Ps

There is free wifi signal on the hostal room- yeah !!

The puma city that is at 3400+m above sea level.

It's the end of our second day here in Cuzco and it's been a pretty chilled tried so far.

2 nights ago i ran into my travel buddy Kelly at starbucks in lima's airport at about one am. Then qe were both waiting for our vey early morning flights, hers at 5:30 and mine at 5:55. after getting about 2hours sleep in Lima's airport I was a plane to Cuzco! The plane ride was ultra fast because I passed out but even that was only another hour's sleep. Next thing I know we land and we deplane the cool way without the gates like how it was in some European cities.

Grabbed my bag and then going outside I ran into Kelly again! She was suppose to have an airport transfer arranged but instead it didn't show. So we both grabbed a cab to our hostel knowing we were probably paying more then we should.

After checking in we decided to head out and do a visit to some archeological sites that won'tbe covered in our little intrepid package. The funny part was when we were trying to find the damn bus and we probably walked around the atop foe about an hour and a half until we finally discovered it was this place we initially passed where a guy was hanging out of a bus screaming "pisac! Pisac !" we thought he wanted to sell us pizza cause the place was right beside a restaurant . The bus ride was 2.4 soles for about 20 minutes and we went to the highest of the four sites "tambomachay". This was our first exposure to the altitude as the site was 3700m above sea level . No matter how slow I went and how deep I was breathing my heart was racing to compensate for the lack of oxygen.

Later on we walked to another site about 10 minutes down the road to some ruins. There we negotiated with a personal guide to take us to the rest of the sites for 25 soles (we later find we missed one of the sites)- this was better as it would be a shame to just walk around and see ruins bug have no context. The most interesting fact was that Cuzco was built in the shape of a puma (one of the three natural gods; the other a condor and a lama). And the last site, sacsayhuaman , I'd the head and thx city the body (we find out the next day that the "sun church" our hostel was behind ( the " qorikancha" of great religious, ceremonial and royal sig) was the testicles and the main square (plaza de armas) is the stomach).

After he sites we hiked it down and then found ourselves in a local restaurant trying the local food (ginea pig!). The skin was super tough but the meat was somewhere between chicken and porc.

By about 5:30 pm we were beat (considering we only had two hours of sleep) and crashed at the hostel for a good .... 13 hours haha!!

Day 2 in Cuzco

Woke up to a simple breakfast and there we met the other intrepid travelers whom most flew in that morning. We met our guide armando and then we started our walking tour of the city.

The square was much more livlier on a Sunday as apparently every Sunday there is a parade -hard core!!

We then headed to a market in the center and you can probably by all you produce from here. We the group separated ANC were to meet back at the hostel at six in the evening.

Thx best part was the first section of like fifty different fresh fruit smoothie ladies trying to get you to sit down and try their drinks. We settled with a lady that had a bunch of locals at her station.

Funny thing is we initially thought "leche" meant peaches but it means milk ... Our mistake . I ordered the special which costed six soles and had almost everything in it (including maca ,raw unpasteurized honey, and a sketchy cough syrup). The thing I'd she made so much that she refilled my glass three times!

Afterwards we walked the rest of the market and picked up some fruit and nuts.

We then headed to the museo de arts ore-colombio. Which basically covered hitorical sculptures and art from various regions.

After we headed offvfor some more local food and found a restaurant that Served prarically a four course meal for 10 soles-amazing!!

After a late lunch we wandered the streets and headed back to meet with the group. Here we met our trek guides and they helped us set expectations. Three of us were doing the lares trek and the rest the inca trail. Our travel buddy joining Us on the lares trek is Adam -a dude from Australia that now lives in Florida.

They gave us a duffel to pack about 6kg of stuff for the porters to carry.

Afterwards Kelly and I went to search for some dinner and settled in this pizza restaurant full of kids (which we later found was a birthday party) and we sat at the parents table. There was live music and good food and tried the inca cols but the meal came out to forty soles which we felt we were ripped off cause ghrg charged us for the wrong sized pizza .

After dinner, wandered again came back to the hostel to rest (10 pm)

Jet planes and sleepovers in airports. It's like the euro days all over again!

Back on with the back pack but this time it's only for the standard north American two weeks and the first half of the trip is a trek in Cuzco peru and the second is a tourist trek in brazil. Lots of airplanes,airports and scenery but this time I've got the iPod handy to stay in touch and thank goodness for free wifi that has been an amazing access to info and handy with calls with the skype application.

It's such a nice and memorable feeling when you hear other languages other than English around you and I think if I tried to learn Spanish I could pick it up pretty fast as the French and Italian is coming in handy to recognize the grammatical and word similarities. Too bad next week I'll have to try to have my crack at portuguese!

Anyways 5 more hours till my next flight into cuzco and finally I can go explore!

Anniversary

Dec 1, (well technically it's now the 2nd) - and it marks exactly one year since I have been back in Canada. It was one of the most depressing / nostalgic / exciting moments in my life; it was such a huge cycle of emtions that I've never experienced before - but ultimately it has led me to a new life and a new home - one that I very much enjoy. I won't lie when I say I miss Europe, but when I leave vancouver I too miss it here. It's odd as my life has changed so much even from last year, and yet my living situation and the way I live my life is quite similar to before; new friends (european friends hee hee), all bicycle and just chillin' - the only difference is that I feel that I am healthier and more active than ever... and never have I experienced so many sports injuries in one year... i guess it either means I'm getting old... or I'm just putting myself more at risk - probably both. But that's it - just wanted to write that... man I am now a year and a few months behind on my euro blogging (yes there's tons more to put up). End of the year - that's my goal!

Damn it - not again!

The Flames' season came to an end Tuesday night after a hard-fought 5-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks in Game 7 of their Western Conference Quarterfinal Series. Jarome Iginla set a personal record with nine points in a single round. |

Aside from a great w/e back in c-town...

Calgary stumbled out of the gate, giving up three goals in the first four minutes of Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals, but the Flames showed true playoff grit and battled back to win the contest 4-3 over the Sharks Sunday in Calgary.

I've never enjoyed it so much to be at a gate at the Calgary Airport as there were TVs playing the last period of this intense game at every gate and crowds gathered around the 24 or so inchers. It was intense but Nolan capped it off nicely and the team fought off another questionable delay of game penalty in the last 3 mins... when the buzzer hit zero - I high-fived several people and at the exact moment Westjet announced pre-boarding - and since I was at an exit row (always try to get these!) I was able to get on to the plane first!

What else I did the past three days - well landed on Friday night - the day after calgary received it's greatest snowfall in 20 years (yet when I got there, there was not sight of it to be seen)... went boarding in EXTREME spring conditions with Marc at louise, picked up another paycheck at MM lulu and my Staff bonus card (yeah!), hung out with the cousins and gorged on some GREAT Pho in the NE, visited grandpa at the cemetary to pay for respects and ask for luck in getting Caren's house sold, went for diiiiim sum in Chinese town and had a little catch up with Clara, went home, packed, then went out to meet ALL the cousins again for a goodbye dinner for Eldonitos, gorged on some desert at Cheesecake and discussing the 3-0 dificit of calgary (boo)... then went home, grabbed stuff and was sent off by Germie, Mom and Caren as patrons in the airport Kelsey's celebrate a comeback of 3-3! and the airport announces the good news.... and then at the gate waiting to get back to van.... yea!

GO FLAMES!

Oh Edmonton.... you WOULD drag the Canucks down with you.

Alex Burrows scored a power play goal with 6:57 remaining in the game to cut the deficit to one, but the Canucks lost a heartbreaker to the Oilers, 2-1, Thursday at GM Place, eliminating Vancouver from the playoff race

Sorry Edmonton but this ain't no April fools :D

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - Owen Nolan scored the winning goal with 3:44 left in regulation, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over Edmonton and eliminating the Oilers from the Western Conference playoff race.

Calabria, Part Due (Augusto 2007)

LARGE POST of amazing Italian adventure part 2: setting: from the beaches of Schilla, Bagnara, Palmi to the countryside of Sant Eufemia D'Aspromonte to the mountain resort of Gambarie to the Miami-like city scapes of Reggio Calabria.The next seven days is now a three-some as my Vancouver born , fellow Amsterdamer friend Ching-Yin Foo joins us for our Italian and Canadian adventures. The first day, Domenico takes us back into the capital city of Reggio Calabria, located on the boot toe of Italy, across from the island of Sicily. It is situated at the base of the Aspromonte to take us for a tour and explore the sites - pointing out each of the important buildings - this guy really knows his stuff since Domi was elected to take on the responsibility of promoting foreign investment in the area.
The main attraction though was The National Museum of Greater Greece, housing the two famous Bronze di Riace statues. The museum was quite extensive and floor after floor with local architectural grecian findings.
No pictures allowed! but the asianess takes over and I tell CY to pose for a quick shot! yea.From wiki: During the Roman Empire it was called Rhegium Julium as a noble Roman city. Later Reggio di Calabria became a Byzantine city, and in the 12th century, it became part of the Kingdom of Sicily, and then in the 13th century, it became part of the Kingdom of Naples.

Reggio Calabria is known as the location of the first dated Hebrew book, a Rashi commentary on the Pentateuch, printed in 1475; ^[1] however, scholars consider Rome as the city where Hebrew printing began.

For Reggio di Calabria, the worst earthquakes came in 1783 and on December 28, 1908. The latter quake was the most devastating. Some 80 percent of all buildings in Reggio collapsed and many thousands were killed. Damage was even worse in Messina across the straits. That quake remains the worst on record in modern western European history. It took Reggio a generation to fully recover.

later on we met up with Diego and his brother Antonio who were in the city. We joined the guys for a quick drink and local appies / snacks and then after an hour later were off on their own to do some business.
the Fiat 500, what was then a new model.mmmm.. Gawd... it would be tragedy to not have the daily Granita with a brioche (pastry). This is gooooooooood stuff!
we stroll along the seaside to take in the windy, sunny and hot weather.RTL, a national radio station speically chose Regio Calabria as a promotion and broadcasting from the city with lots of festivities following. It is a very good radio station to get an idea was is currently popular in italy.


this place I just wanted to take a pic on their deck, but when we asked, the owner unfortunately was not as warm to the idea... darn missed the shot.. but maybe next time!

After a tiring day, we headed back to the house in Sant Eufemia D'Aspromonte, packed up our stuff , loaded it up in the car and then UP the mountain to Gambarie we went to stay in ... Domenico's family's cabin... yes these Italians are baller. The drive up the mountain was insane as the lane was enough for 1.5 cars. Everytime cars pass each other.. there's some system for one car to yield to the next.. I believe the people going uphill yield to those guys going down.. buses and trucks are a little more tricky though.



Stepping out into the mountain air was quite the difference from teh seaside... and it definitely reminded me of the air we have back at home in Calgary.
The cabin was NICE with four levels : Kitchen on the first, living on teh second, bedrooms on the third and bedroom and attic on the top - four beds all together. It felt like something in a movie and the whole place was just so cozy... totally something I did not expect on my litle Italian trip - this dude really know's how to impress.
Rocco's homemade red vino!plenty of meats and fresco pasta sauce in Pina's kitchen.
once settled in, we finnaly chill out after a day of movin' and watch the Da Vinci Code! Man satellite as well.
Every morning, the sun wakes me up and Domenico's mom is already hardcore at work cleaning the house like mad. I go for a run to explore the forest area and take in the paths.
Later in the day, once the rest of teh crew wakes up, we head back down the mountain to Saint'Eufemia Aspromonte and back to bagnara (where the fashion show was) but this time we pay a visit to the beaches on this 35 some degree day.

We arrive and find Domenico's Aunt (zia) has already set up camp with her children Yolanda, Giuseppe and visiting niece Franchesca (from venezia). Giuseppe was fishin out a storm with his buddy and sister as by the time we got there there was already six catches in their little bucket.






CY later dives into the crystal blue-green waters... she later learns there are real fish swimming around her.. which apparently grosses her out.
CY passes out here and there.



for lunch, Domi and I walk to a local bakery flooded with lots of other locals buying their lunch. Domenico eyes a few slices of pizza and also purchases a local snack called the arancino: They are fried or, less commonly, baked rice balls, having a diameter of 8-10 cm, filled usually with ragù (meat sauce), but also with tomato sauce, mozzarella, peas, and other things. On the outside they are simply breadcrumbs.unfortunately CY and I could only take one slice and a bit of the arancini as it was a little hard to eat something so hot in already scorching 36 degree heat - but the lunch was generously treated by Domi and only wanted us to taste the delicious local specialties , but bit by bit we ate as muhc as we could before the itis took over!


and like many European beaches, Domi insisted on taking a five minute video of this gorgeous girl taking a cool down in the local doccia . even CY thought she had a great body - and she did! those italians... so dirty - but so true haha!the umbrella was my only refuge from the cancer-inducing sun. Yes I have become that age already - omg I have become my mother.
After many hours on Bagnara's beach, we were about to head as the heat was starting to get too intense for even the three of us by midday. We headed up to the local Torre (tower) and took in more sites of the city and and the amazing views. After Bagnara - we headed back to the countryside in Sant Efumia where we saw many more of hte cougini as well as nonno and nonna (grandpa and grandma) - you couldn't have gotten anymore home-movie like than this! My goodness they were some of the cutest Italian grandparents I have ever come across.
Nonna's impressive giardino.


the blue table actually reminded me that they were teaching us a card game - darn it I forgot the name already but CY and I were getting our asses kicked by the little ones and the grandparents.



head of the clan. Domenico tried to get me to call him "padrino" (i think) haha.
Afterwards, we went to pick up Valentina from Palmi and then headed back up into the Gambarie to have another GREAT italian dinner. Domi's mom also knows how to impress. Seriously - I think all southern-italian women know how to cook very well - no wonder all of the men look so well fed ;P

mmm - eggplant.after stuffing ourselves with dinner - Rocco insisted we try dipping the fruit into wine and then eating it. like instant sangria haha.

After the dinner, we chilled out again in front of the TV to another movie and remember passing out about half -way (as usual haha).

Now I can't remember what we did the next day (i'm sure I got the order of the pictures wrong) but there was lots of chillin as I would go for a run every morning, and then hit the italian lessons that I printed for myself. After going through the first tutorial and referencing off of my french I was able to form broken sentences in Italian.

Later that evening, we all got ready for a dinner back at the country-side as Francesca's family was in town (from Venezia/Treviso) thus the entire family was here (I think).

stop on the way down form the mountain to get so shots at dusk.

domenico's zio owned a bakery that basically supplied the small city with it's baked goods - it was a hardcore setup connected to the house - beside it was the accounting office of his parents. talk about minimal comute - you literally roll out of bed and at work!

Giuseppe (pico) was firing some BB shots at a target posted on a tree and insisted CY and I try it out. His uncle was giving us lessons on how to properly fire the weapon - haha that's right mom. Sign me up for the next mafia!
I sorta hit the black parts.
Rocco and Pina.Now for me - THIS was the MOST memorable experience. It was a little dream of mine to experience an outdoor Italian dinner with an italian family. I don't know why - maybe blame all of that media (like the McCain commercials) but I also imagined it to be at a long table with loud Italian conversations going on and food being passed everywhere. Thanks Domi for unintentionally fulfilling this little dream of mine! An experience I could never forget.
I love how the Italians embrace the bbq stylz of cookin.

lots of fresh food to go around. there's nonno at the head of the table (of course)Rita's and Mario's padre, and this was one funny dude. The whole time he insisted on communicating with me / in Italian of course, which I loved but had trouble following along unless he used super simple words and talked really slow. I think he embarassed the hell out of Rita - which was even more fun!
they of course broke out the gelatini. bite-sized gelato in a rainbow of flavours.
The night ended too well by trying to take in the whole experience.



After many hours we headed back to the house and off to bed. I was usually last to go as I would stay up readin up on more Italian until I got tired and dragged myself back up into the attic.
We learn that there was a special festival going on in Gambarie, as they were also unveiling the opening of a renovated center square with a complete redone waterfall/fountain art piece.
at the break of the day, Domi took us to the local Dam which was about a 30-40 minute drive. I think he mentioned it was the largest dam in southern italy? (blast my horrid memory!)
We then drove a little further and hit one of the well known hiking trails in the area to a cascate (waterfall). Now this was my kind of vacation! plenty of nature, sun and activity! CY and I were all about it! Valentina not so much when it got too naturey...


domi figuring out the path.
trail markers.
weird pea/seed looking things from the trees.



gorgrous day for a hike - I swear there was yet to be a day without sunshine.

mountain and valley views. A little after this, Valentina was gettin a little tired and irritate and insisted they head back. So Domi accompanied her back while CY and I were destined to see the waterfall.water fall with 10x zoom! I think it would have taken another 2 hours to wind down the perilous mountain to get to it. yes it was a little anti-climatic.

some boulders at the edge of the cliff for some pristine yoga shots. look at that skinny asian!
hike back to tree lined trails.
wild cows?! nope, there was a farm nearby.. on the mountain! Omg is right CY!some more prestine yoga ops in the creeks. good thing CY well asian-experienced with the camera.

when we were back in Gambarie, we headed back into the ski town and took the chair lift (albeit the slow sloooow chair lift - but we made last chair!) to take in more breathless mountain views. Yes Domi did know how to spoil his guests haha.
After a full day of activities, we headed to the local grocer shop to pic up come sandwiches and also some gifts for our friends and family back at home. We brought back some Calabrian specialties.


via..gro? perperoncino - one of my favourite words.all the produce in here looked so good... but was getting pricey.. I think I spent about 75 euros here and my baggage was already full enough!

After lunch, Domi and Valentina took a little siesta while CY and I headed out to check out the new centre square and fountain and decided to people watch at a bench in the middle of the place. All eyes were on us.. what are those asians doing!? haha. man i thikn we sat there for like 1.5 hours.


oohh.. the fancy new fountain.

another amazing cena prepared by pina. Oh those egg thingys.. damn they were good. this time it was local beefsteak and sausages.Our last days in Calabria, I remember taking these shots as Sunday was a big market day as all the vendors (more so than usual) come out to sell fresh produce and almost any simple good imaginable. darn I whould ahve boughten some of those italian football jerseys... but couldn't bargain the guy down. at least CY got a good deal on some nice lookin' sunglasses!
my favourite "tree" in the middle of a field on teh drive between Gambarie and Sant Eufemia.

back at Sant Eufemia with our luggage. this was a cool shot when the household was getting a fresh delivery of firewood. now you don't see that everyday!

The next day we went to Valentina's city of Palmi to check out the local beach. One last time to take in the prestine blue waters and the Italian seaside before the fantasy was over.

haha this is what we all look like after doing a whole lotta nothing for many hours. the heat was taking its toll on us canadians.
parents were very cute and treated us to lunch... yes Italians are super generous - we tried to do the asian sneakiness of paying for the bill but they are too fast - yes I let my people down.



Last day and last meal with the family out in the sunny backyard of the Rositano house. Domi's sister's friend was also visiting from Treviso (Christina) and her vacation was just beginning as ours was ending.

Haha I remember one time, we went to grab a granita/cafe and one of the local 'bar' (or cafe) and CY and I met some people who we learned was a dude that was head of the mafia or something a rather... I just remember gettin really excited and we were both like damn which we had our camera... then again maybe not.also went to see a very famous landmark where Giuseppe Garibaldi, landed here with 3,000 volunteers in his march towards Rome, was defeated and captured in the Battle of Aspromonte. from wiki: Garibaldi is considered an Italian national hero as he personally led many of the military campaigns that brought about the formation of a unified Italy. He has been dubbed the "Hero of the Two Worlds" in tribute to his military expeditions in South America and Europe.

the entire Rositano family came with us to Reggio Calabria and we sat together and had one last Granita with them. After spending ten intimate days with Domi's family, they really opened up their arms to us and it's an experience I WILL NEVER forget. It has been engrained into my brain with fantastic memories and experiences I know I will find myself back in Calabria hopefully in the near future. Rocco, Pina, Domi, Sissi and the rest of the family really reminded me of the similarities between their family and my own and it was definitely something that was much needed after being away from home for 8 months. GRAZIE MILLE Domi e Famiglia Rositano - Ching-Yin and I cannot express our gratitude to you all with this amazing experience

right before taking us back into town, Domenico takes us for a tour around the city/town of Sant Eufemia and runs into an old school friend and catches up for a little bit.
After some goodbyes to Sissi, Rocco, Pina and Christina, Domi escorts us to the airport. When we arrive, we learn that the plane was an hour late getting here from Milan... no problem.. I palnned for up to a 2 hour delay to catch our connection to Amsterdam in Milan... that is until the delay was almost three hours delayed...

here is CY, not impressed with the tardiness of Italian transportation (haha what they are famous for too!) We both wish we got flight insurance (I thought my travel insurance covered this but when I called.. nope)...
nevertheless the plane makes it AND in my mind kept calculating over and over but the times were just too pressed and we would have missed our connection for sure... it would have been expensive to fly back to amsterdam if we missed it - I remember that day CY messaged Dennis for me to tell work I wasn't going to make it in for work the next day.
BUT..... LUCKILY our connection was ALSO 1.5 hours - 2 hours DELAYED (i think the flight actually left at 23:30)... omg I remember thinking "there is a god!" man were we lucky.
CY impressed that the stars were in our favour. haha I remember how we devised a plan after getting off the bus that transported us to the terminal. CY was going to go the agent with a sob story if need be to allow us to check in VERY LATE (usually it's a 45 min cut off) while I elbow my way to get our checked luggage. I remember every minute felt like an hour as it took them sooooooo long to get our luggage out (I think it was actually 15 minutes.. which was time we didn't really have). I remember almost hittin some little girl in teh head when I finally spotted CY suitcase. Once I was out the doors into the main hallways.. CY was waiting right around the corner going "HURRY UP!!!! I found someone to let us check in late but we have to hurry ... so just imagine TWO Asian Canadians SPRINTING down the hallways with our rolleys in the airport as Italians were jumping out of the way to let us through. Thank goodness the super nice (and cute) italian counterperson got us through despite us checking in an hour after the cutoff time. Oh mio Dio.We make it on our Transavia flight!! And it was an odd sensation to hear Dutch again.. right there and then was when it hit me that our little Italian adventure was over.

Here I post CY's note, a summary of our adventures that she put up on Facebook;

"Calabria - An alphabetical guide in chronological order

8:27am Thursday, Aug 30, 2007

*Much thanks to Carlson, who let me tag along on his invitation from Domenico. And of course, much gratitude to Domenico's family for taking such good care of their Canadian visitors. It was far and beyond anything I could have expected*

Vacation– (n) A period of time in which one does nothing whatsoever.

Reinforcements – (n) Restocking of supplies which almost made it into the luggage.
Deodorant: 4 Euros, sunscreen: 14 Euros.

Hot – (adj) All-enveloping oven of warmth; standard unit of Calabrian temperature. Ie: it is hot as hell; it is unbelievably hot; I think the hot has fried my brain. Accounts for siesta

Siesta – (n) Mandatory 20 minute nap after lunch

O Mio Dio – (adj) The most succinct description of Calabria. Usually enunciated in slow, awed tone. Applies to all parts of the following: the food, the weather, the salt content of the surrounding seas. Particularly applicable to: summer tomatoes.

Summer tomatoes – (n) tomatoes with zing, attributed by locals to natural sunlight exposure.
They taste so damn good, yes yes.

Internet – (n) notable only when used in question: Dove posse usare l’internet?

Niente – (n) Ni-en-teh Nothing. Usually indicated and accompanied by hand splaying motion in front of chest area, usually with a downward turned palm. Interchangeable with non capito.

Non Capito – (v) Expression of non-understanding. Sufficient indication with blank stare.

Lentemente – (adj) Slow; Slower. As in Ching-Yin, you speak English too fast. Lentemente, please. Usually accompanied by downward motioning of hand. Also applicable to walking pace.

Cantonese – (n) non native dialect of Calabria. Allows for discussion of otherwise sensitive topics, such as How do we pay?; Is this normal?; If she feeds me anymore, I am going to die

Rapido – Opposite of lentemente. Applicable to eating pace

Perverse – (n) Pervert. Ie: Domi spent a whole day documenting the activities of a gorgeous topless sunbather. Peverse!

Putana – (n) Bitch

Bastardo – (n) Bastard. Female form: Bastarda

Travel Insurance – (n) Necessary piece of travel package when traversing through Italy. Mitigates missed flight connections caused by flight delays. Much more civilised than begging at a check-in counter.

Peeling – (v) The effect of not waiting long enough after sunscreen application to hit the water. General duration: 1 week, followed by enormous sense of relief. Ie: Thank god i'm done peeling!"

by the time we landed back at Schipol it was about 1:30 am and when back in the city it was 2ish... the trains were only running one an hour so CY went baller stylz and got a taxi back to the centre. her treat! man wa sI spoiled.. I was def going to wait for a train.

THANKS CY! wouldn't have had as much fun without a fellow Canuk to balance it out!

Ciao a Tutti!