Toronto and Niagara Falls

After travelling far and wide across old, dear (in every sense!) Europe, we decided (my adventure companion and I!) to go and visit the United States. We seized a double opportunity: the friendship of a friend of ours who lives in a small town near Detroit (Ann Arbor) and the chance to take our holidays in late September, far from the usual routes of mass tourism. The flight went perfectly (we flew with Northwest Airlines), and at 7.30 pm on Sunday 15 September we touch down at Detroit International Airport! A real thrill, our first time in the legendary United States. We pick up our friend Gina and, once past the customs formalities, drive to her house.

Be ready to answer the same questions at least three or four times — "where are you going, how long are you staying, do you have return tickets" — before you get to the classic, famous ones: "do you belong to groups of Nazi fighters, have you been a member of the Communist Party, etc.". And arm yourself with plenty of patience, because the baggage checks are really strict and thorough. The impact is truly disarming: huge cars, roads with four lanes in each direction and distances measured...in hours of driving! We stayed with our friend in Ann Arbor (about half an hour from Detroit). A very pretty little town, with a very famous and very expensive university (70,000 dollars a year in tuition), plenty of bars, plenty of young people and above all a huge number of shops.

We took a day trip to Detroit, or what is left of it...it's a ghost town, completely abandoned, shops closed, lots of homeless people and a great deal of crime. Locals refuse to walk the streets in the evening, and it's dangerous to be out and about after sunset...according to the statistics, the leading cause of death is firearms! It's very sad to see this wounded giant, with its huge skyscrapers (the GM one is beautiful) but empty in its soul, without any drive. They say that 20 years ago it was a city in the full splendour of its life, with General Motors as the driving (in every sense!) force of the region's and the country's economy. Today, with the car crisis, the whole city is left to fend for itself....and it gives you the shivers to think what could happen to our own Turin, tied by the umbilical cord to Fiat...

After a couple of days, on 17 September, we rent a Chevrolet Metro and head for Canada. We travel along these enormous freeways, endless highways where the 70-mile limit is respected by everyone...except the trucks, which whiz past at terrifying speeds. Another thing that immediately struck us is the huge number of motels along the highways...there are so many, from so many chains (I'll mention Days Inn, Motel 6, Super 8, Comfort Inn, but there are hundreds of chains) with prices starting from 35 dollars a room and up.

They're all very clean and comfortable, and they can really help you, especially when you've driven for 4-5 hours straight and your eyesight starts to blur!! We head for Toronto and, after crossing the border at Port Huron and answering the usual questions from the Canadian customs officer ("do you intend to look for work in Canada, are you carrying any weapons, etc.") we make our way towards the capital of Ontario. The most desolate nothingness accompanies us along the road, broken up by motels, petrol stations and police cars parked along the roadside with officers armed with laser guns to check that the speed limits are respected (in Canada the limit drops to 65 miles, just under 100 km/h!).

Tired from the journey, we reach the outskirts of Toronto and get a little surprise: devastating traffic! To get out of the city and reach their homes, people jam enormous five-lane roads...luckily we're heading into the city and the traffic is slightly lighter! We head for Yonge Street but get our second surprise...first, though, a short preamble. Road signs aren't like they are in Italy...when you get onto a road (or even better onto a highway) there's a sign for the nearest town or the direction...direction Milan, Naples, Genoa, etc.

In the USA, instead, there's a sign for the road (expressed as a number, 95, 82, etc.) with the direction shown through the cardinal points, so you'll find signs like 85 North or 25 East...so watch the direction, because turning back could be rather difficult...We head for Yonge Street, Toronto's main street, without knowing it has a peculiarity: it's the longest street in the world — at 1,900 km it reaches all the way to the province of Alberta. We take it in the wrong direction (of course), that is north instead of south, and so it takes us an hour to reach the downtown area of the city. In the end we manage to park in a multi-storey car park (it's impossible to leave the car on the street, you'd definitely get a ticket) and we go to the Tourist Information Center, which is inside a big shopping centre, "Sears". There they point us to a lovely hotel not far away, the Hotel Victoria.

We pay 105 C$ (1 C$ = 0.70 euro) a night for a beautiful room, with air conditioning, television, an iron, a super-luxury bathroom and breakfast! The only sore point is the parking, since we're forced to pay a good 15 C$ a day for it. We take a short walk to get our bearings and then go to bed exhausted. The next day (18/9) we devote ourselves to visiting the city; we see the harbour (with its parks and residential buildings) and the CN Tower, the tallest structure in the world at 553 m!! A visit up to two-thirds of its height costs 18 C$!! Another (nice) surprise is that the prices displayed don't match what you'll actually pay! In fact the prices don't include the taxes, which you'll pay when you settle the bill!!! So keep the taxes in mind for everything.

The pleasant part concerns the tax refund when you leave the country, for all documented expenses on hotels and the purchase of goods (not for food and entertainment, nor obviously for parking and petrol!). So always ask for the receipts and keep everything. When you leave the country, go to customs and get back about 7% of your expenses. Not bad, eh? It seems only 10% of visitors ask for the tax refund...so don't miss this opportunity! At the harbour there are numerous boats doing tours of Lake Ontario and visits to Center Island, which lies opposite Toronto. The tour is a must, because only this way can you admire the city's skyline, and I assure you it's beautiful.

They asked us for 25 C$ for this tour, but don't give in to temptation...do as we did...there are regular ferries linking Toronto to the main island, and a return ticket costs....5 C$...you decide if it's worth it! Center Island is fantastic...it's a nature park, very well kept, with dozens of squirrels (a constant pretty much all over North America), geese and ducks. There are also plenty of facilities (you can rent bikes, canoes, etc.) or have a picnic in the open air! Another attraction in Toronto is Casa Loma (admission 10 C$ + 7 C$ parking). A castle on the northern outskirts of Toronto, built at the end of the nineteenth century by a very wealthy figure of the time and now run by a private association.

The price of the visit is high, but the castle is truly worth it, and the ticket includes a multilingual electronic guide (Italian too!) that will help you understand and have explained the mysteries of all the castle's rooms! Another thing you won't be able to do without is...shopping.