Campbell River again.

One of my favourite posts that I've done was of visiting Nanette in Campbell River last year. Once again, Jose and I made our way up there and had another lovely weekend.

We arrived to the ferry terminal only to find out that the next ferry was full, and so we had to wait for another two hours. Poor José, that's all I can say! It was hot, I was hungry and I hate waiting. Some seriously hangryness!

Once we got to Nanette's, we were all hungry and so opened the wine and enjoyed a very nutritious dinner!

Saturday morning, coffee and bread.

Nanette was very kind and arranged for us to go horse riding. I loved watching José trying to move in rhythm with the trotting horse - highly entertaining!

I have a thing with animal noses...

I know this picture is blurry, but it truly shows my joy at feeding the horse an apple. The way that they gobble it up is just so funny. Actually, the horse looks quite terrified of me. 

This is the horse that Nanette rides at her lessons, he is for big people, and Nanette made sure José and I had 'little people horses' haha. Nanette has such a way of saying things!

In the evening, we all grouped together and made this lovely pie called the 'Very Full Pie' that we found in an Ottolenghi cookbook.  

We spent the rest of the evening lazing around drinking wine, eating chocolate, reading and then we watched a movie. 

On Sunday morning, we went to a cabin resort called the Dolphins Resort. To me, the name sounds a bit tacky, a bit... Acapulco 1980s... however it is rustic and cozy and the views are incredible. They should think about a new name. Breakfast was great, I had the salmony benny, Nanette had crepes and Jose an avocado moose benny with a carrot cake pancake on the side. 

Of course, I had to make a boob joke at this point of the breakfast. 

I had never ever seen a tree like this before. 

We found this wedding site and thought we would get our rehearsal out the way! Just kidding, we just pretended to get married on the beach. 

I wonder which flower company this is? 

As we were driving alone, we came across a small farm with a pumpkin field. 

In my next life, I'd like to a sunflower. 

I really feel like we got the last of the summer sun, it was actually really hot all weekend. We slept lots, ate lots and laughed lots and I think we came back to Vancouver feel revitalized and refreshed. 

Sweet Bake Shop.

I read about a new bakery in Yaletown about a week ago and I've had ants in my pants since then to go. It's called the Sweet Bake Shop and they offer cupcakes, cookies, coffee, custom cakes and lots of other cute things. It is a bit girly, but José said his lemon cupcake was really delicious. It sort of reminds of the original Cupcakes store, but a much fresher version. The cupcakes here are also a little smaller, which I think is nice because cupcakes can be so big they make you feel sick. I read on the website that the lady ran this business from her kitchen before opening up this store. She had a love of baking and made a living out of this - I wish I could do something like that. The man at the front said they were applying for patio/alcohol licensing , so cupcakes and champagne! One other thing I liked - they have Stevia!

Mexico.

México Lindo y Querido!
While I was living in Mexico City in 2010/2011, I had another blog, but it was only really for my Facebook-less mum and dad and a few close friends - (One of my favourite posts). Day-to-day, more unusual or interesting things would happen to us in Mexico. Often, I would be in a situation and think 'Never, ever would this happen in Canada! Only in Mexico!'

I was having a nostalgic moment last week and wanted to do a Mexico Post. I don't live there anymore, but here are the things I miss. 

Xalapa - We lived in Xalapa between 2008/2009. Although Xalapa isn't the most beautiful city, it has a lot of character and it's a very cozy/foggy city. I 'studied' Spanish here with my friends from university, and I have a lot of memories of this time (good and bad). 

This is the E.E.E. (Escuela para Estudiantes Extranjeros) or, School for Foreign Students. It looks a bit like a jail, but this is where we attempted to try and learn Spanish!

At La Forja - The best Argentinian restaurant. Big slabs of meat and cheap red wine - a student favourite. Even the owner seemed drunk most of the time! José and I look young and chubby. 

  Nothing beats a good night out in Mexico. I feel bad, but Vancouver nightlife is no comparison. I think it's the music and it's cheap! You can have a really good night for less than half the price of what it would cost here. 

 Small traditional towns close by. 

  

Día de los Muertos. This holiday in early November was always my favourite and we used to go to a little town called Naolinco.

I love being at Jose's house in Coatepec.

When Andrew came to Xalapa. 

I was so excited when mum, dad and Antony came to Xalapa in 2009. I like this family picture. 

Introducing them to tacos!

Callejón Gonzalez Aparicio is the place to go for cozy drinks. Although it has changed a bit over the years and the cobbled streets have been replaced with slabs, it feels so different than anything you can find at home. 

This picture makes me laugh. Other people who have lived in Mexico will probably get this. As we all know, Mexican food is good... really good, but we can't quite handle this type of spicy, cheesy, carby food without some intestinal problems. Papaya is a life saver. 

Cheap fruit!

Mexico City - Jose had to move to Mexico City for his job, and I joined him in August 2010. I stayed in Mexico City for about eight months. For me, eight months was quite enough! I had a total love/hate relationship with Mexico City. I'm sure most people do. I loved the history, the buildings, La Condesa, La Roma, the restaurants and the shopping. I hated the pollution, the traffic and the busyness... and well, that's it really!

The Zocalo (main square) is fascinating. This history of this part absolutely amazes me. I always think back to the time of the Aztecs, the city on water and then the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500's... and yet here we are drinking a beer in 2014. It does get really busy here and areas around can be quite dangerous, but just be careful that's all. 

Parts of the Aztec ruins have been dug up. No biggie. 

The cathedral is actually sinking due to the unstable ground beneath it. You can feel quite dizzy walking around here. 

One of the main streets through Mexico City, Paseo de la Reforma, becomes a pedestrian zone on Sundays. You can walk, ride bikes or join in Zumba classes. The palace at the end of the street is called Chapultapec Castle.  It is currently a National History Museum, but it was the residence of Maximilian I, the monarch of the Second Mexican Empire. Some European that basically came strolling into México and tried to claim himself 'king'. A lot of the building around this area have a very European feel. 

There are a few things I miss here. 1) Our hair in Mexico City. There must be something in the water that makes your hair so soft. I miss good hair days! 2) Frida Kahlo's house in Coyoacan. I'm a bit Frida obsessed; I loved being there and trying to imagine her and Diego just having a normal day in the garden. 

Our little apartment. 

Weekends. So much to explore. 

I don't like to see animals in cages, but the zoo is a nice place to visit. Especially the big fat hippos. 

In general, people dress up a lot more in Mexico City. Even if you are going to see a movie, people like to look nice. I was always doing my hair and makeup and now it feels like I hardly ever do (maybe that's more of an age thing!)

Music festivals and eating crappy food and not feeling guilty or gaining weight... but generally not feeling very healthy at the end of the day. 

Danica in Mexico City! 

Seeing Shakira in concert. Best convert ever. I cried at the end because I couldn't believe it was all over. 

 My first Mexican wedding (not mine). It was at a beautiful church in San Angel. The party after was so much fun. A lot of tequila-themed games - i.e 'Who can drink the most amount of tequila for the most amount of time'... I only made it to 7 seconds... If I remember correctly, the winner was a woman who got to 17 seconds... that's Mexican tolerance for you!

Veracruz - My favourite place, and the first place I ever went to. I distinctly remember in 2007, arriving to the bus station, the bus doors opening and being hit in the face by the humidity. During the summer this place is hot and sweaty! It was 5am in the morning, people were still out on the streets, eating food and hanging out on the Boulevard. I could hear music everywhere and I was in such latin culture shock. Veracruz will always be special and it is so sad to see how the drug cartels have caused so many problems here, but I still love coming here. 

There are so many other things I want to include, but I think this is enough for now.