The most prominent building in the Toronto skyline is of course the CN tower, originally built by the CN (Canadian National) railway, but when they divested themselves of their non-railway properties the name was so firmly entrenched that the initials were just declared to stand for ‘Canada’s National’ tower.

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Inside one of the buildings in Fort York, the colonial stockade built in 1793 to protect British interests in the Great Lakes region. The fort has served many purposes since the time it served as the starting-point for the modern city of Toronto.

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Inside one of the buildings in Fort York, the colonial stockade built in 1793 to protect British interests in the Great Lakes region. The fort has served many purposes since the time it served as the starting-point for the modern city of Toronto.

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Inside another building in Fort York, in Toronto.

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Another building in Fort York in Toronto, this time laid out with furniture from the nineteenth century.

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Cutlery and crockery laid out for display inside one of the buildings of Fort York.

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Some of the buildings of Fort York, with part of the Toronto Skyline visible (most prominently the CN Tower) behind.

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A girl bags up groceries for sale at a stall in the St Lawrence Markets in Toronto. I don’t think she cosciously co-ordinated her clothing with the tarpaulin behind her place of work: it was merely chance.

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The Amtrak train which took me from Toronto to Niagara Falls, crosses the Niagara river to enter the USA at Niagara Falls, New York.

(This is the last photo I was able to take before my camera died.)

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The American Falls, the smaller of the two waterfalls at Niagara Falls, as seen from the Canadian side. The other side of the Niagara river (including the American Falls themselvs) are across the border in the state of New York.

(Photo taken with my iPhone because by this point my main camera had died an untimely death. I am pleased to report that it has since been revived by Canon technicians, however.)

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Water escaping across the Canadian, or Horseshoe, Falls, the most famous sight at Niagara Falls. The drop is about 52 metres, and the Canadian Falls are about 650 metres across. The Rough Guide describes the falls as ‘a perpetual white-crested thundering pile=up that had Mahler bawling “At last, fortissimo,” over the din.’ (Photo taken with my iPhone because by this point my main camera had died an untimely death. I am pleased to report that it has since been revived by Canon technicians, however.)

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The Maid of the Mist approaches the Canadian Falls at Niagara Falls in billowing rain. In the background at the left of the photo you can see the edge of the American Falls. This photo is taken from a viewing platform accessed via the ‘Tunnels behind the Falls’: at this point I was at a level about half-way down the Canadian Falls, and was getting very wet (mainly from the exceedingly heavy rain). (Photo taken with my iPhone because by this point my main camera had died an untimely death. I am pleased to report that it has since been revived by Canon technicians, however.)

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Post tenebras lux (pace Calvin): a rainbow crosses the Niagara River at Niagara Falls after a particularly heavy rain-shower, with the Maid of the Mist passing beneath it as she approaches the Canadian Falls. In the background you can see the American Falls. This wasn’t the end of the rain for the day, however: less than an hour later I took the boat journey and was drenched on the deck before we were anywhere near the falls (which then dumped even more water over everyone). (Photo taken with my iPhone because by this point my main camera had died an untimely death. I am pleased to report that it has since been revived by Canon technicians, however.)

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