We started our road trip yesterday with a 10-hour drive to Fredericton. We packed everything in the car the night before and got up at 5am to hit the road by 6am. The unfortunate thing about leaving that early is that you hit some rush hour traffic in Montreal. It wasn’t all that bad, though and we made our first pit-stop on the Autoroute 20 just south of Quebec City. We stopped and had lunch at a picnic area in Quebec with a nice view of the Laurentians and the St. Lawrence. From there, Lara drove us into New Brunswick. We got into Fredericton around dinner time and loaded up on a big lobster dinner (what better way to start a trip to the Atlantic provinces?).
I’m always amazed at how well our kids travel. I’ve talked to people who wouldn’t even dream of taking their kids to Montreal because the two-hour drive would be torture. The kids played with their games, watched movies, too naps and didn’t even ask how much farther it was until we were seven hours into the drive.
When we got into Fredericton, we first checked into our digs. Before the trip I was looking into places to stay and found that hotels were crazy expensive. I guess that should be expected with high-season, last minute bookings. We were also planning on camping, but wouldn’t have had enough room in the car for all the equipment (we were pretty full already). We decided that we would look at accommodations at universities. Many universities open up their residences for tourists in the summer months for a pittance compared to the price of hotels. We stayed the first night at UNB in Fredericton for around $40 for the whole family compared with about $130 for a hotel. The rooms are large and clean and get the job done, and there’s a kitchen just down the hall. There’s no AC and things get a bit stuffy, but it’s not that bad. Mankind survived for tens of thousands of years without air conditioning, so I figure we can do it for a couple of weeks.
Today we’re going to be touring around Fredericton’s downtown and tomorrow we’re going to St. John. After that, the plans get a bit hazy, but we’re planning on seeing the Bay of Fundy and the flowerpot islands, going to Digby, NS for some whale watching (and Digby scallops!), Cape Breton, and then PEI. Mostly, we’re just playing it by ear.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Saturday, July 08, 2006
6 Weeks in 6 Paragraphs
A lot has happened in the last few weeks, but I’ve just been too lazy to write much about it. Here’s the executive summary.
Week of May 29, 2006
I taught a course in Mexico City this week. I arrived early on the Friday night and spent the Saturday touring Teotihuacan. I already wrote about that, so ‘nuff said. Unfortunately, I had a lot of work to do in the evenings so I didn’t get out half as much as I would have liked. I ate a lot of street vender food (the tacos were amazing) and didn’t get sick at all. After class on the Friday, I hopped in a cab and went out for a good dinner at Villa Maria. I slopped back a bit of tequila with it. Good times were had by all.
Week of June 5, 2006
My Uncle Ron lives in Morelia about four hours west of Mexico City, so on the Saturday, I hopped on a bus and went out to visit for a few days. The bus ride itself was pretty nice. The seats were comfortable and they showed movies. I watched The Dukes of Hazzard in Spanish. I had a great visit in Morelia. First of all, it was good to see my uncle again. He took me all around the area. We went to Patzcuaro to do some handicraft shopping, Tzintzuntzan to visit ruins, another town to look for pottery (the name escapes me at the moment), and Uruapan to visit some more ruins and a the Mexican national park. We also spent some time hanging around in Morelia. Morelia is a very pretty city that has been kept spotlessly clean. There are many great little cafes and restaurants in te downtown area as well as cathedrals, lovely architecture, and an aquaduct. It was a great mini vacation and I’m looking forward to going back with the family.
Week of June 12, 2006
I taught a course in Toronto that week. For the most part, it was same-old-same-old snce I go there all the time, but I did a couple of fun things. I decided it was a good opportunity to catch up on summer movies, so I saw X-Men and The DaVinci Code, and saw Mission Impossible 3 with Mez and Matt after a good Italian dinner in Aurora. That weekend, Lara and I took the kids to see Cars which was a blast.
Week of June 19, 2006
I had a few days at home and then left for Delhi, India on the Tuesday (I arrived on Wednesday night). I decided that I would get the sickness and jetlag out of my system before I had to start teaching on the Monday. I also wanted to do some sightseeing. On the Thursday, I did nothing and just hung around the hotel. The hotel was the Trident Hilton in Gurgaon about 45 minutes drive outside of Delhi. It’s a five-star, and was a great place to lounge, although quite expensive. I paid the same nightly rate as I did in midtown-Manhattan a few weeks before. That’s crazy expensive for India. The next day, I went on a tour of Delhi. Compared to a lot of what I’ve seen in India, Delhi has been cleaned up and modernized quite a bit. There are new parks going up all over the place and there isn’t as much debris along the sides of the roadways. My driver took my all over the city, and I spent a few hours in the Red Fort and Humayun’s tomb as well as a number of other places. The weather was unbelievably hot; it hit 45 Celsius that day (no, this is not a misprint). The next day, I went on a trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Words and pictures can’t describe how striking and beautiful this building is. There is also more to see than just the building itself. The entire site is stunning in its beauty and symmetry. I also did some shopping in Agra and bought more things than I had really intended.
Week of June 26, 2006
I taught class in Gurgaon, India this week. One of the IBMers who works there was having a birthday party and invited me along. Had some great food and conversation. We munched until about 10:00pm at which time dinner was served (I thought the munching was dinner). On the Wednesday, I got really sick and had to miss a day of class. It was the first time in eight years of teaching that I had to miss a day. I was able to teach the next day. I left to come home on Friday night (1:30am flight) and arrived in Toronto on Canada Day.
Week of July 3, 2006
We spent the Canada Day weekend in Newmarket with Lara’s family. Erica and Stephen were in town from Ireland. We watched World Cup soccer most of the weekend and did precious little else. It was awesome. I am now officially on vacation for the rest of the summer as I’m taking July and August off. The rest of the week, we didn’t do too much. We took care of a few things that needed to be done and spent some time by the pool. We also did some preparation for our road trip out east that we’re taking the next week. I didn’t do much, but that’s the point of vacation, isn’t it?
Week of May 29, 2006
I taught a course in Mexico City this week. I arrived early on the Friday night and spent the Saturday touring Teotihuacan. I already wrote about that, so ‘nuff said. Unfortunately, I had a lot of work to do in the evenings so I didn’t get out half as much as I would have liked. I ate a lot of street vender food (the tacos were amazing) and didn’t get sick at all. After class on the Friday, I hopped in a cab and went out for a good dinner at Villa Maria. I slopped back a bit of tequila with it. Good times were had by all.
Week of June 5, 2006
My Uncle Ron lives in Morelia about four hours west of Mexico City, so on the Saturday, I hopped on a bus and went out to visit for a few days. The bus ride itself was pretty nice. The seats were comfortable and they showed movies. I watched The Dukes of Hazzard in Spanish. I had a great visit in Morelia. First of all, it was good to see my uncle again. He took me all around the area. We went to Patzcuaro to do some handicraft shopping, Tzintzuntzan to visit ruins, another town to look for pottery (the name escapes me at the moment), and Uruapan to visit some more ruins and a the Mexican national park. We also spent some time hanging around in Morelia. Morelia is a very pretty city that has been kept spotlessly clean. There are many great little cafes and restaurants in te downtown area as well as cathedrals, lovely architecture, and an aquaduct. It was a great mini vacation and I’m looking forward to going back with the family.
Week of June 12, 2006
I taught a course in Toronto that week. For the most part, it was same-old-same-old snce I go there all the time, but I did a couple of fun things. I decided it was a good opportunity to catch up on summer movies, so I saw X-Men and The DaVinci Code, and saw Mission Impossible 3 with Mez and Matt after a good Italian dinner in Aurora. That weekend, Lara and I took the kids to see Cars which was a blast.
Week of June 19, 2006
I had a few days at home and then left for Delhi, India on the Tuesday (I arrived on Wednesday night). I decided that I would get the sickness and jetlag out of my system before I had to start teaching on the Monday. I also wanted to do some sightseeing. On the Thursday, I did nothing and just hung around the hotel. The hotel was the Trident Hilton in Gurgaon about 45 minutes drive outside of Delhi. It’s a five-star, and was a great place to lounge, although quite expensive. I paid the same nightly rate as I did in midtown-Manhattan a few weeks before. That’s crazy expensive for India. The next day, I went on a tour of Delhi. Compared to a lot of what I’ve seen in India, Delhi has been cleaned up and modernized quite a bit. There are new parks going up all over the place and there isn’t as much debris along the sides of the roadways. My driver took my all over the city, and I spent a few hours in the Red Fort and Humayun’s tomb as well as a number of other places. The weather was unbelievably hot; it hit 45 Celsius that day (no, this is not a misprint). The next day, I went on a trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Words and pictures can’t describe how striking and beautiful this building is. There is also more to see than just the building itself. The entire site is stunning in its beauty and symmetry. I also did some shopping in Agra and bought more things than I had really intended.
Week of June 26, 2006
I taught class in Gurgaon, India this week. One of the IBMers who works there was having a birthday party and invited me along. Had some great food and conversation. We munched until about 10:00pm at which time dinner was served (I thought the munching was dinner). On the Wednesday, I got really sick and had to miss a day of class. It was the first time in eight years of teaching that I had to miss a day. I was able to teach the next day. I left to come home on Friday night (1:30am flight) and arrived in Toronto on Canada Day.
Week of July 3, 2006
We spent the Canada Day weekend in Newmarket with Lara’s family. Erica and Stephen were in town from Ireland. We watched World Cup soccer most of the weekend and did precious little else. It was awesome. I am now officially on vacation for the rest of the summer as I’m taking July and August off. The rest of the week, we didn’t do too much. We took care of a few things that needed to be done and spent some time by the pool. We also did some preparation for our road trip out east that we’re taking the next week. I didn’t do much, but that’s the point of vacation, isn’t it?
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