Out and About

When we moved to moved to our nice little condo here in Toronto, we left our Toyota Camary in Nova Scotia, only bringing my classic Alfa Spider. You really do not need a car in Toronto; the city has an excellent public transit system and we can walk to get most things we need. And our son has a car he does not use much which we can borrow if needed.  

However, there are times when you do need a vehicle, for example when you need to pick up things to furnish the condo and they are too big to carry home and certainly would not fit in the Alfa. Yesterday was one of those times. 

Fortunately, our son’s partner Ben was flying to Florida to meet up with Ryan so we offered to drive him to the airport and use their car to run errands. This ended up being a full day’s outing. 

Coffee and breakfast

Ben had to be taken to the airport at 7:00 am, and nothing we needed was open until 10:00 am, so with time to kill, we found a bakery in the area that the Google reviews said served excellent coffee. This was a great find, and the coffee was as good as the reviews. Rustic Bakery was obviously located in a VERY Italian neighbourhood and as we sat enjoying our coffee and pastry we heard more Italian spoken than English. We left with some interesting bakery products, but still had time before we could do any actual shopping. 

We decided to go to Grande Cheese, another Italian shop specializing in every type of cheese possible that opened at 9:00. They also stock lots of Italian specialist foodstuffs and we ended up leaving with over $100.00 worth of cheese and other items, but more important, we managed to kill another hour and the mall would finally be open. 

Our goal was to look for a nice comforter for our bed, as well as one to keep any guests

No comforters, but I found a Harley

comfy when they visit. But although it was suggested we look in Hudson’s Bay, we discovered that very few of their options were within our budget, and to be honest there was nothing we really liked either. 

So, we decided to try Walmart, and there we found not only much better deals. But also a nice choice of colours and styles and we left new confuters and a cart load of “stuff” we needed.

Now our next stop was an optician where Regis had an appointment to have a pair of new glasses fitted into a pair of frames she liked. Now you can get anything you need in Toronto, but today we had to cover a lot of territory to get the items we needed. Google maps got a real work-out for us to find everything; It was a 45 minute drive to the airport, then another 30 to breakfast followed by 20 minutes to the cheese shop and then 15 to the mall and 15 more to Walmart. The Optician was then back past the airport for another 30 minutes, putting us there at noon where we found a restaurant for lunch while her glasses were prepared. 

Time for lunch

Our final stop was to one of the larger IKEAs in the Toronto area. We have an IKEA within walking distance of the condo, but it is the “Downtown” store and does not stock everything and did not have the things we wanted, so that was another 40 minute drive, but at least it was back towards the condo. We filled a cart with items we wanted and loaded it all into Ryan’s Lexus, but when we went to leave an alarm went off warning us that the passengers in the back seat had not done up their seatbelts - our shopping was heavy enough to fool the car into thinking we had the children with us in the back seat, so everything had to be rearranged for the final 30 minute drive back to the condo. 

Returning the car

We got home by 3:00 pm, beating the rush hour traffic which is crazy here, and I dropped Regis off with the condo’s luggage dolly packed with our purchases while I drove the car back to Ryan & Ben’s condo and walked the five blocks back to our Toronto home. 

Egyptian Pot-Luck Breakfast

All ready for Breakfast

When we arranged to visit our friends in Cairo, we were warned that they were hosting the weekly Maadi Runners “pot-luck” breakfast while we were there, so we might be pressed into service helping to get things ready. I thought this was a great idea, and would give me a chance to meet some of their Egyptian friends.

I was told that it was a casual affair and everyone chipped in, bringing and preparing food. It was a hot sunny day so the whole affair would be held outside beside the pool. Tables and chairs were pulled from storage by the gardener and set up, and in the morning I swept the mango tree droppings off the tables and gave them a wipe down.

Drinks are ready!

The first to arrive was a young Egyptian fellow who immediately took over the kitchen, (Those who know our friend will be gasping at this). He began chopping onions, garlic and preparing a huge bowl of eggs. He pressed me into service trimming beans and then handed the next runner to arrive a knife and asked her to chop mushrooms and spinach.

Next a girl arrived with a bag of tomatoes and cheese and took over the kitchen table to prepare a dish called gibna-tamaatim. However, Mohsen, the leader of this band of runners arrived next with the same idea, but looked at her salad and announced “not a problem”, he would make another different gibna-taamatim. At this point he was introduced to me and he handed me a knife and I was given directions to chop tomatoes. As I got about half the tomatoes done he announced that I was doing a great job, so I was in charge of mashing the tomatoes into the cheese. As a result of his careful instructions, I am now an expert gibna-tamaatim sous-chef. Although we did have a problem with

"He made it!"

spice . . . he wanted his gibna-taamatim to be Egyptian, not “For tourists” and wanted it spicy, but was not familiar with my use of spice and it took our friend's assurance of “Art knows spicy . . do not worry!” before he allowed me to add cayenne to the chili in order to achieve the result he wanted.

In between this cooking lesson I started meeting the members and friends of the Maadi Runners. A tall fellow with a decidedly not Egyptian accent was from Germany, that red hair was not Egyptian but Australian, and so it went . . . . Thailand, France, Scotland, America, Brazil, Malaysia, Austria, Korea, and of course us Canadians, with a friendly pregnant Egyptian street cat thrown in for good measure.

So, although there were about 12 or 13 “real” Egyptians, it was really more of a international gathering of runners. Over half of the 40 people, happily gathered for breakfast after an early morning run, were from countries scattered across the globe.

Breakfast in the Fiord

Entering Milford Sound

I woke up when I felt a change in the rhythm of the ship, and pulling open the balcony curtains revealed jagged cliffs and tree covered mountains instead of the usual waves and whitecaps. We had arrived in New Zealand and were entering Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park. There had been some question about whether we would be able to witness this New Zealand attraction because navigating the 85,000 ton Noordam into the narrow passage is only possible in calm winds and gentle seas. It hadn’t actually been cancelled, but after crashing through 5 meter swells for two days many passengers were expressing doubts about being able to get into the fiord. The captain had obviously decided he could make it, and was sliding the ship into the fiord early this morning.

After gently slipping between cliffs and mountains we got to the end of the fiord, and the ship stopped and swung 180 degrees around to head back out. Instead of immediately starting out of the fiord, an announcement came over the PA system that we would sit here for 30 minutes to enable a passenger requiring medical attention to be transferred to shore.

Tea on the Balcony

A good time to take a breakfast break and so I went up to the Lido to battle the crowds to bring back coffee, tea and the ships delicious Dutch raisin rolls with raspberry jam. As the navigation crew skillfully held the ship in place at the end of Milford Sound, we enjoyed a breakfast on the balcony wrapped in plaid blankets surrounded by mountain scenery.

Leaving the Fiord

After we finished breakfast, the ship began the passage back out to sea, and the wind and swells had picked back up, so where we crept into the sound slowly, the ship quickly accelerated to 14 kts and we left the fiord under power, enabling the captain to better control the ship against the winds and waves. In short order we were back at sea and the ship was again rocking and rolling in southern ocean swells.

On the Terrace

Our Lecce Terrace

Although I normally enjoy writing a blog entry about the weather to create jealousy in my friends back in the still-frozen north, this trip I cannot do so with honesty yet. Apparently southern Italy has had an especially wet cool spring this year, so although I am enjoying the 10 to 15 temperatures (that is Celsius for my US friends), the locals are still dressed in big puffy winter coats and wrapped in scarfs for warmth rather than style.

The Church down the street

The morning after we arrived we were able to sit outside for breakfast, but it has been far too cold and damp to do so again until today. I am writing this blog entry out on the terrace in the sun with a glass of local red wine. I could probably do the task easier inside where the IPad would be easier to see, but the sunshine was calling and I refuse to move inside.

Through the Big Green Doors

One of the nicest features of this apartment is this terrace. It is a huge 30' by 20' space off the main living area and overlooks the hotel courtyard. There are lounge chairs and a nice table for four. Off in one corner is an area for hanging out clothes.

The Crowd Outside

Although this apartment is in almost the exact centre of the old city of Lecce, and outside the main door of the attached hotel, hundreds of pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles make it one of the busiest streets in the city, but sitting on my terrace the loudest noise I can hear is the amorous pigeon looking for attention.

As you wander the narrow streets of Lecce, you will see large 20' high arched doors. These large doors lead through passageways to courtyards open to the sky, but remote from the street. Our terrace and apartment is at the back of the courtyard, so we are pleasantly isolated from the hustle and bustle of the city even though we are located right in it's heart.

Oops, time to go refill that wine glass while I wait for that cloud to get out of the way.

A Day the Narrowboat Way

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Our Home for Two Weeks

Although in many ways living on a narrowboat for two weeks is similar to spending time in an RV, there are also many differences. To give you some idea of what it is like I will describe what a day could be like.

If we have a lot of locks to work our way through, we will usually sit and have breakfast together. The boat has an apartment sized fridge working on LPG, so we have cold milk for cereal, butter margarine and jam for toast, or eggs and delicious English bacon. As well, a nice cup of coffee is needed to start our day even on the boat. If we do not have locks to navigate, Bill likes to get underway right away, so he or I go check the engine, start it up and we push off. Whoever is piloting the boat, expects his or her breakfast (or at least a hot cup of coffee) is delivered out to the back of the ship where the tiller is. The other option is to get the boat under way and then eat in shifts so the pilot can take a break to have breakfast.

If we do not have locks to go through, the person piloting the boat is the only one who

Ok, I think the pub is just up here . .

actually has to do much, and they have to be constantly alert; a momentary laps to watch the cows in the field next to the canal can result in running ashore. The canal is often barely two boat widths wide, and in places two boats cannot pass without running into weeds, so it does not take much to be into the banks. It is not usually a problem however and the boats all have a long pole to push you back off the bank. You can zip along at the dizzying speed of 4 MPH at times but when you are passing other boats, even moored ones, or houses, you are expected to slow down to 2 MPH, so people walking on the paths beside the locks often pass you. Although the pilot stands and steers the boat with the tiller, and occasionally adjusts the speed, they have to be constantly alert, and it is actually quite tiring if you have to do it for a long time. Normally we take turns so no one has to be at the tiller all day. The people not piloting the boat can sit and watch the countryside slide by, or they can read, play games or even write

Watch out for Wildlife

blog posts on the computer . . .

A day with locks is completely different. Every time you need to go through a lock, someone has to get out of the boat to operate the locks. They take a special crank or windless to open and close the paddles which allow the water into the locks or drain it out. One person can operate the locks, but it is easier with two because you need someone on each side of the canal. If it is just one lock the person piloting the boat lets the lock workers off before the lock and picks them up after the lock. However if there are a series of locks in a row as often happens, the lock workers may as well stay out and walk to the next lock. On the days when we had to do 18 locks, you spent most of the day off the boat working the locks or walking to the next lock. If the locks are close together it is useful to have more than one person, because one person can go ahead to prepare the next lock. You spend a lot of time standing around waiting for the lock to fill or empty so you can open the gates to let the boat in.

 

Keep to the Canal

Sometime during the day we just decide to take a break and pull over and make a cup of tea. Bill has discovered that the blackberries are ripe along the canal and there are buckets of them. Sometimes when we stopped he would disappear to go pick blackberries and we had no idea where he was.

Usually around 3:00 we will find someplace to pull over to moor for the evening. Although there are designated “mooring” areas in towns, you can normally stop almost anywhere along the canal. There is a walking path beside the canal; these paths are called “tow-paths”, because before engines powered the boats horses towed the boats along the paths. These paths are right beside the boat, and all evening people out walking, biking or exercising their dogs go by usually with a cheerful greeting. They are used to finding someone new parked beside the canals close to where they walk. If you are in a town, you might find an interesting pub to try for dinner but in the countryside someone has to prepare an evening meal.

Tying up the Boat

Then, especially on days when we had a lot of locks, everyone goes to bed early, to be rocked to sleep by the gentle motion of the water. You sleep pretty well after a busy day on the canals.

Acting Childish

Time for Dinner

My 'little' sister Margaret and her husband Bill are our travel companions on this trip.  Although I now get to take advantage of the 'seniors' discount occasionally, and I do still sometimes refer to her as my 'little' sister, she is not that much younger than me, however this is a story of her acting a bit 'childish'.

After a huge English breakfast at the B & B, we were all feeling rather full, and although we skipped lunch, even by dinner time we were not really hungry. Stopping for an early supper at a nice looking pub, we decided to order off the lunch menu rather than waiting thirty minutes to get the evening menu. Margaret commented that she did not want a big meal, and wondered if she could order off the 'Child's Menu'. After all it should be the portion size, that is reduced as well as the price, and she was informed that of course, regardless of age she could order from the 'Child's' menu.

Some nice English Beer

Margaret and I both ordered the same thing, a delicious sounding steak burger. When our meals arrived fifteen minutes later, she was presented with a 'Child' sized burger and I got a regular one. However comparing them we could not see any difference. Both came on a full sized plate. Both were served with a pile of crispy 'English' fries, and a mound of slaw. They both looked the same size, and were served on a full size bun.

I then noticed the burger toppings, we both had melted cheese, but I had a mound of three kinds of shredded lettuce and a big red slice of tomato, where she had nothing.

Ah, now I understand . . .the English know their children . . . They know that children do don't want to eat their vegetables . . . so the 'Child's' burger did not include any.

And she still didn't finish it all, so we did not allow her to have dessert . . .