First We Take Berlin!

Our dear friend Ferdinand in Berlin reached out to tell us that his lovely daughter Clara would be getting baptized and confirmed in March 2022 and that it would be wonderful if Christos, Clara's Godfather, could attend.  

With the pandemic having curtailed our travels for the last two years an opportunity to once more cross the pond was well received by both of us so we booked a flight for a four night stay in Berlin but decided to add a bit and booked the return flight another four days after that but from Paris! 

The flight over was great for Lisa who got upgraded but less so for Christos with his sciatic pain and reliance on pills to get through the flight. Ah well, the rigours of getting old!

We made it to Berlin on Friday morning and stayed at the same place as when we visited in 2019, the Sir Savigny Hotel. Christos had wisely booked the previous night so we could collapse into bed at 10AM (rather than 3PM) and get a nap in before meeting up with Ferdinand later that evening. 

Around 4PM we met up with Ferdinand and after reconnecting went out for a tour of short Charlottenburg as the sun was setting. With the tour done it was time for dinner at a local restaurant where we both had enormous schnitzels accompanied by several glasses of simple but delicious pilsner beer. 

We left Ferdinand after dinner but ended up at a local bar near our hotel called Dicke Wirtin where the Guinness is only euro 5.30! 

Several pints were enjoyed as we watched the nightlife unfold (it being Friday night) before stumbling back to the hotel for a solid sleep.

The next day started with a lovely breakfast at our hotel before meeting up with Clara for a walk to pick-up Ferdinand at the local coffee shop and, after a brief pitstop at his place, to enjoy a sunny albeit brisk forty-five minute walk to Charlottenburg Palace. 

At Charlottenburg Palace Ferd and Clara left us, as Clara had to be back at her mom's soon, and the two of us enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the Charlottenburg Palace Gardens and then along the Spree and through Berlin for the sunny afternoon. 

We met up with Ferd in the evening at his place and had a few drinks before the two of us set off for a lite night dinner at a local, and very popular, Taiwanese Noodle House. After dinner it was back to Dicke Wirtin for our evening ritual of Guinness and people watching. 

The next day was the main event, Clara's baptism and confirmation into the Anglican faith! All told six kids were being confirmed and only Clara baptized and an Anglican Bishop had been brought in for the service. 

We arrived at the Church dressed in our finest at 10:30AM and the service began fairly soon thereafter. Some hymns were sung, some preaching was spun and about an hour later it was done! The only disappointment is that the planned standing of the Godparents for Clara's baptism did not occur so the need to be there in person was theoretically diminished but it was good to be there nonetheless.

After a quick trip back to our hotel, the afternoon was spent with Ferd, Lilly and two of Ferd's relatives back at Ferd's apartment chatting until Clara arrived a little later and then more chatting over beef ragout that Dorte had made earlier. Sadly Dorte was out of sorts and could not attend the day's festivities.

After Ferd's relatives departed we idled some more until it was time for Ferd to take Lilly back to her place. While he was gone, Clara and the two of us played cards (Clara's choice of game was called "Dog") and it was great fun as Clara's charm and fun-loving nature were on full display. Clara was exhausted after a long day and when Ferd got back it was time for us to go (the next day also being a school day with tests for Clara!), although not quite time for us to go to bed! So off we went for another night at Dicke Wirtin although this one was much subdued given it being a Sunday evening.

Our final day (Monday) was a subdued affair. We met up with Ferd in the early afternoon and the three of us went antiquing in Charlottenburg (no purchases were made but many fine things were viewed!) before Lisa and Christos headed back to the hotel in the early evening. Dinner for three was at a nice Prussian place where we enjoyed traditional German food such as duck with dumplings and purple cabbage (Christos) and veal in a white sauce with spetzel (Lisa). Bidding good night to Ferd it was time for one last trip to Dicke Wirtin (yes that makes four evenings in a row) where we closed down the bar with the staff.

The next day ... of to Paris!

A joyous return to the West Coast of Canada's East!

Due to the intervention of outside events, our frequent visits to Western Newfoundland had been curtailed from early 2020 until recently. With the borders to the Rock now open to those doubly vaxxed, 

Seeing Aare, the Ocean and Luggage Loss.

Lookout Hike.

Seaside restaurant, Trout river. Mussels for desert.

Friday night at the Voitk's! Mussels a second night in a row!

New found activities in Newfoundland!

Hiking and Kiting!

One last fire before we go!

 

Goodbye Mom, I Miss you and Love You.

Squirrel foster parents for 27 days

 One sunny day in mid-September, Lisa spied a tiny squirrel in our front yard and when Christos went down to investigate it was clear the little squirrel was far too young and small to be one his own and was desperate for aid as it tried to hide itself in Christos' jeans! We soon discovered that another juvenile squirrel was nearby as another couple had found a similar beast. A tragedy must have befallen their squirrel family rendering them orphans.

So we took the two desperate animals upstairs to the third floor deck and built them a home of a cardboard box (initially with a heating pad which was later removed) with issues of the London Review of Books (no low brow squirrels for us) as the floor. Food and water were regularly provided and it seems grapes and corn were the favourites. For four weeks the "guys" as we called them got bigger and stronger although it was soon clear that "Noir" (the black one) was dominant to "the Gris" (the grey one). 

They cuddled together at night for warmth, groomed each other

and scampered about the deck as they got stronger, often playing some sort of wrestling game with each other it seemed. 

When we returned from a brief visit to Victoria, Noir had advanced to the point where he could climb out from the deck and was starting to explore. 

After 27 days it all came to an end. 

The good news is that Noir is big enough to be on his own and has apparently moved out and made a new nest nearby for himself (we suspect under the neighbour's roof). 

The bad news is that Gris passed away on day 27. 

Around noon, Gris managed to get up to the deck railing for the first time (following Noir) but unfortunately he fell into the neighbour's second floor deck and ultimately down into her backyard. 

He survived all that and was soon our front of our house scampering desperately around .... Christos tried to catch him in a box but he was too fast and clearly having none of it. 

Eventually he scurried away into one of the other neighbours' backyards and we went off to shop for dinner, hoping to catch him later when he was tired out. We returned in the afternoon and Christos went searching for him but at 5pm he discovered his tiny body at the base of the tree in our neighbour's backyard; Gris had made it all the way to the neighbour's backyard but could not get to our deck from the tree and we suspect he just ran out of steam eventually or fell and could not get up after one too many tries.

While it was quite sad and tears have been shed for the tiny little bugger, we both revel in the fact that Gris got 27 days he would never have had (with mate cuddles, corn, grapes and sun on the body) and that Noir seems to have made it (he has already been back once on the deck for corn and climbs like a squirrel twice his size!), at least for the first lap of life in this cruel world.

Goodbye Gris and Good Luck Noir!!!!

Farewell and so long Lumpy Limpy ...

At the beginning of the summer, we encountered a lone raccoon in our back yard one morning. His gait was marked with a limp, his ear nicked from a long ago squabble and he bore the other marks of a long life of adventures in the concrete jungle. He made a hasty departure from our backyard when we first met.

When we next saw him we realized that "Lumpy-Limpy" (as we now called him) spent his days sleeping nearby, usually taking up a position on the deck next to ours but one floor down (which our neighbour never uses) or wedged under an eavestrough of a further neighbour. It became clear that he was an older fellow without a family and did not have it soft at all .... So we had to adopt him!

We started serving him a bit of old fruit and vegetables, soon discovering that he would only eat soft things such as banana, mango and avocado (bad teeth?) and soon we had a normal routine of meeting him every other day or so in the backyard and giving him a snack. 

Sometimes he would hear us while we were getting ready to head out on a bike ride and his face would suddenly appear through the bushes with a hopeful glint in his eye! Other times we would find him waiting for us in a chair or at the back door. 

He never rummaged through the trash or caused other problems (some juvenile raccoons once got into a plastic bag of empty beer cans, we wonder if they had hang overs later!) and while he grew accustomed to us he still kept his distance.

Sadly we think his time has likely come. We check on his two sleeping spots every morning from the third floor deck and have not seen him since late July. There has been no sign of him in the backyard and the occasional pieces of banana offered in early August were left untouched. 

We will miss Lumpy-Limpy.

First we take London, then we take Berlin!

Between marketing and a conference, Lisa had a full four days of work scheduled in London in mid-November and with Christos having just resigned from Canstar (one year's budget was all Canstar started with in mid-2018, the money was all gone!) we decided to tack on an additional trip, a long weekend in Berlin visiting our friend Ferdinand whom we had not seen in a decade!

We travelled on Sunday, catching the early morning flight from Toronto that lands late at night in London, with Lisa front of the bus and Christos sadly not! As we always travel light, and Lisa had an express pass for customs, we were soon whisked to our lovely hotel in Mayfair, the Langham.

We grabbed a quick pint at a nearby pub and then opted for room service dinner and inane TV before drifting off to sleep for our first night abroad.

The next morning, Lisa was up bright and early for work while Christos, still feeling the effects of jetlag, slept in till noon. While Lisa toiled, Christos started with a full service stop at the barbershop before wandering from Mayfair to Marylebone, Oxford Street and back again over three hours.

With the sun setting it was time for tea back at the Langham. Christos had his first pot alone before Lisa joined him and a second pot was brewed. After tea and a brief rest, Lisa was off to a corporate dinner while Christos enjoyed Udon Noodle soup and green tea (costing 20 pounds!) at a nearby Japanese restaurant.

Christos encountered a guitar toting busker after dinner and was treated to a personal performance of "American Pie" lifting his spirits and setting the tone for the rest of the travels. Lisa and Christas were finally reunited around 10PM after Lisa's corporate dinner was done.

The next day was fortuitous for the both of us as Lisa had a meeting cancel and while she was up early, she was back at the hotel by 10AM! We packed up our bags after two nights at the Langham and hopped in a cab to take us to our new hotel for the next three nights, the Sea Containers.

After a disappointing burger lunch, we retired for an afternoon nap (it was also a rainy day) before a walk across Black Friar's bridge over the Thames and a visit to the Blacklock City (the same brand of restaurant Christos had visited with his mom six weeks prior but a different location) for a wonderful dinner of "skinny chops" and sides. While Lisa had a full schedule the next day, that did not stop us from visiting "Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese" and the "Black Friar's pub" after dinner on the way back top the hotel, finally getting in to bed some time after 11PM.

Fortunately, Lisa's start was not as early the next day and after a hasty wakeup she still made her 10AM meeting with time to spare. While Lisa was working, Christos set off on a walking tour with the first stop being Borough Market for a yummy breakfast bun of sausage, bacon and egg. The HMS Belfast, a museum ship, was the next stop on the stroll where a full hour was spent touring (well worth the 17 pound admission price) before heading to the iconic Tower Bridge (having never actually crossed it before) to cross the Thames.

Once on the other side of the river, Christos strolled past the Tower of London (not even considering the outrageous entry fee having visited the place with Lisa previously) and set his sights on Sir John Soane's museum where he and his mom had previously managed to arrive on a day the museum is closed.

An hour or so was spent at the museum enjoying both the nooks and crannies filled with antique as well as the main show of a series of Hogarth paintings known as "A Rake's Progress".

Next on the agenda was a walk over to Fortnum and Mason's to shop for goodies for Ferd and Co in Berlin. Christos loaded up on tea and chocolates as gifts before heading out seeking a spot for dinner.

As he was in a tony part of town, Christos passed Farlows, an upmarket fishing store with tackle and tweed in the window, so he stopped in.

It was just before 6PM and the place was about to close for the day but was hosting an information session, complete with nibbles and beverages, on luxury fishing trips to exotic locales including Zambia (where First Quantum has operations) and of course Canada!

Christos bought a holiday card ("Chistmas Fishes") while listening to the presentation and after 40 minutes (and much nibbling and imbibing) it was off to find a proper dinner which in this case happened to be fish and chips at the Admiralty Pub in Trafalgar Square.

Our final full day in London (Thursday) saw Lisa working once more while Christos went out for a four hour trek through Mayfair with stops at Pre (for breakfast), Sharps Pixley (where they gave him a lovely book on gold for free), Williams & Son (seeking a replacement hat to the last one he purchased here, sadly they no longer make the style sought), the David Aaron gallery (where for a lousy 2000 pounds one could own a 1200BC statuette of Bastet!), Purdey's (more hat seeking), the Houses of Parliament (just a walk by) and finally a visit to Apsley House, once the home of Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, and now a museum to his life and times.

With the tour complete, Lisa and Christos met up around 5PM , rested a bit and then headed off for dinner at "Indian City" which was quite good (London really is a great place for Indian food). After dinner we revisited Black Friar's Pub for a few pints before heading back to the hotel and indulging in late night cocktails as we celebrated Lisa being done work for the time being and our upcoming visit to Berlin slated to commence the next day!

We caught an 11ish flight to Berlin and met Ferd, accompanied by Lilly, at the airport.

He soon whisked us to his apartment where we had a lovely soup for lunch before taking us to our lovely hotel, the Sir Savigny, where Lisa and Christos relaxed for a bit before heading off to meet Ferd and Lilly at a local Austrian place called "Josl" where we dined on dumplings, cabbage and other Germanic goodies.

After dinner, Lisa and Christos enjoyed beer and fries at the hotel restaurant called the Butcher before finally turning in for bed.

The next day was Saturday and we made a full day of it. We met Ferd at our hotel for lunch before heading out to for a long walking tour of Berlin.

We stopped at the "Hollow Tooth" remains of the Kaiser Wilhelm Church and thought on the tragedy of the Christmas Market Massacre whose victims were commemorated nearby.

Next it was off to the Bendlerblock to visit the German Resistance Memorial Center and to see the spot where they shot Stauffenberg and several other participants in the July 20 1944 Coup attempt on the Nazis.

After the heaviness of the Bendlerblock, it was time for some lighter fare and so our final stop on the tour was the Berlin Museum which has some nice pieces but pales compared to the Prado.

After an hour at the museum it was now dark and we wandered through a darkened Tiergarten until we made it to the Brandenburg Gate . We milled about with the other tourists for a few minutes before hopping in a cab for the trip back to Charlottenburg. Having spent the day with Ferd, we opted to part ways this evening and Lisa and I dined alone at Dicke Wirtin on large portions of traditional German food such as schnitzel and cabbage. A very decent meal although certainly not amazing!

After dinner, we opted for a lovely bath back at the hotel as we had popped into Lush earlier int he day and grabbed a bath bomb. After a long day of walking through Berlin, a soak in the tub (with cold beer in hand) was the perfect way to end the day.

Our Sunday started with cappuccinos from the Cafe Aedes across the street. The cafe had once been a favoured haunt of Ferd's and a picture of Ferd from a decade ago hangs on one of the walls.

Once we were caffeinated, and with a little breakfast in our bellies, it was off to visit Ferd at his place where we had a low key day of cooking and family time planned.  Christos made a bolognese sauce, without celery as it the Germans seem not to stock it, for later consumption and we settled in to play a board game amongst the three of us. Later in the afternoon, Clara had to go to her mom's house so we said our goodbyes and Lisa and I headed back to the hotel for a couple hours rest before dinner.

Dinner with Ferd was at 7PM at a local Latin American restaurant (nothing special) followed by drinks out and much chit chat before we made our way back to the hotel for bed.

Our final day in Berlin was a wet and rainy Monday. Ferd had things to attend to during the day so Lisa and Christos opted for a limited wander and visited several antique shops in the neighbourhood; Lisa ended up buying a lovely change purse from a different era. In the evening, we met Ferd, had a couple drinks at the bar and then dined at a local German place (Ferd and Christos both enjoyed goose leg, Lisa had a less satisfactory meatloaf) before we said our penultimate goodbyes. Tuesday morning we met Ferd and Dorte in the lobby of the hotel and were driven to the airport before saying our final adieus.

London with Mom!

While this blog is devoted to the adventures of Lisa and Christos as a pair, on occasion one of the pair has their own adventures or adventures with others! In this particular case, Christos' mom (Barbara) was in England for a holiday during which Lisa had work obligations on the West Coast so off Christos went for an extra long weekend with Mom in London!

Christos arrived on Saturday morning on the bumpy red-eye flight and took the tube to Paddington Station. Given the glorious weather, it was then time for a stroll through Mayfair and other boroughs on the way to the Strand Palace Hotel, our domicile for the next four evenings.

A brief stop in Mayfair at Purdey's resulted in a lovely new Autumn / Winter tweed coat before Christos made it to the rendezvous with Mama.

After copious hugs and kisses the two of us headed out for a walk through Covent Garden and beyond to Camden for a late afternoon visit to the madness that is the Camden Market. We grabbed a pint and enjoyed the atmosphere before hopping in a cab back to the hotel. After a brief rest it was off to a French Restaurant in Soho for dinner for two. Dinner was good but not great and the escargots were definitely the highlight (not to mention the most expensive thing we had; $50 for a dozen!).

The next day (Sunday) it was off for a walk to Borough Market which unfortunately is closed on Sundays! Now that we were on the south side of the Thames, we opted for breakfast at a local hole in the wall before taking a lovely stroll over to the Imperial War Museum for a visit.

Mom had initially been reluctant to visit the IWM (military history not really being her cup of tea), but she soon warmed up to the place. It just oozes too much history and has many interactive experiences. We toured the WWII area extensively after which Christos bought a new shemag as Lisa had immediately absconded with the one he purchased on the last visit!

Then we hopped in an uber to take us across the Thames to the National Gallery. We spent a good deal of time wandering the halls, drinking in the art as best we could. Of course, Christos purchased a handful of dish towels of various famous prints. Then it was next door to the National Portrait Gallery which we once more toured for quite some time, and Christos bought more dish towels, before heading back to the hotel.

After a brief rest it was off for Sunday night roast at the renowned Blacklock in Soho. Dinner was at 5:45PM, a late seating for traditional Sunday roast, and the basement dining hall was packed with diners. After a ten minute wait with the occasional jostling we sat down and ordered the Sunday roast dinner for two.


It was amazing!!! Charcoal cooked lamb, pork and roast beef sliced up and piled high on a plate with yorkshire pudding, duck fat fried potatoes and garnish greens supporting the whole affair. I highly recommend the restaurant to carnivores in London on a Sunday night.

After a very fulsome dinner we opted for a slow stroll back to the hotel with several stops for pints and merriment on the way.

London's pub scene nightlife is European in flair and makes Toronto's bar scene look listless and weak by comparison. At each establishment Christos would have a pint of Guinness while Barbara sipped a half pint of the local lager. Some silliness may have ensued but nothing dangerous and we made it back to the hotel at a decent hour.

Monday off we went for a long (10km+) stroll to Kensington and Chelsea with the main attraction being a visit to the Victoria and Albert museum. We spent quite a bit of time at the museum before heading off on a renewed wander with stops on highbrow Jermyn Street and some shopping at one of my favourites, the amazing Fortnum and Mason.

In the late afternoon we stopped by Covent Garden and spent some time enjoying the buskers and a pint nearby. That evening we opted for excellent Indian food nearby the hotel. With our bellies full of spicy goodness we retired for the evening knowing that we had but one more day together to tour fair London.

Tuesday involved a significant visit to the British Museum as well as more wanderings including a stop at the Twinings Tea Store on the Strand, founded in 1706 as a tea house, and a quick visit to a WeWork workspace (WeWork being the business implosion story of the time).

I can't quite recall what dinner was but I do recall we hit quite a few pubs after dinner including the Black Friar, with its wonderful art deco pieces, and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, one of London's oldest drinking establishments!

Wednesday was a shortened day with more wandering and pints before we parted, Mom for an overnight at the airport and Christos for a flight back to Toronto.