Catching up - Part Two !

Thanks to some autumn sunshine, October was a busy month. It began with the arrival of our good friends, Joan and Brian, on the train from Ottawa. I met them at Union Station which is probably one of  the worst ways to see Toronto for the first time. Carillion is one of the contractors rebuilding the station from below ground which is as tricky as it sounds, so the area is a complete shambles, then they got to experience rush hour on the subway! The train journey along the St. Lawrence Valley is pleasant but is no faster than driving; it takes over 4 hours either way so it doesn't encourage people to leave their cars at home.

As is customary on a visit to Doris Avenue their first outing was to the Islands followed by lunch on the lakeshore. The following day, Saturday, was a good opportunity to drive west into the farming district of St. Jacob's which has a huge market selling all food types and household items. You really can find anything here, much home-grown and home-made by the local Mennonite families. We even bought our bird feeder for our window here!

 

 

We had a filling brunch then a leisurely drive back to Toronto, via the university town of Guelph.

 

On the Sunday we went to St. Basil's Church then walked through the Queen's Park area to see the University and Legislature districts. Outside the John Kelly Library is this very interesting sculpture by a Toronto artist, William McElcheran: 'Great Minds in Conversation as the World Goes By'. The side facing the Library shows 31 great thinkers and a young female student, while the other side, facing away from the Library to the outside world, is a chaotic scene with the face of Jesus looking calmly out of the crowd.

Our walk took us downtown to the old Distillery district which now houses restaurants and shops but was once a thriving centre of beer and spirits' production. It is one of the few areas of the city to have retained some original buildings and has become a tourist attraction as a result. There are some interesting galleries here too which showcase new artists. One of my favourite shops contains quirky art: this is a portrait of Twiggy made entirely from recycled Rubik's cubes!



On their last day with us we had beautiful weather so we headed off to High Park for a walk and a coffee then over to Humber Bay Park East for a sunny Lakeshore walk.

 

A pair of North American wood ducks in High Park.












Condos are never very far away!

 















Down by the Lakeshore

Autumn colour.




















So after a day of sunshine and breezes Joan and Brian had finished the last leg of their Canadian trip. We made the familiar drive to the airport for yet another goodbye. Thanks so much for coming!



We often hear about people spending their weekends at 'The Cottage' and I could never quite see the attraction of owning a second home in the middle of nowhere. I recently saw this list of the downsides of cottage owning which summed it up pretty well: Packing - you might think not much of a problem but as so many cottages are miles from shops and services the owners end up packing all household supplies as well as food and drink, not forgetting the bikes, kayaks, etc., strapped to the roof! Pests - the worry of bugs and bigger critters like raccoons and bears! What might have moved in while you were gone? Driving and traffic jams - there are certain weekends when there are traffic warnings and the roads to 'Cottage Country' become totally clogged. The distances many families travel for a weekend are amazing! The  Neighbours - bad enough having neighbour trouble in town let alone at your family retreat too. Family - rifts arise due to the tricky issue of how to agree how to share time at the cottage and the younger members don't always want to inherit it - they'd rather have the money for other things! Repairs - twice the amount of DIY and housework, remembering to take tools, etc with you. Taxes - inescapable in life and death! And, on top of this, I'm afraid staring at the same patch of water and trees for more than a couple of days a year would drive me crazy!

Another Canadian institution is ice hockey. Sadly, for its thousands of fans, the season has not started yet due to a dispute between the owners of the League's franchises and the players' union, resulting in a lockout which means that there are no matches other than Junior hockey taking place. So many concerned parties are losing money, including the fast food and souvenir vendors, poor things, and considering that the NHL occupies many channels and hours of TV their advertisers can't be happy either. In fact, some sports bars are having to lay off staff as business is so slow. I can't imagine what would happen at home if the Premier League stopped football taking place! Of course it's all about money but I don't understand why they didn't plan ahead knowing that their collective bargaining agreement was due to expire just before the season started! Many of the players have joined clubs in Europe while they are waiting for the dispute to be resolved but if they don't reach an agreement soon the whole season may be lost.

 It's been a busy time with Newcomer activities. I like to join the monthly Walk Fit sessions which are a good work out. We walk at a good pace through one of the city's ravines which doesn't really allow time for stopping to look for birds or wildlife. I find this quite frustrating but we usually end up at a nice coffee shop so it's a good way to get to know people. The Brits are usually in good numbers on these walks. It was through Newcomers that I made friends with Gillian, from Hampshire. We have a lot in common, especially a love of Strictly Come Dancing!
 





Our most recent Neighbourhood Walk was a tour of the Art Deco features in the downtown Financial District. The guide took us in and around many banks that were built in the 1920s. This panel is a 'zippy pyramid' which decorates the Victory Building in Toronto. The construction of this building ceased abruptly with the crash of 1929 and wasn't resumed for 2 and a half years.

A building which housed the 'Toronto Star' newspaper offices was used as the model for the Daily Planet of Superman fame, by Joe Shuster, its co-creator, a Toronto-born writer. The building was demolished in 1972 but some of the stonework was saved and taken to Guildwood Park.




The view over Nathan Phillips Square from the Hudson Bay building.









It is such a pity that the vision that led to these early designs doesn't seem to be much in evidence now. Henry Falk, a New York entrepreneur and builder was responsible for many skyscrapers here and paid whatever was asked to get the artist he wanted on a project. One of his projects, the Concourse building, is decorated by mosaics designed by J.E.H. MacDonald of  The Group of Seven. 


The old Stock Exchange building is decorated with art deco reliefs designed in 1937 by Charles Comfort. They depict the twin themes of resources and industry. Numerous figures are shown hard at work, surveying, gathering, building, studying, riveting, shoveling, etc.

The most (in)famous image on the frieze  shows a top-hatted captain of industry who seems to have his hand in the pocket of a worker. Is that because he's being paid a fair wage for a fair day's work or is it an example of the exploitation of the workers by the bosses?

 

 
A popular feature of many buildings developed in the 1920s were Egyptian motifs relating to the discovery of the Tomb of King Tutankhamun in 1922.

 



The Brookfield Centre is a complex of offices built in 1992. It was designed by a Spanish architect, Calatrava, and has a wonderful light and airy feel. It is sometimes described as the 'crystal cathedral of commerce'. I've often wondered whether any cathedrals would ever be built again but of course they are, but in a completely different context! It also contains the restored facade of an 1890s bank. This area is part of the PATH system which enables Torontonians to walk all over Downtown without going outside. It is still being expanded and Carillion is a contractor on the new section.

On the subject of construction I often hear from Eamonn about the role of the Unions here as they affect him at work. The Unions in general are still very strong here, the teachers' unions being among the most active. There is currently a dispute which has resulted in teachers cancelling all extra curricular activities and parent-teacher meetings because the Provincial Government has frozen their wages, withdrawn their rights to collective bargaining and changed the conditions concerning their (very generous) sick day allocation of 20 days, which they are no longer able to carry forward (!). Eamonn's experience is that all contractors, large or small, are required to use union-registered staff which causes problems, particularly when a non-unionised specialist might be needed. If a non-union worker is brought on to site the union will say that the job must be done by a union man and send him away even if he is the only suitably qualified worker available. However, if it can be proved that the job is specialised enough to require non-union staff then the Union might agree. Eamonn has recently been involved in negotiations which resulted in a non-union specialist supervising non-specialist union people which resulted  in some duplication of effort because of course the union men were inexperienced and not as skilled. On other hand, the Unions here do ensure that members must be trained in order to become a union member, so therefore unions are safeguarding their members by providing initial training. 

We have had Hallowe'en recently which, of course, doesn't affect us living in a condo but it's a different experience for other people. A friend at choir lives in the St. Lawrence area of town which is a mixed residential area containing the markets and has a reputation for being a great example of providing community in a city context. She told me that she has to be well prepared for 'Trick or Treat' because so many children who live in less safe areas or in condo districts are driven down to St. Lawrence to go knocking on doors! One year she actually had 400 children calling - she knew because she knew how many sweets she had to start with!

Of course, Hallowe'en is followed by the 1st November and this year Eamonn's birthday was a BIG one! He received a lovely collection of cards and greetings by email and pressies. We didn't go wild - we went to a broadcast of Timon of Athens via National Theatre Live after Michael and Gemma called on Skype. We'd never seen it before but it was so well done and the themes around money and debt seemed so appropriate for our times! That weekend we enjoyed a meal out with friends too. Recently we've heard that 2 more Carillion people are going home so we're a dwindling band here.


My December concert is getting closer and the music is coming together. I heard last week that the Echo Choir has a tradition of not singing carols - what a stupid tradition and what bad luck for me! Anyway, I hope to make up for it when I get home in 3 weeks time!


If you're wondering what happened to Boston I'm doing a separate blog to show you around.

So until then, hope you are all well,
With love from 
Mary and Eamonn

And finally,
Canadian saying about wisdom:
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.