Hotels

We have stayed in Toronto twice in 2009 and 2010.

In 2009 our hotel was the Courtyard by Marriott which is on the corner of Yonge Street and Wood Street.

In 2010 we stayed at the Fairmont Royal York which is is probably one of the most elegant hotels that we have ever stayed at. It was such a luxury to spend a whole week here.

The deal that we got was so good that we tried three different websites just to check that the price was correct. It was 2/3rds the price of the Marriott.

We don’t normally have many pictures of the inside of hotels but this was a real exception

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls isn’t very far from Toronto maybe 75 miles and is an absolute must see attraction. The best side of the falls is on the Canadian side, sorry to all the American visitors to this site.

There are three waterfalls that straddle the international border between Canada and the United States. The falls are on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario. The combined falls taken together have the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world and have a vertical drop of more than 165 feet. The most powerful is Horseshoe Falls which is the most powerful waterfall in North America.

We went on a day trip during our first visit which was organised by our hotel.

Helicopter Trip

On the way down from Toronto we were offered an optional trip, at a cost of course, to have a helicopter flight over the falls. We’d never been in a helicopter before, and haven’t since, so gave it a go. The first set of pictures are taken from the air.

Maid of the Mist

The trip included an excursion on the maid of the mist which takes you right in to the falls.

Poncho’s are provided to try and keep you dry, we found that they didn’t work very well.

The spray gives this eerie feeling where there is no colour in your view.

Toronto

CN Tower

The CN Tower is one of the must see attractions when visiting Toronto. It is 553.3 meters high and was, when it was built in 1976, the tallest free-standing structure in the world a record which it held until 2007 when it was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa in UAE.

It’s a communications and observation desk which is famed for the glass floor in the observation tower. It’s not as bad as it sounds as there is only a small part of the floor which is glass and it’s easy to avoid.

This is the view you get of the tower when you are underneath.

It is a signature icon of Toronto’s skyline which attracts more than two million international visitors annually.

There are some fantastic views from the top of the tower.

What a view looking down between your feet.

Looking from the top towards Toronto City Airport, now known as Billy Bishop, which is on an island in Lake Ontario. It is deemed to be one of the worlds shortest ferry rides at 120m (400 feet) and taking a full 90 seconds. It can take cars and passengers. However there is now a pedestrian tunnel.

Near the entrance to the CN Tower we found an unusual resident which was along way from home.

Rogers Centre

This was originally called SkyDome before being renamed the “Rogers Centre” following the 2005 purchase of the stadium by Rogers Communications The venue is noted for being the first stadium to have a fully retractable motorised roof.

It’s used for hosting a number of other sports plus conventions, trade fairs, concerts, travelling carnivals, circuses and monster truck shows. It is also the home to the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team.

Yonge Street

This looks like an ordinary street but in fact this is Yonge Street which is reputedly the longest street in the world at a length of 1,896 km (1,178 mi). It goes from the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes cover

Toronto Islands

These are made up of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario and are a short boat ride from Toronto. There are 260 homes on the islands and to prevent profiteering the Ontario government’s Toronto Islands Residential Community Stewardship Act states that a land trust organization must maintain a waiting list of potential buyers. The house price are determined via a regulation and inspection process which determines the value solely on construction cost.

The land under these homes can never be purchased, only leased from the province, but legislation ensures that the existing lease won’t expire until 2092.

Our ferry to the Islands awaits.

Looking back to the mainland as we started our journey around the islands.

Not a bad view if you are working from home.

Bridges link the islands together so it’s easy to move from one to the other.

Heading back to Toronto towards the majestic CN tower.

Woodbine Races

We decided to have a day at the races during our visit in 2010. Question is how do we get there so we went to the train station information, the person we spoke to had never heard of woodbine race course let alone how to get there. Eventually we found someone who not only knew where it was they told us which underground station to get off at and then which bus to take and what landmark to look for when we got of the bus. This trip cost $4 dollars each but the most useful fact was that if you showed your underground ticket to the bus driver you didn’t have to pay.

The other interesting fact is that you don’t pay to go into the races.

The North Americans go in for multiple selections to get enhanced odds. The popular types are Exacta and Trifecta which means picking the horses in the correct order. The exacta is the first 2 and the Trifecta is the first 3, we gave this a miss as we normally struggle just trying to pick the winner.

We had a great day but needless to say we didn’t manage a profit and so had to take consolation in a beer tasting.

Festivals and Fun

On the two occasions we have been to Toronto there has been some music festivals. In 2009 it was the Mill St Brewery festival, what a combination beer, music and Sun.

In 2010 we caught the first day of the North by North East festival (NXNE) which is held every June in Toronto and has lots of live music in various venue’s some of which are free. if you buy a wristband that means you have access to all shows which seem to run 24 hours a day.

Wherever there are festivals with lots of people there is fast food. The array of food types was amazing, there was definitely something for everyone.

If sunbathing on a sandy beach is your thing then this is for you.

Although Toronto is a busy city there are times when the place seems empty., this picture was taken as we walked along this road on a Saturday afternoon.