When your closest friend decides to live in Canada for a while, there is absolutely no reason to not visit this beautiful country. And obviously, taking up the first opportunity I could, I packed my bags and was off to spend a good 20 days in Canada.
I purposely chose to fly Jet Airways, although there are some cheaper options available as well. Well, this was mainly cause I could use the lounge (a blessing in long haul flights) even though I was flying economy thanks to all the frequent flier miles I had collected. Another reason to select Jet Airways was the minimum transit time at Brussels airport (their European hub) which made the entire travel time to Toronto from Mumbai to about 17 hours. I will move on without talking much about Brussels Airport as that will make a post of its own later. Jet Airways service was great and I was able to upgrade my seat from Brussels to Toronto thanks again to some free vouchers I had collected via previous travels.I've noticed that the staff in India are always hesitant in upgrading passengers as compared to the airline staff abroad.
Anyway upon landing in Toronto, my first feeling of the airport was that it was large, well organized with very cheerful visa officers (a fresh change). However, a nuisance that I find in a lot of the airports is the dollar coin you need to dig out to get a trolley. Anyway, at the airport I also got the first taste of Tim Hortons, (Starbucks of Canada? if I may dare to compare) and I instantly took a liking towards the Iced Cap and toasted bagel with cream-cheese. Slurp! Don't forget to buy a box of the Tim Hortons hot chocolate powder before you return back. Not only is it reasonably yummy but also makes for a good gift for friends or family,besides maple syrup of course. I landed in Toronto around lunch time and being the Chinese food fans that we both are Rima took me straight to a Canadian style Chinese restaurant in her neighbourhood. The rest of the day was spent unpacking, chilling and eating at Taco Bell (my favourite 7 layer burrito) before passing out and trying to recover from jetlag.
Tip: Don't buy a simcard from India or airport at Toronto. Get a Rogers or similar sim at any kiosk in any mall. It's cheaper and super convenient as well. With wi-fi hotspots almost everywhere, I never felt the need for a data plan either.
Anyway, cutting a really long story short, the next day onwards I was on my own. Toronto has a super effective and easy public transport network. So everyday at breakfast before Rima left for work, we would chalk out the day's plan so I knew exactly where to go and how. On day one I kept it simple, just visited Toronto zoo which was really close to Rima's house and required me to take just one bus. However, the next day onwards I was traveling the whole city confidently by myself. I went to Toronto downtown, visited the CN Tower along with the 3D ride which was good fun, shopped at Eaton Centre, got stalked by a fellow Indian :) took an amphibian vehicle tour which was quite cute really and gave me a feel of the entire city. After doing the typical touristy stuff in the day, evenings/nights were usually spent doing more local stuff with Rima. Toronto has a rocking nightlife. Clubs and bars are open until wee hours of the morning especially on weekends. Their cinema experience is also very different from ours where you can purchase one ticket and watch as many movies as you like in that particular multiplex once you enter.
Toronto reminded me of how I would like Bombay to be. Full of Indians, organized, clean with amazing infrastructure and disciplined.
I can go on and on about Toronto but I recommend you visit http://www.seetorontonow.com/ to check out what you would like to do in the city
On my last weekend in Toronto, Rima and I took off for the weekend to Niagara. Rima had booked us in a B&B which she found at www.booking.com. It was quite a long drive from Toronto to Niagara although I seem to forget the exact amount of time it took to get there. However, what I do remember is the awesome breakfast we ate at Cora's ( http://www.chezcora.com/where-to-find-us) with the sweetest cantaloupe slice and the freshest orange juice ever!
Well the initial plan was a tour of a winery in Niagara, Maid of the Mist and a wild life safari on the way back to Toronto. However, we had to skip the winery tour owing to the massive queues at Niagara Falls for the Maid of the Mist Tour. I highly recommend buying tickets online which will at least cut the booking queues by a little bit. (http://www.maidofthemist.com/en/). The boat tour is gorgeous and one of a lifetime experience and to top it all we saw 2 rainbows while on the boat as well which made the experience even better. Niagara Falls light show isn't that great and you can totally skip it if you are short of time. We were really lucky as we happened to be there on the 4th of July so we could see the fireworks right across the border. Unfortunately I've lost a lot of pictures from my Canada trip but will try and share whatever I have. Niagara in itself is also quite a fun and lively city to walk around in the night and has umpteen number of outlet shopping villages which are great especially if you are a COACH fan. We bought some pretty awesome stuff there at really good prices.
On the way back from Niagara, we stopped for something they call The African Lion Safari. It was a self drive trail which was fun if you never intend to go to Africa or if wild life is not your passion. Otherwise you can just pass it.
Ok, this post is getting way too long for my liking so, I'm going to try and rush through the rest of it. After spending around 10 days in Ontario, I took off via Megabus (www.megabus.com) to Montreal (http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/). Montreal is a gorgeous city. I lived all myself in a B&B right on the main street where the action is. If you are visiting Montreal, I highly recommend living on Saint Catherine Street. When I landed at the bus station, I was a little lost and this woman who later became a friend walked me right to my B&B which was a stone throw away. I even watched a Black Eyed Peas Concert that evening with her friends which was superrrrrr! Anyway next few days were spent touring and hanging around Montreal and even trying my luck very unsuccessfully at the very famous Casino there. Highlight of my trip would also be the day trip I took to Quebec City and Montmorency Falls. Quebec city will remind you of a beautiful town in France. It is by far one of the most gorgeous cities I have ever been to and the best way to see the city is on foot. It was a 2 hour boat ride to the falls and back. Very different experience from Niagara and totally worth it.
As I returned back to India with amazing memories of watching the football World Cup final on Toronto airport being the only Spain supporter in a Dutch bar (I almost got killed that day by them), I had nothing but a want to back to Canada real soon. As luck would have it, my company got the project for handling public relations for the Toronto Film Festival a month after my return and I was heading the project. Time to go back to Ontario :-D
So, I was back in a month's time and this time on a completely sponsored trip by the Toronto Tourism Commission. I lived in a fabulous hotel in downtown Canada, ate an awesome meal in the restaurant of the CN Tower amongst many others, watched the premiere of Dhobi Ghat at the festival with Aamir Khan, went to bars where we spotted a lot of Hollywood celebrities, ate at amazing Oyster Bars and roamed Toronto on a segway.
All this aside, I went to Niagara again and the highlight of the trip was the visit to an Ice Wine Winery at Niagara on the Lake (A beautiful town, not worth missing). We sat through an ice-wine drinking session, bought some for our return, roamed the beautiful vineyards and shopped for local goodies in the little town. My trip was definitely incomplete without this experience and I suppose that's why life sent me back so soon. Buy maple syrup and ice wine chocolates at the airport. Makes for nice gifts to friends and relatives
Sharing some glimpses of Ontario from Trip 1 and trip 2 below. Can't wait to go back to the west coast this time! Have you been to Canada? Want to visit? Let's talk!
Anyway upon landing in Toronto, my first feeling of the airport was that it was large, well organized with very cheerful visa officers (a fresh change). However, a nuisance that I find in a lot of the airports is the dollar coin you need to dig out to get a trolley. Anyway, at the airport I also got the first taste of Tim Hortons, (Starbucks of Canada? if I may dare to compare) and I instantly took a liking towards the Iced Cap and toasted bagel with cream-cheese. Slurp! Don't forget to buy a box of the Tim Hortons hot chocolate powder before you return back. Not only is it reasonably yummy but also makes for a good gift for friends or family,besides maple syrup of course. I landed in Toronto around lunch time and being the Chinese food fans that we both are Rima took me straight to a Canadian style Chinese restaurant in her neighbourhood. The rest of the day was spent unpacking, chilling and eating at Taco Bell (my favourite 7 layer burrito) before passing out and trying to recover from jetlag.Tip: Don't buy a simcard from India or airport at Toronto. Get a Rogers or similar sim at any kiosk in any mall. It's cheaper and super convenient as well. With wi-fi hotspots almost everywhere, I never felt the need for a data plan either.
Anyway, cutting a really long story short, the next day onwards I was on my own. Toronto has a super effective and easy public transport network. So everyday at breakfast before Rima left for work, we would chalk out the day's plan so I knew exactly where to go and how. On day one I kept it simple, just visited Toronto zoo which was really close to Rima's house and required me to take just one bus. However, the next day onwards I was traveling the whole city confidently by myself. I went to Toronto downtown, visited the CN Tower along with the 3D ride which was good fun, shopped at Eaton Centre, got stalked by a fellow Indian :) took an amphibian vehicle tour which was quite cute really and gave me a feel of the entire city. After doing the typical touristy stuff in the day, evenings/nights were usually spent doing more local stuff with Rima. Toronto has a rocking nightlife. Clubs and bars are open until wee hours of the morning especially on weekends. Their cinema experience is also very different from ours where you can purchase one ticket and watch as many movies as you like in that particular multiplex once you enter.
Toronto reminded me of how I would like Bombay to be. Full of Indians, organized, clean with amazing infrastructure and disciplined.
I can go on and on about Toronto but I recommend you visit http://www.seetorontonow.com/ to check out what you would like to do in the city
On my last weekend in Toronto, Rima and I took off for the weekend to Niagara. Rima had booked us in a B&B which she found at www.booking.com. It was quite a long drive from Toronto to Niagara although I seem to forget the exact amount of time it took to get there. However, what I do remember is the awesome breakfast we ate at Cora's ( http://www.chezcora.com/where-to-find-us) with the sweetest cantaloupe slice and the freshest orange juice ever!Well the initial plan was a tour of a winery in Niagara, Maid of the Mist and a wild life safari on the way back to Toronto. However, we had to skip the winery tour owing to the massive queues at Niagara Falls for the Maid of the Mist Tour. I highly recommend buying tickets online which will at least cut the booking queues by a little bit. (http://www.maidofthemist.com/en/). The boat tour is gorgeous and one of a lifetime experience and to top it all we saw 2 rainbows while on the boat as well which made the experience even better. Niagara Falls light show isn't that great and you can totally skip it if you are short of time. We were really lucky as we happened to be there on the 4th of July so we could see the fireworks right across the border. Unfortunately I've lost a lot of pictures from my Canada trip but will try and share whatever I have. Niagara in itself is also quite a fun and lively city to walk around in the night and has umpteen number of outlet shopping villages which are great especially if you are a COACH fan. We bought some pretty awesome stuff there at really good prices.
Ok, this post is getting way too long for my liking so, I'm going to try and rush through the rest of it. After spending around 10 days in Ontario, I took off via Megabus (www.megabus.com) to Montreal (http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/). Montreal is a gorgeous city. I lived all myself in a B&B right on the main street where the action is. If you are visiting Montreal, I highly recommend living on Saint Catherine Street. When I landed at the bus station, I was a little lost and this woman who later became a friend walked me right to my B&B which was a stone throw away. I even watched a Black Eyed Peas Concert that evening with her friends which was superrrrrr! Anyway next few days were spent touring and hanging around Montreal and even trying my luck very unsuccessfully at the very famous Casino there. Highlight of my trip would also be the day trip I took to Quebec City and Montmorency Falls. Quebec city will remind you of a beautiful town in France. It is by far one of the most gorgeous cities I have ever been to and the best way to see the city is on foot. It was a 2 hour boat ride to the falls and back. Very different experience from Niagara and totally worth it.
As I returned back to India with amazing memories of watching the football World Cup final on Toronto airport being the only Spain supporter in a Dutch bar (I almost got killed that day by them), I had nothing but a want to back to Canada real soon. As luck would have it, my company got the project for handling public relations for the Toronto Film Festival a month after my return and I was heading the project. Time to go back to Ontario :-D
So, I was back in a month's time and this time on a completely sponsored trip by the Toronto Tourism Commission. I lived in a fabulous hotel in downtown Canada, ate an awesome meal in the restaurant of the CN Tower amongst many others, watched the premiere of Dhobi Ghat at the festival with Aamir Khan, went to bars where we spotted a lot of Hollywood celebrities, ate at amazing Oyster Bars and roamed Toronto on a segway.
All this aside, I went to Niagara again and the highlight of the trip was the visit to an Ice Wine Winery at Niagara on the Lake (A beautiful town, not worth missing). We sat through an ice-wine drinking session, bought some for our return, roamed the beautiful vineyards and shopped for local goodies in the little town. My trip was definitely incomplete without this experience and I suppose that's why life sent me back so soon. Buy maple syrup and ice wine chocolates at the airport. Makes for nice gifts to friends and relatives
Sharing some glimpses of Ontario from Trip 1 and trip 2 below. Can't wait to go back to the west coast this time! Have you been to Canada? Want to visit? Let's talk!
