St Lawrence Market - Food Stalls

For the many Torontarians living 'downtown' the St Lawrence Markets are a culinary spectacular. What you can't buy is not worth searching for. Notice the size of those lobster claws, the anti-pasto selection, fresh local and imported cheeses and a wide variety of select meats. Not only is it a place to grocery shop, but a meeting place. Many people local and tourists, like me, sitting down for a gelato or coffee (real coffee). Another appealing aspect of the markets is their location. Built in 1849, the warehouse has a romantic atmosphere, taking you back in time with its' natural lighting and aromas. Surrounding the markets are various other boutique shops, selling anything from linen, books, canadian memorabilia...the list just goes on. All the stall holders have the 'best deals' and so it is worth bargaining with them, especially towards the end of the day.

Beauty of a Butterfly

Whilst walking through the St Lawrence district of Toronto I spied a most fascinating sight. Bern and Angela were buying strawberries from a market stall and I was distracted by the slight movement of this butterfly on the grey brick wall behind the market stall. Not only was it a contrast to see such a sight admist the bustling markets of St Lawrence, but also the colour of this insect against the colour, texture and size of the warehouse structure. N.B. The angle and elongated shape of the butterfly's shadow.

Boo-wee

Mmm, Canadian lingo is at times an interesting experience. So whilst on the tour of Lake Ontario was where I first encounted the following pronounciation. In Oz we all know the bright marked metal floating objects in the harbour, rivers etc as 'buoys'. But no, in Canada they use the term 'boo-ee'. To make sense of it all, it is the french word for buoy - 'bouee'. But when blended with english, makes for an interesting realistaion of the assimilation of the two languages.

Toronto - Lake Ontario

On a beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon it was the perfect opportunity to go cruising Toronto's Lake Ontario. The sky was blue, sun shining and the water lapping. So off to catch the 'boat'. Toronto's ferry terminal is characterised by old warehouses, factories and docklands. Most have been redeveloped and feature galleries, shopping and residences. We caught a ferry out to the Toronto Islands, approximately a ten minute trip from the terminal. The islands are accessible by the ferry and once on the islands most people are transported by foot, bike, kayak or boat. Most of the islands are the summer residences of Candians, one features an amusement park (Centreville Amusment Park), and also a gondola chair ride connecting two islands. Trivial points of interest, Babe Ruth hit his first home run from Hanlan's Point in 1914. Of course the ball landed in the water, and now lays drowned on the bottom.

Walking on glass

Back at the CN Tower, I'm standing on the glass viewing platform. If you get vertigo it is defintiely a challenge to walk on the platform, as you can easily see right to the ground. At certain angles you can view Roger Stadium and see the Blue Jays playing.

Here we stand

Union Station has now installed large floor maps of Ontario. So to give you an idea of where cities are located you can see Bern and I standing on the western side of Ontario.

Blue Bottles @ Niagara

Niagara Falls: Part 3. Here you see Bern and I on the Maid of the Mist tour of Niagara Falls. We were laughing because of all the blue ponchos, and how they reminded us of blue bottles found on Australian beaches. Having said that, we were thankful for our stylish ponchos, as the spray from the Falls reaches further than you expect. On our boat trip there was also a couple who were married on the top deck. So the length of out boat trip was extended - bonus!