Knowmark Travel

Madrid 2003

Friday, 17 October 2003

Our first visit to España has officially begun! We got checked in this afternoon; our apartment (at Apartamentos Goya 75) is about what we expected – nothing special, but entirely functional. And, the price is exceptional! It is a lovely day – some clouds, some sun, very comfortable.

We did a short walkabout just to get oriented. This included shopping for a few necessities. In the process we discovered that we were only a block from the Mercado Torrijos. This is a huge indoor market (six days a week) where you can get just about any foodstuff that you want. Excellent for us, since we have a housekeeping apartment!

Foregoing our usual siesta, we went out later for our first taste of tapas at Bar la Ardosa. We each had some excellent sherry (amontillado) and our tapas were olives with mussels, plus some very good fried pork rind. Later, after some more exploring, we ate a smallish typical (cold) supper in our apartment – cheese, olives, bread, wine. Our first impression of the neighbourhood is very favourable.

Saturday, 18 October 2003

This morning found us having café (con leche for Susana; solo for Esteban) at Café Dosaka. Then, on to our local Día (a common small grocery chain) for a couple of things that we didn’t get yesterday. Breakfast in our apartment – yogurt, fruit, bread,

After breakfast (which was later than usual) and another trip to the market (see above), we set out to explore areas of Madrid that are a bit further afield. After locating a shop nearby where we can get the Financial Times (our favourite English-language newspaper when in Europe) we took a long, round-about walk down to Plaza de la Puerta del Sol (a number of today’s photos were taken on the way there). We estimate that we walked about 7 km! After all of that, we were very hungry and stopped into a cafetería (we forget the name) for lunch; in true Madrileño style, this was about 3:00pm. We enjoyed el menú del día – judías verdes for Steve, ensalada mixta con atún for Susan and chuletas de cordero for both of us. This included vino tinto – all for €16,80! This was our major meal today -only a light snack later in the apartment.

Back home for a few hours, including a siesta, then out again around 8:00 for this evening’s appetizer – un ración de boquerones fritos and some olives – washed down with some kind of dry sherry, not fino, but we don’t know exactly what it was. All the residents and shopkeepers in this neighbourhood (including the staff of our building) are forcing us in a most charming way to practice our Spanish, as no one seems to speak any English whatsoever!

Our day ended with a short walk (un paseo) around the neighbourhood with a quick stop into the supermarket section of El Corte Inglés department store, which was packed. If you ever wondered what people in Madrid do on Saturday night about 9:00pm, the answer is: they shop!

Sunday, 19 October 2003

It rained overnight, but currently (about 3pm) the weather is beautiful (a comfortable 1.5 today on the Knowmark Weather Scale). Since it is Sunday, very little is open, so we spent midday touring the Palacio Real, which was definitely worth the €7 entrance fee. Very interesting place. We used the Madrid Metro for the first time to travel west to the Palacio Real. The Metro system here is excellent and very reasonably priced (10 trips for €5,20).

Earlier this morning we had another Madrid first: chocolate y churros for breakfast. ¡Delicioso!

Currently we are sitting in EnjoyExpress, which is an internet point near the old center of Madrid. It´s a very nice setup – fast connection and a good pricing structure. They have dozens of terminals and very good service.

After finishing up at EnjoyExpress this afternoon, we started our stroll home – we did end up walking all the way back, approximately 5 km. On the way, we investigated other Internet point options and found one we had read about at www.madridman.com. It’s called CyberFutur@ and we can hook up our laptop directly there. In fact, we will be uploading this entry from there tomorrow!

Our basic walk was along Gran Vía which truly is just that. It is a major thoroughfare with many gracious buildings along the way. There were sun showers off and on, so we decided to duck into someplace for lunch. We’re not sure where we ended up, but we enjoyed their menú del día nonetheless; Susan had sopa de pescada followed by trucha a la navarra and Steve had paella mixta followed by pechuga de pollo relleno. Cafés solos followed and feeling quite stuffed, we were glad we had a longish walk home!

After our siesta, we wandered around our own neighbourhood for a while and finally settled on Taberna Ultreya for our evening snack – el vino de la semana (a fairly young Rioja) accompanied by pan y pimientos de piquillo. I’m delighted (this is Susan speaking!) that Suzanne recommended these because they were incredibly delicious and I will be looking for them again! Finally, back at home after yet another stroll around the neighbourhood (did we mention we really like it around here?) we had a light snack – un bocadillo con jamón serrano y queso semicurado.

While we weren’t sure that we would be eating as late as los madrileños (part of the rhythm of life here), some of you will be delighted to hear that we didn’t finish eating lunch until well after 4:00pm and that our little snack at home happened around 10:00pm!

Monday, 20 October 2003

Today began normally – across the street for wonderful café (which includes fresh mini-croissant, all for €1), then down the street to pick up the Financial Times for later reading. The big event for today was visiting the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Along with many other modern Spanish painters, Picasso has a major presence here. At the centre of the Picasso collection is the wonderful, haunting Guernica.

The small event for the day was Susan weighing in at a WW meeting in Madrid! It caused quite a stir as attempts were made to have a conversation about differences in the plan and meetings here and there … plus, she was weighed in kilos. However, translated there was a net loss of 1 pound so everyone was pleased.

Tuesday, 21 October 2003

Segovia

Wednesday, 22 October 2003

Another beautiful day in Madrid (2.5 on the Knowmark Weather Scale) – mostly sunny, with the mercury hitting the high teens. Today´s main activity was visiting El Prado. It is stunning! Tomorrow we are back to the same venue for the special exhibit – Manet en el Prado. We could see the Manet exhibition today (through various doors) and could have toured on the same ticket, but it would have been too much for our brains and our bodies!

We were pleasantly surprised to find that photographs are allowed in El Prado (no flash, of course). This is very unusual in our limited experience. So, we tried to take advantage of the opportunity to photograph some of the world’s great art (see photos below). Having to shoot in available light meant that many of our shots are not publishable (and some of the ones shown aren’t as sharp as they might be), but we were able to cull a few good examples from the dozens that we shot. Unfortunately, photographs are not allowed at the special Manet exhibit, so you will have to settle for our impressions (lame humour, that!) of those.

After a longish day at El Prado, we Metro’d back home and had a late (after 4pm) menú del día at Taberna Ultreya. Calamares (absolutely delicious) and jamón for Steve; pimientos de piquillo (which Susan loves) and jamón for Susan. This was our first actual meal here, and it was excellent. Later we went to CyberFutur@ to upload some photos, etc. Because of the long day and late lunch, we didn’t make any tapas stops tonight, settling for a very light snack in our apartment.

Thursday, 23 October 2003

Yet another lovely day in Madrid (2.5 on the Knowmark Weather Scale). It only missed a perfect 3.0 because it was chilly all day. After our normal morning routine, we walked down to Museo Nacional del Prado for the special Manet exhibit. El Prado is a 20-25 minute walk from where we are staying.

The Manet exhibition was certainly worthy of our undivided attention. There are 110 works, which include nearly all of his best known pieces. As mentioned in yesterday’s narrative, photographs were not allowed, so currently we are not able to provide any photographs. However, we will try to find on-line links to some of our favourites. If interested, check back in a few days. In any case, it is a truly wonderful exhibition (at least, to our untrained eyes). And, it’s on until 11 January 2004, so there’s still time!

We spent part of the day walking up to where our favourite Madrid webcam is located … it’s somewhere in the vicinity of Las Torres Blancas which is a very interesting looking building. (Were we close, Luis?) On the way up we stopped for lunch at Restaurante Cassandra where once again we enjoyed menú del día. Steve started with judías verdes con jamón while Susan had ensalada toledana con escarola, both of which were delicious. This was followed by callos madrileños for Susan and tortilla francesa con jamón de york for Steve. This was the first time Susan had tried tripe although she’s been meaning to for some time. And, it will probably be the last time! Turns out it’s not her favourite although the broth was delicious. Wonderful chocolate cake (sk) and fresh pineapple (sm) finished off a good lunch – so good we went back for tapas later on.

Friday, 24 October 2003

We Metro’d down to Plaza Callao and visited Enjoy Express for a short while, catching up on some internet stuff. Then, we strolled south to Plaza Mayor, which is nice. But nothing there compelled us to stay for too long. So, we set out to follow (more or less) a couple of prescribed walks that are laid out in an excellent pamphlet from Turespaña (they sent us a nice package of useful information before we left). This took us generally west from Plaza Mayor and then south to Puerta de Toledo, which was built by King José Bonaparte between 1817-1827 (see photo). This is a very lovely part of old Madrid that reminded us a little bit of Rome.

We then wandered easterly through the Embajadores district, heading generally in the direction of the Museo del Prado. However, we started to flag just before we got that far (and it was getting late for lunch) so we returned to the Salamanca district (where we live) and ate at the Cassandra for the second day running. Once again, an excellent menú del día: primeros were salad (Steve) and empanada (Susan); we both had bonita con tomate for segundos. Postre (dessert) was piña (pineapple) for both of us. By then, it was time for a short siesta (Steve) and some shopping (Susan).

Tomorrow is our last day in Madrid (we leave early Sunday morning), and we’re not sure what we’re going to do. We have arranged to have a drink with Luis de Avendano, who maintains the Madrid Skyline webcam. So, we are looking forward to meeting him. We may also visit the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, which has an excellent selection of Impressionist art (that we both like). However, our ticket is good through December 2004, so we may wait until our [planned] visit again in the spring!

The weather rated a very pleasant 2.0 today.

Saturday, 25 October 2003

Our last full day in Madrid and we have spent a very lazy Saturday so far (after going out for café and the Financial Times, of course). We had a light breakfast and then proceeded to wander the neighbourhood (which we really like) a bit, doing some last-minute shopping. Then, a last visit to CyberFutur@ to upload photos from Thursday and Friday and do some general internet catchup. Preliminary packing is underway :-}

We met Luis de Avendaño (of Madrid Skyline fame) for drinks this evening (our last!) at our favourite haunt – Taberna Ultreya. Luis was most interesting and friendly, and demonstrated wonderful Madrileño hospitality. We spent a very enjoyable early evening with Luis and look forward to the opportunity to visit him again next year.

The weather rating was a just tolerable 1.0 today.

We are leaving very early in the morning. ¡’dios, Madrid!

Segovia 2003

Tuesday, 21 October 2003

Based on weather forecasts (showers in Madrid; partly sunny in Segovia) we decided to make a day trip to Segovia. Unfortunately, the forecast was reversed – showers in Segovia; partly sunny in Madrid! That’s just the way it goes sometimes. On the Knowmark Weather Scale (0 – 3), Segovia only rated 0.5, while Madrid was 1.5, which is not unreasonable.

Nonetheless, we had a good time in Segovia. In particular, the ancient (nearly 2000 years old) Roman viaduct is spectacular. It was still being used to supply water to Segovia well into the 20th century, and is the main backup yet today. And, we had a wonderful lunch (menú del día, of course) there.

We had originally planned to take the train, but at the last minute changed our mind and bussed instead. The bus seemed to offer more flexibility (which it did) and we have now learned how to take busses in España! Round trip Madrid-Segovia-Madrid was €8,82. We were back in Madrid in time for some sunshine and our evening round of tapas. We made two tapas stops, the last one at Taberna Ultreya, which has quickly become our favourite haunt. We have our café there in the morning and it our last tapas stop of the night.

Maritimes 2003

📷 Photographs

Wednesday, 14 May 2003

We’re on our way this morning, bright and early, just a few minutes late (9:15am, ADT). This was just a long day driving, but we made it to St. Léonard, New Brunswick this evening in just under 11 hours – door to door (1058 km). Driving conditions were good – a mix of sun and cloud, with the odd sprinkle. Traffic was fairly light the entire way. We lunched (picnic) just east of Montreal at one of Quebec’s nice reststops.

We have a reservation at Daigle’s Motel, which is most suitable. We had a surprisingly good meal in the motel restaurant (fish of course!). Tomorrow we go to Charlottetown, which will be the first visit to PEI for Steve.

Thursday, 15 May 2003

Today dawned crisp and clear, which augers well for today’s drive to Charlottetown. Breakfast from Tim’s (common practice while driving in Canada!). Our drive to Charlottetown was uneventful – some sun, some cloud, some showers. And, it was colder than yesterday. It was a leisurely drive, and we spent about seven hours on the road, including lobster rolls for lunch at Fred’s Restaurant in Cap Pelé, New Brunswick. C’est bon! Both Susan and I loved the lobster, but disagreed about the cole slaw (Susan liked it, Steve did not).

Then, across Confederation Bridge (very cool!) and a short scenic drive on our way to Charlottetown. We checked in at Heritage Harbour House Inn, and are very pleased with our room/suite. Dinner tonight was a short walk away at the Lucy Maud Dining Room, which is a training restaurant for students of The Culinary Institute of Canada. It was excellent – we split an appetizer of Moroccan calamari with sweet tomato pickle … absolutely delicious! Steve’s main course was arctic char in citrus butter with julienned vegetables and basmati rice, while Susan had penne with roasted garlic and smokey, grilled tomatoes. Steve ordered dessert, which was an amazing combination of apples in a phyllo pastry cup accompanied by cinnamon ice cream, all with a thin drizzle of caramel sauce. Susan had two (or was it three?) bites. Not only was the food good, but our server Brechan was too. A very enjoyable meal.

Tomorrow, we plan to explore Charlottetown.

Friday, 16 May 2003

Today was lovely and so is Charlottetown. We spent the morning walking around – just exploring in general and also scouting out restaurants for dinner! One of our first stops was Province House which contains the provincial legislature as well as the former Executive Chamber where the Fathers of Confederation met in 1864. We also sat in the visitor’s gallery for part of Question Period which was fascinating for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that there is only one member of the opposition! Needless to say, there is a lot of pressure on him.

One of the things that interested us about Province House is that in preparation for our trip, we’ve been checking out a webcam which is in one of the upper windows and looks out on the corner of University and Grafton Streets (we are staying just three blocks west of that corner on Grafton).

After wandering around most of the morning (including dui cappuciani at Beanz) and early afternoon, we returned to the Heritage Harbour House Inn, where we had our usual lunch. In the late afternoon, we drove up to the eastern end of PEI National Park, which is near Stanhope. Dinner was at Ristorante Sirenella, with an Antipasto di Mare(shared) followed by Ravioli della Duchessa di Parma for Steve and Spaghetti Boscaiollo for Susan. Everything was great!

Saturday, 17 May 2003

Another gorgeous day in PEI – not a cloud to be seen; and it reached 21°. Today we explored the western part of the island/province at a leisurely pace. Leaving Charlottetown (heading west on highway 225) took us through rolling hills with potato fields to the left – potato fields to the right. Quite lovely. Leaving Queens County for Prince County (there are only three counties in PEI – can you guess what the third one is?), the scenery was somewhat boring for awhile. But, as we skirted Malpeque Bay, things picked up. We found ourselves at Green Park Provincial Park, which was quite an experience – we had an entire park to ourselves! The gate was open, but the park really wasn’t (some things don’t get going in PEI until June!). So, we found a hiking trail and got in a good walk in the woods, all the way to the water. No sound except the songbirds and the waves – quite amazing.

Then, we headed north toward North Cape, the furthest point from Charlottetown in the province. Along the way, we stopped near Jacques Cartier Provincial Park and had lunch (sitting on a small bluff on the beach, watching the fishing boats ply their trade). Beautiful! Then we finally made it to North Cape, where there is a lighthouse and an experimental windmill farm (see photo).

We had hoped to go all the way to West Point from North Cape on highway 14, but ran out of time (sometimes we are just too slow). So, we went just over half-way down the west coast (which is a lovely drive), turning east at Campbelton, eventually linking up with highway 2 (the ‘spine’ of PEI). But, we needed ingredients for tonight’s dinner and had determined that Arsenault’s Fish Mart in Wellington was the place to find them. However, there was no such establishment in Wellington, but we were told that we could find Arsenault’s in Abram-Village. Again, no joy, but eventually we were directed to a wharf just north of Maximeville, where we found what we were looking for – fresh scallops and salmon (at a very good price) for dinner at Chez Knowmark (i.e., we ate in!). Susan prepared a wonderful meal (with a little – very little – assistance from Steve).

Tomorrow we head east …

Sunday, 18 May 2003

Yet another beautiful PEI day – we’ve been really lucky with the weather here. We set out to look for beaches and lighthouses today. Our first stop was Lord Selkirk Provincial Park which wasn’t quite what we were looking for so we headed on over to Northhumberland Provincial Park where we had the gorgeous beach all to ourselves. In the distance, we were able to see the 11:30 am ferry heading out to Nova Scotia.

After a while we continued our journey towards the the southeastern tip of PEI at the Cape Bear Lighthouse where we had our lunch and just hung around for a while climbing on big red rocks. We would like to see all the extreme corners of the island while we’re here, but probably won’t make it at the rate (slow!) we’re going.

We had another wonderful meal (fish, of course! – salmon for Steve, scallops for Susan) tonight at Mexico Lindo, an authentic Mexican restaurant in Charlottetown.

Monday, 19 May 2003

Yet another lovely day on Spud Island. Our last full day here found us travelling northwest from Charlottetown to the western part of PEI National Park. There we embarked on a 6km hike that touched on farm fields, forest paths and seaside vistas – a wonderful collage. We both got a little sunburned!

We then moved eastward through the park and spent a little time at Stanhope Beach (see photos). It is quite stunning. By that time we had worked up an appetite and our plan (such at it is – we don’t do a lot of planning!) entailed finding The Dunes Studio Gallery and Cafe, which has a very good reputation. However, the cafe was not yet open (although the Gallery) was. But, their loss (of our business) was our gain, as we found the Lobster Claw (near Brackley) was open and had a great meal – the cold lobster platter (complete with cole slaw, potato salad and wonderful biscuits).

Tuesday, 20 May 2003

Today was mostly a travel day, as we left beautiful PEI for our next venue – a cottage at Bayport on Lower South Cove, just a few kilometres from Lunenburg.

It was a fairly long drive but the day was beautiful and we got a particularly good view of the bridge on our way off the island. For lunch we stopped at Shubenacadie Wildlife Park which was very nice. Apparently, the town of Shubenacadie is referred to locally as ‘Shubie’ (as in ‘Shubie Pizza’, ‘Shubie Deli’, etc.) We have since seen a tourism ad for it with the motto “Do Shubie!” which we thought was pretty good.

The Niedermayers’ cottage at Bayport is even nicer than it looked in the photos that we saw ahead of time. (Their Web site is linked to the top of this narrative.) Our friend Suzanne Woods (joining us for a few days at the cottage) arrived shortly after we did and brought supper with her. She had stopped in at an Italian deli and a specialty wine shop before leaving Halifax and then augmented those purchases with a stop at a fish market on her way down. Dinner was various cheeses and olives for antipasti followed by grilled salmon with pistacchio-basil butter and fresh asparagus. The evening was topped off with vin santo and limoncello accompanied by cantuccini (yummy Italian biscotti).

Wednesday, 21 May 2003

We spent today wandering through Lunenburg and Mahone Bay. Lunenburg was as lovely as ever; we got to see the Bluenose II which was in port and also found the Web cam that we’ve been checking out for the past few months.

The Lunenburg webcam is in the offices of Tradewinds realty. Margaret Murray, who was in the office at the time, was kind enough to let us take a photo of the camera itself as well as the view from the window that it normally shows. We’ve really enjoyed checking out the weather in the area this way, and it was fun to see the actual camera.

Since we have cooking facilities at the cottage, we have decided to eat lunch out. Today’s was at Mimi’s Ocean Grill in Mahone Bay. We started with a shared batch of yummy mussels followed by fish cakes (for Susan and Suzanne) and pan-fried halibut for Steve. Wonderful meals all around, particularly the halibut! Both towns have lovely waterfronts and are a pleasure to wander through.

We bought various fish at The Fish Store in Gold River for dinner tonight. Menu a là Susannas: rotini con pignoli, basilico e parmigiana; cioppino!; arugula salad; vin santo, limoncello and cantuccini.

Thursday, 22 May 2003

Thursday’s main project was to visit the Lordly House Museum in Chester – this was a genealogically-related visit as Suzanne is descended from the Lordly’s! Absolutely fascinating – we spent a couple of hours there. The house was built in 1806 and is particularly interesting because by the time it left the Lordly family in 1956, no (or very little) modernization had occurred. There are a great many old features such as hooks in the ceilings for chandeliers (the original kind with candles!), original door hinges, etc. We also found some family history information for Suzanne who is particularly interested in a possible Italian connection.

For lunch, we headed back to Lunenburg and ate at The Old Fish Factory (which is attached to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic) which had been recommended to Suzanne by someone in Peteroborough. All three meals were superb: salt cod cakes for Steve, fish chowder for Susan and the most amazing fried clams and chips for Suzanne.

On the way back, we decided to go past the cottage and visit Hirtle’s beach which isn’t too far away. It’s a fabulous, rocky beach … very lovely.

Once again, we bought fish at The Fish Store in Gold River for tonight’s dinner. Menu a là Susannas: mussels; mixed seafood grill (halibut, salmon, and scallops); tomato and basil salad; vin santo, limoncello, and cantuccini.

Friday, 23 May 2003

Suzanne left (for Peterborough) at the crack of dawn today. As it turns out, she drove straight through (about 18 hours!). We went in to Halifax and had lunch (at the Birmingham Bar and Grill) with Joan Moran, whom we had not seen for over six years! It was great. Then, some shopping at The Italian Gourmet (bocconcini, cantuccini, and some nice Italian bread – biove). Finally, back to our lovely cottage – dinner was leftovers from the previous two evenings, which was not too hard to take!

Saturday, 24 May 2003

A very lazy morning, particularly since the weather was only a 1 (on the Knowmark Weather Scale). After lunch, we ventured out for some hiking at Rissers Beach Provincial Park and the Green Bay Trail, which is absolutely stunning. The trail was along the shore, which varied from rocky to stretches of sandy beaches. The most amazing thing about the walk was our chance to observe eider ducks courting; the males are very beautiful and put on quite a show – puffing their necks out, throwing their heads back and making an amazing sound! We cut it a little short, since a light rain began to fall.

To get to Risser’s we took the cable ferry across the LaHave River; but on the way back we decided to drive up the west side of the river to Bridgewater to pick up some ingredients for dinner and the next few days’ lunches. On the way Steve spotted three blue herons at the same time (we’ve seen quite a few around here). Can you spot them in the photo?

Dinner tonight – Menu a là Susan: mussels (they are incredibly good and incredibly cheap); pan fried haddock – amazing!; salad (of course); the usual digestif. If you like fish and shellfish, it’s awfully easy to cook well down here!

Sunday, 25 May 2003

This is a travel today, as we leave our cottage on the South Shore and move north. It’s just as well that we don’t have any major touring planned, since the weather rating is 0 – very unusual for us. Our ‘weather luck’ is usually excellent.

We made our way to the Delft House in Centreville where we have a beautiful room. Our hosts – Dan and Lesley Richards are very pleasant and gave us some good pointers on eating and hiking in the area. We followed one of their suggestions for dinner and ate at Paddy and Rosie’s in Kentville. Pan-fried haddock for Steve and pan-fried scallops for Susan. Both renditions of the fish were superb – the accompaniments (rice and vegetables) less so.

Monday, 26 May 2003

Today we meandered around the Annapolis Valley region, just orienting ourselves and having a good look around. When we were here five years ago, the area impressed itself on us, which is one reason we returned. We took in Hall’s Harbour, Harbourville, Berwick, Kentville, Wolfville, Canning (to name a few). Stopped at the Blomidon Look-Off, which provides a spectacular view of both the Valley and the Minas Basin. We had a picnic lunch in Scots Bay Provincial Park – the tide was out, so after lunch we were able to walk way out on the ocean floor which is very rocky at this point. This area is actually a favourite with rockhounds and apparently it is possible to find amethysts on the beach here, although we weren’t lucky! And, since it’s early in the season, we had the entire area to ourselves.

We decided to go to Union Street Café in Berwick tonight for dinner. Pan-fried haddock again for Steve (quickly becoming his favourite), while Susan had a shrimp/scallop concoction with penne (except they ran out of penne, which was too bad). The haddock was indifferent (actually, quite disappointing), but the shrimp/scallop combination was a winner (despite the pasta switch) according to Susan. The mussels that we had for an appetizer were plump and fresh, although the preparation and presentation were not the best we’ve had. All-in-all, a somewhat disappointing meal. And the weather only rated a 1 today on the Knowmark Weather Scale.

Nonetheless, we had quite an enjoyable day!

Tuesday, 27 May 2003

Although today started out as a 1 on our weather scale, by late morning it was a 2.5, no rain, reasonable temperature and partly sunny. We took advantage of the improved weather by going for a hike in Blomidon Provincial Park which is mostly located along the top of Cape Blomidon.

We started out partway along the Jodrey Trail, avoiding the steepest climb! The trail is named after the late Roy Jodrey who donated 400 acres to the park. Much of the trail runs along the edge of the cliffs and there are several look-offs with views of the Minas Basin and surrounding countryside. At one of the look-offs we stopped for lunch – delicious sandwiches that we picked up at the Fireside Café in Canning. They came with fresh veggies and dip and we washed it all down with some red wine, as usual.

At the end of the Jodrey Trail, we decided to walk back south along the Woodland Trail, which was also very nice although somewhat different. Along the way, we saw dark red trilliums, some very pretty tiny white flowers with lavender stripes (they look familiar, but we’re not sure what they are), some Solomon seal, and many ferns that were just finishing the process of opening. We figure we walked about 7 km altogether – a very enjoyable hike.

Tonight drove into Wolfville for dinner at the Ivy Deck Garden Bistro. We each had a bowl of fish chowder and then split an order of pasta shells stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach, accompanied by a decent Valpolicella. We also ordered a couple of their yummy desserts although we couldn’t finish them all. It was a good meal.

Wednesday, 28 May 2003

We wandered far and wide today:

Evangeline Beach near Grand Pré
Hantsport – we had hoped to see them loading gypsum on boats here, but instead watched as they ripped out part of the old dock as part of a major waterfront renovation
lunch in Halifax (at il Mercato)
Peggy’s Cove

Finally, back to our place in Centreville. We went to the Hall’s Harbour Lobster Pound (which is only about 11 km from where we’re staying) for supper. While the dinner was disappointing, the lobster rolls we bought for our journey home proved to be an excellent investment!

Friday, 30 May 2003

We spent two full days on the journey home (nearly 1800 km; about 18 hours driving time). We had pretty good weather for the most part, other then a few showers on Thursday afternoon and some rain on Friday morning. By Friday afternoon, the day had turned bright and sunny. Thursday night found us in Montmagny, Quebec, where we had a very nice meal at an Italian restaurant – L’Olivier. The accommodations were nothing special (at Manoir des Érables).

We lunched on lobster sandwiches both days – at a Big Stop in Frederickton, NB on Thursday; and a very nice picnic area in eastern Ontario on Friday. The lobster sandwiches had been purchased in advance (see the report for Wednesday, 28 May).