Premier jour

So we made it into Ottawa safe and sound! It wasn't all smooth sailing though as the flight to Montreal was bumpy like heck* I almost upchucked my breakfast all over Mark and the lady next to me!! Also, when we landed in Montreal, IT WAS SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!! The heck! Snowing in late April?! And not just a few pretty flakes here and there, it was almost a blizzard!

The view from our seats. Not impressed

Ugh, thankfully, when we landed in Ottawa, we discovered that it was only raining lightly and windy - just like home! We met up with Lou/Rob, settled in, had a delicious pasta dinner and headed to Black Thorn Pub in the Market for some $3.70 Keiths and all you can eat mussels. It sounds like a good idea, and even tastes like a good idea at first, but burping up coconut curry bi-valves is definitely something I would NOT recommend.

Round 1...

Our first full day of Ottawa was really fun! Despite reports that it was going to rain today, we woke up and it was a beautiful, beautiful day! Not hot enough for shorts, but warm enough for sandals and a light jacket. We headed over to Parliament to partake in their free guided tour of the library and the House of Senate. Afterwards, we met up with one of Mark's old high school buddies and got the tour of Michael Ignatieff's office, the hallways around the Steven Harper's office and ate in the Parliament cafe. He also hooked us up with tickets to the House of Common's Question Period (in the Opposition's gallery no less!). Question Period was a lot less civil and organized than I thought it would be. MPs were yelling, jeering, clapping, hollering, laughing and shouting at each other. Gilles Duceppe (leader of the Bloc Quebecois) was even egging Harper on by calling him Rambo! Always interesting when grown men and women act like little children.

Parliament at night...

during the day...

In front of Peace Tower

Up until MacKenzie, this was the Prime Minister's office. Now, it's the Opposition Leader's war room.

Word to the wise, avoid the Pho at Parliament Cafe.

NBD

Afterwards, we headed over to the Market for candy at Sugar Mountain, gelato at Pure Gelato and beavertails at Beavertails. All this eating is definitely not helping my beach body. The plan for tonight? Dinner and drinks with a bunch of Lou/Rob's Ottawa friends at Hooley's for the Caps/Habs game. YUM... Beach body? What beach body!

and it starts!

10 hours until my 1st of 6 flights in the next 2 months!!!!!!!!

Not looking forward to a super early morning start but excited beyond belief to see Lou/Rob and relax on a beach.. I'll try and take some before and after pictures to see how cooked I can get my skin ;)

I was checking the weather in Ottawa and can you believe the CRAZY weather swings the east coast gets? Today it was sunny and 20 degrees but tomorrow, there are chances of flurries and 8 degrees! Thank goodness on the west coast you only get 1 weather type - rain, rain and more rain! Here's hoping for beautiful weather everywhere we go!

Updated To Do

Only 2 days till Ottawa and 3 weeks till Bali! Now that I've gotten the GMAT out of the way, I can focus on my upcoming travels. Right now, I'm most excited to spend a week relaxing in paradise. Despite mixed reviews about Cuba (especially about the quality of food), I don't think you can really go wrong at a high end resort. Just in case though, I think I'll bring along a little bottle of ketchup ;)

My updated to do list:

• Take my GMAT test - DONE!!!!!!!
  
• Apply for my 2 month Indo visa - DONE
• Take travel pills/shots - IN PROGRESS
  
• Test out my new portable hard drive - still need to do
  
• Apply for an international driver license - don't think I have enough time anymore
  
• Buy/borrow a laptop cable lock - DONE
  
• Set up new bank account - DONE
  

Hola Fidel

We finally got all the details worked out for next week's trip to visit Rob/Lou! Our schedule:

April 27: Fly to Ottawa
April 29: Drive to Montreal and fly to Santa Lucia, Cuba
May 6: Fly back to Montreal and spend a couple nights
May 8: Head back to Ottawa
May 10: Fly home =(

Definitely another whirlwind trip. Our resort in Santa Lucia is pretty baller and we got the whole week for a steal! Check out a few photos below:

Now compare this to our digs in Montreal:

Hahah, first class all the way.

Our quest for the cup

So, I may have lied when I said I wasn't going to catch another Canucks game at the Garage until Sept... Last night, Mark and I volunteered as a 50/50 ticket seller during Game 2 of our quest for the Cup and we managed to score 2 tickets to watch the game after our shift! I've never been to a playoff game before so I was blown away by the high-energy of the fans and players. Although the outcome sucked, I will never forget the sight of 18, 810 towels waving in unison after every goal, shot, hit and whistle. Towel Power indeed.

Gleek Spoiler

According to some sources, Idina's character (Vocal Adrenaline coach Shelby) actually donated the egg from which Lea's character (Rachel) was conceived from! It all makes freaking sense now...

Check out another photo of the twins (and no, as much as I can tell from Google, they are not actually related)

Hi, my name is Priscilla and I'm a Gleek

Last night marked the return of one of my favorite TV shows (besides Criminal Minds and SYTYCD) and I must say, it's about freaking time! The episode, Hell-O, was the perfect way to nurse us gleeks back to health. I just love that Sue Sylvester and can not* wait until the Madonna episode next week! Sidenote: Did anyone else notice how Idina Menzel and Lea Michele could pass for sisters? Don't believe me? Check it out below

On a Bali note: I picked up my Dukoral vaccine today.. Countdown is officially on!