Ottawa, ON

Back in December I made my very first trip to the Great White North. My company sponsored our first ever Canadian User Conference and I was one of the lucky trainers selected to go to Ottawa in the middle of winter. Aside from the freezing cold I really liked Ottawa and Canadians in general.

Since I was there for a conference, I only really left the hotel once. Most of what I know about Ottawa I learned from my cab driver. Apparently in winter the river totally freezes over and the city hosts skating races, a winter festival, and all kinds of “funtivities.” I did not get to see any of this. I did catch a glimpse of the Parliament building which was amazingly beautiful.

The night before the conference I did go out to eat at an amazing restaurant in Ottawa called Giovanni’s. It is located in the Little Italy section of the city and was by far the best Italian food I have ever had. I kept trying to find a way to sneak back to Giovanni’s but I was too busy and exhausted to make a break for it. I had the “Pappardelle con Porcini” which I still occasionally reflect on as the ideal pasta dish. The noodles were fresh, and the cream sauce was sparingly added so the dish wasn’t too heavy, and there was just the right amount of mushroom flavor. To be perfectly honest, I am rooting for another trip to Ottawa just to go to Giovanni’s again.

I found out after I ate at Giovanni’s (thanks to some of our conference attendees) that the owner was arrested about a week before I arrived for being involved in a drug-smuggling operation and gangsterism. Yikes, talk about an Italian cliché. Check out the article.

One more noteworthy item – Canadians know how to party. I was really impressed that as a collective they drank all of my colleagues under the table and still held coherent conversations about law enforcement, hockey, universal healthcare, and Canadian politics. If you want to party with the best just visit our neighbors to the north.

Next Trip – Orlando, FL

Thanksgiving in Sacramento

I hadn’t planned on going home to California for Thanksgiving, but all the stars and planets aligned and the trip came together flawlessly. I love Thanksgiving. I love food. I love watching Food Network obsessively for 2 weeks before the holiday. I love having an eating strategy that I spend hours perfecting. Thanksgiving is awesome.

I also need to talk about how much I love JetBlue. It is a great airline because they have tons of DirectTV channels, give you snacks, and free sodas (unlike some airlines – you know who you are). The only issue that I have with JetBlue is that they don’t fly everywhere I need to go. Now US Airways…

Thanksgiving was relatively uneventful. The trip was so brief that I didn’t get to see a lot of my friends. I did try to prepare a few items for the big feast. My cranberry sauce turned out well, but my green bean casserole (which I made from scratch –thank you Alton Brown) didn’t turn out well. It isn’t Alton’s fault, as I have made the dish successfully before, but I didn’t cook the beans enough and I burned the fried onions. Snafus aside, Thanksgiving dinner rocked my world. Jody, every year you out do yourself. It was also great to see so many of my cousins and their children. Every time I go home it always hits me how much I really miss California.

Next trip – Ottawa, ON