Lessons from the Old and Wise

Here is a scene we came across in downtown Seattle a couple weekends ago. I honestly couldn't have been more delighted if Ed McMann had shown up on my doorstep and handed me a check for 20 million dollars.

These ladies were dressed up like Suffragettes, swaying back and forth singing these old standards, only they had rewritten all the lyrics to sing about what an incompetent tool George W was.

It was the funniest frickin' thing I've seen in years. I stood in front of them for like 10 minutes just beaming with pride. Right on, Old Ladies. Right on!!!

parlez-vous le français?

As expected, Montreal was way cool! We spent 3.5 days in a darling B&B that served us three course breakfasts every morning to the tune of Ham and Cheese Crepes in a Saffron Bechemel sauce, Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes, Baked Pepper and Ham Fritatta... ahhhh. It was soooo good. Though we were told that "everybody" is bilingual, it was all a bunch of big fat lies and we did struggle a bit getting around a completely French speaking city. We were both surprised at how much our wee bit of Spanish actually helped us, however.

The architecture was stunning. We spent much of our time in the town referred to as "Old Montreal" which is supposedly mirrored very much after Paris, France. I've never been to Paris, personally, so I can't really testify to the similarities, but it was definitely historic and breathtaking in parts. We visited an archeological dig in the Museum of Architecture and learned quite a bit about Montreal's history, which was actually pretty fascinating.

I would have to say that the highlight of our trip (aside from stuffing ourselves senseless with rich French food) was our visit to the Biodome which takes you on a journey through four different micro-climates and all of the flora, fauna, reptiles, fish and mammals that go along with it. It was sincerely amazing. We saw two different species of Penguins, an Anaconda snake the size of my house that eats entire lamb carcasses in one bite. I, of course, was compelled to sing the line from the 80's rap song, "Baby Got Back" - "my anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hon!" until it lashed out and tried to kill me so I ran like hell in the direction of the Baracuda fish and started belting Stevie Nicks to it and that calmed my nerves a bit.

Anyway... there's a lot to say but I don't feel like writing so let's just leave it at this. If ever given the opportunity, go visit Montreal! It's worth it! But brush up on your French first so that you're not reduced to wild, desperate gestures like we were.

Enjoy the photos.

Maples and Pucks

Drake and just returned from a week long adventure to eastern Canada, specifically Toronto and Montreal. Toronto is a nice city, though not my personal favorite. I felt that it was like any big city - kind of reminded me a bit of L.A. only without as much charm or interesting attractions. To be fair, I'm a city girl, but definitely more of a smaller city girl. There were two things of note that Toronto definitely had going for it, however: 1) I was told that statistically, it's the most ethnically diverse city in Northern America, even surpassing NYC. and it showed. Every where you went, there was a literal hodge podge of ethnicities, cultures and languages spoken. I thought it was very cool! 2) Toronto truly is a beautiful city, with it's down town financial district within a half mile of the water front and port to Lake Ontario. Drake and I took a short ferry ride out to Toronto Island one day for some marathon Geocaching, and it was a breathtaking view. I'm pretty sure this was my first time seeing one of the Great Lakes, so that was kind of exciting as well. It was crazy expensive there. $6.00 beers, $2.00 for a game of BILLIARDS! and the exchange rate is now $.94 to the dollar! Unbelievable.

Bottom photo is taken from the ferry ride on Lake Ontario.

Middle photo: The Red Shoes strike a pose.

Top photo: A cool looking cathedral I came across while strolling through "Little Itlay".

Overall, a good time was had in Toronto. Those Canadians, they do it pretty okay!