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Cape Tryon, French River, life, PEI, Travel, vacation

Today we left the cottage and drove back to Charlottetown some 50 min all together. We had lovely weather and what a nice, quiet vacation we had. Now it is back to too many cruise ship some 5 this week. Far too many people walking about aimlessly in a small town. Oh well Summer is almost over and the tourist season is ending.

Some last photos of the cottage, the beach, and the cliffs of Cape Tryon.

Les iles de la Madeleine

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Canada, French, Gulf of St-Lawrence, Iles de la Madeleine, life, Quebec, seals, Travel

So we are back from the archipelago known as les Iles de la Madeleine. Will tells me that the name Madeleine is given to this group of Islands in the 17th century and not to a religious figure. A wealthy French merchant who owned a concession on the archipelago Francois Doublet De Honfleur obtained permission from the French King Louis XIV to name in January 1663 the islands after his wife Madeleine Fontaine. The name remained to this day.

If you visit the Islands today you have to know that the vast majority language is French at 99%, every sign, menu, everything is in French, you might encounter a bit of English but it is negligible. The Islanders or Madelinot as they call themselves are mostly Acadians and have a distinct accent which reminds me of Brittany/Normandy/Flanders. There is a tiny Irish/Scottish population who live on one of the islands and are descendants of shipwreck passengers of the 17th-18th-19th century. The population is 12,000. but in Summer it doubles and this can be a problem given very limited fresh water resources. The vast majority of tourists/visitors are French speaking from Québec with a few Americans and Europeans.

The archipelago is known to be in North America as the most dangerous coast with the largest watery graves of hundreds of ships and passengers. Violent storms tossing ships are frequent, the Gulf of Saint-Laurent is like a giant washing machine furiously agitating the waters.

Our crossing from Souris to Cap aux Meules was on the new ferry bought in Europe by CTMA, ( cooperative de transport maritime et aérien) it can carry 1500 passengers and heavy trucks and cars. Everything comes to the Islands by ferry. Gasoline is brought over by IRVING and at the pump a litre of gas is currently $2.28 or $9.12 a gallon. The 8 Islands from North to South end measure 73. Km so yes driving is expensive and there is no public transport. The only highway route 199 brings people to the various villages. The ferry the Madeleine II is quite beautiful and comfortable, the seating is similar to business class on a plane and the restaurant offers a good quality menu of hot and cold dishes plus a wine list. You see the influence of French culture of the company and its clientele at play here. So very different from the Island ferry we have between Wood Island and Nova Scotia which is an old rust bucket.

The Islands have developed a Gourmet experience in all its restaurants, great pride is given in the quality of dishes, presentation and service. Most wine lists are private importation wines. Even in a place which would look like a diner you will find this high end quality. Same with coffees and desserts, quality in preparation is #1.

Our Auberge in Havre Aubert has 14 rooms and was a 150 year old mansion perched on a high hill with great views of the surroundings. The dining room has 8 tables decorated with quality art works by local artists. The cuisine was superb, serving breakfast and dinner, very imaginative and beautifully presented. So a visit to the Islands is to discover the cuisine, the cheeses, the craft beer made from Sea Water and try new dishes with seal meat which is very good.

The Craft beer we tried at the Bistro Alpha owned by Mario Cyr who is described as the new Cousteau for scuba diving and his involvement on Seal population studies, which has been exploding in the last 20 years having no predators, the Bistro a wonderful place at the end of Hwy 199, in Ile de la Grande Entrée, a must. A very simple restaurant but the food is nothing short of spectacular, it is very difficult to get a reservation because Mario Cyr is very well known is scuba diving milieu.

Bistro Alpha of Mario Cyr. He gives dinner/conferences on the aquatic milieu of the archipelago which are booked solid one year in advance.

I tasted on the menu the filet of seal which was delicious, the taste is similar to beef liver but gamey and served with a light vinaigrette of fresh cranberries and green onions. It was really delicious and I enjoyed it.

To drink we tried a locally brewed craft beer by A l’abri de la Tempete (safe haven) the beer is called Cale sèche (dry dock) and is made with sea water. However the disclaimer on the bottle says that it is not legal to make beer with sea water, though it can be printed in bold letters on the label, so the brewer wrote on the label that he is not telling you this, you understand. A very good light blond beer with 4.2% alcohol content. The note adds at the end, a flou législatif , meaning legal vagueness, how to wink at the Law in Québec, I found it amusing.

On the matter of seals in the Gulf, since 1974 when Brigitte Bardot and Green Peace did their number, the industry of seal harvesting has been decimated. At the time about a million seals of various types lived in the Gulf, today the number is 10 million plus. This has created another problem, the herring is now on the endangered list due in part to the fact that it is very much on the seal diet. The fishers are trying to re-introduce seal meat on the menu with the help of local chefs and slowly people are developing a taste for it. I also had at another restaurant seal paté which again is very good.

We also visited a Fromagerie which is known for its local cheeses made from a breed of cows called Canadienne, they came from Saint-Simon de Rimouski and from l’Isle Verte. In 1998 they were the first cows to come to the Islands. This breed of cows came to the St-Lawrence valley in the 17th Century from Brittany and Normandy, they are rustic and sturdy animals producing about 5,200 litres of milk a year. It’s milk is high in fat at 4.5% which makes for very good cheese. The cheese is made daily in the Fromagerie, you can watch them make it in the early morning. We bought a Tomme, a cheddar and some fromage de terroir and a fromage a pate molle affinée which is similar to a camenbert.

Near our hotel just below the hill is an historical area called La Grave which is nothing more than a stretch of sand populated with old Fishing Shacks now converted into a variety of small artisan store and a coffee shop. The archipelago counts no less than 14 archeological sites and it is very interesting to learn about them. At La Grave I visited a private art gallery owned by a friends of my uncle and aunt who travel each year to les Iles de la Madeleine and have done so for decades.

Majell’Art gallery

When we walked in the gallery the fellow looked at me and said you look very familiar, have we met before? I told him who I was and he laughed, he told me I had that Beaulieu look, which is a dead give away. Will says it’s the nose, like a trademark. We had a great visit with him and his wife exchanging family news.

Majella and I in her gallery on La Grave

Here are some more pictures of the Islands as we drove from South to North on Hwy 199 a distance of 73 Km

Sunset from Chemin d’en Haut

View from our Auberge , the only 2 flags you will see on the Islands are the Quebec flag and the Acadian flag. Only at the Post Office did we see a Canadian flag.

View of Ile d’Entrée where the English speaking colony lives.

All dunes and sandy areas are planted with Marran Grass to stabilize them.

Typical constructions where fishing activity took place, today the buildings house shops and restaurants. The fishing industry has moved to centralize plants on Grosse Ile.

La Boucanerie (smokehouse) where once Herring was smoked, now other seafood and fish are smoked here. You can buy their production here.

A park for kids to play in, everything is made of wood and represents the fishing lifestyle. The canot you see here is a replica of the one used in Winter to go to the Banquise (ice flow) to hunt seals. A very dangerous exercise given the constant movement of the ice pack.

Some of the beaches are rocky as in this photo and others are sandy.

We really enjoyed our time and hope to return to les Iles de la Madeleine, only 95 Km from PEI.

Two shows

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car, Halifax, PEI, Spring, tourism, Travel, tune-up

Being members of the Haviland Club and doing the newsletter and involved with memberships means that every week I have a lot to do, all on a volunteer basis. Will being the musical one, his involved with the theatre play reading group and with entertainment.

On Friday 1 and 2 April, we had 2 shows dinner/theatre style. It was a great success and lots of fun. All the shows are done by volunteers, many are Club Members, so it is a lot of work and fun.

The Friday show was located in a real small Italian village of Poggi Bonzi, in central Tuscany.

The second show was about Gypsies or Travellers as they are called now.

It really is Spring now, the weather is mild and rainy. On April 22 in about 3 weeks the first Cruise ship in two years is scheduled to arrive, restaurants are frantically looking for staff and the use of frantically is not an exaggeration. The owners still don’t get it, low pay means no staff after these 2 years of shut down. This also applies to kitchen staff and cooks. It is a really serious issue, but greed has made a lot of owners blind and obtuse in facing this problem. Our politicians do not help either, too many back door deals with business groups at the expense of employees, this is the Island way as they say here.

We also have now a serious problem with Covid infections in PEI, the highest rate in Canada per Capita. The Government gave in to business groups who were crying poverty while riding around in the Mercedes Benz S class. So the policy now is do nothing and let it ride. Not too happy about that but you know money talks.

I really need to go to Halifax at some point, probably next week for 2 days to get some oriental carpet cleaned. It’s an easy drive and it will be nice to leave the Island for the first time in almost 3 years.

Halifax, 500,000 population, originally the city as a military garrison city and sea port was heavily fortified, the citadel is a sight to see. When Halifax was founded in 1749, the majority of residents were from England, Ireland and Scotland. Soon after they were joined by immigrants from Germany and New England. Black people, some from Africa, others escaping enslavement in the United States, settled in or near Halifax beginning in the 18th century.

Today Monday off to the garage for a Spring Tune up and change of tires. I also need my annual inspection for my car licence, it is a bit silly to do this each year but this is the way in PEI. Of course this morning it is snowing lightly, it is called a Spring Snow, how poetic.

Dachshunds

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dachshunds, dogs, life, Travel

For the past 32 years we have had 4 Dachshunds, from smooth to long to wire hair.

They all came from various places, the first one was born in Cairo, Egypt, the next one was born just outside Chicago, the two present ones were born in Capena, just outside Rome.

They all travelled extensively with us, probably our first dachshund Bundnie did travel quite a bit from Egypt to Canada and back and then to Poland to Canada and then to Chicago and back to Canada. A lot of her travel was done with KLM who had a very solid reputation with transporting animals. The worst was Air Canada who pay no attention to live cargo and have all manner of ridiculous rules.

Yes we do treat all of them very well and they know it. Just this week we were at the Vets to make sure that all was well with Nicky and his eyes and with Nora and her health in general. Yesterday I was at the pet store to pick up some food for Nicky and they no longer have the brand I would usually buy for him and spent a good deal of time speaking with the sales person about various options. Dog food is not cheap and quality mix of ingredients is important.

The thing about Dachshunds is how clever they are and stubborn. They are little prima donnas and know what button to push to get their way. What I find amazing is the routine they have developed with us. An example, I have to give Nicky eye drops x2 a day, Nora watches very carefully what I am doing, then she wants a cookie for watching. You cannot say no, impossible, she will stomp her paw and give you dirty looks, even ignoring you or sulking. Same in the kitchen, she expects and gets, so does Nicky a treat of anything we cook or prepare, lots of modulated wining. So we think of ourselves as their personal attendants from sun up to sun down. It’s a full time job.

On Instagram I follow quite a few sites with Dachshunds in Europe, they are all Wire Hair, lots of mountain hikes and running, something our two do not do, they have turned into couch potatoes. This February they are 13 years old.

They also know our two different approaches to their demands and wants. With Will they are more willing to whine and complain and they know he will give them what they want. With me it is different, they seem to know that I have no patience and will not give treats for whatever reason they can come up with, so they simply go to Will instead. I took them to the groomer last month in Kensington about 40 minutes away. Both were very quiet in the car and slept on the way. Will has accompanied me on some occasions and then both will fidget and whine. You have to wonder what goes on in their little heads.

Our four dachshunds were all very different in character and temperament, they were and are quite a presence in the house.

Future travel

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history, Spain, Travel

We have been discussing going to Spain in September or early October. We want to go back to Granada which was so extraordinary on our first visit. Then the Escorial near Madrid and Toledo/Valencia.

We can do all this by train and with our knowledge of Spanish it should make it all the more pleasant. Hopefully by the Fall of 2022 we will have a more relaxed travel regime.

We have hotels we loved in Spain in previous travel and restaurants and tapas bars we would like to revisit. Well we do have time to plan it all.

What to do when it blows

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Germany, Potsdam, Prussia, Travel

Visibility right now at 2pm on Saturday is very low, the storm is in its snow phase and high winds, tonight we get freezing rain and high winds, oh joy!

So I am looking at the internet and the sites I follow regularly, currently new photos of Potsdam old market area built up around 1669 and the St-Nicholas Church built in 1830. All these buildings were very badly damaged by Soviet artillery at the end of the Second World War. Most lay in ruins until 1990 and I remember visiting Potsdam in 1998 the area was desolate despite being the centre of the city under Communist East German rule who had no interest in any of that part of German history. Since 2000 major renovations and rebuilding has been under way. Potsdam was the un-official Capital of the Kingdom of Prussia and Berlin the ceremonial capital. In Potsdam you will find the royal park with many palaces including Sans-Souci built in 1745. It will take you more than a day to visit the park.

The Lutheran Evangelical Church of St-Nicholas on the right of the photo, the re-built city Palace on the left which is now used as the Parliament of the Province of Brandenburg. HRH The Prince of Wales supported this historical reconstruction. In the middle where the cranes are, buildings are being rebuilt to replicate the apartments and hotel of this area with their baroque facade. Until just a few years ago the East German government had built on the site a faculty of economics, a utilitarian style building. The building was abandoned after 1989. Potsdam in the last 30 years has undergone a revival of its cultural institutions and a vast program of restoration of historical building. If you go to Berlin you can travel to Potsdam by city train about 25 minutes away.

Setting Day, Monday

Tags

Canada, life, lobster, PEI, Travel

Setting day in PEI is the day the lobster traps are set in the water for the opening of the Lobster season. Unfortunately due to poor weather and high winds, the opening day was set back from last Thursday to this coming Monday 3 May. This means that restaurants cannot offer Lobster until Monday night. It is a point of honour that though you could import lobsters from Nova Scotia which is just one hour away from us on the mainland, no self-respecting Islander would do that. Clients will automatically ask where did you get that lobster? For one, the taste is different, PEI lobsters come from the Gulf of St-Lawrence on our North Coast, whereas Nova Scotia lobsters come from either the Strait of Northumberland or the Atlantic ocean. Nova Scotia being a peninsula.

Last night Saturday, we did go to the opening night at the Water Prince restaurant, I had their seafood chowder and a pound of mussels, the mussels are fat at this time of the year and very good.

Later end of June we will have Strawberry Season, same story, people wait for PEI strawberries, though we get strawberries from the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia about 3 weeks before PEI strawberries are on the market, people prefer to wait.

Strawberries in PEI are very fragrant and have that beautiful perfume.

Well last week got my shot and never felt nor had any after effect to the Pfizer shot. In a month I should get my next shot, the Health Dept will call to schedule my appointment.

Can’t believe we are already in May, how time flies. However I also know that we have another 6 Months of Pandemic to go, given the set backs in other Canadian Provinces. Our Neighbour Nova Scotia is in a desperate situation with a small population and limited hospital care. The Police is still fining people who have big house parties, how can people be this selfish? Here in PEI we remain quiet and almost normal situation.

Our cleaning lady this week came to help with Spring Cleaning of the house, she told me that as a little girl, she lived on a farm on PEI. She only left the island for the first time when she was 21. Growing up she had no idea that beyond the water there was another world. Her known world was the Island. She is not alone with that experience, many Islanders had a very similar experience and even today despite the fact that travel is much more easy, people tend to cling to the Island and find leaving a daunting proposal.

Condé

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Berlin, Frederick II, life, Travel

Today I saw this picture of Unter den Linden and looking Eastward towards the City Palace, we see the famous equestrian statue of Frederick II the Great riding his favourite horse Condé.

Named after a French Prince of the time Louis de Bourbon-Condé, this horse was purchased in 1777 at the age of 11 and quickly became the favourite of Frederick II. He would ride him in Potsdam every day and do so until a few weeks before he died. After the King’s death Condé would continue to live a quiet life for many more years dying at 38 in 1804. He was from the Wallach breed, a German breed of riding horse. His skeleton today is at the Veterinary college.

He was according to records, spoiled, Frederick would often put slice of melon and figs in his coat pocket and Condé would come and sniff them out, it amused the King, there was a close familiarity between Condé and Frederick II, that his visitors to Potsdam observed. The same with his dogs, all Whippets, he is buried in the garden of Sans Souci with his dogs, as he stipulated in his will.

To be in Berlin in the Spring, with its parks, lakes and rivers, beautiful restaurants and great museums, concert halls and Opera houses. Maybe one day after this pandemic, we can travel.

Travelling

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Alhambra, Andalusia, Granada, Islamic Art, Spain, Travel

So the idea of travelling now is somewhat a moot point, borders are closed, restrictions abound, the pandemic is everywhere and there are serious health risks. So we have to think of the future where would we want to go. Will we ever travel again, maybe, who knows.

In our case it is returning to cities we loved. That would be Berlin, Vienna, Salzburg, Rome, Granada, and somewhere in Sicily a lovely island, Trapani, Marsala?

Today, maybe this is the cooler weather around 0 C. and the Winter smell in the air got me thinking of Granada in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada and the fabulous palace of the Alhambra with its magical gardens.

The Alhambra Palace and fortress at dawn.

We were in Seville and took the train up to Granada, the difference in temperature was striking, Seville was pleasantly warm whereas Granada was cool if not cold at night. The distance is about 250 Km. the city of Malaga is much closer to Granada. We had arrived in Seville with our ship sailing up the Guadalquivir River which is silting up and is no longer the great river that saw Admiral Cristofer Columbus return from the Americas with his ship loaded with treasures.

Queen Isabella of Castille (1451-1504) and her husband Ferdinand (1452-1516) both are buried in the Royal Chapel of Granada in what was formerly the great Mosque of Granada. From looking at their caskets they must have been no more than 4 feet tall. Both of them are recognized as the founders of the Spanish Monarchy by unifying the Iberian peninsula and defeating the Moors in Granada in January 1492 the same year Columbus travelled to the Americas. This is why upon his return Queen Isabella wanted to celebrate by having him come to Granada. The Pope Alexander (Borgia) whose family where from Valencia, awarded the Sovereigns the title of Catholic Monarchs. This is why to this day the King of Spain is known as His Most Catholic Majesty. King Ferdinand was also king of Sardinia, Sicily, Naples and Majorca. Sicily will be ruled by Spain until its unification with Italy in 1870 the same applies to Southern Italy or Calabria. To this day Sicilians see themselves as a separate people and not as Italians.

The architecture and the panoramic view of the snow capped mountains makes for a beautiful city. We really enjoyed Granada, the highlight was the visit of the gardens of the Alhambra in their Moorish style and the palace which we visited late at night with no other light but that of a full moon, it was magical, something I cannot forget.

The walls are sculpted stone with intricate geometric details. It reminded me of the type of architecture I saw in Cairo from the period of the Abbasid Caliph architectural style. It was Mohammad Ben Al-Ahmar, Emir of Granada who built the palace we see today. It was so splendid that Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand made it into their royal Court. They had no such palace with running water, so this was a move up for them. After 1550 the palace is abandoned and falls for centuries into disrepair, occupied by poor squatters, only after the defeat in 1814 of Napoleon who tried to destroy the palace in retaliation against the Spaniards who fought him, it was British artists and intellectuals on the grand tour who rediscovered it and popularize the site. It is truly a gem of Islamic architecture.

Bye Bye Flughafen Tegel, TXL

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airports, BER, Berlin, Travel

If you plan to fly to Berlin next month you will arrive at the new Berlin Branderburg Airport, BER also known as Willy Brandt Airport, BER. Tegel is closing and already its functions are being transferred ahead of the opening of the new Willy Brandt Airport, BER.

Historically Berlin had 3 airports, Tempelhof the first airport to be build in the South, then Tegel in the North West in 1948 and in East Germany, Schonefeld airport, South East, serving the Communist regime. Berlin being a divided city after 1945 and occupied by the French, British, American and the Soviets everyone got a piece of the cake.

Until 1975 Tempelhof was the West Berlin Airport, after 1975 international traffic was diverted to Tegel, TXL in what was then the French Sector the divided city. Tempelhof handled domestic flights from West Germany.

Tempelhof we know today with its gigantic terminal was built by the Nazi Regime in 1934 as Hitler’s World Capital Airport. After the Second World War in 1948 a new airport was created to handle increasing air traffic and so Tegel was opened. The Tegel airport you see today with its two post modernist Hexagonal terminals was built in the 1960’s and will now become a museum and the air strips will be a large green space.

Tempelhof was closed as an airport in 1996 it became a large green park. The site of the airport was originally Knight Templar land in medieval Berlin, and from this beginning came the name Tempelhof. Later, the site was used as a parade field by Prussian forces from 1720 to the start of World War one. In 1909, Frenchman Armand Zipfel made the first flight demonstration in Tempelhof, followed by Orville Wright later that same year. Tempelhof was first officially designated as an airport on 8 October 1923. The airline Lufthansa was founded in Tempelhof on 6 January 1926.

The old Tempelhof terminal, originally constructed in 1927, became the world’s first with an underground railway station, known as Paradestrasse. Tempelhof was in the American sector of Berlin and was the site of the air bridge during the Cold War.

On 25 October 2020 on the site of the former Schonefeld Airport, in what was East Germany in the Soviet Sector, a brand new terminal will open after major scandals and 11 years of delay and massive cost overruns. It will be the only airport in Berlin and it is hoped it can handle the ever increasing air traffic, though the pandemic has severely cut flights.

BER, Berlin Brandenburg, ” Willy Brandt” Airport, finally opening 25 October 2020.