Author: Greg

Take me out to 5 ballgames

/ Greg / Leave a comment

I aim to take full advantage of my solo trips. When I’m traveling alone, I make the kind of plans that I couldn’t get away with if I was traveling with others. My favourite solo trip plan, something I’ve been doing the past few years in an annual tradition of sorts, is to camp out in a big American city for 4-5 days, and spend most of that in a ballpark nerding out over baseball. The last few years I’ve pulled this off in Baltimore, Minneapolis and Chicago. This year… Philadelphia.

Five nights, five baseball games. After arriving in Philly via a red-eye and fortified by a brief nap at my downtown hotel, I hopped on the Broadway subway line and made my way out for night one at Citizens Bank Park in south Philadelphia. I treated myself to what would be the best seat of my visit a mere ten rows off the field. Here’s the first pitch from that glorious seat.

First Phillies game

Continue reading →

Sea of green

/ Greg / Leave a comment

It is a full on annual tradition now. Summer in Saskatchewan means hopping in the car, making our way south to Regina, getting dressed in green, and heading to a Riders game. And like our football trips the previous two years, we were given yet another spectacular day to sit outside and cheer on the good guys. As one super Rider fan used to quip… sea of green, sky of blue.

Mosaic Stadium

Continue reading →

Memories of New Brunswick

/ Greg / Leave a comment

Beresford, New Brunswick is a long, long way from Saskatoon. Three flights across the country gave me a lot of time to think about the fact that I’d be visiting the new home of my parents for the first time a few months after they moved away from what was our family home just outside of Halifax. While this was first and foremost a visit to catch up, it was also a visit to check in and see how they were doing in New Brunswick and to visit an area I hadn’t seen in close to twenty years.

Shortly after getting off the plane and reuniting with Mom and Dad, I got to catch up with the other family member that had made the move… Tia. Good dog!

TIa

Continue reading →

When vacation begins

/ Greg / Leave a comment

October 4, 2018 – Lisbon, Portugal

Quiet.

The morning noises of the city are far, far below this lookout and only the early risers are up here milling around. Behind me, the church bells rang twice and a tranquil concopheny of languages fills the air. I can see cars driving across the bridge through a light haze, and flights on their descent to the airport cross the sky every minute or so. 

These are some of my favourite moments of my trips. Being still, while hard for someone as restless as me, comes easier in Europe. Some combination of the view, the sounds, the taste of an espresso and the light breeze have me relaxed for what feels like the first time in ages. This vacation has been a long time coming. While having been here for a few days already, I think this moment, high above Lisbon, is when my spirit has arrived with my body on vacation. 

Lisbon, Portugal

 

Fifteen foot tall Lanny McDonald

/ Greg / Leave a comment

I’m still getting used to having Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver as my extended long weekend city destinations rather than Montreal and Toronto when I lived in the east. Even though it was a quick visit for my first ever time in Calgary back in June, the city left a great impression on me and I think I’ll be bumping Calgary up in the rotation when I’m craving some big city fun.

One of the reasons I left Calgary with an eye to returning was how visually appealing the downtown area was on a couple of aimless wandering hikes. And a huge reason for that was some very interesting art, including what was probably my favouite and most visually arresting piece I’ve seen this year – Wonderland by Jaume Plensa. It’s a piece I could instantly relate to as one representing imagination and dreams. I connected with this immediately because on my hiking around a new city, I’m always lost in my own mind and thoughts.

Wonderland by Jaume Plensa

Continue reading →

Rainy days and penguins

/ Greg / Leave a comment

The Calgary Zoo was the hook for an extended long-weekend trip that also happened to be our sixth honeymoon. I’m honestly loving that tradition. The corresponding anniversary gift this year would have been wood… I think a trip is better than that. We had planned a large part of one of our Calgary days for the zoo, but Mother Nature had other ideas and the morning’s biblical rains made me wonder if we’d see any animals at all. Seeing a possible break in the weather later in the day, we held off on our visit.

It seems like most of Calgary decided against the zoo and changed their day’s plans because once the clouds cleared mid afternoon, it felt like we had the place mostly to ourselves. How often, without waiting in a line, can you get extended, uninterrupted panda time?

Panda at Calgary Zoo

Continue reading →

Eating our way through Calgary

/ Greg / Leave a comment

Any visit to a new to me city means I get excited during the trip planning for laying out an itinerary for my eating and craft beer exploits. And then when I arrive in that city, I am usually consumed with where to eat the next meal or have my next craft beer, even with a plate of food and a cold beer within arms reach and actively being devoured.

I got a lot of strange looks when I told people that this would be my first visit to Calgary. But soon after reminding people Calgary was a lot further away from Halifax than Saskatoon, those quizzical expressions turned into many, many helpful suggestions of places my wife and I should visit during an extended long weekend stay.

One of the most common recommendations was the Calgary’s Farmer’s Market. A pouring down raining Saturday morning made this a no brainer while we waited for the skies to clear for a later day visit to the zoo. Exceptional gluten-free doughnuts from Jelly Modern Doughnuts, a perfectly balanced sweet-spiced iced chai latte from Analog Coffee (as well as a pound of coffee beans to bring back to Saskatoon) and a delicious al pastor taco from Los Chilitos Taqueria made for a nice second breakfast that morning.

Continue reading →

Just over this mountain

/ Greg / 2 Comments

I live in a place with precious little change in elevation. The city landfill might be the highest point above sea level (crop level?) in Saskatoon. On the outskirts of the city, on clear days, it feels like if you stood on your tip toes, you might be able to see the Calgary Tower off in the distance. Granted, that’s hyperbole, but you get the picture.

For honeymoon number six, continuing a grand relationship tradition that has freed both of us from anniversary gift shopping, we choose to do a western Canadian road trip for our first ever visit to Calgary, and then a day trip onward up into the Rockies. Mountains, much like oceans, never get old to my eyes.

In the Rockies

Continue reading →