Day 3: Arrival of the other RN!

by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

Day 3 – March 3rd, 2015 – London 

Today I was set free to be on my own as Shamsa was unable to come with me due to work related business. I bravely set off for a quick morning of adventure prior to Leah’s arrival.

I began my day from Westminster station where I was able to see the Parliament buildings (rather grand!), as well as Westminster Abbey and another beautiful adjoining church, which had free entry. Westminster Abbey actually charges a whopping 20£ for entry! As a rather non-denominational person, I was just not into paying that fee so early in my trip for what would likely be a rather short visit so did a few selfies outside then continued.

 

I motored along towards St James Park en route to Buckingham Palace. It was another beautiful clear sunny day, but cool with the wind gusting strongly, so I enjoyed my walk and the various birds along the way. I came up to the side of the park where everything was metal gated off and some horses and riders decked out in full regalia were assembling. As they were taking quite a while to prepare and I had to get on with my morning, I continued on. 

I was a bit disoriented and somewhat unsure about the major police presence and metal barriers, so I bit the bullet and asked a copper standing around to help orient me and what was that building there. He somewhat laughingly informed me that “that’s the Queen’s house” and it was so different that day because the Queen was receiving the Mexican president. I did not have time to stay and see the so after a few pics, I carried on through Green Park to Hyde Park corner with many stunning war memorials.

 

I caught the tube back home in anticipation of Leah’s arrival and lo and behold, there she was! What are the odds of running into her right at that time during her transfer hey?! It was really great to meet up!

Once we got back to Shamsa’s and Leah had the chance to freshen up, we headed out to the Tower of London. Once again,the staggering fact of the age of these places and the people whose footsteps had been there before hit me. Having always loved ghost stories and medieval times, this place was truly interesting. The sad part for me was actually that they now keep the ravens caged in an enclosure not big enough for them to properly fly around. The live sound effects come at a price…

Having refueled on some awful Pike Place roast, (I swear if it weren’t for my gold card, I’d hate Starbucks), we carried on with a walk down the banks of the Thames to the Millenium bridge. It apparently used to be a little bit wobbly, earning it the title, “the wobbly bridge”, which it was not, so they must have installed reinforcements. Just over the bridge is The Globe theatre, which I was very keen on seeing. Sadly, it is only open for guided tours at set times, so because of our schedule,we were unable to go in. Next time!

 

From there, we returned over the bridge to visit St Paul’s cathedral. What a grand building. With no time to stay for evensong before our show, we headed along to Soho for a wee bit of food. The amazing Bibimbap Soho didn’t open til 6pm, so we did a bit of shopping in the cute, tiny shop on the corner just across from it. They have super cute stuff, some of which the owner personally makes! With my shopping fix satisfied, we satisfied our Korean craving with some delish kimchi jeon and dolsot bibimbap. This teeny restaurant opened slightly before its scheduled 6pm opening and was full up by 6:05! The food was great, but someone needs to post a note for foreigners letting them know that bibimbap is meant to be eaten with a spoon….not chopsticks….although amusing to watch!

With our bellies full, we made it to our evenings entertainment, The Book of Mormon. Living in a community of polygamist fundamentalist Mormons, I thought this would be especially enjoyable, and boy was it ever! We laughed and laughed and yet the underlying observations about society, religion, and humanity came through strongly. Highly recommend this to anyone out there, although if you don’t take kindly to swearing, bring your own mental censor.

Day 2: Take me to (a) Bath

by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

Day 2: Bath, UK

Today we decided to get up quite early to take a visit to Bath where our dear friend Lizzie lives. She was also in Korea with Shamsa and I! so we had quite a lovely reunion and reminisce of our times together in Korea and abroad.

 

We started our day with a visit to Bath Abbey. It was absolutely amazing the amount of history and the sheer age of the things there. This was my first Europan church ever so was most exciting. There are engravings on the floor of the church which are actually tombstones which denote the details of the person entombed below them. Yes below, meaning you are walking on people!

From there we headed for a visit to the Roman Baths. What an interesting site. Could not believe the Romans had been there and had such a prosperous and busy complex! My favourite part was seeing the ‘curses’ that people who had been wronged in some way had written, well, engraved, onto small metal tablets. Their complaints were such trivial things such as a suspected pair of stolen gloves. Although if you ask me, could’ve been that they’d actually just lost their gloves! They had a great audio guide system so highly recommend this visit for historical relevance and beauty.

 

From there, we adjourned to the Coeur de Lion pub – smallest pub in Bath, owned by the only brewery in Bath, opened around 1749, and possibly the only pub in the UK called that. We had a pint there which was lovely, and sat catching up. We moved for lunch over to The Scallop Shell for an awesome lunch. Really excellent service and an awesome staff!

 

After stuffing ourselves there, we went for a walk up to The Crescent, which is a gorgeous spot where people are actually living. Apparently, they film many period pieces there. With that done, and town pretty much seen, we headed to search out Sham Castle. Shamsa was very excited to see her castle so after a bit of searching we found it just near the Bath Golf Club. It’s really just a folly, so it’s only the front facade of a castle, but it was still rather grand and offered a lovely view of the city at sunset.

 

With that done, we said our goodbyes and headed back off to London!

Day 1: London Calling

by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

Day 1: March 1st, 2015 – London, UK

Hello again! I’m back to blogging as we’ve just embarked on another adventure. Not that our lives haven’t been very interesting since our big road trip ended last January, but it’s been more interesting in terms of work life than travel life.

Leah and I have both been working as new grad nurses for the past year, her in Halifax, Nova Scotia as a pediatric nurse, and me in Creston, British Columbia as an ER/med/surg/home health nurse. As a rural nurse, you kind of get to do it all, whether you want to or not! It’s been a very fun and challenging year though and I know we’ve both learned a lot as nurses and as people. With all that new grad stress though, it is time for another adventure…. London, Turkey, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates!

We selected these countries because a) neither of us have been before b) they’d be warmed than Canada at this time of year! c) the amazing history, culture, and foods to be explored and d) when you want to visit every country in the world, you just have to pick a place and get on with it! Many friends had recommended these three places, so we are eager to see what all the fuss is about!

My trip started in London, a short stop-over to visit with friends, and my FIRST time into Europe! Flights are cheaper from here to Turkey, so this also played into the choice.  I started out from Vancouver at 1830 on the last day of February in beautifully clear blue skies. A stunner of a sendoff to be sure! I’ve always wanted to say “I’m catching the red eye to London” as I reckon it sounds rather glamourous, and this was my chance. In fact, it was a rather nice flight – while I can’t ever give kudos to the comfort of economy class seats, I CAN give a huge shout-out to the in-flight service and entertainment system of Air Canada. It was really top-notch. Plus, the option of wine included with dinner? Heck yes! They even got my vegetarian meal correctly, and let me tell you, the bonust to ordering a “special meal” is that you always get fed first!

Sidenote – I was reminded again of just how small our world is now. Sitting just kitty corner in front of me was Darren and his girlfriend Ann. Darren and I were RA’s together at UNBC during my first degree, and I haven’t seen him in years. What a neat little reminisce that was.

Anyways, after a seemingly quick 8h 45m flight, we arrived to beautiful sunny skies at Heathrow. I’m told this doesn’t often happen. Our plane was held up at the gate briefly, which has never happened to me before, for a “medical issue” with one of the other passengers. They hadn’t called for a doctor or a nurse during the flight however, so as far as this nurse is concerned, they couldn’t have been that direly ill! I’m sure most people would think me rather grim for saying that though. 😉 The border line was quick, and I got a giggle after passing by the ebola warning sign when the guy behind me began to cough.

I began my London experience on the tube, where I was treated to the usually parade of interesting folks. My favourite was the old man who swanned into the train car singing, ‘I did it myyyyy wayyyyy’, with his bike, and then proceeded through monologue of songs and lamentations over how he had the dropsies that day. Ah big city, how I’ve missed you!

I was greeted by the lovely Shamsa at my destination. We taught in Korea in the same town, and became good friends there and have stayed in touch over the years. It’s one of those friendships that you can just pick up where you left off kind of thing. She has a beautiful flat with a great view of the O2 across the Thames so I feel most lucky.

We set off to explore in the sun, grabbing a coffee, where the Starbucks barista was most impressed with my gold card, and then encountering my first UK telephone booth. I was going to get a picture in it, but we soon realized someone may have been living in it! Shamsa had never been on the London Eye, so we decided to give that a go. It really is a great view of London, especially on a relatively sunny day. It’s really amazing how sturdy it is as it was quite a windy day and we could hear the wind whistling at the top. Crazy! We experimented with the selfie stick, where I realized that I need to really read instructions prior to use (see first selfie stick photos for reference).

From there, we walked across the Thames on the Hungerford Bridge to Trafalgar Square where we saw a crazy person performing a trick that consisted of lying on a bunch of nails then laying a sheet with nails in it on his chest, then having a full grown man stand on that sheet for 10 seconds. Clearly either one of those that doesn’t feel pain or high as a kite. From there we continued our wee walking tour, with a visit to Leicester Square.  All of London has such a historical feel to it, it’s wonderful to walk through.  Once through Leicester, we meandered through to Chinatown where we ended up having dimsum supper at Plum Valley.  Can’t say dimsum is my favourite, but it was pretty decent.

For dessert I reunited with my fave – egg tarts from one of the bakeries. NOMNOM!  Lastly, a special treat to end a long day with warm Taro milk bubble tea from  Yao  Yao Cha near Covent  Gardens.  Truly an excellent start!

The Kootenays and Adventures into Idaho/Washington

by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

So, a brief update here. I’ve recently relocated up to Creston, BC to begin my career as a nurse. Yippee! I chose the Kootenays partly because, well, they offered me a job here, but also because of the beauty of the area. There are mountains GALORE, lots of lakes, cute little towns, farming/orchards providing bountiful local products to enjoy year-round, and Creston especially, is quite proximal to the US. From my house to the border with Idaho it’s about 5-10 mins drive and I’m told that if you live here long enough, they start to know you by name. 

Creston is located in a valley at the bottom of Kootenay Lake, across which a ferry runs over to Nelson. It is about 1.5 hrs between Trail and Cranbrook on either side and 6hrs to Calgary. I’m told it’s rather temperate, with temperatures similar to the Okanagan, less rain than Vancouver, and less snow than most of the province outside the lower mainland. Thus far, I can recommend the following:

1. Real Food Cafe (http://www.realfoodcafe.ca/): they not only have excellent coffee with free refills, but they also source locally produced and organic foods as much as possible. Prices are quite reasonable and portions satisfying. Must try!

2. Chatka – Polish food. A small, family run restaurant, just out of town on the way to Cranbrook on Hwy 3, they have delicious fried things like potato pancakes, perogies, cabbage rolls, and other meaty dishes, which I did not partake in (but was told were good!). Again, reasonable prices, very friendly staff, and good sized meals. Your arteries may disagree with your choices, but your tastebuds certainly won’t!

3. Creative Fix – just up the street from the bakery and post office, b

I’ve also tried out Blackbear Books (decent coffee), A Break in Time (had a pretty good London fog, although their wifi wasn’t working so wasn’t too impressed with that!), Buffalo Trails (good coffee and treats), and Renees Roadhouse Diner (diner foods at good prices, open EARLY). I plan to try the Retro Cafe and Kootenay Thai, both reputed to be quite good.

Creston also has an abundance of AWESOME thrift shops – I have furnished a large portion of my house with items from these places! Gleaners and the thrift shop in the church beside the post office are without a doubt the cheapest. I am also partial to the Second Heaven shop, beside the Integra Tire (on Pine St, I think it is). Lots of GREAT treasures to be had in this town, where upcycling is very much alive and well. Nothing a little TLC can’t make look like new, or at least a terrific antique piece! 

 

As far as exploring Washington and Idaho, I haven’t done too much other than (so ashamed) Wal-mart and Starbucks, but Sandpoint, Idaho is absolutely beautiful and there appear to be many beautiful state and national parks to explore. There are also A LOT of STUPID deer in this area! Like, literally hundreds, all apparently with a death wish…. Driving home from visiting my friend in Spokane, WA, at dusk last weekend, proved terrifying as the car just ahead of me smucked a deer (who pitifully flailed around trying to get up, talk about traumatic), and then I nearly crafted myself a new deer decoration for the front of ol Elva. Ick. So yeah, wondering why the person in front of you is not doing the speed limit at dusk? It’s because they know how many kamikaze deer there are in the area…

So yes, Spokane! I had a great visit there with my friend, Ki Eun, who I met in Korea about 3 years ago. She took me to Gonzaga, which was a cool experience, as it was an orientation of some kind for incoming frosh and their families (perhaps deciding on what uni to attend?), and it was kind of like the American college dream you see in movies – various clubs with booths set up, recruiting members, students playing soccer and other sports in the sun. Very all-American. For lunch we visited a Korean restaurant, Ha-Ha’s, which was FAB. Turns out the owner emigrated from Ulsan(!) about 30 years ago, and her mother still lives there in Beomseo, which is the neighbourhood just across the river from where I lived! So cool. We dined on kimchi chigae and soondubu chigae, as well as discovering a “secret” menu in rabbokki, which the lady made for us specially when we were telling her how much we missed eating it. YAY! I even got to practice my Korean a bit. 😀 After lunch, we checked out downtown and did some shopping. I discovered Athleta, which, and this is a very big statement, I may like EVEN MORE THAN LULULEMON. Yes, I said it. They are apparently owned by GAP, and have neat designs, which fit well, in great colours, at prices that are slightly cheaper than Lulu. What?!! Check it out. Thank me later. We ended the day with a lemon tart, macarons, and coffee at Cafe Madeleine, again, pretty tasty. 

Other than that, I’ve mainly been working, decorating my new nest, and training for a mini-tri coming up in June. I want to go hiking, but probably should make a few friends first so I’m not alone, gobbled by a bear, rabid deer, or herd of ticks…. Come visit me someone? Pretty please?

Til next time….

Rediscovering BC

by trnscontinental, posted in Uncategorized

After traipsing around the globe so much, I am pretty excited to be back home in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. After all, a place with the logo super natural BC must be pretty darn great, right? 

Turns out that’s a rhetorical question. Of course it’s great! It’s fantastical! A place with temperate rainforest, desert-esque ranchlands, snow-capped peaks, arctic tundra, and great plains. There is truly something for everyone in B.C. 

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On board the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo, just leaving H.B.

So, how have I been reacquainting myself with the homeland? Well, apparently I am now addicted to road trips, so last week when I had the chance to do a wee trip through the Okanagan Valley, I was all over it. I took the Hope-Princeton Hwy up, which I think is a much prettier and way more fun to drive version of the Coquihalla. It is also a lot better than the Coq in terms of snow, except through Manning Park area. I visited Oliver, Penticton, Kelowna, and Kamloops, and drove through a number of the small towns in between. The Okanagan Valley is famous for its arid climate and vast amount of vineyards and very swimmable lakes. This is a great place to vacation in winter or summer, with skiing/snowshoeing popular in the winter and camping, hiking, houseboating, drinking of wine, and lake activities being popular in the summer. Since I was last there, probably 4-5 years ago, the Okanagan has really developed, with many varieties of foods, unique boutiques, lots of yoga options, and so forth. I got some delicious cupcakes at CupCasions in Kelowna for a Valentine’s treat for me, the friend I was staying with, and her boyfriend and friend.

FUNNY STORY: My friend was at work all day and I was out visiting with another friend from university who i hadn’t seen in ages. We ended up at the liquor store, of course, where the lovely cashiers were giving out roses for Valentines. I thought it would be a nice treat to get some mini cupcakes to enjoy after our kickboxing class, so I stopped and picked up 6 of those as well. I dropped the cupcakes, all done up in a white box with a ribbon, and the rose, which I installed in a vase, off at my friend’s house before meeting her at kickboxing. I hadn’t mentioned getting them to her and she arrived home before I did after class. When I walked in, I asked – did you find them?! And she said, oh! you must’ve met Sean! (her boyfriend, thinking he’d dropped the goodies off as a surprise). I said no, I hadn’t, and explained the story behind the treats. She started laughing her head off and said she had texted him a picture of the cupcakes and rose and said thank you. He of course, responded ??????? and called a minute later. Boy totally got showed up on Valentines Day! 😉

Anywho, Kamloops was also lovely. We walked by the river, seeing just a ton of bald eagles, some quite close. Very cool! I was introduced to a delicious red, and I’m not usually a red fan, called Apothic. This is a California wine, and this particular vintage was 2012. Very delicious indeed! It is always nice to catch up with wonderful old friends, and I am truly lucky in being able to count Collin and Dar as two such people. Looking forward to some great hiking trips this summer!

Seeing as the Coq was getting another snowstorm, I decided to go down through the Fraser Canyon via Cache Creek to get home. Great choice! Not only was I treated to beautiful views, but the road was completely bare. Yay!

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Good morning Vancouver!