08 July 2014

Prairie Wedding

I'm back in Vancouver now, about to head back to London, but I've been getting a bit behind, so here's what happened in Saskatoon.


We woke up pretty early on Saturday morning, and some of us managed a brief run along the Saskatchewan River. It was very hot and humid, but it helped to work off some of Friday night's excesses.

I also went to the first of two independent coffee bars I had scouted out. Yes, Saskatoon has two places that will do a pretty decent pourover. A full review will follow, but The Local, which was only a couple of blocks from our hotel, is a really good choice for those craving caffeine and not yet accustomed to Tim Hortons.


While the boys went off for some guy time, the bride and the bridesmaids went to have our hair and makeup done. It's only the second time I've had my makeup done professionally — and it will probably be the last time I ever get false lashes! — and I was pleased with the end result. It was also nice to spend a little more time with some of the other bridesmaids.



After a quick lunch and an even quicker wedding run through, we all went to get dressed. I'm not going to blog the wedding in detail — there was enough social meedja from the hashtag they set up (a really great way to share photos and videos during the day, including selfies with the bride and groom — but suffice to say it was probably the most fun wedding I've ever been to. The bride was beautiful and my brother scrubbed up nicely too. Good stuff.



As I only crawled into bed just before 2 am, after many hours of dancing, there was no run for me yesterday morning. I did make it to the 10 am wedding party brunch in our hotel though. It was a buffet, so I could at least control the portion size, and I did feel a lot better after some coffee, scrambled eggs and bacon. Then it was time to explore the town. Yesterday was Pets in the Park — an annual event where, surprisingly enough, people bring their pets (mainly dogs) into the park. Saskatoon was looking very pretty in the afternoon sunshine.




Everyone enjoyed a bit of puppy window-shopping, and then we crossed the river and explored the Broadway area, which has a number of independent shops and cafés, including the second coffee bar on my list, Museo. Although the service was a little slow, the pourover did me the world of good.




After a quick swim, whirlpool and sauna at our hotel, it was time for a few Canadian food experiences. First, I had my first double double from Tim Hortons — a terrible coffee with double cream and double sugar — as well as some Tim Bits (doughnut holes). Then we had poutine and Caesars (a sort of Bloody Mary with clamato juice) at Hudsons. By this point, the double double and the tiredness had got to me and I started acting a little silly.


But not so silly that I couldn't enjoy my second Caesar, which came with a bacon straw (I'll repeat: bacon straw!), with dinner. We went to a Brazilian steakhouse called Saboroso, where the severs roam the tables with giant skewers of different meats, which keep coming until you turn your coloured dice red side up. The chicken with whiskey maple BBQ sauce, was my favourite, followed by the sugary, cinammony pineapple for pudding.



It was so sad to say goodbye to everyone after such a lovely weekend of celebrations. It helped that I had to get up at 5.15 this morning for my flight back to Vancouver, and more adventures on the Pacific Coast.

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