The hundred and thirtyfifth week of the pandemic

I am writing this in the flat in BP, to which we arrived in one piece, but after a damn long trip. All in all it took us 17 hours from house to house, including Alex taking us to the airport in Toronto, (1 hour), hanging around waiting for the airplane to leave an hour late, (3 hours), 6 and half hour flight across the Atlantic, a mad dash across CDG in a miraculous 45 minutes, hanging around for an hour and a half for the flight to BP to leave, (also late), 2 hours flight to BP and then taxiing for about 20 minutes, due to the main runway being renovated, finished off  with coming in from the airport by public transport, (bus and trolleybus - 1 hour). 

My paddler

Lovesick Lake

Starting from where I left it off in the last post: On that last day at Lovesick Lake I had the real pleasure of Alex taking me out on the lake in his canoe. I sat opposite to him in the boat, so we could chat and this way I didn't have to do any paddling. That lake is really magical. 4 months ago there was a big storm, which upended a good few pine trees and basically obliterated some very small islands. That damage was still very much visible, but not even that could spoil the magic of the place.

Roy's Japanese prawns in batter

The sushi boat

On the day of our return to Toronto, we went out for another Japanese dinner, this time on the Danforth. Alex and I had a big sushi boat, Roy had more prawns, (he's going to look like one soon), and Callum had his usual edamame beans. And then, on Saturday we journeyed to St. Catharines to spend the Thanksgiving weekend with Heather, Lyle and Delaney. 

My fish and chips at the pub

Callum with the geocache

On that first day we all went to a pub, which we haven't been to yet, where I had fish and chips, Roy had a steak sandwich and everybody had a really good time. It really had a lovely pub atmosphere, people were eating, drinking, in some cases singing and especially, everybody watching the Blue Jays getting hammered. On Sunday we went for a short walk where we even managed to find a geocache. As we had to leave on Monday, which is the official Thanksgiving day, we had our big blowout on Sunday.

The Thanksgiving table

Callum's plateful

Turkey and trimmings

Lamb chops and trimmings

Heather, Lyle, Meaghan and Alex had excelled themselves. We had a choice of turkey, salmon and lamb chops, with all the usual trimmings, like sprouts and carrots. The stuffing and the freshly made cranberry sauce were especially delicious. For afters we could choose between pumpkin pie and Heather's apple crumble. Needless to say both Roy and I chose the crumble, which was delicious.

St. Lawrence Market outside ...

...and inside

On Monday we returned to Toronto for our last few days, most of which was spent with walking and shopping for food in the city. On Tuesday we caught a lift with Alex to work. I have never seen the new national centre in Toronto, and found it impressive. It is in an old building, but spacious, has a kitchen, a meeting room, as well as lots of other rooms and even a bit of an outside space in the form of a terrace. While Alex was at work we went walking about in town, mostly to St. Lawrence Market, which is a compulsory visit every time. We bought some lovely cold food, so that we could have it for tea.

The Flatiron pub

My delicious chicken curry

 

But before that Alex, Roy and I went to have lunch at the Flatiron Pub. I had a fantastic curry, which Alex told me must have been cooked by a Sri Lankan. The publican confirmed that his chef is from Sri Lanka. He was also very chatty, and friendly.

The cold tea

Callum shooting baskets

The tea at home went down well. We had cheddar, brie and feta cheese, ham, salami, olives, watercress, radishes, red onions, artichoke hearts, apples, pickled onions and sourdough rye, most of which we bought at the market. The olives were especially delicious, as they were all fresh and with stones in.

In the early evening, prior to going to Scouts, Callum took me down to his primary school, where there was a basketball hoop and showed me his clever moves. He is really very good at scoring. Nearly always the ball went in, often not touching the sides. 

Withrow Park in the autumn

Pinkish trees in Withrow Park

And then came the last day and we had an exhausting, full of delays and chaotic trip home. We are now trying to catch up and get over jet lag. This trip was absolutely brilliant, and that includes the sorry beginning. The trailer was beautiful, our cottage comfortable, our trips out to the Petroglyphs and the Burleigh Falls superb, the whole environment and the people were very pleasant and I loved every minute of it.

Delaney's farewell selfie

As for the family, Roy and I are very  rarely have the pleasure of sitting round a big table with our entire extended family, like we usually do in Canada. Seeing Callum grow up to be a marvellous, kind, loving and sweet young man was also one of the highlights of the visit. Alex is already planning the next two years, which, of course, requires an element of optimism from us in our seventies and eighties. They are apparently going to come over for Christmas next year and then we could all go together to Portugal perhaps, if it can be organised in 2024. As long as I am alive and in a condition to travel, I'll be there.