Trip to Canada and the US

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旅行の開始
2018年8月23日
Trip to Canada and the US 旅行者
Copenhagen airport
2018年8月23日, デンマーク ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
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Trip to Canada and the US 旅行者
Amsterdam airport
2018年8月23日, オランダ ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
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Trip to Canada and the US 旅行者

In the air
2018年8月23日, アメリカ ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
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Wizard World Chicago Day 1
2018年8月23日, アメリカ ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
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Rosemont Day 1
2018年8月23日, アメリカ ⋅ 🌙 22 °C
So my 14th (!) trip to the US started with a flight to Amsterdam where I had a short layover before heading to Chicago. The flight to Amsterdam was short and sweet, and I didn’t have much of a wait in Amsterdam before the second leg of the journey.

The big ol’ 747-400 jumbo jet is always impressive, and KLM is a really great airline. Even in economy, I thought the food and service was exceptionally good. The entertainment system screen was a bit on the small side, but among other things I watched an 80s comedy, and a brand new remake of it right after. Of course, I also watched a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a long haul flight that didn’t have that show in their entertainment portfolio.

After a flight of about 9 hours, we got into Chicago on time. It’s a very busy airport though so it took quite a while to get through immigration etc. Always my least fav part of visiting the US.

When finally getting out of the airport, I eventually boarded the train for just one stop to Rosemont where I’m staying for the night. It’s about an hour outside the city, but I got a great view of the skyline when approaching the airport.

I’ve been to Chicago one time before and this time around I won’t be able to make it there since I’m going to the next destination - Indianapolis - already tomorrow afternoon. Chicago is basically just a stop on the way there.

Rosemont is the host of a major four day comic con called Wizard World. I was also here two years ago, when they had a really cool guest lineup. This year it’s quite dull sadly, but I figured I could stop by on my way to Indianapolis.

Wizard World opened at 4 pm today which was around the time I arrived at my hotel, just across the venue. I was there for a couple of hours, checking out the many stalls and traders. There were also some interesting picture cars from Jurassic Park, Batman and other movies. Before leaving for the night I visited a panel about the ‘best worst movies’! Pretty amusing. The con was not busy today at all so it was easy to browse and get a feel for it.

After the con I had dinner at a nice steak house that is connected with my hotel. A table with eight diners close to mine had apparently ordered way too much cake so they gave me their remaining cake... and it turned out to be a HUGE piece that could have fed the whole restaurant!

A long day of travelling, concluded with a taste of comic con and steak! (and cake)もっと詳しく
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HorrorHound Day 1
2018年8月24日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
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Rosemont Day 2 & Indianapolis
2018年8月24日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
Good first day!

Wizard World didn’t open until noon today and there wasn’t much to do before then, except grab some breakfast and relax. Once I got to the con again, I only had one mission for the day: meet Ernie Hudson! He’s best known for his part in Ghostbusters, even though he’s got more than 250 acting credits to his name. I met Dan Aykroyd a few years ago, so it was great to meet another Ghostbuster since it’s always been one of my fav movies. Unfortunately I had very limited time at the con, as I had to catch a flight to Indianapolis in the afternoon, and Earnie showed up more than an hour late for his autograph session. I was happy I got to meet him though and talk a little bit about the movie.

After leaving Wizard World, I raced to the airport in a taxi and just got to the gate when they started boarding. Phew. Pretty stressful. I had a First Class ticket for the trip, in seat 1A no less, but it only took about half an hour to fly to Indianapolis, so the First Class Experience as it were was rather brief.

Once I got to my hotel in Indianapolis, the very luxurious Conrad, I left to visit another luxurious hotel - the JW Marriott which is the host hotel of HorrorHound, my second comic con in as many days. As the name suggests, this particular con is mostly focused on the horror genre.

My first panel didn’t really fit into that genre, however, but it was one I had really looked forward to: Cobra Kai. Almost 35 years ago, the original Karate Kid was released. One of the big classics of the 80s and a really great movie. This year they released a spin-off TV show (Cobra Kai) with the same characters from the movie, focused mainly on William Zabka’s character, Johnny. Zabka was at the panel along with Martin Kove who played his sensei Kreese in the original movie, and who will return in the next season of Cobra Kai.

I really liked the original movies, and I think the new show is amazing, so it was a lot of fun and very interesting to watch the panel. I got a great spot in the front row, and even worked up the courage to ask a question. I ended up asking about their experience working with Pat Morita, who played the legendary Mr. Miyagi. They shared some funny and warm stories about the late actor.

The next panel was focused on an old horror classic, Evil Dead II! I barely remember watching the movie, but I wanted to see the main star of the film, and a bit of a cult legend - Bruce Campbell! I’ve seen him twice before, but he is always very entertaining and tonight was no disappointment.

More HorrorHound tomorrow!もっと詳しく
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Wizard World Chicago Day 2
2018年8月24日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
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HorrorHound Day 2
2018年8月25日, アメリカ ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Fun day at HorrorHound! After a short walk around the show floor, I attended a Billy Zane panel. He has done a lot of different parts over the years, but he is probably best known for portraying the villain in Titanic (not the iceberg). His panel was quite fun and interesting. He also talked briefly about his first acting job in Back To The Future II! Not a bad way to start out, even though it was a small part.

I also visited a panel for A Nightmare on Elm Street. Several actors from the franchise were there, including Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund. He is possibly the biggest name in the horror genre and definitely the most popular guest at this con. While I’m not a huge fan of the Freddy films, I really like Englund and it was great to hear some stories from the set.

Another horror legend is Kane Hodder, who played Jason in some of the Friday the 13th films. He introduced a new documentary about himself, and then conducted a very fascinating Q&A. Aside from his stint as the iconic Jason Voorhees, Hodder has worked on a ton of other films in various capacities. Great guy.

Speaking of Friday the 13th, I saw a screening of Never Hike Alone - a fan film that uses the Jason character and the location of the original film. It was actually very well done.

My personal highlight of the day was getting a photo with none other than Kiefer Sutherland! He’s done so much amazing work over the years, most recently as the President in Designated Survivor. This was his first con appearance and the main reason I decided to go to Indianapolis - of all places!

I also met the Cobra Kai guys to get autographs, as well as another acting legend - Lou Diamond Phillips! He was very nice and pleasant, and gave hugs to everyone. He was in the same room as Kiefer, his old friend from Young Guns.

Finally, I met Judge Reinhold - another 80s star who, of course, played Billy Rosewood in Beverly Hills Cop! He was super nice and he was very fond of my Pearl Jam tshirt.

After a long day at the con, I had dinner at the local Hard Rock which is a bit of a holiday tradition by now. Funnily I ran into Lou Diamond Phillips at my hotel when I got back.

I look forward to another HorrorHound day tomorrow!もっと詳しく
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Indianapolis
2018年8月26日, アメリカ ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
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HorrorHound Day 3
2018年8月26日, アメリカ ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Last day at HorrorHound!

I started out the day by meeting Kiefer Sutherland again, this time for an autograph. We spoke briefly about the brilliant show Designated Survivor, where he plays the US President. He mentioned that they were still working on something for the show even though it was officially cancelled earlier this year. Good news! 😀

After Kiefer, I went to see Shannen Doherty for an autograph. I grew up watching Beverly Hills 90210 where she played one of the main characters. She was super nice and even gave me a hug! When I was a kid watching that show on TV every week, I probably didn’t expect I would get a hug from Brenda Walsh almost thirty years later 😂

Shortly after, Shannen did an hour-long panel about her career which was very interesting, fun and moving. She has been going through a long battle with cancer and was clearly very grateful to be out and enjoying life. I got a photo with her a little later in the day which was also a nice experience. Just a lovely person.

At some point over the afternoon, I met Billy Zane for an autograph and got a photo with the two guys from The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai. Another moment that the childhood me would never have imagined happening so many years later! Also, they have basically not aged since the movie came out in ‘84.

I didn’t have much planned today, so I attended a panel for a movie called 31. Since I haven’t seen that movie it was difficult to follow, but there were some cool behind the set stories. The actors from that movie were a bit nuts though!

It was my first time at this convention, but I really enjoyed it and hope to return sometime.

After leaving the con, I went for a short walk around the city. It was a bit too hot to stay outside for too long though and there isn’t a long list of things to do here, it seems. Instead I ended up getting lunch/dinner at an Italian restaurant. I got three courses, ice water and a big loaf of bread for 12 bucks! That’s a hell of a deal. The food and service was really good too.

Tomorrow.. Canada! 🇨🇦もっと詳しく
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Downtown Toronto
2018年8月27日, カナダ ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
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Ripley's Aquarium of Canada
2018年8月27日, カナダ ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
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Toronto Day 1
2018年8月27日, カナダ ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
I left Indianapolis early this morning for my short flight to Toronto. After getting into Canada, I boarded a train for downtown. It was pretty quick and easy.

Once I got to my hotel, I went around Downtown for a walk to explore a bit. I eventually found myself at the ultimate Toronto landmark, CN Tower. It was fairly overcast today so I figured it wasn’t the best time to experience the view from up there. Instead, I visited Ripley’s Aquarium which promises more than 20,000 aquatic animals (there were roughly as many people there!) Definitely a very impressive aquarium with lots to see.

When I got back to the hotel, I hung out by the pool for a while, and did some research on what the city has to offer.

Once the evening started, I did another walk to reach Dundas Square, which sort of has a Times Square feel to it, albeit on a small scale. There was also a mall where I had a Canadian specialty for dinner - Poutine! It’s basically fries, cheese and thick gravy. It sounds and looks yucky, but it was kind of tasty. I also had a ShakeSlush - a shake/slushie combo! Not bad.もっと詳しく
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CN Tower by night
2018年8月27日, カナダ ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
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Trip to Canada and the US 旅行者

View from CN Tower
2018年8月28日, カナダ ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
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Toronto Day 2
2018年8月28日, カナダ ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Hot day in the city! Even after 10pm at night it was over 25 degrees. Much more pleasant in the evening to walk around though.

So after checking out from my hotel in the morning, I went on one of those “hop on/hop off” bus tours that most major cities offer. It’s a good way to get around the city and see some of the main areas and sights. We did indeed see some interesting neighborhoods and attractions along the way. For example Casa Loma - a huge gothic mansion with 98 rooms, including 30 bathrooms! It is possible to get inside which would be fun to try sometime.

We also passed by some of the museums in Toronto, such as the Bata Shoe Museum which has a collection of over 13,000 shoes. Crazy.

I eventually got off the bus at the waterfront to get on a free boat ride that was included with the tour. The boat trip provided a great view of the skyline and a peak at some of the islands that are part of the city.

After getting back on dry land I finished the remaining few stops of the bus tour, and visited CF Toronto Eaton Centre - a huge shopping mall with over 200 stores. Apparently they get 50 million visitors a year. Not bad. I’m not much of a shopper but I had some lunch there and went window shopping at least.

In the afternoon I checked into my second hotel, the lovely Fairmont. Before getting too settled though, I left to return to CN Tower. It’s a bit of a tourist trap but one of those things you have to do when in Toronto. And the view was pretty good from up there! It was fun to visit this Canadian landmark.

I had dinner at a sports bar close to the tower. They played Nirvana, so I must have picked the right place! 🤘 Food was good too. Since I was in the entertainment district I walked around for a bit to check it out. Pretty cool area. The city is preparing for TiFF - Toronto International Film Festival that begins next week, and is one of the biggest in the world.

Speaking of films, I finished the evening by watching the latest Ant-Man at a local movie theatre. It’s the 20th entry in the very successful Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was very entertaining, and it made sense to watch it now since I’ll be meeting the star of the film, Evangeline Lilly, in just a couple of days!もっと詳しく
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Niagara-on-the-lake
2018年8月29日, カナダ ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
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Niagara Falls - Part 1
2018年8月29日, カナダ ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
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Niagara Falls - Part 2
2018年8月29日, カナダ ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
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Toronto Day 3
2018年8月29日, カナダ ⋅ 🌧 24 °C
Another hot day in Canada! This time I wasn’t in Toronto very much though. In the morning I left the city for a day trip to the Niagara region. It was a guided bus tour that made a few stops along the way.

We first visited Niagara-on-the-lake which is a cozy little town with small, cute shops, restaurants and some charming hotels. There was also a nice view of the water from an old fort.

Later we stopped by the smallest chapel in the world, and before getting to Niagara we went to a winery for a tasting. We tried a red wine, a white and an icewine! The latter is something I haven’t tried before but it was very tasty.

Eventually we made it out to Niagara Falls, an incredible natural wonder that I’ve always wanted to see. When we first got there, we all went on a boat ride which gets very close to the falls. We were instructed to put on a poncho - something I thought was probably not necessary. I was wrong. As we got close to the biggest of the falls, we were completely drenched with water! One of the craziest things I’ve tried, but also very fun! It was pretty remarkable to be that close to the falls.

Afterwards I walked around the whole area for some good photo ops, and just to see everything.

For lunch I went to the Rainforest Cafe, a rather peculiar place with animatronic animals, like gorillas and elephants, and jungle-like sounds.

I also stopped by the local Hard Rock Café for another magnet to my collection!

As it turns out, Niagara is an entertainment hub with lots of attractions close to the falls. Aside from hotels, casinos and many dining options there is also a sort of amusement park, with rides, arcades, haunted houses, museums and much more. Lots of things to do! Sadly I didn’t have enough time to try things since my tour bus was heading back to the city. But overall a great day in Niagara Falls!もっと詳しく
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Toronto Day 4
2018年8月30日, カナダ ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
After checking out of my hotel this morning, I got on the metro for the first time to visit Ontario Science Museum. It’s located quite a trek from the Downtown area where I’ve spent most of my time. Getting there involved a train and two busses which ended up taking forever, especially since there was massive construction along most of the bus route.

The museum itself wasn’t too exciting, honestly. The exhibits were dull and not too much to explore. At least there was an Omnimax theater which was quite impressive. I watched a movie about evolution, essentially. It sounds as boring as the museum but it was actually pretty good and it approached Darwinism in a straightforward way.

After choosing a different - and thankfully much faster - route Downtown it was time to check into my final hotel of this trip, InterContinental Toronto Centre. The hotel is connected directly with the Metro Toronto Convention Centre where Fan Expo is held. More on that in my next post...もっと詳しく
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Fan Expo Day 1
2018年8月30日, カナダ ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
This afternoon, Fan Expo Canada started - one of the biggest comic cons/pop culture events in North America. It’s held at a big convention center where it occupies quite a lot of space. Just walking between the two main buildings takes a while!

Nevertheless, I spent a few hours walking the convention floor, browsing the many stalls and points of interest. It’s definitely one of the bigger cons I’ve attended.

My first panel was focused on Power Rangers, featuring Jason David Frank and Amy Jo Johnson. I’ve never actually watched the show, however I really like Amy’s work on other stuff which was my main reason for joining the panel. I also had a photo with her afterwards.

Tomorrow will be the first full day of Fan Expo, where the highlight is an evening with the cast of Back to the Future! 😀もっと詳しく
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Fan Expo Day 2
2018年8月31日, カナダ ⋅ 🌙 19 °C
Another day of pop culture! I started with a panel featuring Robin Lord Taylor who plays The Penguin on the TV show, Gotham. I haven’t watched it for a while, but I like the whole Batman universe and have been meaning to get into this show. Robin was really great and he is so invested in the show and his character, which was cool to see. He mentioned they are currently about half-way shooting the final season, and he had been on the set just the day before arriving at the con.

I also went to a panel with Karen Gillan whom I recently saw in the Jumanji remake where she was great. She’s also in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, playing a character in Guardians of the Galaxy and most recently in the latest Avengers movie, which is one of the highest grossing movies ever with over 2 billion dollars in earnings! She seemed very down to earth though and it was interesting to hear about her career. I got a photo op with her a short time after the panel.

Another acress I got a photo with today is the amazing Evangeline Lilly. Best known as Kate on Lost, one of my fav shows. She was also in the new Ant Man film that I watched the other day. I also got an autograph from her, and a preview of a book she wrote recently. I look forward to her panel tomorrow!

Speaking of panels, my second day at Fan Expo concluded with “An Evening with the cast of Back To The Future”. It featured the four main cast members: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Biff himself, Thomas F. Wilson. I’ve met all of them before but it’s the first time I’ve seen all of them together. I think it’s only the second time they have all reunited at a con (the first was a few weeks ago in Boston for a different Fan Expo). Anyway, the panel was great. I’ve always loved those movies so it’s quite special to sit a few feet from the cast members as they talk about their experiences working on them over 30 years ago. Especially Lea became emotional talking about the love and appreciation they get from fans all these years later.

After the panel (which was a bit on the short side unfortunately), I had a very nice dinner at a local steak house.もっと詳しく
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Fan Expo Day 3
2018年9月1日, カナダ ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Long day! I went to the convention around the time the doors opened. Apparently some 130,000 people visit this convention over the weekend, and Saturday is the busiest day, so it was very crowded indeed!

I did manage to get into my first panel of the day with the lovely Lea Thompson. She’s had a long career in film and TV, although today she is mainly directing. It was interesting to learn more about her career, and of course hear some stories from Back To The Future where she was Marty’s mom Lorraine.

Another panel that I wanted to see was with the legendary William Shatner. Sadly it was at the same time as the Lea one. Tough choice. I did meet Shatner for a quick autograph a little later though. Of course, most people know him as Captain Kirk from Star Trek. I’m more a Boston Legal fan though, where he played one of the leads.

I was also at a panel with the aforementioned Evangeline Lilly. She was mostly here to promote her book, so they talked a lot about that. But there were a few moments about Lost and Ant-Man too.

The highlight of the day, or the whole trip rather, was a photo with the cast of Back To The Future. As mentioned it’s only the second time the four main cast members have reunited in almost thirty years, and who knows when it may happen again. It was definitely a once in a lifetime moment, and it was over in seconds! But I’m happy with the photo and the very unique experience.

Later, I attended a screening of the first episode of the Charmed reboot. It doesn’t air anywhere until mid-October, I believe. It was okay, but I think I will stick with the original (starring Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs - both of whom I saw last week!)

They also showed a clip of the upcoming season of Supergirl, and a peak at Legacies - the next chapter following The Vampire Diaries and The Originals.

After walking the main show floor for a while, I went to “Emily Strikes Back” - a live play about fandom. It was actually not bad, and had an amusing ending.

A long day was capped with an amazing dinner at Montecito, a popular restaurant in the entertainment district. Last day of the trip tomorrow! 😩もっと詳しく
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