After collapsing into bed after our big Niagara tour, a few of us met for breakfast & filled up on bacon, waffles & eggs. (Yay!!) before meeting up to explore a bit of the city.
The architecture in Toronto is pretty cool; lots of new mixed in with old. Despite it not being the depths of winter it was still cooooold. Leaves were orange on the trees which I was fascinated by as we tend not to have deciduous trees in Oz- they just suddenly die & go brown if at all, or they stay green throughout. Being so dry things tend to go green in winter and brown in summer, total reverse haha!
It was really great to be in a mall that wasn't a gigantic, air conditioned fridge. I really liked all the displays they had up and the mood leading up to Christmas was very festival with cool window dressings and even a big Christmas tree!
We also visited the CN Tower, once the tallest freestanding structure in the world (Enter Burj Khalifa, circa 2009). I'd always wanted to go since hearing friends talk about it. Also, I decided it might be fun to visit all the tall things I could on my layovers. I've done Sydney Tower, CN Tower, Eiffel Tower, London Eye, Auckland Skytower, Petrin in Prague (ok not such a big one but hey) and of course when my family come to visit I'll be hitting the Burj! :P
The views are pretty cool, they even have the see through toughened glass panels in the floor so you can have fun freaking out your friends by pushing them onto it. Of course lots of silly pics ensued, with us trying to make it look like we were falling though the floor.
Obviously their copy needs some re-editing ;)
By far my favourite part was being able to see across to the island in the harbour where the (imaginatively named) Toronto Island Airport is. I recall it being actually name after some sports guy, but can't remember what that sub-name is. (Billy Bishop, thank you Wikipedia!) It was really cool being able to watch the planes take off and land; if we got staff tickets on Porter Airlines I'd be so tempted to just take a flight somewhere and back for fun next time I'm there! I want to see the Porter uniform up close, lol the things that amuse me!
Trains far far below looking like a scene from Thomas the Tank Engine.
It was FREEZING!!! I am wearing my goose-down jacket which I bought in Korea for the bargain price of 40,000 won. (About $35AUD) It is super warm but it wasn't enough. Underneath I had my super duper thick Korean long leggings (seriously they're like jodhpurs) and jeans, a long singlet, a top, a jumper a scarf, gloves and a beanie! This jacket got passed around when I went to Niagara when one of the poor crew realised she'd left her coat at home and couldn't even leave to go buy coffee!!! :( She said it saved her life, haha. Lucky I packed two coats in a fit of outfit indecision...
We basicalyl walked around looking at the sights & trying not to die from the cold- remembering that we'd come from close to 50'C to about minus a million. AFter only 30 minutes we were scrambling to find a coffee shop. Finally we found one- attached to a pet store no less- where dogs were enjoying their "puppacinos" with their owners. Strange, but kind of fun!
Sad story on the harbour about a man and a bird.
It says "For the past six years, Thomas Pitkin of Scarborough, Ontario would meet Charlie, a black-crowned night-heron at this location every day between mid-April and mid-October to feed him roast chicken. A natural fish-eater, Charlie spurned any type of canned fish in favour of his chicken treat. The two bonded over this daily feeding and afforded countless site visitors and up-close view of this special bird. Thomas Pitkin passed away in May, 2010. He is sadly missed by his many friends but none more so than by his pal, Charlie, who still shows up at this location forlornly looking for Thomas." :(
Toronto is a nice city to visit, I just hope next time it'll be in summer so I can enjoy the outdoors instead of freezing my butt off! At least I'll be within throwing distance of my good friend Krysta!
