I spent most of my first two hours in Jasper in the train station feeling too lazy to carry all my bags around the town. The shuttle to take us up to the hostel came and was full of people, bags and a dog. I met more people from Essex who had nearly finished traveling round the world and we spent the evening drinking tea and eating chocolate biccis, very traditional.
I walked the 8km into town in the morning. It was a beautiful sunny day and everything felt so fresh and alive. The Rocky Mountains are just stunning. There's no words to describe how amazing it was to be up there. I was surrounded by the smell of pine and really friendly locals surprised that I was walking out of choice. The town itself is very twee. Two rows of shops, a railway/bus station and then just small little houses. The library is adorable - a converted cottage that looks like something out of a faerie tale. I hiked up to Old Fort Point, very steep trail that was easier to go up than down, and got magnificent views in every direction. Along the rock flour filled river to the town; across it to the Tramway (closed for the season) and the hostel; and then mountains growing from behind. The water is such an amazing colour. Somewhere between green and blue and soft but pure. It looks unreal, especially when half the river was still iced over in perfect untouched whiteness. The evening in the hostel took the same shape as the previous night but with the addition of broccoli - the perfect comfort food - and the girl's friend Nick having survived hitching to Banff.
The next day was cloudy and snowy so we played in the snow and messed about at the hostel before hitching into town for the afternoon. I didn't bother to venture further afield as I'd messed my knee up walking down too many hills so I drank too much coffee and watched the trains go by. Jasper is the perfect place just to recharge. It's laid back and nothing pretends to be a tourist attraction. Everyone is friendly and will indulge you in conversation or tell you random stories about their dogs. The hostel was a bit busier that night, lots of Dutch people for some reason! And I met a Scot (about the 3rd I've met out here) called Agnus MacDonald who hated being in America because people assumed he was part of the food chain.
I spent the best part of an hour sitting outside the hostel in the morning waiting for SunDogTours to pick me up for the trip back to Calgary via Banff. When the bus finally arrived I could see why Highway 93, the Icefields Parkway, is one of the best drives in North America. We got great views of the mountains and the Columbia Icefields even though it was a bit overcast. I spent the afternoon in Banff, it was beautiful sunshine there, with a sprinkling of snow. It was funny seeing all the places I'd been last summer without all the people and navigating from what I had remembered when I was there with Moose (the liquor store, Safeway and the pub). I did a bit of shopping, mostly window shopping, and sat enjoying the sun until it came time to jump on a Greyhound (bus) back to Calgary where they'd had 2 ft of snow overnight.
Calgary in mid-April looked like I had been expecting in February! Everywhere nicely white yet it was still about 10degrees! :)
Saturday, 12 April 2008
Train No.1 - The Canadian
Somehow I got to the train station ridiculously early and yet was still nowhere near the front of the cue. I was sat next to some lovely crazy people - A German girl, Elena who had been working at Tim Hortons in Toronto for 5 months; a Greek geologist, Nick, who lived in Halifax; a woman from Montreal, Karen, who loved trains and couldn't speak a word of French so pretended to be from Vancouver; and several old men who talked A LOT. The train was running early, for a change, when coming into Capriol so we had a chance to run to the Grocery store and buy watermelon, cheese and crispy chicken (essentials, obviously). Back on the train the men were complaining about the Chinese take-away they'd got. How the price had increased over the last decade or something similar... We sat smugly with our chicken and cheese and then devoured watermelon and pringles while watching Shreck 3 before falling asleep very contented.
Day 2 we discovered we were beginning to leave the frozen lakes and trees of Ontario behind and entering the vast flatness of the prairies. It's crazy how huge the horizon is and how big it makes the sky look in Regina and Saskatoon. We had another refueling stop in Winnipeg so went down to the market at the forks for a late lunch and to stoke up on bread and cinnamon rolls for the journey. The old men had moved on to discussing the increase in gas and hamburger prices since the 1930s and telling their war stories to anyone who would listen. Make eye contact and you're stuck for at least an hour. We watched 'No Reservations' that night in between spotting herds of deer, falcons and LOTS of crows.
Day 3 we got excited by the first glimpse of the Rockies and bagged front row seats upstairs in the dome car to watch them drawing nearer. When we entered Jasper National Park, we had a running commentary from one of the crew members about the draining of the river and rise in pollution changing the landscapes. Nick also informed us about the rock formations, how the glaciers had crushed them to be just so and then melted away to reveal what we see today. When we arrived in Jasper we avoided the over priced cafes and got a Subway before Elena and Nick had to get back on the train Vancouver-bound.
Day 2 we discovered we were beginning to leave the frozen lakes and trees of Ontario behind and entering the vast flatness of the prairies. It's crazy how huge the horizon is and how big it makes the sky look in Regina and Saskatoon. We had another refueling stop in Winnipeg so went down to the market at the forks for a late lunch and to stoke up on bread and cinnamon rolls for the journey. The old men had moved on to discussing the increase in gas and hamburger prices since the 1930s and telling their war stories to anyone who would listen. Make eye contact and you're stuck for at least an hour. We watched 'No Reservations' that night in between spotting herds of deer, falcons and LOTS of crows.
Day 3 we got excited by the first glimpse of the Rockies and bagged front row seats upstairs in the dome car to watch them drawing nearer. When we entered Jasper National Park, we had a running commentary from one of the crew members about the draining of the river and rise in pollution changing the landscapes. Nick also informed us about the rock formations, how the glaciers had crushed them to be just so and then melted away to reveal what we see today. When we arrived in Jasper we avoided the over priced cafes and got a Subway before Elena and Nick had to get back on the train Vancouver-bound.
Toronto - Party town?
I'd been convinced to go back to Toronoto for a few nights by people who I'd met in Niagara. It was also a good excuse to stay in the same place for a while as I was starting to get worn out by all this traveling! When I arrived it was nice to see familliar land marks and to know (vaugely) where I was going. I was even able to give people directions! I of course took full advantage of the free internet in the library having been cut off for a few days. On the way back to the hostel, something posessed me to get my nose pierced (a nice surprise for the parents). In the hostel there was a night of relaying messages back and forth trying to find Debbie. 2 people of the people in my room had been in Niagara just after me, and they did the running! In the morning I went down to the harbour and discovered that the Power Plant museam still wasn't open so I took lots of pretty pictures of the water instead. IT was amazing how much ice had melted in the few weeks I'd been away. I finally found Debbie that afternoon and after a bit of catching up we watched Aliedn in the cosy wee TV room. In the evening Lindsey and Mark came up from Niagara and we went out to Betty's and various other bars meeting up with other people on the way. Somehow we managed to spend $80 on a round at last orders when there was only about 5 of us still drinking. Lots of 1.5 vodcas and splashes of red bull. Needless to say, we spent the morning sleeping. I managed to get out to the train station and book my ticket west then spend a couple of hours in Starbucks before going back to the hostel for a nap and another film. We all set out to go to see Footloose at a random theatre that even the taxi driver had trouble finding only to discover that Lindsey can't read and it was actually only on at the weekends. Gutting! After trying and failing to put on our own production on the stairs, we went for plan B, more drinking. The first bar we found had a deal on for nachos so it seemed like a good idea. The also had milkshakes and ice cream :D From there we met some more people and wandered back into town to find another bar, but first, sushi! I don't think the staff were too impressed when 10 of us showed up just before closing; especially when we asked to pay sepearately. Martha (the Mexican local) was put in charge of finding a bar... maybe not a good idea. It wasn't very lively and was over run by English people but it had a nice balcony (with a view of Hooters) so we hung about. Mark was not impressed by this desision and walked off without a word, typical males! Eventually we were left with the 4 Britons walking back to the hostel singing Queen a little too loudly...It does make walking seem less far though.
My last night, we went to see A Superhero Movie with Martha and her friends which was good fun. A really stupid movie but you couldn't help but laugh at it. I refused the option of more drinking in favour of a (relitivly) early night knowing I had to get up stupidly early for a wonderful 3 day trian journey.
My last night, we went to see A Superhero Movie with Martha and her friends which was good fun. A really stupid movie but you couldn't help but laugh at it. I refused the option of more drinking in favour of a (relitivly) early night knowing I had to get up stupidly early for a wonderful 3 day trian journey.
Maritime
The journey between Montreal and Halifax is dubbed by Via Rail, "The most beautiful journey you will every sleep through" (or something along those lines. It was very sureal waking up in the early morning and looking out through the window at the sun just bouncing off the water, skimming over craggs and illuminating lighthouses. Halifax itself is a very cute wee town, probably busier (and warmer) in the summer time though. I browsed the small boutiques downtown (a lot of them pretending to be Scottish) and sipped on my local coffee as I tried to figure out what goes on in Halifax on a Saturday night! There was a ton of live music listings in the local paper but not having a clue about the bands or the locations I headed back to the hostel and ended up spending the evening with a couple of the staff at their local - a jazz and blues pub next door with a live band most nights. We repeated the experience the next night in the hostel, having our own jam night with too many guitars and very quiet/shy singers. Lots of fun :)
I found a lovel little tea shop near the station, "like Starbucks except for tea!" one of the other customers told her friend over her cell phone. It's amazing how much of someones life story you can overhear from them catting away on mobiles. Then it was back on the train for the long journey back to Toronto. More crazy people, random life stories and and uncomfy nights sleep.
I found a lovel little tea shop near the station, "like Starbucks except for tea!" one of the other customers told her friend over her cell phone. It's amazing how much of someones life story you can overhear from them catting away on mobiles. Then it was back on the train for the long journey back to Toronto. More crazy people, random life stories and and uncomfy nights sleep.
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
The "old" French Provence
After a night of no sleep in fear of sleeping in, I got on my 8am train to Montreal. It was all going smoothly until it came to crossing the border... I was rudely awakened by the border officials standing over me and then had to fumble bleary eyed in my bag for my passport and white card. After a long grilling I ended up having to get off the train and be escorted back to the office at the border itself for them to print out my visa and staple it into my passport. A very long process during which the officers had lots of pizza delivered while I sat and watched hungrily from the other side of the thick glass. Two hours after the train stopped for inspection I was chucked into a taxi, legally allowed to be in Canada until February 2009, and set off for Montreal. I got great views of the city lights as we crossed over the bridge into the city. Ironically I only arrived at the hostel half an hour after the people I'd met on the train, luckily still in time for the 'Bar Tour'. A must after my stressful journey there :P It turned out to be an excellent way of meeting people too, the hostel was full of college kids on spring break who had crossed the border so they could drink legally and we took over the bars we descended on. To finish the night we headed to 'Club Campus' for 'Retro Tuesdays'. Danced the night away to the music you remember from P.7 discos with the odd French track thrown in for good measure. The more hard core of the crowd went round the corner for poutine (chips, cheese and gravey, a Canadian delicacy) when the club closed. I've not quite gotten round to trying it yet... Makes my stomach turn just thinking about it.
In the morning I set off to explore. The downtown area has some great architecture, old meets new with perfect elegance and grace. Church spires reflected in all glass office blocks and such. It was really nice. For lunch I went to this random diner, recommended as having the best burgers in the east. It was amazing. Even the chips looked and tasted like they were potatoes very recently. I did a lot more walking after lunch, all round the "old" port and through the random cobbled streets of the old town. In the evening I headed to the Museum of Contemporary Art which was full of poor students and travelers (it was the free night). There was a couple of interesting works but overall I was glad I hadn't spent 10 bucks to get in.
After a slow morning (12 people in a dorm sharing one bathroom takes its time) I haded back to the station and discovered I was still following the 2 ladies I'd met on the train from New York! Together we did the short hop up to Quebec City and then a long uphill walk to my hostel. (It didn't help that I missed my turning and walked almost twice as far as I had to!) After trying and failing to check in speaking French I went out for a bit of a walk around the town and took the escalator down to the port. The water was flowing very fast and was still full of ice which was nice. Plenty more pictures! Back at the hostel I met a French girl who's accent I could understand which was nice! The only other person who's French I could easily understand was an Australian so I wasn't totally lost! We went out to one of the local bar but left early when the bartender tried to charge us cover even though we'd been there for over an hour. We were not impressed! I guess they weren't expecting many more people. I spent the night shivering in my sleeping bag liner with all my thermals and hoodie on having not wanted to pay the $5 for linen thinking that there would at least be a blanket but no such luck.
I spent ages in the huge Musee de la Civilisation first thing (after making full use of the free breakfast of course). There was so much to see and lots of buttons to press which is always fun. I was there at the same time as a young school group and enjoyed watching their excited faces as they played with dragons and babbled away in French. When I was in the supermarket getting some supplies for the train journey (lettuce and orange juice) a woman came up to me and started nattering away to me in a very strong and excited Quebec accent. Totally lost, I managed to get her to speak English and it turned out that she owned a hairdressers across the street and wanted to cut my hair because she loved my curls. Canadians are funny.
We got first class treatment at the train station. There was only two of us in the waiting area and the woman on duty told us to go through to the business lounge and get comfy. It was great. Huge sofas and free tea :) She came back a while later with $2 for each of us to use the massage chair. So nice and relaxing. When the shuttle finally came to take us to Charny there was 6 of us crammed in, with all our luggage, to a tiny people carrier with a crazy driver. We got to the other side of the bridge and then turned round comically as he got a phone call from the station telling him to go back and pick up someone who'd gone to the wrong station. Lots of mumbling/shouting in French and then an even tighter squeeze until we got to the train station in Charny.
In the morning I set off to explore. The downtown area has some great architecture, old meets new with perfect elegance and grace. Church spires reflected in all glass office blocks and such. It was really nice. For lunch I went to this random diner, recommended as having the best burgers in the east. It was amazing. Even the chips looked and tasted like they were potatoes very recently. I did a lot more walking after lunch, all round the "old" port and through the random cobbled streets of the old town. In the evening I headed to the Museum of Contemporary Art which was full of poor students and travelers (it was the free night). There was a couple of interesting works but overall I was glad I hadn't spent 10 bucks to get in.
After a slow morning (12 people in a dorm sharing one bathroom takes its time) I haded back to the station and discovered I was still following the 2 ladies I'd met on the train from New York! Together we did the short hop up to Quebec City and then a long uphill walk to my hostel. (It didn't help that I missed my turning and walked almost twice as far as I had to!) After trying and failing to check in speaking French I went out for a bit of a walk around the town and took the escalator down to the port. The water was flowing very fast and was still full of ice which was nice. Plenty more pictures! Back at the hostel I met a French girl who's accent I could understand which was nice! The only other person who's French I could easily understand was an Australian so I wasn't totally lost! We went out to one of the local bar but left early when the bartender tried to charge us cover even though we'd been there for over an hour. We were not impressed! I guess they weren't expecting many more people. I spent the night shivering in my sleeping bag liner with all my thermals and hoodie on having not wanted to pay the $5 for linen thinking that there would at least be a blanket but no such luck.
I spent ages in the huge Musee de la Civilisation first thing (after making full use of the free breakfast of course). There was so much to see and lots of buttons to press which is always fun. I was there at the same time as a young school group and enjoyed watching their excited faces as they played with dragons and babbled away in French. When I was in the supermarket getting some supplies for the train journey (lettuce and orange juice) a woman came up to me and started nattering away to me in a very strong and excited Quebec accent. Totally lost, I managed to get her to speak English and it turned out that she owned a hairdressers across the street and wanted to cut my hair because she loved my curls. Canadians are funny.
We got first class treatment at the train station. There was only two of us in the waiting area and the woman on duty told us to go through to the business lounge and get comfy. It was great. Huge sofas and free tea :) She came back a while later with $2 for each of us to use the massage chair. So nice and relaxing. When the shuttle finally came to take us to Charny there was 6 of us crammed in, with all our luggage, to a tiny people carrier with a crazy driver. We got to the other side of the bridge and then turned round comically as he got a phone call from the station telling him to go back and pick up someone who'd gone to the wrong station. Lots of mumbling/shouting in French and then an even tighter squeeze until we got to the train station in Charny.
New York, New York. So good they named it twice.
I arrived in New York City after a long sunny day running between the Pentagon, Arlington National Cemetery, the Kennedy Arts Center and various places in between and was immediately immersed into the chaos and confusion that is New York Penn Station at rush hour. Once I finally found the right subway platform and took up about 4 seats with all my bags I was totally overwhelmed by the amount of people surrounding me. A feeling that continued when I checked into my fully booked hostel, dumped my bags and went exploring. Situated on the edge of Harlem, between Broadway and Central Park, it was maybe not the best place to explore at night in retrospect... It was Good Friday and one of the local churches was running a passion parade (I think, it was all in Spanish!) which was fun to watch. In the morning I took a lazy stroll towards downtown, through Central Part and along the waterfront to meet up with Mackenzie - a girl I met in Vancouver a few weeks earlier. We did a whistle stop tour of the touristy side of New York, went across the Staten Island Ferry for the views and then watched the sun set from Battery Park. Mackenzie even cooked me a wonderful dinner in her friend's apartment - acorn squash with veggies and salad - the best meal I'd had in weeks! It's so hard to eat enough fresh veg and make proper meals when you're traveling.
On Easter Sunday I thought I'd head into the heart of Harlem and go to LaGree Baptist Church for their Easter service. The place was packed, apparently other tourists had the same idea! There was an amazing atmosphere, every seat taken and each person singing and praising God in whatever language and way they felt comfortable. I don't think any of us were quite expecting a 3 hour service! That evening we watched 'The Brave One' in the hostel which scared us out of going out that night! It's freaky watching bad things happen in all these places you recognize...
On Monday I did some of the other touristy things by day - looked up at the Empire State Building, went to Ground Zero, the Guggenheim Museum (very interesting exhibition of gunpowder art work) and Time Square. In the evening, The Hotel Cafe Tour. The reason I came to New York. Somehow I managed to jump the que and got a great place at the front with 2 girls - Jessica and Molly - who were equally obsessed with Joshua Radin. (We all screamed simultaneously when we caught a glimpse of him backstage to many funny looks from other people around us.) It was an amazing gig, especially Josh. He has a very mesmerizing stage presence, the ability to reduce a packed hall to just you and a couple of mates. An intimate acoustic gig. Perfect :)
On Easter Sunday I thought I'd head into the heart of Harlem and go to LaGree Baptist Church for their Easter service. The place was packed, apparently other tourists had the same idea! There was an amazing atmosphere, every seat taken and each person singing and praising God in whatever language and way they felt comfortable. I don't think any of us were quite expecting a 3 hour service! That evening we watched 'The Brave One' in the hostel which scared us out of going out that night! It's freaky watching bad things happen in all these places you recognize...
On Monday I did some of the other touristy things by day - looked up at the Empire State Building, went to Ground Zero, the Guggenheim Museum (very interesting exhibition of gunpowder art work) and Time Square. In the evening, The Hotel Cafe Tour. The reason I came to New York. Somehow I managed to jump the que and got a great place at the front with 2 girls - Jessica and Molly - who were equally obsessed with Joshua Radin. (We all screamed simultaneously when we caught a glimpse of him backstage to many funny looks from other people around us.) It was an amazing gig, especially Josh. He has a very mesmerizing stage presence, the ability to reduce a packed hall to just you and a couple of mates. An intimate acoustic gig. Perfect :)
Thursday, 20 March 2008
A belated first post.
So lets start at the begining, sorry if my ramblings are disjointed!
I spent mt first 10 days in Calgary with a family friend, and was adopted by a lovely group of "wikers" - woman who walk but like to think that they're doing a bit of hiking. Went on 3 lovely senic walks around the vast park land that can be found in the heart of Calgary. It was amazing walking along the Bow River which was completely frozen over at parts! Downtown Calgary is definately better in summer if you ask me. This time of year, not quite spring but not really winter, it's all very beige. From the snow to the trees, everything around you is in that mucky transitional stage between winter wonderland and summer glory.
From Calgary, I jumped on a bus, that turned out to be 3 buses, as each broke down in some way, over to Vancouver. I arrived to glorious sunshine, wandering along English Bay you could look over the ocean to the snow capped mountains below the crystal clear blue sky. Stanely Park was alive with colour and fragrance with it's rainforest walks and chatty children. The hostel was really nice and very friendly, free breakfast always goes down well, especially when you can have it for lunch and dinner too! A couple of times we found ourselves walking through East Hastings which wasn't quite as idilic as English Bay and Stanely Park. Vancouver sees the seasonal migration of many of Canada's homeless, all flocking to the milder winters found in Vancouver and setting up camp around the city centre. This was quite a tough thing to see. They had a lot of outreach/sandwich ministries but it's hard to picture how this could help the hundreds of men women and children stuck on the streets of Vancouver. Back to being a tourist - most of the people I met in my hostel were working/looking for work in the city so I was left to spend the days exploring by myself or helping job hunt if I go bored. By the third day or so I was amused that I could walk around the main sightseeing areas - Gastown, Granville Island Market, etc - and bump into people I knew! Watching the sun set over Grouse Mountain from English Bay was quite spectacular and falling asleep on the beach always inviting until the last of the warmth had left the air at which point you knew it was time to hit the bars. We became regulars at the local Mexican bar which served the best nachos intown and plenty of good beer, mostly from the local Graville Island Brewery (their special that week was 'Scottish' ale). Sunday morning at 6.30am saw the arrival of my Moose Travel Bus. Of course, being me, I slept through my alarm, and the driver hammering on my door... Eventually I got outside and discovered there was only 2 of us going from Vancouver to Banff that day so it didn't really matter. Both me and Debbie decided that buses were for sleeping so we made it to Banff in record time not having to stop for food or washrooms! Then began our UN snowboard tour, an Aussie, a Kewi, a couple of Sweeds, a German, a Scot, a couple of Swiss, a .. Hollander? and a Canadian. We managed to make it through 3 National Parks - Yoho, Banff and Kootenay - and were blessed with the perfect mix of fresh powder and spectacular views. I of course spent most of my time at the bottom of the slopes as my knee gave out on me very early on. It was still a lot of fun. I got to explore the towns of Golden and Fernie up in the BC interior. Golden is like, the best place ever. Everyone is so friendly and knows everyone else (it's not been taken over by the tourists yet), it has the perfect mix of skiing, rafting and biking to keep anyone with any sense happy. Everyone has their prized snowmobile and their dog and the streets are filled with snowmobile jumps people have made. We happened to arrive in Fernie at the start of their winter festival, the Griz fest. The Griz is half man/half bear and he shoots his massive gun into the sky to bring Fernie its legendary powder each year, or so the legend goes. We were bribed by the hostel with a $10 keg and bbq party to join their internationally themed float in the parade. We somehow managed to win the award for best float, yay! We watched the local team lose at ice hockey which was very good fun - crazy mothers screaming lots. We also went to Radium Hot Springs. The water was 42 degrees and we were surrounded by snow. The perfect way to get rid of those aches and pains from strenuous boarding and drinking...
I left the moose bus in Calgary and headed out on my own up to Edmonton feeling very sorry for the people sitting next to me as I coughed and snuffled all the way there. I managed to catch traveller's flu while in the rockies! Not realising quite how far away the bus station was from the train station I spent a very long 4 hours walking between the two in the blazing sunshine. Then I set off on my first epic train journey between Edmonton and Winnipeg (18 hours). After a very uncomfortable night's 'sleep' and random chat we arrived in the very could city of Winnipeg. Once I settled into my hostel (which was in the middle of a big renovation and so was very bare) I set out to try and find some coffee to wake me up. I stumbled upon a very nice little cafe with super friendly staff who gave me a free ticket to the curling that afternoon. It was my first time watching curling live, I was of course cheering on Nova Scotia, and loved it! It seemed to go on forever as I realised how little sleep I'd had on the train but I managed to stay awake just long enough. That evening I walked along the river which was so freaky! I was convinced the ice was cracking! Next day I was adopted by a guy from church who gave me the driving tour of the city. We went to the Legistate Building where I met Premier Gary Doer completelly randomly and got a picture of course. Then we headed to the museam which was small but very well laid out. Back on the train and this time 30 turned 36 hour journey to Toronto. We ended up getting in after 2am which was not fun! Luckely I got a lift to my hostel so didn't have to think much that last night but I was met by roommates not so happy to be woken up in the wee small hours of the morning! Toronto is great! I walked a very long way all around the city and did the CN tower and the shoe museam, watched people skating on the harbour and a streetful of people queing up outside the library waiting for it to open. It was then just a short hop to Niagara Falls and a very friendly hostel full of English people! I went for a walk in the evening to see what was going on downtown - not a lot! I kept walking and got to the end of the main street and the followed the lights and accidentally found myself at the falls (a good couple of miles from the hostel!). It was light up in pink and covered in ice. Absolutly amazing. I walked down to the river (it being dark I couldn't read the sign saying strictly no pedestrian access and was following other people anyway) and could feel the collosal force of the water pounding down below. In the daylight it was even more spectacular. I can't even explain. Hopefully my pictures will have come out okay. I went behing the falls which was pretty much just ice and also up the Skylon Tower for amazing views across the falls and also back up to Toronto. Monday night was St Patrick's night and even the few people left in the 'downtown' area of Niagara Falls celebrate it in their single pub. Partied the night away with the 2 Irish guys in Niagara and lots of crazy old people and a guy playing country on his guitar (who was actually quite good).
Moving on from Niagara was a long journey. Had to get a very expensive taxi across the border and had to wait in customs for ages because there was only one officer on duty to interview all the forigners. Then there was the 10 hour journey to New York City which was delayed due to mechanical failures from hitting a herd of dear :( then the joys of a 5 hour wait in Penn Station NY chatting to random people who were also crazy enough to do the same journey (even if it was by accident due to the delays) and jumping on the 3am train to Washington, DC. I got here at 7am and then had to wait until 9.30 because I'd bought an all day subway pass and apparently it mentions in the small print they only work off peak. I was stuck having to browse the shops in the train station and spend all my money... woops! My hostel is absolutly amazing. Most expensive 2 nights but there's like a real bed, and breakfast, and coffee and nice people. I went to the Textile museam this morning and then wandered around to George Town (more shopping) before it started to chuck it down with rain. I have missed the rain! It's been weeks! Eventually I escaped inside to write this and here we are.
I spent mt first 10 days in Calgary with a family friend, and was adopted by a lovely group of "wikers" - woman who walk but like to think that they're doing a bit of hiking. Went on 3 lovely senic walks around the vast park land that can be found in the heart of Calgary. It was amazing walking along the Bow River which was completely frozen over at parts! Downtown Calgary is definately better in summer if you ask me. This time of year, not quite spring but not really winter, it's all very beige. From the snow to the trees, everything around you is in that mucky transitional stage between winter wonderland and summer glory.
From Calgary, I jumped on a bus, that turned out to be 3 buses, as each broke down in some way, over to Vancouver. I arrived to glorious sunshine, wandering along English Bay you could look over the ocean to the snow capped mountains below the crystal clear blue sky. Stanely Park was alive with colour and fragrance with it's rainforest walks and chatty children. The hostel was really nice and very friendly, free breakfast always goes down well, especially when you can have it for lunch and dinner too! A couple of times we found ourselves walking through East Hastings which wasn't quite as idilic as English Bay and Stanely Park. Vancouver sees the seasonal migration of many of Canada's homeless, all flocking to the milder winters found in Vancouver and setting up camp around the city centre. This was quite a tough thing to see. They had a lot of outreach/sandwich ministries but it's hard to picture how this could help the hundreds of men women and children stuck on the streets of Vancouver. Back to being a tourist - most of the people I met in my hostel were working/looking for work in the city so I was left to spend the days exploring by myself or helping job hunt if I go bored. By the third day or so I was amused that I could walk around the main sightseeing areas - Gastown, Granville Island Market, etc - and bump into people I knew! Watching the sun set over Grouse Mountain from English Bay was quite spectacular and falling asleep on the beach always inviting until the last of the warmth had left the air at which point you knew it was time to hit the bars. We became regulars at the local Mexican bar which served the best nachos intown and plenty of good beer, mostly from the local Graville Island Brewery (their special that week was 'Scottish' ale). Sunday morning at 6.30am saw the arrival of my Moose Travel Bus. Of course, being me, I slept through my alarm, and the driver hammering on my door... Eventually I got outside and discovered there was only 2 of us going from Vancouver to Banff that day so it didn't really matter. Both me and Debbie decided that buses were for sleeping so we made it to Banff in record time not having to stop for food or washrooms! Then began our UN snowboard tour, an Aussie, a Kewi, a couple of Sweeds, a German, a Scot, a couple of Swiss, a .. Hollander? and a Canadian. We managed to make it through 3 National Parks - Yoho, Banff and Kootenay - and were blessed with the perfect mix of fresh powder and spectacular views. I of course spent most of my time at the bottom of the slopes as my knee gave out on me very early on. It was still a lot of fun. I got to explore the towns of Golden and Fernie up in the BC interior. Golden is like, the best place ever. Everyone is so friendly and knows everyone else (it's not been taken over by the tourists yet), it has the perfect mix of skiing, rafting and biking to keep anyone with any sense happy. Everyone has their prized snowmobile and their dog and the streets are filled with snowmobile jumps people have made. We happened to arrive in Fernie at the start of their winter festival, the Griz fest. The Griz is half man/half bear and he shoots his massive gun into the sky to bring Fernie its legendary powder each year, or so the legend goes. We were bribed by the hostel with a $10 keg and bbq party to join their internationally themed float in the parade. We somehow managed to win the award for best float, yay! We watched the local team lose at ice hockey which was very good fun - crazy mothers screaming lots. We also went to Radium Hot Springs. The water was 42 degrees and we were surrounded by snow. The perfect way to get rid of those aches and pains from strenuous boarding and drinking...
I left the moose bus in Calgary and headed out on my own up to Edmonton feeling very sorry for the people sitting next to me as I coughed and snuffled all the way there. I managed to catch traveller's flu while in the rockies! Not realising quite how far away the bus station was from the train station I spent a very long 4 hours walking between the two in the blazing sunshine. Then I set off on my first epic train journey between Edmonton and Winnipeg (18 hours). After a very uncomfortable night's 'sleep' and random chat we arrived in the very could city of Winnipeg. Once I settled into my hostel (which was in the middle of a big renovation and so was very bare) I set out to try and find some coffee to wake me up. I stumbled upon a very nice little cafe with super friendly staff who gave me a free ticket to the curling that afternoon. It was my first time watching curling live, I was of course cheering on Nova Scotia, and loved it! It seemed to go on forever as I realised how little sleep I'd had on the train but I managed to stay awake just long enough. That evening I walked along the river which was so freaky! I was convinced the ice was cracking! Next day I was adopted by a guy from church who gave me the driving tour of the city. We went to the Legistate Building where I met Premier Gary Doer completelly randomly and got a picture of course. Then we headed to the museam which was small but very well laid out. Back on the train and this time 30 turned 36 hour journey to Toronto. We ended up getting in after 2am which was not fun! Luckely I got a lift to my hostel so didn't have to think much that last night but I was met by roommates not so happy to be woken up in the wee small hours of the morning! Toronto is great! I walked a very long way all around the city and did the CN tower and the shoe museam, watched people skating on the harbour and a streetful of people queing up outside the library waiting for it to open. It was then just a short hop to Niagara Falls and a very friendly hostel full of English people! I went for a walk in the evening to see what was going on downtown - not a lot! I kept walking and got to the end of the main street and the followed the lights and accidentally found myself at the falls (a good couple of miles from the hostel!). It was light up in pink and covered in ice. Absolutly amazing. I walked down to the river (it being dark I couldn't read the sign saying strictly no pedestrian access and was following other people anyway) and could feel the collosal force of the water pounding down below. In the daylight it was even more spectacular. I can't even explain. Hopefully my pictures will have come out okay. I went behing the falls which was pretty much just ice and also up the Skylon Tower for amazing views across the falls and also back up to Toronto. Monday night was St Patrick's night and even the few people left in the 'downtown' area of Niagara Falls celebrate it in their single pub. Partied the night away with the 2 Irish guys in Niagara and lots of crazy old people and a guy playing country on his guitar (who was actually quite good).
Moving on from Niagara was a long journey. Had to get a very expensive taxi across the border and had to wait in customs for ages because there was only one officer on duty to interview all the forigners. Then there was the 10 hour journey to New York City which was delayed due to mechanical failures from hitting a herd of dear :( then the joys of a 5 hour wait in Penn Station NY chatting to random people who were also crazy enough to do the same journey (even if it was by accident due to the delays) and jumping on the 3am train to Washington, DC. I got here at 7am and then had to wait until 9.30 because I'd bought an all day subway pass and apparently it mentions in the small print they only work off peak. I was stuck having to browse the shops in the train station and spend all my money... woops! My hostel is absolutly amazing. Most expensive 2 nights but there's like a real bed, and breakfast, and coffee and nice people. I went to the Textile museam this morning and then wandered around to George Town (more shopping) before it started to chuck it down with rain. I have missed the rain! It's been weeks! Eventually I escaped inside to write this and here we are.
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