Andrew Aigner-MuehlerLIVING OVERSEAS from my eyes.. LIVING IN CANADA
January 26th 2008 05:24
LIVING IN CANADA
Living in Canada, is a bit like living in Australia to say the least, in the way, it’s quite distant between major cities. On the east coast the major cities and towns are close, and the west coast and central they’re distant. As mentioned before, it use to be expensive to fly between major cities in Australia until Sir Richard Branson introduced Virgin Blue, the same thing will happen to Canada one day as well, it may be Sir Richard, or it may be another entrepreneur.
Living in Toronto, is probably the best city to live, if you like to get out a lot. Toronto is on the doorstep to the United States, with many entry spots to several U.S.A states. In the winter you can head to the country to ski and in the summer you can head to cottage country, for water sports or to relax. Out east you can head to the nation capital Ottawa and Montreal with an under six-hour drive or train ride.
I am not saying when you go to Canada, live in Toronto, because chances are you will hate it, it took me eight months to start to like the place. As mentioned before, it is a miniature New York, and quite dirty to say the least. Crime is at a point where it is about to get out of hand, with the majority of the crime around the north of the city, around Finch, stretching from Etobicoke to Scarborough. I call that part ‘shootingsville’. The main crimes are shootings, robberies and abductions. There are other bad parts, but nowhere as bad as up north. If you live around Parkdale, where I lived, the people are quite different, that is probably because of 1001 Queen street ‘Center for the Addiction and Mental Health’, but the people will leave you alone, they might ask you for spare change once in a while, but just say, you have nothing. Certain parts of Parkdale, in the early hours of the morning, you will see ladies hanging out on the corner, but if you’re into paying for fun, stay clear from this fun. That’s why I had actually named Parkdale ‘prostituteville’. But, Parkdale is centrally located, it is in the middle of everything, close to the TTC (streetcar and Bus), banks, supermarkets, basically everything and it is cheaper to live there than any other parts of the city meaning food and accommodation.
While living in Toronto, and working at the Rogers Center, I was able to pop over to Montreal, Quebec for a few days, while I wasn’t needed, as the Jays were on a road trip. One thing I truly noticed about Montreal was, it doesn’t look like Canada, and it doesn’t look like Europe, it has its own touch. The people (French Canadians) as mentioned earlier are totally opposite to Canadians, and are also not like the French. They’re friendly, helpful, and will go out of their way to talk English, if they know you talk English, and can’t speak French. If you do, do a four hour Grayline tour, just to warn you, the tour is just basically a introduction tour of the city, you will need to go back to those places or attractions that interested you, as the tour does not stop everywhere, and when it does stop it stops in unusual places, for example we were only on the bus for ten minutes when it made a stop at a church for thirty minutes, which hardly none of us went in, and then later in the tour it drives past Olympic Park, and doesn’t stop, and you could see people were interested in what it has to offer. Suppose it is a time thing, I don’t know. Luckily all of the attractions are easily accessed by the Metro (Montreal train system). While I am on the Metro, it cost the same as the TTC, but all the signs, announcements and information boards at the stations or on board are in French, but as long as you know where you started, where you’re going to, you wont get lost. The train carriages are small like the Underground in London, but are weirdly set out, bit like the TTC, but on a smaller scale, plus the seats are even harder. Don’t bother picking up the free metro newspaper, if you don’t speak French because it is in French.
If like me, you decide to walk from the Olympic Park back to the center of town, along the water edge, it will take you at least one and a half hours, nothing much to see but, you will get a good photograph of the Flag six park that features one of the largest roller coasters in the world, and also you will walk past the Molson brewery also on the way back, which you can do a tour of if interested.
On a fine spring or summers day, you will find most of the beer gardens and patios full of people enjoying a nice beverage. One thing that shocked me was, seeing a lot of people drinking sangria.
If you do live in Toronto and want to visit Montreal, the best thing to do is to book seats on VIA rail, make sure you book at least five days in advance so you take advantage of cheap seats. When I went it cost me $181 return including the tax, and as we know in Canada the tax kills you, on everything you buy especially travel. If you go express, the train ride is only five to six hours, but it also gives you a chance to see a bit of the countryside. I will say it is a bit of a boring trip; you do need a book to keep you company, but the scenery does change as well. All up with Montreal being close to Toronto, and easy access by VIA rail, it makes a good short break away.
In regard to eating out in Toronto, I hope you like Pizza, there is a pizzeria on every corner, and the major ones are ‘Pizza Pizza’ and ‘241 pizza’. There is also thousands of Caribbean Roti, Indian, Canadian Chinese restaurants. But, nothing goes past the thousands of street dog vendors around Toronto, where you can buy a hot dog or sausage in a roll from between $1 and $3.50. If you are in Toronto, don’t go past the Spadina Queen Street 'street dog' vendors, there are three of them in front of the CIBC bank, and they are the best street dogs in Toronto, maybe even the world and they’re only one dollar. They’re just perfect after a night out at the Horseshoe Tavern watching a live band or even having a drink. If you like to go out for a great meal, you can’t go past the ‘Keg mansion’ or ‘the steak house’, the steaks are perfect, and get washed down even better with a pint of Guiness. Another fine restaurant is the 360-degree restaurant at the top of the CN tower, haven’t actually eaten there, but heard many fine reviews.
If I mentioned a bit about eating out, I have to mention a bit about its companion, the drinking. While most Canadians rather drink a bit before heading the town to save some cash by purchasing the alcohol at government controlled liquor outlets such as the ‘Beer store’ and ‘LCBO’ Liquor Control Board Ontario, only because when your out you are looking at anything from $4 to $7 for a bottle of beer or $5 to $8 for a pint of beer plus also you have to add a tip, which is suggested to be around $1 per drink bought. On an average night out, you are looking at spending forty dollars and that is just for yourself. The popular beers to drink are Labatts Blue, Molson Canadian, Budweiser, Keith’s, Labatts 50 and Guiness. You will see a lot of people drink Rye mixed with Canada dry or cola as an alternative to beer. Some of the good places to drink at, which are popular with the locals are the Horseshoe Tavern, Drake Hotel, Gladstone hotel, the Big Bop which consists of three bars Holy Joes, Reverb and the Kathedral. The Rex Hotel is also a good place to visit if you like Jazz. But, there are many fine establishments around Toronto; you just have to find them. Most of the bars around town will have live music at least one day if not every day. I must say Toronto, is pretty good when it comes to live music. Keeping on the live music, if you’re in Toronto around end of July, you need to head down to ‘The Beach’ previously known as ‘The Beaches’ for the annual Jazz Festival, which I must say is just outstanding, and is a fun and entertaining night out. Head down to ‘The Beach’ around 7pm and make your way home around 11pm. Just a note, expect big crowds, bit of pushing, and claustrophobic conditions, especially around some bands who become very popular on the night. It’s easy to get their just jump on the 501 streetcar heading east on Queen Street. The city of Toronto also has a Jazz Festival in Nathan Phillips Square early July.
Living in Canada, is a bit like living in Australia to say the least, in the way, it’s quite distant between major cities. On the east coast the major cities and towns are close, and the west coast and central they’re distant. As mentioned before, it use to be expensive to fly between major cities in Australia until Sir Richard Branson introduced Virgin Blue, the same thing will happen to Canada one day as well, it may be Sir Richard, or it may be another entrepreneur.
Living in Toronto, is probably the best city to live, if you like to get out a lot. Toronto is on the doorstep to the United States, with many entry spots to several U.S.A states. In the winter you can head to the country to ski and in the summer you can head to cottage country, for water sports or to relax. Out east you can head to the nation capital Ottawa and Montreal with an under six-hour drive or train ride.
I am not saying when you go to Canada, live in Toronto, because chances are you will hate it, it took me eight months to start to like the place. As mentioned before, it is a miniature New York, and quite dirty to say the least. Crime is at a point where it is about to get out of hand, with the majority of the crime around the north of the city, around Finch, stretching from Etobicoke to Scarborough. I call that part ‘shootingsville’. The main crimes are shootings, robberies and abductions. There are other bad parts, but nowhere as bad as up north. If you live around Parkdale, where I lived, the people are quite different, that is probably because of 1001 Queen street ‘Center for the Addiction and Mental Health’, but the people will leave you alone, they might ask you for spare change once in a while, but just say, you have nothing. Certain parts of Parkdale, in the early hours of the morning, you will see ladies hanging out on the corner, but if you’re into paying for fun, stay clear from this fun. That’s why I had actually named Parkdale ‘prostituteville’. But, Parkdale is centrally located, it is in the middle of everything, close to the TTC (streetcar and Bus), banks, supermarkets, basically everything and it is cheaper to live there than any other parts of the city meaning food and accommodation.
While living in Toronto, and working at the Rogers Center, I was able to pop over to Montreal, Quebec for a few days, while I wasn’t needed, as the Jays were on a road trip. One thing I truly noticed about Montreal was, it doesn’t look like Canada, and it doesn’t look like Europe, it has its own touch. The people (French Canadians) as mentioned earlier are totally opposite to Canadians, and are also not like the French. They’re friendly, helpful, and will go out of their way to talk English, if they know you talk English, and can’t speak French. If you do, do a four hour Grayline tour, just to warn you, the tour is just basically a introduction tour of the city, you will need to go back to those places or attractions that interested you, as the tour does not stop everywhere, and when it does stop it stops in unusual places, for example we were only on the bus for ten minutes when it made a stop at a church for thirty minutes, which hardly none of us went in, and then later in the tour it drives past Olympic Park, and doesn’t stop, and you could see people were interested in what it has to offer. Suppose it is a time thing, I don’t know. Luckily all of the attractions are easily accessed by the Metro (Montreal train system). While I am on the Metro, it cost the same as the TTC, but all the signs, announcements and information boards at the stations or on board are in French, but as long as you know where you started, where you’re going to, you wont get lost. The train carriages are small like the Underground in London, but are weirdly set out, bit like the TTC, but on a smaller scale, plus the seats are even harder. Don’t bother picking up the free metro newspaper, if you don’t speak French because it is in French.
If like me, you decide to walk from the Olympic Park back to the center of town, along the water edge, it will take you at least one and a half hours, nothing much to see but, you will get a good photograph of the Flag six park that features one of the largest roller coasters in the world, and also you will walk past the Molson brewery also on the way back, which you can do a tour of if interested.
On a fine spring or summers day, you will find most of the beer gardens and patios full of people enjoying a nice beverage. One thing that shocked me was, seeing a lot of people drinking sangria.
If you do live in Toronto and want to visit Montreal, the best thing to do is to book seats on VIA rail, make sure you book at least five days in advance so you take advantage of cheap seats. When I went it cost me $181 return including the tax, and as we know in Canada the tax kills you, on everything you buy especially travel. If you go express, the train ride is only five to six hours, but it also gives you a chance to see a bit of the countryside. I will say it is a bit of a boring trip; you do need a book to keep you company, but the scenery does change as well. All up with Montreal being close to Toronto, and easy access by VIA rail, it makes a good short break away.
In regard to eating out in Toronto, I hope you like Pizza, there is a pizzeria on every corner, and the major ones are ‘Pizza Pizza’ and ‘241 pizza’. There is also thousands of Caribbean Roti, Indian, Canadian Chinese restaurants. But, nothing goes past the thousands of street dog vendors around Toronto, where you can buy a hot dog or sausage in a roll from between $1 and $3.50. If you are in Toronto, don’t go past the Spadina Queen Street 'street dog' vendors, there are three of them in front of the CIBC bank, and they are the best street dogs in Toronto, maybe even the world and they’re only one dollar. They’re just perfect after a night out at the Horseshoe Tavern watching a live band or even having a drink. If you like to go out for a great meal, you can’t go past the ‘Keg mansion’ or ‘the steak house’, the steaks are perfect, and get washed down even better with a pint of Guiness. Another fine restaurant is the 360-degree restaurant at the top of the CN tower, haven’t actually eaten there, but heard many fine reviews.
If I mentioned a bit about eating out, I have to mention a bit about its companion, the drinking. While most Canadians rather drink a bit before heading the town to save some cash by purchasing the alcohol at government controlled liquor outlets such as the ‘Beer store’ and ‘LCBO’ Liquor Control Board Ontario, only because when your out you are looking at anything from $4 to $7 for a bottle of beer or $5 to $8 for a pint of beer plus also you have to add a tip, which is suggested to be around $1 per drink bought. On an average night out, you are looking at spending forty dollars and that is just for yourself. The popular beers to drink are Labatts Blue, Molson Canadian, Budweiser, Keith’s, Labatts 50 and Guiness. You will see a lot of people drink Rye mixed with Canada dry or cola as an alternative to beer. Some of the good places to drink at, which are popular with the locals are the Horseshoe Tavern, Drake Hotel, Gladstone hotel, the Big Bop which consists of three bars Holy Joes, Reverb and the Kathedral. The Rex Hotel is also a good place to visit if you like Jazz. But, there are many fine establishments around Toronto; you just have to find them. Most of the bars around town will have live music at least one day if not every day. I must say Toronto, is pretty good when it comes to live music. Keeping on the live music, if you’re in Toronto around end of July, you need to head down to ‘The Beach’ previously known as ‘The Beaches’ for the annual Jazz Festival, which I must say is just outstanding, and is a fun and entertaining night out. Head down to ‘The Beach’ around 7pm and make your way home around 11pm. Just a note, expect big crowds, bit of pushing, and claustrophobic conditions, especially around some bands who become very popular on the night. It’s easy to get their just jump on the 501 streetcar heading east on Queen Street. The city of Toronto also has a Jazz Festival in Nathan Phillips Square early July.
| 79 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
