What a holiday

Every now and then I do something quite different (for me) I put away my mountain boots and gortex pants and go where a hiking pole is not required. An urban holiday I like to call them. This time was motivated by friends living far away.

My good friend Florence moved to Ottawa on a work exchange program with the Federal Govt and the Corporate world. Getting accepted is an achievement in itself. I knew that she'd be away for at least a year. I remembering telling my mom about it and she looked at me like I was being daft and she said "Why don't you go visit her?" and the light bulb went off and I said "ya, why don't I?" I'd be remiss not to mention the other half of that duo, Frank. I know he reads this blog so I'm not going to write too much that would cause him to laugh and say "ah shucks". He's a smartie-pants extraordinaire as a writer, editor, educator, thinker, problem-solver and a darn good cook too. Having him tour me around the outside of the Parliament building was like having your own personal historian.

I had never been to the city so I was keen to see the sites and walk around the National Gallery of Canada. It was interesting to breath in the history of Canada. We took the train into Montreal one day and I was committed to having Poutine because really, one must have poutine when in Montreal, it'd be like not having lobster in Nova Scotia. What I'll remember the most of my trip to Ottawa was the diverse conversations Frank, Florence and I would have over a glass of spirits and a great meal. Stay tuned for the food blog, I'm going to be a geek and list my best meals. :-)

Start spreading the news.... NYC was next. What would be a trip without a flight cancellation? I spent a lousy short night in a hotel room in Montreal before leaving stupidly early on the next flight out in the morning. Oh and the small print, an airline is responsible for providing you with a meal and a hotel stay if the flight is cancelled due to mechanical failure, but if the cancellation is due to weather then you're on your own, get yer own stinking hotel room pal. My choice I suppose, princess is soooo not interested in spending the night in an airport. The capricious nature of air travel foreshadows that we'll all hit bad luck if we travel often enough. I don't let it bother me much if I know I'm going to get to my intended destination reasonably soon. I'm relieved when I still have my luggage! But the silver lining, I bought a pass to the Air Canada lounge this time and due to my initial flights delays and ultimate cancellation I was able to drink a respectable amount of wine while waiting.

But soon enough I was in Manhattan. Ah... lets see... the upper west side of Manhattan to be exact. :-) John is recently the new owner of a condo there. I don't think I ever expected to know someone who would live in that specific area of the world and ditto on thinking I'd be staying there! John came to visit me in Calgary the summer before so I was able to show him my back yard, the Rockie mountains. He was happy to return the favor in his turf, the Big Apple. I'd be bullshiting if I didn't admit to getting a kick out of some things that seemed soooo New York. John's door man jumping outside to hail us a cab as we head over to a broadway play. Going to a trendy restaurant in a new hip area, walking through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, looking at Dali's, Picassos, Pollocks. For me, New York has always been imbibed with a mystique like other large cosmopolitan cities such as Paris, Milan, Buenes Aries. I've always like the character of New Yorkers. They can be loud and brash but they're aware of their loudness and brashness and can easily laugh at themselves too. John isn't loud or brash but can give expressive hand gestures at the traffic with the best of them. The people I encountered were friendly and relaxed like the artist on the street in Soho while I chatted about her work or the very friendly restaurant owner. I think that at the end of the day New Yorkers care about their city and about others around them, even while they're saying "What the fuck?". We shopped in Soho, walked in Central Park, took the subways, bar-hopped to trendy overpriced night clubs, took in a play in Broadway, visited an uber-creepy but cool exhibit called Bodies. (look it up if you want to now more) all in the space of 2.5 days. I had to come home for a rest. :-)

What struck me most of this holiday was that it was centered around friendships rather than a location or natural landscape like the mountains. I think relationships have become even more important since Colin's passing and it feels great. Next weekend my other pal Michele comes to visit from San Francisco. We'll do our summer kibitzing, eating, maybe some climbing or hiking sprinkled in there. On the west coast I get to kick back with her in the laidback Albany/Berkley area. When you're there you want to say "groovy man" or "dude..." you really do. Being an extrovert pays off when you like meeting people who do cool stuff, travel and live in desirable locations. Next visit just might be to Wanaka, New Zealand to stay with Katharine or to Switzerland in a year to visit Carla and Phillip. Go ahead, hate me, I can live with it. :-)

Traveling in other areas of Canada and US also made me realise how incredibly beautiful and precious my backyard is too. Mountain vistas I take for granted, I can really appreciate how they could make someone's jaw drop who doesn't often get to see it. I'm looking forward to getting back out there in some capacity this weekend.

Tomorrow back at work, time for a rest. :-)