St John’s is one of the oldest cities in North America and Newfoundland’s primary port. We found it to be the perfect blend of modern sophisticated city and small historic town. We spent three nights at the Murray Premises Hotel, … Continue reading
In today’s blog, I would like to tell you about our explorations of the Northern Peninsula in Newfoundland. As I mentioned, we are staying in St Anthony at the Grenfell Heritage Inn and Suites. The hotel is located adjacent to … Continue reading
Harvey and I are spending two weeks on the east coast. We have started with a week ‘on the rock’ – in Newfoundland.
On Saturday, we flew to St John’s – a great Air Canada flight that touched down in Ottawa, but we didn’t even have to deplane. It’s a bit of a shock to have a 3 1/2 hour time change with what seemed like a relatively quick flight. Speaking of that, I’m sure you are aware that Newfoundland is the only area in North America with a half hour time zone difference. There are a number of other areas of the world with this quirky time, but did you know that there are some with a 15 minute difference?! That would be very strange!
We spent Saturday night at a new Holiday Inn Express, a stone’s throw from the airport – I would recommend this hotel if you happen to need one near the St John’s airport.
Sunday morning, we took off on the TransCanada Highway (known here as the TCH). We can now say we have been on both ends of the TCH, as well as most of it in between. We travelled over 600 km, arriving in Deer Lake to spend the night. The highway was great and there was some great scenery. In the St John’s area, we thought we wouldn’t be seeing much fall foliage as the majority of the trees were conifers. But this changed as we headed east. I think we may be a wee bit early for the height of the fall colours, and the colours are primarily yellow and orange, lacking the reds of the northeastern U.S. You may know that we are connoisseurs of fall foliage (right, Deb?), and this isn’t the best, but still pleasant to see.
We stopped in a couple of small villages and viewpoints and enjoyed the scenery. Here are some photos taken at Norman’s Cove and near Gambo (at Joey’s Lookout, named after Joey Smallwood).
We had a picnic lunch at Notre Dame Provincial Park. The park was closed for the year, but we thought it looked like it would be a great place to camp – however, it’s a bit of a drive from Stony Plain.
Deer Lake’s claim to fame is being the heart of the snowmobile world. They apparently have many miles of groomed trails in the winter. Great cuisine is not one of their high points, and we ended the day with dinner at Jungle Jim’s. To my surprise, the food was actually quite tasty, although the Sangria was more like tropical juice. 😦
Monday morning, we were on the road again, heading north on The Viking Trail. We entered Gros Morne National Park, stopping at the Visitor Centre for our park pass and some information. Many of the park attractions and activities closed for the season at some point in September, but we are here to see the area and aren’t concerned with the closures.
Gros Morne National Park is located on the west coast of Newfoundland. At 1,805 km², it is the second largest national park in Atlantic Canada. Shaped by colliding continents and grinding glaciers, Gros Morne’s ancient landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park is named for Newfoundland’s second-highest mountain peak (at 806 m or 2,644 ft), which looms over the park.
We checked out the community of Norris Point and Bonne Bay. This area looks like it would be quite the bustling tourist destination in the summer months. Now, it was a lovely village.
We travelled through Rocky Harbour and stopped at Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse. The light at this lighthouse was activated in 1898 and the exhibit shows details of life there over the years. The final lighthouse keeper retired in 1970, a year after automated equipment was installed.
Travelling north, we stopped in Cow Head and Parson’s Pond, where we paid homage to the homeland of Harvey’s work mate, Ted.
Speaking of Parson’s Pond, we have no idea what constitutes a pond in NL. What we would call a very large lake in Alberta is often called a pond here! Likewise, many ‘brooks’ would definitely be rivers in Alberta.
We stopped for lunch at the Arches Provincial Park. Here three natural arches have been formed by tidal forces. At low tide, you can walk under the arches – but you certainly wouldn’t have wanted to try that when we were there.
Our next stop along the way was at Port au Choix. This area is considered of the richest archeological finds in North America. Burial sites uncovered in the town in the 1960s & 70s provide evidence of its earliest settlers – from the Maritime Archaic Indians to the Groswater and Dorset Palaeoeskimos to the Recent Indians (ancestors of the Beothuks). It is a National Historic Site of Canada. The Visitor Centre is closed for the year, so we didn’t see any of the archeological findings.
However, we continued on the road to the Point Riche lighthouse, where we encountered one of the day’s highlights – a family of caribou! They were not phased at all by our presence and it was great to watch them grazing.
We travelled the rest of the way non-stop to our destination of St Anthony. Our journey today was ~425 kilometres. We are staying at the Grenfell Heritage Hotel. In my next post, I’ll tell you some of the Grenfell story and more about St Anthony.
Again, many of the area restaurants are closed for the season, but we were directed to one known for its home cooking. The grilled salmon and pan-fried cod were excellent!
By the way, the weather on Sunday was great – sunny and 16. Cooler on Monday – high of 6, mix of sun and the odd shower.
More later on our day today on the Northern Peninsula!
Cheers,
B & H
In the last two posts, I talked about our recent trip to St Louis and Kansas City, but I didn’t fill you in on the food and drink we encountered. Always a highlight of our travels, it was exceptionally so in these two cities!
Barbecue
Missouri is a stronghold of of barbecue and we visited the stalwarts of this cuisine in both cities. In St. Louis, Pappy’s Smokehouse is known as the home of the best Memphis style barbecue. We had loved it on our visit in 2012 and it was equally as delicious on this visit! The ribs are smoky and the sauces vary from sweet to spicy – they are amazing.
In Kansas City, we tried two iconic offerings. Arthur Bryant’s was founded in the early 1920’s and is considered by many to be the most famous barbecue restaurant in the U.S. Again, the ribs had that smoky, fall-off-the-bone characteristic and the sauce, tasting of vinegar and paprika, was excellent. The atmosphere was down-home, with the floor just a bit slick from the grease in the air!
Our second excursion in KC was to LC’s Bar-B-Que. This small, one-room joint, in a rather sketchy location, is known for its ‘burnt-ends’ and they did not disappoint! As with the other two barbecue restaurants we visited, the many testimonials to their excellent food were posted on the walls!
All three barbecue joints were excellent – but my personal award goes to Pappy’s. To me, their ribs are still the best!!
Other Restaurants of Note
We also enjoyed some excellent meals at:
Beer
We has some excellent stops for afternoon refreshments on this trip. The October special of pumpkin brew became our drink of choice and we had some great ones!
We also enjoyed a visit to the Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City, where we tried two flights featuring their many varied brews.
Brew of a different sort
Our regular readers may recall our cultural guest blogger in Prague and Vienna, Debbie. Today, Debbie returns as our resident expert on coffee houses. We visited many on this trip – here is Debbie’s take on the coffee scene in SL and KC:
“Sure, St. Louis and Kansas City are known for beer, blues, and baseball, but who knew that they are home to a craft coffee culture where the local roaster shops outnumber the big green chain outlets? Pleasantly surprised, we were. You need to adjust your whole coffee-drinking experience. There are too many to review individually, so suffice it to say that if it ain’t pour over in front of your face, it ain’t coffee. And don’t be asking for dark or mild roast, the talk is of flavours, of boldness, of undertones. Don’t be asking for small, medium, or large either – pour overs are served in ounces and might magically appear in a mini carafe or a wine glass or a flask that you can pour into your cup at leisure. And the baristas, oh, the baristas! Not for here is the short-term-part-time-wait-till-I-go-back-to-school barista, for being a barista in a craft coffee house IS a career – a career with a passion, a passion for smells, flavours, and designs. It is a thing of beauty to watch a big, strapping, bearded man gently, ever so gently, slowly pour the steaming water over the grounds at a a precise pace measured by timer for perfection every time. And if you happen to order a milky delight (only whole milk, of course), it is a wondrous thing to watch his big hands pour and tip until the perfect picture emerges in soothing browns and milky whites before he gracefully hands you his work of art. You have probably figured out by now that there is no rush in craft coffee houses. Here, you are patient and when the moment arrives, and you have that lovely, warm, beautiful liquid in your hands and feel it permeate your physical body and mind, you sit back and read or ponder or engage in thoughtful conversation with whoever is near, for this, really, is an art gallery. Not to be completely outdone by the product itself, however, is the location and the sign on the door. Chances are you will be looking for an unpretentious hole in the wall with minimalistic furnishings and with a name that only hints at what wonders hide inside – Oddly Correct, Blueprint Coffee, Picasso’s and many undiscovered others. There might be food but the best ones just have a few nibbles because you are here for the shining star, the coffee. So, the next time you are in St. Louis or Kansas City, enjoy the beer, blues, and baseball but also venture into the world of craft coffee. It’s worth a special trip.”
Ah yes, it was a great trip filled with wonderful eats and drinks!
Cheers,
Bev & Harv
As I indicated in the last post, we recently vacationed in Missouri. You ask: Missouri? Why?
Well, for a while now, we have discussed visiting Kansas City to explore the B’s: barbecue, baseball, beer, blues…… And then Harvey decided it was time for another NASCAR race – and the timing was right to go to the race in KC. After a few days in St Louis, we hopped in our rental van and were down the road to KC. Oh – another reason – one of my bucket list items is to visit all 50 U.S. states. I had 3 left – Kentucky, Oklahoma and Kansas. The Kansas Speedway is in Kansas – Check! Only 2 to go!
We had 4 days in KC – 3 to explore and one dedicated to the race. We were pleased to find there was lots to see and do. Here are some of our highlights:
Fountains
Kansas City has more than 200 fountains, which is more than any city in the world except Rome. We lost count but think we saw about 30. There are maps of the fountains available and it would be a fun way to spend a day (Harvey thinks not). The majority of the fountains we noted were spouting blue water in support of the Royals! 
America Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
These two museums are housed in the same building in the historic 18th & Vine Jazz District.
The American Jazz Museum was opened in 1997 and features the sights and sounds of jazz through interactive exhibits and films. It was very interesting to view the exhibits and learn interesting facts about jazz music and artists. The multiple ‘audio stations’ enhanced the experience. You can learn more about this museum at: http://americanjazzmuseum.org/about-us/#sthash.kl2tgoQl.dpuf
The museum also includes the Blue Room Jazz Club, which offers live music nightly. We didn’t make it back in the evening this trip, but would plan this in a future trip.
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is dedicated to preserving the history of African-American baseball and does a great job of this using exhibits, photos and film. We found it very interesting and informative.
Downtown Kansas City
We enjoyed visiting the City Market, the Union Station and the WWI Liberty Memorial.
Since 1857, the City Market has been one of the largest public farmers’ markets in the Midwest. In an open-air format, the market offers an eclectic mix of dining, shopping, entertainment and attractions.
The Union Station served rail traffic in KC from 1914 – 1985. In 1999, the refurbished station reopened with public attractions and in 2002, it once again became an active train station, servicing Amtrak public transportation.
The Liberty Memorial, dedicated on November 11, 1926, honours the men and women who served in WWI and is located at the National World War I Museum. We didn’t visit the museum on this trip – another item for a future trip. 
Further Afield in KC
One afternoon, we took a trip to the southern suburb of Overland Park to the Museum at Prairiefire. This museum is a natural history museum and has a partnership with the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It looked very interesting from peering in the windows because unfortunately it was closed when we arrived. However, the trip was not wasted as the outside of the building is spectacular on its own! 
We also took a trip past Kaufman Stadium as the KC Royals were playing our Blue Jays. We had looked at getting tickets but the only available were single tickets at ridiculous prices, so we watched the games at various venues. The stadium itself is situated right next to the freeway and it was quite a site to see the masses of blue (for the Royals) in the stands.
One morning while Debbie and Larry were on a walk near our hotel, they came across the American Truck Historical Society. They went in and decided that Harvey must see this, so we stopped in for a visit later that morning. This society is dedicated to the collection and preservation of the history of trucks, the trucking industry, and its pioneers. The building contained some interesting memorabilia, but it serves most prominently as an archive of literature surrounding the trucking industry – brochures, manuals, newspaper ads and articles – anything to do with trucks. The readers who know Harvey well, will know of his passion for automobile literature and thus, he was fascinated with this collection. He could have spent hours perusing the items, but in deference to his travelling partners, he just took a brief look around, bonded with the staff, and committed to spending a day there if we were to return to KC. 
The Race
It is difficult to describe a NASCAR race to anyone who has never attended one. It is a spectacle like none other that I have ever been to, and I’ve attended major league baseball, football, basketball and hockey games, as well as international soccer and skating events. NASCAR fans are a breed of their own – an eclectic mix of car lovers, good old boys and wide-eyed newcomers – 70,000 of them at this race. The camping and tailgating is crazy and the smoke and aroma of barbecue hangs in the air. It’s hard to imagine that watching 43 cars drive in circles 267 times around a 1.5 mile track could be so enthralling. It is not a social event while the race is going on – it’s too loud to hear (and you need earplugs when you aren’t wearing the scanner headphones) – so interaction consists of pointing and pantomime. It really is something that anyone who enjoys cars, racing, big events or just people watching should do at least once!
As I mentioned in my St. Louis post, we tried out a number of local restaurants, bars and coffee houses. Stay tuned for the details on those in St. Louis and Kansas City soon.
Kansas City was a fun place to visit and as mentioned, there are a lot more things we would love to do on a return trip.
Cheers,
Bev & Harv
A couple of weeks ago, we took a trip to St. Louis and Kansas City with our traveling companions, Larry & Debbie. In this blog entry, I’d like to tell you some of the highlights of our four days in St. Louis, the Gateway to the West.
Harvey and I had visited St. Louis in the summer of 2012 – but only for two nights and in the midst of a major heat wave – so we really hadn’t done much exploring, other than the major tourist sites – the famous Arch and the Anheuser-Busch brewery. This trip, we had four days to get to know the city. Our expert trip planner, Debbie, had done excellent research and we travelled about the city like native St. Louisans (really, that’s what they are called).
Our hotel was located near the airport and had the most friendly staff I have ever encountered in a mainstream hotel. By the time we left, we were hugging them good-bye! We used the MetroLink light rail train to travel into the city core for the first couple of days. This was a very efficient travel mode – even on the evening train when the driver announced that the train was ‘defective’ and we crawled into the last stop at the airport!
We toured most of the major neighbourhoods in St. Louis. Here’s a recap:
Downtown St. Louis
The skyline of downtown St. Louis is dominated by the Gateway Arch. Standing 630 feet tall, the Arch is the tallest man-made monument in the U.S. and is celebrating 50 years in 2015. The grounds of the Arch are currently undergoing a major renovation, which is expected to be completed in Spring 2017.
Nearby is Laclede’s Landing, which combines rich St. Louis history with modern entertainment. Generally you can stroll along the riverfront, but access is limited at this time due to the major construction surrounding the Arch.
The “new” Busch Stadium was opened in 2006 and is home to the St. Louis Cardinals. It looks like it would be a great place to watch a ballgame!
Directly adjacent to the stadium is Ballpark Village. This entertainment complex actually occupies the area where the “old” Busch Stadium was located. We stopped in for a delightful lunch at the Budweiser Brewhouse and while there, were able to watch a live interview with Bob Gibson. Larry was especially pleased with this – as he was the only one of the four of us who actually knew who Bob Gibson was. Bob is a retired baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals and holds a significant place in the team history. Larry apparently has a couple of his baseball cards in his collection. Despite the ignorance of the rest of us, we all thoroughly enjoyed listening to the interview of this man, who is nearing 80 year of age and was very informative and entertaining.
Also located nearby are the Scottrade Center, where the St. Louis Blues play our game, and the Edwards Jones Dome, where the Rams tackle football.
We wondered through the Citygarden, a vibrant and serene blending of lush plantings and internationally renowned sculptures with delights of water, stone, architecture and design.
 We also stopped in at Union Station. This National Historic Landmark was once the world’s largest and busiest train station but was converted in the early 1980s into a hotel, shopping center, and entertainment complex and today, only serves local rail (MetroLink) transit passengers.
Forest Park
Forest Park occupies 1,293 acres in the center of the St. Louis and is the seventh largest urban park in the United States. It contains St. Louis’ major museums – the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Missouri History Museum – as well as the Saint Louis Science Center, Saint Louis Zoo, and The Muny, which is the country’s biggest outdoor theatre. It was a lovely spot for a lengthy stroll, despite a brief rain shower which sent us scurrying for cover under a tree.
 Central West End
Perched on the eastern edge of Forest Park and over a century old, the chic Central West End is full of charming sidewalk cafés, galleries, antique shops, restaurants, boutiques and pubs. It’s a little European, a little New York and totally St. Louis. The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis was completed in 1914 and is the mother church of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The World Chess Hall of Fame is also located in the Central West End. We enjoyed a great pumpkin brew at one of the many local establishments!
 Grand Center
Grand Center serves as the cultural hub of the region, and is home to many theaters, with their neon signs lighting up the street in the evening. 
Lafayette Square
This neighborhood boasts an impressive collection of beautiful Victorian homes and could be described as ‘urban chic.’Â We enjoyed checking out the exterior grandeur of many of these homes.
Soulard
The city’s oldest neighbourhood exhibits a leisurely pace and an appreciation of days gone by. The historic streets are lined with red brick townhomes that house live music clubs and unique restaurants. We walked to Soulard to experience their annual Oktoberfest. While sipping on the ever present ‘Bud’, we enjoyed a variety of live music on three separate stages – the oldest Blues band in St. Louis, a traditional German ‘oompah’ band and an interesting classic rock polka band. 
The Hill
The Hill is the quintessential “Little Italy” neighbourhood. Baseball’s Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola grew up here, and today it maintains a traditional collection of authentic Italian bakeries, grocery stores, restaurants and mom-and-pop trattorias.
Everything is colorful here – even the fire hydrants are painted red, white and green. Its epicenter is one intersection that sums it up perfectly, with St. Ambrose Catholic Church on one corner, an Italian bakery/restaurant on another, an import shop across the street, and a neighborhood tavern/bocce garden on the fourth corner.
We enjoyed a coffee house, an corner Italian sandwich shop and a lovely dinner (but more on that later).
The Loop
The area is nicknamed “The Loop”after an old streetcar turnaround and is the original home to Chuck Berry. The highlight of The Loop is Delmar Boulevard, an eclectic main drag lined with an array of ethnic and American restaurants, music clubs, coffee shops, vintage clothing stores and boutiques. It’s an easy place to spend a full day exploring shops that offer everything from tattoos and piercings to books and records. Larry certainly spent considerable time checking out the records, but he didn’t seem to want to follow through his suggestion that we stop at a tattoo shop. 
Bordering The Loop is University City:
University City was founded by publisher Edward Gardner Lewis, who began developing the location in 1903 around his publishing complex for Woman’s Magazine and Woman’s Farm Journal. A number of historic buildings, including the beautiful City Hall, are mixed in with the century old homes, some of which are lovely and some which require some modern TLC.
Webster Grove
Webster Groves is a fashionable neighbourhood with cozy restaurants, boutiques and century-old homes, more than 300 which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. We wandered for a while, stopped in for an afternoon refreshment and drove around the tree-lined streets to view the exteriors of many of the beautiful homes.
We enjoyed just wandering around the areas and learning about St. Louis. It is an interesting city that is currently dealing with some societal challenges, not the least of which is a rising murder rate. I certainly don’t want to imply that we ever felt unsafe as the murders are definitely concentrated in specific areas and specific demographics. We found interesting and enlightening articles about this issue in a local publication, the Riverfront Times. If you are interested in reading more – http://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2015/10/01/st-louis-has-the-highest-murder-rate-in-the-nation and http://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2015/10/07/st-louis-murder-map-tracks-killing-by-neighborhood .
As always, we tried out a number of local restaurants, bars and coffee houses. Stay tune for the details on those in St. Louis and Kansas City soon, as well as a post about our days in Kansas City.
Cheers,
Bev & Harv
Friday was our last day in Rio! We enjoyed breakfast and then decided we really needed some beach time. So we slipped into our swimming costumes and headed across the street for some relaxing on the sand. The ocean water is entirely too icy for our liking so we avoided that!
After our time in the sun, we headed to check out the major Barra shopping malls. We started with lunch at Joe & Leo’s Burger Place – not your traditional Brazilian name – but nevertheless, the beef burgers were excellent! We wandered around the malls a bit – could have been most anywhere – except maybe for the Palm trees and the Portuguese books in the bookstore.
We then returned to the hotel. Glen left at 5 pm to catch an American Airlines flight to Dallas. Liz, Harvey and I decided it must be time for one last beach stroll. We wandered along the beach and stopped at one of our favorite beach stands for a sunset cocktail.
Later we had snacks at a nearby bar and packed up our suitcases for the journey home.
On Saturday morning we were able to enjoy one last Windsor Barra breakfast before heading to the airport and embarking on our many hours of travel. We had long layovers in both São Paulo and Toronto but all our flights went well. Even despite boarding in Rio, looking for our seats in Row 28 and discovering the plane only had 24 rows! It quickly became a ‘seato libre’ flight and we all sat somewhere and were on our way. We arrived safely in Edmonton at noon on Sunday, Glen had arrived late Saturday night.
It was a wonderful trip – to a city we had never imagined visiting!!
So – thanks for reading – until next time in the long and winding journey….
Cheers!
Bev & Harvey
and our great travel mates,
Liz & Glen
We had an activity planned for Thursday that we were very much anticipating. After a leisurely breakfast, we headed across the city to the neighborhood of Lapa. The traffic in the Ipanema area was at a standstill but that apparently sharpened Glen’s photographic skills.
Many months ago, Harvey happened upon an article in the Globe & Mail describing things to do in Rio. One item, a walking food tour, caught my eye. I checked the website and was very interested. We emailed the tour guide and were easily able to schedule the tour.
Tom Le Mesurier is a young Brit who a few years ago was touring South America when he met and fell in love with a Brazilian girl, who would become his wife. He moved to Rio where he worked in IT for a couple of years before deciding to follow his dream. Tom now is a food writer and gives walking food tours of Rio several times a week.
We met Tom and the other 4 people on our tour at Nova Capela restaurant. It was a great group, with Austin & Fiona from Ireland, Fifi from Austin, Texas and Daniella from France. Coincidentally, Austin is a past president of ISQua and had also been at the conference.
To start our food journey at Nova Capela, we had a bolinhos de bacalhau (salt cod and potato croquettes) with suco de abacaxi com hortelã (pineapple juice with mint). The croquette, which is one of the national delicacies derived from Portugal, was crunchy and delicious and the juice was delightfully refreshing.
Leaving the restaurant, we walked the streets of Lapa. This journey showed us the working class of Brazil in their home environs. While not in the state of abject poverty that is evident in the favelas, this rough and tumble neighborhood is also quite removed from the touristy opulence of Copacabana, Ipanema and Barra.
Tom pointed out many of the street murals, many by well-known local artists.
We passed under the Arcos da Lapa. This aqueduct was built in the mid-1700s to transport water from the Carioca River to downtown Rio. The 42 arches stand 64 meters high. Later, a tram (bonde) ran across the top of the arches. This was discontinued in 2011 after a tragic accident. The plan is to reinstate the tram but there have been many delays. Currently, they say it will start to run again sometime in 2015.
We were fascinated by the Escadaria Selarón, 215 steps leading into the hilltop area of Santa Teresa. Jorge Selarón started the creation of the steps in 1990 and continued adding to the tiles until his untimely death in 2013. It was never conclusively proven whether he was murdered or committed suicide but he was found early one morning dead on the steps.
We then visited a local street market in Lapa. These outdoor markets operate in different locations several mornings each week. The colors, smells and tastes were amazing.
As we passed through the market, Tom had us try:
– Tapioca (tapioca pancake). This is a fascinating item, made from manioc flour from the cassava root. The treatment of this flour results in a powdered product, which when placed in a frying pan, melts together to form something that resembles a crepe. Brazilians fill it with many things – ours had queijo (cheese) – or just eat them like we would have toast. It was interesting to watch them prepared and it was tasty and quite chewy – probably not our favorite item on the tour, but it was definitely great to learn about it and give it a try.
– Manga and Bananas. The fresh mangos and bananas were delicious.
– Sapoti. This fruit tastes of dates but has a fleshy texture. It was yummy! It was also our first glimpse of the wonders of Tom’s backpack as he whipped out a full knife to carve off pieces for us!
– Caldo de cana. We arrived at a booth where a lot of activity was occurring. Full canes of raw sugar cane were being pushed through a press and the resulting sugarcane juice was being collected. The juice was then filtered and cooled and dispensed in bottles. Out of the backpack came glasses for us all. First we tried the plain juice – this was met with various reviews. I personally didn’t mind it but some of the others found the raw, sweet taste quite unappealing. Then out of the backpack appeared a container of sliced limes. We each took a couple and squeezed as much lime juice as we could into more of the caldo de cana. The resulting mixture was greatly enjoyed by all; Tom tells us it is a great hangover cure. I must also mention that next out of the infamous backpack was water to wash the lime juice off our fingers.
– Bala de coco. Our final tasting in the market was this delicious candy, a mixture of coconut and evaporated milk, enveloped in a hard caramelized sugar shell.
The trip through the market was fabulous and Tom was able to provide us with so much information about the items for sale.
Our next stop was at a juice bar. These small shops are ubiquitous in Rio, with one on most any street. The juices are mixed ‘smoothie’ style, with a bit of sugar and ice. Out of the backpack came small cups and we all sampled 3 varieties: Acerola (a vitamin C hit!), Graviola (claimed health benefits) and Cupuaçú (related to Cacau, tastes like Skittles, with a bit of an alcohol or chemical taste).
We passed through Glória, Flamengo and Laranjeiras, soaking up the atmosphere of these neighborhoods. Our travels included a ride on the metro – always fun to do in any city. It was modern and clean. If we had more time in Rio, we definitely would have used this mode of transportation. But alas, it currently doesn’t extend to Barra where we were located and the complications of adding bus travel didn’t fit into our time constraints.
We visited a small cafe, Tacacá do Norte, serving traditional Amazonian fare. Here, in bowls from the backpack, we sampled Tacacá – an Amazonian soup, prepared from a plant that contains poisonous cyanide. The process to detoxify the plant is quite arduous, with a couple of three days steps, and one wonders how this process was developed – how many Amazonians were sacrificed determining the required time periods to arrive at a safe edible product? The soup broth was quite tasty; it also contained a heavily salted shrimp, which most of us found quite dreadful and greens which are often referred to as ‘the toothache plant’ as they left one’s tongue and mouth somewhat numbed for a few seconds after chewing them. The soup was accompanied by two Amazon beers, which, like most Brazilian cervejas we have tried, were very good.
After wandering through the Laranjeiras neighborhood, we completed our tour at Severyna. Here, we were treated to a veritable feast of northeastern Brazilian food:
– Pastel. These deep-fried pastry parcels, resembling empanadas, were filled with a variety of cheese, shrimp, crab and beef.
РCarne seca com abobora e feij̣o corda. This platter contained air-dried, salted beef (reminded us somewhat of the corned beef of our youth) with a pumpkin pur̩e and beans. All elements were extremely tasty.
РMoqueca de camaṛo. This dish was a wonderful stew of shrimp, made with coconut milk, peppers and palm oil.
The meal was accompanied by copious amounts of Theresopolis Gold (a pilsner beer brewed in a town one hour north of Rio) and Caipirinhas, flavoured with fresh strawberries that Tom had bought in the market.
The afternoon was wonderful and far exceeded our expectations. Tom is an excellent guide and we would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Rio. I apologize to Tom for any errors I’ve made in my description of the tour.
Leaving the restaurant, we again couldn’t find a cab that would take us to Barra so we once more stopped in Copacabana. We found a lovely table at the Bacardi beach shack where we people watched, drank more caipirinhas and cervejas and did some shopping from the beach vendors. It was a great evening of laughter and story telling! We finished with a fun cab driver on our trip back to Barra and a glass of wine at the hotel.
This was one of our best days in Rio and we really must again thank Tom and his EatRio Tour for providing us with an unforgettable experience. For more on this tour, and valuable Rio info, visit http://eatrio.net .
Cheers,
B&H, L&G
Wednesday was the last day of the conference. It began with a great video inviting everyone to Qatar for next year’s meeting. This was followed by an extremely moving plenary session. Susan Sheridan, from the U.S., told us her story. Her son has permanent brain damage, due to undiagnosed kernicterus. Then a few years later, an error in reporting of pathology results contributed to the untimely death of her husband. Susan has become an active advocate for patient engagement in all aspects of the healthcare system. Her presentation was emotional and inspiring!
We then spent some time looking at many of the posters presented at the conference and attended sessions that focused on accreditation and healthcare assessment.
When we returned from the conference, we found Glen and Harvey relaxing on the beach. It was again a beautiful sunny day!
It was then time to hop in another cab to head for Pão Açúcar, Sugar Loaf Mountain. Inaugurated in 1912, the cable car was the first in Brazil and third in the world. Starting from the Vermelha beach, the first cable car connects Babilônia hill to the Urca hill. From there, a second cable car takes you to the top of Pão Açúcar, which is 396 meters above sea level.
From the top these hills, a breathtaking city landscape unfolds, including Botafogo bay, Copacabana beach and the entrance to Guanabara Bay. We arrived in time to see the transformation from day to night, which was amazing!!
Coming down from the mountain, we hopped in a cab that would only take us as far as Copacabana. This was fine as we walked the beach, had a bite to eat and beverages on the beach. We also did a bit of shopping at a beach market.
Another incredible day in Rio!
Cheers,
B&H, L&G
Tuesday at ISQua started with an interesting plenary session discussing healthcare quality reform initiatives in Colombia and Brazil. Next up were the ISQua Accreditation Awards where the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta was one of ~10 organizations acknowledged in the session. Liz and I were very proud to receive this validation of our laboratory standards.
During the day, we attended some very interesting presentations in the accreditation track and toured the exhibit area.
While we were at the conference, Harvey and Glen wandered around Barra, checking out cars and other sites.
We met up with the boys and headed to Ipanema Beach where we stopped at a few shops and then had a bite to eat at the Devassa Grill.
The beach at Ipanema is similar to Copacabana – wide with lots of white sand and people enjoying the sun.
We watched the sunset while enjoying caipirinhas and cervejas and then returned to Barra where we stopped in next door at Fratellis for a late night snack!
Cheers,
B&H, L&G
A Long and Winding Journey 