When we had last visited Chicago in September 2015, we were stunned by how its downtown was packed with so many attractive buildings. Ever after, we always had our eye on returning for the Open House Chicago festival to explore the city’s buildings from behind-the-scenes. Last year we made that happen as we rendezvoused in Chicago with my aunt and uncle – who handily happens … Continue reading Highlights of Open House Chicago
It’s a well known fact that the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls is far better than the American, but when we had to cross the border to activate our second work permits we decided to see what the other side had to offer. First off, crossing Rainbow Bridge by foot into the States is really easy, just make sure you have your passport and 2 … Continue reading Why it is worth visiting the American side of the Niagara Falls
Deep dish pizza, queuing for the view from the world’s former-tallest-building and cruising the Chicago River Last time out, we took a look at our time in Chicago’s Loop and its parks. Read on to see what else we got up to in the Windy City. You can also watch all that we got up to here, or below. Took in the stunning Chicago … Continue reading A long weekend in Chicago: Part 2
Exploring the Windy City’s parks and architecture When you live in Europe, one of the cool things is that you are never more than a train ride or short flight away from exploring a new city over a long weekend. Now that we are living in North America we can now have long weekends exploring a new set of cities, that ordinarily you would not … Continue reading A long weekend in Chicago: Part 1
Detroit might not seem like a place to visit, and clearly the US’s Homeland Security thought so too (but more on that later). We departed our B&B at Point Pelee and drove one hour north-west to the city of Windsor. This Windsor is clearly very different to the original Windsor in England. For starters, there isn’t a castle and a queen. Instead there are casinos … Continue reading A road trip to Detroit
Our third and final day in Boston started off along the Boston Harborwalk. Once complete, the Harborwalk will cover 46.9 miles from Charlestown and East Boston in the north, to Dorchester in the south. We, however, only covered a small section of the Harborwalk in the downtown area, where we zigzagged in and out along the edges of jetties. Along the way we paid a visit … Continue reading Boston, Day 3: A Boston Tea Party
So today is our 6 month anniversary since leaving the UK to come on our Canadian adventure. Doesn’t time fly! The good news is that in the past 2 weeks our respective parents have both booked trips to come and visit us (fortunately not at the same time…), and we can’t wait to see them again! To mark our 6 month anniversary, we decided to look … Continue reading Looking back on 6 months in Canada
One of the top things we’d recommend to anyone visiting Boston is to pay the Mapparium a visit. This is where we started our second day in the city, and it is essentially a giant stained glass globe that you can walk inside. Located in the Mary Baker Eddy Library, the globe is 3 storeys tall. Of course, if it was like a normal globe, … Continue reading Boston, Day 2: going inside a globe at the Mapparium and the ‘other’ Cambridge
Boston is a city is that has always appealed to us. So when my employer closed down for 12 days over Christmas (yes yes, we really are only writing about this over 2 months after the event), it was the perfect opportunity to go to one of America’s oldest and most historic cities. We had initially thought about escaping the Canadian winter for warmer climes, … Continue reading Visiting Boston: Day 1, The Freedom Trail
Given that it’s not that far from Vancouver, Seattle typically experiences similar weather e.g. lots of rain! However, during our stay, and in particular on our second day, we were fortunate to be blessed with excellent weather. Seattle reminds me a bit of San Francisco. It has a similar west coast vibe, the coastal location plays a large part in its identity, and the wider … Continue reading Our weekend in Seattle: Part 2
Brown Bear Travels 