After our last breakfast at the B & B, we said goodbye to the proprietors. I hope that we return here.
We made good time driving, stopping for gas and a quick bite at a Tim Horton's.
Before leaving Canada, we stopped again at the patisserie and got 4 croissants and a baguette. We got two of the croissants and the baguette for Jane and Norman.
We decided to go through the small crossing at the Derby Line and.....it never fails, we did not make it through the U.S. border without being stopped. (This is due to Mark having lost his passport when we lived in England over 20 years ago.) But, it was not a long stop this time.
We drove over to Norman's and dropped off the pastries and then drove home to N.H.
A really, really good trip.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
July 17 - Gatineau Park, Wakefield, Art Museum
Another hearty breakfast to start our day. We chatted with the owners of the B & B, including Marina, John's wife who gave me some good ideas about communicating with grandchildren. John also talked art - they have collected beautiful art in the B & B. At the dinner this morning was a retired pro baseball player and we got his signature for Hank. He pitched for the Milwaukee Braves in the 1959 and 1960 seasons. It was hard to read his name, so....not sure yet. Anyhow, he was charming and spends half his year at a home in Miami.
After breakfast we drove over to the massive Gatineau Park across the Ottawa River. We walked down to Pink Lake, a lake that does not circulate oxygen like normal lakes. It is supposedly more green colored in the summer than normal lakes, but it was rather overcast today, so it just looked like a lake to us and certainly not pink as it can evidently look at some times during the year. After driving around, we drove along the river to the little artsy-crafty village of Wakefield, a place recommended to us by Cassi. We couldn't find a place to eat that appealed to us, so we drove back into Ottawa and went to the National Gallery of Art.
The National Gallery is beautiful. The building was built since we lived there, so it was all new to us. We first saw an amazing 100 foot long, double-sided installation. It represented five decades of history and consisted of 16,000 photos cut out from Life Magazine. Each photo was mounted on a separate bamboo-like stick. The sticks were anything from an inch to several feet tall. It was mesmerizing and staggering to think of the work that went into it. We wandered in the impressionist area as we love the Impressionists. After that, we went down a level and took in the Group of Seven, Canadian artists painting in the 1920s and 30s. We really enjoyed this and contemplated buying a print, but talked ourselves out of it as we prefer to buy originals and try to buy from people we actually know.
By then, we were way past lunch time and hungry. We tried to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant in "our" neighbohood, but it was closed. We ended up at Shwarma Palace where we had - shwarma. I had chicken shwarma and Mark had beef. We also had salad and hummus. It took us back to our time in Egypt. And, it was Eid, so also fitting. (The end of Ramadan.)
We went back to our wonderful B & B and read the rest of the day away. By this point, it was also raining. I took a wonderful soak in the jazuzzi gazing up at the rain falling on the skylight above me.
Another wonderful day in Ottawa and we have really relaxed here and totally gotten away.
After breakfast we drove over to the massive Gatineau Park across the Ottawa River. We walked down to Pink Lake, a lake that does not circulate oxygen like normal lakes. It is supposedly more green colored in the summer than normal lakes, but it was rather overcast today, so it just looked like a lake to us and certainly not pink as it can evidently look at some times during the year. After driving around, we drove along the river to the little artsy-crafty village of Wakefield, a place recommended to us by Cassi. We couldn't find a place to eat that appealed to us, so we drove back into Ottawa and went to the National Gallery of Art.
The National Gallery is beautiful. The building was built since we lived there, so it was all new to us. We first saw an amazing 100 foot long, double-sided installation. It represented five decades of history and consisted of 16,000 photos cut out from Life Magazine. Each photo was mounted on a separate bamboo-like stick. The sticks were anything from an inch to several feet tall. It was mesmerizing and staggering to think of the work that went into it. We wandered in the impressionist area as we love the Impressionists. After that, we went down a level and took in the Group of Seven, Canadian artists painting in the 1920s and 30s. We really enjoyed this and contemplated buying a print, but talked ourselves out of it as we prefer to buy originals and try to buy from people we actually know.
By then, we were way past lunch time and hungry. We tried to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant in "our" neighbohood, but it was closed. We ended up at Shwarma Palace where we had - shwarma. I had chicken shwarma and Mark had beef. We also had salad and hummus. It took us back to our time in Egypt. And, it was Eid, so also fitting. (The end of Ramadan.)
We went back to our wonderful B & B and read the rest of the day away. By this point, it was also raining. I took a wonderful soak in the jazuzzi gazing up at the rain falling on the skylight above me.
Another wonderful day in Ottawa and we have really relaxed here and totally gotten away.
July 16 - Dinner with friend we met in Costa Rica
We started with another hearty breakfast; today everyone at the table was a teacher or former teacher. A couple from Montreal taught French and science; a couple from N.Carolina taught English and math. Good conversation, needless to say.
We did more reminiscing today - drove to a dam where the Rideau River flows into the Ottawa River where there is a globe that we used to visit with David when he was little. We drove along the Ottawa River in the big park there up as far as the Air Museum and by Rideau Hall.
For lunch, we again relied on Mark's research and ended up at Hatha Rothi, a Sri Lankan restaurant. Just a hole in the wall with only 2 tables. Again, we almost walked out when we saw that it was just a fast food restaurant, but again, we trusted our instincts and had a fabulous, fabulous lunch. We were the only ones there and the owner/chef chatted with us and gave us free papadoms along with our meal. Mark had melt-in-your-mouth Butter Chicken. I had three different vegetables in different curries - all delicious - green beans, sweet potatoes and....?(forgot). Mark had freshly made Naan bread. It was all fabulous and...incredibly cheap.
We read the afternoon away.
Then, we went out to meet a friend we made in Costa Rica. Christine is a marine biologist who works for the government of Canada. She is also an avid birdwatcher and plans to retire in Costa Rica. We met her in Atenas, our first stop in Costa Rica. We met at Union Restaurant known for its Southern food. We all ordered the same food - fried chicken and cole slaw. We had such great conversation. Christine takes annual trips, for example, to Newfoundland where she gets data on killer whales. She goes for almost 3 weeks by helicopter to Sable Island where she monitors grey seals - thousands and thousands of them. She is smart, funny and gutsy and quite fearless - a camper and kayaker who does not let having to go places alone stop her at all. Another lovely evening in Ottawa!
For lunch, we again relied on Mark's research and ended up at Hatha Rothi, a Sri Lankan restaurant. Just a hole in the wall with only 2 tables. Again, we almost walked out when we saw that it was just a fast food restaurant, but again, we trusted our instincts and had a fabulous, fabulous lunch. We were the only ones there and the owner/chef chatted with us and gave us free papadoms along with our meal. Mark had melt-in-your-mouth Butter Chicken. I had three different vegetables in different curries - all delicious - green beans, sweet potatoes and....?(forgot). Mark had freshly made Naan bread. It was all fabulous and...incredibly cheap.
We read the afternoon away.
July 15 - We fight City Hall, bike and see old friends
A perfect day! We had so much fun from start to finish.
The day started with a lovely breakfast at the B &B. (eggs Benedict). The two other couples were very nice; one of them, from the Netherlands were here to see their two sons play field hockey for the Brazilian national team at the PanAmerican Games in Toronto. (She was Brazilian.) We also got to know John, the older owner of the B &B, as well as his son, Kevin and Kevin's wife, Cassi. Kevin and Cassi are in the process of buying Kevin's parents out of the B & B. Kevin is a computer coder and Cassi is a therapeutic yoga therapist who works with brain damaged accident victims.
Afterwards, we parked at the Byward Market and walked to City Hall to appeal our parking ticket. It was amazingly easy. We were third in line and got right in. After we told our story, an agreeable young man erased it all. We expected maybe a reduction in the fine, but were pleasantly surprised to have it totally expunged. Yay! "We fought the law and...we won!"
Then, we rented bikes underneath the bridge by Parliament and we rode the Rideau Canal as far as the first lock and then around Dows Lake and back the other side. It was probably about 10 miles. The weather was perfect for biking - sunny, but cool breezes. It was so reminiscent of our summer in Ottawa as we biked everywhere, but especially along the canal and to Dows Lake. Fun!
Afterwards, we went to Atari, another restaurant Mark found on Yelp and near to Byward Market. We had another delicious meal. We wanted something light as we were not particularly hungry after our huge breakfast. We both had tuna tartare with Asian dressing. It was amazing.
Then, we walked the market and got some flowers to take to Michelle and Jason.
For dinner we drove to Orleans where Jason and Michelle live. We knew them when we all taught together in Cairo. Jason and Michelle were right out of college and part of the group we hung out with. They now have children in middle school! (Sean is just starting middle school and Tiaran is already there.) Jason is the head of the music department at a performing arts school in Ottawa and Michelle teaches at the middle and high school in their neighborhood which their children attend. We had a lovely reunion; they made a terrific surf and turf meal of salmon and pork with grilled veggies etc. We so enjoyed seeing them again.
The day started with a lovely breakfast at the B &B. (eggs Benedict). The two other couples were very nice; one of them, from the Netherlands were here to see their two sons play field hockey for the Brazilian national team at the PanAmerican Games in Toronto. (She was Brazilian.) We also got to know John, the older owner of the B &B, as well as his son, Kevin and Kevin's wife, Cassi. Kevin and Cassi are in the process of buying Kevin's parents out of the B & B. Kevin is a computer coder and Cassi is a therapeutic yoga therapist who works with brain damaged accident victims.
Afterwards, we parked at the Byward Market and walked to City Hall to appeal our parking ticket. It was amazingly easy. We were third in line and got right in. After we told our story, an agreeable young man erased it all. We expected maybe a reduction in the fine, but were pleasantly surprised to have it totally expunged. Yay! "We fought the law and...we won!"
Afterwards, we went to Atari, another restaurant Mark found on Yelp and near to Byward Market. We had another delicious meal. We wanted something light as we were not particularly hungry after our huge breakfast. We both had tuna tartare with Asian dressing. It was amazing.
For dinner we drove to Orleans where Jason and Michelle live. We knew them when we all taught together in Cairo. Jason and Michelle were right out of college and part of the group we hung out with. They now have children in middle school! (Sean is just starting middle school and Tiaran is already there.) Jason is the head of the music department at a performing arts school in Ottawa and Michelle teaches at the middle and high school in their neighborhood which their children attend. We had a lovely reunion; they made a terrific surf and turf meal of salmon and pork with grilled veggies etc. We so enjoyed seeing them again.
Ottawa - July 14 - Parking ticket day!
We drove across the border at the small crossing at Derby Line and made a bee line for Les Vrais Richesses, a patisserie where we each had a croissant. (Jane and Norman recommended it.)
Then, we drove to Ottawa. Our Garmin did not work, however, as I erroneously just assumed that Canada would be included. Luckily, we saw a Tourist Information Center on the highway and stopped in and got directions to our B&B on Besserer Street as well as a good map.
Mark got to Benner's B&B very easily. Our first impression was that it was a bit further away from where we thought it would be, but we quickly changed our minds. Our room was one of the three that is rented and is the only one with a little balcony on the street. Our bathroom is down the hall, but exclusively ours. The tub is very sunken and also a Jacuzzi. Everything - very clean.
We were between lunch and dinner and really hungry, so Mark checked on Yelp for good, inexpensive food. We ended up at The Manx, a pub on Elgin Street. We almost walked out as it is subterranean and dark and only a few people were there. But, we trusted our research and were very glad we did. The food was creative and excellent. Mark had chicken salad and I had crab cakes. Both very good.
But when we got out, we found, to our dismay, that we had a $100 parking ticket! We had read the meter carefully which indicated that parking was free after 3:30. But, what we didn't see in our haste to park and to eat, was a sign that said there was NO parking from 3:30 - 5:30 because of rush hour traffic. (It was 3:40) As it happens, a meter maid came by and saw us staring at the ticket and the meter in puzzlement. She was not the one who gave us the ticket and, when we explained it all, she recommended we go to City Hall the next day and fight it. We were skeptical, partly because it seemed it would take a big chunk of our day.
We then drove around reacquainting ourselves with our old haunts from when we lived in Ottawa in the Glebe in 1986. We found the street (Fairbairn) where we had lived, but were a little sketchy on picking out the exact house. We also drove around our own neighborhood, found the Byward Market (open air market) and parked the car in the space the B & B has at a nearby apartment building.
We got some fruit etc from a market and went back to the B &B, ate and read.
Mark got to Benner's B&B very easily. Our first impression was that it was a bit further away from where we thought it would be, but we quickly changed our minds. Our room was one of the three that is rented and is the only one with a little balcony on the street. Our bathroom is down the hall, but exclusively ours. The tub is very sunken and also a Jacuzzi. Everything - very clean.
We were between lunch and dinner and really hungry, so Mark checked on Yelp for good, inexpensive food. We ended up at The Manx, a pub on Elgin Street. We almost walked out as it is subterranean and dark and only a few people were there. But, we trusted our research and were very glad we did. The food was creative and excellent. Mark had chicken salad and I had crab cakes. Both very good.
But when we got out, we found, to our dismay, that we had a $100 parking ticket! We had read the meter carefully which indicated that parking was free after 3:30. But, what we didn't see in our haste to park and to eat, was a sign that said there was NO parking from 3:30 - 5:30 because of rush hour traffic. (It was 3:40) As it happens, a meter maid came by and saw us staring at the ticket and the meter in puzzlement. She was not the one who gave us the ticket and, when we explained it all, she recommended we go to City Hall the next day and fight it. We were skeptical, partly because it seemed it would take a big chunk of our day.
We got some fruit etc from a market and went back to the B &B, ate and read.
July 13, 2015- off to see Norman and Jane in Newport, Vt.
But, on July 13, we traveled to Vermont to visit with Norman and Jane. We all went to Seymour Lake, about half an hour away, to visit the camp that Jane rented for two weeks. Her family has rented on Seymour Lake for over 18 years. It is the largest lake entirely within Vermont's border. The camp is a modest cabin - pump the water, which is no potable. It is nice to see that these old camps still exist and that not everyone has to modernize and upscale. We had a nice lunch there and then floated around the lake on inner tubes and, when a storm threatened, we sat on the screened porch and watched the rain and chatted, chatted, chatted. Afterwards, we went back to their house where we had a lovely pork tenderloin dinner and watched the U.S. Women's Soccer Team on a tape of their win in the World Cup over Japan, a match we had not seen. It was a lovely, lovely day.
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