I was travelling a few weeks ago and was at the aiport looking at the stamps in my passport. This trip was the last time I would be using this particular passport. Now, to most people that may not mean anything, but to me, a passport is part of your history, your timeline. Where you have been, who you were there with, and the memories that you created during that time. I have since applied for me new passport (mug shot photo – why can’t you smile?) and will be getting it next week.

So, as I put the old, not yet expired one away, (that is a rip off, pay for five years but have to get a new one in four and half) I am remembering all the good times I have had on the trips I have taken.

I was recently in Los Angeles visiting my friend Brad and he introduced me to a few of his friends. As we talked about my job, they each asked independently, “what was your favourite place you have visited?” I am asked that a lot, and the answer is complicated, since every trip, with every person you travel with, creates amazing memories. I have had special memories and ‘favourite’ moments in so many places along the way.

I thought I would share a few of them with you.

My med cruise with my aunt. There were so many amazing things that we saw, but here are just a few:
Rome – The Trevi Fountain – what a beautiful spot. In the middle of the city, as you turn the corner from the buildings, appears this incredible fountain. You are supposed to turn around and throw your money backwards over your left shoulder into the fountain as you make your wish.
The Spanish Steps, the Collesium, the Pantheon…all amazing….but of course, you can’t stop in Rome without….PIZZA and GELATO! What can you say, the pizza was the best I have ever had, and the gelato was outstanding. Forget Baskin and Robbins and 31 flavours – the Italian Gelato flavours are like nothing you have ever had before.

Barcelona – a world class city, with a great hop off hop off bus tour that is worth taking if you are on a cruise and only have a few short hours.
But you can’t go to Barcelona without going for a walk on Las Ramblas. A pedestrian street filled with great shops, restaurants and amazing buskers. They are about every 20 feet and they each do something unique, funny, and leave you thinking – how are they doing that? And of course, tapas….the food was amazing…We had such a good time on Las Ramblas, that we almost missed the ship. You can imagine the two of us running for the ship, they pulled up the gangway right as we walked on. We were “this close” to missing the ship….

Florence – what can be said about Florence? Again, on a cruise you have very limited amounts of time, but enough time to go to the leather market and buy purses (one regret, not enough purses were purchased) and the Pontevecchio…and to the glove store, to get fit for custom cashmere lined Italian gloves. If you are on facebook you may remember my rant about losing my leather gloves at Walmart this past winter. Now you understand why – they were custom fit, purchased on the Pontevecchio with my aunt, in Florence. I hope that whoever took them and didn’t turn them in, is at least enjoying them. They were so beautiful.

I went to Greece, as a FAM trip with other travel agents. One memory really stands out for me. We were in Santorini, which if you don’t know, is built on cliffs (http://www.santorini-greece.biz) They took us up the mountain by bus, but we were on our way to get back to the ship. You can go down the mountain by donkey or cable car – no I didn’t go by donkey. While waiting to take the cable car down, we sat in a taverna that was overlooking the Agean sea and when you look back at the mountain, all you can see is the whitewashed homes and the blue roofs. It was what you always see in pictures in magazines and brochures, and here I was, sipping wine and eating the most amazing calamari I have ever tasted while looking at the spectacular beauty.

I went to Alasksa on a cruise. It was my first cruise experience, and it was amazing. I remember the day we we in Juneau and when I walked off the ship and down the pier and saw all the crab traps beside the ship, I just knew what would be for dinner – and sure enough it was – Alaskan king crab. How could you not have that for your entree? It was the freshest seafood you would ever get in your life. Not too mention I ordered anything and everything that was made with salmon all week. Smoked salmon every day for breakfast, and everything in between.

It was not just the food that was amazing on the cruise. Cruising in the Glacier bay was outstanding. You can’t really get an idea of how big the glaciers are, and how deep they are under the water. You can hear a big crack, like the sound of a thunderclap, and then you turn your head and watch pieces of the glacier fall into the ocean. The glaciers appear to be blue, and they explained to us the oxygen gets trapped in the water as it freezes which makes it appear to be blue.

As I write this entry I realize how lucky I have been to have the experiences I have had in my travelling days. I am celebrating 20 years in the travel industry this year, and that in itself is pretty amazing. Where I have been and what I have seen in 20 years….WOW!

Stay tuned for more….

Hey everyone, Lisa here….it has been a while since you have all heard from me. Most of the people that read this blog are on facebook and read the updates that Sylvia has been religiously posting throughout Shari’s transplant and her journey pre and post. It is hard to write about something that isn’t really ‘happening’ to you, so I thought it was better to take a break and wait until I had something personal to write about.

As you may or may not know, Shari has had a very difficult time eating since the transplant. It has not been an easy time for her. During her weekly visits to PMH, she had discussions about the fact that she has GVHD (Graft vs. Host Disease). I am not going to try to explain it, but you can google it and you can read about how it is not all bad, and it is common in transplant patients (http://www.marrow.org/PATIENT/survivorship_Ed/#)

One of the symtoms Shari was/is having is the inability to produce saliva. That makes it almost impossible to eat. I didn’t know this at the time, but at the James Taylor concert I bought Shari cotton candy, which she loves. You all know that the minute cotton candy hits your month, it melts. Because she had no saliva, the candy stayed the same consistency, and didn’t melt in her mouth. It freaked her out.

Shari went down to PMH on June 1st and was finally admitted to treat the GVHD with IV meds and steriods. It really was the best place for her to be. Get the meds she needs, get the rest she needs and the ability to build up her strength and her ability to eat again.

I have been down to visit a few times. Each time I visit I ask what I can bring. When I went to visit before my dad’s party, her request was a piece of cake by Roberts cake. It was hard, but I saved her a small piece of cake. On Monday (Jun 7th) Shari asked me to bring a pizza sub from Subway, with extra sauce. I thought, wow, if she wants that, I will bring it. So, when I got there, I re-heated it, and she could take ONE bite. The bite was the size of a pea. The sub was too dry for her mouth. The cake on the other hand, melted in her mouth, so it was so much better for her.

Fast forward to yesterday. I was planning my route downtown and Shari asked me for a special treat, McD’s. So, off I went to PMH and searching for a mid/downtown location of McD’s to pick up the food. I didn’t have much sucess, so the french fries were cold and not enjoyable….BUT Shari was able to eat a 1/4 of a hamburger – SUCCESS!

She told me that she was going to be able to go home for the afternoon and evening. So, since I was there, I waited for her to finish her meds and ‘sprung’ her out for the day. On the way north Shari told me that should would love something from Baskin and Robins, so off we went to have ice cream, which I can say, she finished almost ALL of a kiddie size scoop in a cup. FANTASTIC.

Later that night, I met up with her, Mike and Sylvia at the Fish House for dinner. Let’s forget the service, which was less than stellar, it was about Shari, and the fact that she had some clam chowder, some bread, a couple of bites of caeser salad, some baked potato and LOBSTER!!

The dinner was more than just eating. It was this rare opprotunity to talk openly and candid with Mike and Sylvia. It was a chance to get to know more about the family that I have spent the last year with them and all their ups and downs of this journey that was handed to their family. Time to talk about how to hopefully begin the mental and emotional healing now that the physical healing and the cancer is now gone.

I am glad that I have seen the little milestones that Shari has gone through since being at PMH this time. I know that she will continue to fight, eat, grow stronger every day. I don’t know how one does that, but the key is one day at a time. One bite, one spoonful, one day at at time.

You will get there Shari, I know it.

I will see you soon!