Hi everyone - hope you are well. Sorry for not doing an update for you for a week or so but I have a nice long one for you now! Where to start...
Well last Monday evening I joined in with the hostel's quiz night and was totally randomly assigned a team containing two other kiwis. I am very proud to say that Team New Zealand took out a win and I now have two hostel meal vouchers burning a hole in my pocket... to be honest they are burning a hole because none of the food appeals at all but hey, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth!!!
Victoria and I went to the Toronto Zoo last Tuesday and had a great day out there - it is a mammoth effort to get out there (about an hour and half each way I reckon) but it is a great zoo without a doubt. I will hopefully get some pics up for you in the next few days of the Polar Bears, Flamingos, Reindeer, Snow Leopards and all the rest of the gang we saw.
Wednesday was a hard out job application day in preparation for a guilt-free weekend off in Ottawa - the good news is that I have an interview this week for some government work so we may not have to resort to Tim Hortons... send me some good luck vibes in your sleep on Thursday night please!!!
I said goodbye to Victoria Thursday morning and jumped on the Greyhound to head north to Ottawa to see Kylie, Rowan and baby bump Betts. The drive up was about five hours but passed pretty quickly with the beautiful views of the fall leaves and lakes. The lovely Kylie met me off the bus and we spent Thursday night hanging out at their apartment in down town Ottawa and doing a bit of a drive around to help me get my bearings.
On Friday I missioned around Ottawa and took in Parliament Hill, the locks and canal, the museum of contemporary photography and the museum of civilisation (the canadian Te Papa). The highlight was probably the Bytown Market area with all the stalls and people and the delicious local treat of Beaver Tails (sort of a mix of donut and pancake and VERY tasty!). Friday night we headed off to the ice hockey and saw the Ottawa Senators lose - well to be honest Kylie and I were gas-bagging and didn't quite realise that the game was done and that the Sens had lost BUT that is definitely what happened! It was very cool to see the game and check out the atmosphere.
Kylie and Rowan were great tour guides and gave up their weekend to ferry me around - we checked out the Governor General's place (not as nice as Dame Silv's) and the RCMP stables - home of the mounties and the musical ride. This is where this tale turns sad ladies and gents... the thing is... I am over mounties. They wear funny pants, they have bad facial hair, they are short and the ones with horses don't actually do any policing for the three years they are with the musical ride... plus there were none there to look at. Suggestions for who I should stalk now (other than Vince Vaughn of course) greatly appreciated!
Saturday night I gate-crashed a party with Rowan and Kylie and met some of their fab friends. I tried raclette for dinner - which is basically melted cheese, grilled at the table and served over veges and potatos. It was delicious and I recommend giving it a whirl if you get the chance ever!
Sunday we headed to Quebec to check out Montreal... Montreal was a beautiful city with lovely old buildings and very european feel. The Notre Dame Basillica (where Celine Dion got married) is totally gorgeous, as was the view from Mont-Royal.
Today I waved goodbye to my fantastic hosts and caught my bus back to reality - Toronto seems like a big and sort of plain city after the prettiness of Ottawa and Montreal but I still have lots of it to explore so no judgements yet!
I hope you are all well - write more soon!
Clare
