Travel's on Greyhound and other fun!

Hello blog readers,

it is I, your semi sane and always inquisitive friend, and I have news for you. I have made it back, all in one piece with more wear and no tear. The trip was fantastic. The people I met were sweet and a very interesting bunch, and there are stories to be told.

The stories include rants, and so I want to begin with one...two..or three:

"Made in China"

the above says it all, almost everything in all the 'knick-knack' shops was made in China. All the stuff that looks local and handmade is deceiving, because every time my heart would jump and my thoughts center on "finally something made by local artists that I can afford", I would flip the thing over and there it would be. The engraving/sticker signaling it was made by the ever productive hands of China.

Now I'm no cheapo when it comes to local crafts, but then again I also do not have $400-4000 dollars to drop on an original photograph of a bear. This then became part of my impromptu trip-goal: find local arts and crafts that I can afford. The end of which centered on bringing back local beer (Bear Paw), local soap (Canmore Soap Co.), and chocolate (Le Chocolatier). The most local of course was the beer, local water...honey...and yeast, but lets face it most of the ingredients were not local for any of the other items...just the services rendered to make them were.

Although not a huge deal, I wish I could of had something entirely made from and by locals. Sometimes those are the things that speak the most about the character of the place. Alas, I was lucky enough and a local artist after hearing my pleas for local art, gifted me with a mug...for this I want to thank Miss Marzena Pustelnik, the ceramic artist-extraordinaire who heard my loud cries (between that of an annoyed cat and angry bear) and kindly graced me with one of her pieces. I will be in close contact with Miss Marzena and will post some of her very cool ceramic art, so keep tuned for a special post on ceramics and their uses (beer making among some). Now on to other observations (part rants).

Thanks to the Greyhound trip I now realize that large provincial cities are remarkably similar in all aspects of commerce. From Winners to Shoppers Drug Mart to Wal-Mart, there is little local character and the grids of city planning make each less of a unique experience and more of the 'show me what I know, and I will ignore what I don't". This makes me sad. Sad because character is important to where you travel, and may be one reason why Europe sees so much traffic, as does Montreal and other "historical" centers. Again thoughts to ponder.

To add to the Greyhound theme, I now know how they stay afloat. With ever bus ride, the smart people of this bus carrier, realized they could make an extra buck by tugging along a courier service, and since they go to lots of small places, stops between Calgary and Winnipeg were all Greyhound Courier service centers. This made for welcome breaks in scenery, as well as a sore butt (but when you sell a girl a ticket for $113 CND to go from Calgary to Toronto, somehow you have to make your ends meet...and to that end I solute you Greyhound, for making travel dirt cheap if purchased 21 days in advance).

There are lots of other observations, like the fact that I can tell each provinces' landscape apart , or that some people can talk for 2.5 days and their voice doesn't even get hoarse. This last one blew my mind, as well as the ability of strangers to tell you the most intimate of life's situations without apprehension. Oh the things you learn while traveling on a Greyhound. Also if you plan on doing this, bring stretchy shoes. Sitting for long periods makes your feet swell; not the size of watermelons (not quite at least) but good sizable cobs of corn.

I have more, and if you or anyone you know plans on visiting any city within Greyhound bus service limits, I highly suggest you do it at least once in your life, and no Greyhound is not aware of my love of their services. Although I do hope someday they will grace me with bus-service that borders on star-trek like shuttle service coupled with five-star dinners :)
(a girl can dream...and should..coincidentally while on overnight trips on buses this may prove to be difficult).

Signing off,
-Anna

look forward to a post on religion, girls, and boobs.

In Canmore!: Observations

Its time for another post, and this time I am sitting comfortably on a chair, at a glass desk, and glancing out at the mountains that make up the Bow Valley. Last week I made my way to Canmore, Alberta, and have decided to post some of the observations that have made my trip that much more fun.

Un: the women in Canmore seem to be pregnant/just had a baby or are waiting for a baby, this is shocking also because I have noticed many younger women having babies. This may be because I am use to Toronto's 30+ mothers, or maybe the mountain air keeps everyone looking young. Who knows, but its a bit weird....there is even a mountain range that looks like a pregnant lady. Maybe Canmore's new visitor ads should be catered to the many people currently having problem's with fertility. The slogan could be something like this "when elsewhere you can't, in Canmore you can!" (not the best slogan, but you get the idea) :)

Deux: the food here is pricey, take lunch as an example. A salad is about $11, whereas I am use-to lunch hovering just around $10 all included...or less if its just a snack. The only flip on this is Subway Sandwiches, their stuff seems to be cheaper than Toronto. Also, breakfast at Silvertip Golf Resort is well priced, and very cool (about $10). One more buck in the trend is the ever amazing Grizzly Paw pub, with great food, great prices, and home-made beer and ginger-ale (with real ginger!!).

Trois: everyone who lives here seems to be fit, in the sense that the only chubby/fat people I have seen were visitors/tourists. This maybe not be the most scientifically based observation but it seems to hold true whenever I meet locals. I chalk this up the the prominence of hiking/biking/walking among the locals. I think Calgary could learn a thing or two from here.

Quatre: there are a lot of French people here (from Quebec it appears). Also lots of Japanese tourists (Banff mainly) and German adventure ppl. Cool mix to chill with.

there are more, but that's it for now. If I had to recommend a vacation place Canmore would definitely be it with regard to Alberta, with the note that you must like the outdoors, and want to spend a lot of your time out and about in the great-outdoors.

Ps. there are bears, I bumped into one on a mountain trail, but never run, talk to it calmly and slowly back away. Never scream at it, just wave your hands and be gentle. if it starts to follow you, well you are F*k*d, but there are ways to deal with that too. Oh the things you learn from educational videos.
Enjoy the hikes, keep warm, and make sure to be prepared for temperatures ranging from -10 to +20 C in one day !

Back !! (notes on Travel)

Here I go again, a new post and a new adventure.

I mismanaged my time here on Pickled Thoughts because I had a lot of personal stuff happen (between December and now) that needed tending to. Sometimes this includes taking a bit of a time out from activities that seem amazing and fun. Alas Pickled Thoughts was one such activity, but now I am back!

Back with such a vengeance that I will forgo my usual media rants, dismiss the stories of smelly fat cats and vampires, neglect to mention fruit that explode in your mouth and coat the inside for up to 24 hours with a chemical mix that makes everything taste sweet (even dandelion juice), and not mention my love of flax seed. No...indeed I shall speak to you all my lovlies about travel in Canada. Specifically from Toronto to Calgary.

I am scheduled to depart for Calgary tomorrow, and being the green imp that I hope I am, I decided to try my best to make my travel 'less bad'. These are my initial impressions:

1. train travel is damn expensive;
2. air travel is almost on par with train travel money-wise, but time-wise it is like comparing rock hard kiwis just delivered to your grocery store, to those picked fresh (and ripe) off a tree and immediately consumed (guess which is which);
3. Canada has transitioned into an "air" travel country, which makes me and a bunch of birds very sad;
4. flights to Calgary cost more than my all-inclusive Cuba trip (taken last year @ $480)
5. :(
   

But on to good news for a change, and no not the David Suzuki book. I in my moment of genius-thought, decided to fly one way and take the bus the other. IN short I will fly to Calgary and visit my sister/brother-in-law, and then embark on my great expedition back to Toronto on a Greyhound bus.

I decided to do this for a few reasons...

• one: being the ability to finally see the prairies;
• two: saving a few bucks on air travel (woohooo for 21-day advance ticket purchase discounts);
  
• three: meet a few characters and aim to not be decapitated (Google greyhound and decapitation);
• four: save a bit of my now depleted "green-glow" by opting for less damaging travel options (at least on the way back).

I shall update you-all on my initial thoughts of Alberta, and then on my 2 day harrowing account of travel by road with people you don't know (on a bus!!).

I imagine you cannot wait to hear what tails of horror I will bring forth. Especially the potential for 'bathroom-use' murder, but for this and other news you must tune in next week.

Just remember "spider man spider man, does whatever a spider can, spins a web any size..watch out here comes the spider man..."--> the above are unfortunately the lines that are stuck in my head (and now in yours I hope). You and I can send our thanks to Teletoon and its reruns of old spider-man episodes.

DAMN YOU Spider-man theme song writer(s)!!!