Distellery doorway

A beautiful green doorway found inside the Distillery District downtown. And you get a bonus reflection!

Pom pons

There were so many beautiful flowers at the Royal Botanical Gardens. It gave me plenty of material to work with, like these lovely hydrangeas.

GO!

For the size of city like Toronto, I don't think their public transport system is very good. However, I must give full credit to the commuter trains, the GO. They are typically on time and always very clean and comfortable.

PS: I've moved on from Turkey to Crete on my travel blog. Stop by and take a look!

Coneflowers

I caught a beautiful visitor on some coneflowers at the Royal Botanical Gardens just outside Toronto. It's a lovely place to visit, I'll definitely have to go back in the fall and spring to see how it looks in other seasons. To see more flowers from around the world, visit Today's Flowers.

Masked chairs

I am not sure one of these chairs would go with my decor, but they were available for sale at an art market in the Distillery District. They are certainly something different!

Bench reflected

This shot comes to you from the Distillery District. It's a wonderful place to walk around in the evening or on the weekends, there's always something going on. I found this bench reflected in the window of a theatre. It almost looks ghostlike. 

To see more reflections from around the world, visit Weekend Reflections.

Getting heavy

This guy is looking a little worn out from carrying the weight of this building on his shoulders. I found him downtown on a building near the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Honest sign

Honest Ed's has apparently been part of the Toronto landscape for quite a number of years. I've passed it many times and the sparkly signs and funny sayings always attract me. Someday I'll actually go inside!

Another Toronto blogger has a daytime view of the sign up and you can see more signs from around the world at Signs, Signs.

The beaches

Woodbine Beach is a nice place to cool off on a hot Toronto day. Bring a picnic and your volleyball and you'll be set for a day of fun in the sun. Or if you don't have much time, just take a stroll down the boardwalk and do some people watching.

From above

The Peterborough lift lock is the highest hydraulic lock in the world. Basically there are two basins (one upper and one lower) which boats sail into. Once the operators deem the basins are full enough they close them up and put the lift into motion. One of the basins goes down while the other comes up. It's really quite an impressive work of engineering. This shot was taken when we were on the upper lock coming down. Here's a link to more information on the lift lock.

Lift lock

We did take the boat tour in Peterborough. It took us through two locks which are part of the Trent Severn Waterway that links Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay. The first lock was your typical kind where the boats come in and they fill the basin with water. The second was the lift lock. I'll show you more of it tomorrow, it's quite something!

I'm linking this post up to Sunday Bridges. Click on the link to see more bridges from around the world.

Perfect day

After visiting the Hope Mill, we headed to Peterborough for a lock tour. The blue sky and puffy clouds made it the perfect day for a boat tour. I still can't believe how well these iPhone shots came out!

This post is dedicated to the memory of Klaus Peter, one of the founders of Skywatch. Please stop by the site and take a look at other skies from around the world.

Harbourfront lion

 

I found this fierce fellow down at the harbourfront. You'll always find something interesting to snap down there!

Doorway to the mill

A last look at the Hope Mill. This side entrance took you into the main sawing room. We watched them load some logs from the water and do the preliminary cuts. Quite interesting.

Living quarters

We were told that in the old days, the family that owned the mill would have actually lived onsite. This is an approximation of what their quarters might have looked like. Mom and Dad would probably sleep in the bed and there would have been another mattress underneath that could be pulled out for the children to share. I'm still glad I live in modern times!

Prete pour la fete

We had our first little soiree at our new home in Toronto this weekend. A few friends came over for dinner and we barbecued and ate al fresco. It was a wonderful night for it. And we're doing it again with another couple on Tuesday!

PS: There are still photos from my Mediterranean cruise on my travel blog. Right now I'm showcasing Turkey.

Dammed up

In order to get power for the mill, you need a dam. The Hope Mill is run with a Francis turbine which requires the water to flow into it from a higher elevation. It's all very technical, but our guide (and my engineer husband) was very good at explaining it all.

Inner workings

An up close look at the inner workings of the Hope Mill. This is the gear box which starts spinning when the water turbine runs. It then links up to the main drive shaft which runs the saw mill. Our guide said all of this equipment was original to the mill. It was quite an interesting demonstration. 

To see more monochrome shots, check out the Weekend in Black and White.

Hopeful reflections

Reflections in the river that runs the Hope Mill. It was a beautiful day to visit and we did get to see the mill in operation. To see more reflections from around the world, visit Weekend Reflections.

Hope mill

A visit to the Hope Mill will take you back a couple of centuries. The mill and dam remain on their original site, contributing to the unique character of this historic landmark of Peterborough County. Operation continues today, locals can bring their logs to have them sawed down and artisans still make furniture and other wooden goods to sell onsite. Although it's tucked back into a rural area, it was certainly worth a visit. I am linking this one to Barn Charm.

PS: This photo was taken with my iPhone. Unfortunately I forgot to put my memory card back in the camera. But I don't think it turned out too bad.

Lonely house

Somehow this little house looks so lonely admist all those high-rise apartments. This building was part of our old neighborhood, I'm not really sure what is was doing there. But it was cute!

Thirsty?

 

The Town Crier is a popular meeting spot for the German community in Toronto. They have a wide selection of German beers and even some typical German food. My husband and I have attended a couple of German meet-up events here. It's a good way to make sure our German isn't getting too rusty and it's fun to meet new people too!

Party crasher

I put out my bird cam a few weeks ago in my new yard. So far, all I've gotten are pictures of nothing and this squirrel. You just can't get away from them, in Jackson or in Toronto!

Harbourfront

You can't beat a blue sky over the water. This shot comes from the area known as Harbourfront in Toronto. The quays are lined with restaurants, shops and other activities (like boat trips). This is a look at those lucky few who can afford to keep their watercraft docked here. Must be fun.

I hope your weekend is off to a good start. This will be our last hurrah with the MiL and we've still got so much to see! If you'd like to see more skies from around the world, visit Skywatch.

Decorated dancer

It was really hard to get photos during the parade. We were behind a metal fence and everyone was moving so fast! This was the best picture I got of one of the dancers actually in motion. It really was beautiful!

Saving sign

I guess this woman wanted to save a few souls while at the carnival this weekend. What I didn't understand, is why she brought a sign in Chinese.

To see more interesting and funny signs from around the world, check out Signs, Signs.

Caribbean carnival: Take two

My MiL arrived from Germany for a visit last Friday. One of the things we decided to show her was the Caribbean Carnival right here in downtown Toronto. Apparently it's one of the biggest carnivals in North America and the organizers were expecting one million visitors into the city for this year's event. I don't know what the final count was, but it was certainly crowded!

This is a close-up look at one of the many beautiful costumes from the event. It was really impressive with all the dancers and the music. My MiL and I will continue to be tourists this week and see some of the other sights in Toronto. I am looking forward to it!

August theme day: Postcard view

A view of this past weekend's Caribbean Carnival against the skyline of Toronto. If that's not postcard worthy, I don't know what is!

To see more postcard vistas from around the world click here. I also have a bonus view of Athens on my travel blog.