Summer 2007 in Canada

Highlights of my month-long visit to Canada...

Jen, Ben and I all flew to Canada on May 16th via three different airlines and three different routes! Ben went back via Amsterdam while Jen and I flew across the Pacific, meeting up in Atlanta where Steph joined us for the final leg to Montreal. In their typical fashion, Delta had overbooked the flight and was offering "compensation". The girls remembered their father's coaching and raced to the desk to put our names on the list! We ended up flying via NorthWest Airlines through Detroit to Montreal, arriving about two hours later than planned, but with a travel voucher for $400 valid for a year in our hands! However, due to the change, and the fact that I had a very tight connection in San Francisco the previous day, my luggage didn't arrive until the next morning...which was the day we drove to Gananoque, Ontario for our niece Lindsay's wedding! Thankfully my bags arrived just in time to repack and set out on our way!




























The wedding was delightful, most of the Bourque family were there from Alberta and the day dawned bright and sunny! It was a perfect occasion at the beautiful Glen House Resort right on the St. Lawrence River in the 1000 Islands! Congrats to Brad and Lindsay!










Steph, Kathie and Jen















Ben and Jen








I spent a week in Southern Ontario at some of my favourite haunts with old friends in Mississauga, Burlington and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Steph drove up from Auburn, Alabama with boyfriend, Lou, to work for a dermatologist at his clinic in Oakville for part of the summer. On the way north she received the exciting news that she had been accepted into medical school at Louisisana State University in New Orleans, starting in early August!







Joan and Kathie
Royal Manor
Niagara-on-the-Lake

Downtown
NOTL



















Karen and Kathie at
Vineland Estates
for lunch








The weekend flew by, Joan returned to Texas and I took VIA Rail back to Montreal in time for Jen's graduation from McGill at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 31st. The day was not pretty...dull, gray, drizzly and chilly! However, four of us were there to cheer Jen on as she received her M.A. in Religious Studies: Steph had flown in from Toronto, we brought Mary in from St. Lambert by taxi and Ben and me.

Jen processing in the rain to the graduation ceremony on McGill Campus









Steph and Jen

Steph, Mary
Jen and Kathie




















Jen and Ben

I had the occasion to join the Board of Directors and volunteers from the Greenwood Centre for Living History on their annual day trip in early June. We crossed the Ottawa River on the ferry from the Hudson side and spent the day in Oka, first touring the beautiful Church there with a wonderful animated local guide, Rosemary, then wandering around the old part of the town along the river, seeing where various North American Indian tribes had their specific plots of land and farms. Descendants of those natives still reside in Oka today. All my life I grew up with the view of this pretty parish church across the river and only this year did I ever step inside it!

Interior

Riverside property
in Oka, Quebec

Pat joined me for a few days at the end of my visit on his way to a business meeting in Cincinnati. We stayed at cousin Helen's B&B at Riversmead (my great-great-grandfather's home), enjoyed lunch on the patio at Willow where summer is at its best! On our last evening, we entertained our newlywed niece, Lindsay, and husband Brad along with Jen, Ben and Steph for dinner at a posh restaurant in Old Montreal, Les Heritiers. Ahh, summer in Canada...

Patio dining
at Willow Inn
Hudson, Quebec

View of the Ottawa
River ferry from
Willow Inn patio

Until next time...jumpa lagi!

Taste of Hanoi, Viet Nam April 26-May 1, 2007

This mini-blog of Hanoi is long overdue and is missing some pictures in order to make it more complete. For that I apologize...it is possible they are on Pat's computer (at work most days). I also cannot locate my trip diary (I am pretty sure I wrote one!) so am only able to supply what details I can find in the Lonely Planet Guide!


Today's youth in Hanoi


Pat and I flew to Hanoi from Kuala Lumpur (3 1/2 hour flight) via Malaysia Airlines at the end of April, meeting up with Jen and Ben (on their last leg of their 2 month trek around S.E. Asia) and Ben's brother, Luke, who had flown in from a business trip to Washington, D.C. for his first taste of Asia. The kids stayed in the Old Quarter at a cozy inexpensive hotel while we enjoyed the more upscale Hilton Opera Hotel, right beside the beautiful Hanoi Opera House, built in 1911.






Hanoi Opera House from our hotel window

















Vietnamese lady playing a local instrument at the Temple of Literature

















The gardens inside the Temple of Literature












The stelae at the Temple of
Literature, founded in 1070.
On these stones with turtle heads
are recorded the names, places of
birth and achievements of men
who received doctorates from 1442.





The transportaion of choice for the average Vietnamese is a motorbike. Here the whole family is in tow with Mother holding onto the baby. Everything and anything is carried on motorbikes: livestock (dead and alive), cases of bottled drinks, furniture, pots and pans, etc. We saw a great book with pictures of people on motorbikes and their various types of cargo-it was pretty funny!








The pagoda in Hoan Kiem Lake,
right in the heart of the city.












A surprisingly "quiet" street
scene in central Hanoi. Honking
is the norm here but no one pays
any attention to the "honker"!











The mausoleum of the famous
Ho Chi Minh, father of Viet Nam,
built between 1973-75. Following
the crowd of devotees, we filed past
the embalmed body of the former
President in total silence.





It was a little surreal visiting Viet Nam, considering I lived through the Viet Nam War during my high school and university years (interestingly, it is called the "American War" there!). We studied about Ho Chi Minh and his accomplishments in Grade 11 World History and there he was on his funeral bed! Apparently the complex is closed for three months each year while his corpse goes to Russia for manintenance!

The food in Hanoi is awesome...fresh spring rolls were my absolute favourite and a choice at nearly every meal! Thanks to the French colonization, the Viet Namese make wonderful bread and French pastries to go with their very strong coffee. We branched out a little and enjoyed Indian fare one night, Restaurant Bobby Chinn another night and the Cyclo Bar and Restaurant with its old cyclos transformed into tables and chairs! Everywhere on the street and sidewalks are vendors cooking up a storm and locals perched on kindergarten-type plastic chairs enjoying meals at any time of the day. It made for navigating the Old Quarter somewhat frustrating...especially when the five of us were trying to keep together!

One evening we took in the antics of the famous water puppets at the Municipal Water Puppet Theatre. The puppeteers stand hip-deep in the water behind the scene and manoeuver the puppets back and forth with great splashing at times. They are accompanied by traditional music in the balcony above.

We attended a Church service in French at St. Joseph's R.C. Cathedral, inaugurated in 1886. There were many French-speaking ex-pats there and we felt a little at home! Afterwards we wandered the street in front of the Church with its many fashionable clothing boutiques. Jen bought a dress (which needed alterations and was ready the following day) and Pat bought some shirt material.

We arranged a day-trip to Halong Bay, about three hours to the east of Hanoi, a UNESCO World Heritage site of some 3000 islands in the Gulf of Tonkin. Unfortunately it was a hazy day so it was hard to see the many islands but we enjoyed the day out of the busy city. We hired a boat just for the five of us which included a delicious home-cooked lunch of fish, shrimp, salads, fruit, etc.

More to come if I can locate my pictures...