A weekend in Toronto

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It's 23.30 on the 10th May. This is our last night in Toronto for about a week and a half, and we've had such a fantastic time here.
We got up early on Friday morning, and packed up fairly quickly as we didn't really have much space to unpack at Scales in the first place. We said thanks and goodbye to all of the team there, then drive the 25 minutes or so with Adam to the bus station. There was a feeling that they didn't really buy or story that some friends had arrived in Toronto early and we were going to meet them, but by this point it didn't really matter.
The greyhound bus was a local service so fairly basic - no Wifi or power outlets, but the trip only lasted an hour and a half, so it wasn't to much of a problem. Once of the bus we found a Starbucks and sat for a few hours before the hostel check in time of 3pm, basking in our new found freedom. As with most HI hostels, it was well equipped, clean and central.
We settled in to our 6 bed room (the other 2 beds were taken up by girls that spent the majority of the time out), and unpacked. We had a couple hours to shower, put a wash in and freshen up before we headed out to the Rogers Centre to watch a Toronto Bluejays vs. Boston Red Sox baseball game.
This was the first time we had a good look at the city, which was vast. It was certainly the closest a city has come so far to being on the scale of NY. The baseball ground was in the shadow of the famous CN tower, which made for a fantastic view as the sun set over the lake.
The game in itself was great fun - probably closest to cricket (as you may imagine) in terms of pace and atmosphere, a game you can really get into. We ate and had a couple beers there before wandering in the warm night air to the hostel, getting home and to bed by around 11.30.
We woke for 9.30 Saturday morning in order to take advantage of the free breakfast, and decided that Kate and Rosie were to go shopping, while I headed off to the Royal Ontario Museum for the day. Unfortunately, Matt was really not feeling too well by this point, having picked up a nasty cough, presumably from wading in festering waters all of Monday, so stayed at the hostel most of the day.
I walked in the increasing warmth of the day a little way out of Downtown Toronto, through the hospital complex (where a funrun was taking place) and a park, before reaching the museum. Entry was only $16 - and was so worth it. I won't go into too much detail about the exhibits as I think my photos are better to do that, but I will say I think is had the most comprehensive selection of interest artefacts and exhibits I have seen in a museum. It had everything, from historical artefacts from every continent and era, dinosaur fossils, a huge selection of stuffed animals - extinct and otherwise, gemstones and meteorites, art and photograph galleries, enough to keep me occupied for 4 hours.
I finally left to go to the shopping centre to pick up some shorts where I bumped into Rosie and Kate, then left them to pop to a sports bar overlooking Toronto's equivalent of Times Square for a couple of beers. I got back to the hostel at around 6, shortly followed by the rest. We were to go out that evening, but Matt sadly was still not feeling well enough to join us.
We headed out again at just gone 7, starting first at the sports bar I was in that afternoon, The Sharks Club, to watch the Habs - Lightning game. There was a great atmosphere, and we were sat up at the bar chatting to the Irish bartender James, drinking and eating. Habs won 2-1, so are still in the running for the Cup, after an almost unbearably tense third period.
We left the bar and headed down to a club, Union, about 30 minutes away, stopping briefly for a couple shots in a bar on the way.
As we approached Union, a young Asian guy asked us where we were going, and as it happened he and his friends were going to Union too - so we joined them. Unfortunately it turned out that the club had a dress shoes and shirts policy that night, so we weren't let in. We left the group, and headed down the main drag to find another club. After a while we came across a bar/nightclub with a queue (always a good sign), and joined the back of it). It took us about 20 minutes to get in, and we chatted to some of the guys around us - who were, as always, very friendly and welcoming. The club was smallish, but with a really good atmosphere and good music - as well as pretty cheap drinks. We got in at about 1 and stayed until around 2.30, dancing and drinking, until everyone was kicked out.
Now, bearing in mind by this point I had been drinking for a good 10 hours on and off (mainly on), things began to get a little hazy - if not downright surreal. I think we made our way back, waking with a couple of guys in there mid twenties that may well have been in the club. We came to a street that seemed to be closed off, but - out of curiosity more than anything - we blagged out way down it, claiming that our friend had gone that way and following him. We walked past a couple of guys with there backs to us in conversation, and all of a sudden Kate goes 'oh my god. That's Will Smith!'. (Will Smith - A-List actor: Fresh Price, Men in Black, I Am Legend, I Robot etc to name a few). Being a combination of starstruck and pretty drunk I shouted 'Hey Will Smith!' To which he replied 'hey guys!', then continued talking to the guy next to him. In my photos they is a dark, blurry picture of two guys side by side. The guy in red is him - you may need to turn your screen brightness up to see.
Anyway, we were hurried away by security, and eventually befriended the assistant director, Andy, in that self confident way you have when you're half-cut. He let us and a few other guys stand and watch the filming (the reason why Will Smith was there) of Suicide Squad, a new Batman spin off blockbuster currently being made. Andy is the random guy in a couple of our selfies.
After about an hour, we moved round to another road that was blocked off where there were a few more people and I better view. The scene consisted of a girl sitting on a wrecked car in the middle of a street, and people with sub machine guys running around while Will Smith picked her off the car and continued to walk down the street in torrential rain created by a huge sprinkler hoisted above the street and manned by the fire services. We stood and watched until is seemed filming was being wound down - and at one point were allowed to walk across the set; I got a video of this and will upload it onto Facebook.
We headed back, making the traditional stop in McDonalds at about 6am, before collapsing in bed. Today I have spent nearly all day sleeping off a pretty mean hangover. Kate Matt and Rosie went back out to the shops, but I stayed back and slept. I was finally roused, and we headed out at around 7pm to grab a bite to eat in a diner - all a little worse for wear. By this point I was very much awake, having spent 12 hours sleeping, so Rosie and I headed down the docks and walked for a couple if hours looking out over to Toronto Island Parks, watching the planes take off and the ships glide soundlessly on the black waters. It's a really muggy night here, and its forecast for thunderstorms tonight.
So that's our first experience of Toronto - a city, it must be said, to even challenge the likes of Montreal.

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