City Breaks - Toronto, How many days ?

I had a week in Toronto back in 2006 and if I'm honest it was slightly too long, reckon the ideal break would be 4 full days (5 nights) to give you a chance to see everything.

Not necessarily in this order but this is how i would split my days :-

1. Niagara Falls - Absolute must and its a full day trip which I've reported on elsewhere in this Blog.

2. Toronto Island -
If like me you like walking its a great place to visit, there is a foot ferry you can catch that goes to three points, each end of the island and one to the middle where there is a cafe and other facilities.

I remember catching the ferry to one end and spending the morning walking to the middle point where i had lunch. In the afternoon walked to the other end to catch a ferry back to the city.
Its beautiful park land and you get some tremendous views of the City skyline.
A few people live on the island and there is a school if I remember correctly.

























3. CN Tower and Waterfront - A visit to Toronto wouldn't be right without going up to North Americas highest observation platform for some cracking views of the city.

Obviously this isn't a full day activity so on the same day you could have a nice stroll along the waterfront.

Would also tie it in with a walk around the shops (Eaton Centre) and a visit to Yonge street.

Also nearby is Nathan Phillips Square.






















4. High Park - There is a lovely park in Toronto, not massive like Central Park in NY or Lincoln Park in Chicago or Forest Park in St Louis but it is very well kept and well worth a visit for some cracking views.

If it doesn't fill a full day maybe vist some of the more interesting neighbourhoods such as China Town.

As for nightlife I remember a cracking little pub near my hotel on Jarvis Street called The Red Lion, did go downtown to catch some live music a couple of times but nothing really that i can really remember so cant have been that good.

So thats Toronto.

My Stories - Tales from Toronto

Here are some short stories from my trip to Toronto back in 2006 :-

Story One - Watch Who you sit with
One night i had been out for a meal and on the way back decided to have a pint in a pub around the corner from my hotel. Went in and sat at that bar and got talking to another chap at the side of me, like me he was from out of town and he was friendly a genuine nice guy.

A young lady came into bar and must admit to been slightly disapointed when she sat on the stool next to the other bloke and not the empty one at the side of me.

She joined in with our conversation and we were all three just having a laugh.
After about 20 minutes the doors opened and another bloke came straight over to where we were sat and accused the other bloke of chatting up his girl friend. He was obviously drunk was shouting and the girl tried to calm him.

However he flipped and threw a punch at the other chap (no real damage) before the bouncers pounced on him and pinned him to the ground.

Police were called and he was escorted out of the premises.
Just think it could have been me she sat next to and me that got punched for my trouble.

Story Two - Beggars Belief
Toronto like many cities has its fair share of street beggars but all isn't always what it seems.

One night I had gone out looking for somewhere to eat at about 7pm, I spotted a Small Bar/Grill that looked ok so went in. I sat at the Bar as the chap next to me was just getting up, I noticed him because he didn't look right. He was wearing a oldish out of fasion jacket that was too small and his trousers were at half mast (far too short).

Anyway he paid his Bill with a credit card and actually turned to me and said goodnight, I didn't think anymore about it apart from "he was a bit scruffy".

Later that evening I was walking down Queen street near the main square and youv'e probably guessed it this man was sat on the pavement begging everyone that passed for money. I was totally disgusted he was obviously a con man.

This reminds me of a night out I had in York last year a few of us passed a young girl begging for money in a doorway outside a trendy wine bar. She was sat on a blanket and had a little puppy with her.

I remember while in the bar actually feeling sorry for this girl, I thought to myself I'll give her a couple of quid on my way out. However when we left the girl wasn't there, a young man was in her place and surprising he was on the same blanket with the same puppy. Must work shifts.

Some people will lower themselves to any level to con us out of our money, this really irritates me.

Story Three - Like finding Gold
I've always been a bit of a music fan and bac in about 1980 I often went to watch groups and saw a act called "The Photo's" who were from Evesham I believe.

Anyway I bought their album and actually really liked it, the group never made it big because they broke up but where tipped for the top and their music was likened to Blondie.

Trouble is the albm was a vinyl and as my turntable had long gone I decided if ever i saw the CD I would buy it.

After years of searching record shops (actually like doing that) I found the CD in Sams records a independant store on Yonge Streetin Toronto, came home happy i'll tell you.

My Stories - Lone Leeds Fan in Nashville

Back in 2006 I found myself in Nashville with a problem, I'd booked at the end of the football season and my team Leeds Utd had made the Championship Play Off semi-finals and I was desperate to watch the first leg against Preston.

Before I left home I asked on tripadvisor if anyone knew of a bar in Nashville that would be possibly showing the match. I got a reply from someone saying that he watched his team Ipswich Town while in the city at a Sports Bar called "Two Doors Down". Just to add this person had the name Mick Mills, could it have been the Mick Mills that played for Ipswich and England in the 1970's, good player but I'll never know.

On my first day I went to find the bar and couldn't believe it was only across the road from my hotel, went in and the confirmed they would get the match for me.

Match day came and to settle my nerves after a eavy night decided to go for a morning walk. As I got dressed what to wear was not an option as my White Leeds shirt came out of the drawer, also my Leeds cap was to be worn the locals were about to be educated.

Proudly I walked from my Hotel to downtown Nashville parading my colours for all to see.  Around 12 noon my pre match nerves were twitching so I made my way to the sports bar for a beer or two to get me in the mood. As I'd missed breakfast I checked out the bar menu and noticed todays special was Fish & Chips, now this is a Yorkshire delicacy, the gods are with us I thought, my order was placed.

When the Fish came it turned out to be Catfish which was not good (never again) so I had to quickly swill it down with another beer.

I got talking to a couple of locals that were watching another TV stressing the importance of this match but they kept watching the bull riding on the other channel, couldn't understand that.

Kick off time 1.45pm came I ordered another Beer but no match I was panicking what has happend but relief came when the message came on the screen "kick off delayed for 15 minutes for crowd congestion". The pictures then scanned Elland Road Stadium it was packed to the rafters and long queues outside.

It the showed the players in the tunnel Leeds in White, Preston in Yellow when one local Fruit Cake came over looked at the teams, looked at my shirt and asked the question "Which is your team ?" I was polite with my answer.

The match started with Leeds on top, I was continually up off my stool in excitment which was also helping the beer dissapear at a good rate. During the first half penalty turned down by blind referee, Leeds hit the post, things not going well.

Half time came so I ordered more beer and tried to teach the locals the words to "Marching on Together" but I think they were a little shy about their singing.

The second half started and after a few minutes disaster struck, a rare Preston attack, our defence stood like statues, goal, one nil Preston, I ordered another beer and slumped back on my stool.

For the rest of the match play was scappy I was quiet until 15 minutes from time a Leeds attack was stopped by a foul, free kick 25 yards from goal, was this our chance. Preston formed their wall and up stepped our AMERICAN International Eddie Lewis. A thunderous curling left foot shot into the top corner, weve equalised, I love Americans, we are back, I ordered another Beer.



The match finished one apiece so it was going to be decided at Preston while I am at Chicago airport on my way home on the Monday..

After the match I had a few more beers with the locals before making my way back to my Hotel at 5.30pm. I thought I'll have a couple of hours nap on my bed before going out for the night and my evening meal.

I had the nap but didn't wake while after 1am a little late for getting ready to go out and I was starving so it was a raid on the Hotel vending machine for junk food that night.

One good thing was the fact that I made breakfast for the first time during the holiday the following morning.


Further Story - On the way home I couldn't find anywhere at Chicago Airport showing the 2nd match. I arrived back in England not knowing the result and was desperate to find out.

I got to Manchester Airport Railway Station got on my train with my luggage when I noticed a shop on the platform, my train had 6 minutes to go so I asked a man to watch my luggage while I ran from the train grabbed a newspaper and went to the counter to pay, as soon as the lady asked for my money I realised my wallet was full of American dollars my English money was in my bag, I apologised gave her the paper back and ran back to the train.

It wasn't while one hour later when I got to Leeds station that I found out the result a 2-0 victory, Leeds in the final. this match is against Watford in Cardiff next sunday 21st May with the winners getting promoted to the Premiership.

Photo is of Leeds players celebrating after the 2nd leg in Preston.

Getting My Kicks on Route 66 - part 3 of 3

Hitting the road again the next stop was another car museum before leaving Texas reaching our 6th state New Mexico on route to Albuquerque for another two night stay.




The hotel was once again on the outskirts of town but near a up market shopping mall with a couple of decent restaurants. After grapping a bite to eat Peter & myself decided to try find a decent Pub for a few beers. We came across a Mexican Sports bar and it was a big place with about 300 people in there. Got our drinks then realised why it was so busy Mexico where playing football and 90% were there for the game which was on the large TV screens. Felt a bit like the same odds as been at the Alamo with us two and 300 Mexicans, was gonna support the other team but didn't seem like a great idea, lol.
Actually it was quite a friendly place and we went back the following night although a lot less people in there.

Our spare day we had a trip to the state capitol (oldest in the USA) Santa Fe, was an interesting place especially for those interested in Indian crafts. Was a few nice cafes but was really a quiet day, personally i would have liked to have had less time in Sante Fe and maybe half a day to explore Albuquerque.

Leaving Albuquerque we hit the road towards Arizona stopping for coffee and cakes at the famous hotel El Rancho, n.w this would be a nice overnight stop.

The sparse landscape took us through some interesting places, we touched on the Badlands before visiting the Petrified Forest.

We also stopped to visit the Meteor Crator, which is massive.

Eventually we moved on to our hotel in Flagstaff, that evening many of us ate at the traditional route 66 diner a short walk down the hill, well it seemed right didn't.

Following day we hit the road again venturing off route for lunch at the Grand Canyon, losing one of our group who Richard eventually found in the wrong car park.
After the Canyon we actually did our longest stint on the origional route 66 (about 80 miles) Sleigman to Kingsman. Although we are doing route 66 its now a case of following the spirit of the mother road as most is along modern interstates.
In Sleigman we visited the famous barber shop.

Overnight in Kingsman came with a warning from Richard that it was a very rough town and avoid going into any of the Pubs. A nice restaurant opposite the hotel was recommended so thats where we had our meal. However after our meal Peter and myself got directions to a local pub so decided to give it a go, a few of the others followed us down the road.
On arrival the place looked scary, bars on all the windows and a big sign telling us we couldn't take in firearms. What the hell we walked in and it was really busy with what appeared to be rednecks having a good time. Three Pool tables in action, a karaoke and people dancing and singing all over. I made my way to the bar and ordered the drinks, the lady at the bar was interested in where we were from after hearing my accent.
Most of the group had taken a look from the outside and U turned but Pippa and Mike came in and joined us at the bar.
The bar maid asked if I was going on the Karaoke and I explained I couldn't sing, Pippa mentioned Mike had told her he was a decent singer so we put his name down. Eventually his name was called and he gave a brilliant Elvis impression and the locals loved it, a few came over chatting (don't think they've seen strangers before. It turned out a very good night, "who dares wins".

In the morning we left for the last leg first visiting another museum before on to the Bairstow Mall for some bargain shopping. Eventually we hit Los Angeles after driving through the San Bernadino mountains and found our hotel.

After checking in and a quick shower it was back on the coach for an evening in Santa Monica, walked down to the pier and we had done it, reached the end of the trail, we'd certainly had our kicks along route 66.

Actually didn't stay at the Pier too long went into town for my meal at a English Pub, nice Steak & Ale Pie.

The holiday wasn't quite over as we had another day in LA which most of us took the optional excurrsion to visit Universal Studios, managed to get around all the rides plus see Waterworld so was great fun as always.

We also had a farewell meal that night at a Scottish Pub, nice piece of Beef I'll add.

Final morning it was a quick tour around hollywood, lunch at the Farmers market before sadly making our way to the airport for the long flight home.

Getting My Kicks on Route 66 - part 2 of 3

continued from part one :-

We left our hotel in Springfield Missouri to head to Kansas which only accomodates a few miles of the route. Before leaving had noticed the sign that Elvis had stayed at the place and following a bit of investigation found out it wasn't my room but the one next door, still never saw the ghost.

Remember stopping of at some dead end town in Kansas where 4 women ran a souvenier shop which we visited, they where real charactors (sisters i think) and told a tale or two. Also provided free coffee and biscuits which was nice. Lots of little towns like this, there is plenty of poverty about but decent people (take note Mr Obama).
Before leaving another bloke took us to a bridge (on the 66) to show us his trick which was to turn is feet the wrong way (facing backwards) must have had double jointed ankles, was definately a strange thing to see.

Moving on we arrived in another run down town but it had a fantastic theatre (The Coleman), can't rememer the history as we were getting overload by this point but the guided tour was real good. If I remember (please correct me if wrong) it was run by volunteers.

 It wasn't long before we crossed another State line and were in Oklahoma where we first visited Tulsa before moving on to the capitol for a 2 night stay.

Well in the words of the Song Oklahoma City is pretty and it sure is would like to visit again one day.

We had a good city tour included and visited the State Capitol Building which is like every other State Capitol I've visited.

Other highlights were a Cowboy museum which had a massive section about Western movies which I loved, right up my street and of course they had plenty of things about the Duke.

Can't remember if it was before or after we went to a massive statue which was a tribute to the early pioneers, very impressive.

Another thing the City has done well is the tribute to those who lost their lives in the Oklahoma bombings which includes a timeline pond and a lawned area with a chair for each of those murdered. Was a little dissapointed that people were allowed to sit on these chairs for photos, didn't seem right to me.

We also visited the stockyards and a big western clothing store where many of our group stocked up on their Levi Jeans and cowboy hats.

Another beautiful part of Oklahoma was the riverwalk (think they are trying to copy San Antonio), also looked a good area for nightlife with interesting bars, restaurants and clubs.

Had lunch there at a nice place but would have liked to have gone back on the night. However our hotel was too far away and couldn't raise a possee for a taxi.

To be fair first night the hotel bar was fine, quite lively with a karaoke going but 2nd night (sunday) it was closed but a few of us managed to find a sports bar, bit of a nothing evening though as it was quite desserted.

We left Oklahoma to head Texas but not before stopping at one of the interesting route 66 museums, there are loads of them wish we could have done them all.#

Another small poor town and we stopped to meet a couple of real charactors of route 66, the self proclaimed redneck king & queen Harley & Annabell. They invited us into their home which was filled with route 66 memorbillia and then put a show n for us singing redneck songs. Was certainly different but great fun.




Finally we got to Texas but now was the problem of finding Amarillo with nobody to show us the way.

Only a one night stopover but went out to a ranch where we got on some trailers to be taken through the desert while real cowboys chased some cows about.
They afterwards put on a horse racing show before we had a typical cowboy meal, was authentic when the beef and beans came out but lost it with the salad bar, lol.
On return to the hotel bar which had some very nice beer prices (very cheap) a few of us had a game of cards, was actually good fun and we had many laughs.


On leaving Amarillo we had time to call at Cadillac Ranch for a photo shoot before moving on to the mid-point of the mother road, yes still another 1,139 miles to go.

One thing had become apparent by now was that Richard our tour manager only had a very small CD collection, one that played the Route 66 song in 20 different versions and Lou Reeds greatest hits, luckily I had my MP3 player and headphones, lol.

Reckon this is a good place to stop part two (more to follow).




Just thought I'd give a bit of publicity to a local York group playing the route 66 song, this version wasn't on Richards CD.

Getting My Kicks on Route 66 - part 1 of 3

In October 2012 I got the opportunity to fulfill an ambition and travel Americas iconic road trip Route 66. Following a petition on their website Just You included it among their holiday offerings and us single travellers could now get our kicks.

For me the holiday often starts the night before I travel as I stay over at the airport, this trip was no different and fortunately was able to get in touch with 3 other travellers (Paul, Kay & Victoria) and we met up for a meal at The Three Magpies Pub which was excellent.

On to the holiday and everyone knows that it starts from Chicago (near the Art Institute)and in the words of the song goes more than 2,000 miles, actually travels through 8 startes (Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona & California) before finishing in Los Angeles (Santa Monica pier to be precise).

First two nights in Chicago we stayed at the Palmer House Hilton which is in the Loop (part of city centre) which in my opinion was the only decent hotel choice on this holiday. I like to go out and find a odd nightspot (live music) and most other hotels were on the outskirts of the places we were visiting.
We  had our included meal in the hotel on the first night which is a great way to get to know the other travellers, was actually 45 in the group which in my opinion is too big, always reckon no more than 30 is best. More space to spread yourself around especially on the long coach journeys, also its too many to get to know everyone.

After the meal a good few of us walked to Buddy Guys Legends Club, (even Richard our tour manager and Henrique our driver came with us), it was very busy and weren't allowed to sit because we weren't eating which was fair enough so stood near the bar. There was a Jamming session on with many talented artists on stage, noticed the guitarist was Tony Palmer who has a great reputation. Buddy himself was actually in the Club sat at the bar but was more interested in watching baseball on the tv than getting on stage. Think I left around midnight.

The group did a City tour on our day in Chicago (which had positive feedback) but I opted out as I know the City. I had a walk along the magnificent mile, then to the Navy Pier before going for lunch in my favorite Irish Pub "Fados". Afterwards had another good walk before heading back to the hotel for a power nap.

Had mentioned to everyone that I was going out at 6pm to get my evening meal while watching a group called Joel Patterson and the modern sounds at Andy's Jazz Club, they do a bit of everything from Jazz to Blues to Rockabilly and were performing the early act.
Seven people decided to join me including Peter and 6 lovely ladies and we had a lovely meal while listening to some excellent music.



On my walk during the day I'd picked up some free tickets (as you do coming from Yorkshire) for a duelling Piano Bar called "Howl at the Moon", its a lively place where they play requests encurage the audience to sing-a-long, rowdy but great fun. Hence after the meal I mentioned I was going and the others where welcome to come along which 6 did, one was a little tired so went back to the hotel. Pardon the pun but we had a "howl" of a time but the funniest part was when Ivy (oldest among us and I worried about it been too rowdy) saw some young ladies with fancy cocktails. Yes she ordered herself one and within 5 minutes of drinking it the young local ladies had her up dancing in front of the stage.

Always sad to leave Chicago but we'd a long way to go so we hit the route and a couple of hours down the road stopped at a little town called Pontiac which was really interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly the Mayor got on our coach and gave us a guided tour (ok its only 2 city blocks) then gave us a bag of souveniers, nice i thought.
On all the street corners there where miniature cars with interesting paint jobs, murals on walls (we are gonna see plenty of them), there was two small museums and best of all a cracking little cafe with some lovely cakes. Managed one of the museums but hope this year when I do the Heart & Soul trip we'll stop here to catch the other (and visit the cafe for another cake).


Next stop was lunch at the Springfield Illinois (does evey state have a Springfield) and of course this is Abraham Lincoln territory, we had an included tour of his house and also visited his grave, was very interesting.




Then it was onward to Missiouri and of course St Louis for a two night stop, trouble is our hotel was well out of town but found a couple of ok pubs walkable so managed to get an evening meal and have a good laugh.
On the day we had a good city tour including the Busch Brewery (along with free samples) and also had the chance to go up the famous arch which is a amazing structure. I'd actually been to St Louis before but not been up the arch.



On the 2nd night in St Louis we had an incuded "night out" at Lacledes Landing the famous nghtlife area. Basically we all chipped in $10 apiece for the coach to take us in the centre then we could do as we pleased. Now I say "night out" with tongue in cheek because ariving at 7pm and leaving at 10pm when many places are just getting going isn't a night out (why hotels should be in th centre people who don't want a late one can go to bed). Anyway to eat we gathered a few of the men together and went to a bar called "Show Me" for food. Actually its very good on the eye because the ladies serving are wearing very skimpy clothes, makes the food much better. Actually 3 of the ladies in our group saw us go in and followed only to ask after gtting inside "are we allowed in here ?" of course they were and joined us.
Funny from the waitress when she told us "I've never served anyone from England before" we asked "how long had she worked there ?" to get the answer "one week" made us laugh but don't think its the size of their brains that get them the job.
After we just had time for a beer at another bar before getting the bus for an early night.

Following day we were back on the road heading for another Springfield this time in Missiouri but onroute we made interesting stops.

First it was a place called St Charles which is very old with lots of interesting buildings, even found a shop selling English Grocerys and who said you can't get a decent cup of tea in America.
Even convinced a group of Americans they should buy Yorkie Bars instead of the rubbish chocolate they produce.





Then it was on to Cuba, no not Fidel Castros place its just a small Route 66 town with lots of interestin Murals everywhere. Actually even more interesting is the Quaker Bakery (well you have to support the locals).

Also on route we had a stop off at the worlds largest rocking chair, these things have to be done.


Finally we arrived in Springfield and a short City tour before meeting Wild Bill Hiccock and he told the story of his gun fight at a local saloon. To be honest thought Springfield Missiouri a bit of a dump.

On the evening we had an optional excurrsion to the "entertainment capitol" Branson which included a meal which was average in my opinion then on to a Tributes Show which was enjoyable, surprisingly the best act was Liberace gave us all a good laugh.

So on that note I'll end part one of my Route 66 holiday, lots of miles to go.

My Stories - The Crazy Couples Divorce

On my travels I've had many strange incidents and met even stranger people, here is one such story.

In December 2005 I was in Chicago for a few days and this is what happend one night :-

I had been out for a meal in one of the bars just to the North of the river and was feeling a little tired. It was very cold so a lot of places were not that busy so I decided to make my way back to my hotel for a early night.

I was staying at the Hotel Allegro which is on the same block as the Palace Theatre on Randolph Street (behind the Thompson centre for anyone that knows it). There is a small bar between the Hotel and theatre called "Encore" and I decided to call in for a last drink.

The bar was quiet and been on my own I sat at the bar, I find this is best for meeting other people.
No sooner had I got my drink the door opened and a bloke in his thirties walked in and sat on the stool at side of me. He was ranting and raving about how bad the show was and how he had left his bitch of a wife in there watching the show.

When he heard my Yorkshire accent he started to talk to me about when he visited England. He introduced himself as Trent an historian from pennsylvania, he asked what I did and I showed him my buisness card.

He gave me the impression of a typical rich kid whose millionaire parents pay his keep. Anyway for the next hour he insisted on buying my drinks and bore my silly by telling the history of every war there as ever been. The bar staff saw this and were cracking up laughing at my totally bored face.

By this time the bar had filled up with people and all of a sudden he changed the subject and pointed at a girl across the room stating that she was making eyes at him.
He said something along the lines of "I think she fancies me, save my stool I'm off to chat her up"
I said reluctantly "ok" , but thinking to myself the ather large chap this girl was with was not going to be impressed.

Within a few seconds of him leaving his stool a absolutly stunning blond girl came and put her handbag on the bar and sat down on Trents stool.
Reluctantly I told her the stool was taken to which she replied "Yes I know I'm with that ass". Yes it was the wife.

She introduced herself and I told her my name pointing to my buisness card on the bar. She picked up my card and put it in her handbag.

Trent came back round the bar and they had a short argument before he wandered off again to try chat up every other girl in the building.

I felt sorry for the girl so I bought her a drink and chatted with her. After about five minutes she asked me a stupid question "Do you like dogs ?" to which I replied "I don't mind them but have not got one". This was a mistake as the next hour I spent my time looking at photographs of her dog much to the amusment of the bar staff.

Trent came round again for another argument to which the girl told him what a prat he was put her arms around me and told her husband she loved me. Trent wandered off a little bit grumpy, the bar staff were now in stitches.

She got out her digital camera and got one of the bar staff to take a photo of me and her as she hugged me tight. She then promised to send me the photo and some photos of her dog to my e'mail address on my buisness card. I tried to tell her it was my works e'mail and be careful what she sends as our help desk may block and read it (never did get that photo).

Shortly after she went to the rest room to powder her nose and straight away Trent came marching over to me. He said "I've seen you chatting my wife up" I thought oh dear I don't want trouble. However he then he added "I don't mind I'm going to divorce her anyway, you can have her" He then stormed out of the building.

She came back and I had the task of telling her he had gone. She seemed pleased with that and was only concerned about where she would sleep.

Before anyone asks the answer to the question is No I haven't a clue where she slept.

Niagara Falls - Day out not to be missed

One of the most awesome sights I've seen on my travels was while I was on a City break in Toronto in 2006 and booked myself on a day trip to Niagara Falls. It wasn't the greatest start to the day though, it was one of them tours that pick up at various hotels and they give you  time when you book, my ticket said pick up at my hotel at 8.50am.

The trip started badly, I'd finished breakfast just after 8-30am so went back to my room to collect my camera and things required and got to the hotel lobby 5 mins before my pick up time.

I mentioned to the receptionist to give me a shout when the bus arrives. She looked at me in amazement and said it left 10 minutes earlier so I showed her my ticket.

The hotel phoned the tour company for me who then got hold of the driver, apparently he had arrived early counted the passengers on the bus, decided everyone was there and set off without checking names. In reality a women that was booked on a completely different tour thought it was her bus and got on so his numbers matched.

They had to come back for me and drop the lady off, the rest of the passengers looked really chuffed about it. In fact despite it not been my fault I still felt embarresed and so just kept quiet on the journey.

Eventually a nice Irish couple spoke to me and we got on well, later in the holiday they met up for a few drinks, but thats another story.

It eally turned out to be a good trip and the falls are quite amazing, especially they Canadian horshoe falls. It just demonstrates the raw power of nature. The American falls are actually eroding and quite an alarming rate.

Part of the trip was an included lunch at the penthouse restaurant in the Sheraton Hotel overlooking the falls. It was a fantastic view of the falls.

We also got to ride the "Maid of the Mist" boat right to the foot of the falls (with plastic mac provided), another great experience.

Afterwards we went to Niagara on the Lake which is a beutiful little town with buildings well over 100 years old, lots of British influence in the area which of course of interest to me.

It was a nine hour round trip but well worth the long day.

Great day out and anyone in Toronto I'd recommend this as an absolute "must do".

Christmas and New Year - Solos versus Just You

I'm just back from my Christmas and New Year Breaks I did 3 nights in Chester with Solos over Xmas, home for 3 nights before travelling to Hinckley for 2 nights with Just You to celebrate the New Year.

Actually these were also my first ever UK breaks with either company.

So reckon that this gives me a good opportunity to compare the two companies which many believe are the market leaders.

Cost - Both where very similar, of course the Just You one was cheaper because it was 2 nights but some people had opted for an extra night which matched them up. - DRAW

Hotels - Both were good but have to give my vote to the Grovsenor Pulford Solos with because the staff were tremendous, very friendly and proffesional, always someone there to help and nothing seemed so much trouble.  Service wasn't quick at Hinckley and remember arriving back from our excurrsion and one poor girl trying to serve alone in a packed bar, took over 30 minutes to get served.
However one small negative with Chester was that hardly anyone could get a mobile phone signal.
Another issue with the Chester hotel was there seemed to be a problem with the air conditioning and it was uncomfortably hot in many places. This negative was cancelled out with the fact that for the first day at Hinckley it was freezing, they had turned the heating off over christmas and seemed a issue getting tempretures up again. Would stay at both again but the staff give Chester the edge - SOLOS

FOOD - Again its a close call Hinckly was very good but Chester was exceptional althoough neither helped my diet - SOLOS

ENTERTAINMENT - Nothing to choose between them at all but Hinckley is going to get the nod purely on the fact we had a dedicated room with dedicated entertainment while in Chester we had to share with other guests. Don't really go on a adult singles break to share with families. - JUST YOU

TOUR MANGERS - Did actually wonder how the tour manager would cope with 100 guests at Hinckley but Just You actually provided two (Chris and Kate) who were both very nice and easily approachable. Also kept coming around to make sure people where having a good time. Angela only had 30 of us and was equally a excellent host so can't really split them. - DRAW

EXCURRSIONS - Couldn't pick two better places to visit in Chester and Warwick Castle although the walking tour of Chester was a little dissapointing. Not sure the local guide was up to it and stood on the Walls just pointing stuff in the distance wasn't right, a walking tour means we should walk to them in my opinion. Enjoyed exploring ourselves better in the free time. Loved Warwick castle was a big highlight but the town centre is a let down, not much there. Still watching the Birds of Prey gives the the nod to Warwick - JUST YOU

PEOPLE - Not a lot in the age range JY maybe slightly lower average but could be wrong, Made some good friends on both trips. Think the fact there was 100 on the Hinckley do against 30 allowed for finding more with a similar outlook. Also the moving table (was optional) with every course on New Years Eve was enjoyable especially when I ended up the only man with seven lovely ladies on my last course, and stayed there rest of night, great for the image, lol. - JUST YOU

Certainly not much to choose between the two holidays it was a very close call but the Hinkley trip with Just You  edges it in my opinion on this occasion. 

Poll Result - Where should I go for my next city break ?

Well gave you 4 options and this was the result :-

Berlin - 50%
Barcelona - 25%
Madrid - 12%
Vienna - 12%

Not sure where I'll end up but Berlin and Barcelona would have been my choices although do also eventually want to visit the other two.
Possibly I'll be doing one towards the end of March.