Takakkaw Falls

Takakkaw Falls

We gradually dried off on the drive to Lake Louise. The bright blue, Crystal Clear Lake was beautiful, I admit, and I always knew it was going be touristy...but I wasn't quite prepared for the swarms of tourists in and around the lake. We decided not to linger there for long, heading off on our hike up to Lake Agnes Teahouse. Again, I was expecting the teahouse to be jammed to the rafters with tourists but we managed to grab a table with a lovely view of the lake and ordered delicious chai teas. We saw a 'staff wanted' ad on the wall and asked our server what it's like working there: during the week they stay in lodges near the isolated teahouse, which has no electricity, and must hike up and down the Mountain to bring in supplies/dispose of garbage. Sounds like one person's idea of heaven, another's idea of hell!

During the hike, I very nearly slipped off the edge of the Mountain - "ooh, that was close!", a passing stranger commented - and Rylan won the award for first injury of the trip when he fell flat on his face.

Our accommodation that night was...a cabin! Called Deltaform.

Lake Louise

On the way home, Rylan got fed up of me making fun of his terrible driving of the standard-drive car he'd borrowed (of course, most Canadian cars are automatics) so as we entered his quiet neighbourhood he made me take the dRiver's seat. At which point I executed the smoothest gear changes I have ever managed in my life and was happily rubbing it in his face until we unexpectedly came to a 90 degree bend in the road and almost died.

Downtown Calgary

Calgary from Nosehill park

For dinner, we barbequed some huge Calgary steaks and I got to catch up with Kira before Rylan and I headed off on our tour of the Rockies. As dinner ended, a thunderstorm of epic proportions hit Calgary. While the Canadians didn't seem particularly concerned by the lightning flashing relentlessly every second, I stood at the window like an English fool repeating "THIS IS INSANE!!" until gigantic hailstones began to fall from the sky.

Thunderstorm excitement wearing thin, we all watched Tim Minchin in what I like to call their 'home cinema' to finish off the day.

written by  lucy3119 on August 12, 2012 from Calgary, Canada
from the travel blog: Canada and a little USA 2012
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It was up to us to decide where to go once we arrived in the city, so Charlie, Amanda and I took the subway to Harvard University where we sat and soaked up the Ivy League atmosphere and battled with tour groups for a photo with John Harvard himself.

Harvard

Losing Amanda, Charlie and I sat outside on the street eating pizza and iced tea, before heading to Monument Park, hoping for great views over the city. Unfortunately, the torrential rain that had been following us around the US and Canada caught up with us again, and by the time we arrived at the park, the monument had been closed due to the weather. We stumbled upon Amanda again at this point and made our way back to our meeting place on the Ferry. As we waited for our guide to pick us up, a clock Tower nearby bizarrely started chiming 'God Save the Queen'.

For our final dinner of the trip we visited an all-American restaurant which served us portions big enough to feed four men rather than one: I swear I had at least half a turkey piled up on my plate. To recover from the meat sweats Charlie, Lewis and I wandered around the city, soaking up the pretty lights and live music.

American-sized portions in Boston!

Later on, we headed to the campsite's pool to warm up, and decided to start practicing for the 2016 Olympics with a highly professional synchronised swimming routine that involved doing the YMCA.

While most of the group hung around the campsite in the afternoon, Charlie and I took the free shuttle bus into Bar Harbor, where we accidentally bought the largest and most delicious ice-creams known to man, and barely managed to eat half of them before admitting defeat.

American-sized ice-creams

We sat on a green overlooking the bay for a while before heading back to meet our group for a typical Maine dinner: lobster! Some members of our group bought lobster for the first time ("when in Maine...") but hadn't quite realised what they were in for: Lorna's disgusted face as she dissected her lobster was priceless!

That night, as we slept soundly in our tents, we were interrupted by a huge crash. Scared to investigate, imagining a bear prowling around our tents, we waited until morning to inspect the carnage: all our food had been eaten during the night by raccoons.

We arrived at our campsite in Acadia National Park and spent the evening around the campfire bonding over some beer, wine and card games.

written by  lucy3119 on August 8, 2012 from Boston, United States
from the travel blog: Canada and a little USA 2012
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We began with a visit to the Citadelle to watch the changing of the guards, a 40-minute long process involving soldiers in English-style red uniforms, a marching band and a goat with golden horns.

We wandered around parliament, the Chateau Frontenac, and quirky streets complete with giant murals. On the search for some good poutine (a local dish of fries covered in gravy and cheese curds) we asked an off-duty local tour guide who led us to a restaurant apparently frequented by the locals. We weren't disappointed: despite not usually liking fries with cheese OR fries with gravy, I ate every bit of my delicious poutine.

Poutine

Poutine

Charlie and I, separated from the group, stumbled upon a glassware shop where you could watch live glass blowing, and then settled down at a cafe in a beautiful courtyard opposite the cathedral. We made bets on how long it would be before we spotted another member of our group and, sure enough, Ross soon wandered by and joined us for a drink. We wandered around a bit more, stopping to watch street musicians and artists.

Not very nice, eh?

Earlier in the day Charlie, Amanda and I had visited the Morrin Centre, an ex-jail that now houses a beautiful library. There, we met a man who referred to himself as 'The Ben' and informed us that if we returned at 5pm, we could join a tour that would give us the chance to be prisoners: "we WILL treat you like prisoners". How could we refuse?
We arrived for our tour and were forced to line up outside, in handcuffs, before being led to the 'medical room', where we were examined and given a 'tonic'. We then proceeded to the cells.

Charlie and 'The Ben'

Me and 'The Ben'

After the tour, we thought "when in France..." and went for crepes at a great little creperie.

The torrential rain caught up with us again just as we were headed to a a free Cirque du Soleil performance under an underpass. After much deliberation we decided to stick it out and I'm glad we did: despite a completely bizarre and disturbing concept the performers themselves were amazing, with their gravity- and death-defying acrobatics.

written by  lucy3119 on August 7, 2012 from Quebec, Canada
from the travel blog: Canada and a little USA 2012
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Back to camping again in Quebec after two comparatively luxurious nights in a hostel. We arrived late afternoon in time for a ghost tour of the old town lead by a Liverpudlian girl dressed as a Victorian man. The highlight of the tour was being allowed into the Notre Dame cathedral at night, sitting on the pews in the dark listening to ghostly tales. It was lovely seeing Quebec all lit up, particularly the Chateau Frontenac on the hill.

Chateau Frontenac

Ghost tour

Streets of old Montreal

We were hit by torrential rain but decided to carry on sightseeing regardless; luckily, the sun soon came out and we wandered the very French and atmospheric streets of Montreal, eating ice cream and watching a street performer climb a ladder made of knives while offending passers-by. We also tried maple lemonade served in classic American red plastic cups.

Maple lemonade

In the evening we returned to our pirate restaurant, which turned out to be a great find - not only was the food fantastic, we also had a pirate musician playing sea shanties and Irish folk music on the fiddle and banjo (with audience participation) and posed in the stocks with our pirate host.

Piratical entertainment

Dinner in the dark

After the meal, somebody decided karaoke would be a good idea...we ended up at Pang Pang's, a true Chinese-style karaoke place with our own room. Such a hilarious night...