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We left Vancouver via the airport bound for Toronto at 5:30am. The flight was at 7:00 but customs and security checks take time. Unfortunately we had to go the long way around again, so our flight path took us to Dallas and Chicargo before touching down in Toronto 12 hrs later. We caught the bus to our hotel and slept. Toronto is a very big city, so has it's problems with smog, traffic congestion and homeless people. We took a tour on a double decker bus over 2 days and saw plenty. We took a closer look at Casa Loma - a very opulent homestead built in 1910 by the then owner of the Hydro. As you might imagine he was very wealthy and the 96 room house is a testiment to that wealth. At the time that it was built it had 9000 light fittings, a coal furnace for heating, marble bathrooms X 12, a huge solarium (bigger than our unit)all lined with marble again, and a pipe organ. Even the stables for the horses were marble and slate and bronze name plates, with an underground passage linking it the the main house. In WW2 the stables were used for anti-submarine technologies. Unfortunately this owner did not pay his taxes so the government confiscated the house to recover the debt. All the contents were auctioned off - the $70000 organ was sold for $40. Yes $40!!! (A rival picked it up for this knockdown price. Couldn't resist the urge to rub his nose in it)
The rest of Toronto was a bit of a let down. We went up CN tower but could not see anything for the smog. We did an overnight trip to Niagra Falls. These are spectacular but have been over commercialised to rob the American tourists - who come across the border at a rate of 5000 a day and gladly hand over their money for crap like wax works and amusement parks and rides etc. Fortunately you can't see any of this from the falls and the noise of the water crashing over the rocks drowns out the noise from the amusements. We took plenty of photos and had a lovely relaxing day in the 35 degrees. Yes Kate, we took the Maid of the Mist boat ride up to the bottom of the falls and got rather wet. Actually not as good as it sounds because you really can't see the falls from the boat due to the mist.
On to Ottowa - which Craig will describe.
I will mention that whilst in Toronto we did
almost bump into celebrities at a gala function where they were inaugurating new members of the Canadian Hall of Fame. We were innocently walking around a block when we were suddenly crammed with many hundreds of onlookers trying to get a glimpse of the "stars". One crazy looking fellow was bellowing out his undying love for one of the actors (not sure whether the actor was male or female, could have been either in this part of the world). I would have felt uneasy being a well known actor being stalked by this creep.
Wherever we travelled in downtown, several street blocks would be cut off for filming as it is cheaper to produce films here than in the U.S.. From what we could see, it looked like episodes for maybe CSI and Law and Order (I'm pretty sure they were lifting a manhole cover at one stage, recovering bodyparts maybe??).
We left Toronto on the bus and headed to Ottawa, a short 4 hours away.
We
checked into the local youth hostel in Ottawa (Canada's capital by the way) which was a little different. The building was the former provincial gaol where the last hanging in the country took place around early 70's. Initial impressions were good. They have converted the gaol into useful accomodations with excellent facilities including a large communal lounge with pool table etc inthe basement. This is where Moira and I spent a fair bit of time as it was lovely and cool and allowed us to escape the 35 degree heat (plus the 80-90% humidity). Unfortunatly, the proprietors forgot to place airconditioning in the dorms up stairs, resulting in soaked bedsheets by 3am and very little sleep. The fact that the prison issue bunks were not replaced with the rennovations compounded the problem. They were 5 feet long (fine for the many Asians travelling thru) and the base was composed of strips of course steel. Every time Moira tossed and turned throughout the night (and everyone else for that matter) the silence was interupted with a deafening roar (this was without my hearing aids on!). The first time I heard it I thought it was one of the ghosts that are
supposed to stalk here.
After two nights of this, we abandoned the old jail and found a lovely cheap hotel only a couple of blocks away.
We were both impressed with Ottawa. It is quite pretty with its Victorian Gothic architecture composing the Parliament buildings and others. Highlights included going to see the Rennaissance collection at the National Art Gallery (a lovely new building with a large Arachnid sculpture outside). This displayed only a few drawings of Michaelangelo and da Vinci who inspired many other great artists of that period. Needless to say we were impressed and can't wait to see the aforementioned works in Europe. Indeed we can't wait to get to Europe.
We also went to the Museum of Civilisation where the main display was of Pompeii. They had a fabulous collection of relics and artifacts from the ruins of Pompeii and 3 other cities destroyed by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD. The jewelery was amazing. Obviously they didn't have the tools to cut and polish like we can now, but they certainly had the gold and precious stones we all desire to have now. It would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold, not to mention the precious stones. The whole collection is of course priceless and we stared at it for some time (until we became footsore and hungry).
We also had time for a little bike riding around the canal and river. This helped us forget how hot and humid it was. The only catch was the not so friendly muskrats. These vicious little things (about the size of a jack russel) do not like bikes and become rather aggressive when you get to close. A few warning signs may have been handy - as I lost 10 years when the damn thing lept out at me unexpectedly!!
From Ottowa we took the 2 hr bus ride to Montreal and got the full run down from a friendly local on the bus. Unfortunately Montreal was quite a letdown (wasn't helped by the almost constant rain). The city is easy to navigate via the subway, but the attractions are few. We went to Notre Dame Basilica in Old Montreal. This was worth the $4 entry fee. The inside is the most ornate church I have ever seen (we haven't reached Europe yet). It is mostly decorated with wooden structures -
to provide warmth or the elusion of warmth in winter. The carvings in the wood are something else. We took many photos and just sat to admire it for a while. Unfortunatley we did not get to hear the 7000 pipe organ play (loved to have played that baby)- only for Sunday services (and we were not in town on Sunday). There is also a 'small' chapel at the rear with a 'small' 2000 pipe organ - but again we did not get to hear it.
Unfortunately the next day, just near the Notre Dame, I witnessed a pedestrian being struck by a taxi. I think she died at the scene. It was all very macabre and surreal. Craig didn't see, but I clearly saw the whole thing. From point of impact I estimate she flew 30m, across a 6 lane intersection, before landing with a sickening blow on the pavement. Again an incident that might have been avoided if people over here learnt to drive!!
So summing up our trip to Canada.
The highlights have been: the drive through the Rocky Mountains - twice: our wonderful hosts in Vancouver : the fishing in Merrit and friendly RV
park managers(thanks again to Jack and Rosemary, and Chris and Mike) : all of Ottowa : Notre Dame basilica.
The lowlights : the homeless - everywhere : the food : the youth hostels!: Oh, and that small accident in the camper in Calgary!
... and Moira eating putrid dried apricot at Niagra, with explosive results!!!
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