My first trip to New York City in twenty years was a three day walking tour (from W 101st to Broome Street and back on the first day alone) and search for the perfect New York Style pizza.

My top three were the Highline, an off-Broadway show, and running in Central Park:

I am a big fan of public spaces, parks in particular, so the Highline was a major major highlight for me.

{To be sure, so was Central Park. But I didn't bring my camera on my run and I was too busy eating a Magnolia cupcake when we went back for our last hour in the city.}

Theresa and I also visited MoMA, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge on our way to Williamsburg (buck a shuck oysters from Long Island!), and checked out the shops in the East Village.

NYC, I heart you!

So, Spain:

Claire and I spent 8 days visiting Barcelona, with day trips to Figueres (Dali museum!) and Sitges (oh la, the Mediterranean!!!!!).

Top three favourite travel moments:

1) The bike tour we took with Fat Tire Bike Tours our first full day there;

2) A day in Sitges (one day on the beach and I am so tanned);

3) The pintxos we ate, the cider and rosado we drank, the hilarious British couple we met, all at a fantastic Basque-style tapas bar we found in the El Born district.

Books I Read on Vacation

I've recently spent a week in North-eastern Spain.

In addition to Girls Like Us, which I had started long before we left and which I finished on a train ride from Figueres, I packed Your Voice in my Head (Emma Forrest, 2011) and Babette's Feast (Isak Dinesen, published as a short story in 1958).

I read Your Voice in my Head on the beach in Sitges, lying on a lounge chair, facing the sea, trying to stay hydrated with bottle after bottle of water. It is not a typical beach read, but in a way, reading it under the most brilliant white sun was the best way to read it.

My travel companion, Claire, and I had planned a second trip to Sitges before our flight home the following day. I read Babette's Feast in a Starbucks in Barcelona, where we took cover from the rain, trying to save the day with a latte and free Wi-Fi. Babette's Feast is a lovely short story (turned movie), which I finished before I finished my drink.

Algonquin

Winter camping.

We went backcountry camping on Algonquin Park's Highland trail this past weekend.

Greg's brother brought his dog, our cold weather mascot and general mood improver.

It was cold. I was surprised there wasn't more snow.

Camping

It began with four adults and one dog overnighting in a car packed with camping gear, in the outfitters' parking lot. Our sleepless night followed by a coffee-fueled start, once we got to the park and picked up our canoes.

But Killarney was something to behold. Is something to behold.

An hour into the trip and we came across this:

And we stopped and swam:

And after two camping nights, on our way back home, we stopped at OSA to swim in the clearest water I've ever seen:

And at the far end of the Lake, we pulled up to shore for another break before one of our last portages and our last hour in the park:

And then we left for home.

I Went Away

I went to Toronto, to see the bf:

(the paintings on display while we were there are by Travis Shilling. If you can't visit them in person during the Gladstone's doors open hours, visit his site.)

We stayed at the Gladstone hotel and admired their Green Wall:

And Room 311:

And before coming home again, I flew to Vancouver to meet my bff's bf. They put me up in their West End apartment:

(those mountains in the background? They're a strong draw all on their own.)

Labour Day Weekend

Drinking coffee made from lake water. A campfire made of fallen wood, burning in a rainstorm. Finding the right tree to hang food up and away from wildlife. Setting up and tearing down camp. Hiking. For hours.

(campsite 11B; campsite 10B)

"Can you hear the wolves calling?"

"No."

"They're pretty far away. You can barely hear them, but they're out there."

Turkey; what I loved

Underground cities-



Ballooning in Capadoccia-



The Med-



Poppies, everywhere-



Iznik tiles-



Cities and churches carved into mountainsides-





Drinking tea next to the Bosphorus-



Learning about Roman history at the edge of the empire-



Reverence-

Turkey

NOLA

Mardi Gras ended the week before we arrived, but there were still signs of the party everywhere.







I found my birthdate carved into a tomb in the Lafayette Cemetary...











...and saw Katrina sunken boats.








Banksy visited New Orleans on the three year anniversary of Katrina. Our Americor tree-planting hosts showed us one of his pieces











And we helped build a house in the lower 9th ward.

Bald Cypress and Tupelo Gum

The New Orleans trip was meant to be four days of house building for Habitat for Humanity. When we got there, the director of our host volunteer camp asked whether any of us would be interested in spending some time replanting the bayou and local parks. Hurricaine Katrina damaged forests and parks and other green spaces and unless those were repaired, too, another flood would be even more devastating. So, 7-9 of us (depending on the day) went out to plant trees. Bald cypress in the swamps and forest behind the levee near the MRGO (the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet), and tupelo gum in a state park in St Bernard Parish and at the Islenos Centre.

The trees were 2-3 years old and the soil was pretty wet, so the planting was easy enough. And nothing tops spending the day outside.

Tuba Skinny

I visted New Orleans last week. The day we arrived, we walked around the French Quarter - so filled with music - and came across Tuba Skinny (we had been standing around listening to the G String Orchestra and still had beers to finish). We sat down on the curb and stayed, until our dinner bell rang and we had to go.