Windsor - what is it!

I arrivied in Windsor after having been on the road from Toronto in just over 3 1/2-hours. I had only stopped once on the way to get some casoline and I was quite satisfied because the weather was great and I had managed to find a radio station in the car that I had enjoyed listening to and there were not many of those. Windsor suddenly popped up after having driven in flat farmland since 50 kilometers outside Toronto.

I had booked a hotel in the city center and Holiday Inn Downtown Windsor was actually situated downtown Windsor; I have often driven to hotels that I thought was situated somewhere that their name relates to, just to find out that the name is a marketing stunt; but luckily it was not like that in this case.

I headed straight for the roof parking only to find out that I could not enter before I had registered both me and the car at the reception. Next to the entrance to the roof parking there were two parking spaces for quick registration that I had missed and I saw that so did others as well during my stay the hotel. I entered the hotel via the back door and headed for the reception. The girl in there was friendly but very busy; while I tried to register the phones rang constantly with bookings and call transfers.

She found me in the system and I could start my two-day stay in the hotel. I had booked the hotel earlier the same day in search of a downtown stay for a fair price. I would not say it was cheap but no hotels in the city center was; I have no knowledge why but probably due to the close proximity to the casino.

I was given a room on the 7th floor as I had booked a king size room.

I went out and moved my car to the roof parking before the car would be towed away. They had a sign stating that they would do that if the car was standing there more than 5 minutes, which I found was a strange remark, when you are completely dependent on the rapidness of the person working in the reception. The roof parking was a mess; the designer of it probably killed himself after seeing the final result because it was really mediocre; cars and containers and garbage in one mess.

There was an entrance going in to the building and I therefore arrived at my room shortly after. The room was okay not more. I have stayed in many Holiday Inns and this was far from the best. The room was okay but decorated with an old fashion feel to it.

The wallpaper was beige with a soft flower pattern in it. The furniture was dark and the windows were almost covered as I entered. The first thing I did was to remove the curtains to get some light in there.

The bed was nice and a huge king size; just as I wanted and what I always go for in North America. In Europe the hotels definitely could learn something, but a bed like this would hardly fit in some of the Parisian hotel rooms that I had stayed in over the years. There was a working desk in the corner but there was no mini bar in this hotel as well. The bathroom was a bit old fashion but otherwise quite nice.

There was no breakfast in the hotel but there was a restaurant attached to the ground level section where you could have it. The restaurant would also assist if you were in the need of room service.

I did not use this facility but that was what the receptionist told me at the point of check-in.

I later heard that this was a party hotel that people from Detroit that were headed for the casino and down town Windsor used this hotel as a base camp but I must say that I did not hear anything that disturbed me.

One of the first things I did after I arrived was to check up on one of my friends living in Windsor. We decided that we both were hungry and left for the Chanoso’s that actually turned out to be a nice and fast serving restaurant situated in Ouellette Avenue in the inner city and in the same street as my hotel. My friend really liked this place because they serve good spicy food from many different nationalities and in a way that you can combine your favourite tastes by choosing from 100's of combinations of Stir Fries.

I ordered a cold Keith’s beer for drinks, which was a nice lager that I hadn’t tasted before. My starter was a Caesar Salad that turned out to be quite good. The portions were quite large so I decided to take a small one. As a main I took a Stir Frie with meat that tasted quite good too.

The food was good but the waitresses were not the smartest in the world; it happen more than once that we had our food but had no knives or forks, but I would not mind going there again because the food was good. It was nice seeing my friend again and we went out to check to city afterwards.

Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern, Windsor is located to the southeast of Detroit, Michigan in the United States. Windsor is known as The City of Roses, which I never understood why and residents are known as Windsorites something I didnt call any of them.

Prior to European exploration and settlement, the Windsor area was inhabited by the First Nations and Native American people. Windsor was settled by the French Canadians in 1749 as an agricultural settlement. It is the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in Canada west of Montreal. The area was first named Petite Côte (Little Coast - as opposed to the longer coastline on the Detroit side of the river). Later it was called La Côte de Misère (Poverty Coast) because of the sandy soils near LaSalle.

Windsor's French Canadian heritage is reflected in many French street names, such as Ouellette, Pelissier, François, Pierre, Langlois, Marentette, and Lauzon. The current street system of Windsor (a grid with elongated blocks) reflects the Canadien method of agricultural land division, where the farms were long and narrow, fronting along the river.

Today, the north-south street name often indicates the name of the family that at one time farmed the land. The street system of outlying areas is consistent with the British system for granting land concessions. There is a significant French-speaking minority in Windsor and the surrounding area, particularly in the Lakeshore, Tecumseh and LaSalle areas.

In 1794, after the American Revolution, the settlement of Sandwich was founded. It was later renamed to Windsor, after the town in Berkshire, England. The Sandwich neighbourhood on Windsor's west side is home to some of the oldest buildings in the city, including Mackenzie Hall, originally built as the Essex County Courthouse in 1855. Today, this building functions as a community centre. The oldest building in the city is the Duff-Baby House built in 1792.

It is owned by Ontario Heritage Trust and houses government offices. The François Baby House in downtown Windsor was built in 1812 and houses Windsor's Community Museum, dedicated to local history.

The City of Windsor was the site of the Battle of Windsor during the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837. It was also a part of the Patriot War, later that year. Windsor was established as a village in 1854 (the same year the village was connected to the rest of Canada by the Grand Trunk Railway/Canadian National Railway), then became a town in 1858, and ultimately gained city status in 1892.

A fire consumed much of Windsor's downtown core on October 12, 1871, destroying over 100 buildings.

On October 25, 1960, a massive gas explosion destroyed the building housing the Metropolitan Store on Ouellette Avenue.

Ten people were killed and at least one hundred injured. The 45th anniversary of the event was commemorated by the Windsor Star on October 25, 2005. It was featured on History Television's Disasters of the Century.

The Windsor Star Centennial Edition in 1992 covered the city's past, its success as a railway centre, and its contributions to World War I and World War II. It also recalled the naming controversy in 1892 when the town of Windsor aimed to become a city. The most popular names listed in the naming controversy were "South Detroit", "The Ferry" (from the ferries that linked Windsor to Detroit), Windsor, and Richmond (the runner-up in popularity). Windsor was chosen to promote the heritage of new English settlers in the city and to recognize Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England.

However, Richmond was a popular name used until the Second World War, mainly by the local post office.

Sandwich, Ford City and Walkerville were separate legal entities (towns) in their own right until 1935. They are now historic neighbourhoods of Windsor. Ford City was officially incorporated as a village in 1912; it became a town in 1915, and a city in 1929. Walkerville was incorporated as a town in 1890. Sandwich was established in 1817 as a town with no municipal status. It was incorporated as a town in 1858 (the same year as neighbouring Windsor). These three towns were each annexed by Windsor in 1935. The nearby villages of Ojibway and Riverside were incorporated in 1913 and 1921 respectively. Both were annexed by Windsor in 1966.

The Weather Network has designated Windsor as the smog capital of Canada.

Windsor's Citizens Environment Alliance holds a yearly art event entitled Smogfest to raise awareness of air quality issues. A 2001 article in Environmental Health Perspectives stated that the rates of mortality, morbidity as hospitalizations, and congenital anomalies in the Windsor Area of Concern ranked among the highest of the 17 Areas of Concern on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes for selected end points that might be related to pollution.