I finished my longitudinal walking on the Toronto Islands. I stopped by at a small amusement park on the way and was listening to little kids' English for some time. It was difficult to understand their words.
Returning to the mainland, I headed for Fort York at first, one of the tourist attractions, which is a fort constructed by the first Governor-General of Upper Canada, which is now Ontario, in 1793. People gathered and lived around the fort and formed a small community. It gradually became bigger and finally became Toronto City. This place was also the scene of the Battle of York in the War of 1812. It was ruined once, but rebuilt in 1815 and now is open to the public as a historic place. I saw several cannons on the wall, barracks and the changing of the guards. I was proud to remember such a place from my history class.
By the way, do you know Celine Dion? "La Memoire d'Abraham Lyrics" in her "French Album" came up suddenly. Canadians of French origin are grieving in the song, but how about native people? Though I think there's nowhere that hasn't the history of wars, I felt sorry for native people exposed to the invasion of Britain and France. Lots of soldiers might be lying under the soil so I walked around this historic site with their lives in mind.
(Vocabulary)
Governor-General (英連邦諸国・植民地の) 総督
fort 砦(とりで), 要塞
War of 1812 英米戦争
La Memoire D'abraham Lyrics セリーヌディオンの French Albumに収められた「アブラハム平原の思い出」
Comments