Au revoir Montreal!

Today was our last day in Montreal!  Luckily we accomplished everything on our to do list so today was a lazy day. We slept in and leisurely packed up our stuff. After getting everything ready to go, we headed to the Underground City to check it out. Basically it is a huge "mall" of sorts underground and is connected to certain subway stops and some office buildings. It covers a large part of downtown and has a range from nicer brand name stores to random other shops and eateries. It is apparently more busy during the cold winter where no one wants to be walking out and about in the freezing weather. It wasn't anything too exciting but it was worth checking out.

 Next we went to the Halles du Gare which is the area around the train station. Here there are all kinds of fun food stalls and one of them is Boulangerie Premiere Moisson where we ate lunch. This bakery is a famous bakery in Montreal that is famous for their fresh bread and other baked goods. The original store is in another part of Montreal but now they have several outposts. Will and I got a sandwich and some desserts to share and it was delicious!  After that we got another bagel, this time from another famous bagel shop, called Fairmont. I'm definitely going to miss these Canadian bagels!!

Much to see at the Museums!

Today was tourist day!  We woke up early to get a head start to the museums right when they opened. We want to the which is where the old Olympic stadiums are housed and where a bunch of the museums are.

First, we went to the Botanical Gardens. It was super pretty and was huge.  

 

 

Allons-y à la plage!

Today we gave our feet a break which worked out because I forgot my FitBit. So far I've been clocking in about 30,000 steps a day which makes for tired feet!  Today we decided to go to Parc Jean Drapeau which is the name of two small islands in the middle of Montreal, created on a man-made lake.

This park is awesome and is the home of an amusement park, the Biosphere and other museums, an aquatic center, a casino, an open water swimming area, and a Formula 1 track which becomes an awesome place for cyclists and rollerbladers.  It's so neat!!  In addition, one of the islands is a fun "beach" where you can swim in the water. When Will and I were discussing what to pack, I was surprised when he told me to pack a swimsuit and that this "beach" existed. I was super excited because he also mentioned they had all kinds of water activities and one of them was wakeboarding!! Will knew I have been wanting to try that for some time so that was on our agenda today. Unfortunately when we got to the beach, the wakeboarding park was closed due to what we think was mechanical issues. Womp womp!  However, we still had tons of fun!  We went stand up paddleboarding, laid out in the sun, and played on an aqua-obstacle course called Aquazilla!! It was the perfect way to get some relaxation in after such a busy day yesterday. 

This was what the beach looked like when it first opened and no one was there. Soon there would be tons of people on both the sand and grass laying out and picnicking!

Montreal by foot.

Last night's movie didn't start until past midnight and we got there about an hour early to get in line. I'm surprised that Montreal is a late night city with most restaurants and even Starbucks open until about 2am. While I couldn't believe I was starting a movie at midnight, the restaurants and bars were just getting started. I had no real idea what this movie was about but it was called the Greasy Strangler and Will said it was a campy horror movie. Well I should've known it was going to be totally weird and goofy because while we were waiting in line, a character from the movie came out to greet everyone and he was basically wearing a speedo and had a bunch of huge, phallic shapes balloons coming out of his crotch. He even handed out trading cards with his picture on them. Needless to say, the movie was totally weird and strange but hilarious and entertaining.  I can't even tell you what it was about because it was just so strange but Will and I now have some one-liners to last us a lifetime.

Fast forward to this morning and we slept in. Today's agenda was basically a Will-created food tour but with a movie half way through which was perfect because the forecast called for a midday heavy thunderstorm. 

First we started by going to Marche Jean-Talon.  Going to markets in general is one of my favorite things to do in a new city but this one was especially good. They had so many funky specialty shops and food stands as well as a full fruit and veggie market. It makes sense though because Montreal is a big food city. 

Bienvenue à Montreal!

We woke up at 4am this morning to head to the airport for our trip to Montreal. While we typically go on longer and more exotic international destinations, Will has been wanting to go to this film festival, Fantasiafest, for a while now and he was finally going to get to do one of his picks!  So while we are mainly here for the Fantasia Film Festival, Will had also promised to have other fun things planned.  In our relationship, the person who picks the trip does most, if not all, of the planning and Will wasn't playing around.  As I was packing last night, Will let me know he already had reservations for almost every meal and he already had places he wanted to go all mapped out so today when he landed, I knew he already had a plan ready to go.  Here's his map.  All those little pins are his.  Man, do I love this guy.

London: Day 2 and Day 3

I was a bad blogger and forgot to write the last two days that we were in London.  I was exhausted every night when we got back to the hotel.  We have been there before so you're not missing too much.  Click on the London label to find posts from our last trip.  Eventually, I'll finish this particular London trip's specific details... but not today!

London: calling all the foodies

Last night we got in to London pretty late and basically just took the Tube to our hotel and got a good night's sleep.  Our flight by the way felt like no time because both Will and I slept almost the entire flight so it felt so easy peasey. 

Anyways, this morning we woke rested and ready to take on the day!  Since we were in London just two years ago, we're skipping the touristy stuff and just enjoying a few days in the city eating and shopping. The last time we came, we didn't love London. I appreciated that it was an awesome city with great food and culture but it felt like a NYC with a British accent. It was the first stop on a multi-city Europe trip and it just didn't seem "European" or different enough.  However, this time around, after being in Thailand, we embraced the Western conveniences and the diversity of food!! 

Love from Cairo

  

Will has always wanted to go to Egypt, like always.  And I've always wanted to go too but we've never quite found the right time.  Right after we got married the whole Arab Spring happened and Egypt hasn't quite made the news for such position reasons.  While we both generally think the media overhypes threats around the world, we also keep in mind that there have been cases when a random photographer or tourist get held as hostages and while the US is trying to bail them out, everyone else is thinking, "You just had to go there, huh?"  So yea, we never want to be those people so we've passed on Egypt many times before.  However, it didn't look like Egypt was going to be getting any better any time soon and from people I spoke to and the research I did online, it was starting to get less risky to go.  In researching all of the destinations we could go to with our credit card miles, we found that a lot of flights from Thailand to London naturally had a layover in Cairo.  This seemed like the perfect compromise. While most of the layovers were only about 4 hours, I worked it out with our United/EgyptAir points that we could extend the layover so it would be a full day (6am-6pm) without any additional costs!  It was perfect because while we didn't feel quite comfortable staying in Egypt for an extensive time on our own, a full day tour of Cairo was exactly what we needed to last us until that area got better and we could come back for a longer trip.  Cairo is small, all of the main destinations are a close proximity of each other, and we could knock out all the big attractions!  Since Cairo was a little intimidating, we decided to hire a tour company or something.  There were a bunch of companies that specialized in layover tours that picked you up and dropped you off at the airport but ultimately we decided on Egyptian Sidekick.  Egyptian Sidekick actual has an amazing premise.  Rather than being on a group tour with lots of stops at tourist trap stores you don't even want to go to, you're charged one flat rate for a half day or an entire day and you get to go where you want.  We did the full day which was $140 for the both of us and we got picked up at the airport by our private driver.  Along with him, we had a local Egyptian University student who spoke perfect English who functioned as our "sidekick": tour guide, negotiator, and general companion for the day.   It was amazing because we were able to go wherever we wanted and since we had a driver and a separate guide, the driver was able to just drop us off and we didn't have to worry about parking or waiting or anything of that and then later he would be back to pick us up wherever our guide told him to meet us.  While there was a slight debacle in meeting our driver at the airport (the reopening of the Suez Canal caused a ton of traffic and so he wasn't there when we arrived, and that was a mess), we got to see a lot in one day.  Here's a picture of Tahrir Square, the main meeting point for all of the demonstrations.

How much for that hammock?!

After yesterday's busy and tiring excursion, we decided to just spend the day hanging around Phuket and be lazy.  We started the day by ordering room service, just for fun.  We were kind of tired of eating Thai food all the time and were craving an American breakfast.  First I ordered waffles, and then they were sold out (Can't they just make more?!) and then I ordered pancakes and they sent regular toast (although they did bring the entire toaster).  Once I called to let them know I never got my pancakes, they came back with.... muffins?! Random!
         

Day Trip to Phi Phi Islands

This morning we were picked up by the tour company that we were taking to Phi Phi Islands.  Phi Phi Island is about an hour away from Phuket by boat and is the location where they shot the Leonardo Di Caprio movie, "The Beach."  When we got to the Marina where our boat was departing, they went over the plan and itinerary for the day and offered everyone motion sickness medication in case they needed it.

Will took one but I didn't as I don't normally get sea sick.  As we were departing, it was starting to rain a little so we put our water ponchos on and got on the boat.  It was one memorable boat ride.  Through my trip research, I knew that this boat ride could be a little bumpy.  I had heard that the route to Phi Phi was often a little choppy during the rainy season and that some companies didn't even do routes to this island during the season and instead went to many of the other beautiful islands around.  However, I also knew plenty of companies still went and I searched #phiphiisland on Instagram and saw lots of fun and beautiful pictures being posted on a daily basis so I figured it couldn't be that bad.  Well, I was wrong.  The boat ride was BAD.   And this is coming from someone who is very laid back, adventurous, and not a worrier.  And while I was never truly in fear of my life or anything, I did think it was a possibility we could flip over and so I did wear my life jacket, just in case we went overboard.  This boat ride was no joke.  It was pouring once we got out on the water and while the boat was covered, we were hitting such huge waves that it bucket loads of water were being slapped across my face every 5-10 seconds as we made our way through some treacherous waters.  It felt like the Perfect Storm.  The water was so bad I had to keep my eyes closed because otherwise my contacts would have probably fallen out.  About 45 minutes into it, I was feeling like shit and the rain had stopped so I finally opened my eyes.  Everyone around me (who started the boat ride happy and laughing), looked miserable and at least half of the boat had barf bags in their hands.  The site of everyone else being sick and the ridiculous ride made me reach for one and I got sick as well.  Eck!  I looked at Will (who wasn't sitting next to me since we were last on the boat), and he looked miserable.  It was officially the worst transportation experience of my life.  However, as soon as we approached "monkey island," the water was calm, the rain had stopped, and everything looked beautiful.  I looked out of the boat and saw the most adorable monkeys running around a little uninhabited beach and while I was so excited to see them, I was still feeling nauseous and didn't have the energy to find my camera in my backpack (which was SOAKED).  We just drove by the island but didn't get out because apparently the monkeys are pretty aggressive.  There were a few people who were on the island trying to feed the monkeys but most of the other boats were just getting close by like ours, just to get a picture.  Since I didn't get one, here's one from google.  This is exactly what it looked like.  :)

After leaving this, we went to an area around Phi Phi Don and went snorkeling.  While Will and I have both scuba dived before and loved it, we had never snorkeled.  It was way more fun than I thought and there were so many beautiful fish.  We originally planned on using Will's iPod as our underwater camera since we got this waterproof pouch to swim with but his iPod died from water damage in the ridiculous boat ride over.  And this is with his iPod in his pocket, under a water poncho!! Anyways, all we had left to take pictures was my iPhone6 and since I actually use that as my phone, I didn't want to risk taking pictures of fish with it so we don't have any. :(  It was really fun though and I'm all about snorkeling again now.  It's just so much easier than scubaing and takes so much less time and set-up.