Falling in Love with Toronto

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What an amazing city!

After the longest train ride in the history of the universe from New York City, we arrived in Toronto after 11:00 p.m. - a bit later than planned! The ride was absolutely beautiful in places, especially going through the northern parts of New York State and Niagara Falls, but there were several unplanned stops and starts and we were exhausted by the time we got in, having stayed up all night chatting with our friend Chris in New York before having to catch the train in the morning.

Got up the next morning around 11:00 after a good night's sleep! My mom and step-dad were down at Kensington Market and we went down around noon to get some breakfast/lunch. We walked a couple blocks down Yonge Street, past lots of cute little shots and restaurants, Thai food, Japanese, Korean, several noodle places and Caribbean food, all of which we love but none that we were in the mood for at the moment so we walked a little bit further until we got to a cute Italian trattoria called Cafe Arrabiata. I ordered the asparagus and brie crepe and Fernie had the fruit crepe, both came with really yummy potato wedges. We walked down to the harbor to meet Mom and Tim, and from there grabbed a snack and a couple of beers at a big ship-themed restaurant. We walked some more and debated whether or not to go up in the CN Tower but decided to skip it and go up into the Niagara lookout tower instead. We decided to get dinner at the Cafe Arrabiata, and it was just as good as breakfast - pasta and wine and garlic bread. Walking back from dinner we passed so many cool shops on Yonge Street. You can find just about any cuisine you're in the mood for, a bunch of little souvenir and specialty type shops, clothes, magazines, and everything in between. It goes all the way down to the water, which is really lovely, especially in the fall.

Day Two

Niagara Falls! That was so beautiful. I vaguely remember seeing the falls at the beginning of a trip when I was a child, around 11, but I remember less about the falls and more about the photo taken of me on top of the windy lookout tower with my shirt billowing out like a linebacker. 😉 I loved all the rainbows, the white noise of the water going over the side, and the sheer dimensions of the whole thing. We got to eat lunch on a restaurant patio overlooking the falls. The food itself was pretty forgettable, but the view was amazing. We had grabbed breakfast earlier at Eggspectation, a popular breakfast spot on Yonge Street. They do seem to like their egg restaurants.

After we got back from the falls Fernie and I were hungry so we headed out for some dinner and finally found a place that was open on a Sunday night. It was like Marche in Boston, which I'm not fond of because of the whole overpriced mediocre food idea, but we picked up a few things and then went back to the hotel.

This city is definitely one of my favorites. It's so diverse - and not segregated diverse, but everyone thrown in together in one big area, young and old, whatever religion, culture, or lifestyle you're a part of. An amazing choice of restaurants, good shopping, and a beautiful, clean city. I heart Toronto.

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Photos

Yonge Street
This main street, which ran down to the harbor, had lots of little shops and just about any kind of food you can imagine.

View from the Niagara Falls lookout
The fall colors were beautiful!

Breakfast
Mom and Tim at Eggspectation

UFO
My train muffin resembled a spaceship. I was tired. ;)