Sunday, July 29, 2018

Canada Vacation '18: Toronto

On our second day of vacation we had couple of hours to kill before we left for Toronto. Naturally, we went back to check out the Falls. When we were getting close to our check out time, we used the Incline Railway to get back to the hotel more quickly.



It gave us a good, goodbye view of the water.


As seen outside the bus depot: 


We were going to take the train to Toronto, but we had to take a bus to get to the train station. Here's the view from the top level of the double-decker bus.


I thought the bus would have driven us straight to the train station, but the bus meandered from stop to stop for an hour and a half. I was getting worried that we would miss our train (and so were some women sitting behind us), but the bus dropped us off exactly on schedule.

There was some confusion about getting the keys to our apartment. We went exploring once that was straightened out.


We stopped by Steam Whistle Brewing. 


I like their delivery truck.


I called this the Robert Frost sidewalk. Each path gets steeper. "I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Char chose the steepest path, and she slid down it like a slide.


The condo we rented was in the 300 Front Street building. This building had 49 floors. We were on the 22nd, but that still gave you a pretty nice view from the balcony.


The CN Tower was right across the street.


I wouldn't like living in that building, though. The elevators moved at a snail's pace. You could wait ten minutes for an elevator to arrive, only to see that it was too full. Then you would have to wait ten more minutes and hope you could get on the next one.

Toronto is a huge city. 2.8 million people live there. Compare that number to the 3.1 million people who live in the entire state of Iowa.

I didn't like the crowded streets, but I enjoyed looking at all the bicycles parked along the sidewalks. Bikes were everywhere, and there were all sorts of interesting modifications to see.


On day three we visited the CN Tower. We didn't know that there was a terrorist threat against the tower that day, but that explained the police presence on several street corners.


Let's go up.



There is a section where the floor is made of glass.



Standing on the glass freaked me out a bit, but Char was undaunted.



I like the "No Spidermen" sign.


It is a quite a distance to the streets below. After an hour up there, I quoted Dug (the dog) in Up!, "Oh, I am ready to be not up high!"


The tower also offers an Edge Walk. Thrill-seekers can walk on and around the roof of the main pod of the tower hands-free by being tethered to an overhead rail system.


Charlotte asked me if I wanted to try the Edge Walk. I told her I could think of three reasons no one on the ground would want me to try that.

We continued exploring once we were back on the street. We found this dog fountain on our way to the St. Lawrence Market.


Charlotte was happy that cats also had representation.


That's quite the facade on the side of that building.


Hey! There's the market!




I did a little research on the food that best represented each city that we visited in Canada. The overwhelming opinion is that a Peameal Bacon sandwich is your go-to meal for Toronto.



Daphne commented that the peameal bacon has the thickness of ham, but it is very tender and easier to bite through. I agree. It was great, and I wanted a second second sandwich as soon as we finished this one.

Every list we read of "Things to do in Toronto" included a visit to the Bata Shoe Museum.


They have activities for kids,


Shoes to try on,


and a whole lotta shoes to learn about.


The "Manolo Blahnik: The Art of Shoes" exhibit had a video clip from the film Marie Antoinette.


I'll admit that this museum wasn't my thing, and I was bored for most of the time. I must have learned something because while we were standing in line in the Toronto Airport, I pointed to the guy standing in front of us, and I whispered to Daphne, "Hey, we know those shoes."



Next stop on our trip: Kingston!

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

That's One Way To Put It

We went mini golfing today, and Charlotte got her first hole in one.


"Dad!" she exclaimed,  "This is my favorite putthole!"

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Canada Vacation '18: Niagara Falls

We planned this trip to Canada by ourselves. Daphne booked a hotel room in Niagara Falls, and we used airbnb.com to rent apartments for our stays in Toronto, Kingston, Montreal, and Quebec City. 

We were going to rely on public transportation, so we knew we had to pack light. You don't want have to drag much luggage around if you're hopping on and off the subway, buses, and trains. Since three of the apartments had washer and dryer units, we restricted ourselves to about four outfits. Daphne could run a load of laundry while we were out sightseeing. 

It makes sense on paper, but it is hard to restrict yourself to so few outfits. We also had to check the forecast and make educated guesses on what clothes would work best. Here's our luggage for the entire trip:


Also, here are a few of our secrete travel weapons for Charlotte. My old MacBook plays DVDs and has decent Wi-Fi reception - it's a great time-killer in airports and on trains. I bought the dogeared copy of The Essential Calvin and Hobbes at a Goodwill for 79 cents- 254 pages of good times that she read at least twice. Let's not forget a jar of peanut butter. Peanut butter toast sure takes the edge off in the morning before we leave for the day. It's the breakfast before breakfast and/or a great late night snack. 

Just don't expect to bring an open jar back into the USA. In fact, I call these secret travel weapons because I wouldn't want to lose them, but if we did, we wouldn't be out much money. 


Tuesday, July 10, was an early morning for us. Our first flight was at 5:40 AM. Charlotte was in great mood in the car at four in the morning, but she was pretty crabby once we got to the airport. She likes flying as much as I do. Daphne does a great job of keeping Char occupied during the flights.


We were in Buffalo, New York after two, hour-long flights. The best value for crossing the border to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls is to take a taxi from the airport. The ride took 45 minutes and cost a flat fee of $85. There was quite a traffic jam at the border, and I was glad to let someone else do the driving.

I was amazed that we were in our hotel room before noon. Here is our room's view of the Horseshoe Falls.


We were leaving for Toronto the next day, so we had to make the most of our one day at the Falls. To do this, we bought Classic Adventure Passes.


With this pass you can can experience the Niagra's Fury, the Journey behind the Falls, ride on the  Hornblower Niagara Cruise, and take a White Water Walk. The young lady who sold us the passes assured us that we could do all four in about five hours, and she gave us a schedule to follow. I'm happy to say her schedule was spot on.

Our fist stop was the Niagara's Fury experience. "Re-live the formation of Niagara Falls with this exciting 4-D experience, perfect for the whole family."

We were given plastic ponchos and then ushered into a standing room only area.


The title screen in the viewing room looked formidable, but we were rewarded with a cartoon about a chipmunk in detention. He falls into a book and time travels through the events that created the Niagrar Falls. Char thought is was okay; I was pretty bored.


The second part of the experience takes you into a large round room with screens surrounding you. You stand on a moving platform that is surrounded by a moat. The platform shakes as water sprays and rains on you. The light show was impressive, and the sound effects jarred Charlotte. I had zero expectations, so this 4-D show about the formation of the Falls was fun. I wouldn't do it again, though.

According to the schedule, our Journey Behind the Falls was next. "Traverse the network of tunnels and make your way to the base of Horseshoe Falls to enjoy one of the world’s most remarkable views."



The water falls so hard you can barely see through it. I suppose that is remarkable.





When you are done traversing the tunnels, you can stand on a platform that gets you up close and personal with the falling water.





It was then time for our Niagara Cruise on the Hornblower. "Sail into the heart of the Horseshoe Falls on this thrilling boat tour. This gentle mist will transform into a downpour as you approach the spectacular Canadian Horseshoe Falls!"

Char wasn't as excited about the cruise as Daphne and I were.


It was time to put on our third plastic poncho. The 20-minute cruise first takes you past the American section of the Falls.


Then the boat turns towards the Horseshoe Falls. You cruise closer,


and closer,


and closer,


and closer,


and closer,


and closer


until you are getting soaked, and you're afraid you'll ruin your phone, so you put it away and just enjoy the show.

On the way back you are treated with a rainbow. (The guy on the left was really nice. He enjoys riding his motorcycle from Canada through various U.S. nation parks. My Yosemite t-shirt started the conversation.)


The cruise looks like this from above.


I could have sworn that our boat got closer than that, but I think the water rushing by the boat makes you think you are moving towards the falls even if the boat is stationary.

Our last adventure for the day was to take a White Water Walk. "Experience a first-hand lesson in the raw power and peril of the Niagara River’s Class 6 white water rapids." The White Water Walk is truth in advertising. You walk on a wooden path that flows along side the rapids.

This is my favorite picture from the day:


The rapids' waves reach a height of 6 feet. I can't imagine anyone trying to navigate that water in a boat, but people have tried.




We swam in the hotel pool for awhile after dinner, but we made sure were in the room by ten o'clock to watch the fireworks show above the falls.


Char had been awake for 18 hours by the time the fireworks were over. It was time for her to go to bed. I felt the urge to to text a few pictures from my phone to my laptop and then maybe start a blog post. But since I couldn't send a text in Canada, I went to sleep, too. 

It was a big day, and we still had nine ten more days to go.

Monday, July 23, 2018

Home Again

We've been on a vacation in Canada for awhile (10 11 days), and it will take some time to assemble my thoughts and memories, but it sure feels good to be back home in Iowa.

We traveled from Niagara Falls, to Toronto, to Kingston, to Montreal, and then to Quebec City (seen below). It was like five vacations rolled into one. Each city experience was new and unique.


Now that I have my phone, email, and text services back, I'm looking forward to writing about our trip.

Sunday, July 8, 2018

The 27th 4th

Rob Moeller and I spent the 4th of July together for the 27th time. Rob and his wife, Nichole, came for a visit.






Everyone had fun hanging out together.