{"id":2840,"date":"2013-12-09T20:39:05","date_gmt":"2013-12-09T20:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ravenview.com\/?p=2840"},"modified":"2015-10-17T10:43:31","modified_gmt":"2015-10-17T10:43:31","slug":"big-city-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ravenview.com\/big-city-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Big City Weekend!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After last weekend’s Halifax Crafters Market we thought that we would treat ourselves to a weekend in downtown Halifax. It’s not often that we get a whole weekend to just kickback and enjoy the city but all the stars were aligned and we took advantage of it!<\/p>\n

Our Big City Weekend started off Friday evening with dinner at one of the city’s newest restaurants, the vegan Envie <\/a>. This was our first time there but we know we will be back! The food is awesome!<\/p>\n

\"envie<\/p>\n

For entrees we had a Seitan Reuben made with roasted seitan, house-made sauerkraut, nut gruyere, grainy mustard, molasses seed bread from Local Source Market<\/a> and a Portobello and Quinoa Burger which was made with organic quinoa and local portobello patty, lemon and garlic aioli, enVie sprouts, tomato with Four Seasons<\/a> organic greens all piled high on a Big Life<\/a> bun. For dessert we shared a piece of their creamy, decadent Raw Chocolate Torte with nut crust and coconut cream topping!<\/p>\n

After this delightful meal we were off to the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium for a night at the theatre! We went to see a performance of a local Christmas tradition, The Nutcracker, with Symphony Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n

\"Symphony<\/p>\n

If you have never seen this show check it out. You won’t be disappointed! It’s a story about a little girl\u2019s toy that comes to life and she\u2019s whisked away to an enchanted world where she must overcome the ferocious Mouse Queen!<\/p>\n

It was, like the other times that we saw it, pretty spectacular! The music, the props, the puppets and the performers were all outstanding! Kudos to all the musicians and performers!<\/p>\n

On Saturday we started the day at the Alderney Farmers’ Market<\/a> in downtown Dartmouth. The place was just a hoppin’, more so than usual because it was the annual Christkindlmarket weekend.<\/p>\n

Every year, the Alderney Farmers’ Market transforms itself into a German Christmas market featuring holiday goodies and crafts, free carousel rides, concerts, live musical performances, fine art exhibitions and visits from Santa! The Alderney market is always a lot of fun but Christkindlmarket takes it over the top!<\/p>\n

\"alderney<\/p>\n

\"dartmouth<\/p>\n

We spent our visit leisurely perusing all the great wares, speaking with friends, both vendors and those we met, while sampling a few snacks. It’s always a great way to start the day.<\/p>\n

And you can’t visit one market without the other so next we were off to the Halifax Seaport Market<\/a> and like Alderney, it was packed!<\/p>\n

We really love it when the markets are busy. All the people, all the talking, all the community, all good! The Christmas spirit was starting to rise!<\/p>\n

Search we did but Santa was nowhere to be found, but we knew he was close because we saw one of his Elves!<\/p>\n

\"santa<\/p>\n

By now it was lunch time and although there were so many tempting dishes right there at the market we really wanted to try the Stubborn Goat Gastropub<\/a>, another newly opened city eatery. We had been hearing a lot about them so we had to taste it for ourselves and we weren’t disappointed!<\/p>\n

\"stubborn<\/p>\n

\"stubborn<\/p>\n

We enjoyed the delicious Goat\u2019s Breakfast and the Chicken and Waffles . This place is a real gastropub! The service was outstanding!<\/p>\n

We kicked around downtown for a bit after lunch and then we dropped in for a visit with our daughter, to have a cup of tea and to get dressed up for our Christmas banquet at the Atlantic Regional Taoist Tai Chi Center<\/a> on North Park St.<\/p>\n

If great exercise for the body and mind are not enough to be a member of Taoist Tai Chi then our banquets ensure that it is! These 10 course meals are cooked onsite in our full restaurant-type kitchen and served to the 100+ members of the Atlantic Region who were lucky enough to get one of the limited tickets. In addition to the members several local dignitaries also help us celebrate.<\/p>\n

The meal was served traditionally, with one course at a time arriving at the table, and it takes several hours to complete. Here are photos of each of the ten courses:<\/p>\n

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