1 day in Toronto (Canada)
We actually spent a week in Toronto, but after a 15-day vacation in Iceland, we worked hard, went to Niagara Falls and had to wait a long time for the sun to come back.
So it’s with all our layers of winter clothes – that we go out in the street – because it’s sunny, yes, but it’s still super cold. We start first with the High Park near our house, hoping to see the cherry trees in bloom. But there was absolutely NOTHING. The winter was particularly long this year, and we are in Toronto 2 weeks before flowering. A pity.
Field hockey Hall of Fame
We take the metro & bus to the city center, where the old houses are next to the skyscrapers.
Field hockey is a national sport, and at the Hockey Hall of fame you can admire all the cups that Canadian teams have won. There is a charge for admission and since you don’t know much about it, you just have to visit the souvenir store.
At the end of a field hockey game a few days ago, we saw a lot of fans in the street, they all had the right shirt and some even had socks with the players’ heads on them.
Mövenpick Market
In the same building is the Mövenpick market, an equivalent of Galeries Lafayette Gourmet, where one can order from several stands and sit at tables for lunch. We are given a card to order, and payment is made at the exit. It looks very nice and fresh but we won’t have lunch here.
St. Lawrence Market
Here, it’s less bling bling, and more a market than a short food, even if there are tables to eat a poutine or a fish & chips. To find good meat or regional products, this is the place to be.
We end up, without knowing it, in a healthy, organic, eco-responsible restaurant… where the local executives meet for lunch. It’s very, very good, but rather expensive (25$CA/person without tip)
The Path
We decide to explore The Path, an underground network where you can move from one building to another in the downtown area. This network, in the collective imagination of tourists, is presented as “the underground city”. But it only concerns the city center, and on top of that, it’s really not very high, it looks like subway corridors with a few food courts here and there.
The presence of an underground city is the only argument that could make me stay in Canada in the middle of winter. But after discovering these almost claustrophobic corridors, I will NEVER settle in Canada.
The Path brings us at one point to the central station, very pretty.
Toronto Islands
We go to the Jack Layton ferry terminal to take a ferry ($8.5 CAD round trip/person of memory) to the Island Centre. Because we saw that there was a beach. The trip is very pleasant, we can see the magnificent skyline of Toronto from the boat. And in fact, it was just for that!
Because the beach is infested with gnats, mosquitoes … part of this beach is nudist, I do not know how they do to protect themselves from so many insects !
The Distillery Historic District
I quote: “With its picturesque 19th century buildings that once housed a large whisky distillery, and its cobblestone streets lined with trendy bars, stores and independent restaurants, the Distillery District pedestrian precinct attracts crowds. Art lovers enjoy the galleries, outdoor sculptures, as well as the dance performances, concerts and plays that take place in the district’s many theaters. In December, Toronto’s annual Christmas market takes over the streets.”
At the beginning of spring, it is the void that welcomes us. Some stores are timidly open, but the streets are empty. It remains beautiful, but we expected better.
We drown our sorrows (the rain came back) in a 100% chocolate coffee. We opt for a chocolate fondue, delicious !!!
The Toronto Sign
Like any self-respecting tourist, we have to take a picture in front of the Toronto sign. Unfortunately there is no skating rink in front of it, nor a “mini lake” to reflect “TORONTO” on the water, but we are happy to have done our homework as tourists…
…. to finish lamentably, in a shopping mall with 3 floors, because it’s heated, there’s food and there are plenty of brands not distributed in France.
In short, I like Toronto because it’s like being in the United States but in a safer environment. The city isn’thing exceptional in my eyes, besides being huge (every trip downtown takes a lot of time), but there is a good atmosphere I find.
