07/08/10
My time in TorontoTaking an airplane again after such a long time was actually nice. Everyone I told about going from Calgary to Toronto agreed that it was totally boring to take anything else but the plane. You would be stuck in an area of Canada that was just flat. The Air Canada flight was a good way to get back in the air. Good service, a good entertainment system and a safe landing proofed that.
In Toronto even at the airport I was greeted by a elderly man at the information booth spotting me immediately as a backpacker and giving me advice on how to get cheapest to the town center and this is how it goes: Take the Bus 192 to Kipling Station, change over to the greeen metro line until after many stops you reach Bloor/Yonge where you switch over to the orange line to go south until King Street. And there basically around the corner I found the Hostel (after first walking in the wrong direction and being pointed in the right one by a guy standing at a red light who started hollering at me out of pity). Canadians are just a friendly folk and I am not joking, they really are.
Originally my intention was to "couchsurf" in Toronto, but after sending out 7 requests and getting 4 negative answers I decided to go for the hostel option. Everyone not knowing what "Chouchsurfing" is check out www.couchsurfing.org.
Staying at a hostel you always tend to meet a lot of interesting people like right at the start when I moved in meeting this swiss guy. Or then later on the trip to Niagara Falls (which was apart from that quite disappointing) I met this Australian guy traveling around.
After all the time I spent my verdict rests on this, that Toronto is quite generic even if it is the largest city in the country. One really good experience was the ROM, the Royal Ontario Museum that showed an exhibition about the Terracotta Army and the first emperor of China. My knowledge was feeble at most, meaning I knew it existed but not much more. So James (the swiss guy) and I went there to explore not only the chinese past but also other parts of the museum that looked like a cross between a Louvre lookalike and the palace on Krypton. The whole museum did remind me of the one in Paris, though laking the Paintings (I did not go look for them) and the size.
The CN Tower we saw afterwards was quite a disappointment and had I known would probably not have gone up there. Half the circumference was taken up by the Restaurant restricting the unobstructed field of view by a good deal. The much advertised "glass floor" was only a few panes that gave you a limited view down. These ad people should go to Calgary and up that tower to see what the meaing of a glass floor is.
The weather stayed nice and hot till I made my way to the Bus to Guelph on friday morning when it rained cats and dogs making me duck from one store entrance to the next till I reached the bus terminal. The good thing about it - I could finally test my back pack rain hood for real and it did well in keeping my stuff dry.
07/03/10
Going up the rocky RockiesHi everyone, while I write this I sit here in the so called living room of the Hostel in Toronto. I made my way here today. By plane this time. Impatience caught up with me. Anyway, last saturday was a day for hiking. The six of us made our way to Banff and beyond, stopped at a parking for hikers put on our best shoes and went up and up. First through the woods, then the slipper gravel and finally snow, yes snow I tell ya! Even snowballs got thrown, well you may not waste such an opportunity in Summer. A lot of laughing and whining brought us to the top where hunger got stilled and thirst quenched and phone calls were made. Sadly the connection to Switzerland failed. Oh well. It would have been funny. On the way up and later down we encountered many sturdy hikers in shorts. Every time I saw them I had to pull my 5 layers tighter. I am not joking here. Another thing that caught my attention were the bells attached to the backpacks making this high ringing sound. The bells for the bears to hear you coming. No we did not see any and the only animals bold enough were one squirrel, one chipmunk and millions of mosquitoes.
After a week in Calgary it felt like home.
07/01/10
Calgary Stampeders against the Toronto Argonauts
My desire to see a real Grizzly bear brought us to the Calgary zoo. They really did a nice job there with all the big cages that give the animals some opportunity to do more than just go out of their mind.
There we went straight to the local animal sector and there they were, two Grizzlies roaming around eating grass as a complementary nutrition. This meant also that we had missed the feeding time not by much.
A Zoo is a place for education and discovery. If ever you go to a foreign place, do take the time to go to your home zoo to see what animals you will encounter in the place you go. It is much more interesting if you are able to recognise them.
06/28/10
Heritage Park - a place with living history
The five of us went there, for me it was a trip into the history of Canada. Many details were explained about how the first settlers spread over the whole width of the country doing trade with the locals and what goods they trades. The natives brought in furs to trade for metallic tools and guns for example. Due to the stories heard from the south (USA) the indians did not fight the white settlers but lived in peace with them. This means that Canada has not taken the land by force but by contract with the locals.
06/27/10
First impression of Calgary
Lloyd picked me up as soon as I had arrived at the Greyhound station in the center of Calgary. He showed me around town telling me all about it. I have seldom met a person that could just talk about everything and really know something about it. Well, he is such a person. And up we went the Calgary Tower for a view from above.
The city of Calgary is mainly based on money from the Oil industry whose headquarters are located in town. The plants are further up north. Most of the high-rises belong to such businesses and there are not just a few. Then you walk around on street level and notice here and there locations sponsored by them. But all in all the city is nice, with many bicycle trails that are partly separate from the road, many trees and parks. Part of downtown is even blocked (temporarily?) off, so no cars there.
In many places though you see empty shop locations, quite many of them and in good locations.
This Greyhound bus was of much better quality than the one from Portland to San Francisco, why this was like that I do not know, apart that in average from what I had seen so far the Canadians in average seem to care more about everyday things. Apart from that the busride was long (15h) and cold (the AC was on giving me a cold).
The view through the mountains reminded me of home but just a lot bigger and more desolate, magnificent and cool.
After a short breakfast stop in Golden, where I took this picture, we were off to Calgary.
06/26/10
Hostels - a place to meetWhile staying in the Hostel in Vancouver I met so many cool people as I also did in San Francisco. People who you could talk to for hours and hours and still would want to talk for hours more had there not been a bus ride to catch. So if you ever travel to places like this and have the desire to meet new people, stay at the local hostel :-)
06/25/10
Going out experience
Going to eat dinner at a Pub in Kitsilano district I met Ryan and his friends. Being invited to their place, located right above the Pub with a tremendous view over all of the city, I got to know the local hospitality. After some sips of Rum and a bit of talk we made our way back down to the Pub, where there now was a two man Band playing famous songs. They actually played very well indeed. Ryan and one of his friends at one point went out and Ryan did not return, having passed out back at the Apartment. After leaving the Pub and a short walk to another friend, drugs and money were exchanged. So back to the flat, where I waited outside for them to turn up again so that we could finally go to the Bar in Downtown. One of them did not turn up even after consuming what I guessed was coke. Another one turned up and he was definitely no longer so much there but somewhat different. Kind of scary, not knowing how such a person would react. So here we go in a cab (a Toyota Prius - the first hybrid for me :-) going towards downtown. After seeing the long waiting line to get in I decided to call it a day not really in the mood to get totally wasted with the others. Thats what I think was their plan anyway and definitely not mine.
Feeling kind of liberated I strolled along W Hastings for a short stop at "Blenz", the canadian counterpart to "Starbucks", for a dark hot chocolate.
On my way along Granville street the Vancouver nightlife showed itself in full bloom, long lines in front of clubs and bars. Short skirted women with broad shouldered boyfriends making their way to the next kind of entertainment. Everything lit by the neon lighted signs above the various venues. Despite all the shininess it bore no attraction at the instant of me passing by.
06/24/10
Greenville Public MarketThe island of Granville in the city is the location of the public market where many different things are sold, from fresh fish to postcards and sea borne radar equipment. Preying sea gulls circling the outside of the market hall tried to spot any discarded food. Later I went with the bus and the Skytrain to a place called Lougheed Town Center to meet a friend for dinner. Great food, great company.
The motorcade in the last picture is in Kitsilano district. I have no idea who it was but its a very quick way to get through traffic.
The two others in the picture with me are friends I met in the Hostel, a place to really find like minded people. You should try it sometime!
06/23/10
Not doing to muchNot having done too much on this day I still feel tired after some bug had a hold of my immune system for a week. Saying my farewells to a newfound friend and then going to the beach to meet another.
06/22/10
Canada again, this time in the westThe weather reminded me of Zürich in late spring, stepping out onto the Burnaby street I made my way towards the east and towards Chinatown. After visiting the visitors center I got a first idea on what to do and what not. On the way I passed through Hastings street, a street lost in time or in economic collapse. Many empty windows and even more homeless people. China Town itself was nice but also kind of emptying. The Chinese Garden and interesting experience and much better than the japanese one in San Francisco.
Then yesterday I rented a bike and drove for several hours all around the area, went for example to the Lynn Canyon where there was a suspension bridge to be walked over. Not to impressive but the view down to the idyllic waterfall was well worth it. On I went to the Cleveland Dam for a little nap. The sun kept me warm and only the ants kept me awake. A place to definitely explore should you ever come to this international city is the Stanley Park which is located on the western end of the downtown peninsula. A really beautiful place to go for a walk, skate or bike around and if you want to go to the beach, there is plenty of opportunity.
When I walked around town I noticed the huge amount of tourists, especially swiss tourists and germans as well. It seems to be a choice destination for the city traveller.
06/21/10
Train ride up the coast
23 hours of watching out, movies, series, reading, eating, sleeping. Despite being comfortable it seemed to never end, especially when the train stopped for a long time for no apparent reason. Too much buffer time. After reaching seattle and a short walk through the nearby neighborhood I boarded a bus to Vancouver and there I am now sitting by the window in the hostel, ready to explore this new town.
"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool." - William Shakespeare