Vacation abridged
Back home in Niceland now and the immortal words of the Talking Heads: I ask myself - how did I get here?? are too apt. Because the getting here part is kind of a blur.
Must be the jetlag.
Be that as it may, as you may have surmised - by my absence of blog missives - I was having a fantabulous time. Here is a brief rundown of what we did [and yes I wrote it down]:
WEDNESDAY
Went shopping at Mountain Equipment Co-op to the point where I just had to close my eyes and hand over the VISA card at the cash. Had a wonderful visit with my cousin Signy who had flown in from Vancouver. Had a rooftop barbecue with her and her friends Rhiannon and Jeff in the evening, while the sun went down and the lights came on in the skyscrapers a few blocks away.
THURSDAY
Drove down to Kingston in utterly gorgeous weather. Took the scenic route along Hwy 33; stopped for gas and managed to lock the keys inside the car at some station out in the boonies [oops!]; bought the best doughnuts ever, ever, ever, at a tiny roadside store. And the best cherries, too.
FRIDAY
Had AAH returned to us. Took her to a spa so she could get fake nails put on her 'lil 15-year old hands [!]. Hung around in beautiful Kingston, which happened to have a buskers' festival going on. What is a buskers festival, you ask? It's where buskers and street artists from all over the world come to do their busking street artist thing. They close off whole sections of the town solely for that purpose and lemme tell you, it's a hoot. Also went shopping at a fantabulous store called American Apparel; who knew there would be all those fabulous clothes there that I absolutely needed?? That evening, the best part: met up with two of my very bestest girlfriends from high school, for dinner. One of them I had not seen for a full twenty-six years!! Awesome. Truly. Awesome. Drank a little too much red wine, but there you go. If you can't drink too much red wine with your old high school girlfriends, who can you drink too much red wine with... right?
SATURDAY
Coped with the effects of red wine excess. Flaked out in the grass on the banks of Lake Ontario with the sailboats floating by offshore. Checked out some more buskers. Took AAH so she could get a henna tattoo. And oh! Who knew Leffe would be served on tap in Kingston, and so cheap, too! Decided to stay an extra night because a) we loved Kingston b) we so very much enjoyed staying at my aunt and uncle's lovely airy high-ceilinged, exposed-limestone condo, that they had graciously lent to us while they were away in Vancouver.
SUNDAY
On the way back to Toronto stopped at Sandbanks Provincial Park for a little sunbathing and swimming, at what must be the most beautiful beach in Canada. I'd provide a link, but none of the photos I found do the place justice. It is pure magic.
MONDAY
AAH insisted on one final trip to the Eaton Centre so I obliged her. And there was one last rooftop barbecue with very dramatic lightning flashes in the distance. Yowsa.
TUESDAY
Guess who I met up with? Jamie! We had lunch at the Queen Mother Cafe. And then EPI, AAH and YT went home to Niceland.
AND WE TOOK THE SUN WITH US
Or so they say, because the weather has been absolute shite the whole entire time we were away - until today when it was sunny and a balmy 15°C. Those poor OTHERS with whom we did the home exchange - they got awful weather while we got... a few thunderstorms, a few days of sweltering heat, but generally excellent southern Ontario summer weather. Right now it is 17°C and the sun came up at 03.52 and set at 23.13. And I have now been awake for 36 hours straight and am quite giddy from sleeplessness and not sleepy at all, isn't that weird?
PS: Did I mention we got married? That was another thing we did in Toronto - got married.
Must be the jetlag.
Be that as it may, as you may have surmised - by my absence of blog missives - I was having a fantabulous time. Here is a brief rundown of what we did [and yes I wrote it down]:
WEDNESDAY
Went shopping at Mountain Equipment Co-op to the point where I just had to close my eyes and hand over the VISA card at the cash. Had a wonderful visit with my cousin Signy who had flown in from Vancouver. Had a rooftop barbecue with her and her friends Rhiannon and Jeff in the evening, while the sun went down and the lights came on in the skyscrapers a few blocks away.
THURSDAY
Drove down to Kingston in utterly gorgeous weather. Took the scenic route along Hwy 33; stopped for gas and managed to lock the keys inside the car at some station out in the boonies [oops!]; bought the best doughnuts ever, ever, ever, at a tiny roadside store. And the best cherries, too.
FRIDAY
Had AAH returned to us. Took her to a spa so she could get fake nails put on her 'lil 15-year old hands [!]. Hung around in beautiful Kingston, which happened to have a buskers' festival going on. What is a buskers festival, you ask? It's where buskers and street artists from all over the world come to do their busking street artist thing. They close off whole sections of the town solely for that purpose and lemme tell you, it's a hoot. Also went shopping at a fantabulous store called American Apparel; who knew there would be all those fabulous clothes there that I absolutely needed?? That evening, the best part: met up with two of my very bestest girlfriends from high school, for dinner. One of them I had not seen for a full twenty-six years!! Awesome. Truly. Awesome. Drank a little too much red wine, but there you go. If you can't drink too much red wine with your old high school girlfriends, who can you drink too much red wine with... right?
SATURDAY
Coped with the effects of red wine excess. Flaked out in the grass on the banks of Lake Ontario with the sailboats floating by offshore. Checked out some more buskers. Took AAH so she could get a henna tattoo. And oh! Who knew Leffe would be served on tap in Kingston, and so cheap, too! Decided to stay an extra night because a) we loved Kingston b) we so very much enjoyed staying at my aunt and uncle's lovely airy high-ceilinged, exposed-limestone condo, that they had graciously lent to us while they were away in Vancouver.
SUNDAY
On the way back to Toronto stopped at Sandbanks Provincial Park for a little sunbathing and swimming, at what must be the most beautiful beach in Canada. I'd provide a link, but none of the photos I found do the place justice. It is pure magic.
MONDAY
AAH insisted on one final trip to the Eaton Centre so I obliged her. And there was one last rooftop barbecue with very dramatic lightning flashes in the distance. Yowsa.
TUESDAY
Guess who I met up with? Jamie! We had lunch at the Queen Mother Cafe. And then EPI, AAH and YT went home to Niceland.
AND WE TOOK THE SUN WITH US
Or so they say, because the weather has been absolute shite the whole entire time we were away - until today when it was sunny and a balmy 15°C. Those poor OTHERS with whom we did the home exchange - they got awful weather while we got... a few thunderstorms, a few days of sweltering heat, but generally excellent southern Ontario summer weather. Right now it is 17°C and the sun came up at 03.52 and set at 23.13. And I have now been awake for 36 hours straight and am quite giddy from sleeplessness and not sleepy at all, isn't that weird?
PS: Did I mention we got married? That was another thing we did in Toronto - got married.
posted by Alda at 6:07 PM
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