Back in the Pacific North West

I have been back in Seattle for around a month now, and loving it!
Picked up from the airport with bunches of flowers from my sweetheart, ooohhh yeah! So cute.

We're living in Fremont, Seattle. I bought a bike, cruise around the city. Although the sun does not show itself as much as I might wish, it is wonderfully mild. Maybe even warm... The last few weeks have felt like a big, long sigh of contentment. We've done a few little trips, over to the Olympic Peninsular, and then up to Vancouver Island. And a day trip to an ice cave. The days at home involve exploration of the city, and bike rides to various destinations.

One of the things I love about Seattle is how the wild seems to be contained within the city. Plant life is so prolific that it pushes through anything that contains it. And it is just so GREEN! I sometimes have to just stare at the grass and wonder if I have ever truly known the colour green.

View from the ferry across to the Olympic Peninsular, look close to see the Olympic mountains on the horizon.

I get so excited about seeing deer!

 Big Four Mountain

Oh ferns! My little loves.

 Ice Cave with Kyle in foreground. Big scary pile of snow-ice. Gave me the wigglies...

 Here it is again...

And a beautiful valley view. This place feels ancient.

Two months later...

Well, that was a bit of a gap between posts! I'm not entirely into this blogging business, I find it hard to get motivated to share what I'm doing on a regular basis. I can't help wondering, "who cares?" But, I guess this is the way of the world now, and I shall persist. Plus, there are a few interesting things I can recount...

I have wrapped up my time in Toronto. Right as the weather was getting nice and all the interesting folk were hitting the streets, it was time for my departure. I was still able to spend some glorious sunny afternoons drinking beer in Kensington Market... And a few worthy park sessions.

I will not dwell on it, but one of the major 'features' of my months in Toronto was a strike that lasted over 4 weeks. It was the cause of much stress and a little panic, but in the end did not affect my study. One thing it did do was convince me to take a trip to Montreal. I took the train out there for a weekend, stayed with a lovely Couch Surfing host and attended a maple syrup festival, as you do! Sadly, it was bitter cold and once again I slapped myself for being in that part of the world in WINTER! I mean, what the hell was I thinking... Still, I picked up the vibes that Montreal is renowned for, came away with a pair of sweet cowboy boots and ate the best cheese for the year. Good times.

I didn't take pics of the city, but here's a couple from the train to remind you what Ontario winter looks like...

Once exams were over (literally a matter of hours afterwards), I took a bus to New York with a couple of friends. Actually we missed our bus and had to take another one, but I will skim over those details...

New York was gorgeous. Stayed with a very generous friend of a friend of a friend, who showed us the city and was more welcoming than we probably deserved.. Avoiding all things touristy, I spent my few days in the Big Apple covering as much ground as possible. Highlights of New York included; various rooftop drinks, sunny Central Park hangs and some sneaky on-sale purchases...

Central Park, obviously.

View from rooftop of our host-home.

The rad girls I went with, Sarah and Maria. And me.

Then I was off to the airport, finally to fly back West to SEATTLE!

Niagara Falls - Reality Shock

I did not have a burning desire to visit Niagara falls, but when my housemates planned a day trip I was happy to join. I had heard word that the area around the falls was quite built-up, but none of these warnings prepared me for the devastating truth... While the falls themselves are stunning, the mash of empty hotels, over-sized casinos, games arcades, cheesey advertising and transparent tourist-grabs that crowd the viewing platforms were enough to ruin any hope of truly appreciating this natural wonder.

I was left feeling saddened by the reality of how nature can be exploited for the sake of making a buck. Poor Niagara, such majestic beauty should not be ridiculed by becoming a drive-through destination, to be ticked off a list with the click of a camera. But I suppose I reinforced this whole cycle by being one of those tourists myself... ah...
Here's some clicks I took, trying to cut out the encroaching buildings. 

This is the Whirlpool, a point further down the river, where water rushes down the rapids and circles around before turning a tight corner. I think I liked this view better than the actual falls! The colour of the water was mesmerising. 

It was pretty cool seeing the falls semi-frozen and snow covered...

 In other news, my uni over here has been on strike for almost a month now... Not sure what this is going to mean for finishing the semester on time... All rather frustrating, but made better by the evidence of spring! Snow in the city has melted and the temperature seems to be on a steady incline. Fingers crossed!

Down South to Mexico!

I have spent the last two weeks in Mexico, now returned to Toronto with a slight tan and perhaps a slightly too relaxed attitude, considering the school work that has piled up...

Anyway, Mexico.
The first couple of days were spent in Mexico City, visiting Frida Kahlo's house, walking through markets and trying to navigate the metro. We then bussed it down to Oaxaca (on a very nice bus with a very loud TVs..). Oaxaca is great - colourful, full of markets, food, artistry, music. We stayed at a pretty wonderful place right in the centre of town, quite a treat. Did a couple of day trips while we were there, out to Hierve el Agua and Monte Alban, as well as to witness the making of mezcal (similar to tequila) and the weaving of tapestries.

This is Monte Alban, an ancient city outside of Oaxaca. A huge site to walk around, and it was really hot. One memorable part of the trip was finding a colony of ants while resting under a tree, I watched them of a long time - incredible. I wonder how long they've been in this city...

 Oaxaca is a city of cathedrals. 

Road downtown.

I wish houses everywhere were painted such great colours... Mine will be!

One of many delicious food stands in the market!

Also went out to see this giant tree! The world's largest circumference, with a girth of 36.5m. Gorgeous!

And this is Hierve el Agua, natural mineral springs on a mountainside. I didn't get to swim as I had hoped... but it was still cool it see it.

Then in was on to the coast. A mini bus took us on the six hour trip over the mountains, as we watched the terrain change from drier grasslands into rainforest and then in coastal palms. Quite the winding trip, not for the sensitive stomach! We arrived at destination Puerto Angel at night fall and had to navigate our way along to beach to the other side of town where we hoped we would find our hotel. We did! A late night swim felt so good after the bus ride! Next day we awakened to explore the little fishing village. What a wonderful spot! We ended up staying there for the majority of the trip, thinking of leaving but finding it impossible. The days would begin with a walk to the next beach for a morning snorkel, usually a trip to one of the nearby towns, eating plenty of seafood, perhaps an afternoon nap and then another swim. Slows your pace right down, being in a place like that. I stopped taking pictures at this point, I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe the combination of swimming, heat and laziness all just made it too inconvenient. But here are a couple of snaps I did get.

This is the 'road' into town.

Eventually it cam time to leave, and we made our way up to Puerto Escondido where we stayed for two days. Again, a cool spot. I had a delicious swim on our last day, before flying back to Mexico City and then home ("home").

I had a traumatic experience in the airport on the way back where I got confused about the time difference. I was getting a connecting flight from Washington DC back to Toronto and totally misjudged how much time I had. Then on top of that I was at gate 2 instead of gate 24! So had to make a run down to the other end of the airport, all bags in hand, dodging mobs of people and yelling back apologies. I got to the gate after boarding had closed. The lady said oh you've come in from Mexico, must have got stuck  in customs. I said, yeah... when in fact I was sitting at a different gate for like an hour, eating a sandwich and doodling around on the internet... Whoopsies.

Back home, though, safe and sound. Now for the hermit days of winter and study.

Toronto Life

All going well over here. School work has become kind of hectic, so that has been my main focus of the last couple of weeks.
There was a really heavy snow in Toronto last week, so it has been rather novel dealing with proper winter life. Everything is just that little bit more challenging.. requires that little bit more effort.. But like I said, it's pretty cool for someone so foreign to the concept of snow.

I haven't been taking many photos, I think mainly because it is so cold and I don't like having my hands out of my pockets! But here are a couple of snaps to give an idea of my life at the moment.

This is my house! My room is the arched window on the top.

There is a very distinct style of building, I think it's cute to see them all lined up side by side.

View from my window.

Another view from my window.

Tomorrow I am taking a break from the cold and flying to Mexico!! Will be down there for two weeks, very excited :D

Back to School

I've been in Toronto for just over two weeks now. The transition into living here was really smooth, easier than I expected. I had organised my room before I arrived, and was very happy to find myself living in a cool area, right by a subway station. The first couple of days here I spent wandering the streets of the city for hours. Toronto has surpassed all of my expectations. The city has an energy that I wasn't expecting to find and was very excited to discover! Small little shop-fronts line the streets, languages from all over the world fly around the subway, the place is lively - despite the cold winter weather! Not a all the corporate city I was prepared for.

The transition into school has not been quite as willing... Everything is straight forward, and I'm happy with the subjects I'm taking. But, it's not the same as traveling! Not to worry, I'm sure the semester is going to fly by and before I know it I'll be making new plans!
The school itself (York University) is BIG and a bit out of town. The train ride out there takes a while, but I'm very happy reading and just glad that I'm not living out there.

This weekend I went out to the country, a little holiday I guess! I went to visit family friends, who I'd actually never met, but who were warm and welcoming as though I'd known them forever! I took the train to Kingston (saw Lake Ontario for the first time - I've never seen so much fresh water!), then travelled out into the sticks to a little lake house in the woods. That night we went to a "hootenanny" (a country-style music party) in a little hotel bar in a little near-by town. I was just as great as it sounds!

Next day I got to see the beautiful surrounds. A frozen lake lay before the cabin, with rugged hills curling in and around it. We spent the day in the snow and on the lake, walking, exploring, skating, ski-dooing (snowmobile, I even had a drive!), making snow angels, huddling around the fire and taking sips of fireball whiskey. A weekend full of cliches and I loved it!

Here's me on the ski-doo. Yee-haa!

This is the beautiful Kevin, a real snow dog.

Back home in Toronto now. Trying to get some work done...

Last days in the West

I have left the West behind, and made it to the distant land of.... Toronto.

My time in Washington was beautiful. So fertile and green, so much water! I got to explore Seattle and have city adventures, and also got to some incredible places out of town.

This is the view from Rattlesnake Ridge, just out of Seattle. The snow line is so cool!

For New Year, we went out to the coast for a few days. Out across the Olympic Peninsular to La Push. Unlike any beach I've ever been to. It sort of feels like the edge of the world. Freezing cold, but perfect sunshine. The beach is covered in driftwood.. Or maybe "drift-trees" is more accurate. Some of these relics would have to be the biggest trees I've ever seen! Where did they drift in from?! I was, once again, mind blown.

I know it's difficult to see, but that's a Bald Eagle flying above the trees. He was cool.

Here's me in front of some mad tree corpses. (Feat. my new snow boots!)

We did a bush walk over to Second Beach, through beautiful lush pine forests. Forest on the coast is new to me!

This is Second Beach, tide way out.

And one more picture. This is Crescent Lake, which we drove along to get out to the coast. It is stunning! So glassy! Little houses all around the edge, mountains surrounding.

And now I am far away from all of this... We drove back to Seattle yesterday afternoon, then I got on the plane at sparrow-fart this morning. Now I'm in Toronto. I'm sure there are many adventures to be had over here. I'm getting settled in my new house, nice to unpack the bags. Not even a drop of snow on the ground! I'm actually a little disappointed. I'm sure it will come.

So for now, goodbye to the West, I can't wait to see you again!!