By Mayank Kar Ray
The highlight of the summer of 2015 was a road trip in Eastern Canada through the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. Montreal was the destination of our transatlantic flight from London Heathrow. This is the French speaking part of Canada. We could try out some French words that we had learnt. In Montreal we saw the Basilique Notre-Dame which is very bright and ornate inside. From Parc du Mont Royal we saw panoramic views of the city and then visited St Jospeh’s Oratory. There are lots of steps and some devotees were going up the steps on their knees.
Next day we left for Tadoussac. On the way we stopped at Baie St-Paul. Daddy loves art and he got very excited by the many art galleries that are there. Once in Tadoussace we went to a diner where we tried out Poutine. It had lots of cheese, chips and chicken with gravy, it was too rich for our liking and Mummy decided to stick to soup. Next day I was very excited as it was the first time I was going whale watching. We did two safaris and saw many Minke whales and some Belugas as well. We then went to Quebec city which is very beautiful. The town centre had lots of performers and we had great fun watching clowns and jugglers. We also went to the castle and saw the change of guards. A Himalayan goat called Batisse joins the soldiers in the ceremony. We also had our pictures drawn by an artist in Quebec city. From here we went to the capital Ottawa where we went inside the parliament. At night we also saw a light and sound show on the history of Canada there. We also saw the National Art Gallery which has big spider in front of it.
Next morning we left for Toronto. On the way we stopped at Gananoque for the 1000 island cruise. The boat took us through these small islands on Saint Lawrence River across the US-Canadian border. Once in Toronto we headed straight for a Blue Jays baseball game against Cleveland Indians. This was another first for me. We kept humming the tune of ‘Lets go Blue Jays.’ Our apartment was right in front of the CN Tower and it looks beautiful at night. The next day we had lots of fun at Canada Wonderland. As it was very hot we mainly stayed in the water park. In the evening we also went to the Toronto islands and the skyscrapers look beautiful from there.
We were almost at the end of our trip, but there was one big surprise left – the Niagara Falls. I have never seen anything like it. The sound of the waters falling is deafening. It almost felt as if it was raining. Daddy read from the guide book that a million bathtubs full of water is falling down every second. I am not sure how they know. We got on the maid of the mist which took us right up to the falls. We were given plastic rain coats but I still managed to get drenched. It was great fun. We then went to beautiful Niagara on the Lake. In the heart of the town is an English Hotel called Prince of Wales. Daddy said he was missing fish and chips so that’s what he had for lunch. This also indicated all good things must end. So that evening we flew out of Toronto to get back home to England.
