This blog has been quiet for a few weeks, although I have certainly been putting in a lot of miles. I haven’t been travelling much for travel’s sake, but my sports activities have taken me to places like Oshawa, Cobourg, Belleville…and Dresden.
Dresden is a city of more than half a million people. It is the capital of the eastern German state of Saxony. And I did indeed visit “Dresden” recently, and I stayed in the “Saxony Motel” (see photo at top of this post). However, instead of a re-emerging city in the former East Germany, I was in an altogether different kind of Dresden.
The Dresden Lawn Bowling Club
6 hours west of Kingston is the small (population 2, 800) agricultural community of Dresden, Ontario, and I was there to participate in the provincial pairs lawn bowling championships . This was precisely the type of “random” travel experience I hoped would unfold this summer. I thought Dresden might be vaguely like Hanover (another Ontario town named after a German city). which I also visited more or less at random in 2015. However, Dresden was quite a bit smaller…and smelled a bit like tomato soup! I wasn’t just imagining this: there is a ketchup and vegetable canning factory right across the street from the lawn bowling club.
Sydenham Street in Dresden, Ontario
The heat was intense, so quite a bit of my time in Dresden (and in the nearby city of Chatham, where the Saxony Motel was located) was spent keeping cool and out of the sun. But I still enjoyed the slower place of life, and catching up with people I had met at previous tournaments. The side streets of Dresden were well-maintained and had plenty of Victorian red brick homes.
I hope that my summer will continue to offer experiences like this one, although slightly cooler temperatures would be nice! And even if I am not be travelling quite as far as in previous summers (Chile is not in the cards this year). I do have some fun plans simmering in the background. I will be heading overseas in the winter…and maybe even before then?
The 2018 Winter Olympics are now underway. This has reminded me of one of my greatest travel experiences ever: carrying the Olympic flame through the town of Morrisburg, as part of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay.
The Olympic Bus dropped me off at my designated stop…
It was a tremendous honour to be selected as a torchbearer for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I wasn’t at all bothered that I was assigned to run a segment in Morrisburg, located about 140 km east of my hometown of Kingston, Ontario. This would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…I would have travelled anywhere to make it happen!
It takes a lot of support vehicles to accompany the Olympic flame!
There were four of us carrying the flame through Morrisburg on that gray overcast day in December of 2009. They told us to savour the moment and not run too quickly. I settled on a slow jog…I wanted to RUN with the flame, but I also wanted the moment to last.
Exchanging high fives with some of the Olympic Cheerleaders, as the flame nears
It all happened so fast. Before I knew it, the Olympic flame was approaching. With a roaring crowd, the flame was passed to me and I high-fived the previous runner. If you’ve ever doubted the inspirational power of a noisy crowd, try running with the Olympic flame. There is no effort required: you just float!
Receiving the Olympic flame in Morrisburg!
I tried to slow my pace, but it was very difficult. I remember waving at everybody and having a giant grin on my face for the few minutes that I had the flame.
And I’m off!
It was over so quickly. I didn’t do any special training for the run (just my usual hockey and curling) but it turned out to be totally unnecessary. The adrenaline jolt was immense and I could have run forever. I high-fived the next torchbearer after passing on the flame and my grin remained in place for days afterwards.
Heading down Ottawa Street in Morrisburg
That night, the last stop of the Olympic relay was in Kingston and I attended the associated festivities in the market square. As I wore my baggy and desperately unfashionable torchbearer uniform, I became a temporary celebrity and appeared in what felt like thousands of pictures with complete strangers. I met a 1956 Olympian but also many others who were thrilled just to say hello to somebody who had briefly carried the flame.
Me and my bodyguards!
While I slept reasonably well the night before, I couldn’t sleep at all after running with the flame. In fact, I don’t think I slept more than three hours per night for about the next week. Yes, it was that much of a buzz!
I’m clearly on a bit of a high after my run!
This proved that you don’t need to travel far to have an unforgettable experience. And “experience” is the key word: travel is so much better when you are “doing” rather than just “seeing”. Even though it is only 90 minutes away, I can honestly say that Morrisburg will always be one of my favourite travel destinations!
Next stop: Switzerland!
[Many thanks to my wife and my former colleagues at Empire Life, who took the photos in today’s post]
My second trip to Toronto this fall was entirely different from the first. This one was focused on Christmas shopping and the entertainment district: I didn’t get anywhere close to Bloor Street or The Annex this time!
Pulled Pork and Goat Cheese Pierogi at “Loaded Pierogi”
We stayed in a hotel very close to the St. Lawrence Market; lunch was at a popular new restaurant called “Loaded Pierogi”. The menu here is essentially confined to pierogi, but the toppings are the real attraction. I went for the pulled pork and goat cheese pierogi, while my wife went for the bacon and caramelized onion pierogi. These sustained us for an entire afternoon of Christmas shopping.
Christmas Market in Toronto’s Distillery District
Toronto’s Distillery District (see also the photo at the very top of this post) is transformed into a European-style outdoor Christmas Market for the weeks leading up to Christmas. Perhaps to control the crowds, there is a cover charge of $6.00 on Friday evenings and weekends. As with most such charges, it does not add any real value but we didn’t have any choice with the timing of our visit.
The Dutch Shop, at the Christmas Market in Toronto’s Distillery District
Fortunately, to set off any ill feelings about the cover charge, there were some vendors from the “old countries”. I enjoyed the Dutch kiosk and there were also some Swiss treats at one of the German kiosks. We focused only on the “must-have” items, as we still had some unusual shopping lined up for the following day.
A Dutch restaurant in downtown Toronto
As I had enjoyed my visit to the Second City comedy facility in Chicago in 2014, we caught an evening show at the Toronto location. We enjoyed the show itself but the leg and shoulder room was abysmal. We didn’t really have any choice for our seating, but you will definitely want to avoid the front row if you are of even average height and width. Unfortunately, the advertised free improv session is after the *second* show of the evening, so you will have a long wait if you attend the first show.
19th century baking at William Lyon Mackenzie’s house in downtown Toronto
On Sunday morning, we had a fun shopping experience at the Swedish (!) Christmas Market. I have never seen so many Swedes in one place outside of Sweden before. The line-up for the food stalls was massive, as this market takes place only on one weekend and the “regulars” knew exactly what they wanted. However, there was no cover charge and we ended up getting some really interesting items for Christmas.
Yonge-Dundas Square in downtown Toronto – starting to look like Times Square!
Thanks to some corporate sponsorship, a number of historic sites in Toronto had free admission that weekend. We visited the William Lyon Mackenzie House on Bond Street: besides being a forefather of one of Canada’s longest-serving Prime Ministers (William Lyon Mackenzie King), Mackenzie was also the first mayor of the city of Toronto and was a leader of the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion. We enjoyed some authentic baked goods, prepared the 19th century way in a very unpredictable gas-fired oven.
Evening view of the CN Tower and Union Station, taken from just outside the Royal York Hotel in Toronto
For lunch, we went to “Real Mo-Mo’s” and had some Tosti Hawaii. Despite the name, it is in fact a largely Dutch restaurant with dishes ranging from Dutch pancakes to Bitterballen and Uitsmijter open-faced sandwiches. It was hidden away on a small street just north of the St. Lawrence Market – yet another place to check out on a return visit.
I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with some details on my 2018 travel itinerary: I’ve got trips planned for both the winter and summer months!
My October trip to Toronto was only for one night, but I made sure I took advantage of some of the great food that the city has to offer.
Inside Jumbo Empanadas, on Augusta Avenue in Toronto
My first stop was an old favourite: Jumbo Empanadas in the Kensington Market district. I go here for pastel de choclo (corn pie) whenever I can…and the translation of “corn pie” really does not do it justice. I wrote about its awesomeness in a previous post and I am happy to report that it was just as good this time around.
The corn pie (pastel de choclo) from Jumbo Empanadas in Toronto’s Kensington Market
The setting is not fancy. The view from the front window is colourful (see photo at the top of the post), although you can see little else but other Latin American shops and restaurants in this part of Kensington Market. But it’s the food that matters, and the addictive mixture of sweet, savoury and spicy (I went for the special salsa as well this time) proves that the Chileans know a thing or two about complex flavours.
Madison Manor, in The Annex
As the concert hall was at the edge of a neighbourhood called “The Annex”, I stayed at a B&B called Madison Manor located just off Bloor Street West. I have a special affinity for this part of Toronto, as I lived within walking distance of it in the early 1990s. I wandered by my old apartment on Avenue Road and was amazed by how much “intensification” had taken place in the area in the past 25 years. But the building is still there and the location is still excellent.
Hungarian Renaissance in The Annex?
As for the Annex itself, another favourite haunt of mine was the Country Style Hungarian restaurant. As you can see from the photograph, it’s still there too but I didn’t have a chance to stop in this time. However, if you’re ever in the mood for a big Hungarian meal after a long day of wandering around the city, this is your place. It’s still family-run and the only remaining Hungarian restaurant in this part of Toronto: there used to be about a dozen. Happily, it appears that a Hungarian pastry shop has sprung up next door…perhaps a renaissance is taking place?
Honest Ed’s: a landmark in The Annex
The evolution of the neighbourhood is ongoing. I never actually bought anything at the legendary Honest Ed’s bargain emporium…and it is now too late, as it recently closed. I snapped the above picture to visually capture it before its almost certain redevelopment. Like the downtown Sam the Record Man, this is a long-standing landmark that people still talk about even though it is no longer open.
This is where I had lunch in Koreatown, Toronto
Immediately west of The Annex is Koreatown. This was just a bit too far for me to visit on a regular basis when I lived in Toronto, but was perfectly situated for lunch on this trip. It was difficult to pick one restaurant over another (there are a *lot*), but I eventually settled on the Jin Dal Lae simply because it had recently opened.
My lunch at Jin Dal Lae…not including the soup (and after I started on the spicy side dishes)
I ordered the Bulgogi Bento Box for $8.95 and wasn’t expecting much for that price in a city where eating out can be quite expensive (by Canadian standards). I was very surprised to receive eight small side dishes, ranging from fried tofu to kimchi, before the box itself arrived. In addition to gyoza and a heaping helping of tender bulgogi, there was also soup (which didn’t make it into the photo)…and I utterly failed in my attempt to have a light lunch.
While this trip took place about 4 weeks ago, I will find myself in Toronto again soon. Stay tuned for details!
Like most Canadians, I awoke on October 18 to the news that Gord Downie (the front man for Canadian music icons The Tragically Hip) had passed away from brain cancer. Shortly after announcing his diagnosis, Downie and the Hip embarked on a 2016 farewell tour of Canada that featured sold-out concerts and an outpouring of emotion. The final concert, in my hometown of Kingston, was an especially monumental event and was broadcast live on national television.
Many thousands of words have already been written about Downie in the days since his passing. Rather than add to that total, I have decided to write about something else that also happened on October 18: I attended Johnny Clegg’s concert at Koerner Hall at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Sadly, there is a tragic parallel between Clegg and Downie.
I first wrote about Johnny Clegg in this post from late 2014. He is one of South Africa’s greatest musicians and played an important role in the fight against Apartheid. His songs were generally sung in both English and Zulu, he fully embraced Zulu culture, and he had racially integrated bands at a time when racial segregation was the law.
View from the back of Koerner Hall, prior to the concert
I wrote about Clegg again in the spring of 2016, when he unexpectedly performed a concert in Kingston. At the time, nobody knew that he had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
After his most recent course of chemotherapy earlier this year, Clegg announced that he was in remission and wanted to embark on one final tour called “The Final Journey”. This brief and highly selective tour would take him to some of the places that had strongly supported him through his career. In Canada, one of his biggest markets, concerts were scheduled in Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City.
Attending Clegg’s concert gave me an idea of what it must have been like to see The Tragically Hip on their final tour. Knowing that this was his final tour added exceptional poignancy to the entire evening. That feeling intensified when Clegg dedicated a song to Downie. It became almost intolerable when Clegg sang songs such as Osiyeza (The Crossing).
Clegg wrote Osiyeza after the premature 1992 death of bandmate Mntowaziwaio Ndlovu. it was extremely moving to hear Clegg sing it on this tour, as the lyrics comment on how a person can affect others even after that person is no longer alive. During this song, as with several others, the woman seated beside me was wiping away tears.
View from my seat at Koerner Hall. No zoom lens – I had a great seat!
Another poignant moment was when Clegg performed Cruel, Crazy Beautiful World. Clegg wrote this song in the late 1980s for his then-newborn son Jesse. Jesse, who is also a musician and has had six Top Ten hits of his own in South Africa, was the opening act at this concert and joined his father onstage for a couple of songs. It must now be hard for Jesse to hear lyrics such as “One day when you wake up, I will have to say goodbye”.
It certainly wasn’t all sad, though. You could hear a pin drop when Clegg talked about the anthropological inspiration for Scatterlings of Africa: as always, his stories were fascinating and didn’t insult the intelligence of his audience. How many other musicians refer to mitochondria during their concerts? And songs like Dela, always a live favourite, exploded with joy and excitement.
Clegg put a lot of energy into the concert. It may have been energy that he didn’t really have. I considered waiting around, as I had met him at the previous three concerts I had attended. However, I then overheard that his post-show energy level made it unlikely that he would appear for a meet and greet. At that point, I decided to leave the concert hall. I reasoned that Johnny Clegg had already given enough.
O siyeza, o siyeza, sizofika webaba nomaO siyeza, o siyeza, siyagudla lomhlabaSiyawela laphesheya lulezontaba ezimnyama
Lapha sobheka phansi konke ukuhlupheka
From the Château Montebello, it would have been a fairly easy drive back home to Kingston. However, we were looking forward to seeing some old friends near Pembroke before returning home…so we took a long drive on the north side of the Ottawa River. After passing through Thurso (birthplace of Guy Lafleur!), our progress became quite slow. We didn’t want to go on the Autoroute, but construction and congestion were the order of the day. Finally, some distance west of Ottawa, the road opened up.
Downtown Shawville, Quebec
This seemed like a somewhat forgotten corner of Québec. There were few towns and I don’t recall seeing a stop sign or traffic light until we reached Shawville. Although Shawville was clearly the largest town around, even it was very quiet. After stocking up on some Québec-only provisions, we crossed the mighty Ottawa River back to Ontario.
Wildlife in downtown Pembroke
Our first impressions of Pembroke were lacklustre. The skies were grey and the main street was under considerable construction: perhaps because of this, there were also some vacant storefronts. Just over a block away from the main street, we saw a fox relaxing on a pile of gravel! We weren’t expecting this in a city of 16,000 people, especially at the beginning of rush hour.
The Nook Creperie in Pembroke, Ontario
However, our concern soon dissipated. We walked by the waterfront campus of Algonquin College (see photo at the top of this post) and saw signs of life. Then, returning to the main street, we saw a lot of locals entering a restaurant called “The Nook Crêperie”. We were assured by a couple of patrons that this would be a great place for dinner.
One of the crepes at The Nook
They were absolutely correct. Our crêpes were appealing inside and outside; the soup and dessert were both also excellent. We never would have found this place if we had followed our initial instincts to avoid the downtown construction zone. We then found our B&B: just a few blocks from downtown, it was a charming Victorian red brick home in an equally charming neighbourhood.
Our B&B in Pembroke
We met our friends the next morning…and made only a small dent in the huge amount of spruce beer (biére d’épinette) that we had each stockpiled in anticipation of this day. The strange obsession with spruce beer is a long story. It has its roots in a long-ago Ottawa River canoe trip from my friend’s house to a general store in nearby Fort-Coulonge, Québec. I don’t think either one of us particularly likes it, but the tradition has taken on a life of its own. If you ever want a soft drink that is ridiculously high in calories, cloyingly sweet, and redolent of Pine-Sol, then spruce beer is the beverage for you.
Biére d’épinette: available in name brands AND store brands!
And that seems like a fitting way to end our summer vacation. We saw a lot of Québec, enjoyed a lot of sports, and ate very well…or at least had fun with our food. How can you not have fun with pizzaghetti?
I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with a special report on a very special event!
It’s now been three years since I visited Peru and journeyed to the famous abandoned city of Machu Picchu. In order to do this, our group had to take a train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes. This all went very smoothly and I couldn’t imagine anybody having difficulty with it. This week, however, thousands of tourists were stranded because the rail line to Aguas Calientes was shut down.
In the middle of Machu Picchu, Peru (July 2, 2014)
Two major protests coalesced in the Cusco area: one was about the cancellation of a promised airport in the region, while the other was by 20,000 teachers seeking higher wages. As a result, the railway operator elected to close down for two days. This reminded me of my own overseas encounter with local unrest: a rotating local bus driver strike in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, that prevented us from skiing at an outlying ski area for a day. There was nothing we could do about that: it was far too small to be covered by the international news media and we were not reading the morning Italian papers. In any case, we still had a nice day of skiing at the local area and simply took the bus the following day.
Machu Picchu, Peru (July 2, 2014)
However, there are cases where you can do your due diligence. Just prior to leaving for Bosnia & Herzegovina, I read about some protests in Sarajevo that seemed to be getting a little out of hand. As I was traveling independently, my only “fixed” plan was my hotel. I e-mailed my hotel and immediately received a response: these were anti-corruption protests at a local government building and it would not affect anything in the “tourist” areas of the city.
A rainy but very safe day in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina (April 23, 2014)
While I suppose that the hotel had a vested interest in ensuring my visit, I also felt better confirming the situation. I figured that, having received their reassurance, the hotel might be more inclined to help me out if things did turn out ugly and I was exposed to a dangerous situation. As it turned out, everything calmed down and I completely forgot about the protests when I was there. I also found the hotels in both Sarajevo and Mostar to be very accommodating and concerned about their customers.
The old post office in Carleton Place, Ontario (June 2017)
Returning to the present: I’ve been quiet about this summer’s travel plans. There is a reason for this: we decided to change our initial road trip destination because it was becoming too popular! After reading one too many stories about the extreme tourist deluge hitting Cape Breton Island this summer, we decided to bail out. For various reasons, including Canada’s 150th birthday, many Canadians are choosing to vacation in their own country this summer…and Cape Breton seems to be especially trendy.
A true Irish Stew in Carleton Place, Ontario
We are still going to do a road trip: it just won’t be as far as Cape Breton. It will focus on a unique part of our country and one that we haven’t visited enough during the warmer months. In the meantime, I’m including a couple of pictures from Carleton Place, Ontario. We stopped there recently on our way to Ottawa and enjoyed a seemingly authentic Irish lunch. You never know what you will find, once you venture off the beaten path!
On our trip to Cobourg, we took the scenic route to get home. What normally takes about 95 minutes of driving ended up taking the better part of the day. However, it was first time for us on most of the roads…and we even visited some communities that we had never seen before.
I’ve called this article “Part 2” because I wrote another post about small towns back in the spring of this year. While nearly 6 months have passed since then, I’m pleased to report that our travel philosophy appears to be more or less the same: the best parts were when we found something truly unique to the area. We ate local food, went to local stores, and didn’t set foot in a single mall.
Former municipal building (now an art gallery) in Warkworth
The drive on Highway 45 northeast from Cobourg was very scenic. It seemed like the combination of rolling hills and autumn colours got better with each turn, so we drove by a couple of conservation areas without stopping. We figured there would soon be an even better place to get out and explore in the crisp fall air. Alas, we waited too long. The terrain suddenly became more agricultural and lacked the scenic “oomph” we saw between Baltimore and Fenella. I have no pictures of this segment…only memories.
After a quick stop in Hastings, we ended up in Warkworth. To Kingstonians, this small village is known primarily as the home of another penitentiary. However, much to our surprise, it has also attracted a significant number of artists and specialty shops.
Downtown Warkworth, Ontario
We stumbled upon a true cottage industry: a shortbread cookie bakery where we found an enthusiastic staff stuffing cookies into bags and parcels. We picked up a couple of bags for later consumption and headed towards our intended lunch destination of Campbellford. First, however, we passed a ramshackle barn in the hamlet of Meyersburg that hosted a bustling flea market. Who would have expected an Eastern European deli to be set up in there and selling their own extremely spicy pepperoni sticks?
View across the Trent-Severn Waterway in Campbellford, Ontario
Campbellford, like Hastings, is a busy village located on the Trent-Severn Waterway. We seriously underestimated the size of our meals at the Riverview Restaurant: after such a massive pulled pork sandwich for lunch, I didn’t really need to eat dinner. They offered typical diner food, with a daily special of liver and onions and old-fashioned desserts such as rice pudding and jello.
From Campbellford, we drove across sparsely settled countryside to the village of Tweed. Linked over the years to some post-1977 sightings of Elvis Presley, it seemed to shut down on this Sunday afternoon. After a brief stop, during which we neither saw nor heard anyone remotely resembling Elvis, we drove down a worryingly isolated and increasingly rough road that finally brought us to the village of Marlbank.
The Moira River at Tweed, Ontario
Marlbank was at one point a bustling place, but it was bypassed by the provincial highway system and now it appears to have been frozen in the early 20th century. Non-threatening dogs wandered the narrow streets and vehicles were few and far between. There were some riveting houses (see photo at the top of this post- it’s for sale!), however, and we did eventually come to a street lined with cars. The local tavern was holding square dancing lessons and it looked like the place was full. Maybe this was why Tweed shut down on Sunday afternoon!
As I mentioned in my previous post, we expect to return to the Cobourg area next fall. In addition to the vintage film festival and perhaps a concert, we will also have some autumn walking to do!
Last weekend, we decided to take a short drive to some nearby small communities. We were only gone for a couple of hours but it was time well spent: we ended up making some important decisions about our summer holidays. More on that later.
We started out in Inverary, a village about 15 minutes north of Kingston. The photo at the top of the post shows the main intersection: of course, it has long been home to a general store. Not long ago, almost every village had one of these. However, this store, like many others, has now closed.
Inverary United Church…and our car
Our next stop was in the larger village of Sydenham. It’s just a bit farther from Kingston and is able to sustain more local businesses. In the warmer months, it probably also helps that a lot of cottages and outdoor attractions (Frontenac Provincial Park, Gould Lake Conservation Area) are nearby.
Saturday afternoon football on the shores of Sydenham Lake
When we arrived, we stopped by the local soccer/football field. It’s got a great location right on the shores of Sydenham Lake. I used to play minor soccer and high school soccer games here from time to time and always enjoyed the setting. It was good to see the field in use: on this weekend afternoon, a minor football game was in progress. It seemed like everyone in the village had come out to watch.
Local store in Sydenham, Ontario
As it was unseasonably warm, we decided to visit Ronnie’s restaurant for some ice cream. We had never eaten here before; in fact, we didn’t even know about it before arriving. However, we thought it would be nice to patronize a truly local business and the ice cream was just what I needed.
As we left, we made an important decision about our summer travels: as much as possible, we are going to try to avoid chains and eat at/patronize locally-owned businesses. Visiting the “Milky Way” and the other local businesses in Regina was fun…who knows what other local treasures we will find this summer?
Location of the (former) mill in Sydenham, Ontario
I suppose this flows from my recent experience with Record Store Day and its emphasis on independent record shops. It’s not always easy to take this approach in our busy day-to-day lives but it is something we can definitely do while on vacation. If we stumble across local events (fairs, pancake breakfasts, spaghetti dinners, etc.) held in community halls, we’ll wander in and see what happens!
This is what post offices should look like! The post office in Sydenham, Ontario
A stroll down Sydenham’s main street also revealed some interesting buildings and photos. It’s difficult to identify potential pictures when you are in a car…but opportunities abound when you are walking around. In fact, we sometimes get out and go for a walk in a small town even if nothing looks interesting. It almost always works for us. I say “almost” because my wife was stung by a bee (and promptly discovered her previously unknown bee allergy) while we were walking down the main street of Claremont, New Hampshire, a few years ago. We now have a new appreciation for those blue “Hospital” signs: when you are someplace unfamiliar and are having a medical emergency, it really helps to be able to locate a hospital quickly.
