2) Trip to Niagara Falls

 (Picture taken in Niagara Falls, July 2014)

My trip to Niagara Falls

July 25-27 2014

(These notes were used to write part of the novella ''Rally Not Alone,'' published in 2015)

 

Notes from Friday June 25:

 

Our group was the second one to get picked up. The First one embarked in laval.

 

When our bus arrived, everyone got in line and gave out their required pre-signed paperwork to our guide while the driver put our suit cases in the bottom compartment. 

 

Aidan and i got Seated in the second row, behind our guide.  Jeff sat behind us.

 

We Left Montreal at 6:00 am with 53 passengers on board.

 

Guide = francois and driver is patrick.

 

Rode in air conditioned bus for about two hours, during which i napped.  My head kept tilting the side and i would jolt awake yet my eyes remained closed.  I became uncomfortable and wished for a better head rest, or perhaps to lie down in my seat. 

 

As we got closer to Rockport, we Took a Road passing through the village because it is nicer than the highway.  Woodsy area.

 

We Arrived early at the Marina, before anything opened.  It almost looked deserted.  It was very quiet.

 

By the time we all got off the bus, our guide had gotten our passes for the cruise from the ticket booth.  they hung from a rope, which we wore around our necks like necklaces.

 

We were able to take a Quick look inside the big souvenir shop once it opened too, which had clothes, jewellery. goodies... Bought a bag of root beer candies and a box of 5 maple leaf shaped maple sugar candies for aidan.  Magnet of boltd castle for myself.

 

We Went to restaurant for a quick snack- chocolate butter tart. It Reminded me of dad because he loves butter tarts.  We ate outside, sitting on while plastic chairs, while waiting to board our boat.  I noticed that benches were on the side of a small cliff facing the dark blue water and islands.

 

Boarded our three decker boat.  Sat on green plastic chairs on first floor by closed window, but sometimes got out on one of the decks to take better pictures.  Did not stay because it was cold and windy.

 

Did a 1 hour cruise in st laurence river.  Soft water.   Salt water only starts near quebec city.   The water was calm, Except when another boat passed us.  The waves made jeff feel slightly nauseous but that passed.

 

Summer residences in islands (between ontario and ny state).  One island has a small village where people live in winter, but aside from that it is rare that people go in winter. Some houses are almost as small as the islands they are on.  Most of the water freezes when it is cold.

 

Good for fishing all year.

 

Smallest international bridge in the world, going from one small island in canada to a tiny island on us territory.

 

Boldt castle on us land.  People can get on the land to visit the castle grounds and indoors, but it was not part of out cruise; only for 2 hour cruises?

 

Small Island across boldt castle with a house covering island for mother in law.

 

back on bus right away and continued on scenic route.   We Passed by other marinas on left side and through gananoque which is native for garden of the great spirit. names of street refer to royalty (queen, king...) because founded by royalists.  on the right side, monument in front of town hall paying tribute to Canadian soldiers. old locomotive.  beautiful houses and inns.

 

As our Guide talked, he gave us all a free postcard with a picture of our cruise boat on it.

 

Went u def arch, which indicated we were going out of the town. same one was at beginning of the small town.

 

fields with brown or white cows and bails of hay as well as sheep.  A lot of trees and conifers too.  passed by military base where many family live. surrounded by a metalvb  fence with barb wire.    telecommunication museum for the army on the right.  Old tanks displayed on grass. 

 

Small arch in memory of cadets on left.

 

River cataraqui on right 200 km from ottawa

 

Students often got dressed in costumes to do reinactments.  We did not see them.

 

Passed in Kingston

 

Briefly saw fort Henri on left side near the opening of the Rideau canal protecting the entrance, ruins of fort frontnac on right (low remains of stone walls which you would miss if you blinked while going by.)

 

Fountains by marina in front of huge city hall.  Stone tour of defence in water.  Old train station transformed in tourist info center.  Old Locomotive on display.

 

Stopped 1 hour 45 minutes for lunch.

 

Walked with guide for about 10 minutes after getting off the bus.  He gave us suggestions on where to eat.  Passed by where a market is usually set is, a courtyard by passing in a stone passage, and in front of a bakery.

 

We grabbed food.  Veggy pizza and chocolate pastry for me and a fresh croissant and banana muffin for aidan.  Ate near water, where there were ducks, geese and seagulls.  A women in a black cape and holding a lantern was giving tours. 

 

On the way saw a mounted police on a dark brown horse.

 

Aidan noticed that the city had free wi fi.  It was written on a flag.

After lunch, we tried a rootbeer candy.  it tasted more like black liquorice. 

 

We Walked around the ancient looking town and took a closer look at the old train station and locomotive, we saw a red tour bus and went inside a few shops.  I bought aidan a gold pocket watch.

 

A young woman was playing bagpipes where the market should have been, and a teenaged girl played the violin on another street corner. 

 

We headed back to our parked bus, grabbed free bottles of water and waited for others to board.  Once everyone was back on the bus, we took off again and our guide pointed our historical sites and told us information in both french and english.

 

1809 hotel prince George on right.

 

Many modern hotels longing the water.

 

Museum and Ice breaker boat on left.

 

Old pumping house which is now a museum on left.

 

Nice houses owned by residents. 

 

Jon alexander mcdonald  monument on right.  A little bit later, we Saw where he used to live before becoming prime minister.

 

Defence tour which was never used. Became a museum on right.

 

Park on left with monument that separates st laurence river and lake ontario.  We learnt that ontario was native for beautiful lake. 

 

Purification plant on left.

 

Saw two old penitentiary (one for women and another for men) which recently closed.  mens one was the oldest in the world still being used until 2011.  Woman's prison wall was taken Down after closure.  Before women penitentiary was build, women were imprisonned in same penitentiary as men.

 

Differences between prison and penitentiary.

prison = people condemned for less than two years. administered by provinces.  Penitentioary is for people condemned for more than two years.  Administered by federal government.

 

Stone tour thought to be were where people were hanged.  False. Actually a Water tour for prisonners.  Death penalty abolished in 1960 in canada.

 

On the highway... We were given a complimentary Necklace for keys as well as a map of niagara falls.

 

Bus went quiet again and most people, including myself, took a nap.  I woke up briefly and fiddled with my seat, trying to figure put how to lean it back.  Jeff ended up showing me how.  Just had to push a bottom on my arm rest and lean back at the same time. 

 

Our next stop come up in ten minutes so i did not get back to sleep.

 

We pulled at a truck stop.  it really stank when we got out, but i realised it was only because our driver had parked right beside the garbages.  The smell of the  air improved as we walked towards the beige building.  There were a few fast food places and depaneurs inside so we grabbed some cut up fruits and fish crackers as snacks.

 

We were back on the road 15 minutes later and i noticed that the bus was a bit warmer but i am usually cold so it did not really bother me at first.

 

our guide went over our itinerary, explaining where the fireworks would take place and pointed out points of interests such as an imax  theatre in the shape of a pyramid where movies about the falls played, 2 casinos, scylon tour and wheel where we could get a nice view of the falls, clifton hill district which had a horror theme...

 

He also told us a few interesting facts, like the $5000 fine for jumping in the falls.  I joked and said that you had to survive to get the fine and was informed that survivals were actually more common than one would think.  The key

Was to jump in the middle. 

 

This brought is the story about a guy who jumped in the falls simply because he wanted to see what if felt like.  He was brought to a mental hospital.  A woman went down in a barrel with her cat many years ago, and somebody walked across the falls on a tight rope.

 

Apparently, it is safer to jump on the canadian side rather than the us because there are less rocks, but i would not try it anything that might end my life.

 

I like my life, and am enjoying my trip, although I am eager get out of the vehicle to stretch again.

 

When the guide stopped talking, jeff, aidan and i discussed what we felt like doing.  All three of us were interested in the same things, which was walk down the street of horror and go on the big Ferris wheel, so that was easy.

 

As we talked, we passed through the city of Toronto, seeing the CN tower and sky scrappers in the distance.

 

Our guide had warned us at there was Usually lots of traffic near the Toronto area, especially during rush hour and he was right.  There were a lot cars and trucks on the eight lane highway, not counting the 8 additional express lanes people can pay to go on, in both directions.  The sun reflected on their roofs. 

 

Our guide went to see individuals to answer questions.  I said we didn't have any, then remembered i needed to find a bank or ATM machine to get money for the CN tour which was an optional excretion on the tour which needed to be paid in cash.  Reservations had been made, and we had until sunday to confirm our presence by giving the guide our entrance fees so he could buy everyones tickets.

 

We overheard our guide tell somebody that the hotel could tell them exactly where the banks were, which is what i had concluded.

 

Continuing on the busy highway, i simply looked around at the tall buildings.  The traffic did not diminish, but we were told that we would eventually be able to use lanes reserved for buses.

 

After giving us an update on our arrival time, our Guide informed us that the falls are lit up at night and was very nice to see.   I expressed my interest to view this

 

We passed by pearson airport and saw many planes on the ground.  None were spotted taking off or landing.

 

We apparently came close to lake ontario, but could not see the water.

 

The cn tour came into view on the left again, and we got stuck in traffic for a few minutes for no logical reason.  Our guide went on about how bad circulation was.   It was slow for a while, but we got in the fast lane and started rolling at a decent speed.

 

Two tall oddly shaped tours were pointed out In The suburbs.  we were told they were called the Dancing tours. 

 

We left the suburb behind us and continued to roll at a decent speed, passing by tees, construction sites, businesses, and distant houses.  The sky remained blue with a few white clouds.

 

We eventually passed through Oakville, known for its ford plant.  we saw it and its huge.  Lake ontario was behind it, but we still could not see it. 

 

It became quite obvious that the air conditioning had stopped working, but were told that the bus would be taken to a garage in the evening so the problem could be fixed.

 

We slowly made our way through Burlington.  Everyone was getting antsy.  I think we all needed to get out of the bus to move around and get some fresh air. 

 

 

We saw the stretch of land where niagara falls was and were told that the falls were on the other side.  Our guide told us that Because of the erosion, they moved by a couple kilometres over the years.

 

Our destination seemed close, but we still had a bit to go and whenever the traffic cleared it got congested soon after.

 

We eventually passed by Hamilton, the Steel capital of canada.  We could see many industrial chimneys in the distance across the water to our right.  In the fog on left, we could see the city of Toronto in minuscule form.

 

We had travelled 300 km since kingston.

 

After crossing a bridge, we were in the niagara peninsula.  The falls were only 60 km away now!  This was exciting news.  I think We all just wanted to arrive at our hotel and start exploring.

 

The were many billboards advertising vineyards.

 

We were told that there were Many vineyards and fruit tres in the region because the way the land slants protects the vegetation from strong Winds coming from south.  Plus, because it is close to water it is warmer.  I would have thought the opposite.

 

Vineyards and greenhouses could be seen on the right.

 

We passed by the town of lincton, and I saw that we were only 39 km from the falls now.

 

It seemed like our exit was not getting close and our estimated arrival time kept getting pushed ahead.

 

Water was seen of the left side again, along with some boats.  That view soon disappeared again got replaced with the usual greenery or one story buildings.  Nothing too interesting too see.  We continued to count down the km left until we would arrive at the falls.

 

We passed by st catherine, the largest city before the falls. 

 

We crossed a Bridge going over Wellon canal, which is a link between lake ontario and lake eron.  It Takes about 12 hours to cross from one lake to the other. 

 

To our right, we were able to see the two first locks of eight.  To our left, we saw a laker ship. 

 

We were getting closer... 

 

Our guide announced that we only had 10 km left to go.

 

When we finally Arrived in niagara falls, we were given a quick guided tour from our bus like in the other cities.

 

Sylon tower and other high buildings, the biggest one being 53 stories high,were in front of us.  They hid the falls.

 

We passed by a french garden before seeing the falls and i think everyone stopped paying attention because the view was absolutely amazing.

 

The Falls is a natural boarder between to canada and us boarder.  We Saw the American falls first, and then the canadian one.  The Canadian one is more impressive because of its shape plus 95 percent of its current passes there.  We Saw that it was pretty strong.

 

We were told that we Can pay to go in a tunnel to see the falls up close, but that it was not really worth it; especially that we would be taking a cruise below the falls in the morning.

 

An Old boat got stuck on rocks since 1918.  There were survivors.  Will eventually come down the falls. 

 

There is Always a rainbow above canadian falls when it is sunny so bridge to us is called rainbow bridge.

 

Electrical plant on right as well as Garden and greenhouse, free to visit.

Gold island between falls is american territory.

 

We arrived at our hotel.  After being given our room cards and vouchers for breakfast, we went us to our forth floor room to drop our luggage and headed out to eat.

 

Found a steakhouse not too far from where we were and decided to eat there because it had been recommended and we had a $15 off coupon.  Unfortunately, we had to order two appetizers to use the coupon.  Kids were very noisy and babies were crying, but waitress was nice and friendly and good was delicious.

 

We walked in the noisy clifton hill district towards the protruding Observation Wheel.  Inside a closed pod, We saw the falls from a distance as well as the lit city of niagara falls, which kind of looked like a big fair with everything below us lit up.  A dinosaur themed mini put was right bellow us, and had a realistic volcano with a water fall and fire shooting out every so often.

 

Dracula house, a haunted house which took about 10 minutes to tour.

 

Hershey store, bought myself a chocolate shake.  Found a kiss chocolate when i finished the drink later on.

 

Walked fast towards victoria park and caught the short firework show taking place above the falls.  It was beautifull.

 

Took a look at the lit falls.  They were only green at first, but then all the colours of the rainbow except for orange. 

 

We walked back to our hotel and stopped in a souvenir shop on the way.

 

Atm machine at hotel was out of order.

 

Went to bed right away when we got in.

 

Notes from saturday june 26:

 

We got a wake up call at 7:00 this morning, took turns taking our showers and got ready to go downstairs for breakfast.  The buffet was in the corner of a very small room with not many tables.  We waited in line to get in and almost had to shove to get the cereal, bananas, muffins or sliced bread to make toast.  It was the same for the apple juice, and we could not find the milk.  A woman walked in with a jug and poured some milk in our bowls.

 

We took out food to our room and ate there, them met our guide outside right in front of the hotel for 8:30.

 

Our group walked towards the falls, passing by the street of horror.  Most things were closed so it was pretty quiet compared to the night time, but noise was coming from the house of frankeinstein.  The green monsters protruded from the haunted house and he held a burger from the fast food chain located right beside the attraction. 

 

Our guide Gave us purple sticky Bracelets to go on the hornblower boat. were given thin lime green rain jackets that looked like garbage bags with a hood.  We looked ridiculous, but it kept us dry as we approached the falls, first the ones on the us then the canadian one, in the boat.  They were magnificent!

 

An american cruise ship, maid of the mist, passed us. All the passengers wore blue coloured jackets like ours.  our guide told us later that the colours of jackets were meant to identify what country passengers should be brought to if they went overboard.  I am not sure if he was serious since he made a lot of jokes.  So did our driver.  They were both very fun to travel with.

 

8 people decided to remain in niagara while we headed to niagara on the lake.

 

Souvenir city on left, with hotels and houses.

 

longed the Canyon on right for about 10 km where falls originally were over ten thousand years ago.

 

1m per year before,  now 30 cm per 10 years Why?  Rocks are harder, at night half the water falls because electrical plants divert the water, a bridge upstream of bridge make water go along the canadian fall and water is spread out.

 

We learnt that Every minute, we could fill 1 million bathtubs per minutes.

 

Golf course on left. 

 

Most powerfully whirlpool in the world. Some people go jet boating there.  We stopped to take a quick look and saw one of the jetboats.  We also saw a few helicopters in the sky above the trees.

 

We would have liked to go on a fifteen minute tour but they end at 6:00 pm.  Bylaw wont allow the companies to fly at night.

 

Barage on right.  Electricity is generated by niagara river.

 

Bridge located where falls used to be.

 

Botanical garden on left.  In heart of garden we have a building which is the articulture school.  Each year, students  create a new motif for flower clock.  Needles of clock represent crutches. Jeff guessed right.  Money thrown in fountain was given to handicap crutches.

 

Stopped to get a close look at mechanism of clock and pictures of previous clocks. I also bought a magnet of the falls at the small souvenir shop because there was no time to look in the big shop after our boat ride.

 

We briefly stopped at queenston Hights, where important battle that took place between 1812-1814 between english and americans.  On site, Saw Small Monument of heroine of 1812-1814 war, laura secord.  chocolate was named after her.  We later saw her old house.  monument of general. Brock.  Highest in canada.  very Small Museum inside.  We can also walk up the stairs if we paid,  but had no time.

 

Great view of niagara river.  Could see state of new york.

 

Passed by other war monument on right.

 

Really nice houses with perfect lawns and no fences in between the properties.

 

Along the road, fresh fruits were sold.  Saw a few fruit trees and vineyards. 

 

Bicycle paths on the right that go all the way to the falls.

 

5 km later, we were at niagara on the lake, a charming little town with a victorian style.

 

We Parked just beside fort George with had the union jack flag on a pole.  it was used during the war.  We could visit it but we much preferred to walk around niagara on the lake.

 

There was a Shuttle available, but we took a 10 minute walk to centre.  Not allowed to park in town.

 

Visited an art gallery with lovely acrylic and oil paintings within a victorian house, where old decor and some furniture were kept.  From the back windows, we could see the big yard with statues and a garden.

 

Walked by some shops, bakeries, clothing stores... Ate fish and chips on a terrace.  Had a nice fountain, hanging flower pots and lanterns. 

 

On our way back, i bought a black Victorian dress and we visited an old apothecary which has been turned into a free museum.  It smelled old inside.

 

Everyone was back on the bus by 2:00 and we rode ten minutes to a vineyard.  we saw many other vineyards along the way. 

After hearing a quick history of that particular vineyard by a young female guide who struggled to translate her info in french, starting with how the seselian couple who owned the vineyard met followed by the donation of a chariot which became their logo,  we were explained how wine is made. 

 

Our tour started by looking at the many rows of short grape vines.  Rose bushes were kept in front of them as protection from the insects.   We then walked down to a cold basement where they kept their fermentation wooden barrels, which came from the us and france.  The us wood gave a spicy taste. 

 

We also entered a room surrounded by  shelved wine bottles, bottled juice, and wine products for sale.  There, we tasted 3 wines in actual whine glasses, as opposed to plastic cups.  we tried white and red table whines as well as sweet white ice whine.  We were told to swish our glass, smell its content, swivel the whine like mouthwash for the first sip and drink normally afterwards.  Everything tasted good, but jeff and i both preferred the white wine.

 

Aidan and the other kids plus people who did mot want whine, like our driver, had apple juice while we tasted the various whines.

 

We could purchase bottles of wine or juice but did not.

 

I realised i was slightly buzed while we were back in the bus.

 

Stopped by another vineyard for a tasting only, which was done outdoor by the vineyards.  This time we tasted 5 different kinds of whine:  we were served white, rose, and red table whines as well as white and red ice whines. 

 

I felt a few rain drops as we were doing the tasting, but counted myself lucky because the weather report had announced rain all day.  The drops was all we got, and it did not last for very long. 

 

I could really feel the alcohol in my system by the end of this tasting even though jeff and i started sharing glasses instead of getting a sample each.

 

Jeff bought a bottle of the white whine we tasted in the shop and i bought a bottle of a strawberry kiwi flavoured whine that was on sale.  I figured it would be like a cooler.

 

We drove a few minutes and Stopped at the indoor market to taste local products, such as maple syrup, peanut brittle, two types of jams on pieces of saltine crackers, and a couple of dips on pretzel sticks for free.  Those items, plus many more, were for sale.  Jeff bought apricot jam. 

 

Freshly picked fruits in baskets could be purchased outdoor at a much higher price than what we are used to paying.  We ate samples of mini apricots.  Some people picked green apples or peaches from the low trees but got caught by the man selling cooked corn for $3 per cob. 

 

The Smallest chapel stood near the market.  It looked like a child's playhouse.

 

We Headed back to niagara longing the escarpment, feeling pretty exhausted.  It looked like it was going to start raining.

 

I started dosing off as the driver announced that it was officially raining.  It wasn't long before we arrived in niagara.

 

People got dropped off at the botanical garden, the Canadian falls, or our hotel.  We quickly brought our days purchases to our room and headed right back out.  It had stopped raining by that point, but i had my green jacket from the hornblower cruise with me just in case.

 

We stopped by haunted tunnels, which was advertised as being the most terrifying experience in niagara.   In the lobby, scary masks were on shelves.

 

Aidan and i payed out entrance fee and went in the tunnels while Jeff stayed behind.  I have to admit, it was pretty scary.  Completely dark inside and you had to follow red lights above to find your way while horrific  sounds were heard.  We got locked in a room at one point, a vehicle chased us, and a man with a chain saw had us running to the exit door.  It was fun.

 

We headed to clifton hill and thought i had lost my camera but found it inside the main part of my backpack rather than the side pocket i usually kept it in.  The thought of having lost all my pictures was scarier than the haunted tunnel.

 

We ate diner at the rai forest cafe, aidans choice, then played a game of mini-put in the dino themed course.  Jurassic animal sounds, like roars, could be heard.  When the fake volcano blew out fire, we could feel it from below.  It was pitched black out by the time we were done our 18 whole game.  We had chosen the left course, which was at a difficult level.  The one on the right was apparently easier.

 

Aidan was tired so we walked him to the hotel and then headed for a walk.  We went down clifton hills and did a short stroll in the slightly lit French gardens.  It felt nice to be away from a crowd.  We were not completely alone though.  Not only were a few other people around, mosquitos were present too.

 

We decided to walk by the falls, starting with the american one.  They were lit like the previous night, and we noticed that the colours changed from one area to to other.  The scylon tour was lit too and also changed colours. 

 

There was a tall pine tree with illuminated christmas lights of various colours.

 

We continued walking among the small crowd all the way to the canadian falls, stopping by the rail every so often to take a better look or take pictures, mostly selfies of each other.  Sometimes people offered to take our picture, which we appreciated. We discussed going back to niagara as well as niagara on the lake at some point.

 

As we approached the canadian falls, there was mist in The air and eventually all the sidewalks and roads were completely wet as thought it had rained.

 

We discovered a small stone structure with four entrances and four window like openings.  We went in and seeing that we were alone we decide to cuddle and kiss.  Nobody noticed us.

 

We passed under a rainbow, which was the lights sining on the falls.  That was pretty neat considering it was pitched black out. 

 

As we walked, We spotted a restaurant with a terrace in front of the falls, across the street and thought about having a drink on the terrace but it was closed.  People were just cleaning up.  We headed back in the direction we had come from, longing the cliffs across the falls and stoping at a stone structure again to kiss. 

 

Nothing we walked by was open.  In clifton hill it was the opposite.  Everything was till fully lit and lively.  There was even a night club blaring dance music and several people in line waiting to get in.  Jeff and were not interested in going dancing or drinking.

 

We entered a big candy store, which smelled wonderfully sweet, and sampled a couple small pieces of fresh fudge.  They were good, but very rich so we did not buy any.  We saw some fudge being made and headed out.

 

We walked i to the next shop.  Jeff bought me a nice silver heart shaped necklace.  He put it on me when we got outside, as i requested.

 

 

 

Notes for sunday july 27:

 

We got a wake up call at 6:30 this morning, got ready and headed downstairs to the breakfast room.  It was practically empty so we managed to easily get our food and even got a table. A lot of people arrived at once and the small room got stuffy so we ended up bringing our food to our room.

 

We check out of the hotel by simply leaving our keycards at the front desk and headed outside where our bus awaited us.  The driver took our luggage and we hoped on the bus.  Air conditioning seemed to be fixed now. 

 

Off we went to Toronto, during which a map of the city was handed to us.  because there was no traffic, It took less than the estimated one and a half hours.

 

On the right, there were tall condominiums with a great view of lake ontario then a view of the large city.

 

On left we saw many company names in white on small green hill.

 

Geese on grass by the water.

 

Rolled exactly where indie cars raced a few weeks prior. 

 

Guide pointed out popular buildings such as football-baseball stadium and the hockey stadium, plus new ones that were built as we passed them.  He talked about how fast the city growing.  Most buildings were really tall.  We could see a lot of cranes were new    Structures were being built.

 

We did a 2 hour orientation tour of Toronto, originally called york.  Changed to Toronto, which is native for gathering place.  Trying to be like ny city in looks and is apparently just as animated.

 

Got off the bus to take a Quick Picture of Toronto with cn tour in background.  We were right by the market but did not have time to check anything out.  We were back on the bus and rode for ten minutes to our next stop.

 

As we were gathered around e sidewalk, we heard the subway go by underneath us.  We saw tramways later on.

 

Walked through the Bce place, a modern building with high glass ceilings.  some of the old stone buildings were incorporated into the building, which was neat.  The Hockey hall of fame is located there.  it was habs day and many fans were lined up to get in.

 

Guide continued to talk and point things out to us, such as the court house and 5 hospitals side by side linked together by a tunnel.

 

We stopped in front of the Parliament of ontario and took a quick look inside the old luxurious building.  We only stayed at the entrance but is was nice to see the historical paintings on the walls and first mase of upper canada on display in a glass case.

 

Drove along the campus of the large university of Toronto, where students have all they need to live within the area and even nice paths.  Panels in front of each modern or old buildings indicated faculties.  Big congregate building was the robarts library.

 

I was surprised to hear that the second spoken Language in Toronto is Chinese.  Passed through china town, where many asians reside.  Chinese, japanese, korean symbols everywhere, including the police station.

 

We got off the bus a few minutes later and saw the equivalent of times square, but smaller.   Roadway shows advertised, red two decker tour buses plus  orange and green taxies.

 

Our guide took us to the Eaton centre, where 300 stores on many levels could be found.  Three office tours were connected to the centre as well.  We walked across the main level and took a quick look at the metal artwork hanging from the same type of glass ceiling as the bce centre.  It was several large birds coming in for a landing.

 

Back outside, we Passed by the Old city  hall, and walked towards the new city hall which has two curved tours with a circle in the middle.  From above, it looks like an eye.  We entered the modern building, which had a maquette of the while city.  Outside, there is a fountain That is turned into a skating rink in the winter.

 

Our group had Two options from this point; free time for 2 hours or visit of the Cn tour.  Money had been collected in advance in the bus on our way to Toronto.  We visited the cn tour, one of the highest tours in the world and one of the seven wonders of the world.

 

Cn tour was located by the railroad museum and locomotives were outside on rails.  The new aquarium was beside it, which looked interesting but had a large line up.

 

Once inside the tower, we had to pass security, Where we individually had to enter a something that looked like a metal booth.  air was blown on us. 

 

We Took the elevator up.  one side was made of glass so we could take a look outside as we moved upwards.  Our ears popped when we got to a certain hight, just like on an airplane.  We saw a great view of the city and lake from the elevator, as well as on the circular observation floor of the cn tour which was filled with windows and close viewers.  The vehicles below looked smaller than toys, and the people as tiny as ants.  We saw different kinds of  boats in the water, and even had a chance to observe a plane take off from a runway.

 

One floor below, we could walk on a thick glass floor.  I could barely look down because it felt like i was about to fall below, but bravely stepped on it like many others.  Although i knew it was safe, i kept imagining the floor breaking.  Some young kids were fearlessly stomping on it, which made me really nervous.

 

We moved on to the outside area to get a view without windows and could feel the cold Wind.  bars and projective black nets were all around along with warning signs not to climb.  Some people had the option to pay extra to wear a harness and hang by the tour.  We saw a few people getting ready for that on our way out.  They were putting on thick orange suits where the harness would be safely attached.  I thought they had guts. 

 

We visited the souvenir shop and headed outside to find our parked bus.  We were the first of our group to arrive, so we sat in the shade by a garden of shrubs to wait for the other nine tourists that had visited the cn tour because it was really hot out.

 

When everyone was present, we bot back on the bus and were brought back to the eaton centre.  We had one and a half hours of free time, which we took to eat lunch inside the eaton centre.   We found a nice food court on the floor below the entrance one.  I found it interesting to see a virtual soccer game on the floor and another game on some of the tables.  We sat at the other end to eat our meals. 

 

Back on bus at 2:30 and rode 540 km from downtown Toronto to Montreal. 

 

Oatmeal cookies and juice boxes were handed out to those who wanted some.  I was full, but grabbed some for later.

 

When we were on the trafficless highway, Jeff noticed a sign for harmony road, which is funny because i was working on my story.  Our guide actually asked me if i was writing a novel. 

 

The bus was relatively quiet since most passengers decided to nap.  Thats what i eventually did.

 

We made two stops before arriving in Montreal. 

 

The first was a half hour break atThe Big apple, not ny city, but an apple farm were they make and sold different types of apple desserts, among other goodies.  A giant smiling apple statue stood in the front lawn and there are animals in the back.

 

We went inside the building with a red roof.  Behind a glass, we could see the treats being made.  On the right was the candy store and straight ahead if you turned left you could walk into a market.  We bought a piece of warm apple pie to eat right away and apple dumpling to bring home.

 

We sat on a wooden bench on the outside deck to eat then got back on the bus.  Red tickets with six number on them were handed to us.  Doubles of everyones tickets were put in a plastic bag.

 

There was a Draw to win one of four food prizes; two small apple pies from the big apple and two packages of peanut brittle from the market we visited the previous day.  the driver let a women sitting in the second row on the right pick tickets at random.  everyone looked at their tickets in anticipation as the winning numbers were called out. The Happy Winners got to choose their prize as they won. 

 

Things got quiet again as we rode by trees, although some people chatted with each other. I eventually dozed off but did not sleep for long Because aidan unintentionally woke me up saying  it was raining.  That did not last.  The sun soon started clearing up and we saw a nice rainbow in the sky while a few last drops fell from the sky.

 

About Two hours after leaving the big apple, we made a stop in mallorytown to eat dinner.  We were only given 45 minutes so we had to decide right away which fast food place we wanted to eat from, get in line to order, and eat fast after finding a place to sit.  There were a lot of people in the food court so i was happy when i found a table.

 

It started poring a few seconds after we got on the bus. Some people from our group had to run from the onroute stop to the bus.

 

Shortly after getting back on the highway, the rain stopped and the only sign of it was the droplets on the windows.  We had about two hours and a half to travel at this point.

 

Our Estimated arrival time at Montreal was 9:30 but we actually made it back about fifteen minutes sooner even though we made a quick stop to drop off four people at their hotel near the airport.  We then got dropped off at Dawson, where we had gotten picked up.  The bus left to go drop off the remaining passengers in Laval.

 

We took the city bus and arrived at my apartment at around 10:15.  Since Jeff and I had to work the next day, we pretty much went to bed soon after we got in.