I LOVE TRAVELING! I'm also very fortunate to have a job that gives me plenty of opportunities to do so, so I thought I should share my hotel, restaurant, and tourist experiences both through work related trips and through personal ones with whoever wants to listen.
I meant to create this blog in the beginning of June to document a trip to Philadelphia, but laziness prevailed. Now that I'm actually out of the country (hurray Canada!) I felt the need to start.
My trip started yesterday with a trip to the dog boarding house to put up my two 8 year old golden retrievers for the week, then on to my coworker's and boss's house to carpool to the airport. I was flying Air Canada while they were on Continental, my preferred choice, so we parted ways soon after arriving in the airport.
The flight was not so good. Slight delays both taking off due to maintenance and landing due to weather, and two screaming babies made the roughly 3 hour flight seem much longer. Customs was a breeze however, it only took 25 minutes to get through and wait for the baggage carousel to spit my bag out.
Unfortunately, it then took about an hour and ten minutes to wait in the taxi line and get to the hotel. Rush hour in Toronto isn't any better than any other major city. I also had a rather unpleasant cab driver. He was Indian and didn't speak a word the entire trip, then got really angry when I had to offer 1USD to go along with my $30 Canadian to match the $31 Canadian fare. I know the USD is weak, but it's still stronger than the Canadian dollar right?
Anyway, I got to the hotel and waited for a ride to dinner with the rest of the team as well as many other employees from other teams at a place that I sadly cannot remember the name, really fancy though. I ordered a Pomegranate Martini because I like girly drinks and I'm not ashamed to admit it! and shared the calamari, chicken wings, and spinach dip ordered as appetizers before diving into my lamb entree. It was very delicious but I felt that the portion was too small. I topped off with a chocolate cake dessert which was good, but I immediately regretted my decision to not get the white chocolate cheesecake when it was ordered by another.
Dinner lasted a long time and by the end of it we were all exhausted and just wanted to sleep. I went to bed not knowing exactly what was in store for me the next day.
Today was busy. I was at the event from 7:30-5ish. Afterwards, the team, Laurie, Leslie, Christin, and I, went to an absolutely wonderful restaurant called Snug Harbor. I take after my dad in that I am a sucker for good seafood, and this place did not disappoint. Leslie and I split a dozen oysters on the half-shelf an an appetizer. My main course was a seafood bouillabaisse consisting of clams, muscles, shrimps, and scallops, similar to something I had sampled in Philadelphia one night, but not as good because lobster was not included (more on the Philadelphia trip when I have time after Canada wraps up). Dinner ended with Christin and I splitting a really soft brownie and a walk on the harbor on Lake Ontario.
The view looked like an ocean. It was incredible to think that it was a lake, I guess that's why they call it a great one. (whahn whahn)
We had time after dinner to sight see, so we went to the CN Tower, once the tallest man made structure. The view was spectacular, and you could also see right into the Blue Jays stadium directly below. My only regret was not getting a picture of the "distance from CN Tower to various destinations" wall, including various cities on Earth, both the North and South Poles, the crater on the Moon, and Olympus Mons on Mars, the highest point in the Milky Way.
One quick point before I go to bed to make sure I catch my morning flight to Montreal...the Hilton Garden Inn hotel room has issues. I didn't realize anything was wrong yesterday, but tonight the room is really hot and the air conditioner is turned off (I think) and the knobs are missing. I tried fidgeting with what's left, so hopefully I don't catch the sheets on fire when I burn up tonight. The Internet is also spotty at best. I took about 20 minutes of refreshing, relogging in, adn finally re-writing and sending a simple email. The light in the bathroom also flickers and hurts my eyes. One the plus side, the staff is really nice and friendly though, the shower is poweful (one of my biggest pet peeves is a weak shower!) and the bed is pretty comfortable for a hotel bed.
For whatever reason, I am having an impossible time uploading pictures and videos at the moment, so I'll give that a go when I get settled in Montreal or back home.
Until next time, enjoy seeing the world through my eyes.
I meant to create this blog in the beginning of June to document a trip to Philadelphia, but laziness prevailed. Now that I'm actually out of the country (hurray Canada!) I felt the need to start.
My trip started yesterday with a trip to the dog boarding house to put up my two 8 year old golden retrievers for the week, then on to my coworker's and boss's house to carpool to the airport. I was flying Air Canada while they were on Continental, my preferred choice, so we parted ways soon after arriving in the airport.
The flight was not so good. Slight delays both taking off due to maintenance and landing due to weather, and two screaming babies made the roughly 3 hour flight seem much longer. Customs was a breeze however, it only took 25 minutes to get through and wait for the baggage carousel to spit my bag out.
Unfortunately, it then took about an hour and ten minutes to wait in the taxi line and get to the hotel. Rush hour in Toronto isn't any better than any other major city. I also had a rather unpleasant cab driver. He was Indian and didn't speak a word the entire trip, then got really angry when I had to offer 1USD to go along with my $30 Canadian to match the $31 Canadian fare. I know the USD is weak, but it's still stronger than the Canadian dollar right?
Anyway, I got to the hotel and waited for a ride to dinner with the rest of the team as well as many other employees from other teams at a place that I sadly cannot remember the name, really fancy though. I ordered a Pomegranate Martini because I like girly drinks and I'm not ashamed to admit it! and shared the calamari, chicken wings, and spinach dip ordered as appetizers before diving into my lamb entree. It was very delicious but I felt that the portion was too small. I topped off with a chocolate cake dessert which was good, but I immediately regretted my decision to not get the white chocolate cheesecake when it was ordered by another.
Dinner lasted a long time and by the end of it we were all exhausted and just wanted to sleep. I went to bed not knowing exactly what was in store for me the next day.
Today was busy. I was at the event from 7:30-5ish. Afterwards, the team, Laurie, Leslie, Christin, and I, went to an absolutely wonderful restaurant called Snug Harbor. I take after my dad in that I am a sucker for good seafood, and this place did not disappoint. Leslie and I split a dozen oysters on the half-shelf an an appetizer. My main course was a seafood bouillabaisse consisting of clams, muscles, shrimps, and scallops, similar to something I had sampled in Philadelphia one night, but not as good because lobster was not included (more on the Philadelphia trip when I have time after Canada wraps up). Dinner ended with Christin and I splitting a really soft brownie and a walk on the harbor on Lake Ontario.
The view looked like an ocean. It was incredible to think that it was a lake, I guess that's why they call it a great one. (whahn whahn)
We had time after dinner to sight see, so we went to the CN Tower, once the tallest man made structure. The view was spectacular, and you could also see right into the Blue Jays stadium directly below. My only regret was not getting a picture of the "distance from CN Tower to various destinations" wall, including various cities on Earth, both the North and South Poles, the crater on the Moon, and Olympus Mons on Mars, the highest point in the Milky Way.
One quick point before I go to bed to make sure I catch my morning flight to Montreal...the Hilton Garden Inn hotel room has issues. I didn't realize anything was wrong yesterday, but tonight the room is really hot and the air conditioner is turned off (I think) and the knobs are missing. I tried fidgeting with what's left, so hopefully I don't catch the sheets on fire when I burn up tonight. The Internet is also spotty at best. I took about 20 minutes of refreshing, relogging in, adn finally re-writing and sending a simple email. The light in the bathroom also flickers and hurts my eyes. One the plus side, the staff is really nice and friendly though, the shower is poweful (one of my biggest pet peeves is a weak shower!) and the bed is pretty comfortable for a hotel bed.
For whatever reason, I am having an impossible time uploading pictures and videos at the moment, so I'll give that a go when I get settled in Montreal or back home.
Until next time, enjoy seeing the world through my eyes.
1 comment:
Great start on the travel blog! I look forward to reading more as you do more excursions. Your restaurant picks sound yummy, too.
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