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Published: August 9th 2011
On the way to Niagara my friend told me how earlier that week a driver had been pulled over by an officer on a HOV lane (High Occupancy Vehicle). This lane, meant only for cars occupied by 2 or more passengers, was being misused by a single driver pretending to have a passenger (a fully dressed one, may I add) who actually was no more than a blow-up doll. Full story
here. Pretty smart and funny if you ask me, especially for the officers involved...
But let me get back to my arrival in Canada first... I had flown in from Fort Lauderdale FL on westjet, a really nice flight with informal announcements, I liked that. Unfortunately I couldn't buy anything on board as ONLY credit cards were accepted. The landing into Montreal Trudeau airport was quite spectacular, unfortunately my camera was broken so no pics or videos. The sun was just setting, giving the city located on an island almost surrounded by the Laurent river and its skyline a golden glow. Coming in from the west, we circled right around the city for a full view before landing. As this was my port of entry, I had to get
Toronto skyline
from the Hanlan's point ferrymy Canadian working holiday visa approved here. A little anxious about the time frame as I had a connecting flight to Toronto, I made my way through the huge and nearly empty airport to one of the many, manned (learn from that, USA!) immigration desks where I was quickly helped and had my WHV stapled onto a passport page.
The second leg, through the dark, was another hour or so to
Toronto Pearson intl. airport where I had arranged to meet with my friend. Immigration was nil, as it was a domestic flight and I soon was standing outside having a fag and chatting to a lady from Guyana. When my friend arrived not much later we got in his car and headed for china town for some dumplings and noodles.
I stayed for a total of 3 weeks in Toronto and loved it! Spent most morning looking for jobs and sending out applications but had not much luck... The weather had apparently just turned from horrible to summer so I basically brought the 30 C from ft. Lauderdale with me. One Saturday my friend took me across the water to
Toronto island. Nice place. Most other days
when not looking for jobs I sat at the newly instructed city beach at the waterfront or strolled around the city. Getting a SIN number at city hall and opening a bank account didn't pose any problems, I had that done on day one.
So back to
Niagara falls.... As my friend had the weekend off, he decided we would go and see the famous falls, marking the border of the USA and Canada. The drive from Toronto was only 2 hours or so, stopping at a Tim Hortons for a coffee along the way. I was surprised to see the buildings (read: large casinos and hotels) near the falls, had expected a more natural setting I guess. From the falls we headed slowly north, exploring a few other stops along the way like the blue hole and some nature trails along the raging river. Our next stop(s) were a number of wineries in the Niagara wine region. As my friend had loads of coupons, we had too little time for too much free (!) wine tasting. I learned about ice wines (only 1 drop of ice wine per grape, pressed when frozen and they can only be harvested
at certain temperatures, like -10 C!), drank it as well and we had a lovely charcuterie board. A great day in a wonderful region!
Another afternoon we spent riding the glass,outside elevators of the
Toronto sky tower. That day was particularly clear and the views were absolutely amazing. My friend assured me that a lunch in the 360 degree revolving restaurant was by far the best deal, only slightly more expensive than the ticket to follow the hordes up to the viewing deck. I agree! A nice 3 course lunch while admiring the city from above is definitely the best way to do it! Looking down you can see the steam whistler brewery, the train museum while around you the views went as far afield as Mississauga, Pickering and Richmond hill.
A not to be missed experience when in TO!
The next time I visited TO was for my 30th birthday, flying from Ottawa to Toronto island airport with porter, only half full and free food and alcoholic beverages on the 1 hour flight! Great views looking towards the skyline as you come in for landing! I spent the weekend again at my friends great condo, and celebrated my
birthday at a club. A good time...
In the mean time I have spent 8 weeks doing a well paid but not so great job near Ottawa which, very happily, is coming to an end. Will be traveling to Montreal and Quebec city to hopefully (knock wood!) buy a vehicle to go travel west with, as buying a car in Ontario is a near-impossible thing to do on an international driving license. Yep, as Canada's most populous province, it is also the strictest one..
But as the song on the commercial goes; ''This is my Ontarioooooo.....''
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leo
non-member comment
kungfu?
wow, I don't know you can do this before...