More from the Femmes

Been a while since I said hello but have been waiting for Trina's contribution and it's not forthcoming so my turn again.   Hard to remember now what we have been up to for the last few weeks but one that comes to mind is the CN Tower.  Not wanting to face her fears Trina encouraged  Tess and I to venture up there on a week day so that let her off the hook.  It is certainly worth the trip up to the top as it was the tallest in the world until Dubai had to go one better.  Afraid I couldn't make it on to the glass floor as every time I peeked down my legs went to jelly and I felt that horrible sick feeling in my tummy.  The little miss however thought it was amazing.  She sat on it, laid on it, walked on it and finally danced on it over and over and over and over.  Such a little show-off!!  She now gets excited even when she sees a picture of the  CN Tower.

Oh what a feeling..dancing on the ceiling!!

During the 1900's a guy in Toronto was given a legacy by his Dad to go out and do his own thing.  He invested this money in electricity and became a millionaire many times over.  He then had a dream to build a castle so that is what he did on a hill in Toronto.  It is Casa Loma.  Unfortunately the poor chappie only lived in his castle for ten years as the Government took over the power supply with no compensation (as Governments do) and he went bankrupt.  Fortunately the people of Toronto fought the developers who wanted to set a few charges and blow up the beautiful castle so it remains today with original furnishing  for all to enjoy.  There is an 800 metre long tunnel which connects the castle to the stables, carriage room etc which Tess was very reluctant to enter.  Had a chat and she decided to go on the underground adventure (twice).  She made ghost noises and wolf noises to scare any other wary travellers so it was a lot of fun.  We climbed the spiral staircases to the highest turret and lunched in the landscaped garden near the spurting fountain.  
Being so close a trip to the Niagara Falls was a must so we headed off on a day tour to check out this wonder of the world.  How's this for a ridiculous statement..."Niagra Falls is just sooo touristy".  Some of the Fall's area looks like sideshow alley.   Such natural beauty surrounded by tacky commercialism but that is the way it must be when so many of us want to have the experience of being there.  We took the "Maid of the Mist" boat road which is quite  a unique little jaunt.  Tess enjoyed the first few minutes of the ride and then...well I shall just insert the picture.  The little town of Niagara on the Lake is picture postcard perfect and the other memorable part was eating strawberry pizza at the winery.  I still salivate at the thought of it.

A picture is worth 1000 words!

We have visited the Pioneer Village. lots of parks and the final week Tess spent her mornings at the Art Barn, a great place for her to mix with other children and enjoy all the activities she loves so much.  That was a timely exercise as we had pretty much exhausted our tourist ventures.  

Tess and her Indian elephant....a sculptress in the making!

At the moment we are some thousands of feet over Canada having bid farewell to our time here in Maple Leaf country.  I shall report on Montreal next time as it is another story.  Before I go though I must include a little on Trina's time at the Bonnie Gordon College and include some pics for you.  She has excelled and her work has impressed everyone.  She has a cake in the windowat the College front and Bonnie Gordon has had her last cake professionally photographed to use on her web site.  She has found the course very beneficial and has learnt a lot.  She is brimming with new ideas and full of enthusiasm to move on with her business.

A beautiful bunch of sugar flowers

A cute little figurine

Haute Couture Wedding Cake

The Klimt Wedding Cake

(designed for a pseudo wedding of the painting curator at the Toronto Art Gallery)

So we start off today's blog with our zoo adventure.  Toronto boasts quite an amazing zoo set on over 700 acres and over 5000 exhibits all of which Tess planned to see on our day's outing.  The area is designed in country of origin of the captive beasts so as long as you have strong legs you can move around the world of animals to see whatever takes your fancy.  I always wonder why creatures in zoos  look like they are on valium.  At a guess I would say boredom as I am sure I would become inane if I was locked in a cage with a big gorilla giving me the eye.   The use of pavillions brought us close to the snakes and spiders and frogs etc so we did cover, say, 4500 exhibits (well that's what I told Tess so we could go home!!).   The trip to the zoo is quite a long ride and it gave me a view of a different Toronto.  Short on the trees and masses of tenement buildings.  I guess it was illogical to imagine that the whole city would be made up of the lovely homes and tree lined streets which is the streetscape where we are living.   It really is a lovely spot.
A short ferry ride took Tess and I over to Centre Island last week....quite a stunning place and worth a look but all the amusements for the children were still to open.   It seems to take weeks into the summer before the Canadians realise the winter is actually over.  
Foodwise we find it impossible to go out for a hearty Sunday breakfast.  Plenty of coffee shops but none of them cook so it's pastries, egg rolls or the like.  Haven't seen a butcher shop and as I said before it took us over a week to find a bottle shop to purchase a bottle of wine.   We have to walk to the subway, get a train one stop, walk to the bottle shop and then reverse it.  The Government runs all the liquor outlets so maybe it's their way of reducing the alcohol intake of Canadians.  Jeez you would think they would consider all the Aussie tourists who would be out there searching for a wee drop of the grape!!
Trina had an extra class yesterday (Sunday) and again next week-end. ( She says she will add to this blog with her bit of prattle so you may hear a little more of the cake side of things).  Tess and I missed her yesterday as we always enjoy our weekends together.  We were a bit flat heading out for our visit to Riverdale Farm and the mood was sorely dampened when Tess left Nutsy the squirrel at the subway station.  She was, of course, broken-hearted and had to be re-assured all through the day that Nutsy would be having a great time with all the other toys in the lost property department.   Riverdale Farm is a pretty place on a creek with little waterfalls and they have the cows, the horses, the chooks, the peacocks, the goats etc.   We had our picnic then crossed the road to visit a beautiful little historic church set in a cemetry.  Tess insisted on being photographed on several tombstones so maybe that was her mood of the day with Nutsy missing.  To top it off she stepped in a big doggy poo on the way back to the bus.  I have to finish on a happy note because when we returned to the subway and I asked the ticketman what happens to lost property, especially a much loved squirrel, he produced same from under his bench and what joy appeared on one little girl's face.  
We have to get organised very soon for our trip to Niagara, Montreal and then Alaska.  Bye until next time xxxGlor   .......(below Tess with beloved Nutsy...                                                                                                                                                                        

(Famous Aussie cake decorator Trina Thomson spotted walking the streets of Toronto with daughter Tess)....(This is two weeks ago but now it really is summer).