Day 83 Toronto, Ontario, Canada 06.07.12
Moving on from Ann Arbor to Toronto for a couple of
days. We’re hoping to watch some of the
men’s Wimbledon tennis semi final with Andy Murray before we set off. Unfortunately he’s playing in the second match
so we’ll try to find a radio station so we can at least listen to it. On the
way we filled up with petrol before we crossed the border as it’s cheaper in
the USA then crossed over into Canada again. Did find a sports station that was
covering the match so we were very happy to listen to Andy win his match.
After crossing we stopped at an ‘en route’ place, which is a
bit like a motorway services in the UK. We had a horrible, cold coffee &
there were flies everywhere so we won’t be stopping at any of those places
again in a hurry.
We found the Country Inn by Carlson & checked into a
lovely room, unpacked & made a cuppa. We thought the temperature was going
to cool down but it’s just as hot here as it was in America. That was when we
realised that the air con wasn’t working so Roy rang reception & a man came
up to check it. The compressor has broken (not our fault) & we’ve got to
have a new unit. Hands up to them, the new unit was fitted within half an hour
& worked perfectly, talk about service.
Had to go to the garage next door for a pack of water then went
to Wendy’s for burger & fries for tea. Lovely girl served us & she
loves England, especially London & Bath! Then came back to the hotel &
Roy did 2 loads of washing. Watched ‘Heartbeat’ on the tv then settled down for
the night.
Day 84 Toronto 07.07.12
Happy birthday, James!
Got ready & went for a lovely breakfast then did the
ironing as it’s been raining in the night & needs some time to clear up. We’re
going into Toronto to go up the CN tower later.
Had a nice relaxing morning then drove into town & found
a parking space for $7.50 for 3 hours. We walked up to the CN tower but the
queue was quite long, serves us right for coming on a Saturday, so we decided
to go for a drink first then go back later. The Toronto Blue Jays stadium is
next to the tower & there is the first American Football match of the
season today for the Toronto Argonauts who share the stadium. There were lots
of people going into the ground for the match. Had a drink then went back to
the tower to buy our tickets, $67 for the 2 of us but the queue is 1 hour to go
to the observation deck & another hour to go up to the sky pod so we went
for a walk around town until 5.30, then back to the car to put another 3 hours
on the parking ticket.
Absolutely shattered after all the walking around in the
heat! Back to the tower & we queued for half an hour just to go up in the
elevator to the observation deck. I’ve rarely seen so many people in so small a
space with so many babies (most of them screaming!) To my view it’s not really
a place to take little ones as it’s crowded & you have to stand around for
ages several times when you’re in there.
We got to the obs deck & tried to look around & get
to the windows, difficult with so many people there, then went on the glass
floor & joined the queue for the sky pod. After a while we decided we didn’t
have time as it would take another half an hour to go up, same to come down
& then again to get out which would have taken us over our car park time.
Maybe because we’ve recently been to the Chicago Willis Tower, which was
brilliant, it wasn’t the right time to go to another tower, which was sadly
lacking in comparison. I think we’d both rather have gone to the American
Football game!
We looked around the pier but couldn’t decide what to eat so
drove back for a baked potato & chilli at Wendy’s! Watched ‘Inspector Morse’
then bed.
Day 85 Toronto to Niagara Falls 08.07.12
Feeling really tired today even though I slept well, all
catching up with me I think.
Sunday again, how quickly they come around. After breakfast
we stayed to watch the Men’s Wimbledon final with Andy Murray & Roger
Federa. Brilliant first set which gave us hope but, alas, the 2nd
didn’t go to plan & then the rain started so I took the chance to ring home
then we set off for Niagara. We just arrived at the Rex Motel when the game was
ending & were greeted very warmly by Emilia, the owner. Our room wasn’t
quite ready so we went to Walmart for a drink & to do some shopping before
going back to check in.
The motel is an old fashioned lay out where you park in
front of your room but that is where the old fashioned bit ended. Our room is
the Africa room with the decor, bedding, pictures & ornaments all African
themed. Absolutely lovely & a real change from the generic big chain hotel rooms.
Emilia was so friendly & told us all of the places to go & where to
park, which made it very easy for us when we drove a few miles to Niagara on
the Lake, a lovely village which was founded by the Irish. There were flowers
everywhere & lots of people around, even a newlywed couple. We had an ice
cream & a good look around then went by Lake Ontario & sat by the water
for a while. Emilia had left us some home made cheese pastries in our room
while we were out.
Day 86 Niagara Falls 09.07.12
Didn’t sleep very well due to a French family in the next
room who thought it was ok to come home after 11, talk really loudly outside
the room & let the kids scream & shout until after midnight! Grrrr!
Inconsiderate people make me see red!!!
Really looking forward to going into Niagara today, this is
our last big experience of the holiday & it would be great if it really was
a grand finale. We parked at the casino & walked down towards the Falls. I
can’t describe the sound of the water, it roars! My goodness, they are
spectacular! So many people but because you’re outside it doesn’t seem too bad
at all.
Again the weather has been kind to us, it’s lovely &
sunny & we bought our tickets to go on the ‘Maid of the Mist’ boat, lined
up, got our bright blue plastic ponchos & waited to get on the boat. There
were about 10 people in front of us so we knew we’d get near the front on the
top deck.
On we got & set off firstly for the American Falls which
are smaller & quite different as they’ve had a rock fall so the water goes
over them too. Then towards the Horseshoe Falls, which are magnificent. The
boat got right into the middle of it & we were getting soaked & loving
it! It was like being tossed around on the high seas in a storm at one point
& we loved every minute & even managed to take photos & film! All
too soon we were heading back so we went for a well earned cup of coffee overlooking
the Falls, great.
After a sit down we walked down to the other end to the
visitor centre & got our tickets for the ‘Behind the Falls’ experience.
This time we had bright yellow ponchos & went down in the elevator. You can
go to 2 openings that are behind the Falls, but, to be honest with you it was
just noisy & wet & you couldn’t really see anything so you have to imagine
what was going on in front of it.
We went down to the viewing platforms outside, absolutely
amazing & very loud & wet. Had to drag ourselves away but went into a
gift shop then walked around a bit more before sitting on the grass with a
drink to dry our footwear out. While we were there I discovered that my walking
sandals, which have been fantastic for all the trekking we’ve done, are
actually falling to pieces so will be staying in America when I come home!
Sometime later we walked past the Falls to see the river
that feeds them & spotted an aerial tramway up the hill so got on it to go
to find the ‘Outback Steakhouse’ to see if it’s as good as the American ones. Unfortunately
it wasn’t anywhere near as good, it was dark, dismal, empty & over priced
so we left & went into ‘Applebees’ for something to eat. Roy had chicken
salad & I had ribs & the lad who brought the food tried to give me the
salad! If you’ve been to Canada or America you’ll know that salad is loads of
lettuce, 2 cherry tomatoes & 2 rings of onion, not what I call salad.
Set off back to the hotel & more pastries have been left
in our room, we’ll save them for the journey tomorrow. We relaxed for a little
while then went to Walmart to get Roy some cold remedy & strepsils, poor
thing. Next we drove back into Niagara to see the Falls lit up & it didn’t
disappoint at all. Still loads of people around & the atmosphere was good.
It’s a lovely place to visit but you should go to the Canadian side as it’s
much better.
Day 87 Niagara to Bedford, Pennsylvania 10.07.12
Leaving Niagara & setting off on the last leg of our
trip back to Washington DC to return the car, (‘baby’!) I’ve woken up with a
sore throat & cold but not the cough, thank goodness. Packed up & said
goodbye to Emilia, she gave me a big hug, what a lovely person she is.
Certainly deserves to make a success of her business, she works so hard.
We set off for the border again & all of the vehicles
had to wait until the dog walked around them, not sure what it was looking for,
drugs, firearms, explosives? After getting through the border interrogation we
drove into Buffalo looking for petrol, & looking for petrol, & looking
for petrol until we found some, phew, that was touch & go whether we ran
out before we found any.
Because of this we got onto the freeway a different way
which meant we had to go a different way but it was through lovely, residential
farmland , so we didn’t mind & arrived at the Fairfield Inn in Bedford at
5.30pm, both feeling wrung out. After checking into our lovely 5th
floor room we went to the restaurant next door for tea then back to the room
for a relaxing night. Tomorrow is a sorting out day & making sure we can
fit everything into the luggage allowance. As we’ve had the car all through the
trip we’ve spread our stuff out & now the day of reckoning is upon us, will
we be able to carry the cases onto the train in London? Watch this space!!!
Hope you’ve enjoyed this part, probably will do one more
finishing off the trip & an overview a week or so after we get home.
TTFN xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment