Our time here was a little slower in pace as
Charlene (Exchange Teacher, 2003) was away teaching in China but kindly allowed us to use her home as a base.
Mostly we walked around to the local sights. The town is on the banks of the River Grand, a relatively short, wide but shallow river known for its scenic aspects and trout fishing.
On Sunday we had our first driving experience (as opposed to being passengers) on this trip. Our destination was Stratford on the River Avon, known for its theatres etc. Here we met up with our good friends
Bernie (Exchange Teacher, 2009) and
Marg. Being such a beautiful day we walked around the town and down along the river.
Here we were entertained by a musical concert, the band being located on a barge moored to the river bank.
While the locals thought that things were looking a little dry around Ontario, we found the countryside to be quite green. Predominately the land is used for farming, and most of this seemed to be used for orchards and for growing corn.
Mmmm, the corn was very tasty indeed, but so were the locally grown raspberries, peaches, nectarines etc.
In Canada, government taxes (federal and provincial taxes) are not included in any advertised prices, so typically in Ontario you have to add 13.5% to know the true cost.
Of course, tips are expected to be paid to people offering service, people such as waiting staff, taxi drivers etc,…to compensate for their relatively low wages.
Interestingly, drivers in Ontario seem to have adopted this practice also. For example, on a road with a sign for 100kph, most add on 13.5 % to get the desired speed which seems to be allowed,…but some drivers also give a generous tip! While I must have seemed a little slow to many, we arrived safely.
Our time here was a little slower in pace as Charlene (Exchange Teacher, 2003) was away teaching in China but kindly allowed us to use her home as a base. Mostly we walked around to the local sights. The town is on the banks of the River Grand, a relatively short, wide but shallow river known for its scenic aspects and trout fishing.
On Sunday we had our first driving experience (as opposed to being passengers) on this trip. Our destination was Stratford on the River Avon, known for its theatres etc. Here we met up with our good friends Bernie (Exchange Teacher, 2009) and Marg. Being such a beautiful day we walked around the town and down along the river. Here we were entertained by a musical concert, the band being located on a barge moored to the river bank.
While the locals thought that things were looking a little dry around Ontario, we found the countryside to be quite green. Predominately the land is used for farming, and most of this seemed to be used for orchards and for growing corn. Mmmm, the corn was very tasty indeed, but so were the locally grown raspberries, peaches, nectarines etc.
In Canada, government taxes (federal and provincial taxes) are not included in any advertised prices, so typically in Ontario you have to add 13.5% to know the true cost. Of course, tips are expected to be paid to people offering service, people such as waiting staff, taxi drivers etc,…to compensate for their relatively low wages. Interestingly, drivers in Ontario seem to have adopted this practice also. For example, on a road with a sign for 100kph, most add on 13.5 % to get the desired speed which seems to be allowed,…but some drivers also give a generous tip! While I must have seemed a little slow to many, we arrived safely.