Bruce went back to work on the 1st September and after a shaky first day, everything has slipped back into routine again. He has a double of classes this semester so his preparation will hopefully be reduced a bit. It was an interesting week with school going from Tuesday to Thursday. Friday was off and Monday was a public holiday.
The weather has been superb lately and we decided to take advantage of it and go and visit Toronto again, which was very rewarding. We hadn’t really experienced Toronto in nice weather so we planned a visit to Dundas Yonge Square which was not that impressive during the day, apparently it really livens up at night. We then went down to the Lake Ontario waterfront area and strolled around to Harbour front boardwalk. This took us past the CN tower, where we went for lunch earlier in the year.
As you would expect, there were many restaurants along the boardwalk and we eventually decided on lunch at il Fornella, which gave us fantastic views over the harbour and boardwalk. The meal was excellent and everything was extremely lively.
The whole time we were eating, we had sailing boats and tall ships going past which all added to the bright cheery atmosphere. We also had the Air Expo was on this weekend so we were treated to an interesting display of aerobatics going past. The noise of the planes made the speedway seem almost serenc.
After lunch we had to walk off our meal so we strolled through Queens Park, which is a small park which surrounds Parliment House.
There are some impressive statues of various Premiers and Royalty, but otherwise the park would be a nice place to sit and have lunch if you worked in Toronto.
We are very impressed with the Totonto public transport system. Being a weekend, we got free parking and then $9 family ticket gave us all day trips. We caught the subway, bus and streetcar (trolley bus) hopping on and off where we needed to go. It was all very easy.
Since this was the start of a new school year, Deb organised a staff function which took the form of a car rally around Guelph. We were required to get photos of our group in front of different monuments and features of Guelph. Our team consisted of Ian (HOLA), myself, Christine and Megan. We had a lot of fun and Bruce got to see a lot more of Guelph than he had in the previous 6 months.
Rosie is now able to keep up with what Daen is doing by looking at his Facebook page. This is an excellent source of information on the daily lives of people you know, though Bruce thinks Daen’s generation is a little bit too open about their private lives.
The weather is superb at the moment and we are taking advantage of it by going walking or riding every day. We particularly like the walk around Lisgar Lake which is very close (it is actually a major water drainage area, but since it is permanent water it is well established with wildlife.
John and Cheryl (from NY) came to visit Toronto on the 12th and we planned a day with them where we went to the CN Tower for lunch. We also visited the Steam Whistle Brewery for a free beer. After lunch we went to the glass floor viewing area, which is what Liam is laying on. Below is a few hundred feet and then the pavement. It was a great day with fantastic views and it was good to catch up again, we will be visiting NY at Xmas to meet up again.
On the 17th, Dave and Barbara flew in from Las Vegas. Bruce picked them up from the airport at midnight and then went back home for a beer and a catch up. Got to bed by 1:30am (it was only 9:30pm for DT since he came in from the West Coast).
Everyone slept in on Friday except for Bruce who had to go to work. Then on Friday afternoon we drove down to Niagara Falls, where we stayed in Sheraton on the Falls. The views out of our window were great and a good way to start a very indulgent week. Dave and Bruce took a bit of a walk around the town and were very disappointed with it. It was all very crass and commercial with lots of sideshow type amusements. We couldn’t find a decent restaurant within walking distance and ended up going to the casino restaurant that evening.
Our Saturday plan was to go on the Maid of the Mist and this was excellent. We all had to dress up in our blue condoms and then quickly got on the boat for a nice trip that started at the American Falls (view from our window) and then a trip down to the Horseshoe Falls, where the boat sat for quite a long time so that we could truely appreciate the power of the water. We appeared to be in a torrential downpour for the entire time we sat there, it was amazing.
After this we went to the “Behind the Falls” tour. Bruce warned everyone that this hadn’t been too impressive the times that he saw it frozen, but we hoped that it was better in summer. You get to go down into the hydro tunnels and view the falls from behind. It sounds great, but it is very disappointing. The Yellow Condoms were the best part of the tour. We finished off by having lunch overlooking the falls. We then took a trip across the border to do a bit of Outlet Shopping. Dave is a good shopper and managed to pick up some bargains. The girls on the other hand just looked and looked and looked. Liam was a pain and Bruce had to entertain him.
The next day we drove back through Niagara on the Lake, which is a small town about 20 kms away. It is famous for the wineries and for the Shaw Festival, which features 3 plays a day for a month. The town was packed, but we managed to get a parking spot and have a very nice lunch at “Corks” before strolling the streets looking in the shops (it is a girl thing). Liam managed to find this interesting wooden scupture to sit in while enjoying his icecream. David found Taylor’s Bakery to amuse him.
All up the trip was very good in terms of visiting Niagara, but the food options were very disappointing and we would recommend staying at somewhere like Niagara on the the Lake and doing a day trip to the falls.
During the next few days, Rosie took Dave and Barbara into Toronto, where they too did the CN Tower for lunch (bargain) and then to some of the local shopping area. Dave always had a beer on hand for Bruce when he got home from work and they sat outside drinking, catching up and having a cigar (David).
On Tuesday night we all went to see the Jersey Boys in Toronto and it was fantastic. This was the story of Franki Valli and the Four Seasons. It was short monologues connecting all their hits and the music was just great. We were apprehensive about Liam, but he really enjoyed it. We might now even try a couple more productions.
Dave and Barbara left on Thursday for Disneyland, and Bruce was completely tired out and in desperate need of a quiet weekend. Bruce has been cutting back on his drinking, prior to this visit, and has lost about 3kgs for his effort. Now that Dave has left, hopefully he will get back onto this routine.
Liam has swapped schools for this semester and is now going to Ruth Thompson Middle School. He is enjoying this change, though he finds it tricky being the smallest kids in the school again. After a few run ins with the Year 8’s his group has now settled into a good routine of playing. His homework load has increased again and Bruce and Liam seem to battle through his French homework every second night. Bruce is amazed at how they are able to do the homework, with no idea about what they actually did. The internet and guess work is all they have to go by.
