Ottawa: A Day of Gluttony

On my third day in Ottawa, we woke early and leisurely headed out to Le Nordik in Gatineau, Quebec. It was only a 20 min drive from April’s place, but seemed a world away. Nestled in a little forest area, Le Nordik is a rustic outdoor Scandinavian spa retreat. April and I had planned to visit Le Nordik, and it was definitely a high-light of my time in Ottawa. It started, however, with a super long line winding along the inner entrance area. After waiting roughly an hour, we finally made it inside, where April surprised me by purchasing the entire spa day for both of us! Such a nice hostess she is. With robes and towels in hand we headed off to begin our day of relaxation.

During our wait, I watched a video on the preferred “spa-ing” method. First, you spend 10-15 minutes in a hot sauna. Then, you plunge into freezing cold water for 5-10 seconds. Finally, you finish things off with 15 minutes of relaxation. Repeat 3 times for maximum relaxation. Le Nordik has a ton of saunas (dry, aromatherapy, or steam) where you can complete Step 1. We opted for the aromatherapy sauna. As soon as we entered, I immediately started to panic. The steam was so thick and hot that I began to feel claustrophobic. Standing near the entrance, I whispered over and over to April that I didn’t like it! She kept telling me to breathe, and I was panicking like a whiney baby. After a few minutes of standing there like fools, with April trying to calm me down, we sat down on the little benches. It was only after we were in the sauna for a few minutes that I began to realize that it was FULL of people who could see my entire panic-induced episode because we were right by the door! When we realized that, we could not stop laughing. Then when we heard squishy noises that sounded like sweaty flesh moving around, we really could not contain our laughter!

After popping out of the sauna, we dilly-dallied outside where we got super cold. In order to do Step 2 effectively, we needed to get warm again, so we ducked into a nearby dry sauna. After another 10 minutes of that, we walked outside and directly into a freezing cold plunge pool. AHMYGOD it was cold. Frrrrreeeezing cold, we wrapped ourselves up in our fluffy white robes with hoods and padded down to an outdoor fire-pit to warm our feet. We spent the rest of the morning in the hot steam pools, and didn’t duplicate the “cold” part of the experience again.

When we had worked up an appetite, we walked over to the lounge for some lunch. In our robes, we ordered wine and some platters to share. Pure decadence. The fire-places were crackling, the wine was flowing, and the food was delish. It was the life. Seriously.

After lunch we traipsed over to the one of the hot pools, which was the only non-silent area of the spa. In all the other areas there were “guards” with little signs saying “SILENT PLEASE.” on them. How can we have our girl talk when we had to be quiet as mice all day? Yeesh. So rude. Needless to say, by the time we got into the non-quiet pool, we were super talkative and had the guy next to us in stitches as he eavesdropped on our hilarious convos (like April fainting during a C-section). As we floated there, in our wine and food induced comas, the biggest prettiest snowflakes began falling all around us. It was absolutely gorgeous. The trees began to get dusted in snow, and it really made the whole experience feel even more Scandinavian than it already did.

When we finally emerged, April’s robe was gone…including her iPhone. Terror. Panic. Anger. RAGE. Kidding, she handled it all surprisingly well. We made some attempts to track it down, asking people we knew were in the pool with us if they had mistakenly taken the wrong robe, and inquiring at the front desk if anyone had turned it in. No luck. After one more round in the sauna we glumly got ready and left Le Nordik with our bodies relaxed, but our souls a little sad.

That evening, we had dinner at Whalesbone, a cute teensy seafood restaurant located in a nondescript area of Ottawa. I had a variety of oysters to start, followed by the lobster risotto. April had a seafood medley for her app, and then the steak. The service was super slow, and there was an incident with a deep-fried clam shell…but overall the meal was quite good.

My lobster was slightly over-cooked, and when I mentioned it to the waitress, she took it off my bill (which was a big deal, considering it was $45). The rest of the evening we spent watching “The Internship” with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson (horrible movie), and eating candy from the convenience store in April’s building. See? I told you it was a day of gluttony…

October round-up (belated)

You know all those random photos you take on your phone? Well, I like to put them here, at the end of the month, to show the little things that made that month unique. I’m a bit behind on this one, so here goes:

We celebrated Yvonne’s 27th with a dinner at Asian Legend, cocktails at chez McGuire/Kwok, and dancing at Dance Cave. Sandra made an appearance and taught us all how to do her infamous poses.

Chris cooked up some of the best hamburgers I have ever eaten. They had cheese in the middle, sandwiched in the patty, and we made a homemade mayo/ketchup/relish “special sauce” from my Bite Me cookbook. It was SO GOOD. He grilled them up on the rooftop and we ate them, snuggled in hoodies, as we looked out at the twinkling city lights. The next day, I made a left-over one for dins.

I finally got my coveted baby blue cable knit sweater from the Gap! Yay! I also purchased some leopard flats to round out my autumn wardrobe.

On a particularly busy evening, Chris came over with grocery bags laden with ingredients for a fresh chef’s salad. OMGsogood.

I took the train home to Niagara a few times. I absolutely love Niagara in the fall. I especially love the apple orchards, and the gorgeous autumnal displays at the orchard down the street from my parent’s.

Kendra, in anticipation of my arrival home, made me a “snack”. She ran into the kitchen and put an apple and a banana in a little container for me to enjoy when I got back from the train station. Too cute! Love her.

Kendra, Maxx, and I had fun raking up all the little leaves in the front yard, and then jumping in/throwing them all around.

I savoured every walk to and from campus, especially past all the gorgeous red-leafed trees. Autumn was warm and pretty this year.

Speaking of school, check out the photo below of the classroom we have to learn in this year. Yes, those are pews. Yes, those are little bible perches that are too high for anyone to use properly. Ah well, that’s what $28k in tuition will get ya.

Chris and I took the train to Niagara for Thanksgiving. We walked to the orchard, where Chris met his little kitten friend, Juan. I oohed and ahhed over the produce. Doesn’t this place just scream “photoshoot”?

We also went to Grafton for Chris’ family's Thanksgiving. His sister, Candace, hosted at her new house. The following weekend we drove up there again for a charity dance at the local Legion. The harvest moon was STUNNING on our drive up there. It’s hard to tell from the photo below, but it was massive. Chris pulled over so I could get a proper shot on my phone. Candace & Chris, Matt & Vanessa, and Chris & I attended. We drank lots, danced lots, and bid too much on all the silent auction prizes. Whoops. Chris ended up with two group of seven prints and a pack of hockey cards from 1991. #drunkbidding #don’trecommend

Chris’ garden is in full harvest-mode. We picked so many tomatoes, and I was forced to make roasted tomato soups, tomato salads, tomato toast, and tomato casseroles for a couple of weeks! Not complaining! Chris made some green tomato relish with those that hadn’t ripened. We also enjoyed a ton of rainbow Swiss chard, spicy cayenne peppers, baby eggplant, herbs galore (parsley, chives, basil, sage, thyme, rosemary, stevia), bell peppers, garlic, cabbage, and strawberries.

We also received some really good news this month – I’ll be staying in Toronto! I don’t think I’ve ever been happier. I’ll never forget the moment I told Chris. It was one of those special experiences that we’ll remember forever; knowing that I’ll be in the same city as him and having that weight lifted from our shoulders. We finished off the month by carving some pumpkys and roasting up their seeds. All in all, October was fantastic. So full of good friends, good hearty fall food, lots of family time, and some amazing news that we had been waiting for. November, this one will be hard to beat!

Ottawa: Judges, Boutiques, and Snout to Tail Dining

On my second day in Ottawa, April had class in the morning, so I headed downtown to the Supreme Court by myself. I was let up the marble staircase into the wood paneled courtroom at 9:00am. Inside, I watched as the litigators got their pictures taken by proud family members in the audience. To argue a case at the Supreme Court would likely be a career highlight – I can only imagine the hours of preparation, anticipation, and nerves leading up to this day. As we were instructed to rise, 7 of the 9 Supreme Court justices entered the courtroom and took their seats on the red leather high-back chairs. For the next four hours I watched as the litigators made their best arguments and fielded questions from each of the judges. It was, in a word, phenomenal. The case was relevant to what I had learned about in school during my 1L year (but due to a publication ban, I unfortunately can’t write about it). However, I will say that it was so surreal to see those judges whose decisions I have read and re-read for the past three years. I loved watching how the litigators presented their arguments, what issues the judges hung onto, and how they framed their questions. Four hours later, I emerged feeling proud of my chosen profession, and inspired by what I had seen in the courtroom. What an incredible experience.

When I returned home, April and I dug into a yummy charcuterie platter and salad, before getting ready for an afternoon of shopping. She had heard that the Westboro neighbourhood of Ottawa was cute, so we drove there in the cold darkness. While we could definitely see the charm of the area, with its historic old homes, quirky hipster boutiques, and cozy coffee shops, there weren’t long strings of shops to pop in and out of, which required quite a bit of driving around. We especially liked Victoire, a pretty boutique with gorgeous displays (pictured above).

Oh, did I forget to mention that we happened upon an impromptu photo shoot? No big deal. Just some modeling whilst dodging bicycles hurtling down the bike path. #ringring

After touring through most of Westboro, we headed back toward Byward Market, and stopped off at Suzy Q’s, a doughnut place, on the way. April had heard about it, and with only 20 minute before closing, we popped in. Obviously, I cannot eat doughnuts. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the smells of the freshly baked doughnuts that the owner kept bringing out of the oven. Massive trays full of plump doughnuts with thick glazes lined the shelves. Flavours like salted caramel, maple bacon, and raspberry cassis were enough to make my mouth water. April splurged on four different flavours, while I snapped photo after photo of the food I will never eat again…wah. Just kidding, it didn’t bother me at all. Back in April’s jeep, as she took a few bites of her doughnuts, we broke into fits of laughter. April exclaimed, “what kind of friend invites her Celiac friend who is visiting her to go to a doughnut shop, and then eats the doughnuts right in front of her?!?!” Bahahaha. It was hilarious.

For dinner we went to Murray Street, a snout to tail restaurant near the market area. The restaurant itself was warm and cozy, with a rustic vibe to it. I ordered the mussels, followed by the duck confit with quince. April had the “hearts & bone” (beef heart with bone marrow), and then the beef short rib. Just like our meal the night before at Play, everything was spot-on deliciousness. I really really enjoyed my food and will be thinking about that duck for a while. Seriously, the food scene in Ottawa is super impressive. #watchouttoronto

Ottawa: Parliament, the Supreme Court, Obama cookies, and Play

Last week was our November reading week, and in an effort to make the most of my time off, I booked a trip (months in advance) to visit April in Ottawa! Unbelievably, I had never been to Ottawa before. #badCanadian. Not really knowing what to expect, I can say that I was so so so surprised at the beauty and charm of our nation’s capital. I loved it!

I flew with Porter airlines, out of Toronto’s city centre airport. It was my first time flying alone with Porter, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it only takes one hour from my condo until the time I’m sitting at the gate. So efficient.

When I arrived in Ottawa, April took me into the city centre to see Parliament Hill, the Supreme Court of Canada, and the canal. The sun was just going down over the hill, and it was truly the “golden hour” of photographers’ dreams. What a pretty introduction to Ottawa!

We headed straight for the Supreme Court, passing the Parliament buildings and the gorgeous Fairmont Chateau Laurier (the castle above), on the way.

When we arrived at the Supreme Court, we saw an Aboriginal man standing at the top of the imposing granite steps. While our access inside the court was limited to the main foyer area, we learned that I could return the next morning to actually watch a case in progress. As we wandered around the foyer, we saw more Aboriginal people celebrating a case that had just ended. Little did we know that it was the Tshilqot’n nation case that we studied in depth during our first year Property law small group section together. Totally bizarre that that was the case that happened that day.

Excited by the possibility of actually seeing a case the next day, we left happily and headed over to Parliament Hill to soak up the last of the daylight. Honestly, the Parliament building is gorgeous. It is so majestic, traditional, imposing, and downright awe-inspiring. Standing at the gates, looking straight up at the building, must be one of Canada’s prettiest views.

After having a major photo-shoot on the grounds, we weaseled our way inside to watch the House of Commons listening to disrespecting one another. When we had had enough (4 minutes later) we left and headed down to Byward Market. The Market is a cute little part of Ottawa with cobblestone streets, lots of food vendors and cute restaurants, and little shops. It really reminded me of the Fisherman’s Wharf area of San Francisco. April took me to see a random little bakery that has monetized on President Obama’s visit to Ottawa, when he ate one of their cookies. Now all over the bakery are signs saying “home of the Obama cookie!” with pictures of him eating his cookie. Ha!

We grabbed a snack and drink before heading down to Play, a restaurant in the Market where April had made a reservation. Play serves small plates, like tapas, and encourages diners to choose 2 or 3 per meal. The ambiance was cozy and warm, and we had a great time catching up over gluten free potato chips (and bread for April) with some quality wine. The staff were incredibly attentive to my dietary restriction, which made the whole experience that much better. Between April and I, and all our dishes, we had zero misses. Everything was spot on perfection. I’d highly recommend it if you’re ever in Ottawa, and it would be great for a business lunch meeting too!

Having eaten and drank way more than our fair share at Play, April and I headed down to Fat Tuesday’s for some ciders and a duelling piano show. The perfect way to start my vacay in Ottawa. #steaknfrenchfriesreunion