First day of 2016

The first day of 2016 started just like any other day. I only feel more tired and hung over than usual. Since I'm not exactly a party animal, those few glasses of wine can get me down in no time.

I wasn't a total lamb after all and I did wait till midnight. 

I even stayed up later and enjoyed another drink or two before hitting the hay.

The first things that I noticed, when I woke up in this new 2016, were:

1. I feel the same as yesterday in 2015 despite the big celebration of New 2016 (as if the celebration is really needed)

2. It's snowing (yay)

3. I'm hungry (and I'm never hungry in the morning). It must have been that over-eating habit these last few days with that 12 lb turkey and stuff).

The second thought actually pushed me out of the house for a walk. It felt good to clear the head on 0.5 degrees C. 

There was not much wind, so it wasn't that cold. And somewhere in the middle of my walk, the snow started falling again, harder and harder, until it suddenly just stopped.

I discovered another pathway I've never seen before, that led me to a new spot next to the creek.
I take walks there every once in a while, but somehow missed that area.

A whole different point of view, because of the rocky wall on the other side. It levels up later along the creek, but I never knew this part existed.

I thought I was going to be alone, but that was a mistake. Lots of kids, couples and people with dogs. It was a nice morning and I guess everyone wanted to get some fresh air.

Now I should probably say that I used the walk to think about New Years resolutions, but I really haven't.

I don't have any resolutions and decisions that can be related to the beginning of a year.

In attempt to stay in good terms with the well known tradition, I did decide not to make those kinds of decisions.

I do, however, have some wishes that I will try to make true in 2016, but who knows how will that turn out?

Before anything else, I wish to myself good health, optimal happiness and some courage to change the paths that don't work for me anymore. I wish everyone else exactly the same, because every other thing you wish for yourselves will come your way anyways.

Have a happy New Year! 

Xoxo

Cherry Blossoms shooting in High Park, Toronto - a couple of things to know

So, I've been waiting for cherry blossoms to bloom. That's no secret.

I love them, they look beautiful and I simply wanted to see them in High Park, because apparently there's plenty of cherry trees there, and it might look awesome. I've been monitoring carefully every day, so that I wouldn't miss the chance to see them and so that I could be there on time to take some photographs.

I know it's a popular place to go and see the cherry blossoms and I knew there would be a few people around. Especially since I was going there in late afternoon, around 6 pm, during the rush hour. But what the hell, a little traffic I can stand, cherry blossoms are definitely worth enough to fight it. And the park is huge, so what if there's going to be a few people there, there's enough room for everybody.

Little did I know that the truth was nowhere near that.

Yes, the blossoms are fantastic. But a "few people" part was total delusion.

It took me about 20 minutes to reach the Sunnyside beach (which is completely normal, especially that time of day), but then it began.

From there, to reach the High Park by car, it would normally take me 5-10 minutes, if I'm getting in on the east entrance.

Yesterday, it took me 25 minutes to get close to it, another 20 minutes to get inside the High Park and another 10 minutes sitting and waiting for the river of cars to move.

There were millions of cars, millions of people walking and I was sitting there and  jealously looking at them.
Well, me and other drivers in cars in front of and behind me.

I loudly said "nice" and reminded myself not to loose my patience, but it was already gone. I was trapped inside the park, on the road, not moving anywhere.

And even if I reach the parking lot, which was, I finally came to conclusion at that moment, impossible, there would be no chance in hell to find an empty space to park.

I swear, it was like half of Toronto came to see cherry blossoms yesterday. So I figured, me seeing them will not happen, not today.

I decided to turn around and exit the park same way I entered. I turned around and I realized that the way back to the exit is as crowded as the direction I was going in the first place.

Nice, I said to myself again and I also said lots of Croatian words I do not want to translate now.

After another 20 minutes, I was finally coming close to the exit.

On my way back, I've noticed the signs that said: "Welcome to High Park! Cherry blossoms! Due to anticipated high volume visits, we provided additional parking lots at Sunnyside beach, Lakeshore Blvd." Again, nice.

So that was a cardinal mistake. It took me around 2 hours to get there and back home without even getting out of my car and with no photos. And I wanted to see those blossoms so badly.

So this morning, I eagerly woke up at 5.30, left my place at 6 am, and I was at the High Park parking lot next to the cherry blossoms at 6.15 am. What a joy!

And what a sight to see! 

I was not alone, no.

There were already people there, mostly with cameras, trying to capture the best of the blossoms. It was amazing.

After a while, the sun came up enough to light the blossoms and the view was spectacular. It was definitely worth it and I'm glad I got there so early.

Aside from the families, amateur photographers and exercise group, there were professional photographers capturing the loving moments of couples, there were some wedding photo shootings, there was a rich old lady with two dogs and a photographer taking her portraits with the dogs....

Plenty of interesting things to see and very amusing. Gotta say, lots of stuff going on at 6.15 AM in that park.

So, word of advice: if you want to go there while the cherry blossoms are blooming, avoid going by car, unless you plan to be there early in the morning.

Or just get there at the dawn and see for yourselves how mesmerizing it is.

I can't believe I actually wanted to wait for the weekend to go there.
Despite all the beauty around me, there would be lots of Croatian words echoing thru the cherry blossom paradise.