Author: admin September 13, 2015

I’m from the United States of America, but I’ve always wanted to visit out neighbors to the North. Canada has many different attractions, but I really just wanted to try poutine (kidding, I’ve actually got some friends that moved up there and I was looking to catch up with them). Getting to Canada was going to be relatively easy, I live in Chicago so I was only looking at a plane ride of about 2 hours (give or take). I’m not a fan of flying by any means, I would actually go as far as saying that I loathe flying. It’s something that you’ve got to get over, though, as I am constantly flying for work. I can tell my boss to shove it because I get a bit anxious on air planes, that’s just not how the world works! My friends live in Toronto, which is essentially like the New York City of Canada. I knew I was going to experience something different than what I was used to – but I was totally ready for it! I’m going to share my experience with you, and maybe it’ll draw some inspiration from within. Who knows, maybe you’ll be heading on over to Canada next.

My friends had a few things planned for me before I had even landed, and it seemed like the trip was going perfect from the very beginning. I had my luggage ready, all of which was recommended to me by Luggage on Tour. I felt good about my bags, and I definitely felt decent about the flight (like I said, I don’t like flying, so feeling “decent” is as good as it’s going to get). I was a bit worried about the cuisine, but that’s because I’m stupid and didn’t realize Canada is essentially the United States (except, you know, a little more polite). I’ve been to New York City, and let me tell you, Toronto is definitely better when it comes to the attitude of the community. That’s probably just a personal preference, but most of the people I came in contact with were the nicest people I’ve ever met! I love Toronto – and I’ve only ever been there once, so the things I got to do must have been amazing; otherwise I wouldn’t be talking about it so much.

The Food

Like I said, poutine was something I was very interested in. I wanted to eat it almost immediately, but I had to go to my hotel and such. The hotel I stayed in was rather nice, although it was just a simple Best Western in downtown Toronto. The scene of downtown Toronto was perfect for food lovers, as there were an abundance of food trucks when I was walking around town for the week. Maybe I just got lucky and visited during the perfect month, because I was in heaven. Canada doesn’t really have any other national dishes, although the beaver tails (which are like a glazed sort of doughnut, except they’re way bigger and taste much better). There are reputable restaurants in the downtown community that have fan followings, which just goes to show how high-quality the food they’re cooking is. When your restaurant has a fan-base, you know you’ve got to be doing something right.

I also got to taste some Montreal-style BBQ, which was delicious (to say the least). All in all, the food in Canada is pretty amazing; I didn’t find myself wondering whether I was going to constantly order pizza or not!

The Culture

Toronto has a lot of artsy components to it, there are an abundance of museums and art galleries to look at and I found myself going through tons of clothing boutiques. Fashion and art rank rather high within the community, which is probably why Toronto is looked at as being the New York City of Canada. They share a lot of similarities, but both cities are different in their own right. Visiting Canada for yourself will open your eyes to a part of the world you might not know a lot about!

There are tons of other places in Canada to visit, I personally want to make my way on over to Alberta at some point in time. If you don’t want to go a very far distance, but still want to experience some sort of cultural difference, I’d say head on over to Canada.