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  Skytrain, Seabus, Tolley Bus, and Bus service in the Vancouver Area
  
• BC Transit
  Bus service in the Victoria Area
  
• Sound Transit
  Light Rail Transit in the Seattle/Tacoma Area
  
• Amtrak
  Operates the Cascade Train Service between Vancouver and Seattle
  
• BC Ferries
  Operates the Ferry Service between Vancouver and Victoria
  
• Air Canada
  Canada's National Air Carrier, Offers direct flights between Toronto and Vancouver
  

Montréal Transit Links

• STM
  Métro and Bus service in the Montréal Area
  
• Via Rail Canada
  Operates the Corridor Train Service between Toronto and Montréal
  

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Wise Words

Engineering = Applying Science to make people's lives better

-----------------------------------

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

- Jack Layton

Travels to North America

On this page are photos and links to places I've had a chance to visit in North America.  I haven't had the chance to explore most of the continent yet - it is often less expensive for me to fly to Europe from Toronto than it is to visit the West coast of Canada or the USA.

I've put some photos from my trips on this page with weblinks to the places I visited in case you would like to go there as well.

TRIP SUMMARY

01) October 2010: Montréal, QC
02) October 2011: Pacific Northwest (Vancouver, BC, Victoria BC, Seattle WA)

Airline Codes

AC: Air Canada
UA: United Airlines

Pacific Northwest (Oct 19 to Oct 26 2011)

Locations visited:

• Vancouver and Victoria BC, Canada
• Seattle WA, United States of America
  

Flight Path:

• AC: YYZ->YVR (A321), Ferry: Vancouver->Victoria, Victoria->Vancouver, Amtrak Rail: Vancouver->Seattle, Seattle->Vancouver, AC: YVR->YYZ (B767)

Hotel(s):

• Vancouver: Ramada Limited Downtown Vancouver
  
• Seattle: Crowne Plaza Hotel Seattle Downtown
  

In 2011, I redeemed some of my frequent flyer points for a trip to the Pacific Northwest (Vancouver BC, Victoria BC, and Seattle WA).  We flew out on Air Canada to Vancouver and stayed at the Ramada Limited Downtown Vancouver (W Pender).  The trip was a mix of nature, history, and technology.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA

DAY ONE

	The Ramada Limited Downtown Vancouver, our hotel for the week in Vancouver.  The hotel was clean and centrally located, within walking distance of Gastown, Chinatown, Pacific Centre, and Waterfront skytrain station.  The breakfast buffet (included in the room price) was nice as well.
	The Seabus.  This little ferry takes you on the 10 -15 minute ride from Waterfront Station to North Vancouver.
	Took the Seabus to North Vancouver to see the suspension bridge in Lynn Canyon Park (I skipped the tourist and from what I read quite commericalized bridge at Capilano). It was great but it took some time to get used to the swaying of the bridge! Lynn Canyon Park features a suspension bridge that sways 50 meters above the canyon. It was built privately in 1912 when the park opened.
	Here's a view of downtown Vancouver from Londsale Quay (the northern terminus for the Seabus).
	Here's the Gulf of Georgia Cannery in Steveston in Richmond. This was a little out of the way, but I found a YouTube video of the place and I decided it was definitely worth a visit. It was great - you get to see how Salmon makes it from the fishing boats to the can. There was a great tour of the place and the exhibits were really well done. This is definitely a hidden gem in Vancouver.
	No trip to Vancouver would be complete without seeing the world famous gas clock in Gastown. Our hotel was just a few blocks away.

DAY TWO

	Another must vist attraction in Vancouver is Stanley Park. The Lions Gate bridge is in the background.
	The totem poles in Stanley Park with trees in their fall colours in the background.
	The Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park, probably the best in Canada. It was great to see an aquarium focus on education and conservation rather than acrobatic animal shows. Tip: You get a $2 discount if you take public transit to the Aquarium and show your ticket stub or day pass
	One of three Beluga whales.
	The Dolphins
	The 2010 Olympic Flame near the Vancouver Convention Centre.
	Bill Reid's Jade Canoe sculpture at Vancouver International Airport - this sculpture can be found on the $20 Canadian bank note.  The above link to the airport site is to a page of self-guided tours of the airport.

My Day Trip Itinerary

Public Transit Directions (from Downtown Vancouver)

6:20 AM - 6:40 AM: Waterfront Station to Bridgeport Station (Canada Line)
7:00 AM - 7:40 AM: Bridgeport Station to Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal (#620 Express Bus)
9:00 AM to 10:35 AM: Tsawwaseen Ferry Terminal to Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal (BC Ferries)
11:00 AM to 12:00 PM: Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal to Downtown Victoria (#70x Express Double Decker Bus)

5 Hours in Victoria - We had lunch in Chinatown (1 hour), walked along the harbour to the Royal BC Museum (2 hours), took part in a free tour of the BC Parliament buildings (1 hour), and then shopped for souvenirs and took a break at the Bay Centre (1 hour).

Most attractions within Victoria are within walking distance of each other.

5:20 PM to 6:15 PM: Downtown Victoria to Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal (#70x Bus)
7:00 PM to 8:35 PM: Swartz Bay to Tsawwaseen (BC Ferries)
9:00 PM to 9:35 PM: Tsawwaseen to Bridgeport Station (#620 Bus)
9:35 PM to 10:00 PM: Bridgeport to Waterfront Station (Canada Line)

Main Attractions

	The Coastal Celebration, the ferry we took between Tsawwaseen and Swartz Bay.  Could see great views of the islands from the deck and the large windows, the ferry itself had a large gift shop, several resturants, television, arcade, and free WiFi.
	The giant woolly mammoth diorama at the Royal BC Musuem.  Lots of neat walkthrough dioramas - different wildlife areas of BC, native homes, and a pioneer town.
	The British Columbia Parliament Buildings.  They offer a free informative tour to tourists of the interior and if the legislative assembly is in session you can site in on a debate.  We got to do both.
	The Fairmont Empress Hotel.  One of the symbols of Victoria.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

My Weekend Trip Itinerary

DAY ONE

Public Transit Directions (from Downtown Vancouver)

Arrive at 5:30 AM: Vancouver Pacific Central Station
- Needed to arrive early to clear US Customs at the Train Station (There weren't too many people there when I went in October, it only took 20 minutes to check in and clear customs)
6:40 AM - 11:05 AM: Vancouver Pacific Central Station to Seattle's King Street Station (Amtrak 513)

	The train (the Amtrak Cascades) left Vancouver quite early in the morning and it was dark outside until we reached the border crossing at White Rock.  When the sun did come out, saw some amazing scenary - the railway tracks hugged the coast line.  I was able to snap this photo of the US Aircraft Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in Everett WA.
	The train arrived on time at Seattle's King Street Station.  I was lucky as the very same weekend, the Amtrak 40th anniversary train was also in town on its cross country tour.  They had some neat displays at the exhibit.
	My first destination in Seattle was the Musuem of Flight.  You can get there by bus but an old univeristy friend offered to show me around town.  I took the LRT from the train station to the suburbs to meet her and she then drove us to the museum.  The LRT was great, in the tunnel downtown and at street level in the suburbs - the LRT was synchronized with the traffic lights so it never stopped at a red signal (besides at stations).
	The Museum of Flight.  This was an awesome place to visit.  However I do stress that even my tour guide book stated that it is awesome for plane buffs but not for most other people.  Here's the great hall with a DC-3 hanging from the ceiling.  They even had the original Boeing factory (the Red Barn) as part of the museum.
	Here's an orginal Concorde.  We were able to board it and get a taste of what supersonic travel was like.  For plane fans, notice the Boeing branded stairwell going to the Concorde built in part by companies that now form Airbus Industries!
	This is first production Boeing 747, I ended up buying a plastic model of this plane as a souvenir (I also bought the model of the Concorde that I boarded above).
	Here is a Lockheed Super-G Constellation.  This was a nice surprise as the plane used to belong to Trans Canada Airlines, now known as Air Canada.
	After spending a couple of hours at the museum, the skies cleared up and we headed to Pike's Place Market.  Two interesting places to visit - the Pike Place Fish Market to see their fish throwing skills and the first Starbucks store in the world.
	After wandering through the market, we went to the waterfront for dinner.  We went to Ivars Acres of Clams for their famous clam chowder, seafood tacos, and fish and chips.
	For my one night in Seattle, I stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Seattle.  The hotel is within walking distance of an LRT stop, Pike's Place Market, Macy's, and the Monorail to the Space Needle.

	The next day in Seattle, I signed up for the Boeing Factory tour in Everett, WA. A mini-tour bus picked me up at the hotel for the half day tour.  This is home to the world's largest building in the world - where final assembly for the Boeing 747-8, 777, 767, and 787 occur.
	This is a shot of the main gallery where you depart for the tour (no photos are allowed of the factory itself).  There were also no washrooms on the tour as well :).  It was pretty cool to see several 747-800`s, 777`s, and 787`s on the assembly lines all in one building.  After the tour, planes don`t seem that big to me anymore!
	Here are a set of Boeing 787s awaiting delivery to ANA (All Nippon Airlines) of Japan. ANA is the launch customer for this plane - the first commerical flight was on October 26 2011 from Tokyo Japan to Hong Kong China.
	The next stop in Seatlle is the Space Needle, built for the 1962 worlds fair. In the bottom of the photo is the Monorail from that same worlds fair that is still running today!
	The Experience Music Project Museum on the grounds of the World`s Fair (Seattle Center).  As you might have guessed, the building was designed by Frank Gehry.

 

Montréal (Oct 14 to Oct 28 2010)

Locations visited:

• Montréal QC, Canada
  

Path:

• VIA Rail: Toronto->Montréal, Montréal->Toronto

Tourist Tip:

• Montréal Museums Pass
• Includes access to 38 museums over 3 days
• Pay a little more and also get unlimited public transport over 3 days
• Definitely worth it, as the cost is recovered by just visiting a few places
  

Alistair, my friend from high school invited me to visit him in his new home town - Montréal.  The last time I was in Montréal was when I was 2 years old.  Alistair did a great job organizing the trip and showing me around town.  It was also my first time on a VIA train.  The train ride to Montréal was great: spacious seat, large windows, and free WiFi that it easily beat my experiences on the Japanese Bullet Train and the French TGV.  In Montréal, we had a great time museum hopping and I enjoyed the fact that all attractions were easily accessible via the Métro.  I found that Montréal was essentially a mini version of Paris.  On the way home, my train was detoured to Ottawa due to a freight train derailment near Cornwall.  But the VIA staff were nice and the free WiFi kept me entertained.  Overall I had a great time and it was good to catch up with an old friend.

Here is the Via Renaisance train that I took from Toronto express to Montreal. The ride comfort (single seat - with more space than AC business class + free WiFi) tops the Bullet Train in Japan and the TGV in France. I was actually quite impressed with how nice the 4.5 hour trip was.	The main atrium of the Redpath Museum featuring a skeleton of an Albertosaurus.  The museum is in the heart of McGill University.
The Montreal Musuem of Fine Arts.	Centre Bell - home of the Montreal Canadiens
The Chinese garden in the Jardin Botanique de Montréal (Montréal Botanical Garden). They had a lantern festival (I guess this is where Ontario Place got the idea a few years ago).	Olympic Stadium (from Canada's first and only so far Summer Olympics in 1976).  We didn't climb the tower but we did go to the gift shop inside and also saw the Olympic swimming pool.
The big attraction here is the Biodome, however it was closed due to a strike.	The Biosphère in Parc Jean Drapeau - this was the American pavilion at EXPO '67. It is now an environmental museum.
We went to old Montreal for dinner.  Here's the Notre-Dame de bon secours chapel.  We would be climbing the next day.	A street scene in old Montreal.
Downtown Montreal at dusk.	Montreal's Notre Dame Basilica at night. The colours in the windows are neat, although the shot is bit blurry (no place to mount the camera still). It wasn't as impressive as the original one in Paris =).
McGill Metro Station. The Metro is automated (using 1960's technology - Ansaldo STS), and it was interesting to see how well the train performed - stopped accurately and the ride was smooth. The station was plastered with ads from Air Canada - the same ad in English is at Bloor station in Toronto - but it doesn't look as nice (probably because of the high ceilings at McGill compared to Bloor).	The Bay Store on Rue Sainte-Catherine. I was actually surprisingly impressed with this store. I thought the Bay Queen Street in Toronto was nice, but this one was tidy and well layed out.
A street scene in old Montreal.	View of the Biosphere from the tower at Notre Same de Bon Secours Chapel.
Bonsecours Market in Old Montreal.  Opened in 1847.  During 1849 the building was used for the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.	Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History, a museum built on top of the birth place of Montréal.  It was neat to be able to walk through the ruins of buildings and seeing the original Montréal sewer system.
Downtown Montreal from the train ride home.	VIA locomotive at Ottawa station. Due to a freight train derailment in Cornwall, my train got routed from Montreal to Ottawa and then to Toronto. Although this added 2 hours to the trip time, I got to see the Peace tower, fall tree colours, and farms from a comfortable seat with free WiFi and VIA even provided free drinks.

 

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