adds ... read more
Matt and I had a wonderful weekend away in the beautiful city of Victoria BC. It was like a little vacation for us, which was great! We had to get up bright and early friday morning to catch a ferry out of Tswassen. Thankfully there was a starbucks at the terminal so I had that along with my fav Island Oat Bar and started to feel much more awake. Once off the ferry we headed straight downtown to explore. First thing we wanted to check out was the Legislature buildings (BC Parliment) and luckily for us it was open for us to wander through. It was decorated beautifully for Christmas and we were able to explore much of the building. The structure is really cool inside; lots of detailing in the walls and mosiacs on the ... read more
Since Matt and I didnt really get a honeymoon just the two of us, we decided to take advantage of a last minute cruise deal up to Alaska. It was easy to do, since we could just drive downtown and hop on, so we decided to go for it! We had beautiful sunny weather on our departure day of Sunday August 30th. We were able to bask in the sun on the top deck and wave goodbye as we sailed under the Lions Gate Bridge and out into the open ocean. The water just sparkled and it looked so beautiful as the sun began to set! Within no time we were out where their was no land on the horizon and all we could see was the open ocean. The ship itself was magnificent, with numerous ... read more
