Weekend special: Elora

[vaneramos]

Yesterday afternoon Danny and I headed to Elora, a remarkably scenic village on the Grand River 15 minutes north of Guelph. In the 70s it was a mecca for artists and craftsman who unfortunately outgrew themselves. By the mid 1980s it had become a tourist trap, rents had skyrocketted and none of them could afford to keep their shops and studios downtown. They have been replaced by a long row of expensive boutiques and gift shops. The village still flourishes, Elora Mill Inn is one of the most notable hotels in the area, and the artists have all moved elsewhere. I imagine many of them still live in town. In 1990 when I lived in the village of Paisley, 90 minutes north on Elora Road, the Elora Soap Company and a Basque bakery had set up shop there. Elora soaps can still be found at upscale art and craft shows around Ontario. While no longer unique as it once was, Elora remains an interesting weekend jaunt.

The Elora Music Festival draws world class chamber and choral ensembles every year in early August. The feature performance always takes place on a raft in the middle of the small lake in Elora Quarry.

Elora Gorge is one of the most scenic spots in Ontario west of the Niagara Escarpment. And the village, despite having lost its grass-roots appeal, retains its old-fashioned charm.

The following scene has been widely painted, particularly by one Guelph artist. Picture Monet's paintings of canals in Venice and you'll get the general idea.





One of the most memorable features of the area is the falls below Elora Mill, which you can see in the distance of the previous photo. To see the rapids you'll have to pass behind the veil. In total, four more images await you.














This does not exhaust my supply of memorable images from Elora yesterday. The rest fall neatly into two series, which I plan to post separately over the next few days.

Comments

[robearal.livejournal.com]

Van, your photos are always wonderful.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :-)

[shawnsyms.livejournal.com]

I've been to Paisley many, many times. Friends of our family lived there, and we would drive up from my boyhood home of Niagara Falls to visit.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Wow, I lived there for 18 months while I worked at the Hanover Post, and got married while I was there. Long time ago.

Nice icon there, WOOF.

[shawnsyms.livejournal.com]

>>Nice icon there, WOOF.

Aw, thanks! I can send you the pic it's taken from if you want.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Woohoo, I would like that. You can email me at vanwaffle AT gmail DOT com.

[ubermunkey.livejournal.com]

all good images but the top one is my favorite. I am guessing that it is Danny, but it could be any old world charming village in Europe with any big bearded woofy russian hat wearing woofer walking down the street...

be well

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

That's funny. I am going to include another photo of him ith my regular post shortly and it made me think he should audition for the remake of Doctor Zhivago. He's handsome enough.

[writer00.livejournal.com]

That photo of Danny is amazing! How did you combine the images?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I had two pictures. One was badly aligned, but I liked the image of Danny and his shadow better. I cut and pasted his image into the other photo and surprise! No seams! No touch-ups necessary. Lucky I took the photos from precisely the same vantage point. I had intended to cover the other Danny with with a cut-and-paste blank wall and sidewalk, but he was so amused by the double image that I decided to leave it.

:-)

[writer00.livejournal.com]

Ziggy and I were blown away by it! You are so damned talented.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Well thank you. :-) I like to pretend that I don't tamper with my photos (and the majority are not altered, apart from cropping), but this one was too fun to pass up.

[eloquentwthrage.livejournal.com]

As usual, thanks for the pics!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome. :-)

The pots in the window

[(Anonymous)]

That's astounding! And funny too! Makes me think of some things I've seen on the Mirror Project [ http://www.mirrorproject.com ]

Love your site

Will Brady

Re: The pots in the window

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

That's a cool site. I encountered it once before. Danny likes taking photos like that.

Thanks for the note in compliments in your blog. As always, I enjoy reading your stuff too!