Our last night in Canada is about to commence...but before Sascha and I open that bottle of wine that we bought in the beautiful little town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, I am gonna sum up our impression of Toronto and our trip to the Niagara Falls : ) Our bus ride to Toronto from Ottawa got a little delayed unfortunately since I woke up on our day of departure with two heavily swollen and nasty-looking eyes...No idea where I get that allergy from once in a while - but it wasn't the first time this happened whilst travelling...So I knew it didn't have anything to do with us supposedly staying in a house that was haunted and also what I had to do to de-freak myself again: 1st step - scare the hell out of your roommates, 2nd step - find doctor, 3rd step - get him to prescribe some cortisone, 4th step - get a massive late breakfast with a side of chocolate (even though I must admit that I only found out about this extremely effective 4th step this time around). So we left Ottawa with our tummies equally full of excitement and food - which both somewhat distracts your sticky eyes from itching. And what can I say - Toronto skyrocketed to my personal pole position of all Canadian cities we have seen. Sascha is still debating with himself whether Vancouver or Toronto deserves that medal. I simply loved and totally soaked up the cultural diversity, the busy streets, the culinary variety, the friendly people, the arty bits and pieces spread all over the city and all the green spots that were unexpectedly sprinkled over the city centre.
This sudden and all-consuming love affair with Toronto had a direct and fatal impact on my purchase behaviour. My subconscious sort of went: "If you can't take the city with you then at least grab as many dresses and shoes as you can..." I went a bit mental from thereon and I was glad to have Sascha on my side. Not only because he was patient and kind enough to carry my bags - but also because he was long-sighted enough to drag me away from stores after I had seriously breached my spending limit. (That was probably motivated as much by his feeling of responsibility towards me as to the fact that he was utterly starving by the time he got me out of the last shop...). So off we went to Chipotle's (just another innocent love affair of mine...we had a really fantastic 3 months together back in the States) for some serious Burritos.
On our way back to the hostel we grabbed the local newspaper, the New York Times as well as the weekly international edition of the Guardian - which we lay directly in front of us just for company whilst we were watching a really shitty and brain-dead DVD. I loved everything about that first day in Toronto and my head kept on going: "I am soooo gonna move here..." And that feeling didn't really change much at all. I loved Kensington Market with its little thrift stores, fruit stalls, coffee shops, catchy people, colourful flowers - simply everything about it, even the way it smelled. We enjoyed a beautiful breakfast - probably the best 10 Dollars I've spent and the opportunity for people-watching came totally free of charge : )
A train and two bus-rides away a very different atmosphere and scenery lay in front of us - the super busy and popular Ontario Science Centre...however, we chose the less educational programme. It's almost embarrassing to give this piece of information away...but Sascha and I lined up with the kids from 5th grade to purchase a ticket for the Harry Potter exhibit. Tease me all you want - I utterly loved it! I saw Hermione Granger's wand, Ron Wesley's Howler and the Snitch Harry Potter is meant to catch during a game of Quidditch. I had the time of my life in there : ) I thought we wouldn't be able to make that day any better than it was already - but we managed: the icing on the cake was a wonderful, delicious and massively huge Pizza from appropriately named restaurant "The Perfect Slice". We did manage however to finally ruin all that happiness and state of bliss by making the rash decision of getting our hair cut. So from that evening on, we patrolled the streets of Toronto looking a little less like ourselves and a little more like the Chinese hairdresser wanted us to look like...Anyways - we didn't have much time to come to terms with the new hair cuts before we went off to the Niagara Falls...And what can I say - even though we were warned in advance on a few occasions - walking up the Niagara Falls' Entertainment District really felt like entering a kid's version of Las Vegas. What a circus...but nevertheless - we dived right into it: obediently buying over-priced sugary stuff, exchanging our cash for Casino tokens, oooing and ahhing in rhythm with the fireworks and all the rest of it.
The hostel we stayed in was recommended to me by one of my favourite and role-model travellers. It was as central as you can get and we paid 30 Dollars for a private room including freshly-baked muffins for breakfast. Pretty good deal even though the manager got a little annoying after a while pointing out a few too many times that this hostel had been given an award...blablabla...He even allowed me/forced me to touch his trophy - which sounds a lot more dirty and exciting than that experience was...Anyways - in our three days there we looked at the Niagara Falls, took pictures of it, bought postcards of it, watched an IMAX movie and went to an exhibition about it, climbed behind it and took a boat to get as near as possible to it...when we felt we were all niagaraed out, we finally did something that really took our breath away - and that a lot more literally than Sascha had wished for. I made him cycle almost 50 kilometers in a day - which neither he nor his bum appreciated and will forgive me anytime soon. However, the views over Lake Ontario were absolutely stunning and the nature beautiful. Even Sascha's bruised behind can't deny that : ) That way we found out that the area around Niagara is truly magnificent and utterly beautiful - almost as soon as you leave the tourist crowds and the Niagara Falls behind you.
Two more highlights included wine tasting at a winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Karaoke singing at a cocktail bar in Niagara. Even though Sascha and I didn't really sing...We were simply mistaken with a couple that delivered a truly engaging performance on stage and did resemble us quite accurately. There was only one minor difference that the audience seemed to have overlooked thanks to the consumption of a sufficient amount of alcohol: the performing couple was in their forties...I blame the new hair cuts!
Back in Toronto we went straight back to Kensington Market for some Grilled Cheese and orange Soda and to watch the eagerly anticipated movie "Eat, Pray, Love".
We also managed to spend a whole day on Toronto Island - a beautiful retreat from the city (not that I felt I needed it...) and I challenged Sascha to eat a whole Pizza at "The Perfect Slice"- a task that sounds a lot easier than it actually is. We spoke to the manager who recognized us again straight away and he hadn't managed to do it - ever. We got half of it for free just for trying and some extra greasy sauce on top to make it even harder...but Sascha was simply invincible. He ate it all and to me it didn't even look like a struggle. I might have managed to impress him with my cycling skills, but he surely impressed me with his eating capacity.
And this is it really...Tomorrow we will have our "last supper" or really breakfast at Kensington Market, followed by a short trip to the Shoe Museum (I gotta see that), a final yogurt ice cream and a trip to Lawrence Market.

This last week has been so much fun. I wish I would be trapped in a little time bubble for another week...but only one - cause I am also really looking forward to coming back home : )

I didn't exactly expect this to happen...but I am actually typing these words from inside of a jail. And that's not even the worst of it. This jail might no longer be in operation - but supposedly it is still haunted by its former inmates. The prison which saw three hangings, hundred of suicides and quite a few murders was finally closed in the 70s due to its inhuman and unaesthetic living conditions. And this is where Sascha and I have been spending the last two nights. It's quite creepy cause even though it was bought by Hostelling Internatioanl more than 30 years ago nothing much has been changed at all. You even get the option to sleep in an original cell and the 8th floor including death row is exactly the way it used to be. So yeah -we've done a guided ghost tour since we were curious to get to know all these rumours and stories and even though I am the biggest sceptic of course I am not too upset that we only have one more night to spend here...And that has nothing to do with Ottawa at all!!! Ottawa has been nothing but great - our little surprise stop! We didn't have high expectations at all but instantly took to it. Apart from all those ghost stories - Ottawa takes much pride in its reputation of being one of the most haunted places in all of Canada - we've kept ourselves busy with lots of art and history. Just as you should do whilst in the capital, I guess : ) I went to an exhibiton at the National Gallery of Canada and it really blew my mind. I had missed "Pop Life" at the Tate Modern in London so I was truly happy when I found out that I could see it here. Too cool! They've made such an effort - they even spread little silver rabbits in wooden boxes all over the city to get people talking about Jeff Koons&friends. We also enjoyed a free guided tour around the parliament and yet another laser show about the Canadian history that was equally impressive and tacky. Ottawa in general is so much cuter and a lot more arty than I expected. Little galleries are spread all over the walkable city centre and the ByWard Market is extremely lively and seems to personify Ottawa's heartbeat. The staff at the HI has been as friendly as ever (good thing they have nothing in common with the wardens that formerly ruled in this building...). They took us clubbing on Saturday and to the funniest Bingo session ever the day after. Bingo at the Zaphod is the locals favourite entertainment on Sundays apparently and I can see why. Imagine Bingo but without the grandmas and substitute false teeth and walking sticks with fancy dress and Jaegerbombs. The prizes that can be won are truly ridiculous and not always pretty - however a much better option than having to eat Sol eggs or getting a chocolate cake smashed in your face - the two other options...Such a fun thing to watch - whilst hoping nobody sees that you have a Bingo ; ) So yeah - this has been Ottawa - a truly strange but nonetheless awesome experience. Only one more night before we are free to go again - next stop: Toronto!

Our 6-day visit to Montréal is almost over...Sascha isn't a big fan at all of this place - especially since I made him have dinner in "Junky Central"...I thought it was a good idea to have a little picnic - but all of the sudden we were surrounded by homeless people, one of them - I kid you not - sharpening a blade whilst watching us. Funny was also the guy next to us with his fistful of 20 Dollar notes that kept on falling to the ground since he couldn't hold them all whilst he was using his other hand to sell more drugs...So that pretty much destroyed our romantic picture of Montréal. Nonetheless, I've enjoyed every day here. What I loved was the city's diversity and strong festival culture. The day we arrived we went to a gay parade and a couple of days later we had a look at the 10th anniversary of the festival of mode&design. It also rained enough to give as an excuse to spend half a day in a really cozy book store - something both Sascha and I love doing. Although we didn't enjoy the rain as much during our 25km cycling tour...we got utterly drenched three times - not cool! One of my personal highlights was an exhibition about the Cirque du Soleil. After seeing the show in Québec I was so intrigued by it - especially the love to detail that was visible in every costume and the stage design. Truly fascinating&I was glad to get a glimpse of what it looks like behind the scenes. Other than that we made good friends with the staff from the hostel. Chris (aka "Don't be shy - take a fry") who has been working for the Hostelling International for the past 6 years, has been amazing fun to hang out with. Very sociable and so easy to be and laugh with. He took us on three full day trips which involved cycling, climbing, shopping, wild life spotting and most of all lots of eating and drinking. He showed us how horrible Candadian brewed beer tastes (sorry, Chris) and how many different toppings can be put on top of cheesy fries in gravy (thanks, Chris)! Hanging out with him made Montréal a better place - even in Sascha's eyes ; )

Au revoir, Québec City - thanks for the intriguing insight into the French version of Canada...Let's just say, I'm sorta glad that England kicked France's ass when it came to the colonization of this beautiful country. No hard feelings ; ) But we were a little stunned that while the rest of the country is making a real effort to be bilingual - the people of Québec kinda outright refused to speak English. That is even if they earned their living in the tourism industry. One museum we went to had all descriptions in French and you almost think to yourself - they really couldn't care less if you are a paying customer - as long as you don't speak the language you don't really deserve to get to know their history either...So what can one do to survive a visit to Québec? Well, you find yourself some friends that are fluent in French ; ) Problem solved! So yeah, again we got to know quite a few funky people. It started with Homi from Mumbai who was so much into Sascha that he didn't only force his business card onto him - but also demanded Sascha's contact details. Unable to cope with the mounting pressure, Sascha gave out a fake email address - I reckon that's an obvious sign that he has spent too much time with a girl by now... But we formed more mutual bonds with other people - the highlight being two really sweet American girls from Philadelphia and a group of French exchange students. The last evening in Québec was by far the best - we went to see the Cirque du Soleil with all of them, plus one Canadian and an Iranian. It was such a fun group! We went clubbing after that and on our way back to the hostel we actually happened to walk into three of the artists from the Cirque du Soleil- super random and outright hilarious. I guess Québec is only that big - but still, I am loving all these weird coincidences during our trip. Apart from all those people that made our stay really enjoyable despite the language barrier, our personal highlights included the Moulin Images - a movie about the history of Québec that is projected onto gigantic walls - plus the really lovely food we've had...pure bliss!!! A famous speciality is Poutine - hand-cut french fries topped with gravy and melted cheese - do I need to say more?! We also enjoyed cycling around the beautiful historic city centre with its new and awesome bike lanes and the free open air pool near the St. Lawrence River. We weren't too impressed with the suggested ferry ride over to Lévis - there's really not much to see - and our trip to Wendake. It's supposed to be a traditional and almost undisturbed village inhabited by Indians that continue to follow their old traditions...but really - it's a charmless place with a few cheeky (border-line pathetic) Canadians dressed up as Indians, trying to squeeze a few bucks out of tourists that are stupid enough to go there (aka us). After realizing that and the fact that our shuttle bus wouldn't pick us up for the next 4 hours, Sascha and I decided to have beer and pizza for breakfast, determined to make this visit as much fun as possible. And sure enough we did - but nonetheless it felt a little sad that this is all that seems to be left of the first Nation...All in all, we very much enjoyed our visit to Québec City - I loved spending one entire evening in front of the TV - so simple but you never get to do that when you are at home - so it felt like a proper week on holiday for me : )
A train ride later and we find ourselves in Montréal...but more of that soon!

So this is it - the Vancouver Island experience already coming to an end - which coincides with our departure from British Columbia - "The best place on earth" as every number plate states proudly. With one crying eye we are getting ready to explore Canada's East coast. But first things first: Vancouver Island - is it all what it's cracked up to be? Well, yes and no! Our arrival in Victoria, BC's capital, by boat was somewhat romantic and there was love in the air...lots of it! Or maybe that is just our impression after that not so lovely, nevertheless greatly memorable border crossing experience in the States. We even got a random thorough luggage inspection - but the Canadian officers could not have been nicer about it - cheerfully carrying our heavy bags from A to B whilst giving us a sympathetic look which pretty much said: ''I find this silly, too''. I got all excited about the fact that we got an especially pretty stamp in our passports and off we went - but not without one of the officers running after us to ask whether we needed directions. May all people on this planet travel to Canada to experience how awesome human beings can be!!! And it didn't stop there...Our two favourite experiences so far: Number 1: a lady and her poodle saw us stranded on a busy highway in the middle of nowhere (mental note to myself - print out map in future...) and pulled over not only to give us directions but to drive use to our destination. Number 2: again a lady taking initiative - we were looking for a parking spot for our rental car and she decided to give us her parking space that she pays for annually and parked at a friend's instead...Too cool! Anyways, enough of the helpful people - what about the black sheeps!? So far only one - the car rental company Budget that ignored our reservation and could not have possilby cared less that we were pretty lost on the island and felt in desperate need of a GPS. But since it's a company I reckon it doesn't even count : ) So after a night in Victoria - a charming city that looks truely enchanted during the night cause of its countless lights and horse-drawn carriages, we headed to Nation to pick up a little grey Mazda and that hard-fought GPS. Turns out - that whole GPS debacle was a little bit of a waste of energy since it seemed to have a life and agenda of its own...wherever we wanted to go - the little bug refused to take us - so we pretty much felt like little road warriors getting to the Goldstream National Park, Chemainus and Nanaimo DESPITE it, not because of it : ) I would even go as far as to say that the GPS was on the edge of being suicidal since it had a tendency of directing us to drive through dense concrete walls...But no worries, everybody survived in the end ; ) Nanaimo turned out to be a cute little harbour town. Since not much is going on there usually, we were glad to find out that our little visit coincided with a little bit of a celebration, live bands and even pretty good fireworks on our return a few days later. But Vancouver Island wasn't supposed to be about lots of excitement anyways. We really enjoyed the drive, the little hikes, the stunning views - mountains surrounded by water don't seem to ever get boring. Whenever we turned around a corner we were like ''Aww'', ''Ohh'' all over again. We loved the little waterfalls in Goldstream and enjoyed our boat trip to Protection and New Castle Island (just off Nanaimo). We induldged a little bit into the local seafood and then we were off again to our next stop Tofino. Tofino felt a little bit like Byron Bay inhabited by pensioners that never kicked the habit of smoking pot. So people were understandably cheerful and seemed content : ) We spent a night in a Botanical Garden which sounds more exotic than it actually was. The crowd there seemed to be determined to single-handedly change the world to the better...Shoes off upon entrance and the guy from our dorm was asked to leave the common room because the noise his laptop was making supposedly destroyed the peace of others...Hilarious! We didn't mind the bullshit - but weren't sad to leave either. So we went off to beautiful Long Beach...and did get a little punishment - maybe it was the Coke we drank despite the ''Coke is evil'' signs all over the hostel...Badly sun-burned we went on to check out Ucluelet - only to find out there wasn't much to find there. So we drove back to Nanaimo to take in the mentioned fireworks and another cholesterol-rich meal. Back in Victoria we got to know a lovely couple from Liechtenstein and since that happens so rarely we felt like taking them out for a drink which turned out to be a cozy and fun evening. Our last sightseeing experience was a casual stroll to Fisherman's Wharf on the next day to check out the lovely decorated floating boats...and then a hop and a skip and another ferry ride away, we found ourselves back where we started at the airport in Vancouver...a sleepless night and two flights later...and all of the sudden we are in France...or as close as you can get to that outside of Europe. But more of that soon... : )

Greetings from the States!!! As I hinted - Sascha and I couldn't resist the urge to pay Seattle a little visit since we happened to be so close to the U.S. border. The actual border crossing was an extremely unpleasant experience. Only the bare necessities were exchanged...No hello, good morning, please or thanks - just a simple and straightforward: "Where are you from?, "Where do you want to go?", "Why?" and "It's 6 dollars to enter the United States". They were such arrogant pricks that I really had to pull myself together not to say anything. Anyways, 6 dollars, two bag searches and another two unfriendly people later we were in Coca-Cola land. Since it was Sascha's first visit to the U.S. I knew I had to show him the most important bits of American culture first - so straight after checking into our hostel I took him to Chipotle. It's McDonald's Mexican style - actually even owned by McDonald's and I practically lived of their Burritos whilst I was working in D.C. 2 years ago. The second tackiest thing on the itinerary was watching Twilight's Eclipse. We felt we had to since the majority of the movie was shot in Seattle and in a forest near Vancouver. Other than that we went on a water taxi to check out Seattle West - which has a totally different vibe compared to mainland Seattle. We sipped Pina Colada overlooking the beautiful beach with the mountains in the distance and felt that life couldn't get much better - but that was before we started munching away on our Fajitas : )
So yeah, Seattle has been sweet. We are on our way again tomorrow - taking the ferry to Vancouver Island. But not before we had the mandatory coffee at the First Starbucks opposite Seattle's lively Public Market and a visit to the museum to get a little bit of culture into us - an exhibition about Kurt Cobain and Andy Warhol - that way both Sascha and I are happy : )
I am definitely hoping to see a few whales on the way to Victoria...We were lucky enough to see a black bear up close in the mountains in Whistler!!! So fingers crossed that was only the beginning of this trip's wildlife spotting : ) Whistler was awesome by the way! Beautiful scenery, crystal clear water - we both felt like being trapped in a postcard. We swam in the Lost Lake, did quite a bit of hiking and explored the impressive mountain range by taking a Gondola up the Whistler Mountain and to the peak of Blackcomb Mountain. To compensate for all the fresh air and exercise we joined into a Club Crawl that was organized by the hostel. It involved hopping from venue to venue which was great - and the evening got as ugly and promoted heavy drinking as much as one would expect of a night like that. But good fun altogether and nobody got hurt, tattooed or married ; )

Our short flirtation with Vancouver is almost over... : ( With one crying eye we are preparing for our departure, since there is simply too much to see to stay monogamous for much longer. The plan is to at least attempt to scratch the surface of British Columbia with our next stop being Whistler. We are leaving early in the morning to catch the Greyhound - it's only a 2 1/2 hour drive. Coincidently and funnily enough we gonna stay in the same accommodation as the Olympic Team did this winter/spring. I guess Whistler is only this big, hey. Even though famous for being a world class ski resort I am sure Sascha and I find something to do that does not involve any snow.
Apart from making lots of travel plans - (we decided that we couldn't resist the temptation to cross the U.S. border after all...but more about that soon to come...) we also invested a bit of time into exploring Vancouver's beaches. Easily enough they are called 1st, 2nd and 3rd beach - as I mentioned before - you neither have to be smart nor over 5 years old to be able to figure out this city...if only life could always be this simple. All three of them are lovely and have a very special atmosphere. It seems that after 5pm the whole city migrates to the beach to have BBQs, play guitar, sing, dance, exercise, laugh and simply enjoy each other's company.

Other than that, Sascha and I found out what the city's nickname "Hollywood North" entails...For three days in a row we've been tumbling into film sets. One time they went to great lengths to make it look as if the scene was shot in Boston with different police cars and everything.

Another highlight of our stay and a famous Vancouver legend (his name has been mentioned in the Lonely Planet Travel Guide in various editions) was our tour guide Erik. The fact that he led as through the beautiful scenery of the Grouse Mountain and the Capilano suspension bridge was almost secondary - what really impressed us was his personality, attitude and life style. A few months shy of his 70th birthday he was fitter than our entire group taken together. He climbed, jumped, talked, pointed out stuff - without being out of breath once. Instead he happily chatted away about the fact that he had such a crab childhood that the only thing he wanted to do as a young boy living in Copenhagen was to immigrate to a country far, far away from all the drama...Funnily enough I could somewhat relate to that...Anyways, he was decided to go and live in Australia - but that never happened! He saw one picture of Vancouver in a shop window and that was all it took to convince him. He's lived in Vancouver ever since and has been working as a volunteer for the city for many years, doing two 9-hour guided tours a week. All unpaid...and it seems he couldn't possibly be more content and happy. During the past 15 years he's never fallen ill or canceled a tour- and to be honest, even though magnificent, I am not surprised. This man utterly loves what he is doing and I have rarely come across a person that seems to get as much satisfaction out of his/her livelihood (even whilst getting paid for it)...Well, you can tell I was deeply impressed by Erik - the fact that he had traveled to 84 different countries and went around the world four times catapulted him right into my top ten of role models : )

Vancouver rockssssssssssssssssss!!! Sascha and I are absolutely blown away by this city!!! There's absolutely no doubt now as to why it ranks so high in every statistic to do with cities + great living quality. The people are so over the top friendly that you find yourself on the look-out for a hidden camera . I've been thinking to myself: "That's way too nice - it must be fake." But no - it's for real! From the guy who checked my passport, to the staff at the airport, to various people in and around the hostel, countless tour guides - not a single one of them has not been awesome up to this point. Normally Canadians are described as to be friendly Americans. It doesn't do them justice. They should be dubbed "friendly Australians" - and hey, that sure says something! Patiently they've answered all of my questions...Today I got free Chinese cause I was wearing a red shirt ?! (I told you it feels as if people are almost suspiciously nice).

We are staying at the Hostelling International Central Vancouver - which is a chain. And after the first night here I feel that I will be loyal to them for the rest of my life - and I always thought I suffered from commitment issues... ; ) Last night the staff took us out to see a Comedy Show in a local bar, today we all went to Granville Island and the Public Market and tomorrow we are off to Stanley Park. Up to this point this trip has been so idiot-friendly that I'd send a five year old on it without even worrying for a second.

So yeah, Vancouver with its 180 degrees mountain scenery and beaches in the city centre is pure bliss. The only really crab bit was the way we got here. We spent the night at Gatwick airport - which wasn't great but not a big deal either. (We even got "offered" to spend another night there since the flight was overbooked. They were giving out $400 travel vouchers and a stay in a 4 star hotel in exchange for seats - but we were determined to spend the next night in an eight bed dorm instead.) But the flight with Canadian Affairs was just a complete pain. Even the pilot seemed to be a total asshole - he humiliated the flight attendants as well as passengers over the loudspeakers by publicly pointing out their wrongdoings..."The man in the red shirt - that rule also applies to you - sit down..." On that flight Big Brother was definitely watching you and as a result even I did as I was told for once ; )

The highlight of today (apart from the beautiful weather and our discovery of the beautiful inner city beach) was Sascha and me daring one another to get a piercing that's a little bit out of character...and we both ended up with having a slightly over-sized ring attached to our lower lip...Not sure whether I am gonna get used to that! But it sure gave us an adrenalin rush, a picture opportunity and a few stares from people walking by, thinking "Look at these funny looking, slightly sun-burned creatures and their equally swollen lips..." Anyways, good times : )

Farewell BBQ about to commence...To leave London when it's this sunny feels somewhat sad! Looking forward to see my girls one more time and can't wait for Sascha to finally arrive! Booked our first hostel in Vancouver! More expensive than I had hoped - but it's so gonna be worth it! Canada here we come!

4 days to go till Canada...