This is my final blog post! I am landing at Heathrow on Wednesday, and very much looking forward to going home. However, I will miss traveling very much. It's been an amazing 5 months and I feel really lucky to have been able to see all that I've seen (both landscapes and cityscapes) and to have met hilarious lunatics, awe-inspiring hard workers, generous strangers and rude portenos. Nothing beats people and places.
In my last two weeks traveling I have spent a lazy week in Buenos Aires and a very cultured week in Montreal.
After saying goodbye to Sarah, I got back to Buenos Aires feeling utterly exhausted. I slept for roughly two days and earned myself the reputation of always being asleep among the other travelers. But later on during the week I was able to relive my favourite aspects of Buenos Aires and see some new areas of the city, too. I went with some friends to La Cabrera steak house. At this famous restaurant, you are presented with a 600g steak and lots of little pots of various veggies to try it with, such as artichoke hearts, peppers and spinach salsa...it was the best meal of my trip. I also went to a 50s Rock dance class which was lots of fun and, of course, there was more Tango. On my last day we stumbled across a Colombian street festival and were treated to some traditional dance shows and music (enthusiastically commentated by our Colombian friend from the hostal). I also had a healthy dose of Buenos Aires night life; a hip hop club, a house club, chic bars in the leafy Palermo neighborhood and grimy local joints. I also made use of the extensive film collection at the hostal and discovered at the beginning of the week the last book in the Dragon Tattoo series. I had not read the first two (recently watched the first film), but was immediately hooked by it and couldn't put it down until I had finished. A couple of girls there had also been at the Krishna farm, and it was so sad saying goodbye to the people that I had spent so much time with. That is one of the hard aspects of traveling; constant heart ache and goodbyes... on the other hand we all have somewhere to stay now in each others' respective countries!
I'm now in Montreal, possibly the world capital of culture, and it's baking hot (29 degrees yesterday and today). There's so much to do here, it's almost overkill. Since being here, I have seen two comedy shows and lazed at the free comedy stage for many hours, visited both contemporary and Inuit art galleries, seen a free open-air production of the Taming of the Shrew, listened to a lunch-time blue grass concert in the local plaza, raved with the group of drummers and cow bell musicians who meet up every Sunday for jamming sessions, and after a Friday night BBQ, gone to a late night House music club with a few locals from the city. Not to mention the awesome history museum, my bike ride around the two islands on the river, the visit to the eden project-esque Biodome in the Olympic park, and the feast we prepared after going shopping at the Saturday farmers market in the north of Montreal. Sigh.
On another note, it's really nice being in a bilingual city. There seems to be a lot of rivalry about French and English, but everyone speaks both. Signs and announcements are primarily in French but often translated. Apparently, in Quebec they are defend their French heritage a lot fiercer. I like speaking French, but I kind of miss Spanish now! I've been sharing my bunk bead with a guy from BA so we can reminisce about La Cabrera and the San Telmo Sunday market.
We watched the Olympic opening ceremony, and the coverage is playing on the TV everywhere. If you have any questions about how the Canadian team are doing, just ask. I loved the opening ceremony, it made me feel very patriotic and eager to go home. And see my clothes. And the dogs. And my Mum!!!!
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