Touching down in Toronto in April was
slightly deceiving. Canada – the land I had always associated with winter
sports, mounties and maple leaves was in the midst of mini heat wave. The
jumpers and thermals packed were not needed – bring on the t-shirts and
air-con!
But this aside here we were, Toronto,
Canada and the start of our journey East to Montreal.
We would be here in the largest city in
Canada for a few days and as with any typical North American city there was a
lot to take in.
Arriving in the late afternoon the first
evening was relaxed. We took a walk around the area that our hotel was in to
get our bearing, take in some dinner and a couple of drinks before heading to
bed to make the most of the following day.
Toronto City Hall is one of the most modern
and striking city halls I have ever seen. Opened in 1965 and consists of two
towers that encircle a dome shaped building that help to give the hall its
nickname ‘The Eye Of The Government’ as from the air the City Hall looks like a
massive eye.
Just round the corner from here was the Old
City Hall, and was built over 100 years ago. The clock tower contains its very
own Big Ben.
We continued to explore the streets of
Toronto, visiting the Eaton Centre with it’s interesting art squeezed in among
the shops and made our way down to the harbour for ice cream whilst walking
along the banks of Lake Ontario and the Kajama Tall Ship, which used to sail
between trading posts in Southern Europe, Scandinavia and Russia.
That night we decided to go all touristy and
have dinner at the Hard Rock Café, due to it’s wonderful location looking over
the pitch in the Sky Dome, home to the Toronto Blue Jays.
The next day contained more exploring but a
massive slice was saved for the most eye-catching landmark in Toronto. No
matter where you go in the City there is always one backdrop to every view,
something that appears in every picture and a must do when visiting Toronto –
The CN Tower.
The
tallest free stranding structure in the western hemisphere is the icon of the
city. It is huge. Staggeringly so and the lift helps to emphasise this point.
The lift (or to use the native elevator)
has glassed floors and zip to the top of the tower (1,134 feet) in less than a
minute…58 seconds to be exact.
I’m not going to lie, I am scared of
heights and this did petrify me but I endured it and soon we were at the top
and on the clearest of days you can, supposedly, see the mist from Niagara
Falls, about 40 miles away.
After taking in the amazing views of the
City, Lake Ontario and the surrounding Canadian countryside, we headed down for
dinner in the 360 Restaurant.
The food was delicious but the view from
the restaurant was even better. Our timing was impeccable. We sat when it was
still daylight and dined through dusk and into the night, meaning we got to see
a variety of views of the City and watched the sun set over Canada as we tucked
into our dessert.
The next morning, after breakfast in a
lovely local diner we’d found near our hotel, we headed to Niagara Falls. After
the drive that took around an hour we stopped away from the Falls, as we were
due a special treat – to take a helicopter ride over the falls.
Having never been in a helicopter before
this was a double special treat and soon, after conquering my fears of height,
we took off. To see such a famous sight from this view was something special
and got to see it from angles many people usually don’t. It was an experience I
will never forget.
Soon though (and my heart was thankful) we
were back on solid earth. We made our way over to the falls and took in the
view of this site from the Canadian side. The more impressive of the Falls, the
Horseshoe Falls are on the Canadian side, separated by Goat Island. We passed
up on the boat ride that takes you out to the edge of the Falls and instead
strolled along the Niagara River and took in some of the sights. Sadly the area
around the fall is a tourist trap that tacky shops, casinos and cheap
restaurants have popped up.
We opted for a quick bite for lunch and an
ice cream before taking one last look at the fall before we headed down river
towards Lake Ontario and the beautiful Niagara-On-The-Lake. This town, sat on
the shores of the lake, was established by the British (as so much is in North
America) in 1781. In the war of 1812 the town was captured by the Americans but
following their withdrawal the British rebuilt the town, giving it that
distinct New England feel.
We only stayed in the tower for a couple of
hours as we were soon back on the road, passing for the last time the city of
Toronto and heading down Highway 401 to the capital Ottawa.
Arriving late in the evening we ate and
retired to our beds (after a couple in the hotel bar) and arose the next day to
a very wet Ottawa. The rain was torrential, but we didn’t let it dampen our
spirits.
As Canada is split between British and
French Canada it was decided by Queen Victoria that the capital of the nation
should be set on the boarder between the two and Ottawa was named the capital.
Our hotel was within a stones throw of
Parliament Hill, where the beautiful Parliament Building stands and as the
rains stopped for a time we headed up to check it out. Wandering the grounds
and taking in the murals and art pieces we discovered an area housing raccoons,
before we headed into the building itself. A debate was taking place and we were able to
wander into the viewing area and watched for a while whilst the parliament were
debating a global warming bill.
We strolled around the town some more but
the heavens opened again and we took shelter for dinner. We were due to leave
early the next morning and the weather finally got to us – so we headed back to
the hotel.
We arrived in Montreal the next lunchtime
after what seemed like an eternity of a drive. We checked into our hotel and
immediately hit the street. Straight away you could tell the difference from
the Ontario cities, namely Toronto. Quebec State, being in French Canada and
Montreal in particular had a distinctly French feel.
French is the official language of the City
but, unlike travelling in France, people obviously speak English. Montreal is
Canada’s cultural capital and very expensive.
Taking in the usual sights, such as the
City Hall, Olympic Stadium and the Biodome – which has been converted from the
Velodrome built for the Olympics. The Biodome contains a range of animals from
across North America.
The following day we set off for a day trip
to Quebec, rising early. En-route we went off the beaten track and headed out
into the countryside to a sugar shack.
Here the Canadians specialty, maple syrup,
comes into contact with something else Canada mass produces – snow. The maple
syrup is twirled round onto a stick and then placed in snow to freeze and then
eaten as a sweet. It tastes magnificent.
After snacking we carried on to Quebec to
finish the day. One of the oldest cities in North America . As we only had the
day here we hurried around the fortifications,
Palace-Royale and Parliament Hill and took in a French Canadian lunch.
Street art is dominant in Quebec and everywhere you turn there is something
else to see.
Soon though it was time to hit the road
back to Montreal. By the time we got back it was very late, so headed straight
to bed. With one last day in Canada before catching the red eye flight back to
London we spent it wandering the streets of Montreal, though it was raining (as
it had been pretty much since we entered French Canada). We undertook some
shopping, stopped for lunch and then returned to our hotel to gather our
belongings and make the trip to the airport.
Canada is a gorgeous country. Vast open
spaces and countryside as far as you can see. The cities are a mishmash of
French and British designs and scatters of American (such as Toronto). I will
come back here again someday, but to see the other side of the country, the
mountains, Vancouver and out to the Pacific. In comparison with its Southern
neighbour Canada has amazing charm and character and amazing warm people. I did
love it here.