Tour of the Rockies: the Alberta Side

I've been to many great places in Canada before, including the BC coast, Quebec, the Maritimes, Newfoundland and, of course, all over my home province of Ontario. However, I've never taken the time to enjoy what is arguably Canada's most iconic corner: the Canadian Rockies. So this year, with all the hassles associated with crossing the border, Glosette Girl, Margot and I decided it was the perfect time to vacation in the area and see if it lives up to all the hype. My conclusion so far? Yes, yes it does!

We've only explored the Alberta side of the mountains so far, mostly around the three towns of Canmore, Banff and Jasper, Alberta. However, we've already had a great taste of what makes each of them so special. 

Top highlights so far: 

• Floating down the Bow River with some locals.

• The awe-inspiring drive of the Icefield parkway between Banff and Jasper. This is the most beautiful road I've ever driven.

• Swimming in an Alpine lake. To answer the question you're probably thinking about: yes, it is cold!

• Touching the remains of a glacier near Mount Edith Cavell (not super wise of us considering the glacier towering overhead but hey life is for living) 

It's been a great trip so far, but also a poignant one. Coming here is like seeing the impact of climate change in action.

For example, Glosette Girl visited the Athabasca glacier back in 2002 and at the time was able to simply walk up to the glacier and touch it. However, in the 19 years since, the glaicer has retreated so much that that's no longer possible unless you take a paid guided tour.

Another sign of climate change? The thousands of dead pine trees covering the slopes around Jasper - victims of the pine beetle, which didn't used to be able to survive Canada's cold winters. Finally there's the smoke from thousands of forest fires in BC, which is wafting into Alberta. It's not so bad where we are now (in Jasper) but the sky was pretty hazy with smoke when we landed in Calgary. 

None of this takes away from the beauty of the place but it has us a little apprehensive for the next leg of our trip in BC when we'll get a bit closer to the ongoing wildfires. But that's next week's adventure.

More Pizza? Yes Please! Joe's Italian Kitchen

If someone were to ask me what was the one good thing that came out of the pandemic in Ottawa I wouldn't hesitate to answer: patio culture!

We're back in the swing of things these days. A couple of weeks ago Glosette Girl, Margot and I tried Absinthe, which has opened up a hidden courtyard patio. More recently we visited Joe's Italian Kitchen.

I have to admit, my expectations weren't that high for good ol' Joe's. Maybe it's because the main thing on the menu is pizza and there's only so much you can do with pizza...or so I thought.

Unlike most pizza places in Ottawa, Joe's actually serves pinsa, not pizza. Pinsa dough is made with a blend of sourdough, rice, soy and wheat flour. And trust me when I tell you, it tastes amazing! It's lighter and fluffier than normal pizza dough, even thin crust pizza.

According to their website, Joe's Italian Kitchen (which operates a few restaurants in this area) is Canada’s first certified Pinsaria. And their desserts weren't too shabby either. In fact, after a small mistaken with Glosette Girl's order, they kindly gave us her dessert for free.

Free dessert? Yes, please!

Something that I also enjoyed about our experience was that we were able to take Margot. In the past we've been pretty limited in terms of what type of restaurants we think Margot will enjoy. Lately, however, we've thrown caution to the wind and are trying all sorts of new places. 

We're not quite ready for a 12-course meal at Atelier but we're making progress!

Happy Stores List vs. Less Happy List

Whenever I see one of these types of businesses or stores open in the neighbourhood I'm super excited:

• Pub
• Cafe 
• Restaurant
  
• Bookstore (not too likely these days, but you never know!)
• Funky clothing store 
• Bakery (even though we have a couple nearby, I just love the smell)
  

Hmmm that list makes me look a bit gentrified...

Anyways, in contrast, I'm more or less disappointed when I see one of the following is joining my neck of the woods:

• Chain fast food restaurant (don't get me wrong, I like fast food... but mostly when I'm road trippin')
  
• Hair dresser (we have too many!)
• Drug store (we have a couple in the area, plus it's kindof dull)
• Marijuana store (again, way too many around here)
  
• Car dealership or repair shop (another boring shop....but essential of course. So as long as one sticks around, I'm happy!) 
• Gym (I like the gym, but again, I just don't feel it adds joy to the neighbourhood)
  

So I was less than thrilled this summer when one of the few new businesses that opened up on our street was an esthetician "lounge". It's not that I don't value estheticians, but for me, personally, I don't find they don't add any life to the streets. 

So while I'm happy that all the empty storefronts around here are starting to fill up, I hope that a couple more businesses on my "happy list" will soon open up and bring some action to the 'hood!

Givin' Away some Greens

The Parkdale Food Centre, our local Hintonburg food bank, recently started a cool new initiative: they have installed a fridge outside their property that anyone can use to drop off fresh food. At the same time, anyone who is hungry can open the fridge and take whatever they want, no questions asked.

It's a really cool idea that I think de-stigmatizes food banks a bit while ensuring that food doesn't go to waste. 

In Canada, about 29.4 million kgs of food is wasted every year. That's crazy! Personally, one of my biggest pet peeves is wasting food. The problem is that I like eating a variety of things. So I'm frequently buying fresh herbs and veggies but only using about 2/3 of what I buy. Recycling the food I don't eat is OK I suppose, but giving it away is so much better.

Today I am happy to say that I took advantage of the outdoor fridge. I dropped off two baby bok choys that I didn't use after I whipped up a stir-fry. I know for a fact that if I had kept them they would go straight into the green in. This way, there is at least a fightin' chance that some asian food lover out there will put them to good use.

Make room for the 'choy!

Thank you Parkdale Food Centre for thinking outside the box!