Annapolis Valley in Late Summer

We took advantage of a gorgeous late summer day to go blueberry picking in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia on the weekend. 

First stop was lunch at the Port Pub in Port Williams, where we tried a couple of their house brews. Can you guess what fruit was used to flavour my wheat?

After fueling up with beer and burgers (lamb, veggie) at the Port Williams' Port Pub on the river, we headed to Blueberry Acres:

The sun was shining, the air was gentle. We were there on a Sunday, so the bushes hadn't quite recovered (perhaps) from Saturday picking but it still took no time at all to fill our buckets...

Jeff took a Vine to sum up the experience:

12 pounds of fruit-picking later...

Jam, jam, pies, more jam? What to do with all this bounty?!

Dramatic Halifax Skyline

Clouds added lovely drama late afternoon looking at the Halifax skyline along the harbour as the ferry came along. 

It has been unseasonably humid for early September, this is weather we might have expected in August, but it makes things feel quite summery nonetheless!

Sumertime on the Halifax Harbour

A morning ferry ride this week:

The Halifax harbour is outstanding for boat-watching.

Ferries come and go:

Sailboats cruise by and the clouds were lovely today too.

Cuba - Intro

We had been looking for a week-ish-long jaunt option within a flight or two that would let us really get away without taking all day to travel there. One Saturday morning I picked up the travel section of the Globe and Mail and read a question to the concierge about how to see Cuba without staying on an all-inclusive resort. BOOM! The idea was born. A half dozen public library guidebooks and two sets of latin american Spanish language CDs later, we headed south.

Looking for some adventure, a totally different culture, possibly a good mojito or two, and a break from a very hectic fall, we headed for Cuba from November 5-12, 2013. We could not have anticipated what an unusual place Cuba is - if you venture off the resorts. We spent three nights in Habana vieja, a night in the French colonial town of Cienfuegos, two nights in the Spanish colonial sugar trading hilltop town of Trinidad, and a night in Varadero on the north coast before flying out.