Canada: all about the beers/bears

We were honoured to be invited to attend the wedding of our friends Sam and Becci in Edmonton, smack bang in the middle of Canada, in August 2011. As well as witnessing their big day, it gave us the perfect excuse to explore a country we hadn’t visited before.

Over 11 days we only just scratched the surface of this independent travel in this huge, wonderful country. We fell in love and just want to live there now – but so do thousands of others so it’s near impossible to get a visa. So we’ll stick to London for now.

Edmonton city centre

As well as the wedding itself, highlights included:
Edmonton: catching up with friends including Si, Postie, Krip, Tash and Jimmy from New Zealand who’d travelled over for the wedding, plenty of laughs and partying.

The drive from Edmonton to Jasper National Park: The gps told us to drive straight for 361kms, and straight it was.
Driving from Jasper to Banff: so many things to see along the way. Even in cold rain, the lakes were an amazing azure and the wildlife abundant. A particular highlight was spotting a bear on the roadside, quite close to our car. Here's a taster.

Banff: An awesome resort town full of great bars and restaurants. Could happily have stayed for weeks. As well as the town atmosphere and excellent hikes close by, the town sports a natural hot spring, so we soaked our cares away there one morning.
Lake Louise (the lake itself, not the town): honestly the most beautiful site, even allowing for favouritism given the name
Rafting down the Kicking Horse river: Ranging from level 1 to level 4 rapids, even getting to jump out and swim (get swept through?) two freezing cold level 3 rapids, with Jimmy and Tash from New Zealand.
Glenbow museum in Calgary: we didn’t have long here which was a shame, it provided an excellent overview of the history of Canada. We were especially interested in its hunting past, given we’d enjoyed an evening of hunting stories and felt the skins of wolves, beaver and mink the night before staying with family friends.
Vancouver: we could see why it’s voted one of the best places to live. Easy to get around and plenty to see. We spent a couple of hours walking through Spencer Park, popped to Granville Island, and generally wandered around to take in the atmosphere.

We did a fair bit of hiking, enjoying the fresh air and unique scenery. Top hikes included Johnston’s canyon to the inkpots just outside of Banff (12 kms); A full day around Lake Louise, including a steep climb to the foot of the glacier, and visits to a couple more lakes on the way (14 kms); and the Grouse Grind with Lou’s relatives in Vancouver, pretty much a 2.9km grind straight up hill. The kids put us to shame with their energy.

On top of the world after tackling the Grouse Grind

Most memorable eating and drinking experiences include:

Dadeo diner and bar in Edmonton: a retro feel with great southern style food

Saltlik in Banff: amazing steaks

Magpie and Stump in Banff: drink out of jars and throw your peanut shells on the floor

Cactus Club Cafe in Vancouver: delicious food, great service, funky vibe in the centre of town.

Canada: we will be back!

The incredible Lake Louise

Independent travel in Turkey: Turkish delight

First up, Selcuk, to visit the ruins of Ephesus. We stayed in a fantastic bed and breakfast, Tuncay Pension, right in the middle of Selcuk, a small town on a direct train from Izmir airport. We had a bit of an adventure getting there, latching onto some locals to figure out which train to get on, and ended up standing with our packs by an open train door for part of the journey, watching people walk on the tracks behind the train. Poor old Dean just about had a health and safety hernia.

The ruins of Ephesus were well worth a visit, and within walking distance of Selcuk (although not on a super hot day, you’d expire).The ruins are not all that ruined, which made it easy to imagine what life would have been like in the port city thousands of years ago.

From the sunshine of Selcuk it was off on a dolmus (public bus that dropped us off on the motorway by the airport – bargain but again, health and safety Turkey...) to catch a flight to Goreme, in Cappadocia. The region is known for its amazing volcanic rock formations, with buildings cut into the rocks.

We spent two nights in a cave hotel (despite the name, it was very plush), braving the cold weather to explore the outdoor museum of caves, do a hot air balloon ride over the fairy chimneys, and do a tour around the region, including to the underground city of Derinkuyu. A unique part of the world, well worth visiting (but take your thermals).

From there it was on to Istanbul for a few days, broken up with a trip to Galipolli. We missed our flight there (official airport shuttle driver had never driven to the airport, took the wrong route then stopped to ask directions – go figure) so despite a sprint that would have seen us win the Amazing Race across the airport with our packs, check in for our flight had closed, and no amount of fake tears and “but we’re visiting all the way from New Zealand” would move the man. No bother though, we took a £12, 6 and a half hour public overnight bus instead which turned out to be a fantastic, clean and comfy option.

The tour of Troy that morning was ok (could have missed it and still died happy) but the tour of Gallipoli was fantastic.

In Istanbul, we visited all the main sites, the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Galata Tower, Topaki palace, a boat cruise, some shopping at the markets and squishing a backgammon set and tea set into our packs for the trip home. We also visited two Turkish baths, learning that the less touristy ones are far and away superior in service and price. We stayed at Second Home Hostel which was just fantastic, the staff were lots of fun and the location was prime.

And as always eating featured heavily on a von Yarrall adventure, with apple tea, Turkish delight, fish sandwiches from the sea side and kebabs in their plenty.

von D girls visit Budapest

Lou enjoyed a weekend with her sisters in Budapest in April 2011. They had a wonderfully relaxing time wandering around in the sunshine, eating, drinking, and spending a fair few hours chilling out at Szechenyi Baths. They also explored the labyrinth underneath Castle Hill and had an amazing meal at Koleves, where they discovered that Hungarian wine is pretty darn good.

A lovely way to catch up with the girls and to celebrate Ange's 29th birthday.

Ange enjoying her birthday desert at Koleves.

Random wine fountain in the underground labyrinth.

Hannah, Helen, Ange and Lou overlooking Budapest.

Viva Las Vegas

We popped into Vegas for a few nights on our way back from NZ and were pleased to find it’s just like Disney Land, only for grown ups. We hadn’t realised quite how long the strip is (almost 7kms), so were stoked our hotel (Caesar’s Palace) was smack bang in the middle of all the action. Our first night we took in the sights and sounds of the strip itself – the fountain at the Bellagio (which is not a fountain, it’s a 9 acre lake), the first of three visits there; the erupting volcano at the Mirage; and the pirate show outside Treasure Island with scantily clad pirates, pyrotechnics and all. Great fun. Enjoyed an American BBQ meal at Gilleys, then wandered back down the strip were we happened across the Piano bar at Harrahs where for free, we enjoyed a couple of hours of Duelling Pianos (cute blonde twins playing popular songs, teasing each other and encouraging crowd singalongs and requests, just the ticket).

Here's the 'fountain' outside the Bellagio in action:

Day two was spent wandering the strip in full and doing a spot of gambling here and there, after feeding ourselves silly at the Bellagio buffet. The hotels and casinos are just amazing, so we happily wandered for hours taking in the amounts of money spent in hotels like New York New York, Luxor, MGM Grand (what's with live lions inside a hotel?),Paris and the Flamingo. At the MGM we took part in a TV show pilot viewing which was a bit of fun, so we’ll keenly keep our eyes out for the programme we viewed to hit the screens and see if our feedback made any difference.

Day three was a tour of the Grand Canyon. We had pre-arranged our hotel pick up for 6am with the tour company and happily gone to bed the night before with our alarm set for 5.40am (doesn’t take long for us to get pretty in the morning). So we were pretty miffed to be called at 4.30am by the tour company confirming our pick up. Needless to say we didn’t get back to sleep and were pretty grumpy tourists by the time the bus showed up. The tour itself was pretty good, but long. We bussed to the West Rim of the canyon, stopping quickly for a photo op at the Hoover Dam. At the canyon we took a quick helicopter ride to the canyon floor, followed by a boat trip, then ‘coptered out. Were a bit disappointed that the helicopter wasn’t a bit longer to show us more of the canyon, it was simply there as a mode of transport to get in and out. We then had a couple of hours to take in the canyon from the top. Pretty amazing you can get right up to the side, can’t be strict health and safety laws in the USA. Amazingly only about 1 person each year falls off the side. Wasn’t us this time round thank goodness, despite getting pretty close to the edge.

Friday was our last day in Vegas, so we ventured to the ‘original strip’, Fremont Street. It’s a much less glitzy side of Vegas despite all the neon, but we enjoyed some cheaper gambling and the atmosphere. Our final night was spent at dinner and a show – we opted for a Brazillian bbq place (Dean does love his meat), and the Crazy Horse Paris burlesque show – mostly because it was half price that night (Dean does love saving the pennies).

And that was that. Farewell Las Vegas, we’d happily come back!

Wedding time in New Zealand

Finally the time came around for our good friends Kyle and Melissa to get hitched, so we headed back to New Zealand for a quick trip to be there, and for Dean to return the best man favour Kyle had done for our wedding in 2009.

The wedding was wonderful despite classic Wellington summer weather of torrential rain and chilly breezes – but that all made for stunning photos. We loved catching up with lots of friends and family, and no matter how many coffee dates we had in a day, we never got sick of the amazing New Zealand coffee and wine.

On our whistle stop tour we also got down to Akaroa (home to Akaroa Dolphins and Paua Bay Farm Tours and B&B), where Dean’s extended family live, and enjoyed a classic Akaroa summer’s day of 30+ degree heat. Why would anyone live anywhere else?

Switzerland: Interlaken and Jungfrau, December 2011

While we visit Switzerland pretty regularly with Lou’s sister, husband and baby living in Geneva, we hadn’t ventured far from there, so decided a few days in the mountains were on the cards just after Christmas 2010. We settled on basing ourselves in Interlaken, at the foot of the Jungfrau mountain range. 

Swiss trains are super efficient and easy to navigate around, so after a quick stop and look around in Bern, we ended up in Interlaken.

We spent three lovely, snowy days, exploring the region, trying out snowshoeing and loving it, getting an adrenaline rush with some sledding, and taking a train trip to the highest train station in Europe, the Jungfraujoch. Well worth the visit for some wintery fun, as you can see from this video.

Dublin - completing the grand slam

With the All Blacks due to visit Dublin this year, we booked a hotel and flights for Dublin back in Februrary to beat the inevitable price rises, without 100% certainty the preliminary dates for the tour would be right. Lucky for us they were, so we had one of our cheapest rugby weekends yet, completing our very own grand slam of Murrayfield, Twickenham, Cardiff Arms and Landsdowne Road (now Aviva Stadium) in Dublin over three years.

Arriving late on Friday night, we met a friend for a few obligatory pints of Guinness at one of the oldest bars in Dublin, the Stag’s Head on Temple Bar. The rugby wasn’t until 5pm the following day, so we spent Saturday wandering through Trinity College and the streets of the city, seeing some sights including the National Museum of Ireland (well worth a visit for Ireland's history) and taking in the pre-match atmosphere.

The rugby itself was exciting for the first half, but the All Blacks pulled away after half time and we secured another win. The crowd was unique, with plenty of banter and each time someone was preparing to take the kick the crowd would fall into a respectful silence, something we’ve not experienced at any other sports ground in the world. After the game it was another visit to Temple Bar to take in the atmosphere and quench our thirst.

Our flight wasn’t until late on Sunday, so we had plenty of time for more exploring, and then joining our friend again for a tour of the Guinness Factory. This was an excellent tour, informative, well designed, and definitely created to convert non-drinkers into Guinness lovers. We then took in a quick meal and more local beer, including one sweetened with fresh oyster, at the Porterhouse before heading back to London.