Once again, we did our best to pack the day full of fun and sightseeing. We decided to stick with a good thing, and returned to "Cora's" for breakfast. Once again, it was delicious, with great service and a lovely atmosphere.
We then took advantage of our second day of being able to hop on/hop off, and hopped off at a couple of places.
The first was at Queen's Quay, where we caught a ferry over to "the islands" - Centre Island to be exact. It's a lovely parkland, complete with walking trails, kayaks for hire, and an amusement park. Guess where we ended up? Centreville was a lot of fun for all of us, Patrick and Matthew in particular. They enjoyed various rides, such as a spinning "Barrel of Monkeys" ride. Paul, Patrick, Matthew and I took the arial cars from one end of the amusement park to the other, which gave us some beautiful views. We also "drove" some vintage cars around a track (Mum, remember the photo of Grandma and I on them on one of her visits? It was the same ones!), and Paul, Patrick and Matthew rode a rollercoaster, and all five of us went on a miniature train ride. Paul and Matthew then rode a "log" up (and down) a splash mountain type ride, while Patrick and I braved a haunted house.
After catching the ferry back to the "hop on" spot, we quickly got some lunch before the bus arrived. All five of us decided on hot dogs from a stand that was nice and close. They were really yummy!
We got back on the bus, and headed for Casa Loma, where we got off to go in and explore the house. I say house, but honestly, it was a castle! I've never seen anything like it in my life. The owner had been on a European Tour as a young man, and had fallen in love with various castles all over Europe. When he got home to Canada, he decided to build one for himself, but couldn't decide which style of castle he loved the most. So, he incorporated design details from seven different styles. Three storeys high, and many, many rooms. The library was incredible! Glass fronted bookshelves, filled with hundreds and hundreds of books. Only downside was that we rushed it a little to catch the bus back - and that became a saga of its own.
We made it to the pick up point 4 full minutes before we due to leave, only to see it pulling away without us. After the initial frustration we pulled ourselves together and started to walk towards the subway. A cab drove past about half way there, and we hailed it down. Only problem was that it could take 4 passengers and there are 5 of us. Dad got in and the rest of us headed for the subway. We got there no problems and walked almost immediately onto a train. The subway is really fast, really clean and really roomy - at least it was at 4:30pm on a Saturday. We travelled about 6 stops and came out about a 10 minute walk from our hotel - too easy. Dad made it back too!
For dinner, we went to a place called The Swiss Chalet (ring a bell, mum?). Roast chicken, salad, ribs, etc. Tasty food, good service. It's a restaurant I remember going to as a little girl when we lived in Toronto, so it was fun to go back.
Todays photos are at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29194431@N02/sets/72157607397239286/
2 comments:
This is the third message I have had to type because the system never seems to want to publish my comments until I sign up each time.
Anyway, it seems like you are all having a wonderful time and the weather appears to be nice and sunny.
Your notes/photos are certainly bringing back a lot of happy memories for me. I agree with you Paul, the Toronto subway system is really good. Meag, do you remember what happened to Grandma Clayton on the way to Center Island when the bird flew overhead. We all laughed ourselves silly over that one.
The Swiss Chalet also reminds me not only about the good food and their special dipping sauce, but that was where Grandma Clayton did her "swan song".
I will now try and send this again. Must hold my mouth correctly this time and hopefully it will go through. Until next time, God bless you all and keep you safe and well. Love and kisses to all.
Mum
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I'm glad your comment finally got through - not sure why it's doing that though.
I remember the bird, but I didn't remember that it was on the way to Centre Island!
I told Paul, the boys and Dad the Grandma Clayton story about Swiss Chalet. Paul suggested I put my fingers in my ears, scream, and he'd take a photo. We decided against it though, for the sake of other diners!
(For those of you not familiar with the story - my grandma visited us, and fainted when we took her to the Swiss Chalet. I was five, and, as all helpful children do, closed my eyes, put my fingers in my ears, screamed, and tried to run away. Thankfully a quick-moving waitress caught me!)
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