Canada 2006 Part III - Toronto
The third leg of our Canada trip was a few days in Toronto (aka T.O). This was a relaxing urban end to our holiday, and we stayed at the very comfortable Le Germain, a smart boutique hotel in the centre of the “Entertainment District”.
The main highlights of Toronto were:
- Visiting the Toronto Islands on the hottest day of the trip (28 degrees C), strolling all the way from Hanlan’s Point to Wards Island. A beautiful oasis a short boat ride from downtown Toronto, across the harbour.
- Exploring the Distillery District. Not far from Cabbagetown, the Distillery District is a redevelopment of the old Gooderham and Worts Distillery. It is a small area of restored Victorian buildings and cobbled streets, full of art galleries, jewellery and clothes shops, restaurants and bars, and even hosts a Sunday Farmers’ Market.
- Eating Italian hot dogs from street vendors in Bloor-Yorkville.
Niagara-on-the-Lake
In addition to the urban stuff, we made a side trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) and spent the day cycling around some of the wineries, including Inniskillin (yes, really), Reif Estates and Peller Estates.
The reds are mostly a bit rough, but the Reislings are crisp and dry and the Ice Wines are the sort of thing that would be perfect with Christmas pudding! Unfortunately I don’t think there is a big distribution in the UK, so our three mini-bottles will have to do us for a while.
I wouldn’t advise using VIA Rail for this trip (2 trains/day, 2 hours to cover 80km, 1 hour delay on the way back due to US/Canadian customs at Niagara Falls), but cycling was a great way to see the area around NOTL.