Matt's Last Day

My second day in Bali was Matt's last full day here, so we let him pick our activities. He chose white water rafting on the Ayun River. The river runs through Ubud, and a number of companies offer rafting down the class 2 and 3 rapids. We went with Sobek, who provided us with a raft to ourselves, a guide (Stinky), a two hour ride down the river and buffet lunch afterwards for $80. Once we donned our sexy life jackets and helmets, we started down the stairs to the river.I thought that it was going to be a nice little jaunt down the the river, however it was actually 500 very tall and steep steps down the side of the cliff to the river.

We loaded up the raft and Stinky gave us our instructions, telling us when to row, when to grab the rope, and letting us know that when he shouted 'boom boom' we were to basically dive into the bottom of the raft and hold on. He did not give us any indication of when he might yell boom boom.
Off we went down the river, with Stinky pointing out local plants and animals, as well as carvings on the cliffs on the side of the river.

Class 2 and 3 rapids are not very scary, and after the first couple of rapids where we grabbed onto the rope each time, we had it under control. We would row to the sounds of "One, Two, STOP -  ok Stinky!". I think. It could have been something else, but it sure sounded like Stinky. Although the guide did tell us that in Bali stinky means good music, not smelly. So who knows really. We also discovered that boom boom was when we were about to hit the side of the river pretty hard - luckily this only happened a couple times .

Highlights of the trip included:

Waterfalls

Bintang Break (Karen, I'm sure you will agree the joy of riverside beers far outweighs the outrageous cost that said beers are sold for on the side of the river)

Scary moment with locals fishing with electricity (?? this was the explanation we got)

Floating down the last leg of the river to our take out point.

After the rafting they served up a buffet lunch of mainly Indonesian dishes, which was a poor introduction for food safety Danni, as all of the dishes were lukewarm and had been sitting out for who knows how long, and she did not eat anything except a green colored coconut suger cake at the end. Everyone else enjoyed the food though and no one got sick. Then we walked up the 150 stairs to the top of the hill (thank god it was not 500, although in 30 degree weather, on the first full day of vacation, and with hawkers walking beside you trying to sell you teak boxes, wooden elephants and sarongs - only one dollar! - it was still too many!).

That night we walked into Ubud (about 20 min) and ate some deep fried crispy duck (bebek guling) at the Dirty Duck Diner (Bebek Bengil). It was pretty expensive for Bali prices, however considering I don't usually like duck, it was pretty delicious. Rhiannon and Brian have already had it twice now, and have requested it once more before we leave Bali, so looks like some more dirty duck is in our future.

Greetings from Bali!

I got to Bali Wed afternoon and was pretty beat after 36 hours of travel, so we had a quiet night in with pizza from Pizza Bagus, which was pretty delicious. Our place of residence is the Desa Sanctuary, which is at the end of the main road leading into Ubud. It is about a 20 min walk before you get to some restaurants and a grocery market.The walk is slightly dangerous for clutzy people like me since the first part of the walk has no sidewalks and the road is super busy with cars, bikes and scooters. It is the rainy season so the road gets pretty muddy at times. Once the sidewalk does start it is pretty poor and also runs directly over the open sewer dtiches. Rhiannon and I are betting over which of us falls in the sewer first. So far my chances are looking pretty good seeing as how I already fell half in the pool and then broke a beer at the pool today, but she did fall down some stairs a couple days before I got here, so you never know.

The complex is really nice, with 5 little huts/houses in a compound with a pool and tons of vegetation. The staff are really nice and helpful, coming immediately to my aid after I broke both a breakfast plate (falling in the pool) and the aforementioned beer today. It has been pretty quiet with some road noise but not too much, and very little notice of the people in the neighboring huts. I had a slight panic attack my first night due to the sheer number of ants in my bed, and due to a lack of mosquito net in the room that Brian and I were in for the first couple nights, had to macguyver myself a sleeping face turban out of a scarf. Now we are in a room with Rhiannon that is equipped with a lovely mosquito net (malaria is not really a risk, but dengue is), as well as Rhiannon's nightly bug spray rounds, so there is less overall insect distress.

That's it for the first day, more to come on adventures thus far!

Parc Guell in Barcelona

We had done little to no research before our arrival in Barcelona, so we weren't quite sure what to do for our first day. I knew that I wanted to go to some of the Gaudi sites in the city, so we decided that since we were staying in the Gracia neighborhood, we would head over to Parc Guell (pronounced gway, not gwell, as I did for a day before finally learning the correct way). The park was originally designed for the aristocracy, but it is now a public park. There is no entrance fee and there are tons of different paths and areas to explore. There are lots of stone structures, as well as some really cool buildings and tile mosaics. If you walk up to some of the higher areas, like the Turo dels Tres Crues (Hill of the Three Crosses), you get a pretty great view of Barcelona. It was a really warm day, so we spent the afternoon wandering around and seeking out different shade patches (I had forgotten my sunscreen, but even shade-seeking didn't stop my white white Canadian skin from burning). We ended our park visit with some (pricey) cervasas.

At The Farm!

I'm currently hanging out with Kelli at her friend's farm, Magot (pronounced mag-oh, not maggot, as I first thought when I saw the sign). It is freaking gorgeous here. The farm is about 2 hours northeast of Toulouse, close to a little town called Vabre. The river Gijout is right nearby and crosses on the farm land. Kelli has been working here and using it as her base for travel for the past almost three months. Tomorrow we are leaving here together to go to Barcelona for almost a week.

It took 7 hours of travel (one train and 2 buses) to get here from Carcassonne. It was not particularly difficult travel, except the part where I had to sit next to a not-so-attractively unwashed and unshaven musician on the bus from Toulouse to Castres for 2 hours. He was quite.. fragrent... and overly familiar in the personal space area. But other than that, the trains and buses were comfortable and it was quite enjoyable to stop in every small French town along the way and get to see a little of the countryside.

I was greeted at the farm with a lovely home cooked meal as well, so that was pretty awesome. Shared the Blanquette de Limoux with the girls over a game of crazy crazy rummy rummy, which made for a pretty enjoyable evening.

Today we woke and went for a hike into Vabre (about an hour), where I battled both my fear of ticks (there are A LOT here). I also woke with a cold and sore throat so this morning, and also had to battle both my sluggish lifestyle of the past year and my congested lungs on the LONG and very uphill walk home.

Tonight Kelli is making pasta (yay!) for dinner and I definitely have plans to drink some of their expired liquor products they got on sale from a friend that owns a restaurant in the area. I think my favorite is Panache' (pronounced Pan-ah-shay) (that I can't stop calling Pin-oh-shay for some reason) that is basically sprite with 1% beer. It tastes strangely reminiscent to me of the Cactus Cooler that my mom used to drink). So good times.

Next stop Barcelona!

Carcassonne, Not in Pictures

Bonjour mes amis! I'm writing from Carcassone, in the Languedoc region of France. It is very pretty here, and the highlight and reason for being here, is that Carcassonne was originally a fortified city, so basically has a giant castle. Unfortunately all of my pictures were taken with my good camera and not my phone though, so I can't add any now. I'm meeting up with my sister tomorrow though, so hopefully can add some pictures from her computer.

Quite a few years ago, I read a novel that happened to be set in Carcassonne. I love medieval everything, so the idea of a traditional walled city and citadel is pretty magical, and I decided I should visit while I'm here as it very close to the farm where Kelli has been staying for the past few months. I left Toulouse yesterday morning and took a train (just under an hour) to Carcassonne. My journey to the train was an adventure in itself, as everything was in French. I have been so bad with the planning this trip, and I didn't really bother to check out the metro routes to the train station, or anything like that, thinking that it would be easy enough. I forgot that station announcements and automated ticket dispensers would be all in French, and not have handy English subtitles underneath or beside like everything in French-speaking Canada does. But I actually figured everything out and managed the metro station and the transfer to the train station (made somewhat easier I'm sure due to the fact that Toulouse only has 2 metro lines - although I've even managed to get on the C-train going the wrong way in Calgary, which only has 2 lines AND is in English, so you never know). The worst part was actually getting on the train in Toulouse - there are a million platforms, with numbers only and no names of which trains are coming, and there are no announcements or anything when the trains get there. Also there are no attendants or conductors, or anyone to ask questions to. I was panicking a bit, since my train was due to leave in two minutes, so I randomly picked a platform. My ticket had a train number on it, but I could NOT find a number on the actual train. So I got on the train, and randomly parle vous englais'd a nice looking woman, who told me a petite peu, which happened to be enough to tell me that yes, magically, I was on the right train, but that I was not in the right car. I was second class, and she was first. Nothing on my ticket gave me any indication of which car I should go to, but the train was not full so I chose another and settled in for the lovely ride through the French countryside.

My hotel, the Adonis Hotel de la Barbicane, is at the bottom of the hill below La Cite (the medieval city), with the rest of Carcassonne (the main town) spread below. My hotel (which is not really a hotel but more like a budget residence hotel with apartments and studios) had strange hours, and is closed from 12-3 everyday. I arrived at 11:57 so had 3 hours to kill with my giant backpack. I was not about to climb the hill to La Cite with that bitch, so I wandered down the hill (less of a hill) to a cafe that did not have wifi, but did have wine, and ordered the soup du jour (because, as Danielle told me before I left, when in doubt, you can't go wrong with the soup du jour) and wine. And creme brûlée.

This morning I spent about 4 hours exploring La Cite. Originally a masterpiece of medieval fortification, the walled city had been besieged (a new word I learned today) many a time and was somewhat in disrepair until it was restored in the 1950's. It is now a world heritage site. Although the center of the city is now filled with many many tourist shops and cafes, it is still fun to wander around and browse. You can also pay 8.50 euros to tour the castle and the ramparts. I did, and recommend it, as I think I spend about 2 or so hours wandering the ramparts and the inside part of the main castle. I also wandered around the shops a bit, as I enjoy shopping. I bought a cute, cheap travel watch and some blanquette (which is a sparkling wine made in Limoux, a town right near Carcassonne). I actually had a fabulous 20 minute chat with the woman who owned the shop where I bought the blanquette, in which I practiced my French and she her English.

Now I'm at the hotel using the internet. I had booked a studio, but was upgraded to an apartment when I got here (which is nothing really awesome or anything, since all it has extra is a small pull out couch and larger living room), but it is in a building across the courtyard and out of the range of the wifi. So I have to wait until the hours that the main reception area is open to be able to come in and access the internet.

Tonight I plan to go and eat Cassoulet, which is basically a bean and meat casserole as far as I can tell (although I admit I have not done really any research on it). It is one of the traditional foods of the area, so I thought I should try it. Tomorrow I am off to meet Kelli and visit the farm where she has been staying.

Rainy Day Wandering, or, My Introduction to Toulouse

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>> Ok this first picture has nothing to do with rain, or Toulouse, but since I forgot to take pictures of almost anything else today, or on my first ever business class plane ride, I will show you a picture of my first G&T of the trip. Served in a real glass, cuz that's what first class is like yo. This wasn't my first drink of the trip, probably more like third, but still.
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>> So basically yesterday is a long travel blur, we were delayed leaving Calgary and then again in Frankfurt. I will hopefully do a post later on plane travel, complete with some pics (I'll try and remember to take pictures of the pod on the way home), but let me just say that concourse B in the Frankfurt airport is not an exciting place to be for 5 hours, especially if you are trying to stay awake so that you can sleep that night.
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>> Got to Toulouse, splurged on a taxi to the hostel. Glad that I did, since my lack of direction plus how tired I was when I got in last night would most likely have left me wandering for who knows how long.
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>> This is my dorm room at Le Petite Auberge de Compostelle.
>> My bed is the bottom one in the center. Pure luxury as you can see.
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>> My dorm was completely full, as was the hostel. As it was still early (8:30) when I got in, but was exhausted and wanted to kill jet lag by sleeping for a solid 12 or so hours, I immediately put on my sleep mask, earplugs and took a sleeping pill. Until about 11:00, when my dorm mates came back and proceeded to study (found out today they have entrance exams at one of the Uni's here today) until 1:00 or so. Boo sleeping pill for not keeping me sleeping through that.
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>> I still managed to sleep in until 8:30, and then headed out. Here is where the rain comes in. I really hadn't planned too much on what to do in Toulouse. My basic plans for today were to wander around the sights that the hostel manager circled on my map for me last night, drink some coffee, and maybe eat some pastries. Big plans. That were somewhat spoiled when the 'slight chance of showers' forecast turned out to mean, its going to rain, a lot, all day. So don't don't leave the hostel in capris and a t-shirt and a laughably small umbrella that you borrowed from your Dad at the last minute.
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>> Something I have learned about myself that is not so good for solo travel when you don't have anyone else to rely on is that I hate looking at maps in public. So I basically just sort of wandered around and attempted not to look lost. I had no real plans anyway, so I thought I would test out my sense of direction and just wander where I saw fit. My sense of direction is not good. I managed to wander to the Basilica St. Sernin (sorry, no pictures, it was raining), which was nice, but also, it was raining. After a couple of soggy hours of wandering I ducked into a cafe for a cafe au lait, beer and salad. Which also happen to maybe be the only words I know in French. However, when you order salade, be prepared for this:
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>> I'm calling it the French Fish Salad. Ok maybe salade poisson, since I do know how to say that after years of watching Disney's The Little Mermaid. There was a large amount of small little fish on the salad, perhaps anchovies? And prosciutto. Strange but not bad at the same time. Also the beer was delicious. Although I didn't know how to properly specify DARK beer, but it worked out somehow.
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>> Now I am at the hostel; I decided that I needed full pants and perhaps a jacket, before heading back out in the rain. I am going to wander again, possible with somewhat of a direction in mind this time. I will probably make my way to the Canal du Midi this time.
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>> Cheers!
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Rainy Day Wandering, or, My Introduction to Toulouse

Ok this first picture has nothing to do with rain, or Toulouse, but since I forgot to take pictures of almost anything else today, or on my first ever business class plane ride, I will show you a picture of my first G&T of the trip. Served in a real glass, cuz that's what first class is like yo. This wasn't my first drink of the trip, probably more like third, but still.