(Excerpts from my April 11 – April 17, 2009 diary entries)
(Day 1)
Travel Day. My lovely parents dropped me off at SFO around 630 am so I could catch our 745 am flight. I hate flying.
All went well until our shuttle bus ride to our hotel. While on the shuttle, I noticed that my passport was missing!!!!! I was panicked, Paul was irrationally calm. When we arrived at the hotel, I was told to contact the local police in person to fill out a report. Once we got there we were given blank stares from the office workers like “why are you filing a report?” They were friendly for the most part but also so unhelpful. Ultimately, they suggested that we contact the airport terminal lost and found as well as the airport police to see if anyone turned in my passport. They did take down a report though, whoop-di-doo! Oh yeah, we were informed that NOTHING would be opened until Tuesday since in Canada Easter Monday is a holiday. This means that ALL government offices are closed on Monday, including the U.S. Consulate. Again, unhelpful. Suffice it to say, a less than perfect situation. I am sad.
We got back to the hotel from Easter Vigil Mass around 4 a.m. Still no passport. I am tired and excited to see what the first full day in Toronto will bring. Hopefully, my passport.
(Day 2)
First full day in Toronto! Exciting. We slept in J Still no passport and no help from any of the phone numbers we dialed L
Places visited/seen/experienced:
Greek restaurant in Greek Town (?) - the largest meat platter ever.
Some park area/man made lake near Lake Ontario. Very pretty but cold.
The Distillery district -we just got some coffee at one of the cafes – Paul experienced a bottle cap at the bottom of his coffee cup. GROSS!!!!!!!
Today the city seems quiet. Apparently, everyone in Toronto goes on vacation during Easter weekend. Most likely because they get Easter Monday off. Such a lucky country. I would like to petition for Easter Monday holiday in the U.S.
We went back to our hotel to check up on the passport… After several phone calls, Paul was able to get through the Canadian Customs office at the airport. Great news! Someone turned in my passport!!!! They would hold it for me to pick up. Have I mentioned Canadians were a nice group of peoples? No hassles at the airport or Canadian customs J Just a little bit of trouble finding exactly where in the airport my passport was being held. We left the airport with my passport in hand. Such a happy ending to this story JJJ I’m still so happy thinking about it.
(Day 3)
Our first and last full day in Canada with my passport. A new morning; a new day. J No longer worried about being stuck in Canada and trying to live a life here.
We didn’t have much planned for the day. Paul and I had our coffee/breakfast at Tim Horton’s. The coffee was pretty good, the breakfast bacon biscuit was better. I actually ordered a breakfast combo, which includes coffee and a biscuit, but apparently the person at the register didn’t understand me when I said “combo”. We got the bacon biscuit from a different Tim Horton’s on our way to see the CN Tower.
Places visited/seen/experienced:
CN Tower = Space Needle except CN Tower has a glass bottom window.
Sightseeing tour of all of Toronto
Ghandi’s for dinner – Too die for delicious. I want it now. L
So long Toronto. Thanks for the memories and rashes. Did I mention my skin disease/rashes? I think they’re from our bed sheets at the hotel we were staying it. I had them on my elbows and knees and thighs. Really gross. I don’t know what disease/s I’m incubating right now from our stay at the Sheraton Toronto Centre. Fuck you Sheraton.
(Day 4)
Still have my passport. For the rest of the trip I will be thinking about the safety of my passport.
Onward to Montreal!
Another day, another breakfast combo at Jim Horton’s. I confirmed that Torontonians cannot hear me when I say “combo” at the end of my breakfast order. The lady at the register acted like I didn’t say "combo" when I made it a point to do so. Whatever. Ultimately, I got the combo – coffee, hashbrown, bacon biscuit. J
We boarded a train and luckily got seated across from each other. There was no reserved seating on this train and the train conductress imprisoned all passengers to Montreal in one train car. Bitches! Oh well. We sat next to pretty friendly people – George, who seems to travel a lot and recently got back from a 6 month trip to South America. Petra, weird lady with chemical related allergies who borrowed Paul’s computer and attempted to download unknown items onto Paul’s computer (luckily, it didn’t work since wireless connection was weak). Strange but friendly and provided us with some helpful information re Montreal.
The train ride was about 5 hours. When we arrived, I was disoriented and nixed the plan to catch the subway to our hotel. Instead, we took a cab and arrived at our hotel in about five minutes from the train station – who knew it was so close J
Places and things visited/seen/experienced:
The famous smoked meat house, Schwartz’s. Really pretty good. However, I believe this place to be more suited to a guy’s tastes than my own except for Cott’s black cherry soda – the most delicious soda you can get but can’t get anywhere except Schwartz’s (at least to my knowledge).
Walk along St. Denis – it’s a famous street full of restaurants and shopping.
Evening walk along Old Montreal. Unfortunately, nothing to see since EVERYTHING was closed.
We got off to a great start in Montreal I must say J I am happy. I wish I could speak French though! I am especially happy to be out of Toronto!
(Day 5)
Montreal is cold. At least it is not as cold as it was in Toronto. Still it’s cold. I’ve been wearing the same jeans and jacket for 5 days straight now. Boring. I wish I could travel in style. I don’t know how famous people do it.
Places and things visited/seen/experienced:
Breakfast at Chez Cora’s. Home of ginormous crepes.Our first real site seeing sight – Mount Royale. It was a nice hiking experience.
Poutines = fries, gravy, and cheese curds.
Notre Dame Basilica. I don’t remember why it’s famous but it’s a pretty amazing church. Celine Deon married at Notre Dame Basilica J
Paul made dinner reservations for us at the restaurant L’Expresse on St. Denis. L’Expresse is a French bistro and was absolutely perfect. I just loved everything we ordered. My favorite meal so far during our trip (although Toronto’s Ghandi Roti is a close 2nd… maybe 1.5st… ). I love Montreal and am looking forward to our next day J
(Day 6)
Our second to last day in Canada… sadness. Nonetheless, there are still sites to see and food to eat. We planned our first public transportation excursion to St. Joseph's Oratory for today. I should say that I planned it J Paul was a good sport and didn’t seem concerned one way or another whether I would get us lost. Is this absolute trust or just lack of concern??? I have no idea. Maybe a little bit of both.
Places and things visited/seen/experienced:
Fairmont - Montreal’s famous bagels. Everyone including Paul’s Montreal travel book said we had to try their bagels. (FYI they do use Philadelphia cream cheese in Montreal). These were truly delicious bagels – I will be craving Montreal bagels for as long as I am not in Montreal.
Juliet and Chocolat
Lemeac (sp?) for dinner
What a lovely day and night as our last full day in Montreal. I am sad to leave but happy to get back to warm weather!
(Last Day)
Since our check out was at noon and our flight was not until 4, we decided to have one last meal in Montreal out on the town – or at least along the famous St. Denis. We went to a little café/restaurant La Brioche/Lyonnaise – which I just found in Paul’s Montreal travel book. It was close and served exactly what we wanted which was a nice breakfast before saying goodbye to the city. I loved our trip and am looking forward to coming back to Quebec sometime in the future. Maybe learning some French to get around Quebec City next time!
