Toronto

After possibly one of the longest bus rides known to man/myself, a gigantuan 16 or so hours from Chicago, I arrived in Toronto at 7am, having departed at 4pm the previous day. An extremely empty bus, and the standard long haul wifi and power supply, in combination with a mixture of snack food made the ride extremely tolerable however.

I was greeted by Sam, my couchsurfing host for the next few days, and we made our way to his extremely central downtown apartment, right off Yonge street, Toronto's main strip, if you will. With a concert that night, I managed to sneak in a couple of hours of sleep (I didn't sleep at all on the bus), before making my way down to the waterfront for our outdoor viewing of Sigur Ros. The Echo Beach venue, on the shores of Lake Ontario with spectacular views of the Toronto skyline provided the perfect backdrop for a spectular musical performance that did not disappoint.

Sigur Ros at Echo Beach

After a day spent wandering the hipster district of Queen Street West, Chinatown, and managing to track down the house from the small-time Canadian television show 'Kenny vs Spenny', I was on my way to concert venue 'Sound Academy' to catch Long Island band Brand New. Or, at least I thought I was. After travelling by public transport for about 30 minutes of the 45 minute journey, I realised I'd forgotten my ticket.  An extremely annoying and rushed trip back to Sam's apartment, and I was on my back to the venue to catch the Brand New, making it minutes before Mr Lacey and his bandmates started playing.

We were up at an uncomfortably early time the next morning, making it to Dundas Square, Toronto's miniature version of Times Square, to get our lift with a small time tour operator to Niagara Falls. A few lesser appealing (read: boring) stops were on the way, but that only heightened our anticipation for seeing the falls themselves. The largest waterfalls in terms of waterflow in the world, the volume of water cascading down the three falls was mind-boggling. We'd got tickets to go on the 'Maid of the Mist' tour, which involved donning a bright blue poncho, jumping on a boat and heading up close to the face of the falls. In the warm weather, the chilly spray was extremely refreshing, like running under the sprinkler on a hot summer's day as a child.

Niagara Falls

After viewing a world record holding natural phenomenon, it was only fitting that we made our way to the CN Tower upon our arrival back in Toronto. The tower, formerly the tallest in the world, (now second) provided some brilliant views over the city, though the continual red glow that would light up the tower (it looks great from everywhere else) was a tad annoying, giving the tower a bit of a 'dodgy nightclub' look.

View from the CN Tower

With the work week over for Sam, the group of us headed to the annual Carribean Festival. A mardi-gras parade of sorts, the esplanade along the lake was transformed in a sensory extravaganza, with loud music, loud outfits (albeit small) and a variety of carribean influenced foods. With the now commonplace hot and humid Toronto summer taking its toll on us, we headed to Steam Whistle Brewery. A smaller version of Little Creatures, the ice cold beverages were the perfect refreshment after a morning in the heat.

Carribean Festival

Feeling refreshed and revitalised, and running out of time in Toronto, I headed via ferry across to the Toronto Islands. The journey across provided an impressive vista of the Skyline, before docking at Central Island. The islands were packed with families picknicking, people throwing around footballs, riding bikes, and swimming on the various beaches around the island and, once more, I was slightly annoyed I hadn't pre-planned a casual cheeky beverage and swim day in the park. With the sun was setting on my time in Toronto, I enjoyed my last moments ferrying across to the mainland, before mentally preparing for the next week in French Canada, starting off in Montreal the next day.

Toronto Skyline

Toronto Island Beach