After much debate about where we were going to go for Spring Break (Egypt no longer being a viable option due to the fact that we wanted to return alive), Johanne and I ended up spending this past week in Gran Canaria, the Canary Islands, Spain. Form everything we'd read, the weather should be gorgeous ("spring all year round" they said), the beaches beautiful, and the hotels relatively comfortable. They were right on all counts. The one thing everyone forget to mention, however, was that Gran Canaria appears to be the Florida of Europe - that is, a place for old people to go to escape the winter. If we had to take a guess, Johanne and I would probably say that the average age of guests at our hotel was about 80. At least once a day, we would notice something that would make us feel like we were living in a retirement home. For instance, tapioca was a staple on the dessert bar. Flan was also a main attraction. One day we even saw... wait for it... stewed prunes!!! Disgusting. The food selection wasn't the only thing making us feel like we were surrounded by old folks. The sheer amount of leathery, saggy skin was shocking! Everywhere we looked there were old people who looked like they may have been the reincarnations of brown leather couches. Also, the main form of entertainment at the hotel - bingo!!! At first, we thought that maybe our hotel catered to the elderly and, somehow, we had missed that part of the description when we booked it, but we were pleased to discover that, throughout the island, octogenarians outnumber people under 35 by a ratio of at least 4 to 1. All in all, while we saw many things (notably breasts) that we wish we could unsee though unfortunately we cannot, the omnipresence of old people made us feel incredibly young and happy.
Old folks' homes aside, we had a really good time. As you would imagine from an all-inclusive vacation, it wasn't so action-packed. We spent a lot of time by the pool or on the beach, soaking up the sun (since we all know that we haven't seen any of that in a while). On Sunday, however, we rented a car and went to explore pretty much the whole island. The inland part of the island is exceptionally hilly, so it was pretty funny to watch Johanne freak out every time she thought she was going to have to stop on one of the steeper hills (standard transmission, you know!). I can't say that I blame her too much, though. Those hills were pretty serious. At one point, on the way back down, we coasted (i.e. no gas, just brakes) for 12 whole minutes without the speed of the car ever dropping below 40 kilometres per hour. We got to take in some really beautiful scenery from the top, so it was a really good way to spend a day out of the sun (we may or may not have gotten burnt on the first day...)
Anyway, so as I said, we really didn't do much of anything to thrilling, and I therefore have nothing to say here. I just wanted you all to know that we survived the old folks' home and are now looking forward to retirement.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
The city of lights... and chocolate!
I promised that the next post would be happier, so here it is - PARIS!!!
Last Friday, Shelby, Danko, Jackie, Christina and I headed straight to the airport for our flight to none other but the city of lights, Paris. We arrived really late, got lost trying to find the hostel, and pretty much feel asleep instantly upon finding our beds. We were in town for 3 days, though, so we had more than enough time to make up for a slightly more boring than acceptable first night.
On Saturday morning, we woke up early (this is, unfortunately, an occupational hazard) and partook of the hostel's free breakfast. Generally, this wouldn't be anything to write home about, but seeing as it's Paris, the pastries were delectable, the hot chocolate rich and the croissants melted in your mouth. It was a good start to the day.
Seeing as Shelby and I had already been to Paris, we decided to let the others decide what we would do with our time. They wanted to join a free walking tour of the city, so we made our way to Place Saint-Michel at 11 o'clock. We met our tour guide, a very eccentric yet somehow still sarcastically funny girl, and headed off to see the sites. Under her care, we saw and had history lessons about the Cathedrale de Notre-Dame, the Paris opera house, the birthplace of Friday the 13th, the Louvre museum, the "love bridge" and other such Paris landmarks. By the halfway point of this 3 and a half hour walking tour, we were freezing our tatas off and were more than happy to accept the Starbucks our guide offered up as a break area. However, the twenty minutes she offered us to go in and warm up absolutely did not strike our fancy, so we ditched the tour and decided to see the rest of the sites on our own. Having been to Paris previously and being the proud owner of a pretty good memory and somewhat reasonable sense of direction, I took it upon myself to act as our tour guide. Mostly, I just made up stories about crazy kings taking over places and building whatever buildings we saw, but my charges seemed to be enjoying my commentary, so it worked out in my favour. Also, with one of our own as the tour guide, we were free to stop somewhere warm every time the wind got to us.
My first order of business on this tour was to find us a pain au chocolat. After all, Danko, Jackie, and Christina had never had one fresh out of a Paris bakery, so it really didn't seem fair to make them wait any longer. The joy and wonder had to begin immediately. Luckily for us, there are bakeries littered around Paris, including in the Jardin des Tuilleries where we were at the moment, so the pastries were directly within our reach. It was like a party in my mouth...
We finished out the afternoon visiting the Arc de Triomphe (including the world's largest - and therefore scariest - roundabout), les Champs Elysees (where I saw the absolute largest Sephora ever of all time... Heather might have cried), the Place de la Concorde, the Eiffel Tower, and the Trocadero. In and of themselves, nothing too terribly fancy, but I have to say that they all make for excellent photographic opportunities. By the end of the day, we had been out in the cold walking for about twelve hours, so we found a nice spot for dinner, drank some French wine and retreated to the hostel, where some of us were so tired we fell asleep in our clothes (I won't name names, but I can assure you that it was not me).
The next morning, we rose early again and set out for more great adventures. Naturally, our first stop was yet another bakery, where chocolate for breakfast seems like not only the logical choice, but an absolute must. We then went to take a closer loos at the Cathedrale de Notre-Dame. I took my tourists to see the back of it, as it is far more impressive than the front (twss?), then we headed inside - free on Sundays! - where Jackie and Christina decided to stay for mass. Shelby, Danko, and I now had an hour to kill, so we decided to wander off in an as of yet unexplored direction. We headed down a street that led us directly to City Hall, an old building which was undoubtedly some kind of palace once upon a time. Directly in front of it was a great big outdoor skating rink. Somehow, despite not having put on skates or even considered skating in about 13 years, I was overcome with such an urge to go skating that I managed to convince Shelby and the Donk to at least go check out what it would cost. Well, for five euros each, how could we reasonably say no? We rented our somewhat worn-down skates, laced them up, and hit the ice. It was an incredibly scary, yet wonderful way to kill an hour in downtown Paris. I am also proud to report that none of us fell on our asses, or faces, or other body parts - not even once! This even includes those moments when we felt that silly pictures were in order (i.e. dancing to Beyonce, "figure skating", and capturing the look of utmost concentration on our faces).
Unfortunately, this is me "dancing" on skates.
When the girls finished at church, they took the Donk and went to check out the Louvre, this time inside. Shelby and I had already been in there and had no interest in revisiting the Mona Lisa (she is highly disappointing in person), so we whiled away the afternoon in a coffee shop. To our delight, they sold "maxi" pains au chocolate - that is, chocolate-filled pastries the size of my head! What a good day!
That evening, we went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower (where we froze, again), watched in awe as it lit up and glittered, then headed out for another delicious meal accompanied by some shockingly inexpensive yet delectable wine. We once again found it shockingly easy to fall asleep that night.
On Monday morning, this glorious weekend of chocolate, cold, palaces, and frenchness unfortunately had to come to an end, so we got back on the bus that would take us to the airport. We departed Paris at 16:00, and the only thing I could think of was when I would have the chance to visit again.
Paris, I love you.
Last Friday, Shelby, Danko, Jackie, Christina and I headed straight to the airport for our flight to none other but the city of lights, Paris. We arrived really late, got lost trying to find the hostel, and pretty much feel asleep instantly upon finding our beds. We were in town for 3 days, though, so we had more than enough time to make up for a slightly more boring than acceptable first night.
On Saturday morning, we woke up early (this is, unfortunately, an occupational hazard) and partook of the hostel's free breakfast. Generally, this wouldn't be anything to write home about, but seeing as it's Paris, the pastries were delectable, the hot chocolate rich and the croissants melted in your mouth. It was a good start to the day.
Seeing as Shelby and I had already been to Paris, we decided to let the others decide what we would do with our time. They wanted to join a free walking tour of the city, so we made our way to Place Saint-Michel at 11 o'clock. We met our tour guide, a very eccentric yet somehow still sarcastically funny girl, and headed off to see the sites. Under her care, we saw and had history lessons about the Cathedrale de Notre-Dame, the Paris opera house, the birthplace of Friday the 13th, the Louvre museum, the "love bridge" and other such Paris landmarks. By the halfway point of this 3 and a half hour walking tour, we were freezing our tatas off and were more than happy to accept the Starbucks our guide offered up as a break area. However, the twenty minutes she offered us to go in and warm up absolutely did not strike our fancy, so we ditched the tour and decided to see the rest of the sites on our own. Having been to Paris previously and being the proud owner of a pretty good memory and somewhat reasonable sense of direction, I took it upon myself to act as our tour guide. Mostly, I just made up stories about crazy kings taking over places and building whatever buildings we saw, but my charges seemed to be enjoying my commentary, so it worked out in my favour. Also, with one of our own as the tour guide, we were free to stop somewhere warm every time the wind got to us.
My first order of business on this tour was to find us a pain au chocolat. After all, Danko, Jackie, and Christina had never had one fresh out of a Paris bakery, so it really didn't seem fair to make them wait any longer. The joy and wonder had to begin immediately. Luckily for us, there are bakeries littered around Paris, including in the Jardin des Tuilleries where we were at the moment, so the pastries were directly within our reach. It was like a party in my mouth...
We finished out the afternoon visiting the Arc de Triomphe (including the world's largest - and therefore scariest - roundabout), les Champs Elysees (where I saw the absolute largest Sephora ever of all time... Heather might have cried), the Place de la Concorde, the Eiffel Tower, and the Trocadero. In and of themselves, nothing too terribly fancy, but I have to say that they all make for excellent photographic opportunities. By the end of the day, we had been out in the cold walking for about twelve hours, so we found a nice spot for dinner, drank some French wine and retreated to the hostel, where some of us were so tired we fell asleep in our clothes (I won't name names, but I can assure you that it was not me).
The next morning, we rose early again and set out for more great adventures. Naturally, our first stop was yet another bakery, where chocolate for breakfast seems like not only the logical choice, but an absolute must. We then went to take a closer loos at the Cathedrale de Notre-Dame. I took my tourists to see the back of it, as it is far more impressive than the front (twss?), then we headed inside - free on Sundays! - where Jackie and Christina decided to stay for mass. Shelby, Danko, and I now had an hour to kill, so we decided to wander off in an as of yet unexplored direction. We headed down a street that led us directly to City Hall, an old building which was undoubtedly some kind of palace once upon a time. Directly in front of it was a great big outdoor skating rink. Somehow, despite not having put on skates or even considered skating in about 13 years, I was overcome with such an urge to go skating that I managed to convince Shelby and the Donk to at least go check out what it would cost. Well, for five euros each, how could we reasonably say no? We rented our somewhat worn-down skates, laced them up, and hit the ice. It was an incredibly scary, yet wonderful way to kill an hour in downtown Paris. I am also proud to report that none of us fell on our asses, or faces, or other body parts - not even once! This even includes those moments when we felt that silly pictures were in order (i.e. dancing to Beyonce, "figure skating", and capturing the look of utmost concentration on our faces).
Unfortunately, this is me "dancing" on skates.When the girls finished at church, they took the Donk and went to check out the Louvre, this time inside. Shelby and I had already been in there and had no interest in revisiting the Mona Lisa (she is highly disappointing in person), so we whiled away the afternoon in a coffee shop. To our delight, they sold "maxi" pains au chocolate - that is, chocolate-filled pastries the size of my head! What a good day!
That evening, we went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower (where we froze, again), watched in awe as it lit up and glittered, then headed out for another delicious meal accompanied by some shockingly inexpensive yet delectable wine. We once again found it shockingly easy to fall asleep that night.
On Monday morning, this glorious weekend of chocolate, cold, palaces, and frenchness unfortunately had to come to an end, so we got back on the bus that would take us to the airport. We departed Paris at 16:00, and the only thing I could think of was when I would have the chance to visit again.
Paris, I love you.
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