Is travel really worth it?
I was contemplating this thought as I was sitting in the San Francisco airport, waiting for my Air Canada AC756 flight to depart for Toronto (for our first leg of the Eastern Canada trip).
First, you spend time getting to the airport (contending with traffic on US-101), then you wait to check in at the airline terminal (Air Canada was running really slow). Then, you endure a time-consuming TSA check and passport check. Then, there are flight delays to contend with. At least some of these complaints could be relieved by a well-thought-out airport, but San Francisco's SFO is not that airport.
I was contemplating this thought as I was sitting in the San Francisco airport, waiting for my Air Canada AC756 flight to depart for Toronto (for our first leg of the Eastern Canada trip).
First, you spend time getting to the airport (contending with traffic on US-101), then you wait to check in at the airline terminal (Air Canada was running really slow). Then, you endure a time-consuming TSA check and passport check. Then, there are flight delays to contend with. At least some of these complaints could be relieved by a well-thought-out airport, but San Francisco's SFO is not that airport.
European airports (Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm) are far superior in every way (faster check-in, much better quality food, more places to sit, etc).
When we finally arrived in Toronto (after an hour's flight delay), we rented a car from Hertz (a Toyota Camry) and drove to our Cambridge Suites hotel. The rain was heavy, and I made a few wrong turns on the way to the hotel. Nevertheless, we arrived successfully after using Garmin GPS and my trusty Google Maps on my iPhone 5S. The Garmin could not find satellites for the longest time, so I used the iPhone initially.
We planned to visit Toronto, Niagara Falls, Thousand Lakes, and Montreal.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
After waking up, we ate breakfast at the breakfast buffet in the hotel's Portico restaurant. The breakfast items were of moderate quality, and I had a yogurt and a fruit salad while Inna ate scrambled eggs and toast.
After breakfast, we noticed the heavy rain outside, so we spent most of our day indoors at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).
The Royal Ontario Museum is rather vast - I didn't expect it to be so extensive. At first, we walked around aimlessly, looking at the Jurassic area dinosaurs, but then we decided to follow the free 11:00 a.m. Egyptian tour.
The Egyptian tour was very informative, and I learned some tidbits about life in Ancient Egypt and the mummification process (by looking at some mummies on display).
After the tour ended, we got lunch in the museum's cafe. The cafe had edible food, and I had a decent Greek salad, while Inna tried a rice plate with chicken (not very delicious), and Alex enjoyed some horrible-looking pizza.
After lunch, we decided to visit Pompeii's special exhibit on the volcanic eruption. Many ancient Roman artifacts were well-preserved after the deadly eruption, and many pieces were displayed.
The Pompeii tour was informative, but we were tired and decided to rest. We liked the guided tours and decided to do the Highlights of ROM tour at 2:00 p.m. However, the older lady who gave the tour spoke too quietly, and we decided to try again at 3:00 p.m. The 3:00 p.m. tour was with our former Egyptian guide, and it worked out much better.
We revisited the Egyptian salon, followed by some Mesopotamian artifacts. We also stopped by the Dinosaur Gallery, where our guide discussed the various dinosaurs on display.
Afterward, we walked to the paleontology wing, where we saw a small remnant of a meteorite on display (that's 4.7 billion years old). This meteorite hit British Columbia in 2010 and was one of the few pristine samples. From there, we walked to the hall of First People - what Canadians call original Canadian natives.
Many artifacts were displayed, including canoes, kayaks, clothing, and paintings of ancient native life.
Since we had tickets to do the CN Tower's Edge Walk tour at 8:00 p.m., we hurried to get dinner at a well-rated Khao San Road Thai restaurant. The entrees - especially the Pad Thai and the famous Khao Sai. Our spring rolls were a delicious start, and the coconut-lemon grass soup was tasty but spicy. We were lucky to get to Khao San Road before opening; otherwise, we would have never made it in. It's such a popular place to eat.
I enjoyed the "Tom Yum"" soup, while Alex liked his "Bangkok Pad Thai."
Inna tried the "Khao Soi," and it was delicious!
Nearby, we saw a theater playing the musical "Kinky Boots." We just had to stop for a photo.
When we arrived at the CN Tower, it was still raining and foggy. We had the option to reschedule for the next day at 8:00 p.m. (and we decided to do so). Instead, we strolled around downtown Toronto (which seemed dead on a Sunday). Even the famous Distillery district looked dead like Los Gatos on a Sunday night.
However, we did manage to find an open French patisserie - Cluny, and enjoyed a few pastries with hot tea.
We really liked the variety of street food trucks in Toronto.
And who could miss the Hockey Hall of Fame while walking around Toronto?
We enjoyed Toronto, though we were not very lucky with the weather.
When we finally arrived in Toronto (after an hour's flight delay), we rented a car from Hertz (a Toyota Camry) and drove to our Cambridge Suites hotel. The rain was heavy, and I made a few wrong turns on the way to the hotel. Nevertheless, we arrived successfully after using Garmin GPS and my trusty Google Maps on my iPhone 5S. The Garmin could not find satellites for the longest time, so I used the iPhone initially.
We planned to visit Toronto, Niagara Falls, Thousand Lakes, and Montreal.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
After waking up, we ate breakfast at the breakfast buffet in the hotel's Portico restaurant. The breakfast items were of moderate quality, and I had a yogurt and a fruit salad while Inna ate scrambled eggs and toast.
After breakfast, we noticed the heavy rain outside, so we spent most of our day indoors at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).
The Royal Ontario Museum is rather vast - I didn't expect it to be so extensive. At first, we walked around aimlessly, looking at the Jurassic area dinosaurs, but then we decided to follow the free 11:00 a.m. Egyptian tour.
The Egyptian tour was very informative, and I learned some tidbits about life in Ancient Egypt and the mummification process (by looking at some mummies on display).
After the tour ended, we got lunch in the museum's cafe. The cafe had edible food, and I had a decent Greek salad, while Inna tried a rice plate with chicken (not very delicious), and Alex enjoyed some horrible-looking pizza.
After lunch, we decided to visit Pompeii's special exhibit on the volcanic eruption. Many ancient Roman artifacts were well-preserved after the deadly eruption, and many pieces were displayed.
The Pompeii tour was informative, but we were tired and decided to rest. We liked the guided tours and decided to do the Highlights of ROM tour at 2:00 p.m. However, the older lady who gave the tour spoke too quietly, and we decided to try again at 3:00 p.m. The 3:00 p.m. tour was with our former Egyptian guide, and it worked out much better.
We revisited the Egyptian salon, followed by some Mesopotamian artifacts. We also stopped by the Dinosaur Gallery, where our guide discussed the various dinosaurs on display.
Afterward, we walked to the paleontology wing, where we saw a small remnant of a meteorite on display (that's 4.7 billion years old). This meteorite hit British Columbia in 2010 and was one of the few pristine samples. From there, we walked to the hall of First People - what Canadians call original Canadian natives.
Many artifacts were displayed, including canoes, kayaks, clothing, and paintings of ancient native life.
Since we had tickets to do the CN Tower's Edge Walk tour at 8:00 p.m., we hurried to get dinner at a well-rated Khao San Road Thai restaurant. The entrees - especially the Pad Thai and the famous Khao Sai. Our spring rolls were a delicious start, and the coconut-lemon grass soup was tasty but spicy. We were lucky to get to Khao San Road before opening; otherwise, we would have never made it in. It's such a popular place to eat.
I enjoyed the "Tom Yum"" soup, while Alex liked his "Bangkok Pad Thai."
Inna tried the "Khao Soi," and it was delicious!
Nearby, we saw a theater playing the musical "Kinky Boots." We just had to stop for a photo.
When we arrived at the CN Tower, it was still raining and foggy. We had the option to reschedule for the next day at 8:00 p.m. (and we decided to do so). Instead, we strolled around downtown Toronto (which seemed dead on a Sunday). Even the famous Distillery district looked dead like Los Gatos on a Sunday night.
However, we did manage to find an open French patisserie - Cluny, and enjoyed a few pastries with hot tea.
We really liked the variety of street food trucks in Toronto.
And who could miss the Hockey Hall of Fame while walking around Toronto?
We enjoyed Toronto, though we were not very lucky with the weather.
0 comments:
Post a Comment