4 Canadian Cities....
We visited 4 Canadian cities on our honeymoon.
Montreal was unimpressive, drab, grey and conctrete. The Hotel St Denis was very basic, but it did have a huge comfy bed, which was it's one saving grace! Halifax was wonderful; the city and the people. We will be going back. The Lord Nelson Hotel was classy, comfortable and convenient. Quebec was far more picturesque than Montreal, with older more elegant buildings. The Chauteau Laurier Hotel was very well equipped and comfortable, even though our room was a little cold and dark. Toronto was big, bright, bustling and sprawling. Bond Place Hotel was basic but had everything we needed and was very central.
Click on the links to go to our picture gallery....
- Montreal, 6th ~ 9th April
| 6th April: Flight from Heathrow was delayed by about 2 and a half hours. It was a good flight and the food was nice! Premium seats made a big difference and we must have slept for a good few hours. The hotel is basic but ok. Staff are pleasant but their English seems limited. (Hotel St Denis, Room 411) |
| 7th April: Breakfast is served in the restaurant next door, 'Pacinis'. Their 'all you can eat' DIY 'Bread Bar' is a stroke of genius! Getting around on the Metro (tube) seems really easy but there does not seem to be much to do in Montreal. There is a distinct lack of children here; saw two kindergarden troops out walkingbut no teenagers! Notre Dame Basilica was extremely impressive. The atmosphere inside was warm, calm, peaceful and safe. The glow of the many candles was beautiful. We lit 2 candles in purple holders. Had a very tasty lunch in the Complex Desjardins. Had a delicious ice-cream in one of the underground shops. Looks like there is a university across the road from the Hotel. Had a lovely dinner at Pacinis. Went for a walk up the street past countless eateries. Stopped for a hot chocolate at 'Second Cup' and home to bed. |
| 8th April: Had breakfast at Pacinic then went out and discovered the main shopping, St Catherine's Street just around the corner from the hotel. Bustling streets with clothes shops, coffee houses, dentists and opticians! Lots of the cars have bug deflectors on their bonnets - look wierd! Sat and had tea in another 'Second Cup' and watched a post van driver hit a pick-up! Luckily she'd hit the wheel! Walked up and down St Catherine's Street and stopped in an underground food hall for lunch. Everywhere seems quite laid back; no jostling on the streets and all eateries are very laid back. Outside is quite cold but inside is very warm. Had dinner in the cafe adjoining the hotel, 'Cafe Kilo' and a nice carrot cake, heavy on the walnuts! Everywhere bar a few exceptions, plays the most awful musak; badly played jazz! |
- Halifax, 9th ~ 12th April
| 9th April: Flight to Halifax wasn't great and we had to sit apart; was very hot. Took a limo for $53 to the hotel. Wonderful scenery of trees and lakes on the way to the city, along long straight roads. Limo driver, Roy, took us to see the main downtown sites for reference for the rest of the stay. Beautiful plush hotel and accommodating staff. So much nicer than Montreal already! Had dinner in the traditional British pub inside the hotel (that serves Guinness), 'Victory Arms'. Had the chef's special for desert: chocolate bomb with hard outer choc shell on biscuit base with ice-cream, blueberries and raspberry sauce! Mmmmm!!! (Lord Nelson Hotel, Room ???) |
| 10th April: Went to Pete's Frootique for breakfast and a smoothie. Went down to the main Mac shop past lots of apparently uninhabited houses (later turned out to be student digs). Lovely large houses but in need of paining. Sat in the Park Plaza shopping Centre for a while. Started raining. Can access hotel from the shopping Centre without having to go outside for more than few seconds! Went back to the Mac shop to price up laptops. Went back to the hotel then back to the Mac shop later on. Took a taxi to the Future (electrical) Shop in Dartmouth. Had a bite to eat at the Manchu Wok, MicMac Mall then taxi to hotel. Had dinner at the Victory Arms - lobster bap! |
| 11th April: Had a delicious breakfast at Coras with stunning fruit displays. Went down to the Mac store and finally bought our 2 Mac laptops! Bought laptop bags and hard covers. Tried to do some laundry but failed due to a problem with the hot water, so had it done in the hotel laundry for free. Went for a pedicure at The Summit Spa. Went for dinner at Sushi Nami. Was still hungry so had starters after main course! Went back to the Hotel for decaff Irish coffees and watched Last of the Summer Wine! |
| 12th April:
Had breakfast in the hotel - rice crispies!! Took a taxi
from the hotel with John from Southampton! He's been in Halifax
for 23 years but is still an avid Coronation Street fan! Had his
business card so that when we come back he can take us for a tour
around wider Halifax and surrounding areas. Airport
staff liked my green laptop case! Flight was delayed 35 mins in
Haifax due to a faulty de-icer valve. So we missed our connection
to Quebec. Luggage appears to have gone on ahead! Had a
burger and a 4 hour wait for the next flight. Luckily Montreal airport is not too bad and fairly comfortable |
- Quebec, 12th ~ 16th April
| 12th April: Arrived in Quebec late but grabbed some food and bed! (Chateau Laurier Hotel, Room 293) |
| 13th April: Had breakfast in the hotel and went for a walk. Very bright and cold; needed sunglasses, hats and scarves. Everything white with snow and the pavements slushy. The burnt down tourist information centre is next door to the hotel. It's a terrible sight and such an obvious loss to the area, especially at the 400th anniversary of the city in 2008. Found an indoor market and sat for some hot chocolate across from a delicious looking cake shop. Continued walking and visited some clothes shops; bought a hat for Huw. Sat in St Hubert pub and had dinner whilst watching some more snow fall. Sat in the lounge for the rest of the evening chilling and net surfing. Lovely big double seater sofas for one! Looked for sme property for sale in Halifa and e-mailed some vendors and realtors. |
| 14th April: Woke up late and missed breakfast so went to Cosmos restaurant that serves breakfast untl 2pm. Very colourfull place with coloured windows. Went for a swim in the hotel then went for a walk in the park, towards the citadel walls through the snow. Went back and had dinner at St Hubert Restaurant then went for a side-by-side full body massage at the hotel's Vivaldi Spa. Lovely smelling gel oils and very nice music! |
| 15th April: Had
breakfast in the hotel then walked down towards the ferry terminal and
the citadel. Some lovely old buildings with greening roofs made of
copper, surely hundreds of thousands of pounds in all. Stopped at
the gallery of Inuit Art where they had extremely beautiful stone carved
sculptures, big and small, of animals, eskimo people's and much more. Bought
a t-shirt celebrating Quebec's 400 years and some souvenrs then walked
back up to the hotel for lunch. All of Canada seems to have horse
drawn tourist carriages. We saw one today with a little terrier
all dressed up, riding in the carriage with his horse and human!
Had a sit down in the lounge for a while then ventured to the
out-door hot tub. Had a quick swim then dinner and watched some
TV. |
- Toronto, 16th ~ 19th April
| 16th April: Got up at 7am to ensure we had plenty of time for breakfast before heading to the airport. Quebec airport is very small and more like a shed! Good flight to Toronto in beautiful sunshine. Taxi from the airport to the hotel took ages, but we had a good excursion via downtown Toronto past the CN Tower. Had a late lunch in the hotel restaurant, which was a bit rushed as it closed at 2pm and we didn't get there until about 1.30pm. Went for a walk down Yonge Street, whch is the main shopping street in downtown Toronto and went into the Eaton Centre which is floors and floors of shops and eateries. Bought a top and hoodie in Bebe, which took ages, as the changing rooms were constantly busy. Went back to the hotel for a sleep then went back to the Eaton centre for some chocolates from Godiva; about 5 chocolates for £6, but they were delicious! Tried on some coats in the Eaton centre then went back to the hotel via Subway for supper! Night view from the hotel was impressive. (Bond Place Hotel, Room 1708) |
| 17th April: Got up and had breakfast in the hotel. Seemed like they were under staffed and the muffin was wholemeal with sultanas! Yuck! Walked down Yonge Street, round the corner and to the CN Tower. Got the glass elevator up to the viewing point. Toronto is a sprawling city which goes on for miles. Similar to Tokyo in its sprawling expanse. Good view but was too warm and hazy to be able to se Niagara today. Went down to the glass floor viewing panel. Got the elevator down and headed back to Yonge Street. Stopped for lunch at the Richtree Market Restaurant. An aray of food stalls where you choose your food, get your card swiped with everything you eat and pay for it before you leave. Everything you could think of: pizza, pasta, sushi, seafood, sandwiches, cakes, fruit, salada, beers and wine! Went through the Eaton Centre and had a smoothie whilst sitting by their indoor fountain. Went back to the hotel and slept for an hour while the city beeped, bustled, screeched, shouted and got on below. Went our for dinner to the Hard Rock Cafe. Bought some souvenir t-shirts and had the most boring, tasteless meal since being in Canada. Went for a walk up the other end of Yonge Street, which was far less expensive and a lot more seedy. The call of the Godiva chocolate shop ensnared us once more and we popped into the Eaton Centre and realised that there were large sections of it which we hadn't seen before! Back to the hotel and bed. |
| 18th April: Had breakfast at a decent hour and were collected about 9.45am by the guy from Dollar Thrifty who took us to sign up for our hire car. We jumped into our V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee, hooked up the sat nav and headed out of downtown Toronto along Lake Shore Boulevard and up onto the Gardiner Expressway which took us pretty much all the 90 odd miles to the Falls. Traffic was pretty good but the Canadian speed limits are pretty slow....and ignored by most. Journey took about an hour and a half We arrived in Niagara Falls and drove along the main walkway, along the edge of the falls to the car park. It was almost 21 degrees but the wind and spray being thrown up from the Falls was quite cold. We walked from Canadian Horseshoe Falls, past the American Falls up to Rainbow Bridge. We stopped in a gift shop with a restaurant attached and had a burger watching the Falls in the distance. Had lunch and bought souvenirs. We then walked slowly back to the car and headed back to Toronto. Return journey took about 2 and a half hours as we caught the beginning of rush-hour and stopped to refuel. Driving back along Yonge Street felt quite ordinary. Stayed a while in the hotel, looked at more Halifax realestate, then headed out for dinner. Had a lovely Chinese from the Manchu Wok at the Eaton Centre food hall which was teeming with life at 8.45pm. Stopped on Yonge-Dundas Square to listen to a drummer, watch a magician and see the pavement artist (still) at work. Then headed back to the hotel for our last sleep in Canada (for now!) |
19th
April: Had breakfast and hung around the hotel; very warm.
Ventured out to the Eaton Centre for lunch. Extremely busy
with Saturday shoppers. Went back to the hotel, packed and got a
taci to the airport. Fight once agained delayed bysome 2 and a
half hours, but sat, ate, net surfed and waited for the final leg of
our journey home. |