One of the fun highlights of this trip to Provence was attending the Roman Games in Nimes. You know how Civil War reenactments are popular south of the border? Well, picture that except on a much more epic scale. The fully operational Colosseum in Nimes was the backdrop for a reenactment of an actual Roman Game with participants from all across Europe. As spectators, you could even rent costumes for the day and wander around town dressed as different classes of Romans and Gauls.

It was a great event for history buffs and families. There really was just a little bit of something for everyone. I’m pretty sure there must be some YouTube videos of us wandering the streets of Nimes in full costume though…

The best-preserved Roman arena in France.

Roman legionnaires, Celts, the Imperial Court, auxiliaries, cavalrymen and war chariots were all in full costume in celebration of ancient Roman civilization.

Before the Games began, the Colosseum was open for kids to participate in Gallic or Roman training.

Part of the "Ludi" games, famous throughout the Roman Empire.

Coming up: a couple restaurant reviews. For more pictures of Provence, visit my Flickr photostream.

[Wrapping up our pre-Canada Games posts for the week is another guest post from a friend who's been making use of the Oval with his family. Don't forget to check out the cute video capturing the missing skate.]

By Andrew Leitao

Baby steps on the Oval

The Canada Games are coming, and with them comes the Big O. My family and I (2 adults, a 2.5 and .5 year old) were very excited when it first opened to the public. Got our skates and headed over. There were so many people on the Oval, you could barely see the ice. Our 2.5 year old Gabrielle was raring to go and experience her first skate. It lasted 30 seconds. I forgot to tighten the nut on her cheese cutter skates (double blade that fits over the boot). Thankfully, mommy was there to figure it out and get her on her way…until she fell.

Many tears later and with some coaxing, Gabrielle continued and made it a quarter of the way around until she wanted to get off. A bit of a rough start, but fun nonetheless. Since then, we’ve been quite a few more times. Each outing has driven Gabrielle to skate a little further on her quest to complete a loop. She finally acheived it on a beautiful crisp Saturday afternoon. Papa and mommy were very proud.

The Big O is a great space for all types to enjoy some healthy out door physical activity. It’s a place for community. By the look of joy on everyone’s faces, you can feel that this is a facility that needs to stay.

Having said that, I hope it’s done in a fashion that keeps it sustainable. It’s great to be gung ho, but let’s have a plan.

Oh, and there’s plenty of grass on the commons for the people who always complain about the grass…just saying…

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Kung Hei Fat Choy

Today marks the Lunar New Year for 2011. It’s year of the rabbit (a.k.a. year of the Cokebaby). If you’re interested in your horoscope for the year check out this site where you can enter your birthday and it will generate a one-paragraph overview.

Me, I’m a Wood Tiger and this is my outlook for the year:

Do you want the good news or the bad news first? The good news is that this year’s ruling animal, the Rabbit, is one of your complementary signs. The bad news is that the year’s element, Metal, has a destructive relationship with your sign’s element of Wood. In plain English? You’ll probably have a so-so year with 5 favorable months, 3 neutral, and 4 unfavorable months. But don’t get discouraged – as a Tiger, you have the guts and gusto to face challenges like a Mortal Kombat fighter. When you’re not engaged in battle, it could be a good time to lay low and borrow some of the Rabbit’s reserve. If you plot your course ahead of time, you’ll be able to navigate the changing waters of this year with grace and agility.

Also, for anyone interested in ringing in this new year, the Chinese Society of Nova Scotia will be holding a banquet at the Marriott in Halifax on Saturday, February 12.

Have a great year!

As promised here’s some of the footage Lauren and I took at Podcamp Halifax 2011. Since we don’t have a video camera at East Coast By Choice, we relied on the kindness of my colleague Jonathan (a.k.a. @jderouchie) who let us borrow an iPod Touch. The results were kind of mixed depending on the room we were in so, for the most part these are just clips.

Although we were able to get about half an hour of Giles Crouch’s fantastic session on the State of Social Media in Atlantic Canada, it’s too large a file to share on Vimeo or YouTube. If there are any video gurus out there who know how I might be able to compress the file, please drop me a line and I’ll share the video. Here’s the online version of the report from Media Badger.

Here’s Lauren getting some social media oatmeal from Chris Campbell’s session.

And, finally, one of the best attended sessions was Maria McGowan’s ROI of social media. Here’s the SlideShare.

Lauren & I had an awesome time at Podcamp Halifax 2011 this weekend.

The sessions, as always, were all over the place. We talked about augmented reality (3D dressing room anyone?), oatmeal, the state of social media in Atlantic Canada, and more!

Lauren recaps her day here:

I talk about my biggest takeaway here:

Later this week, we’ll post some videos we captured from the sessions we attended along with related events.

In the meantime, we leave you with this:

Lauren as @KanyeWest

I’m off to Toronto for some CBC Books work. For readers who come to this blog from Toronto and surrounding areas (thanks for stopping by), check out the CBC Live events at the IFOA on Saturday. I’ll be around with some of my colleagues talking CBC Books and the fun things we’ve got lined up this year!

For everyone else, have you seen this year’s Canada Reads? We’re asking Canadians to nominate books for the celebrity panelists to discuss on the show. You have until Monday October 25 at midnight to get your votes in. Since I’m living on the East Coast I do want to encourage you to cast your votes for your fave regional books. Go! Do it! Let’s see Atlantic Canada represent on the top 40 list.

Photo credit: lumierefl from Flickr

Tonight I’ll be heading out to a launch party at Pipa for a fun venture put on by the Downtown Halifax Business Commission.

The Big Day Downtown program is meant to highlight downtown Halifax as a destination for shopping, dining, doing business, working and living. Participating bloggers, columnists, journalists and media personalities will be tasked with answering the question: “How would you spend $100 in downtown Halifax?”

Our little city is home to a compact, walkable downtown that’s pretty easy to fill a day with. Unfortunately, with lots of talk about the death of Barrington Street, a recent article in the Toronto Star remarked that “Halifax tends to look shabby and under-populated.”

I’ll be setting out into the streets of downtown Halifax to find out how far $100 goes and report back here with my findings. Before I do though, I’m going to look for some pre-game tips. What are some of your fave gems in downtown Halifax? Where do you think I should I go? I’m looking forward to showcasing what this fair city has to offer in our downtown core.

(Note, that according to the breakdown of business districts, the visit will not include Spring Garden Road which has its own association. Here’s a map of the district that is downtown Halifax.)

Hey, East Coast bookworms! I know you’re out there. Have you heard about the free event taking place in bookstores across the region tomorrow (Saturday, June 26) from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.? Atlantic Author Day is being put on by the Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association and features writers included in this year’s Atlantic Summer Reading Guide. You can find out more info, including the schedule of events for each province, at Atlantic Books Today or check them out on Facebook and Twitter.

While you’re here though, why don’t you leave a comment below about your favourite book by an Atlantic Canadian author? I’m currently reading Chad Pelley‘s Away from Everywhere. He’s the Newfoundlander behind Salty Ink and the Atlantic Canada Reads Competition. The book is about two brothers torn apart by a series of events and…that’s really all I can say about it. If I didn’t have to put it down to do other things, I probably would have devoured it by now because the writing is that solid. Plus, he’s a first time novelist garnering a lot of attention so you should go out and support him.

There. That’s my PSA for the week. Happy reading!

Fun foodie times ahead this weekend in Halifax! Just a quick note to put this event on your radar. CATCH is all about local seafood and the hottest culinary trends. It takes place this weekend (June 19 & 20) at the Cunard Centre.  Cokebaby and I will be heading over with the in-laws to check out some of the yummy eats (and drinks). You can’t get much more local food on the East Coast than with the bounty of seafood we have on our shores.