07/15/15- Our flight doesn’t leave until 11:05pm so we stopped over a friend’s house beforehand who took us to the airport for our trip to Canada. We make it there about 2 hours early, check in without any issues and wait to board our overnight flight to Montreal. There was a bit of a delay as we left almost an hour late but made up the time in the air. The flight was pretty smooth, although they did want us to pay for some of the movies. I did enjoy watching some free shows.
07/16/15- We land at New York’s JFK for our connecting flight and find that our next boarding gate is literally just a few gates down. That leaves on time in a very small plane (the smallest I have ever been on so far through all of the flights I’ve taken in my life). They had 1-seaters and barely had room for any carry-on luggage as they had to check most of it. Flight took off nice and was a bit shaky on entry, but only lasted an hour and we were finally ready to get our vacation started in Montreal.
We arrived at customs around 11:30am and were surprised that is was virtually empty. Breezing right through we head to baggage claim and find it without any wait, grab some cash from the ATM and got a taxi immediately to take us to our hotel (St Andre Hotel). So far so good on this trip as everything has been very efficient. At the hotel we were greeted by a very helpful person as we checked in and made it to our room in one piece. The room seems a bit small but more than adequate for this type of trip. We spent a little while adjusting and resting a bit before going out to the streets to get a first hand glimpse of what this city has to offer.
Almost immediately after we go outside we see a street with strings of pink balls lining the road. As we get closer we are amazed that it stretches for blocks on end in both directions. That whole section is also blocked off from cars and features some nice looking restaurants and stores. We walk the whole strip to one end and sat down to eat some pizza and wine before going back to our hotel for a rest. Tired from being up this whole time we fell asleep for a few hours which was much needed. Unfortunately the bed was not the most comfortable by any means but it was still sleep. When 9:30pm came around we knew if we stayed any longer we would be waking up super early, so we decided to venture out and see what the night life would bring. As we walked by the water, Vieux Montreal, we were surprised how warm it still was. Our jackets were hardly needed as we stayed out past midnight.
07/17/15- Had a hard time sleeping the whole night through but managed until about 7:20am. At 8am our free breakfast from the hotel was delivered straight to our room. Bread, Croissants, coffee and juice was filling enough to get the day started. We then head back out to Vieux Montreal to see it during the day and paid to view their version of Notre Dame Cathedral. Even though you can tell this was a newer fixture than those of Europe, it has some unique features that impressed us. While checking our phone for a map of the area a stranger came by and started talking to me in French. Thinking he was a beggar I shooed him off before realizing a moment later he was actually asking us if we needed any help. It is true what they say that Canadians are quite helpful and nice. We have encountered that several times so far here.
After a brief rest (and buying some souvenirs which includes an awesome jacket) we walk towards the Performing Arts area and saw them setting everything up for what appeared to be a festival coming up this weekend. Not much to do there yet, however there were tons of food trucks available which we ended up trying a Philadelphia Cheese Steak. Expensive but it was pretty good. Around 12:45pm we make it to the metro nearby and buy the 24-Hour pass for $10 each taking it about 8 stops to Olympic Park. This area was built primarily for the 1976 Olympics that were held in Montreal. We purchased a combo-ticket to see both the funicular and the stadium and received a $10 student discount because we looked young. Again, nice people! The funicular ride took us to the top of a tower that overlooked all of Montreal and was an interesting site to see. Luckily the day was clear as the clouds were supposed to come in later in the day with a forecast of rain. In the same area we also saw the Olympic size swimming pool that was used for the games. We finished the area with a 30 minute tour of the Stadium that use to house the MLB Montreal Expos team until they moved to Washington in 2004. Since a new stadium was built nearby the place hasn’t been used much. You can tell the oldness of it as you looked around and I wonder how much longer they will keep that there without renovating it somehow.
Very tired we take the metro back to our hotel to rest for a few hours. Feeling hungry, Sharece found a taco place that wasn’t too far out of our way and it was very good. While there the rain started to come down (but only in sprinkles) and yet the weather was still a nice 75 degrees. We ended the day by going back to Vieux Montreal to check out the fountain at Place Jean Paul that apparently lights up nicely at night, however the whole thing was under construction.
07/18/15- Breakfast again at 8am and was out by 9:30am. We used the same metro pass from yesterday and took it back towards Olympic Park to see the Botanical Gardens (one of the largest in the world). After checking out the gift shop (which happens to be just a room full of gardening utensils) we check out the indoor gardens. It felt extremely stuffy due to all of the pollen around and can’t imagine a person with allergies going through this place. Luckily this part wasn’t very large and soon found ourselves outside walking the garden areas.
It was a pleasant stroll and felt very nice outside despite the overcast. The humidity kept it warm, yet the light wind cooled us off. We spent around 2 ½ hours just taking in the scenery that included both Japanese and Chinese gardens and somehow still made it back to the metro to use it one last time before our time ran out. With tired legs we get some kabobs and head to our hotel where we slept a few hours. I’ve never felt this tired before on a trip like this and can’t seem to shake it. Hopefully soon we will get on track again.
As this was our last day in Montreal we decided to head on over to the downtown area to check out the Underground City. After getting off the metro we ventured toward Marie-Reine-du-Monde Cathedral and took a look inside for free. Then we walked around a bit trying to find the Underground. Between the map we had in front of us and our phone we were getting mixed directions. Finally we went inside the train station figuring it was a part of it and found it almost deserted. Come to think about it Montreal as a whole seemed deserted many times over the past few days. Not sure where every goes, but we soon found out the Mall area was closed as well. My first thought was how can they close a mall on a Saturday? Content with our trip so far we just got a couple of ice cream cones to hold us over and stayed in our hotel the rest of the night. Tomorrow we have a 9am train to catch.
07/19/15- We missed the fireworks last night. Around 10pm they started going off outside but we were already showered and ready for bed. I think it had something to do with the start of a music festival here but not entirely sure. Oh well, next time.
Woke up around 6:30am to the sound of loud, rolling thunder (loud enough to set off car alarms). Haven’t heard that in awhile. It’s raining outside with lightning and it is still 70 degrees (expected high of 79 today). Strange! Our train takes us to Quebec City so hopefully the weather cooperates a bit for us to get a few hours in. As we board the train we see how small the luggage compartments were around our seat. Now I understand the 40 lb weight limit. I guess I’ve been spoiled by Europe with large overhead spaces or spots in between the seats. The seats were nice and comfortable so no complaints really.
After the 3 hours journey we arrive in Quebec City with fair weather (although a bit colder) and a beautiful city to explore. As the taxi drove us to our hotel we were astonished by the layout of the city and how much it really does look like a European town. Checking in (Chateau Fleur de Lys) we absolutely loved the décor inside the hotel. Our room was also done up nice with exposed brick. Only downside was the two flights of stairs and the bathroom was not in the room (yet it was still our own private bathroom). Funny enough, we didn’t mind either one of those. We spent a few moments getting situated and soon found ourselves outside walking the neighborhood. We decided to eat at this place down the road and soon regretted the decision as the food took well over thirty minutes to get to us and when it did it was either cooked too much or not enough. I didn’t think it was THAT hard to mess up a hamburger. After that hour and 15 minutes passed we continued to walk the area seeing both the city walls and the Old Port. The wind was kicking up now as the sun was disappearing behind the cloudy skies so we bought some ice cream (me a banana split), found a souvenir and chilled at the hotel until night time.
Around 8:30pm we threw ourselves back outside and made sure to bundle up as the wind was blowing quite hard, especially around the port. We took a few pics before stumbling upon a music festival playing in different areas around the city. We didn’t stay outside long as we mainly just wanted to see how the city lit up at night, but we did get an awesome smoked meats sandwich that I would not mind getting again before we leave.
07/20/15- Finally got a decent nights sleep, however the bed was very hard. Breakfast at the hotel was $10 per person for a small selection so we walked back to the sandwich place again and got us a pork sandwich and salad to start the day. The weather was still a bit chilly with overcast but after a few hours the sun came out and it started to get quite warm. We changed into shorts leaving our jackets behind and walk right behind our hotel to the Citadel. This place is pretty cool as it’s a fort disguised to look like a hill with lush, green grass growing on and around it. Taking the hour tour we learn a bit about Canadian history and why the fort was even built (Apparently in preparation of an American attack that never really happened).
Afterwards we walked a bit out of town to the Complex G tower to get a nice looking view of the city. By this time the skies were nice and blue and we wanted to take full advantage of it. There were not very many people at this place so we felt we had it to ourselves, which we didn’t mind. On our walk back to our hotel we passed by hoards of trucks and workers cleaning up the stages from the music festival the previous night. It looked like a large movie set. Resting for about 30 minutes, which was much needed, we asked our hotel about a good place to buy a bottle of wine. Not only were we given a good recommendation but they provided us with a cork and two wine glasses to take with us so we could drink outside someplace. Very much appreciated!
We scour the town a bit to find a good pizza place to go, bought a bottle of wine and landed ourselves at the park overlooking the water to enjoy. A great way to end a day!
Side Note: Taxes here are a whopping 15% which makes everything that much more expensive. I’m a little worried about gas prices now as our rental car day is coming up soon.
07/21/15- Slept a little better as we decided to sleep on the comforter this time. Got up around 9am and ate a very nice meal (roast beef sandwich and an apple crepe). Since we didn’t have much planned for today we enjoyed just taking our time eating.
The rain was starting to come down, however, the weather was still pretty warm. This made it a great day to visit the Museum of Civilization. We purchased our tickets, put on our sticker and went to room number two which was all about dance and the human body. We thought it was kinda strange to be honest and didn’t spend much time in there. Hoping for a better outcome we entered room number one and was much happier to learn about actual Quebec history. Room three was also quite interesting as it was about Ancient Egypt (which is always a fascination of mine to learn about).
Afterwards, we did a little souvenir shopping, ate a hamburger (as well as drank a bowl of cappuccino) before taking a funicular ride back to the top to where our hotel was. Our time in Quebec has now come to a close as our train will leave very early tomorrow (around 5:30am). Time to pack our bags again.
07/22/15- 4am wake up call. Surprisingly I am fully awake and ready to go. We pack our things and find our taxi already waiting for us outside. I did run down the block real fast to catch a few pics of the sun coming up over the water. Sharece was laughing at how funny that all seemed with the taxi guy waiting on me.
Made it to the train station and was hoping for some place to be open to buy food. We didn’t have to wait long as one just opened up around 5am. Our train leaves on time shortly after that and off we go to Ottawa. The journey began pleasant enough as our entire cabin was empty, but not twenty minutes later we made a stop and jabbermouths took the seats right behind us. They talked constantly and loudly for the next 2 ½ hours straight (I mean ZERO breaks). They were like the French version of valley girls but older. They finally got off in Montreal but not before I started clapping as they got their things and were going down the aisle to exit. Couldn’t help myself as they were THAT annoying. The remaining two hours were nice and quiet thankfully.
We arrive in Ottawa around 11am and find a taxi to take us to our hotel (Business Inn). Strangely he seemed very impatient like we were inconveniencing him with the ride, especially when I wanted to pay by credit card. As soon as he saw the tip on the receipt he quickly changed his tune and was helpful with our bags. We check in and go straight to our room and instantly were amazed at how huge it was. It was like an apartment with a full kitchen, living room, king size bed and on the corner so we had a great wrap around view of the city. We had to check our reservation to make sure we got the right room and sure enough I did book the executive suite. Needless to say we were very happy (almost sad to the point to where we only had one night here).
After a few moments rest we head across the street to a burger place, but not without issues. We apparently used the wrong elevator on our floor and were stuck going around in circles as it didn’t go to the lobby area. We managed our way around quick enough. The food was excellent by the way. The burgers were like steak and came in large portions. The waitress also spoke perfect English without an accent which is much different than Quebec. Funny how only a few hours train ride makes a huge difference. After paying the bill we immediately take off down the street to the Parliament area. The scenery was quite nice and the buildings definitely had an old English feel to them. Checking on tour tickets (which were free) we find the Center of Parliament is no longer available for today but the East side is, unfortunately we would have to wait about 2 ½ hours. Just then a person came up to change his time to a later one and we were able to take their tickets for 3:15pm (which was an hour less wait). Using the time available we walked around the area checking out gift shops and the water front.
The tour time arrived and we walked around the East end for the next hour getting a nice history lesson on Canada and Parliament. Afterwards we found that there was a gift shop in the Center section but had a hard time getting in as you needed a tour time to do so. Luckily we were able to convince a guard that all we wanted to do was check out the boutique. The souvenirs were not what I was hoping for but I found one none-of-the-less.
Calling it a day we find a grocery store on the way back to our hotel and get a pizza to cook in our kitchen as well as a bottle of wine. We were led astray off our path for a bit as we tried to find an actual liquor store but that is apparently quite hard to find in Canada as they only have certain places that sell alcohol. Interesting! Relaxing at the hotel we get ready for sleep and are amazed on how nice the bed felt. Laying on it was like sleeping on a marshmallow and your body just sunk right into it.
07/23/15- Breakfast was awesome. They had bacon, eggs, hash browns, you name it. A great start to a morning where we have to take the train again for another 4 hours. This time to Toronto. Our hotel calls a taxi for us and we arrive at the station ready for our 8:32am departure time. We drank the rest of the wine we had from yesterday and was able to relax the whole journey.
Once we hit Toronto we got a taxi and went straight to our hotel (Comfy Guest House). The heat was baking as the sun was out in full force and we had to wait outside for a bit for the guy to open the front door as this was more of a bed and breakfast. As we are ushered in I saw how small and ununique the place was but it had great reviews so I didn’t focus too much on the exterior. We waiting about five minutes for the room to be ready and spent another ten minutes discussing the house rules and where everything was. Finally we were able to get settled and begin our day.
We walk down the road to Younge Street which happens to be very popular for tourist and locals alike. The type of people we encountered on that street were reminiscent of Hollywood Blvd (many crazy characters of all kinds). This by far was one of the least safest I have felt on this trip. Either case we walked the road all the way down to Union Station. With no real plans for today we kept going to the Brewery District which was full of restaurants and unique shops. On the way back to the hotel we found a grocery store and picked up some breakfast items to cook in our kitchen for the next four days.
07/24/15- Started off with a bacon, egg and cheese omelets made from the kitchen before heading to the subway. We went to purchase our one day passes and was told that all we needed was one (not one for each of us). Well, that saved us about $11 right there. We board the subway train, which was very nice and clean looking, and make it to Union station within three stops. We waste no time in getting to the CN Tower (Which we had pre-purchased tickets for), but make our way over to the Aquarium first which was right in front of it. Immediately we see a long line to buy tickets but see through the window an automatic machine to buy the them with a short line. We skimp right through the crowd and walk right in.
At first it was a bit crazy with kids flying everywhere around us, but once we got into the exhibits it seemed to quiet down a bit. We saw all types of fish, stingray and jelly fish with the highlight being the sharks swimming above and around us as we funneled through. The price of the place was a bit much for my taste but a nice way to start a day regardless. After we left we ventured around to find some lunch and found a place called St.Louis and got their BBQ beef burger which was very good. We then make our way back to the CN Tower and present our prepaid tickets to walk right in (avoiding yet another long ticket line). Taking the elevator up I noticed there are windows on the ground where you can actually see yourself ascending. It was an extremely freaky feeling and almost disorienting. But once we got to the pod it was smooth sailing. We stayed up there for a bit taking in the views around Toronto before taking the elevator back down to check out the souvenir shop.
After a brief rest we start walking over toward the water area but hit a brewery on the way (with old time railcars lining outside the building). We reserve a tour time for the tour which includes a souvenir, get our complimentary beer tasting and had time to check out the water in the meantime (which wasn’t very much to look at up close and was quite hot and sticky anyhow). We decided to head back to the brewery early and ended up getting another free tasting of beer. Then our tour hits and they give us a free full bottle of beer to take with us as they showed us around. Finally at the end of the tour we got yet one more complimentary beer. With all that in mind we decided to finish off the day, but not before finding a taco place on the way back. Can’t believe we only have 2 ½ days left in Canada. Tomorrow we have a rental car reserved to drive to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls… can’t wait!
07/25/15- Walked down to the rental car place which took about 40 minutes. Had to wait about twenty minutes for it to open and once it did I handed the guy my reservation. He looks it up and pathetically tells me that he is overbooked and that I would need to go down the street to another place to get a car. Ughhhhh, what? He stated that they will charge me up front, however to just bring him back the receipt and he’ll credit me the difference. I told him if I am to walk to another place that I need more than just a difference and he was willing to provide me half of the amount paid back. Knowing I wasn’t going to get much further than that I agreed and walked the couple of blocks to Dollar/Thrifty. Once there I had to wait another twenty minutes for another customer to get done (keep in mind this was our only day with the car which we were to take to Niagara Falls and it was already cutting into our time). When my turn came up I mentioned my dilemma and thankfully they had a car for me. He did say however they shortest they do is for two days (not one) so hopefully the guy at the other place will still honor his deal.
Went to the car and tried to turn on the GPS but it was all in German. When I tried to touch anything it kept giving me an error message (in German). I walked back to the counter but he had a sign that he’d be back in five minutes. While waiting I realized there was a lock button on the GPS and once flipped I was good to go to change the language settings. Finally done!
On our way out of Toronto I find a police cop driving up next to me. Unsure of the speed limit I begin to slow down more to make sure he wasn’t just trying to get around me and then realize he has three fingers up. At this time I was in the HOV lane (which in California you only need two people in the car). I gave him a thumbs up realizing I needed a third person to be in that lane and thankfully he drove ahead. Disaster averted. The drive was pretty smooth other than that. We made it to Niagara on the Lake around 12pm and found the town center. There wasn’t much to this strip as I thought there’d be as it was mainly just overpriced restaurants and shops. They had one wine bar which we took a tasting at but realized quickly that we needed to visit the actual wineries for any further tastings. With Niagara Falls in mind we just stopped at one place on the way. As we entered the wine boutique and saw the menu we didn’t see a price so we asked and found out their tastings are free. WHOA NICE! We enjoyed several different types of wine before continuing on.
At around 2pm we drive in the Niagara Falls area and look for parking (which cost us $15). We had to walk a little ways but the view did not disappoint. There was also a crowd and a half of people on hand as well as a music festival that appeared to be Muslim oriented. We took numerous photos, checked out the gift shop, grabbed a bite to eat (which was about $10 for a hamburger) and made our way to the Skylon Tower to get a nice view from above. We did all of this in a few hours and by 5:30pm decided to travel back to the wineries as several were still open. We hit about four wineries before making our way back down to the Falls after 9pm to see it at night. Our parking was no longer valid as we had left so we just parked at a public place a little further out for free. Seeing the Falls all lit up for night time was quite a treat. So much so that we stayed until almost midnight taking it all in. Sticky from the humid weather and mist raining down on us we finally head back to Toronto arriving around12:45am.
07/26/15- Last full day in Toronto. We slept in until about 10:30am. We still had the car rental from the day before and luckily were able to park it overnight for free at our hotel. Since we were not in need of it anymore I decided to go ahead and take it back around 11:30am. They closed at noon so I thought I had plenty of time to get my receipt and final price from them, however it took me 25 minutes to find a gas station to fill up the tank. The GPS was no help as it kept directing me to places not there. I finally find one (which was cool as they had an attendant that filled up the tank plus rang my credit card right there without me even stepping outside the car), but unfortunately make it to the rental car place too late. The guy was there, however, his machine was turned off already. I needed that receipt to show to Enterprise (the other company that was overbooked), but I guess I will have to deal with all of that tomorrow now. Anyhow, that’s how my day started.
Thankfully it got better. We left our hotel around 2pm and took the subway to New City Hall. They were having a festival (as apparently all of Canada has been over the past week) so it was littered with people and extremely hot to boot. We walked over a bit to the Mall area and walked around doing a bit of shopping in the meantime. We then head over to the old Parliament building around Queens Park for a few pictures before taking the subway to Union station near the water around 6pm. We chose this time to go over to Toronto Island as the lines wouldn’t be long (virtually zero wait time) and the heat had died down with overcast. Took about ten minutes on the ferry and got some nice views of the city on our way.
Our first mission there was food as we found a pizza place. The choices were not very much and the food was expensive but quite good. We sat around the park and enjoyed our meal along with a ton of pigeons all around us begging for a piece. Once done we continued to walk around the island. We didn’t realize how big this island really was as it seemed to take quite awhile to get around to the small airport side. We passed by several beaches full of people enjoying the day and a lighthouse which was pretty cool to see. We finally reach our destination just as the sun was setting and was able to get some awesome city view shots overlooking the water. We sat at the dock for about thirty minutes just taking it all in and seeing the views as the day turned into night. Even though our legs felt very tired I feel this was a great ending to our stay here in Toronto.
Side note: Apparently the reason why Montreal was so deserted is because everyone is here for the PanAm games.
07/27/15- Our 11 day journey through Canada has now come to an end. We spent the morning relaxing at the hotel, fixing our own breakfast (finishing up the bacon and eggs we bought when we first arrived), downing our wine we had left and waiting for our afternoon flight. Checkout was at 11am but we were able to stay until around 1pm without a problem. At that time the inn keeper took us to the airport himself (after paying him $60 for it which we would have paid a shuttle service anyway) and got to the airport hours in advance. Tried to see if we could get on an earlier flight to Chicago but a no go. This doesn’t officially conclude our trip as we are going to Wisconsin to visit family for the remainder of the week, but this ends our Canada journey.
END OF BLOG
