Family Time

Today was my last day in Toronto with my lovely Canadian cousins. I took advantage of the opportunity to have a super lazy day and repack all my things ready for Niagara tomorrow. When I finally surfaced downstairs Demetri and I spent a good hour or more tinkering on his very nice Yamaha piano. We were both marvelling at each other's skills. I was very envious of his gift to learn and play ragtime music by ear as well as his composition skills. He meanwhile was envious of my sight reading skills. I've always said that in music you are either naturally talented or 'musically educated'. Being the latter I've always been saddened by the fact that I can't simply approach a piano cold and sit down and play something. I need music in front of me and some time to practise. Still, I'm very grateful for my skills and enjoy playing nonetheless. Demetri on the other hand is naturally talented and I hope he continues to utilise that talent and share his music with others.

I spent a fair amount of time with both my younger cousins that afternoon. Mostly we attempted to take the cat into liking me. We failed but the efforts by the boys were appreciated.

Around mid-afternoon Monica, Steve and I wandered down to The Damforth which is the Greek area of the neighbourhood in which a large food festival was about to get underway. We indulged in multiple Greek delicacies - my favourite being funnel cake which was topped with ice cream, oreo crumbs and chocolate sauce (see picture). Needless to say I struggled to eat it all!

Once our appetites were satisfied and we were not too full to still walk to the subway we took the train to the CN Tower.

Having done the CN Tower in 2000, I hadn't originally intended to visit again. However on discussion with Steve and Monica one night it was agreed I couldn't come to Toronto and not go up it and so Steve kindly booked us all tickets. We arrived just before sunset so we could enjoy the views in both daylight and darkness. We were suddenly engulfed by a number of thunder storms which made the visit all the more exciting! I stood on the famous elephant glass once again and enjoyed watching the lightning strikes across the city.

After scaling the CN Tower, we walked to City Hall where the illuminated Toronto sign proudly stands. Steve was very good in humouring my artsy photographic attempts (results below). From there we walked back to the subway via the Eaton Centre where a wonderful hanging sculpture of flying geese is suspended from the glass ceiling.

On our return I shared some of my photos from the days in Toronto with the boys and headed up to bed ready for an earlier start the next day. I would be very sad to leave this warm family home.Read more