Balmy weather!

So I am in Canada. In the month of November. There is snow on the ground outside though indoors we are nice and toasty. But I'm not allowed to say it's cold. You see, whenever we step out of the car into the bitter chill and my nose is almost falling off from frostbite, my sister..my crazy Canadian sister...looks around, smells the air and coos "Oh it's sooo niiiiice"!! Atleast that is what I think she says as the sound filters in through my scarf, earmuffs and fur lined cap. And if I wasn't in such a hurry to unbuckle the car seat and save my only offspring from the onslaught of the arctic winds, I am sure I would have a fitting reply (ably supported by an incredulous expression).

Ok I admit it's not so bad. But it IS cold. Whatever your definition is, this fits it! And finally....finally today my sister succumbed! She actually changed plans and we chose to go home instead of shopping because today, wait for it....my crazy sis R finally said "OK, it's slightly cold".

It is only -10°C, with windchill freaking -16°C so yes, you could say that there is a nip in the air!!

AV decides enough is enough...I'm outta here!

Jokes apart, though my first snowfall was at Yosemite in California (and that was surreal in it's own way), yesterday's snowfall was just ethereal. From indoors ofcourse ;). With soft snowflakes gently falling on the ground, transforming the landscape into a winter wonderland. The trees seemed like someone had sprinkled powdered sugar on them with a sieve. Time seemed to stand still. It was unreal. It was pristine. It was gorgeous.

If only he was here to share this with me...

The kids figure it out

3 adults, 2 toddlers and 1 dog. Piece of cake, right? Oh, you have no idea!

Living with my sister has never been so eventful. Reporting in from Canada, we're holed up in the house today for my benefit, outside temperature being -9*. This trip has been super interesting, especially in terms of observing how N behaves around other kids. Growing up with doting adults around, my Sonu has always been the center of attention and always has someone to pamper her. Her cousins in Delhi are 5-7 years older than her so they also treat her like a doll, giving in to her every whim.

Act 1, Scene 2. Little Miss Muffet arrives in California where her 4 year old cousin has enjoyed a similar status in her kingdom. Thus ensues a constant battle for supremacy, each trying to come out on top. They enjoyed each other company thoroughly, yet always bickered over who gets what.

And the plot thickens. Canada brings her to her little brother A. For the first time, N finds herself to be a big sister, asked to be responsible. She did resist at first, wanting to remain the little baby. But eventually she started enjoying the role of being 'elder'. She now has learnt to share toys, be gentle with him (sometimes) and whisper when he is asleep. It is especially touching to see her overwhelming concern when he cries...she goes to him and asks him if everything is ok...even offers him toys to distract him. Being all of 2 years old herself.

Its strange that as a travel writer, my post from my Canadian travels centers around 2 kids. But then, with 2 toddlers in the house, it is far more action packed than any Jackie Chan film...

In my next post, I promise to talk more about this gorgeous land...the yum food...the unlimited shopping. Till then, I hear a baby call me upstairs....adios amigos. 

Notre Dame - Not Paris yet but in Quebec

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Absolute stunner of a church. Thought would share some images. The Notre Dame stands tall in the centre of the cultural district of Montreal and is absolutely breathtaking.

PS - Pl forgive the dark photography. The flash was not allowed indoors.


The Main Hall


The Wedding Hall inside


This instrument played during mass is made with more than 100 chimes and can only be played by this one guy who has been doing this for 30 years!!












Beautifully carved statues of saints
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Canada from the eyes of a Self Confessed Foodie

Canada's national dish - Poutine. Fries drizzled with barbeque sauce and topped with cheese curd


Burger and fries at Mont Tremblanc


Pasta made by me at the cottage


And this is just breakfast!! At Perkins in Ottawa


Huge Italian Sausage Hot Dogs with Poutine


Butter Chicken, biryani, daal, seekh kebab and naan at Lahore Tikka House in Toronto


Fish and Chips at Niagra-On-The-Lake


Rib Eye Steak at Niagra-On-The-Lake. Pure Heaven


Pizza avec fromage et basil; et Penne dans rose sauce in Quebec City


Spagetti Carbonara with Ham in Quebec City


French Crepes being prepared in Toronto topped with Nutella, Strawberries and Banana


Steak With Mushroom Sauce with a GIANT cheesy baked potato at The Keg


Wine tasting at the Vinyards at Niagara-on-the-Lake


The best Tandoori Chicken and Daal Makhani I have ever had!! Cooked by D&R

Of Wineries and Beaches

I better keep writing or the backlog will be too tough to clear. Take for example the fact that I wrote just 3 days back...and there's already so much we've done in the mean time!!

So day 3 started with us heading out to Niagara on the Lake, a small quaint town just 15 minutes from the falls. In an effort not to waste any time, we headed straight to the vinyards to start off on our wine tasting tours! We went to Hillibrand, Jackson Triggs (where we also did the tour) and Joseph's Winery on that day. The vinyards themselves are just breathtaking....acres and acres of wines growing in geometrically perfect straight lines....and the French Chateaux style wineries in the middle of them! Of course after the 2nd winery, everything else started blurring :P!! Each winery let us choose one red, one white and one ice wine to taste. The Ice Wines are my favourite...the story goes thus - when the winter came, and the grapes froze, they would collect all of them and throw them away. Until one day a guy said, let me try making wine with the frozen grape too...and lo behold you got the sweet dessert wine called Ice Wine! 1 bottle of Ice Wine is made from the same amount of grapes as 10 bottles of Table Wine...and they are priced like that too!!



Some more interesting tit bits - wineries plant a rose bush in front of the vines...and that is because the bugs that attack the vines, attack roses first and they would get to know of it. We also learnt the correct way of drinking the wine...the swirling, checking for sediments and swishing in your mouth! I can safely say, this is one day that the Husband is not going to forget soon!

Day 4 had 2 more wineries and our favourite - Peller! And we took off for our ride back to Ottawa enroute Toronto. Which ofcourse meant that we make a pit stop at R & D's fav joint - the Lahore Tikka House....the taste of hot naan after days of deprivation even found a convert in me!

Day 5 in Ottawa. We finally got to see R&D's gorgeous town house. The streets are so beautiful here, like a doll town. We walked down to the park and went over to the supermarket for grocery shopping...where I believe I had to be revived!! I mean - they had 4 sections only for cheese for heaven's sake....and 1 entire row of dressings and sauces!!!!! Wonderland! A quick lunch of Fajitas followed.

But the icing on the cake was our evening walk at the Petrie Island. A beach just 15 minutes from their place!! We watched the sun go down over the water as boats raced past and impromptu beach volleyball games broke...it was the perfect end to a perfect day!

We're not going home!

Travelogue Begins - Day 1 & 2

It’s 6:04am. I don’t have a clue what the date or the day is. I’m sitting in our suite of Crown Plaza by the French windows that directly overlook the Niagara Falls. The view is spectacular – for want of a better word. If there is one word that describes the falls, it is ‘Mighty’. It is a sight so awe inspiring that you can do nothing but stare! It has finally sunk in. I am in Canada.

7 years its taken for me to get here. In 2002 when my sis got married and moved here, I decided the trip was too expensive to ask my parents to fund. In 2005, I started working and got married in 2006. To cut a long story short, here I am now, 4 days from their 7th anniversary come to see whether the 7 yr itch is myth or not!!

Let’s come back to where we started. Please gear up coz this is going to be one heck of a journey. We flew out of Delhi at midnight on 7th Aug on Air France towards Paris. Watched Ghosts of GirlFriends Past and ate a very non appetizing VEGETARIAN meal(!!) of a tomato sandwich and cole slaw. Apparently we were flying over some airspace where non-veg is not allowed to be serve, but I personally just think they were just out of non-veg!!! The 4 hours stopover at CDG airport in Paris flew by and we continued our journey on Air Canada, which served much tastier food!! At noon on 8th August, we finally landed in Toronto, Canada.

Not willing to waste even a single day, we rested for a bit and were off to take the city on. First stop, CN Towers. THE place to get a view of the city – 147 stories up. A section of the landing has glass floor where if you stand and look down, you can actually see the bottom of the tower – trust me, it’s a sight not for the faint hearted! The hotdogs here are miles different from the ones back home. For one, the sausage is the size of 5!! We also topped that with a crepe with nutella, strawberries and bananas! Heavenly. The night was completed by a trip to the Greek Fest in town (Pilaros, Danforth). If you haven’t already, try their Gyros. The ones on offer were these wraps of chicken/ beef in pita with Tzatziki (a dressing of sorts). They are just purely scrumptious.

The next morning, we started early and with a breakfast of waffles and strawberries, we drove off towards Niagara. R & D had bought the all-inclusive passes for us and the entire day was spent visiting everything on offer. First up was journey behind the falls. They have built tunnels behind the falls and you can watch tonnes and tonnes of water cascading down in front of you as you stand right behind the falls! The board walk along the class 6 rapids had us convinced that they weren’t kidding when they said that these can’t possibly be tamed by rafters. The butterfly conservatory followed where thousands of butterflies flew around inside a tropical jungle setting. But it was the grand finale which was the cherry on the icing on the cake. The Maid of the Mist is a boat that goes to the mouth of the HorseShoe Falls at Niagra. And it is not an experience anyone can forget soon. With eyes that could barely open due to the mist, we squinted and held our breaths as we watched the fury of nature unleashed. There aren’t any words how I can explain the feeling of standing on that boat, staring at the falls crashing down just metres from where we were.

Absolutely exhausted by the end of it, we ended the day with a lovely dinner and beer sitting on the patio with live musicians playing on the side.

Life couldn’t have been more perfect.