Skate, Battle and Sol

As winter set in and the temperatures plummeted to -30 degrees centigrade (i.e. very, very cold), I decided that I had to make an effort to embrace traditional Canadian winter sports. My friend Liezel and I decided we both fancied ice skating. In our efforts to become the next Jayne Torvil (British Olympic figure skater) and Joannie Rochette (Canadian Olympic figure skater) we thought it would be a good idea to take some lessons given that neither of us had been on the ice much in our lifetimes and Canadians seem to be born with an inherent ability to skate (although I've since been told that is completely false!).

We booked ourselves on to a Sunday morning course at the Harbourfront and were blessed with glorious sunshine at the rink, which overlooks Lake Ontario. I was very anxious as the rink had no sides and started to panic about what I could hold on to. This was before the "battle of the boots" began. As some of you know, I have rather large feet...but they are a woman's feet, not a man's...and there is a difference in shape. This means that when it comes to ice skates, it was a struggle to find any to fit and, when they eventually did, I was hobbling around in pain before I'd even got on the ice due to my high arches having no support. It didn't help that I'd taken 15 minutes to try and pull them as tight as possible but was still flailing around with 'flappy' ankles feeling very unstable as soon as I ventured out onto the frozen stuff. Fortunately, my instructor took pity on me and I felt like a toddler again as I sat on the side of the children's 'pond' having my boots tied.

Sheer terror does not begin to describe the hour-long lesson - my whole body became rigid with fear of coming face to face with the ice. However, I survived without falling and was quite proud of the fact I was able to do the hokeycokey dance without wobbling over! I certainly wasn't the best but wasn't the worst either with one of my fellow non-Canadian classmates doing a very good 'baby giraffe trying to walk for the first time'impression for the whole hour.

The next week Liezel and I both ventured out again watched from the fire-pit by Liezel's chap, who seemed to find our ice-capades quite amusing. Our instructors decided we were all looking at our skates too much so after a pretty abysmal attempt at trying to make us skate backwards (!), decided we had to play a game of moving catch. We did quite well at this and for the first time, I felt myself relax. Bad move! I attempted a rather flashy stop move and the next thing I knew was crashing towards the floor with a rather large thud. My head hit the ice and my helmet (they made us wear them - quite sensibly) shot forward crunching on to my nose. Ow!! The instructors raced over and were asking me my name to check I wasn't concussed...fortunately, I got that right...but then they started asking me their names. I hadn't got a clue! It was at that point I realized that perhaps learning to skate at the ripe old age of 38 surrounded by 3-year-olds that bounce and can remember names, may not be the most sensible thing! Thankfully, despite a lot of aching, nothing was seriously damaged and I avoided the black eyes we all anticipated might appear.

As I was slightly black and blue on my rear end, I decided that adding a bit of colour to my life was a good plan. Along with a couple of friends, I went along to an event called Art Battle.

I had no idea what to expect but it turned out to be a fun and interesting night out. The basic premise is that people turn up at a venue. Some of the audience are artists and some are not. All are invited to participate. Four names are drawn at random and these people are give an easel, a canvas, some oil paint, tools and brushes as well as an apron. The 'painters' have twenty minutes to create a masterpiece. During this time the audience, most of whom had beers in hand, circulates to the sounds of a DJ. The audience has no idea who is a 'real' artist although in some cases it became clear. At the end of the round, the audience votes for their favourite painting and the winner is announced. Another round ensues followed by the final. The paintings are later auctioned off. It was really interesting to see the different ideas, approaches and skill of each artist.

January was a month of change for me as I decided to quit my job as I had landed myself a new one back at the University of Toronto. I left my position at York University and, to be honest, was not sorry to say goodbye to the 3 hours spent on public transport each day. My lovely team gave me a nice send off though and they will be missed. As an unexpected bonus, I had accrued some vacation so was 'forced' to take another holiday!

I booked myself a week in Mexico and headed south to warmer climes once more. I flew to the Yucatan and had a nice week in the sunshine and +30 degree temperatures pootling around some places I'd previously visited in my student days when my friend Jo was living in Merida.

I took a great one-day cooking class at Los Dos Cooking School and learned a lot about Yucatecan food, making my own tortillas and tasting the chili of all chili's - the habenero! The course was held in a beautifully renovated house and one of the highlights was our trip to the colourful market.



I also spent a couple of days visiting the splendid Mayan ruins at Uxmal and Chichen Itza, or, as I like to call it, Chicken Pizza! Most of the pyramids are no longer climbable but I was impressed by how much restoration had gone on in the last few years to rebuild some of the destroyed temples.

The end of the week was spent hanging out on the coast at Playa del Carmen and on the island of Cozumel. The beaches were great and the sea was the most amazing colour. All in all, a lovely break and nice to be outdoors in the warm sunshine before heading home to that feeling of walking down the street wondering if your eyeballs might start to freeze soon!

Cruising the Strip

As the big freeze set in across the northern hemisphere, it seemed time to set off to warmer climes again. I headed south to the city of Miami and was delighted to meet up with my parents, who I hadn't seen since saying farewell to them at Manchester Airport a year ago. It was lovely to see them and we spent almost two and a half weeks together.

We met up at the Angler's Resort Hotel in Miami South Beach, which had been recommended by my good friend Dave, who works for Trailfinders in Dublin. We were not disappointed by the boutique-style hotel and enjoyed its location just set back from the main strip of Miami Beach's front.

Despite one day of torrential rain, we really enjoyed Miami and its summer-fun atmosphere. I particularly loved the art deco architecture that abounds. We also had an interesting tour of the city and saw many homes of the rich and famous such as Madonna, Elizabeth Taylor and Ricky Martin. We also came across the cemetery used to film Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'...I had an strange feeling I'd seen it before when we looked through the gates.




One highlight for all of us was dinner at Joe's Stone Crab restaurant. The restaurant has been open almost 100 years and we enjoyed a truly terrific meal in this busy Miami institution. We also had dinner at Gloria Estefan's beachfront Cuban restaurant, Lario's, as well as a great breakfast at the popular News Cafe, where we watched the interesting sights of bikini-clad roller-bladers and body-builders go by.

After three days acclimatizing, we headed north to Fort Lauderdale, where we joined our cruise ship, the Silver Spirit. Compared to many of the cruise ships we saw, she was quite titchy but she was a very lovely and luxurious home for two weeks. We gorged ourselves on the delicious food and enjoyed the amenities, particularly our favourite 'clams' at the back of the ship.

Our voyage took in a number of the Caribbean islands including Grand Turk (Turks & Caicos), St Lucia, Antigua, Bequia (St Vincent & the Grenadines), Barbados, St. Kitts, Tortola (British Virgin Islands) and Key West (Florida). We had a couple of days sailing on catamarans which we all enjoyed and seeing turtles swim in their natural habitat was great. Rough seas meant a few changes to the itinerary and the 'bad facelift brigade' as we nicknamed them were up in arms that we couldn't dock in St Barts for them to go designer shopping! Ho hum!



We had a great time overall and, as this video shows, my dad even let loose on the dancefloor, possibly as a result of the rum he'd consumed on the distillery tour earlier in the day?? (stick with this to the end - it's worth it, I promise!):

Disco Dad from Becky Smith on Vimeo.

Sadly, my parents returned home to the UK to find an awful mess awaiting them. As a result of burst pipes and an imploded water tank, their house has been flooded from top to bottom. We are all very grateful to our friends, Rose and Chris, as well as our neighbours, who did a superb job rescuing what they could and bringing in plumbers and driers. It will be a big job to sort it all out but we are thankful to our friends for lessening the damage.

I am now back in snowy Toronto. It's a bit of a contrast to the sunny south but, nevertheless, pretty in its own way. I was highly amused yesterday as I saw the firefighters at the fire station next door having a barbecue...in minus 15 degree temperatures!!

Happy New Year all!

Cooking Up Christmas

Perhaps rather appropriately for the month leading up to Christmas, my life seems to have been taken up by cooking, shopping and doing things for kids. I have to say though that I have really been rather more of an observer than a participant.

Firstly, although I have had a bit of a baking spree, I really haven't been conjuring up amazing concoctions in the kitchen. I have, however, had a couple of encounters with British 'celebrity' chefs who have been in Toronto promoting their latest recipe books. Gordon Ramsay was my first encounter and, contrary to my expectations, was surprisingly charming. I blushed when he kissed me and enjoyed our brief flirtation in the cooking section of the local bookstore.

My next encounter was with someone who is certainly not a fan of Mr Ramsay's TV persona, Jamie Oliver. Jamie presented a live 'show' involving a Q 'n' A session plus a bit of cooking. He made recipes from his American cookbook including a cerviche recipe and taught us that it was important to take a piece of rosemary, rub it in the juices in the pan and "spank" our steak!

In between my dalliances with the culinary world, I was sent on a very important mission by my friend Jon. Jon's niece has been set a task of seeing where in the world her hand-crafted puppet, Flower the Owl, can fly to during the school year. Having already flown business class to Dubai, her next stop was Toronto and she stayed with me for a few days before flying to the top of the CN Tower and back down again. She has now winged her way to the Canadian east coast. It was a pleasure having her to stay en route though.

Toronto is feeling rather festive with trees, lights and Christmas stalls abound. The one thing that has been in short supply compared to the UK has been snow. I'm starting to wonder if the snow and I did a house swap when I moved here a year ago! We've had the odd coating but nothing like that seen in Europe. I may be speaking too soon but my new snow boots are still looking pristine.

I'm looking forward to the forthcoming festive season as I will get just over two weeks off work. I've not had more than four days off in a row this year (get the violins out!) so am very excited about having a complete break. I'm also looking forward to meeting up with my parents in Miami for a couple of days before we join a cruise ship to tour the Caribbean islands. We're just hoping for good weather and look forward to spending Christmas in the sun.

Whatever you and yours may be up to this year, I wish you all the very best and, as the Canadians say, hope you have 'Happy Holidays!' I just thought I'd share this flash mob event that took place recently here at a Canadian shopping mall given its festive theme:



Have a great Christmas and New Year everybody! Hope to catch up with you in 2011!

Adventures in Art, Alogonquin & Asia

This month certainly seems to have been a very busy one indeed. It started off with a University of Leeds Alumni reception where I enjoyed canapes, Prosecco and reminiscing in the company of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Michael Arthur. Sadly, I have since heard that one of my former colleagues, Susan Clayton, died unexpectedly this month. I dedicate this blog to her memory as she was always asking me about my latest travels and (mis-)adventures. She was a wonderful lady and will be missed greatly by both her colleagues and family.

Nuit Blanche At the beginning of October, my friend Zahra and I hit the streets of Toronto for a night of art. Nuit Blanche began at 6:57pm and ran through until sunrise. Being a light-weight, I only made it until around 2:00am. At various points around the city, art installations were staged and most allowed the public to interact with them.
My highlights this year were the 29 voices singing in 29 different languages but all at the same time in XXIX. I also enjoyed visiting Toronto's secret subway station, not used officially these days but sometimes used as a film set. Here, there were some fibre-optic 'flowers' that seemed to light up and jiggle according to the amount of noise the audience made. I also thought Auto Lamp and Endgame were both interesting pieces. The city was buzzing and, despite long lines to see some of the pieces, it was great to see so many people appreciating the artworks.

XXIX - Laurel MacDonald from Becky Smith on Vimeo.

Autumn, or Fall as it is known in Canada, is now here. There have even been reports of snow flurries in Toronto. Along with my friend, Janet, I decided to experience the fall colours in all their glory over the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. We hired a car and headed about three hours north of the city to the edge of the Algonquin Provincial Park. We spent four days exploring this stunning area on foot and by canoe along with a few other intrepid voyageurs. Unfortunately, we didn't see any moose, bears or wolves but we did see evidence of them on our hikes. The log cabin we stayed in was gorgeous and we were fed extremely well during our stay. I particularly enjoyed our sunrise paddle and campfire breakfast but the night-time fireworks and star-gazing came a close second in terms of my favourite activities. Sitting on the dock watching the sunset was also a delight.



Having hardly been at home, it was time for yet another overseas business trip. This time to Thailand and Vietnam. I managed to tag a few days of vacation on to this trip and had a super time exploring the ruins of Angkhor Wat in Cambodia with my friend Peter. The temperature and humidity were very high but we had a great time exploring the various temples spread across the ancient Khmer lands. We also visited Tonle Sap lake and saw a floating village complete with floating churches, schools, basketball courts and pig pens. As the water levels shift, so does the village. This year, the rains have been heavy and the water levels were very high. We saw a great deal of flooding on our overland journey from Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) to Bangkok, via Cambodia.



I had some meetings in Bangkok but managed to squeeze in some fun at the night-market, where I experienced a fish pedicure. Possibly the best, yet strangest, pedicure I've ever had. I placed my feet and legs in an aquarium full of tiny Garufa fish who for twenty minutes feasted on my dry skin. The result was silky smooth skin and, despite my fears, the experience was pain-free. It actually feels like tiny electric shocks and I was quite relived it wasn't too ticklish. However, I was quite panicked as I withdrew my feet from the aquarium only to find one little fishy still munching on my toe. As he realized he was no longer in his usual watery environment, he took a leap and landed on the floor between the floorboards. Fortunately, the owner of the 'fish salon' managed to rescue the little fishy who was safely returned to his fold and a fishy death due to my vanity was averted!

I was in Vietnam for a full week of education events hosted by the Canadian Embassy and enjoyed seeing snippets of Hanoi and Saigon again between various exhibitions, school visits, receptions and agent meetings. Hanoi was celebrating is 1000th birthday so was decked out with lanterns and looked very pretty. I managed a quick side-trip to the Mekhong Delta and spent the day observing the river people's way of life. We enjoyed a short cycle-ride around the villages and saw people fishing, producing honey, growing fruit and manufacturing coconut candy among other things.

I'm now back in Toronto and happy to be home. It's been a busy month but thoroughly enjoyable!

On the Silk Road

This month I've been on the road, partly the Silk Road, for work. I visited Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan on my travels, which provided a welcome change from being in the office.

It's been over 20 years since my love affair with, and in, Russia first began. This was my fourth visit and I was still as awe-struck by the world's largest country as ever. Arriving in Moscow was fairly smooth and I managed to navigate the underground system, with my basic Russian reading skills, to reach my hotel. Moscow has the most amazing subway which exudes grandeur, artistic splendor and a host of chandeliers at almost every station. Some of the stations are simply stunning with mosaics, statues and carved pillars leading the way through the warren of tunnels.



I was in Moscow to attend an educational exhibition and have various business meetings. Around these, however, I managed to squeeze in a few hours of sightseeing. I hopped on the subway out to the Vernisazh Market on the edge of the city. Despite its theme park appearance, the sprawling market, with hidden levels, hosts hundreds of art, handicraft, antique and souvenir stalls. I spent a good few hours eyeing up soviet posters, Uzbek pottery, fake DVDs, fur hats, military regalia and matroyska dolls of every kind including one of the entire Obama family, complete with Bo the Portuguese water dog! Red Square also had to be paid homage to and although there was quite a lot of scaffolding, I said a cheery "Dras Vieche" to Lenin, snapped St Basil's and window-shopped in Gum, which is rather more upmarket than when I saw only cabbages and corsets on sale in the fairly empty shops in 1987. Moscow is now a city of consumer excess...I bet Lenin is turning in his wax!

Later in the week, I also flew up to St Petersburg for a whirlwind trip. I didn't get much chance to see beyond the hotel walls but squeezed in a quick walk down Nevsky Prospekt to the newly-restored Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood.



The middle part of my trip was spent in Istanbul, a city I lived in during the very late 90s. It, too, is developing rapidly and the new metro system has improved the traffic enormously but I was really impressed by all the renovation of its spectacular architecture, including the multi-million dollar refurbishment of the beautiful Pera Palace Hotel. Istanbul is the 2010 European Capital of Culture and was heaving with tourists enjoying the mid-September sunshine. I had a lot of meetings here but on my way to and from them caught glimpses of the city at its very best. I particularly enjoyed sampling the food. Turkish food, in my opinion, is one of the best cuisines in the world. I loved the pide (Turkish pizza), manti (Turkish ravioli in yoghurt), baklava, gozleme (Turkish stuffed pancakes), kebabs and dondurma (chewy ice cream). The ice cream sellers are hilarious with their amazing ice cream cone tricks to make both adults and children alike smile. I love travelling by ferry in Istanbul and it's truly one of the lovliest cities to look at from the water. My hotel, the Tunel Residence, was located in Beyoglu and had its own Turkish Hamam so I came away from the city both refreshed and clean!



The final part of my trip involved a visit to a new country for me: Kazakhstan. For those of you, like me, who may be scratching your head wondering where exactly this particular 'stan is, it's north of India and borders with China. I had no idea quite what to expect from Kazakhstan and visited two cities during my time there.

I landed in Almaty, at the base of the Tien Shan mountain range. It's a very green city with lots of trees and is famous for its apples along with being the economic centre of Kazakhstan. Behind the trees, however, Almaty feels very much like a decaying Soviet-style city and is in stark contrast to the other city I visited.

Astana is the new capital. I don't think I've ever visited such a weird city in my life. It's a city that appears to have simply landed in the middle of nowhere. It kind of did actually as the president simply decreed the capital be moved from Almaty to Astana about ten years ago. The best way to describe the place is to imagine those childrens' playmats that have roads and buildings drawn on so that children can drive toy cars on them. Then, think of architects on acid having free reign to create Lego constructions in strange futuristic shapes and plonk them on top. Voila! You have Astana. I can't say I warmed to the place but was very intrigued by the fact that everywhere in Kazakhstan seemed to be run by women. Where were all the men? My only guess, other than they'd been eaten by the women, was that they were in the west of the country working on the oil fields or behind the walls of all the giant government buildings.

I met some lovely people on my trip and was really delighted to meet up with a former Leeds colleague and good friend, Joanne, in Astana. Our paths crossed one evening and we had an enjoyable dinner together at a Georgian restaurant. I resisted the horsemeat platter but thoroughly enjoyed the chance to catch up.

It was with some relief that I finally left Kazakhstan as I had a bit of a nightmare at the airport and it was touch and go for about 30 minutes as to whether they were going to hold me in the country. Fortunately, I managed to persuade the Kazakh authorities that the fact I am British but live in Canada with a passport full of stamps does not make me a spy and that I really shouldn't be banished to the Siberian wastelands as so many before me.

Overall, it was an interesting and productive trip but seeing the CN Tower flashing from my window again is a lovely, familiar sight!

Tennis, Tots & Dinosaurs

One of the highlights of this month for me was, undoubtedly, the opportunity to attend the ATP Rogers Cup tennis tournament held on the campus of the university where I work. I was lucky enough to have tickets for three of the sessions throughout the week. I've never managed to get tickets to Wimbledon yet so to me this was the closest thing and it was pure heaven for me to watch some of my favourite players battling it out.

I was privileged to see the likes of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and Monfils all strut their stuff and show how the game should be played. Sadly, my dreams of a Federer v Nadal final didn't materialize and Federer played Murray instead. I was very torn as to who to support in the final but Murray played incredibly well, beating Federer, to become the Rogers Cup champion for the second year in a row.

The humidity of the week made me realize how talented the players are in terms of being able to demonstrate such great athleticism and endurance amid such trying conditions. The downpours experienced during the final were actually welcome relief as the stadium was quite simply one giant steam bath!



The week after, the temperatures dipped. I have theory it was my guests from England bringing the good ole British weather with them, as the temperatures soared again the day after they flew back! My schoolfriend, Jo, her husband, Jules, and two boys, Leo and Seth, came to stay for a few nights on their way to a wedding in Niagara and a week RVing their way around Ontario. It was fantastic to see them and we had a couple of really nice days exploring the city. The boys particularly enjoyed the children's theme park, Centreville, on the island, where Tom Cruise's wife and daughter hung out a couple of days after us. We had a lovely time and Leo appeared thrilled by his ascent up the CN Tower on his last evening.

Summer is just about still here and the many Toronto festivals continue. Buskerfest is an annual festival held in my locality to raise funds for epilepsy awareness, a cause close to my heart, and, since I last attended three years ago, has grown in both scale and quality. This year I was amazed by the fire and aerial acts, in particular.

An incredible act, which wowed the crowd, was a trio of Dutch stiltwalkers from a company called Close Act. Their three giant dinosaurs were a sight to behold and were actually scarily real when I saw them at night coming down a darkened street towards me. I hope they don't give you nightmares!

4Bs: Birthday, Blindness, Buggies and a bit of Bump 'n' Grind

Well, another month has flown by and with it, another year! This month I turned 38 and had a lovely day celebrating with friends on the Toronto Islands. The islands were actually once a spit of land connected to Toronto itself but in 1858 there was a violent storm which blew a hole in the land and created a gap. Nowadays, the islands provide a break from the city's buzz and fast pace via a short ferry hop. People live on the islands and there are some Victorian houses on Ward's Island. A group of ten of us had a lovely brunch at the Rectory Cafe and then poked around the island nosing at the lovely homes as well as picking wild raspberries along the beaches.

I also treated myself to an evening at the theatre. I love musicals, part of my theatrical heritage, and so was really pleased to get a ticket for Miss Saigon, a show I've seen a number of times. It was playing at the Four Seasons Centre for Performing Arts, which is a really beautiful, modern theatre in Toronto. I had bought a $60 ticket for a seat up in the Gods. As the show opened, I was rather dismayed because I couldn't hear anything - the sound was awful. I called the usher over and explained the problem. I was somewhat taken aback when she told me that this was a preview and that they were having technical difficulties but as I had a cheap ticket, I should expect this. This riled me as I don't think $60 is particularly cheap for where I was sitting and it was actually the second night of the performance. Nevertheless, a few minutes later the curtain came down and a man appeared on stage to say that they had stopped the show as the soundboard computer had crashed. Twenty minutes later, the curtain rose again and the sound was as it should be. However, a bit later, things went from bad to worse as part of the set fell down. I was quite amused at this point but felt sorry for the cast who were actually putting on a very strong performance. Thank goodness the helicopter that flies in in the second act didn't crash through the stage at least!

Later in the month I had an altogether rather different evening when I went to a place called O.Noir

This is a restaurant based on a concept initiated by Jorge Spielmann, a blind pastor from Switzerland who used to blindfold his guests at dinner when they went to his house so that they could share his eating experience. He later opened a restaurant called Blindekuh (Blind Cow) in order to teach sighted people about blindness and provide blind people with jobs. Toronto has recently acquired a similar restaurant and along with three other friends I had one of the most interesting dining experiences I've ever had.

To begin our evening we entered the restaurant bar area, which was lit, and ordered our food. Shortly thereafter we were introduced to our waiter, Nasir, who was completely blind. Nasir asked us to switch off our mobile phones and then to place our hands on each others' right shoulders as we were led, conga-style, into the dining room. The dining room was completely dark, absolutely pitch black. Nasir helped each of us find our seats and then explained where our cutlery was on the table. There was music playing in the background but you could sense we were, at that point, the only diners in the room. Gradually more people arrived and the noise levels started to increase.

We were the first to be served and although I couldn't see a thing, I smelt the arrival of the bread basket. The fresh, warm dough balls smelt amazing. Buttering the bread, however, proved to be my first challenge. I began to feel quite stressed and was anxious about putting my knife down because I couldn't see how clean the table was. My anxiety hit me when I found myself clutching my knife and fork so hard that I dug my nails into my palm.

I wasn't the only one to have an unusual reaction. My friends and I all found we responded in different ways. As a group, we found it very difficult to manage our conversation. We found ourselves shouting and talking over one another (more than usual!) as we couldn't pick up on each others' cues. Silent periods made us feel anxious and we kept having to check in with each other to see if people were still there and were OK.

Our starters arrived and the gentle touch of our waiter on our shoulders told us we were being served. I managed to cut up my portabello mushroom quite well and only flicked it off the plate once. My friends were quite amused I'd even bothered as they all decided to abandon their cutlery and use their hands. I was intrigued by this and realized that manners don't really matter much when no-one can see what you're doing. A contrast to an all-seeing world.

The main course came, carried by a waiter with very sexy aftershave on, and I found myself talking my way through the dish narrating to the others what I was consuming and how much was left on my plate. I was the last to finish and had not resorted to fingers, or licking the plate, as one friend confessed later.

Soon, a group of giggly young women arrived making a lot of noise and screeching. One of my friends found the noise levels over-powering and as the meal progressed got more and more agitated by it. To calm the atmosphere, my other friend starting singing Stevie Wonder (!) tunes. It all had an air of Dunkirk spirit about it.

Not long after, our desserts arrived and the rich chocolate and raspberry flavours tasted exceedingly good. I wonder if had I seen its presentation whether I would have felt the same.

Eventually, my friend had had enough and screamed out into the darkness to tell the gaggle of women to shut up. A verbal tussle ensued and the tension rose. In the darkness, my friend found herself grabbing the forks from the table and throwing them in the direction of the objectionable group. She only declared this later and was really quite shocked by her own actions.

We decided it was time to leave and as we entered the light, guided out by Nasir, we were ourselves blinded by its brightness. A de-brief was required as we all felt we had experienced something quite astounding and emotionally quite draining. I spent some time chatting to one of the waiters who told me that it's very common for people to shout in the dark and that there have been times they've had to escort people out as they've reacted so strongly. All I can say is I think it's something all sighted people should try. The restaurant provides employment for blind people but, perhaps most importantly, education for those who may, at times, take the power of sight for granted.

This month I was also delighted to have some visitors here. My friend Rachel and her chap, Paul, came over for just under a week. Rachel had visited me last time I was here so it was an opportunity for her to show Paul the sights and introduce him to Toronto. We had a super time and although I was working for much of their visit, we got together in the evenings for meals.

We did manage to get a couple of days in where I did my best to show them around. We hired a car, a rather funky red mini, and headed out of town into the Ontario countryside.

About an hour and a half from the city is a small town called St Jacob's. Not a huge tourist attraction itself, St Jacob's is known more for its locals. These are the Mennonites, a Christian sect who believe in simplicity, a bit like the Amish. Around the town, the Mennonite farms with green roofs, and white churches dot the lush pastures. Along the roads, Mennonite families ride in their horse-drawn buggies and speak in their German dialect. The community is very traditional and the dress is almost Victorian in style. Women wear long, flower-print dresses and cover their hair with bonnets. Men wear black trousers, white shirts, braces and a straw hat. We encountered a few local Mennonites riding tractors, serving us in the shops and even riding skateboards so not all modern conveniences have been eschewed. Their curiosity about us seemed to match ours about them. We had a lovely day driving through the countryside buying eggs, beets and flowers from the farms on the way.

In contrast to the calm and greenery of the countryside, the next day we were back in the concrete-jungle of Toronto watching the annual Caribana carnival parade. The sounds, colour and costumes would probably have appeared very shocking to the Mennonites we encountered the day before but we had a great day taking in the party atmosphere. A fitting way to end the month.

Shake, prattle and drum roll

This month I 'graduated' from my sailing course although, if I'm really honest, I'm not sure I learned that much more about sailing than I didn't already know (not much!) but it was a fun course. I particularly enjoyed the class about the weather. I now know what mammatocumulus look like at least and know that if I ever see them, I should run in the opposite direction! I've also enjoyed the social side of things and the odd bit of sailing I've done so far has been great. I hope to get out more over the forthcoming months. I spent a very enjoyable evening introducing my former student, Taka, to the yacht club. We were invited to an open house evening jumping on and off different people's boats. This ranged from a basic dinghy to a brand new millionaire-style motor yacht, which was really quite an experience. I also volunteered for the Toronto Area Hospice Regatta. The event raised over $20,000 and I very proudly came away with an ice-box on wheels and two pairs of socks in exchange for my contribution...don't ask!

A number of bizarre things have happened this month but one of the strangest was when I was sitting in my basement office talking to one of my team when I felt a very odd sensation. At first I thought I was having a dizzy spell but then when I saw the look on my colleague's face, I realised it wasn't just me that was feeling the waves moving through the building. What we were experiencing was an earthquake. It's epicentre was just north of Ottawa, hundreds of miles away but the 15-second quake was so strong (5.0) we felt here in Toronto. Eastern Canada is not known for its earthquakes so it was a bit of an unexpected occurrence. Fortunately, it didn't do any major damage other than knock a few leaves off the office plant.

As you're probably aware Toronto recently experienced another event that may have more major global impact. The city played host to the 2010 G20 summit. What is usually a peaceful and friendly place turned into a what felt like a war-zone for a few days. It was saddening to see the city streets I love being fenced in and riot police on every corner. 14,000 police were brought in at a cost of well over a billion dollars and military helicopters with soldiers carrying machine guns hanging onto the sides buzzed overhead. I live a couple of blocks from the area that was 'locked down' and am also not far from the former film studio that was used as a police dispatch and detention centre. Consequently, the flow of buses along my street containing riot police or detainees was fairly constant over the few days of the summit.

As I headed to work on the first day of the G20, the downtown area was pretty much a ghost town with boarded up shops and donut-eating police practically the only thing to be seen. Most businesses and banks had shipped their workers out to other offices away from the centre and many educational institutions had shut down. My ride to work was quieter than usual, eerily quiet even. Later in the day, the first reports of 'police activity' started to filter through as I received transport system alerts on my phone. Motorcades started to arrive in the city and the peaceful marches that had been going on all week continued.

Saturday, however, things changed and the event took on a very different tone. I knew there were peaceful marches planned heading south from the area around the Provincial Parliament Building towards the convention centre but apart from the helicopters overhead, all seemed relatively quiet. However, as I emerged onto the street late in the afternoon I saw palls of black smoke and flames rising between the office buildings and hotels on King Street. Police cars blocked the road and the frenzy of onlookers, including myself, were snapping pictures and trying to find out what was going on. I have to admit it all looked very frightening and it was actually a relief to hear that it was 'only' abandoned police cars that had been set on fire and some windows smashed.

Sadly, the peaceful protests had turned more violent. It appears a small group of violent activists using the 'Black Bloc' technique had infiltrated the demonstration and, once dressed in their all black disguises, had wreaked havoc in the downtown core before melting away by discarding their black clothes and blending into the crowds. Others appeared to literally go underground entering the sewer system and emerging hours later. I have no issue with peaceful protest and support many of the ideals of those demonstrating but I don't like the way the 'Black Blocs' operate. Violence of the sort they undertook in Toronto is not necessary and, in so doing, they managed to obscure all the messages the peaceful demonstrators were trying to get across by shifting media attention. There were rumours that the abandoned police cars were left as 'bait cars' by the police as they played their game of cat and mouse with those bent on violence.

Many innocent people were caught up in the situation as the police took an increasingly aggressive stance using pepper spray, muzzle guns, tear gas, menacing behaviour and mass arrests as their tools. The tension in the city was palpable. Laws had been passed in secret to give the police special powers during the G20 and almost a thousand people were arrested, more than ever before in Canadian history at a single event. Detainees were reportedly held in cages with open-door toilets at the movie studio and many complaints have been made about wrongful arrest, the lack of water and inadequate medical attention given to people. Most of those arrested were released without charge within 24 hours. Many people are asking questions of those in power. Certainly, the videos here show a very unpretty picture of what happened from both points of view.

I am just relieved it's all over now but can't help wondering how many more mothers and children might have been helped had the billion dollars spent on policing the summit been re-directed towards them.

The following week I was pleased to encounter the more friendly-side of policing and officialdom when I visited the nation's capital, Ottawa, for Canada Day. We missed seeing the Queen but enjoyed a celebratory concert and excellent fireworks display on Parliament Hill. I particularly enjoyed hearing the Bare Naked Ladies, a popular Canadian band, who you can hear playing in the background of my photo montage below. There was a great party atmosphere the whole weekend.



I'd driven up with three friends and we had a great time exploring the excellent museums and galleries as well as taking in the government buildings and watery setting. We also caught up with a friend from my China days, Fair, for a delicious Vietnamese lunch followed by a traditional Canadian desert, Beaver Tails (donuts that are flat and shaped like...beaver tails). It was a nice break away and we were blessed with fantastic weather. Not a cloud in the sky! Well, certainly not the angry, evil clouds anyway!

Summer's/Summit's Up!

Well, this month it seems Leeds has come to Toronto. Firstly, an old schoolfriend, Chris, has been in town and it's been lovely catching up with him over the last month. He's been house-sitting for another friend of mine and using the time to research a novel, which is partly set in Toronto, that he's writing. He brought another friend from home, Jon, and the good weather with him. Summer appears to now be here with warmth, sunshine and a dollop of humidity.

My second visitor from the homeland was a former colleague from my University of Leeds days...which ones I hear a few people ask?! Jude was here on her first visit to Canada and stayed for just over a week with a few days in Quebec City half way through her stay. She seemed to discover much that I love about Toronto and Canada during her few days 'on the loose' whilst I was at work. She made good use of my bicycle to peddle her way around the city and across the harbour via the ferry to the Toronto Islands.

I was able to show her some of the city's sights and, given that she is a former teacher, particularly enjoyed taking her for brunch at a cafe called School complete with chalkboards and an apple on the table for teacher. During the week she was here Toronto threw open many of its normally closed-to-the-public buildings as part of a city-wide event called Doors Open. We were able to gain access to a few architectural gems and see parts of buildings that have been closed off for many years. One particular highlight was the ballroom at the King Edward Hotel, which has been closed and untouched since the 1920s. The King Eddy, as it's known locally, has hosted guests such as Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, John and Yoko...oh, and I saw David Beckham there a couple of years ago!

We also saw the stunning Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres. These theatres make up the only operating double-decker theatre complex in the world, which has been restored to its original vaudeville days splendour. Finally, we strolled the new green roof at City Hall, which has been designed in order to provide a model for other public buildings.

Another highlight of Jude's stay was that we were able to take part in the Commodore's Sailpast, the official start to the 2010 season at 'my' sailing club, the National Yacht Club. We arrived dressed, as instructed, in our nautical attire, white trousers and blue tops hoping to hitch a ride as crew on a boat. When we asked an organizer if he knew of anyone looking for a boat he asked me what kind of boat I'd like...next thing I knew an announcement goes out over the loud-speaker system asking if anyone with a "big" and "expensive" yacht needs crew. Well, we certainly got what we asked for and spent a superb afternoon on board a beauty of a boat called Cadenza in great company. The conditions were perfect and it was good fun if a little hair-raising at times trying to ensure we didn't crash into the rest of the fleet as we all tacked back and forth waiting to get in the line to sailpast the commodore as he gave our boat his salute.

I'd had another great day on the water a week before for Victoria Day and am really enjoying being outside on Lake Ontario whilst mucking about on other people's (very big and very expensive yet very beautiful) boats [tip: turn your speakers on]:



In addition to taking in Toronto's architecture and aqua, I've also been enjoying the art (see what I did there?) I spent a lovely day taking in a variety of artists who were participating in the Riverdale Art Walk and particularly loved the work of Jon Muldoon, a photographer with a penchant for storm drains.

I love Toronto in the summer as it seems to come alive with festivals and outdoor events. Perhaps the biggest thing to hit Toronto this summer, however, is going to be the G20 summit later this month. Living as close as I do to the venue, I'm starting to get quite concerned about how this event is going to impact on those of us who live in the locality. Huge swathes of the downtown core are to be closed (see the blue area of the map below). Bus shelters, benches and bins have already been removed, fencing is going up and my former workplace, the University of Toronto, has declared it's shutting down completely due to the protest zone being at its core. This action is forcing students, including international students, to have classes cancelled and to move to residential accommodation elsewhere. In order to get to work I will need to use the subway which goes under the no-go zone and the designated protest area. We have been advised to 'expect delays'. I suspect it may be quite a challenging journey. Much of the harbour will be closed and they've been sweeping it for weeks turning up bodies encased in concrete in the process. Weddings which were due to be held on the islands have had to be cancelled, postponed or re-located. The total costs of hosting this event are now running into the hundreds of millions and that's before the costs of re-locating the French delegation are factored in. The staff at the French-owned Novotel, where they were booked into, are going on strike.

Whilst I accept world leaders need to talk, I question the need to move their entourages and their wake around the world's city centres and whether the money could be better spent since it seems most of the decisions are made beforehand and it's really just a good photo op. Surely the technology exists for them to just hold a big tele-conference? Or if they do have to meet in person, why can't they do it at the UN HQ, where the infrastructure already exists to host such diplomatic shin-digs? I'd even opt for a cruise liner in the middle of the ocean. I may sound somewhat NIMBY-ish but I would have thought that, by now, the world leaders may have twigged the impact these events have on communities, the economy and fuelling violence when hosted in a metropolis, wherever that might be. These events, with their disruption, riots, gun-toting security officers, tear gas and sound canons, do not exactly engender the same community spirit as the staging of the Olympics or World Cup. That's just my opinion, but, then...I wonder if the politicians that represent me are actually paying attention?? Rant over!

Anyway, here's to a peaceful summer/summit!