Elora was our first stop on the lovely fall weekend outing. Its a small town on the edge of a river, which some historic limestone buildings. It had a European feel with the way the buildings related to each other and the river. Now most of the buildings have been recycled into restaurants and craft galleries.
Some interesting bits from Wikipedia
"Elora was founded in 1832 by Captain William Gilkison, a British officer recently returned from India. Originally called Irvine Settlement, the village was renamed Elora when the post office was established in 1839. Gilikson named the community after his brother's ship, which was itself inspired by the Ellora Caves near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India.
The spectacular Elora Gorge is at the western edge of the village, adjacent to the Elora Gorge Conservation Area. At the eastern end of the village is the Elora Quarry Conservation Area, a scenic former limestone quarry, which is now a popular swimming area. The Elora Quarry was used to film a couple of scenes in the movie Angel Eyes. Both of these conservation areas are under the authority of the Grand River Conservation Authority.
Elora is also a noted tourist attraction, with a famous waterfall, called the Tooth of Time, overlooked by an old mill, numerous small shops and art galleries. The quaint old Gorge Cinema is Canada's oldest continuously running repertory theatre. The Elora Mill is Ontario's only remaining five-story mill and has been renovated as a prestigious inn and restaurant. The village is a terminus to Ontario's scenic 47-km Elora Cataract Trailway to its east, and is just 10 km from the Trans Canada Trail to its southwest. Elora is also famous for its unique shops and its quaint cafés and restaurants, which lie along the river's edge"
The Mill from upriver.
The "entrepot" stores along the riverside.
The Mill from down river with the Tooths of Time.
Then we came back to Guelph. Of the 3 town, Guelph, Kitchiner and Waterloow it seemed to be the best planned and the most affluent of the 3. Quite a livable city and a good size. In fact it is oftern on the lists of one of the most livable cities in Canada. It would be too far to commute to TO everyday and not go crazy (mostly due to traffic, at non-traffic times its just over an hour from downtown). But if one had a job in town then it would do just fine. University towns always seem to have a little something extra, the students bringing in fresh ideas and spirit and staff requiring good places to live.
From Wikipedia
"Before colonization, the area was considered by the surrounding indigenous communities to be a "neutral" zone. On selected dates members from these communities would meet and trade goods by the Speed River.[citation needed]
Guelph was selected as the headquarters of the Canada Company, a British development firm, by its Canadian superintendent John Galt, a popular Scottish novelist who designed the town to attract settlers to it and to the surrounding countryside.[5]
Galt designed the town to resemble a European city centre, complete with squares, broad main streets and narrow side streets, resulting in a variety of block sizes and shapes which is still in place today.[6][citation needed]. This technique had been used in other planned towns such as Buffalo, New York.[5] Guelph was founded on St. George's Day, April 23, 1827, the feast day of the patron saint of England.[6] The town was named to honour Britain's royal family, the Hanoverians, who were descended from the Guelfs, the ancestral family of George IV, the reigning British monarch; thus the nickname The street plan was designed to resemble a lady's fan, many of the streets forming triangles (the segments of the fan)The Royal City. The directors of the Canada Company had actually wanted the city to be named Goderich, but reluctantly accepted the fait accompli."
The main city square was under construction, but we did walk around a little. And at the top of the hill is a Catholic church which provides a great beacon.
Just north of Waterloo is the menonite village of St-Jacobs. Because we visited on Sunday morning all the shops where closed. Including the farmers market. There were loads of antique markets but because of lack of time we didn't stop.
The Old Mill and Silo turned into a retail complex.
In Waterloo we went to "uptown waterloo" a little sector they are trying to turn into a bit of an urban park. There are a few "architect" designed buildings in progress, which surround a lake with some heritage buildings. As its under construction, its hard to comment on the success of them. Owen hated the black building and I would question its appropriateness in that location, I much prefered the Canadian Clay and Glass Museum.
Lisa's parents backyard had some visitors. They live right next to the Guelph Bird Sanctuary which is a big park reserve.
And finally some fall colours, but the pics don't do them justice!
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