Fill in the Blank Friday

1. My favorite place I've ever traveled to is Italy. I haven't traveled (far) a lot but it was a magical place that I adored. It took me about a year to not want to go back there forever.  The only reason I didn't go back forever was my family - my parents, and my Aunts Uncles and cousins.  I cannot not now, nor could I then, imagine being far away from them.

2. England is somewhere I'd love to go someday. I have always wanted to go there but now my dear friend Surely lives there and I would like to go even more.


3. I pass the time on a plane (or bus, or car ride or train) by reading and working on somekind of needlework... and sometimes blogging on my iphone... and sometimes just enjoying the ride.  I really love traveling by car with my family.  I know it is somewhat 1950 of me but nothing beats a road trip and being able to stop at every little spot that piques your interest.  Over the summer we took the long way home (to Trail) from Vancouver and made lots of stops.  The long way turned out to be rustic and charming rather than new and done.  I often wish for things to be simpler and enjoyed that everything was not remodeled along the way.  The idea of keeping up with the Jones' always makes me feel a little queezy - too much pressure and not enough real for this girl.

4. My three must-haves when I travel are CH, the Little Man, and Penelope.  :o)

5. My favorite travel companion is CH.  It is all about taking the comforts of home with you wherever you go.  Although he is a huge pain in my derrier half the time, I hate being away from him.

6. The craziest thing that ever happened to me while traveling is getting a hole in the gas tank of our car at 2 am in Beaverdell on our way to Kelowna at the height of hunting season.  Beaverdell is a teeny tiny little town an hour from anywhere with one hotel which was packed with hunters (they were sleeping on the floor in the lobby).  We couldn't sleep in the car because of the gas fumes and ended up renting a trailer with a couple of beds for the night - for $130, and that was in about 1990.  The car was fixed and we finished our journey to Kelowna where more crazy things happened.  The whole trip was a bit of a gong show.  I was 17, with my 19 year old boyfriend and another couple of similar age.  Gong show, I tell you.  One of the weekends that makes me want to lock Penelope in a closet until she is 30... or 35, cause isn't that when you brain starts to function properly...

7. The most exotic food I've ever tried while traveling is nothing.  I am way too fussy to try anything weird, although when I was in Italy I visited a beautiful little town called Castellammare di Stabia in Southern Italy and ordered Calamari and it was a little different than what I am used to... While we were there I also saw the largest (by a lot) Wisteria that I have ever seen.  The base of the (tree) plant was about 18" and soared up to the second floor balcony.  It was unforgettable.

Castellammare di Stabia (which translates to Castle of Stabia by the Sea, so much better in Italian) with Mount Vesuvius in the distance and the Meditterean to the left.

8. If I could live anywhere else, I'd live in ... I don't want to live anywhere else!  I love it here.  The furthest I can imagine going is back to Vancouver and even that would break my heart - I would be so sad to leave PITA and her family, and my parents and GP, and my friends.  I am not vagrant in any way shape or form.

9. I have been to seven (without double checking with my parents) states in the U.S. but only two provinces - and I am Canadian. :o)

Well, that is it for now.  I must go organize and pack!

:o) Tina