Down All The Days

Ottawa may not be the world's most exciting capital city, but it does have some excellent museums and galleries. The National Gallery of Canada is a wonderful place to while away an afternoon, and the emotive Canadian War Museum and historic Laurier House are also worth visiting. Across the river in Gatineau, the Canadian Museum of Civilization has a fascinating collection of First Peoples' artefacts. Take a tour around Parliament Hill and then see the handsome granite buildings along Sussex Drive.

On the US border south of Ottawa, Upper Canada Village has a wonderful collection of original buildings from the mid-19th century.

What Toronto lacks in character it makes up for in size and vibrancy. There are a few historical building dotted around, like the Casa Loma, Union Station, and the Royal Ontario Museum, but the main attractions are more modern additions, such as the view from the top of the CN Tower, shopping at the Eaton Centre, the province's best nightlife, and the restaurants in the bustling Chinatown district.

South of Toronto, Niagara Falls is simply unforgettable, and only very slightly marred by the tackiness of Niagara. If you're in the area, spend a day in pretty Niagara-on-the-Lake, in the heart of Ontario's small wine growing region.

Kingston, on the northern edge of Lake Ontario, has enough to keep visitors interested for a couple of days, with a historical centre, some interesting museums, and the restored Old Fort Henry.

Quick Tips:

Check the Via Rail website for special offers on services in southern Ontario. The company also has a number of all-inclusive holiday offers.

Ontario Travel is another useful source of information for the entire province, while Southern Ontario Tourism has lots of information on festivals and accommodation.

Best Way To Get Around:

Via Rail is the national railway operator. The journey time between Ottawa and Toronto is just under 5 hours. For general information on bus and rail services in Ontario, see the Trail Canada website. The bus network is far more extensive, but it's generally cheaper to travel by train.

If you prefer a more leisurely pace to travelling around by car or train, the Rideau Canal runs for 125 miles between Ottawa and Kingston.

Ottawa's centre is compact enough to explore on foot. Buses for the city's sprawling suburbs leave from the stands on MacKenzie King Bridge, behind the Rideau Centre. Bus no. 8 connects Ottawa and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau.

The centre of Toronto is easy to walk around, though you might need to take the subway up to Casa Loma and back. Buses and streetcars integrate efficiently with the subway network, providing a relatively cheap and easy way to get around the city. Passenger ferries for Toronto islands depart from a terminal south of Union Station. Take streetcar nos. 509 or 510 to Queens Quay. The islands are nothing spectacular, but there are great views of the city skyline on the way across.

'Canada's Wonder of the World' rises 533.33 metres between Toronto’s resurgent waterfront and glitzy financial district. Attracting almost two million visitors per year, the CN Tower cost $57 million, has a wind tolerance level of 260 mph, and is struck by lightning 75 times every year. Slender, perhaps even sleek, though by no stretch of the imagination beautiful, the y-shaped 130,000 tonne structure veers up from the ground in an ever narrowing concrete and steel point, passing through a seven-storey doughnut before tapering off with a blinking light way up in the clouds.

There were minimal queues when I visited the tower in late November but waiting times can be two hours and more during the peak summer months before you even reach the top. After buying the tickets a corridor runs around and above the gift shop level to the express lifts, stopping at a single file security checkpoint that looks like a standard airport metal detector but instead blows air out of six side ducts in order to reveal any hidden objects in your clothing. A bored-looking security guard glanced over my billowing jacket before gesturing in the direction of the lift.

Upon entering one of the six glass-fronted express lifts you are whizzed up the tower at a rate of 15 miles per hour. Operators provide commentary and answer questions -- "Has anybody ever vomited in here?" -- for the duration of the 58-second journey as skyscrapers slide into the lower distance and the ground disappears from view. When the doors open, you are 344 metres up and relieved.

There are four look out levels in the CN Tower. The lowest, the Glass Floor and Outdoor Observation Deck, is two metres lower than the Horizons Café and Indoor Observation Deck (where the first lift exits), down a flight of stairs. The 360 restaurant, which rotates once every 72-minutes, is directly above the Indoor Observation Deck, while the 447-metre high Skypod level is reached by taking a second lift – and joining another queue- from the Indoor Observation Deck. The basic ticket package includes the lower two floors only.

The signature view is of jutting skyscrapers positioned at varying angles, and all of different heights and designs. The TD Bank Tower, the reflective-black of the Toronto Dominion Centre, First Canadian Place and the twin towers of the Royal Bank Plaza stand out, confidently strutting upwards and outwards in a show of financial muscle filmed by thousands of camcorders each day. Just behind, the world's longest street, Yonge, appears intermittently in the gaps between buildings, passing the arched roof of the Eaton Centre and its three-storeys of shops and restaurants spread over 3,000,000 sq.ft. of shopping space at the start of its 1,190-mile journey through Ontario.

First established in 1880, the Canadian War Museum has stood at 330 Sussex Drive, between the royal mint and the National Gallery, since 1967. The three-storey castle-like building, which previously housed the public archives, commemorates Canadian involvement in conflicts ranging from the Anglo-French colonial battles and the war of 1812 through to the first and second world wars and recent peacekeeping operations.

Entering the WW1 section through a full size trench, visitors are thrust into a musty, pitch-black world of smoke filled horizons and sound effects encompassing machine gun bursts, muffled shouts and falling shells opening to an overwhelming array of battlefield remains: gas masks, rifles, grenades, helmets and flare pistols stacked beside trench signs from the ‘Vimy-Lievin Line’ and wooden memorial crosses.

An 1800-pound aircraft bomb is dwarfed by a life size model of an aeroplane once flown by Captain William Avery, who was one of the Allies’ top ‘aces’ with 72 kills. A German naval mine stands out of the corner given over to the 3,000 Canadians who served in the Royal Navy.

And then a highly symbolic 77mm German gun, deliberately destroyed by its crew in the face of the Canadian advance, dominates the display on Vimy Ridge, one of the most important events in the shaping of modern Canada. The contorted, mashed-up muzzle mirrors the pain and destruction of the troops who finally took the 7 –kilometre long, heavily fortified ridge at the expense of 3,598 dead and 7,000 wounded.

The standout exhibit upstairs in WWII is probably Hitler’s Car, a black Mercedes purchased in 1970 and complete with bullet holes caused by Allied strafing, which stands next to a bronze bust of Hitler seized as a war trophy by an army chaplain. More emotive artefacts include a concentration camp dress worn by a member of the French Resistance and a display on the 1,975 Canadian troops present at the Battle of Hong Kong. The 590 men killed in the initial fighting and later captivity are represented by an emaciated model of a POW, his broken, desperate expression in stark contrast to the huge pictures of embarking troops marching in long, smiling lines to the great adventure that awaited them.

Level 3 is dedicated to Canada’s Peacekeepers. Starting with weapons, uniforms and posters from the Korean War, where 516 of the 25,000 troops were killed, the exhibit continues with the development of NATO. As you cross a threshold a model of an East German guard flashes a torch and begins shouting. Sirens wail above the sound of running footsteps cut down by a sudden burst of machine gun fire. Past the collection of Warsaw Pact small arms, an explanation of Canadian Cold War participation is overshadowed by a Kiowa helicopter, which was used for observation purposes in the Canadian Artic. Gulf War uniforms and a Canadian crewed UN vehicle that was ambushed by 25 Serbs in Croatia follow, the latter covered with more than 50 bullet holes.

Split by the barren stretch of rock and cloudy white trees known as Goat Island, the two falls combine to produce an exhilarating sense of breathless reverence. The American Falls, 56 metres high and 328 metres wide, crash over the soft shale and limestone rocks, jagged, white jets dropping vertically onto the dark, brooding rows of angular shapes below. Seventy five thousand gallons of water jump down the slope each second, splitting into dozens of little channels between the black rocks and finally hitting the river in a series of racing surges beneath the foam. To the right, the Horseshoe Falls, 52 metres high and 675 metres wide, a curving cascade of descending thunder that magically appears either side of the mist. Gushing torrents of light green and white froth topple from the crest, occasionally spurting and spitting out and up towards the lone birds that float in and out of the billowing curtain of mist as it rises to join the clouds. Water upon water upon water hits the huge rocks below, mere stationary specks amidst the watery barrage. White snakes zigzag between the two, meandering through the emerald green swell as it flows under Rainbow Bridge, which arches about as gracefully as concrete can between overdeveloped Ontario and boarded up New York. On the observation platform at Table Rock, tourists feed 50-cent coins into viewfinders next to smiling groups that crowd in front of an endless procession of cameras and camcorders. Directly across Niagara Parkway, the cone shaped Minolta Tower pokes above the Marriott. Swinging cranes apply more grey concrete to the clustered skyline, dull and colourless save for a few flashing neon lights. Ahead, the river tumbles its way to the Horseshoe in front, a sudden wind change brings a downpour of rain to an area no more than 50 metres square, and wet mist all the way to the dismal dots of frosted foliage on the opposite bank.

Just over one thousand metres downriver from Niagara Falls, Clifton Hill (www.cliftonhill.com) makes Blackpool seem as restrained as Bath by comparison to its bank of flashing lights, amusement arcades and multi-coloured signs. A cacophony of jingles and blaring TV screens blasts every inch of pavement in front of Dracula’s Haunted House, House of Nightmares ("Over 59,000 Chickened Out!"), The Haunted House, House of Frankenstein, Ripley’s 4-D Moving Theatre, Guinness World Records Museum and the garish multitudes of light bulbs fronting the Great Canadian Midway, a mammoth complex of amusement arcades and rides. Frankenstein himself helpfully makes an appearance on the roof of Burger King, Whopper in mouth. Other restaurants on the hill include Kelsey’s, Wendy’s, Boston Pizza and the Golden Griddle. Planet Hollywood and the Rainforest Café are both just off the main drag next to the Hershey’s shop and the WWF superstore. Between the souvenir shops talking mummies advertise Waxworks Museums and poor unfortunates play Crazy Golf on a Dinosaur themed course complete with 10-metre high models and Jurassic sounds.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS:

Rising 775-feet above the Falls Skylon Tower (www.skylon.com) markets itself as ‘Niagara’s most famous landmark’. Glass enclosed ‘Yellow Bug’ lifts slide up the outside of the tower to the three-storey circular platform at the top in 52 seconds. Far above the cafes, souvenir shops and amusement arcades back on the ground, an observation platform offers visibility up to 80 miles above two floors of dining options. The Summit Suite is cheaper than the Revolving Dining Suite, though you do get one rotation per hour as well as the bill if you choose the latter option. There is also an observation deck at the top of Minolta Tower.

The Casino Niagara ("Niagara’s Other Wonder") is located just off Clifton Hill. Open 24 hours a day 365 days a year, the casino has 150 table games, 2,700 slot machines, four restaurants and eight bars spread across a 100,000 sq. ft. area. The security staff at the entrance are under orders to check the ID of anybody who looks under 30, though you only need to be 19 to play the games, so carry proof of age with you. www.casinoniagara.com

If you want to experience going over the Falls in a barrel, try the IMAX theatre next to Skylon Tower (www.imaxniagara.com). Another option for those in search of a closer view is the Maid of the Mist (www.maidofthemist.com), a double decker steel boat that sails from a jetty at the bottom of Clifton Hill between April and the end of October. You’ll need the free raincoats again as there is no other way to avoid a drenching.

Inside the Table Rock Complex, a huge souvenir shop sells branded bits of piled-up plastic, clothes and stationery, and customers crowd into pizza and ice cream parlours, burger stands and fast food outlets. Queues form to the rear for the walk behind the Falls; full of people struggling their way into the free yellow raincoats as they step out of the lifts that take you 35 metres down into the rock. A two-storey observation platform nine metres above water level looks out over both Falls, although most of the Canadian side is obscured behind the central curls of mist. Steam puffs out in front of a rock face eroded by the force of the white hurricane and falls back on the hooded heads of all those below, sprinkling little circles all over your photographs.

Two hundred metres of tunnels run below the Horseshoe. Two and a half metres high and lit by yellow lights along the walls, the tunnels open to two arched portals. From behind the waist high fence 8-10 metres back from the falling water, up to 154 million litres of which drops every second, a constant white screen crashes into the depths just below. Closer examinations of the water are not recommended.

$7 Adults; $3.50 Children.

The Canadian Museum of Civilization emerges from the banks of the Ottawa River, extending in smooth contours, twisting angles, and rippled curves for four floors and 100,000 square metres in front of Gatineau’s shabby smoke stacks, sex shops, and office blocks. The symbolic representation of the wind forged, weather eroded, and glacial landscape of a country inhabited since the end of the ice age mixes ancient rock with animal shapes and the great stone mask of the main entrance. The 3.75 million artefacts within range from maps printed on grains of rice to a collection of totem poles that rise in solemn lines to high ceilings, which cut only the sky out of perfect views over the river to Parliament Hill. Walls of glass and Alberta limestone – itself containing the fossilized remains of 460 million years – enclose copper vaults and mysterious rooms where the history of the vanquished is presented along with that of the victor.

Behind the Grand Hall, which holds the world’s largest indoor collection of totem poles, six houses contain exhibits from aboriginal cultures on the pacific coast, while on the other side of special exhibitions gallery A and B, the massive First Peoples Hall is currently nearing completion.

Other main exhibits include reconstructed streets from Toronto, New France, and the western provinces, a Postal Museum displaying every Canadian stamp issued post 1851, an interactive Children's Museum, and Canada Hall.

Don't forget to pick up a free floor plan in the Main Lobby, and allow at least 3 hours for your visit.

Casa Loma is one of Toronto’s more incongruous sights, a Gothic Revival castle topping Davenport Hill in the north of the city. When first built, the property was illuminated by more than 5,000 lights, and its switchboard operator handled more calls than were made in the rest of Toronto put together.

The Great Hall, 20m high and lit by a 40-foot window comprised of 738 individual panes of glass, merely scrapes the surface of a building that cost over $40 million to construct and bankrupted its original owner almost as soon as it was completed.

Highlights include a conservatory with a Tiffany domed glass ceiling and Italian marble floor, a network of steam pipes to heat the estate’s flower beds, Canada’s first electric lift, and a bathroom with white marble walls and heated shower units that cost C$10,000 to construct in 1911.

The turreted towers at the top of the castle, reached by ascending a wooden staircase under the ceiling beams and then a tightly spiralling set of metal steps, provide some wonderful views of Toronto, though the locked windows don't make photographs very easy. Don’t miss the Oak Room on the ground floor, with its exquisite panelled walls full of spirals and pheasants holding ribbons, fruit, and flowers that took European artisans 3 years to carve.

Below ground level, the castle café was originally intended to be exercise room, while the three arches in the large gift shop were planned as lanes of a bowling alley. A corridor leads to the wine cellar, cooled by pipes full of ammonia and brine and the largest in North America when first built, and an unfinished swimming pool, no more than a concrete pit with an artist’s impression of what it was to have been - a mass of marble surrounded by full sized golden swans, arches, and cloisters.

The 800m-long tunnel to the stables is also located on this level. Passing a furnace where 800 tons of coal a year were burnt to heat the building, the stone tunnel opens to Spanish tiles and mahogany, with stalls bearing the letters of each horse in gold. Walk through to the garage and potting shed, where petrol cans and plants fill rooms the size of a school assembly hall. It's a truly remarkable end to a piece of medieval Europe on the outskirts of Canada's modern metropolis.