The week that was

Well this week we had the first snow fall in Ottawa, strange how on this one day everyone has instant amnesia and forgets how to drive. Puppies Nicky and Nora being from Rome had never seen the stuff and there was much panic. Will made a little movie of it on his site.

 Nora and Nicky on their morning rest, such a hard life. Notice the little Dachshund statue next to the chair.

Nora in the snow at 06:45am by the Rideau Canal, what is this stuff ?

The Saga of Bus #96 which crosses Ottawa continues to be reported on CBC Morning Show. According to news report or if news report are to be believe it has to be the most unpleasant bus route in the National Capital Region, nasty stuff all around. You really want to get your SUV and go drive instead of taking public transport. If you want action take number 96 it is high in drama, not to mention the occasional fist fights and bad language, parental warning advise but again its the kids who are causing all the trouble.

The saga of the singing bus driver also continues, 12 passengers complained over a period of time that the poor fellow did not know how to hold a tune, but then 300 passengers thought it was nice to hear him sing. Our good Mayor Jim Watson from his chauffeured driven limousine told him to shut up and drive the bus. So the passengers in a show of bravado decided to board the now silent singing driver's  bus and sing in defiance of the Mayor's dictat. You have to wonder in what other Capital of the world would such events occur, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Moscow, Rome, Copenhagen, NO only in Ottawa, a city where eccentric behaviour is encouraged.

We also celebrated our 34th Anniversary this week and the retirement of a colleague after 35 years in La Carrière. We went to the Café of the National Arts Centre a solid standard, the food is excellent and the service good.

Dinner at the Café of the NAC.

Yesterday our local daily The Citizen had a full front page dedicated to IKEA, the new store, the mystique, the legend. A new giant store is opening shortly, you will be able to enjoy Swedish meatballs and a panoramic view of Highway 417. Some places have things like StoneHenge we have IKEA. I am aslo starting to think that the Editorial board of the Citizen have shares in IKEA they have given that store alone tons of free publicity, I wonder why. Maybe the Ottawa Citizen is run by a bunch of Swedes passing themselves off as innocent Ottawa valley folks.

We also bought a new Xmas tree this week a somewhat shorter version from the previous version. We went to several stores, compared prices, number of tips and lights, etc... our dear friend B came with me and from my cell phone would rally the info to Monsieur at home who played Nero and gave the thumbs up or down to whatever tree we thought might suit us.

I went to the auctioneer's today, Maclean on Laperriere to see how our various items were selling, well we did good and I was happy with the results. Lots of people and fast action. They also had a area full of 54mm lead soldiers, all good makes at very low prices. I just could not help myself and had to stop to look and bought a few.

Tonight we are returning to Grill 41 at the Lord Elgin Hotel, will see how they do this time around,  I will review the restaurant afterwards.

The weather so far in Ottawa is very much like that of Warsaw, grey skies, a bit of rain and temperatures around 8C. I would not mind at all if it continued like this all winter. Tonight the temperature climbed to 13C for the end of November this is exceptional and me think WONDERFUL!!!!!

                                 Home

W has a big birthday coming up in a week's time and I will follow Chinese Tradition and serve him a big bowl of Gluten free Noodles in chicken broth for breakfast on his Birthday, it is called Longevity noodles, we will also wish him 10,000 more birthdays. 

Le Jour du Souvenir 11 novembre 2011

I read today in the newspaper that Remembrance Day was a forgotten holiday. I do hope this is not true, many things can be forgotten but not that day. Too many young, brave and often scared Canadian soldiers made great sacrifices for all of us. We should not forget what they did in the First World War 1914-1918, the Second World War 1939-1945, the Korean War or during all those Peace missions around the world and more recently in Afghanistan. They secured our future and I am proud of them and grateful.
Friday 11 November at 11 am we shall remember them.

Prince of Wales laying a commemorative wreath.

A private evening with Angela Hewitt

Last night we went to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa to hear Angela Hewitt play Ravel. I have liked her for so many years and with Alicia Della Rocha she is one of my favourite pianist. After the concert she had arranged for a small group of people to meet in the restaurant of the NAC for dessert, many of the people present have known her since childhood. She came and greeted everyone in a very personal and friendly manner. Not only is she a great artist, she has wonderful people skills. One could be excused for being tongue tied meeting someone like her, but she put everyone at ease by speaking in the most friendly way as if we had known her for years. Angela Hewitt has a house in Ottawa but she also lives in Trasimeno, Umbria, Italy where every year in June she organizes a Music Festival with other great artists. This coming year in June, Anne Sophie Von Otter will be part of the Festival program. This Music Festival also includes now concerts in the towns of Gubbio and Perugia.

I was thrilled to meet Angela Hewitt and be able to speak to her over dessert as an old friend, I thanked her for her talent and the many hours of pleasure she has given me listening to her wonderful piano playing.

Bolshoi le grand gala d'ouverture

This past Friday the Bolshoi, (great) theatre in Moscow re-opened with a grand gala of artists, music and dance.

The Bolshoi company of Ballet and Opera was created in 1776 by Prince Peter Urusov and the Englishman Michael Maddox, a famous theatre owner in London. The Bolshoi Theatre building was designed in 1824 by Joseph Bové built with a classical facade and an opulent interior, known for its acoustics. The first work to be performed was the ballet Cendrillon by Fernando Sor on the 18 January 1825.

The Friday gala opening was broadcasted live on Russian television and friends in Rome went to the cinema at Piazza Repubblica to see it. I wish we had this opportunity in Ottawa, not likely though, here we are waiting for the opening of the new IKEA store in the West end of the city.

Russian television (RT) put up a segment on YouTube and it struck me how Russia today is celebrating its culture and its past, Imperial symbolism are prominent, from the uniforms of the honour guard which are from 1800 to the choice of music, God Save the Tsar, to the restoration of the Imperial Coat of Arms now used by the President of Russia and on all buildings. So the past, prior to 1917 was not so bad after all.




Russian Television and the artistic team responsible for the production of this gala did a superb job. It was very impressive. There was the opening chorus of modern construction workers on stage acting out the renovation of the theatre and singing an excerpt from the opera A life for the Tsar and then the march of the Tsar's Life Guards as the entire corps de ballet and other artists who are part of the Bolshoi Theatre came on stage in a choreography of what looked like a Debutante's Ball. Outside a jeux de lumières projected unto the facade gave the public the history of the cleaning, restoration and rebuilding of this great theatre, ending with peals of church bells and fireworks.  

Made you wish you were there. Well maybe one day we will visit.

Nicholas and Eleonora

Here are some photos taken this past week after Nicky and Nora went to the groomers. The last time they were groomed was in June prior to leaving Rome. They needed a good grooming and though they are hunting dogs, wire hair dachshunds need regular grooming for their coats as it grows fairly quickly and becomes ever thicker.

Eleonora di Capena (Nora)

Nicola di Capena  (Nicky)

posing quietly waiting for a biscuit.

They are hounds and they make hound sounds like a hunting howl which is frightening. They are also very clever being Dachshunds so you have to watch yourself because they are good at training people.

Photo albums

I have been going through boxes of photo albums going back 30 years or even 50 for some photos. So many souvenirs of so many places we travelled to around the world, of our dogs Bundnie and Reesie who are both associated with posting in Egypt and in the USA. They in fact were so well travelled, they also lived with us in Poland and in Canada, Reesie died in Rome at age 16. Our Vet Dr. V. use to joke that our dogs were better travelled than him. Same now with Nicky and Nora who were born in Rome and now live in Canada. What is strange is that I see clothing I still have and still wear from 25 years ago, I suppose if you take care of your clothing it will last a long time. So many souvenirs, we have the same friends we had 35 years ago, we all grew old together, some have lost weight, other have white or gray hair, some regretfully have died.  Memories of so many parties to mark a departure usually to a Post, or a Xmas in Canada, some fancy meal prepared by Will, photos of his famous Plum Pudding recipe from the kitchen's of Windsor Castle, C.1912. We also have lots of pictures of table settings for dinner parties we gave over all these years. I had written notes on each photo so they are easy to identify, others bring back instant memories of events.

Now we have to scan all those photos and put them on disk so that they do not fade, it is also easier to carry and consult. Some I may put up on my Flickr account, though I have learn to restrict access.

All this is part of the clean up and downsizing of our belongings, call it rationalization, in any event to many things to hold on too and not really necessary. I suppose we have to become a little more Zen in our thinking.

looking for a vacation

We have started to look at cruises around the Baltic we would like to go to St-Petersburg and spend 3 days visiting.  We thought we could fly to London and see our friends there and sail from London. With the economy the way it is a lot of cruise lines offer very good deals. We are looking for a smaller ship, about 1000 passengers or less. We like top of the line, nice cabin with a balcony, don't care much for on-board shopping or entertainment. If they have a good restaurant or bar that is a plus. They also offer excursions in every port and we usually skip those and do things on our own. We did that on the Danube cruise from Budapest to Nuremberg and it was great. We are still thinking of going back to Italy to see friends also.
It is all a question of saving our pennies and we have already started to do so, aiming for May 2012.

As for Xmas and New Year's, it will probably be Xmas in Ottawa though we have no idea with who or what we will do.