Canada150 Epic Roadtrip - Day 15
Day 15 - July 17th Monday
Distance travelled for the day - 0 km
Total distance for trip - 8291 km
Route - Minneapolis, MN
I liked Minneapolis so much I decided to spend an extra day. I had some work to catch up on and needed a rest. The day was rather uneventful with two exceptions.
Minneapolis has some great restaurants and I had lunch at at a very authentic Japanese izakaya. An izakaya is a type of informal Japanese gastropub. They have been compared to Irish pubs, tapas bars and early American saloons and taverns. Not only was the food authentic but so was the decor.
I was able to order a dish, yakisoba, which I had not had since I lived in Japan many years earlier. It was a delicious lunch and brought back great memories.
The sign is an authentic train station sign indicating a neighbourhood in Tokyo called Shinjuku. I worked in Shinjuku for several years when I lived in Japan. The bottles above the sign are for Sake.
The new stadium in Minneapolis is home to the Minnesota Vikings NFL team. This was across from my hotel.
The other interesting coincidence happened that evening. My friend Tim took me to an English pub downtown that he often went to with his soccer team. In fact, there is a picture of Tim with his soccer team on their hall of fame wall.
While Tim and I were chatting with some other people I heard my name called from across the room, "Michelle Caers!" I looked up, much to my surprise, to see another old friend, Jerry. He was in town on business and just happened to come to this pub.
The reason this is worth mentioning is that Jerry, Tim and I, all went to the same high school in a small town in Ontario called Exeter. Not only had Jerry and I gone to school together but we had spent our summers working at the same restaurant in Grand Bend.
It was completely random to run into each other in Minneapolis and the three of us had an impromptu reunion. We stayed until the pub closed.
It was a great day revisiting great memories and catching up with old friends.