A little bit of Thai on

I have this obsession with eating food from other cultures. I want to try everything… Curried goat and Blood sausage and Nigerian meals and that weirs fruit I see in the Market every so often. Thai isn’t as foreign to me, but I still love it. With a Capitol L.

We found an ornate restaurant with fancy tables and reasonable prices and to beat it all- good service. Those are adam’s spring rolls. We also had an appetiser of ‘aromatic crispy duck’. Why yes please!

Thai tea. It was cold, orange and extremely sweet.

Jen and Adam lovin’ up on their meals.

Paris with mama

This post has been a long time coming, and I’m not exactly sure why, but here it is, finally.

In March of this year I had the chance to meet up with a group of Chathamites in Paris – one very important part of this group being my dear Maman.

I haven’t been in France with Mommykins since I was 11, but while we were there she fell in love with the city and dreamed with my papa (Chris) about buying a vacation apartment. She seems to have passed this wistfulness on to me, so I was pleased as punch to show her around what i affectionately refer to as “my city” when we met up.

We took a slew of photos, but I’ve included a quick synopsis of the trip below. Click on the photos for a closer look.

I TOLD you the Red Coats were coming! JMSS takes over Paris. (A pick-pocket’s dream, btw.)

Mom at the Place de Vendome

I love lamp. (Place de Vendome)

Mom on the Right Bank of the Seine – Notre Dame in the backdrop

Cheese right! Mom experiences my beloved Ile St Louis, as well as savoury crepes. Delicieuse! (Crepe avec du fromage des chevres @ Le Sarrasin et le Froment Creperie (Rue St. Louis en L’Isle))

At Notre Dame

Finally I’ve found you, you evasive English bookstore!

Here we stand before Saint-Sulpice Church Paris; had to hit this spot for the DaVinci Code fans within.

In St. Germain de Pres, Mom unfortunately learns the difference between North American lemonade and European lemonade — the hard way.

A door to the past, in the Marais.

Another item crossed off her bucket list – Steak Tartar

‘King yeah – Macarons!

A slightly different perspective on Sacre Coeur, where I met up with the big red coat group after a day on my own.

Found it at last! The remaining vineyard in Paris, on the side of Montmartre

I used to babysit Lauren, so it was neat to spend some time with her and her Maman, Linda; enjoying a snack at La Maison Rose, Montmartre

Met back up with the Canadians and headed to dinner for our last night in Paris; Finally found the restaurant on the Champs Elysee

A farewell boat cruise down the Seine. Do it when you’re there – it’s breathtaking!

Rugby

A friend of mine celebrated his birthday this past weekend and to celebrate we went to the Sevens tournament at twickenham stadium.

(an American supporter fully engaged in the Spain vs United States match)

It was a day full of mini rugby matches played by a variety of countries including my two homelands, France and Canada. Canada lost most of their matches but we won against Scotland!

It was my flatmates first rugby experience: she loved it!

(outside the stadium waiting for the rest of the group)

The theme of the day was beachwear but people seemed to approach that with creativity. There were a lot of bananas present. Below: my favourite group consisted of these pilots that stood to salut every British Airways flight that passed on route to Heathrow. They booed Quantus flights.

Sami and Rhys- the birthday boy.

Right before the canada scotland game, this landed on my head. I don’t know where it came from.

Wild horses wouldn’t drag me away

And they could, you know; kirk has horses but they’re not wild. Anyway, one of my dear friends is marrying his horse-loving fiancee while I am back in Canada, and I get to go to the whole shindig!
They sent me this creative invite but because I’m in England, I’m giving a visual RSVP instead.

And I found a plaid dress to wear… Just need to dig my cowboy boots out of Christy’s closet.

- insert cowboyism here-

G’day!

Regent’s Park

A few weeks ago my flatmate and i took advantage of a sunny afternoon to chill out at Rgent’s Park.

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Little Venice

There’s a place not so far away, right in London in fact, where you can’t hear the sound of traffic or crowds of people or even sirens. Ducks, yes.

It’s Little Venice, y’all.

We found our way into a little canal-side restaurant, where we watched the ducks, canal boats slowly drifted past, and Scotland tried root beer for the first time. He likened it to a product his dentist uses during treatment; I wish I had a video of his initial reaction.

Scotland trying to decide what to drink, prior to Canadian intervention.

Waiting for my ginger beer

Our view of the canal from the restaurant.

If ever you find yourself in Little Venice, you too may get as exuberant as this young man.

Veg

Canadian expat is inspired to order a veg box. Delivered weekly with differing vegetables- organic.

And delightful surprise… A fig tree growing in the courtyard.

Milano: joura deuto

Spending time in another country has made it very clear that my lack of linguistic knowledge is a detriment to basic communication.

French and Italian are both romance languages, so I have been able to guess at words (case in point, the title of this post. Those if you with knowledge of Italian, am I close at all?) but it’s not all the same and the Italian waiters keep telling me I am speaking spanish to them (where is THAT coming from?!?).

Here are some words I have learned so far:

Acqua= water
Bonno= good
Grazia= thank you
Bonjourno= hello
Ciao = goodbye; possibly hello too
Arrivaderchi = goodbye
Prego= you are welcome; go ahead; etc.

That’s all oh, the most important one… Toilettes!!!

Rach and I are off to the naviglio area along milan’s canals in the hopes that we will find some good pasta, gelato, and maybe a better Milanese experience.

On that note, arrivaderchi!

First day in Milan

We arrived yesterday in Milan. That’s Rachel standing outside the stazione centrale near our hotel. Yesterday was beautiful; it was nearly 28 degrees and barely humid, with gorgeous sunshine. Perfect for the rooftop garden found throughout the city.

After settling in to our hotel, we found a nearby restaurant with a lunch special that involved an awful lot of fish. After, we took the metro to the duomo, which is amazing, and wandered around the city a bit. We managed to hit ‘the golden triangle’ where all the designers can be found, then meandered through a park on our way back towards the hotel.

This is me in front of a fancy building on via venizio in the fashion district.

A friend had recommended a phenom called ‘aperativo’ which occurs in the afternoon into the evening post dinner and could be considered an Italian version of happy hour. With the purchase of a cocktails you get free buffet food. Rach and I are going to try it tonight as last nights dinner was a flop thanks to the subpar meals provided by the restaurant next door. The spaghetti carbonera tasted suspiciously of liptons sidekicks, and the pizza was just ok. This is Italy people; this is not acceptable!!!

I was absolutely shattered by the end of our meal, having woken up at four am in order to catch the plane. I crashed shortly thereafter and it was only the loudest thunder ever that disturbed my sleep.

Now we are entering day two. Breakfast was okay and the rain that was forecasted for today doesn’t seem to have shown it’s face thus far. We might venture out of the city to visit a friend of Rachel or if that doesn’t happen, check out a few different areas in Milan.

Ciao!

A little maple love?

Beside the fact that my new hair colour is called ‘maple syrup’ and that I am counting down until my visit home in June, I seem to be noticing Canadian-inspiration all around me.

I thought mom would like to see the chestnut trees here; the dangly bits are called ‘conkers’.