Dining in the big city

I'm back from a trip to Toronto. It was so good to see friends again and, as always, not enough time to see everyone! I was actually there for business but had the good fortune to turn it into a little vacation. I spent my time visiting, shopping and dining.

I'm going to post photos of the latter today, and save my shopping purchases for another post, another day. So, is it okay to admit that one of the things I miss the most about living in Toronto is the food? I miss the variety and how cheap you can get a delicious meal! So here are the highlights:

An Ethiopian feast from Ethiopian HouseWe ordered the Vegetarian Bayaaynatu plus 2 meat Bayaaynatu....and cleaned the plate of nearly everything! So delicious!!And then we ordered the Coffee Ceremony - strong Ethiopian coffee served with buttered popcorn. It's a perfect way to end the meal...well worth the extra 12.00.
Then there was the Japanese feast - the Supreme Bento Box at Sushi On Bloor. This is super value for your money. It's a 4 course meal - miso soup, then sushi....
The main course of teriyaki beef, tempura vegetables and shrimp, salad with delicious citrus dressing, served with rice. All of that followed with a dish of ice cream (mango, red bean or green tea).
And, last but not least, a Thai feast at Green Mango. I was surprised to find Green Mango had changed back to the set-up they had years ago when I first arrived in TO. They closed their take-out restaurant on the East side of Yonge, and now have the take-out inside the main restaurant. And there's more selection! I was sad to see they no longer have glass noodles (my favourite), but the basil noodles were equally as delicious. I ordered the peanut chicken and the basil chicken with extra cabbage salad - yum! All for less than $9!

And there were other delicious meals too - some in restaurants, some made in the kitchens of dear friends! All were enjoyed especially because of the company they were shared with!

A beautiful day for a hike...

Sunday was a gorgeous day to go for a walk. So we did. We hiked the path that follows the shore near Cyrstal Crescent Beach. Actually, truth be told, we went the opposite direction of the path from the Beach. The path seems to start on your right, but we headed left , with the hope of finding wild blueberries (no luck!). So we trailblazed, sort of. There was a path, but much of it had eroded and it wasn't a well travelled path. We had to walk through thickets of brush, climbing over and through rocks and avoid getting sucked into boggy soil. Being warm I had the brilliant idea to wear shorts, so naturally my legs give evidence to our off-trail trekking. Sigh. Lesson learned.
The view was certainly worth it. We landed on a beach, somewhat removed from the more popular spots (which were crowded, not surprisingly!).

We rested our tortured feet ... and took a dip in the Atlantic. The freakin' COLD Atlantic!!! It took a little getting used to, but once your feet adjusted to the temperature (think: brain freeze for the feet), it was hard to walk away.
Waves crashing on a white sand beach. Nice! This was my first beach trip since I can remember, perhaps since summer camp at Malagash...

After our dip, and then trying to get the sand off our feet so we could put our hiking shoes back on, we doubled back, crossed the main beaches and headed onto to the trail proper.
It was a much different hike, still following the coast, but not always with a view of the ocean as we had earlier. This path was lined with taller brush and these aromatic flowers (anyone know what they are?). Parts of the trail were actually a boardwalk, which was a nice change.

But the real view came down the path a little ways...when we hit the naturists' beach. Yes, my friends, we had quite a view!...full view of very tanned people (without tan-lines). We walked a little further up the trail, just enough beyond the naturists' beach, sat on the rocks a baked a little while - just long enough to get a little sunburn on the patch of skin I must've missed when I was applying sunscreen! Sigh.

All-in-all, it was a fabulous day!

Getting good mileage!

I feel it necessary to give a shout out to my 2002 Echo. I've always known it's good on gas, but this past week I put it to the test. After I filled it up, I set the Trip monitor to measure how many kilometres I could get from a full tank.

And then I drove....

I drove around the city, to the airport and back, to Peggy's Cove and back, and to the Valley and back. Not bad! I put 549 kms with all the driving I did this past week, and still had gas in the tank (about 1/8th a tank).

With gas at 1.387, and no likelihood of going down anytime soon, I'm very grateful for my little fuel-efficient car.

Thank you WestJet...Again!

Okay, so I have to rave about WestJet again! ...because I can't say enough about the great service, and the comfortable and enjoyable flights .So, why is WestJet better than AirCanada? Because they don't take themselves so seriously. They cracked me up (seriously! There was some guffawing from my seat!) during the safety schpiel when they said :
Ladies & Gentlemen: There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 6 ways to leave this plane.

But the real reason for loving WestJet? The plane waited for me to find my scarf. Yes, I managed, in my rush to get to the flight (which was leaving 30 mins early!), to lose my scarf - my favourite self-knit scarf. I didn't notice until I got on the plane. When I asked the flight attendant if I had time to make a run for it and try to find it, she said I had about 10 minutes, but also cautioned me that the plane wouldn't wait. Well, she was wrong, of course. The plane did wait. I ran down stairs, found my scarf where I figured I had left it, and rushed through security again. One of the flight attendants was waiting for me on the stairs to get me through the gate without any delays or hassle. I was the last one on the plane. Thank you WestJet! again!

Here's the view flying into Toronto. So many lights!

Catching up

I'm back to blogging again. This summer has whirled by, and I'm only just settling into a routine. This past week I had a blast visiting with a friend from Toronto who made Nova Scotia her vacation destination this year. Hooray! We managed to put a lot of kms on my new car - 1402 kms to be exact! - putting it to the test. It passed with flying colours!Our route was pretty ambitious, and though there are wonderful views and sites to see I don't think I'd do it again.
We travelled from Halifax to Blomidon/Scot's Bay for gorgeous views..back to Port Williams and through the Annapolis Valley to Annapolis Royal to see Port Royal and Fort Anne and sample yummy pastries from the German Bakery.
We spent some time in Bear River looking at a couple shops, then on to Digby......for a scallop dinner.From Digby we travelled along the Bay of Funday, driving through many Acadian communities to Cape Forchu in Yarmouth.At Yarmouth, we decided to follow Rte.#3 through Shelburne, but soon found it wasn't the scenic Lighthouse Route as promised in the brochures. It was actually kind of boring. We turned onto the 103 shortly after hitting Shag Harbour to mail some postcards...

...and travelled the even duller highway (just trees and asphalt) until we got to the Wile Carding Mill in Bridgewater.From Bridgewater on, the Lighthouse Route lives up to its name, so we continued on, admiring the beautiful coastal communities of Mahone Bay, Lunenberg, Chester and finally Peggy's Cove.

And from Peggy's Cove, back to Halifax.

Naturally this trip took more than one day. We managed to spread it out throughout several days, though a bulk of the driving (from Yarmouth to Halifax) indeed was in one day. We managed quite well with numerous picnic lunches, music and good company.

Now it's back to the grind, as they say.

"Let's get this Boeing going"

Dear WestJet,

I have to thank you for making my flights to and fro enjoyable again. For the last 5 years I've been in the habit of falling asleep before the plane even leaves the tarmac just to make the flight go by faster (and because that's the only thing you can do when you're sitting in the fetal position for almost 2 hours).

Since I've been flying with WestJet, I've been flying in luxury - with room to move (to cross my legs even!), satelite tv to watch and, best of all, entertaining and courteous pilots, flight attendants and check-in staff. It's very clear to me that they enjoy their jobs and take pride in working for WestJet. I'm always impressed by their sense of humour - their corny jokes and their clever puns. They don't take themselves too seriously like those stuffy AirCanadians!

Thank you making my flight thoroughly enjoyable. (And for not seating me in the back or right over the wing where I can't see anything like they always did on AirCanada ... And for leaving the seat between me and the next person empty ... And, since I had the extra room, for letting me knit ... And for seating me beside two very good looking and friendly seatmates on the to & from trip this time ... And for carrying Diet Pepsi instead of Coke products.)

AirCanada has nothing on you!