Oh Canada Week: Banff, Alberta

So I'm sure almost everyone has heard of Banff, out in the Rocky Mountains in Alberta. Known for its stuning views of the mountains, the famous Banff Springs Hotel and its proximity to ski hills, and other outdoor activities.

My list for Oh Canada week on Travel Nutsy, had to include this town, I've seen my mother cry twice when on vacation, once when we were leaving Orlando, Florida, the second on our way into Banff, its as if the mountains slap you across the face and announce "you're here".

Banff is the perfect vacation spot, since there is something for everyone, shopping along Banff Avenue, to skiing, and just taking in the mountains. One of my favorite things to do there is soak in the natural hot springs, this is a must when you're in Banff.

Growing up, we were very very very lucky to stay in the now "fairmont" hotels across Canada. I would naturally suggest the Banff Springs Hotel when visiting Banff, even for just a night. Its worth the splurge, completely, you won't regret it. It is one of my favorite Fairmont's, and when at one of the hotels, promise me you'll order the Clubhouse Sandwich, because it will blow your mind. There is nothing overly fancy about the sandwich by any means, but its done right. Fairmont beds are also luxurious, so much so, that I found out what brand they were and now I sleep on the exact same bed.

TRAVEL EXPERIENCE: When at Banff Springs Hotel, rent some skates, you can do this at the hotel, at night, trek down a ton of stairs to the pond (Bow River). And admist a flood light from an adjacent building you'll be skating surrounding trees. Breathing in the crisp mountain air. Yeah this has to be in my top 5 travel experiences, hands down.

Oh Canada Week: Tide Head, New Brunswick

I was born in lovely New Brunswick, out on Canada's East Coast, subsequently I spent a lot of time there, visiting my family. There is one place that will always stand out for me, is a small town in Northern New Brunswick named Tide Head. To get to this area of New Brunswick you will have to fly into Bathurst, and rent a car and drive to Campbellton (more on their Salmon Festival later, and one of the best fried chicken places ever). You are literally across the bridge from the Gaspe region of Quebec in this neck of New Brunswick.


So Tide Head has an amazing beach, on the Restigouche River, granted its a rock based beach, but the scenery is stunning, and you can launch canoes out of there. Its a great "off the beaten" path kind of beach, and peaceful, I highly recommend canoeing out there, you will feel like its just you and the water.


So this area of New Brunswick is is extremely famous for its Salmon fishing, celebrities/politicial figures from both sides of the border come up and rent cabins to do some fishing. Which leads me into the best festival ever, the Salmon Festival in Campbellton New Brunswick, trust me the salmon in this part of the Country is the best.


Travel Tip: When in Campbellton, run don't walk to Dixie Lee Chicken, now I realize you can find this restuarant in some small towns in Ontario, and probably in other provinces, but I have yet to have better fried chicken. I mean is it healthy? No, but you're on vacation live a little !!!

Oh Canada Week: Sooke, British Columbia

View of the USA from Sooke's shores.

Sooke, British Columbia is about an hour drive west of Victoria. I have some family that live there, and was lucky to have visited in 2009. I had read about the natural beauty and cuisine for a few years about this part of Canada. Upon arriving in Sooke, my first words out of the car was a comment about how fresh the air was. I've traveled a lot, and never had I breathed such fresh air. I loved how you felt like you so far from any city, but in reality you are only about an hour away from Victoria. Sooke is such a naturally stunning town, it literally takes your breath away.

Sooke shoreline

Now I must say I am lucky, my cousin who lives there happens to be an amazing chef, and I had one of the best meals of my life there, and it was just a New Years Day meal at my family's house. But now everyone is lucky, you can all taste my family's food, at the Kemp Lake Store Cafe. And the awesome thing, they serve gluten free food, which funny enough is going to be an added focus on this blog, as I just found out I'm now allergic to gluten.

Also, I'm convinced the people of Sooke are fantastic chefs, Carl, the winner of Top Chef Canada 2012 is from there as well !!

Do you have a favorite place in British Columbia?

Oh Canada Week: North Hatley, Quebec

Tucked away in the Eastern Townships in Quebec is an amazing little village, North Hatley. If you're looking for a great day trip, or overnight trip from Montreal, I strongly suggest this town. Its south of Sherbrooke, so approximately a 2.5 hour drive from Montreal.


Its great no matter what time of year, I actually prefer it during the winter, especially during a snowstorm, because when you are walking around you literally feel like you're in a snow globe. Such a great feeling !!!


I was lucky to have gone to University not too far from there, and some friends and I would go to North Hatley for dinner at a great pub, the Pilsen, where you can look out and see Lake Massawipi. 


While at the same University we had a function at Manoir Hovey, I still remember walking into it and thinking I was in another world, it was so luxurious, and as a poor University student, any place that fed me an amazing meal had me as a fan for life.


On your way to North Hatley, you could always stop in at Lennoxville, Quebec and visit Bishop's University - to see the most gorgeous University campus in Canada, you know just a recommendation. 

Oh Canada Week on Travel Nutsy

Hello friends !!


So its the week leading up to Canada Day (yayy !! Such a great holiday full of pools, cottages, parties, fireworks). So I've decided to showcase some of my favorite places in Canada, with of course some corresponding eats you should all try when there. Some will be big popular cities, and some will be towns you've probably never heard of, but they are all worth the trip.


What's your favorite place in Canada?


Let's go traveling !!

Eating through India - Allergy Style

When I first started considering going traveling in India, the thought never crossed my mind that I would have a problem eating the fabulous Indian cuisine. That carefree attitude stopped when my friends informed me that a lot of curries are made with nuts in India.

My friends taught me the word to use for nuts, its "sing" - I am sure I butchered the spelling, but the pronunciation is exactly that.

Thinking I had all of the information with me, plus my epi-pen, benadryl and my trusty lonely planet guide, I thought it was going to be super easy and I would be able to eat safely.

Then, I got to India, where everything changed. I went into anxiety mode, and just didn't eat, because I was paranoid if any of the foods came into contact with peanuts/nuts. So I just started to eat corn flakes, and obviously drank a ton of water. 

But then after Day 3 of that eating pattern, I realized if I wanted to survive 2 weeks in India during the Monsoon/Extreme heat I would need to find a better option. So then I started to evaluate my food options, and decided upon anything from a Western chain (hotel or restaurant) would be the safest route. I literally thought that McDonald's and hotel chains wouldn't want to make people sick with an anaphylactic reaction, and I was right !! 

So was I able to taste all of the amazing Indian street foods? World famous curries? Nope, but I was ok with it, I did go to a pretty decent Italian restaurant in Jaipur, so that's a pretty solid food travel experience if I do say so myself.

Surprise Visits: Verona, Italy

Have you ever been to a place that has completely surprised you? Or you never expected it to be a great place? 


Admittedly that was my attitude towards a quick one night stop in Verona, Italy. It was a pit stop between travelling by train from Venice to Milan, my friend and I had arrived there in the late afternoon, then catching an early morning train to Milan the next day. Even though we didn't have a lot of time, it was the perfect time to visit Verona, I am convinced that town is meant to be seen in the evening.


Well, well, well, I shouldn't have overlooked Verona, it knocked my socks off, its a small town that just oozes romance and Shakespeare. Time slows down as you walk through the town, it was so different from any part of Italy I had visited. We were staying close to the train station, which ended up being the perfect starting point for a nice walk into the city. LIterally every few minutes something jumps out at you that is so interesting. 

The Piazza del Signori, is easily one of my favorite squares in Europe, its small, personal and gives off so much warmth. Also, unlike most Italian town squares, the restaurants in the square were actually appealing and it was a tough choice on deciding which one to settle on.

The big draw in Verona is Juliet's balcony, and the letters to Juliet. Which is just beside the piazza, and I loved it !! Juliet is there, and you can hang out with her, chat, hopefully she will give you a glimmer of hope that your single days are over. 


I'm fairly certain my friend and I wrote a letter to Juliet/love, it worked amazing for my friend she was engaged the next year !!!

TRAVEL TIP: Go to Verona, make it a stop on your trip to Italy, you won't regret it !!

Interlaken: The land of chocolate (and mountains)

Interlaken is in Southern Switzerland, it took me about 4 hours by train from Milan. It looks exactly how you would picture a cute swiss town, with the mountains serving as a gorgeous backdrop. Also, super expensive, since I had just arrived from Italy (where I was eating copious amounts of pasta, pizza) I was starving. So I found a cute little pizzeria that was open, after spending the equivalent of $40 cdn on a mediocre pizza, I realized "ok I need to find cheaper options". Before I found the best food option, I decided to spend $25 cdn on a Big Mac meal at the McDonald's, my excuse was the fresh mountain air?

TRAVEL TIP: To eat and still have amazing food on a budget in Switzerland, I highly recommend going to the bakeries/patisseries and buying their croissants, little sandwiches, tarts etc. For about $5 cdn you can have a pretty awesome "meal", if you don't mind a lot of butter, but you're on vacation so what's some butter !!

On to chocolate....

Schuh's storefront  

The chocolate knowledge session 

I love chocolate, like so much, so when I decided to go to Switzerland for a few days I thought, well awesome 3 days in heaven. My first stop in Switzerland was Interlaken, I was originally looking forward to zorbing, but I was a few days late and zorbing season had ended. So I needed to find an activity to pass my time (I was travelling alone at this point), while walking through town I stumbled upon Schuh and found the land of chocolate, and I found out that they held chocolate making classes. Hello chocolate heaven.

My chocolate truffle,
made by me at Schuh

On to the class, at first I was apprehensive because I thought I wouldn't be able eat any of the chocolate because of my nut allergy. But since they are so awesome, it was a nut free tour !! We learned all about chocolate, the bean, how ganache is made (not going to lie I stared at the ganache machine approximately 75% of the time). Then the awesome part started, we got to make our own truffles and then eat them !! I was on cloud 9. 

Needless to say, I bought a lot of chocolate from this place for my friends and family.

I highly recommend this chocolate making experience !!