Victory at Sea - Getting there

M/V Victory 1

But before getting to the Victory at Sea (ok Victory at the Lakes) we must cross some air and land first - both compliments of Road Scholar.  This was my fourth Road Scholar trip but it certainly won't be my last.  If you want a fantastic vacation with like minded seniors that affords you the opportunity to learn while being spoiled  then Road Scholar is for you.  The leaders, lecturers and local guides are chosen for their knowledge, their ability to handle almost anything, and their friendliness.  Every one I have dealt with in the past have been the epitome of perfect, however on this trip....well, Sue topped them all on every point.  Although I didn't deal with Lezli (team leader) or Roger (the leader of the other group), the dealings I had were spot on. 

Anyhow, after an uneventful flight we landed in Toronto where we met other Road Scholars waiting for a shuttle to the hotel.  Instant liking and that liking continued throughout the cruise.  Unfortunately, the trip to the hotel was longggggg due to arriving in time for five o'clock traffic and a lot of construction.  Along the way I saw a few things that caught my interest (both on the way from the airport and the bus tour the next day - grouped here to avoid me having to think where in the mix they fell).  One that went by before I could get the camera up fast enough was the Village Idiot Pub - loved that name!

 The sign on the left should hang above my desk with a few years added...so describes me.

Don't we all feel better now that our burgers are blessed and receiving the help they need.

Cameron House

"Intimate, bohemian bar with ceiling murals & nightly performances from local roots acts on 2 stages."  If the performances are as unique as the building décor it might be worth checking out.

Is it a flower?  Is it an eye?  It is wall art - whichever.

 Maybe I will pass on this one...might have a few more pounds added.

Wonder if the Fat Bastard tacos are made out of loose moose????

 Not a problem, we all hid Harold and played innocent.

 The mural went all around as far as I could see.

Condominium project underway in Toronto (I cloned the ugly crane off the top). 

Lego house - condominiums I think.

Old City Hall - beautiful architecture and stone work.

Not sure if this is trompe l'oeil or what...definitely different.

Trees growing on top of the building.

Inside a doorway of a residence building - ummm, not sure if this is an advertisement for what is inside or, hopefully, it is just a work of art.

First time I have seen a sign like this.

Hope you can read it "TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES" for those of you who want your tatas consulted. WTH???

Fantastic Trompe l'oeil house painted on the back of the flat iron building.  It even has the screws holding on the canvas tromped! 

Front of the flat iron building.

Finally despite the traffic, the construction, and even a few rain drops we made it to the Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto.  Very nice, greeted by the outstanding leaders and quickly went to our room to freshen up before our dinner that night.  Of course I checked out the view from all sides (one window but pointed the camera three different ways as well as down).

Straight out of the window with a close up of some of the buildings we loved as the sun set.

Just a neat building and a close up of the side. 

A room with a lake view!!!!  Well if we went out on our little balcony and leaned over the rail we saw this through the rain.   Later it quit raining and I went back out and the lake had disappeared - just the buildings and the sky.  Not sure where it went, might take that up with a higher being.

  Straight down to a pretty little garden nobody used while we were there, even when it wasn't raining.

The next day the weather was a bit better and back on the bus we went to drive around the city and take in the sights.  More construction and more traffic.  We did see some pretty buildings and after we parked we went into the new city hall and saw a nice mock up of the city and a beautiful mural made of nails.

Sorry for the poor quality - camera went crazy trying to focus and every time it thought it had it made one of the family group next to us smiled in apology while they raced up to pose by the center.  Please check out the YouTube video someone took that really shows the workmanship https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAfxgl8IyWI

David Partridge, a Toronto artist, created this piece named Metropolis "as a symbolic representation" of any city, not Toronto in particular.  It is made from more than 100,000 nails set at different depths to give it the design.  In the center (the heart of the city) are copper nails, surrounded by treed ravines and finally bisected circles representing the outer sections of the city.  A truly magnificent piece of work.

Outside city hall is a wide plaza where a farmer's market was being set up.  OMG!  The produce was unbelievable - fresh, flawless, beautiful.  Look for yourself.

I walked up to this woman and asked if I could take a picture.  She immediately removed her pony tail holder, adjusted her shirt, and fluffed her hair.  I didn't have the heart to tell her it was the produce I wanted to photograph -

------------------------------- Potty break while we travel to the CN Tower-----------------------------

OK, back? 

CN Tower

We were fortunate to have a very good lunch on top of the tower while we watched the world spin around...spin, is not accurate because it takes 70 some odd minutes to make a full revolution.  So here is what we saw.

Lake Michigan

At least it rained while we were eating.

Coming and going

The gold building in the center is supposedly really gold.  At least the windows have a 24K gold film.

The Victory is the blue bottomed ship in front.  It is just sitting there waiting on us and all the crew is busily pouring drinks and making food to force on us.  We kept telling them "no more" and they kept insisting we have another glass of wine, another gin and tonic, another bowl of nuts, some more dessert, more this and more that.  After I finish with Jenny Craig I need to go into rehab to dry out.

Down to the bottom we went and were greeted by Spider-Man.

And don't ask me what was going on, I just took the picture.

Across the street was a protest of sorts.  Again, I just take the picture.

Back on the bus to take us to the ship to begin our sea journey.  First we stopped by St. Lawrence Market for a brief run through.  Our local guide made sure we knew we could get some good cheese and sausage in there.  He didn't tell us how to keep it in a cabin on a cruise ship though.  We did check it out and wish we had the means to keep some of that cheese cool and a grill to fire up for the steaks along with the sausage.

We stopped at Graffiti Alley in the fashion district.  Three long blocks of graffiti adorn the walls of the buildings.   I've been to the John Lennon wall in Prague, the chewing gum wall in Seattle at Pike Market, and now this.  Such an art appreciator I am.

At the end of the alley was a small community garden.  Each plot appeared to be no more than 2'x2' and had been planted with a variety of plants.  They were just starting to bloom but there were some to shoot.  Tossing in the tulip - not sure where it was in the grand scheme of things.

I have been informed by my Canadian friend that this is  the Canada 150 Tulip developed by the Dutch for Canada's Sesquicentennial celebrations this year.  Knowing this I would think it was somewhere around either the tower or City Hall.  Thank you Ed!

Along the way to the ship we saw a couple of more places of interest....

 Casa Loma

"Step back in time as you explore the former estate of Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, a prominent Toronto financier, industrialist and military man. An unabashed romantic, Sir Henry engaged the noted architect E.J. Lennox to help him realize a life-long dream - the creation of a 'medieval' castle on the brow of a hill overlooking Toronto. Begun in 1911, it took 300 men nearly 3 years to complete and cost $3,500,000 at that time. Sir Henry enjoyed Casa Loma for less than 10 years before financial misfortune forced him to abandon his castle home."

read more at:  http://casaloma.ca/about.html

Unfortunately this fell under Casa Loma's elegance - no relationship at all, just a funny sign we saw.  Makes one wonder just how many nudists they expected.

For our friend, Chuck.

Hopefully better pictures tomorrow from Niagara Falls.