Toronto's Hidden Jewel

MP3 Track of the day: The Red Warrior - Last Samurai soundtrack

Weather: Sunny and windy

Well you may have noticed a time change in my posting; instead of posting in the evening here I've changed to the morning. The reason is that there are sooo many people here with laptops that the Wi-Fi system couldn't cope; every 10 minutes I kept loosing connection. Therefore I've decided to get up early, go out a little later than usual and stay out later ... see I'm flexible :)

Anyway yesterday was brilliant (apart from hearing about Lewis Hamilton :( ). I only have two things left that I wanted to do in Toronto; firstly I wanted to go onto the Islands and secondly I wanted to take some photos of the city at ground level. I reckon, leaving around 12pm it would take 2 hours to do the islands, 2 hours to do the city photography and then up to the bus station to buy my coach ticket, see if I can find a book with loads of photos of Toronto in (I try to get one from each place I visit) and then back for tea and crumpets.

However when I got across on the islands I was just amazed how beautiful they were. The islands are split into three areas:

• Centre Island - Commercialised with an amusement park (though I'm here out of season so nothing was open ... and a good job too!)
  
• Halans Point - An airport is right at the tip of this island, but the beaches to get there are stunning.
  
• Ward Island - My favourite bit; the best beach on the island and beautiful views. There is a small village here also; this must be the best place to live in the world.

I spent four hours on the island, walking around the whole thing, taking photos and just soaking it all it. I saw one old gentleman just sitting on a beach with one of the best views in the world ... what a perfect way to spend a day. I've taken loads of photos of this place so please see my Flickr account, it's well worth it.

The great thing about this island is the contrast; on one side of the island you've got a beautiful beach, fantastic sea (thought it's a lake) views and paradise. Then walk 5 mins north and you have the Toronto skyline to sit and look at ... can it get any better?

After the island I went around the city for a little while taking photos before heading to the bus station and then back to the hostel (no souvenir book of photos as I couldn't find anywhere open ... forgot it was Sunday).

When I got back I didn't really fancy tea; I'd had my breakfast around 11:30am, my dinner around 4:30pm and so I wasn't hungry. Besides I couldn't face another 'fast food' meal. It maybe just me but I can't find any normal restaurants here ... it seems to be either really posh or fast food. So far I've eaten pizza, cheeseburger, chicken wings and so I couldn't face another meal like that. Therefore I went out and I brought back the biggest orange and banana and just eat them ... and you know what, they were lovely.

I suppose now would be a good time to talk a little about the hostel; it's very big with at least a few hundred people staying. Apart from the internet the facilities are good and the breakfasts a great (though I didn't like the French toast I had yesterday) but you have to pay for them. The room is tight for space but my roommates have been nice; 1x Malaysian, 1x Norwegian, 2x Brazilians, 1x Australian, 1x Brit, 2x Germans. The Malaysian has been the most friendly but he's a little annoying; can't seem to sit still for 10 minutes and snores (though not as loud as the American in Budapest). I am looking forward to my new hostel in Ottawa as it's only 38 beds in total, it will be nice to be in a smaller place.

See you in Ottawa!

Day One

MP3 track of the day: Hurricane - 30 Seconds to Mars

Weather: Sunny and cold in the morning / Wet and cold in the afternoon

Woke up around 7am and decided to have an early start. For my first breakfast in Canada I opted for beans on toast ... okay, okay not very adventurous but it was cheap and at the time I had no benchmark for food prices (i.e. even though it was cheap I had no idea if it was good value or not). I think tomorrow I might have pancakes ... is that better?

I then hit the road and went to my first attraction, the CN Tower. Luckily my hostel gets a $5.00 discount at the CN Tower so it brought the price tag down to $21.00. As I went up in the morning, the views were brilliant and I got some cool photos (check out my flickr account ... link to the right of this post). I did walk on the glass floor; logic told me that it was fine, loads of people stood on it and apparently it was built to hold the weight of 4 hippos ... however logic messages to my brain seem to get over taken by fear and I didn't walk on them for too long.

The CN Tower was one of two attractions I wanted to see today; the CN Tower is a popular choice but the other attraction, Fort York, isn't as much. Fort York, built in 1973 on the shores of Lake Ontario, was the first settlement in this area. Later the town of York (now named Toronto) came and now it's swamped around the fort. The fort is no longer on the shores as landfill has pushed it in land surrounded by roads and skyscrapers. It was pretty cool, loads of info and a haven in a busy city. Developers in Toronto wanted to move the fort for a new road; luckily the Toronto local authorities bought the land and turned it into a museum ... and a good job too!

After 3 hours at the fort the skies started to darken and so I headed back to my hostel; I needed lunch and so I found an underground shopping mall (shopping centre to people who speak English properly) and went to the food court. One piece of travelling advice; if you are unsure which food outlet is okay to eat at, join the biggest queue. I went to a outlet that I can't remember the name of and had a lovely sandwich, donut and Pepsi.

When I got out the heavens had opened and so I decided to return to my hostel. It was around 2pm (7pm your time) and I needed to look up train and coach tickets (plus do this and upload my photos of the day) on the internet ... 3 hours later and I've still not finished (modern technology!!!) due to continual crashing of the internet ... still I've been having a conversation with a German bloke who's been in Canada since January and we've been talking about different things so it's all cool.

Right well I'm now off to buy my coach/train tickets to Niagara Falls for tomorrow, get some tea and go to bed.

Toodle Pip!