Memories are funny. I had faint memories of two trips I had made to Toronto back sometime in 2007 and 2008. While looking at my old blog, I found mini many posts on these trip and the images and smells came flooding back. Speaking of images, I managed to find some pictures I had taken in the first trip. I was not that lucky with the second trip.
Circa June 2007
While living in Massachusetts, my lady and I decided on a whim to make the long ride to Toronto for a 3 day weekend. When we were about two miles into the journey, we realized that we had left our passports at home. Not ones to give up, we returned, picked up the passports and resumed the trip. We arrived late, several hours later to my cousin and her family who welcomed us with her typical warmth.
The Ferry an Toronto Island Park
South of Toronto, are a chain of 15 islands, a popular tourist destination. As my cousin’s son was young, the obvious island to visit was the center island, the location of the Centerville Amusement Park.
While waiting for our Ferry ride, we sampled the Chicken dog sold by a streetseller at the behest of my cousin. It was delicious. The Ferry ride offered great views of the Toronto Skyline and the CN tower.
The park has a caorusel, a train and quite a few rides like the swan boat ride to amuse children. Like most public attractions in Canada, it is well maintained. The Carousel in particular, dates back to 1907.
Centreville Amusement Park. (2022, September 5). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centreville_Amusement_Park
The ride on the Ferry back gave us a spectacular view of Toronto’s Skyline.
The CN Tower
The following day we decided to pay the CN tour a visit. During the time of our visit, it was the world’s tallest building. Today it is the tenth tallest building. While nowhere breathtaking as the Burk Khalifa, the CN tower is a great place to visit and stands on its own merits.
Wladyslaw, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Our dinner that night was at the 360 restaurant atop the CN tour. The panoramic views of the city below were spectacular. The lamb we ordered was delicious too.
Larry Koester, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Common
The. 360 restaurant has a glass floor to look down below for the not-so-faint-at-heart. Actually it’s not that scary if one considers that it is strong enough to hold 35 Moose or 40Hippos. (After living in America, we avoid the metric system when we can.). Atleast, that was the assurance we got from the guide.
Flaviohmg, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Common
I took some of my own photos ofthe dizzying views from the glass with my small phone camera.
Winery near Niagra
No vacation to Toronto would be complete without going to its greatest attraction, but we decided to make a pitstop at one of the 50 wineries near Niagra.
Here is my blog post from June 2007:
I learnt that it is not always the color of the grape that determines the color of the wine. It is a question of separating the pulp in the grape from the skin. For white wine making, care must be taken that the pulp is separated from both the skin and the seeds. If seeds get crushed and mixed in the wine, the wine could be bitter. However, it is OK for crushed seeds to be included while making read wines as they do incorporate a slight bitter taste.
We also learnt a lot of wine tasting tips. One was to use the first sip of wine as a mouthwash to mask the taste of anything eaten before the tasting. It is the second sip that counts.
We were told to look at out glass with a pure white background to ensure that our wines were not cloudy. If the wine is cloudy, use a coffee filter to filter the wine.
This is a winery, right next to the Niagra. The tour and tour guide were excellent, well worth the $5(Canadian). The wines were great. The tour was informative too.
Another tip was to hold on to our nose and then to swallow the wine. Doing so raises our tasting ability to test subtle flavors in the wine. We also tried some iced wine. They are wines made from grapes that are frozen. Ice wines sweeter than typical wines.
Niagra Falls, Ontario
What can one say about the Niagra. As we all know, the Canadian view of the Niagra is far more spectacular.
Saffron Blaze, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Here are my own photos and posts from the trip. (Bear in mind, this was a Samsung as Smart Phones were just coming into the market.)
The Niagra: Majestically she stands guard across two nations. Her fury is fierce but spellbinding.
This is The Fallsview casino, overlooking the Niagra. It is one of three Casinos in the area.
Circa August 2008
My gracious cousin was kind enough to invite us over, the following year. This time, we spent most our time catching up, but we did visit one attraction in the area. Unfortunately, my pictures for the blog post are lost for this trip.(Only my words from the trip remain) Thank you Wikipedia Commons!
Crawford Indian Village, Oakville Ontario
This is a nice picnic spot in Oakville, Ontario about a 40 km away from Toronto. The village is a preserved 16th Century village fenced and guarded by a maze, to keep away wild animals.
Beside the village is the Crawford lake, with a scenic wooden pathway around it. The scenery around it is breathtaking and if you are lucky enough as we were, you may glimpse a turtle or two in the water.
Alex Laney, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Whpq, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mhsheikholeslami, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Islands
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centreville_Amusement_Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CN_Tower
https://www.cntower.ca/inspiring-by-day-stellar-by-night
https://www.destinationontario.com/en-ca/things-to-do/niagara-wine-region
