Late Bloomers

First - thanks so much to everyone who commented on my Halifax Guide. I so appreciate all the feedback - I'm glad that people liked the places I included, and that I also got to introduce people to new places, so - thank you!

I have been a bit remiss in my blog commenting and email reading/responding lately. I have just been flat out preparing for the upcoming NSDCC Christmas Market and haven't had time to do much else! I must remember that every year, I feel this rising sense of panic, and then it all turns out just fine. I just read a fantastic article by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker about late bloomers - it's about how some artists have great sucess early in their career, and how others struggle for a long time. Very interesting, and worth a read. Now, I must stop procrastinating and get back to bookmaking. Ciao!

Nocturne

On Saturday night, I attended Nocturne - a night time art festival. I have to say - I had a great time. We arrived at 9pm and stayed until midnight, but we still did not see all the wonderful exhibits the festival had to offer. I think that I liked the outdoor installations the best - it was just so great to walk around and discover these unexpected - and very cool - works. I really liked the one above - Scott Saunders & Nikolai Gauer's Detect, Observe, Find, Discover, Notice, Spy, Sight displayed huge eyes on digital monitors inside a vacant building. Next year, and I really hope that there will be a next year, I plan to arrive as soon as the festival starts and try to take in everything I can!

Halifax City Guide

I'm thrilled to say that I've compiled a two-part Halifax City Guide that's being posted over at Poppytalk this week! I was so happy to be able to contribute this guide, and share my beloved city with the readers of Poppytalk. I moved back to Halifax from Sydney, Australia five years ago, and I love my city more and more each year. I hope you enjoy it too!

Bon Appetit Quebec!

Sorry - more time passed between my posts than I had anticipated. But - as promised, some info on eating in Quebec City. First of all, I guess I should say that we love to eat on our holidays. Everything else we do on vacation is just filling in time until we get to eat again. Actually, this pretty much describes my whole life! Anyhow, the food in Quebec was amazing. Above is J.A. Moisan, an old fashioned grocery store with lots of delicious food. I was especially impressed with their range of Liberte yogurt. If you haven't tried it - I just have to take this quote from their website to describe it - "sensuality in a velvety dress. Close your eyes and travel." It is THAT GOOD. It's also widely available here in NS, but Moisan had a lot more.
There was also an amazing bakery on Rue St. Jean. I foolishly didn't write down the name, but it has a big yellow squiggle over the door. They make the most beautiful breads and pastries - chocolate and cranberry, candied orange, sundried tomato and spinach, olive fougasse. Each one was more delicious than the next. We left on a Monday, and had a plan to go there on Sunday and buy a bag full of bread to take home, but it was closed! We will know better for next time - and there will be a next time!


We also had some memorable dinners - one was at Le Cercle, on Rue St. Joseph. It's a restaurant/concert venue, and the food is amazing. We had tapas, and got to try lots of cool flavors. Definitely recommended. We also loved a little bistro on the same street called Les Bossus. We actually ate their twice because we enjoyed it so much - just classic french bistro dishes, beautifully prepared. We also enjoyed great service. Also - highly recommended.

I couldn't talk about our trip without talking about where we stayed. We found Auberge Le Vincent on Trip Advisor, and it lives up to all the reviews. Great location, nice rooms, good breakfast, and above all - the staff were so friendly and helpful. They really went out of their way to make sure we had a nice time.

Bonjour Quebec!

We had an amazing time in Quebec City. The sky was this blue every single day with a little chill in the air - perfect for the miles and miles that we walked around this beautiful place.
We ate lots of delicious food, saw some great scenery and just soaked up the atmosphere. It is the 400th anniversary of Quebec City this year - so there were many special events happening. One of them was an exhibit of art from the Louvre. It was a great opportunity to see some amazing artworks - my favorite part the exhibit was portraits of artists by other artists.
The photos I've posted today are all from the old town - we stayed outside of the walls but spent a lot of our days walking around here. As you can see from the photo above - a lot of other people had the same idea. We spent alot of time in the St. Jean and St. Roch areas as well - more local and less touristy - I'll talk about those a bit tomorrow.

We got away from the crowds for a little while by taking the ferry across the river so that we could look back and see the city. (Hmm - my glasses look a bit like blublockers in this shot - does anyone remember that bad commercial?). As I mentioned - I'll do another post about QC tomorrow with some links to great places to shop - and of course - eat!

Hello from the Dark Side

Hello - I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged! We got back from Quebec city a couple of weeks ago - which was amazing by the way (more on that later) - and it's been head down, working hard ever since! But - now trying to get back into the swing of things, and hope to post more regularly. The photo above is one of my favorites from our Quebec trip - I just like the dark moodiness of it. Anyhow - I have to finish off some work tonight, and then it's back to regularly scheduled programming with some more photos from our trip tomorrow.