Author Archives: Martine
Final days: Azenhas do Mar + Sintra + Lisbon
We leave Porto for a the atlantic coast near Lisbon, for a small village called Azenhas do Mar. It is near Sintra but also overlooking the sea which we are looking for!
Our first stop is in Nazare to enjoy a magnificent view and the freshest fish + seafood we have had. We find a restaurant facing the beach and order the sardines and shrimps – both we are told were fished this morning – and you can tell.
We walk down to touch the water and feel those huge waves attack the beach! The cliffs to the north are spectacular, reminiscent of Etretat which I loved!
Arriving in Azenhas do Mar, our apartment is well beyond our expectations. Right on the edge of huge cliffs with massive waves crashing non stop and breathtaking views. We spend time walking the trails by the cliffs (not too close to the cliffs of course).
We take our lives in our hands in the evening, walking in the dark to the nearby restaurant down by the beach…thank god for flashlights on our phones! You can see the windows of the restaurants on this pictures…all the way down!
The view is amazing and the food exceptional, but mostly the service is out of this world. Our server is incredibly knowledgeable and attentive – we love it. We see fishes being delivered right on the beach to the restaurant, it doesn’t get fresher than that!
Back we go in the dark, to our apartment, with the sounds of waves crashing in – what a night!
Sintra
The next day, we are off to Sintra for a walking tour of the old city and our PCR Covid test, which are required to get back in our country.
Our guide Franscico is a wealth of information about the moorish times as well as the influence of the Templar in the region. He also informs us that the Roman did not make it there and that there is no trace of their influence in that area.
Sintra is litterally built on an extinct volcano which mean….more hills! We learn so much with him, it is hard to describe everything!
He brings us to the original pastry store where we enjoy a Quesidijas…cinnamon and eggs delight!
The highlight is definitely the Quinta da Regaleira. This estate was built more than a hundred years ago by a collector of the Templar documents who incorporated so many of their symbols into the architecture, it is hard to take it all in.
The templar ritual was held in the large well to ensure the new candidates would pass, they had to find their way in the dark through several tunnels!
Unfortunately the estate was sold to a japanese group in the mid 1950 and some of the items were sent to Japan but it was taken over by the city in the 70s and restored to its original beauty. All the collection of historical Templar documents though were sold to the States and are now in the library of Congress.
From the distance we can also see the ancient moorish castle built on the mountain top.
We very much enjoy our tour, now off to the hospital. This Covid test could not have been easier. A drive through where we give our passport to check in and then move on to the testing station where the nurse administer the test from our car windows. Results will be sent via email and SMS within 24 hours…very efficient.
On our way back, we decide to stop at Cabo da Roca, which is the most western point in Europe – majestic!
Again a spectacular cliff with big waves and high winds where we stand more than a 100 feet from sea level.
Back towards our apartment, we stop at the well known Apple Beach to have excellent oysters by the beach – captured this morning, once again the freshest!
Over to our apartment, we sit in the garden to enjoy another spectacular sunset while sipping the beautiful red wine we bought from Dario back in Alejento….Life is good.
We regrettably leave the next morning but we stop again in Sintra to take a tuk tuk to the top of Castle Pena to visit the grounds. We are sad that we do not have time to visit the moorish castle as well but the car must be back in Lisbon by 1PM…
Lisbon
Back in Lisbon, we discovered the museu of cerveja just near our hotel in the large square. We enjoy hearing the Serbian gather and get ready for the big qualifying game against Portugal. A large crowd is singing and dancing as they make their way to the stadium. We decide to find a pub with NFL games on but it is so packed, we can not stay….obviously never heard of Covid there!
We go back to the square by the water to enjoy some italian food and watch the games that is on in every patio…unfortunately Portugal looses but it was a good game.
Our last day in Lisbon is a Monday and unfortunately most museums are closed. We decide to still make our way to the Belem area to see the famous Tower and the Padrao dos descobrimentos – both spectacular structures.
Lucky for us the nearby maritime museum is open and we can trace the glorious history of portuguese navigators and explorer. Very interesting.
We then take a cab to visit our last place – the Castillo of Sao Jorge. Once again, amazing views and history.
On our way back down (yes it is up a hill), we stop at the Chapito restaurant for a late lunch. It is listed as one of the best terrace in Portugal and it is well earned! Bonus is that the food is excellent and the weather is fantastic – we are priviledge to be sitting there at that time with this sun!
This is the end of an amazing trip! Back home to Canada tomorrow with perfect memories!
Beautiful Porto
We leave Evora mid morning on our way to Porto but first we look for the monolithe that our friendly guide Joao recommended. These are rock structures dating 7000 years ago…the oldest ones in Europe. There are no clear explanation for their presence but it is thought that they marked a place of gathering for spiritual celebrations. One always has a sense of awe when walking amongst structures such as these….
We arrive in Porto and check in our beautiful apartment overlooking the Douro River and just steps from the famous Ponte Luis.
We love the atmosphere at night, typical of european cities with their terraces full with tourists, sounds of live music and smell of local food – the perfect evening!
The next day we have a 3-hour private walking tour with Orlando – a local from Porto. We walk up a steep hill to meet him in the city centre…Porto is a granite hill, the city is built on a big rock.
Orlando explains that this makes any construction or digging very difficult, that coupled with the fact that one can easily unearth historic sites, development are often completely which stalled. The city is currently undergoing a massive metro contruction projects and there are sounds of jack hammers everywhere as well as traffic jams worthy of Toronto!
Orlando takes us to magnifient viewpoints of the city and river and explains the history of the city that has never allowed nobles to live or rule here. It is a city that was ruled by bishops and where ordinary people have lived – there are no castles.
Interestingly, It has the most beautiful McDonald in the world. For once the mega American company chose to maintain and respect the Art Deco of the cafe building that it took over. Beautiful stained glass!
Porto had very little moorish invasion so it has not influenced the city at all, unlike Lisbon. There are signs of Roman occupation including signs of the typical roman walls throughout old Porto. This is a city that is just starting to be reborn as it has been neglected for decades. There are fewer people who live in Porto and therefore several houses and apartments are abandonned. The impact of the dearth of tourism caused by Covid is evident. An interesting fact to me is that Porto decided a few decades ago to save its architecture by creating the bank of material. Any building in old Porto that shows signs of being vandalized – for example tiles removed on the exterior – will have all its architecture elements removed: exterior tiles, door knobs, roof tiles and more! They are then stored at the bank and when any owners no of a house in old Porto wants to renovate, they can come get all this material free of charge and reuse it. It is amazing all the material they have.
The small, narrow and hilly streets are also a treat – so beautiful with their cobblestones and plants spread out by the owers on the street. Orlando explains also that Porto had a serious heroin problem 20 years ago and the city decided to create centres to help with addiction as well as operating restaurant schools to provide training and employment to those looking to heal themselves.
It is a very religious cities with numerous churches spread out throughout but it also has a dark past of persecuting the jews and forcing them to become “new-christian”. Its cathedral is also the beginning of the Camino de Santiago trail and you can see the yellow arrow signs leading the hikers to Santiago – 248 km!
In the afternoon, we take old Tram 1 to the sea and the beach on Orlando’s recommendation. We enjoy a beautiful lunch on a sunny afternoon by the beach!
We then walked the bridge to Gaia to visit the Taylor Fladgate’s cave. Very information and beautiful setting – so much of this area’s culture and history is connected to this Port wine!
The next day, we are off to a special treat with a tour of Douro with Manuel. He repeats that he wants to show us the authentic Douro and its history, not the big producers who are all the same…and he does! What a day we had…
The drive to the small town of Pinhao (heart of Douro) was spectacular and showed promises of an amazing day. We begin with a boat cruise where Pasquale tells us tales of the development of the region and the hard working people who developed this trade.
Villagers who risked their lives to take the big barrels of port wine to Gaia on small viking looking boat on a wild river that could be very shallow as well as dangerous with rocks flying from the riverbanks. They began filling the barrel only at 75% to ensure that if the boat sank, the barrel would float up to the surface so the next boat could salvage them. This is before the several dams were built in the Douro to control the water levels.
Here, we also hear of the terrible worm that decimated the region and the clever solution to use american root stock to save the wine grape plants. History goes back to the 17th century and it is the oldest region to produce regulated wine. Here also they use nature to help protect their wines. They have rose bushes throughout to attract the bugs and warn the winmakers of a potential bug invasion. They use olive trees for the same pupose but also as boundaries between estates and between different varietal of grapes. They use eucalyptus trees along the riverbank because they repel bugs. We learned about the schists stones that are the secret to their wine grapes who attach themselves to these porous rocks which are a reservoir of water of sort. The roots grow stronger as they nagivate the rocky terroir.
We taste homemade parma from wild pig fed strickly on acorn, local cheese and olive paste as well as a delicious white port and tonic. Excellent!
Next we are off up the mountains to the top of the Douro valley. A treats as most tours only stay close to the river. The view is magnificent! It is a road that was named one of the most beautiful in Europe and no wonder why!
We are on our way to visit a small port producer who have been there for 100 years and meet the son who is slowly taking over from his father. we see the inside of a port barrel and taste several of their table and port wines.
The next winery is magical and beautiful. We are treated to an amazing lunch with excellent wines on a terrace overlooking the estate. Amazing Portuguese risotto! Who knew. And What a setting!
Again we meet the new generation taking over from his father but this time, it is the 11th generation, still living on the estate! He shows us a port that has been in barrel since 1848. He bottled 5 bottles 3 years ago and sold four but kept one ti show the color changes. A cool price of 4000Euros! He is so interesting and entertaining capping up a fantastic day with the other tourists in the group from Sweden, Chicago, Denmark, South Corea and Dallas.
One of the best tour we have had!
Lisbon + Evora
On our first day, we got lost in Lisbon – isn’t that the best!
First we had to deal with very long line at passport check – but why? Once we finally made it to the front, the border officer did not look at vaccination records, Covid test or mandatory locator forms…go figure!
Lisbon for one day!
A city of 7 hills – one seems to always be going uphill!
We discovered though that it is always best to look down – mosaic tiles everywhere on the sidewalks but also on the walls instead of stucco or siding 🙂
We stumbled upon a beautiful big flea market, stunning views of the city and a nice terrace for dinner with a view of the sunset….until a bunch of tourists came to take pictures 🤦♀️.
One thing that I didn’t love – I had forgotten how european smoke right at their table…one bite – one puff….incredible!
EVORA
Next day we are on our way to Evora after picking up the car. A nice 90 minutes drive and we are in a quaint little town surrounded by roman and medieval walls – full of history.
We are picked up shortly after check in by Dario from the Coelheiros wine estate….it is much more than a win estate!
The new owners purchased the estate in 2015 as their retirement plan from Brasil and began the transition to fully organic and sustainable farming.
They have 2000 acres composed of 40 for grapes, 20 for walnut, 20 for olives and the rest if their beautiful cork forest. They have 1000 sheep that move from section of the land based on the season to eat the grass and contol the weeds, they have strategically located bat and certain bird houses to control the bug population, they have moved to a varied planting in between the rows of grapes to atract the bugs to those flowers rather than the grapes…everything is interconnected and intentionally done. Amazing!
We learned that Portugal is still the number 1 producer of cork and that all trees are inventoried and controled by the state. It takes 30 years for a cork tree to be matured enough for harvest and then cork (which is the bark removed from the trunk) can only be harvested every 9 years. Fully sustainable and regenarative, the entire harvest is used for a variety of products – nothing is wasted.
We also learned that their portuguese grape wines are grafted on the original cabernet sauvignon trunk from France and the trunk is attached to american root system to fight a worm that came from America with import decades ago. This is true of almost all wines in Portugal.
Dario invites us for a wine tasting and while the wine is good, the olive oil is out of this world! Of course they are sold out….
Back to town for a nice dinner at Pateo (outdoor patio although chilly) where we have a nice conversation with retired Portuguese who come to Evora by train regularly for a getaway from Lisbon and a young couple from….Oakville!
The following day, we have a walking tour with Joao for 3.5 hours….so interesting
We learn that the Franciscan were a well established group in the 1200 and lived in poverty with a small church surrounded by the cemetery of villagers.
Once the royal family decided to spend a lot of time in Evora, they established a castle across from the monastery and decided to build a bigger, richer than the one that was there. Because the Franciscan refused to stop practicing, they built that church around the small one. Consequently it is the church with the biggest arches to support the ceiling in the world!
In that process, they dug up a lot of tombs and bones which angered the Franciscan. They decided to stack as many bones and skulls inside the chapel as a reminder to the royals that everyone returns to that state at the end.
During our walk, we come upon the garden of love where the statue of Vasco de Gama, Chuck’s favorite explorer.
João takes us to the highest place in the town where the original Roman temple was built during the second century BC.
To reach it, we pass by the cathedral of Evora which he tells us is the oldest cathedral in the world where you can witness pre-gothic architecture.
We are able to climb the stairs up the tower to the roof with a stunning view of the city.
Back to a terrace as we scout the town looking for Sardines for Chuck for dinner 🙂🍺
Found it!! Excellent fresh grilled sea bass for me and sardines for Chuck!
Good day!
Tomorrow, we are off to Porto!
Vegan scramble eggs breakfast
I experimented with tofu to recreate scramble eggs and I think this recipe really nails it. Even in the appearance 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp of grape seed oil
- I package of soft tofu (you can use firm but I like this consistance)
- 1 tsp of curry powder
- 1tsp of garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp of turmeric (optional)
- 2 tbsp of nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp of oat milk
Heat the oil in a frying pan and put the block of tofu in it. Use a fork to literally mash it in the consistence you would like.
Add all the other ingredients except the milk and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the milk and heat for 1 minute.
That’s it. Ready to serve!!
Sautéed vegetables.
I serve this with some sautéed vegetable which I prepare before the tofu. I used this but you can use any soft vegetable you like. (Avoid using root vegetable as they will take longer to cook).
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1/3 jalapeño
- 1 zucchini
- 5 large oyster mushroom
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 tsp of seasoned salt
- 1 tsp of pepper
Diced all the ingredients.
Place the first 3 ingredients in a frying pan with a bit of oil and sautéed for a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and let them sweat for a few minutes. Add a bit of water of broth to deglaze the pan and capture all the good flavour. Cook for another 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning. Ready!!
Crispy Mushroom and Kale Fried Rice.
This is a quick and easy one-pot meal that is sure to please everyone. Can also be serve as a side dish or part of a multi-course Asian dinner extravaganza!!
This recipe will serve 3 as a main dish and 6-8 as a side dish.
Cook 1 cup of rice in 2 cups of vegetable broth.
Meanwhile prepare the vegetable mixture in a large wok or a large pan.
Heat the wok to high heat and add 1 1/2 tbsp of sesame, peanut or grape seed oil. Then add the following ingredients:
- 1 inch piece of ginger chopped
- I garlic clove minced
- 1 large scallion chopped
- 1/2 medium size cooking onion diced
Cook for a few minutes or just until the fragrances are released.
Add the following ingredients:
- 10 cremini or Shittake (stems removed) mushroom sliced
- 6 large leaves of lacinato kale chopped
- 1/2 jalapeño chopped
- 1 medium red or green bell pepper diced
- 1 medium brocoli head roughly chopped (optional)
Fry for a few minutes or until the kale becomes crispy.
Add 2 tbsp of oil, stir and add the cooked basmati or brown rice.
Add
- 1 1/2 tbsp of hoisin sauce
- 2 1/2 tbsp of soya sauce
- 2 green onions chopped
Mix well and heat for 1-2 minutes.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve in big communal bowl. Enjoy!
Creamy avocado dressing
This is quickly coming one of my favorite recipe. The dressing is now a staple at our house and I have used it with several different salads. I am suggesting it for a brocoli salad which was the original.
This is loosely based on a receive from our weekly delivery from Mama Earth
Avocado Dressing
- 1 avocado ripen
- 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp of garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper
- 1/2 tbsp of Dijon mustard
- 1/8 cup of lemon juice
Put all ingredients in a small blender or a food processor and blend until you achieve a creamy consistence.
For the salad, here is a suggestion but I have one used this dressing with several different combinations. It is all about the dressing!!
- I broccoli head and 1/2 cauliflower head cut in floret
- 1/4 red onion chopped
- 2 tbsp of sunflower seeds to taste
- 1/2 shelled edamame or fresh snow peas (optional)
- 1 apple diced (optional, those who know my husband will know that it is not allowed at our house 😂)
Everything goes in a bowl. Mix it up and serve.
Ratatouille
One of my favorite recipe when the huge zucchini start showing up in our garden. A hearty meal in itself that can also be served on pasta with cheese on top for a ratatouille au gratin!
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant cut in cubes 1 inch size.
- 1 extra large zucchini or 2 medium ones cut in cubes same size.
- 1 red pepper diced
- 1/2 long hot pepper diced
- 2-3 cooking onions diced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 12 fresh plum tomatoes diced up or a can a diced tomatoes (San Marzano if available).
- 2 tbsp of tomato paste.
- 3-4 tbsp of fresh basil (one branch from your garden) chopped
- 1-2 tbsp of fresh thyme chopped
- Olive oil
The order in this recipe is important.
In a Large Dutch oven, follow these steps and do not wipe the pot between each steps.
1- Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil, place the eggplant in the pan and season with 1/2 tsp of salt. Cook for about 10-12 minutes (still all denté). Remove from the pot and set aside.
2- Keep the remaining oil and add one more tbsp. Add the zucchini and cook for 3 minutes or until soft but still al dente. Add 1/2 tsp of salt, remove from the pot and set aside in a separate bowl.
3- Add another tbsp of oil and add the onions and peppers cooking for 2-3 minutes, then the garlic cooking for another minute.
4- Add the tomatoes, thyme and tomato paste and cook for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes break down.
5- Add the eggplant back to the pot and simmer for 10 minutes or until the eggplant is soft. Add the zucchini and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add the basil and simmer for another minute et Voilà!
This dish is excellent the next day and freezes very well.
Hiking in Gros Morne
We get ready for the 4:30 hour drive across central Newfoundland to Bonne Bay in Gros Morne. Thelma sends us with our coffee mugs filled and homemade muffins for the ride. About halfway there, we see cars stopped on the road….There is a moose crossing the highway very calmly, first one!
We arrive at the Bonne Bay Inn and are pleasantly surprised by the location as it is perched on the side of the road overlooking the bay and just steps from Woody Point and the discovery centre. Perfect spots to spend a few nights in the area.
We immediately set out to hike the Tablelands trail. The trail is fairly easy but on rocks small and big so watch your step. Halfway up, we come upon lots of snow and must find the less soft area so as to not sink in. The landscape is very unique, with its yellow rocks as far as the eyes can see. A good hike to stretch our legs and of course make snow angels 👼
We are back at the Inn for dinner and are treated to a minke whale swimming in the bay right in front of us! The Inn has a lovely lounge for the guests, a dining room and a bar. The first place where we stay with so much common area to relax on comfy chairs, and bonus, a laundry room accessible to their guests free of charge….we love it!
The next day we set out mid morning for our main hike of the area: Green Gardens Trail. It begins as we climb in tablelands rocks for a few kilometres, but quickly takes us down to the valley on a steep descent through beautiful forest. We then climb back up to the cliffs where we reach the stairs to the beach. We decide to continue on for 1.5km but the remaining of the trail is closed. We pass by beautiful lookouts and landscape as well as some local sheep quietly grazing up at the top.
Ready for the hike back, preparing ourselves for the big ascent.What comes down must come up as they say!! A roughly 12 km hike in 3:30 hours. We feel very accomplished and were rewarded with beautiful views!
Back at the Inn for a shower and we then make our way by foot to Woody Point where we visit the Galliott studio and cafe that we read about in the Globe and Mail and have lunch at the local pub. Great music and a LP carpet…all is breaded as usual but we are starving!
We spend the rest of the afternoon reading our books and relaxing at the Inn, topping the evening with a light dinner in the dining room with a view, where we now spot a pair of harp seal swimming about accompanied by very persistent seagulls!
The next morning we leave for Rocky Harbour for one night as it will reduce our drive up north by an hour and we have the Cruise at the Western Brook Pond.
We stop on the way to the Southeast Brook falls short trail. A beautiful hike in the forest opens up to a cascading falls and we are treated to a rainbow overlooking the far section of the falls. Gorgeous nature again!!
At the Western Brook Pond, we have a 3 km hike that takes us to the harbour. What fabulous vista at this famous landlocked fjord with very entertaining and informative guides on the boat. Chuck is sitting beside a lady from Vancouver who feels the need to talk constantly…imagine Chuck 😂
Lots of beautiful waterfalls, cliffs and formation in the rocks with their own name, like this one: “the tin man”.
This 2-hour cruise is awesome! Back to find the Bambury Hillside chalet where we learn that the whole town will have water shut off tomorrow morning for repairs….we plan to leave early!
But first tonight we will dine at the Black Spruce restaurant in nearby Norris Point, another recommandation from the Globe and Mail.
We go to the Gros Morne Cabins stores to get snacks for the game tonight and we are impressed by those colourful cabins right on the water. This is where we should have stayed!!
Over at the Black Spruce, the dining room has a expansive view overlooking Bonne Bay and we are pleasantly surprised by the originality of the menu and the excellent flavours of our meal. A very tasteful roasted cauliflower soup with a Parmesan crisp to start followed by a squid ink fettuccine with lobster and saffron cream. Chuck opts for the scrumptious beef tenderloin with creamy sea truffle mash potatoes.
All and all, one of the best meal we have had on the island. Well worth the drive! I get very pretty blue mussel shells earrings at the downstairs stores. Youpi!
Back at our chalet to watch the very disappointing Raptors game 2 😭. Leaving Gros Morne in the morning.
Twillingate and Iceberg Alley
The drive to Twillingate from Trinity is a good 3h30 parle along the coast, some ponds and thick forest. Our first stop is the Beothuk interpretation centre. The kilometre and half trail to the remnants of the indigenous village is punctuated with interpretive signs detailing the life of the Beothuk in the area more than 100 years ago.
We come upon the beautiful statue of Shanamdithit, the last known Beothuk, sculpted by local artist Gerald Squires. This was the impetus for the creation of this centre following excavation by archeologists in 1981. She was very detailed and striking.
Once at the end of the trail we lookout on some indentations, revealing the location of housing from that time, as well as Boyd’s cove. As we look up, we see a large bird with huge wind span….a juvenile eagle lands at the top of a nearby tree! What a sight!!
Back at the interpretive centre, we learn more about the way of life of the Beothuk as well as their extinction with the death in 1829 of Shanawdithit.
Onwards to Twillingate as we have an iceberg boat cruise with the “iceberg man” in the afternoon.
We arrive at Iceberg Alley Inn and meet our lovely, chatty host Thelma. We are also greeted by their friendly golden retriever…I get my fix!
After checking into a large, well appointed room, she directs us to Canvas Cove bistro for lunch. Excellent mussels and soup. Off we go to the cruise, all bundled up with multiple layers, hats and mittens, and thank god we have those!
The sun is shining and the winds are strong and cold. We are safely sitting on the front of the boat where Iceberg Man takes us to smaller “bergs” to explain the origin of the notch which are from the iceberg flipping in the water and that the ones we will see today, would have left Greenland 3-5 years ago!
We then approach a larger one and we circle multiple times to take pictures from all the different angles that are stunningly different.
He brings up to another site where we can see an iceberg that has split up the day before.
We then start cruising up to the coast to a cove where a third iceberg is located. A cold and windy 25 minutes, Chuck makes his way to the back for shelter but I choose to stay at the front to take the magnificent views.
Back to the original iceberg where the sun is now lower and reflect beautifully on the iceberg and the water. We are told that we are lucky this year, as last year there was only one iceberg all season and it only stayed for a week.
We opt to go to nearby Annie’s for dinner where the fare is ordinary. Back home for an early night as we must be off at 6AM the next morning to catch the ferry to Fogo Island.
Thelma prepares us a nice bagged breakfast with yummy baked oatmeal and off we go for the one hour trip to the ferry to make sure we will make it in the 8:30 crossing as it is the dangerous good trip so less spots. Thelma is on top of this!
Once a across we drive to Fogo island Inn for our tour of the Inn and our lunch. There really isn’t much to do so we sit in the library to wait as we are early.
The Inn is underwhelming for all the press and write ups. I find the structure not very appealing but the tour gives us a nice perspective on the vision of the founder,……she made her money in fibre optics in Toronto and chose to return home and invest her $42MM in her social entreprise dream. Everything is sourced on the island as much as possible as well as with the environment in mind. They seem very proud of their locally designed wall paper but I much prefer the quilts and the needlepoint bench cushions.
Over at the dining hall, we are impressed with the rope chandelier and the views are truly magnificent. Lunch is lovely with all ingredients organic and from farm to table as much as possible. I am surprised that there are no vegetarian option on the main but the salad bar is excellent!
We leave quickly to catch the 2PM ferry to avoid waiting for the 4:30 one and make it!
On the causeway, we pass the sea ice and notice a seal sunbathing.
Back in the lovely commons room at the inns. There are more quotes on those walls than anywhere I have seen!
I take the opportunity to phone mom and take care of some work issues which Chuck attempts a nap prior to our lobster dinner. Thelma sends us to Samsone for dinner where their live lobster pool will assure us of a “lobster fresh as a daisy”.
The 15 minute drive is well worth it. The staff is very friendly and the view is awesome. I pick my lobster and and am transported back immediately to my youth having lobster with my mom. It all comes back very easily and Chuck and I share a delicious local lobster.
Chuck leftover “squid rings” are fed to the local seagull who rules their patio. She is certainly well fed!
Back to our room to watch the Raptors win game 1 of the NBA finals…woohoo!!
Trinity and the Bonavista Peninsula: cliffs, vistas and icebergs!
On day 3, we left St-John’s early, direction Trinity, in the Bonavista peninsula. A quaint little town on the water with several local attractions.
We checked in at the Artisan Inn and immediately made our way the Two Whales restaurant which we found from an ,article in the Globe and Mail. Excellent vegetarian fare and great atmosphere!!
Then on to the highlight of the Discovery trail section: the Sherwink Trail.
What a beauty!!
As we climbed up high to the top of the peninsula, walking along the cliffs, we marvelled at the chiseled rocks along the cliffs and the numerous sea stacks emerging from the sea.
I must say it was one of the most spectacular trail I have hiked and understand absolutely why it is rated as one of the top 35 trails in North America and Europe.
at the bottom of the trail, we arrive at a rocky beach. Of course Chuck does a great skip rock throw which can not be reproduced for the camera 🙂
We then drive to the lighthouse that we could see from the trail.
It is hard for pictures to render the magnificence of the views and the incredible sounds of the sea crashing against the rocks!! The trail skirted the cliffs much closer than comfortable for Chuck and the hike was fairly stiff but the views at the top were well worth the effort!
Back to our Inn for happy hour at the beautiful lounge upstairs from the dining room where I discover the local seaweed gin and tonic with iceberg ice!! Off for dinner at the marina for more cod.
On day 4, we woke early and left for Bonavista with a stop in Elliston and it was well worth it. First we spent time learning about the sealing way of life and the great tragedy of 1914…what a tough life…
Onward to Puffin island where we walked up to the edge of the hills to be within a stone throw of the island and witnessing puffin nesting and flying…beautiful sighting.
Along the way, we spotted multiples root collars, very hobbit-like…it is the capital of the world for root cellars after all!!
But the cherry on the cake on Sunday awaited us….we continued our trip to Spillar’s Cove and Cable John Cove. After a short walk from the end of the paved road, the vista opens up to an amazing sight!! Cliffs, iceberg, caves and more…I had to sit and take it in. Absolutely beautiful!!
Next stop is the dungeon, a sea cave with a collapsed roof, very neat again…. and a good hike on a road full of potholes 🙂
We then make it to the Cape Shore Trail along the sea to the John Cabot statue to commemorate his discovery of the continent as well as the large Bonavista lighthouse which today is honking constantly for fog.
We come back to Trinity just in time to visit the black smith and the cooperage house. The blacksmith is on duty working and spends time with us to discuss his trade. Very interesting.
Back home for happy hour where we meet a lovely couple from Vancouver and enjoy a nice dinner at the Inn where we meet a very knowledgeable amateur whale photographer from England. A few spots added to our bucket list!
Martine's food and places 