“The Bug” Feels Better!

Good evening fellows,

We got “The Bug” back late this morning, in time to pack our bags, thank our amazingly good friends Dan and Ray, and hit the road!

The car really had nothing wrong, and it’s amazing how one little thing is able to confuse and disturb the whole electrical system. In a few words, the mechanic at Downtown VW in Toronto, ON told us that because of the motor and the switch of the passenger side’s power window, the car didn’t recognize the top, and some other things inside the car! Oh well, go figure, this new technology instead of being helpful at times can really create serious problems.

We had planned to go visit the Bata Shoes Museum before leaving Toronto, and so we did. The museum is located on Bloor St. and it’s not too far from the subway station. It was really a very interesting museum with shoes from all over the world, some very old, and some other relatively new.

Some shoes have been donated by famous people, like the huge one of Shaquille O’Neal from his first rookie here in the NBA, or a pair of shoes worn by Tiger Woods, or better, another pair that used to belong to Marilyn Monroe!

Apart from the permanent exhibition, there were also two other exhibitions on the last floor, the first one concerning Native Americans, and the second one concerning Ballet and Opera. Nureyev shoes were there, together with those belonging to Baryshnikov, these people have written history!

Carla Fracci’s shoes (THE most important ballerina in the history of La Scala in Milan) were also there. I wasn’t surprised to see them there, but I was certainly proud of the acknowledgement and recognition given to such a big star.

From Toronto, we then proceeded to Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side, which is, from what I’ve been told, the most spectacular one. The drive was uneventful, and so we arrived in Niagara Falls around 3.30PM. The falls are beautiful, I have to admit that, however, they left me a little bit disappointed. I don’t know why, but maybe it is because I was expecting something a little bit more dramatic, after all, I had only seen them in the movies, and we all know that, things look different through the lens of a video camera.

Here we are, "The Falls!":

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we had the chance to go there, and yes, the Canadian side is much better than the American one, but yes, my thoughts were basically something like: “Been there, done that!”.

We took some pictures of the falls, and some of us to forever remember this particular moment, I also took some videos, and then we went back to the car, a little bit worried for the first time in more than a month, to be falling behind schedule.

We’re in London, ON right now; Canada so far has been such a nice experience for me, an amazingly high percentage of nice people interacting with us, I must admit that I like that!

Tomorrow we’re off to Detroit where our plan is to visit the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, and if we have time left, visit the Ford Rouge Factory where they put together the F-150!

With the time left in the afternoon we plan on getting close to Columbus, OH, where we’re going to visit GermanTown and the Brewery District

Some of you know of my passion for beers, especially local beers and micro-breweries.

Good Night from London (the other one! LOL),
Nico