Montreal, Canada –
A ritual.
I ordered a tea that came with a ritual.
I wasn’t expecting this.
Not that I knew what to expect.
In fact, none of this was what I expected.
After all, we’re in Old Montreal, not the Oriental Quarter.
Yes, we’re still reasonably close to the Oriental Quarter, but far enough away that we don’t expect to come across a Chinese teashop, just past what looks like an Antique Christmas shop.
But come across it we did.
And in we went.
Guanacaste, Costa Rica –
As I sat down at the table, the waiter came over to get my drink order.
“Dos cafes, por favor.”
He looked at me like I had grown a third head. Or at least a second.
I decided to switch to English.
“Two coffees, please.”
This he understood.
Maybe it was because my Spanish was bad, so bad he didn’t have a clue what I was saying.
Maybe it was because Dore had made a beeline for the buffet, before I had secured us a table, and thus was nowhere to be seen.
He thought I was alone.
I’ll never know the reason he gave me that look, all I can do is guess, because once he understood what I was asking for, he was the epitome of excellent service.
Napa, CA –
This is the life!
A glass of wine, a bite of food…
And someone else to do the driving.
I can see a couple of issues with touring wineries in the Napa Valley area.
Since I’m not from around there, I don’t know where the good ones are to go to for tours and tastings.
And since they involve drinking alcoholic beverages, driving might be an issue.
At least after visiting two or three.
Of course, I could just take advantage of an available spit bucket, and only taste the wine without swallowing it.
But where’s the fun in that?
Continue reading A Day Amongst The Vines – Touring the Napa Wineries
Paris, France –
The men were angry and taking it out on the poor delivery driver. What was he thinking? He had tried to cross the wrong parade! Or at least, at the wrong time, right in front of the fish griller craft (or whatever they might be called). As a result, the men had grabbed several fish off their grill, and were rubbing them all over the windshield and side windows of the delivery van. Any spot of glass was soon completely covered with freshly grilled fish oil.
This would never have happened at any parade I’ve seen in the states-always large productions with barricades to prevent traffic, and the spectators kept separated from the participants.
