R is for Rome

Tags

#atozchallenge, humour, memories, travel

If money and time, and all the other reasons I don’t travel magically disappeared, I know where I’d go. It surprises me a little bit every time I think about it! Take me to the Eternal City – Rome!

I started saving for a trip to Europe when I was 8! I opened my first bank account and faithfully deposited my birthday money, my allowance, and my first paychecks. Nothing was going to keep me from seeing the Scottish moors, the English castles and the gorgeous green of Ireland. By high school, I had added France, Germany and Austria.

But it wasn’t until 1999, 18 years after I started saving my pennies, that I finally boarded a plane with my Mom for the trip of a lifetime…except that it didn’t include Scotland, Ireland, Austria or Germany. We would wend our way from Italy (Rome, Florence & Venice), Switzerland (Lucerne), France (Paris) and England (London), on a flying bus trip! The mornings were early, the pace grueling, and the temperatures scorching.

In all the cities we passed through, none captured my heart like Rome. Everything was covered in history. In North America, our history is so “young”. We don’t begin to treasure what little history we have, so we tear down and rebuild, losing character and history for “ticky-tack” houses and large box stores.

Being able to do this with my Mom made it extra special! We both  love history and so we soaked it all up. There was so much we missed, so much we were herded by with no time to ponder or reflect. We furiously wrote in journals, comparing our notes so that someday, as we sat graying in our chairs, a pot of tea between us, we could relive these moments.

If I could choose to go anywhere in the world, I would choose Rome. I would meander down quiet streets, and take time to sit in the piazzas to people-watch. I would wander leisurely through the ruins, worship quietly in the churches, and pause in the catacombs.

I may never get to visit the Eternal City again, but just in case….I’m learning Italian!

Forse un giorno!

July 1999

She had always been fond of history, and here [in Rome] was history in the stones of the street and the atoms of the sunshine.”- Henry James

Photo 101: Street View

Tags

blogging U, photo 101, Photo Challenge, PHOTO101, photography, travel

“A dead end can never be a one way street; you can always turn around and take another road.” – Bo Bennett

Weekly Photo Challenge: Afloat

Tags

Photo Challenge, photography, travel, Weekly Photo Challenge

“To reach a port we must set sail –
Sail, not tie at anchor
Sail, not drift.”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt

To see more photos, click here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Rule of Thirds

Tags

DP, DP Challenge, Photo Challenge, photography, travel, Weekly Photo Challenge

Good news! Our week of quarantine is over! Being housebound made it difficult to tackle this past week’s challenge (that, and I had no energy). Sometimes the greater challenge is using what’s right under your nose!

Happy Weekend!

To see more, click here.

Road Trip?

Tags

holiday, humour, travel

What’s a vacation without a road trip…where you end up getting lost?

It’s not unusual, when I hear the road report, or worse, get stuck in a jam on the highway, for me to head off-road. I know that as long as I keep heading in the direction I want to go, I’ll eventually get where I want to go (or where I’ll recognize a major road sign to get me where I want to go). I wouldn’t call myself an intrepid traveller by any means (my father had to take me on the bus to see how to get to school when I first moved to the city), but I’m not worried. In fact, I’ve been off-road often enough that I frequently recognize intersections and stops along the way.

I knew I was in trouble when I spotted a large body of water. Then I passed a yacht club…I can’t begin to tell you how I got there…

I started from work heading east cross-country. There were a couple of gravel roads with big signs that said “Broken Road – Use at Own Risk”, a U-turn on another highway (I recognized the bridge being built in the middle of a field with no road to it), several constructions zones, a detour or two, and finally, water. We were now firmly ensconced in prime rush hour. So I veered into a parkette with a beach to check the map, and pulled into the only available space…a handicapped parking space, after circling the parking lot three times. I left the car running while I flipped pages in my rather worn map book. The highway was close – I only had to get back to the street I had just detoured off because construction had created an impassable snarl, drive for 2 km, and head north to the highway.

We wound our way along the lengthy detour, sandwiched between two transports, and somehow, ended up on a major thoroughfare with big green signs for the highway. Hallelujah! Nearly 2 hours later (with a second off-road traipse through the countryside), we made it…home! Yup! For the first time in 19 years, I got lost driving to my parents’ home. What a way to start our vacation!

Weekly Photo Challenge: On the Move

Tags

driving, photography, travel, Weekly Photo Challenge

For this week’s photo challenge, share your interpretation of “on the move.” This is how much I love Big Guy – I was dressed and “on the move” in a car by 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning, so he could drive me to his apartment, where I would spend the entire day cleaning, washing, scrubbing, sorting, organizing, unpacking, and basically restoring order to the universe.

To see more “On the Move” pictures, click here.

Rules for Rest Stops

Tags

adventure, driving, frustration, holiday, humour, travel

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” –Greg Anderson  But when you’re on a journey, in the car…and your hot, tired and in need of pit stop, there’s nothing better than joining the crowds of grumpy adults and sticky kids in a rest centre. It’s a long weekend…here are a few rules to make it just the best experience in the journey!

If I need gas, I like to fill up before getting out to stretch, to buy refreshments, and to…well, you know!

1)      If there is a huge line-up at the gas pumps, do take the time to wash nearly every square inch of your car with the squeegee. Wet it often, and really scrub the side windows, since that’s the place the gooey bug guts really stick.

2)      Do take as long as possible paying inside in air conditioned comfort. Who doesn’t like sucking fumes while we wait?

In the parking lot,

1)      Do park crooked and sit in the spot with all the car doors open in order to monopolize as many spaces as possible. Let your kids run around – the search and the distractions give parking a game-like quality.

2)      Do feed the gulls. I enjoy dodging “bullets” on the way to and from the rest centre. I also like being attacked when I return to my car with food. Hitchcock would be proud.

Once inside, I usually head to the bathroom.

1)      Do cut to the front of a long line by speaking another language (or make up your own) and pretend to not understand. It’s a great distraction when your bladder is about to burst.

2)      Do sprinkle when you tinkle and don’t flush. Then I can play that game – you know the one you play when you stare at the clouds and pick out shapes. Lots of fun!

3)      Do leave just enough toilet paper on the roll to fool me into thinking there’s enough for one more person…

4)      Do monopolize the only working sink or dryer. If there’s a mirror over it, touch up your make-up. We’re all women, and we don’t mind waiting for that…

5)      Splash water all over the counter. It’s fun to juggle a purse (and a kid) while trying to wash your hands. The wet line across the front of your clothes from leaning over the counter to try to squirt soap in my hand, is refreshing.

6)      If you want to have some fun with your fellow passengers, drop a few squares of toilet paper by the door. It may just stick to their shoe.

7)      Don’t tell me if my skirt is caught in my underwear – I like the attention!

Once you’re done, head to the next line-up for food and drink:

1)      Do hold a place in line for your whole family, while they are in the bathroom.

2)      Wait until it’s your turn to decide what everyone wants to order. Change your mind often.

3)      Do wait until it’s time to pay to dig out your wallet. Pay in small change. We enjoy standing there watching you count out $0.95.

Finally, when you are leaving, if someone is waiting for your spot, take your time. And when back out, don’t look to see who is behind you. It sharpens the reflexes! And if there’s a stop sign, do sit at it briefly. It gives me time to catch my breath. Enter the highway as slowly as possible – merging at half the speed at which traffic is flowing is just too boring for those who didn’t take the time stop.

Keep enjoying “the journey”!

Dear Perky Blonde Driver

Tags

driving, humour, travel

Dear Perky Blonde Driver (in the little sporty white car):

We crossed paths a few times Wednesday afternoon on the highway. Your expensive car is very cute – too bad your turn signals don’t work and contrary to popular opinion, I can’t read your mind. I liked the cute fluffy stuffed animals lined up across your back window. It was only when you were directly in front of me, that I realized they weren’t smiling – their faces were frozen in terror and their eyes were begging me to stop the madness. I saw the same expression of terror on the face of the Buick you cut off when, with a flip of your ponytail, you whizzed on to the highway as if the on-ramp was a launch pad into space (which is right about where I imagine your brain to be), at twice the speed of traffic and then screamed to a halt (along with the rest of us common people). I noticed that you are particularly fond of the pony tail flip, and while it is rather hypnotic, I have to ask…doesn’t your neck get tired when you’re flipping that hank every 15 seconds? You’re young. You’re cute. You’re perky. You’re blonde. We get it!

I just wanted to tell you how impressed I was at your ability to weave in and out of traffic as if parting the Red Sea. You really garnered the attention of the transport truck driver you cut off – he was loudly singing your praises and expressing his passionate appreciation through sweeping hand gestures. Some of them were new to me. In fact, that went on for several minutes. I have to confess that, despite your best efforts to magically by-pass the long lines of snarled traffic, I laughed heartily every time you changed lanes, and then I passed you. Did you notice? I can flip my ponytail too.

I was disappointed that I couldn’t pull off at the service station when you did so I could share some of these thoughts with you personally (or even rescue some of your fearful furry friends). I could use the excuse that you were ahead of me and I had a child and 2 guinea pigs in the backseat. I couldn’t leave the car to venture inside to find you because with the humidex, it was 45 degrees outside. While guinea pig is on the menu in some South American homes, my little girls were not about to be on my menu. The real reason was that I was too intimidated to meet you – I mean, you must be someone pretty special and important to be able to drive like a psycho without consequences.

I will be heading back to the city in just over a week, and perhaps our paths will cross again and I will have the opportunity to speak to you in person. Maybe you could teach me how to do that hypnotic hair-flip? If not, I wish you all the best in your endeavour to “share the love”, especially with truck drivers. They are in it for the long haul and need someone cute and perky to make the trip more interesting

Love Jenn

Rules for Rest Stop Centres

Tags

adventure, bathrooms, driving, food, humour, rules, travel

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” –Greg Anderson But when you’re on a journey, in the car…and your hot, tired and in need of pit stop, there’s nothing better than joining the crowds of grumpy adults and sticky kids in a rest centre. Here are a few rules to make it just the best experience in the journey!

If I need gas, I like to fill up before getting out to stretch, to buy refreshments, and to…well, you know!
1) If there is a huge line-up at the gas pumps, do take the time to wash nearly every square inch of your car with the squeegee. Wet it often, and really scrub the side windows, since that’s the place the gooey bug guts really stick.
2) Do take as long as possible paying inside in air conditioned comfort. Who doesn’t like sucking fumes while we wait?

In the parking lot,
1) Do park crooked and sit in the spot with all the car doors open in order to monopolize as many spaces as possible. Let your kids run around – the search and the distractions give parking a game-like quality.
2) Do feed the gulls. I enjoy dodging “bullets” on the way to and from the rest centre. I also like being attacked when I return to my car with food.

Once inside, I usually head to the bathroom.
1) Do cut to the front of a long line by speaking another language (or make up your own) and pretend to not understand. It’s a great distraction when your bladder is about to burst.
2) Do sprinkle when you tinkle and don’t flush. Then I can play that game – you know the one you play when you stare at the clouds and pick out shapes. Lots of fun!
3) Do leave just enough toilet paper on the roll to fool me into thinking there’s enough for one more person
4) Do monopolize the only working sink or dryer. If there’s a mirror over it, touch up your make-up. We’re all women, and we don’t mind waiting for that…
5) Splash water all over the counter. It’s fun to juggle a purse (and a kid) while trying to wash your hands. The wet line across the front of your clothes from leaning over the counter to try to squirt soap in my hand, is refreshing.
6) If you want to have some fun with your fellow passengers, drop a few squares of toilet paper by the door. It may just stick to their shoe.
7) Don’t tell me if my skirt is caught in my underwear – I like the attention.

Once you’re done, head to the next line-up for food and drink:
1) Do hold a place in line for your whole family, while they are in the bathroom.
2) Wait until it’s your turn to decide what everyone wants to order. Change your mind often.
3) Do wait until it’s time to pay to dig out your wallet. Pay in small change. We enjoy standing there watching you count out 95 pennies.

Finally, when you are leaving, if someone is waiting for your spot, take your time. And when back out, don’t look to see who is behind you. It sharpens their reflexes!

Keep enjoying “the journey”!