24 March 2005
Time out in Toronto
Our arrival on Sunday 13th March in Toronto was fairly standard, the nice Canadian airport official even let us bring in the last of our Seattle Beef Jerky (so there had been no need to eat as much of it on the plane as I did). Uncle Glenn picked us up from the airport and took us home to meet the rest of the family. The wonderful Tarvers had organised to have the whole family over for dinner, it was excellent for me to see them all again after 4 years and for Chris to meet that side of my family. Dinner was made by my cousin Laura who is studying to become a chef (it was as you might expect - excellent). Mark came home from Uni an hour away for the night, Kathryn came by after school and Brett came with his new wife Aleks. It was a lovely evening all around.
The following morning my Aunt Sharyn took us into the city. We had made plans to go to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), however once we arrived and Sharyn paid for parking for a couple of hours we discovered that it (like the Gallery in San Francisco) was closed on the day we had selected to visit. Bum. No worries - we are nothing if not flexible. So Chris and I wandered down the street to get a little lunch in China Town while Sharyn said she would wait to meet Kathryn.
While we had every intention of finding ourselves some quality authentic Chinese food we ended up in a Tim Horton's. (For those who don't know - Tim Horton's is a coffee chain in Canada that my Papa loves and that is definitely not Chinese.) So, we each had a sandwich, donut and coffee/hot chocolate. Mmmmm....
We headed back to the AGO and Kathryn (who had also paid for a couple of hours parking) took us all on a tour of the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) which was just around the corner. The building recently had a rather large addition built. The original building is a fairly standard looking brick job but the addition sits over it like a table top. It is black and white checks on the outside and is supported by large brightly coloured pencil shaped poles. Kinda neat.
From there we headed to the Royal Ontario Museum, where Sharyn dropped us off. We spent the next couple of hours wandering the corridors, looking at old artwork, sculptures, insect displays, stuffed animals and stuffed people... That last bit was not a joke, they have a couple of Egyptian mummies which are pretty amazing to stand and consider for a few minutes. Chris found the Egyptian section the most interesting - in particular the fact that the collection included at least on sarcophagus which had been x-rayed but never opened!
When we got kicked out because the museum was closing we walked into the heart of town. We walked though Queen's Park which was just gorgeous. It must be pretty in summer when the grass is green and the trees are covered in leaves but this day it was really special. The ground was covered in a 20cm layer of white snow and the trees, although stark, were elegant. To make it all even better the sun had started to go down, so all the buildings beyond the trees at the edge of the park were reflecting a fabulous golden colour. How romantic.
We made it home a bit late that night - the trains/buses were easy enough to work out but just public-transport slow plus we missed our last stop and overshot it by about 20mins worth of travel, oops. I think we made my Aunt and Uncle a little nervous.
Tuesday morning Glenn dropped us off at the Ontario Science Centre which was several hours worth of entertainment. Lots of interesting exhibits including one on the science of roller coasters and why we scream and feel dizzy and why the loops have to be a certain size and shape - way cool.
From there the two us headed into town again to ascend the CN Tower. It (used to be at least) the tallest free-standing structure in the world. From the highest viewing platform, called the SkyPod, takes you up almost half a kilometre into the sky. The view is awesome on a clear day, which we were lucky enough to get. There were no cowboys at the top of this tower - I guess it must have been an American thing.
We got a good sense of the city from up there - we were able to see where we had walked to and from the day before and where we were headed that evening. As a new feature they have recently installed a section of glass flooring which allows you to look directly down between your feet to the ground hundreds of metres below. It was quite interesting to watch the way kids would throw themselves face down on the glass to get a better view while their parents stood back on 'solid' ground to take a photo. Brave souls!
More photos on our photo pages.
Chris's stomach demanded a stop in at another Tim Horton's on our way from the tower to Queen St to catch the trolley. I demanded that he be adventurous and try something other than the Boston Cream he had eaten and enjoyed the day before.
The trolley ride east along Queen St took us past all kinds of interesting stores and was a little bit nostalgic for me because the last time I rode it was with my Grandfather in 1993. He passed away a year later.
We took it all the way to where it terminates at Neville Park Blvd. This is the street that my Grandparents lived on for more than 50 years and where my Mother grew up. I wanted to show Chris the house but as we got close I knew I was going to burst into tears. Silly emotional Dous. I was trying to point out the various rooms of the house to Chris without letting on - but that just didn't work. I can just imagine the new owners glancing out their front window to see a blubbering woman pointing at their house!
At the other end of the street, on the other side of Queen St, just near the shore of Lake Ontario, live some of my parents' oldest friends - Helmut and Dianne. Papa was Helmut's best-man many years ago and in true Papa style he wrote the word 'HELP' on the soles of Helmut's shoes so that when he knelt down in front of the congregation during the ceremony he unknowingly sent out a desperate looking plea....well you can imagine.
We had a lovely dinner with them and their son Michael, catching up on news of the last four years and chatting. It is a great old house that has been in the family for years but it will be the last time we see them in it because they have decided that they are ready for change and a bit more travel. They will be moving in the next little while to a house even closer to a lake a couple of hours north of Toronto. The photos look awesome! We were discussed getting into town the following night to see Michael's band perform, they are called 'This Crooked Mile' (a little global plug for you there guys! :)) Their music is really good - check it out.
They dropped us home after dinner and we said goodbye - 'til next time.
Wednesday - already! This week was going very fast. We were a little slow getting going and so by the time we had caught the bus/train into the city it was lunch time. This time we had a proper Chinese meal in China Town (although we passed on the place that was advertising no added MGS. Good to know they don't add old cars to their food!)
We went to visit the AGO knowing that it would be open this time. It was great! They had a huge display up about the work of Christo and his partner Jeanne-Claude. He is the guy that has been 'wrapping' things for the last thirty years or so. 'Things'? I hear you ask. Well he wrapped a large section of the coast in New South Wales, the Reichstag in Berlin, fully-grown trees in Paris, he erected hundreds of umbrellas in Japan and skirted a series of islands in Florida in bright pink fabric. I like this guy! Click HERE for Christo's work
From there it was back onto the Queen St trolley to visit Brett and Aleks in their new apartment. They had planned a super 'North-American' themed dinner for us. A lot of thought went into it - every ingredient had to be from Canada (preferably) or America, and the dishes were all Canadian as well. It was great. Three courses carefully considered and all delicious. Chris discovered that he likes smoked salmon (this particular type know as 'salmon candy') and I found out that some very alcoholic beers do not taste very alcoholic.
It was a really nice evening which came to include a bit of live guitar playing provided by their downstairs neighbour and Aleks playing Canadian DJ with their CD collection - some good music is coming out of Canada!
The next day (St Patrick's Day) was the day to spend some time with Laura. She took us to see a friend of hers - a girl I met in '93 who is now a kick-ass hairdresser. I had said to Laura that I wanted to get a trim before we left and she figured that going to see Fiona would kill two birds with one stone. It was awesome to see Fiona again and I ended up with an awesome new do. Although I am not sure if I will ever be able to make it look as groovy as Fiona did, I am willing to give it a go and to try parting my hair on purpose (not just letting it flop).
We raced back to the house for a lunch date with the family. It was a great meal at a nice little Italian restaurant (we seem to write about food a lot) after which Sharyn took Chris and I to their local shopping centre so Chris could hunt down a CD he wanted. He didn't find it - but, as though to make up for that, it had started to snow quite heavily and we were both pretty excited. It was the kind of snow we had been hoping to see. Big fluffy clumpy bits that floated down really slowly and made the world a bit quieter. It put down a beautiful new layer over all the older grey snow and was just wonderful.
Kathryn took us to the Bluffs on the lake for an awesome view of the cliffs and the lake and then to one of her favourite pubs for a green beer. We ended up settling for a Heineken which isn't green but does come in a green beer. It was a cozy little pub called The Dog House where dogs are welcome. We couldn't stay very long unfortunately because we had to get home and pack before we left for the airport about three hours later.
The last little while was a bit rushed, packing eating dinner, asking Sharyn if we could do a quick load of washing (!! My jeans were really grotty!!) and then we were off. Glenn and Sharyn dropped us off and we said goodbye. We are hoping that, England being reasonably close, we will be able to get back to Canada some time soon again.
So that was it. All of a sudden we were on our way to London. The city we had been aiming towards for such a long time. Less than an eight hour flight away. So exciting!!!
The following morning my Aunt Sharyn took us into the city. We had made plans to go to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), however once we arrived and Sharyn paid for parking for a couple of hours we discovered that it (like the Gallery in San Francisco) was closed on the day we had selected to visit. Bum. No worries - we are nothing if not flexible. So Chris and I wandered down the street to get a little lunch in China Town while Sharyn said she would wait to meet Kathryn.
While we had every intention of finding ourselves some quality authentic Chinese food we ended up in a Tim Horton's. (For those who don't know - Tim Horton's is a coffee chain in Canada that my Papa loves and that is definitely not Chinese.) So, we each had a sandwich, donut and coffee/hot chocolate. Mmmmm....
We headed back to the AGO and Kathryn (who had also paid for a couple of hours parking) took us all on a tour of the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) which was just around the corner. The building recently had a rather large addition built. The original building is a fairly standard looking brick job but the addition sits over it like a table top. It is black and white checks on the outside and is supported by large brightly coloured pencil shaped poles. Kinda neat.
From there we headed to the Royal Ontario Museum, where Sharyn dropped us off. We spent the next couple of hours wandering the corridors, looking at old artwork, sculptures, insect displays, stuffed animals and stuffed people... That last bit was not a joke, they have a couple of Egyptian mummies which are pretty amazing to stand and consider for a few minutes. Chris found the Egyptian section the most interesting - in particular the fact that the collection included at least on sarcophagus which had been x-rayed but never opened!
When we got kicked out because the museum was closing we walked into the heart of town. We walked though Queen's Park which was just gorgeous. It must be pretty in summer when the grass is green and the trees are covered in leaves but this day it was really special. The ground was covered in a 20cm layer of white snow and the trees, although stark, were elegant. To make it all even better the sun had started to go down, so all the buildings beyond the trees at the edge of the park were reflecting a fabulous golden colour. How romantic.
We made it home a bit late that night - the trains/buses were easy enough to work out but just public-transport slow plus we missed our last stop and overshot it by about 20mins worth of travel, oops. I think we made my Aunt and Uncle a little nervous.
Tuesday morning Glenn dropped us off at the Ontario Science Centre which was several hours worth of entertainment. Lots of interesting exhibits including one on the science of roller coasters and why we scream and feel dizzy and why the loops have to be a certain size and shape - way cool.
From there the two us headed into town again to ascend the CN Tower. It (used to be at least) the tallest free-standing structure in the world. From the highest viewing platform, called the SkyPod, takes you up almost half a kilometre into the sky. The view is awesome on a clear day, which we were lucky enough to get. There were no cowboys at the top of this tower - I guess it must have been an American thing. We got a good sense of the city from up there - we were able to see where we had walked to and from the day before and where we were headed that evening. As a new feature they have recently installed a section of glass flooring which allows you to look directly down between your feet to the ground hundreds of metres below. It was quite interesting to watch the way kids would throw themselves face down on the glass to get a better view while their parents stood back on 'solid' ground to take a photo. Brave souls!
More photos on our photo pages.
Chris's stomach demanded a stop in at another Tim Horton's on our way from the tower to Queen St to catch the trolley. I demanded that he be adventurous and try something other than the Boston Cream he had eaten and enjoyed the day before.
The trolley ride east along Queen St took us past all kinds of interesting stores and was a little bit nostalgic for me because the last time I rode it was with my Grandfather in 1993. He passed away a year later.
We took it all the way to where it terminates at Neville Park Blvd. This is the street that my Grandparents lived on for more than 50 years and where my Mother grew up. I wanted to show Chris the house but as we got close I knew I was going to burst into tears. Silly emotional Dous. I was trying to point out the various rooms of the house to Chris without letting on - but that just didn't work. I can just imagine the new owners glancing out their front window to see a blubbering woman pointing at their house!
At the other end of the street, on the other side of Queen St, just near the shore of Lake Ontario, live some of my parents' oldest friends - Helmut and Dianne. Papa was Helmut's best-man many years ago and in true Papa style he wrote the word 'HELP' on the soles of Helmut's shoes so that when he knelt down in front of the congregation during the ceremony he unknowingly sent out a desperate looking plea....well you can imagine.
We had a lovely dinner with them and their son Michael, catching up on news of the last four years and chatting. It is a great old house that has been in the family for years but it will be the last time we see them in it because they have decided that they are ready for change and a bit more travel. They will be moving in the next little while to a house even closer to a lake a couple of hours north of Toronto. The photos look awesome! We were discussed getting into town the following night to see Michael's band perform, they are called 'This Crooked Mile' (a little global plug for you there guys! :)) Their music is really good - check it out.
They dropped us home after dinner and we said goodbye - 'til next time.
Wednesday - already! This week was going very fast. We were a little slow getting going and so by the time we had caught the bus/train into the city it was lunch time. This time we had a proper Chinese meal in China Town (although we passed on the place that was advertising no added MGS. Good to know they don't add old cars to their food!)
We went to visit the AGO knowing that it would be open this time. It was great! They had a huge display up about the work of Christo and his partner Jeanne-Claude. He is the guy that has been 'wrapping' things for the last thirty years or so. 'Things'? I hear you ask. Well he wrapped a large section of the coast in New South Wales, the Reichstag in Berlin, fully-grown trees in Paris, he erected hundreds of umbrellas in Japan and skirted a series of islands in Florida in bright pink fabric. I like this guy! Click HERE for Christo's work
From there it was back onto the Queen St trolley to visit Brett and Aleks in their new apartment. They had planned a super 'North-American' themed dinner for us. A lot of thought went into it - every ingredient had to be from Canada (preferably) or America, and the dishes were all Canadian as well. It was great. Three courses carefully considered and all delicious. Chris discovered that he likes smoked salmon (this particular type know as 'salmon candy') and I found out that some very alcoholic beers do not taste very alcoholic.
It was a really nice evening which came to include a bit of live guitar playing provided by their downstairs neighbour and Aleks playing Canadian DJ with their CD collection - some good music is coming out of Canada!
The next day (St Patrick's Day) was the day to spend some time with Laura. She took us to see a friend of hers - a girl I met in '93 who is now a kick-ass hairdresser. I had said to Laura that I wanted to get a trim before we left and she figured that going to see Fiona would kill two birds with one stone. It was awesome to see Fiona again and I ended up with an awesome new do. Although I am not sure if I will ever be able to make it look as groovy as Fiona did, I am willing to give it a go and to try parting my hair on purpose (not just letting it flop).
We raced back to the house for a lunch date with the family. It was a great meal at a nice little Italian restaurant (we seem to write about food a lot) after which Sharyn took Chris and I to their local shopping centre so Chris could hunt down a CD he wanted. He didn't find it - but, as though to make up for that, it had started to snow quite heavily and we were both pretty excited. It was the kind of snow we had been hoping to see. Big fluffy clumpy bits that floated down really slowly and made the world a bit quieter. It put down a beautiful new layer over all the older grey snow and was just wonderful.
Kathryn took us to the Bluffs on the lake for an awesome view of the cliffs and the lake and then to one of her favourite pubs for a green beer. We ended up settling for a Heineken which isn't green but does come in a green beer. It was a cozy little pub called The Dog House where dogs are welcome. We couldn't stay very long unfortunately because we had to get home and pack before we left for the airport about three hours later.
The last little while was a bit rushed, packing eating dinner, asking Sharyn if we could do a quick load of washing (!! My jeans were really grotty!!) and then we were off. Glenn and Sharyn dropped us off and we said goodbye. We are hoping that, England being reasonably close, we will be able to get back to Canada some time soon again.
So that was it. All of a sudden we were on our way to London. The city we had been aiming towards for such a long time. Less than an eight hour flight away. So exciting!!!
# posted by Elke & Chris @ 12:41 pm 
