Labrador Memories

Kim and I honestly were blown away by this trip. I'm not a salmon fishing kinda guy but the whole experience will be one to remember. The scenery, the icebergs, Battle Harbour, the Lodge, the hospitality (unbelievable), the fishing, the scotch ;) and Gudie's ever accommodating leadership and hosting.

A big thank you to our fearless pilot, guide and nicest Frenchman you'll ever meet, Guy. You truly have a great and quirky sense of humour while banking your plane 30 feet above the Eagle River. Also thanks to our guides Dwayne (the most beautiful cast I've ever scene - next to Da Boss's), Rick (Our iceberg hunting co-pilot), Jason (the change-out-of-my-clothes-while-flying expert), and Mitch (our surprise cook and my lucky charm for hauling in the fishies). Great food and service from Vinnie, our wicked and wonderful chef... not a bad diver either; Gracie (Stephen) our very professional and insightful server; and Matt, our modern day butler and morning server. Oh... Kirk?! Saw the results but only a glimpse of this handyman.

And Gudie... my surrogate sister, friend and host. Their will be songs sung about you one day on the Labrador. Thank you for the remarkable memories.

Sean

Going Fishing

It ain't as easy as it looks. See the big rocks in the back? Same thing under our feet.

Flying

The day I gave birth to my first child something triggered within me that made me deathly afraid of flying. I have been a nervous wreck ever since. What ever it was was undone today. Guy brought us up the Eagle River at a VERY low altitude, following the contours of the river the whole way. It was like a circus ride but WAY, WAY better. I couldn't decide if it was the funnest thing I have ever done or if I should throw up. Look at that smile. It was bloody fantastic.

Mommy's first salmon

Whaddaya think, Boydie? Am I the best?

And I finally have one on the line.

After a looong walk thru water with large slippery rocks, we finally stopped at the fishing hole at Reid's Pond. Gudie (believe it or not), sat with her mouth shut for 2 hours for me to try to hook a salmon. Applause all around for Gudie. My guide, Jason, and I persevered. I am sure they could have both throttled me but it attests to the patience of the Rifflin Hitch Staff.

Battle Harbour

The church washroom.

Pastor Seanie. He is trying to save our souls.

The town of Battleharbour, looking east.

Our hostess. Gudie.

Iceberg Chasing

Guy flew us along the coast to see icebergs. We flew pretty low. Saw a few whales, too. One orca with her baby. Pretty cool.

Kim and Sean on the Labrador

This is Guy. And below is Rifflin Hitch from the air.

So.... I have this friend, Gudie, whom some of you may know. She built a fishing lodge on the Eagle River sixteen years ago. She was lucky enough to have sold it and STILL gets to run it. How awesome is that? Every year she invites Sean and myself up for a fishing trip but it is always at the end of August when we are bringing kids back to university or moving them from one side of Montreal or Fredericton to the other. We have finally made it. If I had known what I was missing I would have drowned the kids years ago.

Guy (Gee) the pilot, picked us up in the Caravan in Deer Lake yesterday. It was a dark and dismal day at home. Cold and rainy. An hour and a half later we arrived at Rifflin Hitch to sunshine and HOT weather. Gudie greeted us at the ladge with chapagne. Lunch was crabcakes prepared by Vincent Scigliano, chef at Gio in Halifax. They were to die for. I brought him a grab bag of vegeies and fruit from 'The Greenhouse' so a spit of tarragon ended up in lunch and the chocolate mint found it's way to the fruit salad that we had for dessert. Sean and I LOVE to eat and I have to admit it was one of my better meals.

Geared up for fishing after lunch but the wind was easterly and I didn't get a nibble. Sigh.

Supper was to die for. My God... this place is incredible and the food is the best part. That will give you some idea of how good it was. Lamb. My fav.

Died after supper. The excitement was way to much for me.

No longer Solo and Toledo

The boots... Brian taking snaps in Toledo

View of the City of Toledo I'm not as contrary as I look!

This is the municipal square in Toledo

The Cathedral:Saint John of the Kings and the San Martin Bridge with roman ruins in foreground

The sculpture of a south American aboriginal by artist Victorio Mattio and the Monastry garden

The Cathedral in the Monastry

The Damasquinados Suarez Facility and artwork

Day 3 started out with a great walk around Madrid, northwest quadrant. I pretty well stayed around the downtown area. That night I was shopping around the cool army surplus stores and got a call from Brian Bonnell, a colleague of mine from Ottawa. We returned to the Irish Pub for a few Guiness... it was a St. Paddy's celebration night(s). What's the deal in all these south American and Spanish places celebrating St. Paddy?! I guess it's got a whole lot to do with drinking... ya think?

We settled into the main square for supper later and again... watched the ladies solicit duties on the male tourists. Madrid is crawling with prostitution... every corner and then some. As devout science people, Brian and I correlated the profession with heal and boot style. Kim calls them hooker boots. They kind of look like puss 'n boots style... no pun intended just a Shrek reference.

Today, Brian and I headed to Toledo... Like Holy Toledo. 1 hour outside of Madrid, Toledo is a absolutely beautiful historic city. It was founded in 500BC... imagine! It has Jewish, Muslim and Christian history and still respects all three in their promotion of the city. Of course, the Catholic religion here is overwhelming. Kind of sickening with the wildly ostentatious presentation of wealth. btw... I am catholic but see history for what its worth. The crusades were our form of jihad, taking hundreds of thousands of lives in the name of God. Pretty well on every major continent! The church could sell 10 or so masterpieces here and pay off a lot of abuse lawsuits instead of leaving it to bankrupt countless community churches. OK... I'm done.

After visiting the cathedral and monastery, we went to a metal manufacturing facility that still practices a form of gold leafing that was brought here by the Muslims. The also have a silver process for processing metals for knives, scissors, swords, etc. We saw some beautiful handmade jewelery and weapons. The perfect shop of man and wife.

Tonight we are back in Madrid and hopefully meeting up with Leanne, another colleague of mine. I think I'll have something that doesn't moo for a change... perhaps a Baaaa... or a ______ (Can't do a fish sound on a keyboard). Adios!

A Few Pictures II

The demo by IT Workers and the VERY organized market... too neat!

This is the Palacio Real: The State Palace with a beautiful Plaza

Imagine... Spain and statutes?! OK, it's officially a forestry visit ;)

The square outside my hotel at night and the Prado Museum (No cameras inside)

Find a bit of garbage! Dare ya!

Effective signage... but why only terriers? The Prado entrance

A whale at the botanical park and the Museum of Anthropology

A statute... they got that down pat! Followed by this band of 500 that entertained me at lunch...

A Few Pictures...

Why cats can't be guards and shoes for Sean!

Typical storefronts

Architecture

My hidden spot... shhhhh and more rain.