TORONTO
What a wonderful clean, international city! we stayed at the Marriot Eaton Center. A lovely large room with flat screen tv and spent the day at the St Lawrence Market where meats of all kind are available. For people who live in Toronto, it is a great place to shop! The downtown area around the market was having "woof" days and we saw hundreds of dogs of all breeds. Very interesting. Parking was $16.00. Afer the Market we drove our car to the hotel and took a cab for $7.00 to the harbor where we then took the ferry ($4.00 rt) to Center Island. Seeing Toronto from the water is well worth the trip and walking the island is so peaceful. It is a great park. We made ourselves at home in a marina, had a couple of beers and just watched the boats and Toronto skyline. We did not go, but there is a clothing optional beach for anyone interested.
The next day we had a very good lunch at the 360 in the CN tower. The views are amazing. We so enjoyed seeing where we had spent the day before on the islands from the air. About $85.00 with drinks. Toronto is vibrant and clean, clean, clean!
NIAGARA FALLS
It took us a little over an hour to drive to the Falls where we spent the next two days. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in a fallsview room. We went to sleep looking at the Falls, woke up looking at the Falls, had breakfast and dinner looking at the Falls, it was wonderful! We spent one day walking the Canadian side and then the American side. The Maid of the Mist on Canada side and Cave of the Winds on the American side are not to be missed. Also, walking south on Goat Island on the American side and viewing the Falls from that point is not to be missed. You are very, very close to all that power!
We took one day to drive the wine route while heading to Niagara on the Lake. Tasting is .50 cents to $1.00. Once in Niagara on the Lake we parked our car and walked the quaint downtown area purchasing this years Christmas ornaments at the Christmas Store. A late lunch was had at the golf club that is opened to the public. We are all into views and they have outside seating where you see the Niagara River and Lake Ontario and Fort Niagara. A hot dog and beer tasted like steak with that view!
Niagara Falls has construction going on right now. The Table on the Rock restaurant by Horseshoe Falls is gone, they are building a new facility with terraced seating which should be just great as it is so close to the Falls and a walkover the street in front plus a theater. Supposed to be finished in 08.
NIAGARA FALLS
Report on Toronto and Niagara Falls
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Thanks for posting - very interesting how clean you find it - that's a big issue here as so many locals don't find it so clean any longer.
cd: many thinks for your report. We (who live here in Toronto, if only part-time) need more on the Canadian Forum so that we can see ourselves as others see us. I haven't been out to Centre Island in a very long time and you have inspired me to go.
So glad you enjoyed your visit to Toronto and the Niagara region.
I do hope you will return in the future. You may want to explore the theatre scene and the many cultural (and multi-cultural) events that go on in Toronto. I also recommend the hop-on-hop-off bus to get a quick overview of the city. Centre Island is a lovely place to visit and I am pleased you enjoyed it.
LJ - the Bruce Trail Conservancy have hikes on the Islands during the summer every Thursday after work - it's almost free except for a loonie or toonie donation to the Escarpment Fund. Meet at the ferry docks just before 6 - non-members are welcome.
Pace is 3 km/hr and they hike for about 3 hours. They say to bring a picnic dinner, a sweater or jacket as it can get cool at night and a flashlight.
They have other urban hikes that can be very interesting, too. www.brucetrail.org
Hi Sally, thanks: this is very useful info...we have been heading up to the Forks of the Credit Park (also part of the Bruce Trail), but the cost of gas and the guilt of going all that way for a walk, have caused us to do a re-think. Do you know if they welcome dogs?
Sometimes they do welcome dogs on hikes, but this time it says "no dogs".
Some of their out-of-town hikes are for non-members - they travel via school bus - it's around $19 for the trips.
Correction: Earlier, I said every Thursday in the summer but it's every Thursday in June.
Yes, we did see Toronto as clean. I suspect you do have neighborhoods that are undesirable but we did not see them. We saw diversity and loved all the dialects. We traveled to Greece and Turkey last month, fell in love with kebobs and found them again in your city along with people from those regions! Also, we saw that you use your parks to their full advantage. We saw people playing chest and checkers, young people playing games in the parks and those just relaxing in the shade. We felt that you make the most use of your assets available and we will be back.
cd,
I think you must have been at "Woofstock" down at the market. I love that name -- it cracks me up!
So glad you liked my city. The market area is one of my favourites and when I'm rich I'm going to sell my house and by a condo down there.
Come back again soon.
Opps, CHESS! Did not see anyone playing chest
Yes, the dogs were amazing. They had a 30 some feet pool with platform and different dogs were raced to the beginning of the pool and owner would throw a toy into the water as far as they could. The dog would then jump into the water to fetch. Some could jump really far but they were all cute. One of the cutest was one that would run to the beginning of the pool and then stop with feet over the edge! Like saying, "I'm not jumping in there! no way!"
Did you catch any of the entertainment for Luminato going on at Dundas Square?
Friday night was quite insane - and hot - Count Basie orchestra drew A LOT of people and most of the swing dancers in the city.
We leave in about 2 weeks for NF. Any tips on where to eat? Thanx!
dcd
The view is what it is all about for us. We ate mostly at the Keg in the Embassy Suites because we could have a fallsview window view. If they were busy, we would wait.
The Keg Steakhouse website looks fabulous. But the prices aren't listed on the lunch or dinner menus...... How much are the entrees? Any tips on getting a table with a view? Thanx!
For dinner it was pretty much high twenties for steaks. Always wait for a window seat. You can have a drink at the bar while you wait. They also serve a breakfast buffet there, I think it is 8.99, we stayed at the Embassy and breakfast is included so I can't remember exactly, but again ask for a window seat if you go and wait till one is available, we never waited longer than 20 minutes.
cd, thanx to you, my wife and I will be enjoying our 9th anniversary in one of the most picturesque places on the planet!! We made the reservation tonite for the Keg on a Sunday nite so we'll be able to see the fireworks after dinner from the convenience of our table.
Happy Anniversary dcd! Fireworks are at 10:00
dcd
Any chance you could stay in one of their fallsview rooms? It is amazing to go to sleep looking at the Falls and wakeup looking at the falls. They have packages available. http://www.embassysuitesniagara.com/
Just so you know... there are not fireworks every night... only Friday at 10 and some holidays...
Hi Gary
They're every Friday and Sunday right now and I think for the rest of the summer, actually, I think also on Wednesday's in July and Aug.
This is a bit of a digression, but it seems a good place to ask. Some relatives of mine visited Niagara Falls last year and they noticed that on their hotel and restaurant bills they were charged a 'fireworks tax'. I'd never heard of this and thought they'd misunderstood something but they showed me the receipts and there it was.
I've googled local, provincial and even federal taxes and see nothing about a fireworks tax. Does anyone know anything about it?
cd, our reservation is for 8pm which factors in a possible wait time. In addition to your comment on that subject, a recent reviewer on Trip Advisor said the Keg's reservation policy is pretty much a sham so expect a wait. So we should be good to go for the fireworks at 10.
Thanx for the embassysuites link. Those falls view rooms do look fabulous. Nevertheless, we opted to stay at a nearby B&B which will not have the views but is apparently very, very nice. We plan on getting lots of views of the falls via the various rides and walks and now via dinner.
Have a great time!