Revelstoke Roadie

Circa November 2020~ If you've been following our travels for a while, you may have noticed that we never share much about our Canadian adventures--Our time at home always feels quite personal, relatively mundane and so familiar, that it's hard to imagine that anyone would want to read (and in my case write) about our comings and goings in the Great White North. But alas, we haven't travelled anywhere outside of Canada since November 2019 (WILD), and I'm finding myself with more time to write these days (shoutout to the unemployed👐) so let's crack into some homegrown travel stories.

I often get thinking about timelines and where we were and what we were doing at this time a year ago (5 years ago, 10 years ago, etc.) Let's take it back to exactly one year ago. We were still strongly discouraged to travel outside of our province (let alone internationally), but were really feeling the need to stretch our wings beyond the city limits. Working within pandemic parameters, we decided to strike out on a 10 day road trip, looping through the mountains on the hunt for some hot springs and big vista views. Luckily, around every corner in British Columbia is another stunning panorama and the impressive peaks are endless--not a lot of planing was needed!

Turns out November has always been a good travel month for us!

....But first wine (always). Breezing through B.C's biggest wine region --Kelowna/Okanagan Valley-- for a couple nights, we reunited with friends from university, and checked out the city. This area is busting full of wineries and vineyards, lakes and mountains (basically a bachelorette party haven). 

From Kelowna we meandered towards Nelson

Literally overnight we went from sunny, crisp autumn to a dreamy, white winter wonderland. As we rolled into Fairmont Hot Springs, as far as I could tell it is a stop on the highway that includes a couple of hotels, a mini mall, a population of less than 500 people...and of course, its namesake and raison d'etre, hot springs! We arrived just as the snow began to fall, and it was absolutely mountain magic! 

Big steamy pools at Fairmont Hot Spring Resort

We first hit up the natural hot springs (opposed to the hotel pools where they pipe the water in). We trudged through the snow in our winter boots, bikini bottoms and parkas, equipped with a soggy box of wine, eager to sit in a puddle of tepid water that smells like farts...Screams winter magic, doesn't it? Given this was a random weekday in November with sub-zero temps, we had those puddles all to ourselves! It was magical in that silence that comes when the snow falls all around you. It really felt like we were the only people in existence. After being sufficiently soused, we sprinted back to the quintessential mountain lodge to adorn ourselves with robes, before our evening soak in the steaming pools at the hotel. Then came our morning soak, midday soak, afternoons soak, and again, evening soak. Honestly, basing any holiday around sitting in the tub for hours is, in my opinion, the way to go. So after a couple days, us pruned raisins reluctantly put our pants back on and continued the drive, heading straight through the rockies.

After driving through some pretty big mountain passes, and thanking our lucky stars we had a clear blue day for the drive, we arrived in Revelstoke. To our delight, we woke up the next morning to LOTS of big fluffy snow! The first big snow of the season is always so exciting (ask us how we feel about snow in March after sloshing around in it for 4 months). After a day of reveling in the winter wonderland and frolicking around town, we started to think about the coming day's drive. Would our all-season tires guide us safely home through the snowy mountains? (In Canada our cars wear their winter boots too--Tires get switched over to a more grippier winter version for safety reasons.) In true Mary and Tyler fashion, we started calling around in a slight panic, asking if there was any way we could 1)buy winter tires, and 2)could they be put on...like today. When we got a resounding "No" (nothing available for 6+weeks), we then followed-up with question #3 "Do you think our all-season tires will make it through the mountains?" With notable hesitation from everyone we asked, we knew we had to make a new plan. You see, the problem was that the fastest, most direct route back to Vancouver was up and over the Coquihalla highway mountain pass...which has some pretty unpredictable weather and frequently gets shut down in the winter. Enough so that the highway has inspired a TV show called Highway Thru Hell, where they chronicle the driving adventures of trucks going over the mountain in the winter. Needless to say, we did not want to make our reality show debut, and needed a different route home. We ended up taking a slightly longer, less snowy, death-defying highway home that turned out to be a really beautiful drive...and we arrived safe and sound--Win, win!!

....Oh! And a year later, we still don't have winter tires.

Not no snow, but decidedly way less snow.

As we settled back into the monotony of pandemic lockdown life, we knew we'd likely be sticking close to home for awhile.... Little did we know the next big adventure was already underway!

Euro-Birthday Bus Trip

Circa Summer 2019~ Having a July birthday as a teacher has its benefits--Mainly, I always have the day off and the freedom to celebrate in whatever big or small fashion I'd like. Although I'm not someone who likes to celebrate my birthday with a great deal of fanfare, I do generally like to mark the day with a trip or an adventure. Keeping with tradition, we began looking around the internet for a fun birthday Euro-romp. Without digging too deep, we found a one-way flight deal that would take us from Montenegro to Poland...and how we'd get back to Albania, well that would be a problem for an older and wiser Mary. 

After driving to Montenegro, and leaving the old girl (our '91 VW van) tucked safely away in trustworthy-looking folks' backyard, we flew off to Warsaw, Poland. Although Poland was never at the top of our travel list, we were excited for some vodka, pirogies and...whatever else Poland had in store (again, just a destination of opportunity, not a lot of background knowledge). Once arriving in Warsaw we struck out to check out the (new) Old Town (having been reduced to a pile of rubble in WWII, the Old Town was meticulously rebuilt and is oh so charming!), Łazienki Park (a place to while away the hours with palaces, odes to Frédéric Chopin, pavilions, promenades, and lush greenery), the Warsaw Uprising Museum (to get a little WWII context), the phalic Palace of Culture and Science (a Stalinist complex that was a ‘gift from the Soviet Union to the people of Poland). Generally we walked around, fuelled by vodka and an open-mind about a country we had no preconceived notions about. I will say, Warsaw was amazing, and would love to explore more of the country! 

Reality Check-In~ All the while, we got a call from a school in Canada, offering a job interview for both Tyler and I. While we had planned on taking an extended summer holiday, cruising around in our van until November when we were due back for a teaching contract in Toronto, we thought, why not do the interviews? So we ended up completing our interviews in the lobby of our hotel, and from there things moved quickly. Suddenly we were both employed and needed to speed up our leisurely summer+ plans. We needed to gear up to pack-up and get back to Canada ASAP. This meant getting back to Albania on a quicker timeline than previously expected....bbbuuttt we still did want to see a few things along the way (don't ever try and rush us while on vacation!). So we opted to do some overnight buses and stop in a few cities before arriving back in Albania. 

Spending the night on a bus and being unceremoniously dumped in a new city at 6am can be a bit jarring-Where's the Tim Horton's, guys? No worries! We'd head to the hotel, take a little nap and be fresh to begin to explore Prague!

...ohhh wait. We're not in S.E Asia anymore, where hospitality is paramount, rules are mere guidelines, and an unannounced 7am check-in request is met with a smile and an invitation to check-out the breakfast buffet. Instead we were reminded of the rigid and unwavering hotel policies that we agreed to when reserving our over-priced 2-star hotel room. 

So how do you kill the better part of a day before you can finally lay your head down for a cat-nap? Why not a free walking tour! Checking out the sights of the Old Town and Jewish Quarter, and hearing a series of historical tidbits and humorous antidotes was a perfect way to ride out our exhaustion and make the most of the time we had in Prague. Capping off the morning with a riverside picnic, we finally tucked ourselves into bed for a quick kip before continuing on with the (now self-guided) tour. Take it from us, Prague is super charming at any hour of the day...The bridges, the castles, the quirky statues. Prague is the perfect city to wander, perch and explore. 

After a couple of nights, we boarded the bus again for a quick jog down the road to Budapest---Which we were super excited about as it is, in our limited opinion, one of the best cities in Europe! Having visited Budapest before, we weren't as inclined to hit up the biggest landmarks and sights. We did spend the next couple days wandering around Margaret Island, (an island city park on the Danube River), catching sunsets along the river and popping into the occasional ruin bar (bars housed in the abandoned buildings of the Jewish Quarter as a result of WWII). And of course, the food!! Hungarian food really hits all the high marks for us--soups, peanutty sauces, cheese, sour cream, bacon, fried dough, I mean come-on! Despite it being 40 degrees, we just couldn't pass up multiple bowls of goulash. As a very serious side-note--does anyone have a killer recipe for paprika chicken they'd like to pass along?

Next we made the quick little hop, skip and a jump down to Belgrade, and were feeling good to be back in the Balkans! In contrast to our previous city-stops, Belgrade was roasting! Being so hot, we hit up Ada Ciganlija, or the 'Seaside of Belgrade', an artificial lake and beachside just outside the centre of the city. The lake was a hive of summertime activity! We spent the day hopping on and off the tourist train or walking to the next beach, where we would find a different vibe. This lake is a serious gem! From family picnics, water skiing, tikki bars, or full-on day-clubbing scenes, this lake has something for everyone. Unbeknownst to us, while sitting on a relatively quiet stretch of beach, we even found ourselves being propositioned by a curious individual who kept asking us, "Should we Shwing? Us, we shwing?" Although flattered--"No sir, please move along." Again, something at the lake for everyone.

Spent my birthday perched on the walls of Belgrade Fortress and sampling the local raki

For the final push back to Albania, we boarded an overnight bus towards Montenegro to retrieve our sweet rolling home. Since we had left Montenegro 10 days ago, our life plans had changed, and we were now looking to sell the van. First things first, we stopped in at a gas station, filled up the beauty and posted her for sale. Well then, it was as if the old girl had felt the sting of abandonment and immediately acted out. Just over the Albanian border we heard that gut wrenching clunk that's usually accompanied by various degrees of heartbreak (and smoke). We got her pulled over, and eventually a 'tow truck' came (Mercedes station wagon hauling a homemade flatbed juusssst big enough for the van), where the guy looked under the hood and quite simply said 'kaput'. A universal word needing no explanation. So she got taken to a garage/junkyard, where Tyler and a couple of boys pushed her into her final resting spot, while I looked on with the bossman, and cried like a baby. 

R.I.P sweet girl--Thanks for the adventures 💕

And just like that, our Albanian chapter was coming to an end...

Rome'n Around

Is there anything more romantic than a Valentine's Day long weekend spent in Rome frolicking in piazzas, indulging in nightly aperitivo and buzzing from shots of rich espresso? I think not.

In contrast, what do you think about hanging around in foreign hospitals? Albeit, different and less romantic--Also intriguing, right?...Due to a stint of pneumonia and an eye-opening tour of Albania's healthcare facilities, our Valentine's Day Rome-cation was only slightly postponed til Tyler's lungs got themselves together. But boy, was it worth the wait!

Not exactly the Rome-antic weekend we had planned.

Alas! We lucked out with a generous hotelier who offered to postpone our reservations, and our credit cards gave us a touch of travel insurance, making the flights easy to change. A month later, with a clean bill of health, we were off to live la bella vita!

FRIDAY

With only two days in the Eternal City we had a lot of first-timer Roma highlights to hit! After touching down and hitting la bottega for some libations, we rambled over to the Trevi Fountain and threw a few coins over our shoulders--One coin to return to Rome, two coins for a new romance and three coins for marriage! Even though we're converting Albanian lek(↓) to Euros (↑), we couldn't leave anything to chance! Fun little ditti about the Trevi Fountain; The coins are collected with a big vacuum a few times each week, sorted, counted and donated to a non-profit organization that provides aid for poor and homeless within Rome. (Although these numbers seem unbelievable, I can't seem to find info to contradict, so..) With 1,200 visitors stopping by the fountain every hour, the fountain does a little crowd funding to the tune of 1.4 million Euros each year.

Also, should be noted that those numbers probably seem a bit unreasonable to us as we visited the fountain at 11pm...in March. Not exactly the height of coin-flinging, fountain season. Nonetheless, I'd highly recommend visiting the fountain at an off-peak hour/month to be able to enjoy it without the reported throngs of people. For the rest of the evening we consumed piazzas, gelato, wine on repeat.

At the time my phone only took black&white photos--Luckily Rome lends itself well to monochrome!

SATURDAY

 

The next morning we woke up uncharacteristically early (unbeknownst to us, there's a time change from Albania) and headed to the smallest country in the world, Vatican City. Having heard that the lines would be long, and having totally flaked on the advice to buy the 'Skip the Line tickets', we were happy to join a relatively modest line. About an hour later, as we neared the security scanners, it suddenly dawned on us that we weren't totally sure what we had lined up for (the previous evening's escapades had left us somewhat dull). Whatever it was, we were pretty sure we wanted to see it. So we turned around to the person behind us and without shame asked a very friendly face, "What is this line even for?" To which they replied way nicer than they had to be, "Ughhh, St. Peter's Basilica?" Riiiigghhhttt.

So St. Peter's Basilica was a seriously impressive superstructure chocked full of mosaics, alters, statues, artwork, shrines and relics. As neither of us are Roman Catholic, it was certainly not a religious experience, however it is definitely a very impressive church and was worth the bewildered wait.

Next we made the short jaunt around the corner to the Vatican Museums. We waited in line fooorrrever (Again, BUY THE SKIP THE LINE TICKETS), and by the time we reached the doors we were feeling less than enthusiastic about the crowd we were being herded along with, thinking that we wouldn't have the chance to truly appreciate any of the artwork inside. But HEEELLOOO! The Vatican Museums! Wow. Since the Museums consist of about 1400 rooms, we were aiming to hit the highlights, but turns out there were so, so many! Among our faves were the Gallery of Statues and Hall of Busts, the Gallery of Maps, Tapestries Gallery....and of course The Sistine Chapel.

A word about the Sistine Chapel. You are moved along by the steady stream of tourists into a big empty room in which you find yourself standing in the middle, all the while an oximoronic  loud speaker is very ungracefully reminding you to be quiet. There are security guards everywhere making sure people aren't taking pictures. All in all you are not generally feeling the air of an art appreciation atmosphere. Then, you look up and you see it!

☞ ☜

The sheer size and beauty, the details along with the over 'big picture'--the Chapel's ceiling is truly awe-inspiring (Please forgive my uneducated art review). What I mean to say is it was super. Really, really super. So altho, yes, we were feeling a bit icky and conflicted about financially supporting the Catholic Church (in particular to the Vatican) and their habits to embed and offer safe haven to pedophiles, it was definitely a spectacular collection.

So after a suffice amount of arts and culture we needed to satisfy the growing urge for an Aperol spritz, pasta, gelati, pizza, wine...You know the drill.

In pasta heaven!

SUNDAY

Sunday we headed to the heart of the Ancient City, the site of the Roman Forum. Where politics, business, trials, socializing, and the general hustle and bustle expected of the year 29 BC all went down. It was super cool to walk amidst the temples, ruins, markets, banks, bath houses ---- all the while knowing these were the very streets Julius Caesar took his afternoon jaunts. Coming from Canada (having just celebrating its 150 birthday, heyooo!) it is truly mind-boggling to be standing in a place that is 2000++ years old. Colour us impressed.

And of course the Colosseum, Il Colosseo, or the Flavian Amphitheater. Altho not really needing any explanation (you've all seen Gladiator), I offer you five fun facts;

1. To spice things up beyond the run-of-the-mill gladiator fight (boooorrrinngg), the Colosseum would be flooded to accommodate mock naval battles. Gotta keep the troops entertained!

2. While the most iconic Colosseum is in Rome, there are 230 Roman amphitheatres dispersed around the Roman empire. We visited another one in Pula, Croatia! These people liked to party!
3. It's one of the new seven wonders of the world (others include the Great Wall of China, Chichen Itza, Petra, Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer and the Taj Mahal).

4. Although one million animals and half a million people were killed there, the Colosseum is now used as a symbol in the campaign against capital punishment. It is lit up every time a death sentence is pardoned or completely done away with in a country.

5. The thumbs up gesture originated in the Colosseum--Meaning, it was time for the gladiator to die.   👍👍👍

With only two days in Rome, we hit the major-est of tourist attractions and did not even begin to scratch the surface of this beautiful city (but you've got to start somewhere, right?). With a flight to catch back to Albania, all we could say is 'arrivederci', and dream of our next Italian vacanza!