C2C – Chennai to Canada (from 30ºC to -5ºC)

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We then stood in a custom queue for Visitors. There were two lines one for Permanent Residence and another for Visitors. Custom officer checked our passport and Visa and guided us to another hall. Inside the hall, it was a long queue. When our turn came lady officer asked us to sit at the waiting area inside hall. She has started checking our documents. She took almost an hour to check our documents. We then proceeded to baggage claim area. As soon as we entered in baggage claim area, we saw  number of porters standing with trollies.4 Bags 10$, above 4 bags, each bag 3$.We came in baggage claim area and none of the conveyor was displaying our flight number. We rushed to BA counter, but there was no staff at the counter. We were unable to find any co passengers also at the airport. We were searching bags all over the baggage claim area. Near one belt conveyor we found few bags. When we went there we saw our bags. We quickly started collecting our bags. One from one corner,   second from another corner, third from some other place etc. While collecting we thought definitely the other  2 handbags which we had deposited afterwards   must be missing , but luckily we found those two bags. Now counting started 1, 2,3….One bag is missing. To our surprise the bag which had all Kitchen items specially (Rolling pin and board for Chapati) and groceries was missing. We were then searching  BA staff  so that we can inform about our missing bag. There was no BA staff at the airport. Then we saw a lady coming towards baggage area and she was BA staff. We informed her. She asked us to fill up the form about missing baggage and ensured that they will search the bag and will let us know the status within 24 hrs. We then decided to hire porter as it was not easy for us to carry 10 bags in 2 trollies.

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Casa Loma – Toronto’s own Camelot

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On the right side of Great Hall there was Billiard Room and Smoking room.In the Billard room Management of Casa Loma has arranged a small documentary about Casa Loma which is included in the ticket.It is very nice documentary and give all the tourist idea about Sir Henry Pellatt and his life’s up and downs.After watching documentary  I realized one thing “Samay kisi ka nahi hota” or you can say all that has happened in his life was “Grahon ka khel”. Richest company   turns into Bankruptcy. I was so sad after seeing the documentary. Sir Pellatt himself has to  abandoned his dream of Castle for a fraction of worth during bad time.Then we went to next room Sir Pellatt’study room

Study Room : This is another beautiful room with nice wall paneling , beautiful artistic work around fire place.This room has a mahogany panel which conceals the secret  door on either side of the fireplace that leads to staircase leading to First floor.

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Chennai Beaches

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Marina beach is a major tourist attraction of the city. This sea is rough and the waves here are strong. People visiting Chennai make a point to visit the beach. It is also the main place for the local people to escape from the summer heat. This beach is always crowded attracting about 30,000 – 50,000 visitors everyday. The beach has around 450-500 shops and stalls run by local vendors. It is an ideal hangout place for people of all ages. There are two swimming pools along the stretch maintained by Chennai Corporation.

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A day at Mahakal Nagri Ujjain

A day at Mahakal Nagri Ujjain

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Our work got over at 1800 hrs and we were ready to go back to Indore. While returning from Kothi we got down at Freeganj Tower just to roam around the city. First we went to Chote Gopal mandir which was just in the vicinity of Freeganj Tower. The freeganj which was a busy town circle in the afternoon has transformed into a superb eatery zone. Right from Paani puri to Chaat to Chhole tikki to Vada pav to Hot dog to Chinese to South Indian to Juice corner to fruit zone to Icecream corner.

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Montreal City tour

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On Saturday we had started our journey.Our train departure time was 0645 from Toronto (Union station ).Business class coaches were quite good , spacious and clean . We were given warm welcome and assistance by VIA Rail friendly staff.The difference in Business class and Economy class here is only food.In Business class food is included where as in Economy class we have to buy food.As a usual routine we got our tea , biscuits and later breakfast in train.In the end they had served complimentary wine.It was a 05 hour journey and we reached Montreal at 1200 noon.As we were entering in the Montreal City we can feel just by looking at the road , houses and other infrastructure  that it is a completely different city not similar to Toronto.
When we were booking our Hotel we thought of two factors; one is cost/location i.e. distance from railway station as our return train was also early morning train.Secondly as were not able to decide on Hotels as per reviews posted in Google we decided to go for a chain and brand Hotels which are tried and tested.Thus we finally booked our room in Sheraton Hotel Montreal.Our decision of choosing a Hotel Near Central station and close to city centre helped us a lot as we have not used any public transport / Cab service in Montreal.So we walked from station to Hotel.It was a 06 minutes walk.

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Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls – Explore the Roar

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Finally our turn came and we also boarded the huge ship on the upper deck. There was automated announcement and guided description of the tour in both English and French.But none of the passenger was bothered to hear the announcement. All were ready to take pictures , video as well was planning to protect camera from water spray. Then the tour started and it took us first towards American side falls and then taking U turn towards Canadian waterfall. Slowly -2 we were approaching Main falls and we had started feeling the spray of water and its intensity. After reaching very close we decided to keep our camera inside. It was an out of the world feeling. One can feel the flow , pressure of water by going so closer to it. I  was feeling as I had achieved something big .My dream of visiting Maid of the Mist finally came true.

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Niagara Falls…Dream come true

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Although it is very easy to Visit Niagara Falls from Toronto on our own but we decided to take a bus tour.  Advantage of Bus tour was that we will get lots of information from guide , no discomfort being the first trip to Niagara and the main reason was that it was economical compared to if we go on our own. We took a bus tour by a tour operator name “Chariots of Fire”.There are many tour operators at Toronto for Niagara tour we choosen this because one of our friend has recommended it to us.Our boarding point was Yonge-Dundas Square.

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Toronto – Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)

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In the visitors guide we can find special mention of “ICONIC must see treasures of the ROM” of each level. Thus one can not miss the special display. We took almost 01 hour to complete level 1 itself. As usual we got tired and hungry so we went to Café at ROM.We were sure that we will not get anything vegetarian to eat and may be we have to returned with just eating French fries.

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Toronto – CN Tower and Ontario Lake

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This is all I experienced in my one month stay at Toronto. So, In a way I am kind of liking it. Let see what is store for me in future. I will share soon.

In the first week of our stay here we went for apartment hunting. We had taken subway and got down at St. Andrew station. We actually reached 1.5 hours early at the place just to get the feel of city. When we were exploring areas around St. Andrew station, we reached right in front of CN tower. I couldn’t resist myself and somehow convinced my hubby that we should see this. As it was Saturday the Reception hall was full.

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Chennai Wildlife

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2. Chennai Snake Park: The Chennai Snake Park Trust is a not-for-profit NGO constituted in 1972 by herpetologist Romulus Whitaker and is India’s first reptile park. Located on the former home of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, the park is home to a wide range of snakes such as adders, pythons, vipers, cobras and other reptiles. The park gained statutory recognition as a medium zoo from the Central Zoo Authority in 1995.

Chennai Snake Park is next to the Guindy National Park .It is located on Sardar Patel road in Guindy OR the best landmark for this park is that it is just next to IIT Madras. This is one of the eco friendly and environment friendly biological parks that attract many tourists. This park is highly recommended from my side to visit. I always find this park interesting.

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Chennai’s Art,Culture,food and Shopping

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This time on the first day of Remembering Rukmini Devi festival we watched drama based on Devi Meenakshi. The dance drama name was “Meenakshi Vijayam”. I was very well aware that photography was not allowed inside the auditorium, but I couldn’t resist myself and just for sharing picture of such a wonderful place I clicked one picture only for the sake of sharing at Ghumakkar.

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Mahabalipuram – Chennai Weekend Gateway

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This temple is considered in a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was built in 7th century. It is one of the oldest South Indian temples built in Dravidian style. The complex spreads out over a square platform, and comprises three temples, of which two are east and west facing Shiva temples, and the third a Vishnu shrine in the center. The temple has vast open are at the western side. Rows of Nandi form the perimeter wall for this temple. The Shore temple is the lone survivor out of seven such temples , the rest having fallen to the ravages of sea.

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