Author: Dan Dickinson

Back to the mountains, for the first time

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Saturday

We flew Porter out of Pearson for first time, on one of their jets they use to fly to western North America. We found a Vino Volo near what we thought was our gate, but didn’t have time for more than a quick glass of wine. We began walking to our gate, realized it was very far away, and hustled a bit. We got to our gate just in time to find out our flight was delayed, so we walked back to the Vino Volo so we could eat. A flatbread later, we were ready for our flight.

The flight itself was pretty good: economy, but roomy and no middle seats, and free wi-fi. We landed in Calgary and picked up our car — upgrade to a VW Tiguan! — and drove to the Kensington neighbourhood, where our friend Kirsten had kindly let us use her condo. We got in, relaxed a bit, and enjoyed a view of the sunset over the hills west of the city.

We walked to Niko’s Bistro for dinner, had a surprise run-in with our recently-transplanted-to-Calgary Stevie & Sarah, and sat down at our table. We had:

  • Starters
    • Caprese salad w/ organic spring mix, bocconcini cheese, tomatoes, XV olive oil, balsamic reduction
    • Calamari all’inferno: squid, spicy tomato sauce, lemon
  • Mains
    • Risotto con fungi w/ mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, truffle oil
    • Agnello Brasato w/ lamb shank, braised vegetables, XV olive oil, tomatoes, served with parmesan risotto
    • bottle of Collazzi Liberta Toscana IGT

Shortly after our apps, Lindsay started feeling gross, so the staff very kindly offered to pack our mains to go, and corked our remaining wine. I ate my lamb at home (the risotto was excellent) while Lindsay slept it off.

Sunday

We obviously rested as much as possible the next morning; I went to COBS for breakfast and The Roasterie for coffee. We were packing to leave for the mountains shortly, so with that done Lindsay reheated her risotto while I grabbed a (MUCH too large) burger from Flipp’n Burgers.

After a quick stop to see Stevie & Sarah’s new place (and give some love to Ivy and Pluto) we drove west to Banff. I always love driving into the mountains; Lindsay was a little underwhelmed given all the hyping I/we’d done.

We checked in at the Rimrock resort hotel, threw our stuff in our room, and I registered for my two-day conference. We turned right back around the drove down the hill to the town of Banff, where we met up with Stevie & Sarah again. They were psyched about fondue at The Grizzly House, which was quite an adventure. Vegetables boiled in buttery broth, a bunch of meat, and chocolate fondue for dinner. We left full, but also smelling vaguely of smoke, and drove back up the hill to the hotel.

Monday

Not much to report: a full day of conference-going for me, a day of work for Lindsay. But when the conference is in a locale like this, it’s pretty easy to take:

I skipped the conference dinner, and had a drink at the bar with Lindsay instead.

We had dinner at Primrose; I’d wanted to try Eden because of their wine list, but it was closed. Lindsay still wasn’t feeling great, so we kept the order tight:

  • Warm Focaccia w/ Arbequina Olive Oil, Aged Balsamic
  • Salt Baked Beets w/ Whipped Ricotta, Salted Pistachio, Focaccia, Mint
  • Chocolate Cremeux of Dark Chocolate, Malt Ganache, Almond Crunch

Tuesday

Day two of the conference, so once again not much to report. We did drive down into the town centre for lunch. On a recommendation we tried Block, but it was full and had a long wait list. We instead went to PARK distillery. Our server was nice; the table next to us featured a kid absolutely blasting French cartoons on a parent’s phone. Food was pretty good too:

  • corn bread w/ maple whisky butter
  • drunken shrimp w/ park alpine dry gin, tomato, herbs, spices
  • rotisserie chicken caesar salad w/ wood-fired pulled chicken, grana padano, bacon, focaccia croutons
  • rotisserie chicken s’wich w/ pulled rotisserie chicken, park maple rye bbq sauce, cheddar, slaw, bacon, ranch, brioche bun, hickory fries + smoked tomato chili vodka soup

It was time to check in at our second Banff hotel: the Fairmont Banff Springs. We got another upgrade — a suite in the Gatehouse — but our room wasn’t quite ready, so we had excellent cocktails in the famous Rundle Bar.

Mid-cocktail we got a text that our room was ready, so we walked over, dumped our bags, chilled for a while, and admired yet another classic view.

Our dinner that night was a big one: 1888 Chop House, the hotel’s steakhouse. Our host was from New Brunswick, which was a nice surprise, and also a deviation from what we’d observed so far in Banff — that every service person there was from Australia or New Zealand (or possibly the UK). Our server’s Aussie accent quickly corrected the deviation.

It was an epic meal for sure:

  • Cocktails
    • glasses of Piper Heidsieck NV Champagne
  • Appetizers
    • 1888 House Bread w/ everything seasoning, nasturtium butter
    • Local Gems w/marcona almonds, toasted grains, radicchio, citrus
    • Hokkaido Scallop Crudo w/ herb paste, daikon, grapefruit, cucumber, rice milk
    • glasses of Cedarcreek 2022 Pinot Gris from the Okanagan and 2021 Chablis 1er Cru Domaine Laroche “Les Vaudevey” from Burgundy
  • Mains
    • 12oz Brant Lake Wagyu Beef New York Striploin
    • 6 oz A5 Gunma Joshu Japanese Wagyu Striploin + onion soubise, caramelized onion, fingerling potatoes, and Périgord sauce
    • heirloom carrots w/ carrot top kimchi, vadouvan, dukkah, labneh
    • a bottle of Andrew Will, “Sorella” 2007, Walla Walla Valley
  • Dessert
    • textures of chocolate w/ coffee ganache, caramel, buckwheat, black sesame

Luckily the walk home was a short one, ’cause we conked right out.

Wednesday

Unfortunately it was hard to stay conked — the room mechanicals made weird noises all night, and at 7am the pipes/ducts/whatever starting rattling and whining like a jet engine was starting in the room. Not good since we were trying to rest up for a day of hiking. We got up, and noticed that the overnight rain for us had been snow higher up, so the highest mountain peaks were covered in snow. You can see it on the mountains in the distance below.

Lindsay had booked us on a bus that would us to both Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. I was very excited — I hadn’t seen either lake since 2006, and had spent only minutes at Lake Louise. We had breakfast in Vermillion Room, got ready, and drove up the highway. Now Lindsay was impressed — bigger mountains, amazing views, and snowcaps just make mountains look more mountain-like. We parked at the foot of Lake Louise ski resort, got on our bus, and headed over to Lake Louise first. We spent an hour there, avoiding tourists, but enjoying the views as we walked around the lake shore.

Pretty quickly we were back on the bus and off to Moraine Lake. It really blew Lindsay away, and really took me back. 18 years later it was just as breathtaking.

Because we only had a couple hours we only did the lakeshore trail. It was slushy, but manageable, even though we didn’t have proper gear. We could walk it all the way to to the end where we didn’t see another hiker for a good 20 minutes.

Back at the lodge, we did the Rockpile hike just before the bus came back, for the “$20 view”, so named because it used to be the vista pictured on the old Canadian $20 bill. It was getting quite cold now, but it was so worth it. On our way down a tourist couple asked if it was safe to hike to the top without bear spray; I assured them the only wildlife they’d encounter would be hungry hikers.

A little pooped, we were bussed back across the valley, and then drove home along the Bow Valley Parkway. Our only wildlife sighting was a small herd of deer, but the drive was so gorgeous we didn’t care. We arrived back at the hotel, dropped the car, turned on our heels, and went right to dinner at The Waldhaus pub down the hill from the hotel. It was exactly what we needed: a quiet, relaxed environment. Had it been lighter out, it would have been a gorgeous view of the Bow River. We treated our bellies instead of our eyes:

  • little gems w/ basil cashew dressing, cherry tomato, cucumber, whipped ricotta, crispy grains
  • soft pretzel w/ Bavarian mustard, beer cheese dip, whipped butter
  • pork schnitzel w/ potato salad, sauerkraut, red currant, fresh lemon
  • alpine cheese fondue: Gruyère, Emmenthal, appenzeller, white wine, confit garlic, kirsch, nutmeg, apple, gherkins, baguette
  • beers, primarily Hacker-Pschorr Dunkelweizen

After all that, we somehow pushed our tired legs back up the 93 stairs to the hotel, and collapsed in our bed.

Thursday

It was time to leave Banff, so we ordered room service, packed, drove to the town centre, parked, and went for a walk along the Bow River. Not all the way to the falls, just to a bench with a great view.

After a few panicked moments when Lindsay realized she’d forgotten her phone on the bench (we ran back; it was still there) we were back in town and decided to re-try our luck with Block. Luckily, we got right in. Nice vibe in there.

  • Food:
    • duck drumettes w/ salt & pepper
    • chopping block salad: mixed greens, tomato, avocado, daikon radish, chorizo salami, asiago cheese, currants, candied pecans, orange balsamic dressing
    • steamed bao char siu bbq pork belly buns w/ house kimchi, Japanese mayo, scallions
  • Drinks
    • Le Paradou Viognier
    • Unbeetable cocktail: Wildlife Gin, Fresh Beet Juice, Lemon, Egg White, Simple Syrup (so good, Lindsay got it twice)
    • Zero-proof balsamic gin & tonic: Seedlip Garden 108, Spiced Orange & Balsamic NA Gin, Wildlife Tonic Syrup, Soda (somebody had to drive)
  • Dessert
    • matcha cheese cake w/ ginger chocolate sauce

We stopped for cappuccinos at Mountain Folk Coffee Co, which were pretty meh despite being $8 a pop. Grumble. We drove off toward Calgary, and saw a high speed chase (!) on the highway on an otherwise uneventful drive back to Kirsten’s condo. We ordered some pizzas from Pulcinella and drank a bottle of her wine.

Friday

A delicious, lazy morning that didn’t get off to much of a start until I went to COBS for breakfast and Aggudo for coffee. We made a lunch plan and later walked, crossing the Bow once more, to lunch at Bridgette Bar. It was largely positive: I really liked the vibe and decor, the wine list was excellent with lots of obscure stuff, and the food was extremely tasty. My only complaint was that our server promised to “course out” our five snacks/starters, but instead it all showed up at once, swamping the table and overwhelming us.

  • Food:
    • garlic bread w/ cheese curd
    • eggplant fries w/ green harissa yogurt
    • lamb sausage w/ cilantro vinaigrette, labneh, fried egg
    • burrata cheese w/ vincotto, pistachio, pickled grape, basil oil
    • spiced beet salad w/ whipped feta, pickled shallots, herbs, pistachio
  • Drinks by the glass:
    • André & Michel Quenard Abymes Mineral 1248 Jacquère 2023
    • Ameztoi Stimatum Hondarrabi Beltza Getariako 2022
    • Château Tours des Genets Camelia Grenache & Syrah 2021
    • Vini Be Good Hip Hop Chenin Blanc 2023
    • Weninger Ròzsa Petsovits Pinot Noir/Syrah/Zweigelt 2022
    • white peach Negroni (gin, peach liqueur, blanc aperitif, Campari)

We walked back and met Stevie & Sarah & Ivy for a park hang before walking down to Pages Books. There we spent some time (and money) and petted the resident cat, Kilgore Trout.

While Lindsay finished up there I shopped down the street at Vine Styles, a truly excellent wine shop. I bought bottles to replenish Kirsten’s supply, and to go with the fancy-ass peanut butter sandwiches we got from PB and J YYC. I grabbed an exceptional bottle of Cru Beaujolais too.

Saturday

A purely mechanical morning: we woke up, showered, packed, cleaned up, and drove to the airport. Thanks Alberta; you served up a great first experience for Lindsay and a wonderful return visit for me, especially in the Rockies. I forgot how much I missed them; luckily Lindsay was asking to go back before we’d even left Banff. Until next time!

“I am not going to let myself be beaten to the ground by the dread of what may happen.”

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Last weekend we strolled up to Crow’s to see our third Ibsen play in the last 18 months: Rosmersholm. Like A Doll’s House and Hedda Gabler, the set was stark (though I don’t know if any set will ever be as stark as Doll’s House), the dialogue brilliant, and the messages timeless. It was all the more remarkable because one of the actors was filling in at the absolute last minute — stepping in earlier that day for the primary actor who’d had a death in the family.

The cornfield

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Last week, when I was sitting down to dinner, I read the news about James Earl Jones passing. An absolute icon from my childhood on, even though it was years before I knew anything other than his voice. Darth Vader is truly one of the all-time great movie characters, and embodied by Jones’ voice as much as — perhaps even more than — David Prowse’s physical acting.

Only when I thought back through his filmography, though, did I realize how many more of James’ roles were meaningful to me over the years: The Hunt For Red October (and the other Jack Ryan films), Field of Dreams, Dr. Strangelove, even Conan. Plus a small but very hilarious part in Sneakers. There were also dozens of noteworthy film performances before I was old enough to know them, not to mention Broadway acclaim. And I was too old to have childhood memories of The Lion King, but chalk up another iconic voice performance.

RIP.

.:.

Spoilers, obviously:

Wine-related news (as if I have any other kind)

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Earlier this week I tried The Rosebud for the first time. The food was quite good (deli plate; beets w/ grapes, hazelnuts, and marjoram vinaigrette; confit duck leg + seared duck breast w/ sour cherry, olive, and pistachio pistou) but the real standout was the wine selection. Lots of stuff by the glass I’m just not accustomed to seeing, like Picpoul, Pinot Nero (done as a white wine; so little skin contact it practically looked like water), and Semillon. I finished with a bit of Chinon for the duck.

At the very end of the week, I received some welcome news. As I’ve written about here before, I spent much of the spring and summer studying for the WSET level 3 award in wines. I wrote the exam on July 4th, and learned later that it takes ten weeks to get your results. At ten weeks + one day, I received an email telling me I’d passed the theory portion with distinction, and the tasting portion with merit (so, a little less strong than the theory). I was frankly much more worried about the theory bit, partly because that’s what most people fail, and partly because in my practice exams leading up to the final exam I’d not done very well. But some excellent coaching by the course instructor got me across the goal line.

I took a special bottle out of the cellar to celebrate. We had it last night with Lindsay’s little brother, after dinner at Avling and some Ed’s ice cream on the way home. Felt fitting for us three to celebrate with an award-winning Nova Scotian sparkling.

Little friend, big pancakes

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Not all weekends feel rejuvenating — especially as summer is now most definitely turning into autumn — but this one did.

On Friday Laura came over after work. No occasion other than a catchup, and an excuse to pull some fun bottles out of the cellar. We started with a 2015 Bethel Heights Chardonnay from the Willamette Valley, which was underwhelming. I’ll say it before and I’ll say it again: I’ve been spoiled by Ontario chard. Anyway, then we ordered some pizza and did a side-by-side of two 2014 Syrahs: the 2014 Le Vieux Pin Équinoxe from the Okanagan, and the 2014 Esk Valley Winemaker’s Reserve from the Gimblett Gravels in Hawke’s Bay. It was the eldest vintage of my remaining Equinoxe Syrahs vs. a formative wine for Laura. I preferred the Le Vieux Pin; she preferred the Esk Valley. Lindsay kept shtum. Now that the WSET trauma has worn off (I still don’t know the exam result, by the way) it feels good to explore wine for enjoyment more than education.

Yesterday, feeling slightly worse for wear, I met up with my old friend Jenna at Ladybug. Apart from a brief hello at a random Fran’s diner, I hadn’t seen her in eight years — she was just always closer to Nellie than to me, and divorces have a way of cleaving friend groups. In any case, an Instagram comment led to us making a brunch plan, and it was lovely. I mean, the food was good and everything (my pancakes were covered in so much whipped cream I scaled the dish as much as ate it) but the real treat was just reconnecting with her. Hearing about her and the changes in her life, and seeing how well she’s doing. She was always one of the warmest and most genuinely charming people I’d ever met, and that hadn’t changed. We said our goodbyes for now, with hopes for another meetup soon. I got kind of emotional on my walk home — a little sad, but mostly grateful.

Some great spots. (See what I did there?)

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If I’m heading downtown for work, I try to pack in multiple work/colleague visits to make it worthwhile. Such was the case this past Thursday when I was able to reconnect with a former financial challenger compatriot at the Spadina outpost of Neo, stop by the newest location of Fahrenheit (so yes, I was well-caffeinated), work for a bit on the patio at Gusto 501, and finally try out Ladybug with Dan B once the work laptop was shut for the day. I even squeezed in a quick stop at Chez Nous on the way home. (So yes, I was well-wined too.)

I liked Ladybug a lot. Nice patio (the weather is finally good for that), fun & interesting wine selection, tasty food (Dan and I split olives, shrimp, meatballs, and the short rib), and lovely staff. I’m keen to sit inside next time; I remember liking the decor from back when it was Odin.

I would have also accepted Dunder-Mooflin

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Earlier this week I visited Prince Edward Island for the first time in (*checks with his mother*) about 45 years. I don’t know why that is — we lived an hour away, but never went. I guess it was just more of the same thing we grew up with in NS, except with a ferry ride (or, after 1997, an expensive bridge toll) thrown in.

To be more specific, I really only spent time in Charlottetown, for a couple of days of work. We did manage to sneak in a tasty meal and cocktails at Slaymaker & Nichols, excellent coffee from Receiver, a lobster roll from Salt & Sol, and a cruise around the harbour. We were lucky; the weather was 98% beautiful (no sign of the after-affects of a recent hurricane off the coast), the water was calm, and we even spotted a few seals. It felt good to be back on salt water.

After the harbour cruise, we all made an obligatory visit to Cows. A thoughtful co-worker even bought us all t-shirts from Cows; a few days later, the security personnel at the Moncton airport would be big fans of my Scoop Dogg shirt.

Yes, Moncton. After the meetings in Charlottetown ended I hitched a ride with a colleague back across the bridge (my first time traversing it, obviously) to Moncton where I worked for a few days. Not much of note in that short visit, except that I finally visited CoPain, an artisanal bakery. I’ll be back, on the strength of that croissant alone.

Pastrami-adjacent

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We spent last weekend in Stratford. We packed a lot into 48 hours.

Friday

After a long drive out of Toronto (is there any other kind?) and a brutal rainstorm, we arrived in Stratford and checked into the Bradshaw Lofts before checking out the wine bar downstairs, Brch & Wyn. We had:

  • stone fruit w/ fresh mozzarella, walnuts, basil, peach romesco
  • chicken nuggies w/ brch dry rub, spicy mayo, lime
  • massaman flatbread w/ beer coconut curry, cashew, chili crisp, pickled chili
    • some very tasty & well-curated wines: I remember there being a local orange wine, a Gewurz, a Sonoma Chard, and two local Cab Francs

We threw it all down our necks quickly; we had a play to get to — Cymbeline (link). My haiku review:

A twist on Shakespeare
Casts Cymbeline as queen; pretty
good but kinda long

By long I mean: 90 minutes into the play the lights went dark, which we figured was a shockingly abrupt end, but it turns out ’twas only the intermission and there was another 90 minutes to go. We made it, though. We all made it.

Saturday

Luckily Brch & Wyn is also an excellent coffee shop, so I grabbed us caffeine and breakfast downstairs. We watched some Netflix in the room (I’ve been forced to watch Love Island once again, so that betting may ensue), we made an unscheduled run to Wal-Mart (don’t ask), and then went out in search of lunch. After bumping into a few non-starters — NB: Stratford runs on a schedule, and the 2pm plays drive a lot of people into a noon lunch — we braved the lineup at Features, a Stratford institution. We banked on their ability to turn tables quickly, and it paid off: we had a table right away, with plenty of time to make it to our next play. I even had time to stop at The Ashborne Café for an espresso.

Our second play was the Ibsen classic Hedda Gabler (link). My haiku review:

Stellar work all ’round
“People don’t do such things!” No,
But our Hedda does

After a quick walk home and more bingeing, we were off to dinner at Lovage. It really feels like a home away from home now (to wit: earlier in the day, while walking around town, we were recognized by our favourite host Abra!) and on this occasion it didn’t disappoint. Here’s what we had:

  • Lobster salad
  • Marinated peppers
    • glasses of Ontario orange and Portuguese white
  • Fried squid w/ shishito peppers
    • glasses of Chablis and Sicilian white
  • Short rib special (described to us as “pastrami-adjacent”) w/ white kimchi
    • a half-bottle of Tondonia Rioja
  • Crème-frâiche ice cream + blueberry sorbet
    • glasses of Port and Madeira

Sunday

Once again: caffeine and breakfast from Brch + Wyn woke us up. We had to check out by 11, but our brunch reso wasn’t until 12, so we killed time sitting in a park on a summer day. Just as we were leaving I saw a hawk fly full-speed into the top of a tree, followed by the screaming chatter of a squirrel(?), then the hawk falling out of the bottom of the tree and flying away. Couldn’t tell if it was a successful hunting expedition or not.

As noon approached we walked to Revival House for brunch. Just as we were about to be seated Lindsay realized I didn’t have my umbrella. It’s the best umbrella I’ve ever owned so I didn’t want to lose it. We walked back to the park, relieved to find it there, and returned to Revival. It’s a converted church (with some stunning gardens out front) that feels quite cozy inside. We had cocktails, a fried chicken sandwich (me) and eggs bennie (Lindsay), followed by an almond coffee cake and some coffees, and then were off to the Studio theatre, just kitty-corner from the restaurant, for our final play.

The Edward Albee play The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia? (link) has been much celebrated since it was first performed in 2002. All four members of the cast had been in Cymbeline Friday night, and one —  Rick Roberts — was someone I watched many years ago on Traders. My haiku review:

Dark, hard, weird viewing
This animal collective
Comes wholly undone

It was a good thing we’d gone back to get that umbrella, because our walk home was through pouring rain. As was our drive home, pretty much the whole way. And that wasn’t the half of it: we knew there’s been weather warnings all over southern Ontario the past few days (including a tornado that touched down in nearby Ayr) but driving home and seeing cars submerged on flooded highways really brought it home. (Also, different kind of danger, but we also saw Batman.)

So, a successful 48 hours overall. Not sure we’ll return to Stratford next year for plays (we might go just to eat at Lovage, and maybe try cocktails at Elizabeth which we missed this time) but I feel like we did it right this time.

7×7

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My 49th birthday was earlier this week. No big celebrations; we were still recovering from the cold we both caught at the tail end of our India trip. I skipped some work things earlier in the week, and yesterday was the first day I even started to feel normal.

Today was nicer. I went for a walk, bought a book at Queen Books, bought us lunch and a Deep ‘n Nostalgic chocolate cake from hot new bakery Alice Marie, picked up some meat at Butchers of Distinction, and bought some mini doughnuts at COPS. I watched some Olympics. I snuggled with Pluto, who we’re cat-sitting for a week. There might be some Pandemic later. There will definitely be wine.

It’s taken some time to recover from this one, but sometime yesterday I became desperate to plan more trips. Not that there’s a single red penny left in the vacation fund, but that hasn’t stopped me. I want mountains. I want an AirBnB with a pool. I want a cool city with parks and wine bars. I want Nova Scotia at a time that isn’t Christmas. I want wineries. I want a language gap.

I just want something.

Game Time

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Sun 14

Given the previous evening’s fuckery, we arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. We killed as much as we could in an overcrowded AC lounge, and headed to the gate, there running into a friend of Lindsay’s, and only then finding out the flight was slightly delayed. We grabbed a stupid-expensive drink from a nearby bar while we waited.

The flight itself was great, for me at least: I watched Dune 2, ate dinner, fell asleep for a few hours, and woke up just before breakfast.

Mon 15

Amsterdam! After enduring a very long customs line, mistaking where we’d pick up our bags, and being confused at where to meet an Uber, we were at our hotel. We elected to stay somewhere central, and as much as we would have loved to revisit the Conservatorium, we’d instead opted for the Hotel Aalders on the next street over. We napped for a few hours, then walked to meet a friend at Cafe de Spuyt, a beer bar we’d enjoyed years earlier.

Two more friends, also attending the same conference as Lindsay, joined us and we set out in search of dinner. We were in a very touristy part of town so the pickings were slim. We tried Pantry but it was rammed, so we ended up at De Hollande Tulp, which was actually pretty good. Bitterballen and stamppots all round! We went back to De Spuyt for one last drink, then retired early as two of the three conference-goers presented the next morning.

Tue 16

I grabbed our coffee from an excellent nearby place (Coffee District) and then Lindsay was off to her conference, so I opted to hang out on our room’s balcony for a bit and then wander around Amsterdam a bit.

After looping randomly around some streets just checking stuff out I ended up grabbing a cortado at the Screaming Beans on Runstraat, then walked back to the hotel, feeling quite sweaty, via the Vondelpark. Before long I needed some lunch and found myself at The Seafood Bar. I had a scampi & mango salad (which was big enough to be a meal) and glass of Chablis, followed by some salmon w/ grilled leek and a Provencal rosé. On the way home it started raining – hard – but the lovely great trees on our street protected me from the worst of it.

I dried off in the room and watched the new episode of House of the Dragon before walking back downtown to meet the same group of friends, this time at Shiraz Bar du Vin. The wine list was good but the vibe was weird, so we didn’t stay for food. In hindsight, we probably should have, because from there it became a gong show. We wandered aimlessly before kind of falling into Mikkeller at Morebeer for beer and fried snacks, then walking to Cafe de Koe where we learned the chef was out sick, then walking back to someplace called Bar-B Burgers & Beer. I have no idea why we were on a burger kick, but there we were. The burgers at this place were okay, but the place was VERY weird inside. Like it couldn’t decide if it was a cozy burger joint or a big soulless-purple-glowing-Heineken-sign-in-the-rec-room kind of place. We ate fast and ran, kind of annoyed at ourselves for this kind of unforced error.

Wed 17

Lindsay went back to her conference. I went looking for Indian rupees. (I was unsuccessful.) The main upside of getting all sweaty from walking around was trying an iced coffee from Bocca, after which I headed home. I got the call that the others were ready for lunch; we ended up going back to The Seafood Bar I’d visited the day before. Collectively we got oysters and salmon/avocado tartare, scampi mango salad, Champagne, 3 x fish & chips, pumpkin ravioli, and spaghetti vongole.

We ran back to the hotel to re-pack and head to the airport. We were flying Etihad for the first time, which I was excited about – business class, no less. Luckily we had access to the KLM lounge before our flight; that luxury translated over to the flight itself, which was on a fancy, new, streamlined plane. We didn’t get much sleep, alas, by the time we arrived in Abu Dhabi the next morning.

Thu 18

Before continuing on to India, we had an 8-hour stopover. The Etihad lounge in which we spent it was by far the nicest airport lounge I’ve ever experienced. We drank coffee and tea and juice, ate a few gourmet-level meals, got some light shuteye on the cozy chairs at the back, cleaned up in their immaculate washrooms, had some sparkling wine…what a space. Before we knew it we were heading to our final outbound flight: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. The plane was much simpler than the 787 we’d flown from Amsterdam, but it was only 4.5 hours.

Our arrival was a bit choppy – an overzealous Indian customs agent did not believe that our friend was getting married in Trivandrum – but we eventually got through and found Tess & Keal and Tess’ friend Dan (who grew up nearby) who were there to pick us up. By the time we walked to the car I’d sweated through my clothes, which was a taste of what was to come. We drove to the Uday Suites, checked in, and crashed right out.

Fri 19

Pretty exhausted from our travel, we had a good lie-in before finally rising and joining people by the pool to get introduced. It wasn’t too hot yet, as long as you were in the shade and ideally near a fan. We had some lunch at the hotel restaurant, took a lil nap, and then got ready for wedding celebration #1.

There was a poolside reception where we got to meet more people, then an excellent dinner and many lovely speeches, then lots and lots of dancing. The strobe lights (and possibly the smoke machines, and also possibly the heat which had all us Canadians/Swedes sweating profusely) gave me a pounding headache so I retreated early in favor of Advil, but Lindsay kept partying until the wee hours.

Sat 20

We managed to get up for breakfast (well…I did) and then we had some shopping to do. We were off to Jayalakshmi, a popular clothing store for formal attire. Lindsay got a traditional Indian outfit; I didn’t, which I would come to regret. After that experience we needed lunch so we uber’d to Turf Café for cranberry coffees / iced lattes / a cortado for me / some very significant burgers. What was it with us and burgers on this trip?

A quick stop at LuLu Mall later and we were back at the hotel for a bit of rest. We went to the home of the groom’s parents (who are lovely, by the way) for dinner, but left early as the next day was a big one.

Sun 21

Up early-ish and off to the venue. To my chagrin I realized that every one of the other visiting guests had acquired traditional wedding attire, while I was in a jacket and dress pants – I was so embarrassed. I had to remind myself that no one would be looking at me though — the bride would rightfully garner all the eyeballs. Anyway, as her quasi-family Lindsay and I had some duties, which we were honored to perform and very thankful not to mess up. This was the more traditional ceremony, and it was over quickly, but also featuring an officiant briefly catching on fire.

After the ceremony we ate an enormous meal downstairs, with some lovely locals helping us navigate what we were eating (and how to eat it) before washing up, taking more pictures, and heading back to the hotel to change. Once again we re-convened at the parents’ house for dinner and to say some goodbyes. We went back to the room and I had a little nap…which was a mistake, because I didn’t get to sleep again until 2.

Mon 22

We got several good hours of sleep in, but I woke up extremely stuffed up and with a sore throat. I assumed it was a reaction to the air conditioning, which was running non-stop in the room, since when I stepped outside into the 80%+ humidity I immediately felt better. But it would get worse over the course of the week.

We went downstairs for breakfast and to say bye to two new friends, Diya and Dan, and then just settled in for a lazy day. We relaxed in the room. We sat on our balcony once some rain went through and made the humidity tolerable. We eventually met Tom & Keal for a quick walk, dodging packs of wild dogs, down to the Old Coffee House on the water, had kombucha and milkshakes, and soaked in the sea air & pounding surf of the Laccadive Sea – which, truthfully, I thought was the Arabian Sea until I looked it up.

There was a small side-trip planned for the middle of the week, so we packed all the non-sweaty clothes that remained into a single suitcase and went out for an early dinner. We decided to splash out a bit at one of the fancier places in town: Villa Maya. It’s an absolutely stunning place, built in a palace, with tables cloistered off in little sections surrounded by plants and water. We ordered way too much food, though they seemed incredulous that we couldn’t eat it all. (That wasn’t the first time this had happened; I can put away a lot of food, but I’d already had multiple locals giggle at how full I felt.) We had mutton and prawn appetizers; fish curry and pork ularthu and a trio of paneer; and some kind of coconut ice cream dessert that escapes me now. We also had a bottle of local sparkling wine to go with it all – more on that in a minute. All in all, the food quality & flavours, the service, the ambience…this place was an order of magnitude more expensive than most of what we’d tried in Trivandrum (still, the cost was roughly 50% of what we would have paid in Toronto for a meal of the same quality, if you excluded booze) but it was one of the best meals we’ve had in months.

A couple notes on wine:

  1. By and large, it’s not that easy to come by. Our hotel restaurant didn’t have it on demand, as far as I knew. At most, places would have a few wine selections, Kingfisher (and maybe a couple big international beer brands like Heineken or Corona), and no spirits unless it was a high-end hotel restaurant. The cost of any booze was also extremely high, compared to the food – for example, at Villa Maya, one bottle of local sparkling cost nearly as much as the five dishes + dessert mentioned above.
  2. 100% of the wine I drank in India was made in India. I’d never before tried Indian wine, and I still haven’t tried any Indian red wine (it was too hot to drink anything but white), but what I had I thought was pretty decent. While I’m sure there are more, the brands I saw on most lists were Sula, Grover, Fratelli, and occasionally Big Banyan; of these Sula was by far my favourite. I was surprised to find that most of the grapes are grown around the Maharashtra region, which is only about 20 degrees north of the equator (when normally grapes grow between 30 and 50 degrees latitude) so I’m guessing the wines must be planted at altitude to help cool them.

Anyway, dinner went on a little longer than we wanted, given we needed to be up stupid early the next morning to catch a train, so we went back to the room, did a bit more packing, and tried to get some sleep.

Tue 23

NARRATOR: They didn’t get any sleep.

Between our full bellies, and the power going off and on five times in the middle of the night (causing things to beep loudly each time), our sleep was basically non-existent. We scrambled out the door, just barely, and got in our taxis to the train station. About 20 of us were off to Kochi!

We arrived, fought through the Uber chaos, endured a bit of confusion around the car ferry that takes people to Fort Kochi (one of the city’s islands) and arrived as a group at Kashi Art Cafe for breakfast. My French Toast was excellent, as was Lindsay’s Turkish egg. After that we dropped our bags at the Forte Kochi hotel, which looked absolutely gorgeous, then went for a walk around while our rooms were readied. We saw enormous trees, walked along the waterfront (fending off aggressive autorickshaw drivers and street vendors all the while), and walked back to the hotel on quiet streets. Fort Kochi, the part of the city where we stayed, was much more walkable – making it also much more touristy. But we didn’t mind. It was a beautiful spot.

Finally able to access our rooms, we showered and cooled down (that walk was about as hot and sweaty as it got), hung out and had some lunch by the pool, and generally just chilled. Many of us went to Francis where we took over a room upstairs for dinner – most notably: giant bowls of sausage. The beer and wine and conversation and laughs flowed freely all night. We took a short walk by the water, then strolled back to our hotel for some much-needed sleep.

Wed 24

After some very excellent breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant (which, it turns out, was once the first department store in Kerala) many of us went to Mattancherry Palace, located at the edge of – and I promise you, it feels very weird to write this – Jew Town. We did a little shopping afterwards, but cut it short when Lindsay had to flee the heat. We Ubered over to Lila to meet Tess and Ellie, cooled down with some iced drinks, then walked to lunch at Fusion Bay, which was excellent.

We were just around the corner from a shop Tess wanted to revisit (One Zero Eight by Save The Loom) and we tagged along. We bought a beautiful blanket; Lindsay bought a dress and a notebook. We hit another shop or two on the way home as well. Pooped and poorer, we slid into the hotel to reset before going out for the evening. The whole group came out to see a Kathakali show, which was very much unlike anything I’d ever seen before. The theatre, the makeup, the costumes, the dancing – all pretty incredible, and in a tiny intimate (read: hot) setting.

Afterward we split into a couple groups, one of which followed me around the corner to Divine – The Wine Lounge, upstairs in the Malabar House hotel. The vibes were weird, but we got some tasty & cold bottles of local Viognier which I thought were pretty good. After that I directed two friends to Fusion Bay for dinner while the remainder of us walked back to the hotel. Ultimately we ended up as a group of six Nova Scotians eating an excellent dinner at Jetty, the hotel’s restaurant.

Thu 25

A day of stories!

This day started with another train ride, but a much more leisurely morning getting there than the inbound trip. Plenty of time to eat breakfast and re-pack; Lindsay even found some time to read by the pool. Things would get adventurous, though: about halfway to the train, it started to rain. Like, really rain. Crazy monsoon rain. When we arrived we told our Uber driver to stay dry; Tom, Kealin, and I jumped out and unpacked the car in a frenzy, Tom throwing stuff to Keal and I and then all three of us dashing under cover. Soon the train pulled in, and as we picked up our stuff to board, I asked them if they wanted me to carry their bag on for them. They said, “That’s not our bag.” We suddenly realized we’d taken the Uber driver’s bag, which had been in the back of his car when he rolled up. In the panicked chaos of our arrival, we were just trying to get out of the monsoon rain and I’d assumed the bag was Tom & Kealin’s while they assumed it was mine. Anyway, we had no time to rectify this as our train was just then pulling in and would only halt for two minutes. Luckily, Aravind’s parents’ friends’ son-in-law (follow that?) was sitting on the platform near us waiting for a later train, and Aravind just threw him the bag and said he’d call to explain after we boarded. (Station security wouldn’t accept it, nor would any stores.) A whole series of Uber support submissions and phone calls later, Aravind somehow got the driver to return to the station and collect the bag before the the son-in-law’s train departed. A minor miracle!

Some snacks and naps later we arrived back in Trivandrum, once again braved an Uber maelstrom, and got freshened up. A few of us went for an early dinner at O Cafe, in a fancy hotel. This is where story #2 unfolds.

First, the three of us who arrived early – Lindsay, Aravind and I – were looked up and down by the staff and then by the manager and told all their tables were “blocked for reservations”. Not reserved. Just being held in case someone reserved them. We were like…but we’re here now, and we will pay you. The place was empty at that moment, with maybe one or two more tables occupied, but they seemed terrified of running out of space. They agreed to give us a table if we promised to be out by 7:00 or 7:30 when the buffet opened. This started us off on a weird foot.

Second: don’t go to a fancy Indian restaurant before 7. They were serving only small snacks until then, so we ordered Chicken 65 and a few other things to go with our cocktails. That’s right, cocktails: this place had spirits. Tess and Ellie had arrived by now, so they too got to experience the extremely slow, casual, and clumsy service we’d been receiving from the jump. We’d go fifteen minutes without seeing anyone. Drinks sat empty on the table, the ice melting into a glass of water. At one point a server dropped a piece of pizza in Tess’ lap, and then just smiled and walked off like nothing happened. We never saw him again. It seems likely that these guys weren’t servers at all. They must have been food runners or bussers who were thrust into service duty when the restaurant thought no one would be there, not expecting a bunch of foreigners to show up needing cocktails.

Third: when 7PM rolled around the vast majority of tables were still empty. A few large groups had come in for the buffet, but nothing that warranted us being rushed. Finally, a decent server showed up and handled us from there, so we ordered some real food – we got two large meat platters and a bunch of parotta (which had become the star of the show for all us visitors to Southern India) – and ate our fill. All while wondering what all the table-scarcity fuss was about.

Fourth: the moment we finished with the boards, the staff started buzzing our table. Five people asked us in as many minutes if we were done, if we wanted any dessert, if they could clear the table – sometimes reaching for drinks that people were still enjoying – until we eventually just said, Okay let’s go. We had no idea why they were so insistent; the place was empty enough you could fire a cannon through it and not hit anything.

As we were leaving, Tess asked for the manager’s name, so she could mention it in a review. That prompted him to follow her out and ask if we had any concerns. Tess (never one to shy away from sharing her thoughts) and Aravind (instilled with a bit of liquid courage) laid it out plainly, making sure they didn’t just take it out on the staffers – he (the manager) set the tone, and the tone was garbage. Anyway: high entertainment. We told this story about ten times when we met up with the rest of the group at BLND for drinks, and the first round of farewells.

Fri 26

Our last day in India. We got screwed over by the hotel restaurant – now that Tess and Aravind’s wedding was over they kind of stopped being nice to us – then joined a few new friends in visiting the excellent Kerala Arts & Crafts Village in nearby Kovalam. It’s a stunning venue showcasing dozens of artists and craftspeople in one convenient location. We bought some art and a terracotta vase and some other small things, and prayed they would fit in our suitcases.

As it turned out they did, largely because we were now carrying a separate duffel bag for our flight home. We were ready early enough that we could hang out with the remaining folks by the pool for a bit and say our goodbyes before leaving for the airport. We’d heard plenty of horror stories about delays and long lines at TRV, so we arrived three hours early…and pretty much sailed right through. Luckily we had access to the lounge, so we killed some time there.

A relatively short flight to Abu Dhabi later and we were ready for some shuteye. We’d booked a room at the AUHotel, which is in the transit area of the airport itself, so we didn’t have to clear customs or leave the airport. The rooms are bare bones and don’t even have windows (at least our room didn’t) but we didn’t care. We just wanted a bed and a private bathroom with a shower. We hoped it would let us rest enough to take on the long journey ahead.

Sat 27

Mission accomplished: that hotel room worked a treat. We woke up, showered, got a change of clothes from the duffel, and walked maybe ten minutes to our gate just before our flight home boarded. We couldn’t have asked for a better layover.

The plane on our flight home wasn’t quite as posh as the flight from Amsterdam (that plane had been a 787; this was an older 777) but we weren’t complaining. I stayed awake the entire 14-hour flight, killing most of that by watching the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and enjoying some free wifi. The staff were exceptional, the food was excellent, and – burning throat aside (I was sick with what felt like a full-blown cold by this time, though the flight didn’t bother my sinuses in the least) – I felt pretty damn good when we arrived in Toronto. We sped through terminal 3 so quickly it felt like we were doing something wrong. Toronto traffic fouled our mood a bit, but we arrived at the house pretty glad to be home.

Epilogue

It’s been a few days, and we haven’t done much but try to shake this cold, get over the jet lag, and ease back into normal life. It’ll take some time to process such a long and intense trip, but on top of being honored that we were invited to share in the wedding of one of Lindsay’s oldest friends, we felt such gratitude that we got to meet their friends from Sweden, and Aravind’s family and friends. What a wonderful group of people. Usually people bring gifts to the bride and groom, but in this case, I feel like they gave us something precious.