Ok, I've Had Enough!

Went to the West Edmonton Mall this morning. This was the world's largest mall until 2004, and is still the largest in North America by leasable area. It is the tenth largest in the world, along with the Dubai Mall. The numbers are staggering: 800 stores, 5,300,000 sq ft , parking for more than 20,000 vehicles. Between 90,000 and 200,000 people visit each day, depending on the day and the season, for about 32 million visitors a year. It is the most valuable property in Edmonton, with a value of $1.3 billion (CAD). Trivia: Most bungee jumps in 24 hours while indoors on November 6, 2007, by Peter Charney, completing 225 jumps.....

We didn't waste time photographing all 800 stores.....(you're welcome)....but did snap a couple of pics of the worlds largest indoor wave pool. The wave pool has six wave bays, each with two panels. A total of 1,500 horsepower powers pumps that generate wave up to 6.5 feet high.

Sea Life Caverns is an indoor lagoon containing a salt-water habitat for California sea lions, as well as a replica of the Santa Maria.

Even the corporate offices are housed in an attractive wing.

Two roller coasters provide entertainment to those so inclined.

This mall has it all. Movie theaters, hotels, an indoor shooting range, an indoor skate park, three radio stations, mini golf, a bowling alley, and various event centers. Oh, and 800 stores.

We had had enough about half way through the second floor shops. We had walked at a pretty good pace, and D's hip was beginning to talk to her, so we stopped for a mocha and a snack at Second Cup. After a bit of a rest, and conversation with a local woman who comes to the mall to people watch, we returned home to the rv park and Sasha.

About three miles from where we're staying is an ethnic restaurant named Taste of Ukraine. We sampled Polish Pyrogies yesterday, so we were interested in tasting pirogies (their spelling), and so off we went at about 5. We were greeted warmly by a young man dressed in appropriate attire and shown to a table. We were the first customers for the dinner only restaurant. On the back wall is a display of paintings done by Ukrainian artists in the "old country". They are displayed and are for sale with proceeds going directly to the artist.

The decor is reminiscent of Ukraine as well, and shows a lot of attention to detail.

I know I'm not supposed to post about food, but I can't resist:

We started with Crispy Cannon Balls: A vegetarian mixture of grilled eggplant, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and cheese formed into balls and rolled in bread crumbs before a plunge into the deep fryer. No pic because they disappeared before I remembered the camera....

My computer keyboard won't type in the language of choice in the Ukraine, so I'll try to translate.

Donna's entree was called Dnipro Dream. A fillet of fresh wild salmon wrapped in a bundle of puff pastry and topped with a lemon dill sauce. It came with cabbage rolls and Nalysnyky....cheese crepes!

My entree was called the Tsar's Pot of Meatballs: Meatballs with a rich gravy and a dollop of sour cream, accompanied by sauerkraut Pyrohy (pirogies) and Pyrizhky - potato filled buns baked in cream. Wow!

We saved part of dinner for later, and moved on to dessert!

A Strawberry Nalysnyk fit the bill just fine! It's a fine crepe wrapped around scoops of vanilla ice cream and strawberries then topped with more strawberries and whipped cream. No doggy bag on this one!

Ok....I've had enough potatoey, heavy, doughy food for awhile. Good, but under seasoned, and very, very filling. It was nice to sample some of the food from my heritage, but enough is enough!

We're doing some housekeeping tomorrow, so may not post until we arrive at our next stop three hundred odd miles east of here....