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! 

Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010!

As pretty much all of you know by now, because it is all Joep and I have been able to talk about for the past few weeks, we went to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games! So as an introduction let me tell you that nothing I say in this blog will do this experience justice. So take everything I say and magnify exponentially and you might have a small idea of just how great this mini-break was. Got it? Good.

Thursday night after a very stressful few days of work, Joep and I headed to the airport to fly to Vancouver. Thanks to the time difference we arrived in Vancouver just after midnight and made our way to Casa Julz & Rog. For those of you who don’t know, Julz is a friend of mine. We met one fateful morning in Athens as we both ate breakfast alone in our backpackers hostel. Hours later (literally, only hours later) she booked flights to Amsterdam to come with me on a road trip to Munich for Oktoberfest. The rest, as they say, is history. It was now my turn to visit her and lets face it, its not much of a task when you get to go to the Olympics and visit one of your favourite people in the world simultaneously!

After a brief late night catch up with Julz during which Joep struggled to get a word in, we hit the hay ready for our Olympic adventure to begin the next morning. Before going to bed Joep and I both commented that we should really check what time our bus left for our ski event the following morning however neither of us actually got around to doing this. Julz was up and ready for work at 7am the following morning and I had a lovely chat with her before she left. Then, at 7:10am I decided to check what time we needed to be ready to go. Panic.

Our bus to Whistler was leaving from the Holland Heineken House (HHH) at 7:30am. The HHH is 30 minutes drive from where we were staying. We were still in pj’s. Uh. Oh. What does one do in such a situation? Naturally, I ran on the spot for at least a minute with my hands on my heads screeching ‘OH NO! OH NO! We’ve missed it! We’ve missed it!’ Joep, not realizing the urgency of the situation, stretched luxuriously in bed and reached for the piece of paper I had throw across the room in my panic asking calmly what was the matter. He then sat up. Slowly adjusted his eyes (by this stage I had taken to literally spinning in circles on the spot muttering ‘We’ve missed it! What a waste! We’ve missed it!’) … and then he read the paper. As he got to the 7:30am bit he threw the paper in the air and immediately pulled on some jeans. This triggered me into action and I began to the do same. The next 60 seconds were a blur of the two of us running around the apartment looking for clothes. I vaguely remember Joep having the audacity to take the time to go to the bathroom. I reminded him in no uncertain terms that there was NO time for that! Madness. We dashed out the door at approximately 7:17am and were in a taxi within seconds. Mr T told us it was 30 minutes to HHH but he would do his best to get us there on time. He was not lying. He drove like a crazy man, screeching around corners and running all kinds of lights. At one stage he almost ran over a couple of pedestrians on a crosswalk. I’m not going to lie to you … I was more concerned about making our bus that the lives of these poor innocents. Panic brings out the worst in us all.

Mr T was a hero. Joep and I had given up all hope and were beginning to plan how to rent a car to drive the 2.5 hours to Whistler as Mr T flew around the final corner and we saw the HHH bus still there! RELIEF!! We gave Mr T a ludicrous tip which made his day and ran to the bus. It’s the first time I haven’t been irritated by a bus running late. Ironic.

Once settled on the bus, Joep and I turned to each other and began to belly laugh. We looked like 2 crazy people, hair everywhere, clothes all crumpled and out of breath from the panic. The tone for the weekend was set. Hilarity.

The ride up to Whistler was breathtakingly beautiful. All the tour books say that the sea to sky drive is phenomenal. They do not lie. It is amazing. Around every corner is another even more beautiful view! We didn’t even nap! Upon arrival in Whistler we wandered up to Creekside where our event was being held. The men’s Alpine Skiing – Super G. It’s the one where they come down the mountain at about 150km/hr. It is insane. In order to get to the event you have to catch a chairlift up. It was all just too exciting!! The event itself was crazy to see. These athletes are incredible!! The Norwegian (Aksel Svindel) won gold with American’s bringing in the silver and bronze. Whilst it was great to see this, my favourite participants were the people from random countries like Serbia who were just happy to be there and when they saw their ranking of 20^th or 30^th they would cheer as loudly as the winners. True Olympic spirit. I loved it!

After enjoying the event we wandered back down to Whistler town for a late lunch and some relaxing in the sun. Yes. It was sunny. And close to 10 degrees above zero! Years ago when I was a permanent Australian resident, 10 degrees was the coldest winters day. Now it is t-shirt weather. I have become one of those people we Aussie’s used to laugh at. Boy do I appreciate the sun these days!

We spent the next little while eating and checking out all the Olympic madness in Whistler. The excitement is completely infectious. Everywhere you look people are celebrating something, anything! Everyone is in a good mood, everyone is interested in where you are from and what you are there to see. It is just incredible. We caught the bus back to Vancouver city with big smiles on our faces feeling very excited about what the next few days had to offer!

Arriving back in Vancouver, we headed straight to the HHH. This is the Dutch country celebration tent (lots of countries have their own, it’s a cool idea!). The queues are massive but Dutch nationals get to skip the queue … perfect! Within minutes we were immersed in a sea of orange and drinking Heineken. Glorious! Even better when Julz joined us after work!! The night was a success. I would love to explain why it was so great but … well we were drinking Heineken and dancing our hearts out so perhaps you get the idea. A couple of highlights of the evening … Firstly, a Dutch band called the Corona’s were playing. Part of their routine is that random people get up on stage and request songs into a telephone. Lots of Canadian’s and American’s got up to request songs and the party was in full swing so of course I felt the need to request something … I wanted Joep’s & my favourite song (for obvious reasons), ‘Heb Je Even Voor Mij’. So I got up. And spoke Dutch. And requested it. It was all very bad and I’m not going to lie to you, I’m pretty sure that the Dutch that I thought I was speaking was much better than the Dutch I was actually speaking … yikes. But Joep was proud of me and we continued groove shaking.

Another highlight … Julz was accosted by many men in the HHH. This is because she is ludicrously good looking and the men like her very much even when she very clearly does not like them. Whilst being accosted by one such man she informed him that I am the Australian Olympic Figure Skater. He believed this instantly. The following hour was spent discussing my figure skating career including how terrible my partner was coz he is not strong enough to lift me. He said I was a true Olympian and demanded photo’s. We obliged. Mean, we know. But funny too.

After a long, crazy night we headed home for a few hours sleep before waking early Saturday to check out the city. Vancouver is an incredible city. Mountains in the background, beautiful cityscape's and an incredible waterfront. It literally has it all. We spent the morning wandering around and eating before hiring bikes and biking around Stanley Park. Breathtaking! The views were incredible plus we were blessed with yet another beautiful sunny warm day! Content.

A few hours later we returned the bikes and continued our city tour by wandering along the waterfront to check out the Olympic rings and the Olympic flame. Both were pretty cool to see and this is coming from someone who is typically not a huge sports fan. The streets were packed with people and yet again, everyone was in a great mood and the atmosphere was infectious! We strolled around completely content for ages before retiring to the couch for a few beers prior to the hockey match we had tickets for that evening.

Germany v Belarus. As you may know from my previous blogs, I have really taken to the hockey since we moved here. It is a crazy sport! So we were both really excited to be heading to the Germany v Belarus game. Joep had decided that we would support Belarus. I didn’t argue. The crowd was a mishmash of all different nationalities but, like us, everyone had picked a team to support proudly! Despite all the excitement of being there, I was exhausted from the previous nights partying coupled with the busy day and so … I fell asleep (I’m sure this doesn’t surprise you mum & dad!!). I have a very special talent for falling asleep when I am tired. I can do it anywhere. However when attending an Olympic Ice Hockey match it is not such a good thing. Thankfully, Joep woke me after the warm-ups were finished so that I could enjoy the match. It didn’t take long to get back into it and the game was highly entertaining! The crowd was crazy AND our team won! Always a good thing J

After a celebratory stroll through the streets we headed home for a good night of sleep which was well deserved!! Sunday we awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed (that’s an Aussie expression if ever I heard one!) and made the decision to enjoy a long brunch!! We headed off to NU on the waterfront across from Granville and were instantly pleased with our choice. The walk there along the waterfront was glorious and the weather was so good that we were able to eat outside! True story!

Adding to the beauty of the morning, when we ordered our first bottle of bubbly we were informed that we had come on the day that it was 50% off all wines. What? Does this mean … could it be …. ??? Yes. Two for One!! Most people would just be glad to get half price wine. We were excited to get 2 bottles for the price of one. I hope this never changes.

We sat at our outdoor table enjoying too much food and bubbles for hours. Literally. It was heavenly!! As the clock came up to 3pm we decided that we should make a move to the HHH to watch the Dutch in the speed skating. It was a good choice. We got there in time to watch Ireen Wust win gold! What a buzz!! Joepinator was ecstatic. As were most of the Dutch naturally! After gold was won we were stuck at the HHH. The crowds piled in for the celebrations and boy was it a crazy night. Ireen Wust herself was on stage (And no, Maxima did not come. I know. I am as disappointed as everyone. I was sure once she met me she would be my best friend but its not meant to be. Boo.) … the highlight however, was Guus Meeuwis!! You have never seen Joepinator more gleeful (that’s not technically true, he is often very gleeful but normally it involves beer or bacon … or an episode of King of Queens … ok so lots of things but still …) …. The show was fantastic!! So good in fact that the Dutch felt it necessary to throw entire cups of beer into the air! Joepinator joined it of course. I was hesitant. But after a bit of convincing I did it too. It wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be.

Another crazy night of dancing and laughing ensued until we called it a night and, with aching feet, headed home.

Monday morning we were up early to have delicious breakfast with Julz & Rog, 2 of our favourite people. After this we headed out for a last wander around this incredible city. Our wanderings took us across the bridge to Granville Island. Beautiful! We grabbed a bite to eat in the markets and then sat out in the sun soaking up the rays and enjoying the buskers before catching the aqua bus back the city to go out to a delicious dinner at Stepho’s with Julz and Rog. Vancouver dining is amazing. The food, the service, the atmosphere. Even during a crazy time like the Olympics, every restaurant we ate at was great and the service impeccable. Plus we were lucky enough to have great company too!

We finished our Olympics mini break with a few beers / cups of tea and great chats back at Casa Julz & Rog before Joep and I made our way (with heavy hearts) to the airport.

We are now officially Olympics nuts. I honestly thought that going to Vancouver during the Olympics would be a great way to enjoy the Olympics but a terrible way to see the city. I was totally wrong. Vancouver is at its best these 2 weeks! The atmosphere everywhere you go is one of complete euphoria. People are just happy to be there and so were we!

It will definitely go down as one of the best trips we have done. I’m not sure how we will top it but will certainly try! Thanks Julz & Rog for a fantastic weekend! Till next time …

Freezing, curling and tubing

The last couple of weeks we have hung around Ottawa taking in the Winterlude festival and laying low ahead of our next big adventure.

The winter here is brutally cold despite the fact that it is supposed to be a mild year. A couple of weekends ago Joep and I headed out for a lovely Saturday morning breakfast at our favourite spot. As soon as we stepped outside into the -35 degree day we regretted our decision.

When it is -35 degrees outside numerous things happen that I never thought of. Firstly, your nostrils freeze together. True story. When you take a breath in through your nose any moisture freezes solid. It is the weirdest sensation ever! Secondly, as a result of freezing air entering you nasal cavity your eyes start to water. When the tears hit your lashes and cheeks they freeze. Solid. So you get little bits of ice on your lashes and face. Its not the most fun ever. And waterproof mascara is a must. Believe me.

So as Joep and I walked to breakfast discussing our frozen facial cavities and loss of feeling in our feet we decided that perhaps a weekend of hibernation was in order! A delicious breakfast and a short shopping spree for supplies later and we were back in the apartment playing Monopoly and pigging out. Warmth. It is under-rated.

Having finished all my complaining about how cold it is here I must now be fair and discuss the FUN side of winter here. Yes. There is seriously a fun side! February sees the beginning of the Winterlude festival here in Ottawa. It is basically a month long festival celebrating winter and all that is great about it. The canal has been opened for skating and on top of that there are numerous free concerts along the canal on the weekends. A huge ice sculpture exhibition has also been set up and some of the sculptures are unbelievable!

We’ve been out enjoying this as much as possible. As well as this Luyen (another Aussie in town) very kindly arranged a sporting day for the expats recently. And what better sport than curling! For those of you who don’t know (which would be surprising given that the Winter Olympics are currently on), curling is defined officially as “A game originating in Scotland in which two four-person teams slide heavy oblate stones toward the center of a circle at either end of a length of ice.” It sounds strange. It is strange. It is also hilariously good fun! We hit the ice with an Argentinean couple and a bunch of Aussies with a couple of Canadian’s thrown in for good measure.

After a couple of beers and a brief half hour lesson we hit the ice for the game. The people on TV make curling look really easy. It is not. It is incredibly hard to stay balanced on the ice. Both Gabriel and I can attest to this. He managed to fall 3 times in a row while he was supposed to be sweeping. It was like watching a cartoon character bounce up and down. I couldn’t help but laugh even though I am quite sure he hurt himself. I am sure because I fell flat on my face. And it hurt. Despite all the falling, or perhaps because of it, the game was deemed a total success and another tournament will be held soon.

After all the curling and skating we took things a little easier this weekend opting for a nice warm road trip to Kingston! It was the original capital of Canada before the Queen decided that it was too close to the US and couldn’t be protected adequately. So now we have Ottawa! The city itself is really tiny but quite beautiful! We were pleasantly surprised!

Then, after our cozy road-trip, to keep things in line with the theme of embracing winter we hit the slopes this weekend for some snow tubing!! There are a few very decent slopes within an hour from our house which we plan on making the most of over the coming weeks!

This weekend we skipped the skiing and opted for the easier snow tubing! It is exactly what it sounds like. You sit on an inner tube and go down the mountain on your butt. It is so much fun! Even more fun when you have a giant Dutch guy attached to your tube meaning that you fly down the mountain even faster. With an entertaining running commentary.

Joep and I hung out on the slopes for the day living (and laughing) it up. We also realized just how much we have acclimatized to the weather here. It was -17 and we were not in our thick winter coats. In fact, Joep was just in a jumper! Yes. -17 is a ‘mild’ winters day. Jeepers.

So we have a few more weeks of winter to enjoy … Groundhog day has come and gone and Wiarton Willie saw his shadow meaning that there are 6 weeks of winter left (4 weeks as of today!) so we’ll be making the most of it while we can.

Brief side note to finish – Groundhog day is where they take a groundhog out of hibernation to see if he/she can see his/her shadow. If the groundhog can see their shadow then it is another 6 weeks of winter. If not then spring will come early! I researched where this tradition came from and found the following - How groundhogs got a reputation for predicting weather patterns is a mystery, because they are not the least bit interested in their shadows or the number of winter weeks remaining. The only reasons they come out of hibernation are for food and sex. So apparently Wiarton Willie’s prediction is not carved in stone. An early spring is still a possibility!!

More adventures of an Olympic nature to follow!

Torvill & Dean Eat Your Heart Out!

Arriving back from a balmy Australian summer to the depths of the Canadian winter was never going to be easy. Thankfully the weather has been mild for this time of year. Yes, mild. An Australian girl who used to say it was ‘too cold to swim’ when it was 38 degrees now considers -5 degrees to be mild. My how things have changed!

In addition to our change in perception of what defines cold, Joep and I have begun to notice an upsetting change in our speech. I have lived abroad for over 3 years now and I can proudly say that I have maintained my Australian accent throughout this entire time. This is important to me because (a) I am proud to be Australian and (b) I remember immigrating to Australia as a child and asking the other kids at school to teach me how to speak Australian. Why would I want to throw away all that hard work?

Whilst I am positive that I have managed to hang onto my Aussie accent, over the last few months in Canada I do note one upsetting difference to my speech and that of the Joepinator … eh! Yes, eh. It is a noise that Canadians add to the end of every sentence. They are ridiculed the world over for this (in the most good humoured way imaginable of course!) and it is factual eh. They say eh after everything eh! It is the Dutch equivalent of hoor which has provided hours of entertainment to many of my friends here in Canada and home in Australia, ja hoor!

It appears that Joep & I are no longer in a position to judge eh. Turns out that eh is contagious eh! We use it all the time eh! Ugh. Seriously, we use it all the time. We are now consciously informing each other every time we hear ourselves say it in an attempt to rid ourselves of this speech impediment eh. Lord.

One of the Canadian things that we DON’T mind embracing however is their love of the outdoors … I mentioned this in earlier blogs I know. So upon arrival back in wintry Ottawa we decided to continue with our regime of embracing the outdoors. And what better way to do this than hitting up the Rideau Canal for some ice skating!

The Rideau Canal is 202km long and runs between Kingston and Ottawa. It took 6 years to build back in the 1820’s. In Ottawa it ends at the aptly named Ottawa River right near the Byward Market which is our favourite place to head out for dinner and a few drinks. In winter, the canal freezes solid. The Ottawanegians (as Joep has lovingly named them) take advantage of this by creating the worlds ‘largest, natural ice-skating rink’. It stretches a decent 7.7km’s ending at Dows Lake and the whole way along there are stalls set up selling all kinds of delicious treats and offering spots to rest. Glorious! You can get your exercise and undo all your good work with a beaver tail simultaneously.

Which leads me to another great Canadian pastime – the consumption of Beaver Tails! These are not the tails of the beaver as the name would imply. They are deep fried donuts, covered in sugar or some other delicious-ness. These things are glorious and I firmly believe that they rival (possibly exceed!) the oliebollen in the battle for ‘most delicious deep fried, sugar coated snack’. True story.

SO! On our first weekend back from Australia we embraced the Canadian winter, donned our expedition style winter coats (good to -40 degrees in a t-shirt), got our skates sharpened (Joepinator came through on the Christmas present front this year!) and headed for the canal.

Excitement soon turned to trepidation as I struggled to walk across the short stretch of ice to the nearest bench to put my skates on. Yikes! But we powered through and I am proud to say that I didn’t completely suck at it! In fact, there were people who were way worse than me out there. Alas, Joep was not one of these people. As usual, he outdid me in the coordination stakes and was cutting up the ice whilst skating circles around me. I didn’t mind, I was just happy to be upright!

A few hours, a couple of beaver tails and more than a few near misses on the falling over front and we were headed back to where we started for a well earned rest.

At this point I must point out that many of my near miss falls were the result of the toe picks on the front of my skates. These are there for figure skaters who need to push off the ice to do the odd triple loop and all that jazz …. So obviously something that I would definitely need for my Olympic figure skating debut but not for a leisurely skate down the Rideau. The problem with toe picks is that they catch on every bump in the ice. And the ice on the Rideau is very bumpy. I mean, it is a naturally frozen canal, not a nice smooth rink! So I spent the first hour or so cursing the toe picks as I figured out how NOT to catch them on the ice.

As we were skating back to end our day my confidence had increased and I had picked up enough speed to keep up with the Joepinator. I was so confident, in fact, that I felt the need to announce loudly to him ‘Joepy! I think I have finally gotten the hang of this toe pii … ‘ 

My sentence ended with words that shall not be broadcast on the Internet. Before the word ‘pick’ was even out of my mouth I was rolling around the ice in agony. OK, so little kids were falling over everywhere I looked but I never saw one of them cry. Canadian kids are hardcore because it HURTS! Joepinator came straight over and didn’t even laugh (out loud … his eyes were laughing) whilst trying to help me as I exclaimed that I had really hurt myself whilst doing the ‘mother ship sucking air over teeth and grimacing’ thing (I am seriously becoming my mother … it is mildly amusing to experience having witnessed this phenomenon occur to both Jane & Aoife in recent years). 

I was seriously in agony until some strangers noticed the commotion and came over to ask if we needed help and if I was ok. At this point my pride kicked in and I announced bravely (with tears in my eyes … and a little bit on my cheeks) that I was ok. Joepinator then got me onto my feet and we made our way home. Once I got moving again I was actually fine and had not broken my knee cap in 2 as I was originally sure I had done.

Instead I sit here now with 2 massive black knees caps. Relatively amusing.

Nevertheless we had a ball and plan on hitting the ice whenever possible this winter! What a novelty! And it is only the beginning of the winter sports on offer … watch this space! In the meantime, I have uploaded a couple of video's of the two of us showing our skating prowess. Alas there is no video of my fall - I am sure that would have been very entertaining but for now you you just have to settle for seeing us at our best! 

  

Christmas Down Under!

As you all know, last year Joep and I had the worst Christmas of our lives. This year we were not going to let anything get in our way! After settling into Canadian life, the next this on our ‘To Do’ list was to book flights to Australia for Christmas!

This proved easier said than done because Australian’s live all over the world. And they almost all go home for Christmas. So flights were hard to find and we had left it very late to book them! Yikes! Thankfully after much searching and patience we managed to find a semi affordable flight that saw us arriving in Perth on Christmas Eve … flying via Europe but what can you do hey?

So a few days before Christmas we began our monster commute from Ottawa-Toronto-Frankfurt-Singapore-Perth. Ouch. I’m not gonna lie to you … the flight itself was rough. All flights were booked solid so we were cramped in like sardines for over 30 hours of airtime plus transit time. Still it was more than worth it when we touched down in sunny Perth for some quality time with the Delany clan.

Christmas Eve was a whirlwind of hello’s and hugs and kisses and even though our bodies thought it was 1am when we arrived, the sunny Perth afternoon made dealing with the jetlag very easy and we managed to enjoy a lovely dinner and more than a few drinks to bring in Christmas Day. Christmas Day saw us up early for the usual Delany family champagne breakfast. And so a day of eating began.

After enjoying a long relaxed breakfast and sharing our gifts we all headed across to the Cooksley homestead for the real Christmas festivities. Yeesh, You have never seen more food. Aoife & Stef outdid themselves!! Upon arrival we all had a few drinks and the usual lame jokes were made prior to gift sharing time for the kids. Holy moly it is stressful buying gifts for kids’ coz you know that if you haven’t done well it will be made very clear to you. Thankfully the gifts were received without a glitch and everyone was happy. Let the eating continue. A long Christmas lunch followed coupled with cocktails prepared by Stef. The mother ship and daddyo Dave took a time out midday to catch some zzzzz’s ensuring their ability to continue with the Christmas frenzy well into the evening. Awww the old people can’t keep up J The day continued well into the evening and all had a good time! Best Christmas ever!

The following few days were spent recovering from the over-eating at Christmas by the pool and the parental’s house with a few additional bbq’s thrown in with the extended family. Joepinator hit the golf courses of Perth with daddyo Dave and the in-laws and I had some QT with the ladies. Perfect!

Joep’s birthday rolled around and we had planned to celebrate this with an afternoon drinking session in the Perth sunshine. Perth did not let us down and gave us a scorcher of a day which we relished at The Garden in Leederville. Joepinator was content with his coronas and thankfully some of the boys rocked up so he wasn’t overrun with Australian females … although, he would probably have liked that anyway!

After a day of drinking we headed out for dinner and more drinks at a BYO restaurant … a concept which the Joepinator loves! The day was deemed a success by the birthday boy and the hangovers that followed were a tribute to the celebrations!

The following day was spent at the Cooksley’s house where Joep & Stef did manly construction related things whilst Aoife and I enjoyed the company of the kids followed by a lovely dinner. Poor daddyo Dave was in the hospital having just finished surgery and the mother ship was in need of a lift home so Joepinator and I left the Cooksley's to pick up the mother ship. The problem was that we didn’t have the car with us, only the ute. Which has no backseat. Only a front seat which can fit 3 people at a squeeze. Joep, Aoife & I tested out the possibility of fitting 3 people into the front of the ute prior to leaving for the hospital and decided it was feasible. Daddyo Dave was holding up well and being entertained by the antics of the mother ship when we arrived. We hung out for a bit to keep him company and enjoy the mother ships repertoire before leaving him to rest up for the night. The look on the mother ships face when she saw her mode of transport for the evening was priceless. She did that air sucking over teeth thing that she does when she is either in pain or afraid of something. But after a bit of coaxing from Joep she agreed to climb aboard. Needless to say, we laughed a lot on the way home.

New Years Eve rolled around and, given that poor daddyo was still in hospital, we kept it pretty low key with a very nice bbq at Sheenz new place. The evening consisted of a few drinks, some very good food and entertainment provided by Niamh & Mairghread (guest performer Kynan who ‘ruined the whole show’ as he tumbled across their make shift stage mid performance … hilarious). It was a good thing that we kept it so low key because the following day Joep and I flew to Sydney!

Sydney is one of my favorite cities. It has everything. A great cityscape, a great beachfront PLUS the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Our first 2 nights in Sydney were in Darling Harbour. A great city location close to everything! Friday night was spent wandering down to The Rocks to check out the views of the bridge and the Opera House and soak up the atmosphere at some of the bars in the neighborhood. On Saturday we slept in until Priscilla texted to arrange meeting up. Now Priscilla is one of my oldest friends. She was one of my first friends when we came to Australia so we have known each other for a lifetime. She has known me through some very awkward, average looking years … we hadn’t seen each other for years because she moved to Melbourne shortly after I came home from Portugal and of course now I don’t live in Australia HOWEVER like all great friendships, absolutely nothing has changed. We agreed to meet up for a couple of drinks at the RSL in Bondi. Within minutes of seeing each other we reverted back to our 7-year-old selves and chattered away nonstop leaving the boys to fend for themselves. Thankfully, Dave & Joep also hit it off so things were looking up! The day progressed and many rounds were purchased. Things got rowdier and rowdier as the day wore on. Drinks turned into late lunch, which then rolled into early evening drinks. Just as things were getting out of hand Joep’s cousin Marloes arrived with her travel buddy Matt. They were visiting Sydney at the same time and we had arranged a catch up J So Priscilla and I were forced to go our separate ways for the evening as Joep & I headed out for dinner with Marloes and Matt … we did of course, make a plan to meet up again the following day so there was no need for tear-filled goodbyes. Phew!

We then headed to Una’s with Matt & Marloes for a massive schnitzel dinner & a few more drinks and chats. It is all a bit of a blur now … I have a vague memory of Joep “whispering” in my ear ‘I CAN’T FEEL MY LEGS JENNI!’ And I know for a fact that we chatted a lot so I believe it was a very successful evening.

Sunday morning was less successful but we managed to hit the shops in Sydney to spend the gift vouchers that Santa Claus left for us. After a brief but successful shopping spree we headed to Woolloomooloo Wharf to meet up with Pris & Dave for one last hoorah before Pris had to head back to Melbourne for work on Monday. We met at Kingsley’s Steak house that serves amazing food right on the wharf. Don’t let the name ‘steakhouse’ fool you. This place is as deliciously up market as it gets. Pris has great taste! The lunch started out very civilized. Meals were ordered and interesting discussions were held. As the lunch wore on and additional bottles of wine were ordered the conversations got even more interesting. 

After a lovely long lunch we decided to roll through the afternoon and headed to the Opera Bar at the harbor for some more festivities. The weather had let us down but this did not hinder our enjoyment of the day. At some stage of the afternoon things got out of hand. We were sitting outside ignoring the light misty rain falling on us when a table under an umbrella came free. Dave was the first to notice this. He moved with lightening speed and the grace of a ballerina to grab the table right from under the nose of an unsuspecting tourist. Joep following him with slightly less speed and a lot less grace. As Dave sat down at the table he turned to us with jazz hands out and exclaimed ‘Shazzaaaaaam!’ Joep dropped his beer bottle in all the excitement. Far too much attention was drawn to us. Dave & Joep loved it. Pris & I didn’t mind it too much.

The remainder of the afternoon was enjoyed under cover with great company!! The company was so good in fact that Pris missed her flight to Melbourne … perfect! An excuse to continue on. We then headed to Bondi (where Joep & I were staying for the remaining days in Sydney) where we dined on spare ribs and red wine at a restaurant that is so good they provide you with bibs to wear while eating because they know how excited you’ll be to be eating. They were right. It was fantastic!

And so it ended – The best reunion I think I have ever had! Pris & I were separated in the early hours of Monday morning. I have separation anxiety to this day. Boo.

However! The following days on Bondi certainly helped me to cheer up a bit! Bondi Beach is a great spot. Restaurants, bars, take out places, not to mention a fantastic beach to enjoy! Joep and I spent the next few days chilling out on the beach and wandering the streets of Bondi. It was glorious! We even did the walk from Bondi Beach to Bronte. The coastline is amazing!! Australia … you never let me down. Our last night in Bondi saw us catching up with Hannah & Mark – You may remember them from previous stories such as ‘We crashed our motorcycle in Cambodia’ and ‘Our friends had an accident in Thailand’ … It was so strange yet so great to see the 2 of them again. We only knew each other for 24 hours however they certainly saw Joep & I at our worst during this time. We compared ‘Thai hospital’ stories and laughed about some of the crazy things we’ve been through as well as trading travel stories over a few drinks. It was a surreal experience. I am trying to explain why but it’s not working so I will stop there.

The following morning Joep & I headed back to Perth for the last few days with the Delany clan. We also visited Caversham where Joep lived his ‘dream’ of petting a koala and feeding kangaroos. He loved it! He was also very pleased and excited to see his first Tasmanian devil and a wombat! The latter is now a favorite of his. He was so impressed with the wombat. Who can blame him? They are adorable! In addition to all this excitement … yes, there’s more … Joep milked a cow! The excitement! He says that the teat felt funny. He still can’t say this with giggling like a schoolgirl.

On top of all this excitement, Joepinator managed to squeeze in another round of golf with the boys and I enjoyed a girl’s night with the sisters and mother ship. Random story: We used to have girls dinners once a month when I lived in Perth and they usually involve dinner and a chick flick at the movies. These evenings give us a chance to catch up and laugh about the antics of our respective better halves. It is always fantastic!! And it nearly always gets a bit out of hand. This evening was no exception. After dinner and many stories that had us all in knots of laughter we headed up to the movie theatre. Outside our movie theatre was a cardboard cutout for the movie ‘Wild Things’ and it had one of those holes where you can put your head so it looks like you are the monster. You know? So I put my head in to have my photo taken being ‘wild’. Then Sheenz had her turn to do it. Aoife was next in line and by this stage it was becoming quite entertaining to see the various facial interpretations of ‘wild’. Jane was the sweetest wild thing out of all of us. The Mother Ship. Well. She put her head into the hole and was muttering something as we all told her to ‘Be wild mum! Be wild!’ During a lull in our exclamations I realized what mum was saying … ‘B1tches! B1tches!’ Yes. She was muttering that. I exclaimed ‘Mum! Are you saying b1tches!’ To which she reacted by doubling over in laughter / surprise. After some time she calmed herself down long enough to explain that it was the only way she could think of to be ‘wild’. Right.

Other than these catch ups that days were spent lolling by the pool at the parental's house and having QT with all the sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephew and parents. It was wonderful!

On our last night in Perth we were treated to a feast at the Goddard ranch. The kids ate their meal in their new tree house, which has its own deck and fully equipped kitchen. Jeepers. I could move in tomorrow! The evening was fantastic and I’ll be honest with you, it was pretty hard to leave this time!

But leave we did – Early Sunday morning we flew back to Canada via Frankfurt and now here were are in the freezing cold again. BUT the bright side is that the canal is open this weekend so I will be able to try out the ice skates I got for Christmas! Wonderful!!

Thanks for a great trip home Delany people! We miss you already and we are already saving for the next trip!!

A pre winter mishap ...

Winter in Canada has not quite arrived yet. The first official day of winter is 21 December 2009 which is next Monday. This concerns me some what because it is already colder than anything I have ever experienced. Forecasts for the coming days indicate maximum temps of -16 degrees. Minimum temps fall as low as -24. Oh lord.

However, Joep and I are embracing it. We invested in sturdy winter coats and it is more than manageable. I still walk to work every day and I even managed to get my Christmas shopping done and make it home in one piece through a snow storm on the weekend!! This is quite a feat for someone as accident prone as I am.

In addition to managing it, we also see the funny side of it. Last week the snow started for the first time. So when the snow storm hit on Wednesday morning, Joep decided he would walk me to the office. We rugged up nice and warm and set out. The wind was blowing a gale and there was a decent amount of snow coming down. Even the Canadian’s said it was a lot so it must be true! Within minutes of leaving the house we were both in hysterics laughing. As you probably saw on the polar bear photo’s, the hoods on our coats don’t allow for much peripheral vision meaning that you have to turn your whole body to be able to see either right or left. Having a chat is therefore quite difficult. Made even more difficult by the fact that every time you turn left or right you slip on the icy roads. It is also very entertaining. Our walk took a long time due to numerous laughing breaks. 

My walk to work is broken up by the Rideau shopping mall, which provides a nice warm break from the street for a few minutes. Whilst in this mall Joep decided to turn back and leave me to walk the rest of the way alone. I don’t blame him! I made it alive and the work day went on. The walk home was not as stressful because the storm had passed so I was left to wade through snow banks without the wind knocking me over. Plus the novelty of having snow banks to wade through kept me very excited!

HOWEVER – On Thursday morning things got more interesting. I had an early presentation at work which saw me leaving the house before 7am and therefore before the sun had risen. Joep didn’t offer to walk me to work this time!

As I left the front door I was amazed at the amount of snow that had fallen in 24 hours! It’s deceiving though because all the snow from the roads gets plowed to the sides of the roads so it seems like there is more than there is. Either way, as I reached the first crossing on my walk to work I had to climb up a snow bank to get onto the road. It was only a meter high however when I reached the top I lost my footing and slid down the other side to the road below. It was dark. No one saw me. So I gathered myself up and hit the road again.

I reached the mall without further incident and basked in the warmth for a few blissful minutes before exiting the mall on the other side and preparing to cross a relatively large, busy intersection. As I exited the mall I saw that the pedestrian light was about to go red and, being the impatient soul that I am, I decided to rush across the street. Alas, I had forgotten that I was wearing uggs and that the road was slick with ice and snow.

I was reminded of these facts very quickly.

I set one foot hastily onto the road and was about to dash across when I lost my footing. I slipped and slid with my arms waving in the air loudly proclaiming ‘WOOOAAAAAHHHH!’ for a meter or so until I was nicely positioned right in the middle of the traffic waiting to drive. Then, just as I reached a central point, both of my legs rose gracefully into the air and I fell with a not so graceful thud onto my butt in the middle of the intersection.

I was mortified. Which of course made me start laughing. Which then made it very difficult to stand up again. I tried to stand up a couple of times but my feet kept slipping out from under me and every time this happened I would laugh a bit harder than the time before. My ability to stand up was further impeded by the fact that I was wearing about 15 layers of clothing. I was like a pregnant woman trying to get out of an overstuffed armchair whilst holding a giant handbag with a laptop and a lot of pens in it all of which were rolling across the road. Eventually I had to roll myself around a bit in order to manoeuvre my legs under me before I could stand up. Disaster.

After an obscene amount of time I finally made it back onto my feet and sheepishly slid across the road. By this time, the light for the waiting traffic was well and truly green and changed to amber within seconds. I would like to give a huge shout out to all Canadian’s at this point in time. Not a single soul honked their horn at me. They all waited patiently without getting annoyed. I am very impressed and grateful because I was embarrassed enough without anyone drawing more attention to me. 

I think things could get pretty interesting here in Canada when winter hits for real … Canadian’s are hardcore. I am a very big fan of them AND of their hilarious snowy, unbelievably cold winters. For now.