i'll be honest: i didn't really know anything about toronto when david told me we were going to toronto. but in the hour prior to our departure, david shared all his research and planning and itinerary building with me. his trip planning game is STRONG. i am so proud to call him my husband and travel partner. i love him. ahem. anyway.
the flight is short and easy, and everyone at the airline, in customs and immigration, and everywhere else is so so so nice that it makes us midwesterners look cold and callous. i mean, these canadians are the best.
we dropped our bags at the uber cool drake hotel in the uber hip queen west neighborhood, and we just started walking. we walked around a neighborhood that looks straight out of brooklyn ny. we wound our way to the highly acclaimed taco place grand electric and were not disappointed. we kept walking, got some shin splints, and then changed clothes for our evening plans.
our evening plans included walking.
we walked past the canadian exposition gates.
we walked in the direction of downtown, past fort york park--and here is some info about that--and towards the tallest structure in north america: the CN tower. you can see it peeking up into the sky past the entrance for fort york.
we walked along queen's quay, which is a lovely walkway and bike path along the waterfront. i think the waterfront used to be dingy and industrial for great lakes shipping purposes, and now it's not. industry has changed, and the use of cities has changed. now it's lovely recreational waterfront with parks and bikers and big apartment buildings. it's swanky.
we had a waterfront beer at the amsterdam brewhouse and let the cool breeze off lake ontario ruffle our hair and sooth our sun warmed skin.
also: check out their local brew....a wheat called spotted cow? suspiciously familiar.
we strolled past a roundhouse train station, long retired, lovingly kept as a park in the heart of downtown, and full of cool old train cars.
then we went up! up the CN tower to the views. david did remarkably well.
here i am, talking on the phone to the kids from atop the big tall tower.
and here i am, having dinner in the restaurant in the tower. the restaurant turns, making a full rotation in just over an hour. we watched the sunset from up there. it was magical.
perfect first day. toronto was a magical surprise of urban cool, and i couldn't wait to explore more.
1 comment:
Unless Toronto has another restaurant that turns like that, Jim and I ate there when we visited Toronto.
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