Results tagged “Lake Ontario” from Birmingham Mail - I Will Survive

Xmas Eve and Jaimie and I trudged through the snow to the Supermarket and butchers to get food for Xmas and that important turkey.It was so strange being thousands of miles away from home and yet people here are preparing to have Xmas just like we do in England.I have always entertained at Xmas and am usually running around like a maniac shopping and preparing everything before going to midnight mass so it felt very strange having nothing to do but to relax. That afternoon we went down to the cinema in the basement and watched the film "The Bucket List". It was very poignant about two strangers who meet in hospital after both being diagnosed with terminal cancer and they made a list of all the things they wanted to do before they die. That's what I did 7 years ago when I was given such a short time to live and I thought aren't I lucky to be here and still making my "bucket list".

Xmas Day was snowy and crisp and after opening our presents and having a great meal cooked by Jaimie,John and I ventured out for a walk and watched children tobogganing down the slopes and the local people taking their dogs for a walk. Nearly everyone seems to have a dog in The Beaches area and there are numerous doggy shops and parlours. They obviously are very fond of "man's best friend" in Toronto. After exhausting ourselves playing games and much merriment and copious drinks we all tumbled into bed happy that we could share a lovely Xmas Day together.

Boxing Day we ventured to Lake Ontario where the temperature drops dramatically and the odd lone seagull and the black squirrels were desperately searching for food.Just before we we went out on the night to dinner Jonathan shouted to me "racoons" and as I dashed up from the basement there were 2 racoons in the road that shot up the tree frightened by the headlights of a car.They are shy creatures and not seen very often so I felt very privileged to see them,

The next day was raining and grey and the beautiful white snow took on a dirty black hue as we journeyed on a tram to the centre of Toronto. Part of my Xmas present from Jonathan was a pre theatre meal and then a night at the ballet to see The Nutcracker at the ultra modern glass theatre.I knew that John hated ballet and so did Jonathan, which made it all the more special that he had chosen to do this for me, but everyone thoroughly enjoyed the performance. It was very different from the Nutcracker that I see every year by The Birmingham Royal Ballet and probably not as magical, but I loved the whole experience.
I took Jaimie to see it last year in Birmingham, who would have believed a year on we would be watching it in Canada.

The next day sadly we had to say goodbye all too soon as Jonathan and Jaimie took us to Toronto airport for our flight home.They had made our stay so special that I knew I was going to miss them, but we took with us wonderful memories, I said to John "Our flight home can't be as bad as the one coming" - how wrong can you be!!

5am Monday morning and bleary eyed I crawl out of bed to catch the flight to Toronto. My brother John is staying at our house to look after Chloe our cat and after stocking up the fridge and making the house welcoming I can at last relax as my son Justin takes us to Birmingham airport. All is going smoothly and we wave him a fond farewell only to be confronted by a massive queue on the Toronto flight, this doesn't look too good. When we get to the desk we discover our flight is delayed due to bad weather in Newark and we are going to miss our connection and the next flight they can put us on is 6.45am the following day!

With at least 6 hours to wait, we remember that all the toileteries, toothbrush etc have gone into the hold and we are left with 2 cases full of presents, a flashing, singing reindeer whose ears shake, flashing reindeer antlers for me to wear and a Father Xmas hat for John. All highly useful when you are sleeping overnight at the airport!!

Eventually we board the plane and Air Continental gave us a very comfortable flight although the films seemed rather old as I watched Ginger Rogers and David Niven in black and white. We finally arrived at Newark and we became hopeful knowing that there were still 3 flights to Toronto that day and we might be able to get standby tickets, but it took so long to get through security that already we had missed one flight and all the hotels were completely full, hope was fading fast.

Not one to admit defeat I went up to the Continental desk where the lady confirmed we were flying at 6.45am tomorrow. I must have looked so dejected that she took pity on us and went off to make a phone call and hey presto we are booked on the 5pm flight that night, so no sleeping on an airport bench in my reindeer antlers after all.

As we flew over Lake Ontario I never dreamt that it was so large and suddenly we were flying over the vast snowy Toronto landscape. 21 hours after leaving home we were given the warmest of welcomes and were sitting cosy and warm with my son Jonathan and his girlfriend Jaimie in their beautiful home nestling in over 2 feet of snow and we knew it was all worthwhile.

Jonathan and Jaimie's house.

After a good night's sleep in our basement bedroom complete with cinema we walked in -10C through the thick snow to Lake Ontario which in the summer is bustling with sunbathers on the beach - hence the area is called The Beaches.We walked through Kew Gardens where pure black squirrels were searching for food in the blanket of snow and headed for the wonderful smell of coffee at Starbucks Coffee Shop. As we sat in front of a roaring fire I knew that I would be sharing a white Xmas with the people I loved and the nightmare journey of the day before was long forgotten.

Jaimie making Snow Angels in the snow late last night on the way home from a wonderful meal at the Balsalm Restaurant.