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sparkztravels · 10 years

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Iceland 2014 Day One: Reykjavik

First off - Tumblr officially sucks. I figured I would try it since I was having major problems over at Blogger, but I think the problem is I just need to move over to my own site. In due time, I guess, but for now, this is what I got.

So I just got back from Iceland, it was my 29th country, and easily one of the best trips of my life. Honestly, the only other place that even remotely compares would be Machu Picchu in Peru. But I mean come on, that's a high standard.

I'm not sure that I'll get through posting all the pics, given how difficult it is on Tumblr, but I did manage to get day one up, so here goes! Oh - before I go on, I should note that I would have had a lot more pics, but I lost one of my cameras toward the end of my trip, and it was unfortunately the one I used to take most of my every day pics on. So we'll just have to work with what was left.

Everyone who ever goes to Iceland all say the same thing: Alcohol is very expensive and very difficult to come by, so hit up the Duty Free Shop as soon as you get off the plane, which is exactly what I did. They make it pretty easy for you, even if arriving at 6:30 am! I picked up some Icelandic Beers and about 6 small bottles of red wine.

I flew in from Philly on a red eye, so when I arrived, I was beyond exhausted. I took a couple photos on the drive in from Keflavik to Reykjavik, but honestly it's not that scenic, so not much.

I stayed at the 4th Floor Hotel, which was really conveniently located at the end of the one main street in Reykjavik, Laugavegur. I thought that I could spread some Aloha (and hopefully get the keys to my room a little early) by giving some Hawaiian chocolates to the girl at the front desk. But she wasn't having it. I was kind of bummed because I know for a fact that she could have given me a room if she wanted to. The hotel was practically empty, I think she was just following policy. Rules, I don't think she realized, were meant to be broken. BTW - as with most places in Europe, the rooms in Iceland are TINY (and INCREDIBLY expensive), so I only took photos of them with my GoPro, which is the camera that I lost. I really wish you coulda seen this room though, it was pretty awesome with the purple wall decor and cheetah print bed sheets =)

Since my room wasn't ready, I lied down on the couch in the lobby for a couple hours and then finally mustered up the energy to walk around. I headed up Laugavegur and checked out the small, but adorable town of Reykjavik. It didn't take long for the city to grow on me.

Iceland is notoriously safe, which is part of the reason I selected the country for my first-ever solo international trip. Women actually leave their babies outside the store in the stroller while they shop. No joke.

I still wanted to nap when my room was ready, so I skipped the coffee and went for a healthy bottled smoothie.

Before I went to Iceland, I wanted to make sure I was dressed appropriately, so we googled Iceland fashion. We were pretty stunned to see young, beautiful women (and men) all wearing these knit sweaters. I thought the internet must have gotten that one wrong, but nope. Sure enough, these wool knit sweaters are ubiquitous in Iceland. And they are insanely expensive. Check out the baby onesie in the middle!

I love scoping out the different foods in foreign lands.

And even more than the foods, I LOVE the candy aisle.

No matter where I go in the world, I can ALWAYS find some trace of home. On this particular trip, it came in the form of "Hawaii Blanda" trail mix, whatever that means.

There wasn't a lot of bad graffiti in Iceland (i.e. the kind of unsightly tags you normally see on the side of a highway). They did, however, have some pretty cool murals.

Reykjavik is a sweet little town and is very, very walkable.

I walked up to the famous Hallgrimskirkja Church.

The pic below is one of exactly 21 photos that I pulled off of my GoPro before it died a glorious death. But that's jumping ahead a bit. This was also the first moment that I realized I was in Iceland. 9,795 miles away from home. By myself. COOL.

A lot of people go up to the top of the church and take pictures looking down into the colorful town of Reykjavik. I figured that I could save that for the way back into town, and opted for some shots inside the church instead.

Continued my walk around town after the Church. Fresh blueberries.

More murals.

This is the view from the church looking back down into town.

The church had a statue out front as well. I forget who the dude was tho.

After my walk, I took a brief nap and woke up starving. I hit the town to look for some options and found lots of local delicacies. Like the ever popular "Shot and Shark" combo. 1 shot of Black Death and 2 pieces of Rotten Fermented Shark. YUM!

Or I could indulge in Smoked Puffin and Whale Peppersteak. About $60 and really not all that tempting.

Instead, I opted for soup in a bread bowl. And it was The Best Soup In A Bread Bowl that I have ever eaten. BTW - I've said it before and I'll say it again: Iceland is CRAZY expensive. Far more expensive than I've ever been anywhere in the world. And they really haven't caught up to the increasing tourist demand, so what little there is (hotel rooms, food, rental cars) commands a very high price. In retrospect, this bread bowl (at about $14) was one of the better deals to be had in Iceland. It is not abnormal to pay $20 for a mediocre hamburger and fries or around the same for a bowl of traditional Icelandic lamb stew.

I later found out that I got the last bowl of soup. And I watched about 10 different people walk out of this place with the saddest look on their face when they realized they weren't getting any.

This place was really cute and had a nice array of Icelandic beers. The 12 oz bottles ran from about $8 - $13 each, so I opted for Gull on tap. It was still about $9, but the glasses were bigger.

This was the spot from the outside. If you're ever in Reykjavik, I recommend it.

In my 15 years of international travel, I have met some of THE coolest best people. I've met up with more than a few of them again in another place around the world and some of them have become lifelong friends. I was hoping I'd meet some new people on this trip, and I ended up meeting several. This is Thomas (pronounced sort of like toe-MOSS) from France. He and his buddies had just completed 3 weeks of camping and trekking in the Iceland wilderness and they had JUST made their way back to town. They were tired and famished, and it broke my heart to tell him I had eaten the last bowl of soup!!

Thomas and I kicked it at the soup spot until his friends returned and I joined them for dinner (well, drinks since I had already eaten) next door at the Nepalese restaurant. We discussed French & American policy, their favorite sites in Iceland, and everything in between. Joan & Theo were brothers (Joan is the first 'animal psychologist' I've ever met!) and Thomas is a math tutor and Ashton Kuther look-alike! I'm glad I pulled this one pic of us off the GoPro, they were my first official Iceland friends and I was happy to have met them!

That's kind of it for Day One. I was pretty spent and wanted to wake up fresh for Day Two, which is where things got interesting. I hope I can find it in me to keep blogging, but I may just look into moving the blog. Will keep ya posted! Aloha.

#iceland #reykjavik #hallgrimskirkja #icelandic #iceland air #church #sparkztravels #travel #travels #wanderlust #neverstopexploring #passionpassport #passion passport #sparkz

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sparkztravels · 10 years

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Awesome first day in Iceland!!! I was pretty damned jetlagged, room wasn't ready, so I visited the church and walked Rekjavik. Room was ready so I napped for two hours. Got up and had the best bread bowl soup EVER, complete with Icelandic beers. Met Thomas, Theo, and Joán from France and joined them for wine and Nepalese food. They just completed 3 weeks in the Icelandic wilderness and were tired and famished, but lovely boys nonetheless. Hitting the sack now. G'nite!

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sparkztravels · 10 years

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Osheaga: Day Three

It's fest season, which reminded me that I never got around to posting Day Three of Osheaga 2013 ... and since it was the best day, I figured I should get on it. So without further ado, I present Day Three.

After Day Two's night festivities with JPatt & crew, we decided to sleep in on Sunday. We rolled in fashionably late, just in time to catch the last bit of Jessie Ware singing "Wildest Moments." Unfortunately, we were stuck in line, so I didn't get a pic. Don't worry, I got some Jessie for you later in the post.

We were super stoked for Sunday because we got to see - for the first time ever - a LIVE SET by The Knocks!!! We caught JPatt's DJ set at Super CW's 2013 shindig, but I have to tell you, there's nothing quite like seeing their live set.

He may be one of the best DJ's around, but JPatt can also bust out the tunes.

They make for an unlikely pair, but their music is magic.

They had JUST released Modern Hearts, so they mixed it in between some of their old classics.

Getting the crowd pumped.

As luck would have it, it started POURING rain in the middle of their set.

We took that as an opportunity for a Knocks Selfie.

Only me, Amanda, and the brotherhood of bros in the front row.

You know JPatt hit that Jameson

And this kid was like Whaaaaaaa?!? And the girl behind him was like Yaaaaaaa?!?!?!

And JPatt was like "you know."

Ha! No seriously, if you get a chance, GO SEE The Knocks live. They're touring this summer with ASTR. Go. Go. Go!!!

After The Knocks we made our way over to the Scene Verte stage for a little bit of Icona Pop. I was secretly hoping The Knocks would join 'em for a little bit since they're buddies and all, but alas, it wasn't in the cards.

Moved in a little closer.

And a little closer.

Ahh, this is actually out of order. Jackmaster was on stage before The Knocks, although no one in the crowd was particularly interested in him, ourselves included.

He had that preppy DJ look goin' on, but after seeing Kidnap Kid own this look the day before, I wasn't huge on it.

Gramatik played for a bit before Tommy Trash. I love Gramatik, but I had already seen him last year at Snowball Fest and Amanda really wanted to see the Lumineers and I wanted to get good placement for Kendrick, so we moved on after a few songs.

Yeah, so apparently we weren't the only ones who wanted to see The Lumineers. Ha!

SO. FUN.

Prior to Osheaga I wasn't huge on The Lumineers, but I have to say, they killed it live.

And the lead singer ain't half bad looking ;)

He was SUPER cool too ... Here he is in the middle of the crowd, where he walked out, braving the hordes of screaming woman, to perform one of their hits. I love bands like this (and Phoenix), whose singers just appreciate the heck out of their fans.

I've said it before, but the Osheaga headline stage set-up is genius. They have two stages right next to each other and alternate headliners. No need to wait for set changes, AND you can catch a pretty good show on one stage while jockeying for position at the stage you really wanna be at. We camped out on the Kendrick Lamar side while The Lumineers finished up their set.

People love shooting with their iPhones, but I recommend the Panasonic Lumix LX7 for concert photography. It's a quality camera with a serious zoom lens.

Kendrick didn't bring his live band to Osheaga, which is the main reason I forked out $100 to see him in Hawaii. Turns out his band didn't show up there either. Kind of a bunk deal if you ask me.

He's still SO good live though.

And then. This.

I know Disclosure is all the rage now, and that they performed to a crowd of 40K at Coachella last weekend, but they were practically unheard of last August and we got the rare chance to catch them in a semi-intimate setting, practically front row.

I was pretty obsessed with Disclosure at this time, but my phone and camera batteries were almost dead after The Knocks!

When a Fire Starts to Burn (pre Mary J remix)

Memories.

And just as I had hoped for, they brought out Jessie Ware!!! I was so bummed that we had missed her in the morning, but watching her perform a couple songs with Disclosure in the evening more than made up for it.

She sang Running (Disclosure Remix)

And ... Confess to Me. I was kind of mind blown.

And as if The Knocks and Disclosure wasn't enough music to push me into an eargasm in one day, this guy took the stage. The guy whose speaker set up and intro song let you know, he means business ...

Derek Vincent Smith (aka PRETTY LIGHTS!!!) This was my second time seeing him, and he never disappoints. He seriously puts on one of the best live electronic shows you'll ever see. And my camera died. But hey - who needs a camera when you've got pretty lights? (Oh, we also saw Mumford & Sons, but the camera was dead for that too).

So that was Day Three of Osheaga Fest. It was, in my opinion, the best music festival I've been to so far, and that's saying a lot. Hope you enjoyed the journey, I'll be sure to post pics of this year's fest as soon as I decide which one it is!

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sparkztravels · 11 years

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48 Hours in Brisbane

A couple of weeks ago I got the opportunity to do a quick hit & run trip to Brisbane with my cousin Kunane & his gf Megan. It was to be a SUPER fast one ... arrive in Australia 4:30 pm Friday and depart 6:30 pm Sunday. But hey - far be it from me to turn down a highly doable international trip.

I've never really wanted to go to Brisbane (as opposed to Sydney, which I've been getting anxious for), but I gotta say ... it's a gorgeous city. But more on that later.

Not like I'm trying to promo or anything, but Hawaiian Air business class is where it's at.

No, for real.

After the long 10-hour flight, these two lovebirds were kind enough to catch the train with me back to the hotel. This is the exact moment when Nane briefed Megan on how she'd better get used to my camera in her face.

The sunset view from the rooftop of our hotel was really not too shabby.

Whenever I travel I like to shoot the skyline and buildings for my dad, who's an architect.

We had a pretty killer skyline view from our hotel.

This is the Hawaiian Air flight crew that we rolled with all weekend. Super fun crew, if I must say so.

I remember when Kunane was a kid and I was traveling all over the world. He'd always bug me to take him places. "I wanna go to Rome. I wanna go to New Zealand." And now look at him ... taking ME on trips ;)

Not gonna lie, these two are growing on me.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I LOVE the people I meet while traveling. And this includes the people I'm traveling with.

So the first night out we went to this bar across the street that they always go to. Everyone gets steak because apparently the steak is really good.

Not me. I took Megan's advice and snagged some fish & chips. It was really good, minus the fact that they only had apple cider vinegar (blech

Meet Kamu - aka "Lyrical Killa"

A thousand words.

Ham.

For real tho, love this kid. A ton.

But only cuz of his perfectly coiffed hair ;)

In the 48 hours that we were there, Kamu had on no fewer than 3 different articles of Raiders gear. I think he might be a fan.

Mm hmm.

Nane is in the small rare minority of people who, for some reason, don't seem to mind when I bus' my camera out ;)

Probably because he's just photogenic.

I let Kamu have the camera for a sec ...

... but it turns out he has other skills he's better at.

One of my FAVE things to eat abroad is chips. For some reason though, these weren't exactly calling my name.

You know we had to get the group selfies in at every possible moment.

The hotel was pretty legit.

On our one FULL day there, we headed to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

In case you didn't know, it's been a lifelong dream of mine to snuggle a koala. I mean, just look at them.

Gawd, they are sooooo cute.

They let me hold the real one for a hot second, so I got my fill elsewhere in the park ...

The park's got a ton of Roo's too ...

Bats

These guys were ALL over the park running wild. They seemed harmless ...

Until you stuck your camera right up in their face. Then this happens.

But seriously, how freakin' adorable are these baby koalas???

I seriously contemplated snagging one.

Pit stop to grind lunch with the turkeys. Literally.

Koala Krew 2013

So there was an emu there, but I felt like this photo didn't accurately portray the size of this beast. So I asked Jesse to pop in to give it some scale.

Which is precisely what he did. =/

emus are not my thing.

neither are wombats.

i feel like my mom would like these, they're kinda like a cross between a pig and a bunny.

the kangaroos were everywhere.

so we opted for a more isolated spot so our group could really get some QT with them.

this one was happy to see us ;)

alvin. the kangaroo whisperer.

you would think this is a pic of kunane & megz, but it's really a pic of kunane and his pigeon stalker.

and then the little joey came out!!!

does life get any better than baby kangaroos and koala snuggles?

actually saw one hopping too!

#kangarooselfiesaturday

raider shirt. uh huh.

love this pic.

i wasn't joking. he's the friggin' kangaroo whisperer.

#kangarooselfiesaturday (take 2)

my cousin is a weirdo.

but at least he's not jesse ;)

jesse, attempting to redeem himself.

i love this tree.

boring old aligator, nothing to see here.

here, on the other hand ...

all day he kept talking about wanting to touch the lizard. until the zookeeper told him they have wicked sharp teeth and are not afraid to bite.

tazmanian devils have some gnarly teeth too.

here's one in action.

this bird's hair was almost as high as nane's. almost.

this flower. ahhhhh.

which way to the dingoes???

okay so yeah, dingos are basically just wild dogs. pretty wild dogs, but dogs nonetheless. #overrated

definitely felt like this was a gorgeous owl.

but who are we kidding? it was really all about the koalas!

these guys are such cruisers.

this is how close you could get to them. it was very hard not to want to scoop one up and give it a home in my purse.

so i guess they sleep for 18 hours a day and eat eucalyptus leaves the rest of the time.

at least that's what it says here.

seriously jesse??

guess we know why him and nane are friends ...

sick houses across the brisbane river

and this happened.

okay bye koala/roo park!

that night we had dinner at ... a rainbow?

<3

brisbane is really a gorgeously walkable city

especially at night.

meat pies. meat pies. MEAT PIES!!!!!

meat pies make me happy

gelato makes her happy.

i love long dark alleys that lead to cool divey spots.

back at the hotel it was time for more group selfies

this time we got the jump shots in. well, sort of.

and then an elderly gentleman asked if he could take the photos for us. he got exactly two shots. this is the first.

and this is the second =/

On the final day Nane and I went on a bike ride around the brisbane river.

the skyline is just gorgeous and it was relatively flat, which made for a really fun, scenic ride.

hi hi!

i didn't quite believe him when he told me there was a man-made beach alongside the river, but it turns out, that's exactly right.

it was truly one of the weirdest things i've seen in my life. but not gonna lie, i kinda wanted to hop in.

instead, kept on our merry way ...

you know i have to shoot me some trees. LOVE shooting trees.

this shot gives me vertigo.

the cliffs across the way were amazing. nane said you can actually rock climb on them, and i was suddenly wishing i had one more day there.

this tree too.

and sooner than you know it, the 48 hours were over. we made one last stop to load up on australian candies, which i did not buy nearly enough of =(

and well, this is how i felt when we left.

MAHALO NUI to kunane & megz for making it the best two-day international trip I've ever been on. Hope we can do it again soon. Sapporo, anyone? ;)

#sparkztravel #australia #brisbane #aussie #meat pies #kunane #megan #nane #megz #Koala Snuggling #Kangaroo #Maybe the Dingo Ate Your Baby #River #Bike Ride #Hawaiian

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sparkztravels · 11 years

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Osheaga: Day Two

A good rule of thumb for a music festival is to pace yourself. This often means you have to miss a lot of the early bands that you wanted to catch (for example, in our case, MNDR, Wild Belle, and - gasp - Jessie Ware (well, not really). But there is still plenty of music to be had. So here we go, off to day two ...

After Frank Ocean AND Miguel both canceled, Saturday's lineup was a little weak sauce. But there were still a handful of big names we were excited about. We got there nice and late, just in time for the Soul Clap set.

They weren't high on our list, so we hit up our fave spot. You know where.

Seriously, this was our jam. We memorialized it with selfies.

See!

The first big act we wanted to catch on Saturday was Tegan & Sara. I couldn't figure out if they were friends or lovers.

It turns out they're sisters.

Sunshine. Live Music. And Canadians. Does it get any better?

They played a good set and even though I didn't know all of their songs, I was stoked we saw them.

Like I said in the last post, the crowds build on Saturday.

Don't judge. It's all part of the fest life.

Midway through Tegan & Sara we got the call from JPatt. I couldn't hear anything he was saying, but I was pretty sure he was telling us to meet them to the right of the electro stage.

I was right!!!! So let me digress for a second to tell you how we came to know JPatt.

Breezy and I are law school bffs.

Breezy went to undergrad with Dan Harrow. They held hands.

Dan's brother is Alex Harrow.

Alex went to high school with James Patterson.

James Patterson (aka Mr. JPatt) is one half of The Knocks. The Knocks are #3 on Vibe's 30 DJs to Watch in 2013 list. Ben "B-Roc" Ruttner is the other half of The Knocks. Alex is now their tour manager.

Whew that was a mouthful. Anyhoo, JPatt loves this Canadian DJ quartet, Azari & III (pronounced Azari & Third).

After hearing them spin, we became HUGE fans too. These guys know how to bring down the house.

Okay pause for a photo with JPatt. Disclaimer: There will be many more.

Fests are all about making friends. This is "Classy Cait" and her boyfriend Matthew. They were from Toronto and completely reaffirmed our theory that Candians are The. Nicest. People. On. Earth.

#goodpeople

This is Caitlin's buddy Lauren & her bf. Again, more good peepz.

The weather forecasts all called for thunderstorms, but two days in and we had nothing but light clouds and sunshiny skies!!

We had a great view of the Molson factory just across the way.

Good thing I gave you that disclaimer about all the JPatt pics huh.

Caitlin said that everyone THINKS this is the Canadian maple leaf, but it's actually not. I forget the rest of the story, but I thought it was a funny pic.

#yeahcanada

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I LOVE the people I meet when traveling.

Stuck around for Bonobo a little bit. It was nice to hear his live set, which was pretty upbeat. I generally think of his music as something I want to hear when I'm laying on the couch or doing yoga. (Not that I actually do yoga).

If the bench was our spot, under this tree was our backup spot.

It was rough to pull ourselves away from the electro stage, but hey - we needed to get to Macklemore!! Classy Cait ditched her friends & boyfriends to roll with the girls from Hawaii!

Okay the fest attire was a little more ... festive ... the second day!

See what I mean!

It was a trip to see the cigarette advertising in Canada. It's been so long that these sort of cigarette ads have been outlawed in America that it caught us off guard!

We did NOT envy this guy.

We moseyed over to the main stage for Macklemore and caught the last half of Imagine Dragons.

Who would have thought this guy sings "It's Time" ???

For you, Breezy.

And then. Macklemore!!!

Needless to say, we were stoked.

We didn't try to maneuver our way to the front for Macklemore, considering we had already seen him front and center twice this year.

I was front row for his sold out New Year's Eve concert at The Republik.

And even closer than that when my friend Jim hooked me up with VIP tickets to his Microsoft Grand Opening concert at Kaka'ako.

So yeah, we were okay with our midway view and the jumbo tron!

One of my fave parts about festivals is when artists bring other artists up for one-of-a-kind collabos. In this case, Macklemore brought up Tegan & Sara to sing the hook on "Same Love."

It was the first time ever, and it was pretty special.

This shot is also for Breezy, who loves that flag guy.

After Macklemore we caught the oddest headliner of a 2013 festival, Beck. Not sure I'd call him spectacular, but we were dancing.

And as a little secret bonus, fireworks went off above the island.

Yes Osheaga, you've sealed a spot in my heart forever.

After Day 2, we made a b-line for the metro, which in spite of the crowd, was really, REALLY well organized.

But it didn't end there. Don't think we didn't run the Deep Afters w/JPatt.

We only made about 4 or 5 different stops on our way to our final destination.

Met up with some more of his friends.

He took us backstage at one of the venues.

We danced a bit.

Went to this secret spot.

And finally ended up at this super secret location in the Mile End, where JPatt and the boys from Azari & III spinned deep house music into the wee, wee hours of the morning.

Wish I could tell you more, but my captions end where the photos trail off. Day Three (the last one) coming soon!!!

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sparkztravels · 11 years

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Osheaga: Day One

So finally ... Osheaga Day One!! But before I launch into that, a quick tour of our Montreal flat. This is our living room, where we'd spend our free time reading the classics.

In our spare time we'd also draft correspondence to our friends and family back home.

This was Amanda's fave spot in the house. A closet with a fish tank and full-length mirror.

Vino & Ketchup Chips. What more could you want?

I can honestly say this is the first in-room jacuzzi bath that's ever went unused in my lifetime.

Verona's art studio next door.

It was beggin' for a photo shoot.

But ain't nobody got time for that.

The area we were in, The Plateau, was very French, and very gorgeous.

Not sure how this one snuck in, or if this was us waking up or going to bed ... But isn't it gorgeous?

Okay, back to our walk to the metro.

The Plateau is very, very artsy.

And the architecture was pretty as well.

But finally ... The Festival!! And, our first photo bomb!

Poutine is a common Canadian dish consisting of french fries, gravy, and cheese curds. I may or may not have sustained on a 3-day diet of poutine and liquids.

This was our spot. A nice little picnic bench just behind the electro stage. We owned this spot.

And yes, you can have a close-up of those kids doing God-knows-what behind Amanda.

Osheaga is held in Parc-Jean Drapeau, an island located just off of Montreal. It is one of the most stunning settings for a music festival.

The park itself has great views and lots of pretty art sculptures.

But enough about that, let's get to the fest! The first act we saw was one of my faves, Kidnap Kid. I was pretty stoked to see him, not gonna lie.

I think he was pretty stoked to see me too ;)

His music moves me, and well, let's just say he's pretty easy on the eyes as well.

After Kidnap Kid, we headed over to the main stage to check out another of my faves, Two Door Cinema Club.

The lead singer's a ginger!

One of the main things I look forward to at music festivals is the fashion. Not gonna lie, Montreal was very, very much lacking in this regard. Snowball has it tops so far in my book!

If Amanda looks completely soaked, it's because we were. It wasn't very hot, but they were good about completely dousing us with the fire hoses to "keep us cool."

Fridays are always the least crowded day at a 3-day fest, because a lot of people are still working. This is the Friday crowd.

Osheaga had it set up proper. Two adjacent headliner stages with alternating set times. This allowed us to have a decent side view of one stage while we jockeyed for position on the other. Here, we're side-eyeing Two Door and getting ready for Ellie!!

We did pretty well because we were in prime position for Ellie Goulding =)

And I do mean PRIME POSITION.

This is how close we actually were. My amazing Lumix LX7 just has a great zoom. And a pretty damn good 24 mm wide angle as well.

Ellie Goulding, btw, was magnificent. I need to start listening to her more often.

Flock of Seagulls. Don't see that too often in Hawaii.

We gladly shared our table with our new friends from Toronto, Oleg & Abraham.

Okay before I move on, I have to say this: I have never in my entire life seen so many guys sitting on other guys shoulders.

At first I thought maybe they were all looking for people, like this guy.

But then I realized that nope, that's just how they do it in Montreal. Go figure.

I can't exactly remember who this was. We stopped by for a few songs on the way to Phoenix, so it was either Vilify & Henward, or the Jets.

I like Phoenix, and it's safe to say that at one point Ireallyliked Phoenix. But for some reason, they weren't at the top of my Must-See list.

That being said, I thought they KILLED. They were really, really impressive live. And it helped that I knew a wide majority of the songs they played.

Yup, these two stuck around for another set with us.

We weren't in the mood to fight the crowd for Phoenix, but I did manage to get a couple semi-zoomed shots.

The lead singer was quite the fan favorite. He kept letting the fans play with his hair, and at one point, he crowd surfed all the way to the very back of the crowd. Pretty damn cool if you ask me.

They had a pretty sweet lighting set up also.

Yup, I'm a fan.

I stuck around after Phoenix's set to catch a little bit of The Cure.

I mean, since I was BFFs with lead singer Robert Smith, I figured it's the least I could do ;)

He looks SO different without his stage makeup, but the hair was a dead giveaway!

I was pretty stoked because I don't know too many Cure songs, but they played two of my faves (Pictures of You & Love Song) right in a row. Jackpot!

We passed this sculpture a lot on our way between the main and electro stages.

Like moths to a flame. Baauer.

Baauer, gettin' his Harlem Shake on.

Prior to Osheaga, I hadn't heard too much of anything that impressive out of Baauer, but I have to say, he knows how to throw a party.

After Baauer, we hit it back to town. There was still an hour left in The Cure's set, but we had gotten our fill.

And with that, Day One was over. Don't worry though, there are still two more days to get up. And those, my friends, were the good ones!!!

#Osheaga #Festival #Music Festival #The Plateau #Montreal #French #Poutine #WhHite Amanda #Kidnap Kid #Two Door Cinema Club #Vilify & Henward #The Jets #Phoenix #Baauer #The Cure #Day One #EDM #Dance

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sparkztravels · 11 years

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Osheaga: Prefunk

Every year I do one international trip and one music festival. This year, I decided to combo and do one international music festival. Boy did I make the right decision. It was a super super whirlwind trip ... My friend Amanda and I arrived in Montreal on Thursday evening for the Fri-Sat-Sun Osheaga Festival and I flew out at 8 am Monday morning. Totally exhausting, entirely worth it.

This post covers only the first day - Thursday - so if you're looking for fest pics, check back in a few days. I'll have those up in no time. Our flight was delayed by several hours in Chicago, so we met up with Amanda's cousin Rebecca & her 4 kids. Yup, I said 4 kids. They were all dolls and we gobbled down some breakfast and zombied out at their mansion - errr, house. Thanks again for the hospitality!!

View of Chi-Town from the air. You can just see the northern tip of the city under the clouds. Chicago is definitely one of my fave cities - even the seedy parts.

Montreal was at almost 100% capacity the weekend we were there, but we were lucky to score a SWEET loft through Air B-N-B. Our "landlord" was Verona Sorenson, a Canadian abstract painter. I'll put up pics of the loft later, but her studio is right next door and she said we could feel free to use it. Not sure what for, other than to snap a quick pic of her. I secretly wanted to really do a photo shoot with her in the studio, she was gorgeous - Half Filipino, Half Norwegian - and appeared to be insanely photogenic.

First things first ... we found our local corner store across the way from the loft ...

And I scooped up a good first day's amount of Ketchup Chips!!! I LOVE me some Ketchup Chips!!

After settling in, we decided to hit the town. (That's one of Verona's pieces behind us).

When I travel, I pretty much alwasy stop by an Irish Pub. They're pretty universal as far as I can tell, and I love the familiarity they bring. We found this guy singing at the Crescent Street pub we landed at.

Obligatory "first night out" selfie.

This is bartender Rich. As with all Irish Pub bartenders, he was pretty darn cool.

Except he didn't know how to make a mind eraser (I know, right??!!) After a few attempts though, he got the hang ;)

When we asked him where we should go next, he drew us a map to a nearby bar where his friend Kyle was tending bar. Canadians are The. Nicest. People. On. Earth. You will hear that a lot from me.

One last selfie before we head out tho.

We followed Rich's map ...

And ended up at Kyle's bar! (Yes, this is Kyle =)

We made a lot of friends at this bar.

Like, a LOT of friends.

Wish I could remember everyone's names, but I'm more of a facial recognition person. In any event, everyone we met was really cool. This guy included.

These two were actually from Chicago. Not quite as nice as the Montrealians, but still friendly nonetheless.

Nice smiles too!

Unlike this guy ;)

Another bunch of random guys we met ...

And by met, I mean harassed ;)

Toldjya we made a lot of friends!

And well, that was our first night. Well, most of it at least. The next post I'll get to the good stuff ... OSHEAGA MUSIC FESTIVAL!!!!

#Osheaga #Montreal #WhHite Amanda #Prefunk #Let the Craziness Ensue #Irish Pub

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sparkztravels · 11 years

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The Bamboo Forest

This brings back memories. Jen Katres and I got completely lost and stranded in this bamboo forest in Japan (#6). It was pitch black, pouring rain, I had blisters for days, and it turns out we were less than a quarter mile from our final destination the entire time. Arashiyama will forever be one of my all-time fave travel memories.

#JK #japan #arashiyama #bamboo forest

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sparkztravels · 12 years

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Japan in 2012

My most recent international trip was just last month. JK and I visited my law school classmate and partner-in-crime, Goose.

We also met up with this character, Derrick-Kevin, and also my girl Jun, who I met randomly in Ireland! You gotta love the people you meet while traveling. Like Johnathan. One minute he's getting dropped in the elevator, next he's racking up $12K worth of bills at a Nigerian night club with a girl named Sheila. #truestory

We rode the famous Shinkansen to Kyoto where we rented the coolest little apartment, and of course, rode bikes around the city.

More on Japan and travels in general down the road, but for now, that concludes my 25-country tour! Thanks for visiting =)

#asia #derrick #flying ninja #goose #hawaiian town #japan #jk #johnathan and sheila #kevin #kyoto #kyoto tower #leonard's malasadas #oktoberfest #sunset #tokyo #travel #yokohama #jun #almost ray

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sparkztravels · 12 years

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Switzerland in 2011

Rena and I did a SUPER whirlwind trip to Switzerland, where we visited the towns of Bern and Zurich. In Bern we pretty much hung out with the namesake Bern Bears (which are surprisingly not in cages, but rather roaming free). In Zurich we attempted to do the double decker bus tour, but we got off upon spotting a food & wine festival that was held on 8 different boats. We bought tickets and spent our entire day there drinking really good wines and eating roquette and fondue!!

Bern Bears. Such snuggle buns.

Oh, in case you were wondering, this is Rena. She is awesome and one of the best travel buddies known to man. And get a load of those colors. I love me some fall colors.

#switzerland #zurich #wine tour #boats and wine #fall #jumpshot #bern #bear #europe #travel #rena

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sparkztravels · 12 years

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Ireland in 2011

Rena and I were stuck between a Mediterranean tour ... Greece, Croatia, Turkey ... and Ireland. We went with Ireland. Well, and Switzerland. But Ireland mostly. And I'm SO glad we did.

We were in Dublin on my birthday, and everyone was dressed up in costume. Needless to say, it was a blast. This pub in particular, was ridiculously fun. The live Irish electronic violin set was simply mind blowing. Oh, and I met Jake Gyllenhall.

On Halloween Day, we were headed to the tour bus to visit Nara and the UNESCO World Heritage Site Bru na Boinne, or Newgrange, which predates the Egyptian Pyramids! For those of you who don't know, I have a small obsession with visiting as many UNESCO World Heritage Sites as humanly possible. Anyway, on the way to the tour bus, we randomly stumbled upon the Ireland Halloween Day Marathon!

#ireland #rena #baxter #dublin #the cliffs #irish #pub crawl #happy birthday to me #marathon #green #guiness #beer #jake gyllenhall #UNESCO World Heritage Site #Nara #Halloween

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sparkztravels · 12 years

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Munich in 2011

When Julie and Craig moved home from Australia, I had MASSIVE regrets about never having visited them. I didn't want the same to happen with Rena, so last year I planned a trip out to Munich to visit her. I normally make it a point to never visit the same country twice, but seeing as how I skipped Munich on my last trip to Germany, I was okay with it. Plus, I just knew Rena and I were going to make the best of travel buddies.

The number one spot on my list of things to do in Munich was check out the famed Eisbach, home to the sport of River Surfing. It did not let me down.

Munich, like most major European cities, was the perfect mix of old charm and modern bustle.

Two of my absolute favorite things about my 2011 trip was drinking beer out of big steins at the world-famous Hofbrauhaus, and meeting this guy. The Best. Guy. Ever.

#best pork ever #bike tour #eisbach #germany #hofbrauhaus #munich #rathaus #rena #river surfing #thomas #travel #best guy ever

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sparkztravels · 12 years

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Costa Rica in 2009

I spent the summer of 2009 living in Washington DC, and at the end of the summer, TiFunk and I found $300 roundtrip tickets to Costa Rica. The catch was they were r/t from Chicago ... so we took it upon ourselves to stop over in the Windy City and catch 3 days of Lollapalooza =)

Costa Rica was super fun. We visited the reggae beach town of Puerto Viejo, the desolate Tortuguero - named after the thousands of turtles that come here to lay eggs and repopulate, Cahuita national park, and the gritty capital city of San Jose.

Cahuita National Park was pretty amazing. We hiked it in the rain with this really cool local forest ranger.

In Puerto Viejo, we rented bikes (duh) and rode out to a wildlife forest reserve. We saw baby sloths, a one-legged kinkaju, monkeys, snakes, and even a baby wild mini leopard thingy. SO cute.

This is one of my fave pics from this trip, for obvious reasons.

#costa rica #animals #raccoon #tifunk #travel #central america #monkey #tree #forest #hiking #adventure

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sparkztravels · 12 years

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Berlin in 2008

The last stop on our tour of Central & Eastern Europe was Berlin, Germany. Germany's a fascinating place ... particularly Berlin. Its unique history has really shaped a very different modern world than what I have grown accustomed to. When you really think about a place that was governed by a Nazi dictator and had a wall separating its people from the evil ideas of democracy, it's not surprising. But I just couldn't shake the haunting suspicion that everywhere I went, the Gestapo was lurking, watching our every move.

Parts of the Berlin wall are still up in its original location, but other sections have been painted and dispersed throughout the city.

There's a strong juxtaposition between the old and new look of the city. I really like the Berlin skyline by night.

#berlin #germany #german #postdamer platz #checkpoint charlie #berlin wall #holocaust #eurotrip #capitols of europe #travel

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sparkztravels · 12 years

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Krakow in 2008

In addition to Warsaw, we also visited the smaller town of Krakow in Poland. Highlights were a Polish Pub Crawl that consisted entirely of myself, CT, and TiFunk, and of course ... bike rides around the city.

Warsaw is pretty neat - The city center is actually on an island that used to be surrounded by a moat. The moat was filled in with concrete and that was turned into a bike path that circles the city. This is the town square and me rocking my Universitat Vien shirt, which is where we studied in our home base of Vienna.

This is Shindler's Factory. Literally, this is the factory where he employed more than 1,000 Jews, saving them from uncertain death.

#Shindler's Factory #Oskar Shindler #Poland #Krakow #Eurotrip #Capitols of Europe #travel #Pub Crawl #Polish Vodka

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sparkztravels · 12 years

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Auschwitz & Birkenau in 2008

Most people know Auschwitz & Birkenau as the concentration camps in the movie Schindler's List. To this day, our visit to these spots remains the most emotionally draining experience in the short history of my existence. We were overcome with emotions as we learned how more than a million men, women, and children lost their lives here.

Remember the scene from the movie where the kids had to hide in the "toilets" covered in feces and stench?

This was one of the hardest parts ... we walked through the killing chambers, where they were led to believe they were going to get showered. It was beyond eerie and I wasn't in there long.

#auschwitz #birkenau #austria #poland #eurotrip #holocaust #death #concentration camp #shindler's list #capitols of europe #arbeit macht frei

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sparkztravels · 12 years

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Warsaw in 2008

It's probably only because they were fellow traveling spirits that I was able to talk CT and TiFunk into going to Poland, because it's not really a destination that most people would choose to visit. That being said, it is truly a gorgeous country and we had a blast!

Such a pretty, colorful town, ain't it?

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has become one of my top things to see whenever I visit any new town. Here, a guard stands vigilent watch over the tomb in Warsaw.

#warsaw #poland #polish #eurotrip #ct #tifunk #capitols of europe #tomb of the unknown soldier #skyporn #architecture #landscape #skyline

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