Continuing from my previous blog, my second day in Copenhagen was just as busy and I had plenty planned for the day. As an avid drinker and found of how beers are made, so the Carlsberg Museum would be my first stop of the day. A shot distance on what is called the S Train (About 10minutes) then a ten-minute walk. The Carlsberg museum is included with you Copenhagen Card if you have one, however that is just to visit the museum and for a free beer at the end. If you want to have a guided tour or do the beer tasting there are additional costs. I wanted to the beer tasting as well as visit the museum and I think this cost me around 160DKK or roughly Eighteen pound. At 11am in the morning, this was something I would regret as I did end up a little drunk when leaving around half past midday. The museum itself takes you through the history of Carlsberg and who Carl Jacobsen is, to anyone wondering he is the chap who founded Carlsberg back in 1847. Carl Jacobsen also funded for the statue of The Little Mermaid that I seen the previous day while on my river cruise. The first room in the museum, there is a collection of over Seventeen thousand bottles, which originate from the Carlsberg brand, I can’t help but feel sorry for who ever had to count them bottles, I would have lost count after twenty. Another one of the rooms you come into, takes you through the history of the brand and how it has developed into the brand it is today. Through out the museum are artefacts, equipment used to create the brand, all detailing this history and how the brand has developed over the years. Then came the best part, beer tasting. We got a little talk on how beer was made, and we got to sample for hops, hops are an ingredient used to give beer its bitter taste. There were three beers to sample, we had a Weissbier, Yakima IPA both of which were great tasting beers and finally a Porter which is dark and bitter beer which got the thumbs down for me. A great morning spent unfortunately if your travelling to Copenhagen, anytime soon, Visit Carlsberg is closed for refurbishment until 2020. Feeling slightly drunk headed back into Copenhagen city centre, I passed a nice little bar yesterday called Rosie McGee a two-minute walk around the corner from central station. I quick stop of, refuel and food and I ready to head of and continue exploring Copenhagen. Rosie McGee is affordable and plays live music, so its great place to stop of for light lunch or evening meal. Just around the corner from Rosie McGee bar is the Copenhagen Townhall, and one of the things Copenhagen Townhall has to offer is stunning views of the city of Copenhagen. With its 105-meter-high meter tower, it is one the tallest towers in Copenhagen, and what comes with that is the stunning views of the castle, churches and old buildings of Copenhagen. With being directly opposite Tivoli gardens, there are some great views of the city centre theme park. If you decide to visit the Town Hall Tower be prepared to walk up a lot of stairs over three hundred to be exact, so this unfortunately is not suitable for anyone who less abled or will struggle with the steps. This is free if you have a Copenhagen card. You can also get guided tours of City Hall at a small additional cost Christiansborg is another one of Copenhagen’s gorgeous royal palaces which is also home to the Danish government the Folketing and the Prime Minister’s office, which I had the pleasure of visiting. Located on a tiny island with in Copenhagen city centre it also houses the Supreme Court and the Ministry of State, a truly unique building, I don’t think there is any other building in the world, that houses so many features. The royal part of the palace is used by the Queen to host events for high ranking visitors to Denmark, such as other heads of state, also part of the royal section is the Thorne room and this where Danish Monarchs are proclaimed. From the main entrance to Christiansborg, the building itself looks like a palace, however a short walk around to the back of the building and you wouldn’t even think it was a palace. To side of Christiansborg are the royal stables, which are free for anyone to have a look around, and whilst I was there you could watch the stableman dress the horse in the royal saddles. For small fee you can also get guided tours of the Folketing and learn a little more about the politics of Denmark, however these fill up fast, and its best if you pre-book these, something I didn’t do. Amalienborg, which is the home to Denmark’s royal family is another must place to visit while in Copenhagen. Other than the United Kingdom, Denmark is the only other country in the world to have a Queen as their ruling monarch. Situated directly opposite the Copenhagen Opera house, it consists of four identical classical palace façades around an octagonal courtyard with a statue of King Frederick V who was the founder of Amalienborg. The two, palaces on the east side of the courtyard home the Queen and the other the Crown Prince of Denmark, Frederick. The North West building allows entry, where you can walk around a museum and learn about the history of the Danish Royal family. Entry to this is provided with the Copenhagen Card. As with all royal palaces, you can have the opportunity to watch the changing of the guards, unfortunately I did not research this, so never got the opportunity to watch this. As with most royal palaces around the globe, this often is a daily event, and they are always something worth watching. You never know what will happen, something I found out when I was watching the changing of the guard in Oslo (that blog will follow in the coming weeks).
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So for Copenhagen I have so much to write about, so I’ve decided to write three blogs on stunningly beautiful city and I need to keep these blogs short and sweet for you lot. Back in early 2018, I decided that I would like to do a little travelling across Scandinavia and Copenhagen the Capital of Denmark. August 2018 and Denmark were the starting point of my little travelling expedition. After doing some research into what there was too, I was pleasantly surprised, I had three full days to explore and with a vast array of royal palaces, castle, a city centre theme park, museums and the famous Carlsberg museum and beer tasting a new I would not be disappointed. Copenhagen is a historic city but at the same time youthful and innovative, which what made me fall in love with this city. The one thing you will notice is the vast number of people who cycle around the city, and the roads even have their own cycle lane. Arriving from my AirBnB, I collected my three-day Copenhagen Card from central station. A Copenhagen Card is a pass that gives you access to over seventy top attractions in around Copenhagen as well free transport in and around the city. So, this I would highly recommend if your visiting Copenhagen, it saved me over £150. The one thing you notice when you first step outside Central Station is the Theme Park, Tivoli Gardens, a great place to escape the Hussle and bustle of the centre, I will talk more about Tivoli Gardens in one of my other blogs on Copenhagen. There was one place that was top of the list that I wanted to visit, and this was a place called Freetown Christiania or simply Christiania. Christiania is an autonomous anarchist district right in the heart of Copenhagen. Located in Christianshavn area of Copenhagen, easily accessible by bus or metro, Christiania is well known for the open selling of Cannabis on the streets. Christiania is located on an old army barracks, which back in the early seventies, a group of hippies, broke into the barracks and squatted there and it has now become the area it is today, with a population of around nine hundred. With an array of building art, market stalls, street food and sculptures, its hidden gem. You not allowed to take pictures on the main street, due to the selling of Cannabis, however me being me, took some anyway. For around Fifty Danish Krone you can have guided tours by the locals and learn a little more of the history of Christiania, but for now it was time to head on to my next attraction. One thing I love it looking our over cities from high up, some of the views I have seen are breath-taking. One of the places that offered this in Copenhagen was tower called The Round Tower or Rundetaarn as it is known to the locals. Built in the seventeenth century as observation tower, its now open to the general public. You access the tower by walking up a steep walkway, which circles around the centre of the tower, closer to the top, there are a few stairs that you need to climb, before you can exit and walk out on the balcony at the top. The views from the tower are beautiful, Copenhagen has the feeling of an old town, and unlike most capital cities there are very few modern buildings and no sky scrapers. You can look out over the city and you can see the multitude of churches palaces and castles that Copenhagen has to offer. I opted to do a river cruise next, after walking around the city for a good few hours I decided I need to sit and unwind. As I previously mentioned in my Montreal blog, river cruises a great way to relax and unwind. The river cruise was included in the Copenhagen Card and as I was collecting my ticket, the guy who served me advised me to sit on the right-hand side of the boat, which give me the best views. Naturally it would have been rude to not purchase a couple of beers, so that I did, and I was sorted for ninety-minute relaxing sail through the rivers and canals of Copenhagen. The guide naturally was very informative, we got too see a lot of what Copenhagen had to offer. We stopped at the Little Mermaid statue, a very popular statue and I can not remember the exact number, but it has about ten new heads this statue, and if I recall correctly a new arm or two as well. We got to see many of the castles that Copenhagen has to offer, including Church of the Saviour. I never visited this church, but you can walk up to the top of the spire, which I can only imagine will again offer some amazing views of the city of Copenhagen. We also got to see the Folketing, which is there the Danish Parliament sits, as well as the Danish Opera house and many other interesting places. Day one was finally coming to an end and there was one final place that I wanted to visit. Copenhagen has a museum called Ripley’s Believe it or Not, if you have not heard of Ripley’s it a museum that houses items or details of events that you would question their authenticity. A great museum with a vast array of weird and wonderful facts. I wanted to visit the museum as I visited Ripley’s in Niagara Falls (watch this space for blog on Niagara Falls) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. However, having visited Ripley’s once, it did not have the same feeling. This not to say it’s not worth a visit, as I would highly recommend it, but I do recall the articles, facts in Copenhagen, were similar to what I seen in Niagara Falls in 2017. You have free access with the Copenhagen Card so please visit Ripley’s of you haven’t already done so, you will not be disappointed. Next door to Ripley's is the Han Christian Anderson museum, a Danish author best known for his fairy tales, not my cup of tea, but is free with the Copenhagen Card. Upon leaving the Hans Christian Anderson museum, which is located next to Town Hall and City Hall square, unknown to me, it was pride week, and set up in city Hall Square was a pride event, this is where I ended up each evening, and I’ll have a little talk about this in a later blog that I will write on Copenhagen.
Watch this Space for my second blog on Copenhagen! After our White-Water Rafting experience, we set of on our next stop of my Canadian tour, which was Montreal. About a three-hour drive from Bryson, where we stayed for white water rafting, I was already excited, for what Montreal had to offer, and I wasn’t going to be disappointed by this vibrant city. It was Monday 25th September and on arriving in Montreal, the temperature was already hitting 35 degrees, which broke the record for the highest temperate ever recorded in September for Montreal, this record would be subsequently broken on following days whilst were there. We had a Hostel booked, this time, and this was my first time staying in a hostel. I would never have even considered staying in a hostel, but other the very warm room, which was down the too heatwave, it was a pleasant experience. Staying in a hostel can be very cheap and affordable and you also get to meet like minded travellers, most hostels are very central as well, like ours was, so it makes it extremely easy to travel around cities. Our first visit in Montreal was Mount Royale. Mount Royal is a small mountain in the city, over seven hundred feet high, this where Montreal get is name from, Mount Royale. We opted for a taxi or cab to Mount Royale and can walk to the top of Mount Royale through Mount Royal Park using the vast number of stair cases and steep paths through a park . Its certainly not for the faint hearted, but its well worth the walk once you get to the top Mount Royale. At the top you Mount Royal Chalet which can host events, but also you get the most gorgeous panoramic views of the city of Montreal. The view is one that I will always remember, totally different from Toronto (watch this space, for a blog on Toronto) and Ottawa, not to mention a totally different feel to Toronto. Where as back in the UK, you kind of get the same feel from city to city. NFor the evening we headed downtown for food, and whilst Canada is more expensive than the United Kingdom, there is still plenty of affordable bars, where you can enjoy a decent meal and beer for around twenty-five dollars or fourteen pound if anyone is wondering what that would cost in Pound Sterling. We were fortunate enough to find a nice little Irish Bar, where we tucked into a nice meal, beer and put lining on our stomach as were going to explore the gay scene in Montreal. Situated in the heart of Downtown Montreal on St Catherine Street, are Unfortunately a Monday evening, the gay scene was on the quite side, though that didn’t spoil ambience these bars offer. The next day we headed to Nuns Island, a small island in the St Lawrence River, my friend Sam wanted to find a beach, but I had other ideas for the day, I was hungover and wanted to explore the city, so I turned around and let her trot of to find the beach. I headed back into Downtown Montreal. This was a decision that paid of for me as the beach was closed. A quick use of Google, I quickly found a place I wanted to visit, the first was Notre-Dame Basilica or a Cathedral. Notre-Dame is in the historic district of old Montreal, about a five-minute walk from the nearest Subway station. What got my attention to visit this place was, this was where Celine Dion married her husband René Angélil in December 1994. Notre-Dame would also host a memorial service, when her husband passed away in 2016. For Six Dollars you can entre Notre-Dame, inside is stunningly beautiful, and what caught my eye was the deep blue colours, and the blue and gold marble flooring. You could here a pin drop, and I was in awe of the atmosphere and the design and colours Notre-Dame. An exquisite place which would be at the top of my list of places, for anyone who would want to visit Montreal. From Notre-Dame I then headed down the harbour, with Montreal situated on a river, you have the option of doing a river cruise. I love river cruises as you can sit back, relax and while travelling along the waters of a city, you get to take in some amazing scenery as well as learn about the history and areas of the city. There a quite a few options to choose from in Montreal, but the one I opted for was a Ninety Minute, river cruise and a live guide. As this was in September, tourism was on the quieter side in Montreal, and there was me and around six other people on the boat. We were greeted by the captain, who owned the boat and who would also be our guide and there we were offered a drink from a selection of beers, soda and wine you could purchase. In my opinion there is nothing more relaxing than sitting back, on a sunny day, beer in hand and sailing along a river. We sailed along the Saint Lawrence river, taking in some of the picturesque scenery, we would stop at points of interest so he could talk to us about the different landmarks, building and points of interest. The captain of the boat was extremely knowledgeable, informative and pleasant, which made the ninety minutes thoroughly enjoyable. For my next stop in Montreal I headed Rue Saint Paul (St Pauls Street). Paved with cobblestones and situated in Old Montreal, is certainly has the feeling of an Old Town. With a vast array of restaurants, bars, coffee shops and souvenir shops, Rue Saint Paul is perfect to pick up those souvenirs, I always get instructed to purchase a tea-towel for my friend Claire and there was plenty to choose from here. Giving the unique location, surprisingly eating out on Rue Saint Paul is affordable. You do have your more upmarket expensive restaurants, but you also have restaurants where you can eat for a respectable twenty dollars that’s about twelve pound if your wondering. So, don’t think for one moment dinning out in this area will cost you a fortune as it will not. Rue Saint Paul is a great place to do some shopping, or escape from the your sightseeing to have a coffee or even a beer. Rue Saint Paul is also about five minutes walking distance to the harbour and Saint Lawrence River, so it definitely worth a visit if your ever in Montreal. I finally met up with my friend Sam, who had been on hiking tour around the city after she had the misfortune of heading up this beech to find out it was closed. After spending nearly two weeks together, having our own space for the day was perfect, which is always good if you’re travelling with someone. I had already eating at lovely restaurant called Montreal Poutine earlier. The restaurant had been quiet and the service from the staff was exceptional, so much that I left them a generous tip. For anyone travelling to Canada, be prepared to tip, as it customary and as restaurant staff get paid considerably less than the Canadian minimum wage, they rely on tips to make up their wages, therefor you get much better service than you do back home in the United Kingdom. I suggested Montreal Poutine to Sam, and we headed back there so she could eat, I naturally had beer, it would have been rude not too. To wrap up, Montreal is a beautiful city, as Quebec is a French speaking province, Montreal has that European vibe to it. In the Old Montreal you can get a horse drawn cart, to take you along the harbour, and whilst it is a large city, it doesn’t have that city feeling to it. Unfortunately, two days was not enough to experience Montreal and I will defiantly be back to visit Montreal in the next few years. But if please if you visit Montreal definitely do everything mentioned in the page, and any questions then please leave a comment.
When my Canadian friend Sam told she had white water rafting booked, I was thinking, OK, what the hell am I letting myself in for. We spent the afternoon in Ottawa, and Sam and Julia who I was travelling with were wanting a night out, but I decided to be sensible and have an early night, as I was apprehensive of what awaited us the following day in Bryson. The following morning, we were up at the crack down, and we drove down to Bryson, which took us about one hours to drive from Ottawa. Leaving Ottawa which was in Ontario and travelling up to Bryson which is in Quebec the one thing I noticed as a passenger in Sams car were the road signs and the slightly different traffic laws, which if your a visitor to area, I would advise to do some basic research, as from Province to Province traffic regulations can vary. When we arrived at Rafting Momentum which is the name of the company at Bryson (link is at top of page, check out their website), you are literally in most obscure place, there is nothing in about a 10 mile radius other than the barn where they keep all the rafting equipment. As soon as we pulled up into the car park we greeted by a very friendly dog, which belonged to the owner and he was called Maverick. Once everyone who had arrived, we were all invited to sit in the barn and this was where we met the owners and host for the day. You start of the day by finding about the rapids and the water in which we will be on, and then come the safety instructions. At this point I'm sat here thinking OK, no turning back you have to do this, they explain how to wear your life vest, and helmet correctly. Before you do a rapid, the instructor / guide will tell you if you flip, you either, swim left, swim right, or let the flow of water pull you forward, they also tell you do not let go of your paddle. Simple instruction..... hmmmm maybe, I'll come onto that in a short while. I'm also sat here thinking, if the boat flips, sod the paddle, what about me. Your also told of you flip, the life jacket is designed to bring you back to the service in no longer than 5 seconds, also the rapids are not that deep. Safety brief over, bus packed up, we now headed of where we needed to be. At this point the adrenaline is pumping. We arrived at the our destination, we had light lunch, thankfully it was only light as anything else I would have probably projectile vomit in way that would make Linda Blair an amateur. Final safety brief, and here we on our rapids rearing to go. The adventure begins, they were two rafts, one for the experienced white water rafters, and a beginners boat, for anyone who hasn't done rafting before, which myself, Sam and Julia were on. Our guide on raft was young guy called Jamie, who was not bad looking either, so it made the day even more enjoyable. We set of on the water, and we approached the first the rapid. If any one hasn't been white water rafting before, what usually happens, before you do each rapid, your guide, will tell you about the rapid, how fast or slow to paddle, they might also tell you left side paddles quicker then right, and also what way to sit in the raft as you hit it, as well as what way to swim should the raft flip. The guides are experienced so will they let you know what you have to do to get through the rapid safely, most guides or instructors would have done the same rapid many many times, so trust me, they know how to approach them. So here goes the first rapid. Jamie told us everything we needed to know, and so we set off, I remember hitting the first rapid with such force, a wall of water covered us, then at that point, all I remember was falling in. Those five seconds that we were told at the start of the day, literally felt like a life time, I remember resurfacing and a there was a guy stood on the water edge shooting a direction, but when your in the water, your brain does not take in that information, as your in survival mode. We were eventually rescued by the other raft and some us were pulled out the water, at this moment in time, I was still traumatised and all I wanted to do was to go back to the shore. My friend Julia was crying, I hated it at this moment in time, and the other people on the raft manage to calm us down and reassure us, to carry on as we will love it. Pictures of us flipping below. I'm not exactly selling the idea of White Water Rafting in the paragaph Thankfully the rest of the day, wasn't as traumatic. The rapid section we done had about eight rapids, seven off we got through with out a hitch, our guide Jamie, took extra time to explain each rapid and what to do so that we didn't flip, the adrenaline and feeling you get when you hit each rapid, is like being on a roller coaster, except getting soaking wet. The eighth and final rapid was called the Colosseum, and we advised to go and watch other rafts do that particular rapid. After seeing the sheer brute force and strength of the rapid, myself, Sam, Julia and couple of other people on our rapid, decided to opt this one out, and when see Jamie and the remaining others challenge the rapid, we watch as the raft flipped. If I had of been of that raft at time, I think I would not have lived to tell the tail. It was then we drifted down the river, taking in the beautiful countryside, as it was late September, and fall was setting in, and you could see the array of colours in the trees. At the end of the day we headed back to base camp, where the company owners provided us with a couple of free beers, and bar-barque, and what a great way, too unwind, and socialise with the other people who took part. Finally.... If anyone want to do White Water Rating, deep down I did actually enjoy it. You get to meet some amazing people, everyone who was their on the day were friendly and we had really good laugh. You guides a very experienced, and know the rapids like the back of their hand. You have a life vest, so any age can take part and you also don't need to be a strong swimmer. So any opportunity you have, go a head and do it. You also don't need experience, most companies will operate on a number of rapids, and there will also be smaller, quieter rapids for which you can enjoy. Back in Autumn 2017, or shall I say fall as we are taking about Canada. I was with my friend Sam, who was taking me and a little tour of Canada, and Manitoulin Island, was one of the place she took me to visit. Situated on Lake Huron, Manitoulin Island is the largest freshwater island in the world, I am still waiting for this fact to come up on a pub quiz, but it I'm still waiting. We drove down from Sudbury, which is about a two and half hour drive and if you want to know a little bit about Sudbury, then I have another post, where can have a read (click the link below this paragraph. We arrived on the Island via the Little Current Swing Bridge. We were fortunate enough to see the bridge in operation, every hour on the hour the bridge will open, and remains open for fifteen minutes, thankfully we arrived at about ten minutes past the hour, so we only had a five minute wait. Once the bridge had closed, we were then free to continue our journey into the heart of Manitoulin Island and our destination Kagawong. Kagawong is a small community settlement situated in the North of Manitoulin Island on Lake Kagawong. Whilst Manitoulin Island is situated on a Lake, there are still a number of large lakes on the island itself. On our drive down to Kagawong, we stopped of at Grocery store, to pick up some groceries, one the things I will say about Manitoulin Island is that a lot of the smaller settlements have little or no shops, so I would advice you to stop of at one of the larger towns, like Little Current and stock up on groceries. Our first stop was at Bridal Veil Falls, which is a little hidden gem. A little waterfall, which os by no way means its spectacular, but its little beauty spot, where I found it was a great place to go and just chill. There is also a little hike that leads you down to the North Chanel with some great views of Manitoulin Island. The one thing I loved about Bridal Veil Falls, was that you could actually walk behind the waterfall, the sound of waterfall blocks all other sounds out, so just being able to hear nature, is a totally unique and exquisite experience. After spending a couple of hours at Bridal Veil fall, we got pack in the car and drove further down into Kagawong and to our Air B and B. The views of Lake Kagawong are not only amazing, but the areas are so peaceful, meaning you can truly relax and take in the fresh air. Our host Stephen was great and will do an article on my Air B and B experiences at a later date. The next day, we had the full day to go out and explore, one of our first visits, was The Cup and Saucer trail, a popular hiking trail on the Island. The trail is about one hour long, and it does involve a little climbing, when I say climbing there a few stairs, some ladders and some steep banks, as you effectively travelling up. I'm certainly not the biggest fan of hiking, but the views at the end of the trail, are out of this world. The only downside of our hike, was that we didn't have any clear sky, and the weather was the slightly cooler side, compared to what we had whist travelling around Canada. That however didn't spoil the views. If your looking for somewhere just to escape everything and just sit, listen to nature and take in the views, then The Cup and Saucer trail is something that I would recommend to anyone who is visiting Manitoulin Island. Another area of Manitoulin which we visited was Gore Bay, and situated in Gore Bay is a brewing company called Split Rail. I was lucky enough to come across Split Rail Brewing at an Harvest Feast dinner my friend Sam took me too. I got chatting to this extremely pleasant girl after sampling four of the beers they brew, and t was then I made a promise with that girl we would visit Split Rail Brewing, and that we did. Split Rail Brewing is one of hundreds of small brewing companies in Canada and the good thing about these brewing companies is that the beer is not mass produced, meaning, you got a proper tasting beer. The company make only four different types of beer, those being a Copper Larger, an Amber Ale, a Hawberry Ale and a Stout. The Hawberry and Amber Ales were by far my favourite, and I give instructions to my friend Sam to head back to Manitoulin Island to stock up for me for my visit Christmas 2018. Hawberry for anyone wondering come from the Hawthorn plant A few minutes drive from Gore Bay, you can go on a small hiking trail, thankfully this hike was not as long or involved much climbing as The Cup and Saucer trail, but at the end of the trail your get some spectacular views of Gore Bay and Lake Huron. Lake Huron as some of you may know is one of five of the great lakes of Canada and what better way to enjoy the views, was with a Split Rail Brewing Beer. Luckily the sky had cleared up for us, which allowed to truly enjoy the views. In the summer months, who can look down on the bay and watch the water sports that go on down their. So that about it for this blog on Manitoulin Island. Definitely worth a visit if your in that area of Canada, and something that I would recommend to anyone who may be in the area. If you are visiting you will need a car, as there is not really a transportation system on the Island, and also stop of at a Grocery store and Beer store to stock up on supplies, as you only really find shops in the larger towns. Manitoulin Island would be ideal for anyone who enjoys long hikes, with amazing scenery, as it would suit anyone who enjoys who cycling. Plenty of open spaces to get and enjoy the area.
My first post, so bare with me, whilst I understand how this site works.
So for my most recent, travel experience, I headed across the pond to Canada. My first stop in Canada was to a little town in Northern Ontario where I spent Christmas and New Year with friends. With temperatures averaging -20, and more the snow than Ill ever see in a lifetime, I truly got to experience a Canadian winter. Whilst you may think -20 is cold, well it not that bad actually. It felt colder in Toronto and then the temperature was only 2 degrees. The good thing about Sudbury is, that it was a dry cold, where as Toronto which is situated on Lake Ontario, you get that cold, damp feeling with the cold. There are a few things to do in Sudbury, you can go on a number of hiking trials, something you may not want to do in -20, but I ventured out on a small trail, with one of my Canadian friends, her son and her adorable Newfoundland dog, Motley. There a good view bars and restaurants to visit, but be prepared to walk or use public transport. You also have the Nikel Centre, Science North which is a science museum and another point of interest I would recommend is Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, which looked like a winter wonderland in the snow, but also offers you some great views of the town of Sudbury. Another must thing to do, if you ever get to visit Subury, is to watch there local Ice Hockey team. This was my second time, watching the Sudbury Wolves, and ironically they were playing the same team, and the lost, both times. If you have never watched Ice Hockey, then this is something I would recommend. The games a fast and can be aggressive, however rules have changed recently meaning, that there is not so much physical contact now. I also got to try curling. Having watched Curling in the Winter Olympics, I though they make that look so easy. How wrong was I. It was actually quite hard, and attempting to keep your balance, push a stone on the ice, whilst travelling, is not easy. When you also see the teams sweeping the ice, to create friction for the stone, well lets say I didn't need to go to the gym that day, as my arms got a pretty good workout there. However this was a thoroughly enjoyable day. We also done an escape room, where you get locked in a room and have to solve a number of linking puzzles to get the code to get out. We literally done this with seconds to spare. If you have Facebook, search Sudbury Original Escape Room. The two rooms, have themes which are currently the Chernobyl Disaster and The Hartford Circus. The guys who runs the escape room, clearly put the time and expertise into these rooms, and is very knowledgeable about each of the disasters. Again another great afternoon. One thing that I got to experience, which is very popular with the locals was Porketta Bingo, at the Beef and Bird Pub. Whilst hiding from the cold, you get yourself a few beers, then at 3pm, your play Porketta Bingo. Where you get 3 playing cards, and as with bingo, when your card gets called out, you place a marker over it. If and when you get all 3 cards, you shout PORKETTA and you basically win a bowl of Porketta (pork) with some bread, I won once, and if its your 1st time, everyone shouts "He's a virgin" which add to the fun atmosphere that this event creates. So if anyone ever ventures to Sudbury, head to The Beef and Bird to experience this event. A little note, it gets very busy, so make sure arrive early, doors open at 11am, so get there then, to get a decent seat. So whilst Sudbury is away from the major cities of Canada, there is still plenty to do and there is something for everyone. |
James CMy name is James, I'm from Newcastle UK, and wanting to share my travel experiences with everyone Archives
February 2020
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