Due to some lingering jet lag I woke up early, kind of drifting in and out. The room was quiet and dark, and with the king size bed it was easy to lay back and relax. After a while we got up and showered and spent some slow time. Looking out the window we saw a trash truck coming down the street – the collectors took a before and after photo of the trash they collected at each stop, which seemed like a semi-modern way to ensure quality control.

We ran out to the nearest Tim Horton’s for some early morning coffee. The place was busy but just one staff was working, a young Asian woman who seemed unperturbed by being stuck with all the work. Later someone came in late and started helping out. We got our coffees and a lemon poppyseed muffin stuffed with cream, and then went back to our room to pack up our stuff.

We hit the road from there, rolling our suitcase south towards Union station to catch our bus to Niagara Falls. We walked through the financial district which was cleaner and wider than the area near our hotel – less weed aroma in the air. We walked past the Maple Leafs hockey arena, got a cheesy keychain to hang on our Christmas tree, and eventually we arrived at the bus terminal  for the next stage of our trip.

This marked the end of our stay in Toronto, and I think we both enjoyed it. The town felt different from what I imagined – maybe because in my imagination it is always winter. I don’t know if we’ll be coming back but it was a good place to decompress before moving on to New York.

Beside the bus there is also train service to Niagara, but it didn’t run very often, and the train station was far enough away from the falls that we’d need a bus or taxi anyway. The bus terminal was surprisingly clean but not very well organized. We knew our bus departure time and destination, but the gate announcements didn’t really mention our bus. There was a long line near our gate but it turned out to be another bus that was late – ours was on time and a shorter line. 

We boarded our bus and left on time, but once we hit the freeway we immediately got stuck in gridlock. That’s one good point about using the train – no traffic to worry about. After spending an extra 30 minutes or so in traffic things thinned out and the rest of the journey was fine. We drove over a big bridge as we turned east from Hamilton, and closer to Niagara we started passing huge vineyards and the occasional winery. 

Kuniko was eagerly anticipating the arrival at Niagara Falls, but the bus had to make two initial stops first. At each stop the driver spent time explaining how we can get back to Toronto later in the day, but as this was a one way trip for us we didn’t need the explanation. Near the final stop traffic got more intense, and it was almost agonizing to be so close but have to wait for the bus to find the proper parking spot.

But finally we got off the bus, grabbed our suitcase, and walked a few steps to see the waterfalls. The air was heavy with what seemed like rain, but was actually the mist from the splash of the water. We needed a raincoat as it was so heavy, but everything and everyone was wet too. With a little maneuvering we avoided most of the mist and because of the sunny weather and blue sky we soon dried out.

The views of the waterfalls were spectacular. It has been around 25 years since I was here last with Brian Haven, and I had forgotten the scale of the falls and how dramatic they are. We spent a lot of time trying to capture the scene with our phone cameras (impossible), and watching the big boats (that seem tiny at this distance) carrying raincoated tourists for views from the base of the falls. There was even a hot air balloon tethered to the American side, which looked like it was doing a good business. 

Despite all the tourists the falls are big enough that it was easy to roll our suitcase along, and to find available places along the rails to take in the view. Since we were getting a little hungry we decided to stop at a nice looking restaurant across the street from the falls, and saw that they had a second floor covered terrace with great views. The downstairs was a gift shop and cafeteria that smelled faintly of toilet, so I carried our suitcase up the staircase and checked in with the staff. They let us stash our bag behind the counter and then led us to a table right on the edge of the terrace with great views of the falls. It was the perfect table – something I would have liked to have arranged before but ended up lucking into.

So it was in this beautiful environment that we had a nice lunch, two flights of local wines, and some chill time in the shade. We ordered whipped feta with a chipotle jalapeño sauce, a short rib sandwich (which needed salt – I think someone forgot to add it) and just a regular hamburger (which was not bad at all). The wines were interesting – we liked the whites overall more than the reds. I took pictures of the two wine flights and for the whites I liked (from the left) #1 and #4 best. For the reds we preferred #1, then #2 and finally #4. #3 wasn’t really our style.

Our server was nice enough to take our photo, and then with a nice little wine buzz we grabbed our suitcase and started heading over to the Rainbow Bridge to walk into America.

It was bright and hot as we approached the bridge, and had to pay a $1.25 CAD toll (tapping our credit card was OK) to walk across. There were a few people crossing both directions but not as many as you might expect. There were a few more cars – just not many pedestrians and we were the only ones with a suitcase. At the midpoint of the span we were able to get some great views of the whole area and look down to the river far below. I thought the view alone was worth the $1.25 CAD.

So goodbye Canada – it was a great visit and hopefully we’ll be back to visit other cities. We have always dreamed of a coast to coast train trip – maybe once we are older and if our bank accounts can handle it. But for now, on to America!

On the American side we went into a small building, and found about 10 people waiting ahead of us. On the other side of a glass wall there was a line of young Amish men and women, who were staring at us as much as we were staring at them. They were being processed separately (for some reason) and so we just had to wait a short time. One small family ahead of us was rejected and sent back to Canada, so that put the pressure on us a little.

But when we were called to the front of the line the border guard just had a few questions (any food in that suitcase?) and he had Kuniko give her fingerprints. The machine and system had just been updated, so there was some confusion on both sides – the immigration officer’s dry wit made it hard to see if he was pissed off or just being clever. In the end it was a smooth entry into the United States, and we passed through the next door.

As we opened the next door into America proper, we almost hit a huge overweight guy, part of a family of grossly overweight people who were buying Cokes from the vending machine. I thought that they would make a huge first impression on first time visitors. 

Beyond the building was a big park, and part of the area where Americans who don’t want to cross the border can see Niagara Falls from their side. I agree that the view is better from the Canada side, but the park was pretty busy with tourists. We found a shady spot, called an Uber, and we were off to the Buffalo airport. It was a 40 minute ride in an air conditioned car which made for a pleasant link on this journey. I would have liked to do the whole thing with public transportation, but the Niagara Falls – Buffalo link isn’t well-served by public transit.

We arrived at Buffalo airport three hours before our short domestic flight to LaGuardia airport. When planning the trip I didn’t know how much time the border crossing would take and so we had some time to kill at the airport. It was a pretty small place, and I when I saw Buffalo Sabres merchandise for sale in the gift shop it really brought back memories of another life before I came to Japan. To kill time we dozed a little, played Balatro, and finally caught our flight which left 15 minutes late. It was a small plane but we could sit together for the short flight.

A highlight for me was flying in over New York City at sunset. We were on the wrong side for Manhattan but I could peek through the window on that side and see the city as we descended. I turned to Kuniko to point out the sights but she was zonked out – so I didn’t wake her up. Once we landed there was traffic while our plane taxied and a fairly long delay getting to the gate. 

It was my first time to LaGuardia airport and we were impressed with the quality of the restaurants and bars we passed as we headed to the baggage carousel. It was too bad we wouldn’t come back to this airport this time. Our suitcase was already on the carousel so it was on to the curb and we easily found our hotel shuttle to Aloft, a cheap chain hotel that was not far away. 

At first it was just us and a lady who had already gotten on the shuttle bus, but soon a huge middle eastern family showed up and the driver started stacking their suitcases on top of ours – the lady complained to the driver (in Spanish) and managed to save her laptop from flattening. She talked with us a little (in English) and we bumped into her again later at the hotel restaurant. The driver was bilingual too – it was cool to see him slipping between languages for different passengers.

At the hotel it was an easy check-in process, and then we dropped off our stuff in our (quite large) room, and then went down to the restaurant for a quick dinner. We were the only customers, but the manager was really cool and took care of us. We had shrimp sliders (excellent) and beef sliders (so-so). Kuniko asked for a white wine and the manager asked her if she preferred a particular varietal – nice! I had a Stella Artois beer, and after dinner we moved to the bar for a couple of margaritas. 

The bar was a little livelier than the restaurant, and the bartender had a couple of people with a service dog on one side, and a lonely looking dude sitting at the bar right in front of her.  Later a group of Cincinnati Reds boosters came down, having attending a Mets game where they came out on top. 

We were pretty tired after a long day of travel, so we went on up to our room. The suite layout was nice and the bed was huge, so it was a comfortable first night in New York.

Our bed was really comfortable and we managed to sleep in as it was so nice being horizontal again. We went out for morning coffee and some breakfast – we found a cafe that had just opened. We ordered two cappuccinos and a roasted artichoke sandwich – however somehow a mistake was made and we ordered two sandwiches rather than one to split. We just went with it, and it was really good. The vibe of the cafe was nice – lots of people came in to get their coffees to go – and outside people jogged and walked to work.

Thanks to the bigger-than-expected breakfast we stopped in at Tim Horton’s for more coffee to go. The restaurant had hockey stick door handles – perfectly Canadian. They also had a mobile take away system for locals so people were constantly coming in to grab a coffee and run – interesting. We took our (slightly weak) coffees to the hotel and spent some time chilling out there and planning our day. 

We kicked it off by heading to south to edge of Lake Ontario, to get a look at the city waterfront. We passed the CN Tower, the Toronto Blue Jays baseball stadium, an old train roundhouse that had been converted into a stylish museum/restaurant area. By the time we reached the waterfront I had started to get another allergic reaction. Once again it happened while walking around outside on vacation – we sat down to wait it out and debate to possible causes. It rarely happens in Japan, but almost always when traveling overseas, and often when we are walking around outside – never inside. So weird. 

After resting a bit we walked along the water, and stopped by a restaurant that sells “beaver tails” – a kind of sweet that was recommended. Unfortunately the place was still closed and this trip we never got to try it elsewhere. Maybe next time. 

We walked all over the downtown area, seeing City Hall, a big shopping center, interesting buildings and parks. Since I had forgotten to pack shorts back in Japan we hit Uniqlo to buy some for me and tried them on. Then we went to Muji for me to buy a small journal to write these notes. All the way from Japan and we went to two Japanese stores. 

Stopped at Queen’s Park, passing through a lot of hospitals and medical centers. On the way back to the hotel we passed many older (historic?) and fairly dilapidated homes – they looked like they were once quite beautiful. Some parts of town were well-preserved but others quite run down. We also walked through a street lined with different Chinese restaurants. It didn’t feel like a Chinatown but for some reason there were many of them gathered here.

Back at our hotel we were having trouble figuring out how to get some clean towels for our second morning. Without staff there was nobody to ask, but they had a sort of janky system where you could send text messages and 15 minutes after sending some we got some response. It took a long time for them to research how to find towels for us and I got the impression that the people responding were in a far away country somewhere consulting a notebook. But finally they told us to go to the second floor and look in a particular closet and we got some. 

We went out later for drinks at Ricarda’s, an Italian place that we noticed more for the decor than the dining. We sat at the bar and Kuniko had prosecco and an açaí margarita (with salt and herbs spread down the outside of the glass), I had some beers. We had some snacks too – truffle arancini and truffle fries, and we did some (slightly) drunken journaling at the bar. 

After a nice nap back at the hotel we went out for dinner at a restaurant nearby called Aloette. It boasted “Canadian” food and the upstairs is their main restaurant (Aloe) that has a Michelin star or two. The cafe version below was a more casual vibe and what we were looking for. It was set up like an old diner with a long counter and booths behind. There was loud music but it was kind of stylish and we liked it. Kuniko had a cocktail sprayed with celery bitters, and I had another local beer. Our bartender was also our waiter, and she seemed pretty no-nonsense with a shaved head and a sort of standoff-ish aura. The place was pretty busy, with people walking close behind us as we sat at the counter.

We had grilled sea bream (with a really tasty cream sauce), lobster pieces with shellfish, and some homemade cheesy bread with some whipped butter. Dessert was a big piece of lemon meringue pie – it was a little tart but I liked it. Not as good as my dad’s version, though.

After dinner we walked down some different streets to see what was happening, with the aroma of marijuana still pretty distinct. As the breeze started turning colder we made our way back to the hotel for a nightcap and an early bedtime (still a little jet lag). Outside we could hear the sounds of partying, though – this area of town was fairly lively. 

Instead of our usual vanilla trip to Glen Ellen for a family visit this time, we thought we should make some efforts to see some new places in North America. I think it might be a little frustrating for Kuniko to keep going there but staying in the same place each time. So we arranged for a short trip to Toronto, and to tour around New York City on the way to visiting my parents in Glen Ellen.

We got up early on Wednesday to do some final packing and organizing around the house. I had an errand to run before our flight, so I left early to visit the local DMV in Motomachi to get a fresh international driver’s license. This is a yearly thing now since my US license expired long ago, and now I have the procedure down pat.

Kuniko stayed back to vote, do a final cleaning and close up the house, and we ended up meeting in Sannomiya. The weather was getting really hot – I was wiping sweat continuously – and so we decided to hit a small Italian cafe for some bubbles (and air conditioning). We had lunch at a pretty authentic Chinese restaurant in Santica: tofu noodles, lamb skewers, boiled dumplings, and a couple of small canned highballs to pour over ice. The staff and most of the customers were all Chinese and speaking Chinese to each other – always a good sign.

We caught the bus to Itami airport, and had trouble checking in to the kiosk there. It turns out that since our connecting flight was international the kiosk would not accept our check in, but as usual the kiosk only threw an error and it was up to us to line up and speak to a human to get it sorted out. Our check-in clerk was very helpful and we checked our bag (all the way through to Toronto) and we were on our way.

Once we passed through security we couldn’t find any good restaurants so we ended up buying some Jagarico and some drinks and settled into a quiet corner of the terminal to relax. To buy the food and drinks we tried to use just coins to avoid carrying all that weight overseas, but we came up just two yen short. The clerk was funny and cracked some jokes – not your typical Japanese convenience store clerk.

As we waited for our flight they announced that it would be delayed 15 minutes, which put us under some time pressure in the next airport, Haneda. We had thought we’d have time to visit a wine bar that we like over there, but with the delay we ended up running for our gate. We were told to rush to bus #9, a free shuttle that runs between terminals, and luckily it was pretty quick. The security line was fairly empty – one staff tried to get us to go the long way and Kuniko gave him some sharp words, but then we made it through to immigration and I scribbled down the info on my re-entry form before running with Kuniko to the gate. We made it just as they called our group, and we even had time for the restroom before boarding ourselves. That was close!

We sat in the middle seats near the back of the airplane, with single guys on either side of us. Lots of big people flying home from their vacation in Japan. Kuniko played the hell out of Bejeweled (she got to level 41!!) and I watched a movie or two and slept a bit during the eleven and half hour flight. 

At Toronto airport it took an hour to get through immigration, retrieve our suitcase, and go through customs. Kuniko was trying to explain to the immigration officer that I was “her husband in Japan” which sounded a bit weird but they let her through anyway. 

At the airport we lined up to buy tickets for the train into town. In front of us a guy with no arms had his credit card declined – he used his foot to retrieve it and stepped aside so that we could get our tickets. We took the “express” train to get to downtown Toronto – but it wasn’t a very fast ride. The train felt a little old, and sometimes made weird gasping sounds that Kuniko imitated perfectly. We stopped at some lonely stations along the way – they were modern and clean and empty. 

It was a 25 minute ride to Union Station, and then we pulled our suitcase a fair distance to get to our hotel. The smell of marijuana was thick in the air, something we were both surprised about. It was our first time in Toronto, and it is a pretty big city. Lots of restaurants with people outside enjoying drinks and conversation – we were arriving right as offices were closing up. The vibe was multi-cultural with many Asian people and restaurants around.

We used a code to enter our hotel, which was unstaffed and worked via a digital code system. The room itself was very comfortable and had a nice view of the street and downtown from the sixth floor. 

Back outside we struggled to find an open table at one of the outdoor dining places, eventually we found one that looked promising, the staff helping us almost knocked her iPad off the podium. We sat next to a lively group of four women who looked like they had been drinking for quite a while. Our table must have been near a vent with hot air – even outside we were feeling pretty hot. Kuniko ordered a cocktail, I had a local beer (Creemore IPA) and a zucchini fritti which was mostly batter and didn’t really have much flavor. 

But it was nice to finally arrive, and as I stretched out my arms in the air in contentment I almost punched one of the bus boys walking behind me – oops! 

After our drink I tracked down a place that sold traditional poutine for take out. The place was cool – filled with huge bags of potatoes and a wide variety of different poutines that you could modify to your liking. We got the regular flavor, and then stopped at a supermarket on the way back to get a bottle of Niagara sauvignon blanc and some waters. 

It was nice to snack on the poutine and sip white wine in the hotel – we finally went to hit the sack around 10 pm. It was a long day but we were eager to explore Toronto a bit more the next day.