Ok, we’re planning to take our FIRST EVER holiday together this summer, the destination picked is Toronto and Calgary, Canada for three weeks. We’re probably flying out and returning to Edinburgh… The last time Frances and I took a holiday was in 1986 to Madeira!
Any suggestions? The airlines quoted us so far about UKP 4,500 for 4 adults and 1 child just for airfares which seems excessive!
Apart from that, what is there that we MUST do in either locations? Where would we stay?
I’m rich, so go wild with suggestions!
Shall we also schedule a mahmood.tv gathering while there? Love to sample some local brews!
Comments
Holidays suggestions welcome
Oooh, I love Toronto! There’s some great B&B’s as well as some really beautiful hotels. I like to stay in B&B’s because it’s nice to meet the local people. I’m only about 4 hours from Toronto by car, so I try to get there at least once a year.
Toronto has lots of theatre, concerts, and museums. The Science Center ([url]http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/[/url]) is a must-see for kids and adults, and the zoo ([url]http://www.torontozoo.com/[/url]) is great too. Let me know if I can be of any help. Here’s their official tourism site ([url]http://www.torontotourism.com/[/url]), but you’ve probably already seen it.
Holidays suggestions welcome
Oops, just realized you said you were rich. Stay at the Le Royal Meridien King Edward, or the Intercontinental. Very nice places… I know I certainly can’t afford to stay there, but I’ve heard they’re wonderful.
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
the “rich” part was tongue-in-cheek! or hadn’t you notice the head-gear? might as well compound the stereotype! π
thanks for the suggestions, and no I haven’t visited the Toronto tourism site yet, but will now. My idea of actually going to a place is walk, walk, drink, walk, sit, drink, walk, lost yet? Good. Grab a taxi back to the hotel. That way, I can say that I have “discovered” the city!
I detest being a tourist!
Holidays suggestions welcome
i went to toronto but it was a long time ago so i dont remember much. what i do remember though is going to the CN Tower, and also niagra falls. you can take a tour of it and go right behind the falls and all the way inside, its pretty spectacular.
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
Niagra Falls is a definite… do they also give out prizes there to whoever throws the wife farthest and see if she can swim?
On second thought, I’d better take a stock of Valium with me to keep me mellow and do the touristic things just like a good husband should! π
Re(1): Holidays suggestions welcome
Well, gee, I figured if you were flying that far, you might as well go all out. π
Personally, I think Jarvis House ([url]http://www.ambassadorinntoronto.com/[/url]) is really nice. Of course, one of my cats is named Jarvis, so I’m a little partial.
There’s a lot of great places to walk in Toronto, and the weather is usually pretty good. Not only is there the lakefront, but there’s also great neighborhoods like Queen Street with funky shops and lots of cafes. I find Toronto to be very clean, and pretty safe, too.
Since you’re a race fan, I don’t know when you’re leaving but July 9-11 is Molson Indy Toronto ([url]http://www.molsonindy.com/toronto/index.php[/url]), which is the CART series. I’ve gone to that race several times, and it’s always fun.
Re(2): Holidays suggestions welcome
thanks again Bonnie! I think my wife plans to be in Calgary then… shopping in the world largest mall is MUCH more important than the music of engines. But lemme try to bend her ear (and give her another credit card) to see if we can be in Toronto for the Indy. I would *love* to attend that.
Arif, my son, is insistant on meeting one of his NBA idols Vince Carter and wants to attend one of his workshops in Toronto, so there’s no escaping being there for the last week of the holiday.
And yes, we are coming a long way, so I’ll (just) tolerate over-spending to make it a memorable occasion.
Other than that, I love Toronto although I’ve never been close to it because my childhood (and still) best friend lives there! So as far as I’m concerned, Calgary be damned (sorry) but I have to acquesce to her requests, otherwise there’s no point living in this life!! π
Holidays suggestions welcome
You chose the most boring cities in Canada. What about Montreal? What about Vancouver? Toronto is a big ugly city with one long tower. Calgary is not called cowgary for no reason you know.
– ihath
Holidays suggestions welcome
Calgary rocks, actually. Aside from being the cow capital of Canada, it’s also the oil tycoon capital. The best thing it has going for it though, is it’s a short jaunt (by Canadian standards) from the Rocky Mountains. About an hour drive away. Banff National Park (in the mountains) is a must see if you are spending any time in Calgary. South of Calgary about an hours drive there is a World Heritage sight that is also a must see, called Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump. It’s an ancient buffalo kill site used by Native Indians for many centuries prior to the arrival of Europeans. It’s very interesting. But Calgary itself is a pretty cosmopolitan place. Check out Alberta’s tourism website: http://www.discoveralberta.com/
Boring? How could you say THAT? What about the ‘ballet’?
[color=darkred][b]Toronto is GREAT![/b] If only for the ‘ballet’ … and I’m NOT going to suggest Mahmood go THERE! Ok ok, for those that haven’t spent time there … the local boys say they’re “going to the ballet” when in fact they’re going to the great Canadian STRIP JOINTS! ALL nude gals – even the places downtown and as far into the suburbs are good (so I hear). [i]… my Ex-husband was a big ballet fan. [/i] :\[/color]
Holidays suggestions welcome
I do not know your timing, but for Calgary, the Calgary Stampede is worth a try. As for Toronto, I would recommend a side trip to Stratford (The Canadian one, not London, England) for the Shakespeare festival, Niagara-on-the-Lake (the Canadian side, not the American one) for the Shaw festival.
The Canadian town of Niagara Falls (there is both a Canadian one and an American one) is a cheap tawdry tourist trap, but may be amusing for he younger ones. On the the other hand, Niagara-on-the-Lake is a tasteful elegant one with some excellent restaurants and theatre.
Love Toronto!
… CN Tower is worth the time – if only to go to the top, and “feel” it sway! VERY odd feeling. I lived just down the street for a few years … great area (Queen Street, King Street – funky fun stuff to do!). π
[Modified by: Sandee (Sandee) on April 26, 2004 11:51 PM]
Let’s organize a Mahmood Day in NYC!
NYC should be half way between Toronto and Philly! Let’s meet in New York! SO much fun!
Holidays suggestions welcome
At the very least, you should go to the Niagara Falls. You don’t want to set up the kids for being made fun of because they never got to see Niagara Falls while down there. And, you must go to the Niagara Falls region and sample some of the ice wine!
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
Ice wine? hey, that’s a good enough reason for me!!
(boy do I sound like a drunk! ;))
Re: Love Toronto!
You must be the third or fourth person to suggest the CN Tower, so that’s a must, so is Queen Street! Thanks Sandee
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
Me no sprechen da French Elen, although I would love to go to Quebec and BC, there simply will be no time during this trip. I have a feeling that the Canada destination will become a regular, especially since my eldest daughter is threatening to emigrate there and she’s only 14 at the moment!!
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
You know something, wives organise holidays, husbands follow! The events you mentioned (Stampede, Rocky Mountains, Banff) are all on Frances’ list of things that MUST be done, hence Calgary!
You’ve just added another: Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump, sounds like a good thing to do!
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
John I would LOVE to do that, even if for a day trip to meet you. I’ll even try to renew my US visa at the same time, if it can be done it will be done!
Re: Let’s organize a Mahmood Day in NYC!
Mahmood Day in the Big Apple! Yay! I wish we could do that Sandee. I think all this is giving me an idea to have a PERSONAL holiday after the family one!!
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
Excellent suggestions thanks! We’re going for the Stampede as it is already on the itenary and I’ll have to also get a 10-gallon hat, although I think even that will have to be custom made for my head!!
Holidays suggestions welcome
As a Canadian who has lived in both cities, I would recommend Niagra Falls as a must (and yes the CN Tower). Also, a day trip to the Rockies is well worth the effort. Glad your not doing the “touristy” thing, most are boring. Wherever you stay, I’m sure you’ll find the hotel personal very welcoming and helpful. My husband and I have found that their recomendations of what’s happening, based on what you want to do, where to go and the best place for fine dining or pizza is usually very reliable. Hopefully one day you can visit Montreal, and French is not essential to enjoy a visit and it is one of the most beautiful cities in Canada. Bon Voyage. Louise & Luc.
p.s. A return flight from Canada to Athens was $ 2,800. for one person
Re: Boring? How could you say THAT? What about the ‘ballet’?
My wife asked me this morning if I checked out the cities in we’re visiting in Canada and decided what I wanted to do.
I said “sure thing hun.”
Her: okay tell me about it..
Me: I know the location of the best bars, strip clubs and brothels in those – OUCH! What did you do THAT for? Massaging my head as I exclaimed!
Her: fuming and starting to turn purple
Me: Sorry hun. No, but I promise to spend some time today to look! (ducking and running out of the door)
So I guess I can go back to her now and say that I’ve found where the Ballet is, and she’ll smile!
… until she reads this entry that is ;\
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
Stupid airlines. You would think that the longer a FAMILY is using their services, the cheeper the tickets would get. But no. It’s more expensive!
Our routing would be something like:
Bahrain – Amsterdam – Edinburgh – Toronto – Calgary – Toronto – Amsterdam – Edinburgh – Amsterdam – Bahrain
And we’re stopping in every sector, and I asked them for hotels and car rental.
The price so far from KLM is around BD 4,000 for tickets alone (that’s about US$ 10,580) Add to that a few thousand for hotels, another couple for car rental and it looks that the budget I have to spend for this little jaunt would be closer to $30k than $20k!
I think we have to be a bit more practical and drop a destination, otherwise we can forget the idea about buying a house on our return!
That’s not a distractor though, if it kills me we’ll arrive in Toronto. What we do after that is God’s exclusive knowledge – and my wife’s!
Re: Let’s organize a Mahmood Day in NYC!
Hmmm, I’m actually closer to Toronto than I am to NYC, but I haven’t been to NYC since 1999, and I have friends there. I might be able to meet up with y’all as well.
Holidays suggestions welcome
Dear Mahmood Al-Yousif:
That’s quite an intineary! We have had to travel in the last year to four different countries, Sweden, Canada, USA and now Greece. If I may make a suggestion? Regarding a car rental at every stop-over, might not be worth the $$. Unless your staying for a few days. Experience has taught me that, everyone gets pretty tired and the rental car just sits there. ie. if your arrive late and leave the next afternoon – cabs (taxis) or courtsey vans are worth looking into. Could be a potential saving of a few thousand dollars, especially since insurance rates have really sky rocketed! Always remember that airlines can get off schedule and blow a whole day for you! Amsterdam is nice BUT, driving is pretty rough there not to mention trying to find your way around, I would rather face driving in a winter storm! By the way, even though we’re not in Canada right now; WELCOME and we hope you have a wonderful time. Louise & Luc
Holidays suggestions welcome
Mahmood Al-Yousif:
Just one more thing then I’ll stop posting! For the children, Canada’s Wonderland is about a two hour drive from downtown Toronto. The Chrildren will love it, a little secret if they call for light rain, GO- crowds are not as heavy, lines not as long. Experienced on this many times! Enjoy. p.s A good golf course is close by….
Canada? Why?
Why would anyone go to Canada, particularly on a holiday? Why not go to Asome American midwestern backwater and see the real thing?
If you go to the States watch out for the rubber glove treatment at customs though (although some people I know actually travel to the US for that as its free on arrival, whereas in Bahrain you have to pay a lot for that experience)
Holidays suggestions welcome
CANADAY? WHY?
1. Because we don’t ordinarily carry guns? 2. You can drink the water and it tastes good. 3. Better exchange for currency (other than US) 4. We have more trees, really big trees! 5. Nobody cares where your’re from as long as your buying the round! 6. Cleaner 7. Better sense of humor ;~)
Holidays suggestions welcome
Speaking of the Stampede, please book your hotel immediately. It’s really hard to find a place during the Stampede. You could be sleeping on a park bench, if you don’t do it now.
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
thanks, will try to do that now…
Holidays suggestions welcome
You ought to stop down and visit me (albeit far out of your way;). I should be moving to Pittsburgh by then.
jc
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
I agree with ihath. Vancouver or Montreal would be much better.
The only thing good about Calgary is nearby Kananskis, Banff,
Lake Louis, Jasper. The so-called largest mall is actually in
Edmonton, not Calgary, and a rather dismal place. Maybe the kids
would like it, but there’s nothing special about the shops inside.
Most are the same shops you will find in any mall in western Canada.
And if you want to see a ‘stampede’ or ‘rodeo
Re(1): Holidays suggestions welcome
Due to financial considerations more than anything else, we have decided to drop Calgary from our itinerary and just base our holidays around Toronto. We might spend a week by a lake in a cabin, and the other two downtown. This is not solid yet… we’ve still got a couple of weeks before everything is set, so please do keep these suggestions coming!
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
Thank you for the suggestions and please don’t shut up! Go ahead and keep suggesting, the more we know the more enjoyable the holiday will be…
My best friend actually emigrated to Toronto 9 or 10 years ago and lives there quite happily. That’s one of the reasons that we decided on Toronto, I have to spend some time with him and his family! And he just emailed me this morning telling me that Canada’s Wonderland is only 15 minutes from where he lives! So that’s going to be added to the schedule…
Re: Canada? Why?
Partly because I’ve done the States already and wanted to go somewhere new. I lived in Fort Worth, TX for about 5 months, been to Seattle and worked at Boeing for a couple of weeks, visited California a few times and did the white water rafting. So it’s time to experience some new climes!
As for the rubber-glove treatment, yeah, that’s a detractor unfortunately…
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
Sounds like Scotland! My kinda town! π
And for the daughter who loves horses – take a ride up to Caledon!
The Caledon Equestrian Park isn’t too far from Toronto. Worth the trip, since there will be a number of shows in July. Toronto has quite the horse-y set and the grounds are pretty nice … [url]http://www.equiman.com/[/url]
You’ll miss “The Royal” (The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair). I tried to go every year when I lived there … [url]http://www.royalfair.org[/url]
Holidays suggestions welcome
No chance of a side trip towards Boston/New York?
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
I would love to, unfortunately there is no time to get a Canadian visa AND an American one, though I will try. I had a 5 year US visa but that’s lapsed, and I suspect it will take a bit longer to get now.
Will let you know if I’m successful.
Re: And for the daughter who loves horses – take a ride up to Caledon!
That would be really nice to do! Thank you very much for the suggestion.
Oh come on …
Hey, the “M” Man is coming ALL the way from Bahrain … the least we can do is meet him up in Toronto! It’s only an 8-10 hour drive or a 58 minute flight (from Newark, that is). Who’s in? π
Dates set
Finally, we’ve got the tickets and the dates set:
Jun 26 – 2 Edinburgh
July 2 – 29 Toronto
July 30 – Aug 5 Edinburgh/England
Aug 5 – Amsterdam
Aug 6 – Back home
I’ve even got the tickets, the apartment in Toronto reserved, the only thing left is to reserve an NBA workshop for Arif and that’s it, we’re officially set for the hols!
Holidays suggestions welcome
Hope you have a ‘heck-uva a great time’. Since your in TO for almost a month, check out airline seat sales if your still considering going west, sometimes can get a great package deal. I know the pices are normally outrages, do they not know we only want a ride not to purchase a portion of the company?! We refer to this as legalized robbery, as they do not even wear a mask while they take your money! Or a great weekend in Montreal (pushy aren’t we?-sorry )
I know your used to heat but do you get humidity too? In southern Ont. and Quebec humidity is really the energy sucker. I can only assume your apartment will have airconditioning and hopefully a pool!
Have never been to Edinburgh, would love to hear about it from your perspective. Take care, Bon Voyage L & L
Re: Holidays suggestions welcome
As we’re not restricted by timeframes within the period we’ll be in Toronto, there is nothing stopping us for just flying to Montreal and Vancouver for a weekend or just a couple of days mid-week. We’ll check the pricing for tickets etc when we get there, I’m sure we can work something out!