annual travel out east
Last night I returned from a lovely vacation out east: 5 days in Montreal and 3 in Ottawa.
The start of my trip overlapped with the end of my parents vacation. We wandered around the F1 excitement, ate bagels, watched soccer and played the necessary Boggle games. My mom and I visited the Botanical Gardens and had to restrain ourselves from pulling weeds (they don’t seem to be managing weeds very well, I think they need to start a volunteer program with a seniors centre somewhere). We smelled all the herbs and learned about poisonous plants and played with the
koi. We also visited the Tam Tams on Mount Royal. I think we were a little early, there weren’t any dancers, but I still enjoyed the drumming. I might even have recognized one of the beats.
After they left, my time in Montreal was full of markets and
picnics. I bixied my way around town and over to the old Expo grounds where I checked out Environment Canada’s Biosphere (definitely oriented towards 10 yr-olds and I would have had a blast if I went with a friend). They also had a demo solar house which was quite interesting. Some people are confused by the bixi instructions, so I helped out a 50 yr-old lady from Brisbane. She was in town with her husband who was attending a teaching conference (an engineering professor). We rode along the river together.
Then it was off to visit Dan and Maria in Ottawa. Maria made lots of tasty food and I never went hungry. I went to the war museum and ran out of time. I had lunch at the SconeWitch. We worked on the deck. Maria and I picked
strawberries. Crazy rain foiled our plans for a bike ride along the river, but we managed to go for a walk instead and met my friend J for coffee in Westboro. J is riding across the country and happened to be in Ottawa that day. Maria took me to the local chocolate shop (excellent truffles) and then I found some Amadei chocolate in a candy store down the road. Ever since I’d heard of them, I promised myself I’d try it. At $10 for 50g it’s not a cheap addiction, but I definitely agree with Amadei’s version of chocolate. Ottawa has superb chocolate to rival Vancouver. So does Quebec.
A gorgeous sunset welcomed my return to Vancouver. When I arrived home I was greeted by a hungry kitty. I think Maria must have sent her to ease the transition from Ottawa to Vancouver. I also discovered that a leggy spider had moved into the corner above my bed and been blessed with a brood of babies. I am usually benevolent towards spiders, but not when they are above my bed. And so when I had finished disposing these ones, it seemed unfair not to do the same to the juicier (and therefore unnerving) spider in the corner by my mirror. It was ethnic cleansing all round, to continue with the euphemism. This morning a fly was buzzing around my kitchen and I felt a little remorseful.
And now I am sitting in a coffee shop on the drive after having watched the end of the Italy - New Zealand game. I ended up in a cafe with primarily Kiwi (or maybe any country) supporters because all the Italian coffee shops were full. The game ended 30 minutes ago and the place is now empty but for me. I still haven’t sorted out my internet at home. It hasn’t been working since I returned from Chile when my landlord replaced his AirPort.
(Now it’s much, much later and Brazil fans are streaming past!)
(if you are also having trouble seeing the pictures behind the links, my photo gallery is posted here)
The start of my trip overlapped with the end of my parents vacation. We wandered around the F1 excitement, ate bagels, watched soccer and played the necessary Boggle games. My mom and I visited the Botanical Gardens and had to restrain ourselves from pulling weeds (they don’t seem to be managing weeds very well, I think they need to start a volunteer program with a seniors centre somewhere). We smelled all the herbs and learned about poisonous plants and played with the
koi. We also visited the Tam Tams on Mount Royal. I think we were a little early, there weren’t any dancers, but I still enjoyed the drumming. I might even have recognized one of the beats.
After they left, my time in Montreal was full of markets and
picnics. I bixied my way around town and over to the old Expo grounds where I checked out Environment Canada’s Biosphere (definitely oriented towards 10 yr-olds and I would have had a blast if I went with a friend). They also had a demo solar house which was quite interesting. Some people are confused by the bixi instructions, so I helped out a 50 yr-old lady from Brisbane. She was in town with her husband who was attending a teaching conference (an engineering professor). We rode along the river together.
Then it was off to visit Dan and Maria in Ottawa. Maria made lots of tasty food and I never went hungry. I went to the war museum and ran out of time. I had lunch at the SconeWitch. We worked on the deck. Maria and I picked
strawberries. Crazy rain foiled our plans for a bike ride along the river, but we managed to go for a walk instead and met my friend J for coffee in Westboro. J is riding across the country and happened to be in Ottawa that day. Maria took me to the local chocolate shop (excellent truffles) and then I found some Amadei chocolate in a candy store down the road. Ever since I’d heard of them, I promised myself I’d try it. At $10 for 50g it’s not a cheap addiction, but I definitely agree with Amadei’s version of chocolate. Ottawa has superb chocolate to rival Vancouver. So does Quebec.
A gorgeous sunset welcomed my return to Vancouver. When I arrived home I was greeted by a hungry kitty. I think Maria must have sent her to ease the transition from Ottawa to Vancouver. I also discovered that a leggy spider had moved into the corner above my bed and been blessed with a brood of babies. I am usually benevolent towards spiders, but not when they are above my bed. And so when I had finished disposing these ones, it seemed unfair not to do the same to the juicier (and therefore unnerving) spider in the corner by my mirror. It was ethnic cleansing all round, to continue with the euphemism. This morning a fly was buzzing around my kitchen and I felt a little remorseful.
And now I am sitting in a coffee shop on the drive after having watched the end of the Italy - New Zealand game. I ended up in a cafe with primarily Kiwi (or maybe any country) supporters because all the Italian coffee shops were full. The game ended 30 minutes ago and the place is now empty but for me. I still haven’t sorted out my internet at home. It hasn’t been working since I returned from Chile when my landlord replaced his AirPort.
(Now it’s much, much later and Brazil fans are streaming past!)
(if you are also having trouble seeing the pictures behind the links, my photo gallery is posted here)