Train to Toronto // Niagara Falls

Alright folks, this is going to be a long post, after all, I had four days on the train 😜 Snacks and reading glasses ready... 😊 Spoiler: Contains a lot of selfies 😜 Soaking wet at the Niagara Falls 😂

On Tuesday, I prepared for my long 4-day train journey: downloading Netflix series, charging all devices, packing essential things in my hand luggage (clothes to change, toiletries, devices...). Of course, I arrived a few hours early at the train station, but since I didn't have an assigned seat (first come, first serve!), I was okay with that. When checking in my suitcase, I was given a choice: repack or pay $40 for overweight? The allowance was 23 kg, but I had 31 kg. 😂 For the next train rides and flights, I will pack more weight in my carry-on bag since I will be in the train for a maximum of 4 hours and 1 hour in the plane. But well, now I needed space for things like water bottles, pillows, and a blanket...
The waiting at the train station wasn't that long because I was well entertained by the decorators who were preparing the whole station for Christmas, hello Christmas tree on the 12th of September!
I was really looking forward to the long train journey as I wanted to see a lot of the scenery. Besides, I felt the need to write in my diary again, listen to music, and just enjoy some silence. I can feel that a lot has been going on inside me in the past few weeks, and I am amazed at the new ideas/thoughts I have, which I would have considered impossible a few months ago!
On the train, I didn't have to worry about anything for 4 days, no checking in or out, no planning sightseeing, there wasn't even a shower - hello dry shampoo 🤣 So just relax and let go. It was like a rainy Sunday at home, where you just hang around in your pajamas all day without any appointments. It was nice. I also needed some real time to mourn, because I couldn't do that while constantly having a busy schedule. But at some point, everything has to come out! (Tissue alert!) (Good realisation: That being alone occasionally is nice, healing, and necessary - I don't really notice that at home since I spend most of my time with myself 😊) It's clear that this has been neglected lately because when you're in a new place, you want to experience as much as possible and you're out and about from morning until night/early morning. Therefore, train travel had a meditative aspect to it, I could think as well as when jogging or driving a car in Switzerland. Unfortunately, jogging has been neglected for 2 months now - I want to change that in Toronto, after all, I have such great new sports clothes in my suitcase 😊
I slept surprisingly well on the first night (after about 30 changes of position 😂), suddenly it was past 7 am, I actually woke up because new passengers boarded the train. My new $13 plush blanket, which reminds me of my old Rituals blanket (where did I put that one? Zebrabox? #toomuchstuffproblems) was a good investment. Long live the Canadian dollar shops! By the way, I donated the sleeping bag, even though I didn't directly give it to a homeless person, the HI Hostel accepts such donations and passes them on to thrift shops. Someone will surely be happy about it 😄
Back to the train journey: Once again, a praise for the BOSE headphones (and thanks again for the tip to my irreplaceable friend 😘😘😘😘 BFF 4everandever) I wore the headphones for about 22 hours a day and I even slept with them! At first, I was afraid they would break if I lay on them! But those things are worth their 350 bucks 😄 My new tea bottle was also great, much better than the ones I had before: leak-proof and sturdy. So I enjoyed my peppermint tea and occasionally got a coffee at the onboard restaurant. Those were 4 cheap days in Canada 👍🏻 Another good purchase turned out to be the seat cushion that I bought for $16 for camping, as I wasn't sure if we would have camping chairs. In the end, I didn't need that cushion there, but now on the train, I used it to pad the corners of the seat since I mostly sat or lay diagonally. Smart 😜
On the first day, I did a lot of crochet, read half a book, and watched 2.5 movies (@ Sabine: SATC movie 1! But honestly, I don't really know what to think of it. Not enough girl power!) And of course, there was a lot to photograph on the journey through the Rockies.
Wi-Fi didn't work, as expected, so I occasionally turned on my mobile data to send and receive messages.

On the second day, I watched two episodes of 'Better Call Saul', wrote a lot, and read a lot... And sleeping also didn't fall short.

In the night to Friday, we made an seemingly endless stop at 2:45 am in Winnipeg (probably about two hours, but I tried to sleep!) New passengers boarded, among them two elderly gentlemen who thought it was a good idea to get to know each other at 4:30 am (How long have you been living here? - Since 1987!) (Notice: All the others in the train compartment were always absolutely quiet at night) I let them continue for about 5 minutes, then I got up, went to the gentlemen three rows behind me, and whispered: 'Excuse me! Can you please be quiet?' The man, apparently hard of hearing (explains the volume!), didn't understand. So I repeated my request louder and added: 'I'm trying to sleep!' Instantly, they stopped their conversation. Bam. That's how it should be! Don't mess with a badass 😂
The next morning, I slept until 9:30 am, almost unimaginable, but I probably have weeks of sleep deprivation to catch up on. Even when one of the train attendants announced that we were already 10 hours delayed, I didn't really care because I had no stress. As long as I didn't miss my trip to the Niagara Falls on Sunday!
In the afternoon, we stopped somewhere in the middle of nowhere (Sioux Lookout) for 15 minutes, and I spotted a drugstore nearby. And guess what I bought? Batiste Dry Shampoo! A heaven-sent invention when you haven't showered for 4 days 🙈 I actually wanted to buy it in Vancouver but could only find big spray cans there. And behold, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, there was a small travel-size can. No more bad hair days!
In the evening, I suddenly felt like talking to people again - the nice 'grandma' next to me had already spoken to me a few times when I didn't have my headphones on, in front of me sat a German guy who was peeling his carrots (no joke!) and a war veteran from Lithuania who was happy to be able to speak German again. By the way, the grandma was so kind because I rarely went to the onboard restaurant - I had my snacks - she came up to me on the first day: Have you eaten anything today? And on the third evening, she brought me a huge portion of dinner, she had enough and I should eat it 😊 It was super delicious! For a train meal, it was really excellent, better than in some restaurants!
On the third evening, I also felt that my batteries were slowly recharging, I was full of energy! It's just a shame that I couldn't 'release' it yet. On the 4th and last night, I didn't sleep as much (one of the train attendants also said: You don't sleep in here, you rest! 😂) so I was happy when the last day arrived, and I ordered a mega delicious omelette. In the onboard restaurant, there were a few interesting conversations, the fellow travelers were hilarious!

Back in Switzerland, I sometimes sit in the dining car, but I have never struck up a conversation with someone. Here, everyone talks to everyone, on the train, in the restaurant... it makes the travel experience very exciting.

Finally, after a beautiful day with blue skies and wonderful views of the already autumn-colored leaves, we arrived in Toronto with a 10-hour delay. It was an experience to finally realize the tremendous distance, not just scrolling from one place to another on Google Maps…
I quickly checked into my hotel, where I had booked a single room again. It was a tiny room, but I had my own bathroom and access to a well-maintained kitchen where I could make myself coffee in the morning. Almost like being at home 😊 I quickly packed my things and explored the nearby area of the hotel. It was very centrally located, so my walk only took about 5 minutes. Until 9:30 pm, the shopping mall 'Eaton Centre' was still open, and the bargain store 'Winners' (similar to 'Ross' or 'Marshalls' in the USA) was even open until 10 pm, and so I found a few nice things: a Canada charm pendant from Thomas Sabo (the first T.Sabo I've seen in 2 months!) and 2 Tommy Hilfiger skirts (all American girl 😊). (Of course, I took haul pictures for my friend 😜) Then I went back to the hotel but I wasn't tired yet, so I did some research on the internet.

On Sunday, the day trip to the Niagara Falls was on the agenda. During the camping tour, our driver had already made several comparisons with the waterfalls in the Rockies: the Niagara Falls are muuuch less high than the ones in the Rockies but much wider. I was curious!

It was a well-organized, informative tour with 14 people, the driver picked me up near the hotel and explained a lot on the way. We made several stops at the falls themselves and the viewing points nearby, and we were also able to get close to the falls by boat. Unfortunately, I forgot my sunglasses and hairbrush - water, here I come, hello bad hair day! We got extremely wet on the boat (mainly our faces, luckily we were given rain ponchos), but it was so much fun, the amount of water is gigantic!!! I also shot some videos that capture the speed of the water. Unfortunately, I can't upload them.
Lunch was included in the tour, we ate on the 13th floor of the Sheraton Hotel (amazing buffet!) and had a great view of the falls. In the afternoon, the driver took us to the picturesque town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, where everything seemed frozen in the 19th century: many lovingly furnished small shops, bakeries, and cafés, some of them with a special European touch (England shop, France shop...). In a decoration store (😍), I found funny egg cups, I still didn't have those in my household.

On Monday, I slept until 8 am. In the morning, I had two firsts: 1. I went jogging (yes, I did it! I can feel how much I missed exercising! Of course, it's not the same as at home when you constantly have to stop for traffic lights, but I'm out of shape anyway, so it wasn't that bad. Now, after 2 months of partying, I'll have 1 more month to get back into a 'more normal' daily routine 😜👍🏻) and 2. the first proper coffee at Lavazza! After two months of drip coffee, it was a real change. While jogging, I also had the chance to do a bit of sightseeing (Waterfront). It's still a good idea to do that in Ottawa, which I was told is a bit boring anyway 🙈 By the way, I booked a day trip to Quebec yesterday 😊

In the afternoon, I had a lot planned: first, shopping at the typical Canadian store 'Roots' (sweater, jacket: see photos), and then I wanted to go to the CN Tower. On the way, I made some stops, for example in Chinatown, in a huuuuge craft store (Oh, I have to go to 'Haas' in Switzerland again 😊) and had a bite to eat at 'Hooters', another restaurant I can cross off my list. I packed about 2/3 of the food, it was once again waaay too much! (See before/after pics 😊) On the way, someone asked me for directions, with my checkered shirt and Converse, I apparently look like I'm from around here *happy* and the best part was, I could actually give an answer 😊
When I arrived at the tower, I enjoyed the view, took many selfies, and then went back to the hotel. On the way, I found a second 'Winners' store and inside, a pair of Ivanka Trump ballerinas and a skirt. 😄

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Ottawa!
Toronto was a great city, which reminded me partly of New York, but also partly of Leutschenbach / Glattpark - many new residential areas in that style. Only one thing was missing: I unfortunately didn't see the main actor from Suits, I was in the area several times, but probably it wasn't a shooting day 😜