Halifax Busker's Festival & Lobster Night

Shanda and Maeve on the way to the festival.


We went to the Halifax Busker's Festival yesterday for a couple hours. We were AMAZED by The Flying Dutchmen. The one guy was on a 12 foot unicycle.



After that, we came home and Jim treated us to a Lobster feast... I've had lobster here many times, but this batch was among the sweetest and juiciest I've ever had. Soooooo good.


I also grabbed the bottle of wine that I enjoyed the previous night at Shanda's birthday dinner at il Mercato. The waiter said he had only seen it in the boutique wine place but I went to the local liquor store in Bedford (still not privatized like in Alberta) and lo and behold...



2005 Dogajolo (a blend of Sangiovese [80%] and Cab Sauv [20%])





Funny to read the description on the back... they say it has hints of berries, coffee, spice, and vanilla... I tasted the berries (Strawberry), the coffee (which actually was caramelly as well), spice (which was just a peppery taste) and the vanilla to me was more like a mild cigar but as soon as I read the word vanilla I thought "That's the cigar-ish flavour I was getting." Like walking into a humidore. Anyway, it was $20 and I thought I'd get it as a special treat with the Lobster dinner, although I knew it wouldn't be the best pairing. I really just let it breathe and enjoyed most of it after dinner. I was wondering how fresh the wine I got in the restaurant was... it tasted like it had opened up already but I wasn't sure if it was form the day before or what. It was slightly chilled too. So when I took it home, I tasted it right away and I was happy to taste some sulphury type of flavours (meaning I knew if I let it open up for about 20 minutes, those would likely die down and it would taste more like the wine it I remembered). So yeah, in the end the wine tasted very much identical to how it did at the restaurant, leading me to believe that they had opened it that day. It also didn't really get more depth, but it actually maintained its flavour nicely and my mom didn't drink it as fast as she normally drinks wine because she, like me, wanted to savour it. It definitely struck both of us as a wine of character and depth, and easy to drink. I see it paired well with Steak and Blue Cheese (which is what we're having for dinner tonight), but they already have some good bottles in the house here so we might as well expand the palate a bit.




On the waterfront, there are picturesque moments everywhere you look.

Halifaxin It Up Part 3

Last night was Shanda's birthday party... there were lots of guests and we had a great time. Maeve got up around 2am because the music may have gotten a bit too loud (Fleetwood Mac - classic) so here I am hugging her.

I also bought some Guiness because there was so much Strongbow around all week and I was craving a Crown Float. Note how the Guiness, which is thicker, floats on the Strongbow (Dry Apple Cider). I like the drink so I had 4 of them.


And this is Maeve playing in the Alligator pool this morning... nice hot day.

I'm going to the Simpsons movie tonight!

Halifaxin it Up Part 2

The last few days have been a little rainy and windy, but yesterday and today are sunny, hot, and very nice. We hung out on the deck this morning and fiddled around with mom and Jim's new camera.

Tonight we're having a birthday party for Shanda (turning 30!!) and some other of my parents' friends who also had birthdays within the last week. Should be a great time.

I'm likely going to buy the same camera they bought one of these days... so easy to use and so many great features that I know I'd use. And the 3" screen is very nice.

Have done lots of napping this week.

This is my view from my mom's home office...

(haha - that's jim working in the front...)

Yesterday we were guests at Jim's brother's country club... no golf - they have tennis, 3 pools, and sailing, and a big sandbox/play area for the kids... It's right on the harbour and feels like your hanging out at the beach... very nice. In the winter I guess all they have is skating but it's still a nice club with historic buildings very well maintained and it's kind of got that Dirty Dancing summer vacation spot vibe. I can just picture the staff quarters and all the lessons older dance instructors teach the younger tourist girls... reminds me of the time I entered this dance competition with a tourist named Baby, but that's a whole nother story.

Anyway, it's 3 hours earlier here than back home, so I've been drinking a lot more.

Haha - I just remembered my mom called the local rock station to request us and we haven't been added to their playlist yet, but she actually got the music director on the phone and did a whole sales pitch for us... it was cute. The lady didn't know who we were and my mom was all "he's in town if you want to do an interview..." and the lady laughed. Well I tell you what... I'm gonna be laughing all the way to the bank lady!!! I told her that too. Not really. But I should have.

The sea air is nice.

I've been way less stressed here too which has been great. I'm seeing a correlation between stress levels and sex drive. Not that you needed to know that, but it's true! So peoples, keep your stress down!

Have a good Saturday.