Have you ever taken a vacation alone?  I for one never thought I'd have the opportunity, but at my husband's urging I finally did it.  He & my son were going to spend a week at the family cottage, so he suggested I take a little trip on my own to stave off the inevitable boredom I would experience in their absence -not that I wouldn't find something here or there around the house to do... I took it as a challenge and booked a very reasonable, last minute air & hotel package deal to Montreal, a city I've always wanted to visit. 

I have to say, it was indeed a pleasure and a luxury to visit this beautiful city and it's abundance of culture on my own!  I spent as much time as I wanted strolling the different quarters, art galleries, shops and museums.  I took pictures when I wanted, of what I wanted, or left the camera in the hotel room.   I walked 5 or 6 hours every day; the Metro became my new best friend.  I'm confident I saw more, did more, and spoke with more locals than I ever would have, even with the best travelling companion imaginable.

Enjoy my photos, I certainly enjoyed taking them -not my usual genre, but a wonderful change of pace, and challenge.  More to come!

Took me a while to figure out there was a nest hiding in amongst my grapevines, but once I did, look what I found!  Baby robins! Just a couple of days old here I think.  I shot these precariously from a ladder, but really wish I had a taller ladder to really get in there.

The nest becoming very crowded -you can't tell, but the dominant baby is sitting on his two siblings. Day 8.

First robin to leave the nest! About 10 days old -can you believe it??

There's Momma Robin up on top of the fence post watching over the first baby to leave the nest. He's down on the grass in the bottom left.

These two were very relieved when big bro left, now they have some room to stretch their wings.

Empty nest. By day 12, all the babies are gone. So sad, we really enjoyed watching them grow. I still see them around & even spotted one visiting the nest the other day.

Fries under the Bridge -get it?  Fries shot under the Bluewater Bridge??  If you're from Sarnia, or anywhere around there, you will know exactly what I mean.  There is nothing -and I mean nothing, like the local fresh cut fries, liberally sprayed (yes, sprayed -it's a Sarnia thing) with vinegar, a generous sprinkle of salt, and gobs of ketchup to fill in the holes.  Yummm!
I recently took my son for his first visit to my hometown of Sarnia, aptly named "Bluewater Land" because of it's amazingly clear azure blue water of the St. Clair river.  We drove around to my favourite places and I showed him the houses I grew up in, and the schools I used to attend.  I also had to prove just how far of a walk to & from school I had -yes, uphill both ways in the dead of winter.  ; )

We spent a lovely afternoon at Canatara Beach Park, it's still pretty cold, but we had a good swim anyways. 

There are always a great variety of interesting rocks and shells to sift through.  This, I could spend hours doing. 

I couldn't wait to take Gav to the Animal Farm; I have many memories of feeding the animals, & being chased by geese.  It did not disappoint, except that we're not allowed to feed the animals any longer.  We spent a good amount of time listening to and laughing at the sound of the goats bleating to one another.  They were certainly vocal that night!

A lot has changed in Sarnia since I lived there; most for the good -the waterfronts and parks are amazingly well kept.  I can't get over the big box developments in the north end, but I guess that's the fate of most towns & cities nowadays.  The downtown, and waterfronts still retain their charm however.  Looking forward to the next visit --next time I get to have a Puffio from Ciccios!