So here I am safe and sound back in Canada. Currently couchsurfing it at my sister's place in Dartmouth, trying to catch up on sleep and reclimatise to the local freaking cold weather. Hmm..so here's a recap of the MOST BRILLANT VACATION I'VE ever had:

Sunday - Depart Charlottetown for Orlando via a stopover in Toronto. Count myself lucky that I've missed the snowstorm that is battering the east coast. Learn just before my departure that Natasha and Thomas's flight has been cancelled and they won't be arriving in Orlando until Monday night. Arrive in Toronto where my friend, ANdrew, whom I haven't seen since BEFORE going to Scotland is waiting. We spend a couple of hours catching up and chowing down on greasy over-priced fast food. My trip had officially begun. Arrived in Orlando at 10.15 pm, and was ecstatic to see Jen and her orange fleece walking towards me at the luggage pick-up. She ended up staying at the hotel with me since we had a pretty big morning planned for Monday. Or rather, she had planned a big morning for us after learning I'd be alone for the day....

Monday- Up bright & early, we were off to the Magic Kingdom for breakfast at the Crystal Palace. Jen had made us reservations for a buffet breakfast with Pooh & friends. Winnie, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore all came round to our table for hugs and pictures. Tigger was a bit of a flirt, but can't say I really go for the whole orange and black stripes... The food was delicious..not your typical mediocre buffet food..and the atmosphere was amazing. Everything about the Magic Kingdom was amazingly clean, beautiful and HAPPY!!! We did a few rides including Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Railway and Pirates of the Carribean. Wandering through the 'lands' of the Magic Kingdom was pretty amazing too...from Fantasyland to Frontierland to Tomorrowland.

Eventually Jen had to go to work at Epcot, serving delicious meals at the number one restaurant in the park - Le Cellier ( a Canadian Steakhouse). I wandered around Epcot for a bit and watched a few outdoor shows in the world showcase arena. The world showcase was pretty amazing - 11 countries recreated - complete with shops, restaurants and authentic buildings to represent the country. I think my favorites were France and Germany. I must admit I started getting VERY nostalgic about Europe and am now seriously missing the UK....

Anyways, Monday night I stayed in the hotel, awaiting the arrival of Tash & Thomas while watching the Bachelor. Then I got the phone call I'd been hoping I wouldn't - Tash & Thomas were stuck in Newark and wouldn't be arriving until Tuesday at noon. It wasn't a big deal though, we'd still have the majority of Tuesday to do the parks...

Tuesday - Meet up with Tash & Thomas and Jen takes us to the parks. We spend some time at Magic Kingdom and get pics with the characters, then it's off the Epcot to drink around the world. 11 countries, three Canadians and two French people. We started in Mexico with margaritas. I don't think we really drank around the world in the end..it was hard enough just to WALK around the world.... We ended the night in the UK, where we watched the evening spectable (aka the fireworks). It wasn't just fireworks though, it was a mesmerizing display of lights, images (on a huge globe) and fireworks all set to music. It was pretty magical.

Wednesday - Jen worked in the day, so she let us into the parks and then we planned a meet-up. We spent the first part of the day in Magic Kingdom doing the big rides like Space Mountain (my favorite WDW ride), Splash Mountain (again) and the Jungle Cruise (lots of fun!!!), then went to Epcot to return to some of the countries in the world and do some of the other rides. We went on Mission: Space which was amazingly cool - it was kind of a ride/simulator..we were on the first mission to Mars and we were in the rocket ship. You could feel the G-force & everything!! Wedneday night Jen took Tasha and I out with some of the Epcot workers (mostly Canadians) to Downtown Florida for a night of clubbing and REALLY cheap drinks. But I think I mentioned this part of my week in previous blog, so won't reiterate...

Thursday - We slept in and had a lazy day of shopping and eating. Strawberries and whipped cream were on the afternoon menu and then we went to a $4 pizza buffet for supper. No wonder Americans are so fat! Thursday night we went do Downtown Disney (yes, they have their own downtown) and visited Pleasure Island, which is an area with six different themed nightclubs. It was a great night and near the end of it we ended up meeting some American guys who lived in (but weren't from) Orlando. They invited us to come out clubbing with them on Saturday night.

Friday - My favorite park day!!! We went to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. These were not kiddie rides - there were some bloody brilliant rollercoasters that I went on (but kept my eyes closed during) and my favorite rides were Spiderman (a 3-D ride complete with sensory experiences like heat and water) and the Mummy (a crazy indoors rollercoaster) . We also wandered through Seussland and went on Cat & the Hat ride....it was by far my favorite themed land!! Friday evening we went to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville for supper. I was stuffed before we even began our meals. We stayed in on Friday night to catch up on sleep...

Saturday - Jen had to work in the afternoon and evening (sad ) so she kindly let us into the parks and we spent the afternoon in Animal Kingdom & MGM Studios. It was pretty busy so we had to bypass some of the bigger rides like Mount Everest and Kali Rapids, but we still got to go on an African safari and see real Hippos, Rhinos, Giraffes, Lions, etc. It was neat because the landscape was really natural and there were not fences or stone walls...

Saturday evening we did dinner in Germany (at Epcot). It was an all you can eat buffet in a very cool restaurant meant to recreate Oktoberfest. There was entertainment - three guys with muscial instruments- and Tash & I got up to do the chicken dance!!! All in all it was totally worthwhile experience. After dinner we had to haul ass out of Epcot - Tash & I were still keen on going out on the town with American boys but had been having trouble getting through on a phone. When we finally got on a bus back to the hotel I asked a random guy if I could use his phone and lo & behold he said yes. Wow - a friendly American!! So we arranged plans and got picked up by the American guys, who took us to Club Roxy, got us in the VIP line and then bought our drinks throughout the evening. It was a great way to finish off our vacation and my intuition (and Tash's) about the decency of these American guys turned out to be spot on. They were really nice and not at all dodgy...like most men ;)

Sunday - Got driven to airport and almost missed my flight..or so I thought. Arrived at check-in only to be told counters were closed, but the woman would 'see what she could do'. I was NOT late getting to counter..there 45 minutes before departure. Anyways, she gave me my ticket and told me I would have to run to the gates and jump ahead of the line in security. SoI finally arrived at Gate 22 huffing, puffing and all sweaty only to find my fellow passengers still lounging around and the plane hadn't even landed. We waited half an hour more before boarding even began. The flight was over an hour late departing. I was not impressed - I could have used that extra half hour more wisely.... Anyhoo, finally arrived at Sahra's last night, had a lovely dinner and then pretty much slept the next twelve hours....

Yeah - so that was my holiday! I ALMOST didn't leave..my heart was fighting my head on that one. I guess my head won..this time...