Canada

My summer vacation was in the first week of July. My wife and I planned to drive from Kenora, Ontario to Montreal, Quebec. Our trip took 15 days and 5,000 kilometres and we travelled through many cities, including Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City.

This was our first road trip and it was all new to us. We started planning for this trip in April. We did a lot of planning for this trip, such as itinerary planning, directions, accommodations, and the historical background of each city.

One of the things that struck me was Kakabeka Falls in Thunder Bay, which was one of the first waterfalls I had seen close-up. It is a very famous attraction in Northwestern Ontario where many people stop to rest and watch the falls.

The problem of being too close to the lakes made the weather extremely foggy, and during the whole trip it was very foggy, which made my driving particularly focused. We drove about 8 hours per day on the trip so that I would not get tired easily. I think it is very important to drive mentally well, so you may concentrate on driving.

The next day we arrived in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, the capital city of Canada. I made a reservation online in advance to visit the Prime Minister's Administration Building and see for myself where the Prime Minister and the MPs meet. I had seen this scene in newspapers and on TV before, but now I arrived at the site in person and felt the solemnity of the Parliament and saw the beautiful buildings myself. I was impressed by the fact that in my citizenship class, the teacher mentioned that there are 338 MPs in Canada and the background of each party made my visit even better.

I spent 4 nights in Montreal, including a visit to the famous Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal Step beneath the impressive vaulted ceiling of Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal and discovered its wonders on a self-guided tour. During this approximately one-hour long sightseeing visit, we were invited to explore 24 points of interest inside the nave, each highlighting a work of art, an architectural element or a piece of history.

My wife and I are from Asia, China, and we were very happy to see such beautiful buildings for the first time in Canada, so we took a lot of pictures. We could easily feel the artistic atmosphere of Montreal, and the pedestrians on the street were very warm and friendly. Even though we didn't understand French, we could easily understand it because of people’s friendliness towards visitors. The traffic, however, was busy every day, which delayed us a little bit. For this reason, we took the subway and walked a lot every day.

The most impressive thing was having very good poutine and bagels in Montreal, which my friend had recommended I should try. I think that it is very good Montreal food.

I think both Toronto and Montreal are vibrant and diverse cities and we were sad to leave both cities, but I was disappointed the weather was so extremely humid in July, with temperatures reaching 35 degrees every day. My wife preferred to spend time shopping indoors at the mall, which she really enjoyed.

I will recommend more friends to come and visit Montreal because the city is so fantastic and wonderful. I hope that when you read this, you will like my journey, too.