oh canada........

aaah the land of the maple leaf and of course more importantly maple syrup. we arrived this morning after a rather hair raising flight in the world's smallest plane. i tell you after this holiday i dont want to see another plane for a heck of a long time - its train and ferrys for me all the way from now on - well thats what i say anyway. we landed safely although we cant say the same for ricky's bag -it arrived in a some what disheveled state with a massive tear up the side and his smalls hanging out - oh dear. i dont think masking tape will save this one, think we will need to make a trip to the nearest shopping mall (shame eh???).

first impressions count and we are not disappointed from what we have seen so far, it is a really beautiful city and we cant wait to get out and explore more. we are just hoping the weather holds so we can get up the mountains for the stunning vistas we have been promised. at the moment its a bit cloudy and colder but we are enjoying wrapping up for a change as ricky is looking a wee bit sunburnt from our escapades in california, even the man at the front desk commented on what a wonderful "tan" he had.

we were mingling with the rich and famous alright in the california sunshine and we seen some mighty prime real estate (not to be confused with sub prime). First we took the 17 mile drive out of Monteray around pebble beach (ricky was particularly thrilled with our visit to the golf club although wouldnt bring himself to pay $25 for a cap - i dont blame him, it was yellow after all), we then made our way down the big sur coastline which was absolutely stunning and was made all the more atmospheric by the pockets of fog that kept on wafting in from the sea. we decided before hitting LA to spend a night in santa barbara, where we saw the fire raging, it had just started that day and we saw the eeriest sun set with an huge orange and black cloud and sun peeping through it - weird right enough. on wed we finished our time in california by visiting malibu for a walk along the beach and then took a drive along sunset strip, rodeo drive and santa monica boulevard, i was trying to do my best paparazzo impression but i dont think i should give up the day job as we didnt see one single celebrity. i didnt even see the hollywood sign. i must be the only person to go to beverly hills and not see that damn sign - i wasnt happy - i had my glasses on and everything.

so anyway back to canada, we are in vancouver for at least the next 4 days, ricky by mistake managed to book us into the most expensive hotel in vancouver - he says it was a romantic gesture but i know that last minute obviously offered up a decent rate as he seemed mighty shocked it had designer shops in the lobby and mumbled something about how we should explore and find a starbucks. i'm not thinking our budget stretches to the restaurant, but hey i am happy just to be eating something other than american fare. i didnt think i could ever have such an aversion to eating cheese. happily though the food front is already looking better with lots of sushi, italian and fusion places within easy reach - they also have pubs here - thank the lord - speaking of which i hear a pint of liquid calling me, i had better go and make sure it has some peanuts to keep it company, catch you all soon xx