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Published: January 25th 2008
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Arriving in Vancouver at 3pm on Saturday 10 November, I took the train a couple of stops before walking to my hostel in the downtown area. I spent the next few hours walking around the local area before returning to my room to read my book and have an early night. On Sunday, I took the train, the SeaBus and then a bus to Grouse Mountain on the North Shore of Vancouver but the weather turned bad and so I decided not to ride the cable car tram to the top of the mountain. I took the bus to Stanley Park where I spent a couple of hours walking around before making my way back to the hostel via the shops and the barber’s. Late afternoon, I went for a beer at a local sports bar to watch an NFL game. The evening was spent at the hostel on the internet and watching Bourne Supremacy on DVD. On Monday morning, a tour bus picked me up for a day trip to Victoria. After an hour drive, we reached the ferry terminal but there was a big storm passing through the area and all ferries to Victoria were cancelled. Unfortunately, we had
to return to downtown Vancouver so I went to an Irish bar at midday to watch English football on TV. After a couple of pints and a shepherd’s pie, I walked back to the hostel to read my book and watch DVDs. I went for a walk in the evening and then returned to the hostel to go on the internet and have an early night. On Tuesday morning, I checked out of the hostel and spent a few hours walking around the shops, spending over an hour in a bookstore. At 5pm, I took a taxi to the train station for my overnight train to Jasper. When I woke up at 7am on Wednesday, I walked to the sky dome car on the train that gives you great views of the amazing Rocky Mountain scenery. We reached Jasper at 11.30am and I had an hour to get lunch here before my next train to Prince George. There were only a handful of people on the train and I spent the entire 7 hour journey in the sky dome car admiring the mountains, lakes and rivers along with spotting eagles, hawks, deer, moose, elks and wolves. We arrived in Prince
George at 6pm and I checked into my motel before walking to the library to use the internet. When I left the library after an hour, it was snowing heavily and it was already over an inch deep. I spent the night in my room watching TV. On Thursday, I caught the 8am train to Prince Rupert and the scenery was similar to the previous day but there was a lot more snow. We arrived in Prince Rupert at 8.30pm and I got a taxi to my hostel where I was the only guest and even the one staff member went home and told me how to lock up. On Friday, I took the same train back to Prince George where I stayed at the same motel as before. I was the only passenger on the 7.30am Saturday train from Prince George to Jasper so it was literally just the conductor and I and the two engineers for the 8 hour journey. Once in Jasper, I walked around and found a hotel to stay in. After dinner and a beer at the hotel bar, I took a stroll around the lovely little town set in the mountains. In the evening,
I watched TV in the room before having an early night. On Sunday morning, I walked around the town trying to find a tour that I could go on but none were running due to how quiet it was. I spent the afternoon watching sport on TV and in the evening I had dinner and a beer in the hotel bar. Once again, the evening was spent watching season 5 of 24 on DVD. On Monday, I checked out of the hotel and caught the midday train to Edmonton. I arrived in Edmonton at 5pm and my friend Nicola picked me up from the station and drove to her house where I would be staying for 2 nights. After dropping my bag off, we went out for dinner and then went to the College of Integrated Philosophy for a seminar. On Tuesday, we drove to Elk Island National Park and I got to see different parts of Edmonton on the way. The Park looked very pretty in the snow and it seemed that we were the only people there. We did have to share the Park with the local wildlife though. As we drove around or walked along the hiking
trails, we saw plenty of tracks in the snow from different animals. We did see a few bison, a pack of wolves and a number of different birds. As the temperature dropped (-15C) and night fell, we drove back to Edmonton and went for dinner at Boualong, a Laos and Thai cuisine café that served large, tasty portions of food that reminded me of being in Asia. That evening, we watched a film but were so tired that we fell asleep half way through. On Wednesday, we checked out River Saskatchewan and watched the blocks of ice floating down like giant lily pads. Then we drove to the world’s largest entertainment and shopping centre, West Edmonton Mall. After spending time in the pet shop looking at all the cute little puppies, we walked around the impressive mall before having lunch at Boston Pizza. We drove to the train station for my 5.30pm train to Toronto but found out that it was delayed until 8.30pm. Rather than wait at the station, I went with Nicola to her college and waited there while she completed some work. My train eventually departed at 9pm and I spent the rest of the evening watching
24 before finally getting to sleep in my seat at 2am. I woke up at 7.30am and spent the morning gazing out of the window while listening to music. We stopped for lunch in Winnipeg where I got to stretch my legs for half an hour and get fish & chips. The afternoon was spent admiring the scenery from my seat on the train and in the evening I continued to watch 24 on DVD. Friday was spent much the same as the previous day as we made our way through Ontario and, 45 hours after leaving Edmonton, we reached Toronto at 8pm. I walked from the train station to my hostel in the freezing cold. After checking in, I walked around for a couple of hours and then returned to the hostel for a good night’s sleep. As soon as I stepped outside on Saturday, I knew that I needed to buy myself a coat so I went to a department store and made a purchase. Protected from the cold, I spent the afternoon walking around the shops and the sights of Toronto. In the evening, I went to a club called Guvernment where Paul Van Dyk was DJing.
After getting home at 4am, I slept until 10.30am and then went for a walk. As I walked past the Air Canada Centre, I noticed that an NBA game was on so I bought a ticket for Toronto Vs Chicago. After purchasing some lunch, I took my seat for the game. Afterwards, the streets were buzzing with people as the final of the CFL (Canadian Football League) was being held that evening at the SkyDome. I walked around the stadium to soak up the atmosphere of the Grey Cup and witness everyone proudly wearing their colours. That evening, I stayed at the hostel and watched a DVD. On Monday, I woke up at 7am and walked to the train station for my 8.30am train to Niagara. I arrived in Niagara at 10.30am and took the short walk to my hostel. After settling in, I walked to Niagara Falls and on the way there, the heavens opened and I got soaked. After briefly stopping to admire the impressive Falls, I went to the Imax theatre to watch ‘The Falls Movie - Legends and Daredevils’. After the 45 minute show, I walked around the tourist town and got some lunch before taking a taxi back to the hostel. The rest of the day was spent in my room watching DVDs and reading. On Tuesday morning, I went to a café for breakfast before catching the 10.30am train to New York City.
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