5 Days in Ottawa, Toronto, and Niagara Falls
Day 1: Drive to Ottawa
For our last morning in Montreal, we drove to Koiung Amann bakery to grab their namesake pastries (though spelled slightly differently and I still don’t know why). This spot was highly recommended to me but they were closed earlier in the week, so our only chance was to stop by before we drove to Ottawa. It turns out that this morning was actually their re-opening after being closed for holiday for the past month. We felt really lucky that the timing aligned because the kouign amann was absolutely delicious and their cheese croissant was great too.
Ottawa is about 2 hours away but it felt so much longer since we got caught in a big lightning storm. Thus far, we thought that the craziest storm we experienced was in the south, but this one made those look like sprinkles. So much lightning was striking all around us and one struck right behind us—all we saw was a bright flash and heard a loud bang. The whole experience was both gnarly and scary and we’re glad we made it out safe.
It continued raining the whole day, we were tired, and we weren’t super interested in exploring (especially after we learned that it’s nicknamed “the city that fun forgot”), so we cooked some instant noodles and stayed in.
Day 2: Drive to Toronto
In typical Key and Lil fashion now, we explored Ottawa by driving through different neighborhoods and looking at them from the comfort of our car. We didn’t feel like we missed out on much so we headed over to Toronto, just under 5 hours away.
When we booked our Airbnb, we’d thought that being a 15-minute walk away from a metro station would be easy peasy since we walked everywhere when we lived in SF. We quickly learned that it’s not actually convenient, especially if you’re doing that walk back and forth, multiple times a day. We really felt the effects of this as time went on and, by the time we’d leave in a few days, we learned that being close to a metro station (when available) actually means only having to walk for 5 minutes or less.
We had dinner at Pai Uptown, a Thai restaurant in our neighborhood, and then went downtown for some line dancing. This bar had a few folks who spent the whole time line dancing, but it was mostly a bunch of younger groups belting out to Taylor Swift and Hoedown Throwdown. We still had fun but called it a night earlier than usual given where the vibe went and the fact that we were tired from driving.
Day 3: Little Italy, Kensington Market, Chinatown
For some reason we thought it would be a good idea to wake up early-ish for a 75-minute bootcamp-style workout class. We felt great afterward and we never regret a workout, but it was pretty rough getting out of bed for that.
We grabbed some banh mis for lunch, rested in our Airbnb while doing some laundry, and then got ready for an evening out.
We started at a bar called Bar Raval. Its architecture was inspired by the works of Antoni Gaudi. If you’ve seen anyone’s pictures from their time in Barcelona, you know Gaudi. It was a unique looking bar that had good cocktails and we had a good time.
We knew we wanted to end our night in Chinatown because I really wanted to get Korean BBQ. Kensington Market is a neighborhood that’s on the way so we walked through and looked at the different types of restaurants and hangout spots that the area has to offer. It was really lively and reminded us of both Haight-Ashbury and the Mission neighborhoods in SF. It’s too bad we were saving our stomachs for Chinatown, because we’d definitely hang out in Kensington Market next time we are in Toronto.
Our first stop in Chinatown was a dumpling place where 6 pieces of xiao long baos (soup dumplings) are popularly sold for $4. We got these and the pan-fried siu mais. Both were solid and worth the trip.
Finally, the moment I’ve been waiting for since I spent the first two weeks of our road trip only eating BBQ, sandwiches, and foods cooked with just olive oil, salt, and pepper: Korean BBQ. Well, it ended up not being 100% Korean BBQ because it was definitely a Chinese restaurant. They just had some Korean dishes on the menu and overall the vibe felt like what you’d get at a Californian AYCE KBBQ place. The surprise stars of our meal were actually the marinated meats. This is never the case but the marinades here were so subtle and simple (as simple as just minced garlic) that the meat wasn’t saucy after it’s cooked yet you still get a taste of whatever it was marinaded in. Overall, it was a good dining experience and we know what we’d order from the get-go next time around.
Day 4: Ossington Ave and Toronto Argonauts
We went to Rumble in Yorkville this morning. Unlike the Rumbles in the States, this class was all bag work and it was exactly what we needed since our lower bodies were sore from that 75-minute bootcamp.
We went to a nearby creperie afterwards before heading back to our Airbnb for another round of rest and laundry. We don’t always have access to a free washer and dryer so when they are available, we make sure to do laundry as often as we need.
Tonight was our last evening in Toronto so we got Indian food for dinner and explored Ossington Ave for a little bit. It was a small but cute neighborhood and one that we’d definitely return to hang out in.
We ended the night by going to a Canadian football game: the Toronto Argonauts vs. the Ottawa Redblacks. The basic principles are similar to those of American football with some nuances that were relatively easy to pick up on after watching for a while. I’m not sure if all Canadian football games are like this, but this one was extremely high-scoring. Where is the defense, people?! All in all, it was a fun experience and we loved being part of the local crowd watching a sporting event that they were clearly very passionate about.
Day 5: Niagara Falls
We grabbed brunch at Mildred’s Temple Kitchen before driving to Niagara Falls today and it was an amazing brunch. I don’t usually prefer sweet breakfasts but the blueberry pancakes here were phenomenal. I’m salivating thinking about them again.
It took just under 2 hours to get to Niagara Falls. To be honest, it was underwhelming for the both of us. From the Canadian side where we were standing, the falls didn’t look as grandiose as we expected. We’d give the experience a 4/10 and wouldn’t go out of our way again to see it. Maybe it’s different if you pay for one of the cruise tours or do the one where you can see behind the waterfall, but for just casual viewing on a promenade it was pretty mediocre.
It’s now another 4 hours to Detroit where we’ll be spending the next few days and breaking up the drive. Back to the U.S. we go!
