Originally uploaded by chris.warn
Long time no blog, but we have covered a few more miles, another country and even lost and regained our camera (hence no recent entry). We left Chicago and headed briefly South and then West, passing through the towns of Paw Paw, Climax and Kalamazoo. We had a look at Indiana (very quickly) dan, dan, dan, dan, dan, da, da (raiders of lost arc theme) and then Michigan. Didn’t see much of the state really, mostly on the motorway which got increasingly poor the further North we travelled. In Lansing we went through a huge deluge of rain and lightning a bit scary on the motorway (talking of weather, nearby Flint suffered the deadliest tornado in US history in 1953, killing 115 people) and then stopped off in Flint, founded in 1819 by a fur trader called Jacob Smith. The next day was 2 weeks to home time, so we felt the need to drive to Canada – Before that I let Soph loose in a Mall for a couple of hours, you could almost see her heart beating in her chest when I went to drag her away from the TV section. Passed through Port Huron and then into a big queue for the border to Canada. When we got to the gate, got another stamp and a series of harsh questions by the stern customs guy, all he needed was a tache, a pair of polaroid shades and some form of whip. Eventually let through and into Canada, straight into another traffic jam. Then on road, with great Canadian views, lakes filled with lillies, grasses and dead trees – but no Mooses or Beavers! We were staying with two guys Murray and Harvey (who we met in NZ way back when), thanks to their directions we steamed through Toronto to their house in the Cabbagetown district. So called because it used to be poor and a bit of an Irishtown, where all the residents grew their own cabbages to ward off starvation. Now filled with lovely Victorian housing with a distinctive style and metropolitan air (the area even has its’ own flag). The city itself sits on the banks of Lake Ontario and has a beautiful string of islands just off the coast and its’ central point is the tallest building in the world (for the moment) the CN tower at 553.33m, this central pinnacle gives the city the air of a large sailing ship from a distance. We were welcomed with open arms and huge sized cocktails – marvellous. Great to catch up eating and drinking and laughing.
Next day we were very excited as we were off to Niagra Falls, but first a visit to a vineyard in the Niagra on the Lake district, which is a quaint and manicured area, reminds me a bit of Henley. These two fellas were great company (and extremely silly) and even though we saw more traffic jams, the trip flew past. We passed the huge lock system that parallels the Niagra river, bringing merchant vessels through from the Atlantic, down the River Lawrence, into Lake Ontario and through to Lake Eerie and Chicago/Detriot. Didn’t realise that the Welland Canal was so important to US and Canada. We stopped off at the Peller Estates, one of a series of vaunted winerys which have unique weather conditions which allow the vines to grow, the escarpments in the area creating the required relief. It was a young vineyard only started in 1994 and they specialise in cabernet sauvignons and rieslings and Ice Wine. Never seen the latter before, but it’s made with grapes grown in the winter/autumn months. They let these ones go and as soon as the temperature hits -10′C and that’s pretty cold, the pickers come out grab the grapes and produce the wine. The extreme cold, concentrates the sugars in the grape and allows for this sweet, delicious wine – it was really, really good and we had to drag ourselves away from the tasting to stop any embarrassment! We ate in the restaurant, a bloke called Jason Parsons (Canadian TV chef) doing the menu. The food was phenomenal, and I’ve included a picture of my pudding, the richest choc cake ever tasted. We drank Pinot Gris and laughed a lot, once tipsy, Harvey drove us back through the town of Niagra by the Lake where they were having a peach festival?? On to Niagra, passing a statue of General Brock one of only a few successful Brit soldiers in War of Independence. On his plinth he looks down on the river and an area called the whirlpool, which was our first stop and a place where we got to see the thundering power of the river. Further down is the Falls themselves, not much to say really. The area is very touristy as you’d expect. If you look to the river it’s beautiful, but behind you loom lots of restaurants, hotels and a Casino! We walked up close to the water at Suicide Point , staring up river to the rapids and down to where the green, sheen of water curves over the precipice and plummets down, throwing up a huge plume of mist. It’s good. As we walked downwind to see American Falls further down river, we found that the mist is thrown back onto the walkway and we got soaked! Come to sunny Canada they said. Storm really broke on the way home and more heavy rain forced us in doors to eat pizza and watch a taped version of Beijing Olympics opening ceremony – good wasn’t it?
Sad farewell the next day and after a look around the district of cabbagetown and the waterfront, we were off to Ottowa – but not so fast, on way there we realised we had forgotten our camera (major piece of kit on our trip) in Toronto – bummer! This means we have no photos to show you of Ottowa, which is a shame because it is a truly beautiful city, right up there in parts with Paris! We arrived in Gatineau, on the Quebec side of the River Ottowa, late and after a Thai meal got an early night, it felt strange not taking phots of things! The next day we visited the Canadian Museum of Civilisation. A very cool look at how Canada has got where it is today. Fascinating, from a physical look at First Nation boats, weapons, totem poles and huts, through to a look at the people themselves. We certainly didn’t know that so many of the locals here fought in the First World War. The normal shameful picture of the Europeans abusing the hospitality offered by these people in the 1700s, was painted and we walked around some of the exhibits in silence, pretty bad. BUT the First Nation has now grabbed the situation and is a growing community, which has embraced its’ culture and stands by it, a strong part of Canada. Captain James Cook was up in these parts in 1774, naming Friendly Bay – he sure got around!
After this we didn’t stay, which was my fault really, Soph wanted to because Ottowa looked even more picturesque in the sunshine. But no, we were back on road, heading south over the border and into New York State to a place called Lake Placid (no crocs). Pleasant wooded area with the US’s winter olympics training set up here, but weather still a bit iffy (the US is going through its’ 10th wettest summer on record, so far). We didn’t hang around and the next day we drove to the Boston outskirts to settle up in Bedford and collect our camera from Eileen, a friend of Murray and Harvey (they kindly UPS’d it over).
Our trip into Boston was amazing, again an American big city has maintained and encouraged a great tourism industry. We used tube, bus and trolley to get around from Harvard University to the ship the USS Constitution. A day where we felt we learnt huge amounts, not least from the old guys driving the trolleys around, who kept up a running commentary. Here are 7 of our favourite facts:
1. Washington ran the British troops out of Boston in 1776.
2. The statue of Harvard in Harvard Yard is called the statue of 3 lies, first lie it’s not Harvard, someone else sat for him, second he is not the founder, he was the benefactor, third the Uni wasn’t founded in 1638 it was 1636 – all in all a poor effort.
3. The USS Constitution (oldest commissioned ship afloat in the world launched 1797) was called ‘Old Ironsides’ by British sailors who couldn’t understand why their cannonballs bounced off the sides, ship is just made of strong white oak.
4. General Joseph Hooker, a hero of the Civil War, used to enjoy the company of nefarious women. These girls were nicknamed Hooker’s Ladies, this was shortened to Hookers. IT’S TRUE!
5. Oldest pub still standing in Boston is called The Warren Tavern built in 1770.
6. The Pilgrims left Plymouth to arrive in 1630 at the behest of a man called William Blackstone, a preacher who first settled the Boston area. When they arrived he got quickly bored with them apparently and sold his land to them and headed inland. This land is now known as Boston Common.
7. Ho Chi Minh worked as a pastry chef in Boston before becoming a demi-god.
At the end of the day we dined in a place called the Red Hat Cafe in the Old Scollay’s Square region and then had a beer or two in a pub built in 1775, not bad. A fun, tiring day.
The next, not so much fun at all as we just drove from Boston to Philadelphia on the way to Washington to celebrate Soph’s birthday tomorrow in the USA’s capitol city. The only thing of note happening today was the storm that has just passed through here (Wilmington), gales, fat, warm rain and lots and lots of lightning – fantastic looking at it through our motel window. We have also just heard a loud siren alarm go off and thinking it might be a serious storm warning or tornados or something, we have just rung the reception to be told it’s the fire station alarm next door to our motel. These motels are cheap but they’re always next door to something noisy airports/train tracks/nightclubs.
Looking forward to tomorrow, a few treats for Sophs and a look at Washington – how cool is that.
