So how many of you have had a drink of Chinotto by San Pellegrino? I had not even heard of it until very recently. Sure I had their lovely sparkling water, and their orange pop as well. But what is Chinotto? Sadly I thought it would be a cool Italian version of Cola, like Brio. But instead it is a weird citrus/herb flavour. Perhaps I should have read the can prior to drinking as it clearly says this on the label. I do not think I will be heading back fopr more of this interesting flavour anytime soon.

Broken pedal = slower commute

Okay so I was cycling to work yesterday and I noticed at one point that my pedal was not allowing me to clip in (I use clipless pedals which contrary to the name allow you to clip into the pedal for maximum pedaling power). So I got off the bike to check and noticed that one of the screws/shafts that holds it altogether was sheered off. That sucked. One of the tension springs was missing as well. So repair was not an option (especially on the roadside at -12C). Luckily I could still use the pedal as a standard platform pedal and continue riding. But when you are used to your foot being attached to a pedal it makes a world of difference to things like power and speed when you can't any longer.

Okay, so this story isn't super exciting, just letting you know what was going on with me. Oh and I had a spare pair of pedals at home, so things are great now. Commuting by bike in the winter is rough stuff.

Toronto - The real story

So I arrived in Toronto last Wednesday night, traveling during a fairly major snow/freezing rain/ rain storm that was happening in the Halifax region (well Martimes). I flew in on Westjet, which turned out to be a good option for me as Air Canada had canceled most of their flights. Sure the take off was rough but otherwise it was a fine trip up. So what else did I do in Toronto? Well I hung out with my wife, which was nice. We did try to get out of the condo she is staying in as often as possible but the weather was not always great. Toronto actually had a ton of snow on the ground, which made sidewalks really horrible. And on the Sunday there was a massive rain storm. We still managed to get out to a few furniture/design shops looking for ideas for our house. And there was lots. We also walked around one day on Queen Street. Wow, talk about shops. And really nice ones as well. We were there on a fact gathering mission to see what sorts of dog products we might like to purchase in the future when we get a dog. One night we also were able to get out and see a movie at the AGO (art Gallery of Ontario). It was a movie showing the life of an art project called the Spiral Getty. Okay, so it was an art film and I was very confused as I didn't know what the Spiral Getty actually was. Perhaps some background info would have been good for me. In the future I will research before such films.

I had previously written about flying home on Porter Air. Lovely company. Of course Halifax was in the middle of another storm with heavy winds, rain and deep cloud cover for the flight home (reminder February is a horrible month to travel. But good old Porter pilots managed to get us down safely.

It is nice being home I must say. I hope my wife will join me soon, but alas she needs to stay in Toronto for a bit longer. Hopefully I will soon be posting about our new dog, but we do have to wait until she gets here before we can even bring a dog home to live with us.

I do like visiting Toronto, but I think I would actually get a bit bored living there all the time, sensory overload or something. Well I guess I would adapt to it, still I like it here in Nova Scotia.

Toronto the preview

Okay so here I am in the airport in Toronto. I am flying Porter Air back to Halifax so I get to enjoy the awesome lounge they offer. I will post all about my trip when I get back to Halifax and get to sit down for a minute. It has been fun, but I do enjoy being home as well. Mobbile blogging is new to me so I think I will stop now while my hands are still painfree. Hope to hear from all my readers soon. Take care.

Saturday With Dave

 

 

So Saturday morning was a fun time. Dave and I met for a nice coffee and a chat to start the day. Coffee from the Smiling Goat is not something to be rushed. No it must be savoured. That is because the coffee is brewed on the Clover. Not sure what coffee brewed on Clover is? Time for google my friends. Needless to say it is spectacular coffee and the guys at the Smiling Goat love to give you nothing but the best.

From there a walk around Halifax (Strange Adventures Comics, MEC, The Book Room, Loomis, Folklore Music) really made the morning great. It was nice to get to some good shops and explore what is out there. I managed to buy a few items, namely a great indy comic called "The Incredible Change Bots", a new headlamp from MEC, and also a new pick guard for my acoustic guitar.

We finished the day at Coburg Coffee. This is another great coffee shop in Halifax, mostly because they make great sandwiches. And on Saturday it is all day breakfast. So good.

So that was my morning with Dave, my afternoon and evening was spent with his parents (Rick and Phyllis). I also managed to spend a little time with his brother Charles and his wife Leslie. All in all a good day of visiting, exploring and fun.

The next day I would go on to see the HKC dogshow. Fun stuff and great dogs.

Beer and music and friends

Oh my beer? Well sure, beer is good. It is better with friends though. So Dave and Carrie and I went to O'Carrol's Pub on Saturday night to enjoy a brew and listen to some old friend's of David's play some great music. Brennan and Bonnie Jean MacDonald. Fiddle and guitar; some instrumental, some singing. Great stuff. Might I also suggest the handmade potato chips with dip. Oh man those are good. Fresh, hot potato chips? The best thing ever.

Star Anise - A nice Place

Ever want a tasty dinner? Well we sure did this past Saturday and what better choice than some good Vietnamese food. So off to Star Anise Vietnamese Noodle Restaurant we went (David, Carrie and I). And I thought, I sure could use a spring roll. Mine was filled with pork (though veggie ones are available). Yum city. I finished off the dinner with some pomegranate green tea and a bowl of noodle soup with flank steak. I don't think I had had such a noodle bowl before and the flavour was very interesting. Sadly my taste buds could not detect the exact spices, though I am sure they are commonly used in Vietnamese food. So if you are in Halifax and require Vietnamese food you no where to head (it's on Barrington Street).

Pothole Update

So anyway I was cycling to work again this morning and it looks like a few of the big pothole sections I had complained about in the past (well the last post anyway) have been filled. Of course this is temporary patch work that will ultimately fail and is really bumpy, but at least for now it is not a giant pit. Hopefully this work will continue and my commute to work will not be an offroad experience.