Have you ever felt so drawn to a place, but you don’t know why? That’s Prince Edward County for me. Every time I come here, everything just feels…right. Comforting. I’ve always lived in cities and balked at the idea of living even in a small town, let alone the full-out country. But there’s something about this place. It’s irresistibly charming. So when my husband was offered a three-week job which involved staying in a lake house in the County, I obviously offered to tag along and keep him company.
Green rolling hills, row upon row of vines, tractors trundling their way past market stands are filled with every summer fruit imaginable – shiny red cherries, plump strawberries, and juicy apricots, peaches and nectarines. The sun shines warm upon your face, and a gentle breeze makes the tall grass sway. Welcome to June in the Beaujolais.
I thought I was old enough to watch my first scary movie. Knowing it was a classic, one of those movies everyone just had to see, I thought I would give it a shot.
My mom tried to convince me otherwise. But for some reason I wouldn’t back down. “You’re on your own, kid,” was my mother’s response.
I ended up sleeping in her bed for the next three nights.
As some of you may already know, I was recently in Prince Edward County (PEC). I’m often surprised by how many people don’t even know about this gem of a region. About 3 hours from Ottawa and Montreal, and 2.5 hours from Toronto, Prince Edward County is an absolutely idyllic corner of Ontario.
I am a city girl through and through. But this is country life I can get behind! There is something really special about PEC. It has this sense of place and community that is so prevalent. People are proud to live in the County. And it is palpable. As soon as you cross the bridge to the peninsula, there is instantly a different vibe. It’s a bit like that scene in the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy opens the door to her house after the gale and everything goes from black and white to technicolour.
We always seem to be in a huge flap to get there, but once we do, life immediately slows down. Maybe it’s the beautiful scenery. Maybe it’s the delicious food and wine coming out of the region. Everything seems to taste better there. There are certainly plenty of reasons why people are fleeing their big cities en masse and heading to the County on weekends. Continue reading
I seem to be on a bit of a Spanish kick lately. I’m not sure what it is. Perhaps it is my nostalgic associations with the country. Back in the day, I did an oh-so-cliché third year abroad in Salamanca, a small Spanish town halfway between Madrid and the Spanish border with Portugal. I lived in an apartment inhabited by 6 other international students, who after 5 months of cohabitation became my friends for life. Miguel de Cervantes, the author of the infamous Don Quixote, is rumoured to have studied at the Universidad de Salamanca (it was so long ago, no one knows for sure), where I took Spanish literature courses in classrooms three times older than Canada itself. In a country where businesses close for a siesta for anywhere from 1 to 3 hours in the afternoon, where tapas are a way of life, and where most families don’t even start thinking about dinner before 9 p.m., I spent way too much time stressing out about classes and coursework. If only someone had told me that the marks on year-abroad courses were pass/fail!Continue reading
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