Vancouver is very multicultural. You have a big variety of cuisines from all over the world starting with many Asian ones, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai and so on and continuing with European ones. Here we tried probably the best pizza so far and the Vancouver Special Pizza which is a cold pizza with salmon. In Vancouver you get very good fish and seafood. Another specialty we tried was Ramen from the Japanese cuisine which is a noodle soup with different flavors. I tried the Spicy Garlic Ramen which had a garlic ball the size of a meatball which was almost only pressed garlic (see the pictures). I love garlic and it was very delicious but I had the taste of garlic for almost 2 days in my mouth.

On the first day in Vancouver we rented bicycles and rode around the Stanley Park near the ocean which was very nice as you can feel the ocean breeze. We also walked through Gastown, a very fancy area in Vancouver and downtown which has a lot of nice bars and cafes. In the evening we went to Granville Island which has a nice public market with lots of food you can choose from and you can sit near the ocean and listen to live music. On the second day we went to the campus of the University of British Columbia which is really nice and also has some nice beaches to the ocean. Then we went to the Capilano Park which is famous for a very long suspended bridge where your knees start shivering when walking over as the bridge is moving a lot (see the pictures). Here you can also walk on the Treetop path which is on small bridges that connect the tree houses.

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

It’s more sad than amazing but unfortunately Vancouver has the poorest street in whole North America, the East Hastings Street. Homeless people from all over Canada gather here because it’s the only big city in Canada where people are allowed to live and sleep on the streets. It’s really shocking to see a lot of homeless people, sleeping on the street, drug addicted and shops were they can get their daily doses in a legal and supervised manner. The picture of all these “living ghosts” is something we will not forget very soon. And more amazing is that everything is just 100 meters from Vancouver’s fanciest neighborhood, Gastown, where you have to pay 20-30 dollars for a lunch. It’s unbelievable how both worlds live peaceful just one street far from each other. I didn’t take any pictures of the Hastings Street because I found it unfair to take photos of someone else’s nightmare.

Now a little bit about Calgary and what we managed to see there on our short visit. Calgary is the fastest growing city in North America being called “The new Toronto” of the “New West”. Calgary’s boom started when oil was discovered in the Alberta province.  That meant that the population of Calgary grew from 127 thousands in 1951 to currently over 1.2 million. Downtown Calgary is trying to match the one in Toronto with new skyscrapers belonging mainly to oil companies and there is even a TV tower that looks similar to the one in Toronto. It also has a glass floor and we could not miss the opportunity to go up and take some pictures on it and I can say the feeling is even scarier than the one in Toronto because this one has also a glass wall behind so you have a more real feeling of floating in the air.

We also took a tour of the Heritage Park Historical Village which is a museum which shows how the people in Alberta lived in the early 20^th century. The people that walk on the streets of the park are also dressed in historic costumes and most of the houses are historical ones.

Another highlight in Calgary was trying a steak of the famous Alberta beef. Alberta is very famous for its beef steakes which according to the “Lonely Planet” guide are the “crème de la crème” so by entering a steak house for lunch or dinner you do everything right.

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

I already wrote that Sarah took us to a sailing round on Saturday. It was great but the best part is that it was the first time when I tried trapeze sailing which is AWESOME. It’s not only the most amazing thing I’ve done in Calgary but it’s definitely one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done. When trapeze sailing you have a harness which is hooked on a wire that comes from a high point on the mast and you actually stay on the edge of the boat, parallel to the water and try to keep the boat flat and balanced by straightening your knees to counterbalance the wind power. I know my description does not make it seem amazing but trust me when I say that the adrenaline that you get is awesome as you are floating with your body parallel to the water. Take a look at the video but unfortunately it didn’t capture the part where we had the most wind.

We spent just 10 days here but you could probably stay here for weeks if not for months and you wouldn’t get bored. These parks are just amazing.  Every day we went hiking on some amazing trails and got the chance to see a couple of the most scenic views we have ever seen. For example we went hiking from the beautiful Lake Louise which has emerald water up to Lake Agnes. This is supposed to be the most hiked trail in Canada and I’m quite sure that’s not exaggerated though if you get there early, before 10 AM, you have the whole nice views almost for yourself. Then there’s Moraine Lake which is a true wonder of the nature. Its color makes you think you’re somewhere in the Maldives or on the islands somewhere in Polynesia if it weren’t for the mountains covered with snow in the back of the lake which make the view just perfect.

Today, on the last day we went hiking on the Bow Summit (2088m) and got some wonderful pictures of the Peyto Lake and the Bow Lake with the Bow Glacier. Do I need to say that these views were also as close to perfection as you could get?

The nice thing about Banff and Jasper is that it doesn’t stop with the nice lakes and hiking trails. You have a couple of glaciers that are so amazing that you just sit there and wonder about the amount of ice. The best ones that we saw are the Athabasca and the Glacier on Mount Edith Cavell. Then there is the road which crosses the two parks, the Icefields Parkway, which is by some rankings the most beautiful road in the world. You cannot get bored when driving here as the scenery is so spectacular, mountains, glaciers, lakes, waterfalls and wildlife all in the same picture.

Another impressive thing is that you have the chance to watch wildlife at almost every step. We saw grizzlies, some of them so big that you would need your brown pants if you met one face to face, black bears, coyotes, caribous, a sort of deer specific for this region, marmots, porcupines, a lot of different types of squirrels like the Columbian Squirrel and the Ground Squirrel, then there were wild cats and mountain goats and the list goes on and on. To come back to the Grizzlies, I want to say that the information you get in all tourist centers are very good. You get a checklist of how to behave if you meet a bear, a list of the hiking trails were bears have been seen and on the hiking trails were you have a good chance to see/meet one it is mandatory to travel in groups of minimum 4/6 people and make as much noise as possible so that the bear is not surprised when he sees you. And then is the last minute solution, the bear spray. I bought one but I’m more than happy that I didn’t have to use it . It’s supposed to scare the bear away if you hit his nose/eyes from less than 7 meters but then again, if a giant grizzly gets that close to you and you survive you probably need a new set of pants the next day .

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

It’s hard to pick only one amazing thing from these two wonders of nature but if I would have to pick just one it would definitely be the Moraine Lake. Its color is unbelievable. I don’t want to go too far but it’s even nicer in reality than it looks in the pictures. To prove its perfection I need to say that it was the only “piece of nature” from Canada that made it on a Canadian Dollar, the 20 Dollar bill issued between 1969 and 1979.

Im Zentrum, neben dem Ontariosee befindet sich der bekannte Fernsehturm CN Tower, der mehrere Jahre das größte Gebäude der Welt war. Im CN Tower sind wir abends hochgestiegen. Der Boden vom Aufzug ist teilweise aus Glas, so dass man schon im Aufzug  Angst bekommt und anfängt Adrenalin zu fühlen. Die erste Plattform befindet sich in 342 m Höhe, die zweite 33 Stockwerke höher. Auf der ersten Plattform hat man seit einigen Jahren teilweise einen Glasboden gebaut. Drauf stehen und sitzen viele Touristen und lassen sich fotografieren. Ich habe mir vorgenommen direkt dorthin zu gehen und mit Mut den ersten Schritt drauf zu machen weil Luci schon vor 5 Jahren da war und mir darüber erzählt hat. Obwohl dort viele Kinder drauf gesprungen sind, sind meine Knie weich geworden als ich nahe war den Glasboden zu betreten. Ich habe einige Minuten gebraucht bis ich 1-2  Schritte gemacht habe um ein paar Fotos zu machen und am schlimmsten war es als man nach unten schaute. Wie man in den Fotos sehen kann, war ich nicht so entspannt, obwohl man sich mit dem Gefühl gewöhnt. Auf jeden Fall war dieses Erlebnis unvergesslich.

Toronto Island hat uns auch sehr gefallen, eine Insel die in der Nähe vom Zentrum ist, nur ein paar Minuten Fahrt mit dem Boot, mit ein paar Seen und Flüssen, Plätze für Picknick, einen Sandstrand und vielen anderen Unterhaltungsmöglichkeiten.

Im Zentrum sind viele interessante Gebäude, mir haben besonders die von der Toronto Börse gefallen, schwarze Wolkenkratzer mit einer grünen Zone in der Mitte. Ansonsten war es sehr interessant zu sehen wie es zwischen den Gebäuden Ruheplätze mit Springbrunnen gibt, wo die Leute sich in der Mittagspause entspannen, manche machen sogar Sport mit dem Trainer statt in ein Fitnessstudio zu gehen.

Bekannt in Toronto ist auch der Markt „St. Lawrence“, sehr groß, auf mehreren Stockwerken wo  man alles Mögliche kaufen kann, mit Essen aus vielen Ländern. Wir haben auch den Lieblings-Käse von Luci aus der Schweiz gekauft, nicht unbedingt für uns, weil wir normalerweise das spezifische Essen vor Ort ausprobieren wollen, sondern für unsere Freunde, Miha und Feri bei denen wir gewohnt haben. Auf diesem Markt haben wir auch das bekannteste Sandwich in Toronto gegessen. Das war ein Riesensandwich mit panierten Auberginen und verschiedenen Sorten Fleisch.

Unsere Freunde Miha und Feri, bei denen wir gewohnt haben, haben wir seit 5 Jahren nicht mehr gesehen, ihr Kind, Nicholas ist schon 4 Jahre alt. Am Sonntag haben wir gegrillt und dabei war auch ein anderer ehemaliger Kollege von Luci mit der Ehefrau und die haben rumänische Cevapcici mitgebracht.

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

Zwei Sachen haben mich beeindruckt:

1.CN Tower, der obwohl nicht mehr das größte Gebäude der Welt ist,  aber dafür sehr beeindruckend, mit dem unglaublichen Gefühl auf dem Glasboden und einer wunderschönen Panorama über die Stadt, besonders in der Nacht. Wenn man den Turm von unten sieht hat man wegen der Höhe den Eindruck, dass er umfällt.

2. Die Niagara Wasserfälle

Nach Niagara sind wir von Toronto ca. 2 Stunden mit dem Auto gefahren. Dort kann man nur beeindruckt sein, das kann man auch in dem Video sehen. Wir sind mit einem Schiff gefahren, das uns bis in der Nähe gebracht hat. Luci hat mir eine Überraschung gemacht und das Abendessen in einem Fernsehturm daneben gebucht von wo man die Wasserfälle in der Nacht sehr schön beleuchtet sehen kann.

We actually did not stay in Kingston but our CS host Ben, stays on Wolfe Island. There is a ferry which goes every hour from Kingston to Wolfe Island and which is free of charge. Wolfe Island is about 30km long and 10km wide so it’s perfect to be explored by bicycle, which we did as Ben and his friends were so kind to lend us their bicycles. Yesterday evening they organized a party to celebrate the solstice where we had a lot of fun.

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

Maybe it’s not something amazing but the region of Thousand Islands is very nice and definitely something to see so yesterday we took a boat cruise in this region. That was the main reason why we came to Kingston in the first place. Take a look at the pictures in the gallery.

In Ottawa we planned to stay 3 nights but in the end we stayed 5. Our CS host, Dereck is amazingly cool. He took time every day to show us something. On one evening we went to a bar with live music and also played pool. I got to learn a few amazing trickshots from him. On another day he came kayaking with us on the Dows lake. Yesterday he took me to a bar where they are specialized on beer. The bar has over 250 (two hundred fifty) types of beer. Thanks so much for everything Dereck.

Ottawa doesn’t have an old town like Montreal or Quebec city but it has a lot of nice old buildings. The building of the Parliament was very nice. We took a guided tour and like in the Parliament in Quebec we had the chance to attend one live session. On the other side of the Ottawa River there’s a smaller town Gatineau where we went to the Museum of Civilization. They also have the only IMAX 3D in North America so we went to see a documentary there. We were at the IMAX 3D in Sinsheim before so we knew what to expect but still, it was very nice, the impression that you have when watching an IMAX 3D movie is almost like it’s happening in front of you. It was so real that people were trying to touch or catch things. We visited the Royal Canadian Mint which made also all the medals from the Olympics in Vancouver in 2010. There we saw the interesting process of how coins are made. A nice story that we heard is that they produced 1 million Dollar coins of purest gold 99.999. They only produced 5 coins like that, actually their not really coins as their 100kg heavy  and one of them was bought by a prince of Dubai who uses it as a tea table. We also visited the Byward Market which is very famous in Ottawa because of the many different cuisines and for the fresh fruits that can be bought there and we tried the most famous food in Ottawa which is called “Beaver tail” and which is like a small pizza bread with different toppings. Dereck, our CS host also recommended me a bar where they make fresh burgers and I had the best burger till now. For the colleagues in Zürich, I’m sorry guys, but it was better than the Gerold Burger

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

On Sunday I had to miss the game Germany played against Denmark but I had a very good reason. I attended a one day whitewater rafting tour on the Ottawa river. It was AWESOME, I had a lot of fun with the guys. Our guide Ian was really cool, he knew the best places for rafting like the inside of his pocket so we got the chance to go in some water whirlpools and let our adrenaline pump out. You can see a short video and more pictures in the gallery. It’s definitely something I would recommend to anyone going to Ottawa.

I will definitely remember Quebec city for the warm hospitality of it’s people and the gorgeous old town. Our CS hosts Dominique and Simon were really great, after we met them on Tuesday we went to a meeting of Couchsurfers in Quebec where we met a lot of nice people who recommended us things to see and do in our trip on the western part of Canada.

The best places we’ve seen in Quebec are:

• Chateu Frontenac – which is supposedly the most photographed hotel in the world. I heard a nice story about this hotel, when Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and General MacKenzie planned the D-Day here, they made their plans on napkins and left them on the table, later to be returned by a waiter. For me this story is pretty hard to believe but you can choose if you believe it or not.
• The old town – it’s one of the nicest old towns that we’ve ever seen with a lot of nice buildings and restaurants in an old fashion.
• The citadelle – we had a guided tour of the citadelle where we learnt about the history of Canada with it’s 3 stages, the French one, the British one and the one of the Canadian confederation and why people from Quebec are very proud on their French roots. The citadelle is the main quarter for the 22^nd Royal regiment which is the only French speaking regiment in the Canadia army.
• The Parliament of Quebec -  we had a guided tour at the Parliament and were also allowed to attend to live sessions of the Parliament.

The famous local food specialities that we tried are:

• Poutine – is a typical Quebec dish that’s very fat and contains French fries, which I think are fried in fat not in oil, and covered with a sort of cheese. Very tasty.
• Smoked meat typical for this region.
• Cretons – it’s a typical pasta of pork fat with onion and spices. It’s very similar to the German Grammelschmalz or the Romanian Jumar
• Bagels – bread products in form of rings.

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

We have seen the Montmorency waterfall which is situated 13 km North-East from Quebec city and which is 83 m high, about 30m higher than the Niagara falls, though with not such a big volume of water.

Das Ankommen in Montreal war sehr unkompliziert, bei dem Büro für Einwanderung hatten wir erwartet, dass man uns ein Haufen Fragen stellt, aber alles ging sehr schnell, wir mussten nur sagen wieviele Tage wir in Kanada bleiben wollen und das war’s. Wahrscheinlich auch weil Lucian angegeben hatte, dass er schon mal in Kanada war.

Am Flughafen haben uns unsere Freunde erwartet bei denen wir auch die 5 Tage gewohnt haben. Ich habe sie seit 5 Jahren, seit dem sie ausgewandert sind, nicht mehr gesehen. Sie haben inzwischen eine sehr süße Tochter, Sofia. Wir haben ein paar Tage gebraucht um uns an die Zeitumstellung zu gewöhnen aber inzwischen stehen wir nicht mehr um 05:00 auf

Montreal war für mich eine sehr schöne Überraschung. Luci war schon mal hier, also war es für ihn nichts Neues. Am meisten hat mir gefallen, dass die Stadt nicht überfüllt war, die Leute sind sehr entspannt und sehr sehr freundlich und es gibt sehr viele grüne Parks. Mehrmals kamen Leute zu uns um uns zu fragen ob sie uns helfen könnten als wir die Karte in der Hand hatten, sogar eine Frau die gesehen hatte, dass wir auf einen Bus warten kam um uns zu sagen, dass der Bus an dem Tag nicht fährt. Ansonsten ein gutes Gefühl an Sicherheit, dass man nicht in allen Großstädten hat, Essen und Getränke in XXL Größe, und das Beste der Ice Cappuccino von einer Kette Tim Hortons von dem mir Luci schon seit Jahren immer erzählt. Ich trinke normalerweise keinen Cappucino aber in diesen habe ich mich verliebt J

In Montreal haben wir folgendes besucht: der alte Hafen mit einem Turm von wo man sehr schön die Stadt sehen kann(Fotos in der Gallery), das olympische Stadion mit einem sehr interessanten schiefen Turm. Das ist der größte schiefe Turm der Welt. Die Unterwelt-Stadt ist riesig in Montreal und verbindet mehrer U-Bahn Stationen und hat zig Einkaufsmöglichkeiten, der Mont Royal mit einem sehr schönen Park und eine super Aussicht auf die Stadt, St Joseph Oratorium. Da an diesem Wochenende auch die Formel 1 in Montreal stattgefunden hat, war  überall auf den Straßen Partystimmung. Ich habe jetzt noch eine Stadt auf der Liste meiner Lieblingsstädte.

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

Was mich am meisten beeindruckt hat, war definitiv der Innenraum der Kirche Notre Dame (siehe die ersten Fotos in der Gallery). Ich kann sagen, dass es die schönste Kirche ist die ich jäh gesehen habe. Wir waren auch bei einer Show mit Musik und Lichter in der Kirche wo man richtig Gänsehaut bekommt.