Vancouver: Ready to welcome the world

We’re in the home stretch now – less than 30 days until the winter Olympics get underway.  Personally, I’m excited, I love the Olympics and having it right here is going to be cool.  I’m going to be watching it on TV (afford to go to the events?  You have got to be kidding me) and going “hey, I know where that is!  I went to school down the road from there!” Or whatever. I always get excited when I see places I recognize on screen, which happens frequently, this is Hollywood North.  Like the end of the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, when they’re walking through a building to a restaurant, I actually squealed “ooh! thats the library!” aloud.  But anyway, during the olympics this is going to be happening at an alarming frequency.  Anyone who knows me, consider yourself warned.

The city itself is starting to show noticeable finishing touches.  The construction walls are coming down on Granville for the first time in like 6 years, we have the spiffy new Canada Line skytrain from the airport to the city center (which rocks!) and even the ads on bus stops and park benches are now citywide exclusively for the official Olympic partners.  Needless to say you can go blocks and see nothing but McDonalds, Samsung, Coca Cola and some random company I’ve never heard of before, but that apparently is the official vaccine supplier for the athletes.   If I can survive the crazy-long commute times – God knows I can barely get on the train on some normal mornings, and when you add eight million extra visitors we’re going to need the people to cram passengers on the trains like they have in Japan – I hope to wander around downtown a bit during the games, because the vibe is going to be electric.  All the excitement, the street performers, free shows, random overheard conversations in different languages to pretend to understand and happiness.  It’ll be great.

If you happen to live in Vancouver and are hoping to get away on vacation during the games to escape the crowds, why haven’t you booked yet?  Do you really have that much money just hanging around that you don’t mind paying eight times the regular price?  The destinations you’re heading to probably have lots of space left, it is the low season, but the flights departing Vancouver don’t and are going to cost you a mint.  At this point it’s not how much but what’s left.  There are a lot of people I see on a daily basis who are surprised by this, but think about it: all the athletes, their fans and supporters are coming and going throughout the games – most of them don’t stay for the whole time, they just jet in, do their event and take off, as do their fans (to avoid a ridiculous hotel bill, as everything’s expensive), and when you combine that with the regular people traveling, there are shit tons of people coming in and out of YVR and only a certain number of seats on the planes.  If you still insist on trying to book for mid Feb, do it now.  Like now, now.  Stop reading this and book this instant or else you’re going to be totally out of luck.

And if you already have tickets, remember that at this point (thanks to the underwear bomber) you can’t take any carry-on onboard the plane with you.  And the heightened security due to that, combined with the heightened Olympic security, means that you’re going to be spending forever in line.  Get to the airport early.  Really early.  3-4 hours early.  Any later and youre going to be in line sandwiched between the chaotic family with the screaming baby heading to Disneyland and the Blackberry-addicted businessman who texts continuously as your plane takes off without you on it.

I’m sure the city will change when the games start, and I’m looking forwards to it.  What it’s going to be like I don’t know, but I’ll report back with the details in two weeks

Tags: airports, commute, crowds, excitement, last minute travel, Olympics, public transportation, security, skytrain, vancouver

City Chase – a step by step rocking recap

                     Yesterday the Vancouver edition of the Mitsubishi City Chase powered by Blackberry (might as well get the full name in there, make the corporate sponsors happy, not that they’re reading this) was successfully run, and, as promised, it was awesome.  I dressed up like a fireman, found myself blindfolded no less than 3 times, saw naked people, went shopping and actually went willingly to one of the disgusting food challenges for the first time ever.   This was the first year for me and the bf, and I had no idea how we would react together under stress and physical exertion, but I’m happy to report all is well and no one has to move out!  There was a little sniping in frustration at the first chasepoint, but after that it only got better and better as the race progressed.  So, I promised you a blow by blow recap of my favorite day of the year, so here goes:

                   We started at Granville Square plaza, right beside Waterfront Skytrain Station and with an incredible view of North Vancouver and Canada Place at 9am sharp with the traditional speech and geeky warm up stretch/dance routine.  Then, at 10am sharp, it was go time.  In past years, in order to receive your clue sheet you have to complete a scavenger hunt that I dread with a passion, as it can take up to 1/2 an hour to find all the obscure objects (a business card printed in a language other than English?  A cocktail umbrella?), eating up a huge chunk of your precious 6-hour maximum race allotment.  Even had a homeless man help me out with that one year.  He had heard a lot of the teams run past saying they needed an apple core, so he found one and got it for me.  That was fantastic.  But this year they made it much easier, you just had to find another team with the same last digit of your team number and then check in with them at the Olympic Countdown Clock.  No sweat.  We found a team of girls wearing head to toe metallic pink spandex (not kidding) and ran to the clock, the whole process taking maybe 10 minutes with traffic.

                  Our strategy was to find what we thought was the farthest away chasepoint and head right there, doing a lot of our additional strategizing Geographically, it may not have been the farthest point, but we started with the hardest to get to one at the Cliffhanger rock climbing gym on Terminal Ave.  This was an important point for us, as we had raised CAD$50.00 for charity in advance of the race, and if you went there you got a chasepoint stamp for the fundraising as well as the task at hand, so it was an easy two points right there.  After skytraining it to Main Street, we discovered there is no other form of public transport from there to the rock climbing, so we had to hoof it.  Getting to the gym, Eric (the bf) had to climb a rock wall while I completed a Sudoku puzzle.  Let me just say, he rocked that wall.  It took him like a minute, he just flew up there.  I, on the other hand, did not have that much luck.  With him down and the two of us putting our heads together we managed to finish that damn puzzle in like 20 minutes and hit the road again.   Apparently some teams were working on that puzzle for an hour, so, despite my supreme frustration, we didn’t do too badly.  Two points down, eight to go.

                    From there we walked the 2.7km (once again, no freaking public transportation!  I don’t think in 5 other races I ever had to run/walk that far in one single stretch before) from Terminal, along Main St and up Prior, heading to Strathcona Park.  On the way we stumbled across another chasepoint, this one a block before the park at Fire Hall No. 1.  It had only said “go to firehall no. 1″ on the cryptic cluesheet, and we hadn’t had time yet to get out phone a friend back home (thanks Mom) to google that yet, so we had no idea it was right there, but since we had found it, we were doing it, whatever it was.  Turns out both team members had to don full firefighting gear, pull a firehose out, knock down a target with the water, then drag a weighted dummy across a yellow line, and then one team member had to unroll a fire hose and then the other had to roll it back up again.  Let me tell you, those outfits are not comfortable.  Not only are they hot as hell, but they weigh a ton.  On the upside, the bf looked great all dressed up like that   This point actually didn’t take too long, and soon we were on our way.

                   One block up was Strathcona park, where I got to be blindfolded while the bf, using only words, talked me through disassembling a skateboard.  This wasn’t too bad, he gives great directions and I’m pretty adept at taking things apart, but the grippy stuff on the skateboard deck did horrible things to my manicure!  Four down, 6 to go.

                  One more block up was La Casa Gelato, Vancouver’s legendary home of the 218 flavours of ice cream.  If this hadn’t been so close to the other points and involving the word “gelato” I probably wouldn’t have gone, as they never give you anything good to eat on the city chase.  Ever.  As a rule I usually avoid the eating challenges, but this one just made to much sense logistically to pass up.  One team member was blindfolded (me again) and had to taste 5 flavours  of gelato and try to identify them.  For every one they got wrong, their partner recieved a penalty.  Of the 5 flavours the only one I got right was ginger, though I heard the others were either wasabi, lychee, corn, balsamic vinagar, fish or pesto.  Honestly, none of those rang a bell to what had tickled my taste buds.  But because of my four errors, Eric had to take one for the team (love you, Handsome) and eat two huge oysters.  I really didn’t think he was going to manage the first one without vomiting, he came pretty close, but once it was down the second one was easy and we were on our way. 

             Finally, public transportation again!  It was now just over two hours into the race and we were finally getting to use our provided bus passes.  The 22 bus took us to VVC-Clark skytrain station (the driver helped us out and dropped us off right at the station instead of the bus stop), from where we trained it to Renfrew station and ran to the Grandview Rona store.  Here the task was shopping.  Sweet.  If I can do anything, it’s shop.  They gave us a list of 8 items and we had to correctly find 6 of them somewhere in the store.  They tried to be tricky, asking for 56 lt of bark chips, when the bags came in 2 cubic feet (it works out to be the same thing), but we quickly saw through this and finished in good time.  6 down, four to go.

              Right next door to Rona was Van Tech Highschool, where we wandered around lost with another team for a few precious minutes before we finally found the chasepoint hidden on a lower field.  Once again I was blindfolded (I was the navigator of the team because I rock with maps, but when it comes to giving small directions, like ”turn a little to your left” I have this horrible tendency to mix up my left and right.  Stop laughing, you know you do it to.  Our little saying is “your left or mine?” even though we’re both facing the same direction. Thus, I was always the blindfolded one while he, who seems to know his left and right, directed) and was verbally directed to walk through a field of scattered balls, where if I touched any of them, I had to go back to the start and try again.  No touches, we finished and were on our way.  Time for the home stretch, and we had it all planned out.  from here on out, all the points we needed were along our rapid transit routes, so we were good.

                  Skytrain again back to Science World, where we got to team up with four other teams and paddle a dragon boat through a marked course.  That was fun and fast. Back on the train, it was straight to waterfront station and the start/finish line to pick up the trivia question sheet we needed to complete for our next point.  Let me tell you, it was hard being so close to the finish line and not be able to cross it, then have to run away again and hop on the nearby seabus to North Van.  The questions were hard, random facts about the world, like “Which country has the lowest literacy rate?” and “where in the world is the highest waterfall?” (I work in travel, I knew that last one was Venezuela), but between our phone a friend and working with other teams we got them all by the time the seabus docked and it was time to run again.

                 In North Van we had two options, either learn a dance routine with the BC Lions’ cheerleading squad the Felions, or draw a nude model.  The clue was very cryptic on this one, as it sounded like you had to get naked, so we had automatically ruled that out (my underwear I’ll do, no problem.  Anything more than that, no freaking way.  Luckily Eric felt the same way), despite the fact that he really didn’t want to dance and had warned me it would take him forever.  Of the two of us, I have the rhythm.  But on the seabus we learned that you only had to draw a nude model, not become one, to get your stamp.  If you were willing to get naked you could get a second stamp, but that was optional.  Since the two chasepoints were right beside one another, we figured we’d try the drawing and see how it went.  I’m a half-decent artist if I do say so myself, and we were in and out of there in 5 minutes flat, chorusing a resounding “NO!” when they asked us if we wanted to get naked for point number 2.  Besides, we didn’t need it, we were done.

                 Back to the seabus, a quick stop just behind the start/finish line to turn in our trivia sheet and officially get chasepoint #10, a run through a construction zone to get to the entrance, and we sprinted to the finish, crossing at about the 5-hour mark.  Apparently the winners finished in 2 hours 48, but I’m still really proud of how we did.  We finished.  I’ve had years when you just have to cross the line with 8 stamps because the course is going to close before you can finish.  And we finished still talking to one another!  I’m under no illusions that I’m ever going to win the Chase, I’m not a runner, but it’s all about the journey and the fun, and it was a hell of a lot of both.  On the upside, he’s already willing to do it again next year!  Sweet!  I’ve converted another one!

               Great course, great year, great race, great fun.  If you hear about a City Chase in your area, do it!

Tags: adventure, City Chase, dragon boating, fun, gross, nudity, odd, public transportation, race, rock climbing, running, vancouver, weird

Paris – They put their money in the left bank.

             Last year a friend and I were able to experience Paris when it sizzles as part of a Globus week in London and Paris package.  Our hotel was on the left bank of the Seine, steps from the spectacular Eiffel Tower and numerous metro lines.

               While our leader (who delighted in pointing out pickpockets and the exact spot where Princess Diana died) warned that the Metro was a confusing, potentially dangerous way to travel, we found it cheap, fast and easy, as well as being a great source of entertainment.  Buskers perform right on the trains, playing guitars or wheeling around Karaoke machines, complete with large amplifiers and microphones.

              Within hours of arriving in Paris we had ascended the Arc de Triomphe (shorter than expected, but halfway up the stairs you begin to think it’s huge), strolled the  Champs Elysses and people watched at a charming little sidewalk bistro. 

               A half day bus tour was included in the package the next morning and it was great, complete with a guided tour through the dirt-stained glory of Notre Dame, and a ride up to the first floor of the Eiffel Tower.

                 The tour dropped us off at a perfumerie near the Opera House (of Phantom of the Opera fame) for an optional shopping trip, but we chose to break away from the pack and take the RER rapid train to Disneyland Paris so we could compare it with the one in California.  When the tour leader found out where we were going, he actually turned up his nose at us and refused to speak with either of us for the remainder of the trip.

             Paris was in the middle of an unseasonable October heat wave and I was thankful for the pair of shorts I had packed at the last minute.  It felt, though, as if I was the only person in the country wearing them, as I got lots of stares and a street vendor followed me down the Rue de Rivoli making unsettling kissing sounds.  The Louvre heated up quickly, it’s only source of air-conditioning being large grates in the floor, and groups of tourists battled to stand on top to escape the oppressive heat.

               Our finale in Paris was enjoying a lunch of baguettes and cheese on the banks of the Seine, followed by a nighttime boat tour of the City of Lights.  The Eiffel Tower literally sparkled, a surreal sight that just makes you smile and realize “this is Paris.”

              A city of history leaning up against a modern world, I still see that glittering tower when I close my eyes – awesome enough to make dealing with the snooty tour leader worth it.

Originally published in the Vancouver Province

Tags: BlogSherpa, cruise, Disneyland, Eiffel Tower, Europe, hot, Louvre, Paris, public transportation, published, Tour

London Baby!

        London calling.  The Clash were definitely on to something when they said that, as London didn’t just call me, it left an indelible mark on my soul.  Initially I was hesitant about traveling someplace so old, concerned that a twenty year old like me would not find enough to do that didn’t involve graves.  Let me just state in writing that I was wrong.

              As this was my innaugral time across the pond, I began my trip actively searching out all the cliches: red phone boxes, med dressed like John Steed from The Avengers (bowler hat and ever-present umbrella) and fog.  The first one came before even touching down at Heathrow, with the plane breaking through the late-September clouds to reveal double-decker busses roaming the streets!  I was giddy with delight.  But it only got better from there.  Having alighted at the Charing Cross tube station (God bless the tube, it got me effortlessly around all of London for 4.10 a day and taught me the meaning of the word ‘alighted’) just after 8am on a Sunday, I found myself standing virtually alone in the middle of Trafalgar Square, Nelson’s Column at my feet, the National Gallery over my shoulder, staring at the top of the tower housing Big Ben peeking over the rooftops.  It gave me shivers and made me feel, deep down, that I was truly in London.  Absolutely charming.  I mean, where else in the world do they paint “look left” or “look right” directly on the road to prevent people from being hit while crossing?

              In my four days in London I managed to squeeze in the famous British Museum, Natural History Museum, Speaker’s Corner at Hyde Park, the Changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, Harrod’s (heaven!), and St. Paul’s Cathedral, just to name a few.  On my last full day I met up with some local friends and we explored the left bank of the Thames, taking a flight on the London Eye, having “elevensies” tea at Royal Festival Hall, seeing Shakespeare’s Globe theatre and the Tate Modern, and eating at the Anchor Pub (built more than 200 years before the British North American Act created Canada!).  Then we took the ferry to Greenwich, past the spectacular Tower Bridge and David Blaine in his suspended terrarium, and up to the meridian where time begins.

               London is a vibrant city, with it’s old-world charm juxtaposed against a multi-coloured modernity, that I couldn’t help but feel comfortable.  I just wanted to buy a flat and stay forever.  From there I moved on to Paris, one of the most exciting cities in the world, but some of it’s attraction was lost in the  sadness that I was leaving London behind.  But not for long.  I know I’ll be back.

Originally published in the Vancouver Province newspaper.

Tags: BlogSherpa, British Museum, Buckingham Palace, Harrod's, Hyde Park, London, London Eye, Natural History Museum, pub, public transportation, published, Trafalgar Square

Kuala Lumpur – Totally cool

        As I stood barefoot on the warm bricks, in the middle of a lightning storm, staring up at the crystaline masterpieces that are the Petronas Towers, I couldn’t help thinking that this was the most incredible thing I’d ever experienced.   At that second, I knew I was in love with Kuala Lumpur.

       This is a city that welcomes you with open arms, beginning right at the airport when our pre-arranged transfer didn’t arrive and not one but three complete strangers went out of their ways to help us out, making calls, translating, and one man even squeezed us in with the group of tourists he was transporting to deliver us right to our hotel.  Whoever you are, thank you, you’re awesome.  And our hotel, the Trader’s, was equally amazing.  I’d booked it because the location was good, the rooms were great and the price was right, but after seeing the location in person, I’d go back, regardless of the price.   Connected to the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (home of the great new Aquaria aquarium) and linked to the Suria KLCC 6-story megamall (woo hoo!) by a tunnel, everything you could want is at your fingertips.  Oh, and did I mention it’s directly facing the Petronas Towers (which are atop the mall), separated only by a gorgeous landsacped park, complete with Las-Vegas  style dancing fountains?   The views from the rooftop bar and the business centre are unbelievable.  I kept taking more pictures.  When I got home I think I had nearly thirty pics of the towers alone, taking from every possible angle in every possible lighting condition.   It was like an addiction, really.  I need Petronas Towers rehab (and if it involves going back to KL, I’m okay with that)!

                 For a quick meal we spent a lot of time at the Suria KLCC food halls, where they had a huge selection of cuisines, from Malay, Thai and Indian to Itallian, Lebanese and McDonald’s.  The food was excellent, the portions huge, and you could get nearly any meal you wanted for RMB$10 (approx. CAD$3).  Plus, there was a perfect viewing window out to the dancing fountains.  Prices were consistantly good throughout the city, too.  One night we went to a movie (sadly, the animated Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worms – I love that! – was not out yet, but I would have totally paid to see it!), and got dinner, the movie, caramel corn (they didn’t offer any un-caramel corn anywhere) and drinks for about CAD$10 per person!  Plus, they let you preassign seats at the movie theatre, just like on airplanes, so there’s no worry about rushing in to get the perfect seat, it’s already printed on your ticket.  Are you listening, Cineplex?  This rocked.

              Taxis are plentiful, and unless you get an official metered one, remember to agree on the fare beforehand to prevent being taken for a financial ride.  But I much preferred the monorail or underground systems, as they were dirt cheap, well marked and super-efficient.  On hot days, escaping into a nice airconditioned station was the best way to travel.  Regardless of how far it looked on a map, we discovered that nothing in central KL is that far away.  It didn’t take us more than twenty minutes to get anywhere by taxi, and quite often, though it looked to be a huge distance away on paper, attractions were only a (maximum) ten minute walk away.   A few stops on the train and  a short walk got us to the KL Tower (think CN Tower, but slightly lower), with it’s great 360-degree views of the city.  It only cost RMB$7 to enter, and we chose it over the Petronas Towers’ free viewing deck as it’s higher  and you don’t have to line up at 8am to get one of the limited tickets they hand out each day.  Well worth the expense.  A few more stops from there took us right into the heart of the shopping district, with mall after mall, from low end market-style to shiny exclusive high-end Guccis and Pradas, all ready to part you from your Ringitt.  Sweet.

               The one attraction that’s definately taxi-distance away (though at max it should only cost RMB$30 – CAD$10 - each way) is the Batu caves, a massive Hindu shrine in a (you guessed it) cave.  You’re greeted by a giant 140 foot tall golden statue of Lord Murugan, and behind him are the 272 stairs that you must climb to enter.  They’re conveniently numbered to let you know how much farther you have to go.  The view from the top looking back at KL is spectacular.  This place is really, really cool.  But not literally.  I recommend going early, as we were there at 9am and it was already “Oh-my-God-you-want-me-to-exercise-now?” hot.  No wonder at the top there’s a souvenir stand stocking little more than cold drinks.  And I was dressed for the exercise in shorts, a tank and trainers.  All around me the faithful were climbing barefoot or in ornate, layered saris.  I don’t know how they did it.  But the stars of the caves are the wild monkeys.  They’re everywhere, totally unafraid of humans and so freaking adorable.  You can get within a foot of them, and all they do is yawn and look bored.  We had been warned by our taxi driver that the monkeys won’t bother you unless you were carrying a plastic grocery bag, as they know that offerings of food for the Gods were carried in those bags, and they’re always looking for a free snack, and they weren’t concerned with us at all.  There are some great souvenir shops at the bottom, too.
       The central market was another favorite haunt, also just a few train stops away from our hotel and a short walk from the huge Chinatown night market.  It housed some of the best handicrafts, some good clothing and nice bathrooms (though they were squat toilets, it cost you RMB$0.50 to enter and you have to bring your own toilet paper).  I did some serious shopping there.  It also housed the Cute Fish Spa.  The first time I saw “fish spa” on a sign I thought it was where you take your fish if they need to de-stress, but upon closer inspection I discovered they’re actually these pools filled with six-inch long, toothless black fish, and when you put your feet in they “kissed” you, sucking off all the dead skin.  Seriously.  I kind of liked my first option better.  Why would anyone do this?  But then the lady said it was RMB$5 for 20 minutes, so for that price, what the hell.   Oh my God it tickles.  You never quite get used to that feeling.  By the time it was over my sides hurt from laughing so hard, but wow, my feet were softer than ever and stayed that way for the next two weeks.  If you ever come across a fish spa (especially one that says it’s Cute), do it, it’s worth it.  Just google “fish spa” you get some good videos.

            Between the attractions, the incredibly friendly people (oh, and did I mention almost everybody speaks English?  They learn it in school.  Most of the signs and billboard ads are in English, too) and the ease of exploration, Kuala Lumpur is awesome.  Honestly, if you go to see the towers alone (and take the prerequisite thousand pictures of them) it’s worth it, but when you add in all the rest that the city has to offer, it’s spectacular.  So go.  Now.  You’ll love it.  And if you can, grab a bootleg copy of Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worms for me.

Tags: Batu Caves, BlogSherpa, fish spa, friendly people, Kuala Lumpur, lightning, movies, night market, Petronas Towers, public transportation, shopping

Hola from Barcelona!

Wow, it’s hard not to make the title sound like a ‘wish you were here’ postcard  

So, it’s day three here in Spain (or four, it’s all running together), and this is the best work week I think I’ve ever had.   Landed at 7am on Saturday and got to our hotel to find it wasn’t ready, so we all ditched our stuff and, because this was really our only free time in Barcelona, (screw the jet lag!) hopped on the hop on hop off bus touristic for an overview of the city.  Saw all the main sights, Montjuic, the Port Olympic, Colom, Barri Gotic, etc, but honestly it will be easier to remember once I’ve had the pics developed because i’d been up for more than 24 hours at that point.  The goal was to stay awake to get onto local time and, with the help of caffine and lots of aimless walks down the Ramblas, I made it until 11pm before I crashed. 

So far I’m really loving this city.  Staying at the beautiful Catalonia Duques du Bergara hotel beside the Placa Catalonya, it’s a perfect location with great ambiance and an incredible amount of marble.  Barcelona is a city for wandering, and eventhough I’m a total Spanish newbie, I feel totally comfortable here.   The first vibe you get from a city makes a huge impact, and this one is great. 

Yesterday we started the working part, touring the Norwegian Gem and Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas cruise ships.  Really impressed with the Voyager, if I sailed that’s the one personally I would choose.  Loved the central shopping promenade, it looked just like a mall.  The Gem was good, but most people found the gaudy coulour scheme jarring.  I loved it, but then again I am twenty years younger than most of my co workers and I my tastes are a bit out there on a normal day!

Got finished with work about dinner time and wandered back up Las Ramblas,  finding the coolest bar on the planet along the way, right by the wax museum.  I think it was called el bosc de les fades, or the magical forest, but I’ll double check my Spanish later.  It was filled with trees, even coming out from the table centers, the bar was all carved out of fake rock and there was a blue grotto waterfall/fountain in one area.  I have never been in a more family-friendly bar in my life.  It was so funny watching everyone’s faces as they walked in,  looked around in wonder and then started taking pictures.

The metro here, and in any city, is a thing of beauty and for 1.35 Euro we were at the incredible La Sagrada Famillia cathedral in less than ten minutes.  Grabbed a nice German tapas (meatballs, beer rings, wurst and pizza, I don’t get it either, but it was good) dinner on the Place du Gaudi, seated at one of the sidewalk people-watching tables.  It was a great location for under $12 a person, drinks included.  Saw the lights of the cathedral go on at 10pm, and it was cooler than I could have imagined.  I mean, really, what was that guy on when he designed it?  There amongst the prerequisite saints and  angels there are carved frogs and a christmas tree covered in doves and a pile of oranges.  WTF ?  But most importantly, now I feel I’m truly in Barcelona, now that I have seen the one place more than any other that differentiates this city from any other.

Loving this city so far.  I’m not actually going to see any of it today as I have 12 hotels to tour (oh my god! This one has a sink too!), but a job is a job.  I wanted to get a bit of an overview posted, but hopefully I’ll get to blog tonight about all the cool little things that have happened, like the naked bike people with the pool noodles….

Tags: Barcelona, BlogSherpa, cathedral, city tour, cruise, hop on hop off bus, hotels, public transportation

Las Vegas Baby!

               “What the heck are we doing here? It’s nothing but sand” was my first impression as the pilot announced final approach into Las Vegas this past fourth of July.  Then suddenly there she was, rising out of the heat waves like a miniature Egypt…no, Paris…no, Italy…no, Camelot.  The hotels should give passport stamps to go with their wonderfully tacky souvenirs.  As a Vegas beginner, the city comes at you like an adult Disneyland, all bright and flashy and promising to make dreams come true.

We were staying at the Excalibur, and were lucky enough to get one of the newly renovated rooms (read: tasteful décor and a massive flatscreen TV – that we never figured out how to operate, but it wasn’t like we were in the room long enough anyhow).  Already we had learned the first rule of Vegas: everyone’s looking to get rich, including all the taxi drivers who delight in taking the “fast way” which happens to cost double.

                 For two Canadian girls, the heat hit us like a blanket you can’t shrug off. Mid-afternoon we prayed for the wind to stop as it was hotter than the ambient air temp, and the sun setting didn’t provide much relief, because then the baked pavement released it’s stored heat, turning the whole Strip into a shoe-softening hot plate. On the 6th we were lucky enough to get the hottest day of the year, a blistering 125 degrees (according to our Gondolier at the Venetian) that would have been unbearable had there been any humidity.

            And the hotels lived up to their reputations.  Our favorite was the spectacular Venetian and the Paris flowed close behind, both in terms of great themes and overall photogenic-ness.  The Bellagio and Cesar’s Palace are beautifully over the top, and the Luxor’s playful Egyptian carnival was a lot of fun.   We managed to talk our way up the inclinators (diagonal elevators) ascending the walls of the giant pyramid and get memorable views over the casino and mock ancient city below. 

            If you’re not lucky enough to win the jackpot (as we were), you learn rule #2: Vegas is expensive.  Between the $4 bottles of water, $10 average fast food meal and souvenirs, our money went faster than if a slot machine had eaten it.  But there is hope, as the free dancing fountains at the Bellagio were spectacular, the volcano eruption at the Mirage was cool and the cheesy Pussycat Dolls-meets-Chippendales Sirens of TI show was fun to laugh at.  At both the Showcase Mall and Hawaiian Marketplace there were also half price ticket booths where you could snag great same-day tickets to many of the big-name shows for a steal.

            All told, Vegas wasn’t the “adult playground” I’d expected, much more tongue-in-cheek, a city that seemed to go out of it’s way to make fun of itself.  No matter how much you see, you will always leave with a list of things you missed or, as I like to put it, “saved for the next trip”.

- As originally published in the Vancouver Province

Tags: BlogSherpa, hot, hotels, Las Vegas, money, public transportation, published, sun

Bangkok – Wat a great place

             I had read that Thai hospitality was legendary, but I never expected to be greeted by the King as I landed at Bangkok’s new Suvarnabhumi airport.  Or, more specifically, a giant banner of him, accompanied by the words “Long Live the King.”  I took it as a sign of good things to come, and over the next five days, the city did not disappoint.

            This is a city of sensory overload.  Seven million people and at least five million motorbikes meant the chaotic energy of daily life was inescapable.  It was not unusual to see three or four people, some in full high-heeled business attire, with a child or a dog in their lap, squeezed onto one bike as it wove through traffic.  Even the peaceful Wats (temples) could make your head spin with all their intricate detailing.  Every inch was painted, gold leafed or sculpted to perfection, and just as I took one picture another caught my eye. 

            My personal favourite, and one of the main reasons I wanted to come to Bangkok in the first place, was Wat Po, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.  I had caught a glimpse of the giant golden deity on TV my freshman year in college and had been fascinated by it ever since, but standing in the narrow building, staring up at a face the size of a Volkswagon, I was wowed.  Buddha was so peaceful entering Nirvana.  I had no concept of how big 140 feet long and 50 feet tall truly was until I saw regular-sized tourists looking like the Lilliputians from Gulliver’s Travels. 

            As if the massive gold leafed body was not enough, the soles of the huge feet were painstakingly incrusted with mother-of-pearl, depicting the 108 auspicious signs of the Buddha.  And toe prints!  Keeping with the theme, 108 bronze bowls were lined up along the back of the statue, and for a small donation you could buy dishes of 1-satang coins that, when one coin is dropped in each bowl, is said to bring good luck and karma.  That was an offer I couldn’t resist, the satisfying “ping!” of each coin hitting the bowl echoing through the building.

            All donations went towards the upkeep of the beautiful Wat, and the friendly resident Monks were also selling terracotta tiles that you could write a personalized message on, and which would then be used to re-tile the roof.  It cost pennies, but the knowledge that a small piece of me would remain at Wat Po for years to come was priceless.  If I had my way, I would have stayed at Wat Po for years to come!

            As I exited the Wat there was another banner of the King smiling down at me, as if to say “I told you it was going to be good.”   Was he ever right.

Tags: 108 coin ritual, Bangkok, BlogSherpa, King, monks, public transportation, published, Reclining Buddha, temples