Ride a Cock Horse

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross

to see a fine lady upon a white horse

with rings on her fingers and bells on her toes

she will have music where she goes.

Well we have made it to Banbury, which is famous for the nursery rhyme and Banbury cakes (not the urban dictionary version). The town is also known for having the highest percentage of single mothers and you can easily see where Little Britain got their Vicki Pollard.

The weather has been absolutely glorious with temps of around 30 for the past 3 weeks and continuing. The Brits are not happy as nowhere has air conditioning so the warnings and press coverage has been hysterical saying that schools and work should stop at 82F (27c).  They are reporting that the heat wave has contributed to over 600 deaths so far.

Michael had been working in Bicester, which is a short train trip from Banbury.

Headed down to Oxford last Sunday and had a great time looking around the wonderful buildings and college grounds. Amazed at how many young tour groups were going through the city. We had lunch at the Lamb and Flag pub where JRR Toking read the first part of the Hobbit to

Thomas Hardy, Graham Greene and CS Lewis used to meet known as the "Inklings".  Michael thought that maybe the beer was better in this pub.

The college library had an exhibition called Magical Middle Ages to Middle Earth, which featured Tolkien, Lewis Carol, JK Rowling and other authors, which was very good.

Whose this wag that has his picture on the sign and why is it in Oxford?

We are able to explore the area until late, as it is still remaining dark until 10.00pm.

The town also has a lot of canals so it is interesting walking along the banks seeing the boats and how they have kitted them out. All are holiday makers, as the trade boats stopped when the trains came in. The waterways were fixed up in the 60’s and apparently in 10 years time they will not be maintained by the waterway authority, which is sad to think of a bit of history going. In saying that the whole country is covered in canals.

 

On our last night we toasted the memory of Heather Trott (Hev) with a Woo Woo.  The drink tasted just like the Nyall Decongestant my mother used to give me as a child.

Oh, and please don’t mention the cricket! 

Maybe It’s Because I’m a Londoner

Well, we have made it to the old country, land of hope and glory etc.

 

After leaving Toronto on a night flight we reached London and waited in an express queue for an hour at Heathrow Airport listening to a short, bald South African man berating his wife for leaving their Wimbledon tickets in the safe back home.  Nasty little man probably thought that he was showing everyone how useless his wife was when all he was doing was proving what a tosser he was! We took the express train to Paddington, which was very good and looked new even though it was celebrating 20 years.  The journey only took 15 minutes.

Once we got the accommodation sorted which was 3 floors up with no lift (sound familiar?), headed off to explore Primrose Hill, which is a lovely area with little high street shops tucked away and of course Ye Olde English Pubs (more gastro now than traditional) know as the Washington. The apartment was only 15min by tube from Baker St.

Lovely fox seen from the 3rd floor in the backyard

We then caught the train to Baker St and Michael route marched us through the sites.  It was nice to see the Sherlock Holmes tiles at the station that I remember from my visit 30 years ago. We were happy to marvel at the old buildings and started the quest for the gourmet English fare of steak and kidney pudding, egg and bacon butties, bangers and mash, Aragon chicken pie and fish and chips. The quest started well with one pub having the steak and kidney.

That evening we walked up to Primrose Hill, which has a marvelous view to the city. We discovered it does not get dark until 10:00 pm but worse is that it gets light at 4:30 am.  The apartment could really use some black out curtains from the Blitz.

 

 

The next day we walked from Primrose Hill through Regents Park. Michael was on squirrel watch, but found penguins instead.  The London Zoo is on the edge of Regent Park and we looked over a low fence and penguins were looking up at us. On a positive note squirrels were found. 

 

We walked through Queen Mary’s Rose Garden where all the roses are out on display, some the size of bread & butter plates. 

 Just beautiful. From there we walked down Baker Street and meandered through the streets of London or as Michael likes to say “flaneuring.” In Hyde Park we saw the memorial to the London bus and underground bombings which is a very somber memorial consisting of steel poles with the victims names, date and location of death. 

 

We also saw the Australian war memorial, which although modern was well done. 

 

Then we continued onto Buckingham Palace and happened to arrive bang on the Changing of the Guard.  Unfortunately neither the Queen nor corgis were in residence much to Michael’s annoyance.

 

We then wandered up to Trafalgar Square where Canada Day was being celebrated and off to the pub for some lunch. We also checked out Fortnum and Mason’s and found a barber for Michael in Jermyn St which has only been trading since 1730 and booked an appointment for the next day as Michael has not shaved since September last year and is starting to look a little scruffy.

The following day we took Michael in for his haircut and shave. The rugged lumberjack look is if fine for Canada, but we felt a more refined look for business was appropriate in London. Plus it would stop him frightening people when he boomed out “G’Day”.   He now resembles a startled turtle that has emerged from hibernation.  On the positive side, he also looks 10 years younger.

 

Michael found a cheese monger that has only been in business since 1670 to pick up a bit of cheese. No Monty Python skits allowed.

Whilst Michael worked I wandered around soaking up the glorious sunshine they are having. We have also been keeping an eye on rugby progress and the tennis.

The following weekend headed down to the Shard which is a complete eyesore.  One wonders how such a monstrosity was approved and it really is a blot on the landscape as it can be seen from miles away.  The Gherkin is bad enough but at least it is surrounded by other tall buildings, so that at best it is partially hidden. We then walked to St Guys hospital to see the old operating theater that was in the attic of a church in the hospital grounds. The theater was used on public patients and could accommodate 150 people packed in like sardines to watch the operations. This was in the days before anesthetic and pain relief so it would have been a horrifying spectacle.

 

 

We also walked around Borough Market, which was excellent and full of fresh produce. Then we walked part of the Dickens walk to end up at the Dickens pub to see the last half of the rugby. There were many happy Englishmen that day and two sad Aussies.

We explored a bit further and ended up at the Camden Markets, which used to be the old horse stables for the canal boats being towed. The markets are massive selling everything from clothes, jewelry, household items etc of very good quality.  The place is a hipster’s paradise and I know that Tim would love it there.  We finished the evening with a visit to Amy Winehouse’s local.  How cool are we!

Decided the place was a bit small with Michael working and no room to sit so found another place in Albion Street near Edgware Road, which had Hyde Park at the end of the street and was much bigger and nicer (and not up 3 flights of stairs). There is a large Iranian and Iraqi community with plenty of Middle Eastern restaurants and very flash and expensive cars as well. Michael chatted to a heavily armed Old Bill who was standing on a street corner. He was very friendly and assured us that there was no criminal activity and that he was only guarding a VIP. As there were three of them it must be one important VIP and a hefty expense on the taxpayer.

We caught up with Ann and Vimal who were visiting to see family. It is funny seeing friends on the other side of the world, and it was lovely to catch up on what is happening back home. As usual Michael corrupted Vimal into having a pint of Fullers like Vimal did when he lived here 40 years ago.

at Harrod's shrine to Di and Dodi

 

We also caught up with Michael’s godmother Margaret who as not aged a day since I meet her 25 years ago. I had warned Michael not to race off and leave Margaret behind and be mindful of her age.  Needless to say, both of them walked off leaving me behind as Margaret goes on regular walking holidays and is as fit as a fiddle. We started the day with coffee on the banks of the Serpentine River in Hyde Park followed by a wonderful lunch and long chat.  The only disappointment was that we couldn’t find the Mr Darcy statue, which had been erected in the river. It must have been removed.

A Very Special Visit

James, our eldest son, came for a quick visit last week.  Naturally it was wonderful to see him and it was lovely to spend time together whilst showing him the sights of Toronto.

The highlight of James’ trip was our day at Niagara Falls.  We hired a car and Michael drove through the brutal Toronto traffic to Niagara, which is a couple of hours out of Toronto.  It was my second visit to the falls and Michael’s third.  I don’t think that I could ever get tired of looking at these magnificent cascades.  They are visually stunning but it is the roar of the water splashing down that is most memorable.  We took a ride on the Maid of the Mist, which is always a highlight.  The Maid is a small ferry, which takes passengers to the base of the falls, well, as near as you can safely get.  Everyone dons plastic raincoats as the nearer to the falls you travel, the wetter you get.  It is great fun and the view and roar of the falls is spectacular.

Whilst at the falls, we took a walk alongside the river.  We didn’t see any beavers however we could see where they had been busy.  A number of trees were partly chewed through and wire mesh had been put over the base of the trees to stop the beavers from felling them.  The falls create the fastest rapids in the world and the sound of the rushing water is irresistible to beavers who then feel it is their duty to dam them, however the current is just too strong so they build their nests along the side of the river instead.  James loved the cartoon beaver that explained all about how the falls were created.

After lunch we then took a short drive to Niagara on the Lake to have a wander around the town.  It is a very pretty spot with lots of interesting shops.  Next, it was off to some wineries to taste some Ontario wines.  James particularly liked the sparkling ice wine and so did I. 

We walked James around the city of Toronto showing him  the sites and where to find and feed squirrels.  They don’t mention squirrel feeding in the tourist information so he was particularly blessed. Then took him a few times to Fahrenheit a nice coffee place and he was impressed that the hipsters knew me and then dads coffee card was exposed for his use.

We finished off James’ time with a special dinner at Michael’s (that is the name of the restaurant).  Both James and Michael dined on enormous steaks and enjoyed them immensely.  We then walked to our favourite bar in Toronto – Pravda.  Pravda is a vodka bar that has been decorated with authentic Soviet memorabilia including a giant bust of Lenin.  James couldn’t believe that his parents knew of such a cool place.  It is cool, literally, as all the vodka is kept in a giant freezer room.  We ordered a vodka tasting, which was fun, complete with rye bread and pickles.  It brought back memories of our trip to the Vodka Museum in St Petersburg.

We finished the night off with a beer tasting at C’est What, which was being held as part of the Toronto Beer Festival.  James and Michael had a lovely time tasting a range of beers.  I stuck to my gin and tonic.  Unfortunately it was then time to say goodbye to James, which was very sad.  Hopefully he enjoyed his time enough to want to visit his mum and dad again, wherever we are.

Well, when Toronto heats up the people of Toronto come out to play. 1^st July is Canada Day and a big long weekend. There seems to be two groups in Canada as what to do on this weekend. One group head off to the cottages with their families and celebrate all things Canadian, especially with red and white (they are really secret swan supports, reigning premiers as Michael likes to remind me). The other group is the gay, lesbian, transgender and those not sure what they are.  They have 3 pride marches and close off the rainbow area around Church St. Wandered up on our last night to see the beautiful people and not sure if they succeeded but their dogs looked nice.

As we are leaving Toronto we did the final feed of our squirrel friends and hope  they don’t miss us.  Michael says they must sit around and discuss the philosophical aspects of the all-providing squirrel god who showers them with nuts on a regular basis.

This will be our last post from Toronto as we leave on Saturday for the UK so the next blog entry will detail our adventures in the Old Dart.

A little more Toronto, eh!

Squirrels of Toronto they know we are coming and they love nuts

There are those of you who might be wondering why I keep putting “eh” at the end of the heading.  Well, that would be because Canadians have this curious habit of putting it at the end of their sentences.  At first we found it amusing but have lately caught ourselves starting to say it.  We say things like “Lovely day today, eh”.  I think we have been here too long.

We did manage to get in a local Australian football game.  What a hoot!  We arrived at a magnificent oval tucked away in one of the University’s grounds just as the “ladies” had finished playing.  The men came out to play and ranged in ages from early twenties to rather mature men.  It was good to hear a smattering of Australian accents barracking for “Macca” and “Danger”.  There was no score- board, no boundary umpires and the goal umpires were a couple of local kids.  The skill level was not AFL standard but everyone had a good time.

 

One thing that has been hard to get used to is that tax is added on to items that you purchase.  In Australia, the price advertised includes GST, here they add the HST on after you have purchased so you never know exactly how much something is going to cost you.  The tax rate is 13%, so it is not an easy one to work out in your head and some items are tax exempt.  The result is you always hand over more money than needed and inevitably end up with a handful of change, which I guess is handy for all the homeless people.  They only got rid of the penny last month, which seems bizarre considering Australia withdrew one and two cent pieces 19 years ago (yes, it was really that long ago – 1994).

Good Old Collingwood Forever

We were invited last weekend to spend some time with friends in Collingwood, which is nestled in the Canadian countryside.

 

First we went to Kitchener where we hired a car.  This was my third trip to Kitchener.  On the first trip I looked out of our hotel wind to see that the wind was blowing so hard that the snow was blowing horizontally.  In fact, one huge gust actually blew open both sets of automatic doors.  A few months later Michael convinced me to travel to Kitchener again as he was sure that there would be no more snow.  It pelted rain the entire time and when it stopped raining it snowed.  This time it was just raining.

We drove out of Kitchener and travelled through Mennonite country.  The Mennonites are an Anabaptist group who broke away from the Amish.  They are easily identified by the simple clothes that they wear.  Men wear plain trousers and shirts and usually a broad-brimmed hat.  The women wear long dresses and bonnets.  They shun modern life as much as possible and drive horse and carriages.  We passed many of the horse and carriages as we drove along and I found myself thinking about the appeal of dropping out of the rat race and enjoying a more simple life.  That was until I looked out of the window and saw a Mennonite woman in the pouring rain hoeing the field.  I think I prefer the rat race.

 

The countryside became progressively more beautiful until we reached Collingwood.  There we met our friends and headed out for a magnificent Italian meal at one of their favourite restaurants. A good night was had by all, and we formalised our plans for the following day.

Durham Bridge

Friday morning I took a walk with Angie along one of the many walking tracks.  The countryside was quite beautiful with many wildflowers in bloom.  We saw Canadian Geese with their goslings, which were cute.  Big, but cute.  We also saw loons.

We met up with the men and after a lovely lunch they took us for a walk through the town of Collingwood.  The township was full of lovely old buildings that had been well cared for and the shops sold many interesting and varied goods. 

Tim then drove us through the forest until we came to the Scandinave Spa.  What a beautiful place.  It is a series of outdoor spas with thermal springs & waterfalls in the middle of a birch tree forest.  There are also cold plunge pools, a Finnish sauna and a Eucalyptus steam room.  We quickly changed into our swimming costumes and then spent the afternoon relaxing going from spa to plunge pool to sauna and back again.  Tim was so relaxed we found him asleep in the relaxation room!  We are told that it is absolutely wonderful to go there in the winter when you are surrounded by snow.  If we are lucky enough to be here next winter, then this will definitely be on our wish list.

We then went back to our hotel where Michael promptly fell asleep, so relaxed was he.  Then it was time to go to dinner at Angie & Tim’s home and to see their wonderful dog Tango.  Tango is a Labrador/Rottweiler cross and is a very smart boy indeed.  We spent the evening enjoying good food, good company and far too much good wine.  We then caught a taxi back to our hotel and by the time the journey ended, Michael had convinced the taxi driver to come to Australia!

On Saturday we met up for lunch at the Beaver & Bulldog (traditional English Pub Canadian style) where Angie & Tim both had a Caesar to drink.  A Caesar consists of vodka, clamato (tomato juice mixed with clam broth), hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce.  This is served with ice in a large celery-salt rimmed glass and garnished with a stalk of celery.  Michael and I had water!  After lunch Tim drove us up to the Blue Mountains.  This is a fabulous ski resort with many shops and restaurants at the base of the mountains.  We took the gondola to the top and then took a walk along one of the walking tracks.  The view was magnificent as you overlooked Collingwood and beyond and Georgian Bay.  We saw Canadian Geese flying in formation.  It was like something you would see on the National Geographic channel.

We finished the day off with another superb dinner and then went back to Tim and Angie’s to take Tango for a walk around their condo.  They live in a type of gated community with lovely gardens and a marina right on the bay.  We saw hares hopping about and they tell us that in winter a family of deer is often spotted there.  There are also large snapping turtles and coyotes.  It must be like living in a wildlife sanctuary.

Beautiful Joe

The next morning we said farewell after a lovely brunch and we took the scenic way back to Kitchener.  The countryside was beautiful and we stopped at various small towns along the way.  We stopped at Beautiful Joe park in Meaford which is a lovely park dedicated to the memory of a dog, Joe, whose ears and tail were cruelly cut off by a local baker.  A family rescued him and nursed him back to health. The park has a statue of Beautiful Joe as well as memorial plaques for the K9 Corp, Assistance Dogs and a Rescue dog, who died on 9/11.  Members of the public have also put up memorial plaques for their departed pets. It was such a peaceful park and a lovely idea to pay tribute to these very special animals.

More Toronto, eh!

 

Toronto continues to be a city transformed as the warmer weather has really kicked in.  The grass is a lush green and the garden beds are ablaze with colour.  I still cannot get over the size of the tulips.  They are as tall as my waist and come in just about every colour – even stripes.  The patios are full and when you walk around in the evening, it seems as though the entire population of Toronto is enjoying a walk or simply sitting outside. 

Ice Hockey is the main sport of Canada and just about every Torontonian supports the local team – The Maple Leafs (or Leafs as most people refer to them).  The supporters are very loyal, as the Leafs have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967.  They recently made the playoffs and everyone was very excited however they have been knocked out.  Maybe next year.

We actually went to an ice hockey game earlier in the season.  It was entertaining but I couldn’t help wondering if the spectators were there to watch the hockey or to barrack for the frequent brawls which broke out.  I read in the Age that a Canadian ice hockey player is travelling to Melbourne to highlight the long-term effects of concussion.  I can’t help thinking that if they stopped whacking each other over the head with hockey sticks they might reduce the number of concussion incidents.

We also attended a basketball game.  I attended an NBA game a number of years ago in Miami and wasn’t impressed with all the American hoopla that accompanied the game.  I had hoped that it would be different in Canada.  I was wrong.  The game seemed to be played in between all the entertainment that was going on.  Cheerleaders, people firing t-shirts from cannons, music blaring, crowd being encouraged to yell the loudest and advertisements being shown on massive screens.  It was all very bewildering.  Even Michael got a little irritated as he believed that they were calling time outs just so that more dancing girls could perform.

We have been keeping up to date with the Australian Football via the AFL channel on the Internet. We are able to watch the highlights of each game and any game that we wish in full.  It is good to see Hawthorn sitting in their rightful place on top of the ladder with Sydney languishing in 5^th place!  We are hoping to catch a game of Australian Football whilst we are here as there is a local competition in Toronto.  They play football in the summer here.

The Art Gallery of Ontario has an exhibition “Revealing the Early Renaissance” which we went along to.  The exhibition was very well done with many beautiful and interesting works.  The gallery itself is world class and has a good variety of works.  One room contains over 40 speakers playing the most amazing choral music.  Just lovely.

They say politics is a dirty business and in Canada that is certainly being proven true.  The mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, is currently embroiled in a crack smoking scandal.  Drug dealers have purportedly filmed the mayor, smoking crack and have showed the footage to reporters and are trying to sell the film for $200,000.  The mayor didn’t comment for over a week before finally releasing a statement stating that he does not smoke crack.  His opponents have leapt on the fact that he did not say that he has never smoked crack.  This is just the latest scandal that has dogged the mayor since he was elected.  Type his name into YouTube if you want to see some amusing footage of him walking into a camera.

Calgary – Yee Haa

 

We decided to venture a little further afield and spent the weekend in Calgary.  We flew from Hog Town (Toronto) to Cow Town (Calgary).  Yes, these are legitimate names.  Toronto’s nickname was Hog Town and Calgary’s was Cow Town. The flight was just over 4 hours and wasn’t too bad.

 

We arrived to discover Calgary literally awash.  They had 200mm of rain in one day and it was cold.  Both Michael and I were unprepared, as we had left our cold weather gear at home as we had become used to the warmer weather of Toronto.  We spent the first day mainly at the hotel, as each time we tried to venture out we got soaked.  We went out for dinner to a lovely seafood restaurant that had been recommended to Michael.

 

Saturday came and the weather, whilst cool, had cleared.  We decided to hire a car to go for a drive to Lake Louise and Banff.  It was the first time that Michael had driven since leaving Australia in August and he didn’t too badly – he only drove on the wrong side of the road once.

As soon as we left the city we started to draw close the Rocky Mountains.  What a magnificent sight.  Snow capped, rugged peaks jutting at unusual angles.  I have never seen scenery as breathtaking.  Truly beautiful.

 

We arrived at Lake Louise and by then the clouds had darkened once more.  We had lunch and decided to take the gondola to the top of the mountain.  The whole way up, Michael and I scanned the forest below to see if we could catch sight of a bear.  We had been told that a grizzly had been sighted the day before.  No luck, but by the time we had reached the top of the mountain we were in the midst of a snow storm.  We walked through the snow to the interpretive centre which had various stuffed wildlife on display along with information on how to survive a bear attack.  The centre was informative with very friendly staff who told us that they couldn’t believe the snow they were having either.  We had a look at the look out but due to the fact that it was snowing heavily, we couldn’t even see the lake below.  The forest looked absolutely stunning though.  Thick snow blanketing everywhere.  We took the gondola down again, once more scanning the forest for bears but no luck.

Travelling back along the highway to Banff and what do I see on the grass verge munching contentedly on dandelions – a grizzly bear!!  I could not believe that a bear would be out in the open like that.  I guess, when you know that you are at the top of the food chain, nothing much scares you.  Anyway, I can now tick off the number one item on my list of things to do/see in Canada.

 

Banff is a lovely tourist town tucked into the foothills of the Rockies.  It is a very pretty place in itself but coupled with the magnificent panorama of the mountains it is fantastic.  We took a very pleasant walk around the town and stopped for a coffee whilst listening to street buskers perform.

Sunday morning was glorious with the sun shining and the whole of Calgary out to see the Lilac Festival.  One of the main streets was blocked off and completely filled with wonderful local handcraft stalls selling everything from clothes to jewellery to dog treats and everything in between.  We watched the opening parade, which was comprised of an odd assortment of marching bands, cheerleaders, belly dancers, Fallon Gong and dogs.  Entertaining to say the least.

The Glenbow Museum was hosting an exhibition of Escher works so we quickly hurried over there.  There were over 50 pieces and it was interesting to see these complex lithographs up close.

Colombian Ground Squirrels

Thanks to our weekend in Calgary, our Canadian wildlife count has increased.  We saw prairie dogs – cute but disappear very quickly when they see you have spotted them, Columbian ground squirrels – busy little things, white tailed deer – very pretty, grizzly bear – fabulous animal and bison – big shaggy things.  We also saw a racoon but that was in Toronto – broad daylight slinking through a car park.  I would still like to see a moose.

Toronto Eh!

Toronto, eh?

Hello again everyone.  I thought it was about time for an update on our Canadian adventures.

Well, time flies faster than weaver’s shuttle, as they say and we have now been in Canada 4 months.  We have spent the bulk of that time rugged up in winter coats and boots as all the locals told us that we timed our visit for the coldest winter in 18 years.  Lucky us!  When we first arrived, we frolicked around like little snow bunnies however the novelty of snow soon wore off.  I will say that seeing the city blanketed in white was very beautiful.  It is quite bizarre that two weeks ago we had snow but on the weekend we experienced 30 degrees and actually got sunburnt.  Talk about a temperature shift!  I had to race out and buy some summer tops and shoes.  I must say that it is nice to see my arms again after having them covered since October.

Toronto is a modern city, as I have said before, with lots of high-rise office buildings and condos everywhere.  We have taken up residence on the 29^th floor of an apartment complex in the heart of Toronto. Living in a one-bedroom apartment is certainly different to living in our large home in Melbourne.  At least there is no upkeep, which makes our time our own.  The view from our window is of Dundas Square, which is right opposite the Eaton Centre (major shopping centre).  There are giant billboards lining the square lit by neon lights all day and night. In fact, the lights are so bright we had to ask our estate agent to install curtains in our bedroom as the blinds did not block out the bright lights of Toronto and our room at night was as bright as daylight. The first month we were here, we were greeted every morning by the sight of David Beckham in his underpants.  Now we have a giant Beyonce in a canary yellow bikini. 

We have established a routine for ourselves, which includes a weekly visit to the St Lawrence Market (voted number 1 market in the world by National Geographic).  We have quickly become known to the stall-holders with many of them going out of their way to shake Michael’s hand. They quickly worked out that we are Australians (could have something to do with the fact that Michael booms G’Day Mate to everyone).  The funny thing is that they have great difficulty understanding Michael’s accent.  Whenever he introduces himself as “Michael”, they inevitably think that he has said “Marco” and thereafter address him as such.  He has given up correcting them and so now answers to both Michael and Marco.  No one seems to have trouble understanding me however, one person did ask me if I was from Newfoundland!?  The produce at the market is sensational however the price of meat is much higher than Australia, especially lamb, however seafood is a lot cheaper. Cheese is also very expensive and it is nothing for Michael to spend up to $65 on cheese. The same quantity of cheese bought at the Melbourne Queen Victoria Market is less than $30.  The sale of alcohol is controlled by the government and can only be purchased at the LCBO so there is no competition.  The range is pretty good and you can buy Australian wines however we have been trying the Canadian wines and have found some pretty good ones.  Don’t bother with the vodka though.

We have spent our time exploring the various districts of Toronto however we have been limited up until now by the weather.  Toronto has suddenly come alive with the onset of the warmer days.  Patios have opened up everywhere so that people can soak up the sunshine and now that daylight savings has commenced, it doesn’t get dark here until 9.00pm.  Over the past fortnights all of the trees have burst into bloom and there are huge tulips and daffodils everywhere.  The various festivals will start soon.  We have already been to a couple of parades.  St Patrick’s Day parade was good – we didn’t even have to leave our apartment as we could view it from our window.  We also went along to the Greek Independence Day parade.  Like Melbourne, Toronto is a multicultural city.

Now that we don’t have any pets, we have adopted the squirrels, which are found in just about every park.  We never leave home without a bag of nuts in case we come across a hungry squirrel.  They are very cute and quite friendly although I don’t hand feed them as one of our friends has told me they carry rabies (not sure if that is true, but I don’t want to find out the hard way).  Michael has also taken to carrying around dog treats for the dogs belonging to the homeless.  Our Canadian wildlife count now includes squirrels, ground hogs (cute but very fat), chipmunks (so tiny and fast that if you blink you will miss them), deer and Canadian geese.  I would still like to see a bear and a moose but I believe that I will have to go further out of Toronto to see those.  Apparently coyotes are occasionally sighted in Toronto.

Canadians love their dogs and spoil them unbelievably.  There are numerous upmarket dog boutiques catering to all their doggie needs, such as grooming, gourmet dog food, toys and coats and there are many doggie day care centres also.  When it is snowing, the majority of dogs wear little booties on their paws to protect them from the salt that is spread to break up the snow.  Nothing looks cuter than a dog in booties, particularly the usually butch varieties such as rottweilers.  It is very hard to take them seriously.  We have not seen many greyhounds here, as there is no greyhound racing in Canada.  The greyhounds that we have seen have been adopted from the US and the owners are happy to stop and chat and let us pat their dogs.

The one thing that I cannot get used to in Toronto is the number of homeless.  It is heartbreaking to see them, especially in the winter, when they huddle for warmth on top of the subway gratings surrounded by snow.  It is shameful that such an affluent country cannot come up with a solution.  I will say though, that the Canadian people seem generous towards them with many stopping to give them coins, talk to them and give them a cup of coffee. 

The Canadian people on the whole, seem very friendly.  We have been fortunate to go out with a number of people since arriving and they have been good fun.  Every single one of them seems to have an Australian connection either having been to Australia, planning to go to Australia or friend/relative/flat mate having been or going to Australia.

Another thing that amazes me in Toronto is the widespread use of marijuana.  It is illegal here except for medicinal use but all I can say is, there must be a lot of sick Canadians, as you cannot walk down the street without smelling it.  Michael and I walked past the Massey Hall where Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were performing and we nearly got knocked out.  They held a pro-marijuana rally in Dundas Square the other weekend and the stench was so bad that Michael felt sorry for all the dogs that were there breathing the fumes.

Finding a good cup of coffee was initially an issue for us.  We spent a number of weekends trying various cafes and had just about resigned ourselves that we were going to have to drink stewed coffee out of gigantic cups for the duration of our stay when we found the perfect place.  The café is called Fahrenheit and is run by a group of hipsters.  They greet every customer by name and whenever I walk through the door they shout “Annette” with their arms open wide in that over exuberant, enthusiastic way that Canadians and Americans have.  We have also found a few other cafes that know how to make decent coffee but they are few and far between.

On Anzac Day we went along to the Dawn Service held at the Canadian Forces College.  It was a beautiful ceremony with the master of ceremonies a Major from the Australian Army.  The Australian consul was there along with the honorary New Zealand consul and, rather surprisingly, the Turkish consul.  Each spoke and it was moving to hear the Turkish consul talk about Gallipoli from a Turkish perspective.  The whole service took place accompanied by a chorus of honking Canadian geese.  Gee they are loud!  One curious thing though, they didn’t play the Australian national anthem.  They did however play Waltzing Matilda – I hope they don’t think that is our national anthem!

Montreal – The Paris of Canada

Now that it is warm, we have decided that it is time to get out and see a little more of Canada.  It is our wedding anniversary (27 years for those of you that care about such things) and so we have a perfect excuse for heading to the Canadian city of romance.

We took the train from Toronto to Montreal and I can thoroughly recommend this mode of transport to anyone.  We travelled business class and the seats were comfortable and the service was excellent.  The food was delicious and the wine kept flowing, so what more could you ask for?  The train announcements were in English followed by the French translation until we crossed into Quebec and then the order was reversed.  It still amazes me that Canada is one country but there is one province where they speak a different language.

 

We arrived in Montreal and took a taxi to our pre-booked hotel in the Latin Quatier.  This is where the euphoria of our adventure rapidly evaporated.  Our friends had warned us that the area we had booked into was “not the best”. The words “den of iniquity” and “cesspool” would have been a more accurate description. Having passed 4 strip clubs, we arrived at our hotel, which was situated next door to – you guessed it – another strip club.  We went up the steps into the foyer of the hotel to be greeted by the sight of torn carpet and generally run down premises with peeling paint.  Michael went to check in but they had cancelled our booking.  Michael then goes to check in on the spot whilst I was hissing “just book for one night” with Michael giving me his “you’re such a princess” look.  We then proceeded to carry our bags up the four flights of stairs (no lift) to our room whilst I explained that if the hotel was ok we could always book another 3 nights the following day.  We arrived, panting, at our room, which was the size of a shoe-box to discover – no air conditioning.  I opened the only window to find that it opened a mere 4 inches and that not one single breath of air entered the room.  We were both sweating profusely by this stage. Michael had decided without any prompting from me that perhaps we would check out the next day and find somewhere else.  I can honestly say that I have never been so hot. 

Next morning we were up bright and early, as both of us had given up on trying to sleep.  We caught a taxi from the hotel to the Marriott, which is in the downtown area.  When we arrived the taxi driver pointedly told us that we were now in a very safe neighbourhood where we could walk around.  Anyway, you could say that my spirits lifted enormously.

 

We spent the day walking around the city.  The new part of the city is very nice but unremarkable in any way.  To quote Michael’s mother “you could be anywhere in the world”.  Michael found a lovely restaurant Upstairs where we could sit outside and listen to the jazz being played.  Montreal is famous for jazz, hosting the Montreal Jazz Festival every year.

 

The next day we spent the morning walking along the St Lawrence River.  The river was a trading hub with many factories built along the banks.  Many of the factories are now closed with a number of them redeveloped as apartment complexes.  We also tried to find some squirrels as I had bought a kilo of nuts with me.  Unfortunately, despite hunting high and low, we were only able to locate one lonely squirrel and he wasn’t hungry.  Lunch for us was at a lovely restaurant Jardin Nelson with a large outdoor area.  We spent the afternoon soaking up the sunshine and listening to more jazz.  This was followed by a brief walk around the shops and I am now the proud owner of some Moose earrings. Dinner on Saturday night was at an old French restaurant Le Mas Des Oliviers that appeared to be a very popular local place with a lot of people dining and known to the friendly staff. Yes French and friendly - must be Canada!

We ventured to the old town on Sunday and this is where Montreal becomes interesting.  They have managed to keep a lot of the old buildings and the area is full of interesting galleries, shops and restaurants.  All very lovely.  We even located an Art Nouveau Metro entrance, which had been donated by Paris.  It has been beautifully maintained and made you wish once again that Paris had kept them all at their Metro stations.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts was our next port of call.  A beautiful, modern museum, with a good selection of works including Monet, Rodin & Rembrandt.  Unfortunately we had to spoil it by going to the modern art section the highlight (lowlight) of which was two toilet brushes on display.  Dinner that night was at a fantastic Spanish restaurant Bocata .  Superb.

We spent our last morning in Montreal looking at more shops before heading to the best lunch I have ever had.  A friend of Michael’s had recommended that we try a little restaurant called March de la Villette in the old town.  We ordered a charcuterie board and a cheese board to share, both of which were to die for.  I even got to try Pate Foie Gras, which was divine.  We shared a carafe of red wine and so ended our stay in Montreal perfectly.

 

In summary, Montreal is a beautiful place full of great food, good wine and fabulous jazz.  A perfect place to spend some time.