2kaboom

If you get lost head to the Rose Garden store and bother my sister. She’s the one with the magenta glasses, and it’s amusing to watch her squirm when she can’t remember directions.

On a more serious note, it’s the best selection of recreational activities in one area. The Zoo, Forrestry Museum, Children’s Museum, miles and miles of trails, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Pittock Mansion…...

It’s an interesting place, but mobbed with tourists and stupid tourist-trap ‘museums’ and shops. To top it off they wouldn’t let students or children under the age of 17 into the church without an adult (although they gave no reason…) and the tourists inside the church were unbelievably disrespectful: taking photos, smoking and talking loudly. I was astonished at the dsigrace this place has.

I only spent a day in BC but I loved the international culture. I’m sure to go back soon.

I absolutely adore Iowa! The Amana colonies weren’t all too thrilling, but I believe it was because we visited in the dead of winter. I spent a good deal of time in Grinnell and became infatuated with the town.

I had the WORST rafting trip of my life in Montana. We hired a rafting guide on the Stillwater (which was flooded at the time, not that they told us that), and about halfway through our excursion the guide steered us straight into an island of logs. The raft overturned and our party was separated by over half a mile. My sisters both got temporarily trapped under some of the logs and could have drowned. Furthermore, the rafting guide refused to acknowledge resposibility for the accident and didn’t compensate us for the medical damages.

If you go to Hailey, check out the annual rodeo, and if you can, go up to Ezra Pound’s childhood home. Everybody loves the birthplace of a fascist poet…

ASHLAND- Quality theatre in picturesque Southern Oregon. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is the second-best Shakespeare company in the nation and it does deliver. The company also performs non-Shakespeare plays, and always has a few visiting actors or set designers. The town of Ashland is cozy and there’s plenty of recreational activities in the outlying areas: whitewater rafting, mountain biking, hiking, etc. If you have time, be sure to take a hike up Mt. Ashland, and visit the Harry and David store.

The people are amazingly friendly and helpful when you get lost. There are some great asian markets that are super cheap and make for great lunches and dinners.

The last decent visit I had to Italy was to the Tirol region in the North. The mountains were lovely and the locals all spoke perfect Italian and German, which made it easy to get along. Best of all, there weren’t a lot of pesky tourists.

if you happen to go to Brittany (which I highly recommend), I suggest staying in the town of Fougères in the hotel on rue du Balzac. It’s an ancient midaeval walled city that’s absolutely breathtaking. The people are so friendly and the food is amazing.