Travelling Canada

---

Day one a sleepy stopover in LA followed by a loooooooooong flight to Vancouver. I arrived early to catch my flight via San Francisco, only to have over 2 hours wait! It was touch and go as to if we would catch the Vancouver flight, but we ran and just made it. Vancouver was cold but pleasant. I arrived at 12 midnight and had not had any dinner so it was a search for some ‘healthy’ food, not much is opened in Vancouver at that time.

The next day it snowed in the morning (just a little), and then cleared up. I went to Granville Island (put in info) and the Granville Market, which reminds me of the Vic. Market without the jam doughnuts. In fact, Granville reminded me of the old Dockland area where Festival hall is before Harbour town. It is a very arty community. The next day was spent at Whistler Mountain, a mountain range of 2284 metres, two hours from Vancouver. It is most famous for its skiing and snowboarding and of course hosting the Winter Olympics/Paralympics in 2010 http://www.whistler.com/olympics. Although I was not able to ski, I traversed every ski slope via gondola and chair lift. I must have got my mojo back as I have found myself unafraid of the heights in these things – particularly in the glass bottomed peak-to-peak gondola. The village of Whistler a typical Canadian ski village, pretty with lots of places to party, eat and sleep – of course with plenty of places to shop and spend money.

That night I boarded the Canadian Rail for my trip across Canada. I didn’t sleep too well as I think the train driver was trying out for the land speed record. The train is fairly empty, so seating in the dome car is plentiful. Jasper was, again, quite beautiful, with plenty of wildlife to see, sheep, goats, deer and even a moose! It was warm and the snow is beginning to thaw, but still enough to be pretty.

The next four days flew by – The scenery changed a lot as we hit the plains country. The food on the train is very good, it seems as if you just go from meal to meal! Lots of interesting people on board the train make for a good trip. A couple from Adelaide, a number of farmer couples from Eastern Canada, a lovely Spanish lady from LA (who tried teaching me some more Spanish!), she also taught us a different type of card game, a cute MacGyver look-alike who talked me into trying a Caesar drink (Clam Juice, Tomato, Celery, Garlic, Peppers and Vodka along with pepper, salt and Tabasco sauce) and with whom I had a few Backgammon games.

Two days into the trip I started to feel that scratchy feeling at the back of my throat – yep! A cold! By the time I arrived in Toronto, it was in full swing, sore throat, aches and pains the whole shebang. Being me, I could not arrive in a new town and just go to bed, so I had to just go a little slower.

I visited a multicultural area, just a short trolley hop (similar to our trams) from the hotel. First was China Town, it seems that just about every town has one! And then the Kensington Market, which is more like a series of streets dedicated to a multicultural, organic and handmade genre. A strong West Indies flavour. Then I went to the other side of town to St. Lawrence Market
, considered by Food and Wine magazine to be one of the world's 25 best food markets, the St. Lawrence Market (out Vic Market is one of them!) is located in the heart of the historic Old Town Toronto neighborhood at Jarvis and Front Streets. The South Market houses more than 50 gourmet food vendors and over a dozen lunch counters. Upstairs, the Market Gallery shows archival art and photographs from the City's collection and the North Market is 
home to the 200 year old Saturday Farmers' Market and Sunday Antique Market. To help me find this place, I asked the trolley driver, and a lovely Asian man said, “I live there, so if you would like, I will show you the way”. Turned out he was an artist who has his work in Canberra’s art museum and in many places around the world. He showed me his giant murals in the streets of Toronto, and in the market itself. Then he showed me around the market, introduced me to many of the stall owners and took me for a coffee before he had to go meet friends.

I could not visit Toronto without visiting Niagara falls. On the way, (cold full blown at this stage, felt sorry for the people on the bus!). we visited a vinyard on the way, then the town of Niagara on the Lake, which is a quaint little town with lots of pretty houses. Then on to the Falls, quite magnificent, but overshadowed by tourist trappings.

The next day, I slept in as I had a late departure time and the cold had taken over by then. I told my friend Cynthia I would stay in a hotel for a few days, as I did not want to bring the bug to her (she has just finished a bout of chemotherapy). Her husband Bill picked me up at the airport and dropped me at a hotel close by their home and I have just vegetated for the last two days. One more day and I will no longer be contagious, so I can catch up with them.

---

Photos

Vancouver
On the way to Whistler

A little Church
A little church, but not the smallest!

St Lawrence Market
My guide is the fellow with the hat

Tourist overload
you look at the falls, then turn around and tourism has taken over!

Comments

[Magda]

wow 2fold, 1 magnificent photos, 2. what a way to START a holiday with a cold! Hope rest of the trip will be just fine, looking forward to continuous travel and experience stories, We are off to Sale for a motorhome rally just for over Easter. Cheers, Magda

[aquariantravelbug]

Won't be long now
Looking forward to cathing up

[Angie]

Great photos. Looking forward to seeing the next batch. :)