On our way we stopped off for a Thousand island cruise on the St Laurence river. The islands are of various sizes and the criteria to be an island is it has to be at least one square meter in size, above water for 365 days a year and able to sustain life eg grow at least one tree. The whole area is beautiful with lush green pastures , trees and vegetable/fruit/ vineyards. The wooded islands are on the river are sprinkled with simple to opulent homes on tiny postage stamp size islands to larger rocky areas. The Boldt Castle, a large hotel has a magnificent position on the water way.
We stopped at Kingston, for lunch, a defense town in the 1830's, protecting Quebec/ Montreal from Americian invasion via the river. The military still have a a major influence in the town today with colleges and a military base. Kingston also has a prison with a water view! We enjoyed our first hot dog here with the lot, of course
A brief afternoon stop for coffee and apple pie at The Big Apple, where they make everything apple before we continued our journey to Toronto.
Toronto means meeting place, originally Indian tribes meet on the river to trade. It was founded in 1793. Today it is one of the worlds most liveable cities, with 49% of the population being born elsewhere . There are 140 languages spoken in Canada's largest city.
We arrived in Toronto, at 5 pm with still a drizzling rain and cold conditions which has been following us since Quebec.
Our first impression is that it reminds us of Melbourne, freeways heading into the CBD , high rise apartments, and leafy river views.There are a few groups of young people hanging around and some beggars in the streets,which has made us feel a little bit uncomfortable for the first time. However it stays light until 8 ish, so it is safe to walk around the streets and we always seem to bump into other tour people.
Tonight we went out for dinner at Blake House, a restaurant in an old house. The meal was really nice, roast and yorkshire pudding and veggies. I was the only female in the restaurant besides the waitresses , that may have been because we were on the edge of the gay community. Standards have been a lot more liberal in Canada.
We checked out a new local supermarket in Canada, Loews . It was an amazing experience. It's a large supermarket as we know it on one side with an enormous fruit and veg section thats mainly organic with produce from all over the world. The meat section has a huge selection of different cuts of meat, that can be purchased individually, cooked or raw. The deli , has cheeses from all over the world as well as cured meats, olives etc etc. All bakery items are made on site, and range from petite little cakes to huge muffins and exquisite cakes. It also has long tables set up in the middle of the fresh food section, where you can sit and eat your purchases of cooked meat, veggies, sushi etc etc.
We are in Toronto now for 2 nights which will be really nice not to pack up in the morning. The hotel is in the middle of the CBD and we have a great view and large spacious room. We are in walking distance to the esplanade and main shopping area.
Cheers for now,
Leanne and Greg
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Location:Toronto
Toronto beggers are pretty harmless, there are more in vancouver. If you get time, I reccomend you check out Kensington Markets and Toronto Island. Have fun, wish we were there to show you around! xx
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