We're Engaged!

We're back from our Nova Scotia trip with some happy news...Marc proposed while on a hike at Cape Split (kind of ironic, I know) in Nova Scotia..see google maps link. I said yes! Here's a pic of us just after the proposal. In the interim, Marc has made me a ring out of birch bark (a Finnish tradition) and at the proposal site, he used a piece of grass/wheat...so we'll see what the real thing ends up looking like. We had such a great week on our vacation. We drove from Ottawa to Truro, Nova Scotia on Day 1 (14 days) and spent the rest of the week zipping around the province. We went from Annapolis Royal to Lunenburg to Halifax and then on up to Cape Breton Island. It was gorgeous weather and such a beautiful part of Canada. Hope you enjoy our pics from the trip.

A Week with Danny and Leona

Marc's mom and brother came from Winnipeg to visit us for a week. We spent some time at a cottage belonging to our neighbour's Dave and Shirl, swimming, hiking and eating well. We then took a ferry tour of the Thousand Islands, and had dinner at Chez Piggy in Kingston. The rest of the week we spent visiting, looking at pictures and topped it off with dinner at Il Vagabondo with Val and Paul and then gambling at the casino. Danny managed to take home some dough. Marc and I got sucked in and lost. We had a great time...click here for pics.

Kelly and Pruyn and the kids in Toronto

Following our Elora trip, we stopped in at Kelly and Pruyn's place in Toronto on Sunday afternoon and for dinner. We had a great time hanging out with Jack, Ethan and Lily...all of whom are highly entertaining. Kel and Pruyn made us a beautiful steak dinner...plenty of protein to get us back home to Ottawa that night. See some pics here.

Tubing at Elora Gorge

Marc and I took a drive down to Elora, Ontario (near Guelph) for the week-end to car camp and explore the area. On our way, we stopped in Peterborough to see the elevator lift locks. The campsites at the Grand River Conservation Area in Elora were not so great...we were basically sharing a site with another group, and the sites were not super clean, but we did back onto the Elora Gorge and you could here the rapids below. (And there were flush toilets!!) On Saturday, we spent most of the day tubing down the Grand River...there were a few rapids and lots of relaxing, enjoying the cliffs and sunshine. We also stopped in at the Elora Quarry, where Marc decided to jump off a cliff...crazy boy. We then went into the town for a local beer and back to the campsite for a late dinner. Sunday morning, we took a hike and then made our way to see friends Kelly and Pruyn in Toronto. Pics of our Elora week-end here.

Canoe Camping

What better way to end my 2 week vacation than to canoe camp for the first time. We went to Algonquin Park and started up the Barran River. This was one of the most exhausting, fulfilling trips ever. We portaged several times, made camp, collected firewood, made dinner, and by 9:00 PM, we were completely wiped out. We left Friday morning and were back in shower/toilet civilization by Sunday night. it was totally authentic canadian camping. Marc and I went with Sandra, who is an expert canoe camper, and Ihab, who had never been in a tent. I named him an honourary Canadian by Day 3. enjoy the pictures...Mr. Canoehead, Canada's aluminum-headed crime-fighter, made a cameo appearance...

Leamington July 2007

I spent part of my vacation this summer visiting my family in Leamington. Mom and Dad took me out to dinner at the Gallery Restaurant. We spent a day with the kids, took them to see Evan Almighty, and watched Evan's ball game (he pitched 2 innings)...he's number 6. pics

England and Milan, Italy

I was at Wilton Park for a Conference for work for a few days and decided to take a few extra days with a budget airline to Milan. Didn't get to see Da Vinci's Last Supper painting, but I walked around, visited Il Duomo Cathedral, went to the opera house, Alla Scala, to see a german concert, and did some shopping. Pics here

Meliha's baby shower

More pics...

United Nations, Vienna and Budapest

I took my second trip to Vienna this April for the UN Crime Commission meeting. The days were full and so busy, but I found some time on the week-end to enjoy Vienna's beauty. I spent my second and final week-end in Budapest. I took the 3 hour train from Vienna, the view was spectacular. Spring must have arrived a month earlier as everything was in bloom. Budapest was lovely. A day and a half was a tease...I will go back one day. There is so much to explore. I spent a morning at the heavenly Gellert Spa, taking the warm waters and a Hungarian massage (more relaxing than the Thai), and drank red wine on the Danube in the sunshine (which for me is a very good place to be). Photos.

Easter 2007

Easter week-end... Click here.

Caban a Sucre

This morning, Marc and I joined my friend Mandeep and a group from Foreign Affairs to Papineauville, Quebec to a Caban a Sucre (Sugar Shack). This is a Quebec tradition involving horses, maple taffy and a lot of really good food. We had eggs, oreilles de cris (Christ's ears), baked beans, crepes and sugar pie...everything covered with maple syrup. I learned that maple syrup starts off quite watery, and once they boil off the water, the thicker, brown syrup remains. See here for pictures.

Check out Marc's new website

Marc created his own website to display pictures from our South-East Asia trip. Try it out: farang.obroni.com

Deb's B-day dinner

Last night, a group of us went out for dinner in Little Italy to Il Piccolino's to celebrate Deb's birthday. Deb had the falafal, oh no, I mean the farfalle with brandy sauce. See here for pics.

Saturday in Montreal

Marc and I went up to Montreal this week-end for an action packed day. We visited Pippa, Pierre and their new baby Alexandra, and had some phenomenonal Honduran coffee in the cup, on our croissants and clothes too! We checked out the Marche Jean-Talon for the first time--good crepes. John joined us for lunch at Schwartz'. Long line up, but smoked meat was worth it. Marc then took me to see Thomas Fersen perform at the Theatre Nationale...known for his poetic, silly songs.

South-East Asia Vacation

We are back from our three week vacation to South East Asia. We have so many stories to tell. I will be updating my blog with a commentary on our experiences shortly. We started off in Bangkok, Thailand for a few days, where we stayed with John, Marc's friend from Winnipeg. We then left for Singapore, where we stayed with Marc's friend Fergus, from Winnipeg, but who lives there now. After 4 days of shopping, eating gloriously and visiting, we left for Ko Lanta, an island in the south of Thailand. It was heavenly, sunny skies, snorkelling, sunsets and more good food. We then made our way to Siem Reap, Cambodia where we climbed over temples from the 10-11th centuries and witnessed history being overtaken by nature (see the pics). Our final stop back in Bangkok for a few days before we headed back to Ottawa. Click here for pictures from our trip. Once you get to the webpage, you can click on Slideshow.

Christmas in Leamington

Marc and I both went to Leamington for Christmas this year. Aside from relaxing and hanging out with mom and dad, we also spent some time with Lisa and Sean and the kids, took the kids to see "Night at the Museum" (Mickey Rooney rocks!), went to the Sandbar in Puce with Michael and Kelly for New Year's Eve, sang songs on
Mike's new karaoke machine, watched dad and Michael play hockey (for about 30 minutes) brrr, visited my childhood friend, Rosy, her husband Luis and Siena and Alexia, hung out with the Russelo's with a game of "Bugger your Neighbour" (Bary kept accusing mom of cheating on the score sheet), went for Mexican food both in Leamington and in Detroit, and shopped at Twelve Oaks Mall. Sounds busy, but it was actually quite relaxing.
Click here for pictures of the family.

Thanksgiving with the Craftbegovic's in Portland, Oregon

This year, I celebrated Thanksgiving twice. The second feast took place in beautiful Portland, Oregon with my hosts Selma and Graham. My trip included a few fun-filled days with lots of organic food, fine wines, National Public Radio and numerous shopping trips to important places like Target, Victoria's Secret and for me, the newly found Anthropologie. With my encouragement, Graham made homemade pie crust, but vowed that he probably will not do that again. They took me out to dinner at Basilica?, for fine Italian dining. Selma and Graham, you guys treated me like a queen. This was my second trip to Portland to be with these two, and it was just as enjoyable. Please see more Portland pictures here.

Mom and Dad in Ottawa

Mom and Dad came to visit us in Ottawa for a few days in November. They took us to Costco where we stocked up for the next year on toilet paper and paper towels. I also found a sweet Christmas present, a fondue set. Marc and Dad went to see an Ottawa Senators-Buffalo game (Ottawa won), while mom and I went out on the town to Fat Tuesday's, a New Orlean's bar to watch the duelling pianos. It was mostly very loud in there. Our next day was casino-themed, as we went to see the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale. See this article re: the first official screening of a James Bond movie in China ever. We then went for ribs and steak, and then additional casino activities, including gambling at the Hull Casino.

Bali Trip

Last week, I was in Bali, Indonesia to attend a Workshop on Human Trafficking. In picture here, I am with my Canadian colleague, Cindy, who works at the Canadian Embassy in Jakarta. We heard the testimony of a trafficking victim, and best practices of countries in South-East Asia, New Zealand and Australia. We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel in Bali. Great pillows. Couches everywhere. Lots of fish and turtle decorations. I also saw a one and a half foot long iguana. The last Bali bombing in 2005 took place at a beachside restaurant not far from the hotel I was staying at, so I wandered over to take a look and found that the area was packed with tourists. It still seems though that Bali is feeling the impact on the tourist industry. For pics, please click here.

Shadow of the Wind

This is a book about a book. The main character, Daniel, describes the book that becomes the centerpiece of Zafon's story: "As it unfolded, the structure of the story began to remind me of one of those Russian dolls that contain innumerable ever-smaller dolls within". There are two love stories, one that is set in the 1920s that is very tragic, and another romance that takes place in the present 1950s and leaves you with a sense of hope. The two stories are linked and similar. Zafon's book is set in Barcelona, during the Franco period. This book has that "Da Vinci Code" draw that keeps you enticed to get to the bottom of the mystery. In a way, the love story between the villain/hero, Carax and Penelope, reminded me of Heathcliff and Catherine in Wuthering Heights.