Sep 19 2020 - Snake Cake vs Travel

 

There are people who think travel will open up soon.  I think there's a better chance of all of us making a snake cake. The travel writer jury's out on travel.  Yes, you can travel, but should you travel?  FODORS.com took up the question this past week and let us know that there are countries that have had zero COVID cases. Fodor says: "The Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. North Korea and Turkmenistan were also on the list with caveats that both countries are known to be secretive." That's most helpful to consider  travelling to countries that are secretive.  And what about this tourist news?  Would you travel to India right now to see the Taj Mahal?  The Taj Mahal, closed since March, is set to reopen on September 21, despite India having the world’s highest numbers of daily new COVID cases.  Book a hotel in Japan now?  The International Olympic Committee announced September 7 that the Tokyo Olympics, postponed to summer 2021, will go ahead regardless of the state of the pandemic. I suggest we return to our kitchens instead to make a Slinky the Snake Cake.  We won't need a test or insurance.   There are lots of snake cakes.  I see posts since 2016, so they've been around for a while.  That explains the abundance and variety:  some are life-size pythons extending the entire length of the table.  There's a python cake in the grass. Cobras rising up cakes, snakes making their way up tiers of cakes.  In comparison frog and slug cakes are cute and appear more edible.  That excludes the Jabba the Hutt Cake.  To indicate a slug has visited your cake?  There are slime cakes. These have cups of slime above the cake, pouring the slime icing over the cake. Our picture today:  swans on the shore of Lake Ontario!  Makes me think about the Whistling Swans who will be flying south soon.

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Stratford Swans

How is it that swans are associated with Stratford?  "You can download and read about our pride and joy in the brochure The Swans of Stratford". The story of the swans started in 1918, and gained fame when Queen Elizabeth II gave six pairs of Mute swans to Ottawa in 1967.  One of the pairs was then given to Stratford. Read about Clyde, one of the offspring, and his notorious activities.

Niagara Water is Green

Marilyn's Photo of the Day  Niagara's Winter Scenes

What the Lake Views are Like There's nothing like winter water and particularly Niagara water, full of those minerals so that it is very green.  Port Dalhousie recognized this and painted the walk way bridge a matching green.  This is the scene of our first picture.  From inside Pier 61, our favourite restaurant in Port Dalhousie that sits on the bank of the old Welland Canal entrance (I think). The water is Twelve Mile Creek flowing into the Lake. The second picture shows the bridge that crosses over the small, almost frozen falls.  This is the one road into Port Dalhousie, and there's one road out. Perhaps that is what makes it such a quaint little seaside town still.  We were lucky yesterday as there was a pair of swans that came through for a while.   Our third picture shows at all the people fishing on the other side of the water. We haven't seen this many people since before Christmas.  I wondered if there was a fishing contest or festival. Our final picture today is what I think of as the backside of Jordan Harbour Bridge. The frontside view is from the QEW.  It is such a scenic view with the massive Jordan Valley in the foreground. I haven't been able to get to the eastern side to take photos.  Houses line both sides and the roads in are private - all the way from the main north/south road.  I did find this empty lot with a for sale sign.  What a view this monster house will have as it joins its fellows on the east bank of the Jordan Valley.