Maple Leafs and Shamrocks with a touch of English Rose

So this is a little strange - I'm writing my travelogue from my Dads computer! Loses a bit of the essence admittedly but I'm still not technically back home so it'll do. That said, tomorrow night I do get on the plane back to real home! So for those of you who’ve found the length of my e-mails slightly challenging the good news is that this e-mail just CAN’T be too long because if I reach Israel before it does it just wont get finished!

But on with the show….

Nothing against Toronto as a tourist spot (although I’ll talk about that later) I probably wouldn’t have considered making the trip were it not for my very good friend Marissa Muscat who moved back there with her hubby Joel after 5 years in Israel a year and a half ago. The main aim for my visit was to catch up with Marissa which in addition to the normal “yachna”ing included getting to know her gorgeous 8 month old daughter Noa. I've said it before and I’ll say it again - people make my trips and my last 3 weeks especially has been a lot about people.

I won’t go into great detail of days filled with playing with Noa and then playing cards in between her sleeps, shopping in huge kosher supermarkets or aptly named outlets such as Bulk Barn and Dollarama but suffice to say mission well accomplished! (Special mention for the fun morning we spent helping out a charity golf tournament watching how the other half live and taking rides on the golf carts) Maybe it could be said for any immigrant population, maybe it could be said for friends you make in your twenties but for me the friendships I’ve made since making Aliyah have been some of the strongest. Staying with Marissa and Joel was just like staying at home and it was amazing how quickly it felt like we’d never been apart. That’s probably why it was far harder to say good-bye because it was only then that I realised that all the jokes I’d made during the week about seeing Noa next time at her wedding (or at least returning to Toronto) were closer to the truth than I cared to admit.

Anyway however happy I was to see family Muscat, Toronto was a new city for me and it deserved some exploring. First things first, let it be known Toronto is a big city. Although I’d visited a few significant cities during my trip – Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington, NY, Boston - they were all on a far smaller scale. (New York City maybe a pretty large city with all five boroughs but inevitably visitors tends to limit themselves just to Manhattan). Toronto reminded me far more of London in regards to the suburbs and distances involved although as I got used to it became slightly smaller! The true size of the city is best appreciated by a trip up the CN tower. Personally I’m not quite sure why this tower was built despite the exhibition about big buildings at the bottom. It’s the tallest freestanding structure (note the wording) in the world and I think it was officially built as a telecom tower. Unofficially (or Lisa’s take on it) it was built as a tourist attraction as it always helps to get an overview of the city your visiting and stereotypically 50% of the population are always going to be disproportionately obsessed by tall structures!

From the CN tower viewing gallery (1136 ft I think) as well as seeing lots of people looking silly having their photos taken on the glass floor, you get to see the beautiful lake Ontario and the greens of Toronto. As I discovered on two separate cycling trips, amidst all the buildings there are still some stunning ravines and rich countryside. My first cycle trip after a comedy of errors (I rented the bicycle after I had managed to miss the guide for a guided tour, the lens from my sunglasses fell out and then just as I was getting going the trail maps flew out of my trouser pocket) was out along the waterfront towards an area called the Beaches. The weather was good and the view was pleasant but I what I got most out of this ride was the activity itself. The cycle paths are well labelled and Toronto is on the whole agreeably flat. I would cycle a lot more were paths limited to flats and declines only! On a different day I took a ride through Mount Pleasant Cemetery, burial place of some famous Canadian premier (Q – isn’t famous Canadian an oxymoron?) and through the Central Ravines and then onto an area called Cabbagetown. Incredibly green and leafy, only complaints would be for my own stupidity of lugging a bicycle down 50 steps instead of looking for the cycle path and then having to carry it part the way up again too. This mistake was probably made as I was referring to the municipality’s Discovery Trails, which are excellent WALKING tours around Toronto. These are highly recommended and are probably available online for anyone planning a trip. Also recommended was my guidebook, which I chose when I despaired of Lonely Planet’s high price and Rough Guides preoccupation with food and drink. Called “The OTHER Guide to Toronto: Opening the Door to Green Tourism”, I loved this book as it gave lots of ideas of walking and cycling trips ideal for those who cant face another museum or cheesy bus tour.

I broke my no museum rule once when I visited the BATA Shoe museum. Basically a museum about the history of the shoe this was one type of museum that unlike a Science or Natural History you don’t get in every city. That aside it was actually an interesting way to spend an hour learning all about footwear. The curator managed to make an association with every religion – while other cultures focus around weddings and other joyous event the “Jewish” shoe was the chalitza shoe worn for divorces only! Apparently length of toe used to be associated with status and a special exhibition on heels demonstrated how these weren’t always just female attire and that the stilt predecessors to platforms were positively death-defying! A few famous shoes were on display including Elton’s, Imelda’s and Diana’s (the latter a disappointing C&A like model). I knew not to expect Dorothys – I’d seen them in the Smithsonian!!! Would probably recommend a visit if you’re in the area or at the very least taken one piece of wisdom proffered on a card in the shoe-themed gift shop – “If the shoe fits buy it in all colours!”

I stayed in Thornhill – a very Jewish suburb about half an hour from the city center (by train). Like all Jewish communities though, the Jewish community has migrated out from the center over the last century. I was lucky enough to catch a tour of the old Jewish Neighbourhood of Kensington on one Sunday morning. Expecting 10-20 people max I was amazed when over 100 people showed up and from my understanding most people were local. (When I later found out that there was a free bagel lunch afterwards at the local JCC it all made sense!) The tour started at the Anshei Minsk synagogue that despite being the recent victim of an arson attempt still remains an active shul serving a mostly student population. The area is now part of Chinatown and the adjacent Kensington Market now selling funky food and clothes started off as Jewish traders selling out of the fronts of their houses. The tour took us passed the standard number of buildings that used to be shuls (there were over a hundred in the area at one point), chedarim and Jewish businesses but what made it more interesting was the contributions of locals verifying and annotating the guides explanations.

I did get to a few other places – the Royal York Hotel, the Queens official place to stay in Toronto; the Hockey Hall of Fame, well the outside; Lawrence Market; Mirvish village; but my favourite things were the less touristy things. Through the internet I had managed to hook up with a weekly Improv workshop held in a small theatre in the Bloor neighbourhood. As I was two weekends in Toronto I was able to attend twice and both workshops were lots of fun. Although I prefer stand up to theatersports a la “Whose line is it anyway” it was incredibly interesting learning and practicing the techniques behind the art of Improv. One other cultural endeavour during my visit was attending a poetry recital at the central library. Of course at this stage in my travelling I was up for anything that was free but I was particularly attracted to this as some of it was travel poetry. I also have recently discovered that poetry can be like modern art – something very relaxing, which gives me time to zone in zone out and reflect on life and the big onion.

Attending these events made me admit to myself that living in Jerusalem/Israel (or perhaps the Anglo world of Jerusalem/Israel) I am limited on these kind of opportunities to access the arts and explore such talents but it is one of my resolutions on my (imminent) return to either find or make such opportunities.

And that was about it for Toronto. A special mention to Marissa’s parents who as well as just recently becoming grandparents for the 7th time (first grandson!) made me very welcome for Shabbat lunch as well as a couple of impromptu visits during the week. I know that they are avid readers of this travelogue (let that not be a reflection on the pace of life in Toronto) so Monty and Eileen – hello and I hope the read was worth all the reformatting!!!

After 10 great days I couldn’t believe I was getting my round the world ticket out for the last time. Wow! How time had flown. I flew into London at 9am (thinking it was 3 am) and experienced my only really bad bout of jet lag, which was thankfully cured with a happy (sleepy) pill. Within a few hours of my arrival I discovered the solution to tension on return to parents houses. Travel for 3 months previous to your trip and you will be more relaxed than you could ever remember. I even agreed to go to Kenton Shul the week of the choir, a Bat Mitzvah and an Aufruf without batting an eyelid. All this was helped by scheduled meetings with friends – Jo, friend and travel agent (plug FlightCentres, Holburn), Nathan, old school friend, whom I met up with to watch the England – Argentina match, superb!, Barny, an Israel friend in England (its all good) and Melissa, another old school friend who accompanied me to a Primary School Reunion and promptly ran out again with me when it was clear that the word had NOT got out to go!

But my trip still hadn’t really ended as I’d decided a few weeks back to take advantage of Ryanair cheap fares to Dublin. At £40 return I was ready to pay out for hostels but having been in touch with a friend I’d met in New Zealand (Mick of St Patricks Day in Christchurch fame) he insisted that I stay there and experience Dublin with a local. Happy to accept I found myself staying in the village of Lucan on the outskirts of Dublin which 20 minutes by bus was a perfect location to get a little bit of green yet still be near the city

Well to sum it up it was a grand grand way to end my trip. Coming from Northern Ireland, Mick isn’t really a local so in addition to going out all three nights on his day off he happily joined me to tour the city as well. It also helped that Ireland managed to score 3 goals for the first time in a World Cup match so the city was buzzing and I got to watch the match in a pub heaving with fans supporting the Boys in Green (Keano! – Robbie not Roy!) in the trendy Temple Bar area.

Before meeting up with Mick on the Monday I took a walking tour from Trinity College, which basically covered the history of Dublin in 2 hours. Although you’d think I’d had enough of tours after all this travelling, this tour was particularly stimulating for several reasons 1) Finally a city with more (far) more than 200 years history. Dublin celebrated its millennium just recently and if you want to talk about European Settlers here you’re talking about the Celts 2500 years ago! 2) The tours were given by PhD or post doc students at Trinity College so the level of information was high and was given with some kind of insight and character 3) I was anxious to understand the history as having lived in England growing up I am embarrassed not to know or understand the roots of the Anglo-Irish conflict. The walk took us from Trinity College onto the Bank of Ireland (former Parliament), Dublin Castle and ended at Christchurch and was incredibly informative. I wouldn’t claim to be an expert but I now have some appreciation how Gaelic culture, Catholic/Anglican tensions and the Potato famine played their part in the Irish people’s fight for home rule.

Later on in the week I took the “Sex and the City” tour given by the same company, which went through Dublin’s history this time focusing on all the myths and scandals eg Molly Malone (mythical) and Kitty O’Shea and Parnell (true and very sloppy) and the influence of pagan tradition and then the Catholic church on the habits and the attitudes of the Irish. Dublin’s history is so rich that it can be studied from any number of perspectives – a visit to the Dublin Writers Museum showed how influenced and influential the literary population of Dublin was over the last few centuries. This literary culture continues until today despite censorship attempts in earlier parts of the century – don’t forget the Irish had to declare a free state before they could censor themselves!

No trip to Dublin is complete without a visit to the Guinness Store House (the brewery itself isn’t open to the public). Although it is mega hype and clearly the limited info that there is on how to make a beer which was stretched out over 5 floors of a state of the art building could have been covered in one room, the exhibit on the Guinness ads will keep you for at least 20 minutes and of course the free bar at the top for longer. If you don’t drink too much of the black stuff you can actually take in a pretty cool view of the city from there too.

I actually wasn’t able to finish my comp Guinness but later on I discovered that I can drink it just not as the first drink of the night! After spending my first night at one of Lucan’s locals, we spent the next two nights in town. Tuesday night was fantastic as Dublin was alive celebrating Ireland’s win. We got to 4 pubs in all finishing off at a pub with a live band playing Irish folk music so I was able to practice the jig I’d learnt back in Christchurch. My last night was also spent at a number of pubs in town including Brazen Head the oldest pub in Ireland, possibly Europe where there was a quartet singing true Irish music (none of this jazzed up stuff).

As I said at the beginning of this email, traveling is about the people you meet. In addition to giving me a great tour of pubs in Dublin it was marvelous to catch up with Mick and get his perspective on Irish history as well as generally talking the traveler talk. As my last few weeks had been spent with friends I hadn’t done this for a while and my 4 days in Dublin brought back all the best things about traveling - meeting new people and connecting with them - people that you'd probably never meet in normal life. What was especially fascinating was speaking to someone who was also getting to know themselves and the world through traveling and had definitely got the travel bug, but at the same time realising a true love for their home country. This was a very affirming thing for me to hear, as I got ready to go back to Israel. I had a fab time and I came back to London on a real high.

So that’s it! And as it is now 3 am, I can say I fly back to Israel today! Thankfully I seem to have a lot going on when I get back (Weddings, visits from friends and family and my first travel writing job! – yes I’m going to be paid so thanks for the practice) so hopefully the bump back to earth wont happen too quickly.

I’ve really enjoyed writing these e-mails (well I can say I’ve always been happy I’ve written them!) but it will be good to see all the people I’ve been writing to them too.

Lots and lots of love to you all, Here’s to peace (yeah man) wherever you are