An English 'Girl' in North America
The main purpose of visiting Canada was for Stuart to see Winnipeg, where he was born. We were very fortunate to have made contact with one Ernie McLean, through the Internet, and he was kind enough to take an afternoon off work and show us round. The main highlight was a visit to the Legislative Building (Winnipeg is the capital of Manitoba) where they were preparing for the "Swearing-In" of the newly-elected Premier the next day. As it happened, Ernie had been highly involved in the election and "his man" had got in, unexpectedly it seemed, and as we were emerging from the most impressive building, there was the Premier-to-be getting into his car. Ernie gave him a wave and he came over to be introduced to Ernie's "cousins" from England. We considered it a great honour. Look out for the name, Gary Dewar.
Following that, Ernie took us to lunch - at a Ukrainian restaurant, where we ate food we have never heard of before - Prerogee and Khuilbasse! It was all very tasty and different. Then we set off to find 1827 Alexander Avenue, which Ernie had told us was in an area that had been redeveloped recently, so maybe the house had been pulled down. No. 1827 was still there but it was disappointing - all the other houses in the road had been modernised or given a lick of paint, most of them in good condition, except for this one house where Stuart's parents had lived. Mind you, it was several decades ago that they left but it seemed a shame that it was that particular house that had been neglected.
We left Winnipeg and went on to Edmonton where my real cousin Ailsa lives but I have skipped our first port of call - Toronto, where Mike and Kathy live, or nearby, Burlington, to be precise. Toronto is not far from Niagara Falls and across the Falls is the US of A. We had to see the Falls of course and we do all the tourist things, like go behind the huge cascade of water and in one of the many boats called "The Maid in the Mist" which goes right into the spray. The force just takes your breath away, and you get soaked into the bargain, even though they give you plastic macs to protect you. It is a marvelous spectacle.