Archive for October 2018

Eastern Canada Roadtrip With a Baby - Sample Itinerary and Highlights

Maybe you are planning your first road trip with a new tiny family member, say a 7-months old baby girl? And you are having doubts what your baby can and cannot handle? Well I had all these doubts and it felt like I was walking on thin ice when we prepared this itinerary. Guess what? It went amazingly great! Our daughter behaved and had fun and we couldn't be happier in the end that we decided to be adventurous and active as much as possible on this trip.

I try to never compare babies and their stamina, but if you are entering this new and exciting world of traveling with a baby, you might find our experience useful. Below is the itinerary we had and highlights of this trip.

10 days eastern canada roadtip itinerary:

day 1 Niagara Falls USA

Goat Island

Three Sisters Island

Cave of the Winds

Prospect Point Park

Maid of the Mist

Stayed in the Tower Hotel

We loved the most: Maid of the Mist boat ride and the view from our hotel

day 2 Niagara Falls canada

Journey Behind the Falls

Queen Victoria Park

Clifton Hill

Rainbow Bridge (don't forget your passports to make it to the bridge)

Whirlpool Aero Car

Inniskillin Vinery

We loved the most: the falls views from anywhere on the Canadian side are amazing!!

day 3 Toronto

Casa Loma

University of Toronto

CN Tower

Hockey Hall of Fame

The Flatiron Building

St Lawrence Market

Distillery District for dinner

We stayed here

We loved the most: the view from our rental was spectacular, we couldn't be happier! We loved Distillery District.

day 4 Kingston

The Big Apple (on the way form Toronto to Kingston) - best freshly baked apple bread and apple pie ever!

1000 Islands, Gananoque - 1,5 hour cruise

We stayed in Green Woods Inn Bed and Breakfast (amazing breakfast)

We loved the tour of 1000 Islands, so beautiful

day 5-6 Montreal

Botanical Gardens

Old Montreal (Place d'Armes, Notre-Dame Basilica)

Délices Érable et Cie - try maple toffee over ice there

Old Port

21 Balançoires (Singing wings)

Gay Village

Plateau (neighborhood with beautiful examples of Montreal cottages architecture)

Biosphere

Habitat 67

Parc du Mont Royal

We stayed in Boutique Notre Dame (located right next to Basilica and there is convenient parking across the street)

We loved walking and exploring the city on our own pace, entering into random shops and cafes, people watching.

day 7-8 Quebec City

Terrasse Dufferin

Old Quebec Place d'Armes (take funicular)

Place Royale

Quartier Petit-Champlain

Ferry ride

The Citadel

Montmorency Falls

Ile d’Orléans (apple orchards and cider vineries)

We stayed in Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac - couldn't recommend this grand hotel more! One of a kind experience

We loved the most: the food, our stay in Chateau Frontenac and their indoor pool, walking and exploring beautiful winding streets of Old Quebec, our trip to the falls and the island with orchards cider tasting. Well, we loved pretty much everything about Quebec City!

We didn't like the Citadel, wasted few hours there.

day 9-10 Ottawa

Rideau Canal
Tulip Festival
Royal Canadian Mint
The Parliament Hill (including guided tour)
ByWard Market

We stayed in SMR Champagne Ottawa (very pleased)

We loved the most: Royal Canadian Mint tour and walking, checking out tulip festival spots.

We were not head over hills with the boat ride along Rideau Canal

We covered total of 2000 km, spent 20 hours driving, stayed in 7 rentals. We enjoyed our trip a lot and found that Canada is very family friendly, safe, convenient to travel with a baby and a stroller and a very pleasant country overall. We will be definitely back for more:)

Please feel free to shoot me a message with any doubts that might linger in your mind and stay between you and traveling with your baby!

Fall In Love With Minsk, Belarus

The recipe to fall in love with a new place is simple. Open, curious mind and positive attitude. With Minsk, however, you won't need much of a recipe. This city is beautiful, friendly, spotless like no one ever dares to litter, with enough parks and boulevards to keep your feet restless and enough cafes, shops and theaters to keep you entertained.

We spent two weeks in Minsk and... Well, let me be fair first, Minsk is my husband's birth city and his parents, schoolmates and friends live there. Yap. That makes us visitors rather than tourists or travelers and creates a whole new experience, because of all the sweet (and sour should I say? :-) time spent with family and fun times with friends. Nevertheless, it was my first time in the city and I did fall in love with Minsk! I wish this city would become a hot destination for travelers as it is really worth the hype. Aaaaand if you are looking for a road less traveled and for a destination that still stays aside of the main tourism plague, consider Belarus and its capital, Minsk.

I am in no position to write a guiding post with best things you should do in Minsk, as I did not do them myself. Instead, I'd like to tell you what I did cross off my list and what I enjoyed the most.

1. City parks

Minsk has countless gorgeous green parks right in the city center, with huge and shady oaks, willows and maple trees, secluded trails, lakes, amazing playgrounds for kids and great pavement tracks for bikers, rollerbladers or alternatively, families with strollers.

Just to name a few:

Victory Park (Here you can visit the Museum of WWII. We didn't, but it looks promising from outside)
Central Botanical Garden (big, beautiful and peaceful)
Chelyuskinites Park (next to Botanical Gardens)
Gorky Park (in the heart of Minsk)
Many many pretty little squares with romantic sculptures and benches under the trees

2. Pedestrian streets and boulevards

When the whether allows, nothing beats slow city walks with a cup of coffee here and a bite there.

Karl Marx Street (Reminded me of Paris. Start in Mikhailovskiy Square and walk through Dzerzhinsky Garden till Aliaksandraŭski Garden Square)
Upper City, Trinity Hill and Nemiga Street (cobblestone pavements here and there, preserved charm of old town, beautiful river banks promenades)
Oktyabrskaya street (Former industrial street turned into an open air art gallery with gorgeous wall size murals. Check Cafe Enzo there - fun place serving crepes with unthinkable fillings)

3. Sights and Landmarks

We didn't necessarily go sightseeing. But we did visit:

National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre - gorgeous opera house located in a beautiful square. If it is the season, I suggest definitely go see an opera or ballet. Even if you are not a fan!
Yanka Kupala National Academic Theater and Square - we went to see a play but if you don't feel like wandering in the web of a foreign language, you could simply walk in the square and surroundings.
The Central Post Office Building - good example of the 1950th Soviet architecture, massive and monumental. Very nostalgic for any child of former USSR.
Victory Square and Independence Square (one of the biggest in Europe) - you can feel the grand scale of the city there and again pay reverence to the monumental style of Stalinist architecture (or Socialist Classicism)

4. Svislach River

Take a boat tour (they've got a variety of options) around Trinity Hill and along the Upper City. Great way to give your hour feet a break from walking and enjoy the breeze and the views.

5. Shopping

Why not enjoy sweet Belorussian prices? I say definitely a must!

GUM - big department store, a landmark and a beautiful another example of Stalinist architecture (I might sound like a Stalin fan, but I am not, I swear, I am not!!:) You can find pretty much everything here. I went crazy on Belorussian cosmetics one buck a piece! Some say the quality is good enough for just that, a buck. I've been using face masks and body lotions for weeks now and I do like them. To be fair, I am not a picky buyer when it comes to cosmetics, but my skin is acne free and soft. Checkmate.
Linen clothing - I would buy every dress in the store if only I could afford those. Not very cheap, $50-$100 price range, but so very beautiful and feminine. I bought two. Look for Belorusskiy Len stores.
Burvin - women clothing by a Belorussian designer. Gorgeous, meticulously made, amazing fabrics and prices are very affordable for an American perspective. I'd compare to highly acclaimed brands, like Burberry or Giorgio Armani.
Flowers from babushkas at Metro entrances - please do buy those little cute bouquets. An instant mood lifter and a good deed. Perfect combo!

6. Food

Belorussian cuisine is good! Rivers and mountains of potatoes, (try draniki!!) lost of dough dishes, kvas (bread non alcoholic beverage) and nastoika (liqueur, infusion of herbs, berries an fruits in alcohol, tasty and strong). We liked Draniki (Svobody 4) and Kuhmistr (Karla Marksa 40)

7. Night scene

Minsk is lovely when the sun sets down. Buildings get illuminated, street musicians fill squares and boulevards, cafes and bars get loud and busy. There is entertainment for ay taste - younger crowds go bar hopping while mature couples enter theaters.

Zybickaja Street - they say the street was pretty much abandoned until someone decided to turn it into a bar mile. Now this street is the party heart of the city with many many hipster bars, lounges and rooftops. Loved the place!
The View Restaurant - one must see Minsk from above and the View is a perfect spot to do so. Fine dining place with a terrace where you can enjoy a cocktail with a killer view.

I hope you will find same charm and beauty I discovered in Minsk. Happy travels!