Robyn's Wanderings

Sir is that a monkey serving my hot towel.

Why yes, yes it is.

Of course, that will only be the case if you head to Japan! Yes, these cute little monkeys are helping in the restaurant of their owners.

And their tips? Soy beans!

I can already see employers’ minds already spinning!

So here’s your fun Thursday video to lead you into this three-day holiday weekend in Bermuda. Enjoy!

Bermuda in black and white

this photo taken? It’s Friday and I decided, after a number of weeks being MIA, to restart the photo of the day for Friday.

This week, the photo comes not from Patagonia. Not even the Alps! Nope, this black and white photo is delivered to you from my travels to Horseshoe Beach in Bermuda on a stormy Saturday.

Hurricane Ophelia was passing our shores, so I decided to head to the beach to see what crazy surfers might have taken to the waves or tourists who thought they could take-on the riptide.

While there is seemed perfectly worthwhile to play with my brand-new camera and capture Bermuda’s stunning countryside. The result? Robyn’s Wanderings’ photo of the day!

Want to see the picture in its coloured form? Here you go:

Horseshoe beach in colour!

What?!

It’s Friday and it has been a while since we’ve had a photo of the day so……well why not today? Can’t think of a reason so….what is it?

Good question. The photo of the day comes straight from the Netherlands where I recently spent about three weeks trying to eat as much chocolate sprinkles for breakfast as I could and as much cheese for lunch as I could. Mission accomplished.

I also discovered why the Dutch are not all 500 pounds on a diet that starts with chocolate for breakfast: biking. Yes it’s cliche and everyone knows about the bikes in Amsterdam, but have you seen the way they leave their bikes?

Well, that brings us to the photo of the day: a bike rack. Have you ever seen one like this before? Me neither, which is why I had to take a pic! These weird contraptions hold the bike’s wheels and help keep down the chaos that these bicycles could create in a country where 86% of the population owns one!

Want some crazier numbers? Well there are about 16 million bicycles in Holland and 1.3 million new ones are sold each year. That is more bicycles than inhabitants!

No wonder I got dirty looks for walking everywhere. Common pedestrian!

A weird glow from......Fox Theatre

Today we travel to….Atlanta in our photo of the day. I know…you wouldn’t think so, right? Morocco, maybe? Turkey? Somewhere middle eastern right? And you would be wrong.

But very few people would be surprised by your belief that it was. That is the beauty of this landmark theatre in Atlanta. A stunning architectural gem that, luckily, Atlanta’s historical society has managed to maintain.

Public Entrance to the Fox Theatre

Built by the Shriner’s as the Yaarab Temple Mosque in the 1920′s as their headquarters. Now the theatre manages to fill the more than 4,500 seats with performances on 300 nights a year.

They have everyone from the Bruno Mars to the Hair musical performing in the main theatre, which offers the stunning photo of the day! Built to make the audience feel like they are outside and under a tent, with stars and clouds scanning the deep blue sky, it is amazing!

Just one more reason you HAVE to go to Atlanta. Other reasons? Well you will have to read my Rock Fever Column on Wednesday.

Santiago's Hills

Poor Santiago….and, well, Buenos Aires and  other South American cities near Chile. How was Chile supposed to know that they had a volcano that would ground flights?

Last Friday Chile’s Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle volcano range, about 800km (500 miles) south of Santiago, began erupting and has created a cloud as far as Buenos Aires that has caused problems in the city.

And it keeps causing problems. Thousands of Chileans had to be evacuated from their homes and rains threatened to bring landslides to the area. So sad.

Santiago is such an amazing city and Chile is such an amazing country. I suppose this is how Iceland felt? And Chile could be in for more. It’s one of the most volcanic countries on Earth with more than 3,000 volcanoes (80 of which are active) running the length of the thin South American land.

Want to see more photos from the eruption last week? Check it out here.

I know the eruption will mean flights have been delayed or canceled, but I hope for Chile’s sake and those who have not been there, that it doesn’t deter tourists for too long.

Santiago alone is enough to warrant multiple write-ups about this beautiful country. With it’s variety of neighbourhoods, great food, fun people and beautiful background of the Andes, Santiago is a town worth making a trek for.

Food!!!

It’s a random photo today. Why? Well because it’s Friday the 13th! Why else? Well that and I was sort of struggling for some inspiration and I was starving this morning after a long training run for our May 24th half marathon! Am I going to make it? Watch this blog to find out.

So the photo? Well it’s my recent trip to Toronto and some gluten-free goodness courtesy of a cafe in Kensington Market! I love the ketchup and red South America interplay…..of course next time this post could be all about South America.

Don’t miss any opportunities (as is the headline…huh….you like that?) and make sure you book your tickets to South America.

Yeah, yeah I know I was talking about Turkey yesterday, but today it’s about South America because I’m just like that. Plus it’s the right time of year to head south. It’s turning into their winter so costs will be cut and if you’re into skiing? Well, Chile is all about it.

Of course if you want to head to Toronto and recreate your own random Friday the 13th (the fear of which is strangely called friggatriskaidekaphobia) photo, well be my guest! And read my Rock Fever column last week.

The view out of my window.

Ok maybe not the view out of my window today…..but it was a view outside my window at Niagara on the Lake in Canada while visit the Inniskillin Winery.

Vineyards stretch for days in this beautiful spot only an hour and a half from Toronto (Bermudians why are you not here?!?!) Best known for their Ice Wine, the Niagara Wines are a surprise for an area I had no idea even produced wine.

I think Canadian wine and I think British Colombia, but here we were in Niagara on the Lake enjoying glasses of wine in vineyards that could have been BC or California.

Or French for that matter. And in fact it was the French who brought the wine to this region. Yes thanks to Mr. Charmes of Chateux de Charmes, Niagara has wine! He immigrated from Algeria and began figuring out how to make plants sturdy enough to withstand Canada’s cold. He succeeded.

Now the area celebrates with festivals that are hard to pass! Wine and Herbs is the next one and information can be found here.

When is it? May 7/8,14/15, 21/22, 28/29 from 11 am to 5 pm and a pass, which you can buy on the website I included above, allows you access to wine and herb pairings at all 26 wineries of the region!

Need a weekend away? I can’t think of a better one (from Bermuda jump on WestJet or AirCanada, rent a car and in about five hours you will be sipping sweet ice wine while indulging in the beautiful Bed and Breakfasts of the area!)

Enjoy your weekend.

What the?!?$%@&

Ok what’s the date today? Right, it’s March 25. That means we are technically five days into Spring.

With this all in mind, I would like to know what game Toronto is playing?!!

Sure it’s Friday and usually I try to find a photo of the day that will inspire travel or highlight another culture, but today it’s about recognizing that travel is not always fun.

Nope. Not when you’re sitting in Bermuda’s L.F. Wade Airport for an extra three to four hours because of your plane’s delay. Not when you’re forced to listen to a steward who thinks he’s funny for endless hours on the plane.

“What do you call a fish with no eyes????………A fsh.”

Ugh.

Traveling is definitely not fun when you land in Toronto at 1.30 a.m. (Bermuda time) and have to wait half an hour for your bag, while needing a toilet.

And traveling just gets plain interesting when you have to exit the airport into negative degree temperature and snow covering the ground.

Good thing there are good people here or traveling would just be tiring today! And of course that brings us back to our photo of the day: snow from my window! Have a good one.

Which way in Buenos Aires?

to know which way is up. Which is why this Friday it’s an optical illusion brought to you from the Art Gallery in La Boca (a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires).

Usually it’s associated with coloured houses and tourists getting mugged, but me and my travel buddies found safety from the crowds and a break from the colour on the roof top of the museum.

The museum also offered an optical illusion.

Because who knows which way is up, right? If you’re a traveler you know what I mean. When is it right to stop traveling? What is the right answer?

Are you supposed to stop? Are you supposed to settle down? Are babies supposed to be what you want? Is that the right way to lead life?

Or is it so tempting to hit the road again when you look at your photos of Argentina you almost book your ticket South? And is your need so strong to meet new people and be bombarded with different views that you actually envision yourself sitting in a youth hostel?

I don’t know where I am. I am traveling between images and so I thought La Boca might help on this Friday photo of the day. Visit Robyn’s Argentina Photos for more images.

Wishing for warm pink sand!

Ok I am officially done. Done with what you ask?

I am done with winter. Yes, you’re right I probably shouldn’t complain. I am not living in Toronto, Canada where temperatures are limping back down to negative degrees.

Nor am I living in Boston, Massachusetts where rain is threatened along with freezing temps. Didn’t Punxsutawney Phil predict an early spring? I mean he didn’t see his shadow!

And yet I sit huddled-up in Bermuda (yes Bermuda!!!) wearing wool slippers, a scarf and layers of clothes. This is not home.

This is not what I am supposed to be wearing. Which is why Friday’s Photo today is about what I wish I was doing. What I miss.

I miss feeling the warm pink sand of our beaches on my feet. I miss walking around barefoot because that is the best way to get around.

I miss the shorts and t-shirts of my home. The sun might be out, but it’s not keeping me warm.

So I say on this Friday……BRING ON THE SUMMER! And maybe my photo of the day will bring it closer than phil? One can only hope.

Happy Friday!