Across Canada At The Exhibition Grounds

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 210 Princes' Blvd.
Date: September 2019
Website:  theex.com

    The Canadian National Exhibition takes place at the end of August each year and closes on Labour Day in September. When the Exhibition is not running, the grounds known as Exhibition Place are still open to vehicles and the public. If you are visiting Toronto from across Canada you can feel like you are back home thanks to the many streets that crisscross the grounds.

 We will start our journey from east to west.  All but one of Canada's provinces and territories are represented in the names of the streets.  The streets do not quite unfold as a map of Canada would, but we will show you one possible path you can take in order to visit them all.  We enter the Exhibition grounds from Fleet Street and find ourselves on Canada Boulevard.

 Canada Boulevard connects with Princes' Boulevard which is the main street that runs from the Princes' Gates (photo at top of blog) and through the grounds.

  The first provincial street we came across was Newfoundland Drive which also happens to be the easternmost of the provinces.  

Newfoundland Drive runs south from the Enercare Centre between the Automotive Building and Hotel X.

  The next road we pass is Nunavut Road.  This part of the road was formerly part of New Brunswick Way.  Much like the road, Nunavut the territory was formerly part of the Northwest Territories.  Sadly, Northwest Territories is the only unrepresented portion of Canada on these streets.  Hopefully at some point it will finally get included.

  Just a bit further along Prince's Boulevard, a road heads south.  This is the bottom portion of New Brunswick Way.  If you want to find a road sign for this street you will have to follow it through a parking lot and down to Lakeshore Blvd.  There you will find a traditional blue Toronto road sign instead of one of the fancier Exhibition Place signs.

If you head back up New Brunswick Way and take Nunavut Road north, you will end up on Nova Scotia Avenue.  As we mentioned before all the provinces are represented but they are all over the place as far as being presented in any sort of order.

We will take a left hand turn on Manitoba Drive and eventually we will end up at Princes' Boulevard again.

  Before we get to Princes' Boulevard we will pass Quebec Street.

   If we turn left at Princes' Boulevard we will pass the Princess Margaret Fountain.  

 Turn left again and you are on Prince Edward Island Crescent.  Despite being the smallest province in both size and population, it is almost as long as Ontario Drive.  

  After leaving Prince Edward Island Crescent turn left again and now you are on the road named after Canada's most populous province.  Take an Ontario drive along Ontario Drive as it curves back into Princes' Boulevard again.

   Heading past the Princess Margaret Fountain once more, now the road becomes Saskatchewan.

  While you can drive from Saskatchewan to British Columbia you can't do it without passing through Alberta first.  At the Exhibition grounds you can drive Saskatchewan Road and turn directly onto British Columbia Road.

  Don't worry, the next street is Alberta Circle.  Alberta was not left out.

  The last street we visit in order to complete our cross country journey is Yukon Place.  It wraps around the Liberty Grand (pictured below).  

There you have it.  Ten provinces and two territories later and we have visited most of Canada in one short trip.

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Map of Our World
Exhibition Place

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Post # 293

Hornets Buzz At Canadian International Air Show

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  210 Princes' Blvd.
Date: September 2014
Website:  theex.com

  Each Labour Day weekend in Toronto thousands of people crane their necks and look to the sky.  They shield their eyes and squint as they stare into the sun.  They also jump when they see something shoot past followed by an almighty roar.  The Canadian International Air Show rips up the sky over Lake Ontario once again.  This post pays tribute to one of our favourites, the CF-18 Hornet which is the loudest thing at the lake this weekend.

  The CF-18 is the Canadian Forces version of the American fighter aircraft the F/A-18 Hornet.  It can travel up to Mach 1.8  (1,814 km an hour).  Mach 1 is the speed of sound.  At that speed, if the performing hornet kept on going it would be traveling through Saskatchewan an hour from now.

 
  If we left during the show and drove our car, we would probably still be stuck on Lakeshore Boulevard trying to merge onto the Gardiner Expressway an hour from now.

  Now running at such high speeds and using afterburners uses a lot of fuel so running at Mach 1.8 the jet would probably be out of fuel in less than 20 minutes.  Afterburners are an exhaust system that increases thrust of the aircraft for takeoffs, increased speed and quick maneuvers.

  Whatever the science is behind how these machines work, we like them because they are fast and they are loud. The CF-18 Hornet also likes to fly upside down, hover in place and point straight up and fly into the sun.

  Sometimes they like to get all dressed up for a special occasion like Canada's 150th Birthday.  It is always a special occasion when the CF-18 Hornet flies overhead at the Canadian International Air Show.  It is sure to get your attention.  Watch some video highlights below.

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Map of Our World
Canadian International Air Show

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Post # 261

Legends Of The Silk Road

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 100 Princes' Blvd.
Date: Aug 2018
Website:  theex.com

  This year the Canadian National Exhibition features an indoor lantern festival.  The displays are based on an ancient trade route between Europe and China known as The Silk Road.  According to our CNE guidebook it took 55 metres of steel and 4000 metres of synthetic silk to make the lanterns.  It took over 40 days to make the lanterns and 60 days to travel from China to Toronto.  The lanterns bring to life the stories and adventures associated with the Silk Road.  Join us as we walk the Silk Road and see these stories come to light.

  The tour starts with a silk lantern version of the CNE's Princes' Gates that welcome us.  A map shows the routes taken both by land and sea as this trade route was used. The Silk Road spanned more than 6,500 kilometres. 

The Adventures of Marco Polo

Marco Polo was an Italian explorer.  He travelled the Silk Road on an epic 24 year journey from Italy to Asia. He travelled with a caravan of people and animals he encountered on the way.

The Four Dragons

Four dragons were placed underneath mountains. They transformed into rivers to bring water to the people.

Washrooms

  After the dragons, we encountered the only washrooms on the Silk Road.  Yikes!  We had better use the facilities as we still have to walk all the way from China to Europe.

The Fairies of Lake Saif-ul-Malook

This is a tale of a prince who fell in love with a fairy.  The lake is located in northern Pakistan and on the full moon it is said the lake shimmers as the prince and fairy dance along the water.

Voyages Of Sinbad the Sailor

Sinbad had many adventures.  This time he fights a group of cyclops on the island of Krakatoa.

Odysseus and the Sirens

It is said that the beautiful song of the sirens causes sailors to shipwreck or plunge into the sea.  Odysseus tied himself to the mast and plugged his crews ears with beeswax so that he could safely listen to the siren song.

Aladin and the Magic Lamp

Aladin polishes a golden lamp and a genie appears to grant him three wishes.  If only we were that lucky.

Sancai The Tang Horse

 

Beautiful pottery replicas were made of war horses during the Tang Dynasty and displayed in tombs.
 
The Minotaur and the Maze

In Greek mythology, every nine years Minos sent seven boys and seven girls into a labyrinth where they were eaten by the Minotaur.  We did encounter the half man, half bull, Minotaur but survived as the maze itself was not very difficult.  After all the CNE wouldn't want families getting lost and missing the next performance of the President's Choice Super Dogs.

Atlas Holding The World

Atlas tried to conquer Zeus and was punished by being forced to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders.  The two photos above are of the same display from two different angles but they look quite different.  You can see how the lanterns transform what you are seeing as you wak around them.

Portraits of Power

 

This display features lanterns portraying Mulan, an Amazon woman, an enchantress, a wizard and a magician.  All powerful and wise.

Animals of the World
This display featured some legends of how animals came to look the way they do. Here is a quick summary.

How the zebra got its stripes?  A rabbit painted a donkey.

How the giraffe got its long neck? Got stuck in a tree and the other animals pulled and pulled.

How the tiger got its stripes? A farmer tied it to a tree causing rope burn when it escaped.
How the lion got its mane?  Got some sticky olive oil on its head and ran into long dry grass..

Mythical Creatures

This display features a unicorn as well as Carberus, the three headed dog.

It also has hippogriffs and centaurs which both have the body of a horse.  The other half of a hippogriff is eagle and a centaur is half human.

Phoenix Rising

Every 500 years the phoenix builds a nest and sets herself on fire.  She then bursts from the flames empowered and strong.

Jack & Beanstalk

Jack trades his cow for some magic beans and climbs a beanstalk into the clouds.  Here he encounters a giant.

Legends Of The Sky

Icarus's father made him some wings but warned him not to fly too close to the sun or the wax that held his wings together would melt.  He didn't listen to his Dad's warnings.

Also flying high above us was the winged stallion, Pegasus and a half eagle, half lion called a griffin.

The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg

Each day the goose laid a golden egg.  The greedy farmer killed the goose thinking it was full of gold.  Inside was just a regular goose that laid regular eggs.

Hansel & Gretel

 Hansel and Gretel were walking in the woods where a witch had built a gingerbread house filled with candy.  The witch was hoping to catch and eat the children but they escaped.

We had finally reached the end of the Silk Road.  We hope this becomes a regular exhibit at the CNE.  Even though the road is filled with dangerous creatures, it is great to see the beautifully constructed lanterns that bring those creatures to life.

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Map of Our World
Legends of The Silk Road

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Post # 225