We went for a fabulous walk down the uncrowded (as it was Monday) boardwalk at Balmy Beach, then stopped at a beach café for a latte/diet coke. We tried to sit outside while we waited for a cab, but the bees were after us so we waited inside; then they dive bombed us as we jumped into the cab.
Our cab driver had moved to Toronto from Bangladesh three years ago, and I asked him if he liked it here. For the next half an hour he railed on how unfair Canada is and that he couldn’t get a management job even though he had an MBA and was a military officer in Bangladesh and he was upset that the Canadian economy couldn’t have more manufacturing jobs to provide opportunity for the 40 million in Toronto as Bangladesh is able to have all kinds of jobs for it's teeming population of 130 million. We tried to explain to him that all first world countries have that issue now as the labor and tax expense is so much lower in developing countries, so with the global opportunities, companies have all moved to those countries. I said “That must be frustrating for you…. “ He said, “Oh no, not at all.” (Methinks he does not know the meaning of the word). Just last night John had wondered what drove the economy of the city and we had decided to look that up (we haven’t had time yet!). Although sad, it was thought provoking.
The cab driver dropped us at the Art Gallery of Ontario and we popped across the street to lunch at The Village Idiot Pub … We sat next to the giant windows open to the city streets, but had insistent bees that just would not stay away. I jumped up and was shooing them with my sun visor and I’m sure everyone around us was thinking ‘What an idiot’ (luckily we were in the pub for idiots so I was not kicked out) as they sat and nonchalantly waved a hand whenever a bee buzzed around them. I usually don’t get worried about bees as my life experience has shown them to be gentle little souls. But not in Toronto! Those unfriendly Canadians mentioned in the title? It’s the bees! After having just been stung a few days ago, I no longer had that peaceful trust. We decided to move away from the window. John tried the Cornish Pasty, which he thought was not quite as good as a Shepherds Pie, then we went to the gallery.
We focused on the European art as we were short on time and it was lovely. The museum was founded in 1900 by a group of private citizens, members of the Ontario Society of Artists. The current location of the AGO dates to 1910, when Goldwin Smith bequeathed his historic 1817 Georgian manor, the Grange, to the gallery upon his death. In 1920, the museum also allowed the Ontario College of Art to construct a building on the grounds.
We hurried back to the boat and left the harbor at 3:00, had a pleasant and pretty cruise in fine weather to Cobourg, ON tied up, and walked downtown to the Oasis Restaurant recommended by the Harbormaster for dinner.
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