‘Travels’ archive

A busy couple of weeks sightseeing…

Posted on 22 May 2011 in Travels | View Comments

At the beginning of the month, we went camping on the coast of Dorset.

We were there with our friends Dave and Jemma and their cute little dog Megan.

It was lovely. We spent the first night collecting firewood and hanging out on the beach. We climbed up Corfe Castle and had a look around the village as well.

Once back at the campsite, we got a nice fire going and had a feast. We even toasted marshmallows! As the fire slowly died down, we entertained ourselves by painting with light.

Chris added that third leg to Dave’s silhouette… Classy, right?

We woke up early and packed up in a rush to beat the rain, then headed to Lulworth cove for a look around.

Somehow, after this, Chris convinced me to walk up a really steep hill. I normally detest walking up big hills, but the view from the top was gorgeous. Next time I should not attempt this without my puffer handy!

The weekend following our camping weekend was spent relaxing. We did go and wander around Great Chalfield Manor, where they filmed The Other Boleyn Girl in 2008. It wasn’t as impressive as I’d hoped. I think I’m a tourist snob now!

My old college housemate, Ally, came to visit as well. I took her on a whirlwind tour of London which began with changing of the guards. From there we went literally everywhere I’ve ever been to in London, apart from Harrods. I’ve also decided that Trafalgar Square is my favourite bit of London.

While she was here, Ally taught me how to make Ukrainian perogies from scratch! I’ve yet to attempt it on my own, though.

The day before she left, we went to Stonehenge and Salisbury.

And I think that pretty much brings us to the present. As you can tell, I’ve certainly been making good use of my National Trust card lately!

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Eastern Canada in the Fall

Posted on 17 August 2009 in Travels | View Comments

Chris and I are thinking about going to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in the fall, providing we can clear up our design work beforehand. Our tentative plan is to fly into Halifax, rent a car then head to Moncton, Charlottetown and St. John before crossing on a ferry back to Nova Scotia and driving along the coast back to Halifax. Let us know if we missed anything or if you can make any recommendations!
View Proposed Canada trip in a larger map

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5 Things I Hate About Transatlantic Travelling

Posted on 8 December 2008 in Travels | View Comments

Since I’ve been involved with Chris, I’ve been hopping back and forth between Canada and the UK. I think it’s now safe to say I’m a seasoned transatlantic traveller, and I thought I’d share a few travel tips. You know, in case any of you Canadians want to come visit me? Hint, hint. Read the rest of this entry »

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Flying Air Canada with a pet in cargo

Posted on 6 November 2008 in Travels | View Comments

When I phoned Air Canada to book my cat’s flight, they referred me to a different phone number for cargo. I called the number they provided and booked the flight 2 weeks in advance. They said I had to be there 4 hours before my flight and said that DEFRA would be contacting me about some forms I’d need to fax them for entry clearance. I left both my UK and Canadian telephone numbers as well as Chris’ here in the UK.

Now, I’m not sure who exactly is to blame, but either Air Canada Cargo didn’t provide DEFRA with all of my phone numbers, or DEFRA only chose to call my UK mobile number, which didn’t make any sense considering I was in Canada at the time and flying with the pet, which they must have been aware of. If I hadn’t gotten Chris to call the James Cargo in London, I wouldn’t have had entry clearance forms
Read the rest of this entry »

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Canada vs. England

Posted on 2 September 2008 in Travels | View Comments

Better in Canada		Better in England
Peanut Butter: okay, I know, I’m a peanut butter snob Roads: While Canada has wider roads, larger shoulders, less curves, no hedges or stone walls to crash into, we do have bigger pot holes and bumpy surfaces. I still prefer driving in Canada, though! Restaurant prices: give me Swiss Chalet anyday! $15 gets you a huge rotisserie chicken meal and a drink (including taxes and tip!) How bars & clubs operate: I prefer the tipping system because it motivates bar staff to work harder and ensures you’ll be served quicker if you tip better. Subway: Choose from three types of cheese and yellow mustard. How I miss yellow mustard. Public Toilets: I much prefer American toilets. The water levels are so low in the UK / Europe that more often than not the entire bowl smells like pee Recycling: You wouldn’t believe how bad the recycling system is in Bath & North East Somerset… Plus I have a feeling it all ends up in the dump anyhow. There should be a bottle deposit on alcohol cans and recycling bins beside public trash cans… Central heating: I prefer vents to radiators, and in Canada we keep our houses warmer, generally. Television: namely Comedy… I don’t ‘get’ British comedy Coffee: You know I love my Tim Horton’s!		Dairy products: Skim milk is actually delicious and cheese is incredible Cider: There are are so many different kinds – my favourite is Pear Checkout queues: aside from Lloyds bank, they keep the queues moving faster here Fashion: always a step ahead of Canada, but prices are double (or more) Traffic intersections: traffic circles make so much more sense than traffic lights or four-way stops. Window shopping: I love having everything on a ‘High Street’ where all the shops are terraced and all the good shops are crammed together with nice window displays. Public transportation: trains, in general. They run so often and are much cheaper. Houses: gotta love the Georgian architecture in Bath!!! Fireplaces: there’s one in each room here, including the bathroom! Accents: you know all us North Americans are suckers for the accents… Slang: Not only is everyone familiar with American slang, but they have a whole set of slang Design: signage, menus, magazines, etc are much nicer here, on average Pub cleanliness: well, the ones I’ve been to anyways…

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Things I can’t find in the UK

Posted on 25 July 2008 in Annoyances, Travels | View Comments

apple sauce
Reese’s Peanut Butter cups (given I haven’t really tried)
a good brand of peanut butter
stick antiperspirant in a brand other than Dove
strawberry cream cheese
light microwavable popcorn
salsa*
reasonably priced zipper seal food bags
baseball gear (you can’t find it in Bath but I’m sure you can up north)
good maple syrup
pub beer that’s sold in pitchers as opposed to pints
thick crust pizza sold by the slice
cajun chicken (deli meat)

* okay, you can find it but it’s much more expensive and usually comes in teeeeeeeeny containers

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I am a princess (or so it seems)

Posted on 2 July 2008 in Personal, Travels | View Comments

You’re going to hate me. I feel the need to brag…

Chris and I just booked an all-inclusive vacation to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt! We’re staying in a 5-star hotel with its own private beach.

How did we afford this?� We used www.lastminute.com coupled with www.tripadvisor.com and www.vibeagent.com to read reviews and check prices. We used www.kayak.com to see if we could get a cheaper flight than the deal offered.

The last-minute deal was �499 each, which was quite a steal but we decided to sleep on it and make sure we really wanted to go. The next morning we woke to find that an extra �100 each had been knocked off the price. We booked right away!

Soon after, we got a phone call from the travel agent saying that there were no more available seats in Standard Economy so we had to upgrade if we wanted the holiday (an extra �69 each — ouch, but still less than the original trip price).

We went ahead with this and we leave on Sunday!� That, my friends is how you score a sweet sweet deal.� Now look at these photos and weep: