Last day in Spain

Sean and I are currently on the train on our way from Amsterdam to Rotterdam for the day to visit Julian, our former stufent from Colombia, and Esmiralda, my mom's cousin (I'm not sure what that would be to me. My second cousin? I feel like there is maybe some once or twice removed in there?) (side note: I definitely didn't research how much it would cost to get from Amsterdam to Rotterdam. It would have been wayyyy cheaper to rent a car for the day!)

Yesterday we spent part of the day relaxing, then we walked around on our last day in Madrid. We will for sure be returning to Spain! We had such an amazing time visiting with Ana and her parents. The food and drinks are also significantly more affordable than Amsterdam so far. Oh and also friggin delicious. See below for some food porn!

We arrived in Amsterdam late last night, took the taxi to the hotel and walked around. Sean found an amazing hotel that's in a great location. The architecture in Amsterdam is incredibly unique and beautiful, and it's wonderful to connect with a country that means so much to me and my heritage.

Iberian ham needs to be on your list of foods to eat. Seriously. Delicious, fatty and salty, but not too salty.

Cheap beer and food included? Yes please. 

Sean walked about 20 minutes for these coffees. It's not easy to find a takeaway coffee place! Sitting and enjoying your coffee is totally a Spanish thing. Walking around with your coffee to go is not. Like definitely not. 

So. Many. Olives. 

Wee fishies named boqueron. It was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to enjoy them without eating the spine, but it was worth it! 

Blood sausage, mini baguettes, stuffed eggs and bites of pepper and cheese (so spicy Ana's eyes instantly started watering) 

Ana removing the spine off her fish like a BOSS! 

Day tripping in Segovia!

Today was an amazing and action packed day! We had a delicious breakfast of eggs, fruit, cheese and more delicious ham (seriously you need to try Iberian ham once in your lifetime. It's thinly sliced salty dry cured ham made from black hooved pigs who eat acorns). Then we hit the road for Segovia, about an hour from Madrid.

When we first arrived, we were blown away by the amazing aqueducts, built by the Romans over 2000 years ago. It is made up of 166 arches over 17 kms that are held together by gravity.

We walked through the Jewish quarter and passed by the cathedral, which was built in the 16th century, on our way to the Alcázar de Segovia, an amazing castle built around the 12th century originally as a fortress. It was an inspiration for Disney's Cinderella castle. We had a great workout climbing the 152 stairs to the top of the tower for a breathtaking view!

Some photos of our day :)

Walking around on the way to the Alcàzar. I love the cool narrow streets!

 From the top of the the Alcàzar tower  Definitely worth the walk!

 The aqueduct! Sean and Jorge are at the bottom to show how enormous it is!

Hi guys! We hope this message finds you well. We have been following on facebook all of the damage that has hit Ottawa. We hope that you are able to handle everything while the power is down. Fingers crossed the power comes back soon!

For news from our end, Friday night we had a layover in Halifax for a few hours so we stopped in and had a pint and a snack at the bar. Afterwards we chatted up some super cute Scottish lady from Aberdeen and talked about Outlander (side note: after reading Outlander I have a secret obsession with Scotland). She said she met the cast, told a few stories and had photos so she showed us. The photos were awesome but looked like a MUCH younger version of the lady we were talking to). Her accent reminded me of the Scottish grandma Wonky Donkey video! (https://youtu.be/Yskf94MYM1I)

We stayed on a few hour layover in Glasgow, which was awesome! We got to try a Scottish breakfast, which had not one, not two but THREE types of pork for breakfast! It was much needed after a long flight!

I bought melatonin for the flight hoping that it'll help get back to the new time zones. Sean and I bought got a decent sleep on the plane, so yay for that!

From Glasgow we flew to Madrid to meet Ana and her parents Jorge and Mar at the airport. It was so wonderful to see them, and to be on the receiving end of a welcome party! They took us to their apartment in Madrid to unpack a bit, shower and have lunch, which was a delicious spread of various Spanish deliciousness.

After an hour or two we left for their house in Logroño in northern Spain. The scenery on the 3 hour drive there is absolutely fantastic! Lots of rolling hills, sunflowers ready to be harvested, grapes and trees. It's been very dry so most of the grass was brown, but that added to the beautiful contrast! When we arrived in Logroño we relaxed and then headed out for dinner, which consisted of restaurant hopping for tapas and drinks. Every stop was delicious! We had chorizo sandwiches, tuna, cod, Spanish omelets and mini baguettes of ham and cheese. The town is celebrating San Mateo, so it's a party on the streets!

Today, Jorge, Mar and Ana took us to Haro to a winery. We got to learn more about the history of wine in Spain and also about this particular winery, which was build in 1879. One of the coolest things (there were many!) was touring in the wine cellar and visiting what they called the wine cemetery, which is where the wine bottles are the oldest and covered in the same mold as penicillin. It was kinda cool in a gross way!

After sampling some delicious wine, we headed to Enzaray to visit the shop where Ana bought "Mo", our precious mohair blanket that we love so much. They still had the old weaving machine in there!

We had more amazing tapas for lunch, then headed to Burgos to see the cathedral. It was so amazingly beautiful! The architecture reminded me of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris only not full of crowds!

Here are some photos!

At the winery:

Tapas at Enzaray:

Cathedral in Burgos:

On our way to Madrid!

Helloooooo! Thanks for joining us on our adventure! This time we are leaving for a two week trip to various cities in Europe. We are currently waiting at the airport in Ottawa, connecting through Halifax and then flying to Glasgow. From there, we are rushing to catch a flight to Madrid to meet our friend and former student Ana, to spend a few days with her and her family. Then it's off to Amsterdam from Tuesday night to Friday early afternoon to see two former students and two of my family members. From there, we take the train to Celle, Germany, to see our wonderful former student Jo and her family for a week. I'm not quite
sure what we will do, but I have no doubt it'll be full of laughs and good times I'm hoping to get some full seat breeches while I'm there!

Packing on a trip is always a challenge. How many shirts, sweaters and pants will I need? Will I go out somewhere and need fancy clothes? How many pairs of shoes are too many? Where did all of the travel sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner go that I have been swiping from hotels for years? I feel like it's further complicated when travelling by two. Our luggage is full of souvenirs for our friends, which takes up a lot of space, so Sean and I are sharing a suitcase. It then becomes a negotiation... Do you need that many pairs of pants? Are you packing your charger? Do you need that many pairs of shoes? I only packed two pairs!!

It's all worth it, and we have no doubt we will come back with more fun memories!

All about the food!

For my final post about Japan, it would be unfortunate if I didn't do a separate post about food. Now that I think about it, I am regretting not doing a separate one about Beijing, Vietnam and Thailand from our last trip, but oh well. It's not like I don't mention food in every single one of my posts. Let's face it. I am a fat person in a skinny person's body.

So that being said, here is a lovely gallery of some food highlights from the trip!

Dinner one night...tempura!

Oh 7/11 breakfasts, how I miss you! This was a variety of ground meat, egg and something else (fish maybe?) on rice with other stuff. Like a meatball. And a hardboiled egg. and probably some other fish thing. All of that magic for about $3!

Fiddleheads, some kind of cooked pork, and plum wine. Always plum wine. Sweet, sweet, delicious plum wine.

 

Conveyor belt sushi? Heck yes! We ate something like 19 plates of sushi for about a dollar of plate. It was silly not to pig out!

Yosha's breakfast of choice: Starbucks (which she swore was better than back home) and more 7/11 mystery magic.

Curry was everywhere. It was generally garam masala-tasting and included some kind of salad to keep our scurvy away for another day.

OKONOMIYAKI!!! These are generally pancakes made with lots of lovely stuff. Generally egg, cut up cabbage, some noodles, and a kind of sweet/bbqish sauce.

We (ok Yosha, but I was a very close second) were very much into mochi. A lot. The obsession continued when we found mochi that you could buy from a vending machine. It didn't ooze freshness like the stuff we had freshly made at the cherry blossom festival but goodness it was deelish!

nevermind writing stuff in the sand on the beach. We wrote it on okonomiyaki that we made ourselves one night after touring around looking for geishas in Kyoto.

Another convenience store delight

This was my dessert at the ninja restaurant. He was so cute, I almost didn't want to eat him! Almost. Except for the fact that he was a perfectly-sized piece of cheesecake.

Typical Japanese fare. I can't even remember where this was taken. Some kind of mixed little plates of goodness.

Takoyaki, or deep fried octopus balls!

REAL sushi! When we think Japanese food, we typically say sushi, but really I think most people mean sushi rolls. Avocado rolls, California rolls, spider rolls, etc...those aren't Japanese. It doesn't mean it's bad. It's just not authentic. This was a home-cooked sushi dinner made by Nonaco's parents. It was such a wonderful treat to have shared such a delicious dinner in a genuine Japanese home.

Some black bean and tofu spicy dish. Yum!

Another set meal...deep fried chicken cutlets with some other dishes. And beer. Oh yes.

My mouth is watering right now thinking of this steak. This is real steak, from Kobe. See the marbling perfection? This is what steak should look like. Worth every one of the $140 I spent on that meal.

I would be lying if I didn't say this trip included a lot of desserts. Because it did. We somehow had no trouble justifying any piece of dessert that we wanted. In typical Japanese style this beautiful little pastry even included its own ice pack. I wish I had enough vocabulary to tell the lovely woman behind the counter 'Don't waste your time. This little gem won't make it past the next block'.

Sushi fresh from the Tsukiji fish market. If I were an elderly person without teeth, I could have just used my gums on this dish and on the Kobe steak, that's how mouthwateringly amazing and tender these dishes were.

 

 

 

Tokyo part two! Even more belated!

Wow I don't know where the time goes! It has been over a month since my last post, which makes it almost two months since I have been back. I guess life just takes over. Since coming back, domestic life in my new apartment with Sean has sort of been the priority. Plus riding at a new barn, riding a new horse, getting a new car...I don't know where the days go!

Anyways, before I completely forget...

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Monday we went up Shimokitazawa for some wacky vintage clothing shops. For those who know Toronto, "Shimokita" as its sometimes known is similar to Kensington market: lots of random fun, with a number of great cafes and shops. We picked up a few things then headed to Akihabara, the electronics district. Anything electronic can be found here, plus if you're into flashy lights and anything anime/manga it's a great spot! We loaded up at a duty free shop. I managed to find a toilet seat warmer/bidet/bum sprayer but it was around $750-800. Sadly out of the realistic travel budget, plus it would have been irritating to haul around an electronic toilet seat all over Tokyo.

On Tuesday we went to the Tsukiji fish market, which is well-known for its tuna auction. We thought of trying to make it to the tuna auction but it starts at 5 am, and it's best to show up around 3:30 am. Since the subway stops running around midnight, we would have had to take a taxi or hang out at a 24 hour restaurant from midnight onwards. In the interest of keeping our energy for the rest of our trip, we skipped the auction and met Makiko at the market to check out the fish and other wonderful treats. After walking around, we asked a gentleman directing traffic where are a couple well-known sushi restaurants. He warned us that the sushi would be expensive and the wait would be a few hours (random Internet searching had prepared us for this) and suggested another restaurant nearby that was close and cheap. He indicated the way but as Makiko, Yosha and I all seem to be somewhat challenged when it comes to directions, we couldn't really find our way. He flagged us down and escorted us to the restaurant, which was down a side alley and then down another tiny street. In the restaurant there were only two tables in the back. For 1,300 yen (about $15) we got the freshest sushi you could imagine. If I lived on a diet of Kobe beef and Tsukiji-market fresh sushi I could live in this country without needing teeth: I could just chew everything with my gums! it's that melt-in-your-mouth tender and delicious! (Never mind the fact that I would likely very quickly get scurvy). It was definitely pretty awesome that Makiko could join us. Not only is her company appreciated and insight incredibly valuable, if it weren't for her Japanese skills we maybe would have ended up waiting hours and paying too much for sushi instead of being in a more intimate setting supporting a small family-run establishment.

Tuesday night was our last night in Tokyo stayed with Anura and Thilina. I hadn't expected to have so much fun staying with them but we had a blast (they work for Yosha's second cousin). It was funny being the minority for once, since they spoke Sinhalese and Yosha understood everything they said so would randomly giggle sometimes at what they said. We learned a lot from each other and shared a lot of laughs in the process.

 Wednesday was our last full day in Japan, and we definitely ended on a high note at Tokyo Disney Sea! Makiko got us tickets and we joined her and her two friends Haruka and Ayana, then Nonaco joined us after 6. It was great to see her and to talk about all of the things that we had seen since we last parted ways at the beginning of May after spending the weekend with her and her family. Her parents made us a booklet of some of the pictures of us in kimonos, which was a beautiful souvenir of our trip.

DisneySea was designed more for adults and is about 10 years old. I had been to Disney World in Florida about 5 years ago. I don't remember it that well, but what amazed me was the attention to detail on everything at disneysea. Everything from the buildings, lights, signs, benches, bathrooms was designed for the area. Mediterranean harbor made me feel like I was back in Venice watching the gondolas pass (minus the Japanese gondola guys saying "ciao!"). I couldn't stop saying sugoy ("wow!") at everything, and it definitely made me feel like a kid again, reliving the little mermaid/Aladdin/Mickey mouse memories! It is crazy to see consumerism at its finest here though. Almost everyone had something Disney, whether it was silly character hats, loud shirts or Mickey popcorn buckets. At the end of the night the store staff couldn't keep the items stocked quickly enough. Especially anything to do with Duffy and Shellie May, two bears that Mickey gave Minnie. Duffymania is HUGE here! It's definitely a japan thing as we don't have it back home. We ended the day watching the amazing fantasmic show on the water. There were most of the Disney characters sailing by, complete with songs and fireworks. Nonaco gave us a gorgeous book of some of the photos from the kimono photo shoot at her family's place earlier in the month. The photos are incredibly and it's definitely a gift Yosha and I will both cherish for years to come.

Last night we stayed at a Hilton near disneysea. It was a great end to the night. this morning Makiko met us at the hotel to say goodbye. I had time to reflect on this trip and the effect it had on me. I really appreciated the opportunity to travel to a country that I thought would be so different. In some ways it was: the language; the fact we don't drive on the same side of the road; different main religions (Christianity (mostly) vs Buddhism/Shintoism); fashion; height; and lack of diversity. But I was surprised too at how similar we are when it comes to values of respect and consideration for others. I will definitely will miss this country and would put it at the top of my list when suggesting Asian counties to visit.

I am incredibly thankful to have taken this trip with Yosha. We had such an amazing time and got along really well. We have a similar style when it comes to traveling so we work really well together. We giggle nonstop about silliness so it was a culturally enlightening trip but almost more importantly it was a really FUN trip!!

We leave soon to board our plane for home, where I will be moving on to a new phase in my life moving in with my amazing boyfriend Sean in our new apartment in beechwood. It was tough being away from him but I fortunate to have had his support on this trip even when it was really hard to be apart!

Thanks for following along on our adventures! I will certainly post one more of just food pictures, because that is something that deserves a post on its own!

Inside the tsukiji fish market

Outside the amazing restaurant where we had mouth-wateringly delicious sushi

Makiko, Haruka, Yosha and I hanging out with the characters of Toy Story

Outside the Indiana Jones ride. Yosha and I went on this thing three times!

MICKEY!!!!
 I don't care if it was a Japanese dude inside the costume. For that moment I was brought back to my childhood!

Makiko and I kicking butt with one of the characters of the Incredibles

Duffymania is everywhere! Even as panna cotta! Tasty lil bastard!

Tokyo part one (belated post, I know!)

I love Japan and how efficient the train system is. You always know exactly which train you're on by the time. On the train ride to Tokyo I asked one of the train staff if we would be able to see Mount Fuji from the train. He said: "yes, reft side". I asked approximately what time? So he pulls out a train schedule and says: "12:47". I made some joke about how it's too bad it couldn't be more accurate but he just kindly blinked and checked another person's ticket.

That's one thing we have come to love about Japan. How everything seems to always be precise. From the chef cooking Kobe steak and wiping down the grill with purpose, to the server in a pub giving us our burgers and seemingly taking a sense of pride when he told him the food was good, like he was him who put the love and care into the food, to the teenager who walked us to the mall so we could find our steak restaurant...these are the interactions that I will remember long after we have left this country.

We made our way to the station to meet Yosha's second cousin's cousin (or something like that), Thilina, who met us at the station. One benefit of the lack of diversity in Japan is that it's pretty easy to describe yourself to someone coming to meet you at a popular stop. Just look for the tall white girl and Sri Lankan girl :) it was entertaining watching Thilina try to get my huge 50+ lb suitcase out of the backseat of his Mazda rx8! Even though the place is a good hour outside of the downtown core, between a bus then train, it's nice to have a place to hang our hats for a few days!

On Saturday we went to an area of town known for their kitchen stuff. There were tons of stores that sold an amazing variety of kitchen stuff: everything from knives, bowls, takeout containers, restaurant staff uniforms, and plastic food! From there we met Makiko at the sumo stadium. It was such a great experience! We saw a few sumo wrestlers walk in before their matches. The bouts are really short. Essentially the goal is to shove your opponent out of the ring without you stepping out of the ring or touching the ground with your hands. There were a number of wrestlers from Japan but also from Mongolia and china, and a couple from countries like the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. One thing that amazed me was the high standards of sportmenship the wrestlers seem to have. Whether they won or lost, they remained expressionless. There was none of this throw your hands in the air and swearing nonsense we typically see in North American sports. The highlight of the night was a bout between the Japanese wrestler with the perfect record to date and a very strong Mongolian wrestler. The crowd was cheering, encouraging the Japanese wrestler and were totally into the match. In the end the Mongolian wrestler won the bout, but the intensity of the wrestlers could easily be felt in our nosebleed-level seats. It was great having Makiko there to explain everything to us. On our way out we saw a few sumo wrestlers walking out on their own (it's not like they need bodyguards). One of them walked beside Yosha. It was cool to compare the difference in size: while they were about the same height, most sumo wrestlers are between 350-400 lbs!

From the sumo match we went for dinner with Makiko and her friend Haruka, who did a master's degree in linguistics at U of T so we had lots to talk about, between the four of us who all spent some time at some point in Toronto. The restaurant was awesome: they take you through a ninja training camp, where you go through hidden staircases and dungeons to find your way to your seat. I had an amazing beef tenderloin dish, chosen from a menu that was rolled up like a scroll, and the girls had a ninja-themed eight-course tasting menu. One of the highlights was definitely the magic show. At one point a "ninja master" came to do card tricks at our table. Say what you want about magic: there is nothing that brings out the kid in you more than a magic trick! (Though admittedly there is very little that doesn't bring out the kid in me!)

On Sunday we took part in a morning bus tour of the city, where we saw a few of the major sites of Tokyo: the Tokyo tower, the imperial palace grounds and the senso-ji temple, a temple that enshrines a golden image of Kannon, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. According to legend, she was miraculously pulled out of a nearby river by two fishermen in 628. (Note: it remains to be seen if the ancient image of Kannon actually exists, as it's not on public display).

From the tour we went to Yoyogi-Koen, a park where all sorts of wackiness come together. One of the highlights was a group of rockabilly dudes grooving to the song Footloose. They had some serious moves to go along with their amazing outfits of black jeans, perfect pompadoured hair, leather jackets and leather pointed shoes that were layered with electric tape since the shoes had worn down so much from the twisting and dancing.

From there we went to Harajuku, the shopping Mecca. There was a huge range of clothing stores, from high end Louis Vuitton/Dior/Fendi to funky accessory and shoe stores. Unfortunately one of the downsides of being taller here is that the shoes and most clothes don't quite fit...which I suppose isn't necessarily a bad thing as I would be tempted to empty my bank account here. It was great to see Tokyo fashion at its finest. I'm not quite sure how to define fashion here. General wardrobe staples seem to be lacy socks with shoes or sandals, flowery tights or skirts mixed with a random mishmash of colors. Yosha and I like to play the "what doesn't fit here" game when we people watch, as there usually seems to be one piece of clothing that is slightly off, at least but conservative government-town Ottawa standards!

Outside the sumo stadium

A sort of blurry shot of a sumo wrestler up close

At Senso-ji temple

Tokyo Central station