Advertisement
Published: August 26th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Hello again!
Time has passed way too quick as I have come to the end of my Toronto adventure already..
As you know, most of my hours were spent sweating away at the studio practicing Pilates.
I have since taken a special Injury course which was actually mainly theory and after that I started my Rehabilitation course which I was looking forward to so much.
There was a completely different crowd in this course compared to the previous ones and it was definitely much more international. Nationalities ranged from Canadian & American to Philippino, Thai, Brazilian and a lovely South African (hhh 😉 )
The course was very creative and very interactive! Overall a great experience and I just can't wait to apply all my new knowledge at my new studio in Jakarta!!
I also finally made my way to the Niagara Falls as well! 😉
It was a rather long trip with many different modes of transport but I made it there by lunch time with an unexpected blue sky over the Niagara River! It was of course packed with tourists! So I was not too keen to stand in long queues to crowd into a boat with
100 other poncho-people to experience the falls 'up-close'. So I just walked the whole promenade and took pictures at all different angles and enjoyed a gentle cooling spray from the mist of the falls rather than getting soaked! (Im just justifying missing out on the "Maid of the mist" 😉 )
Afterwards I explored the surrounding area a bit as well... Downtown Niagara is not quite so glamorous.. I seems the falls regress every year bit by bit, so back in the day downtown Niagara was the place to be but now the focus has shifted to the over-crowed Clifton Hill where they pretty much built a whole entertainment park.. But I enjoyed the peace walking along the quiet Niagara River in Downtown Niagara.
When I finally got back to Toronto it was time to meet up with the local running club again. The previous week we had a special track session but this week they did their regular long run. They have 3 different routes which just branch off from the main route and since I was enjoying their pace I decided to go for the long run! Not knowing that when the last person branched off they would
considerably pick up the pace and head for the hills! I worked my ass off to keep up, but I made it back in one piece, very satisfied with my workout! 😉 I did have to skip the after-workout beer...
Unfortunately it took me about 1.5h to get home as there was a 'casualty' (read: suicide) at one of the main subway stations causing the whole subway system to shut down.....
On Monday I also embarked on a bit of a city trip.
I started off at the Royal Ontario Museum. A rather impressive and very extensive museum! They have an amazing collection of minerals, gems & gold on display at the "Canadian Mining Hall of Fame" and the best "Dinosaur" collection I have seen so far! There was also a special exhibition on at the moment on the "Death Sea Scrolls" which was also very interesting.
Afterwards I made my way to Kensington Market. This area on the other hand has an amazing collection of eccentric people (read: VERY weird). When I finally found the actual market I could have sworn to be in Jakarta already! Crowded streets, Asians everywhere and fruits, spices & clothes stalled out
all over the street! What a transformation!
When I finally made my way back out of Chinatown I walked all the way down the famous "Yonge" street. A hectic long walk on flip flops but a great way to see the city (& do some shopping 😉 )
Luckily this road was leading me all the way to the Pilates studio where I could end off my day with a few hours of Pilates!
A very satisfactory day after all!
My second day of sightseeing started at the Distillery District. This area has maintained its original buildings and cute cobble stone streets but has transformed itself into a popular area with restaurants, coffee shops and galleries. I guess there is a good vibe in the evenings but during the day it was rather quiet. BUT this gave me a prime spot in the sun at the recommended Balzac's coffee shop!
The rest of the day I made optimal use of the public transport of Toronto as I went from the Harbourfront to the St. Lawrance Market and all the way up to the Pilates studio uptown!
So I got to see a fair bit of Toronto and really
noticed today how they maintain certain older buildings but build a hyper-modern sky-scraper right next to it..A bit of an odd sight...
Tomorrow evening I catch my flight to hopefully spend my 9h layover in London just as productive as here in Toronto!
See you all soon!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.085s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 7; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0497s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Alix
non-member comment
Hey Lizzie!!!
Hey meid! Zo leuk om al uw avonturen online te kunnen volgen... weer veel te lang geleden dat we nog eens ge-update werden over elkaars bezigheden... nu ja, hier verandert er niet zo heel veel natuurlijk, vaste stek, job, vriend,... ;-)) Hoe lang blijf je in Jakarta?? Take care girl!! hear ya soon!! xxx