Back in Toronto

Well.. I'm finally back in Toronto.. Didn't have so much time, nor the energy to do so much today. I went out walking around the area where the hostel is and through the nearby park. Here are some pictures.

Goodbye Fredericton!

After Summer school ended I spent the two next days sleeping...

And today Monday, was my last full day in Fredericton, so I spent it by walking around taking some pictures and looking at the city. It isn't as bad as I might have said it is. There wasn't very many things to do, and everyone left on Saturday, so I was all alone here.

Some of the buildings on campus was very impressive. There were parks, and departments I hadn't seen before.

A very nice last day.. Farewell Fredericton!

Roadtrip Part 3- Whale-watching

After our classes ended, me and two others began our drive down to St Andrews. We arrived just in time for the Whale watching, and headed out.

Some pictures of the whales we saw. We saw finback and minke whales, and I can't tell them apart on the pictures.

Of course there were lots of seagulls.

These are not dolphins, although they look a lot like them. They are porpoises (sv. "Tumlare") and they don't have the pointy "noses" that dolphins have. On this picture there is a mother and her calf (on the right). The porpoises that we saw were maybe 50 cm long, so they were small.

Here are some rocks that have appeared when the high tide was going out. On them, about 50 seals have decided to take a rest. After we got back, I sat down and did some Riemannian Geometry.

I part of me has always wondered how everything would have been if I had never lost my interest in whales.. Maybe I had become a Marine Biologist..? All I know is that Mathematics and Physics is way more AWESOME than some whales! :D My life had been so boring, just going around looking at some weird whales! Omg that would have been horrible.. I think that some things are better left as dreams..

Roadtrip Part 2 - Prince Edward Island

Day two of our travels, we went all across New Brunswick to get to Prince Edward Island. To get there we had to drive for several hours, and then cross an enormous bridge to get there.

In the background, the bridge to Prince Edward Island.

Prince Edward Island was very beautiful, everywhere you looked there were green fields, flowers and trees. After driving to across it, we went to a big beach area somewhere near Green Gables. If you have read/seen Anne of Green Gables, it is set in this area.

Prince Edward Island is very beautiful.

Even though this was the waters of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, it was really nice to swim, and there were some nice waves there. I really should learn how to surf.

After that, we drove to Charlottetown, where we had supper at an Italian Restaurant, before heading back. I might mention that all this driving didn't cost very much. The price for gasoline in New Brunswick is 1 CAD (about 6.8 SEK)/litre, for regular gas. And it is cheaper in other parts of Canada, and the gas prices in the US, is apparently way lower. Guess not everyone is having an oil crisis, eh?

After having dinner, we began our long drive back.. Another great day.

Roadtrip Part 1 - Saint John & St Andrews

Before the last weekend, a few of us had been talking about that we wanted to see more of the region, and not just Fredericton. I saw this as an excellent opportunity, because I had already decided that I wanted to go whale-watching, and buses were inconvenient and really expensive. So a couple of us, went to a car rental company and rented a car. It was supposed to be a compact car for 5 people, but when we went down to get it they didn't have one, so instead they gave us a minivan for 7 people for the same price. :)

We talked two more people into going and then we headed off, towards Saint John and then St Andrews.

Saint John is a nice, quite big port town, and is one of the oldest in New Brunswick. It's a very nice little town, with charming houses, parks and very friendly people.

Saint John's Saturday market is much more thrilling than Fredericton's. Here they have lots and lots of stuff, and even some live music. :)

What can you say..? It's Canada...

And here are the famous (haha) Reversing Falls. As the picture might tell, things start to get crazy when the laws of Physics break down. The Reversing falls is a river, that from high to low tide changes direction (because the water levels change). This creates some whirlpools and strong currents. Here the river is flowing upstream, up the river. (it just changed)

After a brief visit to Saint John, we (Michal) drove down along the coast line, almost to the border of Maine, to the small harbour town of St Andrews.

This is pretty much the shopping street, but it is a nice little town, so don't be fooled by its looks. Unfortunately, all the whale-watching tours were booked for the day (I didn't make a reservation, because I wasn't sure we were going to get there) Fortunately though, we had the car until Tuesday morning, because everything was closed on Monday, because it's New Brunswick Day! ;) But we made a reservation, to go whale-watching then after class..

The rest of the afternoon, we spent on a desolate beach.. After that we wnt back home.

Kings Landing

AARMS had planned a trip for us summer school participants; a day trip to Kings Landing Historical Settlement, which is basicly a couple of houses with some people showing how the first settlers in New Brunswick lived. For the people of NB, this might appear like a big part of their history, and very old, but being from Europe in general, this isn't very old. (I mean, Old Town in Stockholm is hundreds of years older than their country).

Anyhow, this was a nice trip.

A typical house.

The cows are of a different breed than the one we have in Sweden.

A saw mill, or rather the waterworks that power it.

Hm... Where have I seen these kinds of stoves before??? ;)