Movin' & Shakin' in Ottawa

I was sitting at work on Wednesday this week when something strange happened. Its crazy busy these days because of IFRS transition deadline slowly moving closer and companies getting more stressed out about how much there is to do … DON’T STOP READING! This blog is not about accounting. I promise.

Anyway – I was sitting at work writing a paper about the appropriate accounting treatment for precious metals stored on premises that an entity has the right to use but no legal title to …. Hahaha joking! I promise that is the last accounting reference. I thought it would be funny to write that because I just said this blog would not be about accounting and then I wrote about accounting but I realize its probably irritating so I’ll stop now and get on with the story.

Debit.

Ok that’s the last one seriously.

SO – I’m at work, sitting in my office, in the accounting zone when all of a sudden things start jumping around. I work on the 8^th floor and sometimes when someone is walking quickly or when workmen are in, the floor shakes a bit. So at first I figured the floor was moving because of that. Then there was a definite lurch and I realized that perhaps there was something more serious going on if the entire building was moving. To clarify: My thought process was nowhere near as calm as it is written here. In reality I grabbed my desk with both hands, made a funny gurgling noise in my throat and thought ‘I can’t believe I am going to die whilst squinting at my laptop writing accounting advice!’ The moving and shaking went on for a few seconds, which sounds short but believe me, on the 8^th floor of a 20 floor building, this is not short. This is a long time to contemplate the amount of concrete above you and the distance below you before you’re on solid ground …

When the shaking semi-stopped I got up from my desk and crept (literally, I was tiptoeing … I guess something in my subconscious thought this would stop the building from collapsing? I don’t really know.) to my door. I stuck my head out and asked, “What the f*#$ was that?” Colleagues all over the office were standing in their doorways looking stunned. Katie was in her doorway looking as terrified as I felt and was the first to answer my eloquently worded question … ‘I think that was an earthquake.’

I’ve never been in an earthquake before and I don’t think your first experience should be whilst sitting in a high rise. As I processed this information, Lynn one of our partners emerged from her office and reacted in a way I could only dream of ever being able to react. She calmly announced to us all ‘Well that was freaky! I think anyone who is feeling uncomfortable should evacuate down the stairwell. I am going to use this opportunity to get some lunch.’ How cool is she? I was almost crying with fear. Literally. I had the big lump in my throat and was holding on by a thread. The only thing that stopped me from crying was the fact that no one else was crying and I didn’t want to look like a loser. I can never be as cool in a crisis as Lynn. Fact.

So we all headed to the stairwell in an orderly fashion while Lynn calmly told us all about the construction laws in Canada that require buildings to be earthquake proof.

We made it out to the street in one piece. The streets were PACKED with people. Every office building in the city had evacuated and everyone was trying to figure out what was going on. Most office buildings promptly sent their employees home for the day.

We were waiting (hoping?) for some sort of similar instruction when we heard that standing in the street next to a high rise building is the worst thing to do after an earthquake. The best place to be is in the building under your desk. True story. I don’t believe it. How on earth can my desk protect me from tones on concrete and metal falling on top of me? My desk does not look sturdy enough for me to stand on and I’m quite sure I don’t weigh as much as 12 stories of a building (despite all the Canadian bacon I’ve consumed in the last 9 months) …

Either way we all headed back up to our desks where we sat feeling jittery for the rest of the afternoon. The earthquake was a 5.5 on the Richter scale and the epicenter was 50kms from Ottawa … madness. It was felt as far away as NYC!! People in Toronto also felt it. I know this because Mel called me from Toronto freaking out (cuteness!). In addition … I think this is cool … some people in our office were on a conference call with Toronto when the earthquake hit. The Ottawa folks said ‘Woah! Can you feel that?’ And the Toronto folks were all ‘Huh?’ Then a little while later the Toronto folks were like ‘What the eff??’ Classic. My first ever earthquake experience. It was not fun. It freaked me out. They should not have them anymore.

Oh and for those who are wondering what happened to Joep during all of this? He was winding down after networking at a golf tournament in Toronto at the time and noticed something moving but figured someone had dropped a fridge or something. These are his exact words. I am not lying. Earthquake versus fridge dropping. Hmmm.

He also won a fancy Callaway golf club at this tournament. It his is current most prized possession. I have fallen in ranking to #2 on Joep’s list of favourite things in the world. That Callaway better watch it …

So that was my excitement for the week! An earthquake. Sure beats a boring accounting story right?

Oh and finally – I called the mother ship later that day and asked if she had seen the news yet. She then listed off a complete summary of news in Australia this week (headlined with the Socceroos followed by Kevin 07’s fall from prime ministerial glory) … when I was able to interrupt I told her that there had been an earthquake in Ottawa. She went silent for a second before calmly asking me ‘Ah Genni, would you not think about coming home?’ Followed by ‘Between hurricanes and earthquakes and motorcycles I don’t know what we’re going to do with you!’ (**Remember to read all of this in an Irish accent**) awwww cuteness mother ship.

And finally finally – Re the precious metals? I think you should recognize it at fair value adjusted at each period end for the spot rate at that day. Why haven’t you stopped reading already? Seriously! This is boring stuff! Don’t judge me for writing it if you’re still reading it …

Bonsai!

So I was unsure about whether or not this story is blog appropriate but then I realized that most people who read this know what Joep and I are like and won’t be offended by the antics … Mother ship you know what we’re like so we have nothing to hide from you!

This last week has been full of randomness. Both Joep and I were in Toronto for work for the majority of the week which was exhausting. I got home on Thursday evening and when I got in the taxi at the airport Mr T immediately launched into a long story about his Bollywood career. Apparently he was a big shot Bollywood movie song writer who lost all his money in the GFC. So now he drives taxi’s but still writes Bollywood songs and records them. I thought he was making it all up but when I got home and googled his name it turns out he has actually made a lot of music.

Anyhow – As he was regaling me with stories of his Bollywood infamy he insisted on playing some of his music for me. It. Was. Blaring. So loud. People were staring at us all around and I was moderately embarrassed but more than anything I was highly amused and kept giving him the big thumbs up sign and shouting to him about how great his music was. Bless him he was so proud! He even showed me some of his Bollywood moves! Fancy!

He also told me that he has recorded his most recent song and it is going to be a big hit in Bollywood and he thinks also in Hollywood! It is about girls who like to diet too much. He explained this to me and at the end of this asked me if I had ever thought about modeling. I said that no I hadn’t ever thought about it (keeping in mind that I have not always been as ludicrously good looking as I am these days) … I also added that I am not at all photogenic (this is factual. I have been told this clearly, to my face, more than once).

He spent the remainder of the cab ride trying to convince me to star in his Bollywood movie clip. He said that girls like me who are tall with shiny faces (yes, exact words, shiny faces … what?) are all the rage in India these days. I have his card. I’ll think about his offer. It could be an interesting change from accounting. Plus he promised that I could wear a sari. That would be cool.

So after a long week of working and travelling we were happy to relax in Ottawa this weekend. On Saturday night we planned on having a nice grown up dinner party with Mikey & Anne-Marie (I think I introduced you all to these guys before).

The evening started off in a very civilized manner. Food was eaten, cocktails were mixed and enjoyed and a few bottles of wine were consumed. OK so perhaps more than a few. As the evening wore on the boys drifted out the balcony while Anne-Marie and I relaxed inside.

At some stage late in the evening Joep burst into the living room announcing that he needed the wheel of cheese. Explanation: Bas & Kamiel brought a wheel of cheese with them from Holland as a gift. It is delicious. Whilst on the balcony Joep and Mikey had heard the downstairs neighbors having a party. They struck up a conversation with some of the party guests and before you know it, Joep had offered them the wheel of cheese. I cannot add more clarity to this situation. I am as confused as everyone else re why Joep would offer them a wheel of cheese. In fact, I’m not sure that Joep even knows why he offered them a wheel of cheese.

Nevertheless, the cheese was offered and Joep is not one to renege on a promise! So he got the wheel of cheese out of the fridge and used one of my scarves to lower it down to the 9^th floor balcony.

Mission accomplished we returned to our evening of wine and laughs until there was a knock at the door … Joep came bounding in from outside (yes bounding, that is the only way to describe the over-excited gangly way that Joep runs around when there is too much excitement going on) announcing that the party guests from downstairs were here!!

And so the night hit a new high … before we knew it we had a number of randoms in our house raving about Dutch cheese and enjoying the hospitality that only Joep is capable of offering.

The next little while is a blur of new faces and a couple of familiar faces (thank goodness Anne-Marie & Mikey were still there!) and random chats but the party wound down eventually and the original 4 dinner party guests were the last left standing. By this stage things had gotten well and truly out of hand. As expected there was plenty of dancing with both couples bringing out their fanciest moves leading to aches and pains galore on Sunday. As the dancing wound down a surfing contest took place in the living room using a chopping board as the surf board.

The evening ended when the 2 boys began wrestling. Why oh why does it always end with wrestling?? As the boys literally tumbled around the room and food and furniture flew around the place (in my mind they were behaving like monkey’s but I’m not sure if that was something they were doing on purpose or not) Anne-Marie and I decided it was time to separate them and call it a night.

We managed to get them out the front door of the apartment and as we made our way down the hallway, Anne-Marie & I walking normally and the boys tumbling (literally), things took a turn for the worse.

Joep was ‘assisting’ Mikey in his tumbling efforts and accidentally rolled Mikey into the door of one of our neighbouring apartments. Mikey was just about back on his feet when the apartment door sprung open and a ninja jumped out!

This is no joke. A small Asian man jumped out of the apartment crouched with karate chop hands out in front of him and shouted …. Well there is some confusion about what he shouted. In my mind he clearly shouted ‘BONSAI!’ Joep heard it as well and concurs that is sounded exactly like ‘BONSAI!’ but we both agree that it is possible he shouted ‘WHO’S THERE?!’ Either way Mikey literally levitated on the spot with the fear of being shouted at while Anne-Marie & I desperately pushed the elevator button.

We made a quick getaway in the elevator whilst collapsing in convulsions of laughter. It was priceless.

After saying our goodbyes on the ground floor Joep and I headed back upstairs. Upon arrival at the 10^th floor I spotted our ninja neighbor, standing still in ninja pose, outside his door. I walked the opposite direction to Joep and pretended I didn’t know him. Joep then went and spoke to the ninja to apologize for our rowdy behaviour. He did not seem willing to accept Joep’s apology and demanded to know which apartment we lived in. Joep told him a number that is not technically our apartment. (Point of note: I was hiding behind a fire extinguisher at this point in time giggling away at the sight of giant Joep being afraid of the tiny ninja).

As the ninja continued to harass Joep about our rowdiness, Joep decided to take a stand by pointing out to the ninja that we always hear him playing his classical music loudly. This seemed to somewhat placate him. I don’t know why. It was a silly come back because I am quite sure that playing classical music loudly in the morning does not equate to rolling a grown man into someones door late at night. Still this tactic worked and Joep was allowed to go home. We both then hid for a little while and waited for the ninja to disappear before dashing into our apartment.

We haven’t received a notice of eviction yet so I think we’re safe. Although I am still nervous walking down the corridor for fear that the ninja will strike again. This is condo living at its greatest.

Another NYC reunion!

There is nothing quite like a bunch of girls reuniting to make your stomach hurt from laughter. This weekend my abs got the best workout they have had in a while when I headed to NYC to meet up with the Perth gals for a weekend reunion.

The last couple of weeks have been full with man related activities while Bas & Kamiel have been visiting. This included lots of beer drinking and eating steaks as big as my head. It was lovely and Bas & Kamiel are fantastic house guests but I am a girls girl at heart so a weekend away with the girls while the men manned it up in Algonquin Provincial Park was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Friday morning I was up at 4am with a pounding headache which I blame entirely on Bas & Kamiel & their relaxed holiday attitude towards reasonable bed time hours. I made my flight to NYC with a brief transfer in Toronto where I met up with Mel! Let the laughter begin. The flight to NYC was spent catching up and gossiping and sharing wedding planning stories … we’re both on the same page with this so that was a good thing. Upon arrival in NYC we realized that neither of us had a map. Typical! Mel at least had had the good sense to print out the address of our apartment (this brings me back to our Euro travelling days … Mel was always more organized. I will never catch up.) … we caught the train downtown and managed to negotiate our way to our apartment. The beauty of NYC is that even when you are map-less it is pretty close to impossible to get lost.

Upon arrival at the apartment we met up with the gals, sang a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Smelaroo and had some good chats before hitting the streets of NYC to grab food and begin the shopping. Now I have never been a good shopped. I don’t enjoy it. In fact, more than that, I dislike it. True story. It makes me question whether the stories my sister told me as a child re me being adopted are actually true.

Nevertheless, despite my severe dislike of shopping, there is something about hitting the stores in NYC with 6 girls that is a bit … well, contagious! Within hours we all found ourselves something we loved and simply HAD to purchase. It could also be the fact that we had found a cinema where tickets for Sex & the City were NOT completely sold out so we jumped on this opportunity to see the ultimate chick flick in NYC! I now own a dress that I am unsure if I will ever wear due to its flamboyant style. What can I say? I got carried away with the NYC fashions … but I life in Ottawa. Uh-oh.

Despite the frivolous spending (or perhaps because of it) we had a fantastic afternoon before heading back to the apartment to get ready for dinner. By this stage Inna had left us for greener pastures only to return shortly afterwards with her pal. This meant that 6 girls were then getting ready in 2 bedrooms of the apartment and unable to wander freely from room to room to get ready. Needless to say it was a challenge! But we made it and, all dolled up, we hit the streets to head out to dinner. Mexican was the order of the night for no reason other than we wanted margarita’s!! Mission accomplished we enjoyed a fantastic meal and some good laughs before heading out to dance.

We spent Friday evening on a roof top bar on Fifth Avenue and it was more than a little bit glamorous. Except when Em insulted our table neighbors by making racist comments. JOKING! Only a little bit actually. So Em was sitting at the end of our group and next door was a table of African American men. Em, as is her natural charm, struck up a conversation with them. Now there is some confusion re what the opening lines of this conversation were but all that we heard was the biggest of the men belly laughing and shouting … according to him Em’s opening line had been ‘You’re black, you must play basketball!’ Em denies this 150%. I am not sure what her story is re what she said but this dude thought she was hilarious and an instant friendship was struck. ‘Bubba’ as Em then dubbed him (*cringe*) seemed to find Em positively refreshing! Classic.

We spent the night enjoying a few drinks and incorporated a bit of groove shaking before the early morning start caught up on us and it was home time. Or was it? A group of Aussie girls walking home in NYC is obviously a recipe for disaster. We managed to get ourselves well and truly lost which is actually really hard to do in NYC! But we did it. After much aimless wandering we eventually made our way home and crashed.

The next morning there were stories shared about the previous night (lead largely by Inna who is the team leader for scandal) … before getting ready for our day’s excursion to the YANKEES!!

Yankee Stadium – The Yankees versus the Cleveland Indians! Isn’t it intriguing that a group of 6 girls raised in Perth, WA  who know nothing about baseball & were raised on AFL and cricket were so excited to see the Yankees? We are certainly products of consumerism. Yankee Stadium is a pretty cool place. The atmosphere is exactly what you would expect it to be and we spent the next few hours eating hotdogs, onion rings, popcorn and drinking beers in the 30+ degree sun. It. Was. Heavenly.

The game however was not very exciting. Sorry America but baseball just isn’t the sport for me! However, just like cricket, it is a great sport for relaxing and chatting and enjoying yourself in the sunshine. Oh and there was one exciting part of the game when the pitcher got hit square in the face with a ball … ouch! I’ll be honest with you … that’s probably the only time I paid attention to the game. Oh AND when the little cleaning men game out to rake the dirt (is that what they were doing? I have no idea actually) but they sang and danced to YMCA at the same time and it was awesome!!

We left the game before it finished (don’t judge us, lots of American’s did the same thing) and headed to Central Park to relax in the sun. Oh New York! I could stay forever. True story.

Rays soaked up and naps in the sun enjoyed we headed for home to get ready for dinner. At some point during the day an executive decision had been made that we neeeeeeded Italian food. So after dolling ourselves up we headed out to SoHo for a bite to eat in Little Italy. People bag on Little Italy for being touristic. I love it there. Great atmosphere, heaps of great restaurants AND an awesome street market with games that let you win stuffed toys! (Joepinator’s heaven) We found a fantastic garden spot for dinner and proceeded to enjoy a few bottles of wine and a whole lot of food. A whole lot. We were also easily the loudest table in the restaurant with our loud stories and belly laughs. I do believe there were tearful moments at the table due to excessive laughing. I certainly had a few big belly laughs myself!

After pigging out and spending a loooong time at our table chatting we moseyed on through Little Italy. I hit up one of the games places and managed to win Joepinator a toy. Well. I didn’t actually win it. The dude was a total scam artist and I am not very good and realizing when I am being scammed but thankfully Em was with me and she realized it was a scam and we got a bear for free. Phew!!

Having over eaten and soaked up enough atmosphere for one day we called it a night and headed back to the apartment to chill out J

Sunday was the last day for Mel & I (the other gals had a few more days to enjoy) and it was spent … shopping!! After a very successful few hours I the stores it was sadly time to call it a day. Mel & I grabbed our bags and headed for home late Sunday afternoon in time for work on Monday.

It was, yet again, a fantastic NYC weekend! Too many laughs most of which have been censored from this blog but will be remembered for some time to come! Looking forward to the next reunion which is most likely to be in Perth – hometown! 

A quick catch up & a few highlights

Goodness me, the whole ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ thing is 100% factual!! I can’t believe how long it has been since I last updated this blog but I make no excuses because we’ve stuck to our ‘restricted travels’ rule and been enjoying Ottawa for the last few weeks so there hasn’t been anything toooooo exciting going on unless you are interested in reading about our every day lives which are very interesting and full of entertaining anecdotes (centred largely around Joep’s pantless existence, Joep’s love of bacon, Joep’s inability to stop speaking in an awkward situation … you get the drift) …

So rather than bore you all to tears with stories of accounting and solar energy generation I shall keep this blog brief and just give a few highlights. These highlights are in no particular order. One highlight is not deemed better or worse than another highlight based on position in the list … we’re all equals around here!

1.     A weekend reunion in Toronto with Julz – So the ‘travel restrictions’ were loosened one weekend in the last month for very good reason. Julz and I were reunited once more, this time in Toronto! I trained it to Toronto to meet up with  a very hungover Julz on a Saturday morning. We spent the entire day wandering the city, shopping, eating and drinking. And of course reminiscing. We solved the worlds problems and created more of them. We even managed to stumble upon my wedding dress! True story. Julz has now left Canada for the sunny shores of the Isle of Scalpay in Scotland. I miss her dearly. Next catch up must not be too far away. Seriously Julz, focus.

2.     Espresso flavoured vodka – Ummmm has anyone else heard of this? Am I the last to know about it? Whilst making new friends here in Ottawa (a relatively successful mission to date … see point 3 below) I was introduced to the wonders of espresso infused vodka. I thought we could be best friends forever but the following morning I decided it is best if we have one of those friendships where you don’t see each other very often but when you do it is amazing! Kind of like what Julz & I have. Still, this discovery is a highlight.

3.     Making friends – They say it takes a minimum of 6 months to make friends when you move somewhere new. Joep and I were so busy the first few months here that we didn’t really have a whole lot of time for friend making however time works in wonderful ways and these last few weeks we have relished in our new-ish friends here in Ottawa. For future reference I shall introduce you to a few of them now … Greg & Amy are fellow board game lovers. Greg plays water polo with Joep, Amy invited me to Bikram yoga with her and I said yes one time. And never again. Why? Because Bikram yoga is inhumane and no, I did not feel exhilarated afterwards. I felt sweaty. And my muscles ached. It was not worth it. However Amy redeemed herself by also introducing me to espresso vodka so she is still my friend. Then we have Stu and Jodie. Jodie is an Aussie. Stu is entertaining. They know how to eat good food and enjoy a few drinks. Nuff said. Final couple of note is Mikey & Anne-Marie … last night we bumped into Anne-Marie whilst buying books. We finished the night at 1am after consuming 3 party kegs on a terrace on a Tuesday night. No more needs to be said there. Friend making has proven successful! And continues to be a work in progress. Needless to say we’re enjoying this a lot!

4.     Ottawa Ladies Book Club – Yes. I finally got around to creating a book club here. I wasn’t sure if it would be as successful as the Amsterdam book club but I was pleasantly surprised. The ladies arrived with books and wine and the inaugural book club was a total success as evidenced by the reduced productivity of all of us the following day … there seems to be a recurring theme here. Mother ship don’t get all worried, we will settle down one day soon.

5.     Visitors – This month saw our first Dutch visitors arrive! Jorn was here for a week after Queens Day. He arrived suffering from a stomach flu and therefore was not able to eat or drink much for the majority of the week but Joep still relished in the manly company. Plus the weather had finally turned (see point 6 below. Yes. Weather gets its own bullet point. I am obsessed with it. Just like all the Canadians are.) … the first few days were glorious and sunny. And then the boys went camping in Algonquin. And it rained and rained and rained. They were supposed to go for 2 nights. On the first night I got a call at 9pm from Joep to say goodnight and to inform me that there were lots of crazy noises outside their tent. Ummmm yes. You are in the wild Joepinator. I then received a call the following morning telling me that they were on their way home. The trip was deemed ‘a great experience’ something that Joepinator was ‘really glad to have done one time’ but not something that is recommended for everyone. The planned camping trip with Bas & Kamiel has now been upgraded to a cabin.

On that note, Bas and Kamiel were in town this last weekend and will be sampling the wonders that Canada has to offer for the next 2 weeks. They are hilarious house guests and we have really loved having them to stay. As I write this they are in Toronto most likely reeking havoc on a dance floor somewhere. The weekend with them was spent enjoying the city and hitting the dance floor. We still have a bit more time with them before they leave so watch this space!

6.     The weather – As I type this it is 41 degrees outside. True story. Lets all flashback now to February, only 3 months ago, when it was -30 degrees outside. That is a 70 degree swing! Crazy. I am in my element. Summer clothes are on, the sun is shining and the city is packed to the brim with tourists and Ottawanegians who have come out of hibernation. It. Is. Glorious. Ottawa really is a great city when the sun is shining. There is so much to do … for example …

7.     The Tulip Festival – A quick history lesson for you. In 1945, the Dutch royal family sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa in gratitude for Canadians having sheltered Princess Juliana and her daughters for the preceding three years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, during WWII. In the time that they were sheltered Princess Juliana gave birth to Princess Margriet at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. The maternity ward was declared to be officially a temporary part of international territory, so that she would be born in no country and would inherit only her Dutch citizenship from her mother. Interesting right? So now the Dutch send 10,000 tulip bulbs every year to Ottawa and there is a big festival in the spring with music and food and … tulips of course! Its actually really worth seeing. We were suitably impressed.

8.     Getting back on the old fiets – We bought bikes! I didn’t realize how much I missed biking around the place but I am so content now. Joep officially notes that his bike is the best one he has ever owned. Ever. No seriously Jenni, ever. My pink bike still holds that title for me but this one is good as well. We spent Monday biking to the beach and back in the glorious spring weather … it doesn’t get much better than this!

9.     Parliament House – We’ve been here for 9 months now and we still hadn’t done a tour of the parliament house. Disgraceful I know. But when Jorn came to visit we did the tour with him and we were impressed! The building itself is beautiful on the outside and inside even more so. There is an amazing library in there which is the oldest building in Canada (nothing compared to the Euro history but still …) and it looks like something taken directly from Hogwarts. So impressive! Those who visit are now required to take the tour. More than worthwhile!

10.  David Grey live in concert – I heart David Grey. Big time. I am a gigantic fan so when tickets came available I was on it like white on rice. He is amazing live. Better live than on his cd’s even. I was literally swooning in my seat. Joep, Bas and Kamiel however were so distracted by David’s twitching head that they could not seem to appreciate the music. But they were happily entertained with their own jokes and I was able to swoon in peace. Everyone’s a winner! Oh and I didn’t get bored at all watching him which is very unusual for me. Usually by the time the encore is on I am already out the door. David Grey if I was not an almost married woman I would seriously consider becoming a roadie and following you around everywhere. Swoon.

I think that rounds it up for now. We’re having an amazing time here and if I’m really honest I would have to say that it just keeps getting better. Ottawa is really winning our hearts now that the sun is shining and walking outdoors does not result in frostbite (FYI frostbite is way more painful than sunburn and takes way longer to heal … way longer!). The icing on the cake naturally is that we’re engaged and wedding planning which is actually turning out to be a lot more fun than people say it is!!

We are happy J

Joep Dogg & Shorty hit up Boston

We’re starting to settle down a bit on the travel front here in Canada. That’s a lie. We are officially starting now that Easter weekend has come and gone. This weekend we kept up with our hectic travel schedule and road tripped it to Boston!

It’s the oldest city in the US. Home of Harvard University, the freedom trail, the Red Sox and some of the best seafood you can ever hope to enjoy!

We had big plans of getting up really early on Friday morning to head off for our 6-hour drive from Ottawa to Boston. Unfortunately Thursday night saw us boozing in sunny Ottawa (yes, you read that correctly … it is sunny here now!) with the gang from work to celebrate/commiserate the fact that el Phantomino is leaving us. Boo. A civilized dinner turned into groove shaking at the Heart & Crown and so, needless to say, our super early start was somewhat delayed. Worth it though!

Still, we managed to be on the road directly after breakfast and after a brief delay at the US border we made it to Boston by mid afternoon. Spring has arrived for sure now. Joep was convinced that he saw heaps of animals on the side of the road yawning and stretching as they came out of hibernation. He was even able to figure out what they were saying which apparently included such phrases as “**yawn** What day is it?” and “**stretch** Oh man is it really time to get up already?” … This kept him entertained for hours on end. I found it hilarious even though it doesn’t seem nearly as funny when I write it down.

Upon arrival in Boston we decided to enjoy our own de-hibernation and donned thongs (flip flops for the non Aussie’s reading this) and summer clothes for a wander through the city. Our hotel was right next to Fenway Park where the Red Sox play which was pretty cool to see. We didn’t get to see a match because season only started on Sunday evening and I had to work on Monday but we figure it’s a good excuse to go back some time.

After briefly checking out Fenway Park we had a leisurely stroll down Commonwealth Avenue, which runs into Boston Common. Boston Common is the oldest city centre park in the whole of North America and it is beeeeautiful! This may have been further exaggerated by the beautiful summer afternoon. Whatever it was, we were mesmerized by the park and strolled around it soaking up the atmosphere for a decent amount of time. We then headed toward the city centre to get a head start on our plans for the following day but cut it short when we decided that some good food and wine would be a nicer way to enjoy the evening.

On the stroll back to our hotel Joepinator spotted a small boutique restaurant so we thought we’d give it a shot. It. Was. Phenomenal. Seriously one of the best meals we have ever enjoyed. So good in fact, that we barely even spoke to each other throughout the entrée and main courses except to make random exclamations about how good the food was. This is a big deal for 2 people who don’t often stop talking. It is a testament to Petit Roberts. We ended up sitting there for the entire evening gorging ourselves in rich French food and drinking delicious wine and, once we had finished eating, making the most of a bit of QT to have a good old chin wag ☺

We decided that the night could not get any better than that and passed on the dancing for a good night of sleep in preparation for Saturday.

Saturday morning had us up early and out the door to soak up as much of Boston as possible during our brief visit. We began our day by walking the Freedom Trail; a 5km walk through the city marked by a red line (which is sometimes hard to spot so you have to pay attention). It takes you to 16 historic locations that played a party in the US Revolutionary history. That in itself was moderately interesting however, not being an American myself, I was more interested in the fact that the walk takes you the length and breadth of the city covering some beautiful neighborhoods and parks. Areas that we wouldn’t have had the pleasure of seeing if left to our own devices.

Boston really is a beautiful city with so much character and we happily soaked it up for the better park of the morning before the trail lead us back to Boston Common. At this point we felt we had earned a good break so we settled ourselves onto the lawn with lunch and spent the next little while soaking up the rays and watching all the Bostonians enjoy the sunshine. It was a little bit like being in the Vondelpark but no one was sunbathing topless. Or bottomless for that matter.

I could happily have stayed on the lawn for the remainder of the afternoon but the tourist guilt took over and we decided to continue making the most of the city by catching the subway to Harvard. I’ll be honest with you – I wasn’t too excited about heading out that way. I was wrong. The town itself is so cute and lively. It was chockers full of students and their parents visiting for the weekend so there was, once again, a great atmosphere on the streets. Harvard College itself was a picturesque maze of incredibly beautiful old buildings and gardens. On the train back from Harvard to Boston we were treated to a random busker on the train who referred to himself as ‘The Black Guy Dancing on a Train’. It was highly entertaining. Joep may take this up as a profession. I believe it was at this point that he decided to call me ‘Shorty’ (*pronounced Sho-tay*) for the remainder of the weekend. Shorty. Not because I am shorter than him but because he hears it on a lot of rap songs and thinks it is funny. Joep Dogg in da house.

Nicknames assigned, we had a brief rest at the hotel and got changed for dinner. Joepinator saw a restaurant called ‘The Barking Crab’ on a travel show during a business trip and immediately insisted we book a table. We were VERY excited about this meal because according to Joepinator it was going to be amazing. He did not lie. Upon arrival at the restaurant we were pleased to see that it was very laid back and that there was a jam-packed bar attached. We were slightly early for our reservation so hung out there for a while and, whilst doing so, befriended a couple from Boston. Bostonians seem to have the impression that all people from Boston are uptight. I did not get this impression at all and am very surprised that they feel this way. This couple was exceedingly entertaining and funny. They also remembered Joep’s and my name throughout the entire evening. Neither Joep, nor I, know his or her name. What does that say about us?

Either way, it didn’t stop us having a blast and we made an executive decision to have our dinner at the bar instead of moving to our assigned table. As promised, the menu was full of lobster and crab. Heaven!! We ordered a giant full lobster with a significant amount of crabs’ legs and started to get excited.

As an Australian, people always assume that I have eaten heaps of lobster. This is not the case. I have eaten a decent amount of lobster in my time but I have never ordered a full lobster and taken the initiative to break it apart. I do remember Stef teaching me how to break open a crab years ago and have carried that skill with me for life but lobster … that is a different story. When the food arrived Joepinator, who also had no clue, asked the waiter for tips on how to eat it. The waiter handed him a rock and told him to put the lobster between 2 paper plates and smash it with the rock. This is apparently one of the selling points of this restaurant. We were all set to do this when yet another friendly Bostonian appeared over my shoulder to assist us.

He spent the next 10 minutes walking me step by step through the lobster eating experience during which time a decent crowd gathered around to watch the entertainment. I didn’t mind. This is hilariously good fun! (Sheenz you could never do it, you would be ill) And this dude was the ultimate lobster connoisseur. Not to mention exceedingly nice!

Having learned the tricks of the trade we pigged out. I absolutely loved it! Joepinator thought the lobster was delicious but noted quite clearly that he does not enjoy to work for his food and therefore prefers a big steak. Still he seemed to enjoy smashing open the crab legs with the rock. But I will remember the steak comment for future reference.

We spent the rest of the night drinking at the bar and chatting with various Bostonians, none of whom were as uptight as they thought they were. After the Barking Crab we headed to a good old fashioned Irish bar for a bit of groove shaking before Joepinator declared that he was dying of starvation and needed something to eat. Apparently it was not possible to go to bed that hungry. And so, after enjoying an amazing lobster meal … Joepinator ate an entire pizza. It’s Boston. The pizza was amazing. Nuff said.

Sunday morning rolled around far too quickly and after enjoying a leisurely breakfast we had to hit the road to get back to Ottawa in time for Joep’s Sunday evening water polo game, which he remembered half way home had been cancelled. Naturally. The drive back was uneventful and full of discussions about how every time we go away for a weekend we say that it was the best weekend ever and whether or not this causes credibility issues. So at the risk of lacking credibility I must say that this was one of the best weekends away ever! Boston is a great city. I fear that I haven’t given it enough credit in this blog but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes this city so great … it’s a vibe. A feeling. Whatever it is, we loved it and can’t wait to head back there for a longer visit next time!!

Would you like to be my wife?

Things here in Canada are on the up and up! Every time we think we have had our best 

experience yet we somehow manage to top it. Granted, this weekend away had a bit of a twist to it …

This weekend we headed to Hotel de Glace (the Ice Hotel) in Quebec. We booked this ages ago and we had both forgotten about it until a couple of weeks ago when we started to get crazy excited. It is an entire hotel made of ice. The structure, the furnishings, the decorations, everything is made completely of ice. It seemed too incredible to be true!

As I mentioned in previous blogs, the weather here in Ontario has been unseasonably warm (having said that we are expecting another dump of snow this weekend!) so we were relatively concerned that the hotel might melt before we got there. Joep called the hotel the week before we went and asked if it had melted yet and was assured that it would still be standing when we got there. Phew!

So on Friday afternoon Joep collected me from work and we hit the road for the hotel. We arrived at Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier shortly after 8pm in time for a late bite to eat before settling into our warm hotel for the night. We had a huge living room with a roaring open fire all to ourselves so we curled up with a bottle of red wine in front of the open fire completely content!

Saturday we were up in time to enjoy a delicious breakfast with endless views before heading down to check out the Ice Hotel, our home for that night! On the way down we bumped into a guy who had stayed there the night before and he informed us that the chapel was no longer standing. They build an entire chapel of ice every year and people even get married in there so we were a bit bummed to have missed it.

Thankfully the rest of the hotel was still standing and it was as impressive as we imagined. Upon entering the hotel you walk into the grand foyer complete with a hanging ice chandelier. We were flabbergasted and spent the next little while wandering around the entire hotel. The hotel has 38 bedrooms/suites each with an entirely different theme from Grecian to under the sea to floral. There was no shortage of breathtaking sights! On top of this the hotel includes a café, a fully serviced bar and an ice slide that goes from the second floor to the ground floor. Not to mention the Nordic spas and saunas that are open from 8pm-8am for the overnight guests to enjoy all night long!!

We were suitably impressed and extraordinarily excited about the sleepover we were about to have!! But we couldn’t check in until all the day guests had left the hotel (the first time in my life I have slept in a hotel that people drive for miles just to SEE!) so we headed to Quebec City for a few hours of eating and wandering around.

Upon arrival in Quebec City the city was buzzing. It turns out that the Redbull Crashed Ice race was on. It is an ice skating race on a treacherous course set up through the city centre. 20 different countries were represented this year and skaters go through the track in groups of 4. It is hardcore. It also attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city for this one weekend in the year so the city was in party mode! This suited us perfectly because so were we! After a stroll through the city with a brief refreshments break we headed back to the hotel for our 5pm introduction to the hotel and detailed instructions on how not to freeze to death overnight. When sleeping in a room made entirely of ice it is imperative to remember that moisture is your enemy. Any moisture will freeze and make you very uncomfortable. We have already experienced this phenomenon during the Ottawa winter whenever we left the house so we felt ready to take on the challenge!

After our induction Joep and I went for a relaxing walk before heading up to the restaurant for a long relaxing dinner.  Unbeknownst to me Joepinator had been very busy the last couple of weeks planning a lovely surprise for me! The setting was perfect right down to our flamboyant French waitress who was more excited about my surprise that I was! After we had enjoyed the first 2 courses of our meal and I had stopped asking Joep why he was so stressed out and acting so weird, a bag arrived in front of me. It contained all of my blogs from 3 years in Amsterdam professionally printed and bound. Point of note: the weekend before this trip Joep got a cryptic phone call and was discussing binding with someone … when I asked him about the call, he said it was a surprise. I thought he had bought me a snowboard and was less than impressed by this. I was, however, ridiculously impressed with the bound book! I have been meaning to do this for ages but it takes so much time. Joepinator outdid himself!

We spent a chunk of the main course flicking through the book and reminiscing about all the incredible times we have had over the last years. As we were finishing looking through the book, Joepinator broke out the big surprise for me and dropped to one knee to pop the big question. The words were barely out of his mouth before I exclaimed ‘Of course!’ in answer to his request that I be his wife. As we all know, I am a giant crybaby. I cry when afraid, I cry when sad, I cry when things don’t go my way (true story … I’m working on it). However I have never been a happy crier. Until Saturday 20 March 2010. I always thought it was stupid to cry when you’re happy but I spent the next 5-10 minutes balling my eyes out and laughing hysterically at the same time. The happiest tears ever shed!

After recovering from the shock of the proposal, Joep informed me of all the preparation it had taken to get to this point. I was impressed that he managed to keep it all a secret! I was even more impressed when I heard that he had done the gentlemanly thing and asked daddyo Dave for permission. Hilariously, when Joep called the Delany house on Friday to tell them that he was going to propose, dad told him that normally he would be doing the right thing by asking the father for permission however in the Delany household he is not the boss. The mother ship at this point was hovering around the telephone refraining herself from snatching it out of dad’s hands … but only just barely! Naturally she gave him her FULL approval followed by a big rant about loving him and loving us etc. After the proposal we spoke with dad and the mother ship and I berated mum for making Joep ask them both for permission to marry me. Mother ship responding saying ‘Sure do you think I’d let your father make that decision? He’d let Jack the Ripper take you if he was willing to!’ Hilarious! And who could blame him … all these years with 5 women, he must be exhausted!

We celebrated our engagement by polishing off a bottle of champagne before heading down to the hotel for cocktail hour!! The hotel by night is even more incredible. Only 8 people were staying overnight so we had a free run of the hotel. We drank cocktails out of glasses made from ice, we made ice sculptures (Joep was REALLY good at this and made an awesome bear … I made ummm a lump of ice) and we spent some quality time on the ice slide before hitting up the Nordic spas for some R&R. Feeling suitably relaxed we headed to bed for the nights biggest challenge – Getting into our sleeping bags.

It took Joep a good 10 minutes to get into his while I took photos and belly laughed at his expense. It took me even longer to get in. And within an hour of getting in I realized that I needed to go to the toilet. I spent the next hour sporadically telling Joep that I needed to go to the toilet and wiggling around trying NOT to need to go to the toilet. It was a lost battle and at about 4am I caved and braved the cold to go to the bathroom. No, the bathrooms are not made of ice. Thankfully they are in a heated room so it wasn’t too painful however a giant Ice Hotel is pretty eerie at nighttime and I have an active imagination so by the time I sprinted back to our room I was convinced that I was the next victim of a crazed ice serial killer. Dramatic much? Even more annoying - within 30 minutes of getting back into the sleeping bag I needed to go AGAIN! Disaster.

Needless to say, I did not get the best night of sleep. Everyone else we spoke to, including Joep, managed to get a glorious night of sleep and some people even complained that they were too warm in their rooms. Go figure!

Another thing that kept me up was the fear of the hotel melting on top of us. I put a water bottle on the bedside table which was, of course, made of ice. In the middle of the night I heard something crackling. I turned on the light to see that the water bottle had melted through the table! Whoops!!

And so, early on Sunday morning when Joep woke up we headed back up for warm showers before enjoying a delicious brunch whilst sharing stories with the other guests. We then headed down for our VIP tour of the Ice Hotel which was incredibly interesting. We learned all about how the hotel is made and a lot about the history of the Inuit people who developed the whole igloo building technique.

I won’t bore you all with all the details but I will share a couple of interesting facts. The Inuit people are often referred to as Eskimo’s which is not a name they are fond of. Why? Well, when the British first came to Canada the took a Native American with them. When they came across the Inuit people living in igloos and eating raw fish they asked the American who these barbarians were?? The American, as a joke, called them ‘Eskimo’s’ which means ‘Eater of raw fish’. So there you go! Also, Inuit mean man. A much nicer name.

Final point of interest … as you all know we went to the Olympics this year so we saw Inukshuk’s all over the place. The Inukshuk is an Inuit stone statue that symbolizes security and welcome. Inukshuks can be found scattered throughout Northern Canada and Alaska. If you see one you can rest assured that if you walk in the direction of either arm you are walking on solid ground and will not fall down a crevice. In addition you will find another Inukshuk within 100kms. Finally, at the base of each Inukshuk, if you dig 1 meter down you will find a box full of frozen fish for you to eat and bits of meat for the dogs as well as a kit to fix your dog sled if you get into any problems with it. How cool is that? We thought so!!

After our tour we hit the road for home. On the drive back to Ottawa we stopped off at Mont Tremblant for a run on the slopes. I skipped it preferring to chill out with my book in the sun but Joep did a few runs. The town in Tremblant is just beautiful so we’ll be heading back there some time in the not too distant future!

And then, after all the excitement of the weekend we were home in Ottawa spreading the word about our exciting future plans!! We’re so unbelievably excited to be spending the rest of our lives together. It all seems a bit too good to be true at the moment!

Falls & Balls ... and a raptor

Spring is in the air here in Ontario! The snow is melting, the sun is shining, the temperatures are creeping above zero and there is slush everywhere! All of these are good things except for that last one which leaves a great deal to be desired. Walking to work along slush filled sidewalks is the least fun ever. In fact, a couple of weeks ago as I stepped out to cross the street and landed ankle deep in a slushy puddle I exclaimed loudly ‘Ugh! I HATE this!!’ … the homeless guy sitting nearby shouted back ‘Yeah! I hate it too!’ We shared a moment and I continued on my slushy way to work.

Thankfully the slush is very quickly melting away and there is a definite feeling of spring in the air! To make the most of the good weather we decided to road trip it to Toronto again this last weekend. We planned to stay at Mel & Geoff’s place (thanks again guys!) on Friday night, drive down to Niagara Falls on Saturday and enjoy a Toronto Raptors NBA game on the Sunday.

My friend Luyen (another Aussie in Ottawa) joined us for the ride! Friday night the drive there was uneventful and after a long week of work we were all ready to veg out a bit. This was a good plan because it saw us up early on Saturday morning to enjoy the amazing weather!

Joep and I left Luyen to catch up with friends in the city and hit the road to Niagara Falls. We were forewarned by many people that Niagara town is nothing special. In fact most people advised us strongly against spending any amount of time in the town itself.

Upon arrival in Niagara (after a pit stop for Tim Horton’s coffee and doughnuts, naturally!) we understood why. Niagara is the biggest, kitchiest tourist trap I have ever seen. True story. It is quite a shame because the falls themselves are breathtaking! So instead of wasting time telling you about the town, I will focus on the things that are worth seeing. The Falls!

We weren’t expecting much because, lets face it, the Falls are pretty touristy and cliché buuuuut … our expectations were greatly exceeded! The first sighting of the falls is more than a little bit impressive. I think it is the combination of the mist and the sound of the water roaring. Throw in the fact that it is still winter (almost spring!) so there were huge icebergs floating in the water and icicles hanging from trees over the falls and you have yourself a pretty incredible view!

There was a surprising amount of snow still on the ground at the falls and some of the falls were still frozen solid but enough water was flowing to create the infamous mist around the water which, according to Joep, ‘though refreshing and invigorating, is also very annoying’ … that is a quote. That is why we love him. Still the spectacle of the falls is something that is definitely worth seeing. Especially on a beautiful spring day with clear blue skies and sunshine!

We entertained ourselves at the falls for a decent amount of time by pretending to jump in (don’t stress out mum! We didn’t actually climb over the barriers …), napping in the sunshine and building snow men. It was glorious!

Interesting fact (I thought so anyway …) - The first person to attempt to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel was a 63-year-old woman called Annie Taylor. She was a schoolteacher who, for some reason, thought it would be a good idea to climb into a barrel with her cat and float herself over the falls. She survived. As exciting as this sounded, we did not think it was a good idea.

Instead, once we had exhausted all entertainment options (excluding throwing ourselves over the falls in a barrel) we jumped in the car and headed to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a small town 30 minutes drive from Niagara and infinitely more beautiful. The midday was spent wandering around this gorgeous town, having a bite to eat and soaking up the atmosphere. All in all we deemed the trip a complete success and headed back to Toronto very satisfied!

Saturday night in Toronto – What better thing to do than eat yourself silly! A lot of travel books note that one of the greatest things about Toronto is the international food culture. A brief late afternoon dash through China town left us in no doubt about this! So when we got back to Toronto we met up with Luyen for a few beers before heading to dinner with Luyen and her mate at an all you can eat Korean barbeque restaurant.

Anyone who knows Joep right now is probably reacting strongly to the thought of Joep sitting at an all you can eat barbeque. I’m not going to lie to you, I had some misgivings about taking him to such a restaurant. All you can eat meat is something that Joep does not fool around with. He will literally eat ALL he can eat. And eat he did. The restaurant was fantastic and, despite our best laid plans to eat dinner and head out dancing, we ended up sitting at the restaurant until well into the evening cooking our meat, eating it and enjoying the laughs. A very very successful evening!

To round off the weekend on Sunday we had arranged for tickets to see the Toronto Raptors play the 76’s at Air Canada Centre. After a long breakfast of crepes (or as Joep calls them, craps) and a leisurely stroll around Toronto we settled in for the match.

What a game! The Raptors have been on a big losing streak and alas they did not break it during this game but they gave it their best shot! In addition, the Raptor’s mascot (a raptor) is the best entertainment I have seen in a long time!

After the match we road tripped it back to Ottawa and so ended a wonderful mini weekend away!