People looove to complain about social media these days. Have you noticed that? It almost seems like the trendy sport du jour, especially from people who are perhaps ‘recovering digital addicts’ themselves. I maybe have tiptoed on that bandwagon myself once or twice, fed up with all the angry/prejudice/ranting commonly found, but at the moment I am a staunch supporter. I’m thankful for the connection I get with people online, and that has been extra apparent to me this past week. Personally, it’s been a bit rocky for me but I have had so many comments of support via my social media outlets that have brightened my day and genuinely made me feel better. So thank you.
Speaking of great people, let’s segue in with some of them I spent my weekend with. If you’ve followed this blog before you might remember Jeff and Jeanette and my Warsaw adventures with them earlier this summer… Well those two beautiful love birds tied the knot on Saturday and I was fortunate enough to celebrate with them. With their wedding in my hometown, I feel qualified to announce their venue picks were pretty fantastic: What more could you want than to spend a day surrounded by indoor tropical gardens in the middle of downtown, and then (for us aviation geeks/travel addicts) party surrounded by old airplanes? Seriously, it was perfect.
Jeanette and Jeff’s wedding at Devonian Gardens
Perfect for this gang of aviators (photo credits to Natasha and Dave – thanks guys!)
So that was a lot of fun….
I have been desperately missing my travel adventures for the past couple weeks I’ve been at home, and yesterday I finally decided to do something about it. I took my camera for a walk and played the role of tourist for a couple hours, and you know what I (re)discovered? I live in a beautiful city!! Here are a few of my favourite shots from one corner of Calgary:
The Peace Bridge and downtown CalgaryPeace BridgeCalgarians soaking up the summer-like Fall; still going at 6pm on a late September day!Still on a bit of a graffiti kick from being in BogotaThe city viewed from McHugh BluffCalgary and the Bow RiverPrairie sky
And finally, because my walk took me here, a Calgary icon and home of all my best memories of milkshakes and burgers. Peter’s Drive In. I recommend the caramel coffee milkshake!
Hopefully in the next few days I’ll be free to get back on the road. Not sure yet where it will take me!
My last post a few days ago was from Bogota, and now here I am again in Calgary, some 6350 kilometres later. I have been bouncing around the globe in the most inefficient fashion, back and forth across the Atlantic twice, then a couple times across the Americas, with no end in sight yet. I love it! When else in life will I ever get a chance like this to be so irresponsible with my itinerary and fully live up to my Aimless potential?? Maybe I’ve seen that “It’s not the Destination that counts, but the Journey” quote in all its various Pinterest forms too many times and have really taken it to heart….
As I’m forming my thoughts right now, I’m soaking up the last of the afternoon light on a patio and absolutely revelling in the feel of the warm sunshine on my bare skin. These are the kind of days I will always associate with HOME: The sky a bright blue in all directions, the air just slightly cool but the heat from the sun making it more comfortable to be in shorts than jeans, green grass and yellow leaves. Summer will always be my true love, but apparently I’ve got a bit of a thing for Fall now, too. Fall is mysterious in my home town, changing daily and forever leaving me wanting more of these perfect days.
Like if we back up to earlier this week when I first arrived off the plane, Calgary was cold! Of course it was, since I had plans that kept me outside… Here’s a little secret just between us: I came all the way home only to keep a commitment to my softball team after I had told them earlier I’d be at this final tournament. That was before I knew I’d be in Colombia, and before I realized just how much I’d like Colombia and want to stay longer. Oh, don’t get the wrong idea, it is NOT my skill that the team was relying on. Nope not at all. I’m really terrible at this sport. Embarrassingly bad. But I’m a good cheerleader for the rest of the team, and I think I help by making everyone else seem like a superstar in comparison. It’s good to know your role, right?!
The tournament was held in a tiny rural town, and even though it was all new to me (I’ve never been there nor attended a ball tournament before) I had a sense of familiarity. There’s something that just felt so quintessentially Canadian about this; where else would you find a couple hundred people camped in an open field and everyone smiling and having a great time despite nearly freezing? Cold. Happy. Amy and Heidi
Our team at batEveryone is smiling – and no one knew I had a camera out! Maybe it’s the breakfast beers….
Close to the action at all timesNatasha and I around the campfire. Finally not cold!
I didn’t take many pictures, I blame my sudden shock at being reacquainted to the Canadian weather. Too hard to take good photos when my fingers are numb and teeth chattering from the cold! Still glad I came back for this, however much I miss my sunshine and beaches. After travelling alone so much it felt great to be part of a team again!
I wrote most of the last post while I was en route from Cartagena to Santa Marta, so I’ll pick up my narrative again from there. I had planned (and I of course use that term loosely) to start a trek into Colombia’s mountainous jungles the day after arriving in Santa Marta. This trek is Colombia’s version of the Inca Trail in Peru, an intense 5 day hike to the “Lost City” of an ancient civilization. Since I’m reasonably fit, and happened to have running shoes, first aid kit, flashlight and insect repellent all my in my bag I deemed myself ready to tackle whatever would come my way. However, as soon as I arrived at my Santa Marta Hostel I saw a sign informing travellers that the Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) Trek was closed for 10 days. Ugh. Maybe if I had done some actual planning I would have known that, but it came as a surprise to me, and of course just after I had spent 3 days getting excited about it.
I think that should actually be the theme of this post: Things I Didn’t Do in Colombia. Starting off with this trek, I also managed to miss seemingly all the other highlights. Whenever I would chat with people I would inevitably end up having to weather the surprised looks from them as they learned how little of the tourist trail I was experiencing.
I didn’t get to Medellín to take the Pablo Escobar tour.
I missed Salento and the stunning scenery there.
Skipped the National Park Tayrona where people camp in a hammock on the beach to see the bioluminescent algae at night.
Never made it to the Pacific side of the country, nor the South at all.
Even touring a coffee plantation somehow got knocked off my to-do list, and that really is surprising considering how much I had been looking forward to learning about (read: stocking up on) those magical beans that I rely on to kickstart my brain every morning.
Looks like I need to get back to Colombia, pronto! I still want to experience it all!
So, sensing that I might be in danger of losing my Travel Blogger Badge after that list I think I’ll launch right in to what I actually did experience…. Which is in short the rejuvenation that comes from meeting great people I really click with at a hostel that I didn’t want to leave. A special shout out here to the New Zealand kids that kept things entertaining, Victoria from New York, and Marc from Zurich – you guys were exactly what I needed this week!
Victoria and I took a day trip to a small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains called Minca. We had heard about a hike to a waterfall near there and decided to see for ourselves. After negotiating a ride in a shared Jeep up the mountain we were dropped off on the Main Street of town where local teens were waiting to take tourists up further on the back of their motorbikes. We came to hike, so we declined and set off on our own.
By early afternoon our destination revealed itself to be shimmering pools at the bottom of a small series of waterfalls, and we both happily plunked ourselves in the cool clear water. As it turns out, I learned later that night that “the” waterfall of guidebook fame was actually in the other direction… so chock that up to another item I missed!
We knew we were in the rainy season so we’d need to start back down before long, but I’ll admit we took our time, naïvely assuming that a little rain while we walked after already being wet from swimming wouldn’t bother us. Wrong again – but it did bring in the adrenaline portion of our adventure when we realized we needed to get to town ASAP to avoid drowning in the torrential rain. Only one motorcycle was still up there, so both of us squeezed on a tiny bike behind our young driver and hurried off down the steep muddy and rutted trail. I was just hoping that when we crashed the worst injury would be scrapes and bruises, but I’ll give credit to his skill and admit that it was actually fun. Needing a place to wait out the deluge, Victoria and I agreed to have a late lunch at the home of this driver – he assured us his mother’s cooking was better than any restaurant in town. Agreed! The very traditional meal of vegetable soup followed by chicken with coconut rice and fried plantains was amazing!
The view whille we ateStill flooded, more than an hour after the rain stopped
Well. For a post on the 5 days I stayed put in the Santa Marta area, this is really getting long. The rest of my time was beautifully busy being lazy; alternating the beach, pool and hammocks with occasional walks to explore the area. Full of reading, laughter and conversations, and great food. I mentioned already I loved the hostel but I need to reiterate: If I could have moved permanently into Hostel Calle 11 Santa Marta I think I would have! Rumour has it the building was a former drug cartel mansion, but the new owners have created the perfect space for lounging. I think I’ll always smile when I think of this part of Colombia. Plus, the tranquil atmosphere was the perfect prep before arriving in the extreme chaos of that is the city of Bogota!
I have a confession to make. I have been avoiding this blog for a week, even though I still have lots to say and even though I really do love writing it. That’s weird, right? I would want to sit down and start a post telling you about all the great things I saw on my last trip, (finishing off the post I started in Naming New York ) but then I would open YouTube or Pinterest instead, or watch a movie or pick up a book, pretty much anything to avoid productivity. I’ve also managed to avoid laundry and vacuuming through these same tactics. But I think it’s about time for me to wrap up this little brain break I’ve given myself and get back to seeing how much I can accomplish in my day instead of how little. Do you know the feeling – have you ever had a chance to just let yourself be a blob for a while? (Not counting any times prior to your 23rd birthday! I remember lots of us choosing to be brainless at times before the full pressures of adulthood kicked in!)
So here we go. I think I’ll still start off with something easy, though, and keep this to a pretty simple recounting of the time I had in New York with my girls last week.
Four childhood friends from a small town are set loose in a big city where they discover new adventures and new things about each other. If you didn’t read that last sentence in an exaggerated movie-trailer-narrative voice then please go back and read it again the way it was meant. Or skip it entirely – lines that cheesy aren’t meant to be taken seriously!! But actually…. that pretty much sums up my 5 days in New York. The four childhood friends are myself and 3 of my cousins that I grew up with, and we really did keep busy with exploring for the entire trip.
Amanda, Erin, Julie, and yours trulyWe’re not always so elegant… That photo was just before the one Broadway show we were able to see. And side note – go see Cirque Du Soleil PARAMOUR if you ever get the chance. I loved it sooooo much!! I think my exuberance to see the show must have caught the attention of Karma, because when we arrived at the theatre to pick up our tickets, (cheapest ones available and at the top back of the room) we were given an upgrade and watched the show from nearly the best seats in the house! Made my night!!
Another highlight was going to Yankee Stadium to watch a baseball game, again made even better when our team won! Go Jays! We had jokingly wondered before if it would be a problem cheering for the visiting team, but when we got to the stadium we saw almost as many Toronto fans as there were for the Yankees. It was incredible to sit out in the sunshine with about 37,400 or so other people and cheer on the teams.
On a day that was slightly less hot and sunny, we chose to be a little more active than we had been previously so we found some bicycles to rent and cruised our way through Central Park. I still find it amazing that a park so big can be in the middle of 8.5 million people… and there were times where it felt like we were the only ones there! Beautiful! As we were making our way through the park, Julie saw signs leading to a castle in the park so we made our way to go see it. Now, the part that I really want to convey other than the fact that an almost secret mini castle exists, is the fun coincidence that this is Belvedere Castle. If you’ve been reading my other posts, you may remember that I was just at Belvedere Palace in Poland with two other friends. Unless I was just the only one that hadn’t realized Belvedere was a major global name, this seems an unlikely parallelism. Not that I’m reading anything into it – I doubt the universe is trying to get me to drink more Belvedere Vodka! – but it’s made me smile none the less.
Part of Central Park’s Belvedere Castle in New York
So activeOther things we did during our days there: Ate a lot of ice cream. Gawked at the crowds in Times Square. Walked through SoHo and countless other communities. Shopped on 5th Ave. Saw the Statue of Liberty. Took a moment to reflect at the 9/11 Memorial site. Rode the subway. Noticed two rats. Marvelled at the Brooklyn Bridge. Gossiped together while getting pedicures. Laughed at the “Pretty Lady Discount” we were offered by creative vendors. Took a ton of pictures of the four of us together. Further cemented our bond as friends for life.
aimlessly ali 