The Year That Was 30

So 30 was kind of awesome and I feel totally unphased by 31.

Thirty brought me travels to Europe - Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Berlin & Amsterdam. Of them, Amsterdam was my favorite, Rome had the best food, and Berlin the best beer, but the Venetian men were the hottest. Hands down.


Thirty brought me closer to my parents - our trip to Italy made us appreciate how special this family of three is and how important it is for us to fight for each other, rather than with each other. While it didn't help my co-dependence, it did make me a better daughter.


Thirty brought me the biggest test of my professional life. From leaving the job I loved so much, to hastily taking a job I knew wasn't right, and finally finding my way back to where I want to be. Thank goodness Reputations wanted me back as much as I wanted to go back. I am so happy to work in an environment that encourages my wackiness and believes in my talent.

Thirty brought many men into my life, but only one stuck, and well, he's pretty fucking awesome. We'll see how long it lasts, but I really hope it lasts a while -- he's got some serious potential. I was starting to believe that smart, funny, kind, normal, straight men were a pipe dream; ladies, I'm here to tell you, they're not. And some even live in Vancouver! For the first time in my life, I'm starting a new year with a boy by my side. It's kind of awesome.

Thirty brought me talkfoolery. I love that I have a weekly outlet for my thoughts, ones that are sometimes too questionable to share elsewhere (Have you checked us out yet? No! Well you should, we're all kinds of awesome)

So yeah, 30 was definitely a good year.

WTF ...

was I thinking? Booking a last minute trip to Europe?! This is not me. I'm usually so researched and prepared for adventures.

I leave on Friday and I am neither.

Who JUST found a place to sleep in Amsterdam? This girl. I'm also a little stressed about the language barrier. For both Italy & France I was listening to language podcasts weeks before. This time, there were no weeks before.

blerg

AND to be super adventurous (read: slightly stupid) I've arranged for a couple of dates in each city. Thanks OkCupid!

So, play nice Berlin, Amsterdam and maybe Bruges, I just don't want to cry.

Vacation Highlight: Trains, Again

Florence to Pisa, I think.

After Paris & Switzerland I fell I love with trains   and traveling on them. What a lovely way to see the country. Always on time, comfortable, speeding through the beautiful countrysides. Ah.

So, when ma, pa & I were planning the trip to Italy, I put in a demand to travel to each city via train. This time around though, we went first class and it was awesome, and for not a lot more money.

It's also fun to drink wine on trains.

Rome to Florence was beautiful. Florence to Pisa like a postcard, and though Florence to Milan was too dark to tell for sure, I'm fairly certain that it too was magical. Milan to Venice was incredible, all leading into one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen.

I wish Canada had an efficient and inexpensive rail system - I'm sure the ride between BC & Alberta would give Europe some scenery competition.

Vacation Highlight: Irish Car Bombs with Bobby

I get my party-loving ways from my dad. No one in my family would argue that fact. So when we got to Florence and he wanted to go out, I agreed and off we went.

The taxi driver dropped us off in the nightlife centre of Florence, but just like in Paris, for some reason, the first bar we stopped in to was a karaoke bar. Oye.

We were stone-cold sober, so I figured, what the hell, let's do shots!

So I ordered two Irish Car Bombs.

My pa had no idea what the hell was put in front of him. As he dropped in his shooter glass, he abandoned the drink, so I had to do both of them. Fun!

We had a couple of beers there, watched American students sing Katy Perry & songs from Grease and then continued our stroll. Stopped in another lounge, which went from packed to empty in five minutes. I blame Bobby. Finally we ended in a full-on nightclub on reggae night. I pounded my drink and got us out of there. Awkward.

Iris / Bobby time happens very rarely, so even among the drunken students, this was totally a vacation highlight.

Frustration

I am starting to get frustrated.

Single for three years, dating the entire time, I have yet to meet a boy I really enjoy in Vancouver.

No, because I like the difficult life, in the past three years, the only boy that I have met that I like enough to think about dating lives 8333km away. (yes, that is the exact distance from Vancouver to Bern)

So now, not only does he live very far away, but because I think he's pretty great, I'm getting frustrated. Frustrated with the fact that we cannot really get to know each other from so far away. Frustrated that this great life I have here cannot be shared with him. Frustrated that because I was lucky enough to find him, I am now uninterested in the idiots boys here.

It was four really special days in Bern and how I would love for it to translate into something more. At the very least a second or third date. But I am starting to feel the hope he provided slipping away. He is too cute to remain single for much longer.

And my biggest fear may just come true: I will be forgotten.

I hate the idea of being forgotten. Especially by this boy.

sigh

Vacation Highlight: Train Travel

The first time I experienced train travel was on my way to Versailles. I don't really count it though because it was a short trip, and I was still in a foreign-land daze.

The next time I took a train was from Paris to Bern, Switzerland. It was a 4.5 hour ride from one country to another - can you imagine?! It would take longer to get from Vancouver to Edmonton.

When I was in Bern, we went on a day-trip to Interlaken, again via train.

This time it was awesome. We stood and had a sandwich and a beer for lunch, followed by a smoke - at the train station. Yes, you read that right, I was able to smoke, inside the train station. yesssss!

We couldn't finish our beer before our train, so we took the can onto the train.

Sidenote: This was very common - people walking around drinking alcoholic beverages. Usually just beer, but even in Paris, people were casually strolling and drinking and smoking and it was the best thing ever.

The train-ride to Interlaken was beautiful. Lakes snuggled into the foothills of the Swiss Alps, the snowcapped  mountains, well it was splendid.

Check it out:

Of course, not all train travel is happy travel - the ride from Bern to Paris was depressing as shit. And it was late, but the cops all of a sudden were on board, so I think we may have been smuggling a criminal or something.

Also, is it weird that I didn't have to fill out any paperwork going into France or Switzerland, and they didn't even look at my passport going or leaving Switzerland?! Does anyone else find that strange?

Anyways, trains are awesome and I wish we had more access to them here. That would be great.

Finished

Tomorrow, I leave Switzerland.

I think tomorrow, I will be very sad.

I meet enough boys and have been on enough dates to know when I meet a good guy and when I meet a schmuck.

Unfortunately, I think I have met a good guy.

Why unfortunately? Well, I will likely never see this boy again. He will continue with his life and I will return to mine, and our paths may never cross again. And this makes me very sad.

Funny, cute, kind, smoker, and I have mentioned before, yay for accents. I have come to realize that these qualities are too few and far between in men. Often uptight and judgemental, to meet a person that is ok with you being silly and dressing crazy is a good thing.

Only he lives here and I live there.

So tomorrow, when I board the train and leave Switzerland, I think I will be very sad.

Wanderlust

The problem with vacations, even short ones, is that they get me all ... distracted.

I come home and well, it is the last place I want to be. I would rather be on the beach somewhere, or exploring some fantastic city, with some fantastic person.

But instead, I am here, typing away, wishing I was anywhere but here.

ANYWHERE.

This week, when I returned to work, for the first time in a while, I wished I was retired.

Tangent - why is retirement wasted on the old? I mean, I would have WAY more fun retired right now than any old person. Give me my CPP now, and I will start working again at 35 and slave away for the rest of my days. I don't care.

So, where am I wanderlusting to?

Paris.

There's a side-story you need for some context.

When I was 14, my dad took me to the UK with his family. His family and I have had, let's say a rocky relationship.

While we were there, we took the Chunnel to Calais, France. As he was in the cafe buying lunch, he realized that Paris was only a 45-minute train ride.

He came out of the cafe excited - and he never gets excited.

"Iris! Paris is only 45-minutes away. Let's go. You and me and Paris!"

I had never been more excited for anything - PARIS?! For reals?

Well, this idea was quickly shot down by his sister. Apparently this was a family trip, and a visit to Paris with just he and I did not qualify as a family trip.

Fuck that.

Paris was so close ... like Westlock close, and I didn't get to go.

*sob*

Recently, after many glasses of wine, my dad confessed one of his biggest regrets to me - not saying screw you to his family and taking me to Paris anyways.

This made me want the city even more. This city that was so close ... in my grasp almost, but so far away.

I haven't been back to Europe since and when I go again, it will be very different.

That is why I am thinking about skipping a family Christmas, because, well, they never go well, and heading to Europe.

What could be more lovely than spending a week in gay Paris in solitude? The city, me and who knows what.

sigh.

I think it might just be a pipe-dream though. My mother would kick my ass if I missed a holiday with her.

Although she did just have heart surgery - that might have slowed her down a little. I'm sure she doesn't pack the same punch she used to.