I was lucky enough to be invited to a wedding this past weekend by a teacher who I had worked with. She was getting married and for some unknown reason, thought that me being there would be a good thing. After living in Canada for nearly nine years, this was the first wedding that I would attend where I, and not my wife, was the person who knew someone.
After dropping off the kids nice and early, off we went to Brantford (birthplace of Wayne Gretzky) for the wedding, which took place in the Polish church of St. Joseph’s. Why Polish? Well the bride’s parents are of Poland, so thats why! The church wasn’t too big but it was amazingly decorated, with detailed scenes on the ceilings and walls. It is by far the most attractive church I had been in for a long time.
The second clue that this wasn’t going your average wedding was the priest who conducted half of the ceremony in Polish. Another reason why TV is better than real life, there are never subtitles around when you need them! It was incredibly interesting to watch because the priest would often be singing by himself in Polish.
While Brantford is the birthplace of The Great One, I didn’t expect to be doing so much star spotting. The groom, Jamie, could probably get a good job being Jeremy Roenick’s body double because he looks exactly like him, even down to the hair. As several of the ladies informed me, this was not a bad thing. The second star I spotted was a gentleman who looked like Daniel Craigs older, and tougher brother. The hair, even the way he moved was the same. This was turning into a very exciting day!
A word about the bride, Monica. Monica looks polish with blonde hair, dark eye brows and polish features. She is very beautiful, and not more so than on her special day. She looked calm and seemed to be enjoying everything that was happening. Monica is a really nice person to know and I am so glad I was there to share her happy moment.
The very exciting day got a whole lot better when, after leaving the church to head to the hotel in Hamilton, we stopped off at a second hand book shop. Fifty dollars and ten books later, I left the shop with a big dopey grin on my face. Wow, was this day turning out good or what?
This day just got a whole lot better. About to turn onto the street that our hotel was on, I spotted a Lancaster Bomber banking ready for a landing at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum which just happens to be in Hamilton. This is going to be a destination for the whole family and the sight of the big plane turning the sky nearly had me crashing. It has that effect on me!
Because the reception was being held in Hamilton, the hotel, quite logically was also held in the big ‘H’. There was a few hours between the wedding and the church so there was time to kill. After checking into the hotel, the Marriott Courtyard which was pretty nice, my wife and I, along with some teachers from school decided to head out for some food before we ate at the reception. It made sense at the time.
Could this day get any better? Why yes, yes it could. About to exit from the hotel, we spotted a Ariel Atom driving down the road. The Atom looks like a go kart on steroid. You have to wear a crash helmet to drive one and it has been one of my favourite machines since Jeremy Clarkson took on for a ride on Top Gear. I could have been run over by an elephant and my day wouldn’t have been spoiled!
I don’t know why but I believe that if you ask any teacher, anywhere in the world, at any time of day or night, where they would like to go out for a meal, they would instantly reply The Keg. Don’t ask me why but its probably a well know thing. Anyway, the Keg was closed so we settled for whatever was next door, which I still don’t remember the name off.
A quick drive around Hamilton, followed by a short lounge around the hotel and before we knew it, it was time for the reception, which was being held at Michaelangelos which as you could guess from the name, served Italian food. This place pretty much caters to the big events, be it wedding or whatever. The room looked amazing, big and nicely setup, and yet, because there were three wedding receptions going on at the same time, this was only a third of the potential size.
First order of the day, attend the free bar and view what is on offer. In the tradition of the wedding, I went with a Polish beer, infact the only non Canadian beer on offer. Tyskie was also the biggest bottle so there was method to my madness! I am glad I found it, because it tasted wonderful and as I mentioned, came in bigger bottles which meant for less time walking back and forth to the bar and more time for drinking and eating!
I have this strange tradition at weddings where I generally find myself eating some thing that might not have tried before. I have always been a picky eater and yet, since marrying my wife, I find myself eating more and more, and expanding more and more. The meal was served in courses and with each course I found myself wishing I had worn track pants rather than a suit.
The first course was simply bread, but such fresh and tender bread! The second course was salad, greek salad and here was where I made my first discovery. Feta cheese! Being a late convert to cheese, I haven’t allowed my taste buds to sample too many forms of cheese and always thought that feta looked a little icky, but what a taste! Salty, a little dry, and I couldn’t get enough!
The third course was cheese and veal manicotti. Being a man who generally has as many meats on his pizza as he can, it surprised me that I preferred the cheese manicotti which seemed to be just about perfect! The fourth course was the main part of the meal, a large part of a very big chicken, along with the usual suspects of potatoes, veg and beef. It was this course when again, I was tempted by something previously untried, Pierogis, which by the way, are Polish. By this time I was beginning to falter as my appetite faded away. The last course that I partook in was the desert, which in this case ice cream in a crepe.
I must mention the music which was at times Polish and well, very polka orientated, and at other times, perfect. During the meal, the music was smooth classic swing and jazz. I did come away from the night with the Scissor Sisters ‘I don’t feel like dancing’ bouncing in my head!
During this feast, there was copious amounts of beer, wine and champagne on the table which all contributed to a very good evening! The whole day was an incredibly enjoyable time and I look forward to the next reception at Michaelangelos. Only next time I will be better prepared!
