Visiting Toronto

Ronald is here for three days only. It is my goal to show him as much as possible, so the visit is going to be hectic. On top of that, today is supposed to be cold, cloudy and miserable, so I have prepared a few alternatives.

The plan is to walk East on Carlton Street, past Allen Gardens, to Parliament Street. There, we will walk South to No Frills and a Korean store and then walk West on Gerrard Street to have a look at the Beer Store and Allen Gardens where we will have a fast look at the greenhouses. We will then go further West to my place and then to Yonge Street.

On Yonge Street, we walk South to the Eaton Centre, have a fast visit there, go to the second floor, walk South in the Eaton Centre to use the walkway to The Bay where we take the escalators to the basement. There we walk through the underground city to the Sheraton where we go to the main floor, walk outside on Queen Street to the East and pass under the walkway we used to go from the Eaton Centre to The Bay to go to Yonge Street again.

From there, we walk above ground to Harbourfront, where we use the boardwalk to walk West passed the building where I used to live, and then walk further to Queen's Quay Terminal. After a short visit, we go further West to see one of the so many marinas there and we then walk North to the Lakeshore. There, we walk East to the LCBO flagship Liquor Store and the most beautiful Loblaws store.

We then go North and West to go back to Yonge Street where we have a drink in BCE Place at Richtree's (formerly M?venpick). After our drink, we use the underground city to go to Union Station and the Skywalk to finally arrive at the CN Tower where we have a well-deserved rest and, of course, dinner.

One tip: the elevator to the observation deck of the CN Tower costs about 15 CAD plus tax. Although the restaurant is very expensive to Toronto standards, one does not have to pay for the elevator to go there. Therefore, a meal at the CN Tower is less expensive than it seems (around 45 CAD for a set menu). On top of that, one can sit comfortably and relax while eating and taking in the view. The restaurant is of the revolving type and makes one full turn every 72 minutes.

After a short visit to the glass floor where one can look about 350 metres down, we head for the Rogers Centre (formerly known as the Skydome) for a baseball game. I am not exactly a sports fanatic, so this was a first. It was a remarkable experience that I can advise anyone to check out.

And finally, I took Ronald to the hotel for a well-deserved rest and then rushed home to work on a few translations that had to be finished.