Toronto/Montreal
Trip Start
Jun 26, 2005
1
3
126
Trip End
Apr 10, 2006
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Toronto/Montreal, Canada
Monday, July 11, 2005
Well we are starting week three now....it is all going by so fast.
Tuesday saw a trip to the Bluffs, it is very quaint and you could easily be in the UK countryside. Meet the gang, Violeta, Viorel, Victor (the older boy and my godson), Vincent and Tika (the dog) in the photo. I also watched Victor play soccer (footie to us). (Stef, I think the team need to learn a few of your tackling tricks.)
On Wednesday we saw Casa Loma, a small castle built as a home for a wealthy man. It is very sweet. (Caz, see Bon Voyage bear in Canada)
Friday took me on a train to Montreal, all on my lonesome. Kindly organised by Violeta and Viorel. The trains are very big with lots of seating space. It is all very civilised. To begin you queue in an orderly fashion in the waiting area and then you are escorted up to the platform where you are shown into the correct carriage...you can even check-in your bags.
Anyway having accidently walked down the only dodgy street in Montreal to my hotel (typical...yes Bex your whistle was at hand), I took to the streets. I wandered around Chinatown and into Old Montreal. It is a lovely place with lots to see. I fell in love with the Basillique Notre Dame. It is so beautiful inside...I was easily there for over an hour looking at the gilt stars. (I think I went in via the wrong entrance because after I exited and walked around the corner there was a queue at what I think was the main entrance, with a charge! Fortunately I had lit several candles and donated, so I hope I was even). After visiting pretty much all of Old Montreal I went to the Jazz Festival which was excellent. Nine hours after arriving and walking, my legs stopped working so the day/night came to an end.
Saturday morning I woke up in England - yep it was raining with style! I spent most of the day wet, but still enjoyed pottering around. I visited the Cathderale Marie Reine which is lovely and there was a wedding taking place (in French of course). My long train ride home was highly entertaining as I was sat next to a 6ft8(!) Canadian called Casey. Our conversation seemed to involve lots of dictionary definitions of words we were using, our language was clearly different. (Meanwhile Vincent was playing Lacrosse - such a fun game-and whipping all the other teams.)
To top off this great weekend I had a superb afternoon at the Indy Race in Toronto. It was so exhilarating, I kept having an urge to go and drive at speed somewhere. Good job I couldn't get access to a car! We saw the cars in different places around the track and everyone jumped as the planes did a fly by just before the start...where we even managed to find a spot to see the race start.
It was brilliant, sadly there was a crash but luckily no-one was hurt and I got to see the drivers who kindly gave me their autograph..albeit I didn't realise at the time what was happening. Basically, this girl walked up to me and asked me if anyone had a pen. I did, so I said yes and handed it to her through the fence. The girl then asked if I had anything to sign, I thought this was a bit cheeky. Dan (who took me there) then told me that she was offering to get autographs..so I handed over my programme and came away with two autographs. All in all a superb time.
The rest of the afternoon involved a drive around the Harbour Front and a stroll along the beaches with Dan and Alina.
A perfect weekend - today is a day to relax and not walk for a while!
Next update - next week probably.
Simo x
