Toronto

Canada, the summary…

| Mairead

Day 1 Leaving Dublin.

18 9a

(Waiting to board our plane to Toronto)

Day 2 The CNE (Canadian National Exhibition.)

18 9b

(The Sky Ride at the CNE)

Day 3 Resting and remembering our Tiki Float.

18 9c

(Our team of bead throwers for the CNE Parade)

Day 4 Trip to the Mall (maul.)

18 9d

(Outside the Georgian Mall)

Day 5 Trip to Toronto.

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(The view from the balcony of the CN Tower Toronto, the wire mesh for safety)

Day 6 Trip to the Library…..

18 9e

(Very useful book!)

and the beach.

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(The beach)

Day 7 Road Trip to Sault Saint Marie.

18 9h

(All set with Timmy’s, water, blanket and crochet)

Day 8 Train to Agawa Canyon.

18 9i

(Our train)

Day 8 Road trip home to Barrie.

18 9j

(Stop for water and ice cream on the way home)

Day 9 Resting with the squirrels.

18 9k

(We spotted this squirrel running along the garden fences with a monkey nut in his mouth)

Day 10 Rainy day road trip to Niagara Falls.

18 9l

(Thunder and lightning near Toronto)

Day 11 Niagara Falls in the Maid of the Mist.

18 9m

(View from our boat of the boat in front about to get very wet)

Day 12 Breakfast at Timmy’s before trip to the power station and Niagara on the Lake.

18 9n

(Porridge with berries and filter coffee, nice)

Day 13 Medieval Times in Toronto.

18 9o

(Knights and food eaten with fingers)

Day 14 Saying goodbye to family and Canada.

18 9p

(Denis says the car rolled over his toe…..)

Still a bit tired… Mairead.

Fear and Lightening on the way to Niagara Falls.

| Mairead

05 9e

(Treats at Tim Hortons)

We set off for Niagara Falls this morning (Tuesday). Denis went to pick up the hire car while I packed enough for the two days away. Something lovely happened when he got home. You remember Doris’s mum Bobba? Well… long story short, just as Denis arrived back with the car Doris and Bobba pulled up to the house with umbrellas (it’s raining today and well… Doris thinks of everything!) and a package. Bobba, knowing I love to crochet had crocheted me a blanket! I feel very special.

05 9d

(Sat-Nav)

After lots of hugs and kisses we set off but we hadn’t gone far when we realised we had to stop the car – Denis couldn’t pass Tim Hortons (it’s only been a week but Tim Hortons has got hold of him.) So just ten minutes down the road we stopped again. Everyone out for coffee and Danish. Everyone back in and power up the Sat-Nav. To make sure we got the most out of our trip to Niagara, Grahame (who lived and worked in Niagara for many years) typed up an itinerary for us and yesterday Moira programmed the Sat-Nav with all the locations so we were ready to begin. In spite of my dislike for planning, I do appreciate when someone else does it!

05 9g

(Gone a bit dark over here)

We got onto the 401 (highway south from Barrie) easily enough but just as we were getting close to Toronto we hit a thunder and lightning storm with torrential rain. The rain was so loud we couldn’t hear the little voice on the sat-nav and so heavy we couldn’t see very far in front. Something we’ve noticed about the drivers on this road – they like to drive close together, possibly something to do with slip streaming and saving petrol? Whatever it is, it’s very scary, especially in the rain. We passed two accidents where the car behind could not brake in time!! As I’m a nervous passenger at the best of times I was prepared with my crochet (very calming) and the storm soon passed (as they always do…) and we arrived safely.

05 9f

(More rain – yippee)

I’m sitting writing on one of the two ginormous beds in our hotel room. We’re on the 9th floor and have a great view… well it would be great except for the mist and heavy rain, but I’m not complaining I have a new sense of respect for rain (yes Isabel!) – it’s cooling and there are no biting bugs. I’ll be consulting Grahame’s itinerary soon and we’ll go for a walk in this soft Canadian rain.

From an Irish-looking Niagara Falls, Mairead.

Taking the tour bus to Toronto

| Mairead

30 8e

(Are you sure it’s ok to park here?)

We went to Toronto yesterday. We decided not to rent a car until next week so we had to take the bus…. not really… Very short bus, only takes six and unusually we knew the driver. It turns out Doris loves Toronto so… she became our bus driver for the day. Ok, it was a car but it had the same privileges as a bus. It could stop anywhere and the passengers could all get out to take photos… so we did. We made a quick stop at Casa Loma, a castle built by a rich Canadian in 1911.

30 8aa

(Castle Casa Loma)

We stopped at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) – both entrances.

30 8bb

(ROM new part called the crystal)

30 8c

(Rom original entrance)

We stopped at the house of the governor…. I think.

30 8d

(I think this is the governor of Ontario’s house)

Then we went downtown, where the buildings are modern and tall.

30 8f

(One of these was the tallest building for a while)

Then we went to St. Lawrence’s Market for lunch…

30 8g

(This is a sandwich!)

The downtown buildings pale in comparison to the height of the CN Tower. It’s 1,815 feet tall;  we parked the car and went up there. The lift up to the observation deck travels at 15 miles an hour and it’s on the outside and it has glass doors. We had the best spot right beside the door…. but no pictures – using my hands instead to pry my eyes open.

30 8h

(CN Tower from Front Street West)

30 8i

(It wouldn’t fit in my view finder)

Afterwards we walked around the outside of the tower tied to ropes…..

30 8j

(Ok it wasn’t us…. )

It is possible to walk around the outside of the tower with only a rope protecting you from gravity… but we had to go to dinner… at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

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(It’s all included – for the price of your main course (around $12) you also get salad starter, yummy ice cream called Spidona and tea or coffee)

And then off home to bed…

30 8l

(Driving home in Toronto at 8pm last night)

Today we will rest, Mairead.

Canada – home of the free… stuff

| Mairead

29 8a

(Our bus stop – a little off-center but working perfectly)

Yesterday Caoimhe and I went to the Mall (pronounced maul.) Although there’s public transport here in Barrie –  a bus service and a train to Toronto – most people take cars. So Caoimhe had never been on the bus (neither had my sister or brother-in-law) but as bus travel is an integral part of every holiday for me, we gave it a go. Barrie is considered a town, but it’s a big town, with a population size similar to Cork city. We would need a map, timetables, directions – we didn’t have any of these…. but we had something else – Doris!

29 8d

(Our map – that’s the lake in blue and the circles with the arrows are the bus number and bus direction – we took number 10 and number 20)

If you’re keeping up with our story you will remember Doris and Bobba? Well, on Monday they had to go for a doctor’s appointment and among the out of date magazines and health promos in the waiting room they discovered a bus map and timetable. We had the tools. (Interesting by the way…. doctors visits are free – yes free! I was beginning to notice a few aches and pains that I could get investigated before we get back to Non-free-land when I was told it was only for residents. Sure I’m fine really.)

29 8b

(A newspaper stand on a suburban street)

Anyway, on Monday night we poured over the map and discovered where we could pick up the bus, how much it would cost (one fixed price $2.85 and that includes transfer to any other bus), what number it would be and which direction it would be going in. By Tuesday at 11am we were ready. We found the stop easily (after a bit of confusion – mine – about which side of the road the traffic drives…. it’s  the right!) and settled down to wait.

29 8c

(A fire hydrant – doesn’t it look a bit like the little bear in Yogi Bear?)

Caoimhe had a book and I had my camera. When the bus came we were ready with our exact change. I had put mine into the little slot and was encouraging Caoimhe to do the same when the nice lady driver said, Tell me she’s in 8th grade. Never one to disobey a person in uniform (and Caoimhe is in 8th grade) I nodded, Yes, she’s in 8th grade. Then she’s free when she’s with you. Yahoo!

Free doctors and free travel, how much better can this get? Mairead.

We’ve arrived with family in Toronto!

| Mairead

28 8a

(Caoimhe, all set for her day at CNE)

Yes, here we are, we arrived in Toronto on Saturday. My sister. Moira and my niece/godchild Caoimhe were at the airport, waving banners and cheering as we exited the arrivals gate (well they may have been earlier…) We may have left a rainy and chilly Ireland seven hours ago but the sun was shining on our arrival. Moira and her husband John live about an hour away from Toronto in a town called Barrie, so as we beetled along the highway Caoimhe gave me a running commentary of the sights.

28 8b

(Doesn’t it look a bit like the RDS?)

We had just enough time to get a tour of their house and change out of our cold weather clothes when it was time for dinner. Although we had eaten breakfast in Greystones, pasta lunch and teatime pizza on the plane, for some reason we were ready for dinner in Barrie as well. My sister and her family moved here about a year ago and stayed with friends until they bought a house. Tonight these friends were coming for dinner. Although I have never lived way from Ireland I have noticed the experience of others. It seems to me when people leave their native soil and their extended family they meet friends who become family. Grahame, Doris and Bobba (I’m spelling phonetic – it’s Ukrainian for grandmother) are family.

28 8d

(CN Tower in the distance)

So, bright and early on Saturday morning we headed off with our new family (in their car) to the CNE. In case you haven’t heard of it the CNE is like all the shows that happen in the RDS in Dublin, but all happening at the same time and using all the buildings. So it’s Funderland (rides and carnival games), it’s  a Dog Show, it’s a Cat Show, it’s a Flower Show, it’s a Farm Show, there’s horses, there’s music, there’s a little train, there’s a sky lift, there’s booths selling products from countries around the world and there’s food… lots of food. But mainly it’s nostalgia. Parents who were brought here as children are back with their own children.

28 8f

(Food…)

Every day in the CNE at 6pm there’s a parade of floats. With music and stilt walkers and clowns and animal characters. And the best thing about the parade? The beads. Mardi Grais plastic necklaces are thrown from the floats to the crowds lining the route. I’m not sure what it is about the beads but they seem to bring out the inner child in adults and we were in a unique place to spot this phenomenon – we were throwing the beads!

28 8g

(More food…)

On our way to the CNE we stopped by Maryann and JoJo’s house (more family.) JoJo had prepared a map with instructions on how to get the best from our day while Maryann gave us tickets (free!). I think it was Maryann’s niece who got us places on a float. Initially Denis and I were a bit sceptical about the whole parade thing… how could we politely refuse when everyone had been so kind? Well… by the time the parade started you couldn’t have dragged us from that float. We were dancing to the reggie beat and hurling beads with abandon. The looks of delight on the faces of grown men and women as they caught a necklace was addictive.

28 8h

(Our float before we took off – we were too busy to take pictures on route!! That’s me and John at the back)

It’s the little things, Mairead.