Canadian capers

 Wednesday 21 May 2025

 I've actually been here since Friday 16 May when I flew into Toronto from Gatwick (spare seat next to me - hurrah - but slightly disappointing choice of movies), but haven't had a lot of time as I've been spending  a few days with my dear friends Toni and Donald Graham at their lovely home in Mississauga which is kind of like a suburb but supposedly a city in its own right. 

I arrived mid afternoon in lovely sunshine and a heatwave of 26C, which sadly dropped by about 10 degrees the following day together with some fairly biblical rain when we visited St Jacobs market and joined the march of the penguins in the covered food market - it was rammed and as Toni already had a very full fridge we weren't purchasing. We spent a pleasant half hour wandering the antiques market and then headed off to the little town of Elora. 

After a lunch at the Handsome Devil bistro, some light retail therapy followed (though this was somewhat challenging, as despite the fact that it was a Saturday afternoon many of the merchants of Elora saw fit to close at lunchtime and there were no tea and buns to be had after 4.30pm). We wandered down to take a look at the gorge and falls for which the town is famous. Have to say we were rather underwhelmed as there's been little attempt to create any kind of viewing platform or to cut back trees obscuring said views. and the falls are really just a fast-moving river at that point, so we headed off to the country park to try and get a better look, only to be told that we would be charged $9 for the privilege even if we only wanted to stay a few minutes. It was starting to rain anyway, so we headed back home, where Toni's youngest Dougal was cooking dinner - it was not his finest culinary hour, due to both burning and undercooking, but much merriment ensued which he will not be allowed to forget for a very long time.

On Sunday Donald joined us for a jaunt to Niagara on the Lake, which is a pretty, tulip-filled though touristy town, and again lunch and some retail therapy was the order of the day, together with some very good ice cream. On Monday, Toni and I caught the train into the city (it was a bank holiday, but most things seemed to be operating normally). We went to the Art Gallery of Ontario, a very lovely, light and airy building which was mercifully quiet. We very much enjoyed a very brief stay in a Yayoi Kusama infinity room

and then split up so that we could look at art which appealed to our rather different tastes - I like modern, and saw some Rothko/Warhol contemporaries along with some photography by the likes of Jeff Wall, whereas Toni likes her art a bit less abstract and a bit more 19the century. We met up again for a typically galleryesque overpriced lunch in their bistro, taking a tram afterwards down to the waterfront for a wander in the sunshine (annoyingly cold in the shade!) before heading home after a gutbusting cinnamon bun.

Early start on Tuesday when Donald took me to the airport to catch a 9.15 flight to Calgary, where I was then due to catch a bus to Banff. All was fairly uneventful (though I did flounce from the queue at Tim Horton's - take a bow Pret a Manger, you know how to do fast food fast) and I flew with Porter, which appears to be the Canadian equivalent of Easyjet, with considerably less charming cabin crew. 

The flight was at least early, meaning I was able to catch the highly efficient 1230 bus driven by the lovely helpful Lucas to Banff, and got my first glimpse of the mountains. 

Banff itself is terribly touristy - I went for a wander as my room wasn't ready and there are more gift shops selling hats, T-shirts and Boss bear souvenirs than you can shake a stick at. (Boss bear is a local legend - despite being hit twice by a train, he has fathered around 80% of the local bear population.) Everywhere I went there were young people from the UK working in shops and restaurants, and it was really busy but pleasant enough - and yes I did do a bit of shopping. My hotel was rustic, clean and comfortable, though was one of the dingiest rooms I've ever stayed in with a dearth of conveniently-placed plug sockets. I had a disappointing meal at a restaurant nearby, watched a film on Netflix, packed my suitcase and carry-on carefully as neither would be accessible to me on the train the next day, and slept badly.

I was probably excited for the Rocky Mountaineer train trip next day and I'll write more about that tomorrow, because now as I write in my hotel room in the very spread-out town of Kamloops (which appears to be on about seven different levels), I have disorienting "train legs" and am feeling very wobbly. I also need to be up at stupid o'clock again tomorrow to get on the bus at 7am, but for now here's me this morning awaiting take-off on the budget-busting gold leaf service coach with glass roof, mahoosive leather seats and constant delicious food and drink served by charming young women who must have core muscles of steel...