My Travel Blog
Okay, I am getting excited. Life has been a crazy whirlwind for the past few weeks and our upcoming trip has taken a backseat. We have had a variety of house guests as well as my sister’s wedding to occupy our brain-space, but the last few days have given a small reprieve and aside from digging out from under a giant pile of laundry I’ve also had a few moments to start planning and thinking about our vacation.
Perhaps I’m an over-planning nerd, but I just got off of the KLM website where I spent the better part of 10 minutes looking at the movie choices for August. I don’t like wasting my time checking out all the movies they have when I’m on the plane and could actually be watching one. Wow, that makes me sound a little obsessive. In any case, I have decided the first movie should be American Pie Reunion. Definitely not an Oscar-worthy movie but I’m sure it will give a few chuckles and start the 9 hour flight off on the right foot. I learned the hard way that you should never watch intensely emotional movies on an airplane, as there is nothing worse than trying to stifle sobs and wipe away tears with a rough airplane napkin while the guy next to you is chuckling at some Will Ferrell comedy.
So, now that my entertainment is all figured out perhaps the packing should come next. (Priorities?)
I unabashedly love the Calgary Stampede. I am not alone in this camp, although there are also many who despise it and others who stoically tolerate it for the 10 days that it completely consumes this city. I am by no means a cowgirl (in fact I am horribly allergic to horses), but for a week and a half each July we all giddy-up and embrace our western culture. Admittedly by the end we are a little tired of our plaid shirts and cowboy boots, but as we pack them away we are already thinking ahead to donning them again next summer. To me it's like Christmas - if Santa came every night it wouldn't be as exciting and have so much anticipation and build-up. The Stampede is the same. The tourists it draws from every corner of the globe, the big name performers, the kitschy hale bales and spontaneous YAHOOS truly turn everything into a giant party - and who can resist free pancakes every morning?
This has absolutely nothing to do with traveling to Europe, but it does remind me that I live in a city and region that draws tourists in it's own right. While I marvel at the Eiffel Tower and the cobbled back streets of Rome there are people from those cities walking the streets of my own city, or marvelling at the majestic Rockies while sitting in the Banff Hot Springs located a mere hour from my house. So in every sense I feel blessed - to live here and to be able to travel there. The world is so big and so small and really, just so fascinating.
About Me