Halifax and back

Tags

life, Canada, Halifax, Club, N.S., Public Gardens, Jubilee Dinner, J.S.Bach, Leipzig

I heard a little story tonight taken from the 1723 City Council Meeting of Leipzig in Saxony where J.S.Bach made his career and where he lived with his family. The City Council was looking to hire a new Cantor (music director) and they had their sight on Georg Philip Telemann who was at the time the most famous musician in Europe. The other candidate was J.S.Bach, the job was offered to Telemann but he turned it down, he had better offers elsewhere. So in the minutes of the meeting you can read that the job was then offered to J.S. Bach though the City Councillor thought he was a mediocre choice.

Last Saturday was the Platinum Jubilee Dinner to celebrate 70 years in the Reign of HM Queen Elizabeth, I was on the committee to organize this dinner at the Club. It was a great evening and the PEI Regimental Band played during dinner. The food was exceptional and everyone had a great evening, even the weather was gorgeous. Because I lost weight I was able to fit into my wool/silk Italian suit very comfortably. The Lieutenant Governor attended as our Vice-regal Patron and she came with her ADC who is Commanding Officer of the HMCS Queen Charlotte, he is quite young, can’t be more than 35. I told him he had a good resemblance like a young Tsar Nicholas II, the Lieutenant Governor laughed, she said, Oh Laurent only you would think of saying such a thing.

Here I am with the two members who worked on this evening for 4 months, I was happy to be able to assist.

On Monday I drove 3 hours in fog and rain to Halifax and because it was Monday lots of big trucks on the road. I was tired when I got to my destination. I picked up the 6 Oriental carpets from the shop Tabrizi who had cleaned them following the traditional method.

Stayed in downtown Halifax one block away from the Provincial Legislature just below the Citadel. Halifax is a big city and it has loads of history and great heritage buildings. It was the first City the British created in 1745 in their war of conquest against France. So the City has this garrison appearance with its great citadel at the top of the hill, forts in the islands defending the approaches to the City. Many old cemeteries to British Officers and soldiers, many in the Royal Navy. The street names are reminders of the old alliances between Prussia, German Principalities and the UK, like Dresden Row, Coburg. Many of the early settlers were also German and Dutch mercenaries brought over from Europe by Britain to fight the French.

The abundance of stone gives the city a great appearance with its Georgian architecture. One place worth visiting in Halifax is the Public Gardens first designed in 1837 and then enlarge and opened to the public in 1875, the designer was Richard Power and this is one of the rare surviving Victoria era garden in Canada. Bedding patterns, exotic foliage, the serpentine, favourite Victorian era flowers, trees, and bushes, there is also the old bandstand, benches, statuary all original of the period. It is a delight to walk in this garden situated along Spring Garden Road.

The Diamond Jubilee Fountain erected in 1897 in the Public Gardens for Queen Victoria.

Shopping in Halifax is also fun, they have quite a variety of luxury products and other items simply hard to find or not available in Charlottetown, we are a very small town. I did stop at IKEA, they have 3 of them, I did not realize that until I looked at the map. I had some items to get for the Club and at the same time I bought dishes for the house. They also have a wonderful chocolate shop on Morris street by the new Library. They had Ginger covered in dark chocolate by Roger’s, a Canadian Company. I also found this coffee cup for Will.

Will loved it!

The drive back was fairly easy, the weather was sunny and warm. I hope to return to Halifax in the Fall with more carpets to clean. Though I was speeding on the Hwy and at the first traffic circle entering Charlottetown, the RCMP caught me. The Officer Parsons was nice enough to let me go with only a $130. ticket, it could have been much worse, I was 20 miles over the speed limit.

Stumbling upon

Tags

life, Russia, coffee, Iraq, Nazi, Saudi Arabia, Iran, YouTube, weight, Abrar, motorcycle, Pakistan, Mecca

As it often happens today I stumbled upon a video on YouTube from a fellow who travels on his motorcycle around the world. He lives in Germany and is a German Citizen but originally he is from Pakistan. His videos are in Urdu with English subtitles. I watched several of his videos, they are fascinating. He travelled from Germany down to Turkey and then on to Iran and to Iraq then to Kuwait and presently he is in Saudi Arabia for the EID. His name is Abrar which in Pakistan is a masculine name but in Arab countries it is feminine. Abrar is also a verse in the Quran.

He meets quite a few people and he is recognized by some people because his videos have gone viral. What I find interesting is the world he shows us in his travel and a lot of it I remember from my own experience and life in the Middle-East. The people, the culture, the food, also the kindness and courtesy of people, always helpful and friendly, this is what I remember. Seeing those videos I miss that part of the world. So I went across the street to DAL who sells Kumpir or stuffed potatoes and makes an excellent Turkish coffee with cardamon seed, such good coffee served in demi-tasse bought in Istanbul, so you get the whole experience. I have started to put cardamon seeds in my morning espresso, love the flavour.

City of Mecca, the Royal Clock Tower at 680 meters. Dominates the old city and the Holy Al-Haram Mosque.

The Abraj Al-Bait Towers also known as the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower, is seen from Jabal al-Noor or ‘Mountain of Light’ overlooking the holy city of Mecca. Over three million Muslims from around the world are expected to perform the upcoming Hajj or pilgrimage. (Photo credit should read FAYEZ NUR ELDINE/AFP)

Weight wise it is going very well, I started one month ago and was at 191 lbs, now I am at 180 lbs and the ultimate goal is 163 lbs. so if all goes according to plan I should be able to reach this goal by end June early July. I would love to simply maintain that weight, I will ask my nutritionist how to maintain it.

I have to say that so far I have not had any issue with feeling hungry, I also noticed that when suddenly I think I am hungry it is usually not hunger but tiredness or anxiety, a glass of water and a few raw almonds will solve the problem. Drinking more water minimum 1 Litre a day is not difficult, I can drink up to 2 litres, this also helps a lot with eliminating salt and washing away fat. I feel so much better now.

So far the cruise ship business has been very quiet. Some 3 ships came and went but I did not see many people, in fact I am told that most ships are about 25% full. Two cruise ships have cancelled stops in PEI. We may get more flights and car traffic this year. Several airlines have added flights to PEI and air traffic appears to be back to normal prior to 2020.

We also have a few new restaurants in town catering to a more up-scale crowd, which is a good thing, there is certainly a demand for it. One opened on Great George Street called Abbiocco which in Italian means relaxation. The restaurant has only been open for 5 days and has been a big success so far. The other one I am told will be called Rocket Fish at the corner of Queen street and Richmond street. It will be a up market fish and seafood restaurant. I know that the people setting it up will spend at least 2 million dollars to refit the space which was a tourist shop for many years and the building itself is 1880, all brick and built by William C. Harris, a famous architect who was also a musician. However this restaurant will not open until August given the state of construction and renovations.

There is definitely a change over in terms of restaurants in town, we appear to be catering more to the local crowd and less so to the tourist crowd, there is always the tourist restaurants with the typical fare geared to the budget of families or older tourists. Cruise ship tourists do not necessarily go to a restaurant since food is provided on board.

Lastly we are told to wait for Monday 9 May which is Victory Day for Russia marking the end of WWII. Apparently Putin will declare either victory on Ukraine or make a formal declaration of war and enact conscription to raise more troops. His side kick former Russian President Medvedev made a speech declaring that Russia will extend its territory from the Pacific to Portugal, sort of pie in the sky speech. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also made statements accusing Israel of supporting the Nazis in Kyiv. Israeli Prime Minister Bennett jumped at this statement. All in all this will not end well. Finally let us not forget that the Soviet Union under Stalin and Nazi Germany in 1939 had a secret treaty to divide the world, only in 1942 after being attacked by Hitler’s troops did Stalin change sides and asked for the help of the allies. Unfortunately I find that what I see and hear now is far too similar to events 80 years ago.

Ribbentrop-Stalin-Molotov in 1939 at the signing of the secret treaty to divide the world. Good friends and allies then.

Today is Friday?

Tags

Charlottetown, life, Politics, scandal, weight, YouTube

*** I started to write this post on Friday and now it’s Monday 2 May.

The weeks go by so quickly, May is just around the corner and the weather is getting nicer by the day though still cold given we are an island in the Gulf and it will only get warm around 1 June. Tourists are few and the first cruise ship arrived this week however it only had 320 passengers. It would appear that cruising is not back and people are still shy about getting on those boats.

Major scandal in Charlottetown at City Hall, you see the problem with PEI it is very small and the everyone on the Island is related in some fashion and outsiders (non-Islanders) are kept out of Government jobs, so yes there is a small mafia running the show in every government department.

This time it’s the CAO or Chief Administrative Officer who was hired by the former Mayor 5 years ago, there was a cloud with that person stepping into what is an important job. Many problems have surfaced since and now the current Mayor and City Council are embarrassed and looking at ways of ditching the guy. The press as a field day with this story and an election is coming in 6 months. This guy is an albatross around the neck of Council and it will be difficult to get rid of him.

Other scandal involving the Premier Dennis King and his wife who got a huge grant for her business without going through regular channels. It made quite a raucous and so she returned the money. The Premier said he had no idea, of course.

On another note I have re-discovered the music of composer Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758) born near Weimar and died in Zerbst, the home town of Catherine the Great of Russia, who was born in a noble Prussian family and married into the Romanov family. He held a very important musical position in Zerbst as Kappelmeister and would have known the father of Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst, later to become Empress Catherine of Russia, as he would also have known her.

Fasch musical style is baroque and suits what is known as the age of Princes, elegant and beautiful. George Frideric Handel also a contemporary of Fasch wrote in the same style. As I am sure many other composers of that era.

On you Tube I noticed the number of site visiting so called abandoned mansions or homes. What I wonder is how many such places actually exist and why is it that in most cases it looks all very staged. One scenario is of a home that is fully furnished and it looks as if the residents just left a few moments ago. In some places you can see that the property are probably not occupied and water damage, vandalism has taken place. But I wonder what is the thrill of going through buildings which are closed to have a look inside, it is morbid in a way. It also gets you clicks on your site. Similar channels on cemeteries and mausoleums, abandoned burial places, old funeral homes etc.

On the other hand we have discovered a lot of great recipe sites and wonderful new cooking experiences. I have also started a diet with a nutritionists and have in the last 17 days lost about 9 lbs. which is encouraging, I hope to loose another 20 lbs. and mostly I do hope to keep it off. This way I can wear comfortably all those Italian clothes I have in my closet. I was at 87 kg and I am now at 82 kg. I am happy with the results – 11 lbs.

My little trip to Halifax

Tags

Halifax, life, Nova Scotia, road trip

The Old Clock Tower on Citadel Hill of 1803, a wood structure in the Palladian style, recently renovated.

On Hollis Street, old home used as an office.

The old Lions of NSCAD Univ.

The 1800 Palladian style Official Residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, built by Governor Wentworth who had previously been Governor of New Hampshire, he fled at the revolution and was named as Lieutenant Governor of N.S. he was replaced by a professional soldier in 1808 when war with the USA threatened. To this day the Lieutenant Governor wears the Windsor Coat, official dress for any official ceremony. Once upon a time prior to 1970 in Canada, all officials of senior rank wore this uniform.

It was a 2 day trip to bring oriental carpets to be cleaned in the only store that does this in the maritime region. The business is owned by an Iranian family and are well known in Nova Scotia. I am very happy to have met them, they have a gorgeous store and their carpet selection is wonderful. We had a good talk about the cleaning etc and I could see they were knowledgeable. From what I could gather they fled Iran in 1979 at the revolution and came to Canada to establish themselves. They speak French, the way the educated do in Old Iran. I will be going back in 3 weeks to get my 6 carpets and will bring others that need a good cleaning. The process is very different from the modern synthetic carpets, Orientals must be treated the way a nice wool sweater would be treated, gently no harsh chemicals or big industrial machines. Most of my carpets come from Baluchistan, that region between Iran and Afghanistan.

Halifax is a big seaport, with ship building, a Royal Canadian Navel base, saw 4 war ships in dock, container port and marinas. The city itself is a mix of modern and heritage buildings. General, Sir Edward Cornwallis founded Halifax in 1749, he was at the time the military governor in Nova Scotia but had to contend with a large population of Catholic, French Speaking Acadians and Mi’k Maq natives who were loyal to the King of France.

There are lots of good restaurants and bars, things to see and visit, a beautiful area on the sea. Here are some photos of the city core, area

Many old building in the core of the city have been saved by incorporating the facade into a modern building. The street maintains its historical character.

The Legislative building of Nova Scotia, our own Legislative building mimics this one with its Georgian Style.

These two buildings currently house the Art gallery of Nova Scotia. The Teichert Gallery with the red banner has beautiful paintings you can rent to buy. It is located across the street from the Legislature.

The other visit I made was to IKEA, they do deliver items to PEI but I had not been in 3 years, so it was worth going to see what was on offer. The weather was good and had dinner with friends at LaFrasca, an Italian restaurant on Spring Garden Road.

The trip back to PEI appeared a lot faster and I was back at the Confederation Bridge in no time at all or so it appeared.

Halifax

Tags

carpets, Halifax, life, Nova Scotia

Well I loaded the car with the oriental carpets I am taking with me tomorrow to Halifax. It’s a 3 hour drive down to Nova Scotia. I will first go to cross the bridge at Borden and then due East towards Amherst and Halifax via Truro.

I will stop first in Bedford which is a suburb of Halifax near the international airport just North of the city and then I will go downtown staying within walking distance of everything. The weather looks good for the 2 days I am in Halifax.

The city has lots of really good restaurants and cocktail bars, it is a very large city compared to Charlottetown. It has a very different feel all together being an important sea port right on the Atlantic coast.

ARTICHOKE Season

Tags

Food, Italy, life

Yes April is Artichoke Season and here are some beautiful photos

We would go to the market in our neighbourhood and see this beautiful display of fresh artichoke. You can prepare them 2 ways Alla Romana stuffed or Alla Judaica which is fried.

Both are very good and you should see the flower produced by the artichoke plant, spectacular.

Carciofi alla Romana, literally “Roman-style artichokes”, is a typical dish of Roman cuisine. During spring-time in Rome, the dish is prepared in each household and is served in all restaurants.

Carciofi alla giudìa is among the best-known dishes of Roman Jewish cuisine. The recipe is essentially a deep-fried artichoke, and originated in the Jewish community of Rome, it is a speciality where it is served by Jewish restaurants in the springtime. The best restaurants can be found around the Portico D’Ottavia. The Porticus Octaviae is an ancient structure in Rome. The colonnaded walks of the portico enclosed the temples of Jupiter Stator and Juno Regina, as well as a library. The structure was used as a fish market from the medieval period up to the end of 19th century.

Now this is a real deli in Rome. Look at that selection, including beautiful Italian cheeses, so much variety. Then cured meats, olives and excellent olive oil from various regions of Italy. You can also buy wine, much of it is from the Lazio, the province of Rome. I really miss this aspect of life.

Italian Cheeses, balsamic vinegar, etc… A feast for the eyes.

Then the wine merchants with an unbelievable selection of Italian wines from various regions of Italy. The country has 20 different wine regions, producing a great variety of wines and then many Italians still make wine at home, especially those living in the country side. Another delight. Look of DOC on the label or DOCG, an indication of quality.

A project

Tags

life, PEI, weight

Recently I was at my doctor and told him that I was unhappy with my weight and the fact that it appeared to be on an unstoppable upward trend. He suggested I speak with a dietitician, which I did last week. My goal is to return to the weight I had in Rome of 74 Kg. that was 12 years ago. So it is quite a challenge and I have no idea if I will be able to reach it. My father years ago followed a diet and he was very good at it, he lost 40 pounds and was able to maintain it until he died. I was able to maintain my weight while in Europe but in coming back to Canada, the diet changed and so did the lifestyle. My goal is to loose 13 Kg which is a lot of weight around 28 pounds. I am hopeful and will follow the plan I am given by Austin my nutritionist. Of course the other worry is how to maintain the loss weight and not just put it back on. A lot of discipline in all this, I did once before and lost 6 kg so here goes.

Monday I was at the dealership to get my car serviced and change the tires to Summer. By Noon time there was a terrible snow storm raging and visibility was zero. So I could not return to the garage to pick up the car at 2pm and told them I would be in the next morning.

This appears to have been the last hurrah for Winter, this coming week we will have much warmer weather sun and some rain. Very soon the Lobster Season will open and the boats will go to sea. Everyone is getting ready.

At 66

Tags

Birthday, cake, grateful, life

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a very good day. I got a card from friends, it said;

Birthdays are a great opportunity to pause, look around for all the good in your life.

This is true, I can honestly say I have had a very good life and have seen and done much, more than the average person. I am in a long term relationship, 43 years, a good home, two old but fun puppies. Live by the Sea and eat very good quality food. I also have good health with not health issues, except for what comes with being now a senior but that is minor. So yes I am grateful for it all and this is what birthdays should be about.

I remember that in Muslim countries, people do not necessarily celebrate birthdays, in some countries dates of birth are unimportant and not observed, an approximate date is good enough. In Asia, conception is considered as important or more so than the day of delivery, so when you are born you would be already 9 months old. So a birth date can be many things to various cultures.

So I had 2 cakes this year done by my friend Valerie R. who does this on order as a hobby. Her cakes are high pastry, wonderful and creative. Very good quality.

One is an orange flavour cake with white butter icing and caramelized orange slices.

The other is an Espresso Mocha cake. Both delicious.

Three photos

Tags

life, photos, souvenirs

Here are three photos of places and tradition.

The first one is Canada’s High Commission to the UK in Trafalgar Square. This building was built as the Residence of our Canadian High Commissioner, today it is the Chancery of our mission to the UK. We do not call it an Embassy because the Queen is our Queen so like all Commonwealth Countries we call it a High Commission, quaint name that dates back to Imperial times when Canada was the first Dominion of the Empire.

The second photo is a favourite of mine, Sans Souci the private palace of Frederick II the Great of Prussia. It is more a mansion than a palace and the interior are high german baroque with lots of gold leaf. It was decorate to reflect the personal taste of Frederick and it can surprise visitors. It sits at the top of 6 terraces use as a vineyard. Frederick so loved this place that he asked to be buried with his whippet dogs in the garden on the top terrace. He was finally buried there in 1991.

Sans Souci in the great royal park in Potsdam

A lovely tradition, a crown of Laurel for a University Graduate in Italy. Very festive, worn by all those who graduate, flower shops will make them for you. Families to out to restaurant to celebrate.

From the Italian word Laureato, crown with laurels. This is far nicer than the silly mortar boards we wear in North America.

Looking back

Tags

Cheese, dachshunds, life, market, PEI, Quebec, tulips, Vanco

I learned yesterday that 50 years ago the movie the Godfather premiere, is that possible, I was 16 yrs old and remember seeing the movie and thinking how horribly violent it was. Not like the Hitchcock movies where the violence was always implied like the music or lighting or blood in water.

Today FB reminded me that this week in 2009 we went to Capena to pick-up Nick and Nora who were 9 weeks old to come and live with us. They were and still are the cutest and funniest puppies, it is said that dogs are clowns and make our life enjoyable.

We are already past the halfway point in March, time is going supersonic it seems. I left a message with our accountant today so she can do our income tax. I never learned how to do it myself, it is not complicated but I am lazy and prefer have someone do it for me. She can also file automatically with Revenue Canada.

At the Club one of the member is a retired Commodore of the Royal Canadian Navy, who commanded his own war ship. Today HMCS Halifax left for the Baltic Sea to join our NATO mission in support of the Baltic States. Jim told me on Friday night that if he was 20 years younger and in good health he would be back in service in a flash. He really misses going out to sea.

HMCS Halifax

I went to the Farmer’s Market today and now that most restrictions are lifted it was the first normal market day in 2 years. There was lots of people and business was brisk. I stopped at the Cheese counter, they have the most beautiful selection of fresh cheeses. They bring them in from Quebec where there is a well established cheese making culture. They also import from France and UK. Strangely their prices are better than the grocery store where all the cheeses are manufactured from large companies and wrapped in plastic. When she sells her cheese, she wraps them in wax paper to keep them moist and fresh, which is the way to do it. All the cheeses are sliced in front of you, I got a slice 200gr of Brie, I also got 200gr of Morbier which is a cheese that has a trace of wood ashes in the middle and a slice of Emmental. I think next time I will get some of her high quality Burrata and some Raclette which is a wonderful cheese you melt and serve with boiled potatoes as they do in Switzerland. I also got deep purple tulips, grown here on the Island by VANCO a Dutch company, they are now in season and the variety of colours is amazing. I also got at the Butcher some veal schnitzels and some Bratwurst made by the butcher. I then went to the fishmonger and bought 2 pieces of Atlantic Salmon for dinner. I also bought some bread at the Bakery which is made daily at 3am and ready for sale by 9am it is still hot to touch and smells wonderful.

Today was a beautiful sunny day and the last day of Winter. Tomorrow is the first day of Spring and it feels and smells like it.

Vanco Tulip Farm in Stratford just minutes East of Charlottetown PEI.