After breakfast at a local eatery we duly checked out of our room as we will be allocated a different room for the first two nights of our tour.
Heading off to find the information booth for the city tour we were challenged. There was a lot of activity in and around Dundas Square as people were being encouraged to get out and be active. There was live music and a collection of other things happening in the area. On top of this, quite a few roads were closed to accommodate activities.
We finally managed to locate the city tour booth which was not prominantly marked.
The nearest bus stop for the city tour was a short walk from the square and a bus arrived just after we got to the stop. The bus was crowded. Initially we were downstairs but eventually managed to get seats up the top.
The bus trundled past an array of places. A couple of young people were providing the commentary and managed to keep the information flowing.
The Toronto Bluejays had a match in the early afternoon and fans were flocking to the stadium. There was a convention of what appeared to be Star Wars nuts. There were a lot of people dressed up in costumes.
This reminds me that I forgot one of the most startling things we came across in Boston. The Boston Tattoo Convention was being held at the Sheraton. Many of the participants in this event were revolting and completely over the top. No, we don't have any photos!
When we got down to the waterfront, on Lake Ontario. Here we found live music in an amphitheatre.
We opted to take our included 45 minute harbour cruise, breaking the tour into two parts.
The harbour cruise took us out to the islands just off shore. We were also treated to an aerial display which was part of the weekend activities, it being labour day in Canada, well at least Ontario, this weekend.
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| The islands are a popular destination for the locals |
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| Some of the many boats moared around the islands |
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| Some of the local birdlife |
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| View of part of the city from the harbout with the CNN tower to the right |
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| The CNN Tower |
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| The gold plated Royal Bank of Canada building |
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| The current town hall |
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| The Ontario Parliament building |
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| The Boldt Castle |
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| This structure enclosed a lane making it weatherproof ... great in the harsh Toronto winter |
On Sunday, after finishing a full loop, we headed into the Eaton Centre, a huge shopping complex that connects to the underground walkway system that runs under central Toronto. We picked up a small suitcase so that we could offload some of the gear that we had carried for the hiking part of our trip as well as sorting out Canadian access for my phone. By the time we finished it was getting on towards 5 and we decided to call it quits for the day.
On Monday morning we commence the first full day with our tour group. This included a city tour and covered different territory to that of the hop on hop off city tour that we had done on the previous day.
Like Sunday, the holiday weekend provided some challenges for the tour. There was a street parade being organised in the centre of the city with some roads closed off and others filled with people. There were floats with bands belting out music and people dressed in t-shirts identifiy the group (union) they belonged to.
We were dropped back at our hotel at the end of the morning tour and the afternoon was free for us to do whatever we chose. Trevor and I decided to head out into the suburbs. On weekends and public holidays the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission, the organisation which runs the public transport) offers a two for the price of one day pass. A bargain. With the pass in hand we headed off intending to visit a site at the end of the line that a couple on our tour raved about. It wasn't there but, not to worry, we got the train back to High Park which was really our primary objective for the afternoon.
High Park was being well used by the locals.
We walked along the ravine and eventually came out of the park and onto the lake shore which was crowded with people.
By this time the low cloud, or smog/fog, that had been hanging around all morning had lifted and the day was warm and sunny.
We soon discovered why there were so many people down around the edge of the lake. There was another aerial display. This time we did manage to get photos of the planes and they performed for the watching crowd.
We continued to walk along the lake shore and back to the Eaton Chelsea, where we were staying. It was a 13km walk from the High Park station back into town.
Some impressions of Toronto.
Tall buildings are the name of the game. Clusters of sky scrappers dot the landscape. This does have some benefits as there is considerable green space around and between the clusters.
Along with the subway (train) system, the TTC also runs buses and trams. New trams were added over the weekend. Here is one of the trains although not one of the new ones.
There are loads of cycle lanes throughout the city, too.
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