Final Thoughts

This is the end...

My only friends...the end?? Or is it? Yes, yes it is...Or is it??

It has been an amazing journey. 9 months ago I had no idea what I had coming. I laughed, I cried, I ate some cheese. And now its gone. The time, not the cheese...well technically the cheese is long gone but that's not the point. The point is I had the time of my life and now it's over. Wow, that sounds depressing. It's not...It's fantastic. I have learned a lot and gotten a lot out of my time and hopefully have become a better person from it. I have just gotten a taste of traveling and have met people from all over the globe. I plan to visit, you have been warned...just not today...or tomorrow but consider buying a cot or a futon soon.

These 9 months may be gone but won't be forgotten thanks to this blog. Al has been printing my postings out so I can put them in a photo album along side my pictures. Thank you Al.
Something else I would love to put in these albums is a guest book of the people who have been following along. It has been great hearing from everyone who has been interested in my where-abouts. You have been inspirational. Thank you.

So please, if you have been reading along, casually or over-obsessive (mom...kidding...but not really), send me an email with your name and any comments you may have to:

robersha@hotmail.com

You can also write me at:

13523 107 A av
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
T5M 2A6

Please enclose $20 "processing fee" kidding...but seriously, Im broke.

It would mean a lot, even if its a one liner.

So with that I leave you, well not totally. My blogging days are not up yet cause apparently I am fascinating. It may not be as interesting...or it may. I could write about saving money on long distance! Everyone can benefit from that!But mostly my going on's and some stories I have been working on. My first posting will be "The Manifesto for a better Shaun"

www.the-after-path.blogspot.com

Bookmark it.

Till then,

Prost, Op uw gezondheid, Zivjeli, Na zdraví , Skaal, Skál, Proost, Jamas, Kedvesegeszsegerel, Saude, Slainte, Cin cin, Salute, Uz veselibu , Saha wa'afiab, ZumWohl, and my favorite, Kippis( pronouced like "Get pissed!")

(Cheers)

Shaun

Reality Check

It came in and hit me hard as my alarm clock went off early Monday morning. I was so confused. What is that noise??? Why am I up at 5:45 AM??? And then I remembered...work. Back to reality has become reality.

Obviously it was tough and everyone has been getting there digs in. YES Im back to work and its a downer, and YES I am broke and in the hole...but you know what Jaack?? It was so worth every single euro, dirham, franc, forint, kuna, kroner, koruny, tolar, penny, pound and zlotych...and I have absolutly no regrets.

Wrap your head around this: In 9 months I have been though 23 countries, 3 continents, 5 states, 5 provinces, and 1 territory. I have seen a lot. I have done a lot. And probably most important, I have learned a lot. And now? Now I am home...for now.

Home coming

Im gonna throw a plug in here, Westjet is great. My flight was early and I hadn't sleep much so I figured I would nap on the plane. I was so comfortable Iended up reading, catching up on the scores via satellite tv and writing myManifesto for a better Shaun, which I will explain later. It was a great flight even though it was my last of my trip.

I arrived in Edmonton and it was cold. Not a good start. Jon was nice enough to pick me up and take me home...that's funny to say, home. My tenant, Bev, was awesome and took care of everything. I really lucked out having her there. Itwas odd being home and more so cause it was like I was moving in again. It was possibly the best move ever as no furniture was involved and all I had to do was move stuff from a storage room to my bedroom. Still have lots to do between Mike(my new/old roommate) and I.

That night I went out with some friends to catch up and watch the Oil play. I had hit the wall for probably the 10th time as the Oilers were losing 4-1 going into the third. A few friends went home which is too bad cause Edmonton came back to win 6-4 thanks to a hat trick by Ryan smyth, which he did in 2:01. It was a great game and was great to see old friends.

Back to work Monday...crap.

Turkey Stuff'n

So much food in such little time. After a night out in Toronto, Erin and I were off to visit some family for Thanksgiving. We stayed in London with her parents who are fantastic people and made me feel very welcome.

We spent Sunday afternoon at Erin's sister's place in Chatum with the company of her husband Tim and there cute puppy Joey. There we had a great turkey dinner with all the fixin's. Everyone watched me as I tried pistachio salad, a 3/4 Pongracz family favorite, for the first time. It was good, I had it for breakfast the next day. Wish I was eating some right now...

Erin's folks were kind enough to lend us there van so the next day we headed out to Sarnia to visit my Aunt and Uncle and my cousins for one last time this trip. We arrived still full from the night prior only to find out that we would be eating more turkey. Better still, Mike would be deep frying the turkey...there is something so funny and delicious about that. The whole process looked like a science experiment. Thankfully it did not go wrong, dinner was great and I was happy to visit the Dillabough's again.

Armed with a bog of left overs from Danni, we bussed it back to TO. 2 more days of relaxing and then Im heading back to Edmonton,back to reality....Pray for me.

Mustard and Bologna

Scott had been craving a ceaser the entire time we were in New York. This craving carried over to Erin and I so on the way back to Toronto we hit the duty free shop. FYI, booze is cheap in the states.

The next day I slept till noon and it was great. Erin had to work at 9:00...she is a trooper but if I had her job I would be up and excited to. She works in media and gets great perks. Her friends also work in media and one of them got us tickets to the Trailer Park Boys movie premier party. It was a blast, a mix of the Trailer Park Boys and Canadian musicians. There was performances by Thornly, Daniel Greaves (formally fronted the Watchmen) Helix, the drummers form the Tea Party and OLP, the guitarist from Rush, the singer from Junkhouse, Kim Mitchels band, and Bubbles himself who performed "Liquor and whores" with some of the previous mentioned musicians. It was a great time, so fun and so funny. I wish I followed the show as most of the characters were there including the fat guy that is always topless. I even peed next to the lead guitarist from the Tragically Hip...at a urinal of course. I didn't go up to him at the bar and take a leak on his foot or go up to him and say " aren't you so and so from the hip?" while I piss my pants out of excitement...that would be sad.

I think the coolest thing about the party is that it was in a small venue so, as seen in the pictures, we were right there.

The next day I slept till noon. Erin had to work at 9:00. Such a trooper...

Downtown

After Scott tackeld Erin as she arrived at the hostel we had a few drinks on the patio then headed out for a Friday night in New York. We took some bad advise from a hostel employee and ended up in the upper east side which turned out to be a very college part of town where rich kids drink over priced cocktails and blow rails in the bathrooms. Awsome. It was New York though and we did have some fun.

The next morning the 3 of us were up and out to see some sights. On our way downtown Scott had to stop at New Yorks largest outdoors/camping store where he spent a lot of time, but not much money. He got a really nice jacket and liner for a third of the price he would have paid in Yellowknife. After pulling him out of there we walked by where the world trade towers used to stand. It was very erie being there. A huge pit is all that is left. Around the site there are pictures and stories from September 11th, 2001 as well as a time line of the day. Again a very erie and odd feeling being there after being glued to the television on that day watching in disbelife. Not a happy way to start our day but was good to see.

We made our way south through wall street and by the New York stock exchange then to where the ferryies are to Liberty and Elias Islands. We got off on Liberty island and walked around taking pictures along the way. You get a great view of the New York skyline as well as the statue of liberty. It cooled down and rained a bit so Erin wore Scott's new jacket. In the picture it makes it look like it was 20 below but it was a decent day.

The line ups for the ferry was a lot longer than we had hoped so we had little time to relax before heading out to a broadway show. We went to Avenue Q which was recomended by a friend. It was hillarious. Picture Seassame street for adults. With puppets singing songs like "Everyone's a little bit raceist" and cute "bad Idea" bears that convince the main character to spend money on booze instead of food, its hard not to laugh. It was really cool but not what I had in mind when you think of broadway.


The next morning we slept in and had little time to get to the airport. Scott had some more time so he headed to china town for some eats before heading to his airport for his flight. Erin and I flew out of Newark and took a cab. I thourly enjoyed a black and white cookie on the ride out. I did not enjoy the cab fare as it was close to $80 U.S. We didnt know you had to pay return fare. Now you know at our expense. You are welcome.

It was a great but short weekend and we had a lot of fun. New York is an amazing place, a differnet wolrd almost.

I had a really great time with my brother and am glad we did the trip and am sure he can say then same. It was a great week.

Back to Toronto for some R & R...ya know, cause life has been pretty stressful for me lately.

New York Pt2.

Something or someone didn't want us in New York...or at least in a timely fashion. It took us over 3 hours to get to our hotel from the airport.
Let me break it down:


It took 45 min to get from the runway to the terminal. It took an hour to get our bags because there was a problem with the belt system. Clearing customs took an extra 1/2 hour because the customs officer forgot to stamp my immigration card. It took over 1/2 to get to the terminal with the subway conection because of a problem with the skytrain. It kept going back and forth between the same few terminals.

All in all it took almost as much time to get form the airport to the hostel as it did flying from Iceland to New York. You think that would have bothered us but no, we just laughed it off cause really, what else would you do?

It was pushing 4:30 am Iceland time when we got seteled in the hostel but we were both a little wired. We headed out and ate the best pizza U have ever had (even better than in Italy!) then had a beer at a pub before the time change caught up with us.

The next morning we were both awake lying in bed listening to this squeaking noise. Scott was convinced it was a rat. Awesome, a true New York experience!

We got up feeling like it was noon, which it was in Iceland. It was 8:45 in New York but that was good, we had a full day to explorer the city. We ate breakfast at a deli then made out way to Trump tower where we had coffee and discussed business strategies. Who else can say they have done that??? Besides Donald of course.

We carried on past Rockefeller center and the NBC studios to central park. Strolled through the park, took a picture for some girls from Sarnia
(small world) then made our way to the museum of modern art. It was pricey but was worth it as they have Van Gogh's "Starry Night" a painting I had hoped to see in Amsterdam. the museum also had some cool paintings by Dali, Monet, and Andy Warhol.

After getrting our art on, we made out way by the Radio City Music Hall and the CBS studio where they tape lettermen, then ti Carnegie Hall. My mother suggested we eat at the Carnegie deli cause " They have great sandwiches" She failed to mention that they are huge! Kinda like a sandwich you would picture John Goodman making. It was like Swhartz's on steroids and was so fu$@ing good! Scott and I split the "woddy Alan" (insert child marrying sandwich joke here) and could barely finish it. It was again, so good as were the pickles. By the photo's on the wall it looks like anyone and everyone famous has eaten there. We dined with Bon Jovi, Bob costa, and Alice cooper next to us.

After rolling our way out of the deli we walked...Slowly and painfully up to the Time Warner CNN studio then to where John Lennon was staying and where he was shot. There is a very nice memorial with the word "imagine" in the middle.

By this point the time and grotesque amount of food we just consumed caught up with us. We headed back to the hostel for a lay down. We needed our energy as it was Friday night in NYC and Erin was on her way from Toronto to party with us.

Going out with a bang....

And by bang I really mean waffels and vodka.

Feeling like we accomplished and saw a lot of Iceland, Scott and I toyed with the idea of going to London or Amsterdam before heading back to New York…you know, cause we are so close. Unfourtantly it wasn’t in the cards as all the flights back to New York were sold out. Scott even got an email from a friend of his that is a medi-vac pilot of a Learjet. He was going to be in Reykjavik to get fuel on his way to London to pick up a patient and wanted to know if we wanted a lift. YES! Unfourtantly the guy in London died…jerk.

So we were stuck in Reykjavik…likes that’s a bad thing. It could be Cold Lake Alberta…I’m just saying.

So how do the Robertson’s make the most out of there last night in Iceland? Play battleship and eat waffles. That’s how we roll.

We did polish off the rest of our vodka with the help of an actress from L.A. It was also the first night of a jazz festival so we headed out to find some music but by the time we got downtown everything was done. We ended up at an Irish pub which was not very Icelandic but is always fun.

Back to New York tomorrow…never thought that I would be saying that.

Drive me to the moon

What we could have done over the last 3 days, we did today. Iceland is so wild…so very wild. Glaciers, Geysers, waterfalls, volcanoes, craters, and thermal spa’s. Iceland has a lot to see and we saw it. We got up early to get as much of the day in as we could. Actually Scott didn’t really sleep last night as I got him going on business ideas which kept his brain going…that and the guy sleeping above him had not heard of hygiene and also farted all night. I have been in a lot of dorm rooms over the past 8 months but that was the foulest, thanks to sideburns above Scott.

We made our first stop at a spot that is said to be where the North America and European continental plates split. This valley we walked through actually widens every year. Again, I find this stuff neat.

Next was a field of gyiesers which was coooool. Scott described it as “earths indigestion” as it bubbles and gurgles before exploding. Makes you wonder what the Vikings thought when they saw these boiling pools of water for the first time. “ Hey Leif…ahhh yeaaahh…you might want to check this out”


We then drove down the road to the Golden Falls which are the highest falls in Europe and are spectacular. From there we could also see some glaciers on the horizon.

After hiking around the falls we headed towards the coast. On the way we stopped at an unmarked site which turned out to be a collapsed volcano which is now a very cool looking crater. We hiked around that then continued to the coast.

After stopping for salted fish, a traditional Icelandic snack, we stopped at the coast where there is a huge lava field. It was low tide so we made our way out through the bizarre rocks and seaweed. Next stop was a beach that was made up of volcanic ash which is basically black sand. A very odd site. Must get so hot in the sun. We walked out in the sand then were back at it, making our way towards the blue lagoon. The landscape and scenery was out of this world as we took an off road trail in our tiny European rental car. With its bicycle tires, we banged our way through what looked like the moon. Craters, steaming hills and boulders, it was unreal. At one turn we came across a field of Inukshuk looking rock figures. It was spooky and looked like a burial ground. We stopped and added our sad looking figure to the group and then carried on through the moon-like terrain.

Just when I thought Iceland’s natural beauty couldn’t surprise me anymore, we arrived at the blue lagoon. It is a natural volcanic rock outdoor pool that is filled with natural beautiful blue/turquoise water. It takes the cake when it comes to outdoor hot springs…by far. It is so different. We enjoyed a long, hot soak and a silica mud mask. (I swore that would never leave Iceland so that’s between you and me) I fell asleep and woke up with soft, but rasin like skin. It was fantastic, a great way to end a day in one of the coolest and hottest places I have ever been.

Reykjavik by Daylight

Ok, so we haven’t done a whole lot over the last couple days but we have had a whole lot of fun. My brother can agree with that…but not now as he is still asleep. Rookies…

Fueled by my daily hot beef injection, we toured the city. Its important to note here what that means, I have had a hot dog everyday since being here, manly cause they are the only cheap eats but they are really, really tasty. Iceland and hotdogs, go figure.

The city is very nice and clean with lots of modern buildings. We made our way downtown passing by the house that Ronald Regan and Gorbichov met and eventually ended the cold war. We walked the main street which is lined with a lot of cool stores then strolled by city hall which is on this pond that has the largest ducks I have ever seen. Next was a very cool church with a statue of Leif Erickson out front then the waterfront where there is an interesting piece that looks like a Viking ship.

After that we had diner at a seafood restaurant that was recommended by a friend of my brothers. We split a huge bowl of mixed shellfish and it was great. You would think I would have had my fill of seafood in Nova Scotia. Not so.

It may not have sounded like much but we did pack a lot into a short day. We reserved a car for tomorrow so we can actually get out and see Iceland.