Thursday, October 12, 2006

 

CN Tower

The famous CN Tower had been on our hitlist since day one but we deferred the experience until some of our visitors came, thus avoiding a double up.
The tower is the tallest building in the world, built in the 1970's to provide telecommunications to the city and beyond. It stands an impressive 553 metres. Approximately 2 million people visit the tower every year and the highest observation deck is 447m up.
Our trip to the tower was taken when Judy and Jean visited. We were so lucky with the weather as every other time we visited Toronto, with the thought that maybe we should go up to the top, it was pouring with rain or the cloud level was well below the top. From the ground on these cloudy days the tower just looked like an enormous concrete stump. Tickets weren't exactly cheap and the line-ups (more than one) were time consuming but the view and the overall experience was fabulous.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

 

The Olds

Judy and Jean arrived on the 27th September for a 3 week stay. You wouldn't think they are both past 70 as neither of them showed any sign of the jetlag we suffered. By day one they were ready to go and eager for a look around town. The weather gods smiled on them as we toured around. Plenty of sunny days, some chilly ones too, and good colourful scenery with the fall leaves. Our first big expedition was to Niagara. We jagged a really balmy day and all had a great time. Up the top of the Skydome to admire the view, a stroll along the promenade before a trip on the 'Maid of the Mist' for a close up look at the falls. Jean and Judy were both fascinated by the Welland Canal process, our next stop. Then over to Niagara-on-the- Lake for some ice-cream (and peaches and cream scones).
The following weekend was spent in Toronto but during the week the two adventurers spent some time at the shops (especially the dollar shops), working out the town bus services and negotiating the trek home from the bus stop. CN tower was on the hit list for Toronto (covered in the next blog) and a walk through the distillery district and a drive around town and on the 4 oh wonderful of course filled our day.
It was close to Halloween and pumpkins were on sale everywhere. We stopped at a pumpkin farm and bought a 'Queensland blue'. The local touring took up most of this next weekend. The Kissing Bridge, Elora Gorge and township of Elora, Mennonite farms, St Jacobs and fall colours were on the agenda.
The last week was very busy starting off with a Thanksgiving dinner at Marg and Bills. The turkey was huge and the small piece Bill gave us to take home provided lunch for the next week. Waterloo held a Thanksgiving Parade which was very impressive. Lots of floats, most with an Oktoberfest theme but with an interesting North American/Fall culture.
I think the highlight of the stay for Judy and Jean would have to be the sudden change in weather that brought snow very early to town. We had a number of light falls of snow, enough to cover the ground for a couple of days. We found the 'girls' one afternoon after arriving home from work out in the snow, throwing snow balls at each other and building snowmen, one of which is still in the freezer.

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