DAY 157 FRIDAY AUGUST 28 - WOW! NIAGARA FALLS

We went to Flight Centre at 8am and paid for our Alaskan Passage cruise on the Volendam starting September 13.  We were picked up at 9:45 by Toronto Bus Co. in a 24 seat Ford bus.  Our driver was Al and our guide was Alfred.  Since there were German-speaking people who had booked for a German tour in their home country, numbering 14,  Alfred had to do his commentary in English and German, which he did very well.

We passed through Oakville where the big three US car companies have plants that employ 4000 and feed the Toronto economy.  We followed Lake Ontario west to Hamilton, which contains most of the other heavy industry that used to be in Toronto.  Toronto is now a financial centre and growing fast;  fifty new residents come each week and the developers are building cheap apartment blocks so fast they are not selling.  We heard today of a similar situation likely to plague Sydney soon.  

We turned left at Hamilton and headed down the north bank of Lake Ontario until we reached the Lake Erie plateau, a hundred metres high on our right.  Niagara Falls occurs because of this height difference between Erie and Ontario.  Alfred showed us the 20 km canal that links the two lakes and avoids the Falls.  We could see two of the 12 metre locks out of the eight that transfer ships to the St Lawrence seaway from the Great Lakes.  Between them the five lakes contain 25% of the world's fresh water.

Our first stop was at the Whirlpool which is where the Niagara River takes a 90 degree right turn downstream from the falls.  This has created a huge maelstrom eating into the wall straight ahead.

From here we drove to the edge of the Canadian Falls and were given time to walk along the edge of the chasm as far as the American Falls opposite.  It was more spectacular than we expected;  only 50 metres high but very wide and very fast running.  The spray and mist were so thick it was hard to see parts of the falls.  We took many photos, but were puzzled by the fact that everyone else was more intent on taking photos of themselves, with a dramatic background. These are the rapids at the top.

And the dramatic plunge was right next to us.

We looked down on the American ship "Maid of the Mist", challenging the current.

On our way back to the bus we admired a statue of our good friend Nicola Tesla, a hero of Serbia.  He invented the AC generator which was first employed here to generate electricity from the water power and lit up New York.

Alfred  led us to the Victoria Restaurant where we had a three course delicious meal, which was included and was described as a "light lunch".  We sat with a couple from the Bahamas and a mother and son from Speier in Germany. 

As we ate we saw a squirrel come down from a tree and then a groundhog snuffling around on the grass.

 Then came the big feature of the day where we donned red ponchos and boarded the "Hornblower" to see how close we could get to the bottom of the Canadian Falls.  Well, as close as we wanted to go, that is for sure.  We stood right at the front of the boat and got drenched.  Very exciting.

We made a short stop at a lookout where the Niagara River enters an arm of Lake Ontario at a speed of 60 km/hr.

Then we had an hour in the pretty town of Niagara on the Lake, which reminded us of Berry in NSW.  We did not see the lake but we could see that it was the cradle of Canada and in fact the first capital.

At an Italian Winery we were offered half a glass but settled for a maple syrup maple leaf and a bag of chips made from dried slices of Granny Smith apples (why have we not seen these in Oz, they are great).

The Friday night traffic coming back into Toronto was horrific and delayed us an hour.  There were seven lanes heading our way on the outskirts and all were crawling.  The streetcars were half empty, so everyone here insists on driving into the city.  Typical problem that is ignored by conservative governments that detest public transport.  We got back to our hotel at 8pm after a very rewarding day out. 

DAY 156 THURSDAY AUGUST 27 - DISCOVERING TORONTO

Our day was another success for serendipity.  We called in at a Travel Agency at 8am and made tentative plans for cruising in the Alaskan Passage on September 16.  We had learned that Toronto was hosting a buskers' festival from today until Sunday, so it seemed there might be plenty to see in the nearby Yonge St (pronounced Young).  We were given a 3-day pass for the Hop-on Hop-off bus, so we found the nearest stop and had a tour of the old part of town.  The best building we saw was the old stone city hall with a tall clock tower.

   

We  arrived at the festival site at 10am.  The official starting time was 9:30am but as we walked the four blocks of town blocked off for the event, all we saw were people setting up market stalls for food and bling. We saw a climbing wall on a trailer waiting to be erected. Not one busker. It was just like the Tour de Rance in Dinan where we turned up at the starting time and no one else turned up till an hour later.

 We had morning tea at McDonalds to use the "washrooms" and rested in the hotel room for an hour.

At noon we "hopped on " again where we had hopped off and completed the two hour bus circuit.  The most popular attraction for tourists seems to be the Casa Loma, which looked to be quite a nice castle, which is a rarity in Canada.  Our young bus guide told us it was built by a man who used Thomas Edison's electricity company to make his fortune in Toronto.  The castle has 99 rooms including 30 bathrooms and his wife had one child.  This did not inspire us to buy a ticket to explore it.

Back at the festival the street was crowded and the stalls were doing good business, but the buskers were still thin on the ground.  About ten stalls to each busker.  We did see musicians, drummers, comedians, magicians, mimers and acrobats, so we had an enjoyable two hours wandering.

Our favourite acts were a man playing the piano on a bicycle frame,  a Japanese couple hamming it up on unicycles,  two men and a woman jumping off a wall onto a trampoline and landing back on top of the wall,  and two women sharing a trapeze bar.  We did get a good number of video segments for our collection.

Cheap dinner at Subway and relaxing evening at the hotel. Big day at Niagara tomorrow.

DAY 155 WEDNESDAY AUGUST 26 - HELLO TORONTO

We left Montreal at 11:50am and had another pleasant train ride through flat farming country that finally edged Lake Ontario (we could not see the other side) before we arrived in Toronto on time at 4:50. 

 We have not seen an electric train in Canada yet.  The local trains here have an unusual colour scheme.

Our Fairmont Hotel is opposite the station, so we could not miss it and we did not need a limousine.  Our bags were taken before we entered the front door and appeared at our room a few minutes after we got there.  Just like in the movies.  The hotel is so big we are on the 9th floor and we had to squint to see the other end of our corridor.

We had dinner at a steakhouse as we have been eating cheap for a while.  There are no cheap restaurants in Canada it seems.

DAY 154 TUESDAY AUGUST 25 - TOUR OF MONTREAL

We joined a bus tour of Montreal city at 8:30am and it turned out to be a four hour trip.  The driver/guide was Jean, a retired French teacher.  He told us he would show us 200 places and give us a test at the end.  He dropped us near the Notre Dame Cathedral, just around the corner from our hotel, and gave us 40 minutes to pay $5 each and admire the cathedral from the inside.

For the second time we were told that Celine Dion was married there recently.  The power of celebrity.  It was quite dark inside because most surfaces were non-reflective, but it was magnificent in its impact. 

  There were carvings of individual saints in the end of each pew, three large stained-glass skylights in the domed ceiling and a very ornate pulpit.  The organ was being tuned while we walked around and we hoped to hear a recital when the tuning was over, but no luck there. 

  The rear chapel was burnt out some years ago and was replaced with lovely woodwork inside.

We drove across one of the eight bridges across the St Lawrence and turned into the Formula 1 track which had seen 300 km/hr racing in June and we covered a short strip at 20.

There was an Expo in the 1960s which attracted the greatest number of visitors to Montreal in a single year.  The geodesic dome built by America was still there, but a welder ignited the plastic covering some time after and now it is bare.

We saw the Olympic Arena from 1976 and the Velodrome which was designed to look like a helmet.  The building is now used as a Biodome, reproducing ecosystems from various countries.

We stopped for a toilet break at the entrance to the large Botanical Gardens which specialised in insects.  On Sundays they serve lunch from the excess ones.

We passed the one million bed cemetery, which was next to the McGill University Medical School,  and stopped at the Church of St Joseph, which featured a huge photo of Canada's first saint.  Some people believe that if they climb the 99 steps up to the entrance on their knees, a prayer will be answered.  We saw four people doing this pilgrimage. 

Our final stop was at the hilltop lookout for an "overview" before the term test.

Jean asked us the name of the first church he had pointed out and the answer was "Marie Reine du Monde". We walked two kilometres back to our hotel, stopping for a light lunch on the way.  

At 4pm we braved the sun again and shopped around the Old Town.  The Inuit and Amerindian art and craft impressed us greatly.  We found a kit with 120 pieces for building a log cabin, so naturally we could not resist buying that. The flower boxes here feature our old friend asparagus fern.

The buskers were out in force and we enjoyed their music.  We bought a wrap and apple pie from A&W and rated it good.  Then we found a Tim Horton's, bought a smoothie and rated it poor.  Our boutique hotels in Quebec and Montreal have been located in the Old Town and made it easy for us to see the craft shops. 

DAY 153 MONDAY AUGUST 24 - QUEBEC TO MONTREAL

Our limousine driver picked us up at 10:45am and we arrived at the very nice Quebec Main Station at 11.  We travelled second class on the train this time but it was only three and a quarter hours to Montreal and we enjoyed the trip.  We crossed the St Lawrence River at least three times on the way and took photos as we got close to Montreal.

Another limousine driver was waiting for us and deposited us at the Auberge Bonaparte where we have another lovely, large room.  We are making up for all the times we struggled to find our own way from the train to a cheap hotel, or got ripped off by taxi drivers.  We were very reluctant to pay Fresh Tracks six months income for a 23 day holiday,  but so far we are having a great time.

What we find frustrating is that the more you pay for a hotel, the worse the lighting layout is.  Central ceiling lights seem to be unfashionable in Europe and America.  Wall lamps and desk lamps are not where you need them.  

When we decide to buy something that appears dearer than Australian prices we often forget that 15% sales tax will be added and signs are up suggesting 15% gratuity.  It is about time they paid proper wages and got rid of this paternalistic custom of tipping.

After settling in we went for a stroll along the waterfront of the mighty St Lawrence River.  The tourist area was not very long but it had some interesting attractions, such as a Labirynth  and a flying fox, which they called the Tyrolean Zipper.  You climb up a tower about 20 metres high and slide 200 metres out along a wharf to the river's edge.

The Voiles en Voiles area had two life size galleons with various types of rigging and people of all ages were climbing in all directions over diverse obstacles at scary heights; all were strapped into harnesses locked onto safety wires just like the Bridgeclimb.

There was a small flying fox linking the two ships at a height of about five meters.  We watched a boy of about four take himself to the edge of the platform, sit down and slide off into fresh air.  What a hero.  Who wants to be here to try two hours of climbing fun for $24?

We have been encouraged from all sides to indulge in the local food called "Poutine", so we supplemented a Thai plate with a shared serving of Poutine:  Thin hot chips, crumbled cheese pieces and thick gravy.  We bought the version that added shredded pork on top to give it more flavour.  Never again.

We walked back along the Rue Saint Paul, browsing souvenir shops and marvelling at the Amerindian and Indian craftwork.  We watched Ninja Warriors again on TV and saw a 72 year old try the obstacle course.  

DAY 152 SUNDAY AUGUST 23 - QUEBEC TOURS

Fresh Tracks, our tour company, had booked two tours for us today with the "Vieille Ville de Quebec" company.  We saw plenty of interesting places but the standard of the guides and organisation was not up to what we experienced in Halifax.

At 8:30am we were picked up at our hotel by a shuttle bus to take us to the start of our Historic City Tour, but not quite.  We were told to wait opposite our hotel but the bus waited for us in the next street and sent a message to the hotel to find out where we were.  The bus took us to some of the places we walked to yesterday but we were given historical background by Jean.  We had a small bus which was able to squeeze through the narrow roads into the citadel, which, like so many we have seen, never fired a canon in defence.  We were too early for the changing of the guard.

We saw the Plains of Abraham where the English defeated the French in 20 minutes but took four months to pummel them with cannons before the subsequent siege was over.  There are lovely gardens and expensive houses there now.  The tour finished at 11:30am at the Place Royal which is the centre of the old town.

A man was playing classical piano pieces on his keyboard and his favourite was Clair de Lune by Debussy.

A mural contained all of the historical figures and made a good Trompe L'Oeil effect.

We bought ice slushy and sundae for lunch and wandered around the many craft stalls and artists' displays.  

At 1pm we joined a larger bus for a Countryside Tour which lasted until 6pm.  First we went to the Island of Orleans which is 65 kilometres in coastline measurement.  We crossed the longest cantilevered bridge in the world (1907) to reach it and we observed the English and French architectural styles.  There were many convertible cars taking advantage of the lovely sunny weather, but the most interesting car we saw was a Mitsubishi iMiev in blue and white colours. Our driver/guide Elaine needed to do commentary in English and French for the mixed audience and she changed from one to the other without taking a breath, so it took sustained concentration to pick whether she was using her first or second language.  She did not stop talking while ever she was driving which must be some sort of record.  She wore us down in the end.

We stopped for 45 minutes at the famous (in Quebec) Montmorency Waterfall which is 30 metres higher than Niagara at 85 metres, and it was running fast today.

Next we stopped at a copper art gallery and showroom where we saw a brief introduction to the art.  There was a major collection of large scenes from the life of Jesus.  This typical French creature had pride of place over the work table.

We moved on to Chez Marie where they make bread cooked in an outside fuel oven and sell maple syrup products.  We bought a scrumptious sample of bread spread with maple syrup butter. They had a little swing that we were jealous of.

Last stop was the Shrine of Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary.  This was a magnificent basilica built in 1923, replacing a series of churches dating back to the 17th century.

The interior was even more impressive and contained an exact replica of La Pieta.

We went to the Petit Cochon Dingue for dinner (Crazy Little Pig).

DAY 151 SATURDAY AUGUST 22 - QUEBEC DAY 1

We woke up at 4am and prepared ourselves for a 5:10 arrival in Quebec.  The train was only 10 minutes late and a man was waiting with Malcolm Colless written on a card.  He drove us in a Lincoln Limousine to our Auberge Saint Pierre in the Old Town of Quebec.  We were able to go straight to our room because it had been booked for last night as well.

After settling in and eating some of the food we did not need on the train, we discovered that breakfast was included in our stay.  So we decided  to orient ourselves to the environs at 8am before the crowds came out and return for breakfast at 10am.  A big mob of excited cyclists were in the breakfast room anyway and they were set to drive to the Island of Orleans for a 40km ride around the island.

At the waterfront we saw a few cannons and then an artist's comment by means of a set of mock cannons that end up "backfiring".

We looked up and saw the jewel in the crown of the city - Chateau Frontenac.

We found the funicular railway and paid $5 for the very short steep climb.

We think this is the fourth funicular on this trip, not counting the two ski lifts we did.

Up close, the Chateau was even more impressive.  More so even than Neuschwanstein in Germany.

We climbed up further using the Promenade des Gouverneurs and came to the Citadel at 100 meters above the St Lawrence river below.  The river here is up to one kilometre wide and still fresh water.  It sometimes floods when the snow melts fast.

There were 350 steps.  These had a squirrel on them, our first sighting of native fauna.

We came back to the Chateau and followed the ramparts past this other magnificent building which houses the University School of Architecture and the Catholic Seminary.

We stopped for a rest in a nice park next to the ramparts and watched a squirrel nibble in the grass.

The fire hydrants use the same colours as the country houses.

For breakfast (we called it brunch), Lyn had the eggs and Malcolm had two pancakes with Maple syrup, which they call La Quebecoise.  After a pause for digestion we went to the ferry wharf and rejected the river ride at $40 each and walked along the river instead.  We found a statue honouring the merchant seamen who died at sea.

The pleasure boats are moored in an area which is protected from the river's tides by a set of locks.  We watched the road bridge open and the lock filling up as the tide fell.  Water will flow back through the lock as the tide becomes high.  We are over a thousand kilometres away from the Gulf but the tides are still twelve foot or more.

By 1pm it was hot again so we hibernated till 6pm.  Malcolm watched a warmup game for the Rugby World Cup between Canada and USA, won by USA.

Dinner at Subway, which has signs in French only, was followed by an early night.  Two bus tours tomorrow.