Today was a quiet day, overcast but spring like with no wind. Went on line to make final bookings of excursions and dining option for our cruise in October. Though there are lots of excursion offers per city including private car and chauffeur if you prefer, many are already filling up quickly. The ship carries 740 passengers with a minimum of 94 sq metres per person. There are 4 cooking classes and an equal number of Tapas bar stops, I have done all that on many previous visits to Spain so will skip it. I prefer visiting markets in Morocco and old towns or hill tops. The one place we could not find anything we wanted to visit was Cartagena, nothing appealed to us. Decades ago I visited Cartagena, Colombia and maybe once on the cruise I will discover something we might like. We are not visiting Gibraltar, we did years ago and saw the sights and the crazy monkeys of the British Crown. We will stay on board this time. I remember being impressed by the fact that the distance to the North Coast of Africa is only 13 Km.
In Morocco I decided to take an all day tour to Marrakech and a walking tour of Tangier. In Cadiz we will do a food-wine and equestrian show. I also opted to return to visit the garden of the Palace of the Alhambra in Granada, the last time we visited the garden it impressed me, we then visited the palace by moonlight, that was a WOW experience. Washington Irving lived there for some time.
The partial view of the gardens of the Generalalife at the Alhambra.
There are 9 restaurants on board, but we have to reserve for 2 of the specialty restaurants one is Nobu and the other is Italian. I really want to try Nobu given its reputation. As for the Italian one they do have an interesting menu. They also have a BeefBar but I do not see anything I might particularly like, there is also their Continental cuisine venue and the menu on offer is pretty good.
From past experience you are kept pretty busy on a ship and I am sure we will this time around.
Well by all accounts Tuesday 7 April we were very close to all out war with a nuclear attack by the USA on Iran, to save Israel. Trump made it very clear, he was going to wipe out an entire civilization some 5000 years of history and 95 million people. I do not see the American political system working as intended, maybe the 18th century model should be modernized. I know a lot of people were worried and talked about it. The price of gas is very high and my barber was telling me how much it cost for a full tank it is 100% higher in cost. I wonder what the effect will be on tourism this Summer.
Finished reading the book on becoming Green Gables or the story of how the national park at Green Gables was created following the publishing sensation of the book Anne of Green Gables in 1908. The end is sad in a way, Myrtle McNeill-Webb and her husband Ernest had sold the farm in 1936 to the Government of Canada but they thought the word of Gov Officials was sufficient to guarantee their staying at the farm until they died. Not so, they discovered too late, by 1945 the end of the war ended and lots of young men returning needed jobs, Myrtle and Ernest were of retirement age and were told to pack their things one week before Christmas 1945. The House itself would remain empty until 1948 when it was transformed into Green Gables of the book you read today. They had to give their 2 dogs away, and the furniture. They moved to Charlottetown to live with their children. Ernest died in 1950 but Myrtle lived until 1979 in the manse of the baptist Church in Cavendish. They never set foot back into the house and were shocked to see how the government erase any mentions of them owning the house or the farm before it became the Green Gables tourist site. This is true because prior to my reading this book I had never heard of them and always wondered how all this had come about. The Baptist Church is still on Cavendish road but the manse is gone. No wonder many tourists ask me how author Lucy Maud Montgomery came to choose this particular house. I have to make a link between Myrtle McNeill and her cousin Lucy Maud. They are all buried in the Cavendish Cemetery in the first row by the road.
I am now looking at Cavendish in a different way. From a farming community, it became a national park and part amusement park, in some parts a crass commercial project. Originally as of 1936, the McNeill-Webb farm saw the building of a golf course on the farmland with a restaurant and club house which would move into the house. It is only after 1948 that slowly a project was formed to make it into the house of the characters Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert of the book Anne of Green Gables. This was due to public demand on seeing the house as described in the story. In the 1970’s the barn which had burned down in 1932 was rebuilt and modified, modernized in 2020 with a new $10 million dollar visitor centre and gift shop, large parking for buses. After the storm Fiona in 2023, the park service had to remove many old trees and plant new saplings. Many of the trees of the time of author Lucy Maud Montgomery have been cut down in 1936 for the golf course. So what you see today is a fantasy place modelled to fit the book. Now I understand what my uncle said to me two years ago on his visit to PEI that the Cavendish site did not look at all like what he saw in 1960.
Myrtle McNeill and her husband Ernest Webb in 1940 at Green Gables in the flower garden.
A new Spring Photo of Potsdam once called the secret capital of Royal Germany. Located about 30 km south west of Berlin, easily reachable by public transport, it offers a vast array of architecture, parks, museum and royal palaces. A city turned into an un-official capital by Frederick Wilhelm I (1688–1740), the King of Prussia known as the ”soldier king”. The work continued under his son Frederick II the Great (1712-1786). Since 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall, Potsdam was in East Germany and much neglected by the authorities, with the reunification of Germany, historians and archeologists with the help of artisans and architects have rebuilt the city, parks, palaces and its canals as it was during the 18th century.
On the photo above, we see the renovations and reconstructions since 1989. On the right the old stables, on the right the salmon pink City Palace, now the parliament of the province of Brandenburg, in the middle the most recent addition a block of historical buildings including the synagogue of Potsdam. The dome of the Church of St-Nicholas (Lutheran) was completely renovated. In the mid-1990’s the area was a mix of brutalist soviet style buildings or empty fields. Many other areas have been renovated and rebuilt with a strong Italian renaissance influence from private villas to royal estates.
This type of renovation is going on all over Europe and it is to bring back the human dimensions of cities, that are walkable and liveable without a car, large distances and anonymity. Speaking of large cities, the CN Tower or Canadian National Tower in Toronto is 50 years old in 2026.
Tender Slow Roast Sicilian Lamb with Potatoes and Garden Herbs. Today, I am sharing a simple approach to preparing a delicious roasted leg of lamb. This lamb recipe focuses on natural flavors, ensuring a tender and juicy result through careful cooking meat techniques. We will also prepare potatoes and carrots alongside, making for a complete and satisfying roast lamb recipe that’s perfect for any occasion. is one of those beautiful family meals that fills the kitchen with warmth, rosemary, lemon, garlic, and the comforting smell of a proper roast.
This my Sicilian way using garden rosemary, sage, lemon zest, garlic, olive oil, and dry white wine. It is simple, deeply flavourful, and perfect for a Sunday lunch, spring family table, or whenever you find a good leg of lamb on offer and want to make something special without waste.
The lamb is gently cut to help the flavours travel deeper, then massaged with a rustic Sicilian herb marinade made from fresh rosemary, sage, lemon zest, chilli, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Garlic is tucked into the cuts, the vegetables roast alongside in the same tray, and the whole dish is protected with baking paper to keep everything moist before browning beautifully at the end.
I also show you how to turn the roasting juices and white wine into a simple homemade sauce that Julie loves, using just a little cornflour and cold water.
This is slow food in the best sense: simple ingredients, patience, and wonderful flavour.
If you make it, let me know where you are in the world and how much lamb costs where you live.
Ciao,
Francesco
INGREDIENTS
1 leg of lamb (approx. 2 kg)
4 large white potatoes
2 sweet potatoes
4 carrots
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
8 to 10 sage leaves
zest of 1 lemon
1 fresh chilli
1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
6 to 8 garlic cloves
300 ml dry white wine
extra virgin olive oil
salt
black pepper
Optional sauce
roasting juices
2½ tsp cornflour
3 tbsp cold water
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Score the lamb lightly on both sides with a knife. Finely chop rosemary, sage, lemon zest, fresh chilli, and chilli flakes into a rustic herb pulp. Add olive oil, salt, and pepper to create the marinade.
Peel and cut the white potatoes into large chunks. Peel the sweet potatoes into large chunks and leave the carrots whole. Season the lamb with salt and insert garlic cloves into the cuts.
Massage the herb marinade all over the lamb, pushing some into the cuts.
Toss the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots with the remaining marinade.
Arrange vegetables around the lamb in a roasting tray. Pour 300 ml dry white wine over the vegetables only. Drizzle olive oil over everything, cover loosely with baking paper and roast at 200°C for 20 minutes. Lower to 160°C for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes. Remove the paper for the final 20 minutes, increasing to 180°C for browning. Rest briefly, slice, and serve with the roasted vegetables.
Optional sauce
Pour the tray juices into a saucepan, add the cornflour mixed with cold water, and cook gently until thickened.
We are suppose to be in Spring NOW!!! Mother Nature did not get the email. The weather has been miserable, snow, sleet, freezing rain, Teeter does not want to go out. This is no weather for a poor little Dachshund, true I agree with him, this is no fun.
One expects nice flowers, sunny days and gentle breezes, the 1921 song by Al Jolson talks about April showers bring the flowers, raining violets, crowds of daffodils, etc. Well that is not what we are getting. Just watching Damian and Tom, the 2 thirty something Canadians renovating Chateau de la Borde in France and they have Spring flowers everywhere, lucky bastards.
We now have our plane tickets to go to Europe and hotel reservations in Barcelona and in Lisbon, so it is shaping up and one less thing to think about. Later this week we will decide what excursions we want to do during the cruise. We also want to go to Porto after the cruise, if only to buy a good bottle of Port.
On 21 April it is Rome’s Birthday and Teeter’s who will be 5 years old. It is also the Centennial birthday of her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, the Royal Canadian Mint has a special limited edition coin for anniversary. I did not know this but 2026 is also Margaret Thatcher’s centennial birthday, born on October 13.
Easter Sunday and I found a recipe for Sicilian Leg of Lamb, simple and easy to do. You need garlic cloves and you prepare a mix of herbs and oil which is used to marinate the leg of lamb. Only two vegetables carrots and potatoes that are placed in the pan around the lamb. Into the oven first at 200 C. for 20 min. then lower temp to 165 C and cover the meat with parchemin paper and continue cooking. I just loved the recipe. Nothing better at Easter with such a wonderful dish. In Greece, the dish of Easter is lamb and during my time there I remember how wonderful it was. We did vacation in Arachova village at the foot of Mount Parnassus near Delphi. The area is a ski resort, Parnassus is lost in the clouds and it is said that the god Apollo lives there with his 7 aunts the Muses. Delphi alone is spectacular with all its temples and ruins in a dramatic mountain setting.
Tender Slow Roast Sicilian Lamb with Potatoes and Garden Herbs. Today, I am sharing a simple approach to preparing a delicious roasted leg of lamb. This lamb recipe focuses on natural flavors, ensuring a tender and juicy result through careful cooking meat techniques. We will also prepare potatoes and carrots alongside, making for a complete and satisfying roast lamb recipe that’s perfect for any occasion. is one of those beautiful family meals that fills the kitchen with warmth, rosemary, lemon, garlic, and the comforting smell of a proper roast.
This my Sicilian way using garden rosemary, sage, lemon zest, garlic, olive oil, and dry white wine. It is simple, deeply flavourful, and perfect for a Sunday lunch, spring family table, or whenever you find a good leg of lamb on offer and want to make something special without waste.
The lamb is gently cut to help the flavours travel deeper, then massaged with a rustic Sicilian herb marinade made from fresh rosemary, sage, lemon zest, chilli, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Garlic is tucked into the cuts, the vegetables roast alongside in the same tray, and the whole dish is protected with baking paper to keep everything moist before browning beautifully at the end.
I also show you how to turn the roasting juices and white wine into a simple homemade sauce that Julie loves, using just a little cornflour and cold water.
This is slow food in the best sense: simple ingredients, patience, and wonderful flavour.
If you make it, let me know where you are in the world and how much lamb costs where you live.
Ciao,
Francesco
INGREDIENTS
1 leg of lamb (approx. 2 kg)
4 large white potatoes
2 sweet potatoes
4 carrots
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
8 to 10 sage leaves
zest of 1 lemon
1 fresh chilli
1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
6 to 8 garlic cloves
300 ml dry white wine
extra virgin olive oil
salt
black pepper
Optional sauce
roasting juices
2½ tsp cornflour
3 tbsp cold water
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Score the lamb lightly on both sides with a knife. Finely chop rosemary, sage, lemon zest, fresh chilli, and chilli flakes into a rustic herb pulp. Add olive oil, salt, and pepper to create the marinade.
Peel and cut the white potatoes into large chunks. Peel the sweet potatoes into large chunks and leave the carrots whole. Season the lamb with salt and insert garlic cloves into the cuts.
Massage the herb marinade all over the lamb, pushing some into the cuts.
Toss the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots with the remaining marinade.
Arrange vegetables around the lamb in a roasting tray. Pour 300 ml dry white wine over the vegetables only. Drizzle olive oil over everything, cover loosely with baking paper and roast at 200°C for 20 minutes. Lower to 160°C for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes. Remove the paper for the final 20 minutes, increasing to 180°C for browning. Rest briefly, slice, and serve with the roasted vegetables.
Optional sauce
Pour the tray juices into a saucepan, add the cornflour mixed with cold water, and cook gently until thickened.
In the past few days a fellow on Instagram has been posting about Easter Chocolate Eggs for people who have everything and need more. Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fortnum & Mason, The Bristol Hotel Paris, the Ritz, etc and famous Italian chocolatiers all produce incredible Eggs for price ranging from 350 British pounds to 1,300 pounds. They also put them in elegant boxes.
Here are 3 examples of what you can buy for Easter, the first egg by Marchesi in London is valued at 1,300 GBP, absolutely stunning and all eatable, the inside is also a work of art. High quality chocolate and artistic rendition. They are also a fairly large size.
On champagne today I discovered the difference between Millesime and non Millesime.
Millésimé (vintage) Champagne is a high-quality sparkling wine produced from the grapes of a single, exceptional harvest year, rather than a blend of multiple years. These champagnes are only declared in superior years, aged on lees for at least 3 years (often 5-10), and offer greater maturity, complexity, and distinct vintage character compared to non-vintage cuvées.
I was able to buy Champagne Jacquesson in Rome years ago. It is full of bubbles and very good quality. The year 2002 is valued at 800 GBP
We had the most lovely afternoon drinking champagne and chatting with just a few friends at home. We also had a very delicious Mascarpone cream cake, this rounded up a week of Birthday festivities. Despite the wind, brilliant sun was in attendance. It was all very comfy, the way life should be.
We reminisced on our 10 Anniversary living on Prince Edward Island and all the things we have done since. We certainly have a greater social circle here than we did in Ottawa.
On Wednesday I have been invited to talk on the current situation in Iran and give an historical perspective based on my own experience and observations during my time in the region. Due to bad weather it has been postponed to later.
The price of gas is now $2.00 per litre or $8.00 per gallon. Given we have lots of F150 trucks and SUV I can just imagine what people are paying and complaining. Other statistics about Canadian attitudes towards other countries. The USA is at the bottom now, where before Trump it was high. The number of Canadians willing to travel to the USA is down to 5% which is an all time low. It appears that many Canadians want to join the European Union to increase trade benefits beyond what we have now and divorce ourselves from the USA.
This is now Income tax season, renewal of car registration and car inspection which we do yearly on PEI, insurance renewal etc. It can be expensive.
We got our tickets to fly to Spain in September, there was a seat sale and got better prices. So we are pretty much set, we are arriving a few days before the cruise in order to see the Sagrada Família Church almost completed after 144 years of construction. In the meantime April is the start of the tourist season and I am ready to meet the challenge. However with the price of gas, hotels and restaurants, I wonder if we will get the same amount of people we did in 2025.
Here is a thought for the day: Eating Tiramisu will not make you happier but neither would Broccoli. So enjoy your dessert.
In the coming days we have Passover and Easter, no plans yet on what we will do. Maybe get some lamb, we will be at home. We will also look into the excursions offered on Crystal for our cruise in October.
I also have to put myself on a diet, in my family on my father’s side we do put on weight easily, so being careful and portion control is important. My tour guide job will be starting in a month and I have to be in shape. Again this year there is concerns amongst our group of guides about certain tourist and politics. Last season was ok and I did not have any problems, but you have to be on your guard.
Teeter is good ole Teeter, and his routine is all important, we cannot forget it because he does prompt us. He does love to cuddle several times a day, he has also become fond of coming to bed and snoozing with us. In the evening he will cuddle with me on the sofa wrapped in his blanket. He also loves tummy rubs. He turns 5 yrs old on 21 April. I would love to discover why he does not bark, did something happen to him when he was a puppy? He also does not play, he has toys but is not interested in them. On the other hand he loves his all beef bully stick but again he will not take it from us, we have to leave it on the ground. We do know that he went to a family at some point and was returned to the breeder, so who knows. Teeter remains adorable and a very good boy.
A picture taken by our neighbour Bruce S. of the New London rear lighthouse at French river where we will go in August.
Easter and Passover Eggs. I learned something interesting today about two holidays and the tradition of Eggs. Elon Gilad, linguist and author who works for Haaretz, the newspaper of left wing opinions in Israel has site on Instagram. He explains various origins of words and their usage over the ages. Today it was about Eggs which are a tradition for both Christians and Jews.
During the middle-ages around 1420, Christians followed strict observance of Lent, so the food diet was very simple and eggs were off the menu. But this did not stop hens from laying eggs, what to do? People would simply boil the eggs and then keep them to eat at Easter as part of the feast. At the same time the tradition of painting eggs was developed.
For Jews who prepare the Passover Seder, matzah (unleavened bread) and bitter herbs (maror) are core symbolic food mandated by the Torah. Matzah symbolizes the haste of the exodus and humility, while bitter herbs evoke the harshness of slavery in Egypt. They are often eaten together in a “Hillel sandwich”. Now Rabbis established the use of the egg known as a kebeitza (egg bulk), to determine the required amounts of matzah and bitter herbs to eat at the Seder. The Rabbis came up with a “standard unit of volume” using an egg. So under rabbinical law to calculate religious obligations, particularly in the context of Passover, the egg indicates the size of a required portion.
March 24 is a beautiful sunny day with clear blue skies. This morning I had smoke salmon and scrambled eggs with my espresso. Then lunch with my colleagues of the tour company, they gave me a tiny cupcake which made me laugh. Then tonight we are going to dinner with dear friends. All day good wishes have come in, it is nice to be remembered.
The weather bureau predicted for the Maritimes some very stormy weather for the next 5 days. However it did not turn out too badly except for Saturday when the light swirling snow, high wind and fog made a mess of things. Sunday was beautiful and we were suppose to return to stormy weather on Monday. End of Winter is always this way, Spring has arrived but Winter wants a last hurrah, so you get a real mix of temperature and messy weather. It really is not cold anymore, snow is almost gone. The ice over the rivers and the Strait is breaking up with wide patch of open water.
Several restaurants are re-opening this week for the tourist season, many want to be open at least 7 days before the first cruise ship arrives in order to prepare kitchens and staff. Until 29 April Setting Day, the Lobsters come from Nova Scotia, but do not tell anyone. Of course the tourist menus talk of Market prices for Lobster and now Oysters are at $4. each, what a rip-off. Well the official explanation is “what the market will bear” So people are willing to pay such, then we will charge as much.
We had a fun time at the Club on Friday, on Sunday my friend Bert and I celebrated our Bday. He is 93 and quite spry and I am 70. Lots of wonderful food and cake, all prepared by his daughter. The house is in Keppoch on the Strait, quite a wonderful view of the water and the Province of Nova Scotia, about 20Km across the water. Lots of people present and we both each got a 4 foot long Bday card signed by everyone. The coffee was flavoured with the alcohol of your choice and two cakes, mine was lemon and his was chocolate. Because he has a piano in his home one of the guest who is a professional piano player did the honours. It was great fun.
Tuesday 24 March is my Official Birthday Dinner and we are going to Claddagh Oyster House on Sydney street, one of my favourite restaurants in Charlottetown, with a solid reputation for the last 42 years. I know that Will is also planning another event.
The price of gas in Canada continues to climb. Here in PEI it is now around $1.91 CDN per litre, the cheapest oil is $1.86. One quarter tank cost me $38.79. I am sure it will climb again this week to possibly over the $2.00 mark per litre. My strategy is to top up instead of waiting for the half full mark. This way I hope to save some money, though I do not drive the car much. What I find pathetic is how the average Joe screams about it instead of trying to understand how the world market works and dictates prices. I saw that in Europe for a litre people pay 2.10 Euros. It’s all relative, I suppose. As the Prime Minister would say,” We have to deal with the world as it is, not as we wish it to be.”
Then this crazy news item the BBC News reports:
A commemorative gold coin bearing the image of US President Donald Trump has been approved by a federal arts commission. The 24-karat gold coin is intended to mark America’s 250th birthday this 4 July and portrays Trump with his fists pressed against a desk. After a presentation by the US Mint, the US Commission of Fine Arts voted unanimously to approve the design, despite questions over its legality. It has to be the ugliest coin, even if it is in gold, I have ever seen, vulgar and in poor taste. In Canada because we are a Constitutional Monarchy, only the effigy of HM the King appears on our coins.
US Federal law does not allow a living president to appear on US currency. But the coin is being issued in accordance with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s authority and discretion to mint and issue proof gold coins. But that is not all, there is also a RealDonaldTrump Coin minted by Trump Coins in gold at $6,281.00 USD. This is the sort of thing that happens in tin pot republics, where the dictator appears on currency.
Life is a patchwork of moments — laughter, solitude, everyday joys, and quiet aches. Through scribbled stories, I explore travels both far and inward, from sunrise over unfamiliar streets to the comfort of home. This is life as I see it, captured in ink and memory. Stick around; let's wander together.
Jerry and I get around. In 2011, we moved from the USA to Spain. We now live in Córdoba. Jerry y yo nos movemos. En 2011, nos mudamos de EEUU a España. Ahora vivimos en Córdoba.
Telling the stories of the history of the port of Charlottetown and the marine heritage of Northumberland Strait on Canada's East Coast. Winner of the Heritage Award from the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation and a Heritage Preservation Award from the City of Charlottetown
Larry Muffin At Home 