For The Love of Travel

Arrived at the hotel I’d booked and found myself in a less than savoury part of downtown. Decided to drive around and see if another hotel would take me in….eventually the Travelodge did. Happy girl now.

Went for a walk in the old part of the city (Vieux Montreal) and immediately felt a bit of a Parisienne vibe….gorgeous galleries with expensive art works! Restaurants!! Expensive dress shops that don’t stock a size over 8!! And 19thC building facades with expensive modern apartment development behind. Took a peek.

Enjoyed the lovely Galerie Blanche, with clay and bronze sculptures from Rose-Aimee Belanger…my favourites were titled…’Chocolate Ecstasy’ and ‘Last Cigarette’…the expressions in her work are marvellous. Here’s a link to explain her work……
http://www.mayberryfineart.com/artist/rose-aimee_belangerA

And there was a sculpting/painting duo from Montreal that made me pay attention…..at the LeLux Gallery on Rue St Paul….gorgeous African clay queens in a row, painted in vibrant orange! Love, love, love!

Dinner @ Le Boulingueur Restaurant, yummy cod with leek and mushrooms; creme brûlée with orange…….YUMMMMM!

 

 

 

 

 

 

WOWIE, AWESOME, FABULICIOUS! Yes, I’m afraid we are back to those words…. Niagara is so gorgeous it really takes your breath away, mostly on the Canadian side. That water is falling @ a powerful 60 kms at least, that’s what it’s doing when it approaches the edge anyway. We donned daggy pink plastic sheaths to go on the boat that approaches the waterfall at a safe distance. See that insignificant little black shape in the water?  Yep, that’s us.

The township is really crass and ugly, so we were relieved to travel to the beautiful Niagara on the Lake, with its cute houses, manicured lawns and gorgeous shops…check out http://www.gelatodicarlotta.com. Should have spent a few days here, absolutely lovely.

And on return to Toronto, my appointment with chef Sunsur Lee’s yummy cuisine @ Bent Restaurant, just next door to where I was staying on Dundas West. The duck spring roll and prawns with dumplings were seriously good.

Fully satiated, now off to Montreal.

Took myself to see improv(isation) and sketch comedy at the famous “Second City” last night. Spawning comedians such as John Belushi, Hilda Radner, Dan Akroyd, John Candy, Colin Mochrie, Tina Fey etc…it currently has 4 touring companies operating in North America and 6 casts on Norwegian cruise ships! The cast last night were very entertaining.

Early morning strolling through Chinatown, which offers Vietnamese and Thai delights as well. Some interesting ‘green’ sculpture in the area.

I am one of 2 million people annually that visit the CN tower, with a 350 metre observation deck and glass floor.

Beautiful views this morning of the Art Gallery of Ontario (blue mirror building designed by Frank Gehry), the Centre of Design Uni (the cube on chopsticks building), the golden Royal Canada Bank building and Fairmont hotel ( the Queen stays in little green house on top when she visits), and Centre Island in Lake Ontario, to which I later took a ferry ride. The Toronto yacht club has it’s moorings there.

Lastly, the Distillery complex, a pedestrian village whose cobblestone streets are lined with theatres, galleries, cafés and boutiques.