This was my last big hurrah before i started to see how big the world was.45 of my closest friends, many of which We've unfortunately grown apart, but if your reading this Cheers to the good times.
Well what can i say about myself. When i hit 18 I joined the work force got a post secondary education. At 23 I had completed my education, Had a good job,A nice place, A nice car, nice things, but something still didnt feel right.
And then it happend...
I went to vancouver canada to visit a friend who had recently moved there, And it was my first time out of Edmonton (my city) Since i was a child.
Almost instantly after that experiance i had been Bittin HARD by The travel bug. Shortly after vancouver I got drunk one night and wound up in montreal, Stayed around there for a couple months on the way home I stop In Toronto to visit another childhood friend who had moved away and see another great Canadian city, and check out Niagara falls.
That still wasn't enough, I decided to go Visit my moms family In South america for the summer (our winter)
Completely feel in love with argentina and Uruguay and southern brasil.
Came back home, Got a phone call one day and ended up in vegas.
That still wasn't enough, I had caught world cup fever and had family on my dads side in Berlin Germany, so i decided to check out Europe. Partied in Frankfurt, Then was off to Zurich Switzerland to check out the alps and visit my Wonderful swiss friends.
Then it was off to Barcelona Spain, and the journey to running of the bulls in Pamplona. Then it was off to berlin to meet my german family, and check out Poland.
And now I fear The more i see The more I desire, Will it ever be enough?
I've decided to sell everything I know so I no longer need to keep coming back home, and just GO.
My short term plans For the future:
October Japan
Nov south Korea
Dec: Thailand and south east Asia.
New years In Bangkok
Then Back to the continent I love South america
For how long I have no idea.
Welcome to my latest Travel pod entry Let me start by saying I'm hoping to "attempt" something new on this entry, i think its called "grammar."
I got some feedback a while back from some friends that they didn't exactly enjoy my massive wall o text... Lemme know what you think.
Background,
A few months back myself and my 3 closest friends Were at a Boston pizza enjoying a few pitchers of beer and some slightly better then average hors d'oeuvre.
(bet you didn't see that word coming!)
While enjoying the wonderful atmosphere of being trapped indoors due to the treat of freezing to death in the elements, An idea was sprung, We should all go to Vancouver august long weekend for one last hurrah just the boys, enjoy some fun in the sun and a couple nights to remember.
As we waited in anticipation for a seat sale, I "bumped" into an old friend on line, via "facebook" i use the word bumped for lack of a better word describing becoming reacquainted with an old friend via the virtual world.
As luck would have it, She moved away from Edmonton and was now living in Vancouver.
She invited us over and even offered all 4 of us accommodations!
A few weeks later we found the seat sale we had all been waiting for 180 dollars with tax round trip, Everything had fallen into place.
The flight,
After weeks of anticipation, We were finally heading to Vancouver, I had a count down clock on my computer and for some reason the 7 week mark sticks in my head, Anyways we had all pre-chosen our flight, Which was a complimentary service offered By west jet.
Upon landing in Vancouver Scott who had chosen a window seat for the flight, was welcomed to Vancouver By 2 "more then friends" Guys making out next to him, Yup defiantly not in Alberta anymore.
Arrival,
After Melissa had picked us up from the airport in her BMW convertible straight outa Germany, We dropped off our luggage met "both" her cats (inside joke because she's only aloud 2 cats, but has 4, And Right after explaining the situation to Elliott he promptly asked "how many cats are there?" laughs were had by all.
Wreck beach,
After unloading our things We decided to take advantage of the beautiful day that was sure to come, So we head to wreck beach By far the coolest beach In Canada.
Wreck beach is the local "clothing optional beach" Near the UBC Campus, It was also No mans land where pretty much anything goes, And definitely a must see experience to anyone visiting Vancouver.
Now i must warn you before you have images of sunshine girls splashing around playing beach volleyball in there birthday suits, While there are some Very attractive 20 somethings who prefer to not have Tan lines, The majority Of the beach is inhabited by Older hippies.
Wreck beach is sorta a place where everything is a grey area, As with all of Canada your not Aloud or supposed to drink beer in public, But at this one very special beach The authorities seem to let things slide.
As well Other common sites include seeing naked vendors who sell pretty much anything you could imagine From beer to pizza to sandwiches to ironically T-shirts And everything in between.
I would like to just briefly mention for my own memories when i return to this site one day to reflect upon life about the older hippy who sold us slightly over priced sandwiches that probably lacked the proper hygienic standards known to most of us in the first world, Regardless still damn tasty.
While waiting for my sandwich to be created I was sharing one of my many travel adventures with Melissa, When he spoke up and told us about his Visa problems in Nigeria, Who knew the random naked sandwich guy had a pretty cool story?
Regardless From what i could tell he was the sort of individual who couldn't work a mind numbing 9-5, And i guess while he will never make the fortune 500, A life of selling sandwiches on beaches around the world doesn't sound all that terrible.
80's night,
Melissa was very adamant that we join her in attending Her Local water holes "80's neon night" She had been eagerly awaiting/ Preparing for this event for several weeks and had finally completed her outfit.
She required roughly 4 hours to get dress/ready So the rest of us decided to go wonder around Downtown and have some predrinks.
I won't bore you with more details then necessary but 80's night was lots of fun and after bribing a taxi to take the 5 of us home (apparently its against the law to have more then 4 passengers even the vans only fit 4 people) we got home very late, or very early depending on how you look at things.
Day 2,
I'm going to go ahead and cruise right along, Day 2 we headed down to Granville island, I met up with my cousin Marcelo and his wife Kimberly Who i had last seen 2 years ago when we bumped into each other in Montevideo Uruguay.
We had some delicious local beers from the Granville brewery, Even though the waitress could never seem to get the orders right.
It was really great catching up with them, and we are hoping That we may cross paths again in Brazil sometime early 2008.
The rest of the day was spent just doing touristy things, refer to photos if you would like to get a general idea.
Day3 (Saturday morning),
We woke up relativly early i think around 10ish Due to the wonderful heat.
I slept under the covers on my leaky Inflatable air mattress, I just can't seem to adjust to the cold or even warm, i need HOT!
Once everyone had finished showering and getting ready (remember 5 people)
We were all starving and Melissa wanted to show us the best place in town for 2.95 breakfast plus gst of course.
Afternoon
Once finishing our meals, Yup they were worth 2.95 and its true, you get what you pay for.
We headed downtown again, Seriously Vancouver's Downtown has so much to do, So we headed in Melissa's BMW with the top down, Not pumping the tunes because her stereo had been stolen prior to our arrival, She took for a drive down a shaddy area were everyone looked straight out of a zombie movie and the stores were boarded and bared up, This area is the Infamous "East hastings" The Street god forgot about, And honestly IN all my travels the most messed up and hopeless place i have seen.
Next to east hastings ironically one block away is one of the most posh areas of Vancouver The historic "Gastown" And my personal favorite area, If for no reason other then its cobble stone roads and good memories from my first trip to Vancouver 2 years earlier.
Melissa parked the car, and didn't feed the meter, There would be no tickets today due to a city wide strike of all city workers, The no parking tickets was defiantly the plus side, The downside however... No garbage collection So the whole city stunk, I could only imagine the impression this left upon international tourists...
Fun with viet hats in china town,
For some reason It seems Everywhere i go I make friends with people who love to have fun with funny looking hats.
Anyone who read my posts from Vietnam will recognize the hats, As the same ones Shane and Kristy bought for 30 cents in Vietnam, In Vancouver's China town area 3 dollars, Personally i found the prices outrageous.
Melissa however found the price to be justified, Imagining the Grins of locals and tourists alike... She was correct. The Chinese loved the hats, The Addicts on hastings loved the hats, And the tourists in the massive tourist bus Well they almost hurt there necks taking a second glance at the BMW with the top down which looked to be driven by people wearing lamp shades, Ah yes good times Were had by all.
Fireworks
Via the skytrain we rushed along with close to a million other people to catch the finally to the fireworks competition, Which as to be expected was amazing.
Also I'll add its synchronized to music.
This year The competitors where: China, Canada, and Spain.
This year the winners were Canada.
Party like a rock star (club 686)
after the fireworks We all headed back to Granville street, One of the main party areas, Comparable yet eclipsing whyte ave.
One of Melissa's friends Was having a birthday party there, And while we did get to
by-pass the line (there was none) we still had to pay the outrageous cover charge of 14 dollars!
Once inside We instantly knew The price was justified and A good night was in the works, We had a private area with our own personal bouncer to kick people out with at our discretion And the best part... When we arrived it was 8 girls and 2 guys, All smiling and laughing and pouring tequila shots.
To quote a movie i seen a while ago "wow its busy in here tonight"
"yeah well it is $9 drink night..."
Afterwards We went searching out a 99Cent pizza place, Which in Vancouver is Far from difficult as they are very plentiful, Not only Because it was cheap, but also because after 9 dollar highballs it was all we could afford, Or at least wanted to spend for the evening.
Sunday(day4)
Sunday was mostly a chill out day.
We Decided to goto Denman Street Which had some really great restaurants, Unknown to us, A pride parade was getting underway, And begin just in time for us to arrive.
We did our best to navigate the crowd and found A near by Vietnamese restaurant with a patio, It defiantly made for some interesting people watching... And also probably explains Scott's earlier encounter on the flight, Turns out Festival of light(fireworks weekend) Also has a pride parade, Crazy big cities!
Afterwards We went and checkout some of the many green spaces of Vancouver As well as hung out On English bay Which is a nice urban beach, Right in the heart of downtown, Which is why i say Montevideo Uruguay is the combination of Vancouver and Montreal, The urban beaches and coastal appeal of Vancouver, And the culture and historical buildings/feel of Montreal.
We later meet up with Melissa and headed to the Richmond night markets, Which happen every weekend all summer, worth checking out if your in the area, Some great food and drinks and cool "kitchy things"
Day5 our final day
Well the fifth As can be expected was a somber one, Everyone was fairly burnt out.
We packed up our bags, and deflated our air mattresses (lucky for me mine never actually inflated).
We went for our final greasy meal in Vancouver (actually most of the food was amazing) But this final one wasn't.
Then we killed the day Relaxing on a patio with a view of the harbor.
We flew off back to Edmonton, No one seemed all that excited about returning...
We arrived home late by the time i was in bed it was past 1am and i was up for work at 5:30, Feeling like sick, Not sure if i partied to hard or just the poor air quality of our cities "prosperity" from the local oil industry.
Is it me or is our air starting to taste like sulfur? Seriously though, Everyone i know has terrible allergies this year dry eyes etc... Is this the cost of "prosperity"
Anyways thats a rant for another day.
I'm very happy the trip went as well as it did, I hope We all have some great memories to keep with us As life pulls us in different directions.
I know we definitely have some great photos :D
thanks to Melissa we had some local hook ups and VIP treatment, Which is why knowing locals is my preferred way to travel.
Hope everyone enjoyed my Vancouver trip as much as i did, And hopefully slowly my grammar and paragraph structure is getting better.
