prairie girl musings

Tag: Adventure

Next Stop: Chicago

Chicago’s been on my list of must-see cities since my family visited (sans moi) a few years ago. Granted, I was living in New Zealand at the time, so passing up on a few North American trips didn’t seem like such a big deal. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to visiting the Windy City! I’m especially excited to see Chicago’s outdoor public art, something it’s known for around the world. Chicagoans truly take pride in their city, which makes it such an amazing city to visit. My New Yorker cousin (who formerly lived in San Francisco and Toronto) said that she loves Chicago because even the homeless marvel at their city: “Would ya look at that sculpture? It’s beautiful!”

My sisters and I will arrive in Chi-Town tonight, and I’ve already drafted up a list of things for us to do. Of course, there won’t be much time for sightseeing as we’ll be in meetings all day, but a girl can dream:

1. Ukrainian Cathedrals: I can’t wait to check out the majestic domes that peek out over the treetops in the Ukrainian Village of Chicago.

2. Pilsen Murals

3. Spend an hour perusing the Randolph Street Market

4. Grab a coffee at The Wormhole on Milwaukee Avenue

5. Indulge in a slice of Chicago’s deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s

6. Sit down for well-crafted cocktail at The Violet Hour.

7. Warm up with a hot chocolate from Hot Chocolate.

8. Check out the Chicago skyline atop the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower).

9. Enjoy a rooftop drink at our hotel’s bar.

10. While there’s no shortage of good breakfast places in Chicago, I’ve heard that Bongo Room serves the perfect laidback morning feast.

11. Visit Tribune Campus at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Have you ever been to Chicago? What are some must-sees and dos for a non-tourist traveller?

For frequent updates, follow my Instagram and Twitter accounts!

xoxo, Vanessa

September 27, 2013
“She’s mad but …

“She’s mad but she’s magic. There’s no lie in her fire.”

– Charles Bukowski

July 4, 2013
Southeast Asia: Bali, Indonesia

Ever since Elizabeth Gilbert released her bestselling novel, Eat, Pray, Love with a movie deal to boot, everyone’s been abuzz with the intention of quitting their day job and jet setting around the world. I’m no stranger to this philosophy, in fact, I experienced my quarter-life crisis a bit earlier than most. At the age of nineteen, I resolved to study abroad for six months, merely to escape the sensation of of being sentenced to a life in a deadbeat American town; a town that, to me, personified the expression “bible belt.” I decided on New Zealand because I already knew a handful of people who had been to Australia (Like I said, I was having an early onset of a quarter-life crisis, and determined to go someplace where I knew absolutely no one.) Plus, Australia would be a good place to escape during our two-week Easter break, with a size and mentality comparable to Canada. And that was only the beginning, upon returning to what I considered a mediocre university town, I simply couldn’t seem to get back in the swing of things.

Flash-forward to 2012: As I prepared to begin my last semester at the University of Auckland, I knew this was possibly my last opportunity for frivolous travel prior to beginning my professional life post-convocation. (Who was I kidding?) My high school education and family vacations had already taken me throughout North America and Europe several times. Fortunately, my cousin Lucia had a similar mindset, having just begun her first semester abroad in Auckland. We decided that on top of our local travels within New Zealand, (a country of four million) we would additionally benefit from a mini-vacation to Southeast Asia. I spoke of our Malaysian adventure in my last post, but before I go all Eat, Pray, Love on you, I’d like to rationalize why we decided to visit Bali.

Bali is a breathtakingly beautiful island, with several excellent tourist options available. We wanted to dip our feet in the culture surrounding Bali. We also wanted to indulge in a vibrant nightlife and relaxing retreat that recharged our batteries mid-semester. My Canadian friends, an adventurous couple, Kirsten and Steve, had both been to Bali separately, and revelled about their experiences. Steve urged us to visit Ubud, Bali’s cultural capital. Needless to say, we were not disappointed with its abundance of art galleries, culinary delights, wildlife and exotic temples. Every community in Bali has a local temple, and every family builds a more compact temple in their home. I was incredibly intrigued by this form of devotion. We also visited a monkey temple (or so we thought); our tour guide, Sudarma corrected us immediately and told us it was a regular temple, but the monkeys protected its sanctity and acted as guards of the grounds.

September 15, 2012
Kuala Lumpur, Man vs. Nature

Having lived in New Zealand for two and a half years, I finally ventured to Southeast Asia this April with my cousin, Lucia and a friend from British Columbia. We all fell in love with the sights, sounds and smells of Malaysia and Indonesia. The following are some of our favourite aspects of exploring Kuala Lumpur.

1. Kuala Lumpur’s delicious and enticing street markets:

During our four nights in Kuala Lumpur, we couldn’t seem to get enough of the Petaling market, which takes place every night in the Chinatown district. The options for stir frying were endless, and we ended up having barbecue vegetables nearly every night! The outdoor dining was second-to-none, as most of the stalls were accompanied with picnic tables and various seating options! As we’ve come to accept, Chinatown also featured an array of “Genuine Fake” Longchamp totes, carryalls and Ray Ban sunglasses. Luckily, there were enough culinary options to keep us occupied for the duration of our travels!

2. Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary

Visiting the elephant orphanage was a definite highlight of our trip to Malaysia. All three of us loved the day long excursion to Kuala Gandah, which is approximately three hours from Kuala Lumpur. The sanctuary strives to help endangered elephants. What really caught my eye, in the elephant holding area, where we had lunch prior to feeding the elephants, were the little ones! After speaking to the handlers, we realized that these elephants we thought of as babies were actually adolescents. After the feeding, we stayed around to go on a brief elephant ride.

3. Our fantastic accommodation at Reggae Mansion:

Thank goodness for our travel agent at Student Flights (NZ), Pauline! Not only did she book us several incredible tours throughout our two-week holiday, she also managed to find the most amazing (and affordable) hostels. A highlight was Reggae Mansion situated in downtown KL. It’s the ideal spot to meet like-minded tourists, especially young travellers. The hostel features a rooftop patio bar, along with a cafe and restaurant in the lobby. The rooms are air-conditioned (a big MUST due to KL’s record-high temperatures and humidity!) We engaged in various social activities during our stay, organized by the hostel owners and I’d highly recommend a stop at Reggae if you are ever in KL!

4. Shop ‘Til You Drop!

Kuala Lumpur is a shopper’s paradise, with its sky-high malls and monumental towers featuring shops to suit every taste and budget! Many visitors are surprised by the modernity and man-made glory of Kuala Lumpur. Others are convinced KL is the prime example of man versus nature. We appreciated both aspects of our visit, and couldn’t conceal our excitement with both the Bintang Bukit and Pavillion Malls, which featured an array of restaurants, high street stores and ridiculous architecture.

5. The famously beautiful Batu Caves

You cannot plan a trip to Malaysia and not visit the Batu Caves. Standing at 140 feet, the world’s tallest statue of Murugan, a Hindu deity, is located outside the Batu Caves. The venerable, visually-stunning monument is a breathtaking place for worship. The trek up to the temple consists of nearly 300 steps, lined with monkeys who like to tease the visitors. The caves are a top tourist attraction bringing international guests to KL’s suburbs.

Part II, coming soon! It will feature some highlights of our Bali trip!

Until next time,

Vanessa

August 14, 2012
The Capital of Cool: Copenhagen

Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, is one of my favourite cities in the world. While my younger sister was studying abroad in Sweden this past semester, I had to opportunity to travel much of Scandinavia with family, friends as well as on my own. I spent four days in Denmark following a stint in Oslo with my friend, Brenden. It was my first time travelling solo, and I have never felt more liberated! Copenhagen is amazing on so many levels. First, it’s compact and walkable. I was able to navigate from the airport (I flew Air Baltic) to the central train station to my hotel to the downtown amenities seamlessly. I packed very lightly, which was a tremendous feat given the size of my wardrobe. Speaking of wardrobe, Copenhagen is the capital of design, it plays an integral role in the fashion and industrial design industries, and The Dansk Design Center was one of my first stops upon arrival in Copenhagen. It features exhibitions by local artists, cutting edge Danish designers and advocates design driven innovation and works to improve public products and services through society projects. If you ever have the chance, I’d highly recommend spending a day here. There’s so much fun to be had, and it truly is an engaging experience! Danish architecture is also highly impressive with its recent boom in modern architecture. Its pastries, of course are second to none. My favourite spot being Lagkagehuset, which can be found in several locations throughout the city. The window displays are especially enticing on a cold February morning, and their hot chocolate is simply divine!

Copenhagen has several Michelin-starred restaurants, but also a myriad of more affordable and equally delectable options! If you’re a fan of Carlsberg beer, I’d suggest checking out their brewery as the Danes are very generous with tastings and samples. I also admire how progressive Denmark is as a country.
As you probably already know, Copenhagen has the highest rate of bicycle ownership per capital of ANYWHERE in the world. Wherever you go, you’ll see fashionably-clad Danish beauties aboard two-wheelers. The frocks on bikes trend we’ve seen emerge over the past few years à la Scott Schuman (The Sartorialist) and Garance Doré have clearly been inspired by the Danes.

Recently, the New York Times revealed that a new super highway was being constructed for Copenhagen citizens, encouraging further bike use! Check out this video posted on the NY Times twitter page:
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2012/07/17/world/europe/100000001632565/a-green-light-for-copenhagens-cyclists.html?smid=tw-nytimes

I’m a huge advocate for sustainable transport. I truly realized the value of public transport while living in Auckland. Auckland’s an isthmus, which makes it difficult to implement any sort of viable transport. Furthermore, the auto-dependence is outrageous with more than 80% of Aucklanders driving to work and new motorways constantly being built. This is nothing new to Aucklanders who’ve grown accostomed to their gas guzzling ways. Europeans however, sharply intake almost immediately upon arrival in Auckland as decent public transport is ingrained in their mentality. Copenhagen’s decision to implement and promote physical activity and sustainbility is what makes it such a pleasant place to live or visit!

One of my favourite pieces of artwork by Edgar Degas, The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer

Every city should have a town square, this is a wonderful place to congregate in Copenhagen.

Dansk Design Center

July 18, 2012
they were kids that I once knew

Isn’t first love amazing? This photo is exceedingly nostalgic, and too adorable not to post on a overcast Friday morning. I’ve just finished a brisk, 6km run and am pouring over old photographs from the past three years as I’m on Nick’s laptop (mine was left at university during finals, oops!) We’ve reached the end of our three week long holiday in Saskatchewan, and Nick is heading back to Auckland to resume his Honours degree in Transport Design.

As Nick packs up his bags, I’m left with the remnants of our time together this summer. He recently spent his twenty-second birthday in Saskatchewan, as well as his twentieth and twenty-first. I’m utterly perplexed as to how we made this relationship work, despite the endless shifts we’ve encountered due to being from different continents. So, here we go again; another three months apart until I (possibly) return in October for my university convocation. My heart has been stretched, has expanded in so many ways over the past three and a half years. I neglected my first love, dance, in favour of new loves: travel, romance, and adventure. I never fathomed I could exist without it, but somehow I managed, even thrived without the thing that once defined me. Upon my return to North America, I jumped right back into it and planned on dancing on a cruise ship for 6-9 months. My first (and only) audition was flawless, and my mother watched as they ruthlessly cut the dancers down from 76 to 20, then to eight and finally, four. But foolishness always gets the best of me, and after my audition with Royal Caribbean Cruises in Edmonton, I decided instead to move to New Zealand to give love (and a liberal arts education) a fair chance. I’ll blame it on listening to far too much Celine Dion as a child.

Before we head off to the airport, I’ll leave you with a photograph taken two summers ago. It was taken at a pub we still frequent in Saskatoon called O’Shea’s during Nick’s first visit to Canada. We hadn’t seen each other since February, and I was about to move to Auckland to begin my BA at the University of Auckland. Life was full of possibility as I embarked on a new journey.

As we grow and evolve, I hope we continue to see the choices we’re making at the moment as the right ones. Perhaps I’m a walking, breathing cliche, but following my heart has never failed me. I hope you have the courage to follow yours. x

V.

July 13, 2012