Okay Blue Jays, Let's Play Ball!

We've arrived in Downtown Toronto! Arriving by train Wednesday afternoon, we had lunch and then made our way to the hotel. After resting for a bit, we streetcar-ed over to the Eaton Centre to grab some supplies and get some dinner.

The view from our fourteenth floor hotel room.

Next it was off to the Air Canada Centre where we'd be taking in the concert of a legend. I was really looking forward to this show and it did not disappoint. Bob Dylan and his Band performed two hours of his vast catalogue. Videos/Pictures and cellphones were banned and the staging was simple. He didn't play many of his big hits, but it was still great to see the legend in person.

The very simple Bob Dylan staging.

Today we grabbed lunch at restaurant nearby called the Chickery. I had a delicious meal. We then took in the Toronto Blue Jays game versus the #1 Houston Astros. Everyone expected the Blue Jays to be beaten badly as Liriano started, but the Jays pulled out the victory 7-4.

The Lunch at the Chickery.

View from our seats.

Super awesome selfie.

Sorry for the short blog today, not too much I can elaborated on in writing. See you in the next post.

Bonus photo.

To Quebec City & Beyond!

So where I have been? I've been exploring and checking out new sites to the point of exhaustion. That is why there have been a distinct lack of daily blogs. Not to worry, I'll go over everything we did, but I'm think I'll keep this blog to every couple of days.

So what have we done? As you read in the last blog, we had just settled into our hotel room in Quebec City for the night. That was Sunday night, today is Wednesday. On Monday we enjoyed our lovely continental breakfast supplied by the fine folks at Travelodge. It wasn't the greatest selection, but we also showed up towards the end of service. Next we walked to the local mall and picked up some RTC Quebec day passes. These allowed us unlimited travel on all buses in the capital for only $8.50 each. When you visit Quebec City, you immediately realise that the language barrier is a whole lot bigger than Montreal. It felt like we had entered another country and it was awesome. Despite not knowing French, we still managed to get lucky with people who talked a bit of English. In Montreal, 65% of the population are anglophones and speak English as their first language. I couldn't find the same type of data on Quebec City but only 1% of the population have English as their mother tongue.

The Glorious Montmorency Falls

The first place we decided to head with our bus passes was the Montmorency Falls. The entrance itself isn't very well marked, but there is a bus terminal. After a short walk down a forested trail, you're greeted with a suspension bridge. This bridge goes over the very top of the falls. At 84 meters, these falls are the tallest in the province and a spectacular sight that needs to be seen. After a whole lot of snapchat, photos, and Facebook livestreams (here & here) we grabbed some lunch and headed downtown.

#Selfie

After a short bus ride we boarded a ferry and crossed the St. Lawrence River to Levis. We were greeted with an awesome view of Old Quebec and downtown. The weather was a little rough, with tons of rain and wind, but we made the most of it. We crossed back over to the city and contemplated what we should do next. It was decided that we would hang around Old Quebec for bit. After another short bus ride, we went to the Chateau Frontenac Hotel and took lots of photos.

Chateau Frontenac

Our day in Quebec City was rapidly winding down, but we had one last thing to do, go to a baseball game. We boarded another bus and made our way to Stade Canac to watch the Ottawa Champions take on the Quebec Capitales in Can-Am league action. The ballpark had a very nice atmosphere and the game was a blast. That was it for our time in Quebec City. What an amazing place, I'm definitely going back at some point.

Stade Canac

On to the next morning. After a late night at the baseball game you'd normally like to sleep in, right? Well not us. Our train was at 5:53 and we'd have to Uber there. After roughly three hours of sleep we were back on the road. Where will it take us next? Montreal, that's where!

MONTREAL!

We arrived at Montreal Central station just before nine and grabbed some breakfast. Our hotel check-in was not until three, so we brought our bag in to drop them off. Much to our surprise, we were offered a room right away with no early check-in fee. The hotel was centrally located a couple of blocks from the train station and directly between two metro stations. Our first stop in Montreal was a roadside attraction that Sonia read about online, Gibeau Orange Julep. It's basically an old school walk up fast food restaurant shaped like and orange. The food was pretty average, but the unique selling point was their orange drink. It kind of tasted slightly like a creamsicle.

An Orange

After lunch we made our way on the metro over to Parc Jean-Drapeau. It's a couple of islands in the St. Lawrence River that were used as the site of Expo 67 fifty years ago. Think of it as Montreal's version of the Toronto Islands. There is a ton of green space and panoramic views of the city. We spent an hour or so just sitting on a bench looking at the city. Next up was way up to the top of the city.

Biosphere

After some metro and bus action we were atop Mont Royal. In previous trips we visited a lookout point that had some amazing views of the east end of the city, but not downtown. We discovered on this trip that if you stay on the bus for one more stop, you'll end up and another lookout. This one with the best views of the city you can get. There is about a 600m walk from the road, but it is completely worth it. There is a very large patio like area for viewing that gets very hot and sunny. Also beware that the pop is $4 for a bottle on the mountain.

A great lookout

Once our fill of city viewing was completed, we went for some dinner. Name a place you have to eat at once every time you visit Quebec. My answer is St. Hubert. Very much like a Quebecois version of Swiss Chalet, I find St. Hubert is much better.

It was getting late and our time in Montreal was coming to an end, so we went back to the hotel. After a very refreshing sleep we enjoyed some hot breakfast from the hotel. Next it was off to the train station. As I write this blog going 160 km/h on a train, I ask you where am I heading next? You'll have to read the next blog to find out.

Canada Day Yesterday, Quebec City Day Tomorrow

Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting Ottawa for Canada Day celebrations. I had all these crazy ideas of what I would do during the day, but several obstacles popped up.

The day began with a 6:30 am Uber ride to London train station. We boarded train 70 to Toronto and arrived without much incident. After a short forty-minute layover at Union Station, we boarded train 40 to Ottawa. Again not much happened on the train. I do want thank Via Rail and its staff for acknowledging Canada 150 in their own way. On both legs of the trip, special pins and chocolate was handed out to all passengers.

Proudly wearing my new pins!

Train 40 arriving in Ottawa.

I thought I'd check out Parliament Hill, The Museum of History in Gatineau and lot of other free stuff including the fireworks. The first hurdle occurred when it was discovered what was involved in trying to get on the hill. There was a several hour wait in line just for a security check point. Because our train got into Ottawa just before three, this was reluctantly taken off the plans for the day. Next came our trip to the museum. My sister and I planned to stay at our brother & his girlfriend's apartment. After dropping off the bags there, we grabbed a bus to Gatineau. There was a nice little festival with a stage and some vendors setup outside the Museum. We went inside and were greeted with a very long line to get into the exhibits. We just walked around and checked out the non long-line stuff.

Canadian Museum of History's Grand Hall.

The shear amount of people later ruled out our visit deeper inside the museum. We did check out some music on the small stage outside. Just as we were about to head to the bus back to Ottawa, the skies opened up. After about twenty minutes in torrential rain, it began to let up. Soaked through we grabbed a bus back to Ottawa and went to my brother Kris and his girlfriend Jackie's apartment to dry off. Jackie spent the whole day with my sister and I and I'm very grateful for this. My brother had to work almost the whole time we were there.

It was bright and sunny five minutes ago.

Now everyone is wet.

After watching some of the ceremony on TV, we headed out to a prime viewing location for the fireworks. Once the twenty-minute, seventeen-second show wrapped up, we headed back to the apartment to get some well needed R&R. The next day we said goodbye to Kris early in the morning, who had to again work. After thanking and saying goodbye to Jackie, we grabbed an Uber to the train station.

Part of an awesome firework show.

The next leg of our travel began at 10:15 am aboard train 624. After a pretty uneventful six hours (except for more pins and chocolate), we arrived in Quebec City. In retrospect, it would have been better for us to use Sainte-Foy station in the suburbs as it is way closer to the hotel. Going downtown did allow us to scope out some stuff downtown though. After a short wait, we were on a bus to the Sainte-Foy area for our hotel.

On the train to Quebec City.

I love the Via Rail Ham Croissant!

Leaving the train.

Gare du Palais is very nice.

That is where we stand as I write this from my cozy bed in the hotel. See you in the next post...

Time for bed

Hi all,

As I write this, the train to Ottawa via Toronto departs London in just over five hours. I should be fast asleep, but I'm not. I'm just too excited. The plans for the next week are set and we are ready for an awesome trip. I'll be filling you in as I go through these blogs and various social media. In twelve hours I'll be in Ottawa to celebrate Canada. The forecast isn't looking too favourable, but we have backup plans just in case. More to come.

Max looking at me while I write this blog.

Okay, time for bed. See you in the next post...