TRAVEL DIARY: RUNNING THRU THE 6

If there's one thing to know about me, it's that I love to travel and wander around new places. Opening up myself to experience new sceneries, smells, tastes, and cultures always brings me joy and reminds me that as far away and as differently as some people live, we are all striving for the same thing. Travel--at least to me--means learning different perspectives and customs while gaining a more globalized feel in this world as opposed to the nationalistic feel most people who have never travelled abroad may have. You become more connected to the world as a whole as opposed to your immediate surroundings and someplace that used to seem so distant can be sympathized to feel like home. This is what I love about travel; it's ability to change you and your perceptions. I told myself that no matter how short the distance, I will try my best to dedicate my resources to traveling to as many places as I possibly can. One day, I hope to move to another country or complete my master's studies abroad but, for now, mini travel trips are my main source of gaining a sense of the world.

After that long spiel, let's get to my travel diary of my Memorial Weekend trip to Toronto aka Canada's most populous city and the hometown of Drake and Degrassi!


I've travelled to Canada before, several times actually. We have a bunch of family and old family friends from Guyana and Trinidad living up there so my family usually makes a trip once every other year. This year, I was fortunate enough to hitch along for the ride from Jersey to Toronto since the last time I had made the trip was eight years ago (yikes!). I'm definitely more a destination kind of girl than one who enjoys the journey, so I would have much rather preferred to fly but that wasn't an option unfortunately. Nevertheless, eight hours had flown by and several naps were taken when we made it from New Jersey to Eastern Toronto.

Toronto is the cleanest city and metropolitan area I have ever seen in my life; coming from New York I at least expect a whiff of hot garbage or the sight of trash on the sidewalk but I barely saw a hair out of place in this beautiful city. It was gorgeous from the street to the sky and I couldn't believe how amazingly well-kept this place was.

Old City Hall

CN Tower

Eaton Centre

Poutine

My aunt and I trekked to Downtown Toronto on Saturday to check out the sites--CN Tower, St. Lawrence Market, Eaton Centre, City Hall--and even had some of Quebec's famed poutine along the way. You would think that as an American who is surrounded by smothered this and fried that that I would enjoy this staple meal, but I thought it was just okay and left a lot to be desired. Don't get me wrong, gravy drenched fries with cheese curds sounds liked it would be delicious, but maybe I didn't try it at the right place. Poutine and Tim Hortons could probably be in competition to see who can be available in more places (Tim Hortons is to Toronto as Starbucks and Duane Reade are to NYC, and poutine is available EVERYWHERE even in McDonalds!).

I also stopped by the beach of Lake Ontario. Lake beaches are always interesting to me since I lived in FL for quite some time and can tell you what a real beach looks like, but I held my tongue and left the people of Toronto to enjoy their "beach" without any naysaying from me. Over my weekend stay, I ventured onto a trail with my little cousin and saw a mini river flowing through a serene forest outside of Toronto.

Niagara Falls from Maid of the Mist Observation Deck

View on the Maid of the Mist boat

On our ride back, we drove through Niagara Falls where my aunt, grandfather, and I ventured onto the Maid of the Mist boat excursion into the falls. Mist is an understatement; we got drenched! I felt like a member of the Storm Chasers team heading into the windy falls, but the views from within the basin of the falls were unlike anything I have ever seen. For those of you who crave adventure as much as I do, definitely give the Maid of the Mist tour a try if you are on the US side of the falls.

All in all, this was a very relaxing trip. Although we packed in several family parties, sightseeing trips, and visits to family and friends across the Toronto metropolitan area, this quick getaway was exactly what I needed and more.

Have you ever been to Toronto? What was your favorite sight to see? Where can I find better Poutine? Haha, leave a comment below!

Love,

Sherelle