Last Day in Toronto

Today is our last day in Toronto. I cannot believe how quickly it has gone! When we first started seriously planning this trip, we were going to allow for 4, maybe 5 days in Toronto. We ended up booking for 9, and we're so glad we did. We could easily stay for a few more, but NYC is calling.

We went for our last breakfast at Cora's today, ordering quite quickly as we've all discovered our favourites by now. We then headed back to the hotel to begin packing. Once that was completed, we headed downtown, back to the Eaton Centre to pick up any last minute gifts and souveniers. We had some lunch, had a wander around, and got back here late afternoon. We will be picking up our laundry soon, then heading out for an early dinner. We need to be at the airport by 9am, so it will be a pretty early start.

Some general observations about Toronto -

* In the downtown area, pedestrians don't need to push a button for the crosswalks. When the lights change, the signal for pedestrians changes too. When it changes from walk to don't walk, it also has a "countdown", telling you how many seconds until the lights change.

* Subway fares are set within metropolitan Toronto. $2.75 for adults, 80c for children, $1.80 for seniors/students.

* Customer service is fantastic. People certainly work hard for their tips! Even those who don't get tipped (fast food vendors, department store staff) are very courteous.

* It's very clean. The streets, the subway stations, the trains themselves, are all very clean.

Other general notes -

* If, like me, you enjoy starting the day with a cup of tea (English Breakfast, etc), do no ask for white tea. You will get something completely different. You will get whiteberry tea, which is nothing like black tea with milk. That's what you need to order - tea with milk.

* When ordering a flat white coffee for Paul's dad, all I got was a blank stare. You need to order brewed coffee, and add your own milk.

* Nothing marks you out as a tourist more than fumbling with coins, trying to work out which ones are which. Paul's dad and I have avoided this by handing paper money over for everything. Not that the accents give us away as tourists or anything *wink*.

* We love Toronto!


See you in New York City!