A great tour about Abe Lincoln’s assassination marked the end of our Washington DC visit. Afterwards we headed up north to meet Stefan, a jubla friend who lives now in Canada. The 1000 islands region is beautiful but the break down of Stefan’s rented car and a thunderstorm let us change our plans. Instead of exploring the islands we grabbed an extra large popcorn and coke to watch a movie.

The second try worked out. 40 Chinese and we could ship around the islands, enjoy the view and dream of owning property there. 

For our next stop in Toronto we tried out a new hosting model. Instead of booking a hotel we booked a room via “airbnb”. A page that gives private hosts a platform to offer their spare rooms.

Our room turned out to be in a spare house of our host, a Chinese Canadian. The whole house is set up for short- and long term guests. Our housemates were a Russian immigrant and a Polish -Canadian. It felt like a nice hostel and it is for sure a good way to meet new people without actually staying in a hostel ;)

Also interesting was the location. The house was in a kind of upper-class Chinatown. Totally stupid but it never came to my mind that this exists! It was funny to see and it might have given us an outlook to Hong Kong.

Toronto itself was a bit disappointing. Maybe we did not find the right neighborhoods or sights but we never really connected. Too many cars, too less charm.  On our quest to find the city’s spirit (and because the seats were cheap) we went to a baseball game. The people of Toronto seem not to be too fond of their Jays; the stadium was nearly empty and the only people we met at the game were drunken unionists from St. Luis. At least the game met the expectations, we expected it to be boring and it really was!

To reach our next destination Chicago we hit the road again and landed in the middle of Amish country. Seriously great to see – they really exist and have arranged their way of living with the new world. We were hoping to see at least one coach but as soon as you entering the area there are quite a few of them; on the highway!!!. All of it looks like in the movies. One should not stare at them or make pictures but it is sooo hard to resist.

Fake police officers, Indians with binoculars and a motorbike hanging on an open bridge? It’s Bollywood time in Chicago and we landed right in the middle of it.  Yeahhhh!

Unlike Toronto Chicago fulfilled all our hopes and expectations; great city, stunning waterfront and great hosts. We could stay with Adi and Susann, friends from Phonak, who live in an awesome downtown apartment. They were the nicest hosts ever. Although we had some though Bezzerwizzer fights we miss you, the talks and the meals the more we drive into the backcountry.

During our stay we worked our way through the tourist schedule including the architecture tour. If someone ever has a question about art-deco and eco-deco, just send an email. 

Through the holy hunting grounds of the Chippewa Indians we drove up to Canada. Unlike the Amish we did not see a single Indian. Our best guesses are that they are either all in the Casino or that the streets were not made for horses. Not only did we not see Indians but also the weather got bad. Low temperatures and rain prevented us doing a planned canoe trip. Instead we moved on to cross Canada. The first part was scenic; lakes, forests and turkeys let us keep this region in the back of our mind to come back sometimes.

Watching the tons of geese moving south we nearly did not notice the smooth landscape transition into the middle of nowhere. Everybody told us that between Winnipeg and Calgary there is nothing but we could not imagine how nothing there is. Apart from no hills, no curves and only small places there is also hardly good food. It is a culinary no man’s land. To be on the safe side stick with burger and fries!

Since there is not much to see we keep driving, overtake the same trucks after each stop, write our blog and hope to reach Calgary soon.