NumeroUno7:
This country is too fine abeg

They try

More pictures

I like that the US and Canada take accessibility seriously. I'm sure other countries do too but I can only speak for what my eyes have seen. They make special provisions for differently-abled persons that use wheelchairs. So, wherever you see that blue wheelchair sign, just know that there is some special provision made for the person.
For example, the urinary for men can have a lower one to accommodate them. Where you usually access with stairs, you could have ramps or cemented walkways to enable them roll.

Also, look at the ceilings. Not everything is sparkling

Didn't take pictures in the subway. Not fancy plus there were lots of people innit.
Finally made it to the stop closest to my destination.

More pictures

Day 1 was spent on traveling and ended with the Niagara Falls tour.
Day 2:

Had planned to wake up earlier but my body was weak Decided not to drive and set out to experience how the public transport system works. It took about 45mins or more to figure out the route to ply (I heavily relied on Google Maps). Inputed my destination and clicked on the 'Train' icon/option. It gave me different options (some required me to board one bus and two trains) while others required more and less. The plan was to get to the CN Tower. I found there are fun places to visit around there so it made sense to spend about 1hr plus from the hotel to get there.

The public transport system here is quite interesting and not too different from how it works in some US states, I guess. I have only used the train in DC. Well, we were required to pay on the bus (as I understood, you get a card - can't remember what it is called - and you load it with some funds. On entering the bus, you tap it and it deducts the amount). Sadly, I only had my temporary US debit card (which was charged as a credit card) and the bus didn't accept that. Sadly, I couldn't pay cash because I changed bags last minute and forgot my small Canadian currency innit. Anyway, I explained to the captain of the bus that I was new and he allowed me hop on for free (only because he saw I was genuine. I understand people take advantage of people's niceness which isn't cool!!!!!!!).
I told him where I was headed and he said he was going to drop me at Union Station or Main Station which I later found out was a central hub. I still had my google maps active and I saw the name of the bus stop I was to alight at and the details of the metro (subway) I was to board and what time they arrive and depart. It gave me confidence.

After alighting, I made my way to the subway. It took me a while to get there and I took pictures along the way.

Culture shock: When I got there, I was looking for how to pay for the subway I was to get on. Usually, you have some ATM-like stands that you can get train cards (like debit/credit cards) you load and tap on readers to get access to the train. Well, after much questions, I was told that the area was a -free zone- meaning that since the bus transferred me to the subway (of which I technically paid for), I did not need to pay again to use the train there. I was only going to pay at the next subway station. It was pretty cool!

You can easily tell when you get into Toronto. Save for the signs, the high-rise buildings all around you will tell you so.
In the US, downtown is like the Maitama of Abuja and Lekki Phase 1 of Lagos. I mean, they are where you see the tallest buildings and the most beautiful architecture. That's where there are a lot of businesses and offices and lovely things to do. There's an unhealthy (not literally) amount of condos (condominiums) I saw too

In Toronto, everywhere looked like DownTown! I'm not kidding. Of course, there are parts of Toronto and neighboring places like Scarborough, Markham, etc that do not have such architecture all-round, however, when I was driving to the hotel, I could only see beautiful architecture for a long part of my drive.

Let pictures speak

PS- The building with the red light on top is the CN Tower. I learnt Twas the tallest freestanding structure in the world before Burj Khalifa in Dubai took over in 2009.

Left the restaurant around 8:15 or 8:30pm and continued my journey to Toronto.
Streetlights on freeways (highways): I was surprised to see that the freeway (highway) had street lights. When I was in Ohio for a short visit, I found that you only see streetlights on freeways at intersections or where there are exits. This was same when I visited Maryland. Don't get me wrong. Some streets have streetlights but not the freeways especially interstate roads (that connect states). Anyway, I was happy to see the streetlights for a long stretch.

Road network: The interstate route I plied had about 3-5 lanes (going) and same for vehicles going the opposite direction. Quite similar with the US states I have visited so it wasn't a hassle navigating the roads. I noticed that unlike the US, some roads do not have rumble stripes (they are like engravings at the edge of roads that prevent drivers from running off the roads. Once your tires get on it, it feels like you are running on railway tracks). It is a cost-effective road safety measure most roads I have plied in the US have. I found this is not the case in Ontario. I stand to be corrected.

License: As long as you have a US national driver's license (I mean an all-state license), you can drive in Canada for I think up to 3-6 months with it. States in the US issue different licenses that do not necessarily allow you drive in other states except you opt in for a National Driver's license. Since I had my license, I only had to maintain the rules (speed limit, etc).

Sweetvie:
which phone are you using?

Used a friend's 14PM.

timibare:
Oh God of Elijah, hear my voice!! I must visit this place in Jesus name!

Amen! Hope that happens sooner than you even expect. Like this trip happened to me. Funny story

Sweetvie:
Wow!
I'm following
Lemme grab a seat

Fasten your seatbelts...it may be a bumpy ride

symbianDON:
Quite an interesting account so far!

Thank you! There's quite some interesting things I'll be sharing too.

Hybrid600:
Amazing!
I wish you took pics of the falls so we too go shout "omo" for here!
Keep em coming!

I think I took fewer pictures of the Falls alone. I have more videos which and other pictures that show people's faces.

NumeroUno7:
Very beautiful.. I wonder how this place would be in the summer

I can only imagine. I hear people get to ride on cruise boats in the Fall. That'd be fun!

Hello Fam, sorry for the delay in transmission
Got caught up in a lot.

Well, after the Falls I headed to my hotel. The drive was about 1h 30m or so. Twas a pretty interesting drive.
On my way, I spotted an Indian Restaurant (Indian foods are really good! and I love their Mango lassi drink). Couldn't resist the temptation to branch plus my stomach was rumbling (I had eaten only waffle fries and spicy chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A since morning).
Anyways, I ordered for rice some goat stew. I love curry stew, polak stew with lamb as the protein. Really nice meals I have tried.
7 Spice Bar and Masala Grill (At fairview Street) is the name of the Indian Restaurant and boy, the food was so filing that I had to takeout some. It was too much for one sitting
Plus their service was great! I recommend.

Pictures attached...

More pictures

From the parking lot to the Falls itself is a bit of a walking distance. Well, I found my way through the signs.
Look around with me

More pictures

Finally made it to Niagara Falls. At first, I was kinda sad that I didn't make it during the day (it starts getting dark from 5:00pm and sometimes earlier). When I saw the Falls and the beautiful lights, I screamed "Omo!" as Nigerians do. I was amazed.
Getting there was smooth. Had to pay about CAD 10 for parking which is approximately $7 USD. I think it could have been a little more expensive if I spent more than 1hour. A lot of parking lots in Canada and the US charge by the hour while some charge a flat or daily or overnight rate to suit different needs.

Back to Niagara Falls. I found that there's a lot of things to do there depending on the season. Several tours, restaurants, hotels, and fun activities. Since I got there around Christmas/New Year, you should expect that there will be fairy lights. Kinda reminded me of a Christmas Light Show I attended sometime. They get really creative with Fairy lights decorations and all.
Too much talk, find pictures below

aycapri:
Nice

Thank you!

NumeroUno7:
Nice one OP... I am glued... Please i'd appreciate if you give pictoral illustrations of your thoughts about Canada. I love to see more of Canada; heard they have this striking similarities with the USA but then we know some things differ about Canada ranging from currency, house structures, streets, environment, development, transport systems, etc

Thank you! Glad you found this thread interesting. Will do. I'll try my best to do some similarity check between some of the states I've visited in the US and the cities I get to visit in Ontario. Will share as many pictures as I can as well.

So far, I've got hold of the CAD 10, 20 and 50 and the textures are like the 5-50 Naira polymers. Currency-wise, 1 USD equals 1.34 CAD (according to Google). Will get on the streets to see how things look and will try to use public transportation to move around.

gaby:
Follow you go where?

Why I go follow you?

Where we dey go and na so you take follow people reach there?

Sorry.

buttlover:
can i call u?

I'm not sure how that works

In Ontario

Finally made it pass the border. It was a pretty straightforward process. The officer checked my documents (Visa in my passport) and asked few questions. You are required to declare any cigarettes and alcohol you have on you. After other checks, I heard "welcome to Canada, enjoy your stay". Mind you, I don't know much about traveling with goods across the border. I just had my luggage with me to avoid long waits.

The first thing I noticed on arrival was the KM/H signs. As I mentioned in my previous post (I think I did), US uses miles. But it wasn't a hassle maintaining the speed limit. While the vehicle's speedometer had a hybrid and analog count, there was a digital feature which I just toggled on with a button and it switched from Miles to KM on my dashboard. I noticed I was driving slower than the US. The most speed limit I saw was about 100KM/H which is about 65 miles per hour. In the US, the most I have seen is 70 miles per hour which in KM/H is approximately 113. Anyway, I had to obey the law.

The second thing I noticed is the road network. Looked pretty much like some freeways (highways) in the US. I was surprised to see the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way) and the picture of the Queen in some Canadian dollars. Anyway, let's see what Canada has in store.

Still enroute Niagara Falls, Ontario...
All seemed to be going well until I noticed my network switched from 5g to LTE and Emergency (I didn't think about roaming). Problem! Plus my battery was almost flat. Thankfully, I found a McDonalds on the route and decided to branch. Got snacks, eased myself, charged up, and connected to the wifi to reroute to Niagara Falls. Time is around 5:30pm and its pretty dark.

Niagara Falls, meet soon!

Decided to do a 'see-snap-and-go' at Broderick Park, Buffalo, NY. I think it is in Niagara Street (named after Niagara Falls). There's a lot of streets in different states across the United States that have the same names.
After a brief sight-seeing and picture-taking, I did the 10-mins drive to Peace Bridge (which is the border between US and Canada at Buffalo, NY). I intend to change some 'change' I have to Canadian dollars and stretch before driving pass to the other side.

As you can tell, it was a long boring drive. Thanks to my Gospel playlist (with Mercy Chinwo, Nathaniel Bassey, Dunsin Oyekan, Ada Ehi, Limoblaze, etc) I did not sleep. Had frequent stops to fill my tank and get food. From the airport, branched to Chick - fil - A to get Waffle Fries and Sandwich and strawberry lemonade (sorry, didn't take pictures of those).

Pictures - on - the -go

Hello Nairaland Fam, hope you are recovering from the 'detty December'.
In the spirit of the new year, follow me on a road trip to Toronto, Ontario in Canada.

Itinerary: Columbus, Ohio - Niagara Falls - Toronto - Brampton - Windsor - Detroit (Michigan) - Columbus, Ohio - Penn State.

I happen to be in Ohio for a few days so I plan to take off from Columbus. The plan is to rent a car for three days (some options include Enterprise, Hertz, Alamo, etc). I think I will settle for Alamo. Got a quote for a mid-size SUV for $345 (does not include insurance) as long as I return at the same location and time as I picked up. If I had opted in for 4 days, I would have been charged a weekly amount. But since it is less than four, I was charged a daily rate which when you add taxes and some other charges adds up to $345.
Gas (fuel): The car's tank will be full on pick up and I'm expected to return it full (except I pay about $54 or so...or a little more or less) and I will not have to worry about returning a full tank. Well, I opted in for returning a full tank.
Insurance: To avoid stories that touch the heart, I will use a rental car insurance company I found online to cover my trip. I will use Bonzah and I got a quote for about $37.

When I decided to embark on this trip, the first thing I did was to map out an itinerary (not necessarily all that will take place in Canada but how to get there by road). I used Google and found several US states that border different parts of Canada. For those in Detroit, Michigan and environs, you can get in through Windsor, Ontario. Those in New York and environs can get in through Buffalo, NY (through the Peace bridge). I think one of the states in New England (comprises Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, etc) borders Montreal, Quebec. Since Pennsylvania is somewhat closer to New York and I was in Ohio at the time, I decided to enter Canada through Buffalo, New York. The plan was to get to Niagara Falls in Ontario first before moving to Toronto. Google said the drive from John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) where I pick up my rental car to Niagara Falls in Ontario is approximately 5hrs 24m (352 miles). Kindly note that Ontario is a province while Toronto is a city. Then, from Niagara Falls to my Hotel in Toronto (Days Inn by Wyndham) is approximately 1hr 35 m (141km). U.S uses miles whereas Canada uses kilometers.

Immigration and Border: As long as you are not a U.S passport holder, you require a visa to enter Canada. When I applied, the turn around time was pretty decent. Thankfully, they no longer require covid-19 testing and quarantine as they did during the peak of the covid-19 pandemic. So, less worries.
Let's hit the road.

Pictures attached were taken at the CMH airport...the car rental section.