“But isn’t Hamilton like, gross and sketchy?”
I shake my head for what feels like the thousandth time and politely explain that what they are describing is not my Hamilton. I have called Hamilton my home for the past 4 years, and had frequented to the Hamilton Farmers Market and the Hamilton Waterfront Trail since I was a toddler. I will admit I came with some preconceived notions about the city based on my limited experience, but they soon were long since forgotten when I started school here. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves...
In my first year at McMaster, I lived in Whidden Hall residence, which backs onto Cootes Paradise. My roommate and I would take study breaks to go for a hike in our own backyard (literally).
The longer I stayed in Hamilton, the more adventurous I became in my exploring! This is me overlooking one of the 126 waterfalls in Hamilton. I believe I have only visited an embarrassing 8 of them.
To stay active while I’m in school, in addition to taking advantage of our olympic-sized pool, I also enjoy cycling on the Hamilton-Brantford Rail Trail. I was up particularly early one morning and caught the heavy dew evaporating from down in Dundas Valley. The Rail Trail boasts 32km of opportunities like these.
As I write this, I am sitting, enjoying a cup of Fair Trade iced tea in the lovely My Dog Joe coffee shop in Westdale with my fellow blogger Danielle and our friend Larissa (an electrical and biomedical engineering student at McMaster). The Westdale community is the friendly neighbour to the university filled awesome shops including everything from comic book stores to bakeries. It reminds me a lot of one of my other favourite places in Hamilton with a similar atmosphere; Locke Street!
I came to Hamilton with some biases of my own that may have initially held me back from exploring my city. I hope that having read this, and seen some of what my beautiful city has to offer, you will come with an open mind in the fall and discover your Hamilton.
That’s all for now folks!
~Christen
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