Conclusions on Canada

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Forest walks and Conclusions of Canada

We did two excursions during out stay, the first one to the ravines of Toronto. In the south of the city, there is an old ravine, that was supposed to be a new rail road, but never became a success. Nowadays, it's totally overgrown and obviously a great place to go with your dog ... but not very good if you do not want to get drooling dogs all over you. I even managed to get allergic outdoors, because almost every *** dog needed to see if we had anything to eat. But the walk was very relaxing apart from that, and it was often hard to realize that you were still in the middle of a city that size. Oh, à propos absolutely nothing but out usual wastes of time: we managed to do some grave-spotting on the way there, not that we knew anyone at the cemetary (since we are terribly ignorant of Torontonian famous dead people), but still. The guidebook told us to go through the cemetary to get to the ravine, so that we did, and noticed that they treat cemetaries the same way here as in the US: it's perfectly fine to ride your car here, and the stones are turned in every direction, so it 's very hard to find a stone if you don't know where it is.

On Sunday, we went for the Toronto Islands. They were really a nice change, the society there is mainly inhabited by permanent islands residents, and we overheard a man explain that you have to live there year round if you want to own a house. The first family in modern days on the Toronto islands were the light house keeper and his wife and children, and now it even has a school, whereto the city's school kids go for a week every year (I guess in a certain class) to stay and get a bit of island life, without trams, buses and tons of cars around them. Sounds like a really good idea.
Apart from no trams, there seems to be hardly any chipmunks on the islands! There might have been one, but I didn't see it. In every other tree and park, there's been several, so I don't know why they don't like the islands, or if they're very Christian and never go out on Sundays...

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So, what have we seen and experienced after 8 days in Toronto, Ontario?
We've seen both the city (although not the second highest point in town, recommended by a waiter to be at a "martini lounge" on the corner of Bay and Bloor streets), the port and the islands outside.
The Torontonian society seems trusty. Not like on the Faeroes, of course, but still. You're expected to do the right thing, whether it's paying for your public transport (you can pay cash at entering, and then change without a ticket. You ought then to get a so called transfer , but of course, those machines might also break down so you don't get any when you should have one.) or other stuff. And writing about public transport, at every subway station, there is a sign saying DWA, which is Designated Waiting Area. here, you will be monitored, but that might be just what you want, if you're for example travelling alone late at night, or whatever. If you don't stand in the DWA, you're not monitored. Good thing.
So, in general, Toronto was a really good experience and well worth coming back to. We're now daydreaming about going across Canada, from East to West, by train...

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Photos

The Ravine
A picture from the walk in the Ravine. Apart from all the dogs (that managed to stay out of this picture), it was really wonderful.

New and Old City hall
You have to guess which is which, but this is the New and the Old City Hall of Toronto.

Lake Ontario
Picture taken from the north side of the Centre Island. Recommended!

Lighthouse at the Island
Of course this is haunted, probably because this lighthouse is not in use anymore.

Lighthouse sign
Everything you need to know ;-)

Zakje struggling to get in
Our little friend(ouch!) sorry, not-quite-as-little-as-a-lot-of-others-friend wanted to get into the lighthouse , but it definitely was locked.

Comments

[Sven B.]

Good stuff
Thanks for taking us all along.