Rob's Roamings 2023

 A very early (6am) start to get an 8.55am flight to Calgary today meant we were pretty tired when we arrived at the magnificent town of Banff.  There was chaos at Toronto airport as the check in system had gone down just prior to us checking in. There were about 1000 people with trolleys laden with suitcases not knowing which queue to join, which was very wearing.  But as always, things work out and our flight left on time.  But we weren't impressed with what was obviously an old and tired aircraft which rattled quite a lot, the movies were limited and slow to load. Pam's earphone socket was broken, and they didn't offer us any food on the 4 hour flight!! On arrival at Calgary we should have been met by a tourguide, but she was nowhere to be seen. After 30 minutes, we eventually bumped into her, but were asked to wait another 90 minutes for the rest of the party to arrive on a separate flight before setting off on our coach transfer to Banff. Things got farcically w...

On our 2nd day in Toronto, we were on organised trip to Niagara Falls. Joining up with our fellow travellers for the  next 17 days for the first time .  The tour guide was an elderly lady who'd been in the tour guide business for 40 years who really knew her stuff , and was funny with it.  She had an obsession and hatred of the number of condominiums being built in and around Toronto, which in the end, Pam and I thought hilarious. Anyway, after a 2 hour coach trip we arrived at the Falls, which by any standard are quite magnificent.    First part of the visit was to go on the "Maid of the Mist" boat with the obligatory plastic poncho. Close up photos of the falls  at the same time as being drenched didn't work for us. But we managed one or two snaps on the 20 minute trip.  Much better was the visit to the shoulder of the falls to see the water rushing over the edge. And even better was our lunch in the revolving restaurant at the top of the Skyline Tow...

 Day 2.  Early morning start was easy, as we still felt like we were on UK time.  Straight down to the CN Tower. Because it was so early, it was really quiet and peaceful on the observation deck.  The glass floor is being renovated, so we didn't have to make any decisions about being brave enough to walk on it.  We went up to the highest level, the Skypod.  The whole structure is designed to sway in the wind, up to half a metre. There's a hermetically sealed plumb Bob in a glass case, where you can see the sway. It was only swaying by a few millimetres when we were there. The views were amazing. Sad to say, it was quite hazy, so the distance we could see was limited. Plenty to look down on though. After our visit, Pam rested while I did a whistle stop tour (get it?) of the Railway museum opposite the tower.  Some historical engines and wagons to look at.  We did a slow walk back to the hotel, via Union Station We were still in recovery mode from t...

 7 hour flight, and watched 3 films- Empire of Light,  A Man Called Otto and The Departed. A 25 minute train journey  brought us to our city centre hotel, with a view of the CN Tower.  It'll now be a search for a good meal and an early night, ready to start touristy things tomorrow.

How exciting is this. We're setting off on our Big Trip across Canada. Check in was smooth, and we're just boarding our flight to Toronto. It's a poignant moment, as I reflect on how my parents felt 34 years ago, when they did  more or less the same trip. It was my Mum's one and only flight during her lifetime, and for them it was a trip of a lifetime to stay with lifelong friends who'd emigrated from Liverpool to Victoria Island after WW2. I will post again this evening !

2 days of watching sport all day is exhausting, especially in Roman heat, so we spent a few hours in the calm and peace of the Botanical Gardens in Rome.  Very beautiful and well kept with a fantastic variety of plants from all over the world, and with a great view over the city. We enjoyed our short Roman holiday. But I have a few thoughts about Italian people. Their idea of personal space is pretty much non existent. Several times, I was bumped into, or my direction of walk was not avoided by someone coming from the opposite direction.  The word "queue" probably doesn't exist in Italian.  And as for "park tidy" or safely- we saw scores of cars, vans and motorbikes left abandoned on pavements, across zebra crossings, sticking out into the road, you name it.  A lot of Roman locals talk very loudly too.  I'm afraid they're not my favourite people.  Perhaps on another visit , if I manage it properly, I'll get to see Rome in a different light. There...

Well, the reason why we've come to Rome is to watch some tennis - at the Rome Masters at Foro Italica.  A wonderful sports complex, which has 15 tennis courts, a swimming pool and Stadio Olympica, where Roma plays(which they did last night - the noise of football fans echoed over the whole park). On day 1 we had centre court tickets, and saw Stan Warwinka get through round 1.  Later on, we saw Andy Murray narrowly defeated by Flavio Fognini, who had, naturally, the support of the vast majority of the stadium.   Needless to say a group of Italian young men were very vocal in their support for Murray! One of the stadiums looks like an Olympic stadium from antiquity, with numerous marble statues surrounding it. A great setting for a tennis match.   On day 2, we stayed on the one outside court for a series of doubles matches, including those with Dan Evans, Rublev and Tiafoe in them.