Ann Arbor, Michigan

Our first stop in Ann Arbor was at the home of a fellow massage therapist.  She also worked at a Whole Foods store.  First night when she had to work, we took a short walk to stretch our legs and came upon a Gluten Free bakery tucked away behind many buildings.  Made a note to check it out the next day.

On Wednesday, August 8 we had lunch with our host in a place very much like Ruloff's in C-town.  She had to go to work again, so we headed for the Farmer's Market and then on to a wonderful Archeological museum on U of M's campus.  We also got some groceries at the People's Food Coop - they gave us a 3% discount as visitors.

Next day we packed up our bags and headed for downtown.  Had lunch at Miss Kim's with Korean fare.  I (Suzanne) had a delicious avocado + chicken rice bowl.  Steve ate something spicy, of course!

Took another Lyft from Miss Kim's to pick up our bags and then head for Touchstone cohousing just 25 minutes away.  We stayed in Touchstone's guestroom, which was simple but quite comfortable.

We were met by Suzy who took us on an extensive, information filled tour of all three neighborhoods.  I'll let Steve fill you in on the details.

Crossing the Border

On Tuesday, we boarded a Greyhound bus in London, Ontario, headed for Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Based on our experience, I (Steve) do not recommend traveling into the US by bus.

First, they had us get off the bus, leaving our stuff, and line up on the pavement.  Then they pulled all the luggage out from under the bus and lined it up next to us.  Then they brought a drug-sniffing dog onto the bus and - ding! - it found some marijuana, on the floor in the seat in front of us I think.  So they ran the dog up and down along the luggage, checked all the carryons still on the bus and soon came out with only ours asking us lots of questions away from the rest of the passengers. Pretty intimidating!  The dog found nothing more, so nothing/no one was implicated.  So finally they let us into the building to check our passports and pepper us with more questions.  All very officious, demeaning, and unpleasant.

It took so long that I was sure we'd miss our connection to Ann Arbor, but the driver did his best and we managed a mad-dash connection.  Whew!

We used Lyft to get from the bus/train station and were glad to be in our next host's home!

London Town

That's London, Ontario, folks.  A city of a couple hundred thousand people that is on - yes - the river Thames.  We stayed with a Servas host named Nathan, who was a very good host.  He also lives in a high-rise, without spectacular views but very comfortable and homelike.  And the people in the building seem to know each other really well - every time we met someone in the hall or on the elevator, Nathan would introduce us and chat with them for a few minutes.  There is even a weekly singalong there (tho not in the summer).  Nathan and his special friend (she's named Suzanne and lives 10 floors up) are both very good musicians and we had fun playing music together, me on my little dulcimer and they on guitars.

London has no special charm but feels nice.  It's a lot calmer than Toronto (no surprise there).  People smile at each other when they pass on the streets.

Nathan took us to the nearby Museum of Ontario Archeology. It's on the site of a settlement that at its peak probably had more than 1000 people.  The people had longhouses like the Haudenosaunee, but were not part of the confederacy.  They are called the "Neutrals" because they were neutral  during the war between the Haudenosaunee and the Wendot (Huron) nations.  What they called themselves is unknown.  They died out in the 1600s, probably from famine and wars with neighboring groups, before the Europeans arrived in force.

Besides a hall full of artifacts, well presented and explained, they have reconstructed part of the settlement, including one longhouse (originally there were at least 10).  The longhouse is starting to lean badly, but they do not plan to repair it; instead, they are going to let it fall down so they can see what happens in the process.  They are going to build another if/when they can get the funding.

They also have a virtual reality setup where you can walk through the settlement by donning a pair of goggles.  It was an interesting experience - you even get to shoot a virtual bow and arrow!

Not the Ithaca Festival Parade

It's Saturday, and it's the day for the Caribbean Festival parade. This is in celebration of Emancipation Day, marking when the slaves were freed in the British Empire. The article I (Steve) read said that it started at 8:30, but I think that was in error, because I got there at 9 and still had to wait a couple hours.  But it was in a nice lakeside park, so no real pain there.

The main body of the parade consisted of flatbed trucks carrying extremely loud "mas" (as in masquerade) bands accompanied by throngs of people dressed with elaborate decoration, especially headdresses.  Each group wears the same colors:

Then there are the truly gigantic outfits, big enough to be small floats, on wheels but being pulled and steered by one person in a harness:

The mas bands were followed by some steel drum bands, also on flatbeds:

Sunday, it's off on the train to London (Ontario, not England!)

Arrived in Toronto

Here we are in Toronto, after taking the bus from Ithaca.  The bus ride was, well,  a long-distance bus ride. Steve was having a hard time over something that had been left behind, but Suzanne figured out how to handle it.  One creepy note was that in Rochester, two border patrol agents got on the bus and asked to see everyone's IDs.  They didn't take anyone away, but do a little googling and you'll see plenty of stories.

Our own border crossing into Canada was merely tedious.  There were 3 people who had gotten on the bus by mistake, and a lot of time was spent figuring out how best to get them back to the States.  Then we all had to get off the bus, get all our luggage, and go into a building where we waited in line to get checked.
Then back on the bus and we trundle on.

We are staying with Daphne and Charles, a couple we found via the Servas organization.  Their place is amazing - it's a dozen floors up in a high-rise in the middle of downtown Toronto.  Here's a view from their window shortly after sunset last night:

The interior is pretty unbelievable as well.  This is definitely sophisticated urban living!

On Thursday, we took a walk through the Chinatown and Kensington Market neighborhoods.  Kensington Market is quite the eclectic place, with zillions of small eateries (including Thai-Hungarian fusion!) and some interesting street decorations like these:

By the time we got back to the house, Suzanne was having a lot of trouble with her sore heel.  When she told Charles about it, he suggested trying "rocker sole" shoes.  He knew of a place that sold them, so the 4 of us went off on the subway to the Eglinton neighborhood to the north.  Suzanne, aided by a very helpful staff member, tried on many shoes and settled on one pair that she said reduced her heel pain a lot. (And while all this was going on, Daphne tried on a lot of pairs and bought three!)