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Brel World Tour – Toronto & Ottawa Appearances

Sunday, February 17th, 2008

We are returning to the Great White North Feb 19th with a side trip to Mel and Chris’ wedding (yay!) and back to T.O. with a stopover in Peterborough to visit B’s dad, returning to T.O. Wed the 27th.

We have limited time in Toronto before we leave for Brazil March 2, but we’d like to see as many of you as possible, so please join us for dinner and/or cocktails at Teatro.

Friday, February 29, 7:00 pm onwards

Hope to see you all then!

Posted in Travel | 1 Comment »

Final Thoughts – Belize

Saturday, February 16th, 2008

By the Numbers

• Number of sweet rum drinks consumed: innumerable
• Greatest number of bug bites on Mel at any one time: 85
• Number of books read since beginning our adventure: Mel: 10; Brendan: 1
• Average number of times Brendan ate lobster per day during the last week of the season: 2.1
• Hours spent in the sun during the last month: Mel: 120; Brendan: 3.5
• Percentage of meals Brendan improved by adding Marie Sharp’s hot sauce: 98%
• Percentage of days Mel had bacon for breakfast in Belize: 90%
• Number of times Brendan rehearsed the words and moves to Mr. Roboto for his karaoke debut: 9 (but then backed out of his performance)
• Number of Brel disagreements about personal hygiene: 3 (don’t ask)

Moments we’d Rather Forget
• The concrete bed, the gravelly pillows and cockroaches at our first cabina in Placencia
• The amount of nachos and other unhealthy Mexican food consumed
• The bugs – especially the ones who anaesthetize their victims before stinging – unknowingly leaving you in incredible pain
• Mel attempting to learn to dance the Punta at a local club – arms wrapped around a large Belizean woman, gyrating and shaking her booty in rhythm to someone who has clearly been punta-ing for a long, long time

Highlights
• Mel successfully combating her snorkelling demons and discovering a new world, hand-in-hand with Brendan
• Surviving the crazy couples mud massage at Maruba – and having the guts to post the pics online
• Caving, birding, rapelling and all our other attempts to make ourselves appear less lazy then we’ve actually been
• Realizing our blog has received almost 6,000 hits – and not all of them were by Mel’s Dad

Posted in Belize, Final Thoughts, Travel | No Comments »

A Drop in the Ocean

Friday, February 15th, 2008
One of the challenges of our trip this year has been trying to find a way to tie it all together and give it some kind of meaning – a meaning beyond the tropical drinks ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Belize, Travel | No Comments »

Getting our Sea Legs in Placencia

Friday, February 15th, 2008
We are spending our last week in Belize in Placencia, a small village on the very end of a long, narrow peninsula with beaches on one side and mangroves on the other. Placencia’s claim to ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Belize, Travel | No Comments »

Lessons learned on the road…Volume Two, Mon…

Friday, February 15th, 2008
1. New underwear manoeuvre: Anticipation This strategy involves a pre-emptive strike: the application of any of the aforementioned underwear extension manoeuvres (continuation, double-dipping, inside-out and commando) in anticipation of the potential unavailability ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Belize, Lessons Learned, Travel | No Comments »

Mermaid M and Merman B

Sunday, February 10th, 2008
B post snorkel Another new world has opened up to Mel – the world under the sea. Over the years, many of you have witnessed Mel's sad attempts at snorkelling: the anxiety attacks, the claustrophobia, her refusal ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Belize, Travel | 2 Comments »

B’s Continued Efforts to Hurt/Maim/Kill Himself

Sunday, February 10th, 2008
 Black Hole Drop While Mel was communing with the Mayans, I pulled myself away from my computer for a little adrenaline. Belize has the largest underground cave system in the world, some sections of which have collapsed, creating ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Belize, Travel | No Comments »

Hangin’ with the Maya

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

 

Went to see some Mayan ruins – Xunantunich and Cahal Pech. Very cool. Got a bit distracted with some new birds. Big-ass Iguana[Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Belize, Travel | No Comments »

Status Update – Operation Bird Discovery

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

Trogon With Phase 1 of Operation Bird Discovery successfully implemented in Costa Rica, we have moved on to the second and more aggressive phase – Operation BD Belize. l have spent most the week stalking birds. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Belize, Travel | 1 Comment »

De plane, Boss, de plane!

Thursday, February 7th, 2008
Leith: do not read this entry. It seems as though our planes have been gradually getting smaller and smaller. Not looking forward to the return flight to Canada – via Canada Goose? [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Belize, Travel | No Comments »

Mel – Official Spelunker-er

Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

Caving Originally uploaded by pichemelanie Today, I continued the quest to conquer my fears. Up next: small, dark underground places, and, get ready for it….bats. Dressed as Sporty Mel once again, I donned my headlamp and ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Belize, Travel | No Comments »

RF9

Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
We were welcomed into Belize today – well, at least the part of Belize which is a luxurious jungle fantasy spa. We are staying at Maruba Jungle Lodge (www.maruba-spa.com), a quirky, neo-tribal chic, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Belize, Travel | No Comments »

Final Thoughts – Costa Rica

Thursday, January 31st, 2008
    By the Numbers… • Number of identified birds in Operation Bird Discovery – 47 • Pounds of gallo pinto (rice and beans) consumed – 6 • Number of monkey photos taken by Monkey Photographer BP – 1,000+ • Percentage ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Final Thoughts, Travel | 2 Comments »

Tarzan and Jane

Thursday, January 31st, 2008
We knew we couldn’t face any of you back home, if we didn’t participate in Costa Rica’s number one touristy adventure – the canopy zip line. For those of you who don’t know ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Travel | No Comments »

“I’m gonna soak up the sun…”

Thursday, January 31st, 2008
We’ve spent the last 3 nights at the very unique and posh Rancho Pacifico, located high on a seaside mountaintop, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Travel | No Comments »

Dominical Sunset

Saturday, January 26th, 2008

After all this silly luxury I thought it was time to get down with the peeps. You know, keep it real. Otherwise known as the local bus. (Chicken-free) I assured Mel there was “hardly any” chance ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Travel | No Comments »

Monkeys!

Friday, January 25th, 2008
Titi Monkeys! No matter how many times you see them, they’re still cool. No, they don’t come when called (not for lack of trying by Mel: “…mooooooonos, ven aca monos…” was her second Spanish phrase ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Travel | No Comments »

Lessons learned on the road…Volume Uno…

Thursday, January 24th, 2008
Brel 1. When travelling with limited underpants, the following manoeuvres are permitted: • Continuation – the continued wearing of a pair of semi-clean undies, after for example, a shower or swim, if the undies have been ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Lessons Learned, Travel | No Comments »

Enough with the tree facts, already!

Thursday, January 24th, 2008
Downside to dating a former tour guide: enormous amounts of random, mostly useless knowledge. Brendan told me all about this gunera, but I 'soft focused' the details. Message to Brendan: stop with the tree facts - ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Travel | No Comments »

Uno, Dos, Tres…

Thursday, January 24th, 2008
Mel Studying Hard…and then it gets really, really hard. I am taking Spanish classes this week in beautiful Manuel Antonio, while Brendan “works” (more on that later). It’s funny how challenging it has suddenly ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Travel | No Comments »

Mal Pais and Montezuma, with Special Guest Star: Sean Evans

Thursday, January 17th, 2008

The Ugliest Teacher we Could Find

We’re joined this week by SPF 85 guest, Sean “el blanco” Evans, as we take on the surfer paradise of Mal Pais and the hippie-lands of Montezuma.

By surfer-paradise, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Travel | 2 Comments »

Butterflies and other Disgusting Bugs

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
We thought the butterfly garden might be another meet-up spot for our new-found birding friends. Imagine our surprise when I ended up holding a live tarantula (caught in the garden earlier this week). I also had a chance to bond ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Travel | No Comments »

Canopies, Monkeys and Birds, Oh My!

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Today we woke up in a cloud – and could literally see about 10 feet in front of us. So much for the view...Typical tourists, we instinctively planned on paying $$ for the heavily promoted Cloud Forest™, but soon realized ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Travel | No Comments »

Head in the Clouds…

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Next up…the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Rather than stomach the pot-hole riddled 5-hour drive from La Fortuna, we opted to travel via horseback, again through the Desafio Adventure Co. Nixon, our guide, an authentic vaquero (cowboy) led us along Lake Arenal, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Travel | No Comments »

The Brel Honeymoon

Sunday, January 13th, 2008
We are currently on our honeymoon. Ok, so there wasn’t a wedding, and no, Mel still doesn’t have a ring, but we are living every couple’s dream honeymoon. We’re currently staying at Latitude 10 (www.latitude10.com), a luxury resort in ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Travel | No Comments »

Somewhere down that crazy river…

Sunday, January 13th, 2008
B: After all the plush and cush of the first few days, it seemed time for a little adventure, Costa Rica-style. First up: canyoneering! Canyoneering is a combination of scrambling down a steep river canyon, often neck-deep in water, and rappelling ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Travel | No Comments »

Luxury Accommodations: $0. Canyoning, rafting, horseback riding: $0. Gourmet food and wine: $0. Dating a travel writer: Priceless.

Sunday, January 6th, 2008
Tabacon Hot Springs One of the first conversations we had the day Brendan and I met, was the whole travel vs. vacation debate. His point, of course, was that I had not truly travelled, but merely vacationed. His ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Costa Rica, Travel | No Comments »

So what the heck is a BREL, anyway?

Monday, November 30th, -0001
Remember the Brangelina days? Well the tabloids started that right about the time we met, 4 years ago. As luck would have it, we were quickly christened BREL: BRendan + mEL, get it? Of course it was one of ... [Continue reading this entry]

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