Tour - Day 1 - Toronto to Regina

Sitting in Toronto Pearson Airport with some time to spare as we wait to fly to the Regina, the first stop of our Tour-To-Cold-Places.  I made Guy come to the airport 3 hours early because I had heard that there was going to be a work slowdown amongst the security personnel.  But instead, we simply found a parking spot by the elevators, no lineups to check our baggage, and the security line non-existent.  So we celebrated with Guy’s trademark start-of-tour burger and fries followed by airport capuccinos... lots of time to chat with the inevitable parade of bright-eyed children who stop to stare at my hair and Guy’s hat.A tiny aircraft awaited us, and luckily the plane was not full so we found places to stow computers, coats and instruments.  When we arrived in Regina, we were met at the airport and whisked away to dinner with our very kind hosts who are also the founders and presenters of the Cecilian Concert Series.  Dennis Weist sponsors the series and looks after the Hailun grand piano that Guy will be playing tomorrow night and Lore Ruschiensky is the tireless director of the series.  This fascinating pair are major world travelers and think nothing of going around the world to hear different concerts... they recently heard a chamber music concert at the Neurosciences Centre in San Diego and a symphony concert at the Walt Disney Hall.  Other key members of the concert series were also at the dinner, including Corinne Groff who drove us from the airport and to our hotel, along with Joyce, Gary and Lily Ann... it was an incredibly warm and welcoming way to start the tour!

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