Last of 2012

Here we are at the tail end of the year, preparing to come home for Christmas! This year has gone so fast! 

November has been quiet but the weather has been fine enough so far and we're still waiting for the first heavy snow. We try not to hibernate too much - it's very tempting to stay indoors on cold, grey days but there are still a few places we haven't explored yet though we do miss the variety of outings at home. 

We went out for a walk to Rouge Park, Toronto's  'urban wilderness park' which stretches from North Toronto to the Lakeshore. It has trails for walking and cycling alongside the Rouge River. A common wild flower here is milkweed. Here it is in seed, once used as kindling by First Nations people to light fires. These plants are an important source of summer food for insects, including monarch butterflies. Another weekend saw us visit Unionville, a 200 year-old little town, surrounded by suburban Toronto, which attracts visitors to its galleries, restaurants and shops but we didn't find much to interest us, sadly. 

 

 One of Eamonn's birthday presents was an evening at a wine tasting class! This was held in a condo building down by the Lakeshore. We had a very pleasant evening tasting Canadian sparkling wine, then white and red wine - my sips got smaller and smaller as the evening progressed! We learned a few things including the effect of wine with certain foods and it had very little to do with slurping and spitting! I also had a very enjoyable morning at the Art Gallery of Ontario with fellow Newcomers viewing an exhibition of work by Diego Rivera and his wife, Frida Kahlo. It was an interesting mix of art and political history. He was already a renowned mural artist in Mexico when they met. She had a very tragic personal life suffering polio as a child then having a dreadful accident as a teenager which affected her for the rest of her life. Many of her paintings are uncomfortable viewing as they deal with her physical pain from her injuries as well as her inability to have a child. They were both high profile supporters of the Communist party and this is reflected in his work. They had a very stormy relationship but they always went back to each other. Some of us then enjoyed lunch together where I was talked into taking on a job on the Newcomers' Board - they need a replacement secretary but it doesn't seem too onerous a task.

My Neighbourhood Walks group had a very interesting trip to the world's oldest, still functioning, double-decker theatre! The Winter Gardens Theatre sits several storeys above the Elgin Theatre in Downtown Toronto. Built in 1913 the building has been cleverly restored using cheap materials to reproduce the Edwardian style of its vaudeville days. The lower theatre is traditional plush red and gold colouring while the upper theatre is styled as though it were in Mediterranean Europe with walls decorated with flowers and the ceiling hung with lanterns and dried beech leaves. Quite bizarre!  Some of us were a bit disturbed by the thought of sitting below the dust-laden leaves! The Ontario Heritage trust took it over in 1981 and has worked hard to remove the 27 layers of paint and to replace the balconies etc. which were removed when it operated as a cinema in the 1970s. The upper theatre had been closed off since the late 20s so was left in a more original condition.

The Newcomer ladies do like to help out newly arrived members and one of my British friends organised a get-together so that some new Spanish members could meet each other as well as us. The youngest girl is looking for work as a civil engineer and it turned out that 7 out of the 8 of us there were married to civil engineers! It happens that a large Spanish company has contracts in road construction here. Some of the women with teenage children accept that their children's future lies here or in the US due to the problems in Europe now.

Having seen the new Bond film, 'Skyfall', we were delighted to get to the  exhibition, 'Designing 007', transferred from London's Barbican where we enjoyed  the display of memorabilia and film clips. A pity that the text panels were so badly lit and written in small gold font on black! Not much fun if you have poor sight.

The 4th weekend of November saw Toronto host the 100th Grey Cup which was the final of the Canadian Football League played between the Toronto Argonauts and the Calgary Stampeders. Apparently, Canadian football is different to US football but it still involves wearing lots of padding and having more players on the sidelines than there are on the pitch! There are only 8 teams in the competition and Toronto won.  The trophy was commissioned originally by Earl Grey, Canada's Governor General in 1909.  There was considerable commotion here in the build up to the match. Calgary brought a horse to town hoping to walk it through the lobby of the Royal York Hotel - a 'tradition' they wanted to continue but the hotel refused so they posed with the horse in a bank and an Irish pub, by which time the Hotel must have realised how much publicity they were missing so invited them back. At their home games a horse is galloped up and down alongside the pitch when they score! We watched some of it on tv (with the sound off) to see what the fuss was all about. The match began at 6.30 and finished about 4 hours later because you only get to see bursts of play lasting about a minute or even less then there's a long advert break and relentless analysis and replays! During these breaks there is no play on the pitch. This frustrating pattern is followed by their other major sports too - ice hockey (still locked out if you're wondering), basketball and baseball.

A very pleasurable Newcomer event was held at the national ceramics museum in town. The Gardiner Museum, founded in 1984, has a huge collection of china and porcelain which was donated to the city by the Gardiner family who were collectors on an impressive scale. At this time of year they hold an exhibition of '12 Trees' for Christmas which are dressed by the museum and then auctioned for charity before being given to a home or organisation. The theme this year showed countries around the world. There were two British trees, one laden with little cups and saucers and teaspoons and the other one showing a very nostalgic look at past Christmases.



British tree









Australian Tree - upside down of course!












China - with dragons, fish, pandas, etc. hung on a pagoda style tree.












 
A lovely Polish tree









 
 






Netherlands tree - very pretty.




Here is the Phillipino Tree - these are real cookies. A few of them had been nibbled or had a corner snapped off!
The Canadian tree represented the Arctic region so here's a snowy owl.















British nostalgia - board games, toy soldiers and humming tops.

A lovely Swedish tree.

The US tree was very colourful, but covered with toys and sweets rather than with any national or religious symbols.

Mexican tree

As I left to go home I passed this beggar lying on the street. I took his picture on impulse. I didn't know how to react - surely we all want to feel compassion for those who are so desperate that they go to these lengths but something about this man's pose irritated me and I can't decide if I'm being unfair, after all I was able to go past him to a warm home. He had deliberately positioned himself in the way of people crossing the road and his gesture with his cap in hand outstretched was almost aggressive, almost daring you to walk over him. You often see beggars here, even in the coldest weather, often sitting on the grills where the warm air from the subway rises but mostly they sit quietly, some even wishing you a good day. Perhaps one of you will tell me what you think.

My last Newcomer outing was  a Foodie event, touring the St. Lawrence Market and making cookies in the market kitchen. This popular food market is held in a building which originally housed the first City Hall of Toronto. During the tour we saw areas below the market floor which used to hold men's and women's jails. We could still see where chains were fixed to the wall which once held the male prisoners, some of whom drowned when the area flooded. The Market, sitting on Front Street, once faced Lake Ontario which is now about 3/4 km away. The women's jail was covered by a street level grill and it became known as the 'Snake Pit' as the women were seen reaching through the bars to passers by. They sell a wide range of fish and meat here. Some of the more unusual commodities are: crocodile, kangaroo, musk ox, buffalo, elk, ostrich and camel.


We visited an old meeting place next door, St. Lawrence Hall, built in 1850, which has this brightly painted ballroom which still uses gas lighting! It is so unusual to find genuinely old buildings in Toronto!






A good feature of meeting women from different countries is the opportunity to exchange information about each others' cultures. We were comparing the US Thanksgiving holiday and our Christmas. In the US Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday which is a bank holiday and many people take the Friday off work to make a long weekend. I was explaining that it's very common for us to have some or all of the week off between Christmas and New Year whereas they only have Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Ontario has different holiday arrangements to the other Canadian provinces too so it's all very confusing! The other topic of conversation is often about language differences and we realised recently that here it's quite ok to go out in your vest and pants but to us it would mean something completely different!

I might look as though I know what I'm doing but of course it was pretty basic and you'll notice I didn't stop to put the camera down!
 


We had fun decorating ready prepared gingerbread 'persons' - it reminded me of art classes back in school! I went for the minimalist look.
 So there we are, almost another year over. I still have my choir concert to take part in this weekend and then I'll be getting ready for Tuesday's flight. I look forward to seeing many of you but those I don't see I wish you a very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year!

With love,

Mary and Eamonn

Boston 17th - 20th October

 

Hello again!

Taking a trip to Boston achieved 2 aims: to make our first trip to the US and to finally break out of Ontario (apart from the a tiny stay on the Quebec side of Ottawa!). We originally planned to go last July but the airfares over the first weekend of July would have cost more than the return fare home for each of us! It was so expensive because of Canada Day on 1st July and Independence Day in US. When people go to the US from here they go through US Customs and Immigration before flying so we were a little tense experiencing this for the first time. We were questioned then had our fingerprints and photos taken (Eamonn's hand was shaking so much he had to do it again!) but it meant our arrival was a breeze. After a very smooth, 90 minute flight we took a shuttle bus to the subway and arrived at the Boston Harbour Hotel. There's no need to have a car in Boston as it's a very compact city and the subway radiates out from the centre so it's easy to be a tourist there. It was also extremely cheap -  $18 for a week's pass - wouldn't that be amazing if we could pay that little in London! We had a lovely room on the 10th floor overlooking the bay - but no tea-making equipment! How does a hotel get 5 stars without providing that? Health and Safety probably has something to do with it.

Day 1

We went to explore the centre and find somewhere for dinner. I'd received many tips from friends at home and here about where to go in Boston so we were well prepared. Boston has a very interesting history and very attractive old buildings, many of which played an important part in the American Revolution. We walked through Liberty Square, so named in 1793 to commemorate the French Revolution. This is where the British Stamp Tax Office was burned down by protesting Boston citizens in 1765. There is now a memorial to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 here.

The Old State House

Park Street Church












The Puritan settlers of the 1630s, escaping persecution in England, aimed to build a 'New' England where all would prosper through their piety and diligence. Boston was well placed to develop as a hub for transporting goods between the Caribbean, America and Europe. The merchants of Boston grew wealthy but they were well outnumbered by retailers, tradesmen and artisans who became poorer as the rich got richer. This was  partly because the wars between British and French settlements in North America disrupted trade while also creating widows and orphans who became a burden on the local tax system. The Bostonians were initially very loyal to their English institutions of law, government and monarchy but anger grew when Britain, anxious to reduce its national debt following all these expensive conflicts, introduced the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act. People realised that taxes would actually now be gathered whereas previously they had largely only existed in theory. The resulting hardship would result in job losses and greater hardship for families. Resentment also grew that the people of Boston were being taxed by the English Parliament rather than by local assembly men. The Stamp Act was repealed following a period of demonstration and civil disturbance.

Faneuil Hall, a 'Cradle of Liberty', was an important meeting point for anti-British rallies. This area contains Quincy Market with a great choice of shopping and eating. We had dinner in Durgin Park, a restaurant which originally catered for market men and sailors when Peter Faneuil, a local merchant, built the hall and warehouse in 1742. I had the Yankee pot roast and Eamonn had ribs then we shared this Indian pudding which has a fantastic molasses flavour!

A stall in Quincy Market

 


 

Day 2 

The most important thing to do in Boston is to walk the Freedom Trail which is a great way to take in the history and the architecture of the city. It was first conceived in the 1950's by a local journalist who devised this walking tour; it has now been expanded to include a Black Heritage Trail which relates the history of slaves, abolitionists, the Underground Railroad and desegregation in Boston schools. It can be a self-guided tour or led by a ranger. All the points of interest are linked by a red line of paint or paving so you can't get lost! We began, as many do, at Boston Common, a lovely park area, once used for military training and patriot assemblies as well as pasture and executions. This statue is entitled 'Learning'. 

 

Since 1758 the Massachusetts State House has been home to the Governor and is the centre of everyday political activities.

Opposite, is this beautiful memorial to soldiers of the Civil War, featuring black volunteer troops serving under Robert Gould Shaw. The sculptor, Saint Gaudens, was Irish born and is famous for several works in the US.

In the grounds of  the Old City Hall is this brass donkey:

 

In 1828, Andrew Jackson established the Democratic party and ran for president using the populist slogan, "Let the people rule", his opponents thought him silly and labelled him a "jackass". Jackson, however, picked up on their name calling and turned it to his own advantage by using the donkey on his campaign posters. Over the years this donkey had become the accepted symbol of the Democratic party. 

The symbol of the Republican party in 1974 was born in the imagination of a cartoonist, Thomas Nast, in Harper's Weekly. Soon other cartoonists used the elephant to symbolize Republicans, and eventually, Republicans adopted the elephant as their official symbol. 

At the foot of Benjamin Franklin's statue are 4 reliefs depicting episodes of his life. This one shows him with the Declaration of independence. He was born in 1706 on Milk Street in Boston.
To the left of his statue is King's Chapel, built in 1754. The box pews were owned by families and designed to keep them warm. They could furnish them with blankets and even bring in the family dog. Children sat facing their parents so they could be observed during the service. A good idea!

We all know that Boston has a strong Irish heritage. In 1998 this moving memorial was dedicated to the victims of An Gorta Mor, 'The Great Hunger'. It tells of the 37,000 destitute Irish refugees arriving in Boston in 1847, hoping to find safety from the Famine. The Boston people really did not want these diseased, illiterate and unskilled people arriving as a burden to their city; they were happier to send help, which they did by the shipload, 100s of tons of food and supplies were sent to Cork. Eventually, a million people died of starvation and 2 million more left Ireland, many of those dying en route.

Quincy Market

This 10 foot tall statue is of Boston's longest serving mayor, Kevin H. White, who is credited for developing Boston into a world class city. He showed great leadership and commitment to Boston,  and was responsible for much of its development.

Beyond this bench is the entrance to a park which contains a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The main part of the memorial consists of six large towers of glass. Each of these towers represents one of the sixth death camps (Belzec, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sobibor, Majdanek, Treblinka, and Chelmno). Each tower is made out of plates of glass that are etched with white numbers, which represent the registration numbers of victims. As you look at the glass you see the numbers then you see quotes which overlay the numbers, written by survivors.

Enscribed on a plaque nearby is this famous quote:
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Martin Niemoeller

Continuing our walk we went through Little Italy with its many excellent restaurants to Paul Revere's House, the oldest house in downtown Boston. It is from this house in 1775 that he made his horseback ride to warn patriots in the countryside of the approach of the British troops. Nearby is Old North Church where lanterns were hung as a pre-arranged sign indicating the route the British were taking. It was from this action that fighting spread and Boston came under siege.



 

Paul Revere's House

It is very common in the old cemeteries to see headstones like this with skulls carved into them.

We walked on to Bunker Hill, the site of this monument which commemorates the battle which took place here. Although the British won, they lost far more men than the colonists, who were sufficiently proud of themselves so they went on to form their own army which launched the Revolutionary War in earnest.

 

 

USS Constitution - launched in 1797 as part of America's first naval fleet. It was nicknamed 'Old Ironsides' due to the way enemy cannon bounced off its sturdy wooden hull. It is the centrepiece of the Charlestown Navy Yard.

From here we took a ferry ride across the harbour back to town, passing the hugely expensive waterside developments.

We went into this huge Christmas shop. They had decorations for Christmas under every theme you could think of - hunting, fairies, dogs, cartoon characters ...

Day 3

We took the subway to Harvard, arriving in the centre of town which didn't give a very good first impression; it was scruffy and there were homeless people and beggars sitting along the roadside. The University was a short walk from here and we went with a Harvard first year student for a walking tour. Their system is quite strange to us: she explained that they don't have to apply for a subject, they decide what their major will be after the first year and she didn't know what she wanted to do yet! 

John Harvard was an English minister who was its first benefactor. 

The college was established in 1636. There is a very long list of famous people who went to Harvard but never graduated, including Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates. It was only in 1999 that women were awarded the same form of degree as the men! Previously they received a diploma and sadly they didn't preserve John F. Kennedy's room, it was lost when rebuilding inside his old college.

 

 

A Henry Moore work in the grounds.

 

I couldn't help wondering whether these two groups should combine!?

We had a pleasant walk around the town which had a distinctly familiar feel, even to the rowing on the Charles River. Their regatta was about to begin the next day.

At the subway we saw this very dusty reminder of
vigilance when travelling, a 10 foot high rucksack. I would think it was put there some time ago when anxiety about terrorism was at its height. 

Boston has a thriving theatre scene and that evening we went to see a production of Hamlet, performed by a small cast from the Shakespeare's Globe in London. It was an excellent performance but it was unnerving to see that the theatre was packed with bus loads of college students! They were all very smartly dressed, suits for the boys, nice dresses for the girls, but they were clearly unused to sitting quietly - and still - for any length of time! We heard complaints to their teaching staff at the interval that the actors could see the students using their phones so for the second half the staff stood around the sides, keeping watch. Some of the students also had trouble following the plot as all the actors were playing more than one part and some were not very familiar with Shakespeare. The girl beside me fidgeted constantly, not knowing quite where to put her legs, eventually settling down in a rather unlady-like pose but she laughed in the right places and at the end she declared, 'That was excellent!' so I replied that I was glad she enjoyed it. As we walked back to the hotel through the centre of town it was striking how quiet the streets were in comparison to walking around our West End.

Day 4

We went to the Museum of Fine Arts, an excellent museum and gallery but it was impossible to see everything. While resting in the cafe we were amused to see a dispenser for plastic cutlery labelled, knives, forks and 'multi-purpose spoons' !! Of course, I didn't realise I could do more than one thing with a spoon!






We then walked through Fenway Gardens, 7 acres of which had been given over to allotments and small gardens. These Victory Gardens were established in 1943 to provide food for the war effort and are still flourishing. We relaxed in the park after seeing a wedding group, a one-man band who proclaimed himself to have the record for playing the most instruments at one time and chatting to a children's author who wanted us to order a painting from her illustrator who happens to live in Cornwall!

We returned to Durgin Park for a really big dinner and enjoyed the amazing Saturday night buzzy atmosphere. There were lots of rowing crews in town, very conspicuous, tall, broad - shouldered hunks!

 This quirky sculpture was in the park facing our hotel.

This is the Boston Harbour Hotel where we stayed. 

We had a really enjoyable time in an interesting and attractive city. Maybe we'll go back sometime and see some more!