Pacific Northwest

Back in January, I received a message from my bff Julie – "what are you doing [this weekend] in March?" It just so happened that I was thinking about a vacation about that time and we agreed to meet in Seattle for about a week. We'd use her friend Stef from grad schools' place as a base and go from there. We had little in the way of plans until we both arrived on the 12th. We both arrived on Saturday afternoon; Julie from Alaska via Oklahoma for work training, and me from NY via LAX. Stef picked us up from the airport and we headed to her place in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. Lots of eating and drinking on this trip, of course. Unfortunately I had a cold most of the trip so I couldn't do much food/drink sharing, but I got a sweet taste of Fat Tire ale for the first time in a year. I wish I had kept track of all the good local brews.

View from Stef's place

On Sunday, Stef kindly droves us around Seattle for gear shopping including the flagship REI store. I needed gloves for skiing, and a rain jacket for, you guessed it, rainy Seattle. We cooked some dinner Sunday night after some Wii Fit, and picked up our rental car. On Monday Julie and I rented our skis and gear and headed up to Snoqualmie, about an hour southeast of Seattle. This was my first time on skis in about a year (and 8 years before that). I am thankful for the ski instructor I rode up the ski lift with on a green trail to practice my turning skills. It was really warm up on the mountain and the snow wasn't that great, but this trip turned out to be critical for me to get confidence on the mountain again.

I was super impressed by these mountains until I got to Whistler

We got back late to Seattle Monday night and made it an early bed time in order to get an early start up to Whistler. It's about 2 hours to the border from Seattle. The border exchange was something that became common whenever Julie and I were together meeting new people.

Board guard: "Where are you ladies from?"
Us: "Fairbanks, Alaska, and New York, NY"
Board guard: "And how do you know each other?"
Us: "College"
Board guard: "What are you doing in Canada?"
Us: "Skiing in Whistler"
Guard: "You came an awfully long way for a day at Whistler!"

Since the weather looked better on Wednesday (mix of sun and clouds vs. snow and 40 mph winds) we stopped in Vancouver for a few hours on the way up to Whistler. We saw the Olympic torch (unlit) under a grey, drizzly sky.

We also drove through Chinatown, then over to Granville Island. It's a collection of markets, food, and artisans on the water. We got some seafood and got a sampler from Granville Island Brewery. If you haven't noticed, I'm a big fan of microbrews/craft beers. Crazy talk from a girl who didn't like beer until she compelled herself to drink it in the pubs of London 3 years ago.

I speak whale, you know

The drive was fogged over on the way up to Whistler from Vancouver, but, no lie, it didn't start snowing until the moment we drove past the sign announcing we had entered Whistler. We booked a half-off hotel room in Whistler Village (thanks to some last minute deals on the website – score!) We wandered around the Village, had a cocktail at The Mix (excellent) and a 3-course tasting menu at Bearfoot Bistro (subpar). We called it an early night to ready ourselves for a full day on the mountain. Lifts run only till 4PM – there's no way they could provide enough safe lighting for night skiing.

Wednesday started clear in the village, with a line at the Whistler Gondola. There are 2 mountains: Whistler, at 7160 ft, and Blackcomb at 8000 ft. We started at Whistler and took the long (20min) ride up the huge mountain. And we weren't even 2/3 of the way to the top! So many lifts and runs that you had to pay attention coming down to make sure you didn't strand yourself on a trail above your skill level. Powder at the top, slush and ice at the bottom, and a lot of weather in between.

My favorite part of the day was Julie's least favorite – shows you the difference between Alaska and city girl mentality. After our first run down Harmony Ridge we went back up the Harmony Express lift and ended up in a windy whiteout that was not there 20 minutes prior. I was psyched to ski in the snow, and we were going down a green so I wasn't all that worried about it. Julie, having more sense than me and being in the proper safety mindset was rightfully concerned about falling off the mountain when you couldn't see more than 20 ft in front of you.

Looking back up the mountain

Once we got through the snow layer, we got some views of Blackcomb in the sun, but that was the best view we got in the day. Too many clouds and snow to see clearly. We got to the bottom and had time for one more run – I talked Julie into the last one even though we had 4 hours of driving ahead of us (we're on an adventure, Charlie!) We ended on a run that had turned into moguls. I fell more than the 7-year-old skiing ahead of us, but I found it to be an entertaining end to the day.

The drive back was fantastic – the sun was out and the view was very pretty. I kept ooh-ing and aah-ing and stopping for pictures. I don't get views like this in NY.

Curse you McD's for ruining a great shot

We stopped briefly for pho and some sodas to keep us awake. Fun fact: Mountain Dew in Canada is not caffeinated. No matter, we made it safely back to Seattle on Wednesday night.

Thursday morning. Time to stretch those aching ski muscles with a walk in Discovery Park. Julie and I trounced through the fields and ended up at a small beach on the Puget Sound.

After that we headed downtown to Pike Place Market to play Seattle tourist. We had some Beecher's mac and cheese, Pike Place Chowder, and I saw the fish throwing guys do their thing.

Also, time to stalk the Space Needle. It was so overcast most of the time that I barely saw Mt Rainer (and that was for about 5 mins on a bus). I didn't feel a need to go up it.

Space Needle and the useless monorail

We met up with Stef and a bunch of her friends for some St. Patrick's drinks and March madness basketball. I had my first-ever green beer, but switched back to regular after one because I'm anti-light beers and PBR. Girl's got standards.

Friday we met with Stef for lunch then went to Bill Spiedels Underground Tour. Seattle burned down in the 1800s and they rebuilt the city 10 feet higher than the original street (and sea-) level. What remains is an underground network beneath the sidewalks in Pioneer Square. Yes a touristy thing to do, but it was interesting to see, and one of our tour guides was super.

Julie headed back up to Fairbanks, while I stayed on for the weekend. After an apartment party at Stef's Friday night, we woke up on Saturday morning to something Seattle residents don't see very often in the winter – the sun! 50s and sunny skies meant I'd skip the trip I'd been planning down to Portland to take full advantage of the sun in Seattle.

Sunshine!

Stef and I headed to Alki Beach in West Seattle to have a long walk along the path along with families, cyclists, rollerbladers, and lots of dogs. We had a BBQ dinner later with a bunch of Stef's friends at their place down the street and after a dip in the hot tub, some of us went to catch a movie

On Sunday, I wanted to go down to Tacoma to see some class artwork from its native son, Chihuly. I went to the Tacoma Art Museum after walking over the Glass Bridge. I skipped the Glass Museum because reviews weren't that great for it, but the TAM had a Norman Rockwell exhibit, and a Chihuly exhibit. 

The 'Mighty Tacoma' exhibit was as morose and depressing as the city itself. There was hardly any pedestrian traffic around the museum. I'm glad I went, because otherwise the museum was good, and it was a nice counterpoint to show how vibrant Seattle is as a city.

Stef and I had a low-key Sunday night ahead of my Monday morning SEA-SFO-JFK flight. I had a fantastic trip, seeing an old friend, meeting new ones, skiing an awesome mountain, and visiting a new, fun city. Many thanks for Stef putting me up. And for you Seattle, I'm sure I'll be back some day.

Toronto

This was my second trip into Toronto, again for work. This time, I stayed downtown so I could actually see the city on my two-day trip.

CN Tower

I was with colleagues from the London office and they asked if Toronto felt foreign to me. Not at all. Toronto reminds me of Chicago - wide, clean streets. Most signs were in French and English, but that's obviously not a problem for me.

A friend of a colleague lives in Toronto and gave us a brief tour of the city one of the nights. The tour included the new city hall (my pictures didn't do it justice - it's a really neat building) and the University of Toronto campus. It's a huge campus in the middle of the city. Given my Penn State bias, I was very impressed by the size of the campus, and the feel - you can easily forget that you're in the city. It's the largest university in Canada in terms of enrollment.

Streets of downtown Toronto

New York? Fake New York. They were filming a NY-based TV show on the street the hotel was on

I'd like to take a long weekend to spend in Toronto, but who knows when I'll have that opportunity.

Niagara Falls and Real Upstate NY

I took a family roadtrip up to Niagara Falls over a long weekend. First stop was Oneonta to move my sister Sierra into her dorm - we're all pro movers at this point, so it was super quick and easy.

Molly has the move-in pictures, so a graduation picture will have to suffice

Onward to Niagara Falls! It wouldn't be a proper roadtrip without stops along the way, so Ma, Molly and I stopped at Tunkhannock Falls, right outside Ithaca along Cayuga Lake, the tallest falls in the northeast. It was tall and skinny, and there was a short walk to see it from the base as well.

Tall and skinny

Sweet shale formations

We spent the night in Rochester (Greece, to be exact) and drove out to Niagara Falls midday Saturday. I don't understand my obsession with water color, but the first thing I noticed as we got close was WOW, that water is SO BLUE AND SO PRETTY.


We ended up taking a really lame guided tour to hit all the main sights on the US side, including Maid of the Mist

Awesome ponchos. And they (supposedly) recycle them!

American Falls

the observation deck

American Falls again, with the poncho snake

and Cave of the Winds

No longer a cave after a collapse in the 1900s

Waving from the Hurricane Deck

The weather really could not have been more perfect. Warm without being stifling, sunny to dry you off quickly from the ever-present mist.


We had dinner in Canada. It reminded me of Gatlinburg - a bunch of glittery crap for tourists. However, the views were spectacular from the Canadian side. We should have skipped the US.


We spent the night in Buffalo, meeting up with Molly's friend Candace on Sunday, her first day in her new apartment for grad school. After much debate, we decided to go to Duff's Wings at the suggestion of some friends. Duff's is supposed to have the best wings in Buffalo, and if there's any place I should have wings, it's Buffalo. I punked out a bit and could have kicked up the heat, but they were tasty.

We stopped at Letchworth State Park, which touts itself as the Grand Canyon of the East. Now, I haven't been to the GC yet, but nice try, Letchworth. Your gorges are pretty, but not quite the Grand Canyon.

Middle Falls, best of the bunch in Letchworth

After some light hiking, we drove back to PJ, driving past a wind farm and hitting Binghamton to satisfy my mom's Spiedie craving. We couldn't have asked for better weather during the entire weekend. I'm glad I took the trip because I saw so much of my home state that I haven't seen before. NYS is where I live, now that I think about. How do I still feel like a visitor here?

Budapest

After a successful overnight train journey, I rocked up to Budapest ready for a day of sightseeing. I headed to Tiger Tim's hostel (another recommendation from travellers in Prague) to drop my bags. I was pleasantly surprised by the place – way more open and welcome than the other hostels I had stayed in. Tim was hanging out with the few people who were up and about at 9AM and very welcoming. Great start to the trip. I eventually rolled out to do some sightseeing on the overcast day. I was saying in Pest, and headed toward the Danube to get some shots of Buda across the river.


I followed the river south and walked by the Parliament building. I can easily say this is one of my favorite buildings in the world. I didn't go in (it's still the working parliament of Hungary) but I spent a lot of time taking photos and admiring the building.



I walked across the Chain Bridge to head up to Buda Castle. I thought about taking the incline (aka funicular – what a great word) but decided to check if I could walk up. I'm glad I did, it was a nice little hike up the hill, mostly in the trees and with a view of the bridge and Pest.



The castle was great to walk around. I visited the cathedral, which was really neat – all the stone was painted in geometric patterns. I also paid to go up the Bastion – not worth the extra 10 feet of elevation; the views were just about the same from everywhere along the edge.





I ate a lunch of goulash, Soproni (a majority of the Hungarian beer I drank in Budapest) and an ice cream coffee concoction at a funky Spanish cafe. Yeah, that's right.



The weather cleared a bit on my walk back down to the river so I took the opportunity to get a few more shots of the Parliament before wandering back to Pest. I had a fun night of $1 local pints ($2 when they weren't on special, and this was at a nightclub – thank you Hungary) and singing Ace of Base karaoke with a group of Irish guys from my hostel.

On Friday I woke up to a powerful thunderstorm at 8AM, debating whether I wanted to get up from my bed to watch it. I decided to sleep a bit, having gotten back fairly late. It stayed pretty dry while I walked around Pest searching for postcards and souvenirs. I spent a long, long time in the market. I loved it: the ground floors were set up as a proper market for the locals to buy their fruit, veg, and meat (and meat there was). The top floor is set up for tourists, and since I had left all my shopping till the end, I spent a long time wandering around and haggling with the vendors, trying to learn how to say thank you in Hungarian. It's one of the hardest languages to learn in the world, because there aren't many similar languages (Finnish is only distantly related). I went to Széchenyi Spa, which I've just learned is the largest spa in Europe. A thunderstorm came through while I was there so it was perfect to retreat from the pools outdoors to explore the tubs at varying temperatures indoors. I got a crappy massage, but it was super cheap, so I can't complain too much.

The controversial Liberty Statue. The Russians put this up after they "liberated" the Hungarians from the Germans. I thought it was really neat on the cityscape.

I had a fun night meeting people at a grungy rooftop bar somewhere in Budapest, after walking through the pouring rain to a closed bar and 20 people from the hostel jumping on a tram.

On Saturday, after very little sleep, I got up, caught a train to the airport, and headed back to London to get my flight back to muggy NY. I was sad to leave Budapest because this was definitely my favorite part of the trip. It had more of a real city vibe, and still had the beautiful buildings around every corner, and the very real and recent Communist history. I'd like to get back to the Museum of Terror the next time I come to Budapest, because, oh yes, I will be back.

What, you thought I'd go a whole trip without making a ridiculous face?