May 4, 2023 – London ON to Waterloo, ON

London, ON is my husband’s home town.

London, ON

London is a Canadian city in southwestern Ontario, just north of Lake Erie and the U.S. border. It’s home to the University of Western Ontario. Among the city’s range of museums are Museum London, a showcase for regional art and historical artefacts, and the interactive Children’s Museum. The city centre features numerous parks and greenways along the Thames River.― Google

The Thames River dominates London’s geography. The North and South branches of the Thames River meet at the centre of the city, a location known as “The Forks” or “The Fork of the Thames.”

London is a regional centre of healthcare and education, being home to the University of Western Ontario (which brands itself “Western University”), Fanshawe College, and three major hospitals: Victoria Hospital, University Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital and has become a prime area for retirees.

Today is a short travel day (about 2 hours usually) between family members ie we are moving to a different household to the east, for the next 3 days.

There is no hurry today like there usually is to get from one household to the other so we decided to walk down memory lane a bit and stop at places from earlier times.

The drive is through the rich agricultural farms that southern Ontario is famous for… dairy, corn, wheat etc. We pass through St. Mary’s, Stratford and Shakespeare on our way today.

St. Mary’s ON

This part of Ontario is situated on a large limestone bed. St. Mary’s is noted for St. Mary’s cement and the largest quarry swimming hole in this part of the world.

Stratford, ON

Google: Stratford is a city on the Avon River in southwest Ontario, Canada. Its Stratford Festival stages modern and Shakespearean plays in multiple theatres. Victorian buildings dot the city, including Stratford City Hall and the Perth County Courthouse. The city’s many parks and gardens include the Shakespearean Gardens, with plants mentioned in the playwright’s works. Gallery Stratford displays primarily Canadian art.

The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival, the Shakespeare Festival and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. The festival was one of the first arts festivals in Canada and continues to be one of its most prominent. It is recognized worldwide for its productions of Shakespearean plays

This first performances (like the entire first four seasons) took place in a concrete amphitheatre covered by giant canvas tent on the banks of the River Avon. The first of many years of Stratford Shakespeare Festival production history started with a six-week season opening on 13 July 1953 with Richard III and then All’s Well That Ends Well, both starring Alec Guinness. The 1954 season ran for nine weeks and included Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and two Shakespeare plays, Measure for Measure and The Taming of the Shrew. Young actors during the first four seasons included several who went on to great success in subsequent years, Douglas Campbell, Timothy Findley, Don Harron, William Hutt and Douglas Rain.

Stratford City Hall is the city hall of Stratford, Ontario, and a National Historic Site of Canada. It sits amidst the city’s business district, on a triangular town square.

Built in the “Jacobean end” of the Queen Anne Revival style, the building exhibits an eclectic combination of features, including gables in Flemish Renaissance style, a classical cupola, and panelled chimneys. Each end of the building has a dodecagonal base, the central portion a hexagon, and the clock tower a circle.

The rest of the day will be spent with family in Waterloo, ON.