Along Wacker Drive Overlooking the Chicago River

I have my screen saver set up to display a slide show of my Street Photography. Lately, it seems everytime I look at it, I see an image from my 2010 trip to Chicago. The grown-up escape and catching up with a dear friend was the icing on the cake as we burrowed into the charisma and history of this approachable and architecturally stunning metropolis.

This was a very amateur attempt at night photography, sans tripod, that I took the night before we took flight and rails back to our respective realities. This image illustrates much of what I loved about Chicago: the buildings and the river in which we flowed as we learned about their origins... the spectacular meals we enjoyed at The Gage and Quartino and my first real sushi experience earlier on this particular day... the ease at which we walked along its streets at any hour of the day or night as we explored and lingered and gazed and engaged...

I shot this while breathing those deep breaths that only flow while removed from schedules and responsibilities, a condition that is very easy to adopt while on vacation!

The Right Shoulder of Niagara Falls

The only way you ever want to see the Horseshoe Falls from this vantage point is from the deck of a sightseeing boat!

Many locals I know will avoid the tourist area of Niagara Falls at all costs, only venturing into the camera-toting and fanny-pack-attired clutter when they are hosting visiting family members. Then it's okay because your clan is so enamoured of your touring abilities and enthralled at the idea of you actually getting to LIVE here and see such beauty every single day that you forget you're doing "tourist stuff".

Then there are those who embrace this effervescent industry and revel in that which draws people from all over the world - the endless array of activities as well as the vistas. Those are the people to whom I raise my glass. If you live here you may as well enjoy the benefits.

I joined a group who were visiting but who had been on the Maid of the Mist sometime during their lives. Aside from our various children, I was the only person in our party who had never been on it!

It was a wonderful day, mercifully less humid than in previous weeks. I shudder to imagine the feeling of those plastic blue ponchos fusing to the skin as would likely occur in the intense heat we had been having most of the summer!!! 

I loved the view as our boat nuzzled the crook of these Falls, showering us with mist. I delighted in the mild turbulence as the downward force of the water churned in the lower river, urging me to reach out and balance myself with a secure stance. I truly realised the sheer expanse of falling water as I literally panned my head from my right shoulder all the way to my left to see it all.

Why would people forego this cool experience just because they happen to share an address? It reminds you why travellers venture here just to see this natural wonder. Living close by and not having to expend huge amounts of money or vacation time to see it is a bonus!

Near Union Square in New York City

So I decided to think about food.

Only the freshest produce will cause explosions of flavour to ricochet around in your mouth. But this freshness standard should extend to anything you allocate to your eating pleasure. If you are going to press anything between your teeth and consume calories and other non-mentionables in the process, it had better be worth it!

Eating food is about so much more than just taste. The colours and smells and character of a farmer's market or even a roadside stand are intoxicating. There is an entire discipline to deciding what goes with what and how to respect complementary flavours and textures. Expert food presentation can increase the enjoyment and subsequent value of any meal, whether or not it's gourmet.

In addition to insisting on absolute freshness and a relatively short distance from farm to table - a luxury I enjoy and appreciate here in Niagara - here is how to garner the most intense taste sensations from a few of life's most delectable offerings:

Wine: There are entire volumes and credit courses covering this one. But at the very least, enjoying a glass of wine should be an event in itself. I learned from a local winemaker that you don't just sip your wine, you have to unlock those flavours as well. Swirling wine around in your glass and breathing in the aroma before consuming it will create a more enveloping savoury experience. If you don't believe me, smell your wine after you pour it, then swirl it around and smell it again.

Sushi: Here's where freshness makes or breaks it. I've recently become enamoured with those charismatic little rolls - a satisfying balance of crunchy and velvety, the most exciting part is the wasabi burn! My sushi crew showed me that you dip the roll or sushi into soya sauce laced with as much wasabi as you dare. But the trick is to place the wasabi first and slowly incorporate a little soya sauce at a time so it properly and smoothly integrates creating that electrifying heat that spears up into your nose like a flash fire. 

Dark Chocolate: A milk chocolate lover all my life, I have gleefully become a die-hard cocoa fan. 70% is the lowest percentage I'll go now, and I usually stick with 85% because I find it is rich enough that just a small dose will satisfy my chocolate lust. But in order to benefit from the complex and intense flavours, they must be unlocked by being left to melt on the tongue one small piece at a time. Just letting it sit there long enough to become soft around the edges will cause your tongue to quiver with delight.

Okay I don't know how people can write about food all day! Anyone doing this regularly must love and revel in the diversity of flavours and textures and all of the above. But just writing about three of my taste treats makes me wish I could go indulge so describing entire meals and other expressions of culinary creativity must elicit quite the cravings on a regular basis!

Okay maybe I'll break off a few shards of Lindt...