Day Three!
We packed up all of our belongings and headed to the beautiful Church of St. Mary Magdalene in a charming section of downtown Toronto. We warmed up in the beautiful space of the Anglican cathedral that was the long time home of famous composer Healey Willan. his strong musical influence was clearly evident with the impressive musical traditions observed in the space. It was a "high church" liturgical service that included a baptism and all elements of the the full Eucharistic mass. Following the service, the church members provided a generous lunch.
We then made our way to Kingston - a city that is often overlooked, but is full of history and heritage. We had a very entertaining step-on guide who led us through the city's impressive collection of churches, prisons, museums, and historical societies. Kingston, Canada's first capital city, is nestled at the junction of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. The boys were most impressed with the Royal Military College of Canada. Cannons, tanks, jets, and guns lined this campus that is the home to all of Canada's armed forces training.
After our guided tour, we had dinner at the Lone Star Texas Grill...Canada has some of the BEST Tex-Mex! After the evening's fare of chicken, steak, and veggie fajitas - and an impressive offering of local desserts - we headed to a local park along e St. Lawrence where games of tag, picture-taking, and running around preceded our travels to our accommodations for the evening. This night, we stayed in the dorms of Queens College. These kids enjoyed being college students for the evening on this impressive campus.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Canada - Day Two
"This has to be the best breakfast ever served at a Holiday Inn" - Mr. Davis
After a WONDERFUL breakfast at our hotel - endless pastries, fruits, cheeses, eggs, bacon, sausage, etc. - we boarded our bus pleasantly stuffed. We made our way to the famed Casa Lorma, the historic estate of Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, a prominent Canadian financier, industrialist, and military man. The impressive structure, started in 1911, is patterned after Medieval castles, and is now an impressive and beautiful historic site. A wedding was actually taking place as we left ( we offered to sing for some more sending money, but no luck!). One "highlight" included AJ losing a tooth when he bit into a maple candy...we'll see if the tooth fairy leaves behind money in American or Canadian currency tonight!
We then made our way to the Queen's Quay (pronounced "Key") - a nice collection of shops, restaurants, and the like in an impressive structure along the water. Around 1:30, we boarded the Kajama ("Kay-yah-mah"), a 164-foot three-masted gaff-rigged schooner. Before departing, the boys serenaded a young lady celebrating her birthday! Several of the boys were recruited to help raise and lower the sails - a very impressive feat! We had a wonderful cruise of the Toronto harbor, taking in views of an island aiport, the Ontario center, and plenty of birds. After we returned to shore, we made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, where we were also able to watch the Indian Culture Film Festival Awards taking place outside our window in Canada's version of New York's Times Square. An impressive celebration!
We then made our way to our first concert at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. It was a BEAUTIFUL room with vibrant acoustics, and the boys sang superbly. We were all impressed with Mark's accompaniment (he didn't know he was coming on this trip five days ago!), as he did an awesome job. This was a great first concert, capped by several folks in the audience singing along when the boys sang "Un Canadien Errant" for an encore.
Exhausted, we all headed back for a good and well-deserved night's sleep (after some donuts generously provided by the host church)!
After a WONDERFUL breakfast at our hotel - endless pastries, fruits, cheeses, eggs, bacon, sausage, etc. - we boarded our bus pleasantly stuffed. We made our way to the famed Casa Lorma, the historic estate of Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, a prominent Canadian financier, industrialist, and military man. The impressive structure, started in 1911, is patterned after Medieval castles, and is now an impressive and beautiful historic site. A wedding was actually taking place as we left ( we offered to sing for some more sending money, but no luck!). One "highlight" included AJ losing a tooth when he bit into a maple candy...we'll see if the tooth fairy leaves behind money in American or Canadian currency tonight!
We then made our way to the Queen's Quay (pronounced "Key") - a nice collection of shops, restaurants, and the like in an impressive structure along the water. Around 1:30, we boarded the Kajama ("Kay-yah-mah"), a 164-foot three-masted gaff-rigged schooner. Before departing, the boys serenaded a young lady celebrating her birthday! Several of the boys were recruited to help raise and lower the sails - a very impressive feat! We had a wonderful cruise of the Toronto harbor, taking in views of an island aiport, the Ontario center, and plenty of birds. After we returned to shore, we made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, where we were also able to watch the Indian Culture Film Festival Awards taking place outside our window in Canada's version of New York's Times Square. An impressive celebration!
We then made our way to our first concert at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. It was a BEAUTIFUL room with vibrant acoustics, and the boys sang superbly. We were all impressed with Mark's accompaniment (he didn't know he was coming on this trip five days ago!), as he did an awesome job. This was a great first concert, capped by several folks in the audience singing along when the boys sang "Un Canadien Errant" for an encore.
Exhausted, we all headed back for a good and well-deserved night's sleep (after some donuts generously provided by the host church)!
Canada - Day One
June 10 - Chattanooga/Atlanta to Toronto
What a first day! We actually left from our meeting place 10 minutes EARLY, making it easily into the Atlanta airport. We made it through AirCanada's check- in procedures and the airport's security lines easily, all the while making the straightest lines! While waiting at the airplane's gate, we actually met someone from Toronto who promised to come to out concert on Sunday morning! Once we made it to the Toronto airport, we boarded our tour bus and had a wonderful tour of Toronto with Maureen, our step-on guide Maureen. We took a quick tour of the national hockey hall of fame before making our way to the famed CN Tower. Reminiscent of Seattle's space needle, the boys were enthralled with the impressive structure. Admittedly, though, many of us became a bit squeamish with the glass elevator ride up the 1,815 foot (553 meters) structure, but recalling that we had just gotten off of an airplane that was thousands of feet above the ground seemed to help! After some time in the gift shop and making our way through the crowd of Red Sox fans that were in town to watch the Sox play the Blue Jays, we went for a nice dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. While there, we celebrated Cody's birthday...candles, cake, and Cody's conducting of one of the best restaurant "Happy Birthday" renditions ever performed in an Italian restaurant made for the perfect evening. We then made our way to a very nice Holiday Inn in downtown Toronto, just blocks from the parliament building. What a great first day!
What a first day! We actually left from our meeting place 10 minutes EARLY, making it easily into the Atlanta airport. We made it through AirCanada's check- in procedures and the airport's security lines easily, all the while making the straightest lines! While waiting at the airplane's gate, we actually met someone from Toronto who promised to come to out concert on Sunday morning! Once we made it to the Toronto airport, we boarded our tour bus and had a wonderful tour of Toronto with Maureen, our step-on guide Maureen. We took a quick tour of the national hockey hall of fame before making our way to the famed CN Tower. Reminiscent of Seattle's space needle, the boys were enthralled with the impressive structure. Admittedly, though, many of us became a bit squeamish with the glass elevator ride up the 1,815 foot (553 meters) structure, but recalling that we had just gotten off of an airplane that was thousands of feet above the ground seemed to help! After some time in the gift shop and making our way through the crowd of Red Sox fans that were in town to watch the Sox play the Blue Jays, we went for a nice dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. While there, we celebrated Cody's birthday...candles, cake, and Cody's conducting of one of the best restaurant "Happy Birthday" renditions ever performed in an Italian restaurant made for the perfect evening. We then made our way to a very nice Holiday Inn in downtown Toronto, just blocks from the parliament building. What a great first day!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Canada, here we come!
This summer's tour takes us north! We're excited about touring and performing through Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec. We will board a bus in Chattanooga before making our way to the Atlanta airport.
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