Isis has left the building

Isis left us on Thursday July 21st, 2016 at 4:16PM.

Isis came into Christos' life in June of 1998 and Lisa's life in September of 1999 when Lisa and Christos started dating.
































It was her time to go but she will be sorely missed.





Just a few hours before she left us she said "Thank You, I love you and Goodbye".

A little Newfie Heaven

It had been seven years since we last set foot on the Rock and it was time for a return to Canada's eastern Isle and a visit to see our friend Aare's new house! While we were apprehensive based on the forecast before we left (it being that the best day would be one of sun and nineteen degrees while the rest were overcast and/or rainy), we were truly blessed while we were there. All four days were filled with sunshine and perfect weather until the end when it rained as we left.

We landed at the Deer Lake Airport late on Wednesday night, or was it Thursday morning?, with the flight touching down at 2AM and our bags being available around 2:30AM! Then it was an hour and twenty minute drive through the darkness past Deer Lake, Pasadena, Humber Village (where Aare once lived), Corner Brook and Mount Moriah until we arrived at Aare's house in Benoit's Cove where Aare's new house is located.

It's a two-bedroom, one floor bungalow with a newly done basement and an amazing view out over the Bay of Islands, although we had no idea when we first arrived as it was 4AM!  So after a few pints and stories we finally got to bed as the sun was coming up and we slept late ...

The next day the forecast had called for sixteen degrees and partly cloudy but it was twenty degrees and a few scattered clouds!

We had much needed coffee around the firepit leading to the escarpment which leads to the water's edge.

Even though the weather was gorgeous, after a late start and our slow speed after the previous night's festivities, we opted to stay close to Aare's place and ended up playtesting Game of Thorns that afternoon and night! The playtest was long at seven hours but we finally managed to get the first game completed!

The next day (Friday) we had a hearty breakfast before setting off for Gros Morne in the afternoon. Of course, Aare's cat ("CC") decided to toy with us a bit and hide outside when we were ready to go resulting in a short wait while we tried to hunt her down, gave up, turned to beer and finally Aare found her on a second sweep.

Then it was off for the just over two hour drive to Rocky Harbour within Gros Morne National Park.

For those not in the know, Gros Morne is an amazing National Park on the west coast of Newfoundland. The park hosts a variety of trails from the arduous 16km "Gros Morne Mountain" to the very short 250m "Mattie Mitchell".

We first visited the park in 2007 but did not hike as it was May 24 weekend and there was still snow on the ground up to our knees!

In 2008, we returned and did the namesake "Gros Morne Mountain" hike which was amazing but exhausting. The views from the top of Gros Morne are beyond compare and highly recommended to those who can make the hike with its 800m ascent (and descent!).

On our trip in 2009, we hiked "Green Gardens" with its descent to the coast, wonderful views over the water and ascent back to the start.

We arrived with enough time to check in at our B&B and then head out to do the two hour, six kilometre loop, called the "Coastal Trail" hike out along the beach.

It was a great start to our time in Gros Morne; an easy hike with amazing views out over the water and then a short hike through a wooded area before coming out at the far point of the loop, overlooking the water once more.


As we went, Aare told us the names of various flora and we added said flowers to Lisa's hat until it was overflowing with colour. Aare works for the government and spends much of his summer in the wilds recording the presence of flora and is thus quite knowledgeable in these things!

We arrived back at the B&B in high spirits and went off in search of dinner. We first tried "Jackie's", a local unlicensed fish and chips joint but they were closing up and not happy to seat us so we went to the chic tourist spot "Java Jack's". While the meal was good, it was overpriced for what we got; I must admit that the cod was quite good and not fried, a change from the norm in Newfoundland.

After dinner we hung out at the local bar for a bit before heading back to the B&B for a good night's sleep.

The next day we had a good breakfast at the B&B and then headed off with only vague plans.

We first stopped off at a scenic spot on the outskirts of Rocky Harbour for some silly jumping photos (a new habit that started in Sicily during 2014) much to the mirth of some contractors working nearby.

Then it was off to Southeast Brook Falls for the short (350m) hike in to enjoy the amazing view out over the waterfall.


Of course we also had to pose for some more silly group photos (although no jumping at the Falls' edge!).






We considered heading back to Aare's early for a late lunch and then a local hike (The Coppermine Trail) but decided to stick with Gros Morne and instead settled on the 10km loop around Stuckless Pond as our next hike.


The Stuckless Pond loop was a great hike and perhaps a little tougher than we had expected.

Perhaps Lisa and Christos' choice of Birkenstocks was not ideal; not that the trail was tough but being by a pond's edge there were sections that were quite muddy!

We saw more flowers on this hike including lovely orchids such as the "Showy Lady's-Slipper", which owing to its rarity was not added to Lisa's hat.

While much of the trail was beside the pond, and not at its edge, there were strips of the hike by the pond as well as little paths off the main one down to the pond's edge.

We checked some of them out but the hike was also very buggy and the mosquitos and "stouts", as Aare called them, provided us with a great incentive to keep moving!

We bumped into Aare's parents on the way back and Aare's father decided that Christos should carry out the backpack he had lugged in (Aare already had a pack on) as he did not want to take it around the pond. It just made the exercise a little better!

After Stuckless Pond, we were tired but happy. Cold drinks and snacks were enjoyed before we hopped in the car for the two and a half hour drive back to Aare's place. We enjoyed steak dinner, beer and "Archer" before hitting the sack for a good night's sleep.



Sunday morning was breakfast at Aare's parents' house with Aare's mom, dad and brother.

In addition to the fine pancakes baked (?) up by Dr. Voitk, the espresso latte's were a boon after days of plebeian drip coffee.

We hung out for chit-chat fort a bit before heading over to Aare's old house (now his brother's place) for some disc gold on Aare's home made course as well as beers down by the water.

We made it back to Aare's after a brief stop for takeout at "C&E", the (quite good) local fish and chips joint,  and relaxing ... as well as another playtest of Game of Thorns. This playtest took a mere 3.5 hours and resulted once more in a complete game!

We also lounged quite a bit, looking out over the water, spotting Jays and the Red Squirrels (which are about half the size of Ontario squirrels and quite cute!) as well as just soaking in the tranquility.




On Monday it was more relaxing until it was time to head out to the airport around 5pm. It started to rain just as we left, a sure sign Newfoundland was crying at our departure!

On the way to the airport, Aare's car blew a flat but although it spiced things up we unfortunately still made it with plenty of time to catch our 3 hour flight back to Toronto. All in all it was an amazing trip and we hope to be able to return next summer.

Three Nights in NYC!

A business buddy of Christos' has a place in NYC and offered us a bedroom for a few nights should we want it so we decided to book a mid-week trip down to NYC as it had been years since we had been to the Big Apple together.

We arrived Wednesday afternoon, met John (Christos' buddy) and the doorman of the building on the Upper East Side (so he would let us in!) before heading off for a walk down from 96th to 60th and then back to 96th, weaving along 3rd, Lex and Park. Lisa was bagged by the time we got back and went in for a nap which turned out to be down for the count so she passed on dinner with John. Christos and John went off to a local Irish Pub for a few pints of Guinness and local pub fare.

The next day was rainy and Lisa was really unwell so after a short walk and lunch, we decided to stay in for the rest of the afternoon watching TV and reading. The rain really picked up and it was coming down Cats and Dogs when Christos rushed off to the local deli to get Lisa some soup (she was still quite unwell) and a bite for himself. Fortunately, the downpour ended some time during the night.

Our last day (Friday) was wonderful! Lisa was 99% better, the sky was a cloudless blue and the temperature in the low teens Celsius, just the right weather for walking! 

So off we went on a six hour walk! We started with a stroll from 96th down to 60th to take the Roosevelt Island Tram over to Roosevelt Island just for the views! When we got back to Manhattan, we strolled down to Grand Central and then hopped on the subway down (Lisa's first time on the NYC subway!) to Canal street.

We emerged into Chinatown, wandered through it to Little Italy then to SoHo and finally found ourselves at the 9/11 Memorial.

After buying a self published book from a local author, we jumped on the train around 4:30PM and took the Express back uptown, arriving back at John's before 5PM! 

We had a good Italian dinner out with John and his lovely wife Lynn before heading back to the apartment for an early night and flight back to Toronto the next afternoon.

A mid-week country escape!

While we love lounging on our deck in the summer heat, the city is still the city with all its inherent noise and distractions. As such, the opportunity to get out of the city for a bit is always relished and we were very fortunate that a neighbour of ours offered us their country house for a mid-week sojourn (as they spend the weeks in Toronto).

So on the Tuesday morning after the Labour Day Weekend, off we drove to a property near the small town of Hastings, about 45 minutes north-east of Cobourg, arriving in the mid-afternoon.

We soon realized that the house much more than we expected with two floors and multiple bedrooms, a lovely main room, a great kitchen (and BBQ outside) as well as the urban amenities of big screen TV etc.

The view from the deck looked down over two ponds as well as numerous trees and the sunsets we experienced were amazing. On our first night, a heron perched in a nearby pine for several minutes before heading on its way!

We did a quick drive into the local town of Warksworth, which is quite interesting as it has an artist community associated with it, and then cooked up a dinner of BBQ chicken.

After dinner, we lounged outside in the thirty degree heat (Ontario had been undergoing a heat wave; we later found out the Tuesday was the hottest day of the summer in Toronto!) watching a little "Mr. Robot" on an Ipad and then just relaxing until just before midnight.


The next day, we drove back to Warksworth to shop at the local bakery, "Cara Mia", which had been closed the previous day. The wait was well worth it as the bread and buttertarts they produced were excellent! We also stopped at a local farm and bought some eggs which were wonderful with yolks of fiery orange as opposed to pale yellow.

We brought our cat, Isis, with us and as she had never been out of the city before, the trip was a bit of a "Bucket List" objective for us with her.

Although we were originally nervous bringing her (a two hour car ride for a cat that doesn't travel, a new house where dogs had been etc) she adapted quickly and on the first day she was eager to get outside and explore.

We ended up going on several walks with her around the property, during which she usually stayed close by us, and we also took her on walks with us down to sit by one of the ponds in her basket.

We played a little disc golf on the property one afternoon, making our own "pins" out of a shrub and a pole to shoot at, and we went on an hour long trek into the woods (without Isis) where we ended up having to double back on our path as the ATV trail we had been following disappeared.

All told we spent three great nights and two full days at the house and hope to be able to visit again.

Family Time in Naramata!

Some time ago, it was decided that Lisa's parents (Bob and Kathy) should go to BC to see Neil and Liam (their son and grandson, respectively). So we helped arrange the trip all the while lamenting that we could not attend. What Kathy and Bob did not know is that we planned to be there to surprise them!

We flew to Penticton via Vancouver and arrived mid-afternoon at Naramata where we met Neil and headed to the beach to sneak up on Bob and Kathy. Bob spotted us first but was stoic in his usual way but when Kathy realized what was going on the waterworks opened up and soon even strangers nearby were crying sympathetic tears of joy at the family reunion.

Unfortunately, Christos was feeling a little worn out so while Lisa went out and SUP'd (SUP = Stand Up Paddleboard), he rested at the hotel and napped. We grabbed a bite at the local pub that night before getting to sleep with the stillness of the countryside to surround us.

The next day was spent lounging around the beach, exploring the thriving metropolis of Naramata and generally relaxing. We also visited a couple of local wineries and while the Okanagan valley excels at producing fruit, its wine industry still has some roots to grow.

That evening was a fun pot luck dinner at the beach. The locals all bring a bottle of wine, whose origins and name are hidden, and after tasting each wine votes are compiled to determine the "winners" before the reveal of each vintage. While the concept is brilliant and great fun, one can't but help feel that by the fifth or sixth "sip" the ability to pontificate and ruminate on the subtleties of the vintage are somewhat dissipated!

The next day (Saturday), we visited a lavender farm where we purchased lavender oil and raw lavender and enjoyed watching the alambic at work separating the essential oil from the base lavender mash.














In addition to lavender, sunflowers and fruits are also grown on the lovely little farm.

Later that afternoon Lisa relaxed at the beach while Christos went out for a wonderful ride along the old railway line (the KVR). While the trail is amazing, access from Naramata (which is at the water's edge) involves quite a vertical climb; it took Christos almost forty-five minutes to bike up to where the trail access is but only five minutes to bike down! The view from the trail is simply stellar.





That night we had a good dinner at a nearby Tapas style restaurant where the chef hailed from Jalisco, Mexico. We didn't really order anything, he just brought out various plates of food until we were stuffed! Liam, the chef's boy and one of Jen's two girls (Ali) played soccer as dusk settled until we eventually drove back to Naramata for a solid sleep.

The next evening we had a good dinner and an amazing sunset at another restaurant located a short drive from Naramata itself. As it was the last night, there was much talk of how lovely the time had been and how joyous it would be if such events could happen more often!

The Way Home

After three nights at Windlestraw, it was time to make our way to the final stop on our tour, Edinburgh. We left on Saturday morning and after half the drive (mostly along a country road with sheep obstacles) we took a forty-five minute stop to visit the ruined Crichton Castle.

Crichton castle was a good visit although a little odd. One drives to a parking lot near an old church in rural Scotland and then follows a rough footpath for five minutes before getting to a paved footpath to the castle where one must track down the minder in order to pay the ticket price!

In any case, the remoteness of it was the likely cause of us being the only people there for some time, another group showing up about fifteen minutes into our exploration of the castle itself.

The castle is quite old and fairly well preserved but its real claim to fame is the Italianesque courtyard facade and Scotland's first scale and platt staircase one Lord had installed while enlarging and transforming the First Castle to a larger, more comfortable Castle.









One of the Lords, , was involved in the "Black Dinner" which serves as inspiration for the "Red Wedding" in Game of Thrones.


After half an hour at Crichton Castle we hopped back in the car and at this point, a side visit to another distillery was under consideration but with our bags already well stocked with scotch, we decided another distillery visit was not a necessity!

We arrived in Edinburgh in the early afternoon, dropped off our luggage at the hotel and then dropped off the car. We strolled back through the Old City of Edinburgh and to our delight discovered that we had been upgraded to a lovely suite by the hotel!










So with newfound spirit we went out for another stroll and ended up filling our shopping bags to the brim at the afternoon market at Grassmarket as well as visiting the lovely Blackfriar's Pub, where we dined on pimiento de padron, before popping one street over to an amazing shortbread store, where we stocked up on shortbread.

Don't miss these gems when visiting Old Town Edinburgh!

We had dinner at a Steak and Mussels place in Grassmarket that was pretty good, although we both agree Canadian beef is better than Scottish beef, but had a bit of a rushed air to it.

Being a Saturday night, we opted to revisit Haymarket where the open air market was long gone but the pubs just getting started.

We enjoyed a couple of pints of Guinness each before deciding to get out.

It was likely the dance floor being empty for the today's Top 40 dance/pop tunes but packed by cougars and louts for seventies disco tunes that helped us make the decision not to have the always dangerous third pint.

Windlestraw Lodge, a hidden gem near Innerleithen

Our final stay in the countryside before heading back to Edinburgh was the charming Windlestraw lodge just outside of Walkerburn on the river Tweed. On the way Christos decided we should visit the ruins of Drochil castle near Peebles. We used google maps to find it which seemed like a great idea, until it did not work! We found a footpath that google maps implied would take us to the ruins but after a half hour hiking up a hill past cows and sheep, all we found was more hills and sheep! We did see a hare bolt away from us which was interesting as they are certainly much larger than rabbits. So it ended up being an hour hike up a hill and back to breathe the fresh air of Scotland while dodging the excessive amounts of sheep poop that was everywhere!

We stopped in Peebles for lunch on the way to Windlestraw lodge at an excellent restaurant named "Osso". We enjoyed our soup and sandwiches (an excellent rare roast beef) so much that we ended up coming back the next day for both lunch and dinner!

Speaking of dinner, the two dinners we had at Windlestraw lodge were amazing, and even more so when one considers they were the product of just one cook in he kitchen! We had lamb the first night, then dinner the next evening at Osso, and duck the last evening at Windlestraw. We simply must commend the cook, John, for the magic he wrought in the kitchen. Both evenings included canapés, a fish course, desert and a cheese plate!

Windlestraw lodge itself is a late 19th or early 20th century building constructed by a Scottish industrialist for his son as a wedding gift when he married a member of the Austrian Nobility. As such, it is a large house with rooms for servants (now converted to decent guest rooms) as well as sumptuously appointed public spaces (rich wood paneling, lovely glass etc).

Christos was quite enamoured with the animal carvings on one of the staircases; the attention to detail lacking so much in the modern age!

While at Windlestraw, we visited two local castles, Neidpath and Traquair on the same day.

Neidpath is privately owned castle so we had to arrange a tour which ended up being a great boon as it resulted in a private tour! The castle is in decent shape but needing some repair and is used for weddings etc. interestingly, the owner of Neidpath also owns Drochil and we discovered that Google maps had directed us to the wrong side of the river in our previous day's search for Drochil!















Traquair bills itself as Scotland's oldest inhabited house, having been inhabited since the 12th century. The original fortified tower has been expanded and added to several times to create the current structure; the "new" wing dates from the 18th century!


There were some interesting stories associated with Traquair, as the house of a Jacobite family, it house a catholic priest whose room had a secret passage out (the old spiral staircase of the 12th century tower) and a set of gates (the Bear gates) have remained closed since Bony Prince Charlie passed through them, a promise having been made to keep them closed until a Staurt regained the English throne! The old main approach to the house hasten converted into a lawn as a result of the closed Bear Gates. Mary Queen of Scots also stayed here and a crib used by her son, the future James I of England, is a family heirloom.

Traquair also houses a small brewery that produces good beer. The brewery dates for the middle ages and was shutdown more than a hundred years ago but rediscovered inthe1960s by the Laird when doing some serious spring cleaning while preparing Traquair for public viewing. Of course, Christos had to buy a three pack of the local brew which he polished off over the next two days.