How do you pronounce ‘toutons’?

Published on May 12, 2009 in Food and Travel. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

*sigh* I have to say that I’m missing Newfoundland. I miss the beauty and the culture of the province. It’s too bad that we didn’t get a few more days just to hang out with the fish! :P .

Big question for you all, how do you pronounce ‘toutons’?
You’re probably asking, what are toutons? Toutons are pan fried bread dough. It’s really really good! Traditionally it’s served with molasses. I like them as is, with molasses, but they’re also great with stew!

Speaking of toutons, here are some of the things that I had an opportunity to eat while in Newfoundland. We had cod tongues, which are absolutely fabulous and tastes better than cod fillets (if you ask me). Fresh fish, fresh lobster. Violet, Tina’s aunt made us a jigg’s dinner (which consists of a chicken or turkey or roast, with boiled veggies that was cooked with salt beef). She’s such a sweetie that she also made moose stew for me to try! Scrunchions….mmm oh scrunchions (cured pork fat that’s fried). Had a ‘scoff’ = feast, the first night.

And how do you beat a $30 lobster dinner at a fine dining restaurant?!?! We were lucky that they had a devour downtown (similar to Dineout Calgary) during the last few days that we were in St. John’s. We ended up going to ‘The Cellar’. Their seafood chowder was amazing! Service was fantastic. Not pretentious like the ‘Gypsy Tea Room’. We had gone in to quickly check out the menu for dinner that evening and the waitress did a double take on my sweater! It’s not the most fanciest sweater but goodness! it’s cold out there! No skimpy skirt for me! ha!

Another great place to eat in St. John’s was Merlo’s Press and Bean Restaurant. Not sure how they came up with the name but service was really good and the Mango ice tea was so yummy. I would recommend the sandwiches there.

Sun sushi had really fresh and delicious sushi. Can’t complain! That was the only Asian food we had while in Newfoundland. I had to cave at one point! haha!

Overall the food experience in St. John’s was positive. The only complaint I have is that there are absolutely no Vietnamese restaurants any where! By the end of the trip, we were both craving pho, and we had to wait till we got back to Calgary to satisfy that.

Advice: The thing to watch out was the amount of salt that was used. If you’re not big on salt, ask for no salt. A lot of the time, food was over salted and it was a little hard to eat.

Bon appetite!

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Why do people put out one ply?

Published on April 30, 2009 in Photography and Travel. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

I don’t understand why people use one ply toilet paper. It’s sooo thin that when you pull it, it breaks apart. In fact you probably use more because you waste more and in turn waste more money! No not all places use one ply…thank goodness!

We’re finally back in St. John’s after a few days on the northern peninsula. We saw where the vikings had settled. Though, due to the amount of snow that was on the ground, we didn’t see much. I did almost sink entirely into the snow, but Tina managed to pull me out. Yay!

Went to St. Anthony’s and saw a few icebergs, but not really many at this time of year. There was a boat that was out touring around “Iceberg Alley”.

We saw a couple of animals on the road. A bunch of bunnies risking their life to cross the highway, a couple of moose and caribou.

If you don’t really know moose behaviour, you would think they’re scary and aggressive. Though watching them as we drove by, and the way they reacted to cars, I would say they’re timid animals.

Today we’re off to Quidi Vidi Village and brewery and enjoy a bit of the sunshine.

Tata for now!

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Tomalley or not tomalley

Published on April 25, 2009 in Travel. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Wow! $5.75/lb for lobsters! WTF?!?! And it’s sooo fresh. Some of our lobsters were caught yesterday and some were caught today. Unbelievable! Not only is it cheap but damn it’s soooo good. Beats $13.00/lb back in Calgary.

The ride to Fogo island was pretty amazing and scary at the same time. There was so much sheet of ice that the Canadian coast guard had to plow the snow for the ferry. Usually the ride takes 45 minutes but it took 1.5 hours. And they reduce the number of Ferry rides to 2 instead of the normal 12. With the ferry going through, it had this wierd eerie feeling, like what the Titanic had gone through (which wasn’t too far from where we were). There aren’t any words to describe what we saw and what it was like riding through the ice.

Once we reached Fogo, we had hiked about 45 minutes up onto the Brimstone Headstone, which apparently is one of the four points of the flat earth. A beautiful and yet a scary hike. Though a sign attributed to the fear of falling. “One false step could be your last. Deaths so far: 0″.

After Fogo, we had jetted it to Twillingate where we saw a few icebergs. One was pretty close, so we took some pictures along with the sun setting as well. Based on the past couple of days, here is the second rule.

Rule #2: Phone a day ahead for your sleeping arrangements.

We were very much trying to call every where for a place to stay and we ended up staying in Little Harbour, outside of Twillingate. That’s where I saw those woodlice things…gross.

Rule #3: Don’t rely on Roger’s phone service to be your cell phone provider.

It appears only Bell mobility works in “rural” Newfoundland. Damn you Rogers!

Now we’re in Burgeo, Tina’s home town. Her family has been very hospitable and a lot of fun. They have shown me many pictures, traditions and history of their family and of Newfoundlander life.

In a few days I’ll update more pictures and we’ll be leaving for the Northwestern part of NL. See you soon!

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Creepy Crawlies and all…

Published on April 24, 2009 in Travel. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Ewww woodlice! OK for us Calgarians, we really have no idea what these creepy crawlies are. In fact when I see them, I get totally grossed out and I start screaming and tip toeing around, and Tina had to save me from them. Or at least dispose of them for me. Apparently these little things are harmless and they eat dead plants but require the humidity to breathe through their gills. Pretty crazy and gross! They look like beatles but with weird scales. You can find more info on Woodlice here.

It’s been hard trying to get internet access but we finally found internet! So far our trip has been fantastic and unbelievable. The first two nights, we stayed in St. John’s and had visited Signal hill. We were fortunate and you could spot an iceberg in the distance. The second day we drove to Cape Spear then drove the Irish Loop. The drive was beautiful and along the way, we saw three icebergs.

The third day, we reached our goal and got to visit Bay Roberts, the land of the “Mad Rocks”, Bonavista’s lighthouse, Tickle Cove’s red rock arches. We were of course bootin’ it to tickle cove since the sun was setting but we managed to get a few photos in.

Red rock arches at Tickle Cove, Bonavista Peninsula

Red rock arches at Tickle Cove, Bonavista Peninsula

Then we headed off to Gander and by now it’s pretty dark out. We had to stop at Terranova National park for a couple of hours of z’s in before we made our trek to the ferry terminal. Destination, Fogo Island.

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Getting all geared up and ready for the big NL trip!

Published on April 16, 2009 in Travel. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

     OK, so we leave in 34 hours and as I sit here and work, panic sets in. We haven’t actually planned anything! Other than a place to stay in St. John’s.  But everything will be with us winging it. So we’re either disorganized, adventurous or crazy about this entire trip, but personally I think we’re adventurous! Though all I know right now is that we need to go find some lobsters (or at least eat a few), for me to try some cod tongue, find my first puffin, float with some icebergs and party with the Vikings…or what’s left of them.  In our last minute attempt of researching some places to visit, I start to get a bit of anxiety from both excitement and fear of what’s to come.  Mostly of excitement! First real road trip for me. Newfoundland, I hope you’re ready! You’ll be painted red in no time!

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