Posts by: kbowers

Growing up on the West Coast, I had never experienced real winter and, when I did for the first time, I wasn’t so sure I liked it. I had moved to Ottawa for school and was gearing up for some cold temperatures and a lot of snow. I was also prepared to hunker down in the warm confines of the school library and wait out the never-ending storm I perceived as winter. The one winter activity I was willing to try was the winter celebration in Quebec City, Carnival, I had heard about as a child. Unfortunately, the hectic student […]

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In my Toronto travels, anther of my favourite places was the Kensington Market located between Dundas and Baldwin Streets. I’ve been to many markets, and Kensington has come out on top. Not to mention, I’d much rather spend a day wandering around the Market than the crowded, metropolis Eaton Centre. The market has everything to make the perfect day trip. If you’re going to Toronto anytime soon, make sure you set aside a day to explore the Kensington Market. The greatest thing about the Kensington Market is the bargain shopping. Never in my life have I seen such an impressive collection […]

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I find I often get tired to the same daily grind being a tourist: go to the big attractions, take photos, get lost, look like an idiot reading the map upside down, getting ripped off by cab-drivers; maybe that’s just me. Luckily, I had a friend who lives in Toronto who directed me to a few local haunts to escape the tourist vibe and really get a feel for the city. She took me to Queen’s Street West and told me to avoid any place with a big sign. Off I ventured, desperately trying to blend in. She was right […]

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Can’t make it to the Serengeti for that safari you’ve always dreamed of? Skip the sun and try Algonquin Park in Ontario. Only three hours from Toronto, Algonquin is home to over 400 species mammals, birds, reptiles and fish. There are also thousands of different plant and fungi. By far the coolest thing I saw when there were the moose. The creatures were the least elusive animals we saw but probably the most amazing. We left our camp spots just before dawn on our second day there and waited patiently. Watching the sun rise across the serene, dewy forest would […]

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Being a city of immense diversity, Toronto is swamped with hundreds of restaurants claiming to have authentic food from all over the world. I’m certainly no culinary master, but I love food and have tried a couple of very good (and a few not so good) ethnic restaurants in Toronto. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I truly enjoyed food from cultures all over the globe, despite the slight bout of nerves before each meal. Before I didn’t even know what people ate in many countries, now I love trying new ethnic foods as I’ve fallen in love with […]

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Being completely honest, before my first trip to Ontario, I was not excited to see Toronto. I’d seen a big city before and I had never heard of any real cultural or historic significance to the area. Then I stumbled upon the Distillery Historic District, located around the Parliament Buildings, stretching from Mill Street to Cherry Street. I immediately fell in love with the rustic area that felt like a piece of old world Europe dropped into a metropolis of Canada. But even more than that, it didn’t feel like a constructed tourist destination with its atmosphere of pure authenticity. […]

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Many Canadians call Ontario home but most of live in or around the Greater Toronto Area or Ottawa. But it’s a vast province with so much more to offer than crowded cities, brimming with tourist traps and souvenir shops. Head just a few hours north and you will find some of the country’s most untouched beauty, complete with the truly kind Canadian spirit of small towns. If this sounds like the type of vacation you’re looking for, head north of Toronto to Rainbow Country. Rainbow Country is the area around the coast of Georgian Bay, a northern inlet of Lake […]

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Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, is known mostly for the politicians and bureaucrats these days. I bet there are few residents and even fewer visitors that know the history of how Ottawa come to be the capital city. As it turns out, Ottawa‘s history isn’t the dry expect tale of politicians and typical political jargon. In fact, it’s a little known gem of interest in Canadian history. Lieutenant-Colonel John By founded Bytown in the early 1800s. As retired military official, he was given the responsibility of settling the remote area surrounding the Ontario River. He built the famous Rideau Canal that […]

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Ottawa is known primarily for being the centre of Canadian politics, housing the Parliament buildings, as well as the official residences of the Prime Minister and Governor General. It isn’t always deemed as a tourist destination, perhaps for fear of running into some stuffy politicians but there are several scenic drives or walks through Ottawa that will certainly take politics off the mind. Ottawa‘s real hidden gem may be one of the city’s most beautiful walks. Behind Carleton University, on the other side of the Rideau Canal, lies the Experimental Farms. Don’t worry, there are no giant pigs or genetically […]

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