Monday, July 23, 2007

You can't always believe what you hear.
I've heard from numerous sources that Edmonton is a boring, quiet, little city in Northern Alberta with nothing much to do and nothing much going on.
My response?
Far from the truth.
I'm starting to learn about Edmonton and everything I learn brings me farther and farther away from that truth. First of all, no one in Montreal, the supposedly "sinful city", has ever asked me to smoke weed with them. Well no, there was that one time on St. Catherine's Street East...but that's a bad neighborhood. And the guy offered to sell me weed, not share a joint with me. This occurrence, in Edmonton, happened in a quiet suburb close to the University of Alberta.
I had to get that out of the way first.
Now, on to other things. Besides having drunkards in the suburbs yelling at 2 am. and this being supposedly the "Murder Capital of Canada" and there having just been a fire involving a whole new suburban development and guys throwing burning sofa cushions into hallways of apartment buildings...it's a fairly nice little city.
West Edmonton Mall is a whole mecca of things unimaginable. Everything one needs is in that mall. Lodging, food, entertainment, shopping...oh the shopping. The sales have persuaded me to buy a large number of quite useful articles like shoes and shirts and more shirts and some shoes...and a bag...I've seen the sea lion show and the flamingos preening and had a lovely White Peach Bellini at Moxie's. I even hear there's a penguin on the premises although that may be just a rumor.
The tastes of Edmonton festival is still going on where almost forty restaurants from all over Edmonton set up tents in a downtown square and sell small samples of food. The point I guess is to be able to sample food from all these different restaurants without having to actually visit the places for dinner. My #1 favorite dish would have been the Stuffed Mushrooms with 3 Cheeses and Tarragon Sauce from The Gas Pump. #2: Butternut Squash and Maple Soup from Mayfield Inn and Suites. It was buttery and creamy and wonderful. There were other things. Scones with whipped cream and berry sauce with strawberries, lobster and shrimp rotini, frozen chocolate dipped banana, cheese empanadas, jambalayas, tandoori chicken, bacon wrapped scallops, the list goes on and on.
I could talk about the Capital Ex festival and Whyte Ave. and the Muttart Conservatory but for now, this is enough blogging.

Change of travel plans:
Greyhound from Edmonton on August 18th to Calgary.
Catch flight out of Calgary International Airport on 20th to La Guardia International Airport, New York City.
Flight from Newark Liberty Airport, New Jersey on August 26th to San Diego International Airport via stopover in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Flight from San Diego International Airport on September 2nd to Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport, Montreal via stopover in Washington DC.

I can't wait to catch some beach time during my week in California.