St Patrick's Shin Dig Contiki Style

Those Contiki Withdrawals we all know and love can be a harsh thing sometimes. What better way to cure or set back those withdrawals a little by a Contiki Event - St Patricks Day.

1st ever Leprechaun Toss - who ever got the hoola hoops over that Leprechaun got their name entered into a draw for a trip for 2 to Ireland. 

Again, the party took place in Calgary at Tipperary's Pub - 2002 16 Ave NW Calgary. It is like I can not say no to a Contiki Event. It's like I have Contiki running through my blood veins haha. It is all good though. This by far was the best St Patricks Day I have ever had in all my years. I even went all out in Green apparel, and wearing the Contiki name proudly ;).

It is not an Contiki event until you get that snapshot with the Contiki girls. Say hello to Sheralyn, and Sheena.

Contiki Shenanigans may be over but the party continues on until 2am....

Pic of the Day [Week uno]

Don't look down. Especially if you are afraid of heights. It was really weird to be walking on the glass floor in the Calgary Tower - i found myself constantly walking on the metal beams because it was just too weird to be walking straight on the glass floor it self.

But on the plus side there is fabulous views of the mountains and marvelous views of the City of Calgary, goregous!!

Calgary's 7 top list of things to do:

#1 Calgary Tower

#2 Calgary Zoo

#3 Alberta's Kananaskies

#4 Calgary Stampede

#5 Wildrose Brewery 

#6 Canadian Rockies Hot Springs

#7 Calgary Walks

Is Big Ben really leaning?

It was fascinating to be in London, England - waking up in London it is beyond words to describe. I've seen pictures over pictures of all these sites but seeing them with my own two eyes and setting foot on London soil and looking up at these monuments were breathtaking.

Being in Westminster abbey was goregous - now i see why Princess Kate and Prince Will got married there. I remember just sitting down against the wall at the entrance looking around me and up in awe.... took my breath away. I could have sat there all day.

We walked everywhere and my feet were hurting and tired but i kept on dragging them onwards. I am glad I did. Next day i would change  my shoes which had helped not make them so sore. So there is your tip for the day: pack 3 or 4 pairs of shoes, changing your shoes will limit how sore your feet will get.

When I heard on the news that Big Ben was leaning - I told mother nature to stop it. Stop ruining these structures before i get a chance to see them. 

Do you see the lean?

How about now? ha ha okay this is just me tilting the camera on purpose. But it makes a great masterpiece. I love changing the angle on the camera to snap that everlasting memory, as sometimes seeing something in a different angle changes how you see it and makes its natural beauty recognizable, more foreseeable.

RESTAURANT GORDON RAMSAY

68 Royal Hospital Road

London SW3 4HP United Kingdom

When in London, eat as the English do. Very elegant, high class.

Service Hospitality high rate, each time you get up to go to the washroom they walk you to the door. Then they come back to the table and refold your napkin. Between meals they wipe the crumbs from the table.

Breaks in between courses – nice touch and great idea gives you some time to digest your food and really enjoy it. We also ordered one bottle of wine that night then after that we all just stuck with water, which by the way they charge you for it. They tried to get us to order another bottle of wine, but one was enough.

It was a small restaurant space, very elegant, high class. Defiantly know why you must book a month in advance - but very well worth it! Actually I booked five months in advance, this was an opportunity I did not want to miss out of.

Now unfortunately Gordon Ramsay was not there himself that night. But he trains his cooks very well because we actually heard the chef yell when the kitchen door swung open. Besides the yelling the Food is mouthwatering, delicious!

Choose your meal style – A La Carte Menu Three courses for 95£, Menu prestige Seven courses for 125£, Seasonal Inspiration Seven courses for 135£. 

 First course meal

Three course menus was plenty of food – I could not have imagined if we had chosen the seven course menus, which would have been a lot of food and we would have been there for hours. Our Dinner reservations were already at 8pm and we probably left, oh who knows when we left because i was not paying attention to the time.

After the meal they called us a cab and grabbed our coats. Thank you for a fabulous, magnificent London meal and the most expensive meal i will ever eat.... but only the best meal it was!!  

More elegant food pictures can be seen on my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AyKate

TRAVEL SHOPPING

Although when you travel your suitcase is on a strict weight limit – but there is the best shopping while you are traveling Europe. Like me, I own about 4 pairs of jeans and not one of them are bought in Canada. I have either bought them in the United States or Europe. I just find, especially for pants I can never find the right fit when I shop in Canada, I can try on 10 different styles and not one fits just right. Not sure what it is but something about the clothes in Europe or even the United States for that matter, their some how made differently which makes the sizes different. Do not ask me how but the sizes are. Take a size 10 in Canada I can not find the right fit but a size 10 in Europe fits me perfect. Weird eh!

And it just makes your closet look even more fabulous when you have clothes from all over the world. Although last time I was in the United States I tried finding clothes that were only made in America and shockingly enough I could not find one piece. Just found clothes from either Taiwan, China, to name a couple. So you see I tried to do my part in 'Made in America' in order to help the economy but I just couldn't find any clothes that were.

When you do find those perfect fit clothes – you can’t just let them sit in the store, you have to grab them as fast as you can.

Best way to shop with European currency is to think of it as dollars. So when you spend 40 euros – just think of it as 40 dollars. Do not do the currency exchange you will not have ended up buying as much as you would like. Do not think about it – just do. You should have no regrets when you return home from vacation.

50€ = $64 Canadian / $61 Australian

50£ = $78 Canadian / $74 Australian

Best place to shop in London, England:

Oxford Street

Best place to shop in Paris, France:

Champs De Elysees

Best place to Shop in Edmonton, Alberta Canada:

West Edmonton Mall (Biggest shopping mall in North America)

Best place to shop in Santa Monica, California:

3^rd  Promenade

Overall, it is just fun shopping in another city or in another country for that matter that is not your home town. You do not have the added stress of money worries when you shop in another country. You are in a different store that you are not familiar, so you are more reluctant to try things on which gives the higher chance of finding the right fit and a new style you wouldn’t normally find.

Tip: do not buy outfits. Example: tops at one store and maybe one sweater. Then at the next store buy some pants and maybe a dress. Mix and Match – your wardrobe will look a lot more fashionable.

Gordon Ramsay Restaurant London, England

Most of us know who Gordon Ramsay is. Some know him from the TV series Hell's Kitchen. He has various restaurants across the continents - but his main one is in London, England where he resides.

Gordon Ramsay currently opened up a restaurant in Montreal, Canada this past summer August 2011. But why fly 2 hours just to eat there when I can fly a whole day to London, England and eat here....

I choose London, England.....

It is not the cheapest place to eat as the cheapest meal is 95 pounds, but it is Gordon Ramsay's Restaurant and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It is not hard to get a reservation but you do need to book a months in advance, or in my case 2-3 months in advance. What can i say i wanted to make sure i got a table at my favorite chef's restaurant. Also it is not a every day occurrence that you are in London, England so why not splurge....

Await my Review coming January 2012