ST JACOBS FARMER'S MARKET - ONTARIO, CANADA

The Farmer's Market is so popular that they can sell out before the 3:30 p.m. closing time. Along with the Mennonite farmer's goods, there are also vendors selling all other sorts of things.

You know you are almost there when you come upon a horse and buggy along the road.
Their meat counters have the freshest meats I have ever seen. Below Teri is looking at the cold cuts that are so amazing. We bought some ham that was so lean and tasty.

Inside the large building, where much of the produce, baked goods, and food booths are, several Mennonite ladies are selling some of the farm produce. At most booths, Mennonite teens worked the booth with an adult.

At an outside stand-- just look at these gorgeous peppers. A few hours later, they were almost sold out.

Many other cultures were represented; like this Egyptian food stand. We also saw Polish, Asian, and Middle Eastern cuisine.

We ate a spinach turnover with Feta cheese and toasted sesame seeds, and for dessert we had Halva which is toasted crushed sesame seeds mashed to a paste with honey and Pistachio nuts added. Walter remarked to the owner that they had a good deal of Indian food, and she replied "Yes, but healthier."

Here they sold Perogie which is also a turnover, but stuffed with cheese and mashed potato. Also excellent.

There was always a crush of people at the meat and fish counters.

Another look at the farm products. So many people come to this market that by noon, there are no parking spaces and folks have to wait until someone vacates a spot.

This bacon is very popular and quite lean. Sausages, of all kinds, are very popular in Canada as are cheeses.
This area of food stalls was always busy and not just at noon.

In the center of this picture can be seen a women with red hair and a blue top looking towards a man who is bald with a blue shirt. We were sitting next to them and started chatting. They had two boxes of apple fritters and we ask what was so special about them as the line to buy them is always out the door and around the corner for the building. They gave us one to try and they were delicious. It is a dipped in batter apple ring that is fried and then sprinkled with sugar and was very excellent. They said we should get on line, which moves quickly, and at least see the process even
if we didn't want to buy.

So we got in line and quickly we were at the stand . Here the apple gets peeled by this machine.

While finishing up the last batch, the young lady, reaches for more apples.

Now the apples are dipped in a thick batter and deep fried.

Then they are set to cool a few moments and then sugared.

Orders are placed here and boxed to take home.

We couldn't resist!

The Engineers Without Borders Chapter at the University of Waterloo is demonstrating one of its engineering adaptations for extremely backward communities in Africa. This simple but efficient leg powered well water pump can be operated by even a small child.

Engineers Without Borders - International facilitates links and collaboration among its member groups toward improving the quality of life of disadvantaged communities worldwide through education and implementation of sustainable engineering projects

The treadle pump was developed by the team for farmers like in Ghana where less than 0.02% of crops are irrigated, making them prone to failure and famine.

Above, the crowds at the Farmer's Market.

Home baked breads, bagels, rolls, cakes, pies, and pastries.

Typical Mennonite buggy for bringing
things to market

Many flowers and plants were also sold.


The best cherries I have ever tasted. They are three to four times the size of the cherries we are used to seeing. Their flesh is deep red, sweet, and juicy. Your fingers get stained from eating them.

Vintage Conestoga wagon.


Pony rides for the little ones.

This was an extraordinary Farmer's Market and a highlight of our trip to the area.

TORONTO'S UNDERGROUND CITY - THE PATH

The red dashed routes passing under buildings in this downtown map segment shows the vast maze of tunnels under downtown Toronto. There are over 1,000 places of business in the underground city.

Signs like the one above guide people through the subterranean tunnels so that you can find your way in, about, and out of the Path
There are entrances like this at subway entrances and the central GO train terminal. Access can be gained through street level stores, banks, and so forth.

Those who live in the city, can go from their condo or apartment, to subway, to the Path, to work, appointments, shopping, and entertainment.

Commuters can go from GO train or subway through the Path to work. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is serve at numerous restaurants and food markets.
One of the many restaurants in the PATH.

There are markets like these where you can purchase cooked food, prepared salads, soups, fruit, desserts and even flower to take home. The PATH can be appreciated in the hot summer and the freezing outside during the long winter months.
Salads, soups, sandwiches, fresh fruit and more available for lunches and snacks. Breakfast is also serve or can be taken to work. In addition, they have dentists, eye care, dry cleaners, shoe repair, alterations on clothing, and many stores to shop and other services.

This is Eaton Center, one of the many places where the PATH can be entered. This mall is quite outstanding. This entry way allows for natural light to brighten the mall.
There are three levels to this mall. Above one of the many walkways through the mall.

Another look at Eaton Center It is estimated that a million visitors a week shop in this huge mall

The glass work at the Eaton Center is spectacular. This is one of the entrances from outside and below is looking up throught the levels to this sun roof

TORONTO BY COMMUTER TRAIN

While visiting Toronto and Ontario we are staying well to the West at Milton Heights Campground between Toronto and Kitchener. Driving our big turbodiesel dually to downtown would be less fun and much more trouble than doing what many Torontonians do: take the Lakeshore commuter train. Here is Teri waiting for the train at the platform.The GO Trains actually have three levels, with a mezzanine at each end of the car. The big green bi-levels were engineered in Ontario and are built by Bombardier in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Each car has full Air Conditioning and flat panel TV screens with news and entertainment. You can hear the TV sound by tuning your portable FM radio to 88.1 FM in the train. They have four sets of sliding side doors and a door at either end so you can walk between cars, even when the train is moving. The side windows are tinted double-pane glass. Each car has a washroom.


These are really comfortable and quiet trains. You can read, chat with other passengers and relak as you travel along the shore of lake Ontario towards Union Station right in downtown Toronto.

One interesting thing we noticed among the passengers was the popularity of the Blackberry.Many passengers were either making or receiving calls, reading their e-mail, or updating their appointments or address books with it. It is made in Canada by Research In Motion (Ticker: RIM) in Waterloo, Ontario not too far from where we are staying. The new ones have Email and text messaging, media player, phone, browser, organizer, camera and mani other features. Some even have GPS, and BlackBerry® Maps functionality. They work together with BlackBerry Internet Service™. It links your Blackberry to to 10 supported business or personal email accounts, receive and send instant messages, and browse web content while on the go.

One of the first sights as you approach downtown on the train is the windmill. Canadians are much more into CO2 reduction and into fighting Global Warming than the US. We were listening to commercials on the radio telling the audience that they could switch their house to green electricity (presumably hydroelectric or nuclear), and telling people to upgrade their applicances and that their old ones would be picked-up for free at their door.

There is a lot of measurement of recycling intensity by community. It turns out that there is a Canadian city that recycles nearly 40% of its refuse accordiing to the radio.

Downtown is full of skyscrapers.

The CN tower, - 1,815 ft., 5 inches - is the World's Tallest Building, an important telecommunications hub, and a center of tourism in Toronto. Each year, approximately 2 million people visit the CN Tower. Its microwave antennas at 1,109 ft. and 1,815 ft., 5 inches allow people in the Toronto area to enjoy excellent communications and broadcasting. The tower has a number of restaurants and meeting rooms. 360 is their fine dining restaurant at 1,150 ft. and rotates once every 72 minutes.

The streets of downtown are different depending on the neighborhood. There are the typical commercial zones full of banks and businesses, and there are the ethnic areas full of restaurants and shops with food from Japan, Korea, China, India, and many other countries.

One interesting thing we learned about Canada is that it has the highest immigration per citizen ratio in the world. There seem to be a large number of immigrants from Asia and the Middle-East, as well as from Germany and other European couontries. This is most noticeable in Toronto.

We were surprised to see so many people on bikes in such a busy city.

There were commuter bikes parked at special tie posts for bikes all over the city.