Tickets are available to see Cirque du Soleil in the big tent in the Toronto Lakeshore area. Cost is $185 per person and includes show ticket, dinner at the Mandarin Restaurant in Burlington and highway coach transport. The bus leaves Stronach Arena Wednesday June 4th at 3:30pm, returning around midnight.
For tickets contact Jim Hale at 519-878-8687 or Beth Schiks at 519-453-7645
Thirty-six Huff n' Puff travellers left Toronto at 10:45 pm for our five and a half hour flight to Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel Island in the Azores. Although we were tired when we arrived we spent our day wandering around the city or relaxing by the pool until check-in. The next two days were spent on the bus touring pineapple plantations, hot springs, volcanic calderas, and tea plantations. We had a lunch cooked by burying pots in the hot steamy soil. Of course, we had a beautiful breakfast buffet at the hotel.
We flew to Faial Island and the town of Horta and stayed in another great hotel with two pools and another great breakfast buffet. The first day in Horta was spent walking the quaint streets and becoming familiar with town.
The next morning, we got up early and took the ferry to the Island of Pico. Pico has the highest volcano in the Azores at about 2300 meters and the peak is often hiding in the clouds although showed itself for some pictures. We explored small coastal villages with beautiful views and visited a couple of whaling museums, a winery and a wine museum. After an exciting day we returned to Faial via ferry.
Our hotel on Faial was built during the second world war to house American communications personnel. We again toured this island and saw some amazing volcanic sights such as a huge caldera more than two kilometers across, old lava flows and barren land added by the last volcanic eruption in 1958.
We flew back Ponta Delgada for three more days of fun visiting a pottery, distillery and more sightseeing. Instead of taking a big bus we went out in four VW vans so we could get into harder to reach places. They were driven by local young men who answered all our questions about what life was like in the Azores.
This was a great trip. We learned a lot about the history and culture of the Azores and saw some fantastic scenery. Thank you to Jim Hale for doing such a great job organizing this unforgettable trip.
A group of enthusiastic Huff n' Puffers boarded the bus for Windsor to participate in the Rum Runners Tour. We were greeted by a tour guide in character as a gangster. We heard about prohibition on the Detroit side of the river during the roaring 20s and how liquor was smuggled from Windsor to serve in the their speakeasys.
We toured the older affluent areas in Windsor. Onto the bus came a newsboy with news of the day. We stopped at a historic courthouse to view the drama of a prohibition era legal case. In the church across the street a suffragette pleaded that alcohol was tearing families apart. A crooked minister had his say.
There were at least ten actors involved in our tour. At a still operational speakeasy we had a yummy lunch and heard a great musical presentation. Everyone on the trip enjoyed themselves.