An Alberta teaser

April 19, 2012June 3, 2012 / Greg / Leave a comment

Mountains, rivers, trees and lakes. A steady diet of bison, elk and beef. Million dollar views everywhere I turned. A strong desire to stay longer in the mountains. That’s the synopsis of my week in Banff and Lake Louise, Alberta. I’m settling in tonight to sort through about a thousand photos (900 of which have a snow-capped mountain somewhere in the frame) and to start writing about this trip. There will be more to come over the next week or two, but here’s a teaser of the beauty that permeated my spirit over the past week:

Restless traveler

March 26, 2012June 3, 2012 / Greg / Leave a comment

When I go more than a few months without busting out of town, I get restless. The kind of restless where a simple article, tweet, image or TV clip of somewhere else (anywhere else, really) can get me thinking about packing my bag and grabbing my passport.

I’ve been in a travel rut this winter. Plans for a guys trip to Trinidad fell through, and with a few work commitments and constraints, it’s been harder than usual to make travel plans. Thankfully, my travel restlessness is thawing now and there are a few adventures on the horizon. In a couple of weeks, I’ll be touring Banff and Lake Louise. Shortly after that, Dad and I are taking in three Blue Jays games (and likely, quite a few Ontario microbrews at my favourite Toronto bar, the Rebel House) over an extended weekend. A short July break in Ottawa is now booked. The pin board of locations for a summer trip is being narrowed as we watch flight prices bop up and down to Scandinavia and a few select European destinations. Fall plans for a trip to Colorado are moving from being penciled in to being written in ink.

All in all, things are looking up after a slow start to the year.

Memories of games past

February 3, 2012June 3, 2012 / Greg / Leave a comment

Over the past 5 years or so, I’ve been fortunate to be able to combine two of my passions on a number of occasions – travel and football (make it 3 passions if you include stadium food). With the spirit of one of my favourite days of the year (Super Bowl Sunday) upon me, here’s a quick pictorial look back at my football game experiences.

With my love at our first ever NFL game in Philadelphia in late October 2006 (Eagles lose to the Jags 13-6):

In New Orleans for my first Monday night game – Saints lose 31-14 in their home opener vs Titans in September 2007:

My love gets to see her team for the first time in Pittsburgh: Steelers beat Seattle 21-0 on a steamy 34C day in October 2007:

Some dumb luck getting cheap tickets and enough points to get free flights sees us back in Pittsburgh in October 2008, this time for a great rivalry game on Monday night: Steelers beat Ravens 23-20 in OT (to date, the best game either of us has seen in person):