Robyn's Wanderings

Bounjour and welcome to this week’s blog post from Nicola Arnold…..all about Paris. There could not be a more appropriate follow to Quebec City so voila:

Voici ma bande annonce pour mon Paris je t’aime à moi. [Here is my teaser trailer for my very own Paris je t'aime]

Parisian pastries

Last night, we ate a marvelously rich & succculent French supper at Batifole in Toronto. ‘We’ being a friend from my university with whom I studied abroad for a year at Université de Savoie in Chambéry, France a few years ago. What better way to toast to our new working-worlds in the city and to reminisce about the days we spent hiking in the French Alps than to sit down for a meal that included such quintessentially French orders such as:

* Salade d’Endive, Prosciutto, Copeaux d’Emmental de Cave, Vinaigrette aux Figues.
* Le Cassoulet Royal; Confit de Canard, Saucisses Fermière, Poitrine de Porc Rôtie.
(Plus one of the daily specials that I am forced to describe less eloquently: Rhubarb tart with flaky pastry, shallots, cheese and garlic).

The venue? Authentique. The dishes? Délicieux. The memories? Nostalgique. The experience? Formidable!

A little quirk of mine? I am often aware (thinking to myself) of where I bought the that clothes I’m wearing. Last night, I was wearing a sweater that I had bought in France at one of my favourite shops – . Black & grey, with mismatching buttons. In university, if I was sitting for a French exam, I would try and wear something that I had bought in France for the exam. Authentic good luck would then come my way, n’est-ce pas?

Scarf? French. Jacket? French. Jeans? French. Boots? French.

To add to the French-ness of the evening, the easy-to-read-on-the-subway book in my bag was a comic-book style story about an American mother & daughter who live in Paris for 6 weeks in Jan/Feb 2007… full of hand-drawn doodles, funny commentaries on daily life in France, photos and of course food & wine!

Where am I going with this?

Yes, I’ve previously mentioned my experiences studying & living in France… A year in Lorraine. A semester in Paris. A year in Chambéry. But this January marks the 5th year that I was in Paris for a semester. And so far, for every day of 2012, I have thought about those 4 Parisian months. Lots of people love Paris… and lots of people don’t (Too dirty, not kind to English speakers, didn’t meet the hype I imagined, etc.).

But I lived there. Four months only, perhaps, but I had a neighbourhood. I bought groceries. I ran errands. In Paris.

See "Cite Universitaire" in the 14th arrondissement (center, bottom)? I lived there for 4 months.

If you are a fan of any of the following American tv shows, you may know that their dramatic endings involved (potentially) running off to Paris:
- Rachel Green lands a job with Louis Vuitton in Paris in the Friends finale
- Carrie Bradshaw battles between New York vs. Paris in the Sex and the City finale
- Jerry, George, Elaine & Kramer head to Paris for “one last hurrah” in the Seinfeld finale

Amongst others, I’m sure. City of romance, of lights, of history, and of baguettes! 

The Eiffel Tower from the Arc de Triomphe/Champs-Elysees

A la semaine prochaine, amusez-vous bien mes amis! [Until next weekend, enjoy yourselves, my friends!]

From Bermuda to......

We have to say: “Welcome Back!” to our wanderer Emily Ross. She’s been busy getting back into school so….we can cut her slack! 

I’m so glad she touched this topic….Bermudians around the world. For such a small island, we manage to get around…..the world. Emily we’re happy to have you back!

I am a disgrace. Apologies, bloggers. I should stop get off of http://kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com/ and type my blog that I’ve been planning for weeks.

Wherever you go, you will find a Bermudian. Or someone who knows a Bermudian. Or someone who’s been to Bermuda. Used to work in Bermuda. Their brother married a Bermudian. They like the rum.

We are everywhere. Bristol (where I’m studying at the moment) is overrun with Bermudians. I’ll never forget that day in first year where I ran into three Bermudians in the space of 20 minutes – one in the library, one outside the library and one in the gym (which is next to the library). We all have stories like that – you’re on holiday, escaping the rock…and BAM. Bermudian.

For an island filled with 64,000 Bermudians, we can be found all around the world

Even studying in Hong Kong, another Bermudian (a very good friend from high school) also was on exchange there at the same time!

In the middle of Times Square in New York, we ran into my mother’s violin student.

In a mall in Hong Kong, a friend’s parents (who used to live in Bermuda) happened to stroll past and spot us in line for the movie theatre.

In Johannesburg airport, of all places!

In the middle of Waterloo Station in London I ran into a family from home who were going to see Rebecca Faulkenberry (another Bermudian, of course!) in a West End show! The friend I was with was not only amazed that out of all the people in London we ran into some Bermudians I knew, but also that we were name-dropping other Bermudians!

Bermuda's beautiful hibiscus!

So I asked my readers: Where have you unexpectedly run into a Bermudian whilst travelling?

Jenny 

- In London, outside of the Palladium

- In malls in Toronto

- ‘Sitting on Primrose Hill last summer, a man came up to me with a cassava assuming my friends and I wouldn’t know what it was and I was all like “that’s a cassava.” And it turns out after some chat and bafflement that he was Bermudian’

- ‘On my birthday in New Zealand I ran into this guy who’d spent like four summers in Bermuda and knew all of the people who I hang out with…And he was like really close with my brother back in the day.’

Sarah

- On the stairs at South Kensington tube station

- When a Bermudian friend visited ‘we went to a nightclub near my house and when she was holding out her ID some guy behind us in the queue shouted “BERMUDA BERMUUUUUDAAAA”. Turns out he used to work over there.’

- ‘My brother James was running the Chicago marathon in his Bermuda vest and some girl screamed “WOOOOOOO BERMUDA! I’M A BERMUDIAN!” and they high fived as he ran past.’

- ‘My mum ran into some Bermudians in a Pyramid in Egypt.’

Bermuda's sunset!

Chelsea P

-  In a hospital room in Baltimore

Paige

                – ‘I was serving a woman in the cafe in Highgate woods, and at the end of her meal she saw my surname on the bill and asked me if I knew Paige Hallett, to which I replied, “quite well, actually” [She is Paige Hallett] and we had a nice little chat; apparently she spends half her year in Bermuda and the other in London, and she knows my sister quite well.’

                – ‘Have had quite a few Bermudian kids in the cafe. One little boy even dared to tell me that MSA was better than BHS! Needless to say he got a very pathetic scoop of ice cream that day.’

                – ‘In accent and dialect classes in LIPA [The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts] I found a Bermudian accent recording on IDEA (an accent database) and played it for the class…Imagine my surprise when I actually listened to the recording. Halfway through the recording I yelled, “THAT’S DEVAUNE!”

Adrienne

                - In a market in Florence – ‘Turned out she lived right by the villa we were renting!’

Nicholas L

                – ‘In La Paz, Bolivia whilst mountain biking down death road.’

Euan

                - Llunenberg, Canada in a shopping mall. ‘He may have been the only other living person in that town, it was empty.’

Miriam

                -‘One of my favourite customers in the underground, and some random Bermudians I didn’t actually know but got talking to on a bus in New York…’

Nadia

                – ‘Coming out of a chocolate shop in Berne, Switzerland and bumped into one of my sister’s former classmates. It’s the timing that astounds me. We had only stopped to have lunch and to keep on travelling to Beaune in France.’

                – ‘Another time was in that venerated establishment, Mickey-D’s, in the wee hours of the morning in Leicester Square, London – when the guy in front of me ordered his meal there was no mistaking the accent. I hadn’t been home in ages at that point and it was music to my ears. We chatted briefly. It was very amusing because he was gobsmacked I recognised the accent as I sounded English to him.’

Fishing in Bermuda, but they could be in.......

Robyn

                – ‘In a bar on the side of a mountain in Zermatt, Switzerland! And, to top it off, she was a colleague!’

Chelsea M

                – ‘In the Vatican!’

                – ‘Tube stations in London, of course.’

Jack

                - In JJB Sports in Manchester

                -Disneyland!

Karriem

- Eaton Centre in Toronto

- In a Guelph nightclub and at a Guelph bus station – ‘That was super random, being that I only went to Guelph once.’

Nicholas H

                – At the Olympics in Greece

                – At the Commonwealth Games in Italy

                – In a variety of pubs in Manchester, Edinburgh

Ben

                – At an optician’s in London

                – At a pub in Euston

                – ‘There’s one in my uni course in the year below me. I didn’t realise until a guy from the course came down to Bermuda and I recognised him…and thus discovered a fellow Bermudian law student at Kings.’

Kyle

                – In the Topman shop at Westfield

Rebecca

                – UB40 concert in Southampton

Matthew

                – Eaton Centre and Yonge Street in Toronto.

                – University of Toronto campus

                – In the crowd at a parade in Toronto

Johnny

                – In the Ramada Hotel in Atlanta. ‘Doorman, slight accent, called him out on it.’

Thing One & Thing Two sitting in a tree, p-l-a-y-i-n-g.

Ok well not actually Oklahoma. Well sort of. What am I trying to say? This week our wanderer Nicola hits on a topic that I have experienced too: the friend who travels.

I had a good friend in high school and we would do everything together. After graduation, though, rather than mundane we managed to see each other around the world. From Denver, Colorado to Aix-en-Provence! Where is Nicola going this week? Well read and see: 

Oklahoma. OKC. OK. Have you ever been? I have, twice. And hopefully again.

In fact, it was one of the most exciting holiday destinations of my life!

Does that strike you as odd?
Where the heck IS that state?
Let me explain.

If you are familiar with Dr. Seuss children’s book, it all begins with the mischievous yet lovable Thing One & Thing Two…

Things One & Thing Two met in kindergarten in Bermuda. They became not just friends, but BFF’s. Thing One & Thing Two earned their nicknames because they were just as naughty as the duo in Dr. Seuss: sneaky, giggly and artfully troublesome. One sideways smirk at the other, and both would collapse in a fit of laughter. They had sleepovers,  watched Indiana Jones, went rollerskating, annoyed their older sisters, laughed at the “green man” in Beauty & the Beast, frolicked in the waves on play-dates at the beach, and burnt grass outside Thing One’s house – just to see what would happen!

Playful in the school playground

It gets better. Thing One lived on the American Base in Bermuda, which was a highly controlled area. Thing Two was ecstatic that her best friend lived on on exclusive part of the island, as she was granted permission to visit her friend. On the Base, there were all sorts of cool American things: instead of Cadbury’s chocolates, the Thing One ate Hershey’s chocolates like Almond Joy and Mounds. There was a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant, and down the street there was an all-American baseball field! There were even private beaches for the Base residents.

Two classic stories come from those beaches!

First was the bathroom breakout, when Thing One & Thing Two were in the bathroom on a (rather deserted) beach. They were stuck inside and the door would not open. Thing One and Thing Two were worried they ere stuck forever, in a toilet.

So, Thing Two wrapped toilet paper around her hand and smashed the glass window panes out of the high window. The girls jumped out of the window and landed in a thorny bush, but lived to tell the tale.

Second, was Thing One’s birthday abandonment. A handful of friends were invited for a beach bash, and back to the house afterwards for cake & ice cream. On the short car ride from the beach to the house, Thing One’s mother realized that they had left the birthday girl at the beach by mistake!! Which is scary when you are 8yrs old, and even WORSE when it’s your birthday…

Years later, they are STILL laughing about the bathroom breakout...

Then, everything changed. The summer before Grade 4, the American Base closed and Thing One’s family relocated to Oklahoma, USA. Where? Why? NOOOO… Who would Thing Two play with at school? How would they keep in touch? How can you survive without your best friend? Initially, they wrote letter, cards and notes on a monthly basis. They both had childhood dogs, so they mailed each other their dog’s fur in Ziploc bags. Thing One had a pool at her house in Oklahoma, and she sent Thing Two pool water in a small container (who kept it in her freezer for years!).

For Thing Two’s birthday in October, she received a cereal box. How disappointing! But, digging inside, she received a great surprise: two airplane tickets for her and her dad to Oklahoma for November break. Life was good, friendships were rekindled! The following summer during school holidays, Thing Two went on a family vacation to New Mexico, Texas… and Oklahoma! Both families played catch-up, with Thing One’s family showing the visitors the wild & wonderful Oklahoma: Braum’s ice cream, Sonic drive-in food, Men in Black at the drive-in movies, Frontier City amusement park, the musical Oklahoma! at an outdoor theater, and the National Cowboy Museum. Not to mentioned kayaking on the river and collecting Beanie Babies…

Playing the part of cowgirls at Oklahoma's cowboy hall of fame

Then… the inevitable happened. The girls grew apart, middle school consumed their lives. They found new friends, and their memories were just that – memories. High school brought along computers, and they slowly & hesitantly began to email each other and use AOL instant messenger. In fact, Thing One taught Thing Two how to do the sideways smiley face )

They saw each other once, as teenagers, when Thing One visited Bermuda with her mother. Add in the glasses & braces – and it was enjoyable yet awkward.

Fast forward to university: In the January-April 2007 semester, both girls were going on exchanges to Europe – Thing One to Rome and Thing Two to Paris. The universe was conspiring to bring them together again! What were the odds they’d be in capital cities in Europe, same semesters? They planned to visit each other in Rome and Paris. Sadly, Thing Two attempted her first solo, weekend getaway a month into her Parisian adventure, and it was a fiasco – inclement weather, cancelled flight, hysterical call home to her parents at 5am their time… needless to say, Rome was axed. Luckily, Thing One had better luck arriving in Paris in March 2007. Despite being a gloomy, rainy weekend, the girls had an absolute ball: nipping in to the Louvre for free on Friday, taking in the view from the Eiffel Tower, and feasting on crepes and espresso in between downpours. The only thing better than an American exploring Paris is an American exploring Paris with her Bermudian best friend!

The mischief continued at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

Since Europe, Thing One and Thing Two have reunited. With the help of technology, the long-distance relationship is not quite so long. With the click of a button, they can do what they do best: share their wild & crazy stories and prepare for their next adventures! And they have been adventuring in Bermuda. Thing Two came to visit for a week in summer 2008, where the girls were up to their old tricks once again. Just mention Limoncello or 445 boys, and Thing One & Thing Two will burst into laughter. A wonderful Christmas visit to the island in 2009 led to Thing Two dragging Thing One to a school reunion to see her long-lost classmates. Most recently, on Thing One’s family cruise from New York to Bermuda in summer 2010, both families were reunited after a whole decade.

Beach bums by day, terrible twosome by night!

Why write this now? Well, it was Thing One’s golden birthday recently, 25 years old on November 25th.

Happy Birthday, Thing One! Love, Roadkill ) 

Living near the CN Tower in Toronto

What do you know about your fellow traveler? Well for most of us we have been following our weekly blogger Nicola Arnold so we know a bit. But you others?

Well here you go. Her very own, “About Me” page. Where has she been? You just have to read and find out:

Last weekend, I met up with some university friends for dinner in downtown Toronto. That’s the great thing about being based in Toronto, now, – having attended a university one hour west of here, a lot of former school friends and housemates live in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).

We work, study or live in/near the city, so it’s great to catch up on news & relive the good old days! One of the girls was my roommate from our first year of school. According to her, when I moved in to our dorm room I asked her which countries she had been to, to which she awkwardly replied, “Well, I haven’t travelled much… but I’ve been to Florida!”

Starting university, my travel experience was a little bit different (although I had been to Florida too!). I was fresh off a European travel whirlwind from my Rotary Youth Exchange year in France, where I had spent 10 months exploring not only northeastern France but also Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg which were all bordering the region of France where I was: Lorraine.

Say hello to Köln (Cologne), Germany

The “where have you travelled” question popped up again recently in my Toronto wanderings. I found myself talking to a representative at the Adventure Travel Company in downtown, where I was looking into several products they offer.

At his desk, the guy had an “About Me” page relating to his travels. It was a neat way to learn more about him, where he had travelled and where he hoped to go next!

So, I decided to mirror the “About Me” with my own travel experiences for this week’s post!

I’ve seen a lot so far, luckily… but there is so much more to conquer in the world.

Here it goes:

Title: Adventurer/Wanderer

Location: Toronto

Country count: 27 Countries visited: USA, Canada, Bermuda, England, Wales, Scotland, Sweden, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Vatican City, Monaco, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, South Africa, India, Japan

Favourite country: hmmm… France. 

Next trip in my dreams? The Maldives. Realistically? New York City

The Maldives.The Maldives in my dreams... one day!

I don’t travel without… a Swiss Army knife, a spork, a water bottle and toilet paper (hey, you never know).

I travel because… Bermuda is a rock in the ocean, there is so much more to explore in the world!

My favourite travel moments are… the spontaneous adventures with travel buddies, especially when the unexpected happens and you have much to laugh about.

Beware of dodgy people along your journeys (like her?! Nicola...for anyone who has not followed her posts!)

As an aside: If you find yourselves in the Canadian cities of Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver or Victoria… hunt down an Adventure Travel Company for more interesting travels, tours, and adventures!

The ATC offers many tours and excursions that are a great way to see the world. With slogans like “Epic Destinations. Epic Activities. Epic Hosts” and “It’s your life. It’s your adventure. What are you waiting for?” they seem to be experts in their field.]

In the words of Julius Caesar: Veni, Vidi, Vici!

Rolling around in the Thar desert

What do we have from our wanderer Nicola this week? Well last week we were taken around the world in sunsets and this week….. dogs!

Man’s best friend comes in all shapes and size, levels of domesticity, can be housesat or even beggars on the street and Nicola takes us from France to India and……..

Who let the dogs out? Does the dog in the desert in your little corner of India believe he will be fed if he hangs around on the camel safari? Can we be won over so easily by his cute tricks and the rolling around in the sand? Should we touch him or is there a risk of rabies, fleas or aggression? Should we call him Sandy or is that name too simplistic?

Amongst other animals at the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve was this wild canine

Who let the dogs out? When you are in South Africa, big cats are the main attraction – but do wild dogs also feature in your “must see” animals at a game reserve or on safari? Do you joke that your sweet & lovable domestic dog comes from an ancestry line of African wild dogs? Can you pretend you are in a special edition version of the Lion King movie and start singing Hakuna Matata in the your dusty jeep?

Jonah? Nice to meet you

Who let the dogs out? When your friends are away on holidays and ask you to house-sit, are you allowed to let the dog sneak into the living room? Can you resist those adorable puppy eyes, or should you be stern and leave him outside the sliding glass doors to watch you watching TV? Do you make references to Jonah and the Whale? Should you pronounce his name Joe-nah or John-ah? Does it even matter – isn’t it just your love and attention that he is after, after all?

Just another day at the French markets...

Who let the dogs out? How do you react when a child sitting next to you in a cafe exclaims, in great jubilation, “Maman, maman – c’est un SAINT BERNARD!!” [Mom, mom, it's a Saint Bernard!!]. Does your mind automatically think of Beethoven circa 1992? Do you then start to think about other dog movies, such as All Dogs Go to Heaven, or  Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey? Have you ever even seen a Saint Bernard before? Is it tonnes cooler knowing you will always say “Saint Bernard” in a French accent… San Bernar? Do you ever wonder if the dog has any relation to the real saint, Bernard? Does the scruffy man who you occasionally see in your French town know what an awesome pet he has?

The attack of the puppies

Who let the dogs out? Do you melt when you see a puppy, even if you are a cat person or not so fond of bigger dogs? Does it make you really wish you had your own dog, or give you great flashbacks of your own childhood four-legged friend? Why does the puppy that has his leash tied to a chair in a restaurant look like a fuzzy bear furball?

Before the big purple dinosaur, there was Barney the dog

Who let the dogs out? Do you look back at photos of your family trips to the US and see not just your outdated clothing and hairstyles, but also your lovable childhood pets? Do you laugh like crazy thinking about the time when your friend (who just moved to America with her family, including her curly-haired dog) sent you some dog fur in a zip-lock bag when she wrote you a letter? Do you remember when both you and your best friend had dogs and you used to pretend they were brothers/sisters, or cousins, or related by forces stronger than you knew (just like you and your friend)?

Feta cheese, olives and (hot) dogs.

Who let the dogs out? What crosses your mind when you think of hot dogs – would it bring up images of dogs in Greece, lying around in 35°C (95°F) heat? While you are exploring Athens (with Grease Lightning on repeat in your head), do you come across dogs sprawled all over the steps of the Acropolis or the front stoop of bank buildings? When you rest from the afternoon heat wave, sipping iced tea and eating baklava, does a scrappy dog sniff around for leftover food like a gold-digger? Do you witness one dog lobbing bricks off a cliff at another one in a dog fight? Do you wonder why there is a dog on the Athenian roof, when you were under the impression that it was roosters that adorned rooftop?

Your childhood best friend

Who let the dogs out? Do you proudly tell people that your dog’s name was unique – Chipo, a name of Zimbabwean origin, meaning “gift”? Can you remember when your dog ran right through the screen dog in your living room and left a huge hole behind? Do you laugh knowing that even though your dog was what you lovingly call a sidewalk specialty from the SPCA, he would tear the ligaments in both hind legs as an overexuberant puppy and have to wear plaster casts for a month? Did you take him for walks to the beaches in Bermuda and watch him run away from the waves like a scaredy-cat… I mean, dog?

Rome, Italy

The time has come that the days start waning early (well if you’re in the Northern hemisphere), TV’s turn-on early and mornings arrive even faster! Have no fear, our Wanderer Nicola, has some sets from around the world that can entertain you on these dark nights.

“Un bon croquis vaut mieux qu’un long discours“.

It was Napoleon Bonaparte who gave us these words of wisdom, meaning “A good sketch is better than a long speech”. I’m trying to avoid the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words”, which is a phrase we’ve all thrown into a conversation at one time or another. Nevertheless, I shall steal the premise.

Crikvenica, Croatia

This weekend’s theme? Sunsets. The sun is setting on the month of October, and Daylight Saving Time approaches. The sun will soon set on autumn as we head into winter coziness. In the Northern Hemisphere, at least.

Thar Desert, India

While on the camel safari above, in India, we spent the night under the starts in the desert. I remember clearly that our safari coincided with my mom’s birthday, who was celebrating all the way in Bermuda. My fellow travelers and I slept under the stars, and I remember thinking that the moon would eventually make it over Bermuda and we’d share the same moon! Wherever you are in the world, you will look up at the same moon as family & friends far, far away.

Notre Dame, Paris, France

One magical quotation captures the essence of a fabulous sunset:”The sky broke like an egg into full sunset and the water caught fire.” – Pamela Hansford Johnson

The picture below is a segue for next weekend’s blog theme:

A sandy sunset

At Robyn’s Wanderings, we are nothing if not inquisitive about any & every topic that has to do with travel.

Stay tuned for more… I am doggedly preparing you a treat, make no bones about it! 

Edward Monkton says it best every time

Our wanderer Nicola turns 25 today! What better way to celebrate her birthday then navigating the world of Nicola? Well she couldn’t think of one either so here is Robyn’s Wanderings wishing her a very special birthday and a quarter of a century of Nicola’s travels:

A quarter of a century has come & gone, my friends. For me, at least.

For the third year in a row, I celebrate my birthday in Toronto, Ontario. This weekend coincides with two other big events in Toronto and throughout Canada - Scotiabank’s Nuit Blanche all-night art festival, and CIBC’s Run for the Cure.

Everyone is celebrating for one reason or another! Therefore, I deemed it appropriate to write 25 Things About Me. Birthday and travel-related, more or less.

1. I took my first flight at 4 months old and we moved to Bermuda… I slept the whole way
2. As a child, I was little enough to sleep on blankets on the floor below my family’s airplane seats on overnight flights.
3. I celebrated my 18th birthday in France, enjoying champagne and strawberry shortcake with my host family.
4. Two plastic figurines join me on travels: a California Raisin & Simba from the Lion King [Looking at that link for California Raisins, I found out that "Ben Indasun" is my toy!]
5. The first Broadway show that I ever saw was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
6. Katie and I saw snow for the first time when we were visiting family in England one Christmas.
7. My first winter sport experiences include 2 middle school ski trips to Colorado, and ice skating in Rockerfeller Center in NYC.
8. I saw the movie Lion King at the cinema in Africa, while spending a summer with my grandparents in Zimbabwe.
9. …Speaking of Disney, I’ve been to Disneyland California, Walt Disney World Florida, and Tokyo Disney… I have yet to conquer  Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland & Shanghai Disney!
10. While visiting Japan for 3 weeks, I rode bicycles, developed a love for corn chowder, and dressed up as a meiko for a day [The meiko blog link is very similar to my own experience. I wish I had photos to post of Japan, but sadly they are in Bermuda, tucked away in an album... I took 6 rolls of film on that trip!]
11. Once, I fell asleep in my soup at a hotel restaurant and my parents & sister have never let me live it down.
12. While taking a home-video at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Katie and I danced around singing “We are space aliens, we are space aliens”. Oh, the good old days!

If you are reading this sentence, then congratulations – you are almost halfway through the list!

Your birthday: a day when you are allowed to wear the crown.

13. On my 10th birthday, I open a cereal box (nice gift-wrapping!), and dug through it to find 2 plane tickets to Oklahoma. My best friend’s family had recently relocated there, so it was my dream trip. We kept in touched, reunited in Europe & Bermuda, and are still best buddies today!
14. My week-long high school French trip to Paris served as a taster for the 3 times I would live in France as a student – in Lorraine, in Paris, and in Savoie.
15. Both sets of my grandparents moved to Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) post-WWII – one half from Croatia, the other from England.
16. Give me a window seat on an airplane any day.
17. The top 3 countries that I’ve been to that hold a piece of my heart are: France, India and Greece.
18. The longest flight I have been on so far is 13hr from New York to Tokyo.
19. After graduating university, I was treated to a First Class, overnight flight – champagne included! [A rather big step-up from sleeping on the floor of the airplane seats... re: #2]
20. My dream islands to visit are the Maldives… one day, I hope.
21. My 21st birthday turned out to be an awesome surprise party, although I had planned to do homework that evening…
22. When we visit my grandmother in Croatia, we go for 6am walks including a morning swim in crystal-clear sea – much chillier than Bermuda waters.
23. … Despite my affinity for Croatia, I must hark back to my adoration for Greece. Islandy. Laid-back. European. And f-e-t-a! [In fact, I'm celebrating this weekend by going out for a Greek feast... OPA!]
24. Hurricane Felix hit Bermuda in 1995, and we got our dog shortly afterwards from the SPCA. We changed his name from Felix to Chipo.
25. Lastly: Katie and I share this birthday month (October 17th and 2nd, respectively), and we are family friends with two sisters in Bermuda who have eerily similar birthdays (October 17th and 1st). We were meant to be friends!

Here's for a sweet treat... or 6.

Who knows, perhaps if I eat my vegetables and walk everyday I will make it to 100. If we still write blogs 75 years from now, perhaps I can write my “100 best travel experiences”. For now, though, back to the cupcakes!

You can have your wedding cake and eat it too… or wear it!

I couldn’t think of a more appropriate topic for today’s blog post: destination weddings. Why? Well that’s because one of my longest-serving and best friends will be getting married this Friday!

Our wanderer Nicola must have read my mind as she travels through the different destinations and their wedding traditions this week. What do they do in India? Who wears kilts? Tell us Nicola!

Weekends in the summer are wedding primetime.

In July, I attended a wedding where one of the girls at my table said she has been to 8 weddings this summer. And yesterday?  Well my hairdresser said she was attending a wedding this weekend.

Of course, people flock to Bermuda in the summer for weddings – overseas family, destination weddings or honeymoons. As summer in Canada is  “limited edition” (short & sweet), you have to act fast or else more than just the cake will be frosted… unless you want your special day to be extra “white”!

If you get hitched in Scotland, you may need white Wellington boots and umbrellas on your wedding day.

In the southern hemisphere, December/January is wedding season – summertime and Christmas holidays. My South African cousins were both married in December, but sadly the dates fell around my undergraduate exams… twice!

In fact, as a testament to how spread-out my family is, my other cousins live in Australia and 2 out of 3 are now married. While they held their weddings in April/May (autumn time), my exams and commitments STILL kept me from celebrating with them. At this rate, I shall miss my own wedding…

My cousin’s wedding in Sydney, Australia, with the cake baker none other than his younger sister!

And in India? On the first night of our 4-week stay with an Indian host family, my roommate and I were bombarded with our host parents’ wedding albums… all four! Their photos were spectacular, capturing the colours, the traditions and joyful celebrations that were a part of their wedding ceremony – although our lack of Hindi/English communication left an air of mystery as well.

We later learned that the married women in our village wore a red powder along their hair parting. This is Sindoor, a mixture of dried turmeric and lime, which indicates that they are married. Widows will no longer wear the Sindoor, but they may still wear bindis. A bindi, the traditional dot on a woman’s forehead, is worn by married women in India, but may also be worn by unmarried girls and children. The specific meaning of why someone sports a bindi depends on the occasion, the colour and the shape.

One of the women in our village in Northern India, wearing the Sindoor and bindi.

The two weddings I have attended in my university town were for friends that I met while studying, but in both instances we met on exchange in France – one during a semester in Paris, and the other over a year abroad in the French Alps. French is the language of love, after all, and the romantic charm of both the City of Lights and the quaint Alpine towns is incontrovertible. [That is, at least, because neither couple has had the chance to visit Greece… yet!]

An appropriate champagne flute for a bride who studied in Paris, and a couple that got engaged during a visit to the Château de Versailles.

Everyone does their wedding in a unique way, and if there is Scottish lineage in your family, you may find yourself surrounding by kilt-clad men. Who take great pride and joy in swishing their pleats and posing for photos. Chances are that if you are brave enough to sport a kilt… you won’t mind basking in the glory!

So to wrap up wedding weekend, here’s a glimpse of the cheeky side of weddings – no pun intended!

Hmm… what a great segue for next weekend’s topic, the kilt [Hint – that is my father on the far left all kilted up… this was neither his first nor last kilt trip!].

Hot cross buns... come and get 'em

Yes even with a long weekend Robyn’s Wanderings’ bloggers have been busy. Between her codfish cakes (Bermuda’s Good Friday/Easter tradition), Nicola Arnold found some time to tell us about the Island’s traditions:

Happy Easter!! In between bites of hot cross buns and fish cake, I am wishing you all a fabulous Easter weekend with family & friends. If you are one of the lucky ones, a bit of sunshine too.

Yes, I have spent my Easters in several delightful places (France, Canada, Croatia…), yet this is my first Easter back home in Bermuda since I graduated high school. And it is indeed one of the best Bermudian holidays we have. From homemade kites flown on Good Friday (check out this), to sunrise services at one of our gorgeous beaches, I have to say… ‘Home is where the hot cross buns are’!

Easter Sunday walk along South Shore... worth the 6 year wait!

Funnily enough, two weekends ago I was enjoying an equally warm afternoon in Canada. A warm day in April in Ontario MUST be cherished – for they are few & far between! As a pure coincidence, it follows along with Robyn’s previous blog postings… I was in the Niagara region in Ontario for a winery tour – my first.

Birthday boys & the winery groupies in front of part of the Niagara Escarpment!

As two of my friends have April birthdays, and the weather was quite delicious that weekend, we all loaded into a car and embarked on our wine tour – which my friend found for a great price & a cheeky name – the F’ing Winery Tour. For the fifth year running, Flat Rock Cellars, Fielding Estate Winery, Featherstone Estate Winery joined up for a wine tasting extravaganza which was, in fact… F’abulous and F’antastic!

Good grapes make great (Ontario) wine

Wines were sampled, cheese & preserve pairing were nibbled, and the company (and winery staff) was excellent.

After a warm weather wine tour and Easter week spent in Bermuda… I’m looking forward to the rest of spring and the start of summer!

Want to wander through Ottawa without the cold? Without losing your fingers? And keep the feeling in your toes?

Well good, because we, at Robyn’s Wanderings want to give you what you want! And luckily we have Nicola Arnold stationed in Canada to do all of our Canadian travels (while I, Robyn, sit safely in Bermuda and 60 degree weather!).

So what does Ottawa have to offer? Everything from Maple Leaf Mittens to Byward Market filled with beads and “The Works”! So enjoy her photos and tell us what you think!

Zak's Diner in Ottawa - you will think you have walked into "Grease". And yes, the silver cup on the right means we had a milkshake for breakfast!

Reminiscing about the Vancouver Olympics in February 2010, and how I was the only one out of us three not to have these mittens.

If you find yourself strolling through Byward Market in Ottawa, check out the shop Sassy Beads... there are a heck of a lot of beads and colours.

More beads at Sassy Beads, so you can mix and match your jewelry and let your creativity flow.

Well... if you can't beat them, join them... I bought a pair of double-lined, Canadian mittens. To support my new, adopted home. And to stay warm!

Maple leafs 'r' us up in the Great White North

Sandwiched between Canadian friends that I travelled abroad with - Alex on the left, from my volunteer trip to India, and Brittany on the right, from my Rotary exchange in France.

A very clever, funny book (and a bit sad) titled "All My Friends Are Dead"... cute and dark, I thought this particular one was a nod to Canadian winter.

"The Works" is another fine eatery in Ottawa, a gourmet burger bistro with milkshakes in Pyrex measuring cups and 67 types of burger toppings.... including PEANUT BUTTER on at least 2 different burgers! Daring enough to try it?

Along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, you can ice-skate during the 3 week long Winterlude Festival. This is Concord, a spot along the canal where you can take a break and eat a Beavertail pastry of your choice!

The Rideau Canal flows through the heart of downtown Ottawa... and is a Winterlude focal point as skating attracts one and all

Where's Waldo?! If you spot the blue-hatted guy in the photo, that's my good family friend Jonathan Christopher, a fellow Bermudian. If you live in Bermuda or have visited... you may have seen his father, Ed, who is Town Crier of Hamilton! As I knew Jonathan studies in Montreal, I begged him to make the 2 hour bus journey to Ottawa - it's first time we have met up in 9 years!

Brittany steals a bite of my Beavertail - the tricky thing you either take mittens off (frozen fingers), or keep mittens on (sticky mittens). Either way, it's worth it!

Beavertails at last! Jonathan tasted cheesy garlic, I enjoyed chocolate hazelnut, and Alex sampled cinnamon sugar lemon!

Group shot: As one of my friends mentioned, "Nicola, your worlds have collided - you have friends you know from India, France and Bermuda all meeting up in Ottawa!"

One of Winterlude's sponsors, the cell phone company Rogers, made some interactive ice sculptures which were a hit with kids - and kids at heart!

See the sculptures... admire the sculptures... be a part of the sculptures!

The ice sculptures in Confederation Park, made by ice carvers from around the world. They were impressive even in their melted-down state.

Another friend I met in France, Maurane, who is now studying abroad in Ottawa! Planning to meet friends was not easy, as it was -15C and chilly... thus we usually planned to meet up for food!

Au Revoir Ottawa! Until next time (hopefully the end of March)