UCA - Ultimate Canadian Adventure - Part II

Day 6: after being 6 hours late we finally arrived in winnipeg at about 2pm... it's a very small and quiant place... but nevertheless was very impressive... it had just enough to keep us occupied for the 24 hours we were there, but not too much so as to overwhelm... st. boniface was the favorite spot. :) the forks area just east of the train station was quite nicely done as well! if a place like winnipeg can get it right... why can't toronto?? whatever...

Day 7: after an overnight in the most crap-tacular hostel ever, we headed over to the mint to see where canadian circulation money is made... turns out we mint coins for other countries as well! wicked... i bought myself the most BEAUTIFUL 99.99% pure silver 5 dollar coin... :D :D it's in one of those protective plastic cases and a nice blue velvet box... whenever it open i think to myself that if i get engaged, that's what i'd like to find inside the jewelry box... :) checked out the legislature after that then puttered around till we grabbed our train... as always, great times with boys and polish vodka until 1am when our train left us in sketchatoon.. :)

Day 8: headed down the long, lonely, FLAT drive to moose jaw. out of nowhere the qu'appelle river valley shocks you with it's NON flatness!! super pretty! moose jaw surprised me with a really funky and chic store called Rings and Things... it almost didn't belong in this tiny middle of nowhere saskatchewan town... apparently al capone may have had some dealings in this town... and they also had some "issues" with chinese immigrants at the turn of the last century... quite a bit of history for such a nowheresville place! then off we went across the prairies to regina... it was like an oasis in the wheat... :P we saw this gray hilly looking thing from afar (about 75km away) and wondered what it was... then as we got closer, it took shape... it looked like blocks... then even closer, we finally realized... it's REGINA! i can't believe you can actually see the town coming from MILES away!! trippy... had some drinks at Le Bodega and checked out the bar scene before calling it a night in regina...

Day 9: regina is one of the nicest fake cities i've seen! nice fake lake, with fake streets, fake town, but quite nice! the royal saskatchewan museum was pretty wicked. very very impressive displays and information... it actually made saskatchewan interesting!! turns out millions of years ago they used to have an ocean in the middle of it (tectonic plates were not fused yet) and there was a coral reef and sea monsters, and at some point there were mountains and a volcano... but now... it's just flat... hold on to those memories SK!!! :) legislative building is same as the one in winnipeg and edmonton (same architect). very pretty. then off back to saskatoon to have our 5-star spa day at suart's in saskatoon before we head over to catch our 1:30am train...

Day 10: so... first things i saw in alberta when i woke up on the train and looked out the window: oil rig's and cows... very fitting... :) the train arrived late into edmonton (as expected) so we did not have an opportunity to wander about the town before catching our bus... on the way into cow-town, the only thing that came to mind was SUPER SUBURBAN SPRAWL! similar to how Saskatchewan had houses as far as the eye could see... calgary has houses as far as the eye can see!! when we got there T-Mo treated us like royalty... he has THE best condo location! wicked view of downtown AND stampede grounds... and only a 5 minute walk to downtown! wicked. we had our own bedroom and bathroom... and could come and go as we pleased... it was the perfect 5-star hotel treatment with great company to boot! :) we went for sushi dinner and LittleSista and her Financer joined us :) they got engaged! yay! it's nice how things work out in the end... :) we had japanese vodka... it was... different... funny how i had to go all the way out west to see her again...

Day 6-10 Random Highlights: st. boniface cathedral in winnipeg, buying my silver dollar, yummy polish vodka - neat, royal saskatchewan museum, "what a pain in the apple core", buying my authentic calgary cowboy boots!!

UCA - Ultimate Canadian Adventure - Part I

Day 1: so the day started with what seemed like the train taking a wrong turn, then having to go backwards before we really got on our way out of t-dot... this was not the worst thing in the world, since it allowed us to get another glimpse of what i like to call the "snack machine burial ground of greater t-dot" (see photo). near the end of the first day we were only delayed about 3 hours and there was a light snow starting outside as we approached north ontario. THIS is where all the fun begins!!!

Day 2: a foot of snow outside the train! booooooo.... a train derailment on the freight train ahead of us while we are in the middle of nowhere in northern ontario ... double boooooooo! the only saving grace is that we met a a couple of guys who helped make us laugh hysterically in order to forget about the fact that we were TEN hours delayed getting into mannipeg winitoba (though the juice and cookies we got as compensation were doing a good job with the sugar high it gave us :) also, can't forget to mention one of the funniest native guys we met on our trip. besides being hilariously sarcastic and quick witted, every time he went back to his coach seat to rest he would put his blanket up in the shape of a tipi over his seat... TOO funny!

Day 3: FINALLY at 1am monday morn we arrived in mannipeg!! the train is putting us up in a hotel for the night at the Radisson for FREE and then flying us to thompson so we can catch our train to churchill that we missed because of the delays... WOO HOO! we felt so important... it was one of those cute small planes that you had to walk up to on the tarmac :) thompson train station was desolate. and of course, we waited 3 hours before the train arrived.... late!

Day 4: we got into churchill 6 hours late... this train-always-being-late thing seems to be a running trend and at this point we are starting to plan 6 hour delays into our daily schedule... nevertheless, we saw the only five things there were to see in churchill at this time of year: two museums, the churchill river, the hudson's bay, and boys :)

Day 5: nothing exciting to report about day 5. the entire day was spent traveling south through winitoba... with a stop in thompson to re-relive old memories of the high life back when we were important... :)

Days 1-5 Random Highlights: went from 23 degree weather to -23 degree weather in 3 days; met some really great people; letting people off the train at mile marker 58.9 in the middle of nowhere northern ontario; free hotel and flight; standing on hudson's bay; the sights at gypsy's bakery ;)

Stay Tuned for Part II of the UCA - Days 6-10.
highlights include: winnipeg, moose jaw, regina, saskatoon, edmonton, calgary and plenty of MISCHIEF :)

deep thoughts by princess agnasia

as anticipated i am fully in love with the west coast of this country. the mountains, the wildlife, the serenity, the people - it all feels like a different world from the concrete jungle and comfortable suburbia i left behind 3 weeks ago. it's hard to believe that in 3 short days i will be back at home getting ready to start a week of work, dressed in business casual, talking about compensation metrics and results, and sitting in on meetings with managers and VP's... it seems so far away and so unreal... but reality IS starting to hit. i'm going to log out and enjoy my last few moments with the gorgeous mountain air and the warm sunshine... i wish it would never end... when i get back i'll right up some play by plays from the notes i made as my trip has progressed.