Things You Can Do This Reading Week: Pandemic Edition

If this were any other year, I would spend my reading week catching up with friends, hitting every club in the city (since we're talking about Sydney that would be exactly 2 establishments), and waking up at 2:00PM guilt free.

But, to the relief of my mom, dad, bank account and probably also Professor Herbert who expects me to dive into research, this time it isn't like other years and I won't be able to do what I had planned.

While travelling and exploring would usually be a fun way to spend "reading" week, CBU strongly discourages out of province travel. People travelling to any province other than Prince Edward Island would be required to complete a mandatory 14 day quarantine upon returning to the province. None the less, I put together a list of fun things that can be done safely, keeping in mind social distancing regulations.

▽ Skiing at Ski Ben Eoin

Located only 37km from CBU, Ski Ben Eoin is one of Cape Breton's favorite skiing destinations and is great for first timers as well as pros. You can get a day pass which includes rental ski gear for just $30. They even have a Café and a pub on site (the poutine served at the café is the best poutine I've ever had. Or maybe I was just really hungry after failing miserably at skiing, I guess we'll never know.)

Photo Source: Ski Ben Eoin Facebook page.

If you're like me and can not ski to save your life, Ski Ben Eoin also offers skiing lessons and certification courses. Ski Ben Eoin is open Mondays to Thursdays from 12:00 PM to 9PM, Fridays 9:30AM, Saturdays 9AM to 9PM and Sundays 9:00AM to 5:00PM. They also have season membership options which you can find *here*.

▽ Learn Martial Arts in Sydney

Whitalls Martial Arts offers Kickboxing, Uechi Ryu Karate, Taekwondo and a variety of self defense and fitness programs. They are located at 30 MacKenzie St and are currently taking in students for their new batches.

Photo Credits: Pushya Chokshi, {our very own Associate Editor (extreme left, middle row)}

▽ Visit Cape Smokey

At a distance of 135km from CBU, Cape Smokey makes for a fun day trip. It is a year round destination for outdoor enthusiasts. Cape Smokey offers 59 acres of skiable terrain with a 2.4 km long ski path. If you're not big on skiing, you could also do snow tubing here. If you love it just too much to leave, you don't have to: you could book a local resort near Ingonish *here*.

The Art's burger at the Cape Smokey Café' is a must try. You can look at Cape Smokey's covid protocols *here*

▽ Beer @ Breton Brewing

Visit the Breton Brewing Company’s taproom in Sydney for a cold pint of natural, unfiltered and preservative free beer. They have 8 flagship beers on tap and rotate a number of different seasonal beers throughout the year. For example, over the fall they brewed Maple Lager and Jack’d Up Pumpkin Ale, and this winter they have Cocoa Envy Chocolate Porter, Cranberry Belgian Wit, and will be soon serving their Gingerbread Holiday Ale. My personal all time favorite is their fruity beer "Let's Jam". You can also grab yourself a can at your local NSLC.

▽ Binge watch shows and movies!

OR you could sit at home and binge flicks, GUILT FREE! My personal recommendations:

Series

♦ Anger Management {Sitcom, Prime Video}

♦ SuperStore {Sitcom, Netflix}

♦ Brooklyn99 {Sitcom, Netflix}

♦ Firefly Lane {Drama, Netlix}

♦ The Queen's Gambit {Period Drama, Netflix}

Movies

♦ Happiest Season {Romance/Drama, Prime Video}

♦ Soul {Drama/Animation, Disney Plus}

♦ Coco {Drama/Animation, Disney Plus}

♦ The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run {Drama/Animation, Prime Video}

♦ The White Tiger {Drama/Thriller, Netflix}