Oh Canada, our home and native...wait a second, what the heck are we doing in Canada?! I know what you're thinking, Canada has no business being on an USA road trip itinerary? I agree. But to be honest, it was either Canada or Ohio...sorry Michelle, but the Buckeye state just didn't make the cut.
Toronto was our first stop. We met up with Darrel, our new found couchsurfing friend and stayed with him both of our nights there. Ironically enough the Mariners were in town both days too. They lost their first game 3-8...not so ironic. And the next day they beat the Bluejays 5-1, of course we were out of town and missed it. Not really ironic, just unfortunate.
Nonetheless our time was well spent at Niagara Falls. A couple of people joined Red and I on the trip; an Italian and a Torontonian (Torontite? Toronton? Torontander?). The falls are amazing, and you really need only to see them from the Canadian side. The view is much better there. Being curious, we of course had to see the Buffalo side of the falls in the U.S. as well. With my passport in Toronto, I was sure that they wouldn't let me cross. My license worked both ways, surprisingly, but not without them drilling me with questions on the way back into Canada.
We thought about visiting Ottawa to see the capital on our way to Montréal. It just felt sacrilegious to see Canada's capitol before seeing my own, so we foiled the idea. Québec was a real treat though, as soon as you cross the provincial line, everything in French. Only French. Makes it a bit difficult to read what construction reader boards are trying to tell us. It really felt like we were in a foreign country (lets be honest, BC and Ontario aren't all that foreign).
Montréal's City Hall
Montréal felt like European city, but with big American cars. It was by far the cleanest downtown I've ever seen, and very cosmopolitan: I saw two different modeling shoots while I was walking around town (see below). They also have this amazing network of pedestrian tunnels. Shops, restaurants, the subway, everything is there! You can stay underground all day and never get bored. I suppose they built it to keep everyone out of the cold.
Francis (courtesy again of couchsurfing.com) hosted us while in Montréal. Thanks again Francis, we hope to see you soon when you move out to Vancouver!-Brown
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