Almost caught up!

God, I don't even know why I started this thing... I never seem to be able to catch up with my own travels! I am getting closer though haha. Only a week and a half behind! Let's get to it. 

AMSTERDAM! 

Woo hoo! Where to start? Well, first of all, amsterdam doesn't need much of an intro. You say the name and automatically two things come to mind...drugs and sex! God what a great city eh!? At this point in time my two friends and I are all in the same city, however we are all in different hostels. It was almost like a ... Get ready to face the reality of being on your own, but not really. Anyways, I obviously choose the most expensive hostel because I have absolutely no money. However, I am so happy I did because this hostel turned out to be one of my absolute favourites! For anyone traveling to amsterdam please book at the ecomama hostel! It is it such an awesome location, the hostel is beautifully massive and clean and the staff is so friendly. So I get to this hostel, greasy as anything from the combination of rain and sweat and all I want to do is put my stuff down shower and get ready to make a big thanksgiving feast. To backtrack a little, my friends and I were all pretty upset that we were going to be missing our big traditional feasts from our family's at home and decided to make our own euro trip family feast to make up for our loss. With this being said, as soon as I walked into my hostel I knew we were going to be set to have a feast. The hostel was equipped with a massive dining room table, a huge kitchen and even had spices that we could use! Now for those of you who haven't traveled for a long period of time, when it comes to cooking meals in a kitchen at a hostel, they tend to be quite boring. This is because you have nothing to spice it up, unless you want to buy and or carry around spices at every place you go to. So as a result you end up with boring pasta, sandwiches or fruit... That's about it. You can tell now why I got so excited for the spices. With all this, our Thanksgiving feast was made...and damn was it good. We may have made some minor changes to our typical thanksgiving meal, but hey, we still had something right? 

The rest of our time in amsterdam was spent doing touristy things including riding bikes and eating space cakes. I have ridden bikes my whole life... Not only have I done this, but it also basically became my only mode of transportation in university. Essentially, it's safe to say I am no newby when it comes to riding bikes on the road. Then I came to Amsterdam.. And shit just hit the fan. This place is no joke when it comes to their bikes. I'm talking separate roads beside the regular roads meant specifically for bikes. However, this separate road is meant for bikes riding in both directions. I'm not even kidding, there are hundreds of bikers on this road at the same time. So it's safe to say I may or may not have had a minor panic attack the first day I attempted to bike in this city. I swear it was like I dropped back down to age 5 and was riding around on training wheels. I had no clue what to do.  Thank god my friends got bikes too. At this point I felt less like a fool because there were three of us who had no clue what to do. All in all, it's safe to say that amsterdam was quite the adventure. 

PARIS

After a mission and a half, along with a big dent to my wallet, I finally arrived in the beautiful city of Paris. With my first day taken up by travel time, I literally had only 2 days to squeeze in as much as I could. Thank god one of my best girlfriends was just here for 8 months. I asked her exactly what to see and she sent me an entire novel. As you can imagine, in order to get this novel completed in 2 days, my mornings started at about 9 am and I literally did not see my hostel again until 1 in the morning. This city is so spectacular with all it's little parks, monuments, and museums, it is absolutely impossible to be bored. I loved every second of being here and absolutely adored to food as well. I can't wait to go back... Hopefully this time for much longer. 

The crazy amount of stairs leading to the top of the arc du triomph 

The drunk fest... Otherwise known as Oktoberfest!

Alright, so this post obviously needed to be on its own... I mean it's Oktoberfest... There's too much to write! To start things off let's start from the base... And by the base I mean the camp... And by camp I mean teepee! 

For both la tomatina and Oktoberfest, we decided to do it with a travel group called stoke travel! What this company does is ensures you have a place to stay, sleep, a way to get into the event and a lot of beer in your hand at all times. Generally we are in a teepee for basically one person, but they squeeze two, however, for Oktoberfest we got this unreal teepee that is supposed to house 8. Thank god there were only 6 of us, we had so much more room to crash. Now, one thing you should know about this company is their slogan. This slogan claims that "if it wasn't for booze, we'd all be virgins." With this said, it's clear that the name of their game is to get you as annihilated as possible at any hour of the day. Unlimited drinking for everyone and beer served with breakfast, lunch and dinner became our daily routine.... this is just at the camp site. 

Day one Oktoberfest! 

This day was a little mellow. It's point was basically to prepare us for what was to come. We left for the beer tents at around 11 and were in shock with how many people were at this event. Kids in their 20s, parents, children, grandparents and even infants, all dressed up and ready to celebrate one of their countries biggest... Holidays?... It should be a world wide holiday! I actually saw a man drinking a beer while feeding his infant child who was strapped to his chest... pure class at this event. 

As you walk around the streets you are literally bombarded with the amount of people, rides, AMAZING smells, food, and who can forget BEER tents! There is literally some form of beer drinking something every other shop, majority of which hold thousands of people and an insane amount of beer mugs. Incase you haven't seen an advertisement for Oktoberfest, it is literally a requirement for these servers to be able to hold at least 5 litre beer glasses in one hand! I literally need two hands just to hold mine up! 

After dodging all the amazing smells we finally found 1 tent that for some amazing reason had no line and still space to stand and drink. Essentially what happens at these things is 1. You enter the tent (this can take no time at all, or all day depending on the beer tent)' 2. Grab a giant beer 3. Attempt to get your ass on a bench 4. Find something small to eat that's cheap aka pretzels 5. Try not to puke 6. Attempt to make it home... This one usually doesn't work so well. So, we got into the tent got ourselves a beer and got too excited, I think we downed it in like 3 minutes! So we grabbed another one and coincidently found a seat at the same time! I grabbed a pretzel that was the size of my face and we were ready to get the party started! Problem was, the boys found out there was a football aka soccer game going on and we might be able to find a scalper to get tickets. Second beers were finished and out the door we were. We ended up following a crowd of drunken football fans in our attempt to get to the stadium. After reaching the stadium we were slapped with the sad reality that scalpels were selling for about 100€... We were hoping for 20€. As a result, we head back to our camp for some unlimited drinking, only to realize we should prob call it quits early to make it into Oktoberfest early the next day. 

Day 2... The biggest wreck 

Ok first... Don't judge me, it was Oktoberfest... I blame their excessively big beers and their stupidly high percentage. 

It is officially the last day of Oktoberfest! Apparently at the end of the night on this day they do some fancy thing... I don't know what it is but basically it's a big party. We didn't think we'd last that long so we didn't pay too much attention to the details. We arrived at our tent at around 11 (this time there's only 4 of us) so we immediately squeeze our way into the first table we see leaving. Beer are grabbed and introductions are made. Apparently the men beside us were all about 50 and were getting as buckled as we were. 

Beer 1 comes around and we have learned... Grab that pretzel ASAP and get something in our bodies to absorb alcohol. Pretzel is grabbed and my friends and I split it 4 ways... Our first mistake. Beer two comes one of our friends realizes he isn't feeling too well and heads home. Wih it being our last day and the last official day of Oktoberfest, the decision is made that we should do the table chugs. End of beer 2 is chugged on the table, round 3 on its way. Now, just to let you know, I have a go pro on my wrist this whole time... I decide it's smart to record myself after every beer to see how stupid I get.. Worst idea ever... Do not do this! Plus I'm pretty sure after beer 2 I forgot to keep filming until beer 4. Yes, I said it, beer 4.  Now for those of you yelling pussy at your screen right now.. These aren't just beers... They're litres and they're a minimum of 6 percent (god knows what mine was but I was a disaster). 

Anyways, back to beer 2. I see a guy passing with a kcco shirt on .. Don't know it go to the site right now (www.thechive.com), your life will forever be changed. Obviously after a big kcco cheers fest he joins our table along with his buddy. These guys are around 30 and are army men! Woo woo! At this point we realize we should maybe eat a little more. When a menu is opened at these restaurants, jaws automatically drop. I'm talking French fries and ketchup at 5€ jaw dropping style. However, this doesn't stop my friend and I. We've had our eye on a pork knee since yesterday and that is getting in our mouth ASAP. So for the low cost of 20€, the pork knee is ordered. This is split between the two of us and is probably the size of my fist in terms of food that can actually be consumed. Clearly, not enough food in us to keep drinking, does that stop us... NO! Third round is ordered, and then forth. At this point I don't know my name. 

Apparently I fell asleep at the table (only reason we know is my friend took a picture)... I'm a sleepy drunk sorry :s after this it just started to rain with disasters. 

I went to the bathroom and was supposed to meet my friend outside, apparently I never ended up going to meet him so he went on a hunt to find me. Now it was either in the bathroom, while leaving the tent after the bathroom or at some point in between my friend trying to find me and the bathroom .. But basically I puked. In my hand... I clearly finished puking somewhere (I think it was outside, because I then wiped my hand on my sweater ... From this point on known as my puke bucket) ... Sorry for the details, but that's life. 

My friend finds me! I'm in some other tent eating.. I don't know what but that's my second favourite thing to do while drunk. Then the suggestion comes out. Let's go on a ride!! So off we go to this ride that is almost like psyclone from wonderland but better. We're on these 2 seater things and basically there's 8 seats on each claw. If you kick your legs on this ride you can basically flip your two seater over. Being 4 liters deep this has become the best idea in the word! So we literally go on the ride twice, both times the ride conductor man takes my "puke bucket" and puts it on the side for me to collect later... My life! 

That is the end of crazy drinking for me... At leat until Ireland! 

I'm sorry for the little delay, but set least this ones a long one... I'll try to get better at posting about my travels. Some days just aren't as interesting as others! 

Keep an eye out for more crazy euro trip fun! 

Xoxo 

Feeding infant chind... Look center 

Back to the roots

First things first, I'm sorry but a lot of these posts may be delayed by a few days due to lack of wifi. I tend to write about the location I am levying on route to my next location, and if there I no wifi while I m there, then my posts become a little behind. 

As for this post, be prepared for a long story... I'll try to condense it as much as possible for both your sake and mine. My thumbs may break if I write all the details, because too many memories were created in such a short time. 

The reason for the title is because the last few days of our euro trip were broken up into based on our roots into two families (due famiglia). 3 of the people in our group of European travellers have roots that track back to Calabria, Italy (imcluding myself). However, because mio famiglia is coming to see my home town in November, we divided up 3 and 3 into 2 different home towns in Calabria. The division was basically mangicakes and manigcakes who are trying their hardest to be pure-breds. As a result my last few days were spent in the beautiful town of Angoli. In order to sum up this town in a few words, I have come up with the following: 

1. Beautiful

2. Family 

3. Food 

4. Wine 

5. Piccolo (only 300 people) 

6. Experience 

Angoli is basically a little town that sits ontop of a mountain and overlooks both the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic sea on either side. It is such a small town that all you can hear throughout the day is honking. The reason for this, is because when the locals recognize the car that is passing them, they honk as a way to say hello.... This happens to pretty much every car that you pass. 

If you are ever going to have a meal with an Italian family for whatever reason, I suggest you prep your body for it and make your stomach as expandable as possible. Coming to Angoli after traveling Europe for a few weeks and eating only 2 small meals a day was the worst! The food was unlike anything I've ever tasted and I did not want to stop eating. My body kept freaking out because even though there was no space left in my stomach, I literally was not allowed to stop eating. If you ever try to resist the "manga manga manga" in an Italian household, be prepared to basically be force fed. 

Now the reason I said this food was unlike anything I've ever tasted is because everything... And I mean everything, is either grown or produced in someway in this families backyard. From the vegetables all the way up to the sausages and capicola made from the pigs they raise. It was mind blowing and mouthwatering all at the same time. 

Other than the amazing food and company, this trip was amazing because we finally got to relax. We made no plans, all plans were made for us and we were taken everywhere by car. This meant no grabbing 6 people and waiting for everyone to be ready, no trains to figure out and no drama! 

We went to see so,me of the most beautiful beaches that were surrounded by the most clear water I have ever seen. For those visiting Calabria make sure you go to tropea and pizzo, and do not leave pizzo until you have tried their Tartufo! They are known for this and the portions are massive! 

A little sauceyyyy

So our trip started out with a massive bang... Literally! I am generally the person who hates the mauve croustade and gets very annoyed by people pushing and shoving me around... But in this case I was laughing the whole time!!

The morning of the event we woke up at 6am and kicked things off with a couple of bloody Mary's (so necessary) and beers. This was followed up by an hour long bus ride to an area of over 100 busses. The event took off with a big greased up pole and a giant ham at the top... The objective was to pile up as many people as possible, reach the top and pull down the ham. If no one is successful at this, the tomato trucks start coming out at 11am. There are a total of 5 trucks and god knows how many tomatoes. To sum this whole experience up in one word all I can say is mayhem! The streets are completely filled and the only way for a bus to get through is to squish everyone against the wall and if you don't make it you better start running. 

The locals all cover up their houses with tarps and bring their hoses to their rooftops to start cleaning all the tourists. I'm surprised the pictures below even turned out because my go pro had nothing but tomatoes and tomatoe juice covering the whole thing. If you are ever visiting Spain this is definitely something I'd recommend.. Just make sure you aren't claustrophobic or you might have some major panic attacks. 

Oh and last but not least, of you need to leave your place in the croud at any time for some stupid reason... Have one friend pretend that they're holding back puke and you're golden. It's like parting the sea, everyone bolts in the opposite direction haha. 

Keep an eye out for more of my crazy shenanigans 

Xoxo   

Christmas Party

Once again my love Alyson and I had a great weekend in Toronto where we went all out. This past weekend we had our Christmas party and decided to rent a hotel, get room service, pop champagne and make a whole weekend out of it! 
I apologize that they're pretty blurry but I took them on my cellphone! Everything was gorgeous and tasted amazing! 

Work Conference Weekend

One of my good friends from school and work had to go to Toronto for a weekend, where we were to attend a work conference and were placed in the intercontinental hotel for the weekend! We had a wonderful time and learned a lot! We also dined our little hearts out of course! 

 Earls most delicious part of their menu. Spinach dip... mmm my mouth is salivating just looking at it. Of course we also had to have a mojito while out to dinner.. my favourite!

 My favourite part of hotel rooms have always and will always be the robes! I always throw them on as soon as I get in and refuse to take them off ahha 

 Every year I fall in love with the Eaton centres over whelmingly huge christmas displays! They are gorgeous 

 OOTN! Leather leggings from Zara and beautiful red pumps from Aldo & Alysons gorgeous Marc by Marc purse.