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Every year, we take an annual vacation (farther and longer) usually end of April or beginning of May.  Reason for this timing is we try to get some nice weather, but also have it early enough so that we are still paying low season pricing.  The last few years, we've been venturing around Europe.  And then during the summer, we'll do a shorter getaway either within Canada, or to the nearby United States.  This year, we decided to do it differently.  This May, we decided to take a short vacation in Alberta. We flew into Calgary, and drove towards Banff.  To avoid the high costs of accommodation, we stayed in the hamlet of Harvie Heights.  Compared to Toronto, food seems to cost a bit more in Alberta.  But because taxes are less there, it seems to even out a bit in the end that way.  We did a bit of 'home cooking' just because it was more convenient for some breakfasts, and dinners.  Here's a list of where we ate. Canmore: Rave Coffee Le Fo...

One of my favourite places to eat at in Calgary.  Everything was delicious.  We went for brunch on the weekend, and it was packed in there.  There's a few tables for people that want to eat in, and a few tables on the patio if it's warm enough to eat out.  The lineup to order and pay was out the door!  Lineups are usually good signs. That particular morning I just wanted something simple, I ordered bread, butter and a fried egg.  The bread was fresh sourdough bread that they bake.  Crispy crust and chewy sour inside, topped with butter, delicious! Hubby ordered a breakfast sandwich.  That came with fried egg, bacon, avocado and arugula all on a brioche type bun.  Great combination ingredients, but super messy to eat with the sunny side up egg. Brunch  After enjoying breakfast, we grabbed a scone (chocolate pear), and fruit topped danish (theres a better name for it, I just don't remember) to go.  So glad I was feeling like a glutton...

Interesting name for a coffee shop.  And even more interesting how it's spelled.  I hate to label this place, but it's definitely hipster.  I can't put my finger on it as to why....but it just totally screamed hipster when I walked into it.  I ordered a latte, and holy geez it was expensive.  I forgot to take a picture of the latte itself, but I did snap a picture of the menu because I was in shock as to how expensive my drink was.  Deep down I was telling myself, it's this expensive because it must be a good latte.  And while it wasn't bad, it wasn't good either.  In my opinion, definitely not worth the hefty price tag considering theres other coffee shops nearby that serve delicious coffee. Menu at Philosafy Philosophy Coffee 632 17 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2S 0B4 Hours:  Monday - Friday 700a -1100p              Saturday - Sunday 800a - 1100p https://www.philosafy.com

I wanted to find a restaurant where would could sit and chat since we were meeting with my husband's cousins for dinner.  After doing some Googling for a place nearby the apartment, I found Mercato (Mission location).  My friend also mentioned Mercato, saying they make the best pasta.  So I knew I wanted to try this place.  But of course, due to me not doing enough homework before the trip, I never made a reservation.  In the end it worked out due to Calgary being 2 hours later than Toronto, means for an early dinner, we lucked out and got a table during the first seating. It was so busy there, even though we walked in at 530pm, which is when they open.  We snagged a table because there just so happened to be a last minute cancellation, otherwise we would have had to sit at the bar.  I hate sitting at bars, because it's hard to have actual conversation, and plus i'm short, so getting up and down on the stools is quite a pain.  We quickly ordered b...

I was looking for something close to the apartment we rented for a somewhat quick meal, but have it hearty enough because it was going to be a late lunch after driving from Canmore.  I found Naina's Kitchen after doing some Googling, and Yelping.  And no I didn't decide to come here because it was on an episode of You Gotta Eat Here.  To be honest, I have gone to some of the restaurants that have been on the show, but I found that it wasn't really worth it.  Makes me wonder if some of the restaurants just pay the show so they can be featured. We arrived at Naina's kitchen on a Friday, while it wasn't filled, it was quite busy.  We ordered a mac and cheese grilled cheese and a ramen stuffed burger.  If you know my hubby, if there's fried chicken or any sort of ramen, he will order that.  I realized after we placed our order this was not going to be a quick meal.  Here, they specialize in stuffed burgers.  Stuffed anything takes longer to cook ...

I'm a sucker for markets.  At home, I buy my produce from local farmers markets whenever possible. Yes, this doesn't mean that I am necessarily getting the best price possible, but I believe that it's important to support local.  Supporting local would mean keeping smaller farms alive, and also your produce would be more likely to ripen on the vine/plant (more flavour!), versus on a truck somewhere.  But when you shop at local farmers markets, you still have to be careful what you're buying.  I have been to some markets, where I noticed produce had stickers on them saying product of the USA.  So sneaky! When I'm about to go on vacation, I spend all my planning energy, in this particular order, restaurants, accommodations, markets, and tourist attractions.  I always try and book my accommodations through AirBnB so I have a kitchen to cook some meals with the fresh produce I pick up while browsing the markets.  I was surprised to find Calgary to have so ...

Banff, there's so much talk about it.  I thought it would be some beautiful glamorous place.  But maybe because I didn't get a chance to hike that much, I didn't feel it. If anything the town of Banff actually felt more like a tourist trap than anything.  Yes, the scenery there was beautiful, because theres the mountains wherever you look, but I don't know if it's because I went to Iceland first, it can't compare to the beauty of Iceland.  It also didn't feel like any locals live there, I felt like I walked the streets with tourists surrounding me.  The people that work in the retail shops, most of them had Australian accents!  It just felt weird. Embarrassing story time.  Because I knew we would be hiking on this trip, I wore my running shoes, and brought along my hiking boots.  Now I've had my hiking boots for many many years, probably since undergrad.  And i'll pull them out to wear to shovel the snow, or go snowboarding.  About 5 min...

Whats there to do at Lake Louise when the trails are too slushy, and icy for hiking?  Sit back and admire the beautiful view of the lake while sipping afternoon tea inside the Fairmont!  I guess I could have tried to hike the trails, but I'm not sure I want to sit in the car in wet socks and shoes for the drive back to the apartment.  Plus, since my hiking shoes quit on me in Banff, I was left to wearing my winter runners......so we decided to take the option of enjoying the view. We arrived at the Fairmont about 15 minutes before afternoon tea service was to begin so we had to wait a bit before we could be seated.  Lucky for us, because we didn't have a reservation, they still had a table by the window available.  And because our table was the first window table people walk by, I'm pretty sure we were in a lot of people's pictures.  I guess that's what it feels like to be a celeb hahaha. While the view was beautiful, I found the service to be not as great ...

Popped into this little bakery to grab some dessert.  By the time I got there, there was maybe an hour left to close, and selection was starting to run a bit thin.  Breads were practically non existent, there were a few croissants, and a few individual cake slices available.  I picked up a butter croissant, and a slice of carrot cake.  No picture of the croissant because I inhaled it in the car because I was hungry.  It was nice and flakey on the outside (I was covered in croissant crumbs), inside was a bit bready for my liking, and also it missing that rich buttery fatty taste.  I think missing the buttery taste is probably because the milk/butter in Alberta isn't the greatest from what I've discovered. The carrot cake was done well, could have had more cinnamon in my opinion.  But that's probably because I love cinnamon.  But it was nice and moist, with lots of carrot shreds it in, and had a nice cream cheese frosting on top. Carrot Cake Pricing...

After a long-ish flight, and a drive from Calgary to Canmore, plus a time difference.  I needed some coffee.  And as always, I try and avoid Starbucks unless I have no other choice.  So I'm super glad I found Rave Coffee.  Finding Rave was a bit difficult.  It's tucked in a corner of a small plaza.  If you weren't looking for them, you really wouldn't know they exist. Rave not only makes coffee, they also roast their own beans.  Kinda surprised to find that in a small town like Canmore.  But glad that they do do it!  I ordered a latte and a flat white.  It was nice and smooth, but I found my latte a bit weak, drowned out by the milk.  The hubby's flat white was better, probably because there was less milk.  And because I was tired and in a rush, I forgot to take a picture. Side note, milk in Alberta doesn't taste very good.  Not rich and creamy at all.  Of course, I bought only regular milk, didn't try the organic mil...

I'm not that familiar to the south east end of toronto, or more specifically the Leslieville/Beaches area.  I honestly don't remember how I stumbled across the Green Wood.  But I was so glad I did.  We went for a very late brunch, technically it could have been considered a late lunch if anything.  Surprisingly, even though it was so late, the restaurant was full, no lineup but full.  We got the last table that was available.  But there was still bar seating. We ordered, a fried chicken sandwich with fries, and the classic shakshuka.  The fried chicken sandwich of course was the hubby's order.  The chicken had a crispy outside and juicy inside, topped with a lightly dressed creamy coleslaw, all sitting on a brioche type bun.  I found the bun to be a bit too light to hold up to such a dense filling, but taste wise it worked.  Fries were great, thicker cut than normal, but not thick to the point of it being wedges.  House made ketchup...