Toronto, Ontario
Saturday 13th January I finally arrived at Union Station,
Toronto. After collecting Mack and MM from the luggage carousel it
was a short walk across the street and I was checking in at the Fairmont
Royal York at 7.15am. In my room I found all the necessary requirements
for a nice relaxing bath, a quick bite to eat and wait for the bus tour to
Niagara Falls. I was outside by 9.15 for a 9.35 pick up. I know
that was early but it was snowing lightly and I wasn't going to miss that.
By 9.50 I was beginning to wonder if I was waiting in the wrong place
so I checked with the concierge who rang the tour company. Apparently
the bus driver had me down for pick up at another hotel, don't know why,
but by 10.10 I was on the bus and ready for another adventure.
During the hour and half trip to the falls the driver gave us a commentary about the sights on the way and a little history about the falls. On arrival at Niagara we were taken for a short drive around the town to familiarize ourselves with the area then up to the penthouse at the Sheraton hotel for a buffet lunch. Very posh and a great view of the falls.
Once lunch was over there was a spare 2 hours to wander around, take photo's, shop etc. I found the Skywheel (like the London Eye) which gave a great view all over the town. Saw some places the grandkids would really enjoy, Dinosaur mini golf (putt putt), The Secret Garden, which would look great in spring or summer, and a whole heap of fun houses.
2.45 and back on the bus for a quick trip to the IMAX theatre to see a movie on the Falls. It's history from when the Native Americans were the only people there to the people that tried all manner of ways to ride the falls, one lady did it in a barrel, she took a little black kitten (Henry) with her, by time they got her and Henry out, he had turned white. There were also shots from a helicopter which felt like you were really sitting in the chopper. I'd like to do that one day, but not in winter. 4pm and back on the bus for more sightseeing. We drove across Lake Ontario and followed the channel from the other side, the views were really good due to it being winter and no leaves on the trees blocking the view.
We went down to Niagara on the Lake village, a really pretty place where the homes and shops are still the original buildings, they are heritage listed so even though you may renovate the inside you cannot change the outside. On my England trips you will have seen the smallest house in Wales, here there is the smallest church in Canada, if not the whole world.
. It is a catholic church that can only hold 5 people. The
driver did tell us the history of it, of course I didn't write it down but
I will do some research on it and put it in here later.
A stop at a winery for some wine tasting, not that I did any tasting, they didn't have any beer.
I arrived back at the hotel about 7pm, ordered dinner in as I was absolutely exhausted and didn't have the energy to sit in a busy restaurant. I was in bed by 9 and slept right through until room service woke me, knocking on the door with my breakfast at 8.00. I wanted to be up early as I had another tour, a hop on hop off bus and a tour of the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF) to do before I checked in at the station for my train to Ottawa. Having missed the 9am bus I walked to the HHOF only to find it didn't open till 10.30, that's ok, I know nothing about Ice Hockey or the teams so it won't take long to get a few photo's for Brandon and some souvenirs before heading out for the 11am bus.
At least that was the plan. I left the HHOF at 11.10, checked
the bus timetable and figured I might as well wander around town, it's snowing
quite heavily now so I'm in my element. I slowly make my way to the
CN tower, and I mean slowly, the ground was wet from rain and with the snow
falling it is now very slushy and slippery. By time I arrive at the
tower it's almost time for the bus to arrive at this stop so foregoing
a trip up the tower I pop in the souvenir shop to pass the next 10 minutes.
The bus arrives and there's only 1 other person on there, she gets off a couple of stops up the street, a main stop where the bus waits for any other sighseers. The driver gets off and starts to make a snowball, now I'm wondering what the hell is he going to do with that? You wouldn't believe it but it was to clean the bus windows with - and very impressive it was too. Whilst waiting we have a chat about the tour and the fact that I have to be back to check in at the train station. No problem, we will just do a shortened version of the tour. 10 minutes have gone by and noone else joins us so off we go around the main town area, then the driver decides to do a detour to an area that isn't on the tour. What a detour, we went through an area that is still very victorian with big old houses and beautiful gardens, although they were snow covered it's not hard to imagine what they would be like when in flower. We went to Toronto's castle, wow, what an interesting building. It has 30 bathrooms in it (I forget how many bedrooms) and when it was originally built only 2 people lived in it.
I was dropped off right in front of the hotel to pick up my luggage and over the road I go again to catch the 3.30 train to Ottawa, on time.
During the hour and half trip to the falls the driver gave us a commentary about the sights on the way and a little history about the falls. On arrival at Niagara we were taken for a short drive around the town to familiarize ourselves with the area then up to the penthouse at the Sheraton hotel for a buffet lunch. Very posh and a great view of the falls.
Once lunch was over there was a spare 2 hours to wander around, take photo's, shop etc. I found the Skywheel (like the London Eye) which gave a great view all over the town. Saw some places the grandkids would really enjoy, Dinosaur mini golf (putt putt), The Secret Garden, which would look great in spring or summer, and a whole heap of fun houses.
2.45 and back on the bus for a quick trip to the IMAX theatre to see a movie on the Falls. It's history from when the Native Americans were the only people there to the people that tried all manner of ways to ride the falls, one lady did it in a barrel, she took a little black kitten (Henry) with her, by time they got her and Henry out, he had turned white. There were also shots from a helicopter which felt like you were really sitting in the chopper. I'd like to do that one day, but not in winter. 4pm and back on the bus for more sightseeing. We drove across Lake Ontario and followed the channel from the other side, the views were really good due to it being winter and no leaves on the trees blocking the view.
We went down to Niagara on the Lake village, a really pretty place where the homes and shops are still the original buildings, they are heritage listed so even though you may renovate the inside you cannot change the outside. On my England trips you will have seen the smallest house in Wales, here there is the smallest church in Canada, if not the whole world.
. It is a catholic church that can only hold 5 people. The
driver did tell us the history of it, of course I didn't write it down but
I will do some research on it and put it in here later.A stop at a winery for some wine tasting, not that I did any tasting, they didn't have any beer.
I arrived back at the hotel about 7pm, ordered dinner in as I was absolutely exhausted and didn't have the energy to sit in a busy restaurant. I was in bed by 9 and slept right through until room service woke me, knocking on the door with my breakfast at 8.00. I wanted to be up early as I had another tour, a hop on hop off bus and a tour of the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF) to do before I checked in at the station for my train to Ottawa. Having missed the 9am bus I walked to the HHOF only to find it didn't open till 10.30, that's ok, I know nothing about Ice Hockey or the teams so it won't take long to get a few photo's for Brandon and some souvenirs before heading out for the 11am bus.
At least that was the plan. I left the HHOF at 11.10, checked
the bus timetable and figured I might as well wander around town, it's snowing
quite heavily now so I'm in my element. I slowly make my way to the
CN tower, and I mean slowly, the ground was wet from rain and with the snow
falling it is now very slushy and slippery. By time I arrive at the
tower it's almost time for the bus to arrive at this stop so foregoing
a trip up the tower I pop in the souvenir shop to pass the next 10 minutes.The bus arrives and there's only 1 other person on there, she gets off a couple of stops up the street, a main stop where the bus waits for any other sighseers. The driver gets off and starts to make a snowball, now I'm wondering what the hell is he going to do with that? You wouldn't believe it but it was to clean the bus windows with - and very impressive it was too. Whilst waiting we have a chat about the tour and the fact that I have to be back to check in at the train station. No problem, we will just do a shortened version of the tour. 10 minutes have gone by and noone else joins us so off we go around the main town area, then the driver decides to do a detour to an area that isn't on the tour. What a detour, we went through an area that is still very victorian with big old houses and beautiful gardens, although they were snow covered it's not hard to imagine what they would be like when in flower. We went to Toronto's castle, wow, what an interesting building. It has 30 bathrooms in it (I forget how many bedrooms) and when it was originally built only 2 people lived in it.
I was dropped off right in front of the hotel to pick up my luggage and over the road I go again to catch the 3.30 train to Ottawa, on time.