My life as a tour guide

Cookie time

2011-12-05T19:36:00.001-05:00

I spent half the afternoon making a buttery Rosemary Shortbread. It is wonderful and easy with the changes to the recipe. I didn't do the cut out I simply rolled the dough and sliced the little cookies. I didn't know that this could be done. They turned out great!

Christmas Market

2011-12-05T18:56:00.001-05:00

Atrip to the German Christmas Marketplace in Waterloo made for a great day. Itwas much bigger than I imagined. It was full of all sorts of crafts. Some werenot very German like the toiletries from the dead sea. What was really greatwere all the little wooden tree ornaments. They were hand crafted and paintedas angels, St. Nicolas (the old one, not the coco cola one), little houses andeven reindeer. There were many colours and shapes and sizes, great fun to lookat.

Ididn’t understand the jewelry makers though. There are just so many of them.The completion is fierce and the jewelry could often be made easily by anyonewith the time and desire. Too expensive.

Thefood was great… coming from a foodie! I loved all the sausage, the goulash,even a spicy German hamburger. There were bakeries. I was glad I didn’t buy thepoppy seed roll at the first stand I saw. Thanks to the lady who told me tolook upstairs. The baker upstairs was so overwhelmed with a lineup a mile long.She was all alone trying to keep up with the demand. I am sure she sold out bythe end of the day.

Thetrip out was fun too. I drove with a great friend of like mind. We talked abouteverything under the sun. She even told me about her trip to the real Christmasmarkets in Europe last year. What a hoot!

2011-12-01T18:47:00.001-05:00

Today I put out some decorations. A piece of lovely chintz my mother bought me with stars. I bundle it all up and place candles on top. It looks great. I put my sisters beautiful candle with pine boughs on top.

I have started making cookies today too. Grinding my spices for the Peppernuts. I will move onto the shortbread later or maybe tomorrow.

Thanks to my cousin I watched an 'elf yourself' video and another cousin posted a great Christmas video on Facebook.

That covers it for today.

2011-12-01T18:46:00.001-05:00

Had a great time today at the local library. I took every magazine I could find about Christmas. All of them were this months issue so of course I cannot remove them from the library, but I sat on a big comfy couch and went through them.

I was shocked to see that in "Southern Living" they had a recipe for sweet potatoes baked with marshmallows. For real? I had heard about this stuff but didn't think people really did it. Well I know now.

Martha Stewart was a little dissappointing with nothing new or exciting in this issue. Womens Day was complete garbage. Come on Womens Day make an effort! Nothing worth reading even. I did enjoy House and Home for some great decorating tips.

I listened to Christmas music all the way home!

Good Day.

2011-12-01T18:42:00.001-05:00

Today was a hard day to find something Christmasy to do. I was feeling a lot of pain in my back and not much in the mood. This is when you have to do something I said to myself. I will not let this accident change my life anymore.

I went shopping for Christmas Cookie ingredients and picked up some Candy Canes while I was out.

As I waited in the doctors office I read about holiday recipes in last years magazine and sucked the Candy Cane.

It made me feel good.

Holiday Train

2011-12-01T18:34:00.001-05:00

Today I went to see the CPR Holiday train that stopped in my little town of Bowmanville. It was running about 45 minutes behind. I suppose being Canada "frieght comes first". They teased us sending a mile long locomotive down the tracks while hundreds of people waited for the bright lights. I got so excited seeing the glare of the lights coming onlong the metal tracks.... then another! Where on earth is the holiday train?

When if finally rolled in I was getting ready to leave. But it was great! Little Christmas trees onlong the top, every car decked out in coloured lights. Creeping slowly down the track so everyone could get a great shot. Green, red, purple.. the lights looked like tinsel climbing all over the box cars.

I stood on a bridge watching it approach. Then it went beneath my feet while I felt the bridge shake. I was so happy! I could even see the living quarters for the staff at the back. All I could think of was how could I get on this train????? It would be so much fun!

The band opened up the boxcar to an excited crowd. There it was a rock version of Jingle Bells.

Thanks CPR!

PS Can I be your marketing director next year? Most people I speak to don't know you exist!

Kirsten

A Christmas Carol - Dramatic Reading

2011-11-29T15:58:00.001-05:00

Fifteen dollars sounded a bit high, but I liked the idea soI made a plan. I had to work on an essay for school (still trying to get mycoveted BA) so I took that to the library for a serious sit down. I never knowwhat is about to part take at home. I suppose anyone who lives with teenagersfeels the same. What are the about to come home with? A friend, a project duetomorrow, an crisis, or in our case drama from their mothers house. It is hardfor sure, and more so because I have no "right" to have an opinion onit or come up with solutions to solve it. I just am expected to smile, embraceand play female head of the household. In my case I am more like the GovernorGeneral. No real power, just an honorary title. The only real thing I coulddo... end the whole thing. So instead I leave for peace.

The library was quiet, I got my work done. So off I went tothe reading, just a few blocks from the library. A lovely lady saw me lookingfor parking and stopped me to tell me about her shop across the street "Iam closed and there are several spaces". Merry Christmas I replied!

As the woman in front of me paid she asked if they tookinteract. The little old church lady laughed. Apparently this women’s friend(husband, lover ?) had no money so she directed him to pick her up in 2 hours.She was all alone and didn’t like it. As we went into the massive church shemotioned for me to sit next to her. I nodded politely at the seat behind herand sat down. She immediately got up and sat beside me. It was odd, kind oflike an empty movie theatre and the only other person there sitting next toyou. Why would you sit with me? I smiled politely. After it started she movedto back, saying she wanted to watch straight on, not from the side. I watched thepeople next to her move away. They were as surprised as I. Did this woman not likeher own company.

The reading was done in 5 parts by 5 different readers. Allof the good in their own right. In between there was a choir who sang a fewhymns that I was not familiar with. A few times the whole congregation wasinvited to join int. "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" was a good choice,everybody sang out and I loved it!

The first reader created the scene of the bank with thesmall coal fire, just freezing. The line "are there no work houses, arethere no prisons" was perfect! The audience laughed a little. I hadn'tnoticed so much comedy in this story before.

The lady reading about Christmas dinner at the Cratchitswith all the happiness but little food was really enthusiastic too. She had meso excited about my upcoming dinner. I can't wait, in fact I think I might evenmake a good Christmas pudding this year.

The last reader was best, his voice deep and sinister as heread through the ghost of Christmas future. I could picture the dark ghost withhis hand extending for Scrooge to follow. I wondered about my future at thesame time. What would I be doing by Christmas day what about next ChristmasDay?

While sitting there, I filed my nails, ate some chocolateand being up on the balcony was able to sit quietly by myself with nobodyaround. I was even able to put my legs up on the pew. A great Day 2.

Christmas Shopping

2011-11-29T15:21:00.001-05:00

Thiswas the big day for looking at Christmas craft shows. I knew about 2, one atthe local high school and another big one at the Christian Mission. I packedthe car with the required goods - coffee mug, small bills, Sirius radio andmyself.

Thelocal school was ok, sort of a dumpy looking place. I was shocked to see somuch garbage outside. Some kids were selling baked goods to raise money for theband, another group had 3 kinds of chili in crock pots. It was too early, justcoffee in my mug please. Oh! That was really strong......

Thetypical Avon, Mary Kay people were there, along with the older adults whoquilt, knit, carve and bake. Ahh, there is a woman selling homemade treats fromGuyana. I was thrilled to see her out in suburbia... that's a change. TypicallyI drive 80 kms to buy good, ethnic delicacies. I tried her hot sauce, I lovehot stuff and take more than the average person. It nearly blew my head off!I'll take it and some homemade meat pies. I was delighted. I laughed asI walked away watching the greedy newcomers scooping up a huge amount of sauceonto their chips. I noticed she said nothing either.

Offto the next stop, the bigger show was good. Got some ideas about what cookiesto bake from all the sweets being sold. I am thinking rosemary shortbread,cheese shortbread and of course my tried and true from the Joy of CookingPeppernuts. I like savory cookies so that is what I make the most. I call them"Adult Cookies".

Ifound a lady selling homemade soap for $20, would have bought it for $10 it wasa big bar... but $20 seriously? I didn't see many people at her booth. Ilaughed at the booth that contained a girl listening to an IPod surrounded by apizza box, FedEx box, coffee mug, binder and various other things. I had to approach."This is a trick to make a speaker out of anything." she proclaimedwith great excitement. She put the little knob on the pizza box. It worked thesound was there. She continued to put the knob on the eclectic group of itemsshe had gathered for her demonstration. They all worked, sounded like an old transistorradio, but it worked. "you may have seen this on the Dragons Den" shesaid. I walked away wondering why the dragons would have her selling it in alittle craft show. They wouldn't I figured so I supposed they didn't buy iteither.

OMG!A sign about a shopping route? What is this? I followed it a long distance - Iwas heading in the direction of home anyway. Stopped at a great little countrystore that had everything on 50% off. I bought a few decorators picks to spiceup a bough of greenery. I loved that store the best. They had hot cider and alovely selection of baking to sample.

Agreat day. Now I just need to cut some greenery.

A home Christmas

2011-11-29T15:19:00.001-05:00

I decided this year I would really enjoy Christmas. You see there are several things that have been keeping me from enjoying Christmas the last few years. Years ago I loved Christmas, it was my favourite time of year. I started a tradition of making breakfast since I was single I always spent the Eve with Mom and Dad. But these last few years grrr!

It started a few years back when my boyfriend gave me black & red sexy lingerie. I loved, don't get me wrong. The problem was he had me open it in front of his kids! I was humiliated. I would have liked that to be done in the privacy of the 2 of us. That I didn't get that year. That year I did not enjoy.

By the next year I was suffering in a lot of pain from a car accident that summer. Nothing would have made me happy that year, I was too busy feeling sorry for myself.

Last year was a disaster. I wanted to have a little romance with the boyfriend, whom I had now moved in with, however his teenage daughter had recently decided not to speak to her mother, so we were hosting her. He had a lot of guilt so would not send her to bed until almost midnight. He was trying to give her a great Christmas Eve. The problem was he had a few hours of wrapping to do. All this resulted in him getting drunk and stressed out. When I suggested he take 10 minutes to have some romance he threw a temper tantrum.

That is 3 strikes, the crappy Christmasses. I am done. This year I am detirmined to have a good time even if I do it alone!

So here is the plan.... Do something in the spirit of Christmas everyday for 30 days leading up to Christmas. It started Friday night, the 25th.

It was nothing special that I did, just read some Christmas magazines. I had to get in the mood. I couldn't jump right in. I decided what cookies I would make for the 2 cookie groups I had committed too. I also got a few new ideas about simple decorating such as just throwing a bunch of Christmas balls on a plate and sticking a candle in the middle.

I was ready. This is going to be the greatest Christmas in years!

Tour Guide Training - International Guide

2009-10-28T13:30:00.000-04:00

Tour Guide Training - International Guide: "Travel Leader"
What does a Travel Leader really do? Are they supposed to be paid or simple be someone who travels for nothing in exchange for a free trip. Well as far as I am concerned the old cliché holds true. Nothing in life is free! A Travel Leader is a hard job and a "free vacation" it is not. Travel Leaders are expected to host parties, take people to hospital, secure the best rooms in the hotel and even look after diet requests. Does this sound like a free trip? Not to me. The job is actually very difficult and can have a lot of legal implications as well. A Tour Leader could end up in court if a passenger blamed a problem on them. How do you protect yourself? Well liability insurance helps, but more importantly how about avoid being blamed for a problem.

Tour Leading is a great career but, not without its downsides. Do it right and do it well. All the best in your travels!

Kay

2009-06-28T14:39:00.004-04:00

I often wonder about what it would be like to be a Tour Guide in a bus crash. I wonder about the loneliness of being hurt and by myself. Having recently smashed up my car travelling alone, and feeling scared and hurt, I wonder how I would feel with a group of tourists around me. I can't imagine wanting them out of my face any more! I would just want the moment to be about my getting well, of course the tour guides needs are not relevant on the trip!

Here is an interesting article about a bus crash in California involving French and Canadian tourists. Pretty scary. It seems that the driver was pretty bad. At what point do we as a guide insist the driver is pulled?

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/06/24/20090624buscrash24-ON.html

Kirsten Snowdon
www.traintheguides.com

How I got started Tour Directing

2008-12-15T13:45:00.000-05:00

Tour Directing is never boring, well yes actually it can get tedious at times. But for the most part it is pretty eventful. I write about my experiences. The good, the bad and total *&^%$ that goes on.

This blog is for all of those folks who can relate and all of the people that dream about working as an international guide. Oh, one more group may like this blog, the folks that take tours. It may shed some light about what really goes on behind the scenes. Whether I am ripping off money somehow, working double overtime to get something done, or trying to get through the tour with copious obstacles I will write it here.

So how did I get started in the job? I wanted to get out of the small town I grew up in. That coupled with the idea that men around my town were boring, most of them couldn’t care less if they ever saw Rio’s beaches. I knew by about 17 I didn’t belong. I just didn’t quite know how I would get out.

I conducted a few student tours locally, taking 12 year olds down nickel mines. I loved being out on my own in a foreign place, even if it was just a few hours away. After attending a Tour Guide School and getting certified my life really took off. I started working throughout Ontario and Quebec. I took people to Niagara Falls regularly and to Montreal and Quebec City.

My first trip was actually a training tour. I had to observe the experienced Tour Director in action and learn the ropes. Once I was done I was starting my own tour.

The deal was I needed to be in a Toronto hotel to meet the guide upon departure. I would accompany the tour through Niagara Falls, Philadelphia and Amish Country before ending up in New York City. I would get one night there and fly to Montreal and begin my tour. Sounded simple enough, but nothing is ever simple in the coach tour business.

I arrived at the hotel the night before departure and left a message for the Tour Guide I was observing. I needed to know what time we were leaving in the morning. I didn’t hear back for a few hours so I hung out in the lobby around dinner time hoping to catch the bus tour coming or going. After 4 messages and several checks to the front desk I resided to my bed. If the guide wasn’t going to return my calls, I would show them how responsible I was and simply show up at 6:30 AM ready to go.

Visit me at www.traintheguides.com