Open Book Blog Hop – July 15th

Thanks to Paula Shene for the introduction.  You can check out her blog here: http://paulandpaulasplace.blogspot.co.uk/     and check out her books on her Amazon author page here: http://www.amazon.com/Paula-Shene/e/B003U083ZG/  Look out for her children’s charity collection just released

Do you like to read? Would you like to know more about your favourite authors? Well you have come to the right place! Join the MMB Open Book Blog Hop each Wednesday and we will tell all. Every week we’ll answer questions and after you’ve enjoyed the blog on this site we’ll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride! Tell your friends and feel free to ask us questions in the comment box.

This week’s question: It’s the time of year for vacations (Holiday for our UK friends). Share your favorite vacation, your dream vacation or anything in between.

Yes, I’m the one from the UK who’s more comfortable with ‘holidays’!  That aside, I’d like to share the lovely holiday in Canada that I had in August 2013 with my husband, son, daughter-in-law, and grandson (then aged 15 months). My daughter-in-law is half Canadian, and so we stayed with her various relatives in Toronto, Kincardine, and Ottawa during the fortnight we were away.

The first few days we stayed in Kincardine.  My daughter-in-law’s aunt has a cottage at Bruce Beach, and in the photos below you can just about make out Stevie on the beach with son and daughter-in-law watching the sunset.  I was fascinated on the trip up there to see gravel paths at the sides of the roads for the Mennonites’ horse-drawn carriages, who still live as their forefathers lived in the 1800’s.

After Kincardine it was on to Toronto. We had dinner in the CN Tower restaurant, and took a boat trip to photograph the Toronto skyline.  Then it was onto Douglas, Ontario, to stay in a 100 year old farmhouse, where we helped to feed the animals and chase the chickens into their coop at night.  We also took in the sights of Ottawa, and of course no visit to Canada is complete without a trip to Niagara and a ride on the ‘Maid of the Mist’.

A few months down the line I was able to incorporate some of this holiday into my book ‘A House Without Windows’ by looking back at the photos below and also others that I took at the time. I did intend to make notes while I was there, but with a 15 month toddler in tow it wasn’t really possible!

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View below of the Rainbow Bridge at Niagara linking Canada to the USA.  My husband went on the bridge to take some photos, but then had to join a 2-hour queue of people at Customs all wanting to get into Canada!

Rainbow Bridge at Niagara.  In the middle is a boundary line saying that you are on the Canada/USA border.  Many people have photos taken with one foot in Canada and one foot in the USA!

View of Niagara’s Horseshoe Falls from the top of the Skylon Tower.

Niagara’s Horseshoe Falls and Maid of the Mist below.

Toronto skyline showing the CN Tower and view from the CN Tower restaurant.

Above you can see the 100 year old farmhouse we rented at Douglas, Ontario.  Very picturesque area.

Stevie (on the right) watching the sunset on  Bruce Beach, Kincardine, with son and daughter-in-law.

You can just about make out the Mennonite horse-drawn carriage at the side of the main road in Elmira.  Fascinating way of life, eschewing most modern conveniences.

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Where in the world is Christine Ardigo’s favourite place for a holiday?  Click here to find out.  You can also check out her blogs here http://christine-ardigo-author.com/ and also check out her Amazon author page here http://www.amazon.com/Christine-Ardigo/e/B00K9A9AQ6/