Canada Day Recap

If you can't be in Canada on it's Dominion Day then the next best place to be is London. Specifically Trafalgar Square (Canada House is conveniently located beside the square). Seriously.

There is such a huge expat group in London and so many Canadian appreciators that, you can't help but have a great time. Festivities start at 10:30 with booths set up and more importantly pancake breakfast. If you aren't one of the lucky ones to get an invite to Canada House for their own pancake breakfast, you can buy your own for a small fee from the French Canadian Pop-up Kitchen. They had real maple syrup and real bacon.

Totally meant for the blur.

While enjoying your breakfast you can watch round robin series of hockey games. 

They even had real poutine there, truly they did, I saw with my own peepers, but they sold out of the dairy gold (cheese curd) and had to resort to shredded cheese. 

The Maple Leaf aka. the Canadian bar, is not too far from the square and they were set up all day with their own activities and fun. I stopped in here to have a Caesar and sing "O' Canada" several times (5, we sang it 5 times.)

And this happened.

via

I wore my most Canadian attire and sported some great headgear sent to me by my mum. They were a big hit all around (albeit a bit dangerous).

The day's festivities end with a concert, one that had been talked about for weeks prior. The line up was; The Arkells, Jan Arden, The Sheepdogs, and The Tragically Hip. If you don't know who some or any of these people/groups are, that's alright, but go educate yourself. Now. Here's a link to Spotify. 

Go.

Fun travels!

Happy Canada Day: Hey there, Monday!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!

A special Currently Reading List, themed for Canada!

My fave London mag talks Canada Day.
The official Canada Day International
And various videos; here, here and here



Fun travels!

Curd Cheese and a Countdown to Canada Day

Canada Day is next week and it's kind of a big deal here in England. Not only is there a massive concert and party at Trafalgar square July 1st (already have the day booked off from work), but there is tons of build up leading to the big day. Through the Canadian Meetup group I've mentioned before, I attended a Canadian themed dinner at the Potato Merchant located on Exmouth Market. 

The owner of the restaurant decked out the place in Canadian paraphernalia and even played classic Canadian tunes (BNL woooo!).

On menu was Caesars, poutine and butter tarts (they called them Butter Cakes, aw bless). I started out with a Caesar and dang was it good. In an attempt to quench my Caesar thirst I've resorted to ordering Bloody Mary's, but they just aren't doing it for me.

Next came the Poutine. I had such high hopes, but alas it was not to be. For those of you who do not know a poutine, the great French Canadian dish, consists of fries, gravy and cheese curd. Unfortunately, after much effort on the owner's part, these fries were served with curd cheese. You might be thinking, big deal, the order of the words are different, but that can't make all that much difference, but you would be wrong my friend. 

So very, very wrong.

Cheese curds in cuisine, or cooking, are the solid parts of soured milk either eaten alone or used in various regional dishes, mostly in Quebec (Canada) and the northeastern and midwestern United States. They are sometimes referred to as "squeaky cheese" via

Quark is a type of fresh dairy product. It is made by warming soured milk until the desired degree of denaturation of milk proteins is met, and then strained.Dictionaries usually translate it as curd cheese or cottage cheese. via

There was no squeak.

Although we were very disappointed by the lack of poutine, the fries and gravy were still very good. I still however opted not to order the Butter 'Cake' and went with a Lemon Drizzle Cake instead. And then ate it faster than I could get a photo. 

What are your plans for Canada Day? 

If you are in London, then come down to Trafalgar Square and join in on the festivities!

Fun travels!