As much as I love the city (Toronto, that is), occasionally I have to go away and a few weeks ago I got the idea of a little getaway weekend winter with my sister-in-law Yolande and my nephew Jazz. So I started surfing the Internet to see where we go, and since I did not want to spend several hours of driving I decided on a destination almost an hour outside Toronto, I came up with the city of Barrie whose surrounding areas include several ski resorts.

Yesterday was a day beautiful, and more than 8 degrees Celsius certainly not a typical Canadian winter day. After checking in at our overnight retreat, the Bed and Breakfast Nicholyn Farms just 15 minutes outside of Barrie, we headed downtown to explore this growing city of 125,000 that sits just on the shore of Lake Simcoe in Kempenfelt Bay.

Although our plans to go skating failed on Lake Simcoe was frozen enough so we could walk around Kempenfelt Bay, and like many others in this beautiful day we were able to walk and play on the frozen lake. I started with a short walk around town to capture some of the essence of this country town has become a bedroom community popular for travelers to Toronto. The completion of the railway that connects the city of Barrie to York (now Toronto) in 1865 and the construction of the highway 400 in the 1950s were critical events that promote the growth of this city. Thanks to its proximity to Toronto and Lake Ontario and 4 stations in the season, Barrie is ideal for a quick winter getaway.

[SECURITY WARNING: Make sure you obey all weather alerts when they venture out frozen lakes. This year has been particularly mild winter and every year several people falling through the ice and drown. Please make sure the ice is safe before going on the lake!]

In proximity to Barrie there are 2 winter seasons, Horseshoe Valley Resort and Snow Valley, and not much further are Blue Mountain / skiing largest Collingwood (Ontario) and Mount St. Louis Moonstone. The forests and lakes around Barrie abundant supply of opportunities for hiking, skiing and snow-mobiling. Its proximity to Georgian Bay, one of the most popular in Ontario getaway, Barrie makes a popular tourist destination near Toronto. Lake Simcoe itself is an important center for ice fishing.

Barrie is anchored in the center of Dunlop Street which has a large variety of shops independent retail outlets. Many of the buildings along Dunlop Street date from the Victorian era and the city has made an effort to preserve and enhance heritage architecture.

Barrie's waterfront is dominated by an impressive outdoor sculpture: the Spirit Catcher, which was designed by sculptor Ron Baird for EXPO 1986 in Vancouver. The sculpture was donated to the Project Gallery Barrie in 1987 and represents the aboriginal peoples of Canada and the Myth of Aboriginal the Thunderbird. When he got the Spirit Catcher, which was blessed at a special ceremony Branch native drum group Mnijikaning First Nation.

In the spirit of human understanding, we had our own cultural experience things. After returning from my little photo tour through downtown Barrie, I reconnected with my sister, brother and my nephew next to the Spirit Catcher in the dock. Yolanda and jazz had met a young German exchange student with the name of Martin, who is currently completing a degree in Environmental Technology in Germany and managed to organize an international cooperative mission in a small town north of Barrie.

We had a fabulous and Martin mentioned how difficult it was to realize his dream of completing a program international cooperation in Canada. But he did and is spending 9 weeks here in Ontario. He said he loves the country and is hosted by the Canadian mentality. Of course, also plans to explore Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Niagara Falls and New York during his short stay of 9 weeks here in Canada. Martin told us that at his young age had already traveled to 19 different countries, and no matter where you like to connect with people from different places.

And apart from simply have a conversation, Martin, full of youthful energy and mischief, was definitely for a snowball fight and some dumb, something my nephew, age 8, greatly enjoyed. It was great to see the two chasing each other on the frozen lake, throwing snow at each other and laugh their heads. On one side was blond and blue-eyed Martin from Germany and the other, was my nephew brown leather heritage of Trinidad. Two strangers from completely different backgrounds and cultures, connecting through fun and outdoor activities. There is nothing better than ….

After Martin had left, we continued our walk around Lake Simcoe and enjoyed our time in the heat of the sun, like all other persons on the frozen lake until the sun dipped below the horizon.

We saw in the activities and float aircraft landing and taking off, we saw the dog walkers, bikers, even mountain bikers in the lake, and looked at the ice fishing huts in the distance, across the bay. A young man was playing ball with his father, and the determination of real Canuck, was dressed in shorts. 8 degrees Celsius was assumed enough to break the summer costume. That's the true Canadian spirit!

Useful links for travel to Barrie

Tourism Barrie

Simcoe County Tourism

Ontario Official Website

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.

“Life is a Journey Explore New Horizons”. The story with photos is published at Travel Stories and Photos (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/hello_barrie_1.htm)

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