Friday, December 17, 2010

final note part 3

part 3: across canada (vancouver to halifax) II

where were we..? ah, saskatoon! the prairies! the flat lands of canada and the bread basket of the world, where you can grow anything you'd like, but for the most part the farmers stick to wheat, corn and canola. blah. anyways, let's move westwards:

day 11: saskatoon, sk to wasagaming, mb riding mountain national park (> banff national park)+swimming in the clear lake (really clear!)+getting eaten by mosquitos, which in some cases resembled birds not insects+thunderstorm in the tent (we have gotten washed off and decided to leave one day earlier)+but seriously, if i was to choose one favorite place i had visited during this trip wasagaming would top it!
clear lake, riding mountain national park

day 12: wasagaming, mb to winnipeg, mb
packing in the rain+meeting a crazy couple offering us a place to stay in their tent for the second night and then travel on with them to winnipeg (we refused for time was pressing, but i admit it was very tempting)+ discovering the kindness of the canadian people (yet again!)+to be specific we had gotten our food microwaved in a grocery store...
sad to leave wasagaming

day 13: winnipeg, mb to gimli, mb & back
some city life again+saint boniface cathedral in the french part of winnipeg, looking well medival and celtic+the forks and the granville island-like market (that's where two rivers meet in winnipeg; it was named hastily, but the name stuck)+amazing couchsurfers baking muffins for us+trip to gimli (the icelandic settlement at the shore of the lake winnipeg with the largest dwarf statue in the world)+checking out the theatre fringe festival in the forks ("look ma, no hands!")+exchange district
gimli himself with 4 brave couchsurfers

day 14: winnipeg, mb to thunderbay, on
nightbussing to thunderbay+crossing the midpoint in the middle of the night
portage at main in winnipeg, mb
apparently the windiest intersection in the world


day 15: thunderbay, on
true "middle of nowhere" kind of experience+the great lakes start here (lake superior first!)+watery coffee at the only coffee shop opened downtown+3 hours spent in the local library (plane tickets from halifax to toronto booked!)+lunch in the park+frustration with lack of food (as defined in the former post)+dinner at the bus station
watery coffee in a self-made mug

day 16: thunderbay, on to sault-ste marie, on "velorution" campsite for free (one of the couchsurfers recommended us this campsite run by a bikeshop, outside sault-ste marie; usually they host bikers who travel across canada, but since we had no car they accepted us as well!)+rotary festival in town+going back into the 50s with an awesome dinner at Muio's restaurant in a booth+long, long stroll along st mary's river banks
muio's restaurant

day 17: sault-ste marie, on to ottawa, on (through sudbury, on)
walking the empty streets of sault-ste marie to catch the early mornin' bus+wandering around the capital+stinky place of a couchsurfer (cat pee is not fun when it is not cleaned up), fortunately only one night there
brigdehead coffehouse in ottawa

day 18: ottawa, on to kingston, on bridgehead cafe+walking the streets of kingston (very victorian, you must realize), the first capital of canada+canoeing around in the lake ontario+sunny, sunny, sunny+couchsurfing+playing boardgames and drinking beers
canoeing on the waters of lake ontario

day 19: kingston, on to ottawa, on to montreal, qb much traveling, lots of walking & in the meantime checking out the parliament buildings in ottawa (the clash of glass and steel with victorian bricks)
canadian parliament:
the clash of glass and steel with victorian bricks


day 20: montreal, qb
confronting the french speaking canadians+lunch at soupe/soupe+montreal vieux+cars getting smaller+chilling with anna & emily, co-years from uwc+quebecois cinema: "les amoures imagineres"
i don't speak french, but i think someone meant to say:
"don't park here, please"