Mont Tremblant

Hi guys

 

We left Toronto and caught a 5 hour train to Montreal. The train had free wifi, so I skyped Kurtis and then Clara. We then got a free shuttle bus to Montreal airport, and then a 2 hour bus to Mont Tremblant. The village was full of snow! Our hotel room was so big. We had a loft, a full kitchen and a small kind of backyard full of snow. We walked through the town which looked gorgeous with all the lights and the snow, and went to an Italian restaurant for dinner.

 

On our first day in Mont Tremblant we bought our ski tickets and rented all our equipment. I had a beginner skiing lesson, while Luke had a beginner snowboarding lesson. Mum and Dad went to the top of the mountain and came down with a guide who told them all about the mountain, instructed them on where to go, and helped them with their skiing. My lesson was okay. I was with 5 others and my instructor was pretty nice. We stayed on the magic carpet and practiced turns and snow plows.

Luke was bragging about how well he did in his lesson! We were all feeling sore and tired so we relaxed in the hotel before going to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Afterwards, Mum and I shared a maple butter Beavertail which was delicious :)

 

The next day, Dad and Luke hit the slopes but Mum and I decided to spend the morning together. We had crepes for brunch, which were so nice, then we walked around the village looking in all the stores.

We got back to the hotel room at the same time that the boys did. Luke has ski goggles that have a small camera within them so he filmed his run down the mountain and we got to watch it on my laptop. Mum and I got in our ski gear and we all went out together. Luke went to a more advanced snowboarding lesson, while I did a green run with Mum and Dad. It wasn't too bad and I didn't fall! We got hot chocolate while we waited for Luke to finish. At the end of the day I returned my ski gear. Two days of skiing was enough for me.

 

That night, Luke and I went tubing. I went twice by myself and the girl who pushed me down the hill spun me so I went so fast. It was SOOO much fun. I loved it!!! Then Luke and I tied our tubes together and we went even faster! It was awesome!!!

 

The morning after, Mum, Dad and Luke all went skiing/snowboarding. I went and explored the town on my own. I bought a box of chocolates for us all to share from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and I went into the activity centre and found out infomation on dogsledding.

The family all returned, then Dad and Luke went out yet again! Mum and I went to a nice cafe that I had found and had lunch, followed by some nice desserts. We booked dogsledding for the following day, then walked around the town. We caught the gondola back up to the top of town.

In the afternoon I went into our little backyard and made a snowman! He had berries for eyes, which unintentionally made him look evil. I tried to make a snow angel, but that failed.

 

Dogsledding the next day was unfortunately cancelled because of the rainy weather. It was like deja vu; reminding me of when dogsledding was cancelled in the Yukon! We all went and had crepes for brunch, as Dad and Luke were jealous that Mum and I went without them the first time. We went to the activity centre and got a refund for dogsledding. We knew about a snow tubing park about a half an hour bus ride away so we asked about that, but that was also closed because of the weather! Our back up plan was ruined. We went into a photo shop and booked a family photoshoot, and Dad finally found the GoPro camera he had been lusting after for months. We spent the afternoon just chilling in the hotel and watching movies before going out to dinner at night.

On our second last day in Mont Tremblant, Mum and I got relaxation massages at the Amerispa at the Fairmont hotel, while Dad and Luke hit the slopes with the GoPro camera. We had never had professional massages before, and it was so incredibly relaxing. We want them all the time now. Afterwards we went back to the hotel room and just laid on our beds. We were so relaxed and felt too lazy to even do anything. We eventually got up and went into town and had soup for lunch.

In the afternoon we went in the hotel's hot tub. It was nice and relaxing but after awhile we got too hot. I skyped Kurtis before we went out to dinner.

On our last day we had our family photoshoot in the snow! Our photographer was really funny and excited about his job. We did a short hike up the mountain then did some family shots while sitting in the snow. We also had Mum and Dad, me and Luke together and then us individually. We ended up getting 7 photos that we liked printed.

 

We then left Mont Tremblant and headed for Montreal!

Love,
Emily


Reunited with the Family in Toronto + Niagara Falls

Hello everyone!

 

After having delicious yet expensive chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast from room service, I made my way to LAX. While eating lunch and waiting for my flight to Toronto, Kurtis kept me company on Skype. Before I knew it, I was walking through the exit gates and seeing my family again for the first time in months. Mum and I both bawled our eyes out. It was so weird seeing them in person again! Dad looked thinner, and Luke looked taller, tanner and more muscly! I got lots of big hugs, even one from Luke haha! We caught a shuttle bus to our hotel. Mum couldn't stop staring at me and holding onto my arm. She wanted to hear all my stories from the past 4 and a half months! Luke wanted to tell me so many jokes. I think he secretly missed me ;)

 

 On our first day together we went to a restaurant called Eggspectation for brunch. They served so many options for all day breakfast. It was so hard to decide!

 

 

We then went shopping along the street and inside the Eaton Centre which is their main downtown mall. This is where I got my snow boots! I wore them every day for the next 3 weeks, such a good purchase! That night we went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner then went to the Air Canada Centre to see the Toronto Raptors vs. Sacramento Kings basketball game. They lost 105 - 96. The cheerleaders were pretty crap too! Nothing compared to UBC's cheerleaders (Clara!) haha.

 

 

 

 

 

Eggspectation was so good that we went there for brunch again the next day! This time I had s'mores french toast and it was so amazing. It was two slices of french toast filled with nutella and marshmallows, then topped with maple syrup, chocolate sauce and strawberries.

 

 

 

We then walked through the city and saw some interesting architecture.

 

 

 

We went to the St. Lawrence Market which is a huge food market. We didn't buy anything though.

 

 

 

We then walked to the Harbourfront Centre. Along the way Luke and I posed in the snow and threw snowballs at each other. Oh sibling love.

 

 

The Harbourfront didn't really have much. There was an ice skating rink but it didnt have a wall around the outside to hold onto so I didn't want to go! I know, such a chicken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then got a taxi to the Ricoh Coliseum to watch the Toronto Marlies vs. Rockford Icehogs ice hockey game.

 

 

 

Our seats were in the front row right behind the wall on the side of one of the goals. It was so crazy whenever a puck or hockey player slammed into the wall right in front of us. It was scary and I screamed but I loved it! A few players got into full on fights where they took off their gloves and helmets. Sometimes the refs did nothing! Hockey is such an exciting sport. The Marlies won 5 - 2! Yay!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the game, we walked around for ages in the cold trying to find a taxi. We finally found one and went back to the hotel. Mum and I quickly had Subway for dinner then went and saw the Wizard of Oz musical. It was so good! I really enjoyed it. Dad and Luke went to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.

 

 

After the show we took us photos in the plaza near our hotel.

 

 

 

The next day we walked past Nathan Phillips Square and saw people ice skating.

 

 

We then continued on and walked through Chinatown, which I thought was pretty dodgy, to get to the Art Gallery of Ontario. It had so many different kinds of art but our favourites was the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibit, as me and Luke had learnt about Frida in art in high school, and the Evan Penny exhibit. Penny's works were sculptures made out of silicone and horse hair that seriously looked like real people. It freaked me out so much! I had never seen anything like it before.

 

 

 

We then walked through Kensington Markets. It kind of reminded me of Newtown in Sydney, but a lot creepier and dodgy. I felt unsafe there and wanted to leave straight away. We got a taxi to the Distillery District which was a much nicer area with fancy stores and cafes. For some reason a lot of stores were closed and the streets were pretty quiet. We walked around the streets and bought some chocolate, then went into a cafe for a late lunch.

 

 

Before heading back to the hotel we went back to the Eaton Centre and Luke bought some things.

 

 

I got to skype Kurtis then we went out to dinner at a restaurant called Joey's that we had been to back in Vancouver in August. We knew they had amazing desserts, so we made sure to save some room for them.

The day after, we went on a tour to Niagara Falls. Our shuttle bus picked us up downtown and we drove about an hour and a half to the falls. First, we went to the Skylon Tower and rode the elevator up to the observation deck where we could see Niagara Falls. They were really impressive. There was so much mist from the power of the water.

 

 

 

 

Our tour guide then dropped us off at the falls. We got to see them up close and take lots of photos, then walk along the path and see both the American and Canadian Falls from different angles.

 

 

 

 

We then had some lunch and walked around the town.

 

 

We got back on the bus and had a couple of stops to get out and see different views. One was of the water below us with fisherman, and another to see the hydro dam. We didn't really see the point in stopping to see them. Our next stop was in the town called Niagara On The Lake. We had a chance to walk around and check out the stores. They had Cow's Icecreamery there, which we visited in Banff, so Dad and I had to get some of their delicious icecream. In another store I also got a Christmas ornament. We then travelled to a winery. Mum and Dad tried some ice wine. Luke and I were given some virgin wine to drink, which was just juice but it tasted like wine to me, and wasn't very nice. We headed back to Toronto and chilled in our hotel room for awhile. At this stage I still had my Contiki cold, and I had given it to Dad. We went out to dinner at a restaurant called Bannock which was sooo good. We all shared chicken pot pie, pulled pork and macaroni and cheese quesadillas, and roast duck poutine pizza. They were all amazing.

On our last day in Toronto we walked to the CN Tower and went up to the observatory.

 

 

It was a bit cloudy but we still got some alright views.

 

 

They had a glass floor section where you could see all the way to the street. It was awesome! It didn't scare me at all, I was laying down on it haha!

 

 

 

 

We went up even higher in the skypod which was a much better view.

 

 

We then went to the Harbourfront Centre again and Mum and Luke went iceskating. I would have constantly fallen over without the wall so Dad and I were the photographers.

 

 

We then went to the Hockey Hall of Fame and saw all the jerseys and trophies, including the Stanley Cup. Sorry Toronto, but the Vancouver Canucks will always be my favourite hockey team!

 

 

Love,
Emily