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Woke up this morning to find the Niagara Falls completely blanketed by fog. It was near impossible to see anything through the thick fog/mist. After my daily morning Starbucks coffee I checked out and went back down to the falls via the incline railway which saved me a good 20 minute walk around the long way. Decided to be a tourist and did the Journey Behind The Falls which takes you through some man made rock tunnels directly behind the horseshoe falls. It gives you a closeup of the might and fury of the falls and the spray is pretty strong which means you get soaked and hence the supplied ponchos. It was a quick 10 minute attraction and next I walked along the walkway all the way down to Clifton Hill which definitely an area catered towards tourists. It has a carnival feel to it and seemed a little too tacky for me. Headed back towards falls view and had brunch at Applebee's which is attached to my hotel. Had a good steak with sauteed onions, mushrooms and potatoes. It was well seasoned and I enjoyed it immensely, not bad for chain restaurant.
It was then time to bid
farewell to Niagara and head back to Toronto. I had to head back to the airport to return the rental car and then caught a taxi downtown to my hotel. Hotel Strathcona is an older building which has recently undergone renovations and the rooms and hallways look very modern and again I am happy with my choice. It is only around the corner from Union Station where I will be catching a train to Montreal on Sunday. Union Station is a massive building and was built during the golden era of rail travel. Across the road is the Royal York which is another Fairmont resort and you can easily see from the style of the building.
I had 2 hours to kill before meeting my old uni friend Natalie so went for a walk around downtown Toronto and found City Hall which is pretty ugly and Old City Hall which is next to it. I am definitely a fan of the older building and looks much more prestigious. From there, it was only 2 blocks to Dundas Square which must be Canada's answer to Times Square but on a much smaller scale. There was plenty of people hanging around
here and at Eaton Centre which is downtown Toronto's major shopping complex. Next I walked down Dundas Street towards Chinatown before it was time to head back to meet up with Nat. I haven't seen Nat for about 10 years, basically since our uni days. She and her husband Billy have been living here in Toronto for about 3 years. It was good fun hanging out with them, we had a few beers at a pub before having some comfort Korean food down at Chinatown. They recommended a pork bone spicy soup which was excellent and I was very content at the end of the meal. We parted ways after our meal and will probably meet up again tomorrow after I do some morning sight seeing.
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