visited Toronto

So on another Greyhound, grasping at what little sleep we could manage during the night, we arrived as scheduled into Toronto at 6am, and immediately sorted our onward tickets to Niagra Falls.

Toronto
Then, exhausted we trod the streets of Toronto to our hostel.  Luckily for us they let us in, and let us sleep on the sofa and use their kitchen to cook our breakfast.  Then whilst we waited for hostel check-in time, we decided to find a library to email our family.  Again we had our friend from Quebec to thank for telling us about the free internet services in libraries.

On the way to the library, we strolled along the front, and just as we reached the CN Tower, the sky cleared to give us just enough time to take a photograph.  A small ladder stood next to the Tower and I felt an urge to tell the workers that their ladder really wouldn't reach anywhere near the top...but refrained and laughed to myself instead.

Back at the hostel, we checked into our room - all I can say is it was basic, dirty and obviously hadn't been cleaned in a very long time.  My husband seeing my distressed, downbeaten look, took it upon himself to complain to reception, and they sent a young lad to clean it whilst we retreated to the laundry room to do some washing.  When we returned, apart from smelling of disinfectant from the toilet, it really was no cleaner.  Someone appeared and asked if we wanted the floor mopping - I said yes then looked at the state of the mop - when was the last time the mop itself was cleaned!!!  As the mop glided over the floor surface more and more hairs were strewn everywhere - as he left, I got down on hands and knees and started trying to clean the hairs from the floor - but after one too many wretches, my husband asked me to leave the room to get the washing, whilst he cleaned it best he could.

We cooked dinner that night, and surprisingly I managed to eat it ignoring the dirt by eating out of a smoked mackerel container, and by focusing on a couple next to us, with the guy slurping his food like he'd never eaten before.

Despite our surroundings, we slept well that night - 13 hours in total.  By now we had been travelling for two weeks, and were both mentally and physically exhausted.  So after a brunch / lunch, we left the hostel and headed west towards Chinatown, believed to be the biggest in the world outside of China itself.  We loved the buzz of the 'mini China'  and the feel of walking from Western to Eastern cultures within a couple of blocks.

From Chinatown, we continued our journey to Kensington Market - an ecclectic mix of exotic Afro-Carribean 'coffee-shop' emporiums.  It reminded us of London's Camden Market and for two cagool wearing travellers who stuck out like two sore thumbs, it was time for a sharp exit.

Onwards to the Portugese Quarter where we were met with cafes, a fishmongers and Samba music, then onto the slightly more civilised Little Italy which oozed style and sophistication.  Trendy looking eateries, boutiques and coffee shops lined each side of the road, with every street displaying individuals who would have been ideal characters for The Sopranos!

From here, we headed back towards the city and Yonge Street, famed for being the world's longest street! I think both of us secretly wanted to see how far the street really was, and when we had walked to Davenport which was the turn off for Casa Loma, I'm sure we must have been nearly at the end.  Casa Loma, my husband argued was the site of Canada's first Castle - I wasn't too sure, but what I do now know is that it was once the home of the Canadian Financier Sir Henry Pellatt.  I also researched it whilst I was there and found that it was designed by E J Lennox, and was built by 300 men over a 3 year period being finally completed in 1914.  Casa Loma and an old style Castle nearby which housed the city's festival music interests, were both stunning.

The walk back to the City was arduous - our legs and feet swollen and painful, and our bodies chilled to the bone by the cold biting wind.  Our minds drifted back to our home in England, and images of a roaring fire in our lounge kept us going until we reached a coffee house to re-fuel.  Opposite we noticed a Bookstore, and spent a relaxing time reading through travel guides in the comfortable surroundings.

The next day we were suffering from shin splints, and so opted for a few leisurely walks followed by a pint (just the one) in a local pub.  I plonked myself next to the fire and sighed into my beer - I was finally starting to get used to this travelling way of life and actually starting to properly enjoy myself.  I guess the barriers of work and professionalism had finally come down, and I could start to be myself again and enjoy the less material things in life, and instead appreciate the beautiful things around me - including at that moment, the heat from the fire and the beer that coursed my lips.

What we had found out about Toronto was that there were some very interesting characters there...

We encountered a crazy cab driver who became very irate with us as we waited at the side of the road for him to go past.  Whilst we knew as pedestrians we had priority over the crossing, we did not want to take any chances, but as he approached the crossing, he beeped his horn at us, gesticulated with his hands and we managed to delay him by a meer two seconds.  We crossed the road infront of him, as he seemed to want us to do, starring at him as we did - he shyed away from looking at us.

The second incident was as we were walking to the library.  A man was walking with huge and I mean huge strides across the road following a very concerned woman.  He was preaching something to her at the top of his voice and kept bounding infront of her so she would listen.  He looked like Crocodile Dundee in a dark raincoat.  Even a homeless man at the side of the road was laughing uncontrollably as he watched.

The next day after visiting the bus station to organise our onward journey, we ventured towards Cabbagetown famed for Irish people who had settled there and planted cabbages as ornamental features in their gardens.  We never quite made it there though as the neighbourhood became decidely rougher - we opted for the safer option and walked back towards the centre.  As we turned a woman shouted something in our ears - I couldn't understand what she said but she looked a bit like a witch.  Moving away we continued down the road, and spotted a man darting in and out, hiding behind lampposts - we weren't entirely sure what he was doing but it was as if he thought he was being chased.

We decided to retreat to the safety of the CN Tower.  We spent a long time reading about the history of the tower, how it was opened in 1976 to the public, how it can withstand enormous lightning strikes by channeling the energy down the centre of the buiding and how on a clear day you can see as far as Niagra Falls.

We took the lift to the top and the views from up there were really 'wow'.  It was then that we realised how far we had actually walked!  We spent hours in the tower relaxing and taking in the views.  Then with food for our onward journey and a large take-away pizza in our tummies, we walked with backpacks to the Bus Station for our onward trip which would involve two nights on a bus travelling around Lake Erie and taking in the sights of Cleveland and Detroit, before our next destination of Niagra Falls.