By Maureen Jones
As a Canadian specialist, my goal is to visit all of the provinces so I can capture the soul of the country. This trip, I went to Niagara Falls, Toronto and Ottawa. Canada definitely costs less. For each $100 in U.S. money, you get $145 in Canadian. With attractions as widely diverse as Flowerpot Island and the CN Tower, big city nightlife and remote wilderness, museums and art galleries, Ontario is enjoyable for even the short trip that I did. It is home to nearly 11 million people, more than a third of the country’s total population.
Toronto is the capital of Ontario and has the world’s tallest building, the CN Tower, l87 stories high. It took only 58 seconds to get to the top for a wonderful view. Toronto has an underground city of six-and-a-half miles of passages full of restaurants, shops with lovely granite floors and marble walls.
With 50 live theaters and concert halls, its selection is as good as London’s. Its three universities have l55,000 students, and every hotel I looked at had an excellent children’s program and baby sitters, all for a very small cost.
Niagara on the Lake is a lovely little town, which holds an annual summer festival devoted to presenting the works of George Bernard Shaw in its three theaters.
Niagara Falls was a picture with the ice and snow, and the surrounding countryside was dotted with fruit farms and wineries. I tried Ice Wine for the first time. I’d like to see them picking the grapes in snowy December, late at night when the temperature is at its lowest. No wonder it is expensive.
Go by train to Ottawa. VIA is great to travel on. This is a lovely capital, with green copper roofs on the old buildings and warm-colored sandstone walls. The Parliament building was impressive, and it is one of the most charming capitals I’ve been to. The Parliament has lovely Gothic architecture, and wooden carvings inside. And its library, built in l876, has Scottish names lining the walls. This capital is built on three rivers and a canal, which allows five miles of skating in the winter. They have 10 national museums and art galleries, and 40 other museums within the city.
The Dutch government sends 3 million tulip bulbs each year, so the Tulip Festival in May is one of the main attractions. The By-Ward Market started in l826 has more than 300 stalls with fruit, produce, arts and crafts, and the public market is four blocks wide.
It’s lots of fun, and do eat a Beaver Tail, which is a pastry. A must-see is the Canadian Museum of Civilization with an impressive Grand Hall with 43 totem poles.
Jones is president of All Horizons Rancho Travel in the Rancho Shopping Center, Los Altos. For more information, call 941-5810.
