Seven Continents!

Well ladies and gentlemen, we finally did it. We have officially set foot on all seven continents, yippee! We landed in Toronto straight after our epic bike ride from Vienna to Budapest and limped our way over to the rental car. We were off to Niagara Falls - woooooooo. As we approached the hotel, we could see little droplets of water landing on the windscreen from the falls. The anticipation!!!

CHIXRULE! Big cars evvvvvverywhere

Everyone is SO NICE in Canada. People were opening doors for us and saying good morning as they got into the elevator. I was loving it. And this was before I even left the hotel! 

While Brad attended his conference, I was able to catch up with a good friend from Cairns who lives not far from Niagara Falls and enjoy maximum baby cuddle time with their 3 month old. I explored the town of Niagara Falls and crossed the pedestrian bridge into the US to check out their side of the falls, too. Canadian side is better, just in case you were wondering. (I'll grab that 20 bucks off you later, Carla).

View from the Rainbow Bridge, on the border between Canada and the US

I swear there are about 7 haunted houses in Niagara Falls, which seems excessive to me, but I am no expert in such matters... I just couldn't believe how BIG everything was there... big cars, big lights, big casinos, big meals. Everything was very bright and flashy.

US side of the falls

Sunshine, happiness and vino!

Niagara Wine Region

Hanging out with old mate Seb

After the conference, we jumped in the car and crossed the border into the US (which was a bit stressful, I must admit) and headed towards Buffalo for the season home opener game of Ice Hockey between the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens. We had fantastic seats, right near the ice; we could hear (and feel) every crash and hit of the puck and even had a few pucks fly overhead. We witnessed a fight in the crowd AND the game went to a shoot out, which was extra exciting. 

I didn't see the flying V maneuver from the Mighty Ducks movies used at all, and here I thought it was a winning game play used regularly in the sport!

Quack! Quack! Quack!

From Buffalo, we flew to NYC for a weekend in the big smoke. We ran around central park, enjoyed rooftop martinis in Brooklyn overlooking the Manhattan skyline, went up the Empire State Building, went to a show on Broadway, caught yellow cabs, went to the NFL in New JOISEE, visited the UN building, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, caught a water taxi, visited the twin towers memorial and went to the "Sleep No More" immersive theatre experience. PHEW! And that was only the beginning. It was a very, very busy but exciting weekend. New York, New York - it's a wonderful town... It really is.

Central Park Run

Watching the Yankee playoffs in a Manhattan Bar. Brad in his happy place. Me bored after the 7th innings....

NY Giants v Los Angeles Chargers

Good day for it

Empire State

"Sleep No More" immersive theatre

Broadwayyyyy

Lost somewhere in Brooklyn

Rooftop cocktails overlooking Manhattan, Brooklyn

From NYC, we flew back to Toronto and picked up a car for our 10 day whirlwind tour of Eastern Canada. First stop, Algonquin Park - about 3 hours north of Toronto - home of big wooden chairs and lake houses. We rented a gorgeous little cabin on a lake and spent 4 days exploring the national park, admiring the gorgeous autumn colours and keeping an eye out for moose and bears. 

We took the canoe and paddle boat out on the lake and went for a few hikes in the area. It was the perfect place to relax after the hustle and bustle of NYC. We didn't see any bears or moose, by the way. Our Canadian friend told us we needed to go to the tip. Which I took to mean the northern edge of the park. No, she meant the rubbish tip. Next time we will just go there haha!

Our Cottage at sunset

The waves were so big, we very nearly fell out!

Algonquin Park

Autumn!

Picking up some fall essentials at the farmer's market, Huntsville

Next on the list was a visit to Montreal, Quebec where we would spend a couple of nights just EATING and saying "si" instead of "oui" by accident at every opportunity! Montreal was one of my favourite cities from the whole trip as it has a really young, vibrant feel to it with lots of cute little independent boutiques, pop-up markets and grafitti art around the place. It was also where we had our first ever POUTINE, which was delicious. What is not to love about hot chips with gravy and cheese curds? It's such a great combo. We also enjoyed oysters with Prosecco, delicious Syrian cuisine and (my favourite) South East Asian food. Food HEAVEN.

There's always time for an escape room!

Oyster heaven!

Back in the car we jumped (with our Tim Hortons coffee and Tim Bits in hand) and headed towards Kingston, where we would stay the night and explore the old Kingston Penitentiary and Queens University (both of which were within walking distance of each other - work that one out). The Kingston Pen was a definite highlight of the trip as the tour was run by wardens and nurses who had worked there. It has only recently been shut down, and was a maximum security institution, so it was pretty eerie to hear their tales of inmates that are still alive serving time out there somewhere. 

Canadian road trip tradition

Guilty as charged

It was in Kingston that we realised we had an extra night that we hadn't accounted for (poor planning, but also, JACKPOT), so we visited the Prince Edward County wine region on the way back to Toronto, where we stayed on Lake Ontario. With more delicious wine and craft beer. And cheese! All the cheeeeeese. Which apparently is orange in North America - fun fact! But yummo.

Dinner views over Lake Ontario in Prince Edward County

Wine & Cheese in Prince Edward County

Lake Ontario at sunset - looks like a beach!

Finally, we made it back to Toronto, where we would stay with our lovely friends Liv & Seamus, hang out with their 3 month old some more (amazing), drink more wine (just for something different) and play way too many games of Catan. We were in for a treat with an introduction to the Canadian institution of all you can eat sushi - I am a convert! 

We explored the city of Toronto in beautiful autumn sunshine and sat on the banks of Lake Ontario to watch the planes land at the small airport on Toronto Island. As we sat there in 20 degree sunshine, we just couldn't believe that it gets so cold there in the winter! What a cultural melting pot Toronto is, it was so nice to walk around and experience its cosmopolitan vibe. Plus, we found the most amazing Vietnamese restaurant, so we were stoked!

Toronto Cathedral

Sunshine beverages in Kensington Market

Distillery district

Autumnnnn

Accidentally stumbled across Brad's company's head office as we were sprinting for the train station!

And all too quickly our North American adventure had come to an end. Seven continents later and the world is only getting bigger. Now to find us a job in Canada....

7 Continents - Hoorah!