Candy and suckers and chips, oh, that's not just another day??? :-)

I'm not a huge Halloween fan (although I do have fond memories of some pretty great costumes--corn husk anyone??) I think it's because I can eat candy/gum/chocolate anytime I want now so isn't it really Halloween 365 days of the year? That said, I have to laugh at my building superintendent. He's been the big cheese around here for about five years (and I use the term loosely, I have never met a more passive, pushover of a man in my entire life)

Anyway, he was REALLY into Halloween this year, buying endless bags of candy, suckers and chips. Heck, I started salivating just LOOKING at the table (okay, I ate one tiny package of fruit candy and stole a purple sucker and some chips)

Mom and I went out for coffee (where we ran into about twenty adults decked out in outfits that ranged from full on silly to just plain sexy.) Anyway, they seemed like that were having fun (and I must admit I felt a stab of jealousy at having never been to an adult costume party.)

We headed back to my apartment building, where my disappointed (and lonely, bordering on creepy) Super told us dejectedly, that he had only had about ten kids all night. He managed to lure (I mean invite:-)) a little girl in along with her dad (both dressed in chef's coats/hats) and then proceeded to ask if he could snap the little girl's picture More creepiness. LOL I don't know how long he sat there peering out into the night looking for victims (I mean kids..:-) ) But it was all just a little too sad for me. If I'm ever alone with a big bowl of candy, rest assured, I won't wait around for the neighbourhood kids to help me eat it. He should have marketed his stash to all the old people with walkers in the area, the sugar hit would have given them a nice jolt and sped them right up! (I kid, I kid, I'm totally as slow as they are!)

Happy Halloween All!

This is likely Buddy--very grumpy without his Mommy!

Here we go again...

So, I had to break down and wear a winter jacket today for a drive to Toronto and I have to tell you, it sucks. I haven't missed the cold one bit, and I'm not looking forward to frigid temperatures for months on end so, shall I offer a house/apartment swap? Seriously, I know I have a couple of friends out there who are all "Rah, rah, go cold" so feel free to speak up and I'll go pack my bags.

On the bright side, I wrestled my thousand dollar cheque out of the radio station's clutches, so my travel account is  looking pretty flush right now; that was, until I started looking at the price increases that seem to be plaguing the travel industry this year, yikes. I can't even believe I'm considering cruising again after I swore it off just a few months ago. This is where you see necessity win out over my bucket list vacation. Convenience and ease play a heavy hand these days, as my mobility level flounders, slipping away at an alarmingly fast clip. You all better start planning my big 4-O bash, because it might take me a while to make it there. :-)

Anyway, the hunt is on to find a little slice of the world I can conquer and say "I've been there and it was so worth it!" Be forewarned friends, Scotland still has this girl's heart, and  it will take something truly special to top her. She was a bonnie lass.

The cold vs the cold...

So Mom saw her vocal specialist and it looks like the laryngitis is just that, laryngitis. A quick scope didn't show any signs that the implant had moved, so that's a good thing. How pathetic is it that I was happy this morning when she told me that she had a sore throat? Up until that point, it didn't seem like a virus so the worry radar was ticking upward. Another co-worker also seems to have ended up with the same symptoms, again, shame on me for feeling only relief. Now, I wonder if I'll end up with it, as I'm not feeling so great myself. LOL Anyway, still not out of the woods, we'll have to see how long her voice fades in and out because it really doesn't seem to be getting better at this point.Time will tell.

So gray and yucky here lately. Leaves flying off in a big way now, it looks like we will skip a lot of the fall "colours" and find ourselves looking at bare, scraggly trees in the not so distant future. I have a friend who teaches up in Alaska. They had their first big snowfall today



Let me just say "Thanks Mother Nature for this not being here yet!"

Oh and p.s. It's okay if you want to leave my neck of the woods out of this particular weather pattern entirely...

Cinderella and her Sidekick...

So Mom and I hit the town last night in Toronto and got ourselves a sugar/chocolate high at a venue called the Royale Palace. Aptly named as a locale for a chocolate ball. Lots of beautiful colours/presentations all based around an ode to chocolate. It was a little like being given the "Golden Ticket" to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory with it's magical decadence and mouth-watering samples.


Believe it or not, this is us before we left, clearly our eyes are gleaming with happiness at the thought of consuming copious amounts of sugar and chocolate...and kudos to Mom for taking this with one hand, as we once again, snap our own photo, we are getting good at it!!



This was the first thing we saw when we walked in. How cool is this oufit? Let the night begin, two orange suckers please!





Sight number two. Do you see those yellow lollipops on the far left side of the screen? BEST THINGS EVER. A delicate, smooth slightly crunchy coating on the outside followed by a moist, lemony cake on the inside, yet it wasn't overpowering at all. (and this is coming from somone who isn't crazy about lemon!) Clearly this girl is saying "Here they come..."



LOL, yes, I'm already getting my lemony high here. Seriously, I should not be publishing this photo in any way, shape or form. Never let it be said that I don't report the truth. LOL

To make matters even more interesting, A newspaper photographer caught me enjoying my spoils, and asked if he could take our picture. Mom handed me another lemon pop, then told me after the picture taking that I had chocolate all over my mouth. Nich eh? Thankfully, it was some little artsy paper (who's name escapes me at the moment) so the damage is minimal. Of course, I'm posting here, so, yeah, now I have a hand in my own embarrassment but it's always better to control one's own story...



Mom starts her night with a multilayed chocolate delight...It's not even in her mouth yet and look how excited she is..lol



Hmmmmm...yuuuuummmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyy....



Yes, we MUST make sure the spoon is licked clean....It's the golden rule of chocolate consumption.





The chocolate covered apple display (granny smith apples are apparently the best apples to use with chocolate so you get that sweet/sour balance.) Yes, I'm stealing a chocolate too. It was a Peanut Butter Ball and it was MUCH BETTER than mine will ever be. (I used to make them for the Christmas holidays until one day I coated them in glue instead of wax to get that special shine--long story!:-)) Anyway, she had me beat in a big way, rich but not overpowering. Later, we saw her giving away whole apples, probably a good thing we didn't get there in time to abscond with  one of those...



Do I look like the cat with the canary or what? LOL I'm pretty sure this was a dark chocolate caramel sprinked with sea-salt. When you bit into it, the liquid caramel exploded in your mouth, soooo goood....The liquid mint filling came in a close second, I think we visited that particular table about five times...



These were yummy too, first, you bit into a crunchy chocolate shell, next came the tang of a fruity filling. Clearly, fruit and chocolate is a winning combination and the rules of chocolate clearly state that if fruit is in the chocolate, the calories don't count!



And here we are, stealing...sorry, I mean showing off our gift box..LOL. Honestly, we took the box when no one was looking and started filling it up. The guy left the table and the boxes were sitting there so a few of us grabbed one, what's a few samples between friends???



The salsa band (the entertainment for the evening) was WAY too loud and this is what can happen to a crazy group of dressed up dancers with a big time sugar high. Tacky, tacky, tacky, but honestly we were too busy going from table to table to bother with most of it.

Oh, and just to let you know, I did balance out the chocolate with some coconut/chocolate infused mashed potatoes, so I did get my veggies in too! (and they weren't bad!)

Anyway, another great night out thanks to the radio and a big  thanks to Mom for the shared chocolate enthusiasm, it was a fun night!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v624/CindyM99/torontochocolateball/

Well, here's hoping it's nothing serious...

Mom has completely lost her voice. I really hope it's just a case of a cold/sore throat, but when someone has an implant to support a paraylzed vocal cord, you worry. You worry that the device has moved around in there. (Thanks to coughing so much when she eats) You worry that this is going to be a setback in what can sometimes seem like an endless list of challenges, you just plain worry. How sad that I'm now forced to root for a start of the season virus in lieu of a much more serious issue. In the words of a great comic strip "Life's like that..."

Cinderella goes to her first REAL ball...

Okay, so it's not a "real" ball, but there's going to be loads of decadent chocolate there, so who am I to complain? Mom and I got the word this morning that we won tickets to the Chocolate Ball in Toronto. It's a charity event in a fancy location and the evening is nothing but chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! So, to recap we have my favourite treat in my favourite city, what more can a girl ask for? I can't even begin to tell you how many different options we are going to have. Seriously, just looking at some of this stuff makes me gain ten pounds, but who cares?

Here's the link

http://www.thechocolateball.com/toronto/about-the-chocolate-ball

Hit the menu option (left hand side) and you'll see what we're up against. Elastic pants are clearly a must. Even the site warns you to pace yourself!

If my Prince Charming is at this event, I expect him to pony up with a chocolate slipper, otherwise, he's a distant second, with no hope of getting the girl.

Posting that trip all in one entry wasn't my smartest move...

Okay, I think my Quebec trip entry is finally complete. Though it's nice to look at it all as one entry, I question my sanity in having to continuously scroll through the entry (and endless pictures) to edit and make it cohesive. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. I had a great time and truly enjoyed the city.

Mom is a good sport about putting up with me (and my crappy mobility) and we always end up duking it out and having some good laughs. How could you not laugh at the "town that time forgot" or the old man drooling over Mom while trying to take our picture before a lady friend of his could step into the frame ?

And finally, a big thanks for holding my knee during takeoff and landing because "that's what Moms do."

I hope you all enjoy the journey as much as I did.

Thank You Quebec

Yes, I did do a "live" entry while I was away so some of this will be a bit of a "repeat" but I also wanted to summarize my trip in one long entry so here it goes....

First off, I have to apologize to the Quebecois for thinking that they would have an attitude about Mom and I speaking English. They were phenornenal, switching over to English as soon as they caught on to the fact that our french vocabulary included all of about ten words (and this didn't take into account Mom's habit of saying the wrong word for any given situation. :-)) Quite honestly, it's clear to me now that the four years of mandatory french I had to take in school was a complete waste of time. The conversations were much too fast, allowing me to only catch on to the occasional word/phrase. By the end of the first day, I was at my wits end trying to figure everything out. Ironically, by the end of the fourth day I began to understand how those who immerse themselves in a language learn so quickly. The simple answer is, you have no choice.

As I've already mentioned, , I struggled with the plane ride again, and the whole propeller outside my window didn't help but that said, the lounge complete with snacks/drinks pre-flight was a nice bonus because it allowed me time to just chill out and really, how nervous can you get looking at this kind of scenery as you cross over to the airport on the ferry?

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v624/CindyM99/LEAVINGFORQUEBEC/







Once in Quebec, we got a cab driver that Mom thought couldn't speak english but I knew better. How did I know? Because as he was helping to lift me into the front deat of his van, I heard this "You're heavy." LOL Mom never heard it so she just assumed he didn't understand anything we were saying. The unwillingness to speak english worried me, this attitude was exactly what I had been expecting and I didn't want it to set the tone for the rest of the trip. I needn't have worried.

We were lucky enough to be staying at the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac.One of the best hotels in the area. It was high-end without being snobbish, complete with resident dog, Santol. He was too cute wondering around the front lobby looking for attention from all of the guests. We didn't have time to snap a picture of him because he kept weaving in and out of the crowd.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v624/CindyM99/LEAVINGFORQUEBEC/HOTELPICSANDUPPERQUEBEC/









Hotel lit up against the evening sky--it felt like a beautiful spring night, couldn't have asked for anything better.




Who is this??? I have no idea! LOL
View outside of our hotel room window.



Frontenac Lobby--They were giving tours of the hotel with guides in period costumes

Just down the hill...everything was right there...


The park was bustling with activity





The majority of people in Quebec don't celebrate thanksgiving but they love Halloween, there were decorations everywhere.


 This display was at the front of a church. Workmen were carefully arranging/finishing the display while letting people take pictures out front.









Of course, in the centre of everything we found a Christmas store! Loved this window and the sound of carols wafting out onto the sidewalk...

And a horse and carriage ride which started right outside our hotel doors...



Restaurant we had a really nice dinner in. Mom had a smoked meat sandwich that was a mile high and I had spagetti and meat sauce flavoured with a hint of cinnamon, all topped oddly enough, with beansprouts. I'm still trying to figure out if I liked the spice in my sauce:-)

We thought they might be closing as the place was emptying out around 10pm so we asked and he said "No, as long as people are here, we stay open." This seemed to be the prevalent policy in Quebec, no set hours, opening and closing at will, we would see it again after the train ride to Malbaie and it made for an interesting experience :-)

Yes, the train ride...not what we expected and I really think they are going to have to re-vamp it to make it work. The train tracks run through a conservation area, which is home to the highest waterfall in North America. We heard this several times on our journey, but I honestly wasn't that impressed with it. Maybe it's because I live an hour from Niagara Falls and as a whole, I find her much more impressive. Anyway, on to the train pics...

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v624/CindyM99/LEAVINGFORQUEBEC/HOTELPICSANDUPPERQUEBEC/TRAINRIDE-The%20Train%20of%20Le%20Massif%20de%20Charlevoix/


YES, I'm STANDING! The waterfall is directly behind me, does it impress you? Ehhhhh...:-)




One of my favourite pictures of Mom, it was only the two of us at a four person table, believe me, we were a lot happier on the ride up then we were on the way back...







That's how close the tracks were to the rocks, we literally curved around the side of a mountain.




The mountain did give it all a bit of that Scotish feel....



I should probably mention that the water in Quebec is the St. Lawerence River. We asked a man on the train if they swam in it because we did see small beach areas along the river as we passed by. He looked at us like we had lost our minds. "It's dirty." he said. "They tell us not to swim in it since so much pollution comes from the Great Lakes." Well, I do in fact swim in two of the great lakes that Quebec calls "polluted." Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Sure, they pull stuff out of there once in awhile, but we Ontarians like to live dangerously!



The majority of the train riders spent four hours in the town of Malbaie, then re-boarded the train back to Quebec. I can't imagine doing this. It was a tiny little town with a casino as the big draw. The railway moguls are building a hotel for winter skiing next season, but for now, they are using this town as their "big stop" thanks to the gambling and the hotel we stayed at Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu.

The hotel was nice, but I have to admit, I felt trapped. The resort was on the water, so, without a car there was nowhere to go. Whale-watching (white belugas) was an hour away, but the bus didn't leave until the following afternoon, so we didn't get a chance to do it. Definitely next time. Anyway, think "dirty dancing," my first thought when I saw the sprawling lines of the hotel.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v624/CindyM99/LEAVINGFORQUEBEC/HOTELPICSANDUPPERQUEBEC/TRAINRIDE-The%20Train%20of%20Le%20Massif%20de%20Charlevoix/Fairmont%20Le%20Manoir%20Richelieu/

Manning the cannons in case of attack...I HAD pics of her actually ON the cannon, but they seem to have disappeared, methinks somebody hit the <delete> button on the camera! (The pitfalls of sharing one camera!)








Enjoying the outdoor whirlpool on a beautiful night...


Not bad for taking this ourselves...


A touch of Halloween,  complete with black cat...can you see him? I called him Buddy...:-(

We stuffed our faces with a cheese covered plate of nachos after this so, all in all, not a bad way to spend an evening but I can't deny that I was anxious to get back to Quebec as I wanted to explore the lower city (the part at the bottom of the funicular) So, after a hearty breakfast, (think buffet with the freshest fruit imaginable) we made our way back over to the train station. "Station" is a generous word, the whole town was like being in the twilight zone.
The travel show (how we won the trip) had tried to sell it as a "niagara on the lake" type of town, i have to tell you as someone who's been to niagara on the lake many times, NOT EVEN CLOSE. Nothing was open. We couldn't even find a can of pop to buy, Mom finally ended up running across the street to a group of kids to ask them if anything was open because we had already wandered up the street to find the "corner store" (and I use the term loosely) closed.

The guys were baffled as to why they weren't open and quickly offered a pop out of their own fridge for free. Very kind of them, but I have to tell you, the whole thing was bizarre. I just can't imagine people gambling in this place for four hours then hopping back on the train to Quebec. I always find casinos to be such sad places. People mindlessly pulling down levers as they sacrifice their change to metal machines, I just don't see the entertainment value, but maybe that's just me. Anyway, we wandered around for a bit but there truly wasn't much to see so here's a cool pic of the train pulling in to take us back to Quebec. The guy was yelling in French for Mom to get off the tracks, her answer "I wasn't even that close...." LOL












Honestly, the ride back was pretty boring. It got dark quickly and I was restless. So, some pretty sunset pics but little else, and honestly, for $250 per person, you'd think they could give a person a Coke for free or god forbid, a glass of wine with dinner. Instead, we got warm water and I got stuck dining off the kids' menu and getting a crappy piece of lasagna. Mom's fish was dry/overcooked and the food in general was underwhelming given the "fancy" menu and high price tag. No doubt they will re-vamp it in the future for broader appeal, and have the good sense to include drinks.

Okay, back to Quebec! What a great day we had! (Yes, some of the "back in Quebec" pics are shown earlier in the album. because I felt they showcased the area so well from our earlier time there. We had more time on the last day of the trip so we backtracked and took pics of stuff we missed, so it's still pics that are representitive of the area!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v624/CindyM99/LEAVINGFORQUEBEC/HOTELPICSANDUPPERQUEBEC/TRAINRIDE-The%20Train%20of%20Le%20Massif%20de%20Charlevoix/backinquebec/


A ship docked right in front of our hotel, which made the area a lot busier...



Using the funicular to get to lower Quebec. There are stairs, but they weren't doable with the chair...



Had to enter here to get down...Again, this boardwalk was steps from our hotel, we truly were at the centre of everything








Ha Ha us in the elevator...look at all of us crammed in like sardines!



These are the stairs we could have gone down instead....Mom's good, but let's not be ridiculous.



This is what you walk right into as soon as you come out of the cable car. It was like stepping back in time to a small European city. Both of us were awestruck. I don't know what I expected, but I never would have guessed that Quebec was anything like this. We had to keep reminding ourselves that we were in fact, still in Canada.



Such pretty fall decorations--the old man that took this pic had to shoo a lady out of the pic..she was all ready to join us as our third! Too funny!













A mural on the side of one of the shops. It's clear this is a very "artistic" area. Everything was just so well decorated and beautiful.






Once we came back up from the lower half on the city, we decided to walk a couple of blocks towards the downtown. Honestly, we were half looking for a Tim Horton's and figured our chances were better where most of the people seemed to be. We didn't find Timmy's, but we did find a busy market! It had a bit of that Toronto St. Lawrence market feel. Tons of maple syrup bottles, and lots of bags of orange cranberries. I've never had them before so I sampled a few and really enjoyed them. We even found a few strawberries which are rare this late in the season.









Back on the boardwalk just outside our hotel. While we enjoyed a coffee, we watched his guy who was a pretty impressive one man band. He controlled the drum on his back with the pedal around his foot..not bad!





One last walk around the perimeter of the city. You can see the walls that sound Quebec in the background. A big thanks to the man that turned me backwards and pulled me down a very steep side street so we could get down to where the action was! It was right up there with the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, kind of steep. When we told him all the places we had been in a day, he couldn't believe it replying "someone is getting their exercise!" It wasn't me!




Thanks so much Mom for another successful trip and all you do to make it happen! I know lugging everything around is never easy, so thanks so much for thinking it's worth it. As you can see, more great pics for the travel album! And special thanks to :"The Source"  for having memory cards on sale because early on in the trip, we discovered that we had the small memory card in the camera and would have been able to take all of twenty pictures!

And most importantly, thanks (merci) to Quebec for being such a warm, welcoming host. Save me a spot on that whale-watching boat and a riverside view suite at the Frontenac! :-)