Brisbane & The Machine

Location: Brisbane, Australia
Address:  Brisbane City Botanic Gardens
Date: May 2012
Website:  www.brisbane.qld.gov.au

  We found ourselves walking around Brisbane in the evening while we were in Australia.  The first night we were looking for somewhere good to eat.  We headed south and ended up at the Queen Street Mall.  It is a pedestrian only road with many stores and restaurants.  It also has a pixel light display above one portion of the street.  We were looking for somewhere nice to sit and relax and enjoy a meal after a long day.

  One restaurant caught our eye.  It had a familiar logo.  This is Hungry Jack's and is the Australian franchise of Burger King.  Another hamburger chain was already operating as Burger King when the American company decided to expand down under so a different name was chosen.  We didn't really feel like a Whopper so we continued our search.

  We turned around and there were people enjoying dinner on a balcony.  A little rainbow lead the way upstairs.  This is Jo-Jo's and we decided to check it out.

  We were given a number card on a stand.  We were told to put it on our table and then we could go to the stations to choose what we wanted to eat.  You had to pay at the stations and then someone would bring your food to you back at your table.  This was the first time we encountered this service, but it was common in many places around Australia.  We enjoyed our dinner and then took a stroll around Brisbane.

  The next night we didn't try too hard to find a new place to eat.  It was back to Jo-Jo's.  This time we ended up on the balcony and held card number 11.  We now knew how the routine worked.  After dinner we went for a little walk again.

  We walked out of the restaurant and noticed a lot of people headed south along Albert Street. We decided to head south as well.  We were curious where everyone was going.  As we walked we noticed more and more people.  Soon we reached the gates of the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens.

We decided to follow the crowds into the park and see where they would lead us.  It was very dark in the gardens and we could barely see the strange trees around us.  Maybe they were doing fireworks in the river? 

  We went deeper into the gardens.  Some people rushed past us.  On the edge of the garden was an old building.  This is Old Government House.  It was built in 1862 and was Queensland's first public building.  We went a little further and could hear music.  Then we were at the gates of the Riverstage.  This was the end of the line for us and we would wonder no more.  The tables selling merchandise told us that British act Florence & the Machine were playing a concert that night.  Mystery solved.  We do enjoy the band's music and would have loved to stay for a show, but we had another busy day planned tomorrow and no tickets.  Instead we fought our way back against the flow of Florence fans and past Jo-Jo's one last time

---

Map of Our World
Wintergarden
Hungry Jack's (Brisbane) , Jo-Jo's
Brisbane City Botanic Gardens
Old Government House

---

Post # 221

Jacka Bakery

Location: Plymouth, England 
Address:  38 Southside Street
Date: Sept 2015
Website:  www.facebook.com/JackaBakery

  Jacka Bakery in Plymouth, England claims to be the oldest commercially working bakery in all of Great Britain.  It dates back to 1597 and has been baking since at least 1610.  That is over 400 years of history.

   Up the street from the bakery is the Plymouth Gin Distillery.  It is only half as old as the bakery and has operated since 1793.  It was formerly Black Friars Distillery.

 

  The bakery has seen many owner changes through the centuries.  It used to be the Fone's Bakery for many years.  One thing that has not changed is the brick oven at the back of the bakery.  Above are two photos of the oven.  The top one is from 2015 and the bottom one from 2007.  The oven is cast with this description.

Bird

Bricklayer & Oven Builder

Bennets Row Blackfriers Road 

  Next door to Jacka Bakery is Harbourside Fish & Chips where we also enjoyed a meal while visiting Plymouth.  At Jacka's we ate traditional Cornish pasties.   These baked pastries were filled with beef, potatoes, turnip and onions.  These days there are several variations available. 

  We also took home some biscuits to enjoy later.  It is rumoured that Jacka Bakery baked biscuits for the Pilgrim's voyage on the Mayflower in 1620.   The Mayflower set sail from Plymouth harbour just a short walk away from the bakery.   It took the Mayflower almost two months to complete her journey.  We hope Jacka's baked them a lot of biscuits.

---

Map of Our World
Jacka Bakery , Harbourside Fish & Chips
Plymouth Gin Distillery , Mayflower Steps

---

Post # 216

Mavrovouni Dining

Location: Mavrovouni, Greece
Address: Mavrovouni 232 00
Date: Aug 2015

  There is no shortage of restaurants in Greece.  To get yourself a good meal you can usually just walk into any one you please.  This blog is about some of the restaurants in the area of a small village called Mavrovouni.  It is also not so much about the food, but the dining experiences.

  The beach area is a popular tourist destination.  Everyone wants to enjoy a meal while watching the waves of the Mediteranean Sea.  Hotels and restaurants line the road that runs the length of the beach.

  One place that we chose to eat was Ammos Restaurant.  Its blue chairs and checkered tablecloths sit in the shade of the covered patio.  Aside from good food, it has another feature that is very common in Greece.  Cats.

  As soon as we sat down, we knew that we were being watched.  A scan around revealed that feline eyes were spying on us from behind planters or from the bushes.  They were watching in hopes that some scraps would fall to the floor.  Once in a while they would walk past in hopes that they might entice you to drop something for them to eat.

  A small kitten came up to us and tried to use its cuteness to score some scraps.  While we did admit that it was cute we still did not part with our meals.  The kitten became more and more aggressive and less cute.

  We managed to finish our meals with minimal feline interference.  The small kitten was not pleased.

  The next morning we enjoyed some crepes at STILVI cafe.  It is near the main road away from the beach.  The crepes were delicious and the collection of coloured chairs on their patio were delightful.  It looked just like a postcard.  There were no cats in sight.

  We traveled further down the beach that evening.  The mountains were different shades of blue across the water.

  We walked until we decided upon a restaurant.  We went inside.   Little did we expect that we would  have an unusual dining companion this evening.  We had to do a double take as at the table next to us was a chicken.  It sat there quietly during our meal and only stood up once or twice to look around.  We did not see it eat anything while it was there, but whatever it did eat would have been the chicken dinner.
 Always an interesting dining experience in a small village by the sea.

---

Map of Our World
Ammos , STILVI cafe

---

Post # 197

Canadian National Exhibition

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  210 Princes' Blvd.
Date: August 2013
Website: theex.com

 The Canadian National Exhibition (C.N.E.) is one of the largest fairs in North America.  It started in 1879 as the Toronto Industrial Exhibition and later the name was changed.  The C.N.E. only runs for 18 days each August until Labour Day weekend where it finishes off with the air show.  It is a great place for rides, food, music, shopping, farm animals and entertainment.  We almost never miss making a visit to the fair each year.  Below are some of our favourite things from The Ex.

The Princes' Gates

  If you enter the fair from the east side, these gates welcome you.  Princes' Blvd. starts at the gates and then cuts right through the center of the C.N.E. grounds. (Read More)

CNE Midway

  The Midway fills Princes' Blvd. with food stands and rides.  You can use the Sky Ride cable car to get a birds eye view of it all or you can choose to join the crowd eating gooey, drippy treats and then trying to hold them down while getting spun around on classic rides such as the Polar Express.

The Food Building

  If you have not had enough to eat after leaving the Midway, you can always make your way over to the Food Building.  Here you will find rows and rows of food vendors ready to please any taste buds.

The Farm

The Farm building has your usual farm animals such as sheep, cows, horses, pigs and more.  It also has a large refrigerated container full of a collection of butter sculptures.

  There are often more unusual animals such as ostrich or alpacas.  The alpaca above had been freshly sheared and was rocking his new hairstyle.

Rock Balancing

  Speaking of rocks.  Daryl Maddeaux has been defying gravity at the C.N.E. for almost two decades.  Somehow he manages to build towers from rocks of varying shapes and sizes. Read More

Sand Sculptures

  If sculptures of butter are not enough for you, there are usually giant sand sculptures as well.  Star Wars and Star Trek have been featured in recent years along with other creations such as this woman riding a tired rhinoceros.

Agriculture

  Who has the best tomatoes?  The Exhibition also features agricultural competitions.  In 2013 the best tomatoes were these pictured above.

Performances

 

  There are always daily shows happening all around the C.N.E.  The hard part is planning your day to fit them all in.  The SuperDogs show is always popular as various breeds compete in obstacle course races.  Other acts such as the Flying Wallendas risk it all to entertain the crowds.

Mardi Gras Parade

  Near the end of the day a Mardi Gras parade passes through the grounds with floats and music.  People scramble to collect the Mardi Gras beads tossed from the floats.

Canadian International Air Show

 
  The last weekend of The Ex sees the Air Show come to town.  CF-18 Hornets rip through the sky and a sonic wave follows behind them turning heads.  The whole thing wraps up with the acrobatic formations of the Snowbirds.

Let's go to The Ex.  Oh Baby!

---

Map of Our World
Canadian National Exhibition , CNE Midway
Princes' Gates
CNE (Better Living Center)
CNE Food Building

---

Post # 187

Canada Coast To Coast

1. British Columbia
2. Alberta
3. Saskatchewan
4. Manitoba
5. Ontario
6. Quebec
7. New Brunswick
8. Prince Edward Island
9. Nova Scotia
10. Newfoundland

  This year Canada is celebrating its 150th year of Confederation.  We are lucky enough to have seen the country from coast to coast.  We have been to all ten provinces and even touched the tidal waters of Nunavut from Churchill, Manitoba.  The territories are on our travel wish list.  Below is a list of just one of our favourite things from each province.

1 ) British Columbia

BC has the animals, the Pacific Ocean and so much more. One of our favourite things was tea at The Empress Hotel in Victoria. Read More

2 ) Alberta

Alberta shares the Rocky Mountains with BC, but Alberta has Jasper, Banff and Lake Louise.  We fell in love with the snow capped mountains. Read More.

3 ) Saskatchewan

Yes it is flat, but the fields with rolls of hay and the blue skies have a feel all their own.  It also seemed to have a never ending sunset as we drove westward. Read More

4 ) Manitoba

This is the furthest north we have ever been in Canada.  Our favourite thing in Manitoba is the polar bears of Churchill. Read More.

5 ) Ontario

We spend most of our time in the province of Ontario.  Algonquin Park is our favourite place to really get away from it all. Read More.

6 ) Quebec

Hotel de Glace is built each winter just outside of Quebec City.  We spent a night inside this palace of ice. Read More.

7 ) New Brunswick

The Hopewell Rocks are formed by the high tidal fluctuations that occur in the area.  You can walk down beneath the unusual rocks and 6 hours later the water has returned and filled everything back in. Read More.

8 ) Prince Edward Island

Our brief two day visit to PEI was 48 hours of rain.  We did enjoy getting to and from the island.  First we drove across the marvel that is Confederation Bridge and then we saw the red soil when we left on a ferry.  We will return.  Read More.

9 ) Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia has Peggy's Cove and Cape Breton Island.  One of our best days in the province was spent at the Halifax Public Gardens. Read More.

10 ) Newfoundland

Iceberg Alley passes right around the top of Newfoundland.  We were lucky to see these gigantic 10,000 year old pieces of glacial ice as they floated in the Atlantic Ocean. Read More.

Ten provinces and ten wonderful memories.  

HAPPY 150th BIRTHDAY CANADA !!

---

Map of Our World
Banff Gondola , Saskatchewan , Hopewell Rocks Park , Halifax Public Gardens , Witless Bay
Empress Hotel , Hotel De Glace , Confederation Bridge
Tundra Buggy Tour , Algonquin Park (Lake Opeongo)

---

Post # 181