Day 1: Another trip, another time

Well, last time here I couldn't finish my pourpose of writing every single day about things that happened and places I visited... But this time, I will try to keep this promise to myself. One photo, one song, one laughing moment... One weather complaint... whatever! Anything that could keep a little track of this other amazing opporturnity to be with my family, to get to know them even better and to share quality time together... 'Cause the most important things in life are the people we cherish, the good moments we spend with our loving ones and the experiences we share...

Pic of the day:

Day 16: James Garden and the first snow

There are days that you know that it's just not meant to be... I hate days like those. Like this!
So I decided to spend the whole day with my own thoughts.

Not a good day for pictures, cause we went to a park called James Garden, but it started to rain... not a very hard one... but it was enough to ruin the day.

As I was not having a good day so far... it was kind of expected.

So my family went downtown, cause my sister hadn't seen it before, and I went to Hansa to organize my life for 2012. Getting there, there was nobody working... I tried reaching them by phone, but none of the two units of the school were opened.

I was cold, wanted to pee, and out of sudden it started to snow... just great, right?! :-/
And I had to go to the shopping mall yet to meet them again and to have lunch cause I was also starving...

I got back home and slept... just because I was not in the mood for jibberjabber. When I woke up again at about 9 o'clock pm, all the neighborhood was covered with snow... a nice opportunity to take my tripod, my cam and take some shots.

Photo of the Day:

Day 15: Cirque de Soleil

Do I need to say anything else?

 
QUIDAM:

"Young Zoé is bored; her parents, distant and apathetic, ignore her. Her life has lost all meaning. Seeking to fill the void of her existence, she slides into an imaginary world - the world of Quidam - where she meets characters who encourage her to free her soul.
Quidam: a nameless passer-by, a solitary figure lingering on a street corner, a person rushing past and swallowed by the crowd. It could be anyone, anybody. Someone coming or going at the heart of our anonymous society. A member of the crowd, one of the silent majority. The one who cries out, sings and dreams within us all. This is the "quidam" whom this show allows to speak. This is the place that beckons - a place for dreaming and genuine relations where all quidams, by proclaiming their individuality, can finally emerge from anonymity"

Photo of the Day:

Day 13: And so this is Christmas!

First of all, Mariana just got here... about time... and after a 10 hours flight and a long wait at Cumbica airport, waiting to know if she would really be able to come. She got there to check her bags because had already bought a ticket with a special reservation for her seat, and minutes before she went there to check her stuff... she discovers that there was overbooking and her reservation was not registered on the computer!

Day 12: Chris Kringle shopping

Today was hell!!!!!!! The mall was crowded... we went there to buy some gifts for our Secret Santa. At Sears, a very gentle clerk explained us about this tradition here in Canada. I learned about "Chris Kringle"... I'd never heard about that before. So unexpected!

Definition: Secret Santa: - "Secret Santa is a Western Christmas tradition in which members of a group or community are randomly assigned a person to whom they anonymously give a gift. Often practiced in workplaces or amongst large families, participation in it is usually voluntary. It offers a way for many people to give and receive a gift at low cost, since the alternative gift tradition is for each person to buy gifts for every other person. In this way, the Secret Santa tradition also encourages gift exchange groups whose members are not close enough to participate in the alternative tradition of giving presents to everyone else.

Deriving from the Christkindl tradition, the ritual is known as Secret Santa in the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom; Kris Kringle or Chris Kindle (Christkindl) in ?, and as both Secret Santa or Kris Kringle in Australia, Canada, and the Philippines (where it is also known as Monito-monita). All of these names derive from traditional Christmas gift-bringers: the American custom is named after Santa Claus, while Chris Kindle and Kris Kringle are both corruptions of the original name of the German gift-bringer Christkindl, which means the 'Christ Child'. Exceptions are Britain, where the traditional gift-bringer is Father Christmas, and the Philippines which has the Three Kings.

The term Secret Santa can refer to the practice itself, or any of the people participating. In Germany, Switzerland and Austria this tradition is called Wichteln or Engerl und Bengerl. In Portuguese, it is called amigo secreto or amigo oculto (secret friend), while in Spain it is called amigo invisible (invisible friend). Most places in Latin America use amigo secreto." (Wikipedia)

Photo of the Day:

Day 11: Royal Ontario Museum

Yesterday we tried to go to the museum, but the guide we bought was not that updated, even though it was published in 2010. It's a great guide but some information had changed. Well, the thing is... we walked around the neighborhood yesterday and as we had got some tickets with the manager of ROM's gift shop, we dedicated the entire day for this museum.

From Chinese to Contemporary Canadian Art, we saw it all... Animals, stones, Japanese panels and medieval body armour... real Chinese temple thresholds. Amazing! In the stairways, two huge Totems!

My mom was petrified with the rocks collection (sorry for the joke). Diamonds with a size of a baseball.. a blue star sapphire called "Star of Lanka"... a priceless Cartier bracelet... so beautiful!

But the nicest thing we saw there was a Maya culture exhibition... fantastic! Lots of videos and interactive resources that amplified a lot our knowledge. Mom and I are decided to go to Mexico to see this beauty with our own eyes. Before the 13th b'ak'tun ends... ;-)

We spent 4 hours looking all the galleries, going up and down the four stories of this complete unique building. It was founded in 1912, designed by two torontonians architects: Frank Darling and John A. Pearson in an Italian Neo-romanesque style that was beautifully brought to the 21st Century by the hands of Daniel Libeskind that added a Deconstructivist look at the new museum entrance entitled "The Crystal", built in 2007.

A must-see!

Photo of the Day:

The Crystal

Day 10: Yorkville

Today we went to Yorkville, to take some pictures and know this very famous area in Toronto. "Yorkville is a district in Toronto well known for its shopping. It is a former village, annexed by the City of Toronto. It is roughly bounded by Bloor Street to the south, Davenport Road to the north, Yonge Street to the east and Avenue Road to the west, and is considered part of the 'The Annex' neighbourhood officially. It is recognized as one of Canada's most exclusive shopping districts."

We loved the place! The victorian houses are so charming and gives the district a very fancy look, very chic and sophisticated with all the stores and restaurants. Walking around this neighborhood makes us feel in a kind of Oscar Freire... but with an european architecture.

It's very close to the Royal Ontario Museum that mom and I wanted to visit but there were some misleading information in our guide that made this impossible for the day. But even though, we visited the lobby and found a very big gift shop inside the place and met Sunny, the manager of the shop.

He came to us to help, and I started talking with him about Toronto... he gave some tips on places to visit and also gave my mom and I a free-pass for the next day, because I told him about our problem with the information in the touristic guide.

It was a very nice day and tomorrow we will come back to see the interior of the ROM.

Photo of the day:

Song vibe: