Winter in Toronto, Canada

CN Tower

City Hall

I am spending the winter in Toronto this year with my son, Ryan and his family who live near downtown. From these photos it seems that Toronto is full of concrete, but I was surprised by just how many parks there are here. I used to live inToronto a few years ago while attending school, but left as soon as I saw one day on television just how beautiful and green British Columbia was. However, at this time, I consider this detour a wonderful opportunity to catch up on my writing, as well as indulge in culture, shopping and of course family time.

Tiramisu, my favourite dessert!

View from my door. Brrrrr.

And so, another season of publishing The Ionian is complete, I am working on a book and I will be updating this blog as I plan further cruising next summer.

Hope to see you in the Ionian next summer.

Another winner from the creator of Enviro Bear!

Here is another fun, non-violent game from the amazing mind of my son, Justin: Realistic, Summer Sport Simulator. Just in time for Christmas - a gift for all your friends - only 99c - cheaper than a Christmas card.

Happy New Year from Ixtapa, Mexico

Hope it's the best one yet for you.

Cool video games for Iphone and IPod touch - do what you love.

My son Justin wrote this game last year, won a contest and now it's available for your IPhone and IPod touch. It's the funniest thing you ever saw - a bear driving a car one handed through a forest. Fish fall into the car and he has to eat them before winter comes. Badgers fall into the car and wreck havoc as well. The game is called Enviro Bear and here is the review of it and an interview with Justin. You can watch the game on YouTube there.

Justin's Enviro-Bear 2000; Operation: Hibernation Video Game

My younger son, Justin writes video games for a living and he just entered one of his games in a contest for a short, fun game which needs to have a vehicle cockpit in it. Here is the link for it:

http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=4964.0

For those of you who aren't experienced with video games, you have to download the game first, unzip it and then play it. To get a full screen, press Alt, Enter. To get out of the game, press Esc. To operate the controls, use your mouse's left click button. The game has received a lot of praise on the internet, and I am also very proud of Justin. I think he'll win the contest. Best of luck, Justin!

Anna Kasperides

I am Greek, I am Greek, I am Greek! No wonder I love Greece so much and it feels like home. I found out not too long ago that actually my great, great, great grandmother was Greek possibly from Smyrna.  Her name was Anna Kasperides or Kasperidis and she went to live in Moravia and had a son Pawel whose daughter's name was Marianna. Marianna's married name was Raszka. She had a daughter named Ewa, who was my grandmother. I am now looking for my relatives in Greece - if you know of anyone by that name please let me know (internet search doesn't come up with anyone except a Greek soccer hero from Crete). Hmm, maybe I should track him down?