"Hope you enjoy my travels!" goldenodin's Profile

I've always wanted to travel. I'd love to work at a travel agency. I love hunting for things on the internet - places to see, stay, deals. (Thank God for the internet). I like planning way ahead, doing lots of research.
I started out only wanting to go to Australia and Scotland, but after getting hooked on Rick Steves, that has definitely changed.
I have a great yearning to see all these old world countries, and I'm glad this website is here so I can share it with my friends (and not have to type it ten times in an email!!). And it helps me to remember all the fun things that have happening in my limited travelling experiences. So I hope you like what you see and read, and leave me some comments!

Me and Odin, Peggy

Married since 2004, I've been with Darrin since 1990. I work retail in a camera/scrapbooking shop - which meshes nicely with my hobbies...enjoy doing crafty stuff - scrapbooking, handmade cards, cross stitch. I enjoy taking pictures, and don't know WHY I ever thought digital cameras were silly! I love mine!

Someday York Minster for real! (Woodleigh, PEI)

New York at Thanksgiving, just when the Christmas stuff starts happening.
Greece
Belgium
France
Scotland
Boston - gotta go back in September for a week
Montreal - again - next time U2 plays there!
Quebec City
Holland - tulip time
Denmark (to see my penpal) - anytime!
Toronto again - gotta do the ROM when I have more time.
Las Vegas - just for all the neon lights, and Arizona - you gotta do the Grand Canyon, don't ya??

Lookoff, Annapolis Valley

There are so many places to see. Halifax in August for the Busker Festival is awesome - a great way to waste a day. Or Hfx when the Tall Ships are around. Or Hfx for the Royal Nova Scotia Tattoo!
South Shore - Mahone Bay is lovely - lots of festivals - Wooden Boat in August, Scarecrow (or Pumpkin People??) in Sept/Oct, Father Christmas in Nov/Dec. Lunenburg, a world heritage sight, and my mother-in-laws hometown - gorgeous.
Cape Breton - Fort Louisburg, and the Cabot Trail anytime, but October is amazing for foliage.
Annapolis Valley...It's been a few years since we've gone to the valley, but went for a Sat in Oct - forgot how gorgeous it is. As you are coming down the highway, and the Valley opens up, and the mountains on either side. It was apple picking time, and trees starting to turn. What a beautiful day. Look-off is worth the drive (not a very long one) and the Oaklawn Farm Zoo is nice. They feed the big cats around 5-6pm, otherwise, they just kinda lay there, but it's fun feeding the goats and deer. Farmer's Family Diner near the Zoo - yummy food. Not a big menu, but very filling. Nice homemade brown bread rolls and homemade bread for the sandwiches. And the desserts...homemade pies! To die for!

My husband in Venice

I am a 'mad' planner - I can sit in front of the computer for hours looking for the best deals on accomodations, looking for attractions, researching train schedules and plane schedules - I wish I could get paid for it. Every person who I told we were going to Europe asked if we did a package tour, but I said no, we're doing it ourselves. All our accomodations were great and (mostly) well priced, had pretty good grasp of what we wanted to see and train schedules, tho they didn't always agree with us!

Me at -YES - Trevi Fountain, Roma!

Well, hubby and I had our 'dream' vacation and have been bitten hard by the travel bug. Had 16 days to explore Italy and London. Rome, Naples, Cinque Terre, Genoa, Bologna, Venice - wow...we had the BEST time and can't wait to do it again!
In 2010, we returned and visited Paris, Germany, Austria, Venice and Milan, Switzerland and England again.
In 2011, visited New York City and Washington, hoping to revisit Europe again in 2012.

Me, my sis Kimberly, my niece River in London

This was the low-light of our trip. We took a train from Genova, heading for Bologna, connecting in Milan. So, of course, being Italy, our arriving train is 15 min late, and we had 20 min to make our connection. So, of course, there are 20 platforms in Milan and we are frantically scanning the board to find our train (not realising final destination was Pescara). By the time we find it on the schedule and sprint to the track (at the other end of the station) the train was truly JUST leaving. One minute faster! So, we go to the train (so called) customer service to have our ticket fixed (we had assigned seats). The lady writes train number 126, leaving in 45 min. So, after waiting, we get on the next train heading to Pescara, find an employee to tell us where to sit...she says this isn't the right train, you want the one on the next track, going to Venice. OK (you think the idiot would've realised that train didn't stop in Bologna!). So, get on the other train, by the time we find an employee to find out where we should sit, train has left the station. He looks bewildered and says we're on wrong train...we say the other lady told us this was the correct train...of course we were on the right train in the first place. He says, you have to get off in Verona and catch the train back to Bologna. The 'good' news, you have 5 MINUTES!!!! to make your connection. Yeah, like that'll happen. By this time I had a breakdown and had to go to the nearest bathroom for a good cry. FRUSTRATION! So we missed connection, another 45 min wait. Finally get on the right train. After supposed to get to Bologna by 6pm, we arrived 10:30pm. Luckily, our couchsurfing host was understanding. Thank goodness ther est of the trip was mostly trouble free.

Me and hubby in Corniglia, Cinque Terre, It

Well, everything was great, but one thing really stands out, plus one humourous moment. The humourous moment...sitting outside the Coliseum, and there was an American couple sitting beside us (trying not to be tortured by the foreign guys selling scarves that won't leave you alone). She asks where we are from, we say Nova Scotia, Canada, she says..."Oh, ya'all speak English up there?" Then immediately realised what she said, and says..."Well, I guess you know we're American!" TOO FUNNY.
Our other great people story. We're in Corniglia, Cinque Terre, looking for a place to grab breakfast as the bar we ate at the morning before was closed. An Australian lady comes along and talks to us for a few minutes (telling us why some places were closed - I guess they take turns thoughout the village closing on diff days). She then offers to cook us breakfast if we wanted to go back to her room! And she wasn't trying to rob us or anything - just being super-nice. She was there with her husband and small child. Anyways, we didn't take her up on her offer, but imagine offering total strangers breakfast!
One other funny - in one of the villages in Cinque Terre at the train station, there is a woman there wearing a Roots Canada sweater. A man walks by and says, oh, you're from Canada, me too, where are you from? She looks very sheepish and says she is actually from New York! Faker! Hope she didn't give us Canadians a bad name!!