From West to East

Here we go: my first time traveling alone since 2006 when I was three weeks in Australia alone. My conclusion from then was that traveling alone is not for me. But who else has 9 months off and can just travel around? So here I am, on my way to Victoria on Vancouver Island. I have to admit, there is a bit of a cheat in it, because after 2 days alone, I will spend a long weekend with Jess :-) So my short summary of Victoria: nice place, unfortunately a lot of rain, and my first attempt in putting this Canadian chitchattyness into practice. I did a whale watching trip which was nice, I saw a lot of humpbacks, unfortunately no Orcas. But I usually love being on a boat, so that worked out well and the weather was on my side as well. My funniest Victoria story: I met a German girl who had 95% the exact same plan like me for the next 5 days. Including the rental of a Hertz car and the same flight 5 days later from Vancouver to Montreal.
So we walked together to the rental car place and I drove to pick up Jess at the airport. From there Jess and I drove together across the island to Ucluelet on the west coast. Beautiful drive with stops in an amazing forest. And then the west coast with just unbelievable breathtaking views. We bought some wine (after the free and fastest wine tasting ever) and food and had a romantic dinner with sunset on one of 100 benches along the coast.
The next day we had two activities: drive up towards Tofino and walk along a beach and on an island at low tide and do a 5-6km hike along the beach. We failed to hitch hike to the beginning of the track (I was told now that it is illegal in BC) and so walked annoying 4km along the street to get to the starting point. But the actual walk was worth it. Highlight of it was that we saw 4 Orcas! I am 80% sure it was Orcas :-) We ended up in a little pub crawl with a surprisingly funny end of the night in the sports bar. I played pool, cards and tried another gambling game. Imagine the lottery but every 2 minutes a new drawing. Funnily the whole bar new my 4 numbers and cheered with me (meaning the 5 people in the bar).
The next morning was a tough day of travel: driving, taxi, ferry, bus... In the morning I had decided to take an Airbnb because I just wanted some rest :-)
My two days of Vancouver then were: rain, meeting a lot of very nice hostel people even though I didn't stay in that hostel, a very frustratingly steep 1:25 hike up Grouse Mountain (850m incline in 2.9km), nice local breweries and distilleries and a visit to the Orpheum with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
And then im already in Montreal! After an overnight flight with nearly no sleep and having lost 3 hours due to time difference I decided to join directly a Food tour to stay awake. Through the hip quarter of Miles End we tasted delicious food and sweets. Great way to stay awake. The afternoon I visited the old town, and I have to say that I had missed that part of traveling: old towns :-) The highlight was definitely the beautiful Notre Dame, which had amazing shades of blue inside. The day ended with meeting great people at the hostel bar and talking, playing pool, Fußball and darts until 3pm :-)
The next day the missing sleep on the plane and then the evening in the bar caught up with me. My roommate Marley and me stayed in bed until after noon (cute how the cleaning lady tried not to disturb us while cleaning around us. We then had a perfect start of the day with the best Poutine in town. For those who have no clue what that is: imagine all the food I love in one dish: fries, cheese and gravy. And then add whatever you want, in my case grounded beef, mushrooms and peas. Delicious and amazing for fighting a hangover. The other part of our somewhat short day we walked up mount royal through beautiful trees and with a really nice view back down on Montreal. We just made it back down before the heavy rain started and then had a very relaxed evening at our hostel.
The next day I went to Quebe city and spent two nights there. I didn't like my hostel too much, it was huge and the guests were either 20 years or 60 years old. I ended up with a 60 year old lady who snored so badly I am pretty sure the whole floor heard it. The city itself is quite cool, with beautiful buildings and some elevation which allows for beautiful views. I did a free city tour in pouring rain and a great tour of the citadel, which was as well a great history lesson around Canadian participation in the world wars.
As visiting a national park by public transport seemed pretty impossible I rented a car for the next day and found a girl who joined me. We drove the way back to Montreal together and then had a nice walk in the Mount Tremblant park. Suddenly being in snow again was a bit surprising for me. But we were treated with a stunning view back on the lake. We rushed back to Montreal for her to catch a bus to Ottawa and me to return the car and have another relaxed evening in the hostel I had stayed before. Funny feeling to go back, but also very nice.
And the next morning I was off to my last stop in Canada: Toronto. I have to say not my favourite place and that was also reflected in the people I met. Nice people but I didn't meet anyone really on my wave length. I still had a good time doing all the touristy stuff, like going up the CN tower. My favourite part of Toronto was the street art, amazing paintings on the walls. And of course the Niagara Falls visit was a must do. I hated my tour, especially the guide who managed to talk thorough nearly all of the 2 hours bus drive. I could have told the same content in 10 minutes. But the falls were beautiful and I enjoyed the picture time as well as the cute town of Niagara-on-the-lake with a great sandwich store and micro brewery. And that was the end of 4 weeks Canada. Unbelievable how time flies. I had a great time and especially the kindness of Canadians was amazing. I heard of it before (believe me they told me often), but I can actually confirm it. The two examples: I was late with my tea at the gas station, Dan and Jess had already paid their coffee. So I got mine for free! And then I ask the bus driver in Toronto for the way and not only get a good explanation but also a free metro ticket. Unbelievable. And in general, nearly everyone I met was so friendly and made me feel home.
And one more thing to mention: in Germany people would find it rude to listen to other people's conversation. Not only does it seem to be completely normal here, it is appreciated to just jump in and that way the conversation can easily go over two or more tables. So as you may have noticed, I really enjoyed visiting Canada and it was also a great cultural experience. Off to Peru now!