Arriving into Edmonton was a real joy. Seeing my lovely friend Nadine I had met so many years ago at University in Perth so many years ago was fantastic. She greeted me with open arms as I came off the bus from Jasper and we were away!

We went to a bustling farmers market on our first stop, where we made our way diligently through every isle, sampling yummy food and chatting to creative store owners. I always love markets and love to go to them all over the world. We were soon driving back to the family home where I was so excited to see my friends grown up beautiful daughters! The last time I saw them they were twin babies in my arms, and now they were growing into elegant intelligent and lovely young women, such a delight to meet them! I really enjoyed playing games with them, going on a bike ride and getting to know them better.

Izzy is their pet dog, and she is such a beautiful warm loving animal. I am more of a cat person usually but if I really like a dog, I really like the dog! I took her for walks and light jogs every morning and played with her happily in the backyard. She was so loving, giving me cuddles and big brown eyed intense loving stares, and doggie cuddles. Her version is to stick her head in between your legs and snuggle in for a bit. It was so cute!!

The next day Nadine and I went out to Elk park for a big walk. We were hoping to see animals such as bison or moose, or even a beaver, but sadly we only saw mosquitos! I had a million bites by the end of the walk, but it was a very pretty place, walking through the trees and seeing their local flower everywhere, the Pink rose.

The following day I went to the city to meet up with a lovely Dutch girl called Saskia; who I had met on the bus coming in from Jasper and we ventured around the city happily for the day. We looked at some shops and a market place in Commercial Square, and sadly the Art Gallery was closed on Mondays, so that was disappointing to not be able to squeeze this into my day of activities. To make up for it we came upon a Jazz Festival where we sat and listened for awhile enjoying the ambience and sunshine.

Later that day we went to the USA vs Colombia FIFA world cup soccer game! It was very exciting for the both of us to go to this event. We arrived early and made our way to our seats in the massive outdoor stadium. We were close to the front in the Colombian section, which was quite fun because they were all dressed up and played drums and made lots of noise in general. It was like a big party for them! There was a great atmosphere with close to 20’000 spectators in attendance. I was really impressed by the athleticism on both sides, but I noticed early the USA girls made possessions better, travelled the ball with finesse down the field and made more offensive plays. They worked really well as a team and although I could see there were some outstanding players, they all worked well together. The Colombians had good skills, but they worked more individually, failing to maintain possession and not driving the ball forward enough. Their attempts at goal seemed wild and a bit sloppy to me. Now its easy to be critical from the stands, I know they were all playing really hard to kick goals. The first attempt at goal was from a penalty, sadly the USA girl missed it, a strong hard kick, sailing high to the left of goal. I could see she was really pissed off about her miss and made some aggressive attempts to regain possession again, she was fired up! Overall the game was a great experience and good fun to see how the highest level of competitive soccer for women is played. Good on them all!

I spent the next day having a rest and enjoying some productive down time. I have a lot of energy so my down time is still spent being engaged and progressive! I wrote, sorted out my journal, spent some time researching my upcoming trip to Turkey and investigating trains and planes around Germany. I emailed a few friends who I am planning to meet with in Europe, and read my latest book. I have dedicated an entire blog post to this particular book about tidying up! It is that awesome. More on that one to come in the future…

In the evening I went along to an exercise class with my friend called Orange theory. The theory is to work within your fat burning zone, 80 to 90% of your max heart rate. It is a common theory, one that has been re-worked and launched as a new concept. But it works, the class was a combination of cardio and strength exercises all designed to keep you in your “Orange fat burning zone” as much as you can. It was a good work out, a great sweat up and made up for all my peppermint dark chocolate I have been indulging in lately! Check this out for more information on Orange Theory.

My stay in Edmonton was awesome. I loved seeing my good friend Nay, and spending quality time with her and her gorgeous family including her delightful dog Izzy, it all was a real treat for me. I continued to play with Izzy as much as I could every day, throwing ball for her, brushing her and giving her lots of pats. She was so easy to please and it was so nice to see her happy. If only humans could be so easily pleased right?

I am loving my travels so far, I seem to be in a very comfortable groove and routine of travel now, and I feel very grateful and happy for the time and many opportunities presenting as I continue to galavant around the globe. Travel makes you learn, adapt and experience amazing new adventures every day, I love that!

Love Anita xx