Last Thursday, Annika and I headed off to Toronto with four other Germans for the Easter weekend. The journey started at our house in Royal Oak, where we loaded two cars with our luggage. Since two of us in one car and one in the other were girls, you can imagine we had plenty of luggage!
After around an hour on the road we arrived at the border. When we approached the check point, I was driving the car, so I opened my window to speak to the officer. He started asking me a question, but unfortunately I didn’t hear at all what he was saying. After the second time I still didn’t get what he was asking, it suddenly occurred to us that we could turn off the radio and see if that helps! No wonder, it did help! And his question was simply: “What citizenship do you have?” After we told him, the officer continued speaking very slowly. He must have thought we don’t speak English at all!At 10.30pm that night we entered downtown Toronto. The skyline was just amazing! After making our way through nightlife traffic we arrived at our hotel, the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. Only 70 Canadian Dollars per night, swimming pool and gym included! We put our luggage in our hotel rooms (or should I say suites?) and then headed off to explore Toronto’s bars and clubs. Unfortunately the opening hours were about the same as the ones in Detroit, so at around 3a.m. we returned to the hotel.
It wasn’t until noon the next day that we started our sightseeing tour of Toronto. The first stop was the CN tower. Before I continue, I should mention that I am afraid of heights…really afraid! Nevertheless, I made my way up and I am glad I did. The view up there was just awesome!Our hungry stomachs made us go to Chinatown next. First, we went to Chinese supermarkets to get an idea of what will be on our plates soon! Then we had delicious lunch at a Vietnamese place (okay, not Chinese but it was in Chinatown!). Afterwards, we made our way to Yonge Street, where we spent most of our time in the Eaton Shopping Centre. Back at the hotel we made use of the swimming pool and fitness centre before heading into Toronto’s nightlife again.
On Saturday we explored Toronto’s Harbor front, the university area and Yorkville. Once again our day didn’t start before noon! Our sightseeing tour ended at Eaton Shopping Centre, just like the day before. Since we wanted to visit Niagara Falls the next day, we decided to go out only for drinks and no dancing this time.On Easter Sunday we said goodbye to Toronto and drove to Niagara Falls. The weather was just wonderful and the falls so impressive! After taking about a million pictures of the falls we headed back to Detroit.
This time we didn’t have any trouble understanding the border officer although he asked us quite a few questions. I guess our English must have improved during our stay in Canada!
Miriam
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