A Canadian Christmas, 2012

 

On the first day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me....

A celebration at the Flamino's house, (Erik's parents) in a small town about forty minutes from Orillia. We were so lucky to be invited to share in the Christmas celebrations with the Flamino's extended family. They were so kind to the Aussies who had come to visit, even buying us little Christmas gifts. Carl and I really look like tourists now after being given some Canadian clothing and are the proud owners of some Canadian wine, not that it will last long at all!

Carl enjoyed playing hockey outside in the snow with Blu (Erik's nephew) and then we went on a short walk with the dog. On the way... I spotted bear paw prints!!!!!!

Ha ha! Honestly though, the Flamino's told us that bears were sighted around their home quiet frequently. David (Erik's dad) told us a story about the day he arrived home from work to see the police parked at his house. He instantly thought his daughter had done something illegal (again) but it turned out to be a warning about a bear that had been seen in their backyard. A neighbour had called the police because they can be very dangerous... who would've thought!
Carl and I enjoyed exploring the creeks and old houses on our walk. We even managed to get a nice photo of the two of us in front of an old barn...

Couple of the Year, Carl Jensen and Janelle Patroni  :)
Also, note the Canadian Jersey, mittens and scarf.

We ate soooooooooo much food at the Flamino's Christmas. Carl managed to get seconds of the turkey dinner and then we had deserts too - Lemon Meringue Pie and Cherry Cheesecake. After dinner was cleaned up and the children were put to bed, we all played/gambled with a game called 31. It's a tradition and a fun one too. Unfortunately, neither of us won though. Bit of a shame...


On the second day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me...

A celebration at Erin's Mom's House! Just around the corner on lake Simcoe.




Erin's Mom's house is beautiful. It sits on the lake and the views are stunning. I can just imagine them in Summer and Fall.

When we arrived the squirrels were running around everywhere!
Ron managed to snap a picture of this one using his fancy camera! Thanks Ron.

We spent the whole day at Erin's mom's house. We ate, we sang, we ate, we talked, we played games!
So much fun! We were very lucky to receive presents at this house too. Maple syrup of course! We also got some fudge, some home made wines and some special mugs. The mugs were painted by a famous Canadian artist too. We have information about him that you'll have to read when we get home.

Erin's sister Lisa and her husband Andrew were unable to have their own children. They adopted two absolutely adorable Korean babies, Keo (5) and Park (2). Carl of course enjoyed teasing, chasing and playing with these two kids all day long! He even took them outside for a snowball fight and some tobogganing.

The view from the back of the house. The lake is slowly freezing over but is still watery in some parts.

Carl and the boys playing in the snow. I'm so jealous I couldn't join them,
but I didn't have the appropriate clothing.

 

^^ The above photo was taken just after Carl had inhaled two (yes two!) turkey dinners. We had spinach salad, sweet potatoes, corn, peas, potato pies, turkey meat, stuffing/dressing and gravy. Carl couldn't help himself of course because all good food should be eaten and you shouldn't stop at one serving! Of course there was desert too and Carl couldn't turn down a piece of home-made pumpkin pie. So a few hours later we weren't all that surprised that Carl was laying on the couch moaning like a baby that his belly hurt. We had to drive home slowly in Erik's car in fear that Carl might vomit up his enormous meal. Fingers crossed he has learned his lesson about eating too much, too quickly.

I doubt it though!!! :)


On the third day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me...

A third and final celebration at Erin's Dad's house in Barrie. On the way though, Carl and I got to do a little shopping and took advantage of some boxing day sales. Carl purchased some brand new ice skates (he's determined to do a lot of ice skating and is now certain that we will live somewhere cold when we teach abroad) and I got to visit Scholar's Choice the teacher's store! Yahoo! It's crazy how much we pay in Australia for teaching resources. I spent probably a good 40 minutes there but it wasn't enough. I didn't go crazy though, I just bought some essential items and a few gifts for a friend but we have to go back because Carl didn't get to shop for long. Something that we usually have to pay $25 for we can pick up for $10 here. We'd be silly not to stock up on some stuff.

We did enjoy our day with Erin's dad Larry and his wife Mary. We had a lighter dinner too which was nice. I don't know if I could have eaten turkey 3 nights in a row. Carl and I had fun entertaining Park and Keo and now we're ready for bed.

No rest for the wicked though because I have to pack for our next adventure. We're all heading to Peterborough tomorrow for a couple of days. We're going to do all kinds of amazing things in the snow. I'll have to fill you in a bit later!

Until then, stay safe!

Xx Janelle and Carl

Toronto (Part 2)

Last to bed, Last to wake up!

Officially poor, pregnant Erin had only begun her Christmas holiday and so on the second day that we were in Toronto she demanded a sleep in. After being woken up at around 2am with a false fire alarm, we were only too happy to oblige. Only, we probably shouldn't have slept in until 11am!!

Oh well, Pam knew just the place for breakfast and we were able to catch up with Larisa too. It was there that Ron-Yum ordered the.... KILLER SHAKE. It was only 35 ounces!!

Ha ha, hilarious! All of the meals here seem to be so big! Erin and I ordered french toast with maple syrup (of course) and fresh berries. When it came, I realised I should have just shared with Erin

because it was made with 6 thick pieces of bread. Oh my... I can feel the kilos just piling on!!

It was for this reason (and because Carl is persistently begging for winter sports) that we all went ice skating at a public ice rink in the city centre!! Carl and I both LOVE ice skating. We both grew up skating at the Gladstone Skate Centre and it's really not much different. Except that when you fall on your ass, you get wet!! We hired skates for ten dollars and enjoyed skating around for a while...

Erin and I getting warmed up.

Ron had a little trouble skating. He spent a lot of time on the sides. To be fair though, the skates were hurting our feet!

We skated at City Hall in Toronto. Beautiful right? Very busy too!! Luckily no one fell over... how embarrassing!?

Carl of course, skated like a pro. We all had the BEST time holding onto him and letting him pull us around after him. It was the fasted Ron skated all day!

Carl and I figure skating. He is so strong, lifting me up like that!! How beautiful are we??



After our skate, we stopped in at a Tim Hortons (they are everywhere!!!) and grabbed a hot chocolate. Pam then drove us around on a short tour to see parts of Toronto. We even got to see Casa Loma  --->> For more information click here:  Casa Loma on Wikipedia 

It's a pretty sad story about the guy who built the castle, but it now belongs to the city of Toronto and people can even have weddings there! So beautiful...

After that, we had to drive home. It was a short stay, but a wonderful one. We will be visiting Toronto again soon to watch a hockey game! Can't wait for that!!

But until next time... Love you!

Xx Janelle and Carl

Toronto : The Windy City (Part 1)

THE CN TOWER

The Flaminos are a short drive away from Toronto, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend a weekend in the windy city! It usually would only take about an hour and a bit to get there, but because it was the first weekend of the holidays and it was snowing, it did take us a little longer...

Eventually (and with the help of a GPS) we made it to Pam's apartment. We all met Pam when she visited Australia at the end of last year, 2011. She and a friend (Larisa) tagged along to our work Christmas party and we quickly became friends.

Pam is in the centre of this photograph. Larisa is standing on the right next to Erin.

Pam offered her place for us to stay at while we visited Toronto and gave up her weekend to join us on our adventures. We are so grateful for Pam's apartment and knowledge of the city because it would have cost a lot more and we would have wasted so much time getting lost!!

Erin and Erik warned us about the wind in Toronto before we left, but looks can be deceiving. While there wasn't any snow on the ground, the buildings act like wind tunnels and the wind can blow you off your feet. The short walk from Pam's apartment to the subway was probably no more than 500m, but every part of my face was on fire, my hair was a mess and even the boys were complaining of the bitterness of the walk!! It didn't stop some poor Asian girl from wearing a short skirt and pair of stockings. CRAZY!!

Our first stop was the CN Tower in the city. We decided to beat the crowd and go early and I'm glad we did. There was hardly anyone there! I was a little nervous about scaling the tower, especially after hearing that the elevators had a glass bottom -  but you'll be happy to know, I was very brave. Well it was either that or attempting to climb the 1 776 stairs.

The CN Tower stands over a half a kilometre high and is the signature icon of Toronto's skyline and symbol of Canada. It is a communications and observation tower and was classified as one of the 7th wonders of the modern world.
 



       

       

 We are a very long way from home!! We were extremely lucky to visit Toronto on a beautiful sunny day! We had clear views of the city below! Not like when we visited Paris and climbed the Eiffel tower - it was a miserable day and when we finally made it to the top, we couldn't see a thing! :)

 Carl is standing on the glass floors. He's brave!!

I am not so brave!! My face in this photo says it all!! BUT - I did actually make it to the middle for a few seconds. There were kids around us jumping on the glass - so stupid!!

Standing on the glass floor!!! Scary Stuff!



Of course, after exploring around the towers and taking happy snaps, we felt a little peckish. There was a restuarant on the floor we were on so we stayed to have lunch. I am so glad that we did because it was a very nice restuarant with lots of yummy foods. Erin and I were super happy to see there was Creme Brulee on the menu. We love crem brulee so much! It was exactly (to the day!) a year ago since the two of us were eating creme brulee deserts in New Zealand. Carl just shook his head disapprovingly... but I couldn't say no, it's like a tradition.

And that was our first adventure!

But after visiting the CN Tower, Erin just had to show us the Eaton Centre (a massive shopping mall) in the city. It was three levels and because we were there only a few days before Xmas, there were hundreds of people scurrying about trying to pick up the perfect last minute gifts. I have been so good and haven't been buying clothes etc. mainly because I probably wouldn't/couldn't wear them back home in hot Australia! But we were fascinated by the large reindeer structures that were placed around the centre and the large Christmas trees that seemed to be everywhere!!

After a few hours of browsing and a quick coffee we headed back home on the subway. We purchased tickets to see 'War Horse' the Musical. Carl and I hadn't seen the movie and we weren't sure what to expect. When heard the horses were puppets, we were honestly a bit skeptical. But the puppeteers were so wonderful and had really learned all of the natural manerisms of a horse, we quickly forget they were there! It wasn't what I would call a "musical" because there wasn't all that much singing and dancing, but it was enjoyable.

The Wizard of Oz musical has just opened up in Toronto too. Carl and I have talked about getting some tickets to see it just before we leave! It would seem a shame to have come all this way and not see it!  

Stay tuned,

Xx Janelle and Carl



Brrrr... it's cold over here!

Downtown Orillia

Finally... a full night's rest! I woke up today feeling mighty fine. We had a quick breakfast, put several layers of clothing on and walked to the bus stop. Thankfully, the Flamino's live centrally to a small shopping village (may have mentioned this earlier) and the bus comes every half our. Here, a bus ride costs a "toonie" - which is equivalent to $2. It only took us ten minutes to get "downtown". It was great that there were so many shops to look at too because I couldn't stand out in the cold wind for very long without shivering!!

The weather forecast predicted snow for the weekend and today was bitterly cold and windy! We walked into the coolest antique store first and spent nearly an hour there looking at all of the vintage clothes, jewellery and other collectable items. Carl managed to find some old Avengers comics in there! Yay. Needless to say, after we walked down one side of the main street, we had worked up an appetite! Erin and Erik had recommended we eat at a place called Mariposa Market. It's a bakery / cafe. The food there was amazing to look at. Little tarts and cakes, pies and cookies! Wow. I think Carl and I were feeling pretty guilty about our binge out at yesterday's lunch, so we ordered a salad. Oh and a meat pie and quiche. Ha ha. The salad counts though... right? 

It was there that we bought some pretty cool gifts for some pretty cool people! I managed to find the perfect gift for Jennie and Gordy. I know they will LOVE this gift because the LOVE talking about poo! We couldn't help ourselves and have already had a peek inside. We were in fits of laughter tonight reading AND learning all there is to know about poo. I can't wait to see their eyes light up as they read through it at the dinner table... :)

After lunch, the boys wanted to trek across town and hit the various op shops for more ski gear and warm clothes. This was a fabulous idea only it was about 1 degree today and with the wind, reaching lows of -5 degrees. I was frozen by the time we reached the first one and was about to kill them both by the time we reached the second. The sky had turned a nasty grey and it seemed to be getting colder by the minute, so we decided to go home. Of course, Ron directed us onto the wrong bus and we enjoyed a lovely 1/2 hour drive around the South of Orillia before realising we were on the wrong bus! The bus driver was nice enough to call down the correct bus and we got to ride that one for free!! 

Carl and I realised that we were on the wrong bus - OOOPS! 

We were going to walk to the shops and pick up some milk on the way home, but decided not to because it looked like rain. (P.S Milk comes in plastic bags here... like bladders? Oh and the cheese is orange. Weird.) Erin had been hoping to see some "freezing rain" today so that she wouldn't have to work as long. They call snow days usually when there is "freezing rain" because it makes the roads unsafe to drive on. That's a pretty cool excuse not to work that I wish we had in Australia. It was probably a good idea that we did go home, because it rained shortly after. I don't really want to catch a cold and as it is, I have wind burnt cheeks and cracked lips from walking in the wind all day. Grrr

So after dinner, we all decided to stay in and play a board game. It was pretty intense. We played for over an hour and didn't even realise that it had started snowing outside! Yes. Snowing! Real snow! As you can imagine the game finished quickly after that and we went upstairs to put on every single bit of clothing we owned. It was 11pm and we were going to play outside in the snow!!

Carl getting ready to throw a snowball! Snowball fight!!

Jumping for joy and the sight of snow!
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I am a bit sad that I missed Dad's skype tonight though. It would have been pretty cool to show him the snow falling from the sky. Maybe soon..... :) 

Other than that, we are getting ready for a white x-mas. They play Christmas carols non-stop here and there is tinsel and glitter everywhere! Most stores are decorated and we've passed a few pine tree shops around too. That's just weird!! Well, I had better get to bed or I won't have any energy to build a snow man tomorrow.

Love

Janelle and Carl Xx

Orillia, Ontario

Home Sweet Home : Looks can be decieving!

Above is the quaint home of Erik and Erin Flamino. So cute! It doesn't look very big from the outside, but this small house is actually 3 stories. It has 3 good sized bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a basement. It's very spacious, well... it would be if there wasn't five of us living here. It is decorated with Christmas cheer and we've already tasted our first sip of Egg Nog.

Moving Slowly after a long Hibernation

Well, we're still suffering some pretty severe jet lag. The first night I managed to sleep 12 hours, but Carl and I were both up this morning at 4am. Hence, why Carl is now sleeping at 4pm. I swear to God, if he wakes me up again tomorrow morning I may hurt him!!

The Flamino's have been working this week, so Ronaldo, Carl and I have been heading out on our own. A short five minute walk down the road from the house are some shops and restaurants. We've spent the last two days exploring the dollar stores and getting lost in Walmart. Ron and Carl have been pumping their bodies with massive amounts of fat and sugar! Today we ate at a fast food chain called A&W. Ron ordered the first burger he could see - The Papa Burger combo. He complained a little, but I suspect that Ron actually enjoyed shoving the three meat patties with cheese into his mouth. We were given almost a litre of coke / root beer to wash down our burgers and fries. If we had felt like desert after lunch, there would have been plenty of places to eat doughnuts and drink hot chocolate. There is a chain called Tim Horton's (aka Tim Burton's) that is on nearly every second corner here. We haven't eaten there yet, but I suspect that we will soon!!!

On the way to the shops today, we spotted a real-live yellow school bus!! The bus driver caught us taking this picture and asked us what we were doing.

   

This afternoon, Erik finished work early and took us for a drive around the town. We stopped quickly at the lake and spotted some squirrels! They're pretty hard to photograph, but this one turned out ok!!

Travelling To Toronto

The All Aussie Adventure (Part 1)

Flight delays should be expected when travelling. Although, when I'm planning our next holiday and getting excited about going, I always seem to forget the reality of travelling. Delays. Stop overs. No sleep. More delays. 

When we booked our flights to Toronto, we were only interested in the dollar signs... 

"The cheaper the better!" we all chimed. "We can handle it. We are tough. A lay over would be nice!"

Of course, the instant we set foot on the plane and made our way past the snooty people in first class, we felt like total losers! We crammed our bags into the tiny overhead lockers and squeezed our bums into our cheap economy seats. Yup, we realised then, that we had made a huge mistake!! No matter how cute we looked and how many smiles and compliments we gave the flight attendants, there was no way we were getting upgraded! We had purchased our cheap economy seats and now we had to lie in them - the best we could anyway. What was a short 14 hour plane ride anyway?

See picture -> 

The endless struggle during a
flight to get comfortable.

To be fair, our 8:45pm departure out of Brisbane was probably perfect because our body clocks were ready for sleep. I managed to get probably the most sleep out of the three of us, but that was medically induced. 

The food was pretty tasty and there were heaps of movies, shows and games to keep us busy. The plane actually gained time in the air and we arrived an hour early. Thankfully, this meant we were given free meal vouchers to use in the airport. We were grateful for these because we didn't have any United Arab Dollars to spend! So, we headed down to the only restaurant we felt comfortable with - McDonald's. Carl was super excited because they sold a Chicken Big Mac. He's going to write a letter when we get back to Australia, so that we can add it to our menu boards.

After our healthy and nutritious breakfast, we lazed around in the airport. All of us tried desperately to get some sleep, but failed miserably. So, we took some deep breaths, walked from one side of the airport to another and freshened up.  It's amazing what a fresh pair of knickers will do for a person! :)

We were eager to leave Dubai, but not because it wasn't beautiful. It was a pity it was raining the morning we were there, but we knew were half - way and just wanted to get to Canada already!! Unfortunately, we were delayed another 45 minutes out of Dubai...

Soon enough we were back on the plane, squished up together, watching movies and eating food. The air hosts/hostesses would bring around food every couple of hours so it felt like we were always eating! The food was surprisingly very tasty too! This was my first time flying on Emirate Airlines, but I would highly recommend it! The air hosts/hostesses were beautiful, extremely professional and friendly. The plane was huge (an A380 - Air bus - 2 stories!) and was so quiet. Usually, I get a bit queasy on long flights and my imagination gets the best of me, but both flights were very smooth and the landings were great!

Then, after a grueling 34 hours or so we arrived in Toronto, Canada. We made our way through customs, collected our bags and ran with open arms towards Erik who had come to get us! Our Canadian adventure had officially begun!!

We're easing our way into our winter with record high temperatures for this time of year - 7 degrees. It's overcast and dark by 4:30pm, but it only adds to the amazement of being in another country. AND, the first thing I saw when jumping out of the car was a maple leaf. Ha ha ha, yup... we're in Canada baby!!! 

 Peace,

Xx Janelle and Carl