Hey all! First off, Liz and I still do have plans to post the rest of our UK tour pics, not sure when, but they are coming.
I have been able to continue painting on a regular basis, along with playing a decent amount of games lately. My Warmachine league play has been a lot of fun, but I haven’t yet played as much 40K as I would like. Now that I have my Rhino completed (my first ever vehicle), I will try and get some more games in. Also, I have provided a quick pic of the station setup I use for taking pics.
Happy New Year! We have taken a small break from posting for the holidays, but have plans to complete posts that will cover our fall tour of England and Scotland, so stay tuned. Today, I wanted to post an update with lots of pictures of one of the hobbies that has been keeping me busy since we landed in Toronto. I have started putting together a Warhammer 40K army of Chaos Space Marines, and have now painted up my first 500 pts (pictures below). I am also posting up my Warmachine Cygnar army (pictures taken by Jarrett Lee – thanks man!)
My plans this year are to play both 40K and Warmachine on a regular basis, while keeping to as much painting as I can. I have joined a local Warmachine league that starts this weekend (and goes for 3 months), and there are a couple of Games Workshops nearby (including a battle bunker with lots of tables), so finding 40K games should be easy. Woohoo!
Chaos Space Marines (Warhammer 40K):
Cygnar (Warmachine):
This was the first army I painted up back in Edmonton. I have a couple of Centurions almost done that will be completed once I get my Chaos Space Marines up a bit more in points.
As Liz and I enjoy the smells of the turkey dinner roasting in our newly-installed gas stove, I thought I would keep our weekly photo updates going and post about our day trip that we took while in the UK to Stonehenge and the village of Lacock. Stonehenge doesn’t need much of an introduction, but Lacock might.
The village of Lacock is almost completely owned by the English National Trust, which results in an unspoiled appearance. It is also home to Harry Potter’s house. This is the house used in the films when they show ‘you-know-who’ paying a little visit to Harry’s parents.
We took a Mad Max minibus tour out of Bath, trundling through the English countryside. We stopped at Stonehenge first. Be warned that if you visit Stonehenge, it can be underwhelming. After all, it is just a hill with some rocks on it. But for the curious at heart, it can be a lot of fun speculating about what it has been used for throughout history. The audio tour provides a lot of background, and reinforces what a mystery this site truly is. I can’t help but feel the astrological tie-in to the site, so my theory is that it was indeed used for marking time and the passing of seasons, along with providing a meeting place. I mean, it is a bunch of big-ass rocks on a hill. I can just imagine it… “Hey Bill, after work, wanna meet at the big-ass rocks on the hill?”
Works for me.
For those wondering, Sheephenge is what I dubbed the sheep-filled pasture that surrounds Stonehenge, heh. There are a few fun pics of it in the gallery.
By the time we got to the village of Lacock, the light was rapidly passing us by, so some of the pictures are a little dark. All in all, it was a really fun day. Liz and I really enjoy day trips like this to check out the sites.
After our visit to London (see previous post), we decided to hop on a coach and head west to the city of Bath. On the way, Robin and I caught our first glimps of the English countryside. That first real slate-cottage thrill!
Bath is grand, and layered with Roman history, yet charming and serene at the same time. It is a gateway to the English countryside, and when you gaze out to the little houses spilling across the hills, you can just begin to see the overlap of the Cotswolds. The Georgian style buldings that can be seen everywhere in Bath were once stained black from coal fires. In recent years the buildings have been cleaned to reveal that milky stone that Bath was famous for. The Roman baths, though no longer in use are an important part of a visit to the city. The museum has done a wonderful job preserving ancient crumbling rooms below ground level, and you can wonder amongst them, a catching a glimpse of the hot springs gushing along as abundant as ever. In the shopping areas of Bath, you can find oodles of fudgeries, Cornish pasty shops, and corner cafes, trinket shops and English souvenirs a plenty. Bath is a great place to stay especially if your planning on some day-trips to Stonehenge, and the village of Lacock (which we will post about soon).
We did have a fun adventure one evening, we had been given a tip that inexpensive and tasty dinners were to be found in many local pubs. So, Robin and I wandered until we found one with a couple of available chairs, and sat down. We both had a beautiful roast chicken dinner, Robin had some ale, and I had a Blackthorn Cider. Before long Robin said, “I don’t want to alarm you, but did you realize you are the only girl in this whole place?” Yes, indeed I had noticed that all around me men were glued to the “Football” game. Well, when our dinners were done, a friendly inebriated young man came up to us, said that he was hungry, and then asked if he could have a go at our leftovers (of which there were none- just the bones really.) It took a moment before we realized that this poor soul wasn’t joking, and then he turned around apparently too embarrassed to speak to us any longer. We did feel a little bad, but the man could have bought food instead of booze. Well, there is no shortage of adventures to be had in English pubs, and neither is there any shortage of chips.
Now that we are back from the UK, our pictures of London have been posted (over the coming weeks, we will regularly post about our tour of England and Scotland):
London is too big to see in one visit, too diverse to sum up, so filled with ancient history it leaves your head swimming, and frankly too bloody astounding for words. But, I’ll try to paint a picture for you; London is a bustling metropolis filled with layers upon layers of architectural wonders, world treasures, haunted pubs, umbrellas and tureens of clotted cream! Robin and I were electrified by London’s goings on! We took full advantage of one of those handy hop-on hop-off double-decker buses (and it’s our opinion but it’s the best way to see London in a day), and marvelled that we were actually there, in the middle of it all. In fact, my first thought coming into Kensington station on the Underground, was the “Chim Chimney…roof tops of London” song from Mary Poppins! There it was; that chimney sweep world of enchantment.
We stayed in a little hotel in South Kensington with scented toilet paper and a shower tap mechanism previously unknown to us. We enjoyed English breakfasts at a spot called “The Muffin Man” and puzzled that every bloody plate came with a whithered tomato, and explored as much as we had time for. We ate fish and chips, and cream teas, we found Turkish delight, and lamb and mint flavored potato chips. We also managed to master the Tube, listening to countless announcements to “Mind the Gap between the platform and the train”. I was desperate to get all the haunted information I could, and on Halloween night, Robin and I not only found the Sand Witch, but met up with a ghost tour complete with limb-less live action. We toured the British Museum which is amazing, and equally exhausting, the National Gallery were we both fell in love with Turner’s paintings, and The Tate Modern, where some installations actually made my stomach turn.
As I am ever on the search for the world’s greatest chocolate, I made a special trip to Chelsey to visit Rococo chocolates, where my lovely friend Christine had found me a rose-flavored bar. Rococo is known for their unique flower flavored chocolate, and the violet was almost as nice as the rose.
The Tower of London is worth an entire day, that’s time enough to go up into all the towers, see the levels of museums inside, have a lovely pricey little lunch at the cafe, and view the dazzling crown jewels (don’t miss out on the little cannonettes or the arms and armour, codpieces included!) The London eye is also a must-see to appreciate the enormity of the city, but ration your liquids it’s a 30 minute ride! London is truly beautiful and wondrous, exceeding expectation.
Rather than post gobs of text here, we have included commentary in the photo galleries, though we may post additional thoughts on Iceland in the future. It is worthy of multiple blog posts, we loved every minute there.
For those who don’t want to click through all the photos in the galleries above, here are a few of our favourite shots:
Robin and I finally stumbled into old Montreal with eyes wide and a child-like compulsion to explore. Tunnels and cavernous cobbled streets were lined with iron signs protruding from the entrances of shops. It was nothing short of Muggle “Diagon Alley” with posh galleries, and hip restaurants boasting “best poutine in town” speckled throughout. Horse drawn carriages clip-clopped their way down the alleys, and wealthy folks on holiday bounced in those carriages in all their finery admiring the views of the port. To my dismay, the chocolate shops were few and far between! The docks at the port jutted out into the St. Lawrence river, and were swarming with seagulls. If you turned around, you could see the towers of Notre Dam, the steeples of other gorgeous ancient churches among the skyscrapers, and Mont Royal Mountain.
Still hoping to find my favorite chocolate on earth, I trekked to Jean-Talon Market by metro. Jean-Talon market is an enormously good time for anyone who enjoys grocery shopping the way it should be. Outdoors, and under countless tents. There were kiosks dedicated to selling pumpkins of all sizes, garlic and dried peppers, vendors who’d combined exotic berries in baskets to create irresistible displays. You could find giant figs that had to be bought individually, and shops specializing in hard-to-find spices. The cheese shops were so busy that the Montrealers had to shout their orders over counter tops and shove each other ever-so-slightly. I bought currants as bright as cherry candy, Concords, a few giant figs (because I do not fool around), and a handful of artisan chocolate- but still no sign of that darn Porcelana chocolate! I am beginning to have bad dreams about finding my favourite chocolate on store shelves, but when I get close, the packages turn into cd’s. It is very frustrating!
Sutton
As a very thoughtful birthday gift to Robin, Joan and Deirdre rented us a car for one whole weekend. So, Robin and I drove out to the Eastern Townships (Cantons de l’Est) during the first weekend in October, which might have been the very best time to go! The mountains in the distance were on fire with oranges and reds, yellows and greens. There were leaves blowing around the streets of those little towns too, and pumpkins on almost every doorstep! It was heaven! Robin and I stayed in Sutton the first night, at Gite Vert le Mont, a lovely B&B run by a British woman and her mother who kept us in stitches the whole time. The next morning was overcast and chilly, with the sent of woodsmoke drifting in from somewhere, and we decided to go for a drive. Because of the cloud cover, we were unable to get the pictures we wanted. But Robin and I will be able to recall the colors in our minds- we were speechless! I was lucky to find two lavender farms during our travels that day- but of course, all the lavender had been harvested so there was little more to see than the gift shops. We drove on and on through the most scenic towns, each with their own little churches and graveyards, until we stopped in Knowlton. Knowlton is where Deirdre grew up and I must say that she is a lucky one! It was the most charming town we had seen yet, surely the most sceninc town to spend Halloween in, and we got to spend the night in the historic hotel on main street! Robin and I went book shopping, and wandered around the town crunching leaves under our shoes. Delightful! We spent one more night at the B&B in Sutton before heading back to Montreal.
After going to a Habs game on Friday night (they beat Ottawa 5-0), I spent my birthday yesterday with Liz and Jessica. You can view the full photo album here.
We started the day having breakfast at L’Avenue, a very trendy and tasty restaurant. The food there is awesome, and the bathrooms are epic (they make you feel like you are at a rock concert… audio, video, everything).
Liz and Jessica
The rest of the day was spent on Ile Stainte-Helene, one of the islands south of Montreal.
Us on Ile Sainte-Helene
After walking around enjoying the sights, we ended up at La Ronde, a giant amusement park on the island. We hadn’t planned on going, but what a great way to spend my birthday!! In the end, we went on a ton of rides, including 6 or 7 different rollercoasters. It was the first time I went home feeling sick after my birthday when beer wasn’t involved :p
The Goliath
Here are a few videos I took of the Goliath. It reaches speeds of 110 Km/h. I am still amazed we managed to get Liz on it.
There is also a video of the full ride on youtube, if you want the 1st-person experience.
P.S. Squirrels!
Liz and I have been surrounded by squirrels in both Toronto and Montreal. The other day Liz and I were laying around one of the parks, eating chocolate. We started noticing a gang of squirrels approaching… apparently we were on their turf, and they wanted their cut off the chocolate. Here’s a video of their leader… I think his hame was Bruno.
It is wonderful to be in a city where you are almost always greeted in both languages. You hear “Bonjour, Hello!” as if it were one whole word. According to our cousin Jessica, who has been in Montréal for four years, if you don’t speak and give away your preferred language, those greeting you will sometimes just keep speaking both English and French just to be sure. Très intéressant.
Speaking of Jessica, she greeted us at the VIA train station the day we arrived, and took us out for supper. We all had wonderful lasagna at an Italian restaurant themed after witches (we were in the gay-bourhood, and Robin spotted a man with his slave on a leash). We had taken the five hour trip from Toronto on Friday afternoon, hoping to see the fall colours, but which we are still eagerly awaiting – the green is only starting to leave (is that a pun?).
Seahorse lanterns
A few nights later, Jessica invited us out to see the Chinese lantern display at the botanical gardens, and we were accompanied by her roommate and good friend Liz (yes, that made things confusing). We went at night so we could see the lanterns lit up and it made us feel like kids at a carnival. Please do check out the pictures, it was a gorgeous display. A riot of colour (Liz’s words).
Tea party in the park
Our good friend and long time co-worker/office-mate, Dups, also lives in Montréal (it is awesome to have friends in so many places). We smuggled in a copy of Rock Band 2 for him and his friends, which we purchased in Toronto, since Québec language laws don’t allow RB2 to be sold here, as the songs aren’t translated into French. Although, we all mused at how funny it would be to hear “Hungry Like A Wolf” en français.
Dups graciously invited us to a tea party in the park Saturday afternoon in Parc Jeanne Mance, where a group of his friends were gathering to say au revoir to one of them that was about to travel to Rwanda and beyond. There were blankets sat upon the grass, and as time went by, more and more people arrived bearing a variety of teas and dinosaur-shaped sandwiches. The nutella brontosauruses were particularly tasty. It was a beautiful day, and we met many friendly and charming people, who made us feel at home.
Downtown, the Underground City, and Mont Royal
Mont Royal
After slowing our pace for a few days while Robin recovered from a brief cold, we headed out to explore once again. Our destination was downtown and Mont Royal. We didn’t know this before, but not only is Montréal a big ass island, but it has a mountain just north of downtown (or at least a very tall hill at 700 ft), Mont Royal. Once you hear the name pronounced in french, you realise that Montréal is named after Mont Royal. We really enjoyed hiking up the mountain, even though the main entrance pathway is undergoing construction of some sort. The views from the top are spectacular.
rue Crescent
Downtown Montréal is fun. We always assumed it would be similar to Toronto, but we find it is quite different. Not quite as looming, and much more relaxed! Overall we get a calm feeling in Montréal (at least, once Robin got over his anxiety about not speaking french fluently… which hasn’t been a problem at all).
Spiral staircase
The most interesting architectural feature has been the exterior spiral staircases leading to second and higher floors of the older houses. You see them everywhere. They are quite beautiful, but at such sharp inclines, the practicality of such design during Canadian winters is somewhat questionable Speaking of winter, downtown features an extensive Underground City, where one can escape from the fierce cold outside (though currently it is mild and lovely). The Underground City is essentially West Edmonton Mall, but underground (sans waterpark and pirate ships).
Overall, we are enjoying Montréal immensely.
A bit more Toronto
Before we left Toronto last week, we had the chance to take in a few more activities.
The Science Centre was fun, and we enjoyed a lay-down in the planetarium, but overall it showed us how impressive the Edmonton Science Centre really is in comparison.
Liz Loves Früli
We visited the Bier Markt (beer market) with Cecilia, a restaurant with 100′s of beers and a great patio near the distillery district. We all sat in the intermittent rain under an umbrella and drank beer with our meals for hours. Liz fell in love with the Belgian lambic beers (they are mixed with fruit juices). Früli, a strawberry lambic, was the top pick for her. Robin tried many beers, including Hobgoblin beer made in Wychwood. Ooooo. Cecilia tried a cool beer that was made with tequila and lime called Desperados. Surprisingly enough, it was made in France, not Mexico.
Mmm... Hobgoblin
We took a mix of buses, trolleys, and trains to get out to the Toronto Zoo (1.5hrs one way!) We didn’t have all the time needed to see everything, so we prioritized. Our favs were a pygmy hippo, a wrinkly rhino, orangutans drinking what looked like tang, and the coral reef exhibit. We took a few videos of the awesome jellyfish tank, and Liz pocketed a few acorns.
Videos: Jellyfish, Seahorses, Anemone
Omakaze dish 5
Takesushi was a restaurant recommended to us by Ray Lim, specifically the chef’s special, called Omakaze. We needed to order it in advance (the most spectacular of which actually requires 3-days notice!) We didn’t know what to expect, but couldn’t have been more enchanted with the nine course Japanese meal that unfolded. We shared the medium level Omakaze at $85, and we savoured every dish (and we are still fantasizing about it). The dishes ranged from the most elegant sushi we’ve seen, to simple traditional soups that exploded with flavour. Robin also had his first raw oyster, pictured, served with two types of uni (sea urchin). Yum!
We will leave you now with a tranquil video of the bubble machine on Kensington that greeted us each time we ventured to that market…
Howdy all! Liz and I have been on a world wind tour of Toronto this last week, and now that we have taken a few days for some down-time, it is high-time to post another entry. As usual, we love to see your comments, so please keep ‘em coming!
We purchased a City Pass at the start of the week, which gives you access to six Toronto tourist destinations for about half the regular admission price. A good deal, and even though they are touristy places, most have been a lot of fun, and served as a great excuse to travel to that part of Toronto and check out the feel of the area, along with seeing the attraction itself.
I have posted our pictures from the last week up on facebook. A couple of highlight pictures follow:
So far Toronto has been all that I hoped for in a big eastern city, I could see myself coming back here for a longer stay. However, at this point Liz and I are starting to feel the pull of other cities again, and I think we will probably head somewhere else in a few days, likely Montreal, although we aren’t 100% on that yet. So many great cities to choose from!
In Liz’s previous post, she mentioned walking home in one of Toronto’s fall rain showers. I had my little EeePC laptop in my backpack the whole walk home, and when we got back, it was quite wet. I let it dry out, but now it won’t turn on at all, so it must have shorted out and fried at some point. Not a major issue, but a good reminder that electronics, and laptops in particular, don’t mix well with water.
![](http://www.lizandrobin.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/s632061115_1550337_214.jpg "The perfect suit of armour for those \\"hard\\" fought battles.")
