Home

So. It's been a week since I left Canada.

The Journey home was fairly epic. I got up at 8:30 and caught the bus to Whyte Avenue so I could get my Airport Shuttle which was even earlier than they said it would be. Good thing I'm always early. Sunshine waited with me and hugged me goodbye. She gave me a card with Pandas on, and it made me well up in the Shuttle. To be honest I was holding it together all morning. I had such fun with her. It really was an honour to meet such a wonderful lady. And there was no awkwardness all week. True friends. I will defo be visiting her again sometime.

Where was I? Ah yes, Edmonton Airport. Damn those Canadians are so nice at Delta. I had to fill out another form as I was going via America, and they were so helpful. Thankfully, by some miracle my luggage came in under limitation! Plus they let me through the American customs- ever country does it differently it would seem.

It was a pretty lovely Airport, it has to be said, although with the annoucements they did about their new route to Forth Worth, I kinda felt like I was in Josie & The Pussycats. I did have a weird urge for Mcdonalds. Ha ha.

Onto the plane and I had 2 seats to myself :) So I made the most of it and watched 2 episode of Veronica Mars.  We landed in Minneapolis which was an hour ahead of Edmonton. My flight wasn't until 9;55pm so I indulged in some taco bell.

The Quesedias were pretty rad, with my mountain dew fresh (it was green, what can I say, I'm a sucker for silly colours). I messed around on the iPads, which were free to use everywhere and wasted some time looking around the shops. It was a lot bigger than the other American airports I'd been to.

Eventually the time came to board the plane. Alas, again the long haul flight was full so I had to share with a little old lady. Don't be fooled, she still crammed the armrest down on my thigh given any opportunity. It was of course a night-flight, so they bought us some dinner and I watched The Book Thief. I'd wanted to see it for ages, so was glad to get to watch it as I welled up on the plane. I managed to get a bit of sleep in the smallest space. The guy with the extra legroom in front of me still reclined his seat. Dick. 

Daylight was arriving outside, which made it around 5am-6am-ish. We had a very mediocre breakfast and I watched some Brooklyn 911 before we landed. It was midday UK time and 6am body clock time. That's another 3 time zones in 24 hours. Ugh.

After a long wait to get off the plane- the tunnel thing wouldn't connect and we had to wait for actual stairs, which then involved lots of Americans complaining about the amount of stairs. (I truly was back in Britain) I was back in good ole Blighty, rain and all! Customs was a piece of piss, and my luggage was there too! woo hoo. So I headed to the underground to make my way home. More Veronica Mars on the Train :)

Ferry to the Isle and my Mom met me at the top of the pier on the train, bless her. I looked exhausted! Truth be told, a week later, I still am. Jet lag is a bitch. But damn she was worth it!

Everyone has been so lovely since I've got back asking how my holiday was and telling me that they've all been reading my blog! What can I say? I'm massively touched that so many of you have read my ramblings. I hadn't realised how many good pals I had out there, so Thank you, Thank you, Thank you all so much. You guys and gals rock!

I think I might do a best bits of Canada blog with some more pictures, what do you think?

Until then, Thank you for reading! 

Days 14 & 15 making, drinking & dates

So. I'm in Minneapolis airport waiting for my flight to London.  I'm pretty tired from an awesome 2 weeks & I'm looking forward to getting home to my own bed, my kitties, my mom & my pals.

Where was I? Oh yes, Friday. After the mall excitement we stayed home & I learnt some fascinator tricks from Sunshine. I made a rad one to go with my new Hell Bunny Vixen dress. :) she gave me quite a few bits so I'll be making some new ones when I'm home!
Friday night Sunshine had planned on getting her friends together to go out. In the end it was me,sunshine & Brianne. We still had massive fun. We started out at a place called The Pint which involved getting a massive pitcher type affair of beer. I believe there was also a shot of jager. We walked to a gay bar meeting some random people on the way who loved the fact I was British (finally). It all gets kinda hazy after that.

Dear lord did I pay for it the next day. I'd arranged a date with a guy called Patrick. So I still went. Massively hungover. On a date with a recovering alcoholic. Did I mention I was hungover?!
I also threw up in the bathroom of the coffee place. Classy. Well it was still rad meeting Patrick. He had a nice beard :)

Homeward bound and I then began cramming things in my suitcase. Thankfully it all fitted, can't say I'm looking forward to dragging it across London with me...

So. Yes. Those were my last days in Canada. I've had so much fun & will defo be back someday.

I'll blog more when I get home.until then kids, thanks for reading!!

Day 13 west ed mall

Thursday saw a trip to West Edmonton Mall. Sunshine was working so I got the bus to meet her at the university. However I got off at the wrong stop & had to get the LTR back 3 stops. Oops. But I made it. Yay! Mostly confusing!!

The mall is huge. It has a water park & theme park in it. We walked around the theme park but my body wasn't feeling brave enough for any rides. Vertigo is not my friend lately.
We had an awesome hotdog from the food court & wandered around. We found a rad photo booth so had our photos taken :)
I got a neat Captain America tee from Old Navy. Lots of socks & hair flowers from a Rad shop where everything was crazy cheap.
Coffee then urban outfitters. I took a few snaps of some entertaining hipster items. Obviously.
Homeward & just a neat evening hanging out.

I can't believe I only have 2 days left :( These 2 weeks have gone so fast & although I'm looking forward to getting home I'm gonna miss Canada.
Some awesome experiences have been had, and I've met my best pals so its been worth it.

Til next time ;)

Days 11&12 Tattoos, Hair & pain

My memory sucks and I really should do this everyday.
So day 11 involved going to the tattooist to get our slot & picture drawn up for Wednesday.
We headed downtown to Edmonton Art Gallery which was pretty random.  They had some near stuff and some what the fuck stuff... But it was fun.
We had lunch at this lovely vegan organic place which makes the best chai with almond milk.
Had a wander through the mall and I don't think we did much else. I know Edmonton has some killer stairs though!!
Day 12.
We got up earlyish & headed to get our hair cut. My cut was good, but then they styled it. It was pretty funny but easily amended in the washroom of the Mexican we went for lunch in. The food was good but pretty generic & I've never seen quasadillas that look like burritos. Anyhoo we headed for our tattoo appointment!! We now have cute matching panda stamp tattoos. Everyone in the parlour said ours were adorable & the best they'd seen all week :) it was a bit ouchy but rad!
Homeward via the liquor barn I bought some 47.5% dark rum...
We were going out to see The Creepshow so I thought I'd wear my new creepers.
Rookie mistake there. My left ankle is now kinda raw. I ended up walking to the drug store in my socks to get blister plasters.
The Creepshow was pretty disappointing. They have a new female lead and she's just not Sarah. Also the support bands were shite :(
I was sad because I really wanted Sunshine to enjoy it as I made her go, but it just sucked :( I got a neat hoodie though! Ha!

Today we are going to the gigantic mall. Eek!!!

Days 9&10 ska, shopping & sweet potato fries

Day 9: Sunshine's birthday.
We started off by going to Walmart and me being in awe of how massive everything was!
Homeward for bagels a bit of TV then I briefly met Sunshine's Dad who was a pretty rad dad. The Sunshine & I went for Starbucks & a wander around winners (like TKmaxx) then home for Turkey dinner before a ska show at a place called The pawn shop.

Like every alternative venue ever the place had no windows & was painted black. We saw 4 ska bands. Man, those Edmontontonians love their ska! I have never been to ska show where the skankin' was so intense that the floor was moving so much! Crazy fun!
I also discovered a poster for the Creepshow on Wednesday so we're going!!

Day 10: Shopping.
We needed to get me a hoodie as the coat I bought with me was epically lame. So we ventured out & started off in a huge thift store, then to the comic book store, which was incredible. Amazing outfits, awesome toys & transformer underpants. Ha! I, of course bought the only bits of Elvis paraphernalia in the store.

We went to some rad stores & I bought a pair of demonia creepers with a hidey hole in the shoe. Only $24. amazing.
We went to Rowena as well. I got a lovely Hell Bunny Vixen dress, some cute socks & a poodle scarf.
We went to Dad*eo 's for lunch. Damn. Food is so good here. I had a pulled pork new Orleans sandwich with the best sweet potato fries I've ever eaten!!! Yum!
A bit more wandering and the purchase of a hoodie & Cardigan for me. Hurrah!
Then frozen yogurt. So big. So yummy. So full.

A good day was had :)

Day 7&8 Science, Sushi & Slowest trains in the world.

Friday began with me having a minor breakdown over my luggage & how I couldn't see any checked luggage on one of my flights...
Called Expedia & sorted it out before I went & sat on the suitcase...
John picked me up, then we got Ange & Atticus from the hospital & headed for breakfast at Save on Meats. It was pretty rad and a whole bunch of meat. From there we headed to Telus World of Science to look at the Lego exhibition and watched Rescue in the OMNIMAX theatre which was awesome but messed with my vertigo a bit. The Lego was fun. I saw some science stuff too, but you know me, I'm not a science fan.
We went to an ice cream parlour which had 218 flavours of ice cream. I had an awesome chocolate raspberry sorbetto. From there we went to Commercial drive to the Licquorice parlour which also had hula hoops. We had coffee at bump & grind then headed to have Sushi. There was a massive queue but we waited & I even had sushi rolls with Eel in. It was quite tasty.
Then to the station and Goodbye to Ange & Atticus :(
I bordered the train after walking what seemed liked a million miles. The train was pretty big, incredibly slow & not the most comfortable I'd ever been on. I was on the train for 28 hours as it actually arrived 2 hours late. We stopped briefly at Jasper which was also really picturesque. There were epic views everywhere & it was awesome but I've seen the train up the pier go faster. Plus we had to keep on stopping for freight trains which was such a joke!!!
Canada fails on transportation.
Anyway I eventually got to Edmonton at 1am!!! Thankfully Sushine & Cory were waiting for me :)
I'm a happy gal!

Day 6: Walmart & Burlesque.

This was my last full day in Vancouver. Ange picked me up & we headed to the Templeton diner for Breakfast.I was pretty stoked as we got to sit at the Elvis table :) we both had the big ass breakfast while I subjected the other customers to the stray cats, coasters & simple minds on the jukebox. He he.
We then headed outta town into the burbs to go to Walmart! Holy cow that place was big!!! I bought a few bits then we headed to Daisio: The Japanese dollar store. I could of spent waaaay more in there than I did.
Homeward bound I went to Earls for dinner, had a pizza, chocolate toffee pudding & rum. (Rude not to at $4). Then Ange picked me up & we headed to The Keefer bar for some Burlesque.
It was much fun, besides the dickhead executives standing up ruining our view! But we still saw enough.
Hotel bound I've had a fight with my suitcase as I bought a few bits... I'm getting the train to Edmonton tonight so I had to pack it all up!!!
Just waiting for Ange & I'll check out. Think we are going to science world to look at Lego.
Its been massive fun, so thanks Vancouver!! :)
Until next time I find some free WiFi.....

Day 5: Capilano Suspension Bridge

Day 5 began with cinnamon sugar crepes with eggs & bacon. I had a wonder around bought some gift crap & a new rucksack as the handle on my bag broke :(
Then Ange got me & we headed to the Capilano suspension bridge.
Holy f*** it was far up! You walk across the bridge first which sways as you walk & I have no idea how far down it was. You then walk around various trails with more little suspension bridges in the trees. Its epically beautiful and I'm sure I would have appreciated it more if I wasn't a) terrified & b) so incredibly unfit.
We made it around the trees so rewarded ourselves with coffee and a Canadian treat that I can't remember the name of. Then we went on the cliff walk. That was fairly scary too. You've probably seen the pictures on Facebook of me not wanting to walk on see thru metal or glass panels....it was fun though!
We had a little trip to Sephora & I treated myself to lipstick & eye-shadow.

Ange's Dad isnt doing too good so she had to stay in, but I headed out to see a band called The Revellers at The Revel Room in Gas town.
I walked cuz it didn't look that far. It was quite a walk!!! Anyhoo I sat at the bar & ate tacos & drank beer whilst watching the band.
The bar staff were so efficient & hot. You'd barely finished a drink before another was waiting. Awesome service. I met an old dude called Gordon & a 42 yr old restaurant owner called Can who bought me a shot of Whiskey. He was cool, but married & kept me entertained. It was a fun evening. I'm glad I braved it. I got a cab home, got snacks & watched Boy Meets World before I fell asleep.
Good times :)

Day4: America

Day 4 began with a trip to Denny's. Damn this place is awesome. The lady who served us was so damn nice! I've never had my coffee refilled so much. I had sticky bun French toast with eggs, bacon & grits. I had no idea what grits were so figured I'd try them. Yeah, I wouldn't bother. They are kinda like semolina meets mushy rice with no flavour. Grim. However the French toast was divine.

From Denny's we headed to the border where you have to wait in line in your car, we got to the hut & had to go into border control as I'm British. We waited an hour to get checked through & then the guy thought it was crazy funny that we were pen pals. At least he cracked a smile. So we headed to Bells fair mall.

The mall was kinda big. We went through Target and the plus size sucked, so went to Lane  Bryant & got me some underwear. Then I got a little over excited in Hot Topic buying some rad skull slip ons, a 16 candles bag, earrings & 3 bottles of manic panic hair dye!!!
We stopped for lunch at the food court & it seemed only right that I got food from Panda Express! It was pretty good actually.
Forever 21 was next, but again the plus size stuff wasn't awesome. Finally onto Torrid where they had loads of buy one get one half price deals & buy one, get one for $5 deals. I ended up with a rad dress Angela found, a skulls & roses shirt, black trousers and a leopard print Cardigan. Good shopping!!!

Homeward bound, I then found a liquors store, bought some cider & a burrito & settled in to watch agents of SHEILD. I did not see that coming! Eek!
Anyhoo another fun day was had.
We're off to the suspension bridge today so if you don't hear from me again, I'm probably stuck midway!!!!

Day 3 Aquarium vs Ice Hockey

Day 3 began in a quest for food, so I wandered around off Robson street and found a Tim Horton's. I'd heard great things so figured I'd check it out. I don't know what all the fuss was about. It was just
Like McDonalds except the donuts....

After thge not so tasty food i headed back to the hotel where a

Ang & John came & got me. We drove to the Aquarium. Now yes, I live on an Island but we really don't have much sealife! This Aquarium was soo cool!!!!

We saw loads of Jellyfish which were rad. I found Nemo & Dory too and we eventually found the octopuss. It was hiding!

We watched the 4D show which was actually a BBC film- what are the odds!!! Then the dolphin show which was amazing! We saw the otters & the Belugia show. We sat in the splash zone & thought we couldn't get that wet...ha ha we got pretty drenched by the beautiful belugia... It was massive fun though.

John & Atticus came & got us & we headed through the park to Granville Island. Wow, this place is so cool. Its got all these cute markets & I had the best Mocha with Almond milk.

I also got possibly the best thing in the world. A collectors edition Elvis Pez set!!!!

Then came the Ice Hockey.

Man- this hockey game outs the raiders to shame! The stadium is so big & lit up and just incredible!! Shame the canucks sucked. The Ducks beat them 3-0. We were sat next to a really funny Finnish/Canadian guy. It was his kids first game so he was waving the flag & ended up getting our faces on TV!!! 

It was a great experience & Im so glad i went!

It was such a fun day. We're hopping the border for day 3 for some shopping!!!  

Sorry about the lack of photos, the app won't let me upload them :(.

Food scavenger hunt

SoSo Day 2 involved me getting up at about  think the Jet Lag is evening itself out now! So after writing my blog I headed to Starbucks and had coffee and a cookie

I wrote in my journal and then went for a wander down Robson Street. Nothing was open at 8am so i figured id check out Victorias secrets & forever 21 later. I headed back to the hotel & Angela kiked me asking if i wanted to go for Coffee. Of course! So we headed, well i have no idea where, it was probably main street of some sort! Anyways we went to this neat coffee house that sells epic donuts. We shared 2 donuts : Apple maple glazed bacon (yes, bacon in a donut!!!) And a PB &J one. Now im a fan of bacon and it was good, until the PB&J touched my lips. Damn it was good!!!

We then to Michaels which is a hugfe craft store here, kinda like Hobbycraft but cheaper & better. I got some rad flowers to play with as well as sone leopard print duck tape!!!! Then we headed to Assembly of text which was a cool shop with vintage typewriters & lots of lovely notebooks & things. I got some fairly awesome postcards as well as a badge with a mountie on! We headed to JJBeans for some more coffee- i had an almond milk espresso macchiato & Angela had a London fog.

From there we went & picked up John & Atticus to head to xoxolat (sho-sho-lat) where the food scavenger hunt began. We were joined by Johns brother Ben. We had a taster of the blue chip & lime dark chocolate which was cool. Then jumped in the car & went to a wine shop Where we tasted spme red & white wine. Next we headed to a cute jazz resturant where we sampled some tuna cone thinf & some beer. From there we headed to the seafront where we had pancakes bacon, cheese & maple syrup with some pink lemonade. We also had ice cream, pizza & beer, macrons & tea in the following places. We headed back to xoxolat with our task lists but she said because i hadnt uploaded the pictures to instagram we were disqualifed. I pointed out how much it would cost me to do so but she wasnt interested. Mean lady!

So we headed back to the car where Atticus gave me a bar of chocolate. What a cutie!!

They dropped me back to the hotel, so i went for a wander to forever21, but they had no plus size in store. Victorias secret was tge same stopping at a 38 back, so i was massively unimpressed by those stores. 

I was still full from all the treats so i ended up getting some crisps from London drugs.

And that my friends was day 2.

Sorry about the lack of photos but im having uploading issues

Day 1- I'm here.

My day began at 4am with my mom kindly calling me with a wake up call, it scared the crap outta me as the severed limb were suddenly playing really loudly in my hotel room.
So I got up & ready & out & caught a bus to terminal 4 the bus driver last was really sweet so that was nice. Terminal 4 was a little chaotic but a female employee did a stellar job of reworking the queue. I got through bag check & security (I got scanned!) So went in search of food!
I had a lovely Lebanese breakfast consisting of toast, avocados, feta, black olives & humous with a pot of rose mint tea (delicious) plus a maccedo (poor coffee spelling-sorry) and some baklava.

First flight to Amsterdam was so short, got fed a cheese sandwich & spoke to a student about films & theme parks. Off in Amsterdam airport for a wander around then off to departures for the Vancouver flight. The flight was full, so my ass was crammed in a seat. I swear KLM are feeders. I have never eaten so much in a flight in my life. It started out with a drink: orange juice. Then another drink: black coffee & almonds. Then lunch: chicken, green beans & wedges, salad, cheese & biscuits, cheesecake, water & wine.
A little break then ice cream or chips & by chips I mean pretzels. At this point I was wondering if I'd ever get out of the seat. Then about 2 hours from our destination more food! Pizza slice, pasta salad, fruit salad & mini waffle biscuits with more juice & water.
That is a lot of food even by my standards.

Finally after watching 3 movies ( The Way Way Back, The Butler & Twenty feet from being famous) plus a little knap I arrived in Vancouver airport.

I got the sour faced customs dude who didn't crack a smile the whole time as he quizzed me on why I was coming & who I was meeting. Thankfully he believed I was meeting my penpals from interpals.net.
So I went to the info desk to find how to get the sky train downtown as Angela said they couldn't get me as they were having a surprise birthday dinner for John. So as I'm asking the guy for a map I look up and see Angela waving at me!!!
That little trickster ;) how cute!!! So I met her family: John her husband & Atticus her cake living kid! We drove through town & the even drove me to the rainbow crossing which was cool- John came out in the rain & took my picture for me! (It should be attached but I'm using the blogger app on my tablet so not sure how that will pan out)

We dropped my stuff off at the hotel, OK sized room for the money, then back to theirs as they needed to get changed before dinner & the symphony.
We went to dinner at The Legen (wait for it) dary wight spot where I popped my Poutine cherry with bacon on it as well!! I met Johns mom who was a lovely lady & actually heard a guy say 'Aye' awesome!!! Ha ha.

They dropped me off at the hotel so I went I'm search of drugs (I'm a snot fest) and make up apparently. I fell asleep at around half 9 & have woken at 6! So as I'm sat in my jimjams writing this I think I'll go get some Starbucks (no kettle in the room) and get ready for the food scavenger hunt. I'm sensing a theme here....

So kids, until next time!

3 days

Holy f**kcakes Batman, I'm only going to Canada in 3 days!!!!
Where has the time gone?! I am one very excited gal to be flying to meet my pals. Everyone is being lovely & wishing me a  great time away, so thanks all of you for that. I fully intend to have the best time ever.

I have to take a picture of bears & Mounties apparently. I'm not sure if I'll find any, but I'll try my darndest.

Apologies in advance if I suddenly become very British whilst in Canada. I'm more talking the accent than missing the UK, I'm already covering everything in maple syrup....

So. I'll keep you posted of my escapades. Watch this space.