Toronto - come rain or shine

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Tomorrow we join the Cosmos tour so thought I'd take this chance to write - who knows when I'll have another opportunity! Yesterday was foggy with rain promised so we decided to do some "inside" stuff. We found our way to the St. Lawrence Market in old Toronto. Wow! what a place! reminded me of Granville Island only a bit of grotty thrown in. Lots of fish, meat, fruit, cheeses, flowers, breads, specialty dishes, music, people, noise, aromas and not-so-nice smells - all in the one big rambling brick building. We roamed around upstairs and down, I found a scarf I liked (not too much weight and bulk). Ron found his seafood chowder for lunch and I found some bits and pieces at a gourmet place - looked better than they tastetd. The cheese was great though, as were the bagel chips. A couple of blokes came to share our table and they told us about the Distillary District - so we went there next. What a fabulous place. It was an old rambling collection of brick buildings used way back in the 1800's to make booze. There was a fabulous wall mural showing it all in its hey day. (I took a photo of course). The buildings have been converted into cafe's with outdoor patios, art studios, exhibition spots and souvenier shops. The rain came as we walked, but the place was so interesting we didn't let that worry us. As we were leaving, however, the rain fell a bit more vigorously so we sheltered for a while, then walked some more - finally caught the subway and got home non-the-worse-for-wear. Today, bright and shiney again. Off to parliament buildings. Fabulous old stone buildings with ornate carvings in stone all around. Queen's Park a delight to just sit in the shade. Wandered in and out of many centres, found the Eaton's Centre - huge! Ended up down at Union Centre again. South American Band (guitars, pan flutes etc) playing in the square. Decided to take the Hippo Tour only to find it had sold out today. Oh well... It doesn't look too good for the football game tonight - Ron's a bit tired. Actually, I am too. We saw the Skydome on the Rogers Centre retracting while we were down town - what an amazing feat of engineering!
Had a brief chat to the tour director (John) a few minutes ago - seems like a decent sort. We start our bus trip tomorrow - around town, off to Niagara Falls, back to town then up the tower for dinner. I must remember to be gracious and accept the fact that I'm one of those annoying people en masse who invade places.
Happy Birthday Timothy - I notice you share your birthday with Barak!
Early morning wake up call, so, bye for now.
Our love to you all.

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