| It is unbelievable how nine days can just fly | | | | the sun . Time was flying by and by this time |
| by. Today my brother, sister-in-law and our | | | | it was already 3:30 pm so we had to start our |
| two Austrian friends are scheduled to fly | | | | return to the city. We only took back roads |
| back to Graz, Austria, via Vienna. There has | | | | and my brother lost count of the numerous |
| been an increasingly palpable sense of | | | | golf courses that dotted the landscape. It |
| sentimentality in the air, in light of the | | | | was a nice relaxing drive through rolling |
| fact that this wonderful time is coming to an | | | | countryside and we made it back to Toronto in |
| end alarmingly quickly. | | | | less than 2 hours. All four of my Austrian |
| | | | guests had fallen in love with the Lake |
| It's also amazing how many activities one is | | | | District and the prospect of another vacation |
| able to cram into a short amount of time. I | | | | in Canada to explore the waters north of |
| wanted to give them a really good taste of | | | | Toronto seems ever more likely. |
| everything that I love about the city of | | | | |
| Toronto and my new country. So occasionally I | | | | Yesterday was their last full day in Toronto, |
| put a few too many things on our plates and | | | | and we took our bikes out for a spin one more |
| we ended up racing through a few of the | | | | time. Since we all love water we rode down to |
| activities. On the whole though, I think our | | | | the Eastern Beaches again, and leisurely |
| European guests had a fabulous time and they | | | | explored the waterfront. We watched some lawn |
| fell in love with Toronto, just like I did, | | | | bowling, and one of the participants kept |
| many years ago. | | | | coming over to us to explain the rules of the |
| | | | game to us since none of us was familiar with |
| Saturday all six of us went golfing to a | | | | this sport. My guests commented several times |
| little par-3 golf course in the East end of | | | | on the friendliness of people in the stores, |
| Toronto. None of my Austrian guests had ever | | | | restaurants, in line-ups and even I myself |
| golfed before, so a couple of days earlier we | | | | was surprised at the approachability of |
| started with a few buckets of balls at the | | | | Torontonians, often known as a more reserved |
| driving range, followed up by an indoor | | | | breed of people. But we truly kept having |
| putting practice session on the carpet. | | | | very positive experiences, equally with |
| Saturday we would get to try the real thing. | | | | people employed in the service sector, as |
| The attempts at the driving range didn't look | | | | well as with regular citizens, taking a |
| all that great, with balls spraying all over | | | | stroll, playing a game of lawn bowling or |
| the place, to the left and to the right. But | | | | going for a walk with their dog. |
| on Saturday afternoon, another gorgeous day, | | | | |
| our four Austrian guests performed quite | | | | Of course we admired the inukshuks by the |
| admirably and only lost 2 balls in the water | | | | beach, a public play area for adults with |
| hazard. | | | | rocks of various shapes and sizes that are |
| | | | used by passers-by to create interesting |
| They really enjoyed golf, a sport they had | | | | stone sculptures. We watched a few tense |
| never even dreamed of playing, but the | | | | points at the Kew Gardens Tennis Club, and |
| Toronto area with its several hundred golf | | | | checked out the picturesque Kew Gardens park |
| courses, many of them reasonably priced, made | | | | itself. From there we headed west past the |
| it easy to give this sport a try. All | | | | beach volleyball facilities to the little |
| preconceived notions about golf only being a | | | | peninsula west of Ashbridges Bay which always |
| sport for old people went out the window, and | | | | offers a fabulous view of Toronto's skyline. |
| they enjoyed the challenge of trying to sink | | | | We took in the tranquil atmosphere and soaked |
| the round little ball in the hole. | | | | in the sun for a while before we started our |
| | | | return back along the waterfront. My European |
| Sunday came our second big excursion: a | | | | visitors commented several times how |
| driving tour through the Kawartha Lakes. I | | | | incredible it is to have all this publicly |
| had only planned two major driving tours: a | | | | accessible land right along the waterfront |
| wine-tasting tour through the Niagara | | | | and how in some secluded spots you don't even |
| Peninsula, and a second one to the lake | | | | realize that you are in a major metropolitan |
| district of the Kawarthas. We started by | | | | area. |
| driving east on Toronto's 401, a 12 to 16 | | | | |
| lane highway whose size duly impressed my | | | | To get back up to our house we had to climb |
| European visitors. Then we headed north-east | | | | back up from the waterfront and this time we |
| through rolling farm country to Peterborough, | | | | chose the Glen Stewart Ravine, where a little |
| a rural university town with a population of | | | | brook has carved a valley into the slopes |
| about 70,000. From there we drove north into | | | | leading down to the waterfront. It is a |
| the Kawarthas, a gorgeous lake region set in | | | | densely forested area and when you are in |
| the rocky landscape of the Canadian Shield. | | | | there it feels like you are in a remote |
| | | | forest somewhere, not right in the middle of |
| Our first stop was Buckhorn, where we watched | | | | Toronto. |
| the mechanics of lift locks of the | | | | |
| Trent-Severn Canal that links Lake Ontario | | | | Once back at our house, preparation got |
| with Georgian Bay. We saw how several boats | | | | started for our final goodbye barbeque and we |
| assembled inside the lock following by an | | | | had invited a few extra friends to join us to |
| opening of the sluices and the water level | | | | give our Austrian guests a proper sendoff |
| equilibrating itself with the level of the | | | | back home. We enjoyed some excellent food and |
| lower portion of the river. The Parks Canada | | | | they sampled a few more varieties of Canadian |
| lock supervisor explained the whole process | | | | wines and beers, all of which they had |
| to us and it only took about 10 minutes for | | | | commented quite favourably on. We didn't |
| the boats to reach the lower level. | | | | sample much restaurant cuisine since my |
| | | | brother is a talented chef, but the fresh |
| From Buckhorn we drove through rocky and | | | | ingredients that he purchased in Toronto's |
| marshy countryside to the quaint village of | | | | various markets made for some truly delicious |
| Bobcaygeon where we took an extended stroll. | | | | dinners. |
| We had a nice waterfront lunch, looking | | | | |
| across to the marina, seeing the the boats | | | | In the evening we took one more spin in the |
| come in an out of the canal. Particularly our | | | | car, first to revisit the Distillery District |
| Austrian friends Luis and Isabella love | | | | at night. Luis had wanted to buy some beer |
| boating and seeing the many houseboats on the | | | | glasses at the Mill Street Brewery as a |
| Trent-Severn Canal gave them a few ideas for | | | | souvenir, but unfortunately the brewery and |
| future vacations in Canada. | | | | restaurant were closed. The whole Distillery |
| | | | area was a little quiet, not surprisingly, |
| The lunch was delicious and we took a little | | | | since it was Labour Day, the last official |
| stroll around this charming town, admiring | | | | day of summer, and the final day of respite |
| the waterfront parks and picnic facilities | | | | before school would begin again. We continued |
| that allow great access to the water. From | | | | our driving tour with a little spin through |
| Bobcaygeon we drove on to another little | | | | downtown and up Yonge Street before we turned |
| picturesque country town: Fenelon Falls, | | | | east on Bloor Street. We crossed the Bloor |
| whose name comes from a waterfall in the | | | | Street Viaduct and arrived on the Danforth, |
| middle of town that has been used for | | | | Toronto's Greek area. As always, Greektown |
| electricity generation since the 1870s. | | | | was quite busy and people were milling about. |
| | | | We sat down on the patio of one of our |
| After a sizeable line-up we picked up a few | | | | favourite restaurants and enjoyed some Greek |
| delicious cones of Kawartha Dairy ice cream | | | | snacks before we headed home after another |
| and strolled over to the bridge over the | | | | long day, all of us a little sad, commenting |
| falls and then down to the little peninsula | | | | how nine days can pass so quickly. |
| that sticks out into the river. From there | | | | |
| you can look into a rocky gorge where both | | | | Today we'll have to take their four rented |
| sides of the river are surrounded by high | | | | bicycles back and around 2:30 we'll have to |
| rocks. | | | | start the trek to the airport. It's been a |
| | | | fabulous 9 days, an extended sleepover with |
| Again, we watched boats being lifted and | | | | four great people and we won't forget this |
| lowered, this time in lock 33 of the | | | | holiday for a long, long time. We are already |
| Trent-Severn Canal System. This is another | | | | hoping for another reunion, either in |
| town with a beautiful little park right by | | | | Austria, or back here in Canada, to deepen |
| the locks with lots of opportunity for | | | | this fabulous connection. |
| barbeques or simply for a relaxing snooze in | | | | |