Toronto Meanderings

Photos from our 11-mile walk all throughout Toronto.

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My day started with an early morning 5-mile run along the harbor Waterfront area

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Toronto's flat - iron landmark, the Gooderham Building

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Visiting the St. Lawrence Market

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We had a filling breakfast at a great place called Marche, so we were not able to try this famous sandwich

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The market had plenty of shops, restaurants and bakeries. This is Stone Mill Bay House, everything looked so good and the prices were very affordable

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Shots from The Distillery District

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Cool old buildings mixed with new

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St. James Cathedral

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We continued our walk and visited the Metropolitan United Church

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Toronto Old City Hall

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Walking along Spadina Avenue through the heart of Chinatown

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We had lunch in the Kensington Market, at Venezuelan restaurant where we tried a new food dish made with arepas. It was yummy and we got so full.

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After lunch, we continued walking around the Kensington Market and came across this...

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Hand-Rolled Ice Cream?!

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While walking through Chinatown, we came across this sign with a dubious claim

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When in Canada, everyone loves Slurpees. We went to a local 7-Eleven

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And had a buffet of choices to indulge

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But not this one. I sampled this flavor and gagged

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Royal Ontario Museum. Since our train arrive too late the previous day, we were not able to visit this top attraction

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Queen's Park

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Ontario legislative building

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And we wondered through the town, we were always looking up, admiring the architecture in the mix of old buildings with new skyscrapers and condos

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We finished the evening by listening to some music at the Toronto Jazz Festival at Nathan Phillips Square

Whew!  And thus our great day in Toronto… And next time we’ll do the ROM, the Toronto Islands,  Harbourfront and get lost in the Path.

Via Rail The Canadian, Culinary Tour Part 2, Winnipeg to Toronto

Continuing our post from part one, we had one full day on the train and one morning before arriving into Toronto.

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Chef's omelette was three cheese

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Soup of the day: Asparagus

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I went with the bison burger which was very good and spot on, but I wish I had french fries with it

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Lisa went with the wrap, which was good but not great

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Dessert was a brownie and chocolate ice cream, once again very very good

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Our final dinner on the train presented some good choices

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The soup of the day was a tomato bisque, which we both thought it was really well done

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Lisa chose the chicken , which she liked a lot

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I went with the fish, which was good in some spots and too fishy and maybe a little undercooked in others. I ended up not finishing it

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And finally the desserts. Lisa want with the carrot cake, which was perfect

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I ordered the chocolate caramel cake, which was decadent and a great finish to the somewhat disappointing main course

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For our final breakfast, I want with the chef salad which was ham and cheese

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Lisa got a continental breakfast, just some cereal, a bran muffin, and yogurt

After 3 full days and 3 nights worth of dinners, we felt the food was pretty darn good, but the real winners were definitely the desserts. It was the best part of each meal and we look forward to it every lunch and dinner. The food is much better than the Amtrak version, and for the most part service was quick, friendly and attentive. 

Dining seating is by shared table, so you definitely meet a lot of new people and fellow travelers.  There are usually two or three meal times depending on how full the train is. Breakfast is typically open seating with no reservation needed from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Lunch requires a reservation, with meals beginning at 11:15 and 12:30pm. Dinner starts relatively early at 4:30pm, 6:00p.m., and then 7:30 p.m. 

There is bar service available, but it is not included in your meals so that would be an extra charge.  Gratuities are not required, but appreciated. Typically we take $2 each for breakfast $3 each for lunch and $4 or $5 each for dinner depending on the level of service.

Vancouver Meanderings

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Early morning run on the waterfront

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Stanley Park Totems

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Our hotel encourages the use of the stairs by issuing this challenge

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So of course I had to take it on

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The entire stairwell has a mural painted from top to bottom future ring nature scenes Ama and thus you have the Hyatt Urban nature hike

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It is 34 flights up , and one Sleeping Bear

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Almost there!

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And done!

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Our hotel has unique elevators. There are no buttons to push inside the elevator. When you are ready to go to your floor, use use a kiosk outside the elevator, and it will tell you which elevator to go to

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Walking over the Granville Bridge

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Inside the kids Market

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Cool art.... Before

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After

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Inside the public market

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This granola was the bomb. So of course we had to buy some for our trip

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Even more yumminess

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Taking the Acquabus

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Almost a Canadian... Via Canada Dry!

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Don't call it coffee creamer, you call it whitener

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A new McDonald's Sundae flavor... we just had to try it, and it was delicious

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Um, no

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Just what every household needs!