Y is for Yacht !

I took this snap while sitting on the banks of the Toronto Bay. There were many boats passing by. A few of them were sail boats like the one above, but most of them were speedboats. 

The speedboats were sleek and fast, rushing by with a roar as their owners raced them over the waters. I am sure there is some sort of adrenaline rush and thrill in riding a sped boat, but somehow I preferred these slow and sedate Yachts to them.

I felt very serene and peaceful looking at them ... I believe that they were trying to tell me that life is all about slowing down and savouring every mile of the journey instead of speeding through it !

W is for waterfalls !

I saw the Niagra falls from the Canada side. They look even more spectacular from there because you can see the  complete horse shoe formation.

You can also see the Maid of the Mist boat in the above picture. The Maid of the Mist takes you almost till the falls and it is an experience never to be forgotten.

I took the following picture from the boat. The roar of the falls was almost deafening and we were completely drenched with water. 

it did feel that we were in the presence of something much more powerful and immense than us ! 

The view from the top !

By the way, do any of you know what Nirjharini - The name of my blog means :P

A fairy-tale called Quebec City !

This post is a continuation of my "Canada Chronicles" series.

 After I finished wandering around Toronto, I was at a loss with what to do with myself. Since I had spent a lot of time and resources traipsing about UK and Scotland, I couldn't take myself off to a week of hiking in the Rockies as I was dying to do. So I did the next best thing. I took a trip to Quebec City.

I couldn't have chosen a better to spend my last few days in Canada because that trip was the highlight of my entire Canada Trip.I discovered that Quebec City is quaint, delightful and quite magical!

Perched rather precariously on top of a steep hill, overlooking the St Lawrence river, Quebec City is a world heritage site and the only walled city in North America besides Mexico.

Quebec City has an old worlds charm and you feel as if you have been transported straight into a Magical land.
The old  town is surrounded by a huge wall and  as I looked up at the ancient gables and turrets, I felt I was looking at a castle out of fairytale.I almost expected horsemen to gallop out of the doors and a fair haired princess to look down from one of the windows !

 The city has a lot of tourist spots such as the magnificent Parliament hill, Plains of Abraham as well as the Chateau Frontenac hotel.

Parliament Hill

The Chateau Frontenac is supposed to be the most photographed hotel in North America.

Although the whole city is a tourist’s delight, it’s the old part of the town that is really picturesque and quaint. I spent very little time at the tourist attractions. 
Instead I spent all my time wandering around the cobbled streets of the old town soaking in the fantastic and unique ambience of the place. 
I found the place vibrant,thrumming with energy and absolute joie de vivre.
The shops were quaint,with very brightly painted vibrant doors and windows, Bistros with their chairs spilling over the side walks.

Every window had Flowers in all colours and shapes framed in them. 

I was fascinated enough by the cobbled streets, the cute shops and the lovely flowers everywhere,when I saw this ..

I also discovered something which no guidebook had mentioned. The old Town has this whole lane filled with artists displaying their watercolours and sketches.Most of the paintings were of the natural beauty and architecture of Quebec. 

A lot of them also do portraits and you can get your portrait made in a very short time.

By the end of the day, my feet were killing me from all the walking I did but my mind was a kaleidoscope of vibrant colours and images.

Quebec City left me totally enchanted and mesmerized.This is one place I shall definitely go back to ! 

Canada Snapshots - Thursday Challenge (Wood)

Today's Thursday Challenge is  WOODEN (Furniture, Buildings, Crafts, Trees,...)

I saw these in a shop in Canada and fell in love with them ! 

I guess you can call this wood craft :P
Cute aren't they ! 

Canada Snapshots - A thousand Islands !

One thing I really enjoyed during my trip to Canada was the boat ride on the  1000 islands. 1000 islands is a group of more than a thousand islands dotted upon the St Lawrence river. Some of the islands are relatively big and some tiny enough to hold just a small house.The river here actually forms an International border between US and Canada so some of the Islands fall in the US and some in Canada.

Most of these islands have been bought by the rich and the famous and they have built beautiful summer homes there. The houses are so spectacular that I spent most of the boat ride half hanging out of the boat lusting after them and wishing that one day the good lord gives me enough money to buy homes like these.

The bridge across the St Lawrence river with US on one side and Canada on the other.

Some of the islands are tiny enough to hold just one house ! Most of them have flags to show which country the Island belong to ! 

This family owns two islands and have built a quaint little bridge to connect them. How cute is that ! 

Most of the residents spent their summers doing this 

or this 

This is life eh ! 

Canada Snapshots - Walking the Trails !

 The best thing that I liked about my stay in Canada was that it was a very relaxed laidback time. My two weeks in London were spent in hectic sightseeing and rushing about and I think the only time I sat down in those three weeks was when I boarded the flight to Toronto. 

My brother stays in a small town off Toronto and away from the hustle bustle of the big city. The town had a lot of nature trails and there was one right behind my Brother’s house. At all times, it had people walking their dogs,hiking, cycling, fishing in the small creek or simply barbecuing in the open. The Canadians love the outdoors, or perhaps because it was summer in Canada and summer is so much anticipated there, that everybody who can walk or crawl was out there soaking in the sun.

There were a few trails right behind my brother’s house and I had a marvellous time walking them. 

The trail behind my Brother's house ! 

The creek nearby ! 

I loved walking along the creek 

 I spotted a lot of wild life as well. Chipmunks and interesting birds whose names I don’t really know and I could never capture on camera ! But I did manage to capture this cute Bunny ! 

An unusual tree I saw .....

 When I was not walking the trails, I was sitting by the lake enjoying the peace and quiet. ! 

Hello Ji. Kiddan? Welcome to Kanedda !

I really haven’t written anything about my travels to Canada last year, so the next few posts are going to be dedicated to that wonderful country.

 I landed at Toronto’s Pearson airport after spending two weeks in UK. I had the most marvellous time there and London is way on top of my list of favourite cities. But let’s face it, The British are a formal lot and when I landed I was more than slightly jaded after two weeks of the British stiff upper lip and 8 hours of snootiness by a BA air hostess. The reason that my spirits rose immensely upon reaching Toronto can be attributed to the fact that as soon as I entered the airport, I found myself face to face with an extremely handsome airport official. I was so enraptured by his blindingly good looks that I could barely tear my eyes from him to take the form he was holding out. I was soon to discover the Canadians are as a rule tall, rugged and rather handsome. This revelation off course played a huge role in my stay there being a success! 

Also, I felt as if I had landed right into the heartland of sadda Punjab. The immigration officer was a Punjabi and so were majority of the airport staff along with most of the passengers. I heard more of Hindi and Punjabi at Pearson airport than one would hear even at our very own IGI. And I dare say, the people around me were speaking much better Punjabi than me ! 

After collecting my bags I was looking around for a trolley when I realized that you needed to put a coin in the designated slot to pull one out. All I had with me were currency notes and for some reason, the ATM at the airport wouldn’t allow me to withdraw money. The way to the exit was quite a walk and the prospect of lugging my two very heavy suitcases till there was not a happy one. I looked around for someone I could ask for help. The nearest airport attendant at hand happened to be a Sikh. He was tall and rather plump and his white beard flowing over his ample belly made him look like a benign Santa Claus. I poured out my woes to him. He took one look at me and asked me where I was from. I had the good sense to say Chandigarh instead of Delhi. He gave me a huge smile, took out a key, released a trolley and said, "Koi gall nahi jee, le jaayo Trolley! Welcome to Kanedda !"

Needless to say, a very auspicious start to my stay :P