Ghanaian and a little Northern exposure
Since my trip to the Land of The Long White Cloud mid June till early July, I have been fortunate enough to spend a week in #Accra that included a night in #Kumasi in August. It is always such a great joy for me to return to the land of my birth. Only difference is that I was rolling VIP this time 'yo'. It had been roughly 3 years to the month since I was last there and to be honest not too much had changed, but the optimistic energy in the air was pretty evident to me. In December 2016, national elections were held and the opposition, who many see as business and 'economy' friendly, came into power and all hopes are that they will move the needle forward. When it comes to politicians, I'm as cynical as it gets, but the rhetoric from the president and a lot of the ministers we met is positive, so we live in eternal hope.
During this trip, because we (Wesgro) accompanied Premier #HelenZille, we had the privilege of an audience with the King of the #Ashantis, #Asantehene, this was particularly significant for me in that my my lineage is Ashanti and being a matrilineal society, my mothers family is of royal descent. So going to the palace #Manhyia, having a historical tour was pretty cool. As most of you know, we grew up away from Ghana so I only recall one grandmother and in as much as we used to speak to her from time to time, and see her when we visited Ghana, I didn't really know her (rest her soul). If in all my life i saw her 20 times it would have been a lot. We grew up away from our cousins and extended family. The weekend I landed, my cousin was getting married which, I was pretty chuffed because I got to go to my cousins wedding in Accra, hang with the rest of the fam and their friends, it was a Saturday well spent. This, together with the trip to Manhyia, as well as the opportunity to interact with the Premier of the #WesternCape were most probably the highlight of my trip and I am looking to spend some more time back there some how :)
As I write this blog, I am sitting in Pearson International, #Toronto. A broken man I am. I was fortunate enough to have to come here for the Toronto International Film Festival last week. It sure was an interesting experience. Toronto has to be one of the most amazing cities I have been to. And Canadians amongst the most welcoming and beautiful, not just physically. I was fortunate enough to find a gem of an apartment pretty central to where i needed to be thanks to #AirBnB. I spent a week in Toronto, this being my 3rd visit to the city, not to mention the fact that i was here for work, i didn't engage in any tourist activities, but did sample some of the night life and this place has it going on! Being all the way out here and having some days of leave available to me, i decided to take a week off and figure out what to do. My brother moved to a town called #Calgary in July so I decided to go swing by his place and see this new town of his. Calgary is in Alberta and to my understanding oil money propped up the economy. It is not as vibey as Toronto, but it is a lovely city in its own right. But it definitely is a whole lot colder than Toronto. It was summer in Toronto, and cold as a fridge in Calgary. There is a town called #Banff not too far from there which a lot of people rant and rave about but I never made it that far, to be honest I never made it too many places. I was spent after my week in Toronto and I really just wanted to chill out a little, catch up with the bro and gear up for the rest of my trip. Flying in Canada is NOT cheap.
The only certainty on this trip was that I was going to go to #Vancouver. I had heard so much about this city and how similar it was to Cape Town. Booked a flight from Calgary, booked a place to lay my head, vomited both times because sheet that place expensive. I was pretty chuffed with my digs though. I stayed in this Hotel called #SuttonPlace and my lucky draw got me a suite which was a pretty big one bedroom apartment with a balcony, lounge, kitchen, dining area...#Hotwire is love!! Word on the street is that it is the preferred residence of many a movie star. I got in, unfortunately someone had upset mother nature and she was dropping a few droplets of rain so took the opportunity to curl up in bed and watch some movies till she composed herself again. It was a little late in the day but i felt the urge to go for a stroll, I needed to get my #Garmin steps in for my 100pts for #DiscoveryVitality seeing as I wasn't going to gym whilst I have been away. From where i stayed any direction i went would apparently lead me to the water's edge so I turned right and walked, What a wow just from the silhouette and the lights that dotted the landscape i could tell this sure would be a sight to behold during the day. I walked for a little over an hour and decided to turn in. The next day i was up pretty early and got stuck into this really beautifully written piece of literature called #TheBookThief written by #MarcusZusak and narrated by Death itself. The sun had come out to play so I decided to check what the must sees of the city were and proceeded to engage my travel buddy #GoogleMaps to keep me company whilst i navigated these here Vancouver streets. Man I walked that day, but then I came across a hop on hop off bus, so i thought ehh what could it hurt, lets see what they have to show. It was a bit of a disappointment. Other than the trip to #StanleyPark this particular trip can be skipped. I may have actually dozed on the bus. when it made to back to the city i hopped off in #ChinaTown and made my way back to the hotel on foot. I am so glad i did. There is an area in #GasTown along the intersections of #EastHastings and #Main I think it was. It is a sudden change in landscape...demographic. All of a sudden you go from what seems to be obscene affluence to addicted poverty. I saw the other real face of Vancouver that people don't tend to see. Streets and walls full of addicts who are actually shooting up right there and then. It was mind blowing interesting and concerning all at the same time. Addiction is something I tell you. Fortunately I had my hoodie on so I walked with eyes wide open, tongue out from time to time, a few head slaps and no-one bothered me :). I caught up with some people for a #BubbleTea and some #GinAndTonics and called it a night.
Settling on where to next was weighing on my mind. The options were sleepy #Virginia where my mister from another sister Ingo and his wife, Alyona live, they just had a little bambino and they were moving house or go and visit another place I haven't been to, #Chicago. In the end few things better than catching up with your boy and helping him move. So I woke up early and made my way to the airport for a long ass trip to Virginia. Spent a few nights there and a night in #WashingtonDC. DC is a city i definitely need to spend more time in. I say this every time i go there but i never seem to. Vibrant city! Post DC it just made sense to to go to #NewYorkCity right? It was the right thing to do. I opted to catch the #BoltBus to NYC, it was a little over 4hr trip and I was over flying and airports to be very honest, calculating the transit time (mission to, security, flight, trip from JFK), it would have taken longer to have flown. I had intended to stay with a mate, but whilst on the bus, I played hotel roulette once again on hotwire and whale #SheratonTimesSquare...once again not a bad digs. Dissapointing though because once again it was a small fortune to stay there but you had to pay $15 (USD) a day for internet...some bull@#$% if you ask me, but alas this is New York. My bro had flown from Calgary that weekend and I had some mates there too. This time i did NYC a little differently, strolled plenty, just absorbing the different boroughs. Spoke politics at the #Hudson rooftop bar, walked the #HighLine, ferried to #Dumbo GnT'd at #MrPurple and #Public, house party in #Tribeca and #JerseyCity with blotches of the customary NYC street trolling to sample some of the best night life the world has seen.
Today, Sunday the 24th September, I am a tired man. Little sleep has been my middle name, a 9hr stop at Pearson before i catch my flight to #London, then another 9 hr layover before my flight to Cape Town fortunately though today is my Godson's birthday so I get to spend some time with them tomorrow which is fabulous!
If you have the means, make the time, travel, best thing you can do for your life and those around you...mind....opened! Home...appreciated :)
have a great week all
During this trip, because we (Wesgro) accompanied Premier #HelenZille, we had the privilege of an audience with the King of the #Ashantis, #Asantehene, this was particularly significant for me in that my my lineage is Ashanti and being a matrilineal society, my mothers family is of royal descent. So going to the palace #Manhyia, having a historical tour was pretty cool. As most of you know, we grew up away from Ghana so I only recall one grandmother and in as much as we used to speak to her from time to time, and see her when we visited Ghana, I didn't really know her (rest her soul). If in all my life i saw her 20 times it would have been a lot. We grew up away from our cousins and extended family. The weekend I landed, my cousin was getting married which, I was pretty chuffed because I got to go to my cousins wedding in Accra, hang with the rest of the fam and their friends, it was a Saturday well spent. This, together with the trip to Manhyia, as well as the opportunity to interact with the Premier of the #WesternCape were most probably the highlight of my trip and I am looking to spend some more time back there some how :)
As I write this blog, I am sitting in Pearson International, #Toronto. A broken man I am. I was fortunate enough to have to come here for the Toronto International Film Festival last week. It sure was an interesting experience. Toronto has to be one of the most amazing cities I have been to. And Canadians amongst the most welcoming and beautiful, not just physically. I was fortunate enough to find a gem of an apartment pretty central to where i needed to be thanks to #AirBnB. I spent a week in Toronto, this being my 3rd visit to the city, not to mention the fact that i was here for work, i didn't engage in any tourist activities, but did sample some of the night life and this place has it going on! Being all the way out here and having some days of leave available to me, i decided to take a week off and figure out what to do. My brother moved to a town called #Calgary in July so I decided to go swing by his place and see this new town of his. Calgary is in Alberta and to my understanding oil money propped up the economy. It is not as vibey as Toronto, but it is a lovely city in its own right. But it definitely is a whole lot colder than Toronto. It was summer in Toronto, and cold as a fridge in Calgary. There is a town called #Banff not too far from there which a lot of people rant and rave about but I never made it that far, to be honest I never made it too many places. I was spent after my week in Toronto and I really just wanted to chill out a little, catch up with the bro and gear up for the rest of my trip. Flying in Canada is NOT cheap.
The only certainty on this trip was that I was going to go to #Vancouver. I had heard so much about this city and how similar it was to Cape Town. Booked a flight from Calgary, booked a place to lay my head, vomited both times because sheet that place expensive. I was pretty chuffed with my digs though. I stayed in this Hotel called #SuttonPlace and my lucky draw got me a suite which was a pretty big one bedroom apartment with a balcony, lounge, kitchen, dining area...#Hotwire is love!! Word on the street is that it is the preferred residence of many a movie star. I got in, unfortunately someone had upset mother nature and she was dropping a few droplets of rain so took the opportunity to curl up in bed and watch some movies till she composed herself again. It was a little late in the day but i felt the urge to go for a stroll, I needed to get my #Garmin steps in for my 100pts for #DiscoveryVitality seeing as I wasn't going to gym whilst I have been away. From where i stayed any direction i went would apparently lead me to the water's edge so I turned right and walked, What a wow just from the silhouette and the lights that dotted the landscape i could tell this sure would be a sight to behold during the day. I walked for a little over an hour and decided to turn in. The next day i was up pretty early and got stuck into this really beautifully written piece of literature called #TheBookThief written by #MarcusZusak and narrated by Death itself. The sun had come out to play so I decided to check what the must sees of the city were and proceeded to engage my travel buddy #GoogleMaps to keep me company whilst i navigated these here Vancouver streets. Man I walked that day, but then I came across a hop on hop off bus, so i thought ehh what could it hurt, lets see what they have to show. It was a bit of a disappointment. Other than the trip to #StanleyPark this particular trip can be skipped. I may have actually dozed on the bus. when it made to back to the city i hopped off in #ChinaTown and made my way back to the hotel on foot. I am so glad i did. There is an area in #GasTown along the intersections of #EastHastings and #Main I think it was. It is a sudden change in landscape...demographic. All of a sudden you go from what seems to be obscene affluence to addicted poverty. I saw the other real face of Vancouver that people don't tend to see. Streets and walls full of addicts who are actually shooting up right there and then. It was mind blowing interesting and concerning all at the same time. Addiction is something I tell you. Fortunately I had my hoodie on so I walked with eyes wide open, tongue out from time to time, a few head slaps and no-one bothered me :). I caught up with some people for a #BubbleTea and some #GinAndTonics and called it a night.
Settling on where to next was weighing on my mind. The options were sleepy #Virginia where my mister from another sister Ingo and his wife, Alyona live, they just had a little bambino and they were moving house or go and visit another place I haven't been to, #Chicago. In the end few things better than catching up with your boy and helping him move. So I woke up early and made my way to the airport for a long ass trip to Virginia. Spent a few nights there and a night in #WashingtonDC. DC is a city i definitely need to spend more time in. I say this every time i go there but i never seem to. Vibrant city! Post DC it just made sense to to go to #NewYorkCity right? It was the right thing to do. I opted to catch the #BoltBus to NYC, it was a little over 4hr trip and I was over flying and airports to be very honest, calculating the transit time (mission to, security, flight, trip from JFK), it would have taken longer to have flown. I had intended to stay with a mate, but whilst on the bus, I played hotel roulette once again on hotwire and whale #SheratonTimesSquare...once again not a bad digs. Dissapointing though because once again it was a small fortune to stay there but you had to pay $15 (USD) a day for internet...some bull@#$% if you ask me, but alas this is New York. My bro had flown from Calgary that weekend and I had some mates there too. This time i did NYC a little differently, strolled plenty, just absorbing the different boroughs. Spoke politics at the #Hudson rooftop bar, walked the #HighLine, ferried to #Dumbo GnT'd at #MrPurple and #Public, house party in #Tribeca and #JerseyCity with blotches of the customary NYC street trolling to sample some of the best night life the world has seen.
Today, Sunday the 24th September, I am a tired man. Little sleep has been my middle name, a 9hr stop at Pearson before i catch my flight to #London, then another 9 hr layover before my flight to Cape Town fortunately though today is my Godson's birthday so I get to spend some time with them tomorrow which is fabulous!
If you have the means, make the time, travel, best thing you can do for your life and those around you...mind....opened! Home...appreciated :)
have a great week all
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