The title of this blog is one of the slogans I read walking through Toronto Airport, another was "The World Needs More Canada". It occurred to me that it might be a slightly presumptuous statement to make. A bit like "Great Britain", it isn't that "great" believe me. Yet after spending a week there and meeting many Canadians I agree, there's no presumption implied, it's an empirical fact. At least it is based on the very small part of this vast country I saw. I'm sure there are some bad types living there as in any country, but I didn't see any. I'll give you an example. Our hotel was directly opposite Union Railway Station in downtown Toronto. In the mornings the family and I would set off for our breakfast restaurant/cafe, with a destination in mind to visit after we'd eaten. I've visited many large cities, London, Paris, New York and the likes, the citizens can be a grumpy lot. The Toronto workers would come pouring out of Union walking to work in a much more casual, relaxed way than I've witnessed before. Many times the children would get in their way, no glares at us or them, just a smile. Stand there with a city map unfolded and people would actually stop to offer assistance. They were delighted to do so, they were just plain happy. As was Amélie, who demonstrated her exuberance by cartwheeling her way around Canada...
Note the shoe flying through the air for the umpteenth time!
Here's another example. I met a guy on the internet through photography around five or so years ago. Kevin lives with his wife Nancy in Toronto. When we arrived at our hotel a package was brought to our room containing welcome gifts for us all. Putting to one side the financial expenditure (I'm certain it was considerable). What a tremendously thoughtful gesture that was? Think of the logistics involved; Gifts to be thought of, shopped for and delivered to the hotel upon our arrival. I'm not joking when I say it brought a tear to my eye. That act of kindness set the tone for the rest of our trip, first impressions. We met up for a drink a few days later and we all agreed that nicer people you could not wish to meet than the Haggith's. Any fears that I may have had about being groomed or abducted to his log cabin evaporated instantly! Hopefully we'll be able to return that wonderful welcome to them one day.
A quick word on the photos contained in this blogpost. We were on a family holiday, as such I'm generally either holding a child's hand or talking to my wife, often both. Photography, in my opinion, is a Lone Wolf occupation. You need time to frame, constantly have your eyes open to find a shot and I didn't have that luxury. Here's a few Street photos I managed to take, mostly one handed. That the beauty of a Leica Rangefinder that often gets overlooked, set the lens (35mm) correctly; f/11 hyperfocal, together with your exposure and it's quicker than autofocus, easier than a point and shoot...
Different with the 50mm Noctilux wide open though. I had to focus these...
Back to Toronto. A fabulous city that has it all. Beautiful architecture, the CN Tower where we had diner in the revolving restaurant, museums, open spaces, art galleries, a zoo, aquarium and of course Lake Ontario. There is a system of underground walkways called PATH, over 1200 shops are down there, food courts and access to various office buildings. I can see how during inclement weather it's fantastic, however I'm not sure I liked it that much. I prefer being above ground, judging where I am by landmarks. PATH, on occasion, turned into a bit of a maze to get lost in. As you might imagine a lot of the city is influenced by their American neighbour. I recognised street signs, plumbing, fences etc from my many U.S. visits. You could be there, but you're not, it's somehow different, almost a European feel to this city. It's the people perhaps, they just seem so relaxed and happy. Don't get me wrong, I know and have met hundreds of Americans. I love visiting the U.S they're wonderful and so is the country, but currently I prefer Canada. A few views around the city...
..and some of the family seeing the sights...
On one of our days we visited Niagara Falls. Had I been driving then I suspect two hours there would have been quite enough. However, we decided to take the train which is around a one and a half hour journey to Niagara. Incidentally, that train then crosses the U.S. border, spends an hour at immigration whereby everyone gets off and back on again and heads to NYC. The problem being that it left Toronto at 8:30am and returned at 19:30pm, a very long day. On the trip out, and here's yet another example of how nice Canadians are, the conductor who was busy collecting ticket and making passenger announcements, kept dropping back to me, pointing out the scenery that I'd be seeing around the next bend. We did the whole Niagara experience. Watched "Niagara Fools" zip wire across the river, took the boat out to the Falls themselves and got wet. The Canadians told me that their side was the best and they were right. The Americans only get a sideways look at their own falls, from our side I could see theirs and the famous Canadian Horseshoe Falls. That was the point at which I'd say it's time to head back for Toronto, instead we still had six hours to kill, so explored what Kevin accurately described as a mini Vegas. Exhausted we returned to the station around half an hour early because we didn't want to miss the only train. It was delayed for well over an hour and a half. Anyone used to travelling on the British railway network will take this as standard. The difference was that our friend the conductor gave regular updates and explained in detail to the multitude gathered in the waiting room why it was late. In the U.K. you may find out much later that the "wrong type of snow" (a genuine excuse?!) or "leaves on the track" (who knew we got leaves in Autumn!) were the problem.
Finally, let's not forget that a short ferry ride or even shorter water taxi trip allows one to visit the Toronto Islands. A wonderful space, each small island is linked by a footbridge. Here we found parks, beaches and the homes of the around 400 inhabitants. When a sign reads "Please Walk On The Grass" you know you're in the right place. We chose this visit on our final day. An 11:00pm flight dictated that we would need to use up some time after checking out from the hotel.
I have that Health app pedometer thing on my iPhone. I checked it on the flight back and found that we'd walked 9 miles during our last hours in Toronto. The children slept on the plane, in the car from London and for 16 hours the next night. They cried when we left, sobbing that they'd miss Canada, something they hadn't done whilst visiting Disney Land, Abu Dhabi or any of those other places they've been lucky enough to visit. I miss Canada too, I miss Toronto and I miss the Canadians. One thing is for sure, we will return, perhaps permanently.
As usual I would be delighted to read any comments and my sincere thanks go to anyone taking the time to read my blog.
All images can be opened by clicking on the thumbnails and are taken using a Leica M with a Summicron 35mm or 50mm Noctilux lens fitted.