City Sightseeing

As promised a blog about my sightseeing experiences in Toronto itself. Since I had only two days left in Toronto, I thought it would be best to do a Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour. Such tours usually give you lots of information in a limited amount of time. I was lucky to find a decently priced City Tour which also included a free boat tour.

This is what I did and liked:

- The Tour Guides: All the Tour Guides of CitySightseeing (hopped-on and off quite a lot, so had quite a few different Guides) were very competent and enthusiastic. I should probably have done the Niagara Falls Tour with this Company as well. But that is just an afterthought.

- Distillery District: I had actually planned to do a walking tour through the Distillery District, but the tour was all booked. Actually sort of glad it was. Even though I liked walking through the Distillery District, I did not find it truly special (worth of a $20 dollar walking tour that is).

- Flatiron Building: Toronto has one of its own, which is actually older (but smaller) than the Flatiron Building in New York.

- Old City Hall and New City Hall: old-fashioned versus new school architecture. Have to say that I prefer Old City Hall, although the shape of New City Hall was indeed very interesting.

- Trees: Toronto has a lot of trees (and it does have quite a few parcs as well). The trees are, now it is becoming fall, assuming all different kinds of colors. There were also quite a few squirrels around (grey, black, brown colored ones). Nice.

- Eaton Center: said to be the biggest Urban Mall in the world. Very nice indeed, so many different kinds of shops and restaurants. I did not buy anything, since I have decided not to fill my suitcase up anymore. Until I reach the Big Apple that is :D.

- Dundas Square: Toronto's version of Times Square. Although I prefer Times Square (and New York), this is a nice alternative.

- Chinatown: Toronto has a huge Chinese population and that shows. I found Chinatown rather charming with all its cute shops (sometimes I had no clue what they were selling, my Chinese is not that good lol) and its grocery stores. Nice plus is that the food at Chinese grocery stores is usually very decently priced. I actually bought some groceries for my train trip to New York tomorrow: strawberries (have already tasted a couple, delicious), yoghurt, ice tea and some cookies.

- Boat Tour and CN Tower: The Boat Tour offered an absolutely beautiful view of both the Toronto skyline and the Toronto Islands. There is a small airport located between Downtown Toronto and the Toronto Islands. An airplane actually flew right over our heads when our boat was making its way to the Islands.

From the Boat Tour I went straight to the CN Tower. Fortunately the elevator takes you up to the Observation Deck in about 58 seconds. I don't like elevators with glass windows, makes me feel very vulnerable (this elevator also seemed to be moving around a bit, brr). View from the CN Tower was wonderful of course, especially since the sun had started to go down. Braced myself and walked over the glass floor as well.

I am glad that I decided to do both the Boat Tour and the CN Tower yesterday, when the skies were clear and the temperature was perfect. Today it was cloudy and colder.

- Hockey Hall of Fame: I love sports and Canadians love Ice Hockey, so I thought this would be the place for me to go museum wise. I apparently know more about ice hockey than I originally thought. Quite a few Hall of Fame players sounded at least a little familiar. And no, Wayne Gretzky was not the only name that I recognized ;). I liked seeing the Stanley Cup and all the different hockey shirts and memorabilia. Very clever was the interactive arena. In the interactive arena, visitors could perform as goalies or players against computerized opponents. I tried to be a goalie and a player, both times I sucked! I am much better at Field Hockey :). I hoped that I would do better playing Ice Hockey on a Wii, which was also present in the interactive arena. But I unfortunately sucked at that as well.

- Tim Horton's: offers a delicious Ice Cappucinno as I found out today. Tim Horton's is a cheaper alternative to Starbucks. Will go to Starbucks again of course, but not until I get to New York :D.

- Walking: very happy with my Wildebeest running shoes. Did quite a lot of walking yesterday and especially today.

- Running: went running yesterday and today. Nice to run along the harbor front. Not so nice that there are cracks in the sidewalks. Did not really notice that when I started running yesterday. But then, when I had only ran for six minutes or so, BOOM!! There I went again (also took a nice dive last April in Calpe, Spain), but I was able to brace myself for impact. Glad to know that my reflexes in good order. No harm done. I paid much more attention to the sidewalks and the road from then on. No more tripping fortunately.

Now I have to start packing my suitcase. I will be leaving for New York tomorrow (early) morning. Long train ride, but a scenic train ride as well I suppose!! Alas the weather in NYC is not going to be great. Wednesday should be sunny. But Thursday and Friday will probably be marred by rain and wind. I am glad that I have 1.5 week of good weather behind me. The weather in KC was absolutely wonderful. The weather in Toronto and Niagara Falls, Saturday and Sunday, was good too.

My next blog will be from New York City!! :D My sixth time in the Big Apple....looking forward to it once again!!