A great Toronto experience!

Wow. What a fabulous city. I really enjoyed Toronto. It is a really beautiful city with so many diverse neighborhoods and people. I wanted to go visit my friend Gloria in the winter because I wanted to see a really big city with snow. Well, I got more than I bargained for.
This was from the plane, approaching landing...


They have had a lot of snow right before I got there, so it was pretty messy! I have to say that seeing the city in those conditions was great, but I want to go back in the Spring or Summer. I can tell that it would be just an amazing place to hang out. Right now it is really hard to get around, but it also looks beautiful.


this is right in front of my friend's house.


downtwon


Yorksville, a favorite place of mine :-)

My friend Gloria and I spent hours without end chatting and sharing about our lives. We have a very close relationship so it was just natural to fall back into the intimate conversations and heartfelt talks. It was a most enjoyable time. I also really loved spending some time with her daughters, twins Sol and Maru. The last time I saw the girls they were about 10 or 11, and now they are 18 years old! It was great to discover they have become these wonderful women that any parent would be proud of. They did not let me photograph them "seriously" though, but I snuck a couple of shots right before they headed out for their school semi-formal.

Gloria’s husband, Raul who I have known since he and Gloria started dating way back when, was on a business trip when I arrived, but he returned towards the end of the trip and drove us to Niagara Falls. I loved seeing the falls, although it really does not compare to the Argentine falls (Iguazu). These are significantly smaller, but it was interesting to see the falls in the middle of a developed area. In Argentina, they are in the middle of the jungle pretty much.


Here are Gloria and Raul.


The falls through a crack in the ice by the railing


Yes, it was painfully cold!

What I loved the most was Niagara-on-the-Lake. A small quaint town about 20 minutes from the falls. That is just the type of town I absolutely love, charming and full of specialty shops. It was a great day trip for the three of us and the almost 2 hours on the road each way allowed us for more conversation and getting updated on our lives.


Downtown Niagara-on-the-Lake




Isn't this just gloriuos?

Thanks for sharing this experience with me... stay tuned for my adventures in Washington, Illinois next week, where I will be attending an intensive workshop with the fabulous Jeff & Julia Woods!