some girls wander by mistake.

18.6 miles!

tuesday we began the morning with james' famous tofu veggie scramble, then i accompanied vanessa_elle to her ashtanga yoga class. though i've been doing yoga for almost 2 years now weekly/regularly, the amount of walking (dare i say even hiking) we had done thus far on the trip made even the simplest positions very challenging. my muscles were exceedingly tight (though, of course, the yoga completely helped); i was pleased to experience an instructor that actually guides and adjusts you as needed (class size was around 5; mine are 30+). i left class feeling relaxed and centered, ready to begin another day of sight-seeing. we started off at the nearby (and newly restored) saint james church, then walked to mcgill campus and the surrounding areas. the campus (where vanessa_elle attends) is quaint and welcoming, though i imagine any perspective i have of montreal landmarks would shift dramatically should i see it in it's "winter state." walking further, we saw the queen elizabeth hotel, most noteworthy as one of the locations of john & yoko's bed-in for peace, as well as a creepy marriot with a million eye-like windows. we then made our way to old montreal, the original center of montreal, dating back to around the 1600's. this, perhaps more than anywhere else, had a tangible "foreign" or "european" feel, due to the windy cobblestone streets, the architecture, and of course the language. this area is ironically (and unfortunately) also the tourist-y district, suffering a similar fate as st. augustine and salem both experience. we ended our night with a few drinks out--starting at a bit of a sports bar dive playing exceedingly bad music, then le pistol, and finally a really awesome place called casa del popolo off saint-laurent, a pretty decent bar playing "hard pop" hits and obscurities (a little todd rundgren, donovan, and the like does a body good), which made my night.

wednesday we had higher hopes to head out of montreal to visit either quebec city or the laurentides, but due to time, money, and a bit of travel-weariness, we stayed in montreal proper to squeeze the last bits out of the city. we started our morning in montreal's expansive and impressive gay district, also known as le village, which spanned several blocks and all-kinds of rainbow fanfare. even the chains (tim hortons, subway) feature pride flags, which, coming from mostly conservative florida, was pretty awesome. we had dinner at this adorable vegan restaurant, where we sat outside and enjoyed the welcomingly cool breeze; the food in montreal was great, and there seemed to be plenty of vegetarian (even vegan) establishments to choose from. tasty goodness. our final stop for the evening was at this irish pub for some sort of irish music jam. it ended up being completely adorable: about 20 musicians, some seemingly strangers to one another, all toting various instruments (from washboards to banjos, flutes to violins), jamming out irish-style. we headed back to v's that evening after a satisfyingly enjoyable last day in montreal. though i'm always happy to get home to see my puppies, i'm always, always sad to end my travels, and of course leave my v behind.

my darling vanessa_elle, see you again, on the west coast, 2008.

my spring NYC trip in 4 pictures:


1) brooklyn bridge and skyline.


2) landscape of park in williamsburg, brooklyn, looking out towards manhattan.


3) central park on the first warm and sunny day in NYC (so many people!).


4) post-jarvis-glow of 4 brunettes (l-r: vanessa_elle, sara, me, raptorgirl).

i arrived in NYC on friday night, surprisingly quickly from LGA to where i was staying in williamsburgh, brooklyn, thanks to a certain wonderful dj-type who i always seem to rendez-vous with in the NE. it was late (11:30pm by the time i arrived), but the city that never sleeps never fails to disappoint, either. brock, vanessa_elle and i walked a bit and found a thai place to eat (delicious, of course), then a little tea house with fancy-fancy teas like moonpie (black tea infused with coconut, chocolate, vanilla, and something else) that smelled like heaven.

saturday morning we woke up and had brunch and this adorable place called relish, which appeared to be an abandoned sort of trailer/boxcar diner place. of course, as you might imagine, all the food is amazing here...and i'm big-time into food. after brunch we killed some time and met up with the wonderful manningkrull, who took us on a tour of a bit of NYC, including a walk over the brooklyn bridge, through the streets of alphabet city (where we ate--again!--at this all vegetarian/vegan place called kate's place that was just terrific), etc. later that evening our group had reconvened and we all ended up at manning's place for a party, where i met a whole bunch of terrific lj-ers, including the beautiful miss tamisevens. last night's ambition was to bar hop, but getting a late start (1:30am by the time we left the party) i wasn't really feeling "drinking" or "bar hopping" for that matter. we did end up at couple different bars, but bad NY service and no soco makes me a dull girl.

fog all day--eerie and kind of beautiful. v & i went to whole foods, then out to eat at a vegan restaurant called the grasshopper. delicious tofu goodness. walked around allston and brighton and did a little thrift shopping. came home, relaxed, drank a little chartreuse, talked.

headed back out around 8pm--bus-bound for harvard square. walked around harvard, and the neighboring cemetary and shops. had drinks at the field [cute irish pub]. walked elsewhere [i don't know where we were, to be honest], and spent the rest of the evening at manray for their saturday "transmission" night. it was a really cool place--the music was excellent, except a few downers; bostonians sure know how to boogie. i watched v dance and people-watched, mostly. the goth/alternative/punk kids are fairly subdued here--i was kind of surprised. in fact, this has been something i've noticed all around the city--there seem to be far less "freaks" here than in FL. v says it's because people have "less to prove" here. there is, however, an abundance of "scenester" kids here, and i think i'd rather have the freaks, for what it's worth. we left shortly after last call, took a cab home, and here i am: exhausted.

day one: the airport-debacle, followed by a super-smooth flight where i did some work/editing and listened to music. arrived in boston, and was met by my sweetness v. i experienced the "T"--boston's public transportation system--which is so easy and simple and cool; depositing a "token" was exciting. i'm completely jealous of the luxury of not needing a car to get around a city, and grateful for it here because it means i can navigate on my own with ease. we returned to v's place--a cozy little apartment in brighton--where i met her roommate bonnie and their two cats. did i mention i'm allergic to cats? yeah. anyway, i got settled, and v and i went back out to do some walking and talking. ate at a funky hot-dog restaurant that had incredible veggie-dogs. came back home, ate some dulce de batata, went to sleep.

day two [today]: took the T into boston, where i walked down newberry street, went through the garden, boston common, and finally downtown crossing. spent literally hours walking down every street, taking pictures. there were all kinds of specialty shops and places to eat. i mostly window-shopped and people-watched. the city is pretty logical, and i felt really free and not at all overwhelmed [i expected to be]. ate at finagle a bagel. visited the granary cemetery, which has to be the most incredible cemetery i've ever seen. tombstones, rows and rows of them, with macabre art and epitaphs. granary dates back to the 1660's, and has a lot of famous/noteworthy people buried there [paul revere, john hancock, victims of the boston massacre].

random observations:
*boston has the fattest squirrels i've ever seen. seriously.
*what does boston do with their old people? rather, what does boston do with all the people over the age of 35? i swear everyone is so young here. while it's inspiring to be surrounded by so many young people--mostly artsy/indie/music looking--it's weird.
*people do not drink soda here, and people are not receptive to the idea of free refills.
*winter clothes make everyone look beautiful.
*winter weather is incredible. right now it is 39 degrees. the high was 45. i love, love, love it. it makes me feel so alive, so invigorated. i really hope it snows while i'm here: i have an interpol lyric i want to use.

today is v's last day of her fall classes. tonight i'm meeting her somewhere around emerson college, where she's supposed to be having drinks with some classmates. my social-anxiety-disorder is out the window since i'm a tourist.