This year Canada is celebrating its 150th year of Confederation. We are lucky enough to have seen the country from coast to coast. We have been to all ten provinces and even touched the tidal waters of Nunavut from Churchill, Manitoba. The territories are on our travel wish list. Below is a list of just one of our favourite things from each province.
1 )British Columbia
BC has the animals, the Pacific Ocean and so much more. One of our favourite things was tea at The Empress Hotel in Victoria. Read More
2 )Alberta
Alberta shares the Rocky Mountains with BC, but Alberta has Jasper, Banff and Lake Louise. We fell in love with the snow capped mountains. Read More.
3 )Saskatchewan
Yes it is flat, but the fields with rolls of hay and the blue skies have a feel all their own. It also seemed to have a never ending sunset as we drove westward. Read More
4 )Manitoba
This is the furthest north we have ever been in Canada. Our favourite thing in Manitoba is the polar bears of Churchill. Read More.
5 )Ontario
We spend most of our time in the province of Ontario. Algonquin Park is our favourite place to really get away from it all. Read More.
6 )Quebec
Hotel de Glace is built each winter just outside of Quebec City. We spent a night inside this palace of ice. Read More.
7 )New Brunswick
The Hopewell Rocks are formed by the high tidal fluctuations that occur in the area. You can walk down beneath the unusual rocks and 6 hours later the water has returned and filled everything back in. Read More.
8 )Prince Edward Island
Our brief two day visit to PEI was 48 hours of rain. We did enjoy getting to and from the island. First we drove across the marvel that is Confederation Bridge and then we saw the red soil when we left on a ferry. We will return. Read More.
9 )Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia has Peggy's Cove and Cape Breton Island. One of our best days in the province was spent at the Halifax Public Gardens. Read More.
10 )Newfoundland
Iceberg Alley passes right around the top of Newfoundland. We were lucky to see these gigantic 10,000 year old pieces of glacial ice as they floated in the Atlantic Ocean. Read More.
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Address:12 Amelia Street Date: March 2017 Website:www.famelia.com
The area of Toronto known as Cabbagetown supposedly got its name many years ago. Large groups of working class immigrants moved into the area and planted cabbage in their front yards. We took the Carlton streetcar to Parliament Street and found ourselves right in the heart of Cabbagetown. We didn't see rows of cabbage growing in front yards, but we did enjoy a nice walk
The first thing we encountered was a large mural on the corner convenience store. It featured a man and a woman. The woman had long curly hair which flowed up filling the wall behind her. Behind the man was a cabbage patch.
Across the street we were reminded of cabbage once again by a building painted in green and purple.
Something else green caught our eye. This time it was a giant iguana sitting on top of the Menagerie Pet Shop. If you venture inside you will find a real iguana in the back corner of the store. You will also find a variety of birds, fish and other reptiles.
Finally we reached our intended destination. We were headed for brunch at F'Amelia Italian restaurant.
A little gnocci and panini later and we were back out on the street. Across the road from the restaurant were some houses that we believe are from the 1800s. Perhaps their front yards used to grow cabbage?
We headed back south towards Carlton Street. It had been raining that day and the ground was still wet. In one shop window we were delighted to see flamingo umbrellas. The Queen of Hearts would be dissapointed that they did not appear to sell a matching croquet set.
It wasn't long untill we found ourselves back where we started. We took one last look at the mural across the street and then waited to catch another streetcar. The Cabbagetown section of Toronto is very proud of its history and the evidence is everywhere you look.
Location: London, England Address: 150 Piccadily Street Date: August 2015 Website:www.theritzlondon.com
The Ritz Hotel in London, England is a high end hotel which opened in 1906. The term, "Puttin' on the Ritz" was inspired by the hotel and refers to surrounding yourself with luxury. While it wasn't quite in our budget to stay or dine at The Ritz, we did walk past it on our way to dine elsewhere.
We enjoyed a nice dinner at Rextail which was only a short walk away.
The Ritz Hotel is located on Piccadilly Street which is home to an interesting variety of architecture. The building above is one of the Ritz's across the street neighbours.
The hotel has hosted members of high society along with actors and actresses who would come to indulge and socialize. In the movie Notting Hill, Julia Roberts plays a popular Hollywood actress named Anna. She meets William (Hugh Grant) in the bookstore that he owns. She invites him to come and visit her at her Ritz Hotel suite. To William's surprise he is there along with a group of reporters ready to interview Anna about her latest sci-fi film. After pretending to be a reporter from Horse & Hound magazine, William and Anna finally go out and spend a nice evening together.
They go out for dinner again and then return to The Ritz. As they walk along the corridor above, Anna invites Will up to her room. Unfortunately, her American boyfriend is there and Will leaves the hotel confused and sad.
If you're blue and you don't know where to go to. Why don't you go where fashion sits.?
This Easter weekend we thought it would be a good time to take a look at our top 10 bunny encounters. Here they are in no particular order.
1 )Lop-Eared Rabbit
A friend of ours used to care for a very cute lop-eared bunny. A lop-eared bunny is a bunny whose long ears hang (we guess you could say lop) down. You will notice all of the other bunnies in this blog post have ears that stand straight up or sit back on top of their heads.
2) Bugs Bunny
One of the all-time favourite bunnies is Bugs Bunny from the Looney Tunes cartoons. He is among a short list of animated characters to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The outline drawing of Bugs Bunny (above) was in the Warner Brothers Studio's Museum.
3) Flemish Giant Rabbit
From Bugs Bunny we go to Big Bunny. A Flemish giant rabbit can weigh up to 10 kg and grow to about 30 inches long. It is one of the largest domesticated rabbits. The bunny above was at the Toronto Zoo for a short time and shared an enclosure with the wombats and wallabies. Perhaps it had outgrown its previous living space.
4) Arctic Hare
While we were in Churchill, Manitoba we spotted this hare just across the road from our lodge. While it may not be the smartest thing to do in polar bear territory at night, we headed outside to try and get a closer look. Luckily, he stood still long enough for us to get the picture above. It took us some time to determine if this was an arctic hare or a snowshoe hare as both inhabit Churchill. We read about one having bigger feet or ears than the other. Some reports said that one has bigger eyes or fluffier fur. We made our determination by the black on the ears. As far as we can tell arctic hares (like this one) have black just on the top tip of their ears while snowshoe hares have a black edge that may cover the tip, but runs further along the ear as well.
5) Lionhead Rabbit
A lionhead rabbit is bred to have a mane around its face like a lion. They end up looking like little balls of fur with ears. We wondered how they can even see where they are hopping. When taking pictures, the bunny below did flash us a look from beneath all that fur just to let us know he was in there. The lionhead above is from Prickly Ball Farm and the lionhead below is from Far Enough Farm.
6) Rabbit Balloon
Artist Jeff Koons had a piece of his art appear in Toronto's Nuit Blanche 2009. It was simply named Rabbit Balloon. It featured a giant shiny silver bunny that was floating inside the Eaton Centre. This bunny also once floated in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2007.
7) Tortoise & Hare
In Boston's Copley Square is a sculpture of a tortoise and a hare. It was installed as a tribute to runner's of the famous Boston Marathon. It is based on the popular fable of The Tortoise & the Hare. The fable tells the story of a rabbit who was so confident in his ability to outrun the tortoise that during a race he ran ahead and took a nap. While he napped the tortoise passed by heading for the finish line. The hare finally awoke and tried to catch up, but it was too late.
8) Cute Bunnies
We think that all rabbits are cute. There is something special about a tiny bunny that you can pick up and hold in your hands while it sits quietly twitching its little nose. These cuties are from the Toronto Zoo kid's section and from Jungle Cat World.
9) Chocolate Bunnies
Chocolate shaped like eggs is good. Chocolate shaped like bunnies is good. This bunny above is a box from Teuscher Chocolates and hides a chocolate truffle in its belly. We like chocolate.
10) Eastern Cottontail
The one rabbit that we have encountered the most is the eastern cottontail. Actually we have eaten more chocolate bunnies and watched more Bugs Bunny cartoons than we have had encounters with eastern cottontails. Let's try that again. The eastern cottontail is the wild rabbit that we have encountered the most. Sometimes when you least expect it you look out into the yard and there is one munching away on something. Here comes Peter Cottontail hopping down the bunny trail!
Banff Gondola , Saskatchewan , Hopewell Rocks Park , Halifax Public Gardens , Witless Bay
Empress Hotel , Hotel De Glace , Confederation Bridge
Tundra Buggy Tour , Algonquin Park (Lake Opeongo)
