A Quick Stop In The Mountain Town Of Jasper, Alberta

While on VIA Rail's "The Canadian" from Vancouver to Toronto, there were extended stops where we could walk around for a specified period of time. There were two places where we were able to get off the train and stretch our legs, and I will talk about one of those places. We got to explore the municipality of Jasper in Alberta for about an hour. I have never been to Jasper before, and it was nice to be in a mountain town with the picturesque setting of the Rocky Mountains surrounding it. People come to Jasper primarily for tourism, including exploring Jasper National Park.

The Culinary Offerings of VIA Rail's "The Canadian"

As you already know, I went on the train trip of a lifetime when I traveled from Vancouver to Toronto on VIA Rail's "The Canadian". Although the overall experience itself was less-than-stellar, the best highlight while travelling on this train was the food. I want to use this post to show off some of the different food options that I had while on "The Canadian". These are mostly going to be vegetarian and fish dishes, with a couple of meat dishes thrown in. As you will see, the presentation of these meals are top-notch.

Capilano Suspension Bridge: Vancouver’s High-Priced Attraction

I did a tourist thing while I was in Vancouver, and that is to go check out the Capilano Suspension Bridge. This was something I always seen people check out whenever they were in Vancouver for the first time, and so I wanted to check it out as well, at a great cost to my wallet. We went right when the park opened, so the attraction was not busy at all, which was fantastic.

Train Review: VIA Rail's "The Canadian"

 

I was able to check-off a bucket-list item as I went on a train trip for four nights from Vancouver to Toronto on VIA Rail's "The Canadian". We stayed in a cabin for two in the Sleeper Plus class. This is my more formal review of the experience as I talk about the cabin, food, staff, and amenities/entertainment. We went on this train in March, which is not VIA Rail’s peak season for travel. I am here to let you know if this experience is worth going on, or if this experience is too much money for the offering.

 

My Greatest Act Of Self-Care (So Far)

Last year, I performed one of my greatest acts of self-care in my life. I touched on this briefly on a couple of my blog posts last year, but I want to use this post to talk about this in detail and discuss why it is important for me to continue doing this.

Punta Cana Highlights 2024

This is my more informal companion post to my recent review of the RIU Palace Bavaro resort in Punta Cana where I talk about my experiences within this resort. I planned for this to be more of a relaxing vacation for me, as I did not partake in many excursions outside the resort. In fact, I only left the resort once during my trip for “shopping”, which meant an impromptu trip to KFC. Regardless, there are things on this trip that I would like to share.

Resort Review: RIU Palace Bavaro

I stayed for seven days at the RIU Palace Bavaro, which is an all-inclusive resort recently renovated for 2024. The RIU Palace hotels offer more of a luxury and relaxation touch compared to their Classic hotels, but RIU advertises that this resort has something for the whole family. The RIU Palace Bavaro is part of a compound of RIU resorts in the area (that also includes the RIU Palace Macao, RIU Bambu, and the RIU Palace Punta Cana).

Halifax Hodge Podge Of Stuff I Did

This is the second blog post detailing the rest of what I saw and experienced in Halifax. There were still so many interesting neighbourhoods, restaurants, views, and locations I want to tell you about, so I will tell you about them below.

Exploring the Halifax Waterfront

This will be the first of two blog posts of all the other things I experienced while staying in Halifax that did not need its own blog post. There are many things remaining to cover on my Halifax trip, including the waterfront, food and dessert spots, and interesting neighbourhoods and locales. This post will mostly cover the waterfront.

The Canadian Museum of Immigration At Pier 21

After checking out the views at the Halifax Citadel, I took a ride to the Canadian Museum of Immigration, which is one of Canada’s national museums. Rather appropriately, Halifax’s Pier 21 is where this museum is located, where nearly one million immigrants landed here between 1928 and 1971. I know immigration is a hot topic these days in Canada and around the world, but this museum serves as a reminder of how important immigration was to Canada in its formation and identity as a country.

The Mighty Fort Of The Halifax Citadel

The Halifax Citadel is what I would consider to be the iconic landmark of Halifax. The Halifax Citadel is a Victorian-era fort situated on the top of Citadel Hill overlooking downtown Halifax. I could not be in Halifax and not check out the Citadel, so I work up one early morning and made my plan to visit the fort. Halifax was already a hilly city, but I would have to further walk up Citadel Hill to enter the fort. 

Mahone Bay Photo Gallery

After leaving Lunenburg, I drove north up a windy road to the small town of Mahone Bay. I did not spend a lot of time here, maybe an hour tops, but I did check out some of the views and went into a few stores to check out some goods. Mahone Bay is a quaint town but does get some tourists who come this way. There was a nice walk along the coast of the bay along with the main road with a few more shops and restaurants selling ice cream.

Anyways, here are some more pics I took of Mahone Bay:

Exploring The Port Town Of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

After my expedition to Peggy’s Cove, I hopped back into my rental and drove westward down Highway 103 to the scenic port town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. British settlers founded the town in 1753 as a British settlement, and the town still retains buildings and an atmosphere dating back to the 19th century. There were a few things that I wanted to check out while I was in the town for a couple of hours, so I will condense this experience into one blog post.

Halifax Public Gardens Photo Gallery

Across from my hotel in Halifax were the Halifax Public Gardens, which is a Victorian-era public garden. I had a chance to go for a walk around these gardens to see the beautifully-manicured flowers and the pond, among other things. There were statues and other structures to check out as well. The walk was quite nice, with many visitors sitting on the benches relaxing or walking the many paths to see all of the flowers. I did not take too many pictures, but I will share them here:

Foggy Mornings At Peggy's Cove

I could not go to Nova Scotia without making the trek to Peggy's Cove, but I never knew why Peggy's Cove was so popular with tourists. I have always heard about it and thought "Oh neat! It is a lighthouse by the ocean, looks nice". I did not think anything more than that about Peggy's Cove until I went there, and then I was able to develop my own opinion about this place. Let me tell you all about my trip to Peggy's Cove.

A Cèilidh On The Alexander Keith's Brewery Tour

On the late afternoon/early evening of my first night in Halifax. I booked myself in to take a tour of the Alexander Keith’s Brewery in downtown Halifax, which had been in operation since 1820, making it one the oldest breweries in Canada, though not THE oldest. I generally like Alexander Keith’s beer, though it is not my go-to beer; I just wanted an excuse to visit the brewery. I cannot remember if I have ever been on a brewery tour but this was certainly an experience. I walked into the old building and into an indoor courtyard where I got my ticket from the reception desk/gift shop and waited for the tour to begin.

My Solo Jaunt To Nova Scotia

I went for a brief exploratory vacation to New Scotland; more formally known as Nova Scotia. I did not go to Nova Scotia with anyone; in fact, I went on a solo vacation. I know, this may sound scandalous to some, but I have some reasons as to why I went to Nova Scotia by myself.

More Italy and Florida Stuff

I need a blog post to show you all of the things that I wanted to show you that I could not fit into any of the blog posts that I already created. This post will be unstructured by nature, and will just be a photo dump of some things while I was in Italy and Florida. Anyways, enjoy!

Spending The Day At Universal Studios Florida

I already talked about my time in the Simpsons area at Universal Studios Florida but I want to talk about my time exploring the rest of the park. I have not been to Universal Studios Florida since I was a child, maybe around 9-10 years old. Over 20 years later, I find myself back at the same park. There has been so much that has changed at the park, but there are rides that still exist that I rode as a child that sorely need either a re-brand or have a brand-new ride at the same site. Here are the pictures I took as I show you around what was happening on a busy Tuesday at Universal Studios Florida.

Springfield, Universal Studios Florida

The Simpsons is probably one of my most beloved TV shows, and I have Seasons 1-12 on DVD ready for watching whenever I need it. When I first heard that there will be a Simpsons-themed area at Universal Studios Florida, I hoped that I would, at some point, make my way over there to check it out. I can cross an item off my bucket list because I got to experience Springfield at Universal Studios Florida. As a Simpsons fan, this was a dream come true.