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Published: February 10th 2008
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Christmas Cheer
Christmas Eve, Gananoque Canada was all about the white Christmas, old friends and Western comforts. Many a time during my asian travels I'd dreamt of quality red wine, a good steak, a toilet where you could flush the paper instead of putting it in a smelly rubbish bin. Imagined a bathroom with the winning trifecta - clean, hot water, locking door. Luxury! It took five flights from Goa before I reached Toronto - including a sweet, but brief, stopover with Donna and Scott in Singas. I'd left behind balmy Goan days well into the 30's - for the prospect of minus 20 degrees celsius conditions. A snowstorm on the North East Coast of America a week prior had me excited. My first white Christmas!
The typical Aussie Christmas involves sunshine, BBQs, backyard cricket, prawns, cold beer, salads and pavlova. Sure we have the tree, carols by candlelight, houses done up in lights - but the promise of a summer holiday spent down the coast generally overshadows Christmas and the Yuletide extravaganza played out in the Northern Hemisphere.
Touching down in Toronto on December 21 was like coming home. My third visit since studying here back in '99. Despite a late night arrival
and a two day slog of travel, I bounced through the arrival gates, excited and energised. Kathy - one of my awesome uni flatmates - was picking me up. Nothing like being collected from the airport - especially when your thoughtful chauffer has come with warm jacket and gloves to arm you for the snowy conditions! Toronto in wintertime was spectacular. Snow had freshly fallen on eaves of homes and trees in Kathy's street in the Danforth. Christmas lights lit at least half the houses, wreaths decorated front doors, decorations lined the main street. Perhaps not so enchanting for the locals who'd have to shovel their paths and pavement the next morning?!
Every time I visit Canada I'm struck by the open arms and deep friendships that have lasted almost ten years across the globe. Kathy - the ultimate hostess - had mapped out an itinerary for my two week visit which included all the essential elements - great food and wine, visits with close friends, Christmas in Gananoque with her family and just the right amount of R&R.
Our first visit was to see Alison - a neighbour back in my university days - and her new
hubby Paul. Both are teachers and were very happy and relaxed - it was the last day of school for the year. We caught up over a sensational home cooked meal, red wine and Alison's very memorable dance rendition of Soulja Boy's "Crank That"! The pair also lent me a bag full of winter clothes and shoes and I'm ashamed to admit - a pair of 'All Blacks' rugby socks which quickly became my best friend!
The following night Kathy and I lashed out on a gourmet feast at a nearby restaurant -
Lolita's Lust - the best meal I'd eaten in months which had been recommended to me by a fellow traveller in India. The following morning we hit the road - with Martha (Kathy's childhood friend who'd flown in from the UK) and her Aussie friend Angie - for Gananoque. No Canadian road trip would be complete without a pitstop or two at
Tim Horton's - Canada's one-stop coffee and donut food chain. Their speciality is timbits - delicious and unhealthy donut holes in different flavours. Fortified with coffee and timbits, the soundtrack to our drive fluctuated between entire radio stations of Christmas carols from places like Buffalo and
rock hits from Kingston radio stations. I'd made the drive to Kathy's hometown Gananoque before, but everything was far prettier with snow - even if it was melting from a downpour of rain.
Kathy's parents - Ray and Pat - greeted us with open arms. It was a great feeling to stay in a regular family home, with home cooked meals and the full range of western comforts. It was also loads of fun having Kathy's brother and sister - Lyall and Cara around to hang out with. Christmas eve was perfect. We listened to carols like Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas', drove over to nearby Perth to catch up with another uni flatmate Lindsay and her family and had a great dinner. Then it was time for church. The local parish seemed to be suffering from low attendance, but the minister chose to reprimand our sinning ways anyway, with a carefully prepared selection of clips from the movie 'A Christmas Carol'. An unpopular decision. Fortunately, the carols were amazing - especially 'Silent Night' by candlelight. We drove home after church via the Christmas lights of Gananoque. The most popular decoration of 2007 appeared to be anything inflated - snowmen,
snow globes, santas ... you name it, but the best decorations were plain, garden variety fairy lights.
Christmas day was white and memorable. The food was mouth-watering, as was the wine. LCBO - Ontario's answer to the trusty bottle shop - now has two entire shelves crammed with Aussie wine - so I'd brought some along. I was very amused to note on my visit to LCBO, that the Kiwi wine goes in the Aussie section - the word is out - New Zealand is now officially the seventh state of Australia! The turkey was expertly carved by Ray and drooled over by Shade, the family dog. The entire day was spent in the company of Kathy's immediate family - no cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents. A completely different Christmas experience for me with my 3 grandparents, 22 aunts and uncles and innumerable cousins. It was really nice to stay in the one place all day, not having to clock watch to ensure you got to the next function on time. It's funny, but I didn't miss home at all Christmas day because the experience was so totally different - the climate, company and food - it didn't even seem
like it could possibly be Christmas at home. I was also spoilt with gifts, letters and supplies from home - a great day.
The remainder of my time in Gananoque passed with social events and R&R. Boxing day we hit the sales and watched a movie, the next day it was lasagne and red wine at Martha's family's lakeside lodge, then a catch up with another uni flatmate Lisa and her husband Tony in Kingston. Simple pleasures like watching tv, catching up on email and eating peanut butter on toast were indulged in. Before we knew it, it was back to Toronto and New Years Eve.
We'd elected to have a slow paced, local new years. Waiting in lines at clubs in freezing conditions, trudging through snow looking for a cab and paying exorbitant entry fees didn't appeal... So we opted for a party at Kathy's local bar - the Auld Spot with the company of Kathy's brother and sister Lyall and Cara, and a friend Natasha. We arrived to discover the party was a wig/mad hatter party and we'd arrived bald. The owner disappeared out back and quickly kitted us out with hats. Needless to say, our
plans for a slow-paced new years didn't quite eventuate and Cara and myself found ourselves featuring in the Auld Spot's facebook page - having a great giggle!!
My last few days in Toronto passed in a blur. Errands, supplies replenished, phone calls home, a visit to see another uni friend Kady and Chad and their two gorgeous daughters, then it was time for some ice hockey action! Somehow I'd missed the ice hockey experience on previous visits so I was fired up! The main two topics of conversation in Canada involve the weather (wind chill factors, humidity index ...) and the ice hockey. The Marlies are the Toronto Maple Leafs feeder team and they were playing the US' Scranton Penguins ... not such a menacing name, but a pretty fierce line-up. The game was rough, the players had something to prove (only one step away from making it into the NHL) and we all jumped out of our seats with every deafening thump when a player slammed into the perspex. I learned 'five for fighting' is hockey terminology and soon enough a fight ensued. They replayed the fight several times - the match highlight!
Afterwards I farewelled my
good friends and Toronto with a few beers at the Kiwi Bar. Despite the complete lack of Kiwis or Aussies - a great time was had by all. Leaving Canada gets harder and harder every time. This was no exception. Particularly knowing I wouldn't be seeing anyone I knew for at least 6 months once I hit Mexico, Central and South America. But, this girl likes a challenge and you couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I began the journey south!
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Kady
non-member comment
One small, but important correction....
I just can't let this pass... The Toronto Marlie's is the feeder team for the TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS, not the Blue Jays! Blue Jays play baseball sweet, innocent Ellen ;) Love you!