Canada or bust

[Bob The Mercenary]

A friend and I will be heading up there in July, stopping at Connecticon along the way and probably road tripping between Toronto and Montreal. The last time I was there I wasn't even a teenager yet so I forget the entire experience. Any suggestions as to places we absolutely must check out while we're in town?

My friend will be bringing his HD camera and equipment so we can make a pretty high quality recording of our escapades. Maybe we can meet some of you guys along the way.

[This is all assuming that I find my birth certificate and get my passport in time, which shouldn't be a problem]

[Nikose Tyris]

You're visiting ME for sure, Bob! We should do a meetup with Azisien, since Ottawa wouldn't be a big roadtrip from Toronto really.

[Bob The Mercenary]

I would certainly not be opposed to such an idea!

[Magic_Marker]

I hear Canada is a nice place.

Even their gangs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_(gang)) are accepting.

[Kerensky287]

I think Kerensky is in London or Kingston or some such, which means we could kidnap him!

Heh, if you get to Kingston before the 30th maybe. After that I'm heading home to Fredericton for the summer. Best of luck, though.

[Hanuman]

Advice: Do not visit Toronto, regardless of the time of year.

I recommend Vancouver, it's top rated and a must see, its also where a lot of your fav shows are shot, like smallville (still shooting).

[Pip Boy]

While you're there, make sure to stop and throw eggs at Quebec.

[Kerensky287]

I recommend Vancouver, it's top rated and a must see, its also where a lot of your fav shows are shot, like smallville (still shooting).

I would recommend this too, except that unfortunately Vancouver seems a LITTLE out of the Toronto-Montreal road trip range.

I actually really like Toronto, there's a lot of cool stuff there. Nothing springs to MIND right now, but hell, there's probably some tourist brochure crap around.

Ottawa's along the way, I lived there more than half my life so far, but I lived mostly in the outskirts, so to speak. Downtown, there are... umm, museums? There's also parliament but they're basically just buildings. If you like buildings, I guess you could check that out.

I've been to Montreal a couple of times, but I was a lot younger and I forget what we did there. Apparently the roads are hella confusing, I'd recommend planning your route beforehand.

[krogothwolf]

Man, the west is so much better then the east! You should head this way instead.

[Bob The Mercenary]

Man, the west is so much better then the east! You should head this way instead.

I already mapquested it. A drive like that would take 36 hours and take us through the most deserted parts of both our countries. It entails driving the entire length of North Dakota. I would die.

I also looked up flight deals to Alberta. They're not too out of this world, but they all involve at least an 8 hour layover in Seattle. The cheapest actually includes a 12 hour layover, making it a 24 hour trip.

If I ever do decide to do something like that, I know Mac has a camper he's offered to let me stay in. It's not like I haven't slept in one before.

[krogothwolf]

I already mapquested it. A drive like that would take 36 hours and take us through the most deserted parts of both our countries. It entails driving the entire length of North Dakota. I would die.

I also looked up flight deals to Alberta. They're not too out of this world, but they all involve at least an 8 hour layover in Seattle. The cheapest actually includes a 12 hour layover, making it a 24 hour trip.

If I ever do decide to do something like that, I know Mac has a camper he's offered to let me stay in. It's not like I haven't slept in one before.

What kind of flight to Alberta involves flying past it to Seattle then back? Couldn't they use Salt Lake City instead? Who the hell plans these things!!

[Bob The Mercenary]

I think Seattle is AirCanada's main hub (or Alaska Air, or whatever service I used). And I'm pretty sure Seattle is a lot closer geographically than Salt Lake City. Apparently direct service from NJ to Alberta isn't exactly a hot ticket.

[Edit] Grr, can't find my birth certificate. Meaning I have to go to town hall on Monday.

[pochercoaster]

Toronto's not bad as long as you're not there during the winter, which you won't be. On July 4th they're holding the Pride Parade, so I guess there's that. There's also the Royal Ontario Museum, which has some pretty nice and extensive exhibits with actual legitimate artifacts, not cheap reproductions. Dining is meh. I primarily go to Toronto for the shopping, so my view is probably skewed, but overall I can vouch that it's a lively city, the kind where you can just walk around aimlessly and absorb its atmosphere and see interesting things.

[Hanuman]

Toronto's not bad as long as you're not there during the winter
Or the mid-late fall, or the early-mid spring, or the summer. Toronto is pretty nice for about 2-4 months in the year.

[pochercoaster]

If you're speaking temperature-wise I can guarantee Toronto is almost always warm (16+ degrees) between May and August... just like most of the rest of southern Ontario. So it's not just 2-4 months, more like 4-6 months if you want to count the transition between spring/summer and summer/fall.

Edit: I even have evidence- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto#Climate

[Hanuman]

If you're speaking temperature-wise I can guarantee Toronto is almost always warm (16+ degrees) between May and August... just like most of the rest of southern Ontario. So it's not just 2-4 months, more like 4-6 months if you want to count the transition between spring/summer and summer/fall.

Edit: I even have evidence- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto#Climate
I see 3 months between 15(brisk)-24(hot), the rest are either cold, frigid or scorching. I'm sure there are great things about toronto, like it's booming accounting agencies and such, but weather is not its strongpoint!

[pochercoaster]

Fair enough, but as someone who lived in Toronto for 7 years I can state from experience that it's pretty nice for about half the year. Unless you're not used to tolerating temperatures below 15 degrees or above 24, neither of which are particularly extreme, IMO. Generally all you need is a light sweater and you're good to go- which I consider preferable to scorching hot weather.

I guess I just get irritated when people make sweeping statements about weather in Ontario, like OMG IT'S ONLY ABOVE ZERO DEGREES FOR TWO MONTHS OF THE YEAR (an exaggeration, of course.) Winter sucks, yes, but it's not snowing for 10 out of 12 months. That's just silly. And winter isn't so bad in certain areas of Ontario.

If you're comparing Vancouver to Toronto, though, I would probably recommend Vancouver, weather-wise and tourism-wise. :P

[batgirl]

I was born and raise in Montreal, living there for more than half my life. If you like museums, the Museum of Fine Arts is fine. Also, I'd suggest the Biodome (http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/biodome/site/site.php?langue=en). Other than that, get some poutine, go downtown to St. Catherines street and get wasted and then throw some beer bottles at the angry French who try to run you over.

[Hanuman]

^Montreal is pretty rad.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0NkJxOtHJX0/R5S-66Ov7_I/AAAAAAAAATY/JAv4Q_I3axE/s400/apple-pc-mac-people.jpg
Hello, I'm Toronto!

http://photos.thefirstpost.co.uk/arts/2005/07/images/070608dance.jpg

And I'm -- clickity clackity clackyclack BOMFB Montreal!

[Darth SS]

Speaking as someone who was born in Regina and raised between Swift Current, Regina and Calgary (also currently in Saskatoon)...

Screw Toronto.

Toronto sucks. At everything.


Montreal's pretty cool though. If you're interested in Canadian history, there's a lot of interesting stuff in Ottawa. Out west is pretty great as well, but it's important to note that following 3 days of 20+ degree weather, today was -2 with snow. The weather is beyond unpredictable on this side of the country.