CANADA!

While my mom was visiting me from California, we decided to drive to Toronto. It was a good 9 hour drive from Chicago. We went with my car, which I have had for a little over 11 years. It was my first car that I had gotten when I was 16 (so not the most stable thing). Anyway, it was a fun drive to Toronto. We stayed at the King Edward which is a 4 star hotel in the financial district in downtown Toronto. It is not a modern hotel but it is very nice.

We did a lot of walking. We walked from our hotel to the Eaton Center – which is a mall with pretty nice stores and clothing. I find that the clothes in Toronto are much nicer than the clothes in Chicago. There are a lot of French influenced stores, even though some are a bit pricy.

While we were at the Eaton Center, there was a protest outside that weekend. The Canadian Tamils were protesting for pretty much the whole week. There were a series of protests, demonstrations, and public chains regarding the genocide of Sri Lankan Tamil people in the northern province of Sri Lanka. The police were ready on the street just in case… It was interesting because the days we were there, the television channels had special reports, documentaries, and information on not only the protests, but a background of the people and the reason the protests were happening. At the same time, in America, Americans were not being informed of this genocide and what was happening in that part of the world. While we were near the demonstration, we weren’t aware of what was going on. But the minute we got back to the hotel, any channel we turned to there were reports of the Tamils. Very informative and a great change from US news.

The next day we decided to walk to Chinatown. No one recommended for us to walk being that it was so far. But I feel that when you walk in a city like Toronto, you are able to see more and really get to experience the city. So it took us a good 45 minutes to an hour to get to Chinatown, but it was well worth it. The amount of inexpensive fresh produce on the street was unbelievable. Anything you can imagine was being sold and for cheap! The Chinatown in Chicago is nothing, not even a quarter of the Chinatown in Toronto. So it was great and we did a lot of shopping. Right near Chinatown is Kensington Market. Kensington Market is nice to walk and have coffee and some pastry. There are fresh produce, handmade jewelry, bakeries, bars, and coffee shops, just a lot of nice places to sit, order a drink, and watch people walk by. There is a Jamaican patty shop there too which I love, because the patties good, warm, and inexpensive.

The Saturday that we were in Toronto, we went to Niagara Falls. It is about an hour from Toronto. We went with my friend Neetu, who lives in Toronto. It was a very nice day. A bit on the cold side, but nothing we couldn’t handle.

We decided to do the boat ride that takes you close to the Falls. You get pretty wet, but it is worth the experience.

The Falls are beautiful, but when you stand back and take a look at it and think about it, it is scary and dangerous too. The amount of force and the speed that the water falls creates its beauty but also can kill.

I had done the boat ride before but I wanted my mom to experience it. She absolutely loved it. It was the highlight of her entire trip. Oh, the Canadian side is so much better than the US side, so if you ever go, go to the Canada side.

I really love Toronto. It is diverse, there is a lot of culture, and if you like the European feel, it is alive in Toronto. Besides the tax being so high (I think 13%), Toronto is a nice place to visit, and for sure a nice place to live.