Lordy, Lordy, Lordy I do not like this town. I love the Falls, but this city is so irritating. The day wasn’t all bad, let me tell you about it. We slept for a really really long time. No joke this time. We didn’t wake up until almost noon. We didn’t even leave the hotel until 1. We went to a breakfast buffet that was advertised for $6.99. Of course, when you ask questions in NF you barely get an answer, let alone eye contact. So I asked if breakfast was still going on and she told me they were open until 2. That’s good to know, but not what I asked. Anyway, breakfast was still going on. So the waitress comes up and asks us if we want coffee, and then pours us little cups of coffee. It tasted horrible, but that was besides the point. I then asked if I could get a glass of water, and apparently they don‘t have running water there, so I had to get bottled. After all was said and done, our bill was over $40.00. The little cups of nasty coffee? Over $3 a piece. My water was $3 as well. And of course the woman didn’t care when I complained about it, and was only concerned that we didn’t have a paper bill yet, since the waitress hadn’t given it to us. Not concerned in that she was sorry it had taken so long, just concerned because she didn’t have it and she had to be the one waiting.
Then we took Jake to the Skylon tower. He didn’t want to do CN tower in Toronto, but wanted to try this. He did it! It was an amazing view and we got great pictures. Anyway, they advertised that if you paid to go up you could see this 4D movie about the Falls for half price. So I walk up to the ticket counter and ask if we could still take advantage of that deal since we already had our tickets. The man told us yes, but that we could just get our tickets at the theater, which was outside, around the corner and down some stairs. We trek over there, walk up to the window and…the guy said that we couldn’t. The other person said they might be able to if they refunded our tickets and we re-purchased the combo, but we would have to have the manager do it, who was all the way back in the main building. So then we went across the street to get drinks. We eat got a pop and Jake and I got ice cream cones…for $17! They were little gas station ice cream cones. AHHHHH.
Anyway, let’s move on to some positivity, because I’m tired of complaining. We were to the Greg Frewin magic show tonight and it was really cool. They had three different tigers and some really awesome Macaw birds. Then Jake went back to the hotel and Jacob and I went to the casino. We took a whopping $15 and came back with $7 in winnings. We’re that good.
We head home tomorrow. I am excited to see my dogs. I miss them. And I really want to pig out on food. It’s so expensive here and I hate spending a ludicrous amount on food, so I just want to eat! Jake wants to go to Orlando next vacation but I don’t know. I’ve been there twice and I don’t know if I can stomach it again.
As I always do, I will list what we have learned from this trip:
1. Pack more snacks! Walking so much we get so hungry, and even though I bought lots of snacks to bring with, we ran out very fast and everything costs more in the city.
2. Pack bandaids/nail clippers/tweezers – little things that seem funny to pack but we always end up needing.
3. Order passes for public transit ahead of time so Jacob doesn’t make us walk.
Today has been a really awesome day. We left Toronto at about noon and headed off to Niagara. Let me tell you - Good Friday is no joke here in Canada. In America nothing is closed, often the only reasons there is no school is because it's spring break. Here it is insane. There are no grocery stores, no restaurants, no nothing open. It's like an Easter Christmas. I was not expecting that. I knew it was Good Friday, but did not expect people to actually observe it I guess. lol
So we got into Niagara a little before two. This place is cement city...it reminds me of Orlando and Mackinac City (as weird a combination as that is) I mean that in that it's all tourism all the time. Everything is there because it can be overpriced and sold to people who think it's the greatest plan ever OMG! I can go on an indoor safari? Say it isn't so! I shall pay a ridiculous amount for my child to experience that because it's a SAFARI! Make sure you buy the souvenir hat on your way out too gullible ones.
I say that, but my child saw the billboard for indoor skydiving. He very much wanted to do that, and guess what the so very reasonable price is for that? $70 for...drum roll....a whopping three minutes! No. We did not pay for that. I'm one of those mean moms.
Anyway, we went to the Falls. And we have awesome pictures, however one of the many things that I hate about this hotel (I feel that this post will be a lot of bitching, so bear with me) is that the internet is horrendous. Like will barely load Twitter horrendous. We went down to the Welcome Centre and checked it out. I love that Jake loves it here. I have always been mesmerized by the Falls, and this is my third time here. I spoke with a husband and wife today who live in Toronto and come to see them about 6 times a year, they just love seeing them.
We then went to see American Reunion. We have known for a long time that it was going to be in theatres while we were on vacation, so we planned it into our activities. That and we are huge movie buffs anyway, and this is the third time we have seen a movie on this vacation. We average at least once a week in our at home off season as it is. The movie was really good. It was great to see the original cast again.
Jacob and I took a walk when we got back to see the Falls at night. They have lights that show up underneath and it looks really neat. It was hard to get good pics of it at night because we couldn't get as close as we were earlier, but hopefully they turned out okay.
But let me tell you, this hotel sucks. it's the Radisson at Niagara Falls, and one would think that because it's a Radi it would be nice. The hotel itself is nice, but the people working here blow turkey sandwiches. The manager is the rudest of them all, and I don't get that. We have never been to a hotel where they didn't try to check us in early. We showed up around 2 and the manager just said: "Check in is at 4." When we came back, she took the credit card that Jacob handed her for security deposit, then made him bring me forward because it had my name on it. I told her it was mine and showed her my ID. Then I walked back to our suitcases. She made me walk back there because she wouldn't hand my card back to Jacob, she had to hand it to me. Even though she saw him take it out of his wallet and even though I confirmed it was mine, she had to make me walk across the room just to hand it to me. You know what I did? I handed it right to Jacob, right in front of her face.
On top of that, there was a man two desks down checking in. The woman kept telling him that he had to give a $200 CASH deposit for security. He kept asking why he had to leave that much cash. She kept telling him the room was paid for but she needed a cash deposit. He didn't have the cash on him and told her that, so after about 5 times of him questioning it and saying he didn't have the cash, she offered for him to do it on a credit card. WTH? We didn't even get asked for just cash, they just asked for a credit card, but she gave him so much crap about not having cash. Another woman was being super rude to another customer because her husband parked the car in the wrong spot. Chill out peeps. Take a breather.
Tomorrow we plan to see the Butterfly Conservatory, Skylon Tower, The Hershey Store and a magic show! It will be a very busy last day.
SDTF:
1. Canada's side of Niagara Falls is so much better. But everybody knows that.
2. Sortie means exit in French. You would have to be dumb not to catch onto that since it's on all the exits around here.
3. The Incline Railroad people at the Welcome Centre don't think it's funny when you try to tell them that you're 4 and therefore free to ride (Jake tried this, guy had no sense of humor)
Last night we went to bed and had no idea what we were going to do today. We had the idea of going to CN tower, but Jake is scared of heights and didn't want to try it. Tanya had the great idea of the Toronto Zoo, so we considered that. In the end, Jacob woke up with a really sore back and thought he could possibly have kidney stones (or kidney scones as he referred to it as....). Luckily he does not, but it made for a lazy day.
Jacob didn't much leave the hotel room except for to go across the street to McDonalds to get food. On a side note, how can one place screw your order up so badly? Oh my gosh. Yesterday I stopped there to get food late at night because both Jake and Jacob were hungry. I ordered two meals and some McDoubles (off the $1.39 menu, different than the dollar menu we have at home) then I told them that I actually didn't want the meal for one of the nuggets, just the nuggets. So they give me no nuggets at all. WTH? Not what I asked for. Today I asked for the muffin/small coffee combo and they thought I said coffee cake muffin, so that's what they gave me. No! Coffee AND muffin! I thought it was weird when they didn't ask what kind of muffin I wanted and just picked two. Then I asked if I could sub for a blueberry and they told me they didn't have one. Then what is that blueberry muffin that's sitting right there??? Ahh. It's my fault for going to McDonalds, and especially for allowing my loved ones to eat those nasty nuggets made out of slime.
Jake and I went to Eaton Centre. He found something for his girlfriend, which I will refrain from exposing since she so kindly reads my blog. But he did good, and I'm sure she will enjoy it. It was from a store called Garage, which has a lot of nice girl stuff, but Jake was the only one of the male species there, so mom got to carry the bag around the mall. lol
You know what I love about Canada? Much Music. It's so much better than MTV because they actually play music. They play music AND they have pop up video. And they have such good music. They have most of the same stuff that we have in the USA, but they have other ones like Hedley and Gotye that are really good. Their studio isn't far from our hotel, we passed it the other day.
You know what I don't love about Canada? The fact that they all obey traffic laws when walking and I have an inability to do so. At home, if the light says not to walk but it's clear, we walk anyway. Here, they wait. And then I look like a jackass who can't follow directions. Also, I jay-walk. They don't like that here, as Jason the walking tour guy told me. I need to do as the Canadian's do and follow the laws.
You know what else I love about Canada? Just-eat.ca. You type in the first three digits of the postal code where you are and they have lists of restaurants that deliver and you can order food right from there. Quite convenient, although the restaurant we picked, Mr. Sub, was right across the street, so we just walked over there.
I also forgot to tell the story of the awkward date that we witnessed in Kensington Market yesterday. At the restaurant we ate at, we sat next to this man and woman. He was wearing a very oversized napkin on his shirt (and I'm not sure where he got it, it was much larger than what they provided) and she was very dainty. They were both older, but he was clearly full of himself and thought he was stupendous. There was a lot of awkward silence, and of course we were eavesdropping. Do you know what the guy chose as a conversation piece to break the awkward silence? He chose to ask if she had seen "Jesus Christ, Vampire Slayer". Apparently it's all anyone talks about in Ottawa, and it is very real. She gave an awkward laugh and said he was funny, but he made sure that she knew that it was a very real movie and went full on in a desription of it. Poor woman, I would have faked a stomach ache and ran like hell.
Anyway, I have babbled a lot about our boring day, but I will also say this because it's bugging me. We have not volunteered this vacation. That bothers me a lot. We have volunteered every vacation. I had asked around about a month or so before we left and got a lead on a food bank that allowed volunteers, but then Jake said he wanted to do something different (we often volunteer with the homeless population). He wanted to work in a nursing home. However, we aren't allowed to do that here because it would only be short term and we didn't have time for a background check (which apparently would take 2 months). Then I asked a hospital if we could donate flowers and they turned us down because they can't have live flowers. So I was left with nothing. We did donate to Gilda's Club at Second City, an organization that Gilda Radner started to help families struggling with cancer. Jake, my wonderful, warm hearted son, donated money to a man on the street the other day, and then I gave food to another man yesterday. I just feel bad, especially when I walk by that homeless shelter down the street. I wish I had planned better. I'll know better for next time, because I don't like this feeling.
We are off to Niagara Falls tomorrow for 2 days. Lots to come - including a magic show!
SDTF:
1. The McChicken is a meal here instead of on the dollar menu. And it's much better than at home.
2. We figured it out and gas is over $6 a gallon here.
3. America sucks - Canada is better (compliments of Jake)
On this day there will be no pictures. That is primarily because there aren't many that we actually took, and they aren't really that interesting. That's not to say we did not have a fun day though, because of course we did. We are in Toronto after all.
We slept in really late, and the most annoying thing is that we don't have our cell phones. And we unplugged the alarm clock so we could use the outlet for our laptops. What we do have is a clock outside of our window. It's huge and the exact level of our hotel room window. The first day we thought it to be quite convenient. The second day we discovered it was off by an hour. This morning it was off by 1.5 hours, and this afternoon it was a good 4 hours over. So we thought we had slept in really late this morning but when we opened our laptops we discovered it wasn't as late as we presumed. Fascinating story right? Glad that I told you? I'm sure you're not.
We walked back to Kensington Market and had lunch at a place called Tasty Corner. It was really really good. I had a chicken caesar wrap, Jacob had a Philly Cheesesteak wrap and Jake had a chipotle wrap. It was also one of the cheaper places that we have eaten at. Jake found some jelly beans at a store called Chocolate Addict, so we purchased them for him. That kept him quiet for about 10 minutes.
Then we started walking towards Harbourfront Centre. I had good intentions for this, as they do have some cool things that take place there. I wanted to see this music garden that they have that is designed by Yo Yo Ma, the famous cellist. It was super windy, it was a long walk, and I own a teenager. He was not happy with any of it. Then something flew into my eye so we walked into a store so I could get it out. It was a grocery store that is called Sobey's. Jake then told us that the only things that could possibly make him happy at that time was a taxi ride so he didn't have to walk and coffee. So in order to reduce the whine fest that we were encountering, we succumbed to both of his desires. And Sobey's has really good coffee, and it's reasonably priced too. After I rammed my shin into a shopping basket, we continued on to Harbourfront Centre.
So,...there was nothing going on there. Nope. Nothing. Sunday there was a lot, but we didn't go there then. We did see the water, and Jake tried to come to a bird's aid by opening the doors and laying in between them to try to get the little bird out of the building. After about 10 minutes of this, Jacob and I were ready to continue on, but Jake was perservering. So we walked out the door and one of the workers walked in. She said something to Jake about propping the door open with a trash can, and then asked if "those people" were being assholes to him. He said no, we were his parents. She then apologized, as she should have. Geez. Jerkface. Also, I discovered that the garden I wanted to see was a 15 minute walk in the opposite direction, so I gave up on that.
Anyway, after Jake's desired taxi ride we went back "home" to the hotel. I fell asleep watching youtube videos with Jake and then we went to see Titanic in Imax 3D. It was the first time any of us have seen an Imax movie. We are actually getting a theatre close to home, and there is one in Grand Rapids, we've just never done it. It was really clear and the 3D was actually really good in this one. It wasn't obnoxious, it was just subtle, and I liked that. What I didn't like was the prices - the tickets for all 3 of us were $56.00 and then snacks were $27. I swear that if one of us had fallen asleep during that 3 hour movie I would have freaked out.
I just went out to McDonalds to get us some food and there is a homeless guy that has a sign that says: "McHungry and not lovin it." I got him some food when I went in. Also, down the road there is a homeless shelter, I think it's just a day shelter, like a soup kitchen, but people were trying to get in and they must have been out of food because the door was locked and they (the recipients waiting outside) were so upset. It was heartbreaking. It made me want to run out and get food for all of them, but there were so many, and they seemed so desperate, pounding on the door. It makes me so grateful for what I have.
I have no idea what we will be doing tomorrow. We considered the CN tower, but I think we're going to pass. We'll just have to see what the day brings.
Casa Loma!
Jake looking pensive at the castle.
Awesome photo taken by my gorgeously talented son.
Listening to the audio tour.
Toronto as seen by the top of the Casa Loma.