Canada beckons You!

The New Zealand trip was a primer…I had been bitten by the ‘nature-bug’…and two years later, we decided to explore Canada to catch ‘La Fievre Canadienne’ (Canadian Fever)!

As you land in the heart of Canada, the Niagara Falls, make sure you hold on to yourself! While walking near the falls on the raised street, the strong winds can almost sweep you off your feet. So, beware of the winds, otherwise, you’ll wrong the adage, ‘The sky is the limit’!

Don’t forget to take the Incline rail to the falls, do the Hornblower cruise that will take you so frightfully near to the ear deafening sound of the mighty falls, only to discover that you are fully drenched in the shower! The night view of the falls with lights changing their colours was equally spectacular. Our hotel room window opened to the full view of the Niagara Falls, allowing me to soak the views for just a tad longer.

Malls in Canada are huge - a shopaholic’s paradise; you can splurge as much as you can! The Royal Ontario Museum is again incredible. The Earth & Space treasures exhibit there is one of my personal favourites. The CN tower in Toronto, one of the tallest buildings in the world, offers unparallel panoramic views and the glass lift takes you to the glass floor at 1122ft in just 58 seconds!

Next, we went to Calgary where we took a Helicopter ride (again highly recommended) for 12 minutes and saw shooting scenes of the Batman & Wolverine movies.

From there on, we went to Banff where we did a Gondola ride to the Sulphur mountains where we were in the midst of clouds and snow! Walking on the wooden bridge at that height was my real ‘Cloud 9’ moment! Lake Louise was our sunset point and the Fairmont Hotel on the Lake was itself a beauty to behold! And the cherry on the cake was delicious ‘Indian food’ at the hotel!

Canada is vast and the only way to travel for a tourist is to take its reliable Brewster Coaches and relish the journey amidst Canadian Rockies, bow falls, hoodoos and much more.

The Columbia Icefields Discovery Centre at Jasper is the largest icefield in the Canadian Rockies. The humongous Ice Explorer took us to the Athabasca Glacier where drinking from the melting glacier water felt divine and was an uplifting experience!

Chopper ride, Glacier explorer ride, what next?! You guessed it right, how could we not do the Rocky Mountaineer Rail (RMR) journey after coming so far! There is no better way to see Canada’s wild beauty and we were lucky to spot black bears on the way! The train, with its personalized service and charming hosts made us feel at home and they tantalized our taste buds with delicious dishes. The journey became even more memorable as we celebrated my Mom’s birthday aboard with specially prepared gooseberry pies and a lovely gift book of RMR journeys from our wonderful train hosts!

As all good things come to an end, our journey also reached its last stop – Vancouver! Cosmopolitan City with spectacular port views with hundreds of parked yachts and lovely walking tracks at Stanley park! Don’t miss the ‘Flyover Canada’ 4D show that will literally sweep you off your feet!

Maple trees are ubiquitous in Canada and the maple syrup & pancakes are sure to tingle your taste buds there! So, go on and explore ‘The Land of Maple’, Canada for yourself, and come back in awe!