Christmas in Toronto - trip report

In the air

PRESENTS

It seems but a distant memory now, but only a few weeks ago I was preparing (with my bronchitis in tow) to head off to the cool and snowy climes of Toronto, Canada. My parents live there, as I have mentioned before, and I have visited a good few times before. Notably, once at Christmas in 2012 when the love of my life asked me to be his wife. Toronto is like a second home to me and I love going there so much.

It's such an energetic city, with a lot of heart and kindness, which sounds odd for a city. But, trust me. Go there and you will see. The people make it, and it helps that it's so pretty.

We flew direct with Air Canada Rouge from Dublin, which is great on one hand as we don't have to faff about in London, Amsterdam or Montreal (as we have in the past) and the flight is only 7 hours long. On the other hand, Air Canada Rouge is not the best airline to travel with, somewhere between Ryanair and Aer Lingus, but it is cheap. In all I think our flights cost £690 return (for the both of us). So I can't complain!

We landed to unseasonably warm weather on the 23rd December, the day before Christmas Eve. My parents live downtown, and we got there around mid-afternoon. My brother and his fiancée arrived the evening before us, and were there to greet us as well. It was a lovely day spent catching up, laughing, settling in, going for a swim in the building's pool and a dip in the hot tub, before a lovely wine and dine and an early night ready for Christmas Eve - only my favourite day of the year.

Brookfield Place

We started the day, as is now tradition in our family when we are in TO, with breakfast at Marché in Brookfield Place on Bay Street. We love this place, not purely for the novelty either! The set up inside is amazing - each station is like its own separate market stall, selling its wares. Each diner in the party gets a card, which is swiped when they add an item from that stall. The food is also really good - and particularly the breakfast offerings, though I would definitely advise trying to get there before 10.30am. Christmas Eve was the most magical day. We went to the city Christmas carol service which is held annually at City Hall, before wandering around the shops, visiting the infamous Bay Window and stocking up on mince pies and mulled wine to bring home for the evening. When we got home, we chilled out all afternoon, I had a bath and a read, and headed up for our traditional Christmas Eve supper of Spaghetti Bolognese. (What else?) Dad has a little vegetable patch in the city, and he made his own sauce with tomatoes he had grown there, and Christmas pasta I had brought over for the occasion. We played party games, ate gorgeous food and drank gorgeous wine, before we all changed into our PJs, made mulled wine, laid out all our Christmas snacks and stuck on Elf. It really was the perfect Christmas Eve.

Happy Christmas

Christmas day was a marathon present opening session, and a marathon eating and drinking day. We had all the traditional bits: turkey, ham, three types of stuffing... the dinner of champions, and the one you look forward to all year! We napped, took a nice walk, and did all the traditional Christmas Day things with the family. It was a lovely day.

The rest of the week we spent relaxing, visiting some nice restaurants and bars. We had a great meal at Wurst, which is a German restaurant in the city. They specialise in sausages and beer - so it's obviously amazing. But the star of the show was definitely the duck fat fries on offer, DO NOT PASS THESE UP. Far.too.good.

I love this city, and will definitely be back. We have lovely memories of Christmas 2015.

Toronto on Christmas evening

Toronto on Christmas evening

Portaventura - Trip report

Well, well, well. Holidays are over. Weep.

It is hard to imagine when you're flinging everything in your suitcase, switching your out of office on and trying to get to sleep the night before you travel that you will ever be back to normality. Portaventura was a complete blast! We had four days with wonderful company, glorious sunshine, amazing food and as much wine as I could handle.

Food and drink

The water park

I wasn't great at taking photos of the food we ate (sorry!) however I wanted to describe the set up for our holiday. We booked on an all-inclusive basis, meaning we could eat until we burst! The Merida restaurant at the hotel El Paso is where we had most of our meals. Our breakfast buffet in the hotel was superb - they had anything you could imagine for breakfast. Eggs all ways, Spanish tortillas, bacon, cold meats, breads, pastries, sausages, coffee, juice, the works. As we were going in to the parks each day, we didn't get to see what the lunch buffet was like - not that I could imagine needing it. Dinner buffet was themed three nights per week, and we were lucky enough to hit that up on the Monday night, Italian night. Every kind of pasta, pizza and pasta sauce you could imagine, and the cheesiest, most amazing risotto I have ever tasted. I really loved the food in this place!

  

Bert and Ernie

We were also given vouchers for three course meals in the park each day we were staying at the hotel. This included certain restaurants in the parks, and was great as it meant that we didn't have to leave to come back to the hotel and get lunch, we could stay in the park. The voucher also happened to include a beverage, for which you could choose the local speciality lager - Estrella. I fell in love with Estrella on this trip! I will definitely be hunting some to keep in my fridge when I'm feeling like I need to close my eyes and be on holidays again...

Our final night we dined in the table service Mexican restaurant El Coyote. I had the vegetarian fajitas, which were sublime. The rest had chicken and beef fajitas, and a steak. All included. We also had wine and beer with our meal and at the end got up and walked away without paying for a thing. All inclusive was really hard to comprehend sometimes! (But we managed it.)





The Parks

Tutuki Splash - one of my favourites

Tutuki Splash - splashing

We ventured into the theme park all three days we were there, and had a ball. It was busier than we expected, and we sometimes had to queue for the major attractions, however I don't think we ever queued longer than about 30 mins. The park was in the process of being decorated for Halloween, and each day we would come in to find the park had been decorated a little bit more overnight! I love theme parks, I find them very romantic places - just pure, innocent fun and making happy memories with people you love. My husband and I have some very special memories from theme parks and even honeymooned in Disneyworld!

Shambala

Lounging near the pirate ship - Polynesia

Shambala is without a doubt the best rollercoaster I have ever been on. Dizzyingly high, yet smooth and so enjoyable. I would go back there for that alone. The 300ft drop attraction, Hurican Condor, was the one attraction we had to queue the longest for - and the reason was that the park wasn't running all the seats on it. If they had have done, the queues would have been much smaller. This was the ride my husband was looking forward to the most, as we had been on it before. Unfortunately we didn't get on as much as we would have liked, because of the queues, but once you're on it it's hard to remember being as scared on anything else in your life.

Overall

I had a blast celebrating my 30th birthday with my beloved husband and friends. I would definitely go back to PA in a few years - the new Ferrari World opens there next year. Until then, I think I want to focus on travelling to places I have never been, and I am happy to take a break from theme park holidays for a little spell. Our next trip is to Toronto over Christmas, where my parents live. They live right downtown, and I look forward to showing you around there. The countdown to Christmas...is on.

The pirate ship - one of my favourites

Boo to you!

Wild, ,wild west

Beware

Thoughts on turning 30

So today I turn 30. Thirty. 3-0. It's a number with a whole lot of baggage. Personally, I thought I would hate the whole business of turning 30. It has always felt like it was a big deal and a big life-changer, probably right up until about 27 years old. But really, now, I am not scared of it like I used to be. In fact, I think 30 is going to bring a lot of good things.

I feel so very happy with many things in my life. I met my husband and we started going out when we were in school. We survived four years of a long distance relationship, 3.5 while I was in Scotland and my husband remained in Ireland, and 6 months while I lived in the South of France. He is my whole world and my rock. Nothing is a struggle with him or for him. He has stood by me as I put myself through undergraduate and masters degrees, while I struggled finding myself when I relocated home to NI and worked out what the hell I was going to do with my life. He picks me up every single day and is literally the sun in my world, I could never be without him. So as I turn 30 and I look back on our 12 years together as a couple, I feel overcome with happiness that this beautiful man has chosen me and we are moving forward as a family together.

I have a great job that I really love going to each day. And sure, I could make more money, but I am doing something I really enjoy and in a field I never saw myself in. I work for a company that accepts people have a life outside of work, and I leave the office at 5pm pretty regularly and don't have to think about work when I'm home. And I get 30 days leave to spend seeing the world. I learn and I am challenged every day, and I work with a great and intelligent bunch of people.

I have a family scattered over the globe, but I see their faces every week. And we are close and love one another and spend time to find out what's going on with each other. I have a large extended family a lot closer to home, and we make time to be with one another and be true friends. I lost my nana last year, and that was the most difficult and biggest blow I have ever faced. I was with her when she passed away, holding her hand. I thank the universe every day for her, and for our special bond. She will hold my hand every day and guide me through the rest of my life. I thank my nana for her children: my uncles, my mother and my godmother. My godmother and I have only got closer since her passing, and she is a second mother to me and I love her from the bottom of my heart.

I have a very close-knit group of friends, who are in contact nearly every single day. We share highs, lows, tears and laughs together every year as we have done for the last 24 years now.

I feel so blessed that I go to bed each night in a clean, warm, secure home, with clothes on my back and food in my belly. I have the luxury of hot showers and fresh pyjamas. I have the luxury of getting up in the morning and choosing what I wear that day, from a variety of options. I travel to a job where I use my brain and my opinions are respected. I am using my education, that I paid relatively little for. I travel home in a beautiful car that my husband and I pay for with our full-time jobs. I wake up on a Saturday morning, and I make a gorgeous cup of coffee and read for pleasure. I walk my beloved little pup, who loves me endlessly and without hesitation. I fall asleep with my arms wrapped around the love of my life.

I know this post is soppy. And I know I may have pissed a few people off. But it's truly how I feel, I am so so lucky and so grateful for so much in my life. And milestones like this are the perfect opportunity to sit back and take stock of how things are. I have many downfalls, and I am trying to address them and I try to improve and grow every day. I could definitely be a better wife. I am overweight. I could do more around the house. I could be a better dog owner and go for more walks. I could be a better friend and pick the phone up more often. I could be a better sister and book flights to see my brother more often. He's the best friend I have known the longest, and sometimes I don't show him how much I love him.

And 30 won't change a lot of these things. I will continue to strive to be better. And I will continue to appreciate when I fail and try to learn something sunny and positive from that failure. I have this feeling that 30 isn't my milestone, and the 32 things before I'm 32 bucket list that I have is a more accurate milestone. I want to be at my target weight by 32. My house will be built and I'll be settled in it at 32. Maybe someday I'll share that list with you. 32 is the new 30.

Now for some cake.

Holiday plans

This year, we haven't really had much time to head away anywhere. Both my husband and I are hungry to travel and want to spend our lives seeing the world! However, we are also currently trying to build a house, which is putting a huge strain on our bank balances as every spare penny we have is going to our house project.

However, we are heading off this weekend for a short break to celebrate my 30th birthday and we thought a little mini break won't do any harm. I can barely believe I am turning 30, and I am very glad we are going to be off enjoying ourselves when it happens! I wanted to give you a quick update on our travel plans, so you know what I'm up to when I'm gone.

We are spending the weekend in London, first of all. A dear friend of mine is getting married, and I can't wait to see her walk up the aisle, she will be so beautiful. The wedding is on Saturday, so we are flying over to London on Friday and meeting with some friends the night before. The day after the wedding we are flying from London to Barcelona, where we will get a transfer to ... Portaventura!

El Paso lobby

Hotel pool

If you're not familiar with Portaventura, I believe it used to be Universal Studios in Europe before it was Portaventura. It's about an hour south of Barcelona, close to the seaside town of Salou. We will be staying in one of the hotels on site - Hotel El Paso. I have stayed at this hotel before, and it really is gorgeous. For the first time in my life I am going on an all inclusive basis, so I will let you know how it goes.




I am a real roller coaster lover, and we're going with another couple who are the best of fun, so it is shaping up to be a great week. While I'm aware it's not the mind-expanding, life-enhancing travel I mentioned before, you also need a bit of good old-fashioned kicking back and letting-your-hair-down fun from time to time. There are a couple of new attractions that have opened since I was last there, including Shambala - a huge rollercoaster, the highest in Europe! How scary does this look?

It actually might surprise you to learn that I am pretty terrified of heights - but as I call them 'loose' heights. So I could never climb a ladder, but roller coasters are amazing. It's a complex phobia, people.

I'll let you know how I get on and in the meantime imagine a sun lounger, a cocktail and a grin that covers a girl's face. That'll be me.

Have a great weekend!

Movie Review - No Escape

At the weekend my husband and I took ourselves off to the cinema, a favourite Sunday pass time. We saw No Escape, a thriller starring Owen Wilson, Lake Bell and Pierce Brosnan. The film follows a family as they up sticks and move from the US to Asia so dad Owen Wilson can take up a post with a high profile global water company.

The action is fast moving and the audience are immediately thrown in, which set the pace and tone for the rest of the movie. The family spends 90 minutes or so trying to escape a populous mob, who are targeting foreigners (particularly those involved with the water company, Cardiff). The scenes in this movie are as tense as the mob is ruthless. It's a bite-your-lip, edge-of-your-seat, grab-your-husband's-hand-and-don't-let-go kind of tension, which happens to be the kind of watch that I love.

You've just landed in a foreign country, and foreign in every sense of the word. At one point Annie (Bell) tries to read a map in a life-or-death moment, and even the alphabet is incomprehensible. Trying to put yourself in their shoes was truly frightening, and the director did a great job getting the audience to come on the journey with the Dwyer clan.

One slight grievance I had was the complete lack of awareness the Dwyers had about the country, culture, language and goings-on of the place, which I found slightly unbelievable. You're moving there, to another continent, so presumably you've had some time to work on your local knowledge, which might have worked in your favour. Even if it was just to get a pint of milk. A very slight grievance, it may be said.

Overall, I thought this was a fast-paced emotional thriller and I couldn't imagine anything worse than being in that situation. It gripped me from start to finish, the characters were fairly agreeable and overall I liked it a lot.

No Escape - 6/10

Hello and welcome

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Nice to meet you. I'm C. Approaching 30, very happily married and an avid follower of lifestyle blogs and youtubers. My big loves are my family - my husband and my dog. My other big loves include books, cooking, dreaming of travels, actual travels, current affairs, films, magazines and great TV shows. Here you'll find a little piece of all that.

I am currently preparing for tonight's dinner - which is pesto chicken roast, with new baby roast potatoes and spinach salad. I'll throw together my first real post with this recipe and get it up for you guys later. Then we'll see where the blog takes us...

Looking forward to this new hobby :)

Take care,

C