Canada trip - Niagara Falls and Toronto

We were going to Canada and I was very excited about it. USA was the first foreign country I visited and Canada was to be the second. A leave on Friday 27th added to the holiday for Memorial Day on 30th gave us 4 days for our trip. We started early on Thursday, renting a vehicle from downtown and we had departed from Minneapolis by 5 pm. We planned to reach Detroit early to get our Visitors Visas to Canada. We were carrying all the documents required with us. The trip to Detroit was uneventful but we didn’t get much sleep either, driving through the night. We were there by 7 AM having lost 1 hour by virtue of time difference. The consulate was right next to GM HQ , and I was delighted to see this magnificent building after having seen so many pictures of the same.

It did not take much time to get the Visa mainly because we had arrived so early and were ahead in the queue which built up by the time consulate opened. I happened to meet a guy from Kellogg and immediately let him know that I was intent on applying to Kellogg next fall. I got some very useful tips and advice. He mentioned that he could help me get in touch with 1st year students and with some other stuff. Its great to meet people from school as you get to learn some inside stuff about the school which also helps with your applications and gives you motivation you need to polish off your essays. Meeting someone from Kellogg was a pleasant surprise and just another perk of this wonderful trip.


Crossing over into Canada 

Visa formalities were completed by 11 am approx and we were on our way and into Canada. I didn’t expect Canada to be much different but there was a visible difference in roads, directions and we were also sensing a difference in terms of standard of living (Canada didn’t seem as well off and everything wasn’t as polished as on the other side) and more cosmopolitan nature. We checked into out hotel room in Brampton at around 2 pm and decided to take a nap as we were exhausted.


Toronto Downtown 

We got up lot later than we had planned it was almost 9 pm by the time we left our hotel and headed for Toronto. Driving into Toronto wasn’t the simplest with huge network of roads and highways with not so clearly visible directions. The traffic was fast moving and dense which didn’t help either. As we approached Toronto, the CN tower and Downtown skyline appeared and we overawed by how big Toronto really was!! (Remember we come from Minneapolis) It took us some time and effort to find a parking space. Once we managed that, we started walking around Toronto Downtown and took some pictures. We walked around the entertainment and Fashion districts and found many clubs there. I wanted to experience how the clubs were in Toronto but my fellow travelers weren’t really interested. So I decided to go in alone and entered a place called “Club Menage”. The music and crowd was good but I was expecting lot more as compared to the Clubs back home in Minneapolis. I had a lot fun and left around 3 am but the Taxi ride home ($62 Canadian) burnt a big hole in my pocket. Another observation about Canada was the people here seemed noticeably shorter than US. Don’t know if this was just a perception or actually a fact.


View from CN tower 

Next day we woke early and got ready even quicker. We headed off to Visit CN Tower and were there at around 9:30 am. After collecting our entry tickets we were taken to the observatory and the Glass floor which was around 2/3rd way up. CN tower is the tallest building the world but I doubt if it has highest observation point among other tall buildings. The view of Toronto from the top was breathtaking and we especially liked standing on the glass floor. We were down to earth after spending some time grasping the view from up there. We decided to eat our lunches at an Indian restaurant in Downtown. (Must mention that throughout the trip we were able to eat some delicious meals at few of the many Indian restaurants in Toronto and Brampton)


Straight Down from Glass Floor 

Next we headed to Niagara which was a 1.5 hr drive from Toronto. Niagara is awesome and I don’t have enough words to describe the view. Anybody in these parts of the world should visit it and preferably from the Canadian Side. Whatever you do, don’t miss the ‘Maid of the Mist’ boat ride which takes you close to the falls and gives you an idea of how spectacular the falls really are. After getting our full and loads of snaps we decided to visit ‘Casino Niagara’. The casino was bigger than the one I had visited earlier but I haven’t visited Vegas so ‘No comments’ on the casino. I played ‘Blackjack’ which I have some expertise at and made some dough on that. (I was to lose more than what I made the next day which was surprising as I am pretty good at Blackjack and it doesn’t favor Casino as much as the other ones)


The majestic Niagara falls 

We were actually planning to Visit Montreal next day but my pals weren’t up for the drive, so we decided to Visit Toronto to cover other places we missed. We had trouble finding Toronto downtown 3rd time in a row and once we got there we were stuck in downtown traffic big time. Toronto traffic is kind of free for all with Vehicles moving in every direction, nothing compared to India though. Finally, we reached ‘Casa Loma’ which a Castle built around 1910 but based on, medieval castles and if any one has played the game ‘Theif-2’ the setting is quite similar. I quite enjoyed touring the castle and exploring all it had to offer.


Casa Loma Blue Print 

We had lunch and headed back to ‘Casino Niagara’. We had checked out of our hotel room and planned to cross over back into US from Niagara. Spending some time at the ‘Casino’ and having lost significant amount, we decided that it was time to head back. We weren’t able to cross over at Niagara (closed suddenly due to some reason) so had to cross at ‘Fort Erie’ to Buffalo in NY. We covered 960 miles in 16 hours including few stops and were back home by 10 am thanks to gaining 1 hr on time difference. Overall, I guess, we drove around 2500 miles.

Great trip and I am especially happy about visiting Canada. Toronto seems a great place to live in and good place to visit. Just wish that we had covered Montréal as well.