24 Sep 2014 Toronto

Backward Time Travel...
Visiting, on a golden day of Indian summer, Toronto's fantastic Black Creek Pioneer Village, a living 30-acres open-air museum with a collection of 19th-century buildings and artefacts, and becoming immersed in the lifestyles, customs, and surroundings of early residents who built the foundations for modern Ontario ("Yours to Discover").



“It may be interesting for you to know that most Canadians in 2036 CE are some of the most efficient, ruthless and dangerous people I know…"
Time-travelling together with our number-one daughter Ulrike and our three awesome Canadian grandchildren Raoni, Tien and Ronja, stepping through the automatic gate of the heritage museum in lieu of a traversable wormhole, entering the early-to-mid-19th century and arriving at an inhabited pioneer village, which consists of over forty historical buildings, decorated in the style of the 1860s with period furnishings (admission for non-aliens and aliens: C$ 15.- per adult, C$ 14.- per senior, C$ 11.- per child).

“People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff.”

Following the country kid's animal trail through the village's herb garden, the weaver's dye garden and the doctor's medicinal garden, spending time in the apple orchard, encountering en-route (i) long-wooled Border Leicester sheep, (ii) tall Clydesdale horses, (iii) docile Hereford cows, (iv) popular Ridley Bronze turkeys and (v) ponderous Toulouse geese, and learning how early farmers cared for the animals and used them for food, transportation, and clothing.





Meeting the tinsmith, the blacksmith, the cider miller, the saddler and the shepherd in their traditional working environment and watching them doing their work holistically with their hearts, their heads and their hands.















Zeitreisen sind kinderleicht! Entscheidend ist, dass Ihr die Vergangenheit und die Zukunft in ganz vielen Einzelheiten und bunten Farben in Euren Koepfen praezise erleben koennt. Und je mehr feine und konkrete Unterschiede (sogenannte submodalities) Ihr dabei seht, hoert, fuehlt, riecht und schmeckt, desto spannender wird es. Selbst anderen Zeitreisenden koennt Ihr unterwegs begegnen. Dazu sind irgendwelche Zeitmaschinen, mit oder ohne Fahrradsattel, voellig ueberfluessig, wenn nicht sogar gaenzlich untauglich. Lebendige Traeume, gefuehlvolle Maerchen und phantastische Geschichten ermoeglichen es Euch, weit in die Vergangenheit und weit in die Zukunft zu reisen, dort interessante Orte und Landschaften zu besuchen und unbekannte oder auch bekannte Menschen zu treffen, z.B. Euch selber, als Ihr noch juenger wart, oder Euch selber, so wie Ihr in 20 Jahren einmal aussehen werdet… - Welche Berufe werdet Ihr dann wohl ausueben?
From the People's Republic of Canada, with Love!


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05 Sep - 07 Sep 2014 Toronto

Vegetarianism in Canada...
Feeding our mouth's mind, visiting Toronto's 30th annual Veg Food Fest 2014, the biggest food festival in North America, and enjoying tasty vegetarian and vegan dishes, interesting cooking demonstrations and the spiritual exchange of ideas with other vegetarians about (i) animal welfare and animal rights, (ii) healthy living and (iii) the protection of our natural environment.


“I wouldn't touch a hot dog unless you put a condom on it! You realize that the job of a hot dog is to use parts of the animal that the Chinese can't figure out how to make into a belt?"
Meeting young and old animal rights activists from all over Ontario ("Yours to Discover"), learning new and shocking facts about the negative side effects (animal abuse, health risks, harm to the environment) of intensive factory farming on land and in the water and deciding to stop eating fish and seafood: ovo-lacto vegetarianism and pescetarianism, over and out; consistent veganism come in!
"It's time to give up the quaint relic that is vegetarianism, and take the first and most essential step in combating a system that treats animals not as creatures who can feel and love and think, but instead as mere engines for the production of profit. It is time to take that step and go vegan."











"Do you know why most survivors of the holocaust are vegan?
It's because they know what it's like to be treated like an animal..."


Snacking on mouthwatering, veggielicious and tofulicious delicacies from a few of the over 130 food vendors and vegetarian restaurants at the Veg Food Fest, organised by the Toronto Vegetarian Association, and discovering many new vegan recipies and plant-based cooking ideas (e.g. about the health benefits of Styrian pumpkin-seed oil, about the subtleties of Canadian home sprouting and about the multifariousness of international vegan food, thank you, Ernie, Tony and Kristen).





Discussing with other environmental activists that becoming a minimalistic vegan or vegetarian (environmental vegetarianism) is one of the most important and effective actions one can take to help stop global warming, conserve natural resources, prevent water and air pollution, and save species from extinction; in our opinion, probably a better choice than being an overweight and consumerist carnivore who silences her or his bad conscience by participating in Green-political mass rallies, ideologised conservation campaigns, media-hyped protest marches or any other planet-saving pomp...
"If you want to change the world, you must first change the country in which you live; if you want to change your country, you must change the village where you live; if you want to change your village, you must change your family; if you want to change your family, you must change yourself."


HappyCow's Compassionate Healthy Eating Guide

For Raoni, Tien and Ronja: 
Wie Ihr wisst, ernaehren wir uns seit vielen Jahren voellig fleischlos, wenn man von der gelegentlichen Fliege im Bier einmal absieht. Cheers, so schmeckt es uns am besten. Manchmal hoeren wir dann von den (haeufig uebergewichtigen) Fleischfressern, dass der Verzicht auf Fleisch sehr ungesund oder sogar gefaehrlich sei; Proteinmangel, Vitaminmangel und Mineralstoffmangel werden gern genannt. Wir lassen uns aber nicht durch die Mangel ziehen: Die Hunde bellen und die Karawane zieht weiter. Sehr gern setzen wir unser "Experiment" als Veganer fort, verzichten weiterhin auf Fleisch, Fisch, Milch, Kaese und Eier ebenso wie auf alle kuenstlichen Zusaetze (sogenannte health or nutritional supplements) und geniessen natuerliche und zuckerfreie Gemuese-, Obst- und Tofuleckereien. Dabei spielt Rohkost (raw food) eine immer groessere Rolle, so wie wir es von unseren Vorbildern (role models), den Orang-Utans auf Borneo, Kalimantan und Sumatra gelernt haben. - Welche interessanten Zutaten findet Ihr in Euren grossen Salatschuesseln? 
From the People's Republic of Canada, with Love!


Click below for more blog posts about our journey from pescetarian to vegan travellers
07 Jun - 15 Jul 2008 Chagos
16 Mar - 16 Jun 2007 El Gouna


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