2025 Toronto

The view from Canoe, book and cocktail to hand

In Canoe, on the 54th floor of the Toronto-Dominion Bank tower (a Ludwig Mies van der Rohe project, apparently).  Stunning views south – to the small landing strip on the nearby island, and west.  Air wonderfully clear today.  Earlier, lunch in St Lawrence Market.  Not quite as I remember it, but a good atmosphere, spoilt somewhat by the live lobsters in tanks, waiting to be killed, probably slowly and horribly…  Then to here, for the view, not the booze and expensive foods in this upmarket business lunch/dinner spot.  Small prop planes landing every few minutes at the airport.  Not many A380s so far, alas…

Returning to Toronto, 35 years later.  Some things the same, some different.  The good news: the Art Gallery of Ontario has many more paintings by the Group of Seven.  Wonderful stuff.

2024 Georgia

 

Kvetera fortress church

Sitting inside the Kvetera fortress church.  What an astonishing masterpiece.  Its form, with the four main apses linked by smaller infills.  The shocking blue of the tiled roof.  And inside, the porous, almost edible stone makes the whole surface alive.  

The stone of Kvetera fortress church

The columns have wonderful capitals – with square elements in the upper corners, and semicircles in the lower parts.  Amazingly original, you wonder what the architect/stonemason was thinking when they came up with it…

Inside Kvetera fortress church

A recent trip to Georgia, mostly spent in the wine-making region of Kakheti.  Surrounded by the Caucasus, and bordered by Chechnya and Dagestan, it is home to some amazing churches and much more. With photos...