Holy Toledo, I'm in Canada!!

So these Easter holidays have been a blast thus far.

First, the quick 3 dayer holiday in Toledo, Spain with Renu turned out to be great fun, if slightly more religious than usual. I loved Toledo- city where 3 cultures meet, although the Christian ethos was most evident as it was Santa Semana (the Holy Week leading up to Easter) which is a big deal in Spain- cue watching the Easter processions at 12 at night & self-guided tours around churches & cathedrals & taking photos of the biggest group of socialising priests I've ever seen in my life & catching Renu up on the basics of story of Holy Week. Holy Toledo!!

Fret not, we did manage some hedonistic fun too, even managing to find a bar that was having its 're-opening' bash (and therefore giving away free wine/beer/tapas). We were well looked after here by the waiter who amicably referred to us as 'chicas' and made sure our tipples of vino jovenes were topped up. Such adventures.

After Spain, I barely had a chance to say Ole to London when it was throw out the summer clothes & throw in the winter warmers into the backpack for our trip to Canada. A definite highlight was catching up with my good buddy, Simone, whom I'd worked with in Japan all those years ago. I hadn't seen her in near 7 years, but she's certainly one of those friends with whom it seems no time has passed (although obviously we had 7 years of stories to catch up on). Never a dull moment we shopped, cooked Japanese food together (for old times sakes), walked the dogs, played 'NUTs' & Scrabble with the most deluxe board I've ever seen (complete with built in lazy Susan), drank beer & sake, & chatted away 40 miles an hour.

Yesterday Simone drove me up to Banff to meet up with my 3 travel buddies; Kieran, Scott & Gill. They are all pretty serious & experienced skiers. I, on the otherhand, am potentially the only non-skier currently in Banff, which means I have internet cafes & cinemas & shops pretty much all to myself during the day! Not Melissa's restaurant though (reputedly the best place for brunch in Banff) where I had to wait 30 mins for a table for uno!

Happy Easter to all* who are reading this!

*the both of you!!