Journal Entries
I'm back
Posted Jun 22, 2005
22 June
Just to let you know that I'm back from Canada, but have been busy/recuperating this week so far. Will post more about the trip in a couple of days - I'm getting my photos back tomorrow, yay! As I haven't gone digital in the camera dept yet, I still have the excitement of waiting for them to be developed.
This heat has been a bit of a shock - left wet and cold Calgary, arrived in boiling hot Cambridge (32 degrees on Sunday) 
, and it has only freshened up slightly since.
More soon ...
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Latest reply: Jun 22, 2005
Canada - travelogue contd.
Posted Jun 15, 2005
Redwoood Meadows, 14 June
Have just had two great days out when we've been very lucky with the weather. Before I arrived in Calgary, they'd had six days of torrential rain and quite bad local flooding, and the weather was a bit changeable over the weekend, but we finally decided we couldn't keep waiting for it to improve, so off we went.
Yesterday: Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. Louise is the one in all the pictures - aquamarine water (glacial runoff) surrounded by mountains, but the view is rather spoilt by the most hideous hotel at the end of the lake. It was pouring with rain when we got there, so we looked at all the over-priced gift shops in the hotel and then went back to the village for a sandwich. Wondered whether it was worth driving on 12km to Moraine Lake but were very glad we did - the sun came out on the way and the mountains were just spectacular. There is still quite a lot of snow on them (apart from the glaciers) and the lake, while smaller than Louise, is even prettier because the mountains are closer and more dramatic. Apparently the water is that colour because the minerals in the glacial silt absorb all colours of the spectrum except blue and green.
Today: we left my friend's two year-old daughter at home with her dad and had a girls' outing, which was really great - much as Little Miss Friend is adorable, she is a bit of a distraction on long car journeys! Went to Grassi Lakes, near Canmore, and climbed up the track to the lakes - again, the most beautiful colours. Friend has been on a 'bear awareness' course, so kept giving high-pitched yells at bends in the track, so we didn't surprise a bear ... however, I was glad to hear she didn't see any signs of bear activity. We climbed down parallel with a fantastic waterfall. Then went into Banff for lunch (steak sandwich and frites, Cotes du Ventoux) and a browse round the tourist shops.
On the way back we saw people practising cross-country skiing, using sort of skis on wheels - this is what they do in the summer here to keep in training.
Saw some mountain goats and a chipmunk - no elk, despite the many warning signs that they might be on the highway.
That's all for now - off to watch Dr Who (last Saturday's eppy I hope)!
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Latest reply: Jun 15, 2005
Canadian food report (2)
Posted Jun 12, 2005
OK - the more sensitive among you may need to look away at this point!
For breakfast today, I had blueberry pancakes (fresh blueberries and buttermilk), topped with fried bacon, and with maple syrup drizzled over the whole thing. I know - it sounds disgusting, but it was actually *really* good.
[Note for Martine - all the food packaging here is bilingual, so I discovered that buttermilk is 'babeurre' in French. I'd never heard this word before, but then I suppose I'd never really needed it either. Is it used in l'hexagone, or is it a purely Canadian usage?]
The Sunday roast we're having this evening will be bison - I'll let you know what it's like.
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Latest reply: Jun 12, 2005
Canadian food report
Posted Jun 5, 2005
Not to be outdone by dagesh, here's a quick report on what we had for dinner last night. We went shopping at the market on Granville Island - fantastic selection of fresh fish, meat, fruit & veg, and deli items (multicoloured pasta appears to be a local thing - I've never seen red and yellow striped ravioli before!).
So - dinner: nibbles with aperitif (British Columbian Gewurztraminer, very nice too) - selection of olives, smoked salmon candy. This is salmon which has been painted with chili maple syrup and smoke-dried, so the texture is a bit like jerky; tastes delicious, slightly sweet, but with a chili 'bite'. Followed by tiger prawns and spotted shrimp, grilled with garlic. Followed by black smoked cod, poached in milk, with samphire and fiddlehead ferns.
Then we had a pause (and a look into Mustardland), before tarte aux abricots from the French patisserie.
Not bad at all!
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Latest reply: Jun 5, 2005
Here today, gone tomorrow ...
Posted Jun 2, 2005
(also posted in The Bull, for the information of MLers)
... on my way to Canada! Three cheers! 
Have been doing bits and pieces of preparation (mainly lists) for the last week, and it seems to have paid off. Came home from work at lunchtime today, via a certain well-known high street chemist, to buy last-minute items like flight socks.
It took me two hours to pack (including frequent shirking breaks in here and in hootoo), but it's done, and there is still room in the case! Took a break and cycled to the station to buy my train ticket to Gatwick, so that I don't have to queue tomorrow morning.
Remembered on the way back that I had bought a hoodie specifically for this trip (layers, because temperatures could be anything between 10 and 30 in Calgary) and hadn't packed it. Doh! Now have to decide whether to put it in as an extra or exchange it for the jumper already packed. Think the latter, as I've decided not to take too many heavy clothes, on the assumption that I can borrow them if necessary from the friends I'm staying with.
My suitcase and hand luggage also contain items requested by the Brits I'm visiting in Canada: Jackson's leaf tea, Daddies sauce and Weetabix!
Might get a chance to look in here while I'm away, but otherwise I'll see you all in two weeks. Reports to follow ...
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Latest reply: Jun 2, 2005
annie_cambridge
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