Quick Recap.

WOW, it has been an extremely long time since my last blog.. April. Well.. I'm just going to summarize some events and that's about it, just to keep you up to date. :)
May.. I really don't remember that far back.
June.. I went to Osoyoos, B.C. with Brittni for just about 2 weeks to visit Erin and Josh who moved there to work for the summer. We missed the nice weather, and apparently brought the rain with us. SO, we went to wineries.. about 15 or more.. had some amazing wine. It was a nice trip - gorgeous scenery. We stopped at Crazy Creek Waterfalls, on the way... and Calgary, where we shopped, went out, and stayed with Britt's brother. I don't remember much else in June.
July.. I really don't remember anything too spectacular. Just some good times that I won't bother writing about now. Ohhh yeah, there were some concerts I went to.. Those are always enjoyed :)
August.. the month of all things A. Awesome, Amazing, And so on... The EX.. Kevin & I went to go on a few rides, and ate waaaay too much. Seriously. I think we probably tried like 15-20 things. Or that's how disgustingly full I felt afterwards. Then, of course, FOLKFEST! Well, it kind of sucked this year. Actually, it was good.. I just didn't feel like being there. But, it's always a good time; love to go pavilion hopping, taste all the different foods and drinks, and just have fun! But, most of all, see all of the wonderful dances ;) Haha.. And it was also Jenn's 20th birthday.. That was a lot of fun! That's about all I remember about August.
September.. Back to school - CRAPPY. And that's about it for that month. I guess I could also say that I am back at Brenda's. OHHH.. I forgot the two best things: Beyonce Conert (with Sean Kingston who only sang like three songs).. and Rihanna/Akon Concert! Beyonce's show was way better/more professional.. but Rihanna was good, too!
And lastly, October.. Lots has happened, but I'll keep it at a bare minimum. Thanksgiving, Erin & Britt's 20th birthdays, TISDALE.. That pretty much explains it all. We were supposed to go to Swift Current Greek Oniro as well, but just the guys decided to go because of what happened in Tisdale.. but I'm sure it would've been amazing.. Oh well!
Anyways, that's about it.. Now I promise I will try to write again in less than a month.. providing something interesting happens! Hope you all have a good Hallowe'en, and yes.. take care.

Advancing Through April

The last couple months have been busy, with many exciting events that have kept me from writing on my blog more frequently.
To recap February, I went to Banff, which was a lot of fun. I did both skiing and snowboarding - though I'm still not as great as I'd like to be on a snowboard because I was quite sore afterwards! Plus, I felt restricted to certain runs, as I would definitely not even attempt to go on black runs, or anything that looked to narrow.
I also went to Cancun, which was not as relaxing as I had hoped, but was definitely nice to have a change in weather! Nicole and I went on a Party Hopper tour that took us to some of the biggest nightclubs: Congo, Dady Rock (aka Dady O's), Senor Frogs, and Coco Bongo. Congo pretty much sucked because it was the first one, we weren't really feeling the vibe, and we were trying to keep some of our energy for the later clubs. We did, however, meet a couple there, named Ricky and Katie. One of the Congo workers had tried to pull Nicole up for a special dance, but she pushed another girl to dance (which turned out to be Katie). She was relieved afterwards because they had ended up putting the girls on the ground and started humping them! lol... pretty funny. Then we went to Dady Rock, which was nothing too special in terms of layout/events; however, they did have a good Mexican cover band - so it helped pass time quickly. Then we went to Senor Frogs - which I thought was awesome. The drinks were great, they had soo many different things going on, and a souvenir shop! They had people hanging upside down, spinning over the bar. They had dancers, a waterslide, tattoo/piercing booths, and my personal favourite, an inhale station with a personal masseuse! Nicole passed on the inhaler, but got a free neck/back massage! Haha. The shopping was great in Cancun, and the weather was pretty nice. We also went on an awful Safari Tour (seadooing/snorkeling), which was just a mess! None of us had fun - it was more stressful than anything. Our resort was really nice, had great daily activities, nightly entertainment, good drinks and food!
March had some highlights as well. First off, there was the Pussycat Dolls concert! Haha, yes yes... I went. It was actually really good - they sounded great, had some decent dancing, and good audience interaction. Additionally, I had great company, so that definitely made it even better! haha. There was also St. Patrick's Day on the 17th.. Ohh and on the 7th it was Markella's birthday, and Dean please don't be mad, but I got my hair highlighted. I didn't like it at first, but I've grown into it. Nothing too drastic, but it did lighten my hair a bit. I can't really think of anything else that happened in March because I'm a bit tired (it's past 4 am), so forgive me. Ohh yeah, Mariah also had her fun night on the 29th (which I won two prizes at! haha)
And as for April, it started out with a bang on the 1st with the Juno Awards in Saskatoon!! They were amazing! It was so neat to see what goes on behind the cameras. Not to mention the little run-ins with some celebs!!!! Haha.. Mom, Mariah, Linnea & I sat together - we had awesome seats.. and Nicole & Keegan also went, and had floor seats right by Nelly, but she didn't like it cause she had to stand the whole time... but oh well. Ohhh, and then Dad got Nicole and I tickets to the EMI Record Label Party at the Odeon Sunday night where we saw Three Days Grace get out of a taxi!! How classy is that? lol... We met the lead singer from Billy Talent (who was soo nice), Bob Rock & The Paolla's, K-Os, Sass Jordan and her husband, and Hedley. We almost got to meet Nickelback... not quite though... lol... We had waited for them because Nicole really wanted to meet them, and they were supposed to play; however, it was late and we were told that they weren't coming anymore, so we left. Then, like fifteen minutes after we left, one of Nicole's friends phoned her and said that they just got there and they met them! AHHH, we were sooo mad, but didn't care enough to go back.. So yeah..
And then on the 7th, we had church we Greek Easter at 11:30pm.. and the service almost went till 2:00 am!! Not impressed! Then we went to Thea Niki's, of course, for some lamb, lamb guts, dolmathes, spaghetti, rice & raisins, salata, and galatemboureco..
And on the 8th was Easter, Greek Easter, my birthday and my name's day.. wow, 4-in-1! haha... We had Easter supper at the restaurant which was lamb, briami, rice & raisins, potatoes, and dolmathes.. not to mention some birthday cake :). Then I had a bunch of friends at Athena for a birthday party - which was a lot of fun! So that was nice.
Then tonight, Wednesday, we went for my birthday dinner (Dad, Mom, Nicole, Mariah, & Keegan). It was nice... we were going to go to Mykonos so I could have my Moussaka, but Dad ended up making some for me this morning (which was really good), so I vouched for Chinese food instead. But yeah... that should be it for now. Ohh yeah, school is done finally and I start finals next week and write until the 28th. But yeah... I'm off to bed I guess now. Good night :)

Freezing February

Well, it's February and not too much has changed. Unfortunately, the weather has managed to get even colder, much to my dismay.
It's been about a month since Dean left for New Zealand - you can check out his blog and pics from his trip on his website.
Nicole threw a surprise birthday party for Keagan on Jan. 31st at Athena. He was totally surprised, so I think she was quite pleased. Other than that, she's been busy working every day at the restaurant.
On the 9th, I'm off to Banff for four days... Not sure how my knees will do, but if they fail, at least I'm in good company and have great scenery to look at. :)
On the 11th, there is a Greek Night (which I guess I'll have to miss) that our SR group will be dancing at... maybe the intermediates as well... not sure. Hopefully it will be decent. Eleni brought our group new costumes back from Greece, they're quite the outfits! Let's just say we won't be doing to many quick-changes at Folkfest this year (IF we even have a group - as everyone seems to be going to Greece this year!) The one outfit has like a Sultan hat with like five or six layers of stuff... It's a cool costume from Macedonia, but it's A LOT to wear, let alone dance in!
The february break is next week, so no school! Additionally, thanks to our wonderful gov't who added the new family holiday, there isn't school on the 19th (though I'm gone anyways...)
On the 18th, I'm off to Cancun for a nice change in weather! Unfortunately, though, it's only going to be for a week, so I won't get to miss too much of this cold (but not complaining!). So check back later for pictures.
Anyways.. that's about it for now, I guess.

So Come The Changes With The New Year

Well, it's definitely been a while... I never seem to keep this thing up to date. First off, I hope you all had as wonderful a holiday as I did, though it never seems long enough! December went by way too quickly as I was writing finals, shopped a lot, and did a bit of baking. I spent the break at home with the family and some others, and at everyone's houses visiting, playing games, and of course eating way too much! I rang in the New Year at Athena, as always - no complaints I suppose... other than Nicole & Jordan causing me to miss the countdown! haha. Oh well, I'm not much of a New Year's person anyways. Oh... and the two hours of driving around in circles when I could have been asleep! But that one was probably my fault.
Anyways, now I'm back in school. As you can tell, I'm sooo excited! Not. But I guess it's gotta be done. As for the fam... My brother leaves for Australia/New Zealand on January 15th, which will suck. One, because yes... I'll miss him! And two, because I'm sooo jealous! Haha. As for the friends... They all seem to be going on trips as well, or moving to some other city - abandoning me! :( Haha, but yeah, that's about it for now. Happy New Year!

Birthday Bash

Wow, it's been a while since my lost posting. So, for those who I have not talked to for a while, I'm back from Europe! It was an amazing trip that will forever be remembered. Anyways, on with the current news.

Well, last Friday (13th) was Brittni's 19th birthday, and yesterday (17th) was Erin's 19th birthday. So, to celebrate, Brittni, Erin, Jenn & I went out to Earls for supper and drinks. It was fun, but, when you turn 19 you have to at least go to a bar, so we went to The Deuce. I know what you're thinking... why there!? Well, it was Tuesday, so... that's kind of where the party is at. Haha. Anyways... we were there a while and had a lot of fun. I posted some pictures from last night; however, some had to be cut as they might portray us (aka - me) as being a little crazy. Haha... Anyways.

As for next weekend... it's the night for Hallowe'en bashes, pubcrawls, parties, etc. All that good stuff. Oh, and candy! :) As well, the Swift Current Greek Oniro (which, thanks to some people, we were not invited back to dance there) is next weekend (28th). I don't think I'll be going due to the exciting party on Saturday at Athena, so you all better come by and visit me there.

That's about all for now! Have a happy and safe Hallowe'en.

-Larissa

Venezia

Off to Venice, the city made up of 163 islands. (I think... don't kill me if I'm wrong)

We had the worst bus ride ever because our bus is a piece of crap. The a/c wasn't working so we were hot, the guys were sweaty and smelly, and no one was in a great mood. Our bus was making some loud buzzing noise so none of us could sleep because our TM had the music cranked to block the noise. It was awful, but anyways...

We arrived at our camp on Fusina which is one of the biggest islands by Venice (about a 20-30 min boat ride). We had a bbq and then had a party at the bar with drinks called Attitude Adjusters. Any Contiki traveller will know what they are. Basically they're a whole lot of alcohol with little of any thing else, and they taste awful. They definitely changed some attitudes; hence the name.

I roomed with Trudi, who is sooo awesome. She's a professional L'oreal hairdresser from NZ and is so much fun. We chatted for a while because neither of us are big on the drinking... Oh yeah, funny story. Last night, Tim put Josh's mattress outside of the room. So tonight, Gareth put Tim's and Adrian's mattresses and bedframes not just outside but on top of the cabins! It was pretty priceless to see Adrian's face because he had no idea where his were (Tim had been forewarned).

The next day we rode to Venezia, which has over 400 bridges. We went to the famous square with all of the pidgeons... which by the way were really gross. We then went to lace-making and glass-blowing demonstrations. The lace one was pretty dull but the glass one was really cool. Italy is famous for both their Milano glass and handmade lace.

After that, I went to Rialto Square with Trudi, Lauren, Jackie, Kim and Jane. This is where they have all of the more touristy markets. They weren't that great, but I got a couple Milano glass necklaces and whatever else.

We were hungry for lunch so Lauren, Jackie, Jane and I got pizza with the thickest crust ever. It was literally 3+ inches thick. It was good but way too much; it got to the point where we just ate the topping. Then we just walked around and shopped and checked out the sites.

We met Ang at 4:00 for our Gondola ride -- the highlight of Venice!!! I was with Jared, Johan and Robin. Not the most lively of groups, seeing as Jared fell asleep, but oh well. The ride was so exciting and surreal; you don't actually feel like you're in a place unless you're there for a while so it was a bit harder to get in the mood, but oh well. the views were gorgeous, and it was interesting to go through the canals in the gondolas instead of just looking at them on the bridges.

That night we just hung out at the bar at the campsite again because we didn't have anything else to do. I was tired so I went and chatted with Penny (my Greek girly), Paul, Cathryn, Rebecca, Russell, and Kim. They're all so much fun, and really are nice. We had some amazing banana daquiris. Mmm... my new favourite drink. They were made with real bananas which made them sooo good.

Anyways, I'm off to Vienna (also known as Wien) tomorrow, so I'll talk to you all soon.

Ciao -- Larissa

Roma

So I left off with my little tour of Vatican City. Well... after that Trudi, Penny, Jackie, Lauren and I walked to the Spanish Steps. On the way we stopped to shop in only the most expensive stops where they serve champagne (aka Fendi). Mmm... We definitely felt out of place but it's all good.
The Spanish Steps were a bit of a disapointment because most of us were expecting flowers all over, but they were obsolete. We stayed there for a while and had some gelato in the hot sun.
We then met up with Kim and Jane who walked with us to Trevi fountain. We shopped on the way there, but then Penny and I left early to go back to camp. We took the metro back; however, we missed the shuttle when we got there because we hadn't anticipated the long drive, so we decided to go to the supermarket to get some fruit and snacks to kill time. We saw a bunch of the other guys at the station who came with us to the market. We figured we'd walk back to camp instead of going back to the station to catch the next shuttle, but we had no idea where we were going. Shawn, Jared, Penny, Annie and I decided to go back to catch the shuttle thinking we'd beat Reece, Gaby and David; however, they arrived at the camp before us. Oh well.
Anyways, we were all pretty wiped so we just sat at the bar that night. Wasn't anything too exciting.

Italia

Ciao,

To start off the tour of Italy, we stopped by the town of Pisa for an hour or so. So exciting! Actually, the tower was much smaller and different than how I had imagined. I knew the town was existent only because of the tower, but yeah. It was just different.

From there we drove to Firenze, or those who do not know, Florence. We went to a Karaoke club called Red Garter. It was fun because everyone got up and danced, but it was tiny. We got our Tour Manager drunk, which was good. She's the conservative, mother/teacher type, though I think she's very nice. It was just nice to see her let loose.
The next day we did a little tour of Firenze. We started in the Piazza with the replica of the Statue of David. We made our way to the oldest bridge in Firenze where Giorgio Armani has a house on! There used to be fish markets there, however, the Medicci family restricted the shops to Jewellry only because they did not like the smell. We later walked by the markets and then to the Duomo. I had climbed the Duomo earlier, all 463 steps which were steep and winding. Not fun! The view was nice, but not worth the time, money, or pain. Some of us made our way to the Academia where the real Statue of David is; however, the line was sooo long the only one guy decided to wait. Two Aussie sisters, myself, and a guy from Rosthern went to the markets, and then later used the internet cafe. When we met up with the rest of the group, we found out that the other guy had only just made it in to see the statue, but he could only stay in for like 5 min. Anyways, our group then went for a Tuscan dinner with pastas (3) and pork. Then we went to the Space Disco Club, which was HUGE! It was a fun night... very interesting, actually. About 70% of the people in the tour have hooked up. Oh well... there's a fun group of girls that like to gossip about it, so it's heaps of fun.

Continuing on, we went to Roma the next day. I really like it here because there's so much to do and see. We did a tour of the Colosseum (or as the Romans say, the Ampitheatre) as well as the Roman Forum. Then we went to Trevi Fountain and had awesome gelati, however, it obviously wasn't that good because it didn't stay down that long )if you know what I mean). Then we walked to the Pantheon (Temple for the Gods). It was nice, but really, I'd rather see the Greek temples, since the Romans just copied the Greeks. Oh, and according to the Romans, the French copied them. That's what I call Karma.

Speaking of which, I almost lost my purse! Not a good experience... but I got it back, so that was good. I definitelz had a heart attack. Then a girl left her Prada sunnies in a changeroom that I was in, so I gave them to her. That's my little Karma sermon.

Anyways, back on topic... We went to a nice restaurant about a block away from Piazza Navona called Navona Notte. I had delicious lasagna. Mmm... We didn't do anything special that night... Myself and three other girls were in our room and had a lot of fun just talking and lots of laughing (mostly at other people...)

The next day we had a free day to do whatever we wanted in Rome. We started with the Vatican. The museums were really nice. The Sistine Chapel was nice, but definitely not what I had expected. St Peter's Cathedral was really nice too, but all of the churches are starting to look the same. It really sucks because once you see so many things you start to appreciate the great things less than you would normally.

Anyways, I have to go... Tune in for Roma and Venezia.

Ciao