Oh, Canada!

 Oh, Canada! For Spring Break this year we went to Niagara Falls (Canada side) and Toronto. We had a wonderful trip and finally got to use our passports! I was so excited about using our passports but was disappointed that they didn't stamp them at the border. Apparently, it is all done digitally these days.  

Day One was a driving day and on Day Two we entered Canada at the Niagara Falls, New York border. We got through just fine and headed straight for the falls. They were even more stunning from the Canadian side. Gorgeous!! We visited the historic power station first which has a tunnel that is 180 feet below the ground and stretches 2,200 feet to the edge of the Niagara River, where there are panoramic views of Niagara Falls.  It was memorable and amazing to walk through a tunnel that used to have water rushing through it.

After a quick snack at the gift shop, we headed down to walk along the falls. The sky was so blue and the rush of the water was intense and delightful. We arrived at the boat ride and got tickets to go on the next boat to the falls. WOW! Even with the raincoats they provided, we got wet. The mist was blinding at times, and we couldn't even see the falls when we got close, but we sure could hear and feel them. I was surprised how well we all did with the rough water and movement of the boat. 

This little black squirrel had a lot to say to us since he wanted food and we had none for him! Black squirrels are rather rare on the North American continent. They are only found in five states in America, plus Ontario Province, Canada. 

This cheeky little squirrel was very excited about crackers.

We had a late lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then drove to our hotel in Toronto.  We stayed at the Homestead Suites in a two bedroom apartment.  We really appreciated the two bedrooms,  two bathrooms, living room with a sleeper sofa and kitchen. Our arrival in Toronto marked the end of sunny weather. It rained, snowed (just spitting snow), hailed and drizzled for the rest of our stay. Nevermind, we were prepared to do mostly inside activities anyway. The two pictures below show the CN Tower. One day we couldn't see it at all in the fog. We did not go up it because all of the kiddos are afraid of heights, and I am not a fan of elevators (I take them...but don't love them).

On day three we spent the morning in the Royal Ontario Museum. It is large, not as big as The Met, but a huge museum just the same. It wasn't crowded. In fact, everywhere we went had very manageable or no crowds at all. It was a pleasant surprise. We all enjoyed it, but Timothy loved it the most. They have a very large display of dinosaur fossils. 

After about three hours at the museum, we went to the St. Lawrence Marketplace. Some travel experts consider it the best food market in the world. We found many delightful things to eat. The Pastel de Nata pastries have been on my list to try for years. I thought I was going to have to go to Portugal to try them, but it turned out that the St. Lawrence Marketplace was one of the few places that have them outside of Portugal. They were yummy, but not as amazing as I had expected. I am not a huge sweets person.

The famous Pastel de Nata from Portugal were incredible according to most of my crew.

The famous meat sandwich from Paddington's

We went thrift store shopping after eating our way through St. Lawrence Marketplace. Rebekah and I love to thrift shop and finding new stores in different cities is always a treat. We got a few clothing items at the shop we went to. We headed back to the hotel and ordered pizza and played board games that night. 

The next day we visited Casa Loma. This is a cool castle built in 1911 for a financier named Sir Henry Pellatt. He went bankrupt pretty quickly and only lived in the house for 9 years. Some of the rooms were impressive. We traveled through the hidden tunnel that took us to the carriage house. We especially liked the towers, which were seven stories high. However, when you have the Biltmore Estate in your neighborhood ... well, it is unfair to compare. I am not sure anywhere on this continent would measure up in size and grandeur to the Biltmore. 

There were 59 phones in this home when it was built which was about HALF of how many phones there were in ALL of Toronto! With such excessive opulence, it is no wonder they lost all of their money. 

My Mother did not join us on the Casa Loma tour, because she wasn't interested and prefered to sleep in. We picked up my Mother and went to Ripley's Aquarium Toronto after a nice lunch at Mr. Greek. The aquarium was wonderful. My kids prefer aquariums to zoos, if they have to choose. This one did not disappoint. The kids loved the jellyfish, as they always do. The sea tunnel was my favorite part.  The stingrays were really putting on a show and interacting with the onlookers. 

The next day was even grayer and rainier than the previous days. We decided to visit Little Canada. This is a very nice museum that is still under construction. When it is complete, there will be miniatures of all of the provinces and major cities in the country. Right now, there are only a few east coast provinces. We loved it and spent several hours there. The details were amazing. 

We really enjoyed looking at Quebec City since that had been our original destination. We didn't make it there, because, with our time constraints, we would have had to fly that distance. We couldn't afford to fly due to the recent bathroom renovation, some needed major car repairs and saving for a new furnace needed by next winter. 

Toronto

We wrapped up our trip with some mall shopping, good food and walking on THE PATH (a 19 mile underground path under the city that connects hotels, office buildings and shopping areas).

Here is the a cool video about The Path. Honestly, there were moments that we didn't think that we were on The Path, because it seemed so much like a shopping area, but when we asked the police they always said we were still on it. Speaking of the police, Toronto is the second safest city in the world. The police were everywhere. They often were just on traffic duty and would help you cross the street. If there were any incidents (we saw two ~ one with a disgruntled man and another with a homeless man), the police moved in instantly and resolved the situation peacefully and with dignity for all involved. Also, no one honked their horns. We were driving a rental minivan in a new city and sometimes got confused. The other cars just let us in and everyone was so friendly and understanding.  All the cars were really nice, too. No clunkers or beater cars in Toronto. We made a game of trying to find one after we realized that all the cars looked so new.  Also, you almost never heard any sirens and when you did it was an ambulance. This city of 3 million was quieter than our small city of 100,000. I kid you not. 

Friday brought our trip to an end. We got out of the hotel early enough that we decided to try to drive the whole way home in one day.  We accomplished that goal. We made only three stops on the 795 mile trip home. One of those was a quick last peek at the falls and to get a picture of my Mother and me. 

A few other impressions ~ I was surprised how calm everything was in Toronto. Every place was well staffed, and the clerks really seemed to like their jobs. They were happy and weren't rushed. There was just a very respectful ambience. That said, the people of Toronto walk fast and almost ran us down a few times ... lol. I am a fast walker, but much of my family is not. 

Blessings, Dawn