Tag: brunch

Bergen

Place 16 – May 14 2022 to May 17 2022: Bergen – 17th May Celebrations!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Day 1

We had to get to the airport early in the morning but we didn’t mind as we were travelling to probably our favourite place, Bergen!

When we arrived, we met our great friends Espen & Marcus at the airport and they drove us to Espen’s apartment. We hung out with them at the apartment as well as meeting Espen’s girlfriend, Rikke, who is a wonderful person also!

Rikke made us some lunch, which was delicious, and we sat and had a conversation for a while.


We wanted to visit the city, as did our friends, so we all took the bus to the city and had a walk around.


Marcus’ dad owns a nightclub/bar in Bergen and he was working, whilst the FA Cup game was on, so we went to watch that with Espen (he’s a Liverpool fan) and we had some drinks and food.


We went back home and we watched Eurovision for the first time! We had a great time watching it actually, and it’s a big deal in Scandinavia. We had some homemade pizza whilst we watched that and then it was time to sleep.

Day 12:

We had some nice homemade breakfast lovingly made by Rikke & Espen.

We had a relaxed morning and watch the GB Vs Norway hockey game. We then got ourselves ready and headed into the city on the bus again.

We lazily walked around the city and tried to buy few things and look around some shops as well.

We went out in the afternoon/evening to watch Rikke in a cheerleading performance! It was super cool to see lots of different ages doing a similar thing but at different levels.

Day 13

We went out for brunch in city with our friends which was really nice! We had some good food and some amazing weather, so much so we were getting burnt from the sun.


We rented a car, so we went to pick that up. They told us there were no issues with it but it was quite scratched up, so we did a full walk around of that and then we set off! We drove to the city and parked up before going to get MANY cinnamon buns and coffee, as is the rule in Norway.

We went for a BBQ at Rikke’s parents’ place which was a really nice place, great food and they were really lovely people as well.


In the late evening, we went to meet another friend, Tony, for some drinks and a chat. The weather was so nice we were able to sit outside comfortably, too!

Day 14

This day was the national day for Norway and we were excited to celebrate!

We got all dressed up for breakfast, Curtis and Espen wore suits, Kim had a nice skirt on and Rikke had a Bunad on, the national outfit of Norway. The table looked all fancy and we had a really nice, big breakfast!

Espen & Rikke!


We took the (very busy) bus to the city to join the celebrations.


There was a parade and we were able to get a table outside to watch the parade and have some drinks! The weather was perfect again so we caught some sun, as well.


After the parade, we went out to Rilke’s aunt’s house for some food and chatting! Everyone was Norwegian so it was a good time to practice some as well. We tried some Rømmegrøt, which is basically ‘sour cream porridge’. When adding a lot of cinnamon sugar, it’s pretty good actually.

We went back to the apartment to get changed into comfortable clothes and relax after a long busy, but fun, day!


We ate homemade cheesecake and strawberries whilst we relaxed and we were all super tired.


Marcus and his girlfriend, Stine, arrived and we got to meet her for the first time. We all sat and chatted and had a really fun time. This was when Curtis finally got the confidence to chat in Norwegian and surprised everyone with how much he has improved, too!

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Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 164: Vancouver, BC – Brunch & Planning With Friends

Kim & Curtis Hale

Last Night’s Hockey

Curtis’ hockey game went well, at least for him! He got 1 goal and 1 assist, with the game ending 5-5! There was a shootout, but neither team won so it ended a tie.

Appointment

We went out for an appointment in Gastown which was at 11:00.

We finished pretty quickly with the appointment and then went out for brunch!

Brunch

We found a place called Catch 122 Cafe Bistro which we had seen looks really great!

Curtis had a full breakfast which was actually really great and the coffee was good too!

Kim had mushroom toast which wasn’t that great, and we had to wait 40 minutes outside to get a table!

Planning With Friends

We got home and Kim went to the shop quickly and then when she got home we chatted with Danielle and Josh to plan some more of their trip over here!

We had a nice long chat with them and then the rest of the night we watched some TV, ate some sweet chilli potato wedges.

We had some whiskey and just chilled for the evening.

A great evening all around.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Victoria,BC

Place 70 – Day 31: Victoria, BC – Brunch & Stockings!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Brunch

We began the day by heading out to brunch!

Linda had heard about a place called Courtney’s Room so we went to check that out.

The service wasn’t great and the food was just alright, so we don’t think we’d go again.

Stockings!

We left here and waddled back to Linda’s apartment.

Linda was very kind and bought us both stockings full of gifts!

Curtis got some new gloves and Kim some slippers. We also got some gift cards, chocolate and some tree ornaments.

We were incredibly thankful of these gifts from Linda.

Travel Home

We relaxed with Linda for a couple of hours and then said our goodbyes to walk down to the bus station.

We were going to get pizza, but decided it was too far away, so we got a Starbucks coffee and a small McDonald’s burger instead.

We got on the bus which took us to the ferry. The whole journey was uneventful and the ferry was much less bumpy than Thursday’s trip!

We got to the stop in Vancouver and walked home, which was only about 15 minutes, but we did stop in at the supermarket to get a potato each for dinner.

Learning

Kim went out to see a friend as she will be looking after their cat whilst they’re away for Christmas.

Kim had to learn what to do, when and also get the apartment keys from them.

Dinner

We had baked potatoes for dinner with tuna. We watched some TV which took us to bedtime!

We both have work tomorrow, but Kim doesn’t have work on Tuesday!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Victoria,BC

Place 70 – Day 29: Victoria, BC – Butchart Gardens at Christmas!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Brunch

We slept in a little and got up around 09:30 to get ready.Linda had already been to the gym and back, but once we got ready we went down to a place called John’s Place, which we had seen before but not eaten at.

There are a lot of photos on the wall of many different things, from sports people to musicians to films.

It was a very unique place and somewhere where each wall is different and something interesting to talk about.We ordered our food and were glad as we were very hungry!

Curtis got eggs Benedict, Kim got waffles and Linda had a halibut burger.All of our food was delicious and helped out by the free, warm, bread we got, too!

We finished up there and were incredibly happy with our decision. The staff were wonderful and so was the food.

John’s Place | Victoria, BC

Our Rating:- 10/10

Once we left there, we went back to Linda’s place for a rest and Kim stopped off at Winners to buy some gloves…and she bought 2 pair.

Butchart Gardens

Linda had lovingly bought us some tickets to take the bus out to Butchart Gardens with her and see all of the Christmas lights on the plants and around the gardens which are meant to be really nice.

Whilst waiting for the bus, Curtis found out that his team won the hackathon! That means he wins an Oculus Rift and he was incredibly proud of his team.

We took the bus which took us around 40 minutes and once we got there, we met with Linda’s friend Dee and her husband, Steve.

It was raining, but it wasn’t too bad and didn’t spoil it at all.

We had dinner when we first got there. Curtis got a vegetable curry and Kim had a turkey dinner (again).

It was great to spend the time with Linda and we walked around looking at the terrific light displays they had.

This was much better than the one we went to in Vancouver with Linda.

Bailey’s!

We got back to Linda’s and warmed up after taking the bus back and then walking up to Linda’s.

We sat around and relaxed for a bit, but then had a Bailey’s to celebrate Christmas with Linda!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 216: Vancouver, BC – Sunday Brunch (Again) & 1 Hour Massage

Kim & Curtis Hale

Brunch

Kim went right out this morning for brunch.

She was meeting a friend from pole, who suggested they have lunch.

Kim and her friend went to Milestones for their brunch as it was meant to be well priced and nice.

Kim had French toast and thought it was just ok.

Shopping & Coffee

Once Kim was finished with brunch, Curtis met her at the shop to help with doing the shop.

We rewarded ourselves with a coffee at Starbucks before heading back home.

Massage

Kim went out again shortly after as she had a massage booked so she could relax after all of the party stress.

Kim’s massage was an hour long and exactly what she needed.

Once Kim got back home, we did some laundry and then had some food.

Curtis had the same as yesterday, tortellini with a homemade tomato sauce, and Kim had a tuna tuna potato.

We then finished the night by watching the film 6 Underground. This was a silly, funny film, but we actually quite enjoyed it, even though the story is a little confusing at first.

6 Underground

6/10

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Portland,OR

Place 71 – Day 6: Portland, OR – Brunch, Beer Tasting & Lukas Graham!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Brunch

We woke at a fairly decent time and went out for brunch.

We went to a place we went to when we were last in Portland called Cheryl’s.

Kim had a croque monsieur and Curtis went a bit out there and had a biscuit and gravy, which was…odd.

We ate our breakfast and then went for a bit of a walk around the city. It seems we remembered a lot of the city and where things were, which helped us out!

Games Room

We wanted to have a bit of a relax and remembered that there was a games room in our hotel, so we went there to check it out.

We played some bubble hockey and some shuffleboard…we spent over an hour here!

Brew Pub

We finished up with the games and then walked to a Deschutes brewpub for some beer tasting!

We had 12 beers to try, which turns out was too much, and we didn’t even really like them!

We finished up with the beer tasting and then got some McDonald’s for dinner.

Lukas Graham!

We came out to Portland for one reason…Lukas Graham!

We had a concert booked for Portland in February, but it was postponed until today, so we were super excited to finally get to watch the show.

We walked down to the ballroom, which was beautiful and it was a very intimate venue, too, so we were very close!

We watched the support act who was pretty good and then had to wait for 30 minutes for Lukas Graham.

The show was amazing. It was by far the best concert we have ever seen together. The lighting was amazing, the whole group looked like they were enjoying it and of course, the music was incredible. We loved it so much, though our legs did not, with all the standing.

We left the concert and had to get our legs working again.

We got back to the hotel, drank the rest of our wine and watched a couple of YouTube videos before sleeping.

We fly back to Vancouver tomorrow, so a short stay but it’s been great!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Victoria,BC

Place 70 – Day 28: Victoria, BC – Brunch & Incredible Foot Massage!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Brunch

We were up at 09:00 to get ready for brunch/breakfast. By the time we both got ready it was around 10:30 and our brunch/breakfast time was at 11:00, so we all started the walk down.

Our brunch was in a hotel in the restaurant called Vista 18.

We got some coffee as well as a hot chocolate for Kim. This place was called Vista 18 due to being on the 18th floor, therefore it had some great views!

Curtis had eggs benedict with bacon & homemade breakfast potatoes, which were basically just potato chips.

Kim had a breakfast with bacon,eggs, pancakes and the same homemade potatoes.

Linda had the french toast which looked great! All of the portions were huge and it was an incredibly reasonable price.

Vista 18 | Victoria, BC

Rating:- 7/10

We were very full after breakfast and so we went for a walk downtown to burn it off.

We walked around a few shops to pass time and Kim also managed to buy some exercise gear she needed.

Foot Massage

Kim and Linda went for a foot massage at 13:00. The original booked time was 13:30, but they couldn’t wait so changed it to 13:00.

Whilst they did this, Curtis went back to the apartment and relaxed.

Time To Go

Once we were all back in the same room, we didn’t have long before we had to say goodbye to Linda and walk down to catch the bus.

We said our goodbyes and wandered to the bus station.Once at the station, we waited for a little bit and then boarded. The bus was very busy and very hot!

Once we arrived at the ferry port, everyone was way too hot so temporarily disembarked the bus to get some fresh air.

There was a small delay on the boat bring offloaded as the police were waiting for a car to speak to the driver, so we had to wait for that to be dealt with before we could board.

Ferry Ride

We got on the boat and sat charging our phones. We were able fully charge our phones, which was a result!

It was incredibly loud and busy on the boat, but it went quite fast.We loaded back onto the bus and headed towards home.We got back home and it was nice to be back, but we already miss spending time with Linda!

We stopped in at the supermarket for a bit to do a small weekly shop and to get some food for dinner.

We ate our dinner and caught up on some TV and YouTube videos before we went to bed, ready for work tomorrow.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 85: Vancouver, BC – Getting Pampered With Linda

Kim & Curtis Hale

Brunch & Shopping

This morning Kim got ready to spend a day with Linda! She was so excited for this weekend to finally be here!

She got up and ready and walked across the city to Linda’s hotel so they could get some brunch. Kim arrived with a few ideas for brunch and they settled on going to De Dutch, which is where Kim and Curtis went many weeks ago! Kim had the Eggs Benny and Linda had the Dutch toast! Both were very delicious. They spent breakfast chatting and catching up, it was very lovely!

They then headed out for a great day of relaxing and shopping. They walked up and down Robson street, then went to sport check and finally Helly Hansen to find Linda a nice coat!

After these they went for a nice walk around the shopping centre just for some air con!

Haircut

Curtis had a haircut booked for 12:30, so he got up shortly after Kim left around 09:45.

Curtis had a shower and then some cereal for breakfast.

The NHL20 beta is out this weekend, so Curtis spent pretty much all day playing that!

Curtis walked down for his haircut which was in Gastown, so he had to walk through some not so nice parts to get to it.

Coffee

We met for coffee after Curtis’ haircut and just chatted.

We went to 49th parallel and it was just as good as before!

Massage

After the coffee with Curtis they then went back to the shopping centre to have another walk around to kill some time fore their spa booking.

They then went to the hotel where the spa was to check in. They completed the paperwork and were given a tour before being shown to the changing room to get ready. They were given robes and told to relax or enjoy the amenities. Kim went and had a nosey at the pool before going to lounge to relax. They were then shortly collected for their massages. After this week Kim was in great need of a massage and it was so lovely!

They came out feeling lovely and refreshed and had a nice glass of water and Kim ate an apple while they relaxed and chatted away in the lounge.

They eventually decided to leave so went and got ready and walked over to dinner.

Dinner

For dinner Kim decided to visit the Italian restaurant she went to on her first day of work and it certainly did not disappoint! The food was amazing!

Kim then walked Linda back to the hotel before heading home herself.

Purchasing A Fan

Kim got home around 21:00 and realised how crazy hot the apartment is at the moment, so went to buy a fan.

After she got back, we setup the fan and then relaxed, watching some TV and catching up with each other about our day.

Fireworks

We went to watch fireworks happening at English Bay, but we couldn’t see them from where we are!

We came back, watched some more TV and then headed to bed.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 58: Vancouver, BC – Brunch & Cheap Guinness

Kim & Curtis Hale

Brunch

We were up at 10:30 and got ready to go out and have some brunch!

We had been recommended a place called Yolks which is a breakfast place and there are only 2in Vancouver. Luckily, one of them is just 10 minutes walk from our home!

We got there and it was very busy, so we put our name down for a table and were told it would be 30 minutes, so we took a walk down the street to find that there are many other places we need to visit in that area.

We finally got the text to say our table was ready, so we went in and took our seats.

Yolks | Vancouver, BC

Rating:- 8.5/10

Kim got a salted caramel hot chocolate and Curtis got a very delicious coffee.

For brunch, Curtis had an eggs benedict with maple smoked ham, which had some odd sauces but it was incredibly tasty. This also came with lemon & truffle potatoes, which were sublime.

Kim had a croque madam, which was made fancy with poached eggs as well as bechamel sauce and some other interesting ingredients, as well as a side of fruit.

We finished our food and headed back home to get some admin, laundry and cleaning done.

Cheap Guinness

We saw a sign yesterday while on our walk which said that Mahoney’s pub had Guinness on deal, so we went for a walk and then popped in on the way back home!

We eventually got a seat outside and it was hot but with a great view.

We finished our drinks and walked to the shop where we got a few things we needed (and some ketchup as it was on deal!).

Salad, TV & Games

We made a big salad for dinner which we ate whilst we watched some TV.

After dinner, we watched a bit more TV and then played some video games together, which is something we haven’t done for a while!

We did that for a lot of the evening, alternating between that and some Lucifer and then we went to sleep.

Tomorrow is Canada Day so we are off work tomorrow and have a few things we would like to do.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Austin,TX

Place 79 – Day 5: Austin,TX – Chicken Sh*t Bingo & Black’s BBQ

Kim & Curtis Hale

Crazy Lady

We had a very relaxed morning as we weren’t able to get much sleep due to lady going crazy, setting off a car alarm & shouting at 03:00 this morning!

We had plans to be up at a good time as well as go somewhere, but we changed our minds and got a good amount of sleep tomorrow.

Brunch

We went out early afternoon for a spot of brunch and we were hungry! We went to a well recommended diner called Magnolia Cafe.

We waited for 20 minutes for the table and once we got one it wasn’t all that great.

The coffee was tremendous, but the food was just ok. Kim got a pancake, which was burned and the house fries were cold.

We each had eggs and Curtis had bacon and a muffin also.

All in all it was just OK.

Magnolia Cafe | Austin,TX

Rating:- 6/10

Chicken Sh*t Bingo

A weird name, huh? Well, it was exactly what it sounded like.

We did some laundry briefly and then we drove out to the ‘saloon’ that was putting on the event.

We got there and got in line to buy some tickets. We eventually got our tickets and then it was a waiting game.

So, as the name suggests, you purchase a ticket and each ticket is numbered between 1 & 60. A chicken is put in a cage with numbers on the floor in squares and wherever it poops is the number that wins.

People got very passionate, but we were there for the show really.

Wierdly, it ended up being Curtis’ lucky number 13, but our numbers were 18,19,20 & 44, so we didn’t win.

We left right after that as there were just too many people.

Black’s BBQ

We got in the car and drove to a BBQ place had heard was good and it clearly was, judging by the line!

We had to queue for over an hour, so were hoping it was delicious.

We got inside and saw the sides and the meat and it all looked incredible.

We got 3 sides, green beans, mac & cheese and coleslaw.

We then got to the meat section and got a few slices of brisket and a rib each, which was more than enough. We also got some cornbread which we didn’t like.

The meat and sides were outstanding. Delicious and a pretty good price.

Terry Black’s BBQ | Austin,TX

Rating:- 9/10

Wine

We got back home and drank some wine which our Airbnb host had given us earlier today, which he gave along with chocolate covered strawberries, which was very nice to receive!

We chilled out for the evening and are having a good early night due to heading out for the day tomorrow.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale