Results tagged “The Birmingham Royal Ballet” 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!!