Toni was apprehensive about taking a trip to Cuba. The embargo is still on and it remains illegal for Americans to spend any money there regardless of residency location. The fines on the books are substantial but my research showed that they are never imposed. Canada and Cuba have no interest in enforcing the US law. All we had to do was put the trip on our Canadian credit card and bring only Canadian currency. The Cuban officials don't even stamp your passport so there is no record of your trip in that document.
There are daily direct flights from Toronto to five different airports. I thought everything would go to a hub in Havana but not so. Canadian tourism is huge there and sought after. So much so that Canadians can get a visitor's visa for up to six months while citizens of other countries are limited to three months. We booked seven nights at the eight year old Blau Varadero Hotel. It is a beautiful four star facility and it is all inclusive. We felt like we were kids at summer camp. They have a huge open air lobby with a main lobby bar, evening piano bar, poolside bar, and finally a beach bar. In addition to the daily buffet meals they included three sit down dinners with wait service and table side musicians. There was a variety of evening entertainment as well.
We hired cars to take us on a couple of excursions. One to the old town of Varadero and another to Old Havana which is two hours away. Our Havana driver was a professional tour guide moonlighting with his own privately owned taxi service. We enjoyed a local's perspective on the current politics as well as the history from Columbus' landing through today.
The weather couldn't have been better. Around 80 in the day dipping to just below 70 at night. When we weren't on our day trips we were just relaxing without phones and internet. I called this our "hammock vacation". This also made two trips in one year to UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Old Havana and Old Quebec City.
A privately owned 1959 Buick parked near the harbour in Havana. Most of the vintage cars are government owned taxis.
The National Capitol Building. It is said to be modelled after the US Capitol. It has never been used as a government building since the overthrow of Batista. — in Havana, Ciudad de la Habana.
This church is in the town of Varadero
The statue is dwarfed by the 359 foot tower. It is from this stage that Castro gave his speeches to a million people in Revolution Square. — in Havana, Ciudad de la Habana.
Our view from the taxi as we pulled into Havana
I found a certain charm in the neglected building exteriors
Interior shots of The Ambos Mundos. This hotel was the home of Ernest Hemingway for years— in Havana, Ciudad de la Habana.
This is a typical street scene in Old Havana
Part of the water ballet entertainment our last full day at the resort
Pure white sand beaches
At one of the old squares
This was our live Christmas Tree this year
1959 Ford in downtown Varadero
Slide show of the best of our photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/blavery00/BestOfCuba?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJb_qa6E9dLXigE&feat=directlink
Early in June Toni and I went on our first vacation in four years. Of course we have been living in new locales but that is different from a vacation. For this trip we went to Quebec City. I was there only once before when I was eight years old so I have just vague memories of it. It was an easy decision to go there as it is just a one hour flight on the best regional airline in the world, Porter Airlines. Upon landing we grabbed our luggage and went straight to the taxi stand. The driver spoke no English at all but we expected that as only 1/3 of the population is bilingual. We got settled in and gave him the hotel location on paper. I noticed the catchy music coming from the radio. It was in French of course but I quickly realized that I knew the song even though that seemed impossible. It took a minute but I finally recognized it as Michael Pagliaro. He was well known in Canada but not the States. The song I was hearing was one of his best, “What the Hell I Got”, which I used to have on a single but that version was sung in English. What are the odds that I would hear a 1975 French recording that I would know the minute I set foot in Quebec? Here it is in English. What a welcome to the city.
We loved our lodging at Hotel du Vieux-Quebec.
I would never consider staying anywhere else. They start the day of right with breakfast basket hanging on the door every morning. The hotel is located right in the thick of Old Quebec and within walking distance of dozens of restaurants and shops. We definitely took advantage of the restaurants. Although less than a third of the population speaks English we were able to fumble through with our vocabulary of about thirty words.
Quebec City is over 400 years old, the only city north of Mexico that still has its ramparts intact. It has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site so if you visit keep your camera charged up and have a fresh memory card. They say it is the most European city in North America and between the language and architecture I have to agree. I will let the photos we took tell most of the story.
There were only a couple of things on my ‘must see’ list. The first place was The Plains of Abraham. This was the only thing I really remembered from my childhood visit. I didn’t know it when I was little but this was the site of the most famous battle in Canada. As part of the French and Indian War in 1759 the British defeated the French here in a 30 minute attack that lead to the French losing control of Quebec and eventually all of Canada. Today it is acres of rolling grassland used as a park with scenic views of the St. Lawrence River valley.
The other place was the St. Matthews Anglican Church where my Grandpa Nosworthy was baptized. After I booked our hotel I looked up the church and was on the same street, rue St-Jean, less than a meter west…a ten minute walk!!
With this Google street map you can stroll around the grounds.
I have mentioned my family trip a few times in this blog. It was my only travel as a kid but we covered a lot of territory in three weeks. We had stops in Chicago, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Portland Maine, Boston, New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Gettysburg. It was a true marathon and all by car with three adults and three kids in a Chevy Impala station wagon. Most of the places we just spent an afternoon. Sometimes they were simply pointing out sites from the car without even stopping, especially towards the last part of the trip. Without setting out to do so I have suddenly realized that I have been going back to most of these same places as an adult and seeing them properly. In a couple of cases I have been actually living there. It was not intentional but there are only four places left on that list that have not been revisited.
Santol is on duty at the lobby of the Chateau Frontenac. He is always ready for a walk with the guests.
The baptismal fount in St Matthews Church. Grandpa Nosworthy was baptised here nearly 100 years ago.
The Plains of Abraham were just as I remember them as a kid
The Funiculaire that takes you from the upper part of Old Quebec to the lower part of Old Quebec. It is an elevator that goes at a 45 degree angle.
Perhaps our favourite restaurant located in the lower section
Another photo from dusk at the centre of town
Toni's hair seemed to blend right into the sculpture behind her.
If you haven't seen enough already check this LINK for a panoramic view of the city showing the upper and lower parts and the Funiculaire that links them. It is a large photo so give it some time to load.
Last month we had another visitor. Jay Plumb, his wife Sara Zucker, and their 9 year old daughterRaphaella. They were here for a long weekend that was sort of a make up date. They originally had planned to visit us last August for just a couple of hours during their layover on a plane trip from Boston to Quebec City. At the last minute Jay discovered his passport had expired. He managed to salvage the QC trip but wound up making it a road trip instead. They were left with vouchers for the airfare and applied them to this trip.
Because of that turn of events months ago we were able to spend two days together instead of two hours. Their visit was a great reason to get us out of the apartment and back into some favourite spots and also some new places we have been meaning to check out like the restaurant row on Baldwin Street. A couple of highlights were taking the ferry out to the Toronto Islands again and we were also able to catch the very last day, in fact the last hours, of the Leonard Cohen print exhibition downtown. The exhibit was around the corner from the Hockey Hall of Fame where Jay was able to acquire a souvenir, a hockey puck with the old Kansas City Scouts logo. I learned from him that franchise still exists today and is now the New Jersey Devils.
At Centre Island looking out on Lake Ontario
Allen Lambert Galleria, Brookfield Place, Toronto
"Artworks" by Leonard Cohen
Outside the old Bank of Montreal building that now houses the Hockey Hall of Fame
I should point out that this is the very first time Jay and I had ever met face to face. We have been friends for several years but only online. This is not the first time this has happened to me. In fact, it is becoming more frequent all the time. These virtual friendships have led to many adventures that couldn't have been imagined years ago. In this case Jay's trip to QC inspired us to go that route and we even stayed in the same hotel that they did. More about that in the next post. So now we have plans to visit them on their turf in Boston.
We recently passed the one year mark of living in Toronto. We signed up for another year in our
apartment making this the first time we have stayed in one place more than
twelve months since leaving Lake Quivira in early 2009. It is kind of nice to take a break from that
pace.
I suppose this is a good time to assess the past year and
look to the year to come. For me the
biggest thing is finally coming to accept Toronto for what it is and to quit
holding it up to comparison with New York City.
That is simply not fair. There is
nothing like New York anywhere and for that matter every city has its own
unique personality. We do love Toronto
but we also joke about it being the “Steampunk” version of New York. Like what NY would be like if a couple of
things had gone off in a different direction.
It is a little like living in an alternate universe. Most of the things are the same, language,
monetary system, culture, but all with significant noticeable twists. Like if Great Britain won the Revolutionary War
would the Queen be on US currency or would we spell color as colour and center
as centre? Would TO be more familiar if
they had adopted a grid street system when NY did? Very few streets cut through Toronto from end
to end and none of them have numbered names.
It has taken most of the last year but Toni has finally
received her Permanent Residency card, like a Green Card in the States. Her status was changed officially in February
but she only got the physical card a couple of weeks ago. It was a very happy day for her. In the meantime she “unretired” after a year
and a half. She has been working in
sales for a Microsoft® Gold partner selling slots in software classes. It is located just a couple of blocks away
and so far she likes it and her employer is very pleased with her work. Even though she is in sales it is very low
stress. The bonus is that it gives us
some mad money, not just mad money but Canadian mad money. We finally had some cash coming in that doesn’t
have to be converted. Checking the
exchange has become something that we do every morning before we even check the
weather. A shift of a just a few cents
on the dollar can send us into action with the currency broker.
Most of you know that Toni and I first met in high school,
Shawnee Mission South, while we were each dating others. We continued bumping into each other through
our college years again while dating others.
Eventually we managed to get together when we both unattached. We often speculated that we might have
crossed paths many years earlier when her father opened his County Fair
supermarket near County Line Road and Mission Road in Kansas City, Kansas. My family lived about a block from there the
first couple of years of my life and later shopped there occasionally after
moving to Mission.
Now, I don’t really believe in destiny but I could speculate
even further. There are scenarios where Toni and I could have both wound up
living in Toronto since we both have family living here. My grandfather could have transferred back to
Canada to live and work near his brother, Great Uncle Roy. Toni had considered going to The University
of Toronto when her sister, Connie, moved here.
The fact is that Connie and Roy wound up living on the exact same street
with only four houses between them is an incredible coincidence. The possibility of yet another chance at
crossing paths here several years later is rather intriguing to think
about. As it turned out I stayed several
days at Roy’s house at 155 Silver Birch Avenue in 1963 and then I spent several
days at Connie’s house at 177 Silver Birch again in 1995. This is an obscure street in a tiny corner of the metro area. To fully comprehend this click on the link below the map (view larger map) and then zoom out to see the entire city.
Perhaps we were destined to be living together in Toronto
and the Universe just took a little longer to get us on that course. I don’t really think so but all the same it
is fun to think about. Alternate universe, right?
Oh, one more coincidence.
The photo above was from our first trip to Toronto together with Toni’s
parents, Rosa and Is, to visit Connie. The
photo was taken by me near Yonge and Bloor exactly 30 years ago today.
We finally made it out to a show at Hugh’s Room last
week. They consistently get all the acts
that we like but it is kind of a trek to get there. But now that we have done it I am sure we
will make it a regular thing. It turns
out that we only have to take one streetcar, the King, to get there and
back. No transfers! The layout is very nice. There are three levels with café style tables
and generous space to get around. As a
result there are wonderful sight lines.
I don’t think there is a bad seat in the house. I doubt the room holds more than a
couple of hundred people so it is quite an intimate setting. The menu is a bit on the pricey side but as
it turns out not over priced. We had a
salmon entrée that we agreed was about as good as we have had.
Oh yes, the music. We
were there to see Gretchen Peters. She
is by no means a household name but she did an album with Tom Russell a few
years ago. She is also pretty well known
around Nashville as a very successful songwriter and has charted hit songs by
Martina McBride, Pam Tillis, Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless, Neil Diamond,
George Strait, Faith Hill, and Etta James.
Not too bad. She has released a
handful of albums on her own label and that is how I got to know her over the
years.
After a couple of songs Gretchen mentioned that she last
played Toronto seven years ago and that she shared the stage with Tom Russell,
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and Sylvia Tyson.
She also mentioned that Sylvia, a Toronto native, was in the audience
tonight. As the room is not large and
there were only about 60 people there we figured we could see her. We kind of craned our necks to see all
the far corners when I suddenly realized that Sylvia Tyson was seated at the
table right next to us the whole time! You
may not know of her either but Sylvia is a pretty big deal in folk music circles; she
is best known as the writer of “You Were On My Mind”, a huge hit in the States
by We Five.
After the show we spoke with Gretchen briefly before she had
to run off for autographs and photos. We
introduced ourselves to her husband, Barry Walsh, and after discussing his
piano style he in turn introduced us to Sylvia.
She was rather shy and soft spoken but didn’t seem in a great hurry to
move on so we got to have a nice long conversation. It was a truly unexpected bonus!
You can listen to some of Gretchen's latest music HERE.
We finished our tax returns a few weeks ago. Actually I should say Toni’s cousin Steve finished them for us. By another strange coincidence he is a Kansas City native who married a Toronto woman a few years ago, and he happens to not only be an accountant but he specializes in cross border accounting. Having him on board gave us complete confidence that everything was done right on the first go round and he saved us a couple of thousand dollars. On top of that his office is only a couple of blocks away from our apartment.
As you can see from the photos things were a little more involved this year. As long as you are a US citizen you are required to file regardless of where you live or work. We still have a good part of our income from US sources so returns were required for two states, one province, and two countries, and we had to pay in two currencies. That took most of a ream of paper.
There are a few differences from US filing here. There is no joint filing option. Husband and wife file separately but you can shift your incomes from one to the other for the best outcome. The filing date is slightly later, April 30th.
One thing that is unchanged is that it is still a little painful. Well, not really. The truth is that I am quite happy to pay taxes to both countries. I know there is waste but I feel confident that most of it is well spent.
A couple of weeks ago we attended the Daniel Lanois concert. You might not know his name but you probably at least know his production work. He put on a special concert to celebrate his induction into The Canadian Music Hall of Fame the day before. This was also a big deal because he grew up in nearby Hamilton and started his first studios there, actually working out of his parent's basement at first. His mother and other family were in the audience.
The concert was at The Great Hall. This was significant to us as Toni and I went to a concert there exactly thirty years ago and this was our first time back. The room had been totally reconfigured over the years. This particular show was in the round and the stage area simply was an old Oriental carpet in the middle of the floor jam packed with his equipment and Brian Blade's drum kit. There was also a small toy HO scale railroad track running around the drum kit. The train carried two video cameras. These were part of the documentation of the show. There were several other cameras set up along with one cameraman. All the film footage was edited into the videos below.
The show was set up in three segments. The first was Lanois as a DJ using his own tape loops and sounds with art films projected on two large screens. The second part was the concert itself with just Lanois on guitar and pedal steel and Blade on drums. For a few of the later songs he brought out a bass player but I didn't catch his name. The final part of the evening was a meet and greet and he just hung out until everyone had their face time and photos. It really felt like he was throwing a party at home for his selected friends. It was very intimate, almost like sitting around a campfire. You might be able to see that there were only a couple hundred people about three rows deep around the perimeter of his stage area.
You should view the videos at full screen as they are high quality.
