Barbados Pictures

I have been a bad blogger (again) as of late. I have been rather busy but to make up for it I am posting some random beach pictures, from my vacation. Can I go back now???

You Say Beach Resort....I say motel

I don't even know where to start with this one. The weekend may have been perfect but the "hotel" left something to be desired that's for sure. First off the place we stayed at marketed itself as a beach resort. This in and of its self sets a certain standard. Note the green building in the picture below....THIS was the building we were in. Tell me this is a resort!!!! It is a freaking motel!












I have no problem with motels, let me start by saying that. HOWEVER do NOT market your establishment as a beach resort and provide a motel. Nor do I appreciate being charged as if I was staying at a beach resort and ending up in a cheap motel room at best. I wish the list of complaints stopped there but sadly they do not. In addition to the whole motel thing the follow added to the "charm" of the place;

• Upon checking in we were given a map and told to drive back down the road half a Km to the "unit" we would be staying at. We were also given two mystery keys with a sticker which had the room number on it. This should have been my first clue something was up.



• Upon getting to the room we note that neither of the keys was needed as the door did not latch. Oh good this makes me feel safe!!



• The room had an overpowering stench of mildew, more than likely coming from the dank dark carpet. I swear the stuff was from 1962 and NEVER cleaned. Oh yes it was that apparent.



• The bathroom door did not lock...and you had to slam it to get it to stay shut.



• The sink was leaking



• The floor by the tub was rotten. I thought I was going to fall through it at one point.



• The knob on the shower was broken and was spraying water EVERYWHERE!



• There was NO hot water what so ever.



• You could hear EVERYTHING that was going on in the next room. (Yes I am surprised there were other people staying there too)



• It was freezing because one of the windows was broken and not replaced or even covered.



• While we had a coffee maker and free coffee, I was almost sick when I saw dried lipstick (not mine) on the coffee cups provided...icky!!!! It was an instant GAG moment!


• Around 3 am the last night there I met another "guest" on my way to the bathroom....a RAT!!!

Now not all the rooms were that bad. Peter and Bev's room was quite nice. The food was good too. I will go back to that part of Cape Breton, I will eat at the restaurant however I WILL be staying somewhere else

I'm Home...Did you miss me??

Victoria and I made it to Cape Breton without any problems and the weekend was PERFECT. Melissa and Matt had a beautiful wedding and the weather cooperated. I have so many photos I don't even know where to start!! This picture was taken from the beach at the hotel. The hotel was NOT at all what I expected (and no I can assure you I don't mean that in a good way.) I will blog more about that later and I will be posting more photos as well.

The internet at the "hotel" (again I use the term loosely) was down all weekend and of course being with Rogers I had NO reception up in the hills, so I am going through withdrawl LOL.

Anyway I am BACK!! Miss me???

Bruins vs Habs Sept 22

Last nights game was amazing! I had a BLAST. The game was awesome and it was wonderful to see the B boys win!!!! YAY!!! I am one happy Bruins fan :)
I can't wait to go back Thursday. I took ALOT of photos but here are some of my favorites

Enjoy :)

LOVE THE SCORE!!!!

My Vacation Day Is Approved!!!!

I am so happy my vacation day for next month was approved. Victoria is in 2 ballet recitals that day and I couldn't imagine not being there. It really made my day!!!

10 Things I Learned On Vacation

1) A bikini top with a plastic fastener is NEVER suitable attire for water sports of any kind
- This one is pretty self explanatory. I was in the water snorkeling, a larger than normal wave cart wheeled me, the plastic clip on my bikini top was gone and the people on the beach got a free show. I luckily was able to get my cover up and walk back to change without calling too much attention to myself. I will be going to every sewing store in the valley and buying as many metal clips as I can find and "upgrade" any of my bikini's as required.

2) Next year I will be bringing Diet Pepsi with me!
-Barbados has a bottling contract with Coke so they buy the locally bottled Coke products and don't import many Pepsi products. I was lucky enough to find 4 small bottles once during my stay. Next year I WILL plan ahead!

3) Sunglasses....wear them enough said
-I think I actually burned my eyes the one day I forgot my sunglasses I will NEVER do that again.

4) If you make one pile of luggage for five people and one for a baby or young child (age 0-7 years) they will be roughly the same size.
- 3 of the 4 suitcases and both of the carry on bags we had were crammed full of my daughters things. All of that was in addition to the blanket and "Snorkles" (the Webkinz pig) she had a death grip on to make sure they got on the plane with her. Should running frantically from one gate to another with 4 carry on bags, and a 5 year old with a blanket and a stuffed pig become an Olympic event I will win the gold medal for sure.

5) Money doesn't grow on trees but apparently rum does....
-The pictures below were taken of a random rum bottle strapped to a tree. Apparently this is the new "norm" for several beach bars on the island.

6) The makers of sunscreen are evil and want you to burn.
-My "waterproof" sunscreen apparently wasn't waterproof. I had a very interesting splotchy burn, so I purchased another "sport" brand which also claimed to be waterproof and a higher spf....I turned a lovely shade of Carmine. I eventually smartened up and went with an old trusted stand by that I knew was waterproof and actually HAD some form of sunscreen in it.

7)Golf carts are dangerous implements of death.

- There should be a written test, followed by an intensive driving test prior to being allowed to operate one of these contraptions. This should be followed by a safety briefing and making sure each cart is equipped with fire extinguishers, life vests and parachutes.

8)The terms "ugly", "fat" and "old" have no meaning on the beach.

- This one explains itself....go south...get a beach chair...observe...enjoy :P

9)Never again will I buy black or red luggage.

-After spending more time than I should have at the baggage collection area and picking up a million bags that weren't mine I have made the executive decision that I will never again buy black or red luggage. Perhaps bright sparkly pink or purple would be appropriate choices....or maybe a set with large polka dots or stripes. The more hideous and bright it is the better.

10) Tropical shrieking birds are creepy.

- I am not a big fan of birds at the best of times but when a group of wild parrots starts shrieking and swooping it creeps me out. They are shrieky and annoying and are best kept FAR away from me.

There are UFO's in my Kitchen

Before you go call the pysch ward to let them know I have finally lost it and will require a room let me explain. I am sure you too have or have had UFO's in your kitchen. No I am not talking about Unidentified flying objects but Unidentifiable Fridge Objects. Having been away for two weeks and knowing I left a litre of milk in there I knew I would have to clean the entire fridge. However I didn't quite realize the extent of disorganization and mess it was truly in. I took a large garbage bag and threw out several plastic containers of "unidentifiable fridge objects". The further back I got the worse it was. If I didn't know better I would say some of them were from the days of horse drawn carriages.
I am pleased to report that the fridge is now clean....however I need groceries...I have several jars of pickles and things like Ketchup but not real food items....on to the next step restocking.

The Death of the Airline meal

I made the 16 hour journey home in one piece as did Victoria. It was very long and went from being unbearably hot (at least while clothed in long sleeved sweaters and jeans) to being unbearably cold. I can only hope the plane that we were travelling on from Barbados to Toronto was in better shape mechanically than the interior looked. I noted the following things when entering the aircraft
-The bathroom at the front of the plane had a large OUT OF SERVICE sign on the door.....not the best way to start a six hour flight.
-The overhead bin ABOVE my seat did not latch and therefore could not be used.
-The seat in front of my daughter appeared to have duct tape on it. Upon closer inspection it was in fact duct tape (or some reasonable equivalent) holding the seat pocket to the chair. Oh good!!! The plane is held together with duct tape we must be safe!!!
-My tray did not fasten properly and as a result kept coming unfastened smacking me on the knee at the most inconvenient times.
-The same tray did not stay all the way down either...the springy thing was gone so my coffee had a nice lean to it while in the cup.
-Shortly after take off the flight attendant comes on with a passenger announcement that for us poor saps in coach the entertainment screens (the ones that show the news and movie) was not working and they hoped we enjoyed the flight anyway. Great now I have to occupy myself and a 5 year old for 6 hours with no movie.....we are off to a great start.
-The seats Victoria and I had did NOT have working audio entertainment either. Thank the heavens above I had a portable DVD player and a wide selection of childrens dvds.
-There was NO duty free available for purchase on the flight. That one didn't affect me but there were some pretty upset people so I thought it worth mentioning.
-Victoria never like airline food so I always made her a meal to take with us that she could eat on the plane and this year it was a good thing. The air line meal is dead. Gone are the days of an unidentifiable mush being placed in front of you. Now you have to pay $5 for something that you normally wouldn't feed to your worst enemy. The best part is the few selections that looked ok weren't stocked well and were gone by the time they got to us....and yes I was desperate enough to pay 2 bucks for a tiny can of Pringles that Victoria ate 90% of despite having already had the meal I made for her.
-Once in Toronto we get searched at customs....annoying as they have no problem taking things out of the suitcase but they don't put things back in.
-We barely made our connection. Any attempts at summoning assistance didn't work and in fact we ended up helping some poor gentleman in a wheelchair as he was left to fend for himself as well.
I am cold...I am tired and I have WAY too much housework....Welcome home eh?

Fun in the sun

Just a quick post for you guys to let you know that Victoria and I arrived safe and sound. We had an excellent flight. It is hot and sunny. We have been taking it easy and enjoying lots of time on the beach. I can't believe we have been here two days already, the time is going by so fast. I will hopefully be able to keep getting internet time and keep you all up to date on the trip.