I started from home with Shankar and Satish. They dropped me in the airport almost on time. The self check-in machine wanted to read my passport in vain. The poor old Indian passport was devoid of the magnetic stripe. I had to wait for a representative to get my stuff checked in. Flight was as usual, wait time in O’Hare was painful. Thanks to the wi-fi. I hopped on the network and did some chatting :-), read some blogs, caught up on the news…usual stuff… “expedition to discover the end of the internet”…that how I term non-subjective web surfing.

The new and comfy Air Canada flight landed in Toronto on time. The airport was pretty good too. I was reading the signs in French and was acquainting myself with common words on the way to immigration. Once I got my immigration cleared, I headed towards the rental car location. Guess what, the customer service representative was Mr.Kugan talking to me in Tamil. That just made me very happy.

Again, it was my usual rental car: Pontiac Grand Prix. Just one difference, this car had OnStar. The very moment I saw a few buttons on the rear view mirror, the curiosity creature in me got instantaneously charged and moved my fingers to click one of those buttons. It did work and I had to apologize to the operator for a false call. And this is how my first drive in Canada started.

Day one, the weather was just right for me to hate it the most: absolutely gloomy and rainy. I took some rest in the morning and headed to Toronto Downtown in the afternoon. That place was sooo foggy that I had to search for CN tower in that invisible skyline.

Next day, I headed out to see the Niagara from the Canadian side. People were praising the view and I drove down there with very high expectation. Parked the car and paid $18 for 3 hrs :-( It was almost like a daylight robbery. I took a stroll along the Niagara Parkway. Ooohhhhh..!!! The falls looked absolutely gorgeous…..and as the sun soared up, the beauty exponentially increased. To realize the power and volume of the waterfall, you’ve gotto be on the Canadian side.

If you have a chance to visit Niagara from the Canadian side, never miss the “Behind the waterfall” tour. They charge for it, but it’s worth every penny. You walk in through a tunnel and get really really close to the waterfall. Walk out of the tunnel to the observation deck and there you get the best view of the majestic symbol of Mother Nature. It is this voluminous waterfall that keeps the worlds 14th biggest lake alive. Besides the water fall, the rapids and whirlpools are amazing too. The roaring rapids flow down the gorge and make a huge whirlpool. Just look down the gorge is quite intimidating.

The next 2 days, I roamed around Toronto. CN Tower, Toronto’s logo, is a prominent signature in the city’s skyline. All the way 447 meters up, it provides ravishing panoramic view of the city. Roger Center: With out the guided tour, it is yet another stadium except for the convertible roof that boasts engineering excellence. Harbourfront is a very beautiful place. A long walk by the lakeside is very peaceful. Second cup (the name impressed me), a coffee shop by the lake with a nice view of CN Tower is a place I stopped by during my walk. CasaLoma: A marvelous castle constructed in about 5 acres of land inside the downtown. The castle converted museum has lots of historical information and the interiors express extremes of extravagance. If you like archery (like I do) there’s place in there to test your skills. They charge $5 for that, but it is fun. ChinaTown: There seems to be one in every city in North America. The same narrow streets with all name boards written in Chinese. As usual there were countless restaurants and herbal medicine shops but nothing special besides crowd. Little Italy: I have seen enough Italy’s in America. I really want to see the real Italy now :-). These wannabe Italys are not worth watching. I didn’t go to the Indian street because I can virtually see how it would be; so no comments about that.

Others I liked in the trip: A long drive on lakeshore. A drive along 401, QEW into the Ontario countryside. A long drive all the way to Montreal through Kingston. Lunch at Brar @ Brampton.  A long walk in Entertainment District in the nights.

There are lots of Indians in Toronto than I expected. Every store, every starbucks, everywhere I went, I saw at least one Indian working there.