Canada Visit April 2006 - Home Again

I recently went home to Canada for 9 days - left Amsterdam on April 4th for Toronto and returned on April 13th. It was a VERY busy, but oh so rewarding, 9 days with many visits with precious family and friends. This vacation generated lots of excitement that triggered some intensely sentimental feelings for my homeland. It is during these visits that I am reminded how special each of my friends and family members truly are. Of course, there is not a day that goes by that I do not miss you all or wish that you lived just down the street from me. I am truly blessed to go home to such wonderful people who smother me with so much love that I find myself a smidgen overwhelmed, to the point where I experience a loss of words. It was an awesome visit which I have shared in greater detail with photos via Bubbles & Family and Bubbles & Friends.

I arrived on Tuesday April 4th at Toronto Pearson International airport. After close to 70 minutes of coping with climbing, kicking, scratching, biting crowds at the luggage carousel (not much of an exaggeration - it was pretty aggressive with piles & piles of luggage). To my relief, I was reunited with my luggage - whew. I have this deep-seeded, secret fear of having my luggage lost, never to be seen again (been lucky never to have personally experienced this YET - not tempting fate at all with that statement, eh).

Next, I skipped along to the Avis rental desk to pick up my rental car. I was convinced to upgrade (a great decision) to a totally adorable Chrysler PT Cruiser which drove like a dream, making it dreadfully difficult to part with her on my last day. I will refer to IT as HER cuz we got to know each other quite well during OUR frequent and extended drives. Below, SHE is parked in front of my favourite grocery store, Loblaws which I visited, not once ... but TWICE, to load up on goodies to bring home.

While I am on the topic of Loblaws, I gotta share with you my surprise meeting with "The Easter bunny". I realise that at first glance this might seem a bit silly but I just could not resist. I cannot blame alcohol on this photo because I was TOTALLY sober when I posed for this shot. Nor can I blame anyone for daring me because I WAS ALONE at the time! So I will just have to do like I always do and blame my split personality - the inner child in me :).

Also at Loblaws, I discovered this GIANT barbecue that made my mouth just DROP open in awe. This photo does not do it justice because it really was ENORMOUS - almost the size of my dining room table and for the low low price of only 599.98 (plus tax). This really is a bargain in my eyes considering that we paid approximately 350 CDN for our BBQ which is 1/4 the size of this one !! I swear- it's the truth, i am not being sarcastic.

Then, I proceeded to Monika's & Peter's in the east end. Lucky me ... it was rush hour and it was SUPER busy on the 401 but I still loved it! It felt so good to be home and driving on the familiar roads of Toronto, with its 16 lane highways, space between cars (even during rush hour) and huge road signs that I could actually find and read (chuckle - I am forever getting lost in Holland and I am utterly hopeless).

I was welcomed by Ashley who had been excitedly anticipating my visit - she is such a sweetie. After hugs were exchanged and the famous Old Amsterdam cheese was handed over to the safety of the fridge (boo hoo to Canadian customs). In exchange, I was give a plate of Swiss Chalet chicken (yum - one of my favourites) then slowly began to fade, as it was close to midnight Amsterdam time. Peter came home from work and all of us talked till the wee hours of the night (close to 05:00 my time, of course).

The next day, I woke up refreshed after a great night's sleep and was ready to go shopping - which I did for CLOSE TO 7 HOURS! For those of you who know how intensely I detest shopping, this was a pretty incredible achievement on my part. I was very successful with 4 pairs of jeans, some tops, 2 belts, a stunning pair of boots and ideas for my next trip. I also found my way into PJ Pet Store for almost 1 hour (the cause of my lateness for dinner with the girls) because I always lose track of time looking at the puppies, kittens, rabbits & birds - ahhhhh way too cute!

I was thrilled to find Dixie waiting for me when I arrived and was greeted with a warm hug. Monika, Dixie & I ran out the door to meet Sharon at Jack Astor's in Whitby for a quick dinner, followed by a movie. Thank you Dixie for treating all of us to dinner. We went to see Failure to Launch, a romantic comedy with one of my faves., Sarah Jessica Parker (I have written my review on the Entertainment page). It was a pleasure to catch up with everyone and an absolute delight to share a movie together. Monika, next time I'LL GET THE POPCORN (wink wink - hee hee). It is a pity that we did not have more more time to gab - the night simply went by too quickly and I found myself having to hug everyone goodbye already. Also, a GIANT thank you to Peter for babysitting the girls so we could go out together.

The following morning, after I said goodbye to everyone, I packed up the PT Cruiser and drove up north to Sudbury. The drive through Northern Ontario was tranquil & empty of much traffic. Basically I was alone on the roads for a majority of the trip with dazzling scenery, bathed in sunshine & blue skies. Since it was so peaceful on the roads, I took some photos along the way to give you a taste of the beauty of this part of Canada - a part that I have passionately fond memories and emotional attachments. I drove past:

- partially frozen lakes - warming up for the approaching spring/summer

- thousands of evergreens waking up after the long winter

- newly thawed spring forests which will soon smell of soil, birch bark and other scents of nature

- plenty of rock which is so prominently found in the Canadian shield of the North with its roads that wind around, over and threw the rocks. We've even managed to grow trees on these rocks - don't believe me, just look for yourself!

Lastly, I stopped at the Moose Lake Trading Post - in the heart of the Native-Canadian region to purchase some locally produced treasures, such as wood carvings, created lovingly by local natives and a small teddy bear dipped in Maple syrup - it is not for eating but for the scent.

Along the way, I discovered many radio stations that entertained me with a variety of music from all decades & music categories. This is especially good since my iPod was not the solution I had hoped for with the combined iTrip gadget for use with the car radio - it works marvelously, IF you do not drive long distances which I was obviously doing. In Toronto, I grew fond of JackFM and switched back forth to Z103.5FM. On the drive up North I discovered MooseFM (not kidding - that really was the station name) and in Sudbury Big Daddy (very funny). Can't believe I have taken the time to write about this but these radio stations helped me to pass the time during my 6 hour drives AND I am listening to them now while I write my blog. I arrived in Coppercliffe (part of the greater Sudbury region) and was greeted by the smiling faces of my niece Julie & her fiance Darren. She has been planning for my arrival for almost 1 year now and worked very hard to ensure my comfort - had Mike's Hard Lemonade cooling in the fridge and a my Toronto Maple Leaf jersey waiting for me. Darren & I watched an exciting game which unfortunately ended in a loss (damn Leafs). I have discovered today (online) that they are officially out of the playoffs - bummer! Darren, I feel your pain man! By the way ... it is not a coincidence that I have selected the player profile of #30 Jean-Sebastien Aubin - goaltender for the Leafs when you click on the Leafs link (wink wink).

I visited some friends from my school days off HWY 144. But I had to be extra careful that I would not be sighted driving around town by my brother as this would have totally spoiled the surprise. First, I went to visit Florence's home which was my second home growing up. Here I FINALLY met the "world famous" stars of RAMLand - none other than "Amy & Ryan avec Maman" (click here to see Amy, Ryan and Line). Afterwards Line & I went to pick up Rachel for our reunion at Don Cherry's in Sudbury where we reminisced about the old days before moving onto the newest events in our lives. Like usual, there was not enough time to talk about everything and we had to go home cuz they wanted to close up the bar - plus it was getting late! This brings me to the main reason for my trip - a surprise birthday party for my brother Luc (click here for the birthday party photos) - who had NO clue at all that I would be present! I would personally like to send a HUGE thank you to Megan for ALL her efforts to get Luc to the party. Without your help, it would not have happened & he would have missed his BIG surprise! I have EXTENSIVE coverage of the party at the above link. It was also very nice to see my nephew Kevin whom I have not seen in a long time - he had an awesome time at the party, as you can see in the photo on the Family page. After the party, many of us went back to Luc's place to play some pool till 05:00AM. This is where I met Chopper for the first time - Luc's new puppy, an American Bulldog (I think that is the breed's name)!!! He is really adorable and full of energy.

The next day most of us were feeling pretty rough - couldn't imagine why. Everyone seemed to be moving a bit slower (or perhaps it was just me). The next day, everyone was very busy with after-party stuff and I raced off to meet my friend Shelley from high school. Unfortunately, in "after-party" state of mind, I forgot to take a picture of the two of us. We had so much to catch up on, especially with the approaching final days leading up to her wedding day!! I look forward to getting some pictures of your special day and wish I could have been there to celebrate with you. Later, Luc & Megan came out to Julie's & Darren's for dinner and we had some laughs and talked. Like all the other days, it was another quick evening ending with hugs (and a few tears on my part as I watched my brother walk out the door) after we said our final goodbyes.

On my final morning, I got to see Collette whom I have not seen in many many years along with my nephew Kevin who popped by for our final farewell. We talked for an hour or so and I got a reminder of some of my childhood experiences since she has known me since I was 5 years old. Reluctantly, I had to load up the PT Cruiser again and after another round of hugs (more tears slipped out) jumped into my car and followed Julie out of town - to avoid getting lost in Sudbury :). When Julie turned right, I drove straight up HWY 69 - away from Sudbury, my family, my hometown and it tugged painfully at my heart the further I drove - another emotional moment for me then, as well as now while I write these words.

I drove straight through to Toronto with a few pee breaks combined with a gasoline fill-up and perhaps a munchie run :) I arrived at Karen & Ron's quite early so Ron & I chatted for a few hours while we were waiting for Karen and the boys. That evening, we all enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Shige in Pickering. It a new restaurant, featuring Japanese & Korean food with mini BBQs built into your table. click here for photos of Karen, Ron, Travis & Chris enjoying their meal.

While at Karen's, I had great fun with Lexie whom I would secretly call "Bob" when nobody was around (chuckle - hope I did not confuse her too much - hee hee). You see Lexie is my dream dog ... I want to get a male black lab & call him BOB - we also want a black cat called GOOGLE - hee hee. click here for an introduction to Lexie, Sadie & Leo - forgot to take a picture of Curly, Larry & Mo.

I am sad to say, that I am now approaching the final days of my vacation - my trip home has gone by much too quickly. I tried to get up everyday as early as possible to make each day as long as possible but this trick does have some nasty side effects :). I realised that I did not have any photos of Ashley, Megan, Monika & Peter who so lovingly & generously shared their home with me. Plus my change in plans left a very disappointing void at the missed opportunity for a proper farewell. So this resulted in a special trip to the Extreme Fitness swimming pool to surprise the girls with hugs and kisses (the traditional 3 Dutch kisses). I am deeply saddened by the fact that I did not have the chance to say goodbye to Peter. I thoroughly enjoyed our morning chat on the day I left - I will find a way to make this up on my future visits and I ALWAYS keep my promises.

My last dinner appointment for this vacation was with Fontaine & Lori in Scarborough. Two very special friends from different stages of my life in Canada. Meeting with Fontaine & Lori was a reminder of many of my best memories while living in TO. So much has changed in their lives since I left but inside, they are still the same warm people that I have always known.

That is something that must be said about ALL my dear friends & family members. Although you have all grown emotionally & spiritually to become the remarkable people that you are today, you are ALL still the same loving souls that I remember in my heart and carry around with me every minute of my life ... with every Christmas card, every postcard & every email. I will treasure every second spent with all of you during this visit & thank you all for making such efforts to meet with me & share your valuable time.