Niagara Falls and more - Canada - Part 3

From Toronto we were off to Niagara Falls, but we made two other stops.

First in Mississauga. I really like the name of this place and  don't know why, but according to the Wikipedia it comes from the Anishinaabe word Misi-zaagiing which means "[Those at the] Great River-mouth."

Unfortunately, it was pouring with rain that day, so we didn't want to hang around for too long, but I enjoyed the work of Chinese architect Yansong Ma - "Absolute World" (completed in 2011) - two condo towers near Square One Shopping Centre. I have read that because of the building's curves the residents call the first tower "Marilyn" in honour of Marilyn Monroe.
It was so foggy that my photo wouldn't do justice to the building's architecture, so I am using one from the internet.

  

Instead of just driving directly south on our way to Niagara Falls, we decided to see more of the coast and visited a town called Niagara-on-the-Lake, our second stop.

But before we got there we stopped in a small town - Grimsby to eat something and discovered NYF / New York Fries - Canadian franchise restaurant. I am not a big fan of fast food restaurants, but I will say it, this was tasty and different. We don't have this franchise in Chicagoland.

It was still raining, but we were so glad that we took this detour. What a charming historic town with Georgian and Neo-Classical homes and shops. This region is just beautiful! You can take Niagara Parkway, a scenic road that runs along Niagara River. It begins at Fort Erie and ends at Fort George which is southeast from Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Nice place to eat is Epicurean restaurant (see picture below)

Niagara-on-the-Lake

There are many attractions along the river including Whirlpool Rapids.

 

In the late afternoon we finally reached Niagara Falls.

The Falls are amazing and the town itself is amazingly kitschy, but you can't help yourself, you have to see it :-)

We were also lucky to be at the right time at the right place. You can witness SKYWALK, a rope walking performance of 68 year old Jay Cochrane, when you look up in the sky in the evening. Unbelievable!

You have to watch this video to understand. By the way, he talks to the crowds as he walks...like he is just sitting in his living room.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQMAGPMGtoo

We enjoyed our time in Canada so much and would love to see more of this beautiful country in the future.

In my next post I will tell you how we got back home...

Toronto - Canada - Part 2

Next destination on our Canadian adventure was city of Toronto in the province Ontario which is the second largest province in Canada. It was about 3 hour driving to get there from Erieau.

Toronto is Canada's largest city, located on the lake Ontario and there is so much to do and see. We were staying at Hilton (145 Richmond St W) which is located downtown, in financial district, and was a perfect choice. From there we were able to walk everywhere.

We were visiting the first week in September as we wanted to avoid summer months because both weather and the crowds can be unbearable at this time of the year.

We arrived late in the afternoon and just wanted to chill out. What would be a better place to do that than the city's waterfront. What a perfect place to be in the evening when the sun goes down.
One of the most popular attractions is Harbourfront Centre where more than 4000 events take place every year and believe it or not many of them are free. We enjoyed a wonderful atmosphere of the evening open-air concert after our dinner.



That evening we caught a glimpse of Toronto Islands which we visited the next day. It is an amazing place just minutes away from the downtown. There is a free public ferry that you can take to get there, but there was such a queue that day, so we decided to take a private one in order to save time. The name of the company is Toronto Harbour Tours, 145 Queens Quay W.
Toronto Islands is a perfect destination to walk, bike, swim, boat, enjoy a picnic or stroll around. The cars are not allowed on the islands, so you can explore them in peace. Two of them - Ward's Island and Algonquin Island are known for their creative residential community. Centre Island is very popular for its amusement park.
We had a lunch at  The Rectory Cafe www.therectorycafe.com on the Ward's Island. The restaurant has a great location, but is a bit pricey. Later in the afternoon we decided to discover more of the island on a quadricycle which we rented and had so much fun. I love this part of Toronto!

We spent our third day on a bus. On the sightseeing bus. We normally prefer to explore places on foot,  but when you are visiting a big city and don't have much time for everything, it is actually not a bad option and we now do it time to time. We took a Double-Decker tour run by http://citysightseeingtoronto.com/. They offer many options, so before you book any tour, short trips etc, check it out first, you can save money.

Here are some of the places we visited or saw:

CN Tower - is the second tallest telecommunications tower. OK, great, but what you can participate on now is quite something. It is called EdgeWalk and translates as hands-free walk. If you are one of these adrenaline seekers go and stroll! Definitely not for me!

Distillery Historic District

It was once the largest distillery in North America. It used to be industrial complex, but is now a home to many unusual stores, galleries, studios, great restaurants and cafes. It is a pedestrian zone only and it reminded me home for its cobblestone streets and Victorian industrial architecture. Don't miss this place if you are visiting Toronto.

Eaton Centre

This multi-story shopping center is a downtown mall with about 300 stores, restaurants and cafes. What is great about this place is that it is "on the PATH".

PATH - from Eaton centre you can access the 16 km!!! long ( 27 miles) underground walkway/tunnels called PATH. It connects major attraction, stores, food courts etc. Unbeliavable.  I am sure it is very useful during freezing north American winters. I wish we had something like this here in Chicago.

Being Czech, I can't not mention the Hockey Hall of Fame. I didn't have time to visit, only passed by, but yes it is in Toronto.

Of course there are hundred of places where you can eat and basically anything you can think of as this city is incredibly cosmopolitan (...and people are so friendly!) which is reflected in the variety of food offered. But I would like to mention one place - called Longo's - we discovered when walking from our hotel to the waterfront and happened to eat there several times, because of its convenience, great value and quality of very tasty food. You can either eat right there or just grab a snack to go.

There is so much more to see and explore in Toronto, but also its surroundings! I will carry on with my report in the next post.

ERIEAU / POINT PELEE PARK - CANADA - Part 1



My last vacation was in Canada. As a part of our trip my husband and I visited our friend who has a beautiful summer house in Ontario. The place is called Erieau, which is basically a resort area made up mainly of cottages and summer homes on the lake Erie. It took us 7 hours in a car to get there.

Rondeau Provincial Park

Erieau is close to Rondeau Provincial Park which we visited. It is the second oldest provincial park established in 1894. The name comes from the French words "ronde eau" - "round water" which describes the shape of the harbour.



Erieau

Point Pelee National Park

We also went to see Point Pelee National Park which is the southernmost point of mainland Canada. It is Canada's smallest and very unusual national park and a perfect spot to watch birds and butterflies, particularly Monarch butterflies rest here on their way to Mexico. We saw many, but I just don't understand how can so tiny and fragile creature like butterfly fly all the way from Mexico to Canada. It is unbelievable.
We had a great time!