Holidays 2012

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holidays! I have been busy spending time with my family hence the lack of posts. I had an amazing time eating, visiting relatives, and resting after the long long hours from work. I finally had free time to relax. 

Wishing you all a very happy and safe New Year!! 

Cheers!

Instagram Friday's

Lately on my instagram/iphone...


If you're still looking for last minute gift ideas for a traveler in your life, check out Flight001.  I want to buy everything from their shop.

2012 Review

Now that it's December and work is overloading. I can barely find time to compose a proper blog post due to overwhelming amount of work load and very very long hours. I am exhausted by the time I come home from work but it's ok because the year is almost over and I can hopefully plan a trip for winter! Crossing my fingers on this one so until it happens I won't talk about it.

2012 was a great year. I was feeling much healthier and I went to South America finally! 

-The year started in Cartagena, Colombia. I explored the Old Town, ate empanada's, visited a mud volcano, and shopped for too many pairs of shoes.

-Went to Boston for a weekend in April. It was cold.

-Spent the long weekend with my best friends in Montreal. We partied, ate too much deli, and explored the Botanical Garden.

-Labour day long weekend was spent in Prince Edward County. I went wine tasting, exploring the Taste Trail, and tanning at Sandbanks Provincial Park.

-For Thanksgiving, my mother and I spent 8 days in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.  We tanned, climbed a ruin, visited a mayan village, and I played bocci.

I hope 2013 will be filled with more adventures!!

I found my sport

I was lounging around the beach one morning when I was encouraged by one of the Animation Crew at the resort to play bocci. I have heard about it but I thought it was a game for old people (sorry!) so I was a little hesitant to join in but Oscar convinced me to give it a try. 

I was partnered with another fellow guest and we had a great time playing. It became a mix of young and older people. It got very competitive but it was really really fun. I couldn't believe I was enjoying myself. I came back every morning at the beach and played with my new friends. Now, I have to practice in the snow for my next beach vacation. 

Instagram Friday's

Lately on my instagram/iphone...


A foggy day in Toronto

Sushi & maki                                              Bowls of goodness

Pizza  & wings party                                                       Snacks

My favourite sashimi                                     Black pepper beef with garlic

New beanie                                           Christmas tree at my Mom's



Have a great weekend everyone!!! 

Unlimited sunshine

I keep dreaming about the sunny days in Mexico. The warm breeze, the sun hitting my skin, not wearing socks, or a coat, having fun every day and not caring about the time. Time just blended together and the days were long. My feet are getting itchy again. It's time to do trip planning again and explore an exotic place. 

For now, I finally finished updating my travel page. Time to add more to my list.

Thankful

The best thing about going on vacation with my Mom was our meals together. 8 days of breakfast, lunch, and dinner together filled with conversations about everything. I felt closer to my Mom that week than any other time. Thankful for our shared time.

Fruit carvings

One afternoon at our resort, the chefs prepared a little fruit carving show for us. We constantly had a variety of activities at our resort everyday which I enjoyed.

I can only wish I had this talent! I can think of endless possibilities!!!

yummy and pretty!

I miss Riu Playacar!!

Mayan Village

Lunch followed after our swim. Our whole group was starving. We drove to a Mayan Village and stopped at a restaurant for a traditional meal. Food came quickly. 

Our traditional Mayan style chicken. Everyone got the same food and as our guide told us, "lunch choice for today is chicken, or chicken, or chicken".

We had a chance to tour around the village after lunch and we visited the one and only midwife in the village. She was such and gracious lady. She was making tortillas for the whole village when we came to her house.

fresh tortillas!

We were privileged enough to get a blessing from the village Shaman as well. The children from the village also danced for us. The most adorable kids!!

Mayan dance from Christine loves to Travel on Vimeo   A video of the children performing a traditional dance (and we got to join in).   I really enjoyed the whole tour. It gave me so much history and knowledge about of the Mayan culture and people.

Wish list 2012

Christmas is coming up and I've put together my little wish list..Hope Santa gets me at least 1 from my list (prettty please!!!)

1.) Clarisonic Mia 2 - I heard a lot of good reviews about this product and would really like to try it. I'm not getting any younger ;)

2.) Olympus OM-D - really need a new camera but the price, eek! I don't want a dslr camera because of the weight and the size so this might be the next best thing for me.

3.) Kobo Reader - our very own Canadian version of Kindle! I borrowed my friend's kobo when I went to Mexico and I got hooked. I read four books! 

4.) Suitcase - this one is Rimowa but I will take what I can get as long as it's polycarbonate. 

5.) Acne Pistol boots - lusting over boots forever! it's sooo perfect!!
6.) World Map - i can settle for this one after searching all over the internet.

And...I will take any gift cards from Zara, Mango, etc! 

What's on your wish list?

Instagram Friday's

Lately on my instagram/iphone...

hot chocolate

 night out with my boys

 

 woke up happy

 happy chicken

 fall

 bbq pork ramen

 veal chops with mushrooms

 sashimi

 happy halloween

knitting a scarf for my baby nephew

 bento box goodness

artichoke dip

Cenote

After climbing the pyramid, it was time to go to a cenote (sinkhole) to cool down. It was about a 20 minute drive from Coba. The Yucatan peninsula is well known for cenotes. Read more about that here.  I was really excited to go!!

The cenote that we visited felt like our very own private space. We were the only one's there. No other tour groups joined us which was actually amazing!
The entrance was a little scary. Just imagine going down a hole. It was dark at first and the steps was wet so I was very careful descending because I was terrified to slip down.

The water was so refreshing! It was the best way to cool down and relax. The rock formations inside the cave was absolutely stunning.