so sofia

I have just finished a week in Bulgaria. miss B was the super hostess as always and took excllent care of me. she was not only my travel companion, but constant translator and guide. I would not let her out of my sight even for a minute! this was an evident lesson early on when I arrived at the airport, went through customs, collected baggage and was greeted by a crowd- not a single english word was seen or heard- and then no miss B. the airport cleared out, and looked as though it might shut down for the night and I was left all by myself with 1 lurking taxi driver. dutch tourists took pity on me and let me use their cell phone. she was waiting at the OTHER terminal...and no one here or there offered up such information. incuding the "information" booth.

memorable moments: miss B's uncle Toni, getting good at the 6 floor walk-up, having her point out memories from her childhood, going to the passport office to be registered, many drinks on many patios, going to the mosque, personal tours with Dushko, having a bulgarian birthday, going shopping at the market for food and hosting a little party at our apartment, kisses for each cheek, road trip to Koprivshtiza, road trip to Plodiv, listening to techno at one of the most historic sights I have ever witnessed, old friends, icecream under the fall of communism.

we stayed in her childhood apartment building in downtown Sofia- in an attic studio. it was nice to see and meet the people and places she has spoken about since I met her (and I must say, painted a most accurate picture). I would love to go back again one day with miss B, and know that I could have not done this trip without her!

london calling

so I am again writing from the road... was in london england for 3 days visiting my dear friend miss che and what a lovely time! I have not been to london for 10 years or so, but she had me set up in a lovely room in notting hill and it exceeded all expectations: rendez vous with other friends, walking on the thames, shopping, the pound, riding on a double decker, pims in pubs, tate modern, english blokes, riding the underground, wrong side of the street, more pubs, snogging (ok, once)

at the beach

ooohh! my first post from the road!
I am at a work conference in Coos Bay Oregon right now...we drove down with a car full of coworkers on saturday and sunday- with lots of eating, shopping and sightseeing. its been great. its funny when you work with someone 9-5, but then try living with them for 24 hours a day. I am in the "cool girl dorm", and rode down in the "cool girl car". everyone is cool... but in essence I am with the young/single gals as opposed to the married/children women. did you catch that? I am living in dorms! as someone who attended and works at a small art school where there is no housing, its pretty novel. our boss also made us "tyra mail" which we get daily and read out loud together.
it is however, very cold on the coast. tonight we are at a beach party which I have some doubts about... when we came down from portland we went from 34oC to 14oc in a matter of hours.
it is, stunning. what it lacks in warmth it makes up for in beauty.

embark

I have been very busy for the last month planning what I think is my first real vacation. yeah, yeah I've traveled a lot. I have gone on a many a trip. many a visit. many a plane. many a country and I am grateful that this has been so much a part of my life. but this is a real vacation... for the first time ever I think I have the money AND the time, and its most certainly the most ambitious trip I have planned. not without help-
the friends and family that are both the sounding board/pseudo travel agents, as well as hosts and translators are not to go unacknowledged.
I am off to London, Sofia Bulgaria, Holland (Amsterdam/Weespe), Brugge, and Paris. in 3 weeks, for 3 weeks. I will be lucky to stay with a friend in London, visit miss B in her home town of Sofia where I will also have my birthday, see dear family in Holland, and rendez vous with a friend who has never been to Europe before and see the rest via train.

as of last Sunday the last of the booking of hotels and trains were complete with the help of a savvy traveling duo. funny... today everyone seemed to ask about my vacation...and honestly I hadn't really talked too much about it until today.

I also have a week long conference in Coos Bay Oregon/Portland next week so I hope I might get to post something from the road...as well as still planning on heading to Saskatoon late August with miss B to help her move for school in September.

See you in October!

she leaves me breathless

miss B had her most recent solo art exhibition open last night at a downtown gallery. what a lovely event! miss B is one of the most inspiring artists I know, she has fabulous ideas, oozes creativity, works hard, brings ideas to light that people relate to and enjoy and all while being incredibly fashionable and stylish!. I was lucky enough to assist on a few aspects of her process, and I've worked with her before and I loved to be part of it again. Congrats miss B on a fabulous exhibition!

down at the campus

oh what happened to the month?
its now the end of May and I am over due for a note. thank you loyal readers. my job has been very busy and I will not bore you with the details: but it involved lots of label making, coordination, brain power, calling in favors, and missing out on lunch breaks.

last weekend the pay off was that I got to spend the weekend in Portland with one of my dear friends. it was his birthday, and so it was sort of party central. and the details which made it oh so much fun: getting to be one of the guys, also feeling like I was on a weekend long "bachelorette" style date with his crew, letting loose, going to pubs and dance clubs via rickshaw, lovely dinners, laughing till it hurts, laughing at the same jokes the next day, chilling out in a back yard, BBQ's, learning new things- even about sports, getting spoiled, lounging, talking and catching up.
thankyou CR, can't wait to do it again!

run walker run!

So yesterday I participated in the Vancouver International Marathon. I did the half marathon which is 13 miles/20.92 km. One of my girlfriends walked with me. We had worked up to about 4 hours of walking during our ‘training’- although that usually included stopping at starbucks and many bathroom stops and then getting to a beer destination. I thought it was going to take about an hour longer than it did, but I clocked in at 3:44:26. It is said to be a particularly beautiful course, basically the perimeter of downtown including Stanley Park.
It was quite funny as we never had any intentions other than to walk, but as we are walking past the spectators- which by comparison to runners, we are kind of in slow-mo, so it was somewhat embarrassing as the clapping and cheering went on…and on and on…and towards the end when people are “only a bit more to go!...you are almost there!... you can do it!!” I think they thought we had run the whole way and were walking because we were giving up and staggering over the finish line.
I don’t know if I’ll ever do it again… I had a lot of anxiety leading up to it (would it rain, how long would we take, what to wear, sleeping in and missing the start time, how I’d get there, would I freak out in the crowds). I made it though, and it was a nice day. I am a little creaky today with sore muscles, but it is satisfying to have completed it.