We did the long drive on Sunday because I had to be at the bank on Monday to sign my loan paperwork. I also needed a bank account. From my on-line research, it looked like it was going to be as difficult as getting on in England was (i.e. they don't like to give them to foreigners and there's loads of fees). I also needed some Canadian money. I do not worry about changing money, as almost everyplace takes American dollars, you just get a bad exchange rate, but it's good to have some.
So, we heard downtown first thing in the morning Monday. Now, parking is plentiful in downtown Toronto, it's just all meters. And, while stores take American money, parking meters do not. And most of the parking lots are now meters only. So, we finally find a place to park (a free spot actually!) and go into the bank. Everything is quick and easy - including opening an account.
I then take Jill to see my new condo. Her payment for doing the driving with me is that she gets the honor of seeing my place first. Then we go to the CN Tower. Now, for those of you who don't know, Jill is terrified of heights. Her husband and friends love to go hiking, so we drag her along and make her go, but she truly is scared. So, as good friends, we take her to the steepest places :-)
Well, the CN Tower has glass elevators that take you up 115 stories in less than one minute and drop you off at an observation floor. She did good. The you walk downstairs to the glass floor. Yes, part of the floor is glass, so you step on it and look straight down! Even someone like me who was jumped out of a plane, my stomach jumps a bit when stepping onto the floor. I grabbed her hand, had her look at the ceiling, and she went right on it! Yes, she did look down after and walked looking down. I was very proud of her. (Yes, I have pictures of it, but no cord to download them until the weekend.) We then had fun watching people's reaction to the floor. And you can see my condo building from the tower.
Grabbed a quick lunch and headed to the falls. As someone who grew up going to Yosemite and Tahoe, I really had no idea what to expect at Nigeria falls. My expectations were low. After all, nothing in the mountains on the East Coast compares to the beauty in California.
So, we're driving, and we get to the first falls (called the American Falls I learned later) - they are huge flat falls, then just a bit farther is the horseshoe of Niagara. WOW! The water is so clear, as green as sea glass, and the force it is moving with is amazing. Rainbows everywhere. You can stand at the top of the falls and watch the water go over the edge, or walk down a bit to really see the full horseshoe. I was definitely impressed.
We had to go to Buffalo to get Jill to the airport, so we decided to stop at the Duty Free store and get some icewine. We drive to the border and only 4 of the 17 stations are open, which means there is a huge line. And it's almost an hour before her flight. Yes, we start to get nervous. Amazingly, we pick the fastest line and get through in about half an hour and race to the airport. Along the way we realize that Jill is not checking any luggage and will not be able to take her 4 bottles of wine onto the plane with her. (So whoever comes and visits first will have to take her wine back because I still have it.) Just glad we remembered. We get to the airport about 25 minutes before her flight and she rushes in. We did check her in in the morning before we left, so she just had to clear security. Turns out, her flight was delayed, so she was fine.
So, now that Jill is gone, Jen's luck kicks in. I head back towards the border and miss my exit. There are actually 4 bridges with border crossings, so I go to the farthest one, rather than the closest. No big deal, especially since the view from that bridge was very pretty, but this one had a toll (there are tolls EVERYWHERE!), and I would have liked to have seen the falls again.
I know I need highway 203 towards the airport. About an hour down the road, I see highway 203 towards the airport and take it. Turns out, it's a different highway 203 towards a different airport! I realize this quickly, but the first exit is 5 km down the road! It's crazy here - roads with the same name, lots of exits that are only in 1 direction, so I have been doing lots of getting off at the next exit and turning around. I feel like I have done almost twice the miles I need to. At least my real estate broker had driven me around a lot so I know about their strange street signs - like the big X's in the air do not mean do not go, they mean crosswalk.
Finally I find the correct 203 towards the airport. I am going to stop at customs and clear my stuff. The guy told me it's on the back of the airport and gave me a map. Now, the 3 people I had help me find it all said it's a perfect map, except for 1 small detail - there were only 2 street names on the whole map! It's very hard to find Britannia Road when the 2 roads you need to take to find it are not labeled!
An hour later, I finally get there. I go in with the documentation the guy at the moving company told me I had to bring. Now, his documentation was only 1/2 a page long, and it just didn;t sound right that that was all I needed, so I brought everything, just in case. So, I get up to the front and hand the customs agent the mover's form. He laughs and asks for the rest. Glad I brought it! Well, first item on the list is my wine. He said wine is subject to a 126% tax - yikes! However, if you go to LCBO it's only $1.25 a bottle, but I need to provide them an accurate list of what bottles i have brought. Ok, I'll work on that (sarcasm - like i can remember what bottles I have, but I will try). Then he said they can clear lot #295 and #297, but I am #296, so I have to go to a different location! Oh, and they are only open 9-4 M-F (it's 8:30 pm). So, I have to come back tomorrow. The good news is that LCBO and the new place are only a few blacks apart.
So, I was too exhausted after the long day to write this until now
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