Oot and Aboot in Canada Eh! – Day Eight

I looked out the window this morning and thought “Yes!!! It’s not raining! I can walk!”
So I went outside in my “Aussie” winter gear, not realising that the sun does not always mean warmth here in Canada. Especially true when there’s a fierce wind blowing.

As I stepped out I immediately thought “This is a mistake” but I obstinately continued.

Five minutes later I broke into a jog to try to warm up and wondered at what temperature frost bite was an issue. If I had worn gloves, it would have been a whole lot better but I’m not sure I even own a pair of gloves!

When I finally got back hubby said he was about to get in the car and come look for me. I admitted that I almost called him from the local supermarket. They have wifi there and I’m travelling without international roaming so I’m not always contactable.

In any case, it all worked out and I warmed up with a couple of coffees as soon as I got back to the house.

We decided to drive out to Lockport today. I’ve been told a bit about Lockport and the Skinners that is located there and apparently a Winnipeg tradition.

I didn’t realise that Lockport was only a small location.

I was expecting a holiday type destination.
A place to take the family when you have a day off.

Still, I saw the Skinners there and after hubby described it as a Winnipeg tradition I thought I have to try that! There’s actually two down there. One on the highway and another  on the water (the original)

It looked so cute inside too!! And the lady who served us was just so nice.

We asked her recommendation for what to eat and she said they were known for their hotdogs so we got that. She asked if we wanted them with the works and we said yes! of course!

Turns out “the works” means with mustard, relish and 3 slivers of chopped onion.

They tasted not bad but I don’t know if they were worth the trip. And look at that Diet Dr Pepper with the exact amount of 591 ml in there. That was pretty funny.

We did have a look at their arcade room which seemed like a cool idea.

I probably would have had a better time if I’d actually put some quarters in there.

We had family coming by the house this afternoon so we stopped in at Tim Hortons to pick up some sweets. We didn’t know that there was already going to be a dozen Tim Horton donuts when we got back home so with our 50 Tim Bits, there was quite a selection of sweets!

And to top off our junk food day, we stopped in at A&W for dinner. We’d seen them advertising a Bison Burger for a limited time and just wanted to try it.

The burgers tasted fine. No different to any other meat burger I thought, but a lot heavier mustard taste than I’m used to.

Lastly, I’m happy to say, with one more day to go, I’ve found there is a working treadmill in the basement so I won’t have to battle the cold AND/OR potentially aggressive geese in the morning when I want to walk! Better late than never

So for now, beware of Canadian Geese and Goodnight and Bonne Nuit!

Greece is the Word – Day Seven

Every evening I tell myself “I’m going to sleep in tomorrow” yet every morning I’m up as soon as the sun starts to come up. I can’t help it. I can hear movement outside, I knew the day is fresh and new and I just want to be a part of it.

It is no different here in Nafpaktos. We’re so close to the water we can smell that salty air and it’s so enticing.

We walked straight to the waters edge and continued along the coast to the area where the restaurants face the water. Even though it was early there were still people in the water or enjoying a cup of coffee at the tables.

I took a photo of the pebbles we were walking on. It looks so pretty and is so different to anything we have in Australia.

As part of our walk, we discovered this cute little bakery that made the BEST spanokopita.

That spinach filling was just so full of flavour and cheesy creamy. It was just delicious. We tried to go back for me to take on our journey today but she’d sold out. I almost cried real tears.

We took our spanokopita back to the beach area and found a bench to sit on while we waited for the rest of our group. As we sat there, a couple of cats started to gather round. Normally, when you’re at the beach with food it’s seagulls that start to circle you! Here it’s cats.

And if you’re wondering, yes we did share with them. When they meow so tragically you really have no choice!

After a Greek Coffee or two, we did a bit of last minute Nafpaktos Tourist shopping before heading up to the castle once again. This time it was open!

It’s such an interesting place.
There’s tons of information on the internet if you’re interested but for us it was just something to think about the people who had walked the same steps we had walked in history. Thinking about when this was a working castle and the jobs people were doing.
There are also amazing views of the coast from up there and yes, it does seem as high up as it looks!

We left Nafpaktos and headed for a village where there was more family waiting to see us. The drive was going to take us through windy hilly roads again. I’m not a fan.

It’s gorgeous scenery though and the hills and mountains are dotted with wind turbines.

It’s also not uncommon to be stopped by cattle… This happened to us more than once on our journey today!

We didn’t get to the mountain village until well after 4pm. Hubby hadn’t met his relatives before and it was all very special and emotional. We don’t speak Greek and only one of their party spoke English so the translating took a little while but it didn’t matter. It was lovely to spend the time together.
I took some photos from their balcony as the views they have are just breath taking.

They wanted us to share a meal with them so we stayed and talked about old times while eating what they had prepared. Most of what we were having had been grown on their land/property. Even the goat (I’m almost sad to say? Just quietly, it was soooo tasty!)

This is by no means everything but there was Greek salad with home produce (the tomatoes were just so sweet!) potatoes, zucchini and feta cheese made from the milk of their own goats.

Everything was just too delicious! I ate way more than I should have just because I needed to taste more!

You may also notice the wine on the table, that was made by them as well.

Time was really moving on now and we were conscious of the long drive back to Athens, but they asked us if we wanted to see their farm. They had to go there to feed the animals.
How could we say no?

We drove down a treacherous dirt path to get to it. I don’t know how these people use these roads every day…

Everything we saw at the farm was interesting and new.
From the goats to the cows with their baby calf.

We watched the cows feeding. I tried to take some photos but they moved back as we got close.

Unfortunately hubby is allergic so we had to go and wait in the car but the kids in our group were able to watch the goats being milked and had a go at doing it themselves too! Now that’s an experience they wouldn’t get at school.

Again, the views from the farm are just breathtaking. I seem to be saying that a lot!

Everything took much longer than anticipated and we didn’t get back to their house until well after 10.30pm. They begged for us to stay rather than drive back down that awful road with minimum light but we just wanted our own beds and clean clothes so we left.

We didn’t get back to Athens until after 2.30am.

For the record, I have had my life time share of treacherous road driving.

And now, it’s definitely time for bed.
Kalinychta until tomorrow when hopefully, I will be sleeping in…