I recently returned from my trip to Toronto and realized I haven't blogged about it yet. At the request of a friend I saw on the bus this morning, here is a run down of my four days spent in the east!
SATURDAY February 14th, 2009
We got up at about 5am, dressed in total darkness, ate something small and headed off to the airport! A had given me two roses the night before (having left them on my pillow) and so valentines morning passed with little fanfare. A's dad had left us some chocolates on the kitchen counter which was nice but certainly not appropriate for 5am...we threw them in our bag for later.
We had already checked into our flight online (you can do that sort of thing now!) and so we breezed right through check-in at the airport. My bag was a little heavy (oops) but they didn’t charge me the extra fee which was nice. I have a tendency to over pack but I tried really hard to leave some room this time in the hopes that I would be doing some serious shopping.
We had some Tim Horton’s for breakfast, went through security easily and were boarding our plane in no time! It was still super early and I was still shaking off a sickness that I’d had for about a week now and the pressure in the cabin when we took off was RIDICULOUS for my ears. I had a whooshing sound in my left ear for the entire flight! Here is a picture of A and I on our way!
On the plane they give you some little snacks like Bits’N’Bites and some drinks (pop, coffee, water, juice) whatever you want. But the snacks like sandwiches are expensive! So I watched the movie Highschool Musical and studied for a mid-term I had in my sociology class coming up. We kept to ourselves mostly but talked a little. The flight didn’t feel that long and soon enough we were landing in Toronto!
Once we got off the plane we were both STARVING so we found some food and headed down to the concourse level to find some way to get from the airport to our hotel (it’s about half an hour out of Toronto). A nice man at an information booth told us that we would be able to either take the airport bus for 30 dollars both ways or get a cab for about 40-50 dollars one way. We went for the cab first, but they all quoted us 50-60 dollars one way. So, we ended up buying tickets for a ‘transfer’ bus which goes from the airport to all the major hotels. Because we were staying at the Westin Harbour Castle (which is a fairly well known hotel) we were included in that bus ride. It only took about twenty minutes/half an hour and we arrived at the Westin, pretty tired but also pretty excited.
This is A giving a half yawn, but which really looks like a fierce growl!
The hotel was MAYHEM! There were cars everywhere, people running around and the lobby was PACKED! We checked in and asked the guy why it was so damn busy and he sort of laughed at us and said it was their busiest day of the year: VALENTINES DAY! We had totally forgotten! Anyway, we went up to our room which was REALLY nice but had two double beds (not what we wanted).
We didn’t bother unpacking because the guy at the front desk said we could change to a room with a King bed the next day so we threw on our coats and hats and mittens and headed out into Toronto! We explored until we found the Subway station called UNION STATION. Toronto has an underground subway, which is really convenient and handy, but super expensive! $2.75 just to go ONE WAY with NO TRANSFERS!
This is me in the underground station called ST. PATRICK’S STATION.
We took the train all the way to Chinatown and got off for a walk through Chinatown and through Kensington Market. It was FREEZING out but we didn’t let it get to us! Kensington Market is so lovely. There are old antiques and vintage stores as well as little café’s and cheese stores and bakeries. Most things were closed because it was getting late but we walked around a little and found some places that were open. One was a huge market with clothing and pottery and paintings and all kinds of stuff. A and I tried on some hats:
I found a pair of yellow tights at this market thing that I really liked and said they were 5 dollars, however, when I got them up to the cash register the lady informed me that the price I had read was a mistake and that they were actually 25 dollars. No thanks! We left and decided we were hungry again. Well holy hell did we not plan for what was next…AGAIN we had forgotten it was VALENTINES DAY and every restaurant was PACKED!!!!!!!!!!!!
We tried to get a table at the Keg and the wait was an hour and a half, then we tried this other little cute looking tapas place and the wait was TWO hours. Although at the tapas place, we saw at least ONE table for two tucked away in a little corner and suspected that the lady working the front just didn't think we were dressed up enough to come inside. Lame. Finally we put our name in at a place called Bier Markt. It was an hour wait but we decided it was our last chance. Instead of waiting around, we headed back to the hotel quickly to change and found some neat statues on the way:
I had forgotten my ID also so it was a good thing we went back to the hotel because we were about to eat dinner at a place with over THREE HUNDRED beers on tap. Once changed, we decided to cab back to Bier Markt. Since it was Valentines Day A had decided to treat and so I picked whatever I wanted off the menu. I had mussels in white wine and A had hazelnut cheese fondue and we shared a BEER TESTER, which is six beers from around the world that they choose for you and you get these little testers! It was really neat. After dinner we were pretty much exhausted and freezing so we headed back to the hotel to turn in for the night and try to get an early start.
SUNDAY February 15th, 2009
We accidentally overslept (the alarm didn’t go off) and rushed to get ready for the Toronto Maple Leafs skills competition which involves the Leafs gathering at Air Canada Centre (their GM Place) and do a bunch of skills stuff. A and I decided to wear our CANUCKS shirts (which is totally insulting to Leafs fans) but we decided to do it anyway. Not really sure what to expect, both A and I were thinking maybe a LITTLE hostility, however, nobody said anything as we sat down or as we walked around exploring the outer ring of the ACC. Here is a picture of A with a picture of Sundin that we found in the Air Canada Centre:
Nobody said anything mean to us about wearing our Canucks shirts in their building but they sure gave us some dirty looks! That was funny though so we didn’t mind at all. Because we had had to get up quickly and run out the door, after the skills competition we headed straight back to the hotel to shower and get ready for the rest of the day. We decided to visit the CN Tower this day because we had the whole afternoon and it was BEAUTIFUL outside. Sunny, but still a bit cold. When we got back to the hotel we also found out that we could switch rooms to the king size bed because all the Valentines Day people had checked out. Here is a picture of A and I goofing around in the new room:
We headed off for the short walk to the CN Tower. The next few photos are pictures from up inside the CN Tower!
Not too many people will be a fan of this BUT there was a GLASS FLOOR in the CN Tower and here are some pictures of that! I even laid down on it!!!
After the CN Tower we walked up to where they film for Much Music and MTV Canada and then walked down Queen street for shopping. We headed back to the hotel because we were pooped for a little R and R and then, because we wanted to watch the Canucks game somewhere, we went to a Sports Bar near our hotel which claimed it had 50 TVS! It did! And they played the Canucks game for us easily! We had dinner there (pasta and salad) and a few beers and watched the Canucks WIN! Then we went back to the hotel for a sleep…and we needed it.
MONDAY February 16th, 2009
Monday was the day we dedicated to SHOPPING! But we chose the WORST day to do that because in Toronto (in Ontario) Monday February 16th is a HOLIDAY! It’s called FAMILY DAY! And holy cow...were the families out and about!
We headed out pretty early and all the way back to Kensington market to check out those vintage stores and boutiques. We started the morning off with breakfast at a café called Kensington’s (I had a crepe and A had a sandwich) and then we got to work! I bought two sweaters (black and yellow) for half price what they sell in Vancouver! From there we went through China town where I found two pairs of shoes for 15 dollars each (one pair of red and black and one pair of black and white) really cute...really cheap. We found our way to Queen Street West which has boutique like shopping. I didn’t really find anything there because some of the stores weren’t even open because of Family Day! That sucked big time. We walked all the way back to the big mall and went inside.
BIG MISTAKE! It was PACKED!!!!!!!!!
We couldn’t even use the washrooms because the lines were so long AND all the toilet paper was used up. How gross! So we made a quick exist and headed back out onto the street. It was super busy there too so we took the subway back to the hotel and had a little rest. We planned to go out to this place called BeerBistro for dinner on Monday night. They make all their food with beer! But we didn’t quite make it that far, instead we found a place called Richtree Market. I think they should have things like this in Vancouver. Basically, you are given a card (like a credit card) at the beginning of your entry into Richtree and then you walk around this market-type place and they have ALL KINDS OF FOOD! It’s a little expensive but in the end, not compared to a restaurant. There are steaks with potatoes. Quesadillas and Mexican foods. Asian type foods. Pasta, spaghetti’s and noodles. FISH AND SEAFOOD!!! And desserts and ice cream and a bar! You just ask for what you want and they swipe your card and when you’re done eating you pay when you leave. I had salmon and rice and A had some pasta dish. We shared a beer. Here are some photo’s from the market:
Then we headed out for some DRINKING! We went to Beer Bistro (where we were originally going to have dinner) and tried three different beers each in these little testers that they give you.
After the Beer Bistro we went to a place called the Flatiron and Firkin and had some more beers and then we headed back to the hotel. But not before we found a sculpture and had some fun with it:
TUESDAY February 17th, 2009
On Tuesday we planned to go to the Art Gallery of Ontario, (also known as the AGO). Unfortunately we couldn’t bring our cameras into the art gallery so there are no pictures of our time there. We saw many many many famous art pieces, it’s much better than the Vancouver Art Gallery. When we were finished, we headed back to Queen Street West to do even more shopping! We had a delicious lunch at this café called Queen Mother Café on Queen Street. I had Cannelloni with spinach and feta inside, a little salad and garlic bread, delicious! We also tried another local beer called Steamwhistle which had its brewery right near our hotel. It was pretty good but not great. We shopped our way back to the hotel, took another rest and then headed out for the hockey game. It was our last night so we decided to go to Wayne Gretzky’s restaurant/bar to watch the Canucks game. We walked part of the way and found the Hockey Hall of Fame. Here is a picture of A outside of it and one of me with some statues outside:
Wayne Gretzky's!
WEDNESDAY February 18th, 2009
Wednesday was our last day and boy were we sad to be leaving. I felt like I didn’t get to see enough and experience enough! But we packed up our bags, left them at the hotel front desk and headed out into the rain/snow mix outside to experience Toronto one last time. Unfortunately, I had a mid-term scheduled for my Sociology class that day so I had to find a café with internet and log onto my Langara homepage and take the exam. Luckily I was fairly prepared for the exam and A left me alone for about an hour to complete it. I knew all the answers and had a fairly relaxed time doing it. Once I was finished, we left the café and went across the street to the ROM, the Royal Ontario Museum. It looks pretty cool from the outside, however, inside the addition serves no purpose and actually we had to pay NINETEEN FREAKIN DOLLARS because they hiked the prices to pay for that stupid architectural piece on the outside. We got into a bit of a fight with the coat check lady because it costs money to check your coat but not your bag. So we shoved our coats INSIDE our bags and tried to give her the bag. She saw us do it and complained to her other coat check person and they told us we’d have to pay for the coats. Well, we weren’t going to do that on principal AND there was no way they could prove we had coats in the bag…so we said no. There was a big argument and basically we ended up just taking the coats out and wearing them all around the museum (which totally sucked because it was warm). But oh well.
The museum was pretty cool, there were lots of dinosaur skeletons and animal facts and Canadian history pieces. I took over a hundred photos but of course, that's far to many to display here. Just two:
Unfortunately, as soon as we were done the museum, it was time to head back to the hotel and get our bags and head to the airport. It was a sad trip back as the snow had picked up and it was FREEZING. We got our bags and waited an hour or so outside for the airport bus to come get us. I took this picture of Captain John’s Seafood Restaurant (beside our hotel) while we waited. See the snow? Just beyond the railing is the lake, frozen over with ice and snow…brr!
It was so cold and so frozen outside that this poor umbrella which had fallen into the lake, got frozen into it!
Anyway, the plane ride back was long and drawn out and I was very sleepy. We arrived at midnight Vancouver time which is 3am Toronto time and I made it back to A’s before passing out.
All in all, my first trip to Toronto was an amazing experience and I feel so lucky to have been able to just pick up and go like that. There was very little planning involved (really just a plane ticket and hotel purchase) and we were off! It gives me hope and confidence that I'll be able to travel more in the future.
As a side note, when I got home there was a letter from UBC informing me I'd been accepted for the fall semester.
Woo!
