We ate very well in Toronto and the c5 was an exceptional dining experience, modern very chic interior, again with no straight walls, and a view across the city and the dreaming spires of the University of Toronto. I have rarely had such good service in a restaurant and the meal was exceptional, we really did go for a mix all trying something different from a menu of mostly local produce. Executive Chef Ted Corrado describes the food as “edible exhibits” and I agree, you could frame any of the dishes and hang them on the wall. This is not a cheap experience but is worth every cent and on a Thursday you can take your own wine.
Our time in Toronto was fast disappearing and we had still not got to the zoo and seen a Moose, we decided that we would go on our last day in Toronto but before that we had a few more places to visit. Paula and Joy went to visit the Bata Shoe Museum, I decided to miss this and watch a football match, and I should have gone to the Shoe Museum.
Ice Hockey is the BIG game in Canada, the Toronto Maple Leafs being the “most hated team in Hockey” according to Sports Illustrated in 2002, don’t expect to easily get a ticket for a game, the Maple Leafs have sold out every game since 1946, but you can learn about them at the Hockey Hall of Fame www.hhof.com/ As it was summer it was baseball, so I went along to the Rogers Centre to see the Blue Jays play. www.toronto.bluejays.mlb.com I do not profess to understand baseball, think of explaining the offside rule to a Martian, after watching a game I understood less, lots of noise and razzmatazz, I think the Blue Jays won. There seems to be a game of some sort on every night and at the weekends. The game was interesting but I am not about to abandon a lifetime affiliation to LFC.
There are plenty of places to go shopping in Toronto, apart from the PATH the underground shopping area. Bloor Street is one of the main shopping areas, part of Bloor Street is called “The Mink Mile” not because of the fur shops but because of the designer shops, could be an expensive visit. If you are looking for something truly Canadian, other than a moose, then Roots www.canada.roots.com is the place. I was surprised to learn that the Blackberry was a Canadian invention, not that they are any cheaper in Canada, this was when we were exploring the Eaton centre a 300 plus shopping complex with flying geese, have a coffee by the fountain and wait till in shots a 100 feet in the air, very impressive.
The one attraction that you must visit, even if you don’t like heights, is the CN Tower, www.cntower.ca/ this was a highlight of our visit, no pun intended, the CN Tower defines Toronto, it’s how you know you are in Toronto, you can see the CN Tower every where you go, you look across and you know were Downtown is. From it’s opening in 1973 for 31 years it was the worlds tallest tower, now it is third, but still the highest in the western hemisphere. It costs $34.99 to visit the CN Tower or £22, now one way round this is to book a meal in the 360 restaurants. Lunch starts at $51 (£32) but that includes the hair raising ride up the tower, but you do get to by pass the queue and go straight to the restaurant, after passing through the security blowers and a quick bag search.
Called the 360 because it revolves, we sat down to eat at 8p.m, remember to book a window seat, just as the sun was beginning to set and hoped that we would get one revolution in, as it was by the time we finished we had made four revolutions and the lights of Toronto were stretching out below, we could see all the way to Niagara and New York state and that is 80 miles away This is the way to see Toronto; you get a much better idea how vast it is.
We had many great meals in Toronto, there are 7000 restaurants so there is plenty of choice, but the meal in the 360 was outstanding. Our first course and our main courses had us drooling, but the highpoint for the chocoholics was the “Dark Chocolate Tower with Summer Fruits” Joy described it as criminal, ask her what it was like and she does a little happy dance, going “it was so good there are not words to comprehend the chocolaty goodness of it, just go and eat it” this was not the moose that she wanted to see, but was more than happy. When the chef makes seasonal changes to the menu the only constant on the menu is the Chocolate Tower.
We complimented Maitre D’ Amin Dhanani on the meal and the whole ambience of the 360 restaurant, in his enthusiasm for his restaurant Amin mentioned that the wine cellar was the highest wine cellar in the world. A cellar in the air, we just had to see that, Amin showed us the cellar and the 9000 bottles of wine including a $650 bottle of 1947 Port, as well as a $12000 bottle of wine, a little outside our budget.
On leaving the restaurant we took the lift down a floor to see the viewing gallery and the glass floor. It really does test your nerve to step on to a glass floor and look straight down over a thousand feet, a laughing Policeman stepped on to the glass floor and jumped up and down, several people screamed and fled the glass floor, funny no-one said anything to him.
We took the lift down and by the time our lift attendant had given us some statistics of the CN Tower we were in the gift shop. The CN Tower is an unmissable experience in Toronto, do it early in your visit, you will want to go again.
Our last full day in Toronto and this was the day that we planned to go to see the Moose and Harry Potter, yes Harry Potter. The weather all week had been hot and clear, it is hot in Toronto from early April until mid October so don’t forget the sun cream. To-day it was raining, it was torrential rain, it was the type of rain that drives hardened sailors into port, we set out for Toronto Zoo, we had to see that Moose.
Took the train to Kennedy, at the end of the line, when we can out of the station another one of those very helpful people we kept meeting said “You folks going to the zoo, the 86A bus is what you want” The driver of the 86A could hardly see the road, such was the force of the driving rain.
When we arrived at the Zoo I purchased a rain hood, sorry I had not kept my Maid of the Mist rain hood. www.torontozoo.com/ There is a zoomobile that you can hop on and off which is by far the easiest way to get round the third largest zoo in the world. There was only one reason we had come to the zoo and only one animal that Joy wanted to see, Moose.
Would the rain mean that the Moose was sheltering in the trees? Would it mean that we had come all this way and Joy would not get to see a Moose? Fortunately Moose are made of stronger stuff and the torrential rain did not stop them posing for zoo visitors. Joy got to see not one but three Moose, admittedly the Moose were 300 yards away and sitting down, but it was Moose, a mother Moose with two young Moose, which are called calves, O the happiness, time for another happy dance.
After Moose next on the list were Grizzly Bears; I cannot explain the pleasure of seeing such an awesome creature. One Grizzly was sitting inside a log staying out of the rain; the other was playing with a large ball. We were only feet from the bears, admittedly we were watching through a glass screen, I felt like David Attenbourgh, being so close to this top of the food chain predator. I had to say the Grizzly was a lot more interesting than the Moose, but don’t tell Joy.
After this we were rushing to see Racoons, Artic Foxes and a host of other animals. There was also a Splash island for kids to cool off on hot days, so don’t forget the swimming costume. The truly adventurous can camp over night at the zoo at the Serengeti Bush Camp and enjoy a night hike through the zoo, saver than it sounds, you go with an experienced guide. There are plenty of buses ready to take you back to the station.
It was time to board the Firebolt, if you don’t know what I mean don’t worry, it is Harry Potter time. I, like so many others, have stood in line waiting for that clock to strike midnight and Pritchard’s books to open so that our daughters could get the hands on the latest Harry Potter phenomenon, we had to see the films the day they were released.
So to finish our Toronto stay it was a visit to the Ontario Science Centre www.ontariosciencecentre.ca for the Harry Potter Exhibition, this coincides with the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida and to encourage Canadians to visit Florida, there is a Potter taster at the Science Centre.
We had got the train back from the zoo, getting off at Pape Station and the 25 bus to the Science Centre, it was very easy to get there.
Joy had rung and the answerphone message had told her that the Science Centre was open until 9 p.m. So we arrived at 5 p.m. with plenty of time to see the Harry Potter Exhibition.
Disaster, when we get to the pay desk and asked for tickets we were informed that the Harry Potter Exhibition is closed for a special party and we would have to come back to-morrow.
“We are going home to-morrow we can’t come back and it does not say that the Exhibition is closed on your phone message,” states a very annoyed Joy, with all the force of Hermione.
Suddenly a man appears and in an out break of common sense, he escorts us to the Harry Potter Exhibition as the desk lady shouts, “They don’t have tickets” he answers, “They are with me” We did not even get the time to thank him.
Arriving at the doors of the Great Hall, we were greeted by a young witch complete with robes and wizarding hat. We all went through the sorting process, Joy was very happy to be put in Gryffindor. Paula was in Hufflepuff, I can’t remember were I was put, it was the wrong House anyway.
After sorting we went through to the exhibit, the thing that struck me was how small the costumes were, it’s easy to forget that Daniel Radcliffe and the others were only 10 and 11 when filming started but the child size costumes provide a very visible reminder.
The chance to see the costumes and props is a must for any Hogwarts fanatic, they show that the filmmakers put just as much care and detail into every aspect of their work as JK Rowling did of the books. The effort that must have gone into producing the Triwizard cup is astounding, as are all of Dumbledore’s costumes.
There’s plenty to keep the younger fans entertained as well, with TV screens showing the scenes particular costumes feature in and an interactive reconstruction of Hagrid’s hut, complete with hatching dragon’s egg and a herbology lesson where you can pull up some mandrake roots. You are not allowed to take photographs in the Harry Potter Exhibition and if you do you will be escorted to Azkaban by the Dementors.
This Harry Potter Exhibition is not a reason to visit Toronto, but when you are here with your little and not so little wizards make the effort. Save time to explore the Science Centre. Joy was delighted and there was another happy dance when we left.
The easiest way to get around is to use the subway or the buses; we had a weeklong ticket $36 (£23) www3.ttc.ca/ we quickly mastered the system and went from area to area on a mix of trains and buses. There are plenty of free maps available and when we had any problems up stepped a local to help.
Also get a Toronto CityPass www.citypass.com/toronto which means that you can bypass the queues in most cases and get entry in to Toronto Zoo, the ROM, CN Tower, the Ontario Science Centre as well as Casa Loma, that we did not have time to visit, all this for $56 or £35 is a truly great saving and the children’s ticket is cheaper.
Our airport transfer was with Rosedale Livery www.rosedalelivery.com/ a Lincoln Sedan very comfortable and worth it with plenty of room for our luggage. As usual the advice is to get to the airport early, airports take security very seriously and you will be pleased to know that Toronto Pearson is no different.
Would I recommend Toronto for a holiday, most defiantly, it is not a destination if you want to sit by the pool and read a book, there is too much to do and see in Toronto. We did not have enough time to see all that we wanted to see, this is one of the world’s great cities, very high-class restaurants, superb shopping, plenty of events and festivals. In September the Stars flock to the Toronto International Film Festival, where this year “The Kings Speech” with Colin Firth and Helena Bonham-Carter will receive it’s World Première.
What was wonderful, was the overwhelming friendliness of everyone we met; no better example than when visiting Toronto’s First Post Office on 260 Adelaide Street East, we just popped in for a stamp, this historic site is a preserved as it was in 1833 when it first opened, we did a tour of the building. Janet and Janet, who run the Post office gave us the full history, as well as a stamp in our Passports and postage stamps, I am sure we could have got a cup of tea we had asked. It is that sort of City everyone we met was happy to chat and make sure that we were enjoying our visit to Toronto.
Finally we do have to thank Michele Simpson and Andrea Grau at Tourism Toronto for all their help and advice during our visit. www.seetorontonow.com/
If you would like to see photographs of our Toronto visit follow this link:-
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1440&id=100001412920367&l=2290fa406e
Toronto Zoo Link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1452&id=100001412920367&l=43abb43adf
Niagara Link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1455&id=100001412920367&l=56a2b29e33
"It's a Wonderful Life"
(Thu 02/12)
TURN IT DOWN.
(Thu 11/11)
Do we need another Beatles book.
(Mon 11/10)
President or Pope, who is most welcome?
(Mon 16/08)
