Autumn taking hold

Autumn is well advanced here and the heating has gone on. However there's something wonderful about all the seasons being so virile here. The Summer is hot, the Winter freezing, the Spring suddenly bursts into life overnight, and the Autumn takes colour to a new level of understading.

There's something too about the air in North America that always strikes me. When it is blue it is a beautiful vibrant clear blue, and when the air is fresh it is super fresh.

Maybe it's the enduring optimism in North America that makes it seem so, or maybe it's the air, the colour, the massiveness of nature (even in the city) which causes the optimism. Whatever it is, I wish I could bottle it.

Toronto Beaches

Kew Balmy Beach, Toronto

A free day so, of course, it was rainy! However I walked right along Queen Street East to Kew and onto The Beaches. Lovely stretches of sand with a wide boardwalk and a great view back to Toronto centre.

Local Residents

Sitting on our roof terrace this evening, my housemate and I were joined by a local resident who, as bold as brass, wanted to help himself to our tea lights.

                                       

We sat not 2 yards way from him, both taking flash photos for about 20 minutes and the Racoon was completely unfazed and unaggressive.

A really amazing experience, though I expect our Toronto colleagues will berate us for not shooing him off - Racoons are a real pest here.

Autumn in Toronto

Changing leaves in Toronto - each day a different colour.

COC

I'm here in Toronto reviving 'Death in Venice' by Benjamin Britten. This production began in Aldeburgh three years ago and I've been with it through revivals in Bregenz, Prague, Lyon and now Toronto.

It's a simple and beautiful production of a complex but very rewarding piece. This time round we are lucky enough to have the conductor of the original 1973 production, Steuart Bedford, working with us (seen above rehearsing the wonderful Canadian Opera Company Chorus and Ensemble on the set in the Imperial Opera Rehearsal Theatre).

The company here in Toronto is excellent. Well run, well organised and well motivated. It's a joy working here.

We have been rehearsing hard getting the show ready for stage rehearsals which start next week, so there has been little time for sightseeing yet. Hopefully later.

Another full rehearsal this evening. It's exhausting running a big rehearsal, keeping everyone focussed and involved with all the information and encouragement they need. It is also very rewarding though.

The Four Seasons Centre, Canadian Opera Company's Home

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Eight hours with my MacBook

The perfect evening. It may only be an eight-hour old relationship, but already I know it's for life!


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First free day in Toronto!

We've been having lovely crisp, clear Autumn days since I arrived so I was looking forward to today, my first free day, to get out into the sunshine and explore. However, torrential rain greeted me this morning.

But that does bring me to the second thing that we love about North America.....the many and wonderful opportunities for retail therapy!

The rest of the day has been spent in blissful silence, admiring my new macBook!

Back Blogging

Well, an obscene amount of time since I last blogged. Partly the lack of broadband in my apartment in Bregenz, and partly getting out of the habit.

Anyway, I'm back and determined to blog my way through my time in Toronto. Hurrah for strong broadband at the lovely house I'm staying in, and for the iPhone app which is making it possible.

I'll leave you for now with the first of many reasons why we LOVE North America.....


....the breakfasts!


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