Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Canada & Mexico 2011
"Just like New York ..."
... "only clean, friendly and safe!" I'd heard that description of Toronto many times and it flashed through my mind again as I lay in bed pondering the planned programme for my first full day in the city since 1989. It was 6am. If that sounds like a ridiculously early hour to be awake while on holiday, please bear in mind that I had just been asleep for nearly eleven hours! I had breakfast in the top-floor Executive Lounge. The buffet was fairly well presented, but struck me as lacking in content, especially coming immediately after my two European stays. There were no cold meats or cheeses (apart from portions of Philadelphia cheese spread) and the only hot items were unattractive-looking scrambled egg and porridge. I ate what I could, checked my emails on the lounge computer, and was ready to hit the streets by 0815!
As I ventured outside, it was cold and raining lightly. I briefly revisited Old City Hall and this time also New City Hall, which I'd somehow managed to miss altogether in the previous day's heavy rain.
I walked to Union Station and tried (and failed
) to locate the Avis office that I would need to visit in two days
time. Temporarily giving up on that particular quest, I took the
Skywalk covered passage to the CN Tower - probably the city's
best known landmark and the only one that I remembered clearly from
my one previous visit all those years ago. The tower was built on
railway land in 1976 by the Canadian National Railway Company. At
the time it was the tallest free-standing structure in the world. (It doesn't qualify as a building.) I bought a basic
ticket, which included both observation levels in the main section of the tower;
anything else seemed like senseless extravagance in the prevailing
weather conditions. I managed to get some photos despite the rain
and murky conditions, including a few of me standing on the infamous
glass-floor section.
I had a mid-morning coffee and cookie at the tower base before leaving to take a look at some vintage locomotives that were on display across the street.
Having seen enough, I returned to Union Station and took the subway to Museum Station, initially with the intention of taking a second look at Queen's Park. Despite the onset of some heavy rain, I decided on a whim to take a wander through the University campus and was surprised at how interesting it turned out to be. I didn't recall seeing this area mentioned in any of the city guides that I'd consulted.
 ABOVE: Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) |
Eventually, I re-emerged onto normal streets alongside the distinctive shape of the Royal Ontario Museum, better known to locals as ROM. I wandered into the nearby Yorkville neighbourhood in search of some lunch and found a retro-style diner that served a most acceptable brunch-type offering of Eggs Benedict. I then made the lengthy (but attractive) walk through Yorkville streets lined with Victorian villas, in the direction of Casa Loma - a quirky stately home-cum-castle inspired by the original owner's travels through Europe. | BELOW:
Yorkville Fire Station |
I was a little dismayed by the final climb up to the attraction, in view of the amount of walking that I'd already done, but pressed on convinced that it would be worth it. I bought an entry ticket and had a good look around, but only made token use of the audio guide as the commentary really did seem to go on a bit for my liking! After handing back the guide, I decided to have a cup of tea in the cafe before making my way back to base using the subway.
After a chance to relax in my room for a while, I went up to the Executive Lounge for cocktail hour and had a glass of wine and some nibbles. The wine was chargeable and had to be declared on a kind of honesty chit! I had a room service dinner of pizza and cheesecake, washed down with a Molson's Canadian beer, then caught up on TV news. I thought it had been a surprisingly productive day, given the poor weather.