The Land Of The Maple Leaf

Hello my lovelies….I’m back! Yes, that’s right your peace is over! Once more you’ll have the link to this popping up on your Facebook newsfeed or on Twitter or, if you’re following you’ll start being emailed with the latest pourings from my brain. Scary thought. RUN!

Let me explain why I’ve been so quiet. When I originally set myself the idea of writing this blog I had to decide whether to write a short entry every day or a longer entry every few days. I put myself in the shoes of a reader receiving these and I knew that I, at least, would prefer a short entry daily rather than having to read through a very long missive twice or thrice a week. So I chose the former system. And it worked very well as my travels meant that, on the whole, I was doing different things daily or had something to discuss that wasn’t necessarily travel related but which I thought was interesting to comment on. If I remember correctly, in my very first blog entry I told you all that I was aware of the possibility of boring you with every new keystroke and that has been true throughout the course of this escapade. I, once again in the reader’s shoes, have a low boredom threshold so I fully understand the horror of being faced with something to read where there’s no grip on me.

When I decided to visit Canada, and Toronto in particular, I knew that I would be spending most, if not all, of my time with family. I would be living in the suburbs for a change and not in the city centre as I had being doing in other cities visited. This would mean that my adventures we going to be more limited than they had been up to that point. In all fairness, I had also already visited Toronto before and had done the CN Tower, the ice hockey games, Downtown, the McMichaels Gallery, Niagara and Niagara on the Lake, so I had no major impetus to see these again. So I knew that it was mainly a family holiday and was more than happy with that idea. But this meant that from a reader’s perspective I wasn’t going to have the most interesting of moments and experiences to write about, I mean detailed reviews of sofa chats with my aunt, which were lovely for me, were not likely to have you all riveted to the edge of your seats!

So I took the decision to not write daily and, in fact, took it further and decided to not write at all. Instead, I thought, at the end of the Canada stretch I’d write a slightly longer entry and so bring you up to date with the exciting bits of my time there but avoiding boring you all out of your minds with my recounting the numerous cups of tea and lounging that I have experienced.

There are four main highlights to the time there. Two of them involve road trips. The first road trip was to Huntsville, to a resort called Deerhurst, to which I was taken by one set of cousins. This is a two hour drive from Toronto and the drive there gave me a glimpse into the vastness of this area, let alone this country. My cousins were very concerned that we were going at a time when all I would see was twigs; a couple of weeks earlier I would have seen the fall foliage in all its glory and in a few weeks time it would all be a winter wonderland, with snow and ice covering said twigs. But I loved it anyway. My point was that it’s all new territory for me and the landscape is so beautiful whatever the trees state of deshabille might be. And twigs are good for photographs.

The whole town was picturesque and had small corners with pretty lake views and stunning sunset moments. The resort was almost entirely ours and the quiet there was consuming. I loved it. And it was cold. To my hardened Canadian cousins this was mild winter weather. Not so for me. We wandered around there and drove into small pockets just around the town. I was quite taken by the bareness of the trees and by the scraggly silver birches which look ghostly in their rows. But I do take their point that seeing it in full winter dress must be unbelievable. I will return to see this at some point in the future.

My other road trip happened with my other set of cousins who took me to Niagara Falls but at night. I had seen the Falls during the day on my previous visit and was blown away by the views and the power of the water. But, seeing them at night, illuminated and with no people around (this might have had to do with the fact that it was so cold that no sensible human would have been out there by choice) was magical. Now, imagine the scene: we arrive and I get out with my cousin with tripod and camera looking like Michelin girl because of all the layers I was wearing. The gloves had to come off because there was no way I could handle the equipment with them on. Setting up the tripod – a quick and easy thing to do in normal temperatures – became difficult because this is a very lightweight version, good for travelling, but it means it gets cold very, very quickly. And once it’s very cold the metal burns to the touch. I am not joking people. It burns your hands. So after much fumbling I took some lovely photos and had some taken of me (- a rare occurrence) before the Falls. And then I almost ran back to the car where my hands warmed up but then felt like they were on fire and twice their normal size.

From the Falls we went to one of the casinos there – it is one of the few places where it’s legal to gamble and many Americans cross the border just for this. We had drinks and tried our luck and eventually made our way back to Toronto. It was a fabulous evening.

A third highlight involved one of my cousins and a godson. My cousin and I met up downtown and visited the Bata Shoe Museum (I am shoe crazy and of all the museums and galleries in Toronto this was the one I couldn’t not visit while here) and had the place to ourselves as we viewed some interesting examples of how shoes have developed geographically and stylistically throughout time. It was very interesting but we were both a tad disappointed by the fact that there were far too few stilettos in the collection. Thus, upon departure, we walked into a sumptuous shoe establishment and spent a long while gazing adoringly at all their offerings. My idea of heaven.

From there we met up with my godson who had picked a lovely bar set on the fifty second floor of a building in Downtown for us to sit and have a cocktail and admire the view. And it is an amazing view of the city skyline with the iconic CN Tower surrounded by other skyscrapers. To be able to photograph the view I had to ask for the terrace to be unlocked. Upon asking the lady there if I could go out onto the terrace, her reply was a mystified, “Sure. Why would you?” It was cold out there. The wind was blowing and it’s the wind chill factor that gets you there. Ambient temperature must have been just below zero but the wind chill puts it in the minus teens. Suffice it to say that you can’t stay out there too long.

The remaining highlight has to do purely with family. Over the course of the twelve days there were several family get togethers for meals and this was wonderful. Because of distance I do not see this arm of my family often but when we come together it’s truly as if we haven’t had a gap in our time together. After the initial catchup at speed we revert to a situation where we sit in kitchens and drink tea and nibble on snacks and just chat as if we were all in Gib and seeing each other several times a week there. It is the most normal thing in the world.

And so, my time in Canada came to an end remarkably quickly and I found myself at Pearson Airport on Tuesday setting off back to the USA. And I did so with a twinge – I suffered one earlier in the morning kissing my aunt goodbye while feeling rather teary eyed and then again when hugging my cousin at the door to security. I boarded a flight bound for Texas.

To all my Canadian clan, thank you. I am very blessed to have you. You know who you are.

E x

Who’s Afraid Of The Great White North?

My travels yesterday were non-eventful and for those of us who have travelled extensively there is no better statement that can be afforded to a day of planes, trains and automobiles.  Uneventful means no hiccups, no sweating in a cab stuck in a traffic jam, no missing reservation upon arrival at the check in counter, no AWOL suitcase on the carousel at destination.  Uneventful, in terms of travel, is about the only time I like deploying the word.  Well, maybe that and after a doctor’s checkup when the results are being perused.

It was a very early start as I needed to be at Louis Armstrong International Airport by seven and I flew to Dallas, had a two hour layover and then onto Toronto.  The airline was punctual and efficient but the service on board was, frankly, crap.  When asked if I would like a refreshment (purchasable on board, of course, no freebies and this wasn’t a low cost airline, by the way) I asked for a cup of tea to warm the system up after it had been assaulted by the freezer like conditions in the cabin.  I was succinctly  informed, “Well, I have no tea bags so there is no tea!”  Mmmm.   I asked for apple juice instead (I know, I’m five years old at heart) and a fruit and nut mix as a snack – no sandwiches or anything really of any substance which was rather strange for a flight that flew from about one in the afternoon onwards – and proceeded to block the world out with my music and wrote for a long stretch.  The one positive on this flight was the fact that there was wifi on board.  I still can’t get over that.  I switched the iPad off from flight mode with trepidation almost expecting the aircraft to go into immediate nosedive as the little aeroplane icon vanished on my screen.  But, no.  We did not plummet.

The highlight of the flight was the descent into, and flight over, the centre of Toronto. Looking out of the window the city below could be seen in clear detail.  By the time we were coming in for the approach to land it was dark and the city was twinkling away beneath us. I’ve seen many cities from aeroplanes during night flights but obviously the air was super clean above the skyline because the view was sharp, pristine, almost as if I could have reached out and touched it, I kid you not. It was almost as if someone had given it all a good scrubbing and every structure and light bulb was glistening.  I could see the CN Tower and the skyscrapers that circle it as well as the shoreline of the lake and the roads and cars shimmering under me in HD.  Stunning.  I was, though, seriously miffed that at this point neither the iPhone or the iPad could be used to take a photograph because I would have truly loved to have captured that moment.

Arriving in Toronto was smooth and easy.  What a joy to go through an immigration entry system that doesn’t treat you like sheep and by officers who actually engage with you and look you in the eye as they speak with you.  I am infinitely more convinced that they would be likely to spot anyone meaning harm precisely because they take the time to engage with the person before them than the more aloof and officious atttitude found in other entry points in the world.  And, happily, my case was there immediately so I had clothes, and, more importantly, my straighteners.  Every woman with frizzy hair is nodding violently, in complete understanding of this sentiment.

Upon exiting I was met by one of my lovely cousins (I am lucky, I have many, we are a large extended family) who had come to collect me from Pearson. And being enveloped in the hug made the time since I’d seen him last slip away and we chatted as if we’d just left the conversation the day before.  We made our way to the car and drove into the Toronto suburbs and, upon getting out of the car, snow flurries began to fall.  Yes, it’s rather cold here.  I know you’re waiting for me to complain so you can innundate me with ruler slaps across the virtual knuckles for complaining about it.  But I’m not complaining….yet.  It was rather lovely and I really liked the startling difference in temperature.

I’m staying not with my cousin and his family but with my aunt and uncle.  And, in effect, what this means is that it’s like being at home with my mum and dad but with the difference that I need to wear six more layers of clothing the minute I step outdoors.  It’s the strangest thing: their home feels and smells exactly like my parents’.  My aunt dished out a plate of chicken fricasse for my dinner which is identical to my mum’s.  Copious cups of tea and many of hours of conversation later I finally crashed into bed.

I slept little and am a tad tired but today’s not going to be a killer by any means.  I’m heading out shortly to a nearby shopping mall to find some thick tights and a hat.  I am going to need a hat.  A friend of mine who lives in Toronto has kindly told me that my ears may drop off if I don’t wear one.  I’m not taking any chances….I need my ears.  And, I like hats.  So, it’s a win-win if I find one I like.  He also commented on my facebook post which advised of my imminent arrival here in Canada, “Welcome to the great, white north!”

And you know what I say, once I’m in possession of a hat, of course?  Bring it on, oh great, white north.  Do your worst.  I’m ready for you!  Question is, though, is the great, white north ready for me?

E x