CNE

Well, here I am at the Canadian National Exhibition. And it turns out to be a quirky mix between a fun fair, a circus, a trade fair and a flea market. There is entertainment, events, "how to" demonstrations, a kid's world, exhibits,casino, parades, shopping, rides, games, agriculture and sports.

In the “Farm, Food & Fun” hall, Canada’s farmers exhibit lifestock of all kinds. Cows, pigs, poultry, sheep, horses... you name it, it's there.

There is a cat show going on this weekend only on the second floor. I go upstairs and immediately hate it. Cats in cages, waiting to be displayed, judged and then stowed away again. But there also is a stall from a Toronto animal shelter and I have a chat with one of the ladies to find out how the system works in Canada. Not much different from home apparently. They are very dependent on donations and get some funding by the city. Like in Germany, a lot of people dump their pets at the shelter especially during the summer holiday season. Even the excuses are the same: "we would so love to keep Fluffy, but A / B / C has suddenly got asthma and can hardly breath when the cat is around" or "the cat has attacked the children for no reason". This upsets me, because not a lot of people would take their children to the orphanage, because they are in the way of a summer holiday. Before I get to worked up, let’s move on to something different.

Like butter sculptures:

In the Horse Palace the Texas Trick Riders show some riding tricks (what else did you expect?). Actually they show only a few riding tricks. Most of the show is rope tricks.

Next up is the Arts & Crafts hall. This catches my eye:

I am very close to buying one as a gift for Stewart, but they are just dust collectors that you don’t really need. He has got the real thing anyway.

I move on and end up in Rogers International Pavilion, where I see the same guitar in the "Goods from China" stall for 8 Dollars. Are we surprised?

I wonder if there is also a "Goods from Germany" stall and eventually find this one:

Well, it could have been worse. It could have been sausages or sauerkraut.

I decide that I have seen enough and head back to entrance/exit. Suddenly… there is music. A stage, a band. I stay to listen and they are playing… Bob Dylan and Bob Dylan only. Wow. I sit down with a drink and spent the rest of the afternoon happily listening to The Dylan Tree. They are really good and I listen to both sets they are playing.

Eventually I walk back to the hotel and this time it only takes me 45 minutes, a) because I am not taking any pictures and b) because I do not walk along the winding waterfront path but take the main road.