the big fiddle

So a bit about our time in Sydney... we arrived late in the day and checked into the Hampton Inn - which incidentally is not really in Sydney but is in Membertou (which is the name of a first nations community) which has a new and very nice convention center that is attached to our also new and very very nice Hampton Inn (a serious cut above the usual Hampton Inn of my experience) -

we had made reservations for a highly rated restaurant (after a bit of disappointment about the top one - which was called Flavors - they have two - one was closed on Sunday and the other was closed for a wedding) so off we went to Trio for dinner... and since we were now in day 10 of the trip I was looking forward to their burger which was recommended in several reviews...

We arrived and were seated and the server was very nice - we ordered a bottle of wine (which they didn't have - so we went for a carafe of plonk which they did have LOL) and then set about ordering dinner... I had opted for a salad and the burger and Phil the seafood chowder and fish... however when I attempted to order my burger "medium" the server said "we only cook the meat well done"

Really? this place has higher end steaks on the menu - why ruin meat by cooking it well done? so I reviewed the menu again and went with what I thought would be a no-fail choice of vegetarian risotto.  The salad was fine and Phil said his chowder was alright so we got through the first course - but when the second arrived we were not so lucky.  His fish was overcooked (no big surprise - this has been an issue throughout the trip)- but even worse my risotto was completely inedible it tasted only of massive amounts of cheese and was so gluey-gloppy-gummy that I couldn't eat it.  This was by far the absolute worst risotto I had even had in my entire life - bar none.

The server saw I pushed it away and wasn't eating it so she brought the menu and asked if I would rather have something else (how about a burger cooked medium?) - and honestly nothing appealed to me so I ended up with the "fair" seafood chowder just to have something... there were Cheetos in the room (the same ones we had been carrying around for a week- LOL)- so I wouldn't starve. A really bad meal I can't figure out how they got such a decent rating...

so anyway- back to the trip... that was the first night in Sydney, on the second night we returned ot town and drove straight to the wharf to get a  shot of the giant fiddle before the rain came (our first rain in eleven days!) and guess what - the parking lot by the fiddle was closed for wedding parking- apparently they don't have June brides in Nova Scotia - only September ones...we ran into the same thing in Lunenburg two nights later..

but I digress again- we parked up the hill and hotfooted it to the edge of the water and the giant fiddle to grab a few shots before it started to pour...

the word below is pronounced KAY-LEE.... go figure...

OK- the above photos might just be looking LARGE due to perspective, so here are a few shots with a human (whom you may recognize) in the photos to really show the scale of the big fiddle-

oh and did I mention the added bonus of 24/7 fiddle music playing from the fiddle? I thought not...

so off we went in search of dinner- stopping at a Pub (more than an hour wait on a rainy Monday) - then we cross hatched downtown to see what other options were available - chain restaurants and pizza.... so we headed back to the hotel and the reservation where there was a decently rated place to eat over the skywalk in the convention center-

and you know what? It really WAS a decent place to eat... really really friendly service and a menu that only failed in that it was a little bit of everything... but the food was well prepared and the evening continued with rain so we were happy to basically be "home" when we finished...

Phil's mussels starter and my watermelon and feta salad-

 
so if you ever find yourself in Sydney NS -  treat yourself - drive on out (5 minutes from downtown) to the Membertou first nations reservation for a decent meal... you will be happy you did!

our plans for the next day were to do the Fortress Louisbourg (the Canadian equivalent of Colonial Williamsburg) and when we asked about the weather we were told - it's always bad out there- LOL- so stay tuned to find out how that went for us..