Benalmadena – Your Home Away From Dublin!

27 Feb Having a snack at the beach cafe

Welcome to the museum of random tiles and archways and doors. Oh no, I’m sorry this is my blog post. I became confused because of how many random photos there are of architectural marvels (and non marvels) that occupy the space of this post.

Last time on Ugly Awesome we were rushing around Barcelona eating fried mush balls and drinking cava. This time on Ugly Awesome, we eat fried mush balls and drink Sangria and Cerveza… Andelé!

We landed in Malaga in the dead of night. We rented a space-aged European car and started our journey through winding roads and unfamiliar highways. Our GPS system kept directing us directly into water and hills and such so we were reduced to asking a man dressed as Elvis to direct us to Sunset Beach Club resort in the Beach town of Benalmadena. When we arrived, the area was pitch black and the only thing we could really see about our hotel was that it was right next to the beach – success! We checked in to our odd room with two single beds (Apparently it was the only option…I’d like to see the Honeymoon Suite). The room was good and our harrowing journey had made us tired, so we shook hands and retired to our own beds.

In the morning, when I woke up, I opened my eyes and had the surprise of my life – in front of me, through the window, was the most beautiful view of the Mountains. I hadn’t even realized the mountains were there the night before and here they were like they’d grown there over night. Thus began our week of Beach goodness.

I’d never had a vacation where the purpose of the trip was to sit on a beach and drink cocktails and soak up the sun (Sheryl Crow) so I was beyond excited. I threw on a bikini and informed Jamie it was Red Lobster time (time for me to sit in the sun until I resembled my arch nemesis). We head down to the pool and grew comfortable there. Along with the sandy, wavy beach, the pool became our grazing ground for the next several days. It was magic.

I should mention that our initial expectation of Benalmadena was that it was an exotic place filled with the scent of various spices and the sight of shirtless Spanish men (and women) and we would sip on coconut milk whist the breeze combed our sandy hair with it’s warm tines. That first day on the beach, we were informed through casual conversation that Benalmadena was the prime vacation choice for Irish, Scottish and English tourists. So instead of various spices, the boardwalk smelled more like Bangers and Mash. The shirtless Spanish men were in fact fat, sunburnt Irishmen (and women) and could be heard most times of the day slurring about more “pints from the dollar machines, you tosser!”. Jamie and I were surprised at first, but grew to love our Coronation Street companions and re-adjusted our beach vacation rose coloured glasses.

About half way through our beach week, we decided we should do something historic and productive, so we asked the resident event planner for ideas. She told us about Alhambra – Apparently the main reason why many tourists come to Spain, Alhambra is a collection of very impressive palaces located in Granada. It was built in the mid 14th century by Moorish rulers before it was re-possessed by Catholic Monarchs. It’s famous for being built by several different cultures, depending on who owned it over the years and who built more additions to the palaces. In the end, it incorporates traditional Arabic design elements with Christian and Jewish additions as well as parts of the palaces which are French and Italian inspired. Basically it looks like Paradise.

Jamie and I awoke extremely early in the morning in hopes that we could secure a spot to tour the grounds (Most people book weeks ahead – but we had only just heard of it!) We arrived at 8am and managed to grab a tour at 2 in the afternoon. We whiled away the time sipping delicious Café con leche and watching a mama cat transport her new kittens from their little nest in a tree to their new home behind the restaurant. We explored Granada – the town Alhambra sits in, and hiked up a steep, foresty hill to the entrance where we took our tour.

Alhambra can only be described in pictures, which is why there are so many of them down there! It was probably the most impressive place I’ve seen in real life and I would recommend going to anyone who happens to be doing the Spain thing. I won’t go on and on about it, just promise to look at some of the seemingly boring pictures…but then imagine someone making it by hand in the mid 14th century…And if it’s still boring, imagine them doing the hustle in the nuddy pants. See, history can be exciting!

Ugly

My red, blotchy face in most of these pictures. I walked too much that day. Too much.
Eating a questionable egg salad sandwich after it was in my hot backpack for several hours…bad idea.
Most British people, apparently. I watch Corrie – I should have known.

Awesome

Pretending you are a Ferrero Rocher goddess in Paradise who walks on water whilst eating the chocolate of the Gods…(it was actually a Haagen Dazs Ice Cream Bar, but it was tasty and refreshing after our long tour of the amazing Alhambra)
BEACH VACAY #1! (Hopefully 1 of several more)

NEXT TIME ON UGLY AWESOME:

Caitlin’s Birthday – Will it involve a Spanish carnival? YOU DECIDE!

Picaso Museum – White and bare just like my bikini bod!

Mountain Climbing – Not just for goats anymore!

Hey! You should subscribe to my blog to get an email when the next post comes out! (Click button above that reads “click here for awesomeness” after writing your email address in the field above it. Thanks!!!)

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The Long Lost Barcelona Post

28 Jan

I’m alive!! I’m sorry to have worried anyone who thought that I may have fallen off the Earth or was possible abducted by otherworldy beings.

Anyone who knows me personally, knows that I have had a slightly rough time in life since I last posted. But all is well and good now and I finally feel happy again. Happy enough to continue sharing all my Awesome moments with you. And my Ugly ones.

SO!! I left you in agonizing suspense after my last post. I had just shared the lovely Wedding of two of my best friends in France, and had promised to impress you with tales and photos of Spain. So that’s where we begin today. I’m very sorry if all the summer imagery makes you sad because it’s so gross outside in real life.

After staying up until 5am the night of the wedding, we left at 7am the next morning to catch our flight to Barcelona. So if you’re wondering why it looks like Jamie and I have been beaten in our eyes, don’t worry – it’s only exhaustion.

After we found our hostel and got settled, we forced ourselves to take the subway to the Sagrada Familia so we would not be tempted to go to sleep for the next 48 hours and miss all of Barcelona. So we dragged ourselves there and I’m so happy we did. It was like being on Star Trek when they land on a futuristic alien planet where all the architecture looks like weird half plant/ half building madness. Except it was real and Antoni Gaudi had designed it all back in 1883. He must be from the future. Perhaps he is a Terminator.

After roaming around this place in a delusional state for a few hours, we floated back to our hostel where we landed in bed for an afternoon Nap.

Cut to 3 hours later when the loudest noise I have ever heard wakes me up and propels me across the room in fear. I realize the ruckus is coming from outside, so I open the doors to our little terrace and down on the ground to the left, coming closer and closer are 20 people dressed in Yellow T-Shirts playing the drums. They’re all in sync and playing the same song. It reminds me of Braveheart. Behind them are another 30 people, just following them down the street. It is BIZARRE. I think “How interesting – a traveling drum troupe”. All of a sudden, I hear a second, different song and I look to my right and coming down the tiny alley is a group of 20 drummers in Green T-Shirts. I suddenly realize I’m involved in a deadly Spanish Drumming feud and the battle is about to occur directly below me. What actually happens is the two groups drum at each other aggressively for a very long time. It’s a lot like krumping. It all seems very scary, but in the end no one gets hurt because it’s just dancing.

By now I’m more awake than I’ve ever been in my life, so Jamie and I head out for Mexican food in Spain. Obviously.
The night life in Barcelona is unreal. I think Jamie put it best when he said “Barcelona would be a really great place for single people”. Nevertheless, we had a great time with our never ending supply of Cava despite being not-single.

The next day, we head to the famous Las Ramblas where we stumble upon a little cafe that serves me the best chocolate croissant ever made. It should have been bronzed. We go to the biggest, craziest food market called La Boqueria where you can buy any food on earth and also sit at little counters and eat gourmet street food too. It was very wonderful and smelly.

We walked around and bought some art, we walked down to the harbour and we went to get Pizza at a restaurant recommended by our lovely friends, Chuck and Gabie.

Sadly, that’s all the time we had in Barcelona, so we packed up our bags and left for the airport to catch our plane to Benalmadena, next to Malaga at the very bottom tip of Spain.

UGLY:
-Horrible raccoon eyes.
-Our first tapas experience in Spain. The Mexican restaurant choice came afterward (MUST EVERYTHING be fried into balls?).

AWESOME:
-Pretty much everything else. I love the architecture in Barcelona and we had a great time exploring. This was also when we both realized neither of us know any Spanish. Olé!

- Do Jamie and Caitlin survive the treacherous night-drive from the airport to Sea-side Benalmadena??
- Is Benalmadena the tropical paradise they expected or is it more akin to an Irish meeting ground for underage alcoholics and sun-burnt diabetics?

FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON UGLY/AWESOME!

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Total Eclipse of The Heart

21 Jun

They’re here! The photos of the actual wedding have arrived!

Now that I look back at them I realize that potentially I was having such a good time I may not have stopped to take as many detailed shots as I should have, but what I do have, I love!

Kari and Will were married on May 19 at Chateau de Roussan in Saint Remy. That’s right, they got married in a castle. And it was just as incredible as you might imagine.

Although I didn’t capture as much as I should have in pictures, I’ll give you a brief play by play of the day. The guests arrived at the Chateau by way of a magnificent driveway lined with gigantic trees that appear to be hundreds of years old. At the Chateau, everyone mingled in the gorgeous lobby and on the grounds until we were ushered towards where the ceremony would take place. The chairs had been set up on this little plot of green garden beside the chateau. It had a stream running behind it which was home to swans. SWANS.

The ceremony was beautiful. It was very personal and their officiant, Karine, told the story of Kari and Will as if it was a fairy tale, using each of their unique perspectives to pepper the story with plenty of real life quotes and confessions. It was actually very entertaining to listen to, unlike several other wedding ceremonies I’ve heard (on TLC…). There were also readings from Will’s best man, Rory and Kari’s Maid of Honour, Laura.

After the ceremony, we took pictures in front of the Chateau and let Kari and Will go off to take their own pictures while the rest of us sipped on Pink Cava and stuffed our faces with amuse-bouches (which included mushroom, green bean and tomato mousse in shot glasses…YUM)

Then we filed into the reception area which was a lovely outdoor tent behind the Chateau with a dance floor and a French band that sang classic love songs and French diddys. We had a delicious dinner which was Kari and Will fancy (super fancy) and yummy dessert all the while being entertained and touched by speeches from various loved ones, a photo slideshow made by Kari’s sisters and a very sweet video made by the best man, Rory (with help from his lady, Brandy). They also played the shoe game where the Bride and Groom sit with their backs to each other, each holding one shoe from the Bride, and one from the groom. Then they are asked questions such as “who does more housework” and “who hogs the sheets” and they answer by raising the shoe of that person. It proves to be quite hilarious.

After lots and lots of wine, the dance party began with the traditional first dance between Kari and Will. They were so wrapped up in their own romance that they didn’t even notice the disco ball had been set to flash multicolour lights around at a much faster pace than the slow song they were dancing to. It was almost as special as when the French Band/ DJs played Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” during the throwing of the bouquet. These were my favourite wedding moments. The dancing went on laaaaaaate into the night, and I believe I can speak for everyone when I say the whole night was pretty awesome. Will and Brodie even performed an encore performance of their man dance. The icing on the cake, however, was the late night cheese table that came out with crackers and baguettes and every kind of cheese imaginable at around 2am.

Jamie and I rolled ourselves into bed around 5am, with our alarms set for 7. The next day, we would be racing to the airport to catch our flight to Barcelona, Spain.

Ugly:

Absolutely nothing. Except the sunburn I got yesterday but that has nothing to do with the wedding.

Awesome:

Everything about the wedding! It was so lovely and I feel so lucky to have been a small part of it. Thanks Will and Kari for asking us to be a part of your day (week)!!

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Was Blind, But Now Cassis

16 Jun

So, we’re almost through France! haha

This is the last post before the Big One. The Big One of course refers to the post that documents the reason we were all in Europe in the first place – Will and Kari’s glorious nuptials.

But we had so much fun before the wedding, I must include it all!

So, our photos begin in Saint-Remy de Provence, the little town where we were staying. The cottages were a five minute walk from town, so we did a little exploring. Saint-Remy is famous because Van Gogh spent one year at the Saint-Paul Asylum in Saint-Remy and it ended up being one the most creative years of his life. He produced several of his best paintings there, including Starry Night and Self Portrait. I didn’t get to go in the asylum but a little bird told me it was a primary setting for the boys’ wedding photos.

Next on the agenda was a big group field trip where almost all the guests who were staying in Saint-Remy got on a big tour bus together and visited two local wineries lead by a real oneologist (wine expert man). We were taught how to properly sample wines like Frenchmen. Although we were also told to spit all the wine out which I’m pretty sure no one did. After becoming appropriately sloshed for the occasion, we were then bussed to Les-Baux-de-Provence which is a gorgeous fortress town built right into the Alpilles mountain range so it appears to be almost falling off the mountains. After exploring the castle town and getting lost in its mazes and buying what I thought to be a quaint and unique tin of cookies (until I saw the stores everywhere and realized it was a chain), we all went to dinner at L’Hostellerie de la Reine Jeanne. It was here that everyone thought to sample a sweet liquor and no one liked it but me. And thus I was left to do a little more sampling which was perfectly fine by me. Dinner was lovely, the company was awesome and the evening ended with an appearance by Will and Jamie’s alter-egos “The European Ascot Men”.

BEACH DAY! I was so excited for this day I could barely contain my beach excitement and it was well worth it. I love laying on beaches. It is my favourite. Because I am so paley pale most people assume I hate the sun, but in fact we love each other, I just have to get used to the sun before we hang out for an extended period of time. Cassis is like the glamourous beach-side condo life of the rich and famous. That’s what it feels like. I loved Cassis because of the views and the colours, I loved it for the little shop that sold $4 paninis and hamburgers (The least expensive food we had seen yet in Europe) and as Jamie and I went with Brandy, Natalie and Misha, the company was pretty awesome too. The beach is white, the ocean was blue. It was amazing. The end.

After Cassis was the Barchelor/Bachelorette Parties. The Bachelorettes were supposed to be meeting in our cabin, but as luck would have it, Brandy, Danica and myself were taken hostage by the restaurant employees where we were having dinner and we given costumes and shots of minty alcohol. Every time we attempted to leave, they would share with us another shot- this time a mix of apple juice and champagne. Delish. Needless to say, we go to our cottage with a group of 15 ladies who had started the party and were well into having a blast by the time we got there. To our surprise, the boys arrived shortly afterwards and the Bachelorette party turned into dance party for all. Once again, another epic European party was to be had. It was also the first time many of us had seen what was to become the infamous “Will and Brodie Man Dance”.

The next day was to be the last day of rest for everyone before the BIG day, so we played it cool with a delicious lunch in Saint-Remy (Do you SEE the size of that goat cheese??!!!) and some shoe shopping and pool resting to top it off. We had a nice little get together with everyone down by the pool and then it was time.

Ugly:

How pale I still was after being in Hot France for a week. Very evident at the beach surrounded by golden brown tater tots. (Don’t worry though, this subject will make an appearance in the “Awesome” category shortly).

Awesome:

Real vacation moments. Moments that mean I can never again say I’ve never been on a real vacation. Relaxing, exciting, never will get to do again moments.

And in non-Europe news, I get to go to Vegas to coordinate a video shoot in a couple weeks, so….fuuun! Probably won’t have any time for fun stuff as it will be all work, but just going is exciting to me!

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Wild is the Wind

10 Jun

Bonjour mes amis!

Europe post number 2! Bam Shabam! I’m excited because this post has pictures from some of my favourite places on the entire trip.

We left off with a crazy party where half the pictures were in fact too crazy to put on the interwebs. Next up: The quintessential southern France event, the market.

It must be said that the day we adventured in to a lovely antique/delicious food market it was so windy that the stalls were practically blowing away. Sometimes we would escape the wind by scuttling into a random store or art gallery that we may not have otherwise stumbled upon. So thanks, wind. But also damn you, wind. It was chilly.

We walked around looking at food mostly, but also jewelry and crafty things and pretty stuff. But I think the best parts of the market were the tiny skinny pedestrian streets that the stalls were set up in. It was such a dainty little part of town. The gals and I split from the boys for a while for fear hat they would cramp our market style, but we met up for a group lunch that will go down in history. I will only tell you this: Danica’s salad contained a secret ingredient. Which was alive.

After the market, we were lead up a mountain through narrow, dusty roads (meaning the road was barely big enough for our car, one side of the road ended with a cliff and the road was actually intended for two-way traffic) and we ended up in a very unique and interesting town called Rousillon which was named that because it’s red. Literally, the ground, the cliffs, the houses, the buildings, it’s all red. And very cool. It was there that Will introduced us to Lavender flavoured gelato. Most of us agreed that while it wasn’t necessarily bad, it reminded us too much of eating soap. But we appreciated Will’s effort. After we filled up on Rousillon’s street food (gelato and crepes) we then departed for YET another adventure.

Driving up the hill to Oppede-Les-Vieux, my energy level was around a 2. It had been a long and exciting day already and I was just wondering how long this next leg of our journey would take. As soon as we parked and started walking, I got my second wind. The more we climbed, the more I saw amazing views and little crumbling pieces of history. The village itself is still home to tons of people, many of whom are artists who sell their work in the little shops, so while you think you’re standing on the remains of an ancient chateau, you are also standing on someone’s lawn. The higher you get, any sense of village is left behind and you just walk up into the ruins of a chateau. There are no safety railings or staff on the very top of this windy peak, there’s just you, a crumbling castle and several fearless friends who scare the shit out of you by jumping effortlessly across death-defying drops to reach perfect photo-taking spots. Standing in the midst of a castle on the top of a towering hill surrounded by green forest was the closest I’ve ever felt to being Maid Marian. And that was wicked.

Ugly:
The little creature nestled inside one of Danica’s endive leaves.
The “mistral winds” of southern France which apparently come and go quickly and fiercely and help maintain the famous climate Provence is known for. We called it “menstrual winds” and then giggled a lot.

Awesome:
Oppede-Les-Vieux was one of the only places in the world I’ve ever been where I felt very unconfined. Sometimes you feel secluded or peaceful because there’s the illusion that you’re all by yourself, but most of the time you know it’s just a perception and 5 minutes away there are signs of civilization. In this place, you could look around you in all directions and see evidence that you were alone on top of a mountain.

Check back soon for Trip post # 3! And don’t forget that you can subscribe to my blog to get an email when the next post comes out! (Click button above that reads “click here for awesomeness” after writing your email address in the field above it. Thanks!!!)

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There’s No Place Like Home

8 Jun

I’m back!

I’ve actually been back for about a week now but my brain couldn’t handle the thought of blogging yet. We took approximately 2000 photos over a 3 week period! And now I’ve gone through and edited them slightly (because although some might be boring to you, I’m using this blog to keep them forever in the cyberspace so you can just deal) and I’m breaking up my trip posts into tiny sections so as to not post thousands of photos at a time.

Also, I’m providing a bit of detail in reference to the pics but not as much as I would if you took me out for Sangria and asked me about my trip. This is because right now I feel like I’m one of those people everyone hates who comes back from an amazing trip and literally talks of nothing but their life-changing trip for the next 6 months. So if you actually want me to tell you all about it, take me out for Sangria, otherwise I’m giving the Cole’s Notes.

It begins: We get to France. Woo! We traveled with our dearest pals Chris and Danica on the plane from Toronto to Paris and on the train from Paris to Avignon. We then picked up the rental car and drove to Saint-Remy de Provence where we arrived in our humble abode for the next week.

When we got to the cottages, at first we thought we were in the wrong place as this seemed to be conveniently located to all the town amenities. We assumed that in order for a quaint cottage to be quaint it had to also be far away from everything, hidden in a forest or a field of sunflowers or something. As it turned out all the groomsmen (save for one who had not yet arrived) and their ladies were sharing a cottage that completely exceeded all of our expectations and completely lived up to it’s title of “quaint cottage in the South of France” whilst being close to the town, market, butcher, etc. which was very convenient.

The day after we arrived, we somehow managed to get up early to go for a run where we encountered an amazing view and a herd of sheep and one goat. After our run, the bride and groom (Kari and Will) took us to a gorgeous little village called Séguret where we had lunch at delicious restaurant in the sky, Le table du Comtat. This is where we first got the impression our week would be filled with bizarre and delicious food made to Kari and Will’s very high standards. The food was delicious and the view was amazing. On the way back, the second car left without us because we were taking too long photographing the village. Close your eyes and picture the South of France. If you’ve never been there, you probably picture the fairy tale version. That’s what Séguret was. The exact village inside your head.

That evening, more of Kari and Will’s friends arrived (they were staying in separate cottage next door). We decided to have everyone over for a get to know you party which will go down in history as being the best European party I’ve ever been to (Except the wedding reception of course!). I know a lot of people who like to travel and who have been very lucky to find themselves in many corners of the word from time to time, but I don’t know many who were lucky enough to experience these places with a big group of their best friends. And that’s how the party happened.

Ugly:
Surprisingly, I thought the Ugly list would be longer like I would be extra miserable about normal life things when I got back, but to be completely honest, lots of good things have happened since I got back and even though I’m back at work and not in France, I feel good. I genuinely understand the complete necessity for vacations now. They’re not just for funsies. They’re for your mental health.

Awesome:
Getting to relive memories by sorting through all these pictures! I’m sure I’ll be sick of them soon, but now I love it. Also, gelato. Gelato is awesome.

Check back soon for Trip post # 2 of several!! Or better, subscribe to my blog because you love me! Yay! (Click button above that reads “click here for awesomeness” after writing your email address in the field above it. Thanks!!!)

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The Circle of Life

6 May

So, I just woke up from a 3 week long coma!
That’s why I haven’t been blogging…because of the coma. Except somehow I appear conscious in all my pictures. It’s a miracle?

Now I’m just confusing you. I admit I have no good reason to abandon the world of blog except that I feel like I’ve been insanely busy. Maybe I actually haven’t been, but I feel like I have!

We are departing on our Europe adventure 7 days from today. 7 DAYS. I’ve been driving Jamie up the wall with my anal planning and stressing about the LEAST important things in history. (I’ve never worked so hard to buy a pair of shoes in my life). I think this stems from the fact that I consider this to be my first real sunny-time vacation. Ever. I’m sorry family, but 7 days in a minivan driving to and from the maritimes only partially counts as a vacation. This will be my first time outside of North America, my first time adventuring in another culture (Again, Halifax doesn’t count…) and the first time in I’ve ever taken this much time off work (unemployment doesn’t count, right? Not really a vacation…). So I’ve accidentally put all this pressure on myself to make sure it’s perfect. Which is silly. Jamie attempts to calm the crazy me but I don’t blame him for silently moonwalking out of a room when he senses I’m about to talk about YET another bathing suit option. I envy his ability to escape my brain.

So anyway, in the midst of sabotaging my relaxing vacation by turning all my muscles into searing pain balls of tension, I’ve taken loads of photos which have been patiently waiting in my camera to be rescued! These include pics from Jamie’s 27th birthday in April (Cinco de Mayo themed!), from Dan’s and my road trip to Kingston for Easter, Jamie and me trying out Barque (new BBQ restaurant in Roncy!), being athletic at the Spring Sprint for the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada and my night out to see The Lion King with my lovely lady, Meley and her friend, Nameer. SEE! I HAVE BEEN BUSY!

I will post again before I leave to say Bon Voyage, but then I think I’ll be out for the count until June when I return. If I do blog, it means we’ve been befriended by Russian millionaires in France and I’m using their Wi-Fi.

Ugly:
WHY do I obsess over such insanity? I swear if you tossed me out a plane with a small backpack of necessities, I would be perfectly happy. But when given the opportunity to bring more, I must make the perfect decisions as to what is packed and what is not. It’s like I’m holding auditions at my house for who can come in the suitcase. Not everyone can come, and everyone has to write a 1,000 page essay as to why I should bring them, then I read all those essays and mark them based on a standardized system and only then do I decide what gets packed. LOONEY BIN MATERIAL. (I don’t actually do that…)

Awesome:
I’m giddy with anticipation. Europe is upon us.

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