Day 2, Sightseeing in Toronto
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
We got up at seven this morning and had breakfast at the Denny's restaurant.
We both had two pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and saugages and coffee for
breakfast.
Tim, our friend and 'tourguide' for today, would see us at the hotel at nine
o'clock but he was already in the lobby before nine. After a phonecall to
the car rental company to solve a small misunderstanding, we left for our
sightseeing tour in Tims Toyota.
It was a nice day with a lot of sunshine and temperatures between 20 and 27
degrees Celcius.
Our first attraction was the CN tower. It is 553 meter high and until 2007
is was the highest building in the world.
We see the CN Tower in the distance
Tim parked his car in an underground parking and we walked to the tower. In
front of the tower is a big 'Canada' sign and we asked a bystander to take
a picture of Tim, Anneke and me.
Tim, Anneke and me near the CN Tower
The tower had very tight security. I had to empty all my pockets in my vest
and they checked everything. Finaly we were allowed in the tower.
It is BIG
We went to the observationdeck at 350 meter (only 51 seconds in a very quick
elevator) and had a beautiful view over Toronto.
One floor beneath the observation deck is another deck with a glass floor that you
can walk on.
Anneke on the glass floor
Looking down through the glass floor
After a quick visit to the giftshop, we left the tower and crossed the street to the
'Toronto Railway Museum'. On the open air part of the museum are some old locomotives
coaches and a real turntable for locomotives.
Locomotives at the Toronto Railway Museum
A coal tower and a very big steam locomotive
On the grass, we saw quite a few black squirrels and they were used to people because
you could see that they were not afraid.
Black squirrels
It was almost noon so we went to a restaurant and had a nice lunch. Tim and I had wraps
and Anneke had sandwiches.
The next attraction was the 'Ripley's Aquarium of Canada'. It was next to the CN tower
in a futuristic building.
Ripley's Aquarium of Canada
The aquarium itself was the most beautiful and impressive aquarium I have ever seen.
Giant fish tanks with sharks, turtles, rays, lobsters, jellyfish and hundreds species
of fish.
A curious shark
The cleaning lady at work
Tim and me
A big ray
We spend a lot of time in the aquaruim. If you ever come to Toronto, this is something
you do not want to miss.
We had a (big) cup of coffee at the giftshop in the aquaruim. We had some time left
before dinner so we decided to visit Fort York.
The fort is famous because during the War of 1812, in the Battle of York, the U.S.
attacked York from Lake Ontario, overrunning the Britisch garrison.The British
abandoned the fort but let the powder magazine of the fort explode. The explosion
killed or wounded hundreds of U.S. soldiers. It is a historic site now.
We arrived at the fort, half an hour before closing time so the friendly lady at
the entrance told us we did not have to pay because we had only half an hour to see
the fort.
Anneke wanted me to play 'guard'
The CN tower in the background
This is were the soldiers lived
The fort closed at four o'clock so we had to leave. We went to another area in Toronto,
The Distillery Historic District and had coffee at Balzac's Coffee Roastery.
Balzac's Coffee Roastery
Then Tim got a textmessage that his wife Jennifer was already at the restaurant for
dinner so we walked to the 'HotHouse' restauarant. Jennifer was waiting for us and we
ordered the best pasta I ever had with a nice cold local beer.
A interesting old building in front of the restaurant
Enjoying dinner with Jennifer and Tim
Before Tim drove us back to the hotel, we went to a Wallmart to buy some bread, water
and a magazine. A Wallmart is HUGE. I don't think we have shops that big in the
Netherlands. They even have their own Mc Donalds in the store.
At the Wallmart in Mississauga
From the Wallmart, Tim and Jennifer drove us to the hotel. It was a wonderful day and
we were so happy that Tim wanted to take a day of from work to be our tourguide because
I know we would not have seen half of what we did today, without him.
Tomorrow, we will get our car and drive to the Niagara Falls.
Unfortunately, I got an email from the organiser of the Cowboy Action shooting match,
telling that the match at September 14, was canceled
Our next hotel where we will stay from September 12 to 13 is:
95 Smith Ave Apartment,
95 Smith Ave,
L8L SP2 Hamilton,
Canada.
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