Travel Category
Paris but not…
Montreal is a weird little place. Well, little isn’t really the right word. The city is the jewel in French Canadia’s Crown. With a population of around 1.6 million in the city and 3.6 in the ‘burbs Montreal is the second largest French speaking city in the world. It feels Metropolitan. Walking around the Latin Quarter, visiting the many bars and restaurants along St. Denis reminds me of Paris. In fact the vibe of the City is very much Paris, while still having enough of its own character to set itself apart from its big sister.
While in Montreal I have walked Mont Royale in the pouring rain, been out to a few bars and restaurants, played Scrabble with new friends in my very, very awesome hostel, rode the very cool Bixi bikes all over town and checked out the Biodome. I saw live music in pubs and clubs, and enjoyed the Franco Folies Festival with some friends from Toronto.
In a strange mental snap I spent a day looking for 3/4 length cargo pants in downtown Montreal. Finding this one article of clothing has become a bit of an obsession for me. My search has become a crazed compulsion, leading me into every store I can find to search rows and rows of clothes for shorts that aren’t quite pants and pants that aren’t quite shorts. How hard can they be to find really? Very hard evidently. I need to find a Kathmandu or Patagonia or some other camping goods store, something that seems pretty much non existent here. Maybe in Vancouver. Damn you 3/4 length cargos, release me from this strange neurosis.
I’ve had an awesome time in Montreal. It has been much friendlier and more interesting than Toronto. I will be back here again in about a week to catch my flight to Vancouver so I think I’ll be visiting the Blues Bar again, just for some quiet drinks and some live music. Great stuff.
Toronto
Toronto, not high on my list of “must sees” to begin with had quite a hard act to follow in New York. The city is the biggest in Canada with a population of around 8 million (depending on who you talk to), but it seemed empty and unsure of itself.
The tower that looms over the skyline is an example of this insecurity. It was built to show the world the power of Canadian industry and woah, was it mighty. Well… it was. It has since been surpassed in height and in the next few years there are several more buildings on their way to knock it further down the ladder. The Toronto feels a little like they are not accepting the fact that things are just moving forward, a constant progression that they are being swept along with rather than driving.
Don’t get me wrong, the people of Toronto aren’t backwards and the city is fairly modern but something just feels off. I feel I needed maybe more time and more local help to come to understand the importance and purpose of this city. Maybe it is that my impressions of Toronto were coloured slightly by the 35 day garbage strike that covered the city in a pall of rancid stink and litter. Or maybe even the unusual vibe of the hostel where a large portion of the residents were long-termers who’s attitudes formed a kind of “us and them” segregation that was hard to break the barriers of.
I did manage to get out and see a bit of the city, but it held no real wow moments, other than acting as a platform for me to launch into Niagara Falls. I went for a few beers at The Horseshoe, out clubbing with some other backpackers but was well and truly over it an hour in. I had a quiet night in watching movies and then quite the opposite drinking vodka with danes and germans till the wee hours of another night. Oh, and in what seems to be a staple of his holiday, I got completely and utterly drenched by a massive storm that swept over the city while I was out wandering. The skies opened up so much that within minutes of the torrential rain starting not a single inch of me was dry. I did provide a little entertainment to a collection of gym goers who had taken shelter in their lobby when I came in asking for a plastic bag to put all my electronic equipment in, dripping bucket loads of water on their floor and leaving bare foot prints leading out from their little refuge and into the dark beyond their doors. Some people look at me strangely when they see me walking barefoot through the city, but I believe feeling the ground beneath the hardened soles of my feet helps me to really connect with a place, to make it feel real. I don’t think there is a single city I have visited where I didn’t spend at least a day barefoot.
I said goodbye to Toronto with no real sense of dolefulness after a night of chatting with some frenchies until 5am. In fact I am sitting on my bus to Montreal right this moment wrapped in excitement in seeing somewhere new. I’ll also be meeting up with some of the nicer people I met at the hostel who will be making their way up to Montreal in the coming days. I hope to have a quiver of local knowledge to deliver when they come a-knocking.
Niagara Falls
Toronto has given me some fantastic weather, and the day that I jumped on the tour bus to Niagara Falls proved to be one of the best of the week. The blue skies, warm sun and cool breeze providing a backdrop to one of natures greatest attractions.
Waking early and scoffing down some pancakes I got amped for the trip. In the middle of a coffee I met Mark, the tour guide from Salty Bear Tours who rounded up 14 of us and piled us into a van.
It’s around a two hour drive around the lake to the Niagara region, during which Mark regaled us with stories of Canada, took questions and in general entertained us to our first stop : a winery.
As I had quite a big night just before the tour I wasn’t entirely keen on a wine tasting, but I did get the opportunity to try “Ice Wine” something we don’t get in Australia. It was extremely sweet, so not something I would normally enjoy, but a small taste was fine.
Moving on we headed into Niagara on the Lake for lunch and to stretch our legs. This town was pretty cool, nicely presented and utterly touristy. I grabbed some chicken tenders from the supermarket and sat in the park enjoying the sunshine.
At this point we were itching to see the falls, but Mark had a couple more spots to show us. First a lookout onto Niagara River, and then to the Whirlpool which was very impressive and BEGGED to be swum in.
Finally we hit Niagara Falls. I have to say I was amazed. While the falls themselves aren’t really that high only falling around 50 or so metres they throw around 168,000 cubic meters of water over their edge each every minute. The falls are actually made up of two separate major falls, the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls but the majority of the water goes over the Horseshoe Falls. Probably the most striking thing for me though was the sound. It wasn’t nearly as loud as I thought, even when practically underneath the falls on the “Maid of the Mist”.
“Maid of the Mist” is a tour which travels up the river, past the American Falls and then right up under the Horseshoe Falls. Battling with our ponchos was fun enough but looking up and seeing yourself surrounded by the falls was too much for words. I managed to grab a couple of shots without my camera busting due to water damage. Best 14 bucks I have ever spent.
I could have spent all day at the falls, but the tour was coming to a close. With huge smiles on our faces we headed back to the hostel. I had a great time that day, made new friends and got some great photos. I also marked off another of my “tourist” jobs for my adventure. “Niagara Falls” has a massive tick in my book.
Oh, see if you can spot the “No Smoking” sign under the waterfall. Classic comedy.
CN Tower
I’ve always wondered what in the human condition triggers this desire to “stand on the shoulders of giants”. To get up high, find a new perspective. It seems a universal thing. All over the world there are observation towers in skyscrapers, lookout points from mountains. We seek grand views. Do people yearn to rise above their lot, or do they wish to witness their insignificance first hand? I can not tell. One thing I know is, the CN Tower, once the tallest free standing structure on land in the world (now only bested by the still incomplete Burj Dubai), is a magnet for people seeking to look down on the world that they occupy.
Construction of the Tower was completed in 1976. The tower rises 553.33 meters over the Toronto Skyline and is quite easy to see on the horizon from Niagara nearly 200km’s away. The tower features two main observation decks, a glass floor, a restaurant and other touristy attractions. I spent around 2 hours up the tower, most of which was spent waiting in line. Looking out over the land at such a great height is pretty amazing. Watching firetrucks the size of my thumb nail scoot around the city was cool. The view does provide a change in perspective. The CN Tower is also probably the last “big” thing I will climb on my adventure, which is rapidly approaching its end, both in time left and amount of funds. *gulp*
I Heart NY
Sitting on my AMTrack train at Penn Station at 7.15 in the morning I felt an immense sense of melancholy as my mind rolled through the events of the last 8 days in New York. The city has seduced me, taken my soul while I was off guard and sliced off a piece. With each blast of the train’s horn it seemed to spread that piece over the state, echoing between the buildings, down alleys, through the subway, bars, restaurants and parks. I feel like I have left something important in New York and I need to go back and find it. A yearning, like that for a lost love boils in my chest. I can still hear that horn, signaling not only my departure from the city but my arrival.
One part of me wants to recount every beautiful and amazing waking moment that I spent in New York. Wants to share my experience and shake any one willing to listen until they open their eyes and see what I have seen. But then I think that doing so will dilute this warm elixir of NYC I have bottled in me. It is mine and I am not willing to share it. It feels selfish. I guess it is something you’ll just have to experience for yourself.
New York Yankees
New York has just been one life experience after another and with last night I struck off yet another goal: watch a Yankee’s game at Yankee stadium.
I am not much of a sports fan. I do watch a bit here and there, but I find it hard to enjoy going to watch say, the footy. Going to the baseball however was a whole different experience. The game moves suprisingly fast, and almost constantly there is crowd involvement with quizzes, sing / clap along’s, mexican waves and other general shenanigans.
The game I watched was Yankee’s v. Oakland Athletics, and while it was a bit of a white wash towards the end in favour of NY it was still an enjoyable watch. I saw a couple of good double plays and a whopping home run from Posada.
The ground is amazing. Situated in the Bronx the new Yankee Stadium is MA-HOOS-SIVE with a capacity of around 53,000. It is well organised and laid out, with HD screens everywhere, heaps of kiosks and views are great from pretty much anywhere, including the nosebleeds where I managed to score a seat. Getting in and out of the ground took no time at all, and the Subway at 161st street is right at the gates.
Overall the atmosphere is what made the night. The crowd was energetic and positive. Music got people up and dancing between plays and one highlight was when YMCA came blasting over the PA and even the ground crew got involved with the dance. Funniest stuff I have seen in a while. When I look at the photos I still can’t believe I am doing this, it seems unreal.
Central Park
Once again rain has followed me on my adventure and a trip to Central Park turned into a 100 block swim through pouring rain.
In the moments when the rain let up a little I did manage to a few shots of the beautiful park that runs down the middle of Manhattan. The park is huge, around 843 acres and I only managed to walk through about half of it before the rain really started coming down. It runs for around 50 blocks from W 59th in the south to W 110th in the North. The park was commissioned in 1853 as an oasis from the busy city. Before that people would congregate in any open space available, including cemeteries just to get away from the noisy town.
The Park is a mix of dense vegetation and winding paths (such as the Ramble) to landscaped gardens, open fields and sporting areas. It is very peaceful and beautiful. One day soon, if the weather clears up I’ll visit the rest of the park that I missed out on seeing. I hope you enjoy my overcast photos!
New York, New York
So I’ve been in the States for around 3 days now. Arriving in JFK airport I spent around a hour trying to find an Internet Cafe to print out my bus pass so I could leave the terminal. I didn’t really feel like I was in NYC until our bus hit the Van Wyck. Seeing that sign made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. As we crested a hill the Manhattan Skyline appeared and I went all gooey.
In the short amount of time I have been here so far I’ve seen heaps of Manhattan, I’ve caught the Statten Island Ferry, visited cool bars, watched Hip Hop Open Mike till 4am, had an awesome burger in downtown, seen the WTC site, been to the Chrysler, Empire State and Rockerfeller buildings, jumped in Grand Central Station and wandered the Natural History Museum. Best of all though is seeing Tom’s Restaraunt, the diner from Seinfeld. Major life goal completed with one short subway ride.
I’ll be heading into Central Park today for a bit of a walk. I still have so much to see but I know one thing for sure. New York is my kind of place.
Paris
My final stop in my European Adventure was Paris, but to get there was always going to be a mission.
After travelling through the very cool Liechtenstein, up in Germany to stay a night a Munich I jumped my final ever Busabout Bus. I was fairly lucky because, while it is a long bus, requiring a driver change I managed to get both Zoltan and Owen for my drivers: two of my favourites of the service. The drive from Munich to Paris took us from 8 am through till 9pm, nearly 12 hours of constant bus, punctuated by short rest stops with nothing really look at apart from boring flat french farmland.
It wasn’t until I got my gear into my hostel, had a rest and ventured out the next day that I really started enjoying Paris. While the disgusting smell of urine punctuates every corner of the city, the beauty of the place over powers it. The architecture, the city planning and the history combine to make for a wonderful city.
One of my favourite moments in Paris came in my second night and involved catching up with Sophia, Ben and little Max at a tapas restaurant in the heart of Paris. It was a great evening and Max has grown up heaps. Last time I saw him he was still pretty much just a poop machine!
During most of my time in Paris I wandered the city by day, did a walking tour with New Paris, made new friends and then more friends. We adventured to the Eiffel Tower at night, drank wine and enjoyed the lightshow. The next day I went wandering with some people from my room, checked out the Notre Dame and caught more of the city.
My final night in Paris I took part in a Fat Tire Night Bike, by far the highlight of my time in the city. Guided by the very cool, very chilled and very Californian Billy we wove through the streets of Paris in the gathering dusk. We saw the sun set through the pyramid at the Louvre, caught a boat cruise and drank wine as the Eiffel Tower lit up and still made it home before 12. Billy even taught me the ways of the Segway, something he said to keep on the down low.
The next day I caught the Eurostar First Class across the channel, waving a fond goodbye to Europe and the adventures I had there. I hope the US is just as exciting.
I was unfortunately feeling poorly for most of my time in Paris, so I didn’t get to do everything that I wanted to do, but I’ll be back again some day for sure. For those wanting to experience what was going through my head the whole time I walked Paris, just hit play on the video clip after the jump. I dare you to try and get that tune out of your head without a spoon!
Busabout
Probably the single greatest descision I made on my Odyssey so far was to jump on a Busabout coach, rather than buy myself a Eurorail Pass.
For those who don’t know Busabout is a service that runs a series of busses in constant loops around regions in Europe. They operate three main loops, North, South and West and offer a range of options for how you would like to tackle these routes.
The main benefit I thought intially was the flexibility it provided. You’re not locked into any particular schedule (other than the days the buses will be in your area) and you don’t need to follow any specific set route. If you want to skip a whole section and meet up with a bus a few countries away you can do that. While this was a bonus it wasn’t the be-all and end-all.
I then thought it was the convenience the bus provided. Being dropped right at the door of a hostel, bags all secure and after having had a nice relaxing bus ride is pretty awesome. Every bus has an awesome driver and talented guide who are always willing to help, but in the end it wasn’t this that has cemented busabout as my mode of travel of choice.
No it was the passengers. Each bus saw you meet up with new people, all who seemed like minded. Everyone was out to find their own adventure and have fun in the process. Busabout isn’t the boozy shagfest that Contiki and Top Deck are known for. You wont find (that many) deadhead 18 yearolds spending their parents money. I met awesome people with every bus ride, I longed for the busses to arrive at my hostels to see what old and new friends it might bring. Stories were swapped, tips made, drinks shared and friendships founded.
I had a fantastic time on Busabout, and anyone wishing to travel around Europe I can’t recommend the service enough. Infact I’m gonna apply for a Guide job the moment I hit Australia. I can’t get enough.
To my favorite busabout crew members: Zoltan, Nicola, Coops, Owen, Ben and the irrepressible Lucash. Thank you!