In July, 2007, we had our 2nd annual Mike's grad student reunion at Centre Island (just off the Toronto shoreline).
Below left, we are (approx L-R) Dong ei and Baoyan, Charlie, myself and Greg, Marina and Topper,
Thamayanthi, Julia, Zhengzheng and Peter with Patti taking the pic. You can see the CN Tower and a bit of the Skydome (far left)
in the background.
It was a very cold, rainy day (very unusual for Toronto in mid July). We found some shelter from the rain,
had our picnic and then dcided to head back. When we got back, Greg suggested we look in the Westin
Hotel for a coffee shop, which we did. We warmed up with tea and coffee (below R). The Austrian FIFA, under 20 soccer
team had just beat the US and the Austrians were staying at the Westin. They trooped in amidst considerable whooping and hollering
and provided us with great entertainment. Zhengzheng is taking the pic. Charlie is outside with Topper and was assisted by Peter.
Of course Jarka wanted to come but being in Vienna, Austria or Stupava, Slovakia would make the trip a little bit long :)
(Below L) Marina's son Peter and Topper bonded during the entire event. It was a great relationship:
Topper had just had a haircut and was feeling very cold. Peter loves animals and held Topper all afternoon.
(Below, R) This is the ferry that took us back to the Westin Hotel. You can see many of Toronto's buildings in the background.
We all learned one key thing that day: the best thing about getting cold and wet is getting warm and dry later on. It
was delightful in the Westin coffee shop because we were all at one big table and we all got
warmed up together. We stayed there quite a while because it was such a comfy place to chat. Many thanks to Zhengzheng and Charlie
for doing such a great job of organizing again this year.
