Our departure was a classic 11th hour rush which is typical of Andy and I. Even though we arrived 4 hours early at the airport, we still needed to hightail across Heathrow when we realised the gate was closing! There we were enjoying a pleasant tipple (as is a mandatory requirement of the British constitution) when we realised, so we needed to make like Forrest Gump! We made it and joined all the other late waifs and strays waiting to board!
I now realise what Air Canada do when they want to control your alcohol intake, they place little people around the plane, cunningly disguised as babies. When the moment is right, they spring into action and adopt a suspected pisshead for the flight. I had mine, a two year old girl, who was good at her job, she keep me distracted for hours!! Air Canada - watching you! Joking aside though, good flight with decent food, ample drinks and lots of leg room. Entertainment was a bit naff but you cant have everything.
I had some worries about hostal living given my liking for nice hotels(and the tiniest snob in me!) but I was infact very pleasantly surprised by All Days House #3. It was clean with free internet and kitchen access, and our room was huge with cable and privat bathroom. I can honestly say I have stayed in worse hotels that cost a lot more than 25 pounds a night.
Toronto is an incredibly cosmopolitan city, the cultural diversity is extraordinary. You can take your pick with the districts in the city from Chinese to Italian to Greek to Indian to Portugese. Wonderful culinary experience. There is even a Gay Village, which Andy and I were living next to. It´s an incredibly liberated area with same sex couples quite happily displaying affection in public. Definitely the place to go if you fancy coming out of the closet, you will be whole-heartedly encouraged! Our trip to the beer store always went through the Village!
Talking of the beer store, our life saver. Gave us chance to experience a selection of the local brews at a reasonable price. Andy has been very dedicated in steaming labels off all of the different bottles we tried as a little momento of our trip!
The Canadians are a wondefully friendly bunch, we were made to feel very welcome. Even the chap who took 45 minutes to give us our bill for two beers did so with a smile and when he gave us our change plus the $20 we had paid with with as well, we thought what wonderful generosity! But, you know us, good karma and all that, we came clean and gave it back to the poor bugger.
We went up the CN Tower which has a viewing deck at a whopping 447m high. Great views of Toronto and across the Lake to Niagara. The folks on the pavements literally looked like ants running around. They also have a viewing deck at 337m which has a glass floor. You can walk across the glass floor and feel as if you are walking in air! The first step was the worst, we both felt like Indiana Jones in the "Last Crusade", we had to take a step of faith! I was ok suprisingly but Andy, my bungee jumping surfer/snowboarder supremo got a little freaked out! He did eventually conquered his fears bless but never really felt comfortable. Strange really given he wants to fling himself out of a plane!
The next day we hired a car and headed to Niagara Falls. Best option given the cheapest bus option was $30 each! What can I say - awesome and then a bit more. There are 3 falls in total: The American Falls (not suprisingly on the American side of the border), the Luna Falls (looks like a brides veil and also on the American side, named after the island from which it falls), and the absolutely fabulous Horseshore Falls on the Canadian side of the border (the famous Falls that everyone knows of). The falls were raging with a fury and apparently still not at their prime because of the snow melt. There were actually huge chunks of glacial ice at the bottom of the American falls and still snow pack on the ground in areas. Unfortunately, this did mean that we were not able to ride "Maid in the Mist", which we were desparate to do so we could experience the falls up cross. Ho hum. At least we managed to stand at a rail right near the drop of Horseshoe Falls and appearance the roar of water at its most powerful. It was truly magical to stare into the mist and just appreciate the raw power of nature.
So what did we thing of Toronto? Its like any big city, there are lots of things to see and do so long as you have to dosh to spend. We found it difficult to do things because of our limited budget. Even having a beer was not a cheap affair averaging $14 a round. We kinda found that we did a lot of walking just taking in the vibe and soaking up Canadian hospitality. It satisfied our need for sights because we got to do the CN Tower and Niagara. However, whilst we managed to sample some good beers from the beer shop, it didn´t help our beer tour much because bar prices were so outrageous.
So, onward to Peru for monumental sights and Peruvian beers!
PHOTIES COMING SOON
