I arrived in Toronto and checked into the hostel, which wasn’t a 5 minute walk from the bus terminal as it said in the blurb, but it is fairly central. Though in a not so nice area of Toronto, in fact it’s one of the places ‘that should be avoided at night’ and ‘isn’t so great during the day’ according to the Lonely Planet. And they’re right. This is due to the Social Services having closed a number of centres in the city and the help isn’t here for people, so they congregate in this area where there are some shelters and centres left. It doesn’t feel unsafe so much as being just full of homeless people, a lot who are mentally ill. It didn’t help reading an article that the area is where there is gun violence, crack dealers etc, not that I’ve seen any of that and a local told me not to believe everything I read!
On my first night in Toronto, I headed out into the city with another girl from the hostel in search of a bar - she needed cheering up! We ended up in an Irish bar and my first alcoholic drink in Canada was a Caffrey’s, nothing like trying the local brew. Though there are a lot of Irish here, so much so that some Canadians have a slight Irish accent.
Toronto is famous for being on Lake Ontario and the CN Tower. It’s famous for other things, but they’re the main tourist points. So on my first whole day I decided to do the CN Tower. It wasn’t raining and the sky was relatively clear, so I thought the view would be OK, especially not knowing what the weather would be like for the rest of the week. The CN Tower is the highest freestanding tower in the world, a record they expected to be broken within a few years of being built, but 30 years later it’s still the tallest.
Toronto is famous for being on Lake Ontario and the CN Tower. It’s famous for other things, but they’re the main tourist points. So on my first whole day I decided to do the CN Tower. It wasn’t raining and the sky was relatively clear, so I thought the view would be OK, especially not knowing what the weather would be like for the rest of the week. The CN Tower is the highest freestanding tower in the world, a record they expected to be broken within a few years of being built, but 30 years later it’s still the tallest.
I purchased ‘The Total Tower’ ticket, mainly because it allowed me to go to the highest point, the Skypod. But it also allowed me to go see the film on building the CN Tower and the simulator for Himalamazon. Even after seeing the intro film and being in the simulator for Himalamazon, I’m still not really sure what it was about and what connection it had to the CN Tower. Anyway, up the tower in the lift I went to the main observation deck which is inside, the view wasn’t great, I certainly couldn’t see the other side of the lake, but most of Toronto was visible, the next deck up is outside, though covered in mesh to stop people dropping things and jumping I guess. Then it was up, in another lift, to the Skypod, the highest point in the tower that visitors can go to. By this stage the weather was clearing somewhat and the view was better. Unfortunately there were no maps on any of the decks so you could work out what you are seeing. These maps are very useful, especially in a city that doesn’t have lots of really famous landmarks for the foreign visitor. But with my free map, I think I worked out where most things were and located my next stop, the Toronto Music Gardens, which didn’t look too far away from 447 metres above the ground.
After the Skypod, it was the glass floor (it was packed when I first went to it) this is on the first observation deck and is a glass floor which visitors can walk across, or even jump on (as the staff encourage you to do). It took me a few goes to summon up the nerve to walk across the glass - I have no problem with heights, just with floors that are transparent or are metal grates - and take photos. Then, following the lead of others, I led down on the glass and another tourist took a photo of me, admittedly I did lie near the edge.
After the Skypod, it was the glass floor (it was packed when I first went to it) this is on the first observation deck and is a glass floor which visitors can walk across, or even jump on (as the staff encourage you to do). It took me a few goes to summon up the nerve to walk across the glass - I have no problem with heights, just with floors that are transparent or are metal grates - and take photos. Then, following the lead of others, I led down on the glass and another tourist took a photo of me, admittedly I did lie near the edge.
Once I had finished with all the wonderful extras that came with my ticket and escaped the gift shop, it was off to the Harbourfront. Much of this has recently been redeveloped to encourage people to use it. I headed towards the greener part of the front, in search of the Music Gardens, which were designed in collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma to reflect Bach’s suite No 1 for unaccompanied Cello, through landscape. Unfortunately the place to hire the music was shut, I didn’t have the music on my mp3 player. But it was a wonderfully quiet and peaceful garden, even as the rain fell down. There is also the Spadina Wetlands, an old car park turned into a wildlife area to encourage the natural wildlife to return to the area, not that there was anything exciting around on that day, just pigeons, I guess they were hiding from the rain?! Carrying along the front, I came to various newly renovated quays, housing shopping centres, bars, restaurants, theatre etc.
The rain allowed me the excuse to try a Canadian institution: Tim Horton’s. It’s a coffee shop with lots of doughnuts, muffins etc. It would have been rude of me not to try a doughnut, so I had the Maple Cream - a very sweet doughnut, but the mapleness of it made it a proper Canadian doughnut. Then suitably refreshed, well dried out for a bit it was the trudge back to the hostel.
The rain allowed me the excuse to try a Canadian institution: Tim Horton’s. It’s a coffee shop with lots of doughnuts, muffins etc. It would have been rude of me not to try a doughnut, so I had the Maple Cream - a very sweet doughnut, but the mapleness of it made it a proper Canadian doughnut. Then suitably refreshed, well dried out for a bit it was the trudge back to the hostel.
Day three was a long walk (the blisters make it feel like I’m walking twice the distance) to Chinatown and Kensington Market district of Toronto. The market is hyped as being a hippie area with lots of cool shops, cafes etc, but it just seemed shut - that is if I found the right part or I was too early in the day for it to get going. Chinatown was busy though, lots of shops selling everything from fans to dried mushrooms and foot massages! Again, I’m not sure if I found the centre, but it seemed to be radiating from one of the main Toronto streets and no real centre - I couldn’t find what I would consider to be a proper Chinatown bit, with an arch and garden, but that could be just a coincidence in the other Chinatowns I’ve been too.
The blisters made me take a streetcar (a tram) to the other side of town and another market, this one indoors. Once I’d worked out where the streetcar stops were and that the tiny sign on the lampposts denoted a stop, they’re easy to catch, it’s just finding the secret signs for the stops. St Lawrence Market is in the Old York part of Toronto, it’s oldest part and it’s very pretty with lots of buildings having been renovated. The market is great, lots of different food stalls, selling everything even giant crab legs - if the legs are that big, I would hate to see the size of a complete crab! People can also buy take away food from the stalls, so it’s a good option for quick, tasty food and seemed very popular with locals.
My last day it was forecast to rain, so decided on a couple of places that would be mainly indoors so I could keep dry and warm. First off it was the Distillery District, this is a 13 acre site that has been designed as an artists' area, with boutiques, galleries, cafes, restaurants and bars. It was a complete distillery complex, with malt houses, kilns, warehouses and offices in the 1800’s. It has now been renovated and looks very impressive, with massive redbrick buildings, many with original features and dotted around the area are various works of art. I could imagine on a summer’s afternoon it would be packed, especially the bars - apparently there’s a beer garden, but I couldn’t find it!
My last day it was forecast to rain, so decided on a couple of places that would be mainly indoors so I could keep dry and warm. First off it was the Distillery District, this is a 13 acre site that has been designed as an artists' area, with boutiques, galleries, cafes, restaurants and bars. It was a complete distillery complex, with malt houses, kilns, warehouses and offices in the 1800’s. It has now been renovated and looks very impressive, with massive redbrick buildings, many with original features and dotted around the area are various works of art. I could imagine on a summer’s afternoon it would be packed, especially the bars - apparently there’s a beer garden, but I couldn’t find it!
Casa Loma was my next destination, a castle built by a very wealthy Canadian who was obsessed with Britain and the Middle Ages. It is completely over the top from the outside, inside it looks a bit more normal, except the baronial hall - a bit large for someone’s home. It was very modern for the times it was built in (1909) it has the first lift in Canada, called Otis 1 and there are sockets everywhere so they could easily vacuum the place. It also had phones in virtually every room, sometimes the Toronto switchboard would handle more calls within Casa Loma than the whole of Toronto. Of course I had to climb the tower for the views, which were better than those from the CN tower, but that’s down to the weather rather than the height of the tower. Casa Loma isn’t quite finished, the owner was bankrupted by the evil machinations of the Toronto tax people, so lost his fortune (it was the depression as well, but the taxes he was charged was the end for him), he had to sell the castle and it’s contents to cover his debts.
Next stop: Kingston
Next stop: Kingston
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