June 2009

外婆喜欢养花，我养花的兴趣就是从她那里遗传的。兰花是花中的君子，可是据我所知却不容易在浙江的自然环境中茁壮成长，开花。在蒙特利尔的植物园，拍了些兰花，送给我最爱的外婆！

这里要提到的是chris的姑姑和叔叔（他爸爸的妹妹和哥哥）。两人都住在魁北克城，所以既然到了这里，就不能不去见见他们。

结婚前并没有见过他们，他们家因为大多数人都分散在不同的城市，所以亲戚之间走动不多。今年情人节的时候，我们乘火车去魁北克参加每年一度的冬季狂欢节。去之前，他爸爸打过电话给他的姑姑和叔叔，因为我们只短住一个周末，而且酒店定在离他们家比较远的地方，所以并没有打算安排见面。只是我们到了以后，礼节上地给他们打了电话问好。在离开那天的车站，等我们到达候车室的时候，突然冒出两个白发苍苍的老人叫着chris的名字。他们当时并不确定我们是不是会乘这班火车，或者会不会提前到达后车室，而是抱着极小的希望，能够见一眼侄子和他的新娘。他们的意外出现，照实让我们感动了一番。两位老人很热情地欢迎我成为他们家庭的成员之一。

Christ的姑姑是家里最小的妹妹。做了35年的注册护士，6月1号刚刚开始退休。终身未婚，也没有孩子。我们去之前，她就很热情地邀请我们住在她的家里。花白的头发用黑色的发卡在头中间夹住，举手投足之间掩盖不了她当护士做事的利落。每当和她说话的时候，她便不停地点头，就像珍珠鸡在啄米，频率极快，而脸上则永远都保留着一成不变的慈祥地微笑。

我忘了“飘”里面是怎么形容斯嘉丽第一任丈夫的姑妈的，但是脑子里隐约之中让我把姑姑和那位到老还保留天真本性的女人联系在了一起。她的所有房间一尘不染，屋里摆满了各种各样的洋娃娃。有她收集的限量版，也有她自己动手做的洋娃娃。那些自己动手的娃娃有真人这么大，还带真项链和草帽，甚是可爱。在后来的交谈中，我才知道她自己做的娃娃竟然是有实用价值的- 一个放在浴室，是拿来遮住拖把的，还有一个在车库，是拿来储藏用过的塑料袋的。真是心灵手巧。

他的叔叔年纪比他爸爸要大很多（标准来叫应该是伯伯吧）。挺着一个啤酒肚，说话走路都感觉有些吃力。不过个性和他父亲则是一个模子里刻出来的，如果放在中国，绝对是居委会主任的绝佳人选。老头每天去湖边散步，整个河边住的，公园里游玩的常客几乎没有他不认识的。他逢人便说湖边是他的天堂。从湖边的飞禽走兽到花草树木，从沿河的建筑到他们的历史背景，他无所不知。连山崖边的岩石，他都把自己丰富的想象融入了其中，不停地指给我们看"孤单的鸭子“，“奔跑的孩子”。。。而当他坐下开始讲他年轻时候周游世界的故事的时候，仿佛让人感觉西方的郑渊洁就在侃侃而谈。

It's raining. It was raining for the last 2 days. It will be raining for at least the next 2 days, or at least so says the automated weatherman on CBC radio.
Today's highlight was the Citadel, which used to be a big armed forces post. We saw the barracks, the midday cannon fire (which Halifax still does daily and which runs on a slightly different time than the bells on the clock tower) and got insight into the conditions of the time and the uniforms. Not too bad by confederation, though a 1.5ft bed shared with a wife and kids (kids underneath), in a room with 20 other beds, which is what they did before then, would have been tough.



Dalhousie residence is really cheap, $27 for a single room with a sink (after student discount).

Today was nice but rainy, so we did a lot of driving - St John to almost Halifax via Hopewell Rock. Hopewell rock is amazing - tall mountains and rocks with their bases eroded by the tides, so that the rocks are very top-heavy. We arrived half an hour before the gates closed (and 10 minutes before high tide came in and the beach was impassible), so we got very little time at the main attraction, but it was something to behold.



The admission price included two days, so we tried to sleep near the park but couldn't find anywhere suitable. Since we had seen what there is to see (except the main park, but the maritimes are full of beautiful parks), and wouldn't be able to in the morning since the tides are still high until mid-afternoon, we ultimately left and drove a few hours before sleeping at a truck stop.

On the way between Saint John and Halifax we had our first lobster dinner of our trip through the maritimes.
It was at Butlands in Alma, NB, and it was excellent. The place itself is really a seafood store rather than a restaurant, and since it was raining we couldn't eat on the picnic tables outside (and there is no seating inside) so we ate in our car. Amazingly (and slightly unfortunately) the next day it didn't smell at all like lobster or fish.
They sell cooked lobster for $5-6 per pound, so we had a 5+ pound lobster for $31.75 (+$1 for almost a cup of garlic butter). It was great, the taste was very lobstery.
It wasn't easy but we finished it, and it was extremely delicious. I like the larger lobster a lot even though the tail is a bit tough because the legs etc have so much meat, it's really worth the effort. I'm not very good with bones or shells.
The plastic fork is in there for perspective. The box the lobster is served is a 24-can soft drink box.