My Boston Sofa Bed – The Foley’s

September 5, 2014September 6, 2014 / liseslounge / 1 Comment

A spectacular reunion with Miss Brittney Foley, after not seeing my Seppo Roomie from 104 (Whoop Campus East, Post Grad!) for almost 8 years….. I jumped on the train from NYC up to Boston, Massachusetts.

Reunited!

With a local in charge, we had a lunchtime tour of some Boston sights, I enjoyed my first New England Clam Chowder in bread bowl complete with oyster crackers…. and a Snapple. I devoured it all, whilst we sat in the square outside Quincy Market and got a lecture on giving to homeless people by a Bostonian…. I took the candid Cheers! photo, tried some Boston Chipyard Cookies (YUM… to DIE FOR), then explored Faneuil Hall.

Lunch, Faneuil Hall, Cheers! Mate and Quincy Market

More sightseeing planned for day 2, we trained it into Boston after stopping by Brittney’s work to try my tastebuds with a Marylou’s iced coffee. This place is sensational. Any flavour you could imagine…. I had to get Britz to start me off, I think it was a chocolate hazelnut delish concoction, from memory, and it was awesome. Set me on the upward coffee high for a day packed with sightseeing!
We got tickets for the hop-on hop-off bus, at student price (bargain! thank goodness I was wearing my SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE t-shirt ;-P more on that later) and off we went on a tour of the lovely Boston. With time short, we made only a few stops, had to get off at Fenway Park of course!

Photo-bombed by the bus driver; Marylou’s pink explosion; Home of the Red Sox.

We wandered through the community gardens, awesome space for people to try their green thumb (again, I am so inspired to grow some veggies and flowers when I get back to AUS), then I “ohhhh”ed and “ahhhh”ed at the awesome architecture and had a moment at the Boston Marathon finish line.

I just loved the mix between beautiful old architecture and new shiny modern skyscrapers….

Lunchtime! Brittney’s Uncle Rich very kindly shouted us an AMAZING lunch at a restaurant with a beautiful view. Sam’s certainly put on a show, located at the South Seaport with a lovely view of the harbour and phenomenal food, it was a lovely afternoon spent with great company!

Fine food, views and wonderful company!

We then had time to line up at Modern Bakery for delicious bakery treats… There are two “institutions” in Northport, Boston when it comes to baked goods. Mike’s Bakery versus Modern Bakery. Both have lines out the door with people waiting in the hot sun for their awesome cakes, truffles and MACAROONS! Now those who know me well, realise I cannot go past an average bakery… so when I find a good one…. chaos hits! Macaroons for the Foley Fam, carrot cake, eclairs. We went all out.

Potato Skins; the Foley Castle (featuring Guinness the dog); Foley Brewing Co delicious Raspberry Blonde; Baked goods….

These baked goods went down well with our Foley Feast, delicious home cooked dinner with all the family, accompanied by a GREAT home brew courtesy of Mr Craig Foley of Foley Brewing Company, and Kim’s AMAZING dessert that was cream, Oreo and all things delicious. I also had the pleasure of experiencing a potato skin from UNO, thanks to the lovely Nicole! A deep dish pizza with mashed potato, cheese and bacon…. tick tick tick. We ate and drank the night away with a fire bucket, awesome tunes and an exciting firecracker display (they will know what I’m talking about ;-P)

Boston turning on the sunset!

I am also now FINALLY the proud owner of a Springfield College t-shirt. When we lived together in 2006, Britz would wear her college shirt and I would get drunk and tell her to get me one so I could be “Lisa Simpson from Springfield!”… so bless her soul, she did…. but never actually sent it to me! I had to visit her to receive it so almost 8 years later….

Mix up, UOW and Springfield College!

Britz, thank you for being a spectacular hostess and showing me the sighted. Thanks to the rest of the Foley Family for making me feel welcome and attempting torn at least humouring me with my vegemite and avocado on toast!

Stay healthy and happy Britz! You have such a lovely family and wonderful friends, thanks for sharing them with me!

Lise xx

PS Go to Boston, the “cawfee” is great, driving a “car” is safe and there are plenty of fine “bar’s”… 😛 wish the Boston accent was better on paper! (Sorry, couldn’t help myself!)

Quebec City

August 23, 2014 / liseslounge / 1 Comment

What to do when delayed at the airport?!

Ok, backtracking to my Quebec adventure back in July:

From America back to Canada – airport delay meant I had a little over an hour to kill at the Boston Airport… so I did some wine and cheese tasting of course!

Arrived in Quebec to a taxi driver telling me to learn more French quick smart or I would not survive in Quebec, and to think about buying a house, marrying my “make believe” boyfriend and having babies before I’m thirty because after that apparently I’m “going to have a lot of heartache”… well “Merci beaucoup vous trou du cul!”. He wasn’t all bad news though – he pointed me in the direction of the Bryan Adams gig that was on, and almost finished, and some Jazz to enjoy with a late dinner.

Jazz in the rain in Quebec City

I liked Quebec City, but definitely only needed my two nights there. This is what I did –

1. Explored the old city and surrounds. It is really easy to get around by Foot Falcon in this city. I went for a nice morning walk along the water, came across the Citadel at a very convenient time, when they were about to do the Changing of the Guard. Good half hour show meant my first sunburn of the trip!

The Fancy Fairmont Hotel, where I did not stay.

Lucky to arrive just in time for the Changing of the Guard at the Citadel! Score..

The Queens Goat inspecting the Guards for duty. Aparently this is goat number 14. I saw goat number 3 stuffed in the museum.

The Queens Goat inspecting the Guards for duty. Apparently this is goat number 14. I saw goat number 3 stuffed in the museum.

A girl in my hostel had handed me a flyer for Crossing the Holy Door in the Note Dame Cathedral. I thought that would be pretty cool to check out. The parish is 350 years old, and the Pope has opened the Holy Door in celebration. I walked through a few doors, not quite sure if I got the right one…. Beautiful old church!

Looks like rain…. inside the Notre Dame

Religious Graffiti

2. I did beer tasting. I was looking at what I thought was a walking tour organised by the Hostel. Turns out it was actually a ferry ride across to the river to Levis to take some great snaps of Quebec City….. When our Hostel tour guide suggested beer tasting after a hike up to the lookout, I was all in! Great decision as I met some lovely people and sampled some great beers!

Group Beer tasting at Corsaire

Our tour guide, Matthew had suggested another microbrewery to try, called Le Barberie which was a small hike out of the old town but had a lovely beer garden. I decided to go on a solo beer tasting adventure. Now these sample sizes were slightly larger than our afternoon Corsaire samples so needless to say I proceeded to get quite drunk after taster 3… By taster 6, a group of French boys had noticed me drinking by myself and invited me over for a chat. Which was good as I needed to talk rather than drink – the 8% amber ale had knocked me off my feet!

Solo beer tasting at Le Barberie.

3. I ate. Delicious crêpes, awesome pizza, maple walnut ice cream and a really tasty burger…. I was thinking of going for a poutine but though I would leave that till Montreal (SO glad I did!). Then I walked off my eating with exploring the city walls, perusing the Parliament House and enjoyed the Plains of Abraham before the rains set in for the afternoon – my cue to catch the bus to….. Montreal!!

Parliament House, complete with community garden out the front. Kudos Quebec!

Canada does flowers really well! My next home will have a garden, so for christmas I would like a gardening book!

Bush walking through Plains of Abraham in the rain – thank goodness for my awesome raincoat!

The Rossbotham’s Lounge

July 11, 2014July 11, 2014 / liseslounge / 4 Comments

A nice 4 hour train ride (scored a Business Class seat, sooooooo much leg room!) is the perfect opportunity to get on top of my blog. I’m going a little out of order here, but I firstly want to share with you…..

My wonderful week (and a sneaky extra day) with my NY family…. the Rossbotham’s!

Rossbotham Family L to R:, Lisa, Chewy, Jackie, Lois and Joe. Absent: Bob

After a HECTIC week in NYC sightseeing (and overdoing it!) I was ready for a relaxed time in Huntington Bay. I was slightly hung over after Jackie and I hit the town in NYC the night before. She can hold her own, I am becoming weak. I would like to take this opportunity to point out how cheap and ridiculously LARGE the alcohol is here. Cheap-wise, we purchased a small Smirnoff bottle (you know, the ones with 11 standard drinks that we smuggle into festivals?) for only…. $8!! Yup I could not believe it. Large-wise, everyone buys these MASSIVE 1.5L bottles of wine which I can hardly lift to pour from!

Back to the lounge topic….

The Rossbotham’s welcomed me with open arms, and I really appreciate the generosity and wonderful hospitality that was shown to me. Saturday was…. Party Time! How lucky that I was in town for Jackie and Bob’s Engagement Party! Met some awesome people, ate delicious food (my favourite was the Ribs and Cheese platter… of course) and drank in a beautiful setting. Bob, it was so lovely to meet you!

Jackie and Bob’s Engagement Party

Sunday was recovery Sailing day. My first trip on a Sail boat and I damn hope it is not my last! We ate, drank beers and swam. Then went to Huntington Bay Yacht Club for dinner and to watch the US vs Portugal Football match. Joe, you are a legend for shouting us a delicious dinner, THANK YOU!

Sailing on Gusto!

The wonderful tour guide Jackie, showed me the Huntington sights, introduced me to Garlic Knots and by FAR my favourite NY Slice pizza. We drank beers at Sapsuckers and with all the tight mini skirts out to find a rich husband at Prime (no luck for me! Wearing too much clothing!).

Huntington NY Slice and Garlic Knots… best in NY State!

Did someone say beer? Enjoying a brew at Sapsuckers

Had an awesome tour by the man in charge at Lois’ work place, Camusett State Historic Park Preserve, which has an amazing big old mansion and beautiful gardens on a 1750 acre block.

Drove through the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory where Watson and Crick discovered DNA (cool, hey!) and went to the beach for a day at Robert Moses State Park.

Beach Time!

So to end this lounge session with a nice cup of Chai, I would like to say thanks again to Joe, Lois, Bob (and Chewy the Cat, sorry I kicked you out of your room girl!) and especially Jackie!! All the best for a wonderful year planning what will be a beautiful and fun-filled wedding!

Much love,

Lise

My Lounge of snow and bears..

July 2, 2014 / liseslounge / 2 Comments

If there is one road everyone must drive in their life time… it is the Icefields Parkway from Banff to Jasper. WOW.

What made it extra special for me, is that I had the pleasure of Michelle’s wonderful company and a wicked ride:

Shell and Randy, our massive truck.

So off we went in Randy, thank goodness he had heated seats as we soon came across….. SNOW! Check out my poor footage on Youtube.

I felt like a little kid… so cool. Then I got to DRIVE in the snow…. crossing so much off my bucket list. To top it all off, Shell is the best wild animal spotter, and we found 7 Bears on this trip! 2 Grizzlies and 5 Black Bears! I also have some footage here. A close shave occurred right after this selfie… we jumped back in Randy and I saw a bear walking across the road in there rear vision mirror…

Selfies in the Rockies

So basically you could not wipe the smile off my face for our 48hour roadtrip… or my whole stay in Banff!

Queue Photo Montage:

Waterfowl Lake – Home to thousands of HUGE Mozzies

The birds are large in Canada

Fresh Snow!

Shell, Pyramid Mountain, Jasper, Alberta, Canada-AY

Jasper Brewing Co – I can’t say no to beer tasting….

Shell’s Magical Lounge – Banff

June 23, 2014 / liseslounge / 2 Comments

Hi all!

Yes, still alive – just having a little too much fun in NYC and celebrating the engagement of the wonderful Jackie Rossbotham and Bob (more of that in a future lounge session!).

I am two weeks behind. Well three almost, and I am now finding it difficult to choose photo content for my blog. Like seriously, how many photos of a snow capped mountain does one gal need? Well in my case I took 5GB of photos during my week in Banff.

Yup.

SO – I would like to thank Shell, for being a wonderful hostess, introducing me to elk burgers, Kokanee beers, Bulldogs and all her lovely friends (or ‘family’) in Banff. And also thanks for uploading those photos on Facebook! I’m gunna say that this is Shell’s guest blog.

See our wacky adventures here – well a small sample.

I am trying to work out how to upload my video still – that will be a separate Icefields Parkway blog. Seriously you all need to take that drive. I will leave you with a short selection of photos that I had picked out.

My Smithers to Prince George Flight, 19 seat options for 3 passengers.

Insert funny comment here:

-Hippy guy with one ear and those horrible shoes that have like sections for each toe comments as we land “Well that was a huge waste of jet fuel to get three of us 400kms to the next stop” then me thinking, “dude, are you seriously complaining? I wasn’t gunna walk!”