The end of an amazing 4 months in Toronto!

Shannon here, checking in after the amazing 4 months I've spent studying in Toronto. This experience has been a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and I wouldn't change any of it if I had the chance. Since being back home in Ireland, its made me think of how fast the time went by. I've told you about 2 of the 4 months I spent in Toronto and now I'd like to tell you how the last two months went. As our time to returning home home was edging closer and closer, myself and my new friends decided to journey outside of Toronto to Montreal, attended a holiday dinner for all the international students, got a surprise visit from my sister with 5 days to go, journeyed to the top of the CN tower and also the sky-wheel in Niagara falls.


We started off November with a very long car journey to Montreal, our trip didn't start the way we had hoped but with only two days in Montreal we decided to make the most of it. We spent the first day touring the city, looking in local shops and cafes and walking along the waterfront.

 After a long day of sightseeing throughout the city we went to a lookout point where we could see the whole city. Despite it being so cold, it was amazing to be able to see the whole city from one spot.







The next day we spent the day visiting the old Olympic Park which has botanical gardens onsite.











Every year before the holidays the International Center hosts a holiday dinner for all of the International and Exchange students. It's a night to get dressed up and have some fun with the friends you've made along the trip.





With a week to go before my flight home, we had our last few days of classes and exams, also we had the start of our goodbyes to the people we've spent our class-time with and also the lecturers who have taught us over the last 4 months. The lecturers didn't only make it easier to adjust to a different college but they made classes fun and interesting even if we had learned some of the tasks already.





5 days to go and I came home from college to a very nice surprise that Sinead had help organize for me, my sister had flown over to surprise me. It was very unexpected but so nice to see a familiar face from home. With her, I got the chance to see the city again while showing her the sights, you've read about them in my other blogs but the ones I didn't write about was the CN Tower and the Sky-wheel at Niagara Falls. Both sights have amazing views, one of the Toronto city-scape and the other of the Christmas lights and also the lights behind the Falls.



To sum up, the last 4 months have been an experience I will never forget and I urge anyone who has the choice to go to Toronto to do it. Its a very multicultural city with so many amazing tourist activities but also has so many hidden gems around the city also. It was not only Toronto that made me have such an amazing experience but the people I met along the way and also the places we saw. If anyone has any questions or is considering to go to Toronto at any point, feel free to get in touch with me. I look forward to writing about my experience in the Culloden next semester.