Jack Meets His Match
We went to the Salish Sea Aquarium in Sidney, BC and saw a creepy starfish suck the life out of poor old Jack….
Such a toothy Grin
…as another killer (whale) hovered overhead.
Yikes!
All in all, it was quite a hair raising adventure. Happy Halloween Everyone! 🎃
We caught some fish and chips at Red Fish Blue Fish on the wharf in Victoria, BC.
The fish was fabulous but the root beer was out of this world. Intergalactic Root beer to be exact.
Made with: MOLASSES, SARSAPARILLA, LICORICE ROOT, BLACK PEPPER, ANISE SEED, CLOVES, & CINNAMON
Red Fish Blue Fish Wharf
We managed to get our al fresco meal before the line ups started. The cook admitted their food was kinda famous. According to her it was featured “in magazines and on TV and stuff.” The fish and chips were cooked to perfection and the location is also unbeatable, right on the water with stunning views. Highly recommend grabbing a bite here!
We’re hanging with the hip at the Hey Happy Cafe in Victoria. We’re happy.
After a week on Salt Spring Island we decided to make one last trip to Cowitchan Bay to hear the sea lions bark at the moon. It was so beautiful! On a whim we decided to have a quick bite at the Masthead Restaurant and it turned into a two course dinner. It was the best meal on this trip.
It’s a little cooler today on Salt Spring Island. That calls for piping hot dark roast coffee and a cinnamon bun. Ah…Island Life.
The Cowitchan Bulls are back baby and they are ready to party! The male sea lions leave the cows tending the pups in California and they swim to Cowitchan Bay for a month long stag party. They bark and roar late into the night. We left our window open so we could hear them even though it meant an unsettled sleep. Fortunately for the other guests, the hotel provided complimentary earplugs.
where in the world are we?
The Universal Studio Park is a mish-mash of styles because facades from various movies have been combined to create a world of half forgotten memories. Rocky, the Blues Brothers and Transformers all live on the same block. Everything seems strangely familiar. I just couldn’t quite place which storefront belonged to which movie.
Corinne said “Let’s try one of the park’s rides.” She sometimes experiences motion sickness so we thought we would try something tame. What about the “Minions” ride? Cute little cartoon characters with goggles - they make jokes about bananas and farts, what could be more harmless? It’s a simulator ride. You wear 3D glasses and sit on a bench that moves. After we sat down, it was a little disconcerting that we were being strapped in quite tightly. The thing about a simulator ride is it can mimic the most terrifying roller coaster imaginable. Not only that, it can defy gravity. It was a wild time bordering on the hallucinatory. We experienced impossible twists and turns as well vertical drops. Occasionally, I was distracted by a screaming woman but for the most part I was giddy with the thrill of it all. A mechanical press threatened to squash us as flat as a cartoon pancake and we were assaulted by absurd projectiles. I enjoyed the whole experience almost as much as the onscreen Minions did. Oh, and yes, the screaming woman was Corinne.
The scooter gang onboard and Unsinkable
Both Corinne & I got mobility scooters for Orlando Universal Studios, the second leg of our journey. We spent the first little while trying to maneuver both scooters into the hotel elevators. No innocent bystanders were injured during the learning period. Soon we were racing down hallways, the wind in our hair - I suddenly knew what it felt like to be a member of a motorcycle gang.
Our insurance didn’t cover fire, water or acts of God so it was a little daunting getting them onto the Water Taxi but what the hell, we were born to be wild.
Paris meets washington
I found a little place called the Pavilion Café overlooking the sculpture garden at the National Art Gallery. The coffee was hot, the weather was pleasantly cool and the roll was cinnamony. Kids were ice skating in the park and there was art to contemplate just outside the window. I highly recommend this as a cure for aching MFS. (Museum Feet Syndrome)
Taking the Cure at Cafe Metropolitan
Earlier I heard some teens try to decipher Claes Oldenburg’s “Typewriter Eraser” sculpture. I don’t blame them for not understanding, most Millenials have never seen a typewriter let alone a typewriter eraser.
What was Oldenburg Trying to Suggest?
Reporting from the white house
I guess, when in Washington, one feels obligated to go to the White House. I wanted to see The National Gallery but I thought I would take a quick detour to see the President’s Residence. A couple things of note: There is a never-ending street hockey game going on in front of the National Reserve right next to the White House. Some players were even wearing “Leaf” jerseys. The second thing - the White House is startlingly white. In a city of grey buildings, the White House stands out like a sore thumb or perhaps a shining beacon of democracy depending on your political leanings. The lone police officer who stands guard outside the front gate with a machine gun says he can’t pose for pictures but if he “happens” to be in your selfie then that’s OK.
I proceeded on down to the Washington Monument. I could see it from a long way off so I didn’t feel I needed to stand next to it. In fact it’s hard to keep out of your photos.
Frame the Washington Monument Carefully
Onto the National Gallery. After getting through security I noticed Salvador Dali’s master piece “Last Supper” was hung in the foyer near the washrooms. I thought there must be a mistake, it should be in a gallery of it’s own. Later I realized that there were so many masterpieces in this museum, they hang paintings wherever they can find a spot.
Students Learning from the Masters
Davincis, Rembrandts, Monets, Van Goughs and Renoirs are all here amongst the many thousands of pieces of art including sculptures, paintings and even furniture. The museum is a veritable maze with tourists constantly retracing their footsteps only to find the familiar faces of other tourists walking in circles. Sounding like lost Time Travelers, I heard an older couple say “we were in the 18th century but we need to get to the 17th century.”
An Historic Location
Whenever we travel and we’re lost, I usually have Corinne to share the confusion. Today she’s at a two year meditation teacher certification course so I was able to be lost by myself.
Washington DC has a wonderful subway system. It allows you to get to the heart of the city then you’re on your own. My destination: The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The city’s architecture really is spectacular so I was a little distracted as I stumbled through the maze of plazas and passageways but I eventually made it to the museum.
Woodrow Wilson Plaza
The museum is a free attraction. It greets you with a giant iconic elephant in the rotunda. They have a lot of stuff in this place. Too much stuff for one day. They have an insect zoo, dinosaurs and Neanderthals, butterflies, nature photography, freaky deep-sea fish as well as woolly mammoth hair and flesh. In fact, every type of animal on earth is either stuffed, pickled or skinned and on display. (including several humans)
I watched a “live” insect demonstration. A small crowd had gather round an entomologist with an enormous locust in his open hand. As the bug twitched he said, “you’ll notice it has no wings so it cannot fly. It is, however, a prodigious jumper!” His audience took a collective step backwards.
And if you like rocks, they got rocks. Big rocks falling from the sky (meteorites), Moon rocks and expensive rocks - the accursed Hope Diamond and the equally unlucky Marie Antoinette earrings. Until I saw this exhibit I never fully appreciated the diversity and beauty of the gems and minerals on Earth. It made the Moon rocks seem boring.
Big Rocks Falling from the Sky
Five hours later I was looking for my way home. Being completely lost, I was happy to find a cozy Starbucks where they were playing old timey dixieland and funk - a weird mix but it worked. Thank goodness for free WiFi. I texted Corinne of my predicament and started downloading maps.
Island Hopping in the Georgia STRAIGHT
We landed in Comox on Vancouver Island then it was a short drive to Campbell River. A refreshing ferry ride took us from Quadra Island to Cortez Island. Now for a week of Silence at the Hollyhock Retreat.
Cat Siesta
Our Wifi has been poor lately so our posts have been a bit sparse. We may have to track down a Starbucks and borrow a cup of internet. Our health has been quite good on this trip. Perhaps it's the daily siestas or the nightly tinctures of tequila.
…In the pink at Chichen Itza
We made it to Chichen Itza, Temple of the Maya Gods or UFO Landing Site depending on what conspiracy theory you believe. The area surrounding the temple has a stone plaza that has been covered in dirt and planted with grass. The overhead sun heats the underlying stone and before you can say “Easy Bake Oven” you have toasted tourists. A well-timed mango Slurpee saved us from perishing at the Temple of Doom.
Pro Tip: Find the Slurpee Concession before noon or you’ll be standing in a queue of crabby people. If you don’t find the slurpee concession you will die!
The Mystery Breakfast
We've spent some time searching out places to eat. Breakfast always seems a bit daunting when you've spent a lifetime having oatmeal and toast. The Breakfast Americano loses it's charm after a while. Now it's plantains and tortillas first thing in the morning. Thank God for coffee. It's the universal elixir of life.
Our evening meals have been hit and miss. At hole in the wall restaurants, where they don't speak English, we resort to pointing at other customer's dishes that look interesting. This always results in surprises, both good and bad. At restaurants where they do speak English, we ask for recommendations. This can be surprising as well. I had "Flor de Calabaza con Hongos Fungi". I worked feverishly on my smart phone translation app to figure out what I had just ordered. The fungi turned out to be mushrooms with pumpkin flowers. It was pretty good.
Travel Tips at the Pool
We have a garden pool we sit around, meet people and swap stories and experiences. We talked to a charming couple from New England who had just returned from Chichen Itza, a pre-Columbian city built by the Mayans. They were excited to talk about their adventures that included swimming in a Cenote, a clear water sink hole. It was a trip of a life time for them so we may be following their footsteps.
The Colour of Carnaval
Carnaval is still in full swing. We have another parade to attend tonight. The hi-lights we're looking forward to: giant bats swooping down from the trees at dusk to signal the start of the procession. Then the swat team flooding the floats with strobe lights to add an extra festive atmosphere. There can never be too much sound, light, movement and colour at Mardi Gras.
Feathers and Glitz
Through no planning on our part, but due to some great luck, we managed to arrive in Playa del Carmen during Carnaval. We only heard about it as a passing comment from someone at the pool. We discovered there was a Mardi Gras parade tonight near our hotel so we decided we to take a quick siesta to get ready for the evening. We woke up half an hour past the parade start time. As the sun was setting, we stumbled through the streets looking for the festivities. We asked a passerby for directions and we soon arrived at a traffic circle manned by a Mexican Swat team. Their black truck was full of helmeted policia carrying machine guns. This was promising - no parade but the police were obviously expecting something. At the far, far end of the street were flashing blue/red lights. Maybe we hadn't missed the parade after all. Within minutes spectators started lining the streets. A couple more minutes and we were swarmed by Carnaval Baby!
Everybody Dance!
Music and colour swirl around us. Beautiful dancers gyrate, twerk and do God knows what else. Floats with giant mythic figures tower over head. "Everybody get up and jump, jump!" A man in a top hat looks down from his throne. A devilish grin breaks on his face. Candies are thrown to the children. We're doing some sweaty dancing in the streets.
The Towering Giants
Then it's over. A throng of people follow the parade into the dark. We're left with palm trees and heat. Time to eat. We're exhausted so we opt for the closest restaurant still open - a vegetarian bio-love eatery. We settle on a righteous vegan dish. We sit dejected, munching on our mealy polenta. Somehow, a juicy barbecued steak would have been more appropriate for Carnaval.
Hats, Hats, Hats!
We're in Playa del Carmen, on 5th Avenue to be exact. Apple Store, Argentine Barbecue, Victoria's Secret, Lucky Luciano's Pasta Boutique and Hats, Hats, Hats - you want it, they got it. It's the best place to watch people though. There's Kardashian wannabes teetering on platform sandals and gladiator stilettos, burnt-out surf gurus with their manbuns, the Euro Chic tethered to tiny dogs and of course, we're happy to lend our "Lost Tourist Couture" to the mix. We're so enthralled, we spend a couple hours letting the world go by. Mariachi bands and hip hop skip ropers perform for us.
Then it's time for a petit repas but where to eat? Here's the weird part, we choose a French patisserie because it's packed with people. We travel 6000 km to the Yucatán Peninsula to eat great French food. I guess we are on the Mayan "Riviera" after all.
Later, when all the glitter and glitz is pushed back into the stores and the roll shutters are locked, a more heart warming version of Mexican commerce takes over the avenue. Wares are displayed on the sidewalk and the performers don't need amplifiers. Our favorite entertainment of the evening is a sweet, sweet couple singing folk songs. When the night clubs start ramping up the thumping techno Latin pop, it’s time to head home. Finding our way back to the hotel in the dark is getting easier.
The Sweetest Couple You'll Ever See or Hear
Under the Umbrella
You can't go wrong with breakfast by the pool. The morning is lovely and cool. The sky is blue. I look up into the palm trees and see heavy soon-to-fall-unconscious-rendering coconuts overhead. The courtyard is a jungle and an ocelot patterned kitten stalks the gardens. Corinne is ecstatic. She now has an animal to feed during breakfast. I eat my "Breakfast Americano" as Corinne photographs the coconuts. Soon after we leave, pruners are brought in to remove the coconuts. Management has sensed an impending lawsuit. Everyone survives and the coconuts are served up as drinks in the bar.
Law of the Jungle
There is always something exciting about arriving in a new country at night. The heavy tropical air that fills your lungs and the chaos of drivers holding passenger signs as you exit the airport combine to create the feel of being somewhere different. Palm trees sweep past us as we ride into the dark. The Federales are stopping cars tonight but we get waved through. Signs in Spanish flash by - Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Rio Secreto - then the thrill of seeing a Puma Crossing sign, the possibilities are wonderful. We find our hotel then hit the streets. The main avenue reminds of us of a sedate version of Khao San Road. The feet-eating fish have made it across the ocean from Thailand. Our main entertainment is a salsa singer who balances ever-more improbable objects on his chin according the dares of the drunken patrons. Then it's time for some sleep. We try to navigate back to our hotel in the dark but the hotel has locked the gate near our room so we look for another way in. We are lost again.
Where to go on our next adventure? There were travel bans in Egypt, avalanches in Italy, volcanoes in Costa Rica and in Tanzania - well you had to be prepared and we weren't. Then we remembered, if you don't know where to go, there is always Mexico.
Some things never change - me packing hours before the flight and Corinne laughing as I carefully roll my clothes up before putting them in the suitcase. Ah, the traditions of travel.
