In the morning I decided to join the eastereuropean couple to go to the Golden Gate Bridge again. There were free guided tours where people tell you more about the bridge. Actually I better stayed in bed because i was soooo tired. The guide told some interessting stories but very quite. So I decided to go back and ended up lost half way in the woods. Lucky I could ask somebody how to come back….Its very confusing. In the afternoon I met Katie and her cute dog and in the evening we all were invited to Zacks place for a vegetarian indin dish. Was very hot but yummy…..

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Finally after about 26 hours with the Greyhound bus from Vancouver I arrived in San Francisco. The Greyhound ride was very harsh. Could almost not sleep. I had to change the bus twice in Seattle and Sacramento. The customs were not really friendly but I had the feeling before. They took fingerprints.
accommodation is very rare at this time of the year in San Francisco so I tried first time the “Couchsurfing”. Sort of special experience. I did not know what to expect but I really wanted to move on and leave Vancouver. So my host Dave picked me up and also later some other couchsurfers from Eastern Europe. I did a bike trip with him over the Golden Gate Bridge and back and to Baker beach. Later Dave said that there is every Wednesday a couchsurfing evening at a bar because San Francisco has a quite big couchsurfing community. So we went there and met lots of other hosts and travelers. The night was very mild and unexpected for San Francisco there was no fog so Dave showed us the city at night from the twin peeks view point. It was beautiful.

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My friends Chelisse and Jerone and I went today to Grouse mountain to hike up the top for the best view over Vancouver on my last day here. It was a beautiful last day. The sun was shining no rain at all. It actually took us 3 hours to climb the top because we decides for the longer walk but it was worth it. Read the rest of this entry »

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Today I went back to Stanley Park to visit the Vancouver Aquarium. I’ve heard its beautiful and right now their beluga whales had a baby. The aquarium was so full because of the weekend. But its worth it. In general I don’t like caged dolphins and whales. Was the first time I saw them in a aquarium. But probably I would never have the chance again to see a beluga baby because that’s really rare. Only seven aquariums on the world have beluga whales. The baby’s mother was also born in that aquarium. They were so beautiful. Guest could only watch them for 10min and had to be very silent. Also the aquarium shows some frogs, reptiles and butterflies. Read the rest of this entry »

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They say the most popular attraction of Vancouver is Stanley Park. And yes – its beautiful. I’ve been there today with my friend Chelisse. We had awesome weather and blue sky. So we went for a nice walk under old massive trees. We went to the totem pols and did lots of fun photos. I really enjoyed it. At the Stanley Park is also the aquarium and I might go there too… Read the rest of this entry »

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Today Scott was so kind and showed me around a place where he was often as a kid. Its a place in the forest near Sooke. Its beautiful. We did a walk up the hill and then down to the river. It was sometimes a little challenge because there was no proper way and we went through wilderness but that’s what I like sometimes. At the end chrystal clear water awaits us but it was freezing because it comes directly out of the near mountains… There was a cliff too where kids were jumping of. I didn’t. Forgot to bring my bikini and also don’t know if I had enough courage…. This is basically what I wanted to see… I love those wild forests. And I had a great day and good company. Read the rest of this entry »

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This Sunday I got up early at 5:00am because I wanted to be able to catch whatever bus in the morning to explore Vancouver Island. But I was not sure weather to go to Tofino or to Cambell River. I thought it would be a good idea to ask at the hostel desk for advice. So I asked the guy what he would recommend and if he could call the hostels over there for a reservation for a few nights. But surprisingly the guy was very very unfriendly!!! He said everything is booked out elsewhere and he even ask me if I consider to go back to Vancouver. The island would be nothing for me he explained. Indians looking like you and me and nobody goes for whales. Canadians leave their whales by themselves. OK… weird. I was really upset. This Victoria hostel seems to be one of the worst of my whole travels so far. I didn’t know what to do. So I took my heavy backpack and went down to the bus terminal. I bought a ticket and the girl behind the desk said that the bus will leave at 7:00am. “Oh good, that’s in 10min.” I thought. Two minutes after 7:00am I went back to her and ask again. She said the bus already left. I was shocked: “What the hell are you doing here. Its your job to call the people when the bus leaves!!!” I answered. “You just reading your yellow press magazine. And that’s not what you are paid for!” She only said:” Whatever, the next bus leaves at 8:00am.” So here I am at 7:00am in the morning on my way back to Vancouver…. But I needed to talk to someone…so I started to talk to another bus person of Greyhound. He told me that she is very bad and many people complain. And he offered me to show the beautiful island because so far I wasn’t very impressed and i thought Vancouver Island is just overrated. I said I would like to see more but I will never go back to that hostel and everything else is booked out. So the guy Scott said I could pick him up at 1:00pm. He is for one week of because of holidays. So I thought why not, I didn’t see so much of the island so far. Until 1:00pm I visited the Royal British Columbia Museum (RBCM). They have a quite good native Indian collection over there.

The Royal BC Museum:

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I didnt had sleep that night because I was hanging out with my Vancouver friends. One of them gave me a lift to Vancouver island and the ferry. We left Vancouver at 4:00am to be early in line at the ferry. I was soooo tired. Then I arrived in Victoria. Its a very touristic town with a little harbour. This weekend they had the dragon boat races. Was fun to watch. The backpackers I will stay this night is the Victoria Backpacker. I cant recomand it becuase the stuff is really unfriendly, its loud and noisy. You share the room with 19 other people and I heard about theft. I thought I will stay not longer than one night in Victoria so I booked this whale watching trip. Its a rip-off. It cost me about CAN$ 72 and basically we all had the change seats because there where not enough on the boat. So better next time: use the small boat where everybody is seated. I used the big one because they recommanded it to me for doing photos. Finally yes we saw one orca. But we didnt came close at all…

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On my last day in Toronto I went on the CN Tower. Once the tallest building on the world the tower is one of the national icons of Canada. I had to wait about an hour for going up and later agin few minutes for the second platform. The view was quite nice but to be honest its not really worth it.

“The CN Tower, located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a communications and tourist tower standing 553.33 metres (1,815.39 ft) tall. It surpassed the height of the Ostankino Tower while still under construction in 1975, becoming the tallest free-standing structure on land in the world. On September 12, 2007, after holding the record for 31 years, the CN tower was surpassed in height by the still-under-construction Burj Dubai. It remains the tallest free-standing structure in the Americas and the signature icon of Toronto’s skyline, attracting more than two million international visitors annually.

CN originally referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower. Following the railway’s decision to divest non-core freight railway assets, prior to the company’s privatization in 1995 it transferred the tower to the Canada Lands Company, a federal Crown corporation responsible for real estate development. Since local residents wished to retain the name CN Tower, the abbreviation is now said to expand to Canada’s National Tower rather than the original Canadian National Tower; however, neither of these are commonly used.

In 1995, the CN Tower was declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It also belongs to the World Federation of Great Towers.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CN_Tower)

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