I did it! 

And for someone who fell from a horse more than ones when she was a child and even got 

kicked in the face one time I would say I did very well!

     

Look at this legwork!

I instantly felt and looked 15 years younger! 

There is nothing more kitchy than a girl and a horse.

     

I think I will take some regular riding lessons in the near future, because it is unexcusable that 

a hero can't handle a mount!

+ 170 EP for Horse Riding
and a fulfilled Quest!

       

 Today is Hamlet's birthday (well that was at least the vets guess since he is an orphan). I never could refuse him anything so he just got the castle he wanted. The Marculossus and I quickly 
went to conquer one and now Hamlet is a lordly lord!

      

Unfortunately this had some bad consequences on his manners.

He is taking drugs again...

I found this under his sleeping pillow. Please, not again!

....and he acts like a character from a dramatic stage play.

Jeez!

And while he is devouring his awesome angus beef we will raise this Black Cat wine on a toast 
to him.

    

And here is another picture of him just because it is his birthday.


In the middle of the midlife crisis

He became 8 by the way (that would be 46 years for a human!)

Happy Birthday Hamlet!

+ 80 EP for Zookeeping    

Sometimes it's a first time

And we had a lot of these first times lately. For example...

...we tried to make friends to the famous giant squirrels.

...we saw a real chipmunk (fortunately it didn't sing).

...we ate our first poutine. This stuff is heavy!

...we discovered coloured cauliflower. Well, everything is possible...

...at least I saw baseball bats and footballs for the first time.

     

...we bought a duvet (well, we had to, because small one-man-blankets don't exist here).

This is something I really have to complain about! I absolutely dislike these monstreous 
blankets which you have to share with your partner. You can't crumple, pull and wrap them 
around you like you want to, because there is always someone else under this blanket next 
to you. Groaarrrr! 

I mean, I like the Marculossus but I want my normal blanket back...

...we were at a cat café. 

   

Yes that exists in Germany too, but we never visited one before. Nice, but ..äh...strange...

...and we were in an arcade store!!!! 

I am sooooo sad that this is not existing in Germany, as far as I know. This will not be the 
last time, Jurassic Park simulator!

+ 770 EP for Exploration

I was addicted to cheese

But Canada healed me

Ever heard of casomorphins? No? Neither did I since I found out that I was a cheese addict. 

It has an opioid effect. I'm not joking!

Back in Germany I ate cheese every day. A chinese guest would have vomit when looking into 

my fridge but I really needed that stuff.

But now it's a fact that cheese and every other dairy product is almost invaluable in Canada. 

It's ridicolously expensive.

The first two to three weeks were a nightmare. Yes, I felt some kind of withdrawal symptoms. 

It drove me crazy. I wanted to buy it every day but I didn't want to spend so much money for it. Three or four times I indulged to buy a little bit but I really have to say that the canadian cheese was extremely disappointing. So I stopped it.

And well, I think I'm finally free now. I don't feel any craving to eat cheese anymore.

Well, maybe a small bite...one day...that shouldn't be amiss...

+ 170 EP for Will Power

The first contact

We are there!

Now we have to study the mannerisms of the natives so we don't attract to much attention! Therefor we first have to figure out the differences to Germany.

Cent pieces

1- or 2-cent-pieces don't exist here. So sometimes you spend a bit more money at the meat 
stand when they round up, or you get something back when they round down. That's pretty 
useful since you have less heavy coins in your purse.

But in general you mostly pay with a nice small plastic card anyway. That makes you less 
attractive for highwaymen!


Prices

What you see is not always what you get.
Whereas in Germany every price tag has to display the real price this doesn't mean that this 
has to be the case everywhere else. In Canada the stores and restaurants don't have to add 
the taxes on their pricemarks. You have to add them by yourself before you buy something or 
you have to wonder when it comes to payment.
Sadly to say, I mostly wonder...

Car drivers

You really have to be fearless on this streets because the canadian riders really are a bit more careless then the german ones....

But we try not to show them our nervousness!

Driving bus

You don't know the land and you don't have a map? Well, Montreal doesn't care. The bus 
doesn't display waypoints so you have to guess when to stop it to get where you want to. 
Otherwise the bus just keeps rolling.

Or you have one of these nice electronical maps in your distance speaker which shows you 
your exact position in each second. That's the way I handle this since I'm here.

Maybe there is some sort of magic I can't see...

Sugar

!!!It's everywhere!!!

Batch quantities

Well...

      

   

Dietary supplements

They seem to love this stuff.

sorry, bad quality hip shoot

And this amusing shelf is just the tip of the supplement iceberg

So, now that we figured out these singularities we can start to explore the new area. 
And Montreal has a lot to give!

      

And the Marculossus can begin his first day in the new blacksmith. 
I hope they don't bully him!

Mostly heard phrase in the last weeks:

"Tu veut un sac?"

Mostly uttered phrase:

"I'm sorry but I don't speak french."

+ 610 EP for Exploration