Toronto day one

Flew Porter Air from Boston to Toronto. Roomy and friendly and they land at the airport close to downtown on an island. Ferry and shuttle got us to the train station. After a few moments of confusion figured out the subway and found our hotel.

The Art Gallery of Ontario is open late on Wednesday so we headed that way. As is Doug's style, he suggested we walk. It's only about a kilometer, he says. Thirty five minutes later we finally arrived-a bit longer than estimated.

The exhibit that we wanted to see was Early Renaissance in Florentine Art. We had been in Florence a year and a half ago so we were excited to return in spirit, if not in fact. The exhibit brought together many paintings, alters and illuminated manuscripts from the early 1300's. Some hadn't been together for centuries. The Laudario of Sant'agnes is one example. It is a book of songs of praise or laudes compiled by a singing confraternity and it is lavishly illuminated. The book had been taken apart in the early 1800's and sold to separate collectors. Twenty eight pages survive and all but two are in 16 collections across Europe and the US. This exhibit is the first time these 26 pages have been together since the book was dismantled. Impressive. I didn't take photos, but the you can visit the museum website. www.ago.net

While waiting for our timed entry, we saw an exhibit of photos by Patti Smith. The title of the show is Camera Solo. Smith sees taking a photo as a solitary experience. The meaning in Italian is a room of one's own. The small black an white photos were taken with a Polaroid camera then printed in limited editions as gelatin silver prints. Images of intimate objects like 'my father's cup' and images of graves and tombstones are part of the exhibit. There is one of a 'bear with calling card at Tolstoy's house.' The poet Rimbaud was one of Smith's muses and there is an homage to him with her installation of photos, drawings, poems and ephemera of him, including a replica of a litter used to carry Rimbaud to his burial site.

Roughing It?

As we get ready for our trip across Canada via Rail and our sleeping berths--upper and lower,  I thought I would review recent accommodations.  Originally we were scheduled to travel last fall so would have had experienced aqua camping, rustic cabins and train camping all within a couple of months.




Some of our relations are appalled at our 'rough' accomodations.  When our niece and nephew were young, they were leery of vacationing like their uncle.  No camping for them--on boat, land or train.

The theme is minimal accommodations.  Above and at right are views of our room at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine. Rustic, no heat, but with electricity.  We go to Haystack as part of the Massachusetts College of Art Alumni Retreat in late September, early October.  It can get cold at night so comforters are welcome.  Towels never quite dry or are perpetually cold.  We love it though.  Lots of art and camaraderie.





Below are views of our berth on the Schooner Mary Day, another spartan room.  This one had a sink, but the head was on deck, and we had to climb a ladder to get up on deck.  Challenging in the middle of the night--but fun.

Every thing in its place..

Keep posted for pictures of our train sleeping quarters.

Getting ready for our next trip

We are getting ready to finally take the trip we started planning a year ago. Originally scheduled to travel in October 2012, we had to cancel because Doug fell and injured his knee. He had to have surgery so wasn't able to travel. Departure date--May 15.

Meadow and pond

I took these photos last month while walking. The path seemed to lead nowhere but was still inviting. The tranquility of the pond soothes and compels contemplation.

More from the Mary Day

Lobster Bake 

and Sunset

Aqua Camping

We were warned.  Expect camping-like conditions--without the bugs.  To get to our berth, we had to climb down a ladder, backwards.  We had  'head to head' beds so there was no upper and lower situation.  This was a good thing.  We were directly under the deck so we heard people walking to the head (toilet for you landlubbers) on our side of the ship and we heard the crew up at 4 or 5 am to swab and otherwise clean and prepare for the next day.  There was a space about 3 x 2 feet in front of the bunks next to the door.  We had a small sink with cold water for some of our washing needs.  Along side the bunks were shelves for sundries as well as a shelf/step under the bunk to store duffles.  Compact.  Bunks were comfortable enough but after a couple of nights my back started to protest.  My poor bunk mate, every time I moved or shifted position, my bunk squeaked and squawked.  Loudly.  I found myself working on a musical composition attuned to my movements in the bunk.  Still a bit discordant...

Home from the Sea

Four days on the Schooner Mary Day, Sept 4-8, was a fun, lighthouse filled adventure. We had a lighthouse expert with us who enlightened us about all manner of things 'lighthouse'. Sailing around Penobscot Bay, we saw many from the sea and some from land. The most thrilling was Goose Rocks light. This lighthouse rises directly from the water, the only access being by boat. We dropped anchor and almost all of he passengers and crew ferried to the lighthouse and climbed up two ladders to get to the main entrance. Once there, we clambered up through 4 floors of living space on the lighthouse. Meanwhile, the people who had rented the lighthouse for the weekend came aboard the schooner. Big smiles on everyone's faces, especially our lighthouse expert.