jopesta.com | impressions and reflections » travel

Traveling in Style

Jo — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:30:18 +0000

Every time I travel with someone new, I learn a new trick.

Last time I went to Vancouver, I learned about the art of carry-on luggage. So awesome. There is a ridiculous amount of shoes and clothing that can fit into a seemingly small space. It’s rather astounding!

I also learned about wine. More specifically, drinking wine instead of sitting at the gate watching the time tick by. What a splendid way to spend that extra half an hour between security and boarding!

And this past weekend I learned about pampering spas. Why have I not thought of this before? My nails have never looked as good as they did on the flight from Vancouver to Calgary. $25 and 20 minutes well spent.

Too bad I’m going swimming tomorrow. Please be nice to my nails, chlorine!

Lindybout III

Jo — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:23:35 +0000

Lindybout III in Vancouver was a combination of a variety of words: exhilerating, intimidating, hilarious, shocking, disappointing, amazing. It felt a little like a rollercoaster, as the nature of competition led to disappointment when I didn’t make it into the finals, being in a different city was occasionally a little intimidating, and yet performing for the first time was exhilerating and in general the people and weekend was amazing. I really enjoyed watching the competitions as the quality of dancing was great, making them inspiring and reminding me of how much I can still learn. Some of the performances also brought out huge laughter and more than a couple looks of shock (Birkley!).

I competed in the Short & Sweet Competition with Robert, and we were so amazing that we won! Grand prize being amazingly tacky sparkly red belts, and yellow “Champion” buttons of honour! It was great because the spotlight was only 60 seconds long – enough to get nervous but so short that we both walked off stage wondering if we did it right or not.

Vancouver was beautiful, as spring was in full bloom with the smell in the air and green as far as the eye could see. Definitely looking forward to Calgary’s spring, which is always a couple months behind. Sigh.

On the way home

Jo — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:50:09 +0000

Last day of my travels, and I am amazed that it is time to re-enter ‘real life’ in Calgary. In 10.5 hours my plane will be leaving London and heading home. I have definitely felt that my energy levels have been very low. I am looking forward to all the comforts that home brings, both people and material.

Rain in Paris

Jo — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:55:09 +0000

The rain is making it a bit difficult to gather the energy required for seeing this large and vibrant city. It’s actually the rain combined with the wind, as my cheap umbrella is not withstanding the latter very well, and therefore failing at protecting against the former.

I spent most of the day inside the Pompidou museum, taking in and photographing the modern art. Why doesn’t Calgary have a modern art museum? Amazing.

I also walked past this really cute kid, playing in the sand even though it was lightly raining.

Montmartre

Jo — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:17:13 +0000

Today I went from the (warm) south city of Bordeaux to the north (cold) city of Paris. I’m speaking purely weather, as arriving to rain and chilly winds was not pleasant. I did, however, put on layers, grab my umbrella and go for a walking tour of Montmartre. Seeing the Moulin Rouge was a fairly good way to start my stay in Paris, and getting a guided tour was definitely an informative and comfortable way of seeing this area at night.